Blue Jackets Changing on the Fly

After starting this season 0-7-0 the upper management of the Columbus Blue Jackets felt a change, a drastic change was needed...So this morning, after getting smoked by the New York Islanders last night, the 'Jackets fired head coach Todd Richards and hired John Tortorella...Torts contract is for this season and the next two, which is the same amount of time that was left on his contract with Vancouver...and Vancouver is paying "some of it"....Columbus had to send a third round draft pick to the Canucks

After a season full of injury on top of injury...The Blue Jackets scratched and clawed late last season to be a thorn in the rest of the NHL's side...When the season was over, Richards' job seemed secure and the 'Jackets were on everyone's list of teams to watch this season...That thought was bolstered by the off-season trade for Brandon Saad, and signings of a couple role players...

Well, if you have watched them, you have seen that they aren't very watchable...The numbers of mistakes made by their defense is horrifying...A team with high expectations starting 0-7 is no good, and a move of some sort seems to be demanded by either the media, the fans, or both...Richards ended last season getting high praise form both...Now he has been shown the door...How quickly things can change....

Tortorella, well known for being a pain in the ass to his players, has a 444-371-115 record as a head coach...And a Stanley Cup ring from his time as the Lighting head coach when they won it all in 2004...When Torts time ended with the New York Rangers being hated by his players, who made it clear they were happy he was gone...His tactics that worked when they were young kids coming up, had grown tired...

In Vancouver, Tortorella didn't have the players to play his style...And they didn't seem to willing to buy in to his temper and tactics...When the coach leaves the dressing room to go after the opposing coach in his team's dressing room, it says a lot about your team and/or a lot about how they feel about you, when they don't follow you in...

In Columbus, there are a number of young players, especially on the blueline, that could use a Tortorella kick in the ass...There are also guys like Brandon Dubinsky...

Dubinsky played for Torts in New York...He became the player he is because of Torts...Playing Tortorella hockey killed some of his offensive numbers, but he plays every other aspect of the game very well...He's a Tortorella guy...I just wonder if he wants to deal with it again...

Nick Foligno can play Torts hockey...He seems to fit  the mold...Saad can play it too...Christ, just walking in the door to Columbus killed his offensive numbers, so what the hell...Guys like Calvert and Atkinson, and Campbell will fit well into his system...

The guy who will have the most trouble with this move is rising superstar center, Ryan Johansen....

Johansen has all the skills...All the talent...He can play two-way hockey...But players like him often get caught in a tight spot with Tortorella...They are expected to play tight defense, physical, and then knowing their skills, Torts piles the bulk of the offensive pressure/load, on them...


I think Tortorella will help Columbus, but he may have to pull back on the asshole level slightly...His teams play D...This team has played no D so far...The 'Jackets will turnaround...I just don't know for how long...

Monday Moaning

Yep, more Hockey talk...Last week I posted THIS about NHL'ers and the Prime of their careers...That mixed with all THIS free agency and trade news, mixed with an idiot on Sirius XM's NHL Radio has inspired this Monday's post...

The Idiot is Michelle Sturino...And just when I didn't think her god-awful voice couldn't get more annoying, it did! I'm a big fan of NHL Radio, and most of teh hard "O" and "eh" shit doesn't bother me...And actually most of the guys there are professionals, and don't do too much of that shit...But Sturino in her TOrOntO studio is awful...The voice is nauseating...But it's stupidity and horrible topics are just as bad...

Sturino and some fill-in guy were talking Sunday afternoon, and the topic of all the free agents signings was up front, along with the Kessel and Oshie trades...Then they brought up the Brandon Saad trade...Little was said about the trade...Instead they were focused on the contract Saad signed with the Bluejackets after being traded there...

Rumblings came out that Saad, (at the time a restricted free agent) was offered 5 years at an average of $5 million a year, and it was turned down...Saad signed with Columbus for 6 years $36 million....

So Sturino started whining, "How much money is enough? What's more important, winning or money?" She was appalled that Saad would be willing to be moved out of the winning climate of Chicago for money...

Now I think all pro athletes are overpaid, (not talking about players in the minors [baseball and hockey]) but the market is what it is...So...

Hey dummy Sturino, Saad won two Stanley Cups making low money, why the fuck shouldn't he get paid? He's won, and he got moved to an emerging team...Besides that, he just a had a huge playoff performance that showed everyone in the hockey world, that he's just starting to hit his prime at 22 years old...

He's fast, strong, plays physical, plays excellent defense, and has plenty of offensive potential...He plays on the PK and PP...He's the type of player every team wants...Why the hell shouldn't he cash in....But besides that, this is Hockey...His career can end his next shift...Especially based on the way he plays...This isn't tiddlywinks...This is Hockey...If things go bad, this 6 year contract could be his last...These players need to think about the future too, not just winning...

Then this idiot Sturino was whining again..."What happened to the bridge contract? Why is no one doing bridge contracts anymore?"

A Bridge contract is a cheap 1-3 year deals to let players "prove" themselves...When an entry-level contract expires, players generally only have a few years of NHL experience and can be hard to evaluate....The bridge contract allows teams to evaluate their talent with a bigger sample size...


Hey, idiot Derek Stepan's last contract was a bridge contract, because the Rangers overpaid to get Brad Richards, and overpaid Marc Staal and Dan Girardi...So they pushed Stepan towards a bridge deal...Now he has them over a barrel because he's earned what the market says will be a $6-7 million per year deal...T.J. Oshie did a bridge deal before he signed his 5 year deal that averages over $4 million a season...

Teams and players do bridge deals...They aren't there for a guy to take a home town discount, they are there for teams to evaluate talent, and players to out-play their existing contract, and earn more money...

I'm not sure who hire Michelle Sturino, but they should be fired...Please, don't let just any TOrOntO dolt talk hockey because they say OH-ffense...Thay shold have  afucking clue too...Stupid stammering, stuttering, bitch!


-Now for something on the lighter side...In the past I posted a video of T.J. Oshie doing some fine charity working and making kids happy...Well, when he was traded this week to Washington, it broke a 5 year old girls heart...And Oshie, with some help from ESPN did his best to try to make her smile...






That's it for now...

Have a week.

Lots of NHL Moves...Who Won?

This past week the NHL's free agency period opened up...And while there were plenty of signings, the biggest moves were all trades...The first one, and the biggest one was the Toronto Maple Leafs, after much speculation, moving talented scorer, Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins...And while many in Toronto are happy to be rid of Kessel, the Penguins won this deal...

Kessel, with great hands, great skating, good speed, to go with his piss-poor defense, often out of shape, coach killing, locker room cancer ways, has driven people crazy since stepping into the NHL...Guys with his goal scoring ability don't get traded for no reason...Especially not twice...By all accounts the guy is a pain in the ass...He has a wealth of talent, but doesn't work hard enough...Doesn't play D...He's fat...But man can he shoot...And now he's going to a team where he has talented people around him, to feed him the puck, and he won't have to worry about D...Sidney Crosby has got to have had a boner since this news broke...There's a chance he'll actually be playing with an elite goal scorer, assuming the pair Kessel with him and not Malkin...Malkin and Sid don't play well together...So with this deal, the Penguins could have two high-powered lines...

And what did they give up for Kessel? Well, Kessel comes with two prospects who haven't sniffed the potential they are said to have in D-Tim Erixon, and W- Tyler Biggs...As well as a 2nd round pick...The Penguins gave up, Prospect F-Kasperi Kapanen, average prospect, F-Nick Spaling, and prospect D- Scott Harrington, who if I'm making a big trade, he is not the Penguins D prospect that I would trade for...They have better...Also the Penguins send conditional 1st and 3rd round picks...The Leafs may be rid of the Kessel bullshit, but they lost...

Pittsburgh also resigned trade deadline acquisition, D- Ian Cole...3 years for $6.3 million is a good deal for keeping your Blue line strong...

The other big trade...The St. Louis Blues sent star RW- T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals for F- Troy Brouwer, G-prospect Phoenix Copley, and a 3rd round pick...Ummm, Yeah, Washington is a big time winner here...Oshie gives them the ability to have two strong top lines...And makes their Power Play a lot better...Brouwer is an average grinder guy...And Goaltending prospects are often the toughest to figure out...Example, Rick Dipietro was a first round pick, and fucking horrible! Henrik Lundqvist is one of the NHL's elite goalies, and he was a 7th round pick...

There were a lot of rumblings that at least one of S. Louis's stars was going to get moved, so I wasn't shocked when it was Oshie...He was quite outspoken late last season about the teams lack of respect for their coach...

The next trade, and this one surprised the shit out of me...The Chicago Blackhawks traded pending restricted free agent W- Brandon Saad, prospect F- Alex Broadhurst, and prospect D- Michael Paliotta to the Columbus Bluejackets for forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, and a 4th round pick...It was no secret that Chicago was going to have to make tough decisions, and there are probably a couple more moves they will make to free up cap space...But trading the young, talented Saad who had a huge playoff run, caught a fee of us off-gaurd...

Anisimov is good, and Dano will jump right into the lineup as well...Tropp is a grinder who may end up in the AHL, and this will be Morin's second stop in Chicago, and not much is expected...Saad bolsters an already Talented and ready to burst lineup in Columbus...Adding him to their top six just made this already tough to play team, a real pain in the ass...Columbus locked Saad up this week with a 6 year, $36 million contract...Columbus wins this deal...

Signing-wise, the winners start in Alberta...Edmonton signed D- Andrej Sekera (6 years $33 million) and F- Mark Letestu (3 years $5.4 million)... Letestu is a well rounded player who can play on the PP and PK and will be a good influence with that young team...

Calgary signed RW- Michael Frolik (5 years $21.5 million) after a breakout season...They also agreed to terms with 22 year old D- Dougie Hamilton (6 years 34.5 million) after trading with Boston for him...They also inked G- Karri Ramo for another year at $3.8 million...Between their draft weekend moves, and these, both of Alberta's teams are looking good...

Arizona did well too...Signing back two players they recently traded...Stanley Cup Finals clutch performer, F- Antoine Vermette (2 years $7.5 million)   and D- Zbynek Michalek (2 years 6.4 million)...Also, solid backup goalie Anders Lindback (1 year $875,000) and tough guy, with some skill, Steve Downie (1 year $1.75 million)...

One signing jumped out at me, and could be a surprise win...The Ducks signed Goalie Matt Hackett for 2 years $1.2 million...Hackett (25 years old) was the third string guy in Minnesota, before he was traded to Buffalo...In Buffalo he was lumped in with a mess of goalies, and none quite got the shot to be the guy...Hackett has talent, and if he gets regular work, he could be really good...

Losers... Buffalo...Yes, they signed 2nd overall pick Jack Eichel...But on draft weekend they traded for Ryan O'Reilly, who comes with a big ego and an agent that feeds it, and wins apparently...At 24 years old, and 6 seasons into his NHL career, O'Reilly has only scored 20 or more goals in a season, once...Yet his agent was commanding big money, and that's why Colorado was eager to trade the physical, defensive Center...Well, Buffalo resigned him to a 7 year, $52.5 million deal...

The O'Reilly deal will lead to more winners...Guys like New York Rangers C- Derek Stepan, who just filed for arbitration...And a guy like Steven Stamkos, who will be  a free agent nest year...'O'Reilly got $7.5 million a year? I better get 10 or 11!'

Surprise...35 year old Brad Richards cashed in on his Stanley Cup run with Chicago, and got a 1 year $3 million deal with Detroit...Many didn't expect Detroit to be much of a player in free agency, but they did this, which was a tip-off...Because next they signed D- Mike Green for 3 years $18 million...Detroit is getting older, but always seem to move talented young guys into their lineup...Will these two moves payoff?

My Rangers did squat...They announced their GM Glen Sather was stepping aside, but staying President...His right hand man is the new GM...Now he must search for cap space, and resign 4 important restricted free agents...And he has no 1st round picks for a couple years...Thanks for the ass fucking Glen!

If I didn't cover your team, they didn't do anything that really grab me...Let me know how you think they did, or ask me about your team, I'll have some thoughts...I've been going through all the moves fro a couple days.