T.J. Oshie is First Team All-Class

Americans, especially those who aren't full time hockey nuts like me, started falling in love with T.J. Oshie after his impressive shootout performance against Russsia in the Sochi Olympics...





That was just a taste of his skills that the fans in St. Louis and North Dakota already knew about...Then, back in March I shared THIS video of Oshie making a wish come true for a fan...

And then, I had posted on July 6th about Oshie being traded from the Blues to the Capiltals...And I shared the following video of one of his biggest fans...





Yes, Libby Lu was crushed by the Oshie trade, but was also very intersted in the pool he was going to have at the home he was building...But with being traded, having a home built, and getting prepared for his wedding, Oshie still kept his word, and sent Libby Lu a T.J. Oshie Capitals jersey, plus a bunch of other gear!

Look at that smile...That excitement...That's what a class act does...It doesn't matter where Oshie plays throughout the rest of his career...It doesn't matter if he scores 10 goals or 40 goals a season...It doesn't matter if he wins a Cup or not...This little girl, Libby Lu will be a fan of his for life...And she'll be a Hockey fan for life, because T.J. Oshie went that extra mile...He didn't just give lip-service for ESPN...He backed it up, just as he does on the ice...

Our sports world needs mor guys like T.J. Oshie...

And yeah, he's pretty bad-ass on the ice too...

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.

Monday Moaning

It's Monday and the NHL Trade Deadline is fast approaching...and while some teams made minor moves last week, like the CRIPPLE_FOR_A_CRIPPLING_CONTRACT_TRADE,  but I expect some big activity Monday...Although my New York Rangers got started Sunday...Trading defenseman John Moore, very elite prospect, Anthony Duclair and a 1st and 2nd round draft picks to the Coyotes for the defenseman most teams would like to add, Keith Yandle, and defenseman Chris Summers, along with a 4th round draft pick...The Coyotes are also retaining 50% of Yandle's contract which has one more year left on it...

The Rangers then moved Lee Stempniak to Winnipeg for Carl Klingberg...As well as acquiring James Sheppard from San Jose for a 4th round pick...I expect to see San Jose dump a couple more players as it seems they are throwing in the towel on their playoff hopes...Unlike the Rangers who are all in, Cup or Bust...

Other trades that have taken place so far...

Washington added some more grit mixed with skill acquiring Curtis Glencross from Calgary for a 2nd and a 3rd'er...

Chicago landed another very talked about Coyote, Antoine Vermette for defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and a 1st round pick...The Blackhawks also landed Kimmo Timonen from Philly for and 2nd and 4th...

Florida overpaid New Jersey with a 2nd and 3rd for old man Jaromir Jagr...

Pittsburgh added some bulk with Daniel Winnik for a prospect a 2nd and a 4th...

-In other Hockey related news...Many Americans fell in love with watching T.J. Oshie in the Olympics...He plays the game well in all aspects...And he does some other cool stuff...Just watch!





We don't get to see enough of these stories in the sports world...We get far too many stories of domestic abuse, drug use, DUI's, assault, and other idiot shit....Hell, I've heard more about a tape that may exist involving Dez Bryant, in the last week, then I have about athletes doing good deeds in the last 6 months...So is the problem the athletes? the Media? Or our voyeuristic need to catch people doing bad shit?  Probably a combination of them all...

I know in my posts I hit on the negative more then the positive...So I'm going to start looking and searching some of these positive stories...

But that's after I do my Beatles Research...I saw this Sunday night after getting home from work...




I always blew off all the Beatles "Hidden Messages" stuff, but now I figure I'll be up until 3:00 AM digging into all of it...

That's it for now...

Have a week...

The Beeze.

Monday Moaning

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day...Mrs. Beeze and I had a good evening...We landed a last minute babysitter, and got some quality adult time...It was great just getting out without the kids...

Then Saturday, I had to get up bright and early...Well, it wasn't bright...I had to get our oldest up and out for her Jazz Honor Band rehearsal...Then I fired up the coffee and relaxed in my chair to enjoy the USA vs. Russia hockey game...If you missed it, you missed a great game...Good goal tending...The U.S. team playing very physical...Non-stop action...3 periods wasn't enough...OT wasn't enough...A 3 round shootout wasn't enough...And each round, of sudden death shootout, coach Dan Bylsma kept sending T.J. Oshie out there...Why not? Oshie was the only American to score in the shootout...In total, he took 6 shootout attempts, and scored on 4...Including this game winner in the 5-hole...

American hockey fans fell in love with Oshie immediately...But he may have won everyone else over with his post-game comments, when he was referred to as a "hero" Oshie said, "The American heroes are wearing camo. That's not me."

This of course gave The Internet the ability to have another way to bash LeBron...

You'll never see me defending LeBron, but shit...It must really suck to be so hated that everyone nit-picks every fucking moment of your idiotic life "King!"

Then some creative guy threw this together...


TJ Oshie, Again-- CrossingBroad.com from Kyle Scott on Vimeo.

The U.S. blew past Slovenia 5-1 Sunday and will head to a bye in the Quarterfinals...Resting until Wednesday along with team USA, is Sweden, Canada, and Finland...If the U.S. and Russia square off again, it will be in the Finals...After the way Saturday's game played out, that could one hell of an exciting game...

The NBA had their All-Star bullshit this weekend...I paid no attention...I found watching skiers and snowboarders wiping out on the snow they described as "mashed potatoes" more enjoyable...

And did you see the Skeleton Slider who went airborne, and some how recovered...He didn't win anything, but he showed the world what a cockstrong mother fucker he is...

I guess what I'm saying in this post is, if you've been blowing off the Olympics, you're missing some good shit...Hell, the skiing events are great if for no other reason, then to show the IOC to never put the Winter Olympics in a place where the average February temp is between 50-60 degrees again...

Now, time for a random observation...

Sunday, I was at Church...I'm not a real churchy guy, but kicking into the offertory gets us a discount on tuition...And it's not a bad way to get an hour calmness in my life...And there is the people watching...I'm not going to act like the pillar of morality, but I found it annoying the number of females who walked into church with the words "Pink" or Love Pink" bedazzled on the ass of their pants...It just seems classless, and kind of poor taste for church...But then I saw the winner...A mother, wearing sweat pants that said "Juicy" across her ass...Really?!!?  If you're wearing juicy across your ass when you walk into "the house of God" then what the hell are you wearing on a Friday night out...A shirt that says "Fuck me here" with an arrow towards your crotch...Maybe the back says "Here too" with another arrow going down!

And before any of you try to ask me why am I checking out asses at church, I'll just tell you...I'm a fucking pig!  And some of the bedazzled glare gets in your eye!

That's it for now...

Have a week...

The Beeze.