Sunday, December 03, 2006
Fun in the Sun
Today, Sun columnist Eric Francis divides the NHL into teams that understand the demands of the 'new' NHL and those that do not...
That's from today's Calgary Sun. I don't much feel like being grouchy on the blog today, so I'll just say that I think the piece fails to achieve its stated purpose. I already knew that Anaheim, Buffalo, San Jose, and Nashville were doing well; I already knew that the Flyers, Coyotes, Bruins, and Hawks/Blues/Jackets were a mess. What I'm still not clear on after reading the Francis piece is what that has to do with the salary cap; or rather, I don't see any evidence that spending money wisely has gone from unimportant to important in the salary cap era.
No matter: the only reason I bring it up is that Francis lists the best and worst contract on each team. (Sidebar: why is it Overpaid and Best Value? If you're worried about referring to any pro athlete as Underpaid, then why not call the bad contracts Worst Value? Just wondering.)
The overpaid award on the Flames, naturally, goes to Jeff Friesen. I almost can't believe how ineffective this dude is. He still has but a single assist on the year, in 180 EV minutes and 18 PP minutes. Two games in a row now, I watched and figured he was busted down to enforcer minutes, i.e. 6 shifts a game, since I hardly ever noticed him out there. Then I look at the game sheets after to see that he played 12+ minutes. Whaa??
Friesen appears to be a capable penalty killer, but nothing else. Offensively, he has failed to meet my microscopic expectations. And it's not like he's snakebitten (e.g. hitting posts); he just fails to create anything or finish anything. I'll be interested to see where this heads; for the time being at least, Friesen looks to still be in Playfair's good books.
On an unrelated note, I quite enjoyed Terry Jones' column this morning:
Have you ever seen a hockey club come undone like this one this week?
Never! The death spiral the Oilers have been in since Tuesday is totally unprecedented. I hope the top of the '07 draft class is well-regarded.
# posted by Matt @ 11:52 am 
Comments:
Never! The death spiral the Oilers have been in since Tuesday is totally unprecedented. I hope the top of the '07 draft class is well-regarded.
Thanks for the sympathy. I'd love to see the reaction in Flamer-land if Tanguay and Iginla both went down within a couple days of each other.
Short of a Roloson injury, this is about the worst case scenario for the Oilers. Especially considering that Moreau is already out.
I'd say a statement like that is bad Karma Matt, but I am losing my faith in the Karma concept. Case in point: 25 Anaheim happily coasting along and Smyth/Hemsky/Moreau all on the shelf in Oil Country. That's just not fair.
Trap time baby! Gonna have to win Calgary-style for the next few weeks.
Ah, karma.
Ryan Smyth goes a bit out of character in the last shift of a frustrating loss to Colorado and -- presumably to avenge a previous act -- gives Brad Richardson a deliberate shot in the face. In his second shift of the subsequent game, he gets injured.
Ethan Moreau, completely in character late in a frustrating loss to Detroit, attempts to avenge a previous act and punches his own shoulder out.
Hemsky is just a fluke...
I took Matt's comment as being sarcastic. BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
The Oilers won that game against the Wings, by the way. I assume if Moreau's shoulder didn't go then, it would have gone eventually.
I took Matt's comment as being sarcastic. BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
So did I. The thing about it being karma for Smyth's incidental collision with a Colorado player on Thursday night though? That's just flat out wrong.
I have noticed that Jones' articles are even more terrible than usual lately. The long, rambling, nonsensical titles sort of fit the theme he's going for.
Maybe Jason Smith's +/- wouldn't look so bad if we had another top-pairing d-man for him to play with. Perhaps might THAT be worth pointing out Terry?
Columnists do not choose their own headlines, dekheads or subheads. Copy editors do.
That said, Jones has been writing horrible, one-sentence paragraphs since I delivered the Journal in 1977. How that guy keeps a job is beyond me.
Oops. I had it in my head that the Moreau move was in that 3-0 skunking, and did nothing whatsover to check -- Typical Internet Blog Person bullshit...
My karma comment was basically facetious too, but that Smyth "collision" was not incidental. He saw it coming several strides away. I don't really think it speaks ill of Smyth, but it was completely deliberate. I was actually embarrassed for Ferraro calling the replay, saying "they didn't see each other coming", as the screen showed Smyth coasting towards Richardson, staring right at him.
Oh well, Richardson should/could have avoided Smyth. But the Flames are so into revisionist history these days that they are embracing two rails Vernon to have his jersey raised. The injury bug has bitten the Oilers hard.
The next 5 games are not easy either so it will be a real test get back to basics.
I hear that every one at the dome has to do a rail as the jersey goes up... The dealers in town are giddy in anticipation
Oh well, Richardson should/could have avoided Smyth.
Right. That completely justifies Smyth's actions.
I was actually embarrassed for Ferraro calling the replay, saying "they didn't see each other coming", as the screen showed Smyth coasting towards Richardson, staring right at him.
I'd like to see a replay of that at full-speed. It's easy to say form a slow motion replay that he knew what was coming, if things were actually happening at full speed. Also, was it intent to hit the guy in the head, or was it the old "oh shit!" reaction from Smyth to try and protect himself?
Obviously the NHL didn't think much of it. No penalty on the play, nor a suspension or fine. The only thing I can think is that they were giving the guy a freebie after what happened with Liles a couple weeks ago.
BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
At least he is off of his obsession with turds.
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Never! The death spiral the Oilers have been in since Tuesday is totally unprecedented. I hope the top of the '07 draft class is well-regarded.
Thanks for the sympathy. I'd love to see the reaction in Flamer-land if Tanguay and Iginla both went down within a couple days of each other.
Short of a Roloson injury, this is about the worst case scenario for the Oilers. Especially considering that Moreau is already out.
I'd say a statement like that is bad Karma Matt, but I am losing my faith in the Karma concept. Case in point: 25 Anaheim happily coasting along and Smyth/Hemsky/Moreau all on the shelf in Oil Country. That's just not fair.
Trap time baby! Gonna have to win Calgary-style for the next few weeks.
Ah, karma.
Ryan Smyth goes a bit out of character in the last shift of a frustrating loss to Colorado and -- presumably to avenge a previous act -- gives Brad Richardson a deliberate shot in the face. In his second shift of the subsequent game, he gets injured.
Ethan Moreau, completely in character late in a frustrating loss to Detroit, attempts to avenge a previous act and punches his own shoulder out.
Hemsky is just a fluke...
I took Matt's comment as being sarcastic. BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
The Oilers won that game against the Wings, by the way. I assume if Moreau's shoulder didn't go then, it would have gone eventually.
# posted by 
: December 03, 2006 2:19 pm
: December 03, 2006 2:19 pm I took Matt's comment as being sarcastic. BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
So did I. The thing about it being karma for Smyth's incidental collision with a Colorado player on Thursday night though? That's just flat out wrong.
I have noticed that Jones' articles are even more terrible than usual lately. The long, rambling, nonsensical titles sort of fit the theme he's going for.
Maybe Jason Smith's +/- wouldn't look so bad if we had another top-pairing d-man for him to play with. Perhaps might THAT be worth pointing out Terry?
Columnists do not choose their own headlines, dekheads or subheads. Copy editors do.
That said, Jones has been writing horrible, one-sentence paragraphs since I delivered the Journal in 1977. How that guy keeps a job is beyond me.
# posted by : December 03, 2006 3:41 pm
: December 03, 2006 3:41 pm Oops. I had it in my head that the Moreau move was in that 3-0 skunking, and did nothing whatsover to check -- Typical Internet Blog Person bullshit...
My karma comment was basically facetious too, but that Smyth "collision" was not incidental. He saw it coming several strides away. I don't really think it speaks ill of Smyth, but it was completely deliberate. I was actually embarrassed for Ferraro calling the replay, saying "they didn't see each other coming", as the screen showed Smyth coasting towards Richardson, staring right at him.
Oh well, Richardson should/could have avoided Smyth. But the Flames are so into revisionist history these days that they are embracing two rails Vernon to have his jersey raised. The injury bug has bitten the Oilers hard.
The next 5 games are not easy either so it will be a real test get back to basics.
I hear that every one at the dome has to do a rail as the jersey goes up... The dealers in town are giddy in anticipation
# posted by : December 03, 2006 4:27 pm
: December 03, 2006 4:27 pm Oh well, Richardson should/could have avoided Smyth.
Right. That completely justifies Smyth's actions.
I was actually embarrassed for Ferraro calling the replay, saying "they didn't see each other coming", as the screen showed Smyth coasting towards Richardson, staring right at him.
I'd like to see a replay of that at full-speed. It's easy to say form a slow motion replay that he knew what was coming, if things were actually happening at full speed. Also, was it intent to hit the guy in the head, or was it the old "oh shit!" reaction from Smyth to try and protect himself?
Obviously the NHL didn't think much of it. No penalty on the play, nor a suspension or fine. The only thing I can think is that they were giving the guy a freebie after what happened with Liles a couple weeks ago.
BTW, has anyone noticed that Jones routinely has headlines longer than his paragraphs in the story of late?
At least he is off of his obsession with turds.
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