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      2009 NHL Preview: Boston Bruins

      September 25, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Boston Bruins…

      Team Play: ISSUE-Phil, we hardly knew ye. As the Bruins begin drifting back into The Hub to prepare for training camp, their leading goal scorer in 08-09, Phil Kessel, is missing. It seems that what young master Kessel thinks he’s worth and what Bruins management can afford to pay him and maintain some salary cap sanity are quite far apart. Until Kessel is either signed or traded, Boston’s forward lines will be in a state of flux. Even if the B’s are able to sign Kessel, he could miss the first two months of the season as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery. Don’t be surprised to see a top line of Lucic-Savard-Ryder come October, followed by Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew, Wheeler-Krejci-Bitz, and Recchi-Begin-Thornton…and even without Kessel, don’t be surprised if the B’s have eight or nine 20+ goal scorers at the end of the season.

      On the blueline, Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara returns to a unit unchanged but for the departure of Aaron Ward and arrival of Derek Morris. For the B’s purposes, this is an improvement: Expect a little more offense out of the defense in 09-10.

      In goal, Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas rules the roost, but backup Manny Fernandez will be replaced by Tuukka Rask. With a compressed schedule (due to the Olympics), expect Rask to see around 30 starts this season.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      Derrek Lee injured during Cubs’ celebration

      September 25, 2009 /

      If this doesn’t sum up the Cubs’ 2009 season, I don’t know what will.

      From ESPN.com:

      While celebrating a come-from-behind, ninth-inning win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, the Chicago Cubs couldn’t avoid yet another “Cubby Occurrence.”

      First baseman Derrek Lee scored the game-tying run ahead of Jeff Baker, whose two-out, two-strike home run off San Francisco closer Brian Wilson put the team in line for the win.

      As Lee and Baker were mobbed by teammates in the dugout, relief pitcher Angel Guzman slapped the side of Lee’s helmet, causing Lee to experience neck spasms that forced him to come out of the game for defense in the bottom of the ninth.
      Manager Lou Piniella coined the term “Cubby Occurrence” to explain strange happenings that may have factored into the organization going more than 100 years without winning a World Series.

      Even when the Cubs win, they still find a way to lose.

      While we’re somewhat on the subject, stick a fork in the Giants. They surprised a lot of people this year with the way they’ve played and their pitching staff is going to make them competitive every season.

      But they had a golden opportunity last night to get within three games of the Rockies for the NL Wild Card lead and they couldn’t even muster more than two runs at home to the Cubs. Playoff-caliber teams take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves and the Giants couldn’t do that last night.

      MLB

      Patriots need a win this week

      September 25, 2009 /

      The general consensus surrounding the New England Patriots these days is that the sky is falling.

      Tom Brady doesn’t look the same.

      Bill Belichick can’t win without his coveted videotapes.

      The entire defense is a mess.

      It’s true – the Patriots are in trouble. Brady didn’t look comfortable last week as the Jets’ defense used multiple looks to confuse him at the line. He generally looked confused and befuddled as Rex Ryan sent extra defenders from all angles and for Brady to look confused and befuddled is a telltale sign that things aren’t right in New England’s world.

      But doubting Brady and Belichick when their backs are against a wall is about as smart as taking anything Skip Bayless says to heart. It’s just not wise to write off the Pats, especially coming off a loss.

      Continue reading »

      NFL

      Knicks re-sign Lee, Robinson

      September 25, 2009 /

      The New York Knicks have re-signed David Lee. Nate Robinson is close to a deal as well.

      Lee’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN.com on Thursday that the sides have an agreement in principle on a one-year contract.

      “We’re on the verge of getting this done,” Bartelstein said. “I believe David will sign the contract tomorrow.”

      The contract is believed to be worth $7 million for the 2009-10 season with incentives that could take it to $8 million if the Knicks reach the playoffs.

      Fellow restricted free agent Nate Robinson has also reached terms with the Knicks on a one-year deal, according to a source with knowledge of the talks, that will pay him a higher salary than Robinson’s $2.9 million qualifying offer.

      The Knicks’ stance has been clear all along. They are very reluctant to sign players to contracts that run longer than one year because they want to have as much cap flexibility as possible next season when they hope to woo a big-name free agent to New York.

      If Lee’s contract demands were more reasonable, he would have signed a multi-year deal with another team a long time ago. But his camp has demanded $8-$10 million per season this entire time, and the market just won’t bear it. He’s a great rebounder, but he’s just an average defender and his numbers are a bit inflated because the Knicks play at a frenetic pace. By signing a one-year deal, he is risking the financial security of a mid-level deal that he no doubt could have signed had he been willing to reduce his asking price.

      Would you rather have a guaranteed $7 million with a shot at a long-term deal averaging $8 million next summer or a mid-level deal that runs five years and a guaranteed $34 million starting this summer? If he suffers a career-ending injury this season, his decision to sign a one-year deal will cost him $27 million.

      That’s a lot of risk. After all, 27 million birds in the hand are better than 47 million in the bush, right?

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Pearl apologizes for “off-the-cuff” joke

      September 25, 2009 /

      Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is in some hot water after making an inappropriate joke at a recent speaking engagement.

      Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is apologizing for an off-the-cuff joke he made about a rural area of the state at a charity fundraiser Thursday, calling it “inappropriate.”

      Pearl, speaking without notes, was addressing Tennessee Valley Authority employees about the challenges he and his staff face in getting players from diverse backgrounds to play as a team.

      “I’ve got a tough job. I’ve got to put these guys from different worlds together, right?’ Pearl said. “I’ve got guys from Chicago, Detroit … I’m talking about the ‘hood! And I’ve got guys from Grainger County, where they wear the hood.”

      Ouch. Making light of the KKK is not only offensive to the (non-racist) folks of Grainger County, but it’s also offensive to the black community.

      He’s a successful coach, but I’ve never been a big fan of Pearl’s style and it dates back to 1995, when I was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. My team won the D3 National Championship that year and the following season we traveled up to Fairbanks, Alaska, to play in the Tournament of Champions, which included the D2, NAIA and D3 champions from the previous season.

      We were non-scholarship, so after we “upset” the host team, Alaska-Fairbanks, in the first round, we played Pearl’s D2 Southern Indiana team in the tourney championship. They jumped out to a 20-plus point lead, but after we went on a run in the second half to cut into the lead, he yelled on the sideline — “Do I have to call a timeout? Do I really have to call a timeout?”

      I remember thinking: Is this guy for real? His all-scholarship team was playing our non-scholarship D3 school and he’s over there mocking us on the sideline to make a point to his team?

      Since then, I’ve always thought that Pearl was a loudmouth who didn’t often think before he spoke, and he’s done nothing to disprove that notion in his tenure at Tennessee.

      College Basketball, News

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