Florida Panthers Are Morons
The Florida Panthers didn't trade defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and now when they lose in the 1st round of the playoffs (if they make it at all) he will walk in the off season for nothing. To me this is the most idiotic move a franchise can make as once you realise a player has no interest in resigning you need to get rid of said player. You need to get SOMETHING for him. I don't care what it is but you need to be compensated. You cannot allow a player to leave for nothing. The Canucks offered Kevin Bieksa, Mason Raymond, and a 1st round pick. Now I know this isn't the greatest offer ever but it is better than nothing which is what Florida is gonna get for Bouwmeester when he goes to free agency in the summer. Way to blow it Florida.
Buffalo is Also Dumb
Someone tell me why the Buffalo Sabres waited until Tim Connolly was going to leave to finally take a stand against players going to free agency. In the past they have let both Chris Drury and Daniel Briere walk for nothing at the end of the season because they didn't want to pay them. But now all of the sudden the Sabres decide to pay someone and they pick Tim Connolly? In his beast season ever Connolly put up 55 points (16 goals, 39 assists) and he hasn't played a full season since the 2002-2003 season. Now they are paying him $4.5 million a year. What are you thinking? This is the time when you should have traded him, when his value was high and you could get solid return on an average player who is often injured. Buffalo blew it almost as hard as Florida did.
Leafs Give Up On Pogge
When the Leafs claimed Martin Gerber off waivers it was a symbolic end to the chances of Justin Pogge ever being the starting goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pogge was drafted in 2004 aka 5 years ago and has been "developing" ever since. In the games he has been called up the NHL he has been lit up and while at times standing tall has never shown the flashes of greatness the Leafs, and fans, were hoping for. Toronto wants to lose this season and despite what Brian Burke and Ron Wilson may say the worse the team does the better. There are 17 games left in the season. If Pogge was ever going to be a full-time NHL goalie for the Leafs why not bring him up now and have he and Curtis Joseph split time? It would allow Pogge to gain experience with no expectations for him to win. To me this shows me the Leafs have given up on Pogge and he will never pan out to be the great goalie all Leaf fans had hoped he would be.
Sad Yet True
When the Ottawa Senators acquired goalie Pascal Leclaire from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday people were saying that he is the best goalie the team has ever had. I thought to myself that there was no way that this could be true. So I did a little digging and discovered that over their almost 20 year period the Senators have always had shitty goalies. Here is a list of some of the bums that they have paraded out and tried to pass off as starting goalies:
Alex Auld
Mike Bales
Tom Barrasso
Don Beaupre
Daniel Berthiaume
Craig Billington
Brian Elliott
Ray Emery
Mike Fountain
Martin Gerber
Dominik Hasek
Jani Hurme
Mark Laforest
Patrick Lalime
Simon Lajeunesse
Darrin Madeley
Mike Morrison
Martin Prusek
Damian Rhodes
Peter Sidorkiewicz
Ron Tugnutt
Steve Weeks
Now I know Hasek is in there but I don't think he counts seeing as he only stayed for 1 year and he was over the hill at the time. So other than him look at all the clowns they had had in net. I guess Leclaire really is the best they have ever had.
What's With TSN?
I watched the whole deadline day on TSN and throughout the day I noticed that the analysts on TSN were crazy unprofessional. They were yelling across the room at one another, they would stop mid-sentence to check the Blackberry, and I honestly think Darren Dreger's laptop wasn't even on. At one point when Gord Miller was explaining that Mark Recchi had been traded to Boston a seemingly random crew member off-camera yelled "YES!" really loud that it was clearly audible to viewers at home. I know it's deadline day and everything guys but show some professionalism.
Random Youtube Video: (This Was oo Funny Not To Post):
5 comments:
I think you are wrong on multiple counts in these posts.
First, Florida is right in the middle of a playoff race, and to give up Beaumeister essentially suggests they are done with making a run. Yeah they might lose him for nothing, but keeping him for the sake of salvaging a possible playoff run is worth it. Not everybody gives up on teams and hope the way you do.
Secondly, Tim Connolly is a great player, and injuries aside, consistently puts up good numbers. I will grant you that the sabres were dumb for letting go of Briere and Drury, but keeping Connolly was a great move, and they might be overpaying him, but if it was what they needed to give him to keep him, then all the power to them.
Finally, Gerber is a part time measure and does not mean the leafs are giving up on pogge. Would you really want to feed a young goalie to the wolves for the sake of 15 games? Look at what happened to fluery in his rookie year and look at what happened to Price this year. There is no point in bringing him up to play for a losing team for the sake of 15 games in an unsalvagable season.
Draper > James
First, both you and I know that the Panthers have 0 chance of making a deep playoff run. The benefit of making the playoffs only to lose in the first 2 rounds does not outweigh the consequences of losing Bouwmeester. Yes making the playoffs is important but not for the sake of screwing your team for the next two seasons. Also trading Bouwmeester is not giving up. he gave up on the team when he made the decision not to re-sign, Florida needs to realise that while Bouwmeester will help their playoff run he can only do so much. The packages that they were offered would have helped them and gotten them some value for Bouwmeester. I know this may sound wrong but I am a firm believer in not giving things away for nothing. It's just not good business.
Second, interesting you use words and phrases in your response such as "overpaying" and "injuries aside." Connolly's best season in the NHL saw him get 55 points. Over the past 5 seasons 25, 55, 1, 40, 31. This is the guy you are paying $4.5 million too. I know you're a fan but be realistic Draper. He is overpaid and they could have spent that money elsewhere on a better player.
Third, you mention Carey Price and Fleury. Let us not forget that Fleury has been to the Stanley Cup Finals. Carey Price is going through a sophomore slump and while he may not be playing amazing the over 50+ games of NHL experience cannot be discounted. Also I hardly consider putting Pogge out there for 15 games when the team is hoping for losses is throwing him to the wolves. If anything it would give him a chance to shine and show that he can be a sensational goalie if he stood tall and helped the Leafs finish the season strong.
So Florida who is tied with half of the teams in the Eastern conference playoff positions, should abandon their season because you don't think they will make a run? So by that logic then, the only team in the Eastern conference who should bother playing out the rest of the season is Boston, or maybe Jersey? I don't buy the whole "we won't win the cup so lets give up any chance we have" nonsense.
Fluery shit the bed in his rookie season, had to go back to the minors to develop some more before he came back into the NHL. Price has sucked since the all-star break and has essentially received back up status to halak, you think that is good for the kid's confidence? The leafs are going to get shit on, Pogge has no team in front of him so it would do nothing good for his confidence nor would it make him seem sensational to come up and lose the last 15 games of the leaf season.
And I am not responding to the connolly post because I am biased and love tim connolly, so nothing you say will change my opinion of it being a good sign.
Draper your argument is nonsense. I am not saying every team should abandon their playoff run I am using Florida as the only example. They are the only team in the playoff run whose best player doesnt want to come back. If a team like Buffalo was going to lose Vanek or Miller I would suggest trading them as well. The point is to not lose a top 5 player for nothing when the prospect for return is high. Its really a balance of whether Bouwmeester's performance over the next 2 months would outweigh what they would have received in a trade. I think that as good as Bouwmeester is there is no way this occurs. They had their chance and they blew it.
Consider another circumstance. If Mike Richards of the Flyers told the team he would not resign next year would the Flyers not be better off trading him and getting real value back then watching him walk? Think about Drapes.
As for Pogge I still feel he should be brought up. However if you insist on comparing him to the Price and Fleury, which is logical, a comparison is warranted.
Price was drafted in 2005 but didn't see the NHL until 2007-2008 season. That is 2 years of development. When he first arrived he played very well and the team thought he could be the real #1. Now the reason for some of his struggles this year could be the fact that the pressure of it being the 100th season of the Canadiens was too great. High expectations could have cost him to lose his confidence but you can't deny he has the talent to be in the NHL.
Fleury was drafted in 2003 and after struggling right away was given time to develop. 2 years later he returned full time and his game has improved. While he hasn't been phenomenal this year it is not because he was brought up too early. The Penguins were without Whitney and Gonchar for a large portion of the season.
Keep in mind also that Fleury was a 1st overall pick and Price was 5th overall. These are guys you want to get in the league right away. Also both Montreal and Pittsburgh needed a goalie at the time.
If you don;t bring up Pogge now when do you? He wasn't brought up when Toskala was injured and only Raycroft could play last year? He wasn't even named the AHL starter last year. You want to start him full-time when? How much time does he need to develop? Clearly he hasn't turned out to be the player the Leafs thought he would be. Give him his time now and let the fans see what he can offer.
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