Article of the Morning….

Elliotte Friedman’s blog on the Vinny situation is as good a read as I have seen. The only thing missing from it is an accurate read on how dire things are in Tampa Bay. Elliott’s analysis of the current financial implications and the realities of a trade of this magnitude are bang on.

“So, how many teams are really in this race?

Montreal, for sure. Vancouver definitely could be. It has cap room and prospects. Toronto has cap room, but no prospects. It fits Edmonton’s profile, since the Oilers threw bags of cash at Jaromir Jagr and Marian Hossa. I also wonder about a Colorado, a Dallas, or an LA.”

Take the Leafs out of the picture. It’s not happening. Could you imagine Vinny in Vancouver with Sundin??? Almost happened in TO!

“Lecavalier is a great talent, and a durable one, too. Only twice in his nine seasons has he played less than 80 games – 68 in 2000-01 and 76 in 2001-02. Those two things are extremely attractive to any GM interested in anyone with a long-term deal. But you know what’s become even more important to these GMs? Flexibility.”

Damn straight. Look at the ducks current cap situation, ummmm, who made that mess again ? 🙂

“Other execs are wondering what Chicago is going to do with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook – tough choices despite Nikolai Khabibulin’s $7 million per season clearing this summer. Even Detroit, the model franchise when it comes to drafting, developing and getting players to take hometown discounts, has team-altering decisions to make. Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa, Johan Franzen and Jiri Hudler (restricted) are all up, and Zetterberg is testing the Red Wings’ limits. (They gave Hossa a one-year deal equal to Nicklas Lidstrom’s $7.45 million, and a 10-year, $75 million offer to Zetterberg has apparently been rejected.) The Lightning themselves are in this situation because of the Stanley Cup gifts awarded to three players, Lecavalier being one.”

Folks- this is why it is good to be a Maple Leaf fan right now. Keep your heads up. If Burke plays this right he is going to be able to have a buffet of choices for top players fairly soon. Be patient. Wait until the cap goes down, then watch teams squirm to get under the cap! This is going to be interesting as hell.

“Then, there is the economic collapse. Teams are under the impression that, at best, the cap will stay the same next season, before decreasing in 2010-11. From Oct. 1, 2007, until the financial lunacy began in mid-September, 37 NHL players signed contracts of at least five years in length. That’s an average of three per month. Since then, there have been three in total .”

That’s right. How would you like to the Isles with a goalie tied up for 13/15 more years who has suffered long term injuries of late. The goal is to build properly. Our building is full every night. MLSE is patient enough to get this built properly.

“Managers exhibiting buyer’s remorse are recognizing a painful reality – that if you want to trade one of these contracts, you’re going to have to make the kind of deal that is difficult to explain to your fans. What they’re hearing from potential partners is some variation of this: “If you want me to help you take this contract off your books, well then you’re going to have to take my brutal contract. Oh, you don’t want to do that? Well, you’re going to have to take something else I don’t want – like a middling prospect or a later-round draft pick. You’re not getting anything of value from me for an asset you’re desperately trying to get rid of.”

Keep an eye on guys like Jason Blake and even, gulp Sean Avery…..These are guys who’s contracts get moved in order to accommodate other moves.

The focus in the trade market has changed drastically.:

“As much as Senators fans are making Jason Spezza the scapegoat, how happy would they be if Bryan Murray traded him for a mid-level prospect and a draft pick that wouldn’t be in the first round? A couple of different executives said unless Murray is willing to take on an ugly contract in return – and he probably isn’t – he may not get much more for his best centre. If you believe the whispers, that’s why number 19 remains in the nation’s capital. A harsh reality for the Senators and their fans. But, if you think trading Spezza is going to bring in the players who will start an immediate turnaround, you’re mistaken.”

This is the reality of life in a cap world. In the NBA they talk of trading salary slots. The NHL is moving towards that. For those who love trades and banter, it’s boring as hell.

“Considering some pretty smart hockey people are now saying they knew about the captain’s availability a week ago, chances are the Lightning know all this already. They might as well roll up the sidewalks outside the rink if they screw up this one. Maybe they can’t afford to keep him. But they can’t afford to trade him for what’s being made available, either.”

I am not so sure on this one. If things are as bad as I am hearing (and who the hell am I?) then I cant imagine how bad things really are.

Under 50 days to go until the deadline…. Buckle up!

Sundin Facing The Heat

Fans After Sundin

Well, they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, or in this case a pro-rated 8 million. It says here that me thinks expectations on the big sweede may be a tad bit un-realistic. Other’s who have held out for half the season have said it takes about 5 weeks to get back in the swing of things. I think Canuck fan should get him some slack.

CP, meanwhile is a man about town. He took this gem from tonight’s game:

Live from the ACC

Mike S- Brady Is Listening To You

Wow- Brady: “All other radio stations with a sports department are reporting that Mats Sundin will be suiting up for the Vancouver Canucks, except for the other station who has Sundin suiting up for the New York Rangers.”

Over to you Mike…..

The Sundin Saga Finally Ends- What A Mess Left Behind

It’s over… Really over. Even John Belushi’s Animal House Character John “Bluto” Blutarsky would admit It’s over. Really folks, we haven’t seen anything like this around here for a long time. The trading of Vince, the trading of Gilmour, the trading of Felix Potvin, all come to mind sort of. Never, and perhaps becuase of the digital age has a bigger mess of a situation ever been made. Personally, I think there are a lot of people out there who in retrospect look pretty foolish. This constant need to be first is just not journalism. The quality of reporting goes way down and the fans suffer. I think lots of folks should be embarrassed.

Let me start with the easiest target. Hanky is an easy target. To his credit he built a very solid audience. He is proof of the hunger there is for knowledge in the great game of hockey. Whether it is only in Canada and a select group of US markets and then a handful of die hards in other US markets, we are a dedicated bunch who live online looking for anything, literally anything to fill that hunger. However, (and for the record I am not calling Hanky a journalist) the Sundin Saga has also painted Hanky in the worst of light. I am not sure how many people out there read his column tonight after the signing but mannnnnnnnn. How can he say once “as I told you” with any degree of dignity. I mean come on. Yesterday he gave Sundin to NYC his highest rating E5:

“I was told it is done by three sources. Mats to the Rangers. Stay tuned much more to come including how the Rangers will make it work. Update: I am told that one of the teams involved in these sweeps has been informed of Mats decision…”

As the fine folks at hockeyanalysis.com pointed out, Hanky had him going to almost every team in the league at one point. It became an industry (hockey) joke. It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong….That clearly isn’t the case here. (and I don’t buy the my job is to only report what I hear crap…)

I hate to do this, as it is totally unfair, but the next guy who blew this one is McCown. When I say I hate to do this, I mean to jump from Hanky to McCown. There is no comparison between the two and they are so far apart, Hanky at the North Pole, McCown at the South. And too much in between to mention. For that reason alone, McCown has some splaning to do. He is the most listened to sports talk show in the city, hell maybe even in the country. He said on his show today that the syndication of the show on sportsnet may be the largest audience that network gets for non live sporting events. He is huge, he is entertaining and he is the measuring stick. Yes he has had a long head start, but I am sure that the fine folks at 640 have their eyes squarely on his show when the books come out. For McCown to be so bold, so confident and so wrong….. OH MY. The guy is clearly connected. I don’t doubt for one second that someone high up whispered in his ear. No one, and I mean no one opened his lips on the air. That prediction sat out there uncontested for 4 days until fact proved it fiction. The night after his prediction (or maybe 2 nights) Kypreos was on the air and McCown said (after Barry clearly disputed the accuracy of the report) “Oh, it’s happening. It’s like your dinner tonight, you may not know when or where, but it is happening.” Even the director of communication for the nhl twittered about McCown’s bold statement when he went it. In essence the league itself broadcast what McCown said. Does this hurt McCown? probably not. Do his rating go down? no. Do his sponsors care? no. Does he credability take a shot- you betcha. I am not in the media business. I just have to believe that when you are about to go on the microphone you have to pretty sure when are going to be this bold given whom you are..Bobcat blew this one big time.

No one in the Toronto Papers really ran amok with this story. There were no bold predictions per se. They were more followers then leaders. There was a ton of useless fodder on whether he should come back here, whether he would come back here, whether he would be welcome back here….yadda yadda yadda. Larry Brooks was really the first one who publicly brought up the Rangers (Hanky aside, and he brought up the winnipeg jets at one point i think). He never said done deal that is for sure. He did say last night that Sundin would give them until the end of the month. That didn’t happen. Some egg on his face too I guess. Berger doesn’t watch TV so who knows what he was thinking. Not much was said, but man did this story eat up time, energy and kill a lot of trees.

In the end, Mat’s proved he is human. Kyreos said it perfectly tonight about the guy he got to interview over in Sweeden. “Mats was upset about giving the Leafs a discount last season and he wanted to make up for it.” Despite the money, I never really thought he would go to Vancouver. I just didn’t see it. I should have though, because like it or not, this came down to one issue; MONEY. Had the rangers gotten the MONEY up, he probably would be a Ranger. They couldn’t and he isn’t. I don’t begrudge Mats that. The guy is entitled to make what the highest bidder is willing to pay. I think a lot of people painted Mats with rose colored brushes. In the end, he isn’t so unlike the rest of us. He followed the buck. In fairness, he really hasn’t done it before. He never bolted the buds despite the fact he probably could have gotten more elsewhere. At 38, if someone is willing to pony up 10 million why the hell not. Give Gillis credit. He is a former agent and he knew the most important lesson. He set the bar. I don’t care who else was in the game. Their offer was being compared to 10m. Is whatever team offers the next highest amount worth taking less money? That answer is usually no. Gillis did what he as an agent would want a gm to do. Open the market high and wait. Keep the dialogue open and remain patient. Say all the right things, keep them interested and eventually it will come down to $. It almost always does.

I can’t believe how quiet the papers are all at 11:50pm. The story broke around 6pm and with the exception of Damien and the Hat, no one else of major consequence has anything posted. Damien is right in his column. After the obligatory shot at the leafs (at least he admitted he hates Toronto) he says that this should be good news for the buds”

“The signing of Sundin, you see, breaks the logjam. Everyone who didn’t get him can aggressively turn to Plan B, and a team like the Maple Leafs, who will most certainly be sellers between now and the March trade deadline, just saw their assets increase in value.Nik Antropov, for instance, is now worth more than he was yesterday. Unless Atlanta decides to trade Ilya Kovalchuk or Tampa tries to move Marty St. Louis or Minnesota opts to dump Marian Gaborik, Antropov might end up being the best forward available by the deadline. ”

I agree in principal. It takes two (or sometimes three) to tango though. I do find it curious how a guy is a proverbial stiff when he is HERE but has real marketability when it comes to the deadline. It smells a little of the setting of the table for the first Burke attack. Can’t you see it coming? I can’t believe that Burke couldn’t get more for __________? Take the positive spin fro Damien, at least he has an article up.

What is missing? The attack on the point that matters:

“I never believed in rent a player to start with, if you wanna be part of a team thats going to have a chance to win the stanley cup or a team that will go far in the playoffs, uh my opinion has always been that you be there from training camp at the start of the season to be part of the group and uh that’s another reason too”

That is what i am waiting for. It will be interesting to see who takes the time to really call him on it. Simmons did a little bit. The sun has such a brutal website that it isn’t up yet if it is going to be so I can’t tell you. Mat’s is entitled to change his mind. To say that he has never believed in something is as strong a statement as you get. Sundin used that as his main reason not to leave last year. He probably sold all the others on the same thing. He then turned his back and did just that. At the very least, had he signed over the summer you could say he would have been true to his word. Now, the guy who Cox told us has always been an honest guy is, ummmm, a liar?

I am interested in seeing what Cliff has to say. So far I haven’t seen anything from him. Burke’s response was irrelevant. I am more interested in his reaction to the brutal exhibition in Boston then his opinion on Sundin that’s for sure.

Then there is the issue of course of what will this do to his legacy. Will he be Ray Bourque and win a championship? Will he mirror Borje and Cujo and curse the day he left? Only time will tell. You know my opinion, the odds are way against him. The good news is he has lots of dough to hedge those odds with right?

I am really glad this over. It will a nutty day tomorrow with all the press to talk about. I will try to post as best i can. I am taking the family south for 10 days and am going to try and beat out the storm so the trip to the airport begins at 445am. about 4 hours and 35 minutes from now. I don’t know how well I am going to be able to post from the ocean (assuming i make it down there) so LT has graciously accepted my begging to help out.

Let me say this however. I started this blog in May or June I believe. It has been a blast every minute. It hasn’t been a chore in my daily routine like others can be. To those of you who are kind enough to read what i have to say and especially those who feel compelled enough to comment or email I can’t thank you enough. I hope everyone out there and your families have a happy, healthy holiday season (Damien, Steve, Howard, bob, Brady, Wilbur you guys too).

well my bags are packed I’m ready to go………………….

Sorry- This is your daily laugh….

Sundin Decision By Friday

Insert your favorite Boy Who Cried Wolf Analogy or theme here….

I know what the problem is… A source in sweeden told me (TSM5) The conversation goes like this:

JP: Well Mats?
Mats: I have decided to retire
JP: No, No, No, take another day to think about it.
Mats: Ok, but tomorrow is really it JP…
JP: Of course Mats…

The Waiting Effect on Sundin’s Legacy

Interesting dialogue going on in one of the posts today.

Our good pal Nealio spoke out on the issue of the Sundin saga:

#

Nealio // December 18, 2008 at 12:13 pm (edit)

Why, why, why on Earth did this rediculous spectacle have to happen. I used to love Sundin, now I can’t stand to hear his name. I know I’m not the only one. Realizing of course this is as much the media’s fault as his own, the guy made his bed, preached his bullshit about the ‘right’ thing to do and has infamously now changed his mind. He’s goes to the Rangers and I have to believe now anytime he shows up in an Arena in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and perhaps even Calgary or Edmonton, this guy is going to get booed mercilessly. Deserved or not, he made his bed and sure hopes he enjoys how it feels to have made some many enemies in the process.

The worst part is, I still have a Sundin jersey at home sitting in my closet that I paid top dollar for at the time I purchased it. Me and probably thousands of others. Hey sure, it happens all the time, people switch teams.

Boy, why couldn’t we have drafted Yzerman. Or Sakic. Or the few others who lived, breathed and retired with ‘their’ teams…

He sure knew how to fuck the organization and fans over in the process. He could have helped us get a 2yr-3yr head start on our rebuild process if he had to have agreed to be traded back at the deadline. Oh right, he doesn’t believe in joining a team unless it’s right from the start of training camp.

Ya ya, he doesn’t owe us anything at all, right. Well at the end of the day I don’t believe many of the fans are feeling much of anything for him anymore and we sure would have liked a much better ending than this….”

It is hard to disagree with a whole lot there…

Here is my reply to Nealio..

I truly believe, 100% without question that had he been left to his own devices he would have retired. I think a lot of outside factors pushed him to this….

That really is a shame because you have to ask yourself why? The best solution is he joins a team and wins the cup. Having not been there all year would have the same asterisk on it that the naysayers (Sundin included) had he moved last season at the deadline. Remember folks, there are no guarantees. The downside if he doesn’t win are huge (at least in my perspective). If he goes to a team and gets injured, or worse doesn’t, but doesn’t play all that great (hey he is 38) and the team fails…then what? What if the team gets bounced in the early rounds of the playoffs? What about his reputation then. What if he goes to the Rangers and they throw a few bodies overboard and that disrupts the chemistry and he is painted as the villain; the proverbial cause of the demise/failure?

I have voted against Mats coming back here. At least if he came back here (and I don’t want that) he wouldn’t have that added baggage. He would have come here to provide that veteran leadership. In that case there is nothing too lose. Easy for me to say from the sidelines. I just don’t know if I would do it this way.

Thoughts?

No Sundin News Today!

AM640 is reporting “there will be no decision today from Mats Sundin regarding a possible free-agent signing with either the New York Rangers or Vancouver Canucks. Claes Elefalk, his agent in Sweden, has softened the Friday deadline when NHL rosters are frozen, to suggest Sundin will decide before December 25th.”

Mats Sundin Left A Waiting

According to Larry Brooks, Sundin decided to……wait. 🙂

Sorry have to laugh.
He wants to be a ranger (according to Brooks), but the have no room to make him an offer of $6 million (which he is demanding-ouch to Vancouver at 10! and double ouch to say he won’t go for less then $7)

“Thus, with the NHL holiday roster freeze going into effect Friday night at midnight and lasting through midnight the 27th, Sundin – who has a $10M offer on the table from the Canucks that he obviously is in no hurry to accept – is likely to remain unsigned until late in the month.”

Hhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahhahahahhahahahhaha

“J.P. Barry, Sundin’s North American representative, said today that Sundin might accept a conditional offer from the Rangers, but that is nonsense.”

And sheep may fly, Wilbur may invite Larry and Richard for dinner and Mccown will be on Pat Quinn and Cito Gaston’s holiday card list.

“But while the big Swede – who earned $5.5 million last year with the Maple Leafs – is willing to take less to play Broadway than to play in Vancouver, his willingness to take a discount only goes so far. Cap counts are calculated on a daily basis in the NHL. Sundin’s contract would be pro-rated and charged against the cap from the day it’s registered with the league. Sundin, who has returned home to Sweden for the Christmas holiday, likely will need a week to 10 days of practice before he’s in game shape. The contract would not have to be registered until a day before he’s ready to go. Thus, if Sundin were ready to go the first week of January, the Blueshirts would have to have approximately $3.2M of space in order to accommodate Sundin’s need for a $6M contract. With a current $1 million available, the Rangers could not clear the necessary space merely by deleting Petr Prucha and Dan Fritsche from the roster. More would be required. Which is why Sather and Sundin both need more time.”

Take as much time as needed. Who knows, maybe February or March will be a good time… This whole thing is a joke. The best news is that the Leafs are FINALLY out of the picture. I guess for Mats’ it’s no longer important to be part of the entire journey, or even half the journey (from a calendar perspective). By the way, which fellow GM is going to do Slats the favor of dealing with him? They are such a warm agreeable bunch aren’t they?

If I am Mike Gillis, I go do business elsewhere. What happens if Slats can’t move the money? Should the entire league just wait around for this guy? He is good, he isn’t that good.

Brooks is here

Mats Sundin Choices Are Clear…

This is getting nuts…everyone trying to be first, making announcements on what Sundin has decided. Sportsnet ran a story that it was a done deal then yanked it. Do people think at this point the public cares who gets the story first? One claims they have the scoop, the other gets a denial. Give me a break… Here at TSM we are proud to present Mat’s choices….

Door Number 1

Door #2

Or…my personal choice…

Door #3

Mats Sundin Drama Right On Track

So J.P. Barry has told the world exactly what he wants them to hear:

“Sundin’s agent yesterday denied a report on Toronto radio station Fan 590 that the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain has selected the Rangers and an announcement is expected by the end of the week. J.P. Barry, who is scheduled to meet with Canucks general manager Mike Gillis in Vancouver today, said he was still waiting to hear back from the Rangers and no formal offer had been made. “We haven’t received all the information we need from New York,” Barry said. “I should know everything I need to know by [today].”

Let the real auction begin. While the announced candidates may be down to 2, that doesn’t mean for one second that only 2 are really in the running. Why you ask. Simple. Once the market has been set you can bet that teams that may have disqualified themselves will very likely re-engage. J.B Barry knows it and is banking on it too. While money may not be Sundin’s main motivator Mr. Barry’s job is to get his client the absolute most he can.

“Meanwhile, Sundin is scheduled to return home to Sweden in the next couple of days to tend to some personal business before returning to North America shortly after Christmas to join his new NHL team. In between, the 37-year-old will have time to mull the wildly divergent financial packages sitting before him.”

Does wildly divergent sound like “2” offers? Of course not. Sundin is leaving town so Barry can do what agents do. If Sundin is going to a team that doesn’t have cap space to provide “wildly divergent financial packages” and he wants to play soon, he has 4 days to decide before the holiday roster freeze kicks in. Not much time to decide. For those teams, not much time to throw bodies overboard. As a few experts have suggested, Sundin doesn’t want to be the one to be the cause of those bodies going overboard. The man who said you have to be part of the journey from beginning to end doesn’t want to be the guy to split a team. I don’t believe he does for one second. That is why he is going back to home to “tend to some business”. If he goes to Vancouver it is easy. If he goes to the Rangers it is going to get a little bit ugly first. Same with Philly, Chicago or anyone else.

For those who have hated every minute of this comedy, shake it off. The end is near. The drama is about to be higher then it ever has been. This actually should be fun.