In Due Time!

My last athletic respects to the legendary career that was Scott Niedermayer will be up soon enough, don't rush writing greatness. I will also be posting my thoughts on what to do with Carlos Zambrano, why he is now officially a lunatic, and how I see this story playing out.

For anyone that doesn't know what I'm referring to, needs entertainment, or just truly appreciates a solid flip out as I do....

Wow!

NHL Welcomes Next 2 Next Ones!

The two guys who went 1 and 2 in this years draft are Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. The Oilers took Hall with the first overall pick after a 2 year love affair with him that bordered on an unhealthy obsession, I have been told I have a few of those so it's alright. He's a Canadian and that franchise has been trying to reform the glory days of having a mostly Canadian roster as a year in year out contenders. The Oilers did reach the finals in 2006, losing to Carolina, however, since Messier traveled to New York to end the Rangers curse this once proud franchise has not been the same. Obviously they are not goina be like the Messier Oiler teams that won 5 cups from 84 to 90 but they will give their all to make it appear that way. Now here's a scouting report on the newest members of the NHL. Hall is from Calgary and has been the top prospect for 2 years now. He averaged over 2 points a game at the World Juniors. He is a scoring Left Wing who actually has produced more assists than goals the last few years, he had 106 points with 40 goals and 66 helpers last year. Basically he is the opposite of Rick Nash who was a puck hog in his younger days and put up 40 goals but only 20 assists. I'd say he's a guy who with a talented centerman could contribute right away. 

As for Seguin, the Bruins selection with the 2 spot, he is a centerman that a great forward like Hall would love to play with. Ironically enough he also had 106 points his last minor season, he played for the Plymouth Whalers so he is a semi local guy for a Boston team. He can be best compared to Pavel Datsyuk who can put up highlight reel goals but also is not afraid to play defense. Hall can also be labeled a Joe Sakic type of guy who was like Datsyuk but with more fire power. Seguin like Sakic and Dats has great vision and can make any winger look better than he is much the same way Crosby has throughout his career. A center who will play unselfish, is not scared or to good to play D if necessary, and can score thanks to a sick wrist shot is hard to come by. For a more recent player comparison Seguin is similar to the number 1 pick 2 years ago, Steven Stamkos who just tied Crosby for the most goals scored last season but also had 44 assists. Stamkos took a year of growing pains his rookie season to find his NHL stroke but unlike Stamkos Seguin is being thrown on a playoff team that wont ask him to do to much and he will have a great mentor like Mark Recchi, a future hall of famer who has done it all individual and team wise, who they just re-signed for another year to guide him along.

The B's do already have 2 veteran centers, Bergeron and Savard who when healthy are certainly servicable with talented forwards like Hall. This would have potentially made Hall a better fit in Boston. However, it just wasn't going to happen Hall is from Canada and had all the press going into the draft, Edmonton had to take him or risk a major PR hit if things did not workout. The reason Hall would have been a better fit with the Bruins is simple center is a more important position and cup teams almost always have a great center and can get by with a non super star wing on the top line. Regardless, I could see Seguin playing a wing for a while and then eventually moved back to center when he starts to take off. Right away playing a wing would put less pressure on him. 

Be happy Oiler and Bruins fans unlike in some other sports (MLB and NFL mainly) the top draft picks are usually going to produce within the first 3 years of being in the league. This has been especially evident recently with Fleury, Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, Kane, and Stamkos in no particular order. Even throughout history with Gretzky and Lemieux, guys with a lot of hype in juniors are generally future NHL stars.

NBA Draft: Kentucky Headlines & A Couple Mountaineers Realize A Dream

I will leave the analysis to our basketball guys Ramos and Marcus, they respect my baseball and hockey knowledge so I will do the same here. However, as the only graduate of West Virginia University I wanted to get this out there first. 

The NBA draft saw John Wall, Washington Wizards, and Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers, become the first 2 picks, shocker right....? The draft experienced a record, the longest wait ever for a senior to get selected. What does that say about todays NBA and NCAA basketball? Kentucky stole the show as 5 Wildcats were taken in the first round, Cousins number 5, Patterson 14, Bledsoe 18, and Orton with the 29th pick all came off the board after their former teammate Wall at number 1. Being a graduate of West Virginia University I feel there are two other note worthy selections, it was back to back city for WVU. Mountaineer stand out Da'Sean Butler had to wait until the second round as he became a member of the Miami Heat, they made him the 42nd player taken this year. Devin Ebanks was taken by the champion Los Angeles Lakers with the number 43rd overall pick.

Butler suffered a major knee injury towards the end of West Virginia's loss to the eventual tournament champion Duke Blue Devils in the Final 4 this April. The injury and it's corresponding surgery certainly hurt him on draft night, Butler was a projected top 10 pick at the height of the Mountaineers run during the season. Regardless this may be a blessing in disguise, the better picks are generally placed on the weakest teams, (Washington, Philly, Minnesota, Sacramento etc) give or take a weird lottery ball bounce based on last season, Butler now will go to a playoff team from 2009-2010 despite the fact that it may or may not include Dwayne Wade. It also may be a big help whether or not Wade is on south beach to be able to consult with a Hall of Fame guy running the organization, Pat Riley. Butler will be able to be mentored by a man who won 5 titles as a head coach, 1 as an assistant, and another as a player (72 Knicks, teammate of Phil Jackson), not to bad at all. Ebanks most likely could have used another season of college ball, however, we all knew from his first practice that was never a possibility. He will join a stacked roster looking to 3 peat for the second time in 10 years and a franchise hoping to tie the rival Celtics with a 17th banner after next year. As was said perfectly by a friend of mine, get ready to carry Kobe's bags Devin. Granted with some development and if he can get his mind straight Devin Ebanks could become a nice addition to a great team, he also will have a legendary figure within the franchise to help mold his talent and guide him along the way, his head coach (if he doesn't retire) Phil Jackson otherwise known as Mr. 11.

Look away Mountaineer nation....

I wanted to post the package conducted by ESPN concerning Da'Sean's recovering and everything he went through to get a team to roll the dice on him, however, due to legal reasons I was not able to. Here is the link and url of that piece, copy and paste it if you wish to watch for yourself. I highly recommend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSqgXgEVmQQ

NHL 2009-2010 Awards Recap

The NHL aired its annual award show and finally announced the results of this years hardware. Vegas put on a party for hockey for one night only and celebrated the continued success of the league post lockout and the plentiful amount of talent that skates for each team. The 2009-2010 was an historic year as it marked the end to one of the long title droughts in professional sports, the Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since 1961. Congrats to them as well as the Philadelphia Flyers who will raise a 6th Eastern Conference banner since their last championship parade, 1975. Despite the finals lose the Flyers were apart of why this season was historic, they became only the 4th pro team and 3rd hockey club to rally back from a 0-3 deficit in a playoff series to advance by turning around the luck in the East Finals and beating Boston. On top of that we saw yet another 100+ point year from Ovechkin, Vancouver reclaim coverage due to Henrik Sedin, and the Detroit RedWings over come numerous injuries to claim their 10th consecutive 100+ point season and their pro sports active leading 19th straight post-season appearance. Most importantly Todd Bertuzzi did not attempt to kill anyone, all in all I'd say it was a pretty positive year for hockey.

Masterton Memorial Trophy: Jose Theodore (G, Washington)

Finalists: Kurtis Foster (D, TB), Jed Ortmeyer (RW, SJ)

This award is given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. His son died last year soon after birth so obviously to overcome that, start a charity in his honor and play an NHL season makes him very deserving. Theo can now add this to the trophy case that already includes a Vezina and Hart (MVP) award from 2002. The only other player to earn both of those in the same year is Hasek. 

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Martin St. Louis (RW, TB)

Finalists: Pavel Datsyuk (C, Det), Brad Richards (C, Dal)

St. Louis beat out last years winner, Datsyuk in a close vote. The Byng is given out to the player who displays the most sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct while also showing skill. St. Louis and Datsyuk seem to slug it out for this honor every year. It could have gone to either of them in my eyes, however, I agree with Martin winning so both of them could take home hardware (hint). St. Louis put up 94 points on top of only 12 penalty minutes. In contrast Dats registered his lowest point total, 70, since 2004 with 18 minutes in the box. It is also always more difficult to keep your cool for a struggling team like the Lightning or Stars rather then a power house such as Detroit. 

Frank J. Selke Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk (C, Det)

Finalists: Jordan Staal (C, Pit), Ryan Kesler (C, Van)

This is what I meant by the hint earlier. Datsyuk continues to show brilliance on the ice year after year and prove why he is one of the cornerstones to the NHL's darling franchise. The Selke trophy is awarded to the best defensive forward. No one else even comes close to Dats in this category. He showed in the finals the last 2 years, he was often forced to defend Malkin or Crosby, that he can stop a scoring chance just as easily as he can create one. This was a disappointing season offensively for him but he still out performed the other finalists from that stand point as well. This is Pavel's 3rd straight Selke and I see no reason why he doesn't make it an even 4 in a row next year. Staal will win this someday and he is a poor mans Datsyuk, however, unfortunately he came into league during a future hall of famers prime. 

Calder Trophy: Tyler Myers (D, Buff)

Finalists: Jimmy Howard (G, Det), Matt Duchene (C, Col) 

You knew I'd disagree with one of these and here it is. Don't get me wrong Myers had a great rookie year. However, 48 points (only 11 goals) is not exactly eye popping. Not only that but he was surrounded with veteran talent on a pretty good team in Buffalo. Myers fit a necessary role as a third line center who could give you a nice extra scoring punch and win a face off, great, but he was not this years rookie of the year. Despite all the team accomplishments and amazing individual talent that has put on the winged wheel over the years one of the most successful marque franchises in all of professional sports has not had a Calder winner since 1965. It appeared another drought would end this season too. Unfortunately it was not to be despite Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard playing to an almost MVP level. Howard posted a 37-15-10 record, a .924 save %, a 2.26 GAA, and even 3 shut outs for a team riddled with injuries that had to go on a 16-2 tear to earn the 5th seed. Yes, he was inconsistent in his first playoff run as starter, he had tons of talent in front of him despite most of them underachieving, but his stats speak for themselves. None the less, Howard no longer has to worry about a hall of famer coming in and snatching the starting job from him, he will be between the pipes for Hockeytown as the top guy for the next decade. The future of this franchise no longer rests on Nikcklas Lidstrom's shoulders, all the pressure is now on Howard's. 

Vezina Trophy: Ryan Miller (G, Buff)

Finalists: Martin Brodeur (G, NJ), Ilya Bryzgalov (G, Pho) 

Brodueur certainly could make a case he was robbed of his 5th career Vezina trophy (Hasek's 6 are the record), however, I think the right man won. Brodeur is nominated every year for name alone but this season he lead the league in wins, 45, shut outs, 9, goals allowed, and games played. I'm sure you're now thinking how the fuck didn't he win? Well he had a stacked roster in front of him full of snipers and also the Devils trap style allows for less scoring chances. Miller had a career year with 41 victories, a .929 save %, a 2.22 GAA, and hung 5 goose eggs. Not taking anything he did in the Olympics into account it is nice to see an American hero and a guy who has never won before pick up his first Vezina when the runner up has the wins record, 3 cups, and 4 Vezinas already on the shelf. Miller was also the only nominated net minder to not lose 20 games. All 3 of these guys could have won and I  wouldn't have argued, they were all their teams MVP's, but I'm pleased with the recipient. 

Norris Trophy: Duncan Keith (D, Chi)

Finalists: Drew Doughty (D, LA), Mike Green (D, Wash)

This was one of the biggest locks of the night. The Hawks just keep picking up hardware following their cup win and once again it's well deserved. Keith netted 69 points on defense and switched to a full time defenseman role after splitting duties on the blue line and at forward last season. Another big key when handing out the Norris for best dman is the plus minus. Keith had a +21. An argument can be made for Green who lead all dmen with 76 points and a +39, however, he basically plays the role as the third forward when on the ice. This guy gets beat so many times per game his back probably has blisters. If this was going to the best offensive defensemen Green would run away with this every year but unfortunately for him that is not what the awards all about. The trick is scoring while playing a shutdown D. *This season marked the first time since 1997 Lidstrom did not receive a nomination, he is a 6 time winner. *

Hart Trophy: Hendrik Sedin (C, Van)

Finalists: Sidney Crosby (C, Pit), Alexander Ovechkin (LW, Wash)

This was actually a bit shocking to me, although I feel the right man won. Reports from several reliable sources were saying Crosby was going to win the award as well as sources proclaiming it would be 3 in a row for Ovie. Neither of those were accurate as the best of the Sedin twins receives the honor. Sedin led the league in scoring with 112 points, he blasted 29 goals and registered 83 assists, his brother Daniel with about 30 points less was the next closest guy on his team. Without his career year and then some the Canucks may have been several spots lower in the standings. Crosby and Ovechkin could win this award every year in all honesty but both of them now are surrounded with a great deal of talent. Obviously Malkin is a big help to Sid but the reason the Pens have won 2 East titles and a cup is due the secondary scoring which judging by Staal's Selke nomination is only getting better. Ovie can rely on guys like Semin, he is very underrated, as well as Green and company. Crosby and Ovechkin both did score 50 goals but had 30 less assists and 3 less points. They will both win this several more times before they hang em up but this may be Sedin's only shot so I'm glad he got it. Sedin also had 166 shots on net compared to Ovechkin's 368 for any of the haters out there, Crosby had 298 Pens fans.

Scott Niedermayer Announces Retirement: Full Write Up Coming Soon....

Not even 24 hours after I post my send off for one future Hall of Fame defensemen another announces he is finished as well. Scott Niedermayer proclaims he is retiring from the NHL, this announcement came Tuesday afternoon. Everything I wrote about Blake is true, he is one of the best, however, Nieds far exceeded even the career of Blake. Look for my athletic respects to Scott Niedermayer's career in the coming days but until then here is a clip soon after capturing his fourth and last Stanley Cup title from 2007. I gotta give it to Jim Rome, some of his criticisms are fair about his life in broadcasting, he will always be remembered for being attacked by Jim "Chris" Everett but he has generally been fair to hockey. No one can say Rome has not given the NHL its just due in terms of coverage over the last 20 years or so.

A King Among Legends; The Rob Blake Story

As I did following Griffey's surprising retirement from baseball earlier this month, I want to take time out to pay the athletic respects to another great player of my generation, this time in hockey. Rob Blake officially announced that this past season, his 20th in the NHL, was his last and he is retiring as a player. While unlike Griff this was not exactly shocking news since he had nothing left to play for and just finished another long playoff run. However, when an athlete of his stature calls it quits it is important to reflect upon why this was man was in fact great.

Rob Blake flew under the radar for most of his career. This even happened when playing his prime seasons in the second biggest market in the country, Los Angeles. The reason for this is simple actually, he played in perhaps the best era in NHL history for defensemen. Legends such as Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, and Scott Niedermayer manned the blue line in the last 20 years and are all going to the Hall of Fame someday. While unlike how enshrinement is constantly discussed in terms of their careers, Blake is also worthy of the honor but doesn't get the hype. I placed him as an honorable mention for the last decades best and that wasn't even the best 10 year period of his career.

Blake was drafted in the 4th round, 70th overall by the Kings in the 1988 NHL draft, the same draft class of Mike Modano, another potential retiree. He played in only 4 games the following season but then took off at the start of the 90's. He joined the league the same time Gretzky moved from his glory days of winning cups to a role as hockey savior in the United States, LA. In 1990 Blake netted 46 points in 75 games along with 125 penalty minutes. Just two years later he along with the entire Kings roster found his stride. Blake picked up his first of 7 50+ point seasons, totaling 59. That season, 1993, saw California host its first Stanley Cup game, the Kings reached their first cup final in franchise history. Blake was obviously a key cog along with Gretzky and Luc Robitaille. Even though the Kings did not capture the cup, they lost to Montreal, without this appearance hockey in California may have never witnessed a championship, it finally did with the Ducks in 2007.

Fast forward 7 seasons and following 4 more 40+ point seasons, 2 more 50+, a 68 point campaign, and a Norris Trophy (best defenseman of regular season) Blake's time with the Kings was coming to a close. He would be traded to one of the West power houses at the time, Colorado, to join mission 16 W. This mission was created to obtain the first career title for top 5 dman in history, Ray Bourque. Despite not getting the press Bourque's cause would see, Blake was equally as motivated looking to pick up his first ring as well. The Avs would capture the 20001 Stanley Cup after defeating New Jersey in a classic 7 game series. Blake's total effort that year was 1 shy of his second 60 point year.

He would follow that season by blasting 56 points on the stat sheet the next season. The Avs would lose the most star studded series filled with at least 15 current or future hall of famers, the Detroit RedWings would win that rivalry with a devastating 7-0 victory in the 7th game of the Western Conference Finals against Colorado. While that loss would mark the closest Blake would ever get to sipping from Lord Stanley's Cup again his individual success did not stall. He accumulated 4 more 40+ point years and even a 51 point season, his last in Denver. In 2006 Blake would return to LA for a second Kings stint. These Kings teams were rebuilding and never contenders but he was able to wear the "C" as a team captain for the first time. Blake fully cemented his place among the franchises best and guaranteed his jersey will be raised to the rafters someday. The last 2 years he stayed in Cali to chase a second ring with San Jose and continued to wear a C. The Sharks continued to under achieve but his career did not need any validation.

On top of his NHL career Blake also competed in 6 World Championships and 3 Olympics as a member of team Canada. During his international career he obtained 2 gold medals at the Worlds and an Olympic gold from the curse breaking 2002 Canadian team. You guessed it, he's in THAT club. He is one of only 24 players and 1 coach, Mike Babcock, in the Triple Gold Club having earned a WC gold medal, an Olympic gold medal, and a Stanley Cup ring.

Rob Blake played his prime in an era that included legends such as Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Joe Sakic, Mike Modano, and Brendan Shanahan as well as time that witnessed young studs like Crosby, Iginla, and Ovechkin begin to write their amazing careers. I guarantee all of those players along with the other greats of the time will label Blake as a hall of famer, he gave many of them fits trying to get by him. Blake also was able to put the biscuit in the basket 240 times (10th most ever for a defenseman) past the likes of Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Ed Belfour, and Curtis Joseph just to name a few.

Hockey's #4, Rob Blake final stat line looks like this: 1,270 GP, 240 Goals, 537 Assists, 777 Points, 1,679 PIM, 136 PPG, 243 PPA, 4 SHG, 15 SHA, 41 GW, on 3,896 shots.

Thank Me Now

OK I have to steer Marcus back onto the path of righteousness, because clearly he is a lost puppy and forgot that Kobe is not better than Magic and never will be.

Magic's Resume: 13 years, 12 All-Stars...MVP: 87, 89, 90...Finals MVP: 80,82,87...MVP runner up: 85,91...Top 5: 83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91...Leader: Assists 4x: Steals 2x: FT%1x...Career Avg: 19.5-7-11.2, 85%FT, 52%FG.

Magic's legacy started before he even stepped foot on an NBA floor. He was amazing at Michigan State, and even great in High School, shit he had to be with the nickname Magic, I am just saying that if your going to proclaim your self Magic you best have the game to back it up. Magic played in ten championships over a thirteen year span capturing six championship(included college). He co-captained the greatest basketball team ever assembled in the 1992 Dream Team, and also has one of the greatest names in the history of sports. Magic battled with the games greatest such as Erving, Bird, Moses, Isiah and Jordan. He was every bit as important off the court as he was on, he gelled with the city like none other, probably getting him into a little trouble. He transcended the game into what it is now, and i find it foolish of people to forget about him and all he did. Without Magic and Bird there is a solid shot there would not even be an NBA today. People need to stop naturally thinking that everything that takes place today is the best and greatest and start showing a little appreciation for one of the most influential athletes in NBA history.

Magic was the first underclassmen to ever be picked in the NBA draft, Magic entered the league at a time when there was a bit of a racial barrier in the league, at the time many people felt the league was "too black" that was never the case for Magic. Magic single handily won the 1980 championship for the Lakers by dropping 42-15-8 all doing it without Kareem. The only season in which Magic did not appear in the All-Star game was in his second season, where he missed 45 games due to a knee injury. Following that season is when we saw Magic at his peak, 82 Magic was defensive specialist and i would argue that 1982 Magic was better defensively than any of Kobe's years. That season the Lakers crushed teams with a ruthless half court trap which lead to Magic piling up 200 steals. No player has even come close to 1982 Magic, (18.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 95.apg). The most interesting point to note of all of that was that he was splitting point guard duties with NORM NIXON. The Lakers would have won the 1981 championship had Magic not gotten injured, Kareem wrote in his autobiography " We didn't repeat as champs in 1981 because Ervin got injured, and when he came back he had forgotten what made us and him so successful."

Marcus brought up the point of Tragic Magic, didn't think he would find that but none the less he did. The 84 Finals really hurt Magic, not only did Bird win but Magic handed it to him. He chocked in crunch time of game 2,4 and 7. How so, well he dribbled out the clock in game 2, missed ft in game 4 and made consecutive turnovers in the final 80 seconds of game 7. There was an SI article that summer titled "Johnson in the Clutch: Don't Call Him Magic, Just Call Him Unreliable." Well Magic's response to this was a fuck you in the 85 Finals where he dropped 18.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 14 apg.

From 87-91 Magic tallied three MVP's, 2 rings, made the Finals four times, won 60 plus games per year and this was all in his last four seasons of his career. How many players can say the twilight of their career was this impressive, i mean if Jordan had that stint with Washington.

Magic is the most amazing player who to ever run the fast break, yes kids better than Nash. His 6'9 height, huge hands and excellent vision allowed him to see the court like none other. He is the best leader in NBA history, yes better than Jordan. Magic extracted more from his teammates than anyone, whether it was a All-Star game, playoff game, or pick up game Magic got the best out of everyone. Kobe has quit on his teammates, Magic has never decided to stop shooting for a whole half to prove a point. He made every teammate better in ways Kobe has not. Maybe it is because Kobe's game is to score but Magic showed to could easily do that as well. Kobe has always had that feeling that he has to do it all and you saw glimpses of it even in this Final,s despite being 3-17 at one point he was still throwing up bricks. I love Kobe and by no means am a Kobe Hater, but Magic did as much as Kobe on the court so they have to be considered a wash in that department. If you arrived at that conclusion like me then I go to off the court, and here Magic blows Kobe away. Off the court still ties into being the greatest Laker because Magic transcended the game of basketball to what it is today. The only thing Kobe is known for off the court is a court case in Denver. Kobe is back on top, but lets not forget that once upon a time he wanted out of L.A for Chicago, hated his teammates, didn't want to listen to coaches and so on. All that has to be factored into the equation here. Lets not be prisoners of the moment here people, Magic is still a top the Laker pyramid.