Happy Tuesday!
This week on 15MOF we welcome the NHL back and we look at the preseason ranking that has the Edmonton Oilers remarkably high up. As well, we take a look at the storylines surrounding Ilya Kovalchuk, Brian Burke and Scott Gomez, and we recap the NFL playoff action from this past weekend.
In the GABBYs: Kate Upton, the Dallas Stars, the MLB, the MLB again, the NY Jets and Lubomir Visnovsky. The Punchline this week is Jose Canseco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rsOi3Al8o
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired Brian Burke just over one week before the start of the 2013 National Hockey League regular season.
On Wednesday, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment announced the firing of Burke and that the franchise’s senior vice-president and director of hockey operations, Dave Nonis would take over.
This is an interesting move on a number of fronts. First, Nonis has a strong experience with Burke, dating back to their days of Anaheim and Vancouver. Second, one could argue that the two hockey executives have similar philosophical approaches about the game and that Nonis is an extension of Burke. And third, one could make the argument that the MLSE decision had more to do with economics than anything else, as outsiders could assume that Nonis would be making less as a GM than Burke.
One more interesting decision is that MLSE has decided to keep Burke on as a senior advisor. What do you think? Let us know at www.anysportanytime.ca.
Jordan Staal (Michael Miller, Wikimedia Commons)
I know it is a big time for many prospects on the weekend of the NHL Entry Draft, but I am more interested in the wheeling and dealing that takes place among the clubs.
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins delivered the biggest blockbuster of the weekend. The Penguins, unable to come to terms with Jordan Staal long term, traded Staal to the Hurricanes for centre Brandon Sutter, their first round pick and a prospect.
Staal, considered by many to be one of the best natural centremen in the game today, will join his brother Eric in Carolina.
This past season Staal had 25 goals and 25 assists in 62 games, while Sutter had 17 goals and 15 assists in 82 games.
The Dallas Stars dumped salary by trading Mike Ribeiro to the Washington Capitals for forward Cody Eakin and a second round pick in 2012. Ribeiro had 18 goals and 45 assists this past season.
Tim Thomas (Dan Nicholas, Wikimedia Commons)
If you are somebody that has Tim Thomas in a NHL keeper’s pool, I feel your pain.
Tim Thomas, one of the elite goaltenders in the National Hockey League, says he needs to take a year off from playing hockey with the Boston Bruins.
According to his facebook page of all things, Thomas wants to reconnect with three F’s– friends, family and faith. Ok, doesn’t he have time to do those things once he has officially retired or once his contract was over? He was in the final year of his contract where he is scheduled to make $3 million.
Thomas also has stated he wants to return to the 2013-14 season and play for Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Good luck, because if I was Team USA GM Brian Burke right now, I would give the first two goaltending spots to Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres.
Happy Monday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame – lots of overtime and lots of fighting to kick off the NHL playoffs, the Oilers win the draft lottery & discuss the future of their coach, the Maple Leafs apologize and a number of top players head to the World Championships. Also – the head of the MLB players union talks steroids and the Hall of Fame.
In the GABBYs: Martin Brodeur, Thierry Henry, the NFL, Lamar Odom, Lingerie Football and Dwyane Wade. The Punchline this week involves Augusta and an attempted cup of sand!
Happy Monday!
This week on 15MOF we discuss the latest news surrounding Oilers forward Taylor Hall, as well as another story that has left the team a bit red in the face. Also on the show – we discuss whether the Toronto Maple Leafs will be the next NHL team to fire a GM and we look at the latest “bounty” news from the NFL.
In the GABBYs: the Norfolk Admirals, Jamie Moyer, Sidney Crosby, Colin Clark, Reebok & March Madness. The Punchline this week is Beach Volleyball!
The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup in forty-four years. You can now make that officially forty-five years.
Last night the Maple Leafs lost 3-0 to the lowly Carolina Hurricanes. According to Head Coach Randy Carlyle, the Maple Leafs are completely embarrassed to once again miss the playoffs.
Toronto has been so bad they have lost ten straight home games and are only better than the equally embarrassing Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference. In net, the Maple Leafs also have had strong concerns as James Reimer has been injured for strong periods of the season.
Happy Monday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we look at the reasons behind the Toronto Maple Leafs firing their coach, an idea that would make the final month of the NHL season more interesting for non-playoff teams, the “expanded” MLB playoffs and Ryan Braun’s overturned doping case.
In the GABBYs: Bat boys, the LA Clippers, Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Tiger Woods/Peyton Hillis and the New Orleans Saints. The Punchline this week is USA Yoga!
You sort of knew this one was coming.
The Toronto Maple Leafs after days of speculation, have fired head coach Ron Wilson Friday night and named Randy Carlyle his replacement effective immediately.
The Maple Leafs have slumped significantly in the Eastern Conference in going 1-8-1 in their last ten games, and sliding out of the playoff picture. They are currently five points back of the eighth place Winnipeg Jets.
At 29-28-7, they have lost four straight and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
A major reason for Toronto’s struggles has been their poor defensive coverage and goaltending. Currently Toronto has given up the third most goals in the NHL at 200. Only Columbus (212) and Tampa Bay (216) have given up more goals this season.
In Carlyle, Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke is trying to rekindle the magic of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks, where Burke and Carlyle had their ultimate success.
But if Leaf fans are expecting Burke will repeat success in Toronto like he did in Anaheim and making Vancouver a legitimate contender, they must be running out of patience.
Burke is becoming a lot like Darryl Sutter during his latter stages in Calgary. Now the question is how long will MLSE allow Burke to bring in people he has had success with in the past in an effort to save his job?
On a side note, thank God I’m not a reporter in Toronto. On Christmas Day, Burke had a press conference signing Wilson to a contract extension, only to fire him just over two months later. Many members of the Toronto media were bitter that they had to work Christmas Day, only to see Wilson not even last this season.
This is an exciting time for Canadian hockey. Right now there is a Canadian team first in the West, the Edmonton Oilers, and a Canadian team first in the East, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs at 9-3-1, have looked dominant in their last two road games– a 5-3 win over New Jersey and a 4-1 win over Columbus.
Last night in Ohio, the Maple Leafs got a stellar effort from Spruce Grove native Ben Scrivens, who was making his NHL debut. Scrivens, who suited up for the Maple Leafs to give Jonas Gustavsson a night off, made 38 saves on 39 shots.
Scrivens, who signed with the Maple Leafs on April 28, won the Ken Dryden Award as the top goaltender in the East Coast Athletic Conference while with Cornell University in 2010. He is getting time with the big club because of a head injury to James Reimer.
Offensively, the Maple Leafs have received great production from Phil Kessel, who leads the NHL with 10 goals, 21 points and a +10 to begin the season. The restricted free agent signing of Kessel by Maple Leafs’ General Manager Brian Burke doesn’t look so bad now, even though Tyler Seguin does lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. Another offensive spark plug for the Maple Leafs has been the play of former Edmonton Oiler Joffrey Lupul, who scored a hat trick on Martin Brodeur Wednesday night. Lupul now has 8 goals and 8 assists, and leads the NHL in +/- with Kessel at +10.
This may be a magical hockey season. Do you think we could just see a Toronto-Edmonton Stanley Cup Final? After the first month of the season, there is reason to believe of the possibility.
According to TSN, I can now officially stop calling the Winnipeg National Hockey League franchise the Winnipeg NHLers on the anysportanytime website.
It looks like they will be called the Jets.
I am also very pleased with the move because my 25 year-old lamp that has the logos of the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets on it, now has significance and relevance again.
The Jets were chosen over the Moose, Falcons and Polar Bears.
The Jets have the number seven overall pick in tonight’s NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see if General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will present the Jets’ chosen selection with a Jets jersey. It will also be interesting to see how many people from Manitoba will make the trip down to St. Paul.
PK Subban (Bridget Samuels, Wikimedia Commons)
The Montreal Canadiens are in and the Toronto Maple Leafs are out of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tuesday night in Montreal, the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in overtime to punch their ticket to the postseason. Blackhawks’ head coach Joel Quenneville expressed his disgust with referees Eric Furlatt and Brian Pochmara for calling a tripping penalty to Jonathan Toews in overtime that led to a P.K. Subban game winner. Carey Price made 42 saves as the Canadiens can finish no worse than eighth in the East.
The news wasn’t so good for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The energy completely sunk at the Air Canada Centre this evening when it was reported to Leaf fans that the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. The Leafs, who lost 3-2 to Washington, have now missed the playoffs six consecutive seasons.
Heritage Classic (Pat Steinberg, Sportsnet Radio FAN 960)
It is going to be an interesting weekend in my life of watching sports. Sunday I’ll be watching my first ever hockey game played outdoors.
I’ll be at the Heritage Classic (Sunday 4pm, CBC) as the Calgary Flames (30-22-8) host the Montreal Canadiens (31-21-7). Montreal sits sixth in the Eastern Conference and Calgary is ninth in the Western Conference.
This will be the second Heritage Classic. The first was played in Edmonton on November 22, 2003. The Oilers lost to the Canadiens 4-3 that Saturday night.
Jarome Iginla leads the Flames with 25 goals and 31 assists. Tomas Plekanec leads the Canadiens with 19 goals and 27 assists.
In & Out
Just when it looked like Peter Forsberg was ready to make an impact with the struggling Colorado Avalanche, a familiar problem crept up on him.
After skating with the team for a while, Forsberg felt comfortable enough on the ice to sign a one-year deal with the Avs last week. He jumped through the necessary hoops to get back on the ice after a couple of years – and a couple of failed comebacks – away from the NHL and finally made his re-debut against Columbus on Friday.
He played 17:38 and was a minus-two in a 3-1 loss to the Jackets, but looked pretty good by all accounts. A night later, he was a minus-two again in a 5-3 loss to the Predators, racking up another 17:32 of ice time. As good as he might have looked though, ESPN reports he started to feel the foot that has given him so much grief slipping and sliding inside his skate – a problem that has followed him around from team to team and league to league since 2003. (more…)
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