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      Calgary Flames burn out phone lines at NHL trade deadline

      March 5, 2009 /

      This was a strange NHL trading deadline. I was a little disappointed in the lack of big name players changing uniforms. In total, 22 trades (involving 47 players) were completed. And the biggest name that was traded (Olli Jokinen) has never played in a playoff game in his 10-year career.

      The Calgary Flames became a legitimate contender in the Western Conference after acquiring D Jordan Leopold from the Colorado Avalanche and Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes in separate deadline deals. Leopold is a great fit that could make their backline the most imposing in the league. Jokinen played his best hockey under current Flames coach Mike Keenan during their time together in Florida. He is a great scorer but not a great on-ice leader, though Calgary offers him a fresh start. It’s a veteran squad that will not ask Jokinen to provide leadership in the locker room, just puckss in the net.

      A nice day’s work for Coyote GM Don Maloney, as his agenda yesterday was to cut payroll. After completing the Jokinen trade early in the day, he sent D Derek Morris to the New York Rangers for F Nigel Dawes, F Petr Prucha, and D Dmitri Kalinin right at the deadline. The hope is for Prucha (a former 30-goal scorer) to become an effective player on the Coyote’s second-team power play unit and not the healthy scratch participant he has been for the Blueshirts all season. Dawes possesses a quick shot and could develop into a big goal scorer under the tutelage of head coach Wayne Gretzky.

      The jury is still out on whether the Rangers will make the playoffs, but you cannot criticize GM Glen Slather — at least he tried to improve his team. He brought in John Tortorella as coach to instill enthusiasm into a listless locker room, and yesterday Slats acquired F Nik Antropov and Morris to aid the league’s worst power play. Antropov is the big body needed in front of the net to distract the defense and allow shots to go through from the point on the power play. Morris brings a heavy shot from the point position and will add stability to the defense that has been pushed around all season.

      Kudos to Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin for not trading away D Jay Bouwmeester at the deadline and standing pat for the remainder of the season. This sends a strong message to their fans that they’re committed to fighting for a playoff spot now and will worry about next season later on.

      The Stanley Cup will be won in late spring, and at that time we will find out who were the real winners at the NHL’s trading deadline. Until then, it’s all speculation.

      NHL

      Cowboys release safety Roy Williams

      March 5, 2009 /

      Well the Cowboys are full of spunk today, aren’t they?

      Following the release of wide receiver Terrell Owens early this morning, Dallas has decided to part ways with safety Roy “Horse Collar” Williams, too, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys saved a little over $2 million in cap space by cutting the safety now.

      Dallas was trying to find a trade partner for Williams the past two weeks, but obviously they didn’t have much luck. Williams broke his forearm twice last year, but at 28 he still has a couple of productive years left in him. The problem is, he’s essentially an extra linebacker playing safety because he couldn’t cover a one-legged Fat Albert.

      Williams is worth a look for any team that struggled against the run last year because he flies to the football and does his best work around the line of scrimmage. He’d be a good fit for a team that maybe has a developing young safety, but whose run defense could also use a boost. Once again though, he’s absolutely brutal in coverage and gets lost when the ball is in the air.

      I wouldn’t be surprised if Williams was picked up before Owens is. The need for safeties in the NFL is enormous and there are a couple of veterans on the market that should be signed soon, including Mike Brown, Jermaine Phillips and Darren Sharper. Surprisingly, Sean Jones is still on the market as well, and the Browns have showed little urgency to retain the 27-year old, who might just be the best strong safety available.

      NFL

      Torry Holt asks Rams to release him

      March 5, 2009 /

      League sources (whatever that means these days – could be a well respected NFL front office figure or could be Roger Goodell’s janitor) have told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that wide receiver Torry Holt has asked the Rams to release him.

      The Rams have been trying to trade Holt for the past couple weeks but so far they haven’t found any takers. As the Post-Dispatch notes, Holt is due a $1.25 million roster bonus on March 17 and therefore it’s unlikely that he’ll be a Ram past that point.

      If he remains patient for the next week and a half, Holt is likely to get his wish. But I don’t blame him for wanting to end the charade and have the team just release now so both parties can move on. It’s clear that Rams are moving in another direction at receiver and I think the team owes Holt a debt of gratitude for all he’s done over the years. If they’re going to wind up releasing him anyway (and they will – no team is going to trade for him knowing that he’ll be cut if they wait long enough), they should do him a favor and cut him now.

      Holt will catch on with another team because he still wants to play. This isn’t a situation like Marvin Harrison, who has completely dropped off the face of the earth. Harrison’s main concern is to get paid and if no team is going to do that, then he’ll just retire. But Holt still has that flicker of fire burning in him and he’s likely to take a pay cut to sign with a contender in an effort to play in one last Super Bowl.

      Wide receiver-needy teams are the Bears, Dolphins and maybe even the Cowboys now that they’ve released Terrell Owens. I could also see a team like the Bucs being interested in Holt after they were spurned by T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

      NFL

      Pablo Sandoval = Ultimate Fantasy Sleeper?

      March 5, 2009 /

      Chances are if you had the opportunity to flip on a San Francisco Giants game in the second half of the 2008 season, you could have sworn that Bengie Molina had changed his number and was now playing the infield.

      That’s because at 5’11” and 246 pounds, Pablo Sandoval could easily be the body-double for the 5’11”, 225-pound Molina.

      Unless you’re a Giants fan or a true fantasy baseball mega wizard, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Sandoval. San Fran signed the 22-year old switch hitter from Carabobo, Venezuela as an undrafted free agent in 2002, but thanks to his performance over the last month of the 2008 season, Sandoval is officially your 2009 ultimate fantasy sleeper.

      In 145 major league at bats last season, Sandoval hit a scorching .345 with a .490 slugging percentage and 10 doubles. He also jacked three home runs, knocked in 24 RBI and crossed the plate 24 times in San Fran’s weak offense – the same weak offense that will give him the opportunity to hit fifth in the lineup this year behind the aforementioned Molina.

      Not since Matt Williams have the Giants been so excited about a young position player to come through their farm system. Sandoval absolutely raked NL pitching in the final month of the season last year despite taking a free-swinging approach in all of his at bats. (That’s a nice way of saying he swung at everything.)

      But despite being such a young, free-swinging hitter, Sandoval didn’t chase many pitches out of the zone, even when pitchers started to figure out that he could hit. He seemed to stay within himself and take what pitchers gave him while rarely having poor at bats and usually making good contact.

      Despite the lofty expectations, however, there are plenty of concerns that accompany Sandoval as he embarks on his first full season as a regular. His track record in the minor leagues suggests that his numbers from last year were a fluke and despite his .345 batting average, he only walked a total of four times in 145 at bats.

      From a fantasy perspective, he fell nine games shy of qualifying as a catcher in 2009, which means he’ll be lumped in with the much deeper first base class. Ironically, the Giants will most likely start him at third base this season, which would have made him much more valuable because the hot corner is a weak position in terms of fantasy this year.

      Will Sandoval hit .345 again if the Giants give him 520 at bats? Probably not, especially if the kid doesn’t learn to take more walks. But is it possible that he could hit .300 with 15 home runs and a slugging percentage that closes in on .440 again? Absolutely.

      We’re not suggesting to sell your soul on draft day to select Sandoval, but a great case could be made for taking a flier on him as one of your late round picks – especially if you’re in a keeper league. And if Molina and fellow youngsters Fred Lewis and Travis Ishikawa produce around him in the lineup, there’s a good chance Sandoval could drive in 75-80 RBI and chip in anywhere from 70-75 runs.

      The bottom line is – what do you have to lose? If our projections for Sandoval turn out to be unrealistic, then you can dump him early in the season and not lose sleep after selecting him in one of the final rounds of your draft. But if we’re right and he’s set up for a solid year as a first time starter, then Sandoval could be a fantastic late round gem.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Upsets in the Big 12; UNC & Pitt take care of business

      March 5, 2009 /

      #5 Oklahoma visited #12 Missouri last night, and the Tigers pulled the upset, 73-64. Blake Griffin had 16 points and 21 rebounds, but turned the ball over six times in the loss. The Tigers were obviously motivated after the 25-point drubbing they took from the Kansas Jayhawks. This looks like it would have been a fun game to watch — too bad it was only on ESPN360. The network really should have a way to bring great matchups like this to a wider audience.

      #9 Kansas lost to unranked Texas Tech, 84-65. Senior Alan Voskuil had 35 points on 9 of 14 shooting from long range. I’m not sure what to make of these Big 12 teams right now. Kansas and Oklahoma looked like the cream of the crop, and they turn around a lose to Texas Tech and Missouri, respectively. (In the Sooners’ defense, Missouri was the #12 team in the nation and the game was on the road.) Oklahoma was in line for a #1 seed, but it looks like they still have some work to do.

      Meanwhile, #2 North Carolina fended off a feisty Virginia Tech squad, 86-78, while #4 Pitt beat #15 Marquette, 90-75. The Tar Heels earned at least a share of the ACC regular season title, though they’ll have to beat archrival Duke on Sunday to avoid sharing the honors with the Blue Devils.

      College Basketball, March Madness

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