Ryder Fatigue

Former Assistant Captain Olazabal and his team.

The Ryder Cup takes place this weekend. What used to be one of the most anticipated events on the golfing calendar seems to have lost a lot of its lustre. What happened to this once prestigious event? Like a Greek tragedy, the Ryder Cup's slow death can be attributed to its evil brother, the President's Cup.

Formally, the Ryder Cup offered golf fans a different sort of tournament; a match play event pitting once country against another. The unique format made it exciting and different, the fact it only happened every two years added to the prestige. Add to that, the top quality players who participated, and you had quite the event on your hands, exciting for fans and profitable for the organizers, the PGA. But by the early 1990's, golf began to change, as players from different parts of the world rose to prominence. Names like Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Nick Price. Not being from Europe or the Untied States, they were not eligible for the Ryder Cup, and the PGA was unable to showcase many of the game's top names. Unfortunately, greed crept into play, and brought the world the President's Cup, a bastardization of the Ryder Cup, played under the false pretence of "patriotism." A more contrived event has never existed in the world of golf, and I'm including the 84 Lumber Classic.

It's a Numbers Game

Every year the NHL has individuals that surpass a milestone like having scored the most goals on Tuesdays in the month of November … on the road in afternoon games. So let’s look ahead and see what kind of movement we’ll see on the all-time lists going into this season.



Martin Brodeur is often referred to as the best goalie of all time. It’s a valid argument to make. The man has the most wins and shutouts ever. That’s pretty impressive. However, often goalies that win a lot play a lot, and when that happens you lose a lot too (over time obviously). Brodeur has a chance to become the all time losingest (that’s not a word apparently) goalie. Brodeur has 324 career regular season losses and sits in 9th, just 28 behind Curtis Joseph who sits in first. Brodeur should also pass Roy for total saves made. In the same category, Roberto Luongo should make it past 20,000 career saves, which is a large number considering he is entering his 12th NHL season; I guess the Panthers are good for something.

Olli Jokinen: Here We Go Again

Jokinen at the Red vs. White game

With the news that Olli Jokinen has suffered a minor injury in last night’s pre-season tilt with the Phoenix Coyotes, I thought it was time to look deeper into the man they call the Joker.


If you read my column, and I believe there is maybe one person out there who does (Hi Dad!), you know I have never, how can I best put it, enjoyed having Olli Jokinen troll the ice wearing the Flaming C. When he was traded in the fire sale last season, I was elated, even if the Flames received two NHL wash-outs in return.

But to understand the situation in its present state, let us go back to the beginning when the Flames initially traded for Olli.

Upon his arrival in Calgary Jokinen blossomed instantaneously.

He scored eight goals and added another two assists in those first six games with the Flames; including a five-point night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the Flames lost four for those six games and blew one of the biggest division leads ever to the Vancouver Canucks and ended up facing Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. And, well, we all know how that turned out.

Flames in Net

The goaltending position in Calgary has never been a worry for the past half decade, and considering Flames fans tend to worry about pretty much everything else, it’s nice to have one less thing. This season, Calgary looks to have its strongest tandem to date in between the pipes with Miikka Kiprusoff and newcomer Henrik Karlsson manning the 4X6.

Kipper for his part, was the lone bright spot and hands down MVP of the Calgary Flames last season. Was he smoking a new kind of weed? No one really knows.

Regardless of what dope he may or may not be into, Miikka Kiprusoff is a world class goaltender that deserved a better fate last season.

The Weekly Roundup - September 27, 2010

From Wade waiving bye bye to Jose Bautista hitting dingers, this is the weekly roundup!

Flames Form Heat

Late last week the Flames sent 14 players down to the minors to form the better portion of the Abbotsford Heat. The list included 2008 2nd round pick Mitch Wahl who impressed in his limited time with the big club. When Matt Stajan went down with an injury, Wahl took full advantage and had two assists in his one pre-season game in Vancouver. Wahl needs more seasoning, but something tells me Calgary fans will be seeing Wahl at some point this season wearing the Flaming C. The cupboard isn’t totally dry at least.

Niklas Hagman: A Good Fit

Coming over in “The Trade” from the Toronto in late January of last season, Niklas Hagman was considered to be the most highly skilled player that took the westbound trip to Calgary.

A six foot tall, quick, Finnish forward with loads of unused potential was bound to help the Calgary offence going forward.

The following 27 games didn’t exactly yield the projected returns that so many fans had hoped for; only five goals and six assists.

Is it tough for new players to fit into a new team mid-season? Of course it is, and that’s why I’m willing to cut Hagman a bit of slack for the end of last season. Face it, nobody in a Flames jersey outside of Kiprusoff, had a March to remember.

So what can Flames fans expect from a full season of the “New” Number 10?

Mikael Backlund: The Time is Now

Answer: Trevor Kidd, Niklas Sunblad, Cory Stillman, Jesper Mattsson, Chris Dingman, Denis Gauthier, Derek Morris, Daniel Tkaczuk, Rico Fata, Oleg Saprykin, Brent Krahn, Chuck Kobasew, Eric Nystrom, Dion Phaneuf, Kris Chucko, Matt Pelech, Leland Irving, Mikael Backlund, Greg Nemisz, and Tim Erixon.

Question: Name the Calgary Flames first round picks for the last 20 years.

Not many gems on that list are there?

Is the Tour out of the Woods?

Wake up the kids, fire up the VCR, the TOUR Championship begins today; the tournament that pits the top 30 players on the money list...er...FedEx Cup points list against each other, in a winner take all, no-holds barred format. Oh sorry, that''s a different sport.  The TOUR Championship is the final event of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup, and pits the top 30 players in the Cup standings against each other, giving four or five players a realistic chance to win, while the rest simply play out the string and perhaps pad their wallet.  Few times does a sport's final event evoke so little drama and interest as this year's TOUR Championship, and while many of the problems can be blamed on the TOUR, there are also a few that are out of their control.

Alex Tanguay: Back in the Saddle

Tanguay before the Red vs. White game

Brought back from the depths of darkness, Alex Tanguay is back in a city he loves and playing with a player, Jarome Iginla, which he dearly missed.

Tanguay spent the last year wallowing away in Tampa Bay, getting ever so slowly pushed out of the team picture. By the time the season ended, it was clear that Tanguay did not want to be in Tampa, and Tampa did not want any part of Alex Tanguay.

And so, on July 1st 2010, Alex responded to a call from his former boss Darryl Sutter and signed on the dotted line. He was excited to come back to a place he knew and place that loved hockey.

He self-admitted last year that “hockey was no longer fun” and he wasn’t enjoying himself in Tampa Bay.

His stats were clear cut evidence of this as he posted his lowest totals of his career with only 10 goals and 27 assists in 80 games.

Far From Dead Birds

It is June 12, 2009. The Pittsburgh Penguins have just walked into Joe Louis Arena and beaten the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, exacting their revenge on the team that robbed them one year prior. Move ahead one year to the 2009-10season, where the Penguins finished the season in fourth place in the Eastern conference, only to run into a hot goalie and be bounced from the playoffs in the second round. Since October 2007, the team had played a total of 303 games in slightly more than 1000 days. That is an astounding amount of hockey, going to the finals in two of those seasons, leaving very little time off to rest, relax, and recharge the batteries.

Goons "R" Us

Raitis Ivanans and Tim Jackman.

When Sutter made these signings I couldn’t help but scratch my head.

Jackman is 6’4” and 210lbs.

Ivanans is 6’4” and 240-256 lbs, depending on which website you look at.

Jackman had 98 PIM, 4 goals, and 5 assists last year in 54 games, while Ivanans had 136 PIM, 0 goals, and 0 assists in 61 games last season.

Both were signed to one-way contracts; Ivanans received $600,000 and Jackman is making $550,000.

Ivanans has played in every single league imaginable on his way into the NHL; The MetJHL, UHL, CHL, ECHL, AHL, UHL, ECHL x2, UHL again, AHL again, back to the UHL, and then finally landing in Los Angeles with the Kings. His persistence must be congratulated. Jackman, on the other hand, was drafted in the 2nd round by the Blue Jackets in 2001. He has bounced around between the AHL and NHL his whole career before spending the past two seasons on the Island.

Rocket Robyn Regehr

Let’s do some role-play.

Robyn Regehr plays Maverick , Jordan Leopold is Goose, and Dion Phaneuf is the Iceman. Maverick and Goose were a great pair, as documented, but once Goose was blown up (traded) Maverick has never been able to find that perfect wingman.

“You can be my wingman anytime.” Iceman finally accepts Maverick, and vice-versa, at the end of Top gun.

The only difference was at the end of the Flames version of Top Gun the Iceman never utters that homo-erotic line to Maverick; and trust me Maverick would never reciprocate.

Regehr and Phaneuf hated each other off the ice, and so it made it even worse when Coach Sutter decided to pair to two together to start the season.

And for this reason, when Dion was traded, no other player benefited more than Robyn Regehr.

The Weekly Roundup - September 20, 2010

We begin this week’s Roundup with a letter from a disgruntled fantasy football owner.

Dear Fantasy Football Gods:

Why do you hate me so much? Why do you dangle a victory in front of me only to take it away without a sense of thought or compassion? Why must Indianapolis fumble the ball when trying to run out the clock? Why was Eli Manning still in the game? Next time, just make it a blowout, so you do not crush my soul like you did on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Demoralized Manager of the Year

A Steady Growth of Moss

When talking about players who were drafted in the 7th Round of an NHL draft, not many players really stick out at you. Sure, there are the Henrik Zetterberg’s(7th Round in 1999) or Pavel Datsyuk’s(6th Round in 1998) of the world, but for the most part the best a late-rounder will be is a third line grinder or bottom tier defenceman.

Enter David Moss, drafted #220 overall in the 7th round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

The 6 foot, 200 pound right wing caught on with the Flames in 2006 scoring 10 goals in 41 games after being called up midway through the season. He broke out right away scoring the game-winner in his first game and potting goals in his first three games as a pro. Following that, he had his breakout season in 08-09 eclipsing the 20 goal plateau and nearly breaking the 40 point mark, falling one shy.

What's With the Hype?

The Calgary Stampeders look to improve their league-best 9-1 record tonight against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The two rivals haven’t met since July 24th, when they were competing for first place in the Western Conference. Calgary entered that game with a 2-1 record, Saskatchewan a perfect 3-0. At McMahon Stadium, Calgary was able to demolish the men in green 40-20 and since then, the two teams have gone in very different directions.

The Bouw-Meister!



Last year, the Calgary Flames traded for Jay Bouwmeester’s negotiating rights two days before the free agency period had opened and subsequently signed him to a 5-year deal with a cap hit of $6.68 million dollars per season.
Jay Bouwmeester WAS the biggest off-season acquisition of last summer. A big ticket, free-wheeling defenceman who could quarterback a power play and move the puck up ice were his key attributes.

He proceeded to flounder for most of the season and drastically fell short of most expectations.

Captain Jarome

With the season just around the corner, I thought I would run down the roster on the Flames one player at a time and prognosticate, if I may, about what lies ahead for each individual player. I would like to start this 22 part series by looking at the one, the only, Jarome Iginla.

¬¬

The Captain. The team’s life blood. The franchise.

These are some of the words used to describe what Jarome Iginla means to the Calgary Flames. Coming off of a self-proclaimed ‘bad year’ though, many people in the city of Calgary have started to second guess if it would serve the Flames best interests to ship Iginla out of town when his value is still relatively high. Trading him before he gets too old and becomes useless has been one school of thought. I, on the other hand, totally disagree with that assessment and of course, if this were to happen, the city might literally go UP in flames; no pun intended. Ok, so it was a little intended.

"Personally, last year was an off year.” –#12

Crunching Some Numbers

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was reached during the cancelled 2004-05 NHL season brought with it some new rules and concepts which have changed the way team personnel are managed, and the league was dubbed the “New NHL”. The majority of these rules were financial based and have largely impacted the general managers in the league, limiting the high spending teams from acquiring every large contract and star player, ala the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the MLB. Some have come to grips with the new financial blockades and rule changes, while others are still watching the games on the television using an antenna making decisions that will cost their franchises for years to come.

The Weekly Roundup - September 13, 2010

Fantasy Frustrations

“Welcome, new comers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!”

To Arian Foster: I despise you.

To the Carolina Panthers: You have two premier running backs on your team, and Matt Moore might be worse than Jake Delhomme; if that’s even possible. Here is a free tip: run the ball!

To Mike Sims-Walker: Were you even on the field?

To Kruger: My son tells me your company stinks!

Are You Ready For Some Football???

I figured it was time to have a little fun, so this is
my ode to the start of the NFL Season!


"Football is back for yet another go round

Fantasy owners are jumping high off the ground

The picks have been made; the Sport Select tickets are in hand

The stage has been set, now isn’t this grand?

Sunday Ticket has been ordered and so has the ‘ZA

Now let’s all get comfy on our favourite sofa

The Saints banner is in place

The Lombardi Trophy is in its case

The fireworks go off; the ball has been placed on the tee

Your buddy runs to the can for one final pee

The ball has been snapped, the defence pushes through

Aaron Rodgers has been sacked, but what else is new?

Tom Brady throws a touchdown to none other than Randy

OchoCinco does a dance after scoring a dandy

TO has a fit for not getting thrown to

Palmer now sees what Donovan had to go through

Big Ben is on the sidelines for doing some...things

Will the Steelers be the same, or will there be no more rings?

The Cowboys are led by their QB Tony Romo

Can they make history and host the big game-o?

Old man Brett ended last year with a bad throw

Is this the season where Favre gets back to the show?

Sundays are here! Come on and let out a cheer!

Now reach in fridge and throw me a beer!"

Newman
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Talk to Me About Depth Sutter

People who know me or read my blog understand that I do not care much for Darryl Sutter and the way he has chosen to run this franchise.

Well, Sutter’s comments on Thursday at the Flames Charity Golf tournament struck a chord with me, as they tend to do.

Before I rant though, let’s start with a good quote from the farmer himself:

"This is going to be the best training camp since I've been here; somebody isn't going to be happy."

He was of course referring to the abundance of players the Flames have signed under one way deals and the negative balance the Flames currently hold in reference to the Salary cap. This was a good statement, albeit a little contrived, but still it lets the players know that no one is necessarily safe.

Captain Picks Tiger

So Tiger Woods was one of Corey Pavin’s captain's pick for the 2010 US Ryder Cup team. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody, as he is the sport's most recognizable star. However, should notoriety be the criteria for making the team, or should it be quality of play? Myself, I think it should be the latter, and I don't feel Tiger has earned his way onto this team.

The first thing that struck me was while I was listening to ESPN radio on Tuesday night, where the announcer wondered aloud, 'Would Tiger have been picked if he hadn't been playing well of late?' So this is the first argument of why Tiger should be on the team, because he's been playing so well of late. In the past few months Tiger has finished T46, T23, T78, T28, T12, T11. I guess he's finished in the top 100 every tournament, but I’d hardly consider those finishes to be 'playing so well of late.' I can guarantee that lesser-known players wouldn't have been selected with those stellar finishes.

Toothless Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are a machine when it comes to the regular season. A well oiled, mean, machine at that, and  a perennial division and conference contender in the challenging Western conference.

And yet each year, they seem to fall short of expectations by fans, media, and the team itself.

Since the lockout, the Sharks have not finished lower than 5th place in the conference, winning the Pacific division title the past three years. They’ve averaged almost 50 wins and 109 points over those five years; simply astounding regular season numbers. The only team with better average win and point totals is the Detroit Red Wings; a team most NHL fans associate greatness with over the past fifteen years. Yet the distinction between the two is simple: the Wings have been to the finals three times and brought home the cup. The Sharks have not.



As we head into the 2010-11 regular season, the Sharks are again seen as the favorite to repeat as Pacific division champions and challenge for the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s best regular season team. This is a talented team, losing just three players over the offseason. Now they were big ticket names in Rob Blake and Evgeni Nabokov, which is where it could get interesting. As of August 31st the team was heading into the season with journeyman Antero Niittymaki and youngster Thomas Greiss. That is not a situation that many cup hopefuls would be fond of having to rely on to win in the Stanley cup playoffs. All of that changed of course on September 1st when cup winning goalie Antti Niemi signed with the Sharks for a measly $2 million on a one year deal. This now may be one of the better bang for your buck 1-2 tandems in the NHL this year.

The Weekly Roundup- September 7th, 2010

From the latest news on the Flames to Americans blaming violence on hockey, here is the latest Weekly Roundup!

Giddy Up!

Langk You Very Much

• It looks like Daymond Langkow is back skating and could be ready for the start of training camp, which surprised a lot of people in Calgary. With Langkow near 100% healthy, this could axe the thought of storing his contract on the Long Term Injury Reserve, thus forcing the Flames to make a move. Ken King mentioned that he thinks they will move a defenceman. (In case you missed it, King responded to my blog on Thursday, here is the link to that blog :http://www.thesportsroundup.com/2010/09/ken-king-respondsquickly.html) This should mean that training camp will be an all out war.

• Prediction: Cory Sarich won’t be a Flame when the season begins.

Classic Indeed

I hate to toot my own horn, but in this case I must.  Many media outlets and many oddsmakers had favoured the Stampeders by 12 points, with an over/under usually in the neigberhood of around 45 points.  Let's see, that means Stamps 28, Eskimos 16.  Now I made a different and if I dare say, a bolder prediction.  On Friday I wrote:

"If the weather stays dry, and Coach Hufnagel lets 'em go wild, the Stamps will break this record, and score over 55 points. I also think they're going to win this game by more than four scores. You heard it here first!"

Well, after it's all said and done, the Calgary Stampeders beat the Edmonton Eskimos on Monday by a score of 52-5.  While I fell short on the 55 points, I was more than right on the four-score lead, and I was correct on the Stamps exceeding the existing Labour Day Classic record of 51 points.  I'd add too, that if the Stamps hadn't taken a knee three times on the 25 yard line in the final minute, they could've easily scored those extra three points!

Blitzkrieg of Alberta

It's that time of year again, time for Calgary and Edmonton to start hating each other. While the two cities can seem civil to each other in June and July, the Labour Day Classic marks the start of the Battle of Alberta each year, a conflict that includes everything from football to hockey to politics.  This year marks the 50th installment of the game and has the possibility of really being one for the ages

The past ten years have seen the two teams fairly evenly matched, with Edmonton having six to the Stamps' four victories. For the past seven years, neither team has won the game more than twice in a row, and the Stamps were victorious last season, defeating Edmonton 32-8. So, what does this year's contest look like? Can the Stampeders repeat as Labour Day champions?

Ken King Responds...quickly

So I sent my latest blog post to Ken King himself because he had asked at the lunch that if anyone was a blogger to identify themselves. I realistically did not expect his response for weeks, if not months, but definitely not hours. I sent him the email at 8:53am; he responded at 10:05am. This, once again, speaks to how Ken King is one of the most approachable and candid men in sports today. Here was his rebuttal:

"On facts, the Phaneuf comment was far more reaching in that I indicated respect for him, and highly qualified the best player on bad team quip which explains the facetious comment. On TV we were/are completely aware of the Shaw/Rogers process. The aspect of not knowing if they will be aired by season start is that it is determined by the negotiations (between them) which we are well aware of. To suggest we didn’t know possible outcomes or overlooked it is incorrect. Good of you to clarify facts. A good start on credibility much needed for the blog world. KK"



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The Flames Speak

It’s the start of September 2010. Summer is over; well, in Calgary, it never really began weather wise but that's neither here nor there.

For the Flames, it was time to give their “Hot House” members (people who are on the waiting list for Flames season tickets) an update on the team.

The Flames invited all of their HH members to a lunch with Ken King, the Flames President. He answered questions for about an hour on the team, the potential for a new ‘Dome, the new TV contract, and the waiting list for season tickets amongst other things.

My friend/fellow blogger and I had the opportunity to grill him about the issues we cared about; Olli Jokinen and Ales Kotalik.

Hitmen Revving up for a Repeat

Matt MacKenzie

So what do you do for encore when you have a season like the Hitmen just had?

After winning 52 games in the regular season and then running over the competition in the post-season en route to a WHL Championship, the Hitmen are faced with a daunting task.

With possibly 13 players returning from last year’s championship team, there will definitely be some new faces in the dressing room this time around.
With the likes of Brandon Kozun, Michael Stone, Joel Broda, Martin Jones and possibly Ian Schultz moving on into the professional ranks, that leaves some mighty big shoes to fill on a roster in need of some new leadership.