Sport Chit Chat

Melvin Manhoef one of the best strikers outside of the UFC, period has decided to retire at the ripe age of 32. He decided to call it quits after his upset defeated to eventual Dream MW winner Gregard Mousasi. The video can be found here. His biggest mistake in the match was when he was caught in the triangle choke but powered out of it. Instead of keeping Mousasi in the air and hence the pressure, he chose to slam Mousasi putting himself deeper in the submission and being forced to tap out.

I wasn’t Manhoef’s biggest fans because I didn’t think he was well rounded enough but one thing for sure is that he was very exciting and brutally murdered Japanese legend Kaz Sakuraba. I think he would’ve been a popular fighter had the UFC attempted to sign him. He was exciting, quick, explosive, aggressive etc. - all the things that excite fans. People talk about the MW division being weak… psh the UFC just sucked at signing them.

Here’s hoping he comes back, he’s still in his prime and is one of the guys I’d want in the UFC.

Here’s a highlight vid:

Matthew Randazzo V’s Ring of Hell: The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry, follows Chris Benoit as a young boy to when he captured the WWE title to his untimely murder suicide of his family.

I was a huge wrestling fan until Vince McMahon’s faked death and then it was exposed by Chris Benoit’s tragedy(?). Anyway I stopped watching pro wrestling from that point on and I was a bit of a nerd wrestling fan, reading on insider news, listening to interviews etc. I’m not reviewing the book for the sake of reviewing it, I was a big Chris Benoit fan.

The book starts out very slowly, it’s mostly a book filled with slander and uncalled for bashing. Everyone is a victim of Randazzo’s criticism, whether it is Benoit, the entire wrestling industry, the Harts, Tom Billington (Dynamite Kid). For the first four chapters this drags on and on, telling stories about people who while related to Benoit don’t have much a story to relate to as Benoit or in any case don’t need to be ridiculed on for no reason. Everyone got bashed, even deservedly, it got away from the point…talking about Benoit and this book wasn’t a very good read until the 5th chapter.

The only person to NOT be ridiculed was Bad News Allen, even though he did too die of a heart attack but refused to call him a steroid junkie like Brian Pillman or any of the wrestlers who did die due to drugs (like Eddie Guerrero).

Once it started talking about Benoit’s career as it progressed from Stampede Wrestling to New Japan Pro Wrestling did things ever really lift off. It was great hearing about his times with Paul Heyman and ECW and then moving on the disaster of WCW. I think I ended up reading the book at lightning pace at that point, hearing really good facts about the wrestling industry such as the Hart family not wanting a tribute for Owen’s death after falling while performing a dangerous stunt.

Some of the facts of the book are a little bit chilling and Randazzo sometimes takes this tone too far or just contradicts himself by easing up his tone. Steroids played a big role in most wrestlers lives because they were forced to work through injuries or be fired. Eddie Guerrero after being fired for his alcohol habit was only allowed to be hired after more steroid use.

This book is VERY interesting as an uneducated wrestling fan…probably less if you were ever an expert and heard about these stories from before. There’s a lot of definitions and a lot to learn about the pro wrestling industry through this book even if it is unnecessarily cruel and vile. I would have done away with most of the first 4 chapters and then it would be an awesome book to read.

It doesn’t really come to any conclusions though…the book just kind of ends and the wrestling industry continues to be run with their grueling schedule even with much less ratings.

Thanks to the Olympics for making news and blogs an absolutely snore.

It went as expected, USA won the most medals, China the most gold and Canada doing okay.

USA basketball won and the Team Korea pulled off a surprising victory behind stellar pitching performances.

Some surprises, some controversy, some idiocy or the freaky. Good performances by Bolt and Phelps but I don’t care that much. Hopefully it’s back to covering normal sports so we can continue with our snarky commentary.

At least it gave something to watch during the night while I battled painkiller induced sleeping disorders.

Generally I find that some rumors come from logic. Some guy thinks, so and so going to this team is a logical move, he writes it on his website and people read it and share the same opinion. Over the course of broken telephone, it gets to become an actual rumor. I’m not talking about me here but more so the major websites. One particular trade rumor I’ve haven’t heard about and one we should be watching is the Michael Nylander trade rumors.

The Capitals are currently just under 2.7 million over the cap. That puts only Nylander and Tom Poti as players that the Capitals can currently move. With the excessive contract given to Fedorov ($4 million).

Nylander gets 4.75M for the next 3 years (imagine he got better offers then Jagr!) and while it’s not his skill level that’s a question mark, it’s more or less his age and health. I absolutely love Nylander nonetheless, putting up 37 points in 40 games is no easy feat and while he was playing with Alex, he put similar results with Jagr and look how that turned out.

There are options that the Capitals could take to help them get under the cap, discussions on the blog On Frozen Blog pointed out that Pothier and his 2.5 M contract will likely be off the books due to injury. Leaving them a tad under the cap. In this indeed is the case, the Capitals could entertain other deals. Keeping Nylander would be masterful but it may HAVE to be done. The Caps are likely to play cap limbo if they don’t trade Nylander.

I’ll just stick with Nylander to keep it non-confusing: (all these teams will have sufficient cap space)
Vancouver Canucks - the Canucks are awaiting the decision of Sundin before pulling the trigger. They have 10 million in cap space and can very well afford Nylander. With Pothier out, a guy like Krajicek and a pick could pull it off. Corey Schneider a goalie prospect would be intriguing along with a cheap young forward.

Montreal Canadiens - if they lose the Sundin stakes, Nylander looks like a good player to target. Maybe Halak? I see Kyle Chipchura more as a target.

Carolina Hurricanes - top 2 centres are Ruutu and Brind’Amour. A centre like Nylander would be a great acquisition with the loss of Cole. Patrick Eaves could be a target for the Caps.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Not sure what it would take but probably draft picks. Replacing Fedorov as a top line centre to Nash would be HUGE.

Florida Panthers - replacing Jokinen with Nylander to help their young guys would be wise and not expensive.

The Marlins are a team that is incredibly managed and who knows what the team would be able to be if they spent a little more money. Well they acquired an important veteran in Arthur Rhodes for Gaby Hernandez.

Rhodes missed all of last season due to TJ surgery and for a 38-year old reliever thats a little bit concerning however he never missed a beat upon returning this season. Veterans seem to thrive with the Marlins organization and he’ll prove a great service to the young Marlin team.

Gaby Hernandez isn’t a top prospect by any means, he could put it together to become a back-end of rotation pitcher or end in the ‘pen. He may not strike out a whole lot of batters and may end up a for contact pitcher. The problem is that he’s a fly ball pitcher who doesn’t strike out a lot. He may have some serious problems when hitting the majors. GA/AO = 1 over his minor league career.

An unimportant trade for the most part…but we’d be talking about it on the other 364 days of the year.

The Anaheim Ducks signed Brendan Morrison to a deal worth less then 3 million. However, the Anaheim Ducks were already over the cap and they can’t simply sit still anymore. They HAVE to move a contract in order to play a game. They have until October to do so but who do they trade and to who?

This is more of a logical look to “rumors” and from my perspective it ends up working quite well. The Ducks are 3.25M over the cap.

Who can they trade (reasonably)?
Chris Kunitz Salary: 3.725 M
Tood Marchant Salary: 2.52 M
Mathieu Schneider Salary: 5.625 M

Todd Marchant in my own opinion is the most reasonable way of getting under the cap as he is a role player who still earns more then what he should be after being signed by Columbus. The only ‘problem’ is that a Marchant trade would have to be coupled with another trade. Another question would be: would anyone take Marchant at that salary? It may be worth trying to waive him and buying him out. Around 1.6 would be taken off the cap.

Burke would have to get creative with this one but if he can get rid of Marchant and say Sean O’donnell (1.25 M) that would say a ton about his ability.

The next logical choice is Mathieu Schneider who is paid a ton. He had 39 points last season and gets paid a large amount. He is also 39 years of age and isn’t getting any younger. There are only a few teams who can take on the contract but at what price?

Here are the likely candidates that I’ve come up with:
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Columbus Blue Jackets
Phoenix Coyotes

All these teams have sufficient cap space and have a need for an older defensemen. Teams like Atlanta and Los Angeles need to spend money to get over the 40 million dollar floor but let’s be honest, it would be dumb to give up assets when you are not in it to win and you can always throw around a ton of money in free agency (see Ron Hainsey).

Best Candidate:
Ottawa Senators. The Sens need to replace #1 defensemen Wade Redden. While I’ve been one of his detractors the past few seasons, the Sens need a guy like Schneider who adds the ability to quarterback a powerplay as well. The Sens have a little bit under 7.9 million under the cap and while the Jason Smith addition was nice, the Sens definitely want and need more. The only hitch I would say is the Sens have to wait on Antoine Vermette who will likely receive around 3 million in arbitration. There are some trade rumors about Neil on the move or Vermette with a Dman coming back in return. Cam Barker’s name has been thrown around but he’s not going to give then Sens what they need right now. Brian Murray will impress me if he can do something.

2nd best:
Phoenix Coyotes:
They have a ton of cap space and have stayed away from making a splash at signing any free agents. This is despite making a clear message that they want to win now by acquiring Olli Jokinen, a guy like Schneider would be a great acquisition to replace the holes left by Ballard and Boynton. I expect the Phoenix team to do something on the trade front as they have more then 15 million in cap space. It’s clear the free agent market was both dried up and overpaying so I thought it was a great that they decided to wait it out as there are guys to be had that can get for nothing.

Montreal is only a player when Sundin makes up his mind. Columbus can be a player if they choose to be but I think its slim but making Mike Commodore their highest paid defensemen at 3.75M is puzzling at best. The possibility seems small but it’s worth mentioning.

I can’t really see too many teams flocking to acquire Schneider, 5.6M is much to large for most teams to acquire (albeit for one season). He didn’t play all that well either and probably could be had for a draft pick or mid-level prospect.

Numbers from HockeyBuzz.com

In a absolute shocker, Marian Hossa has signed a one year 7.4 million with the Detroit Red Wings, the now defending Stanley Cup Champions.

This is a wonderful deal for the Wings as they get a great player at a great price. Their selling point to Hossa was easy; WINNING.

I think most people suggested Hossa was going to take the most money and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had gotten a 6-7 year 63 million dollar deal.

At this point it’s almost unfair how good the Red Wing team is. Hossa, Datsyuk and Zetterberg as a first line? Is that fair? That line would be fun to watch. Anyway the 1-year length of the contract works perfectly for the Wings as next year Zetterberg becomes a UFA and they undoubtedly will give him a huge contract.

Marian Hossa is taking some risk to win a Stanley Cup and is really sending a message to everyone that he wants to win and you have to respect that. Hossa is risking a great deal of money but as long as he doesn’t get hurt or completely collapses next season, he should be a major player in next year’s free agent frenzy.

At least we can safely assume that Sundin is no longer going to Detroit…unless he takes a 1 year/3 million dollar deal.

As a Leafs fan mark me as surprised. I know the Leafs were looking to add some size replacing the likes of Hal Gill by adding the 28-year old Jeff Finger. Does $3.5 million really warrant the services of Finger who had a robust 19 points last season (8 of them goals at least…)?

I’d be happy if this marks the end of the Bryan McCabe era however I don’t even know that much about Finger to say that this was a good singing. Statistically…it’s terrible to give a 4-year deal to a first year player let alone someone who put up less then 20 points.

Apparently he’s a shot blocker of the Anton Volchenkov variety. What gets me is that if he was so great why did the Avs let him go?

Cliff’s got some explainin’ to do. This is a bad signing from a team thought to be headed in the “right direction”. WTF.

Who knows he might end up being good…but it doesn’t look great on paper.
Source: Once again TSN

Marek Zidlicky was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Ryan Jones and a 2nd round draft pick.

Zidlicky is a bit of a weird case, his first season he put up a sporty 53 points in 82 games and followed that with a 49 point season in 67 games in the 05/06 season. He was awarded a 4 year/13.5 million contract but since then he has put up 30 and 43 points respectively in 79 games.

Ryan Jones was listed as the 11th best prospect by HockeyFutures. He’s a bit old at 24 just finishing up college too and needs to do well in the AHL or make the Preds to have a future.

Zidlicky hasn’t lived up to his contract but he hasn’t been bad and instead of draft picks I would’ve liked to see Nashville get some more in the way of established prospects instead of the 2nd round pick which can go any which way.

Seems like a salary dump for the cash-strapped Preds. Good on Minnesota to make a move for an offensive defensemen rather then go after Streit or Hainsey.

3 years and 9 million for the 27-year old. I’m not sure I’m a big fan of Vrbata to the Tampa Bay Lightning, he has bust written all over him. This is the same guy that struggled to make a dent on Carolina (with zero playoff appearances on their Cup run).

He’s had a few successful seasons but on teams like the Blackhawks and Coyotes two teams expected to be non-contenders. Nothing amazing and I would’ve stayed away from him.

Two free agents I wouldn’t have signed Malone and Vrbata…the Lightning have committed more then $8 million a season to. I still would rather have Brad Richards.

Source: TSN