Training Camp Preview

Here it is! Only my second post of the month is the first in over two weeks. I've said before that I was hoping for some help on the Patriots blogging, but even the so-called "biggest Pats fan alive" won't blog about them because A.) he's too lazy, B.) he's too big of a homer and can't be objective, and C.) he does not know enough about football to blog with conviction. Well, as promised, I'm gonna be posting my Training Camp Preview, as well as my Regular Season preview for the Bruins. Hopefully the readers will fire back after I post this Preview and give me their thoughts (but they mostly don't because they're lazy and afraid to disagree with anything, Bmal excluded).

Four of us went to the Rookie Scrimmage the other day (Night 2) to get a first glimpse of guys like Tyler Seguin, Jordan Caron, and Joe Colborne. Unfortunately, Colborne suffered a mild concussion the night before and was not able to show off his skills to the crowd of over 14 thousand. Colborne's absence was a bummer, but it was still a successful night for the B's rooks, as they swept the Islanders with a 2-1 overtime win.

Despite Colborne not being in the lineup, the game offered a good glimpse of the B's future, and gave us a benchmark of what to expect in Training Camp. Now, many of the guys on the ice the other night were simply fighting for ice-time in Providence, and they know it. But there are a handful of guys that will be given a legitimate chance to play with the big club to open the season, and those are the guys I keyed in on when watching from roughly the 10th row (not bad for five bucks). The obvious one is Seguin. I'm guessing that roughly 12 of the 14 thousands fans that were there showed up solely to watch the team's new #19 skate. Seguin potted 2 assists the night before, but he was largely a non-factor in the 2nd game. He had a few nice rushes and let off a few quick wristers, but nothing close to a game changing play. The Islanders keyed in on him from end-to-end, and the pressure of having 14,000 show up to watch him must have watered down his performance. The one scary moment came when he was flung head-first into the boards in the first period, only to hop back up and get right into the play.

The most impressive guys on the night were the one's that most of the 14,000 in attendance had no idea about. The teams two second round picks (Jared Knight and Ryan Spooner) showed why the B's and Peter Chiarelli are so high on them. For one, they both have speed to burn...moreso Knight, who was blowing around dmen and winning battles for the puck in the corners to boot. For such a smallish and speedy guy, Knight seemed to play with an edge in his game and was much more physical than anticipated. While Knight played a very strong game, the most impressive players on Thursday night were Spooner and Maxim Sauve. Spooner had two goals and was all over the ice for 3 periods. He's not as fast as Knight, but he's got the hockey smarts and was probably 70 or 80% on faceoffs from my count. But moving on to the most impressive player in my eyes, Sauve. I was hoping that Sauve would break training camp last year with the big club. He had a very, very impressive training camp and was probably their best all-around player in the preseason. He'll never be mistaken for a guy like Marc Savard, but he's got a well-rounded game and never gives up on a play. Sauve was a stud on the few penalty kills that the B's had, and he helped set up Spooner's two goals (including the OT winner with a bullet pass cross-ice for the breakaway). Sauve was one of two guys I wanted to focus on for the game, and he reinforced my belief that he could possibly break camp with the B's.

The other guy I focused in on from the start was Yuri Alexandrov, the Bruins' second round pick from 2007 that has spent the last few years in the KHL. Alexandrov was in camp with the B's last season, and he was a huge disappointment, which ultimately lead him to sign an extension with the KHL and delay his Bruins debut for another season. The biggest problem, from what the Bruins are saying, is the Russian's work ethic. In 2007, Alexandrov fell to the beginning of the 2nd round (a projected top 15 pick) for that very reason, despite being compared to Sergei Gonchar at the same age. During the game, Alexandrov had a few plays that were enough to get excited about. He made a great pinch in joining the rush that led to an excellent scoring opportunity of the stick of Spooner, only to be robbed by the Islanders goalie. Then Alexandrov sparked a 2 on 1 from behind his own net with a tape-to-tape pass put on the stick of Jamie Arniel. Despite the few good plays offensively, Alexandrov made some stupid plays that might have made some fans say "send him back to Russia." The frustrating thing to watch with him was how often he put himself out of position. He's too "puck-focused" and seemingly doesn't pay attention to anything else. The best defensemen are those who compose themselves when the puck is elsewhere and position themselves accordingly, and Alexandrov is very clearly nowhere close. He showed some flashes, but he's still a year away from the NHL...at least.

Heading into camp, there are plenty of things to be excited about and several storylines to keep an eye on. The biggest story will be Marc Savard's post-concussion syndrome and how it effects the positioning of some prospects. Based on what the Bruins currently have, here is how I see the lineup panning out for their trip to Prague and Northern Ireland at the beginning of next month:

Line 1: Lucic - Krecji - Horton

Line 2: Wheeler - Bergeron - Recchi

Line 3: Ryder - XXXX - Seguin

Line 4: Paille - Campbell - Thornton

D1: Chara and Boychuk

D2: Seidenberg and Stuart

D3: Hunwick and Ference

7th defenseman: Adam McQuaid

We know who the goalies are going to be, barring injury that is. The first thing I notice from that lineup card (and again, that is all barring injuries and cap situation) is that the defensive unit is actually weak. Without Chara anchoring that unit, it's probably among the worst in the NHL. Chara happens to be good enough to make it one of the best, but it still has no depth to it. There is a reason Chiarelli talked with Calgary about Robyn Regehr and with Toronto about Kaberle. The Bruins are going to need to add a blueliner at some point during the season.

But the key to camp is the status of Marc Savard. The big XXXX represents his uncertain status. If Savard is able to come back, then it's an easy fill. But my gut tells me that the Bruins will play things extremely cautious with their center and that they may need to fill it with one of several prospects. If Savard is unable to make the trip to Europe, then filling that space relies on how they view the development of #19. They have a few options:

1.) If they want to move Seguin to the wing to start his career, they can plug the third line center hole with one of several talented youngsters. The first would be their 2007 first-round pick Zach Hamill. He played very well in his only NHL game against he Caps to end last season, and he was great last preseason. But his development has taken a long, long time and the Bruins still may not trust him. Hamill's playmaking skills and offensive-minded game probably make him the best parallel to Savard in the system. If Hamill isn't the choice, then they could look at two others to fill the spot: Spooner and Sauve. I would love to see Sauve make this team. For a Frenchman, he's got grit and he's well rounded. Spooner has the skills and the smarts, but I tend to think the Bruins want to leave him in junior for another year or two before exposing him to professional hockey.

2.) And now we have option two, which is probably more likely in the event Savard is unavailable. The two most NHL-ready prospects in the Bruins system lie on the wing, and the Bruins might be inclined to move Seguin to the middle in order to give one of these two a shot. Brad Marchand has grit and an offensive spark. He didn't show his offensive skills in his stint last year (only one point in 20 games), but the certainly showed he can skate with the big boys. He was a big part of their penalty kill when he was up, and showed that he wasn't afraid to mix things up despite being only 5'9". And then you've got the player who netted a hat trick in the first rookie game and has drawn comparisons to Patrice Bergeron for his two-way play...Jordan Caron. Like Sauve, it would be a shame to have to see Caron play an entire year in Providence. He's too NHL-ready and he's got too much promise. For a long-term fix (which might be necessary if they bury Ryder in the minors or just buy him out, and if Sturm never comes back), Caron is the easy choice. He's ready both physically and mentally, and has far more upside than Marchand.

Of course, Savard could be feeling great come October, and all of this speculation may be for nothing. But it will be this same group of players that Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien consider when they inevitably have to replace Ryder or Sturm, or when the first storm of injuries befalls the Black and Gold. The competition for very few spots should make this a great preseason for the B's, and we should all look forward to what these players are able to showcase.

Until the end of camp...

Money Talks

I've got a few things on the blogging agenda I'd like to try and talk about this morning. A lot has happened over the last week, we've seen brawls, a Russian guy finally got signed, and the Patriots finished up their preseason. Since I'm going to talk about hockey for the majority of the blog, I'll start with the less important stuff.

First off, I've added a new athlete to the list of "most hated." I never thought it was possible for fringe players and mediocre depth guys to be added to this list, but Nyjer Morgan managed to get on there. On a second note, Gaby Sanchez immediately inked himself on my "most loved" list for his spot-on impersonation of Mo Vaughn de-cleating George Bell. But back to Morgan. I don't know if that guy realizes he's barely Major League quality. Yea, you're fast, but do you realize that you're probably just the new Alex Sanchez? You can't play defense for shit (something he has in common with Sanchez), you have zero power to speak of, you weigh 128 pounds sopping wet, and your on the fucking Stephen Strasburg-less Nationals! I watched some clips of Morgan trying to run over various catchers a few weeks ago, and I guess I just started to hate the guy a little more. I'm all for competition, if you have to run the guy over to win the game, by all means run him down. But looking at Morgan against the Cardinals, he went after Yadier Molina when there wasn't even a throw made and Molina was standing a good 3 feet away from the plate! In fact, Morgan's attempt to run Molina over actually made him miss the plate and he had to run back to tag it. But back to the brawl. Yes, I would be pissed if I got hit once and then thrown behind in my next at bat. I'm not trying to place blame on Morgan for charging the mound, because I think he was completely justified in doing so. My beef with the guy is him coming off the field acting like he's 10 feet tall and strong as a ox! Dude, your 5'2" at best! But the funniest part of him coming off and raising his hands and taunting the crowd is that he got absolutely BLASTED in that brawl! First off, he charged the mound against a 6'9" giraffe in Chris Volstad. Mistake #1 because he actually had to jump to take a swing at Volstad. Then, when he did swing, he missed. Mistake #2 was landing back on the ground, because Gaby Sanchez absolutely destroyed him as soon as those cleats were planted. Then, after getting run over by the Marlins first baseman, the aforementioned giraffe got 2 or 3 good slugs right to Morgan's cheekbone. Moral of the story, Morgan got his ass absolutely handed to him during that brawl. Yea, you just got thrown at twice and you got the shit kicked out of you! Guy was coming off waving his arms like he had just defeated Floyd Mayweather, when in reality he probably needed a neck brace and most likely couldn't feel his face. Nice job, Nyjer!

Alright, now to the Patriots before I get all caught up in hockey talk. Preseason is finally over, and 8 days from now we'll be watching every football analyst say that they may have overrated the Bengals defense after Brady torches them for 5 TD's. I'm not kidding when I say that I think Brady could actually eclipse his TD record this year. Yes, Welker won't be 100% to begin the season, and Moss is 3 years older than he was in 2007, but Brady has so much depth! While Welker might not be himself just yet, Julien Edelman has a year under his belt and is on his way to being Welker-like in a few years. Add Brandon Tate to the equation, the guy moves faster than sound. Then you give Brady a two headed monster of Gronkowski-Hernandez at the Tight End position. Then, of course, you have Kevin Faulk out of the backfield. Moss might be aging, but he still makes DB's look like Pop Warner players at times, and he's in a contract year! The Patriots have had a few duds recently in terms of signing veteran wideouts to help the cause (Galloway and Holt), but wouldn't it be something if they went out and signed TJ Houshmandzadeh after the Seahawks cut him? Housh is guaranteed $7 mil this year by the Seahawks even if they do cut him, so chances are he'd come cheap. A receiving core of him and Moss on the outside, Welker and Edelman on the inside, Gronkowski and Hernandez at the TE postion, and Tate and Price as your flex options would be absolutely unstoppable! Now, Mr. Belichick might have other plans, and the Houshmandzadeh thing might just be a pipe dream. But it's fun to imagine how much damage Brady would do to this league if he had that core. Even without TJ, Brady is set to torch the league this year anyways.

But, now we get to the Patriots' Achilles heal, and it's something that was their strength during the Championship years...defense. We saw it at times last season that the defense was incredibly weak, and then it all culminated into one abominable showing in the playoffs, when there was absolutely zero answer for Ray Rice. Now, we're set to see the same struggles all over again. Yes, the defense is slightly improved from last year. Brandon Spikes is going to be a beast, I'm not sure how that guy lasted to us in the 2nd round this past draft, but thank you all 31 other GM's that passed on him. Then you've got McCourty, Pat Chung, and Tyrone McKenzie added to the fold. They don't lack athleticism, but they lack brains. If Brandon Meriweather knew how to play football, he's got the talent to be Troy Polamalu. Meriweather, much like the rest of the Pats D, does not have a brain...yet, and will be incapable of reaching that next tier until he learns how to harness his ability. I'm interested to see how guys like Darius Butler and Ron Brace will perform now that they'll be asked to do much more this season. We might not be having this conversation, either, if it weren't for injuries striking us already. Ty Warren stunk last year, despite a few solid games. But he was a valuable piece along that D-line, and his presence will be missed more than most can imagine. Then you've got Leigh Bodden, who I've never been a fan of, but he was still the veteran presence in that secondary and can absolutely bring the heat for a corner. They guy might be the slowest in the league at his position, but he can pop a guys helmet off no sweat. Bodden, while not a shutdown guy by any means, is a solid player and, once again, his presence will be missed more than most think (including myself). Here's to hoping that Brady and Co. can make up for our defensive shortcomings this year.

Now I move onto hockey. Kovalchuk finally signed! The NHL backed itself up against a wall when they reportedly gave the Players Association (now headed by Donald Fehr) an ultimatum when it came to long-term deals. Had they rejected this new deal for Kovy (which, by the way, does not circumvent the salary cap), it would have sent the league into a tailspin heading towards the beginning of the season. Donald Fehr and a stern negotiator, and the league must know it. Had they vetoed this deal, it would have been a certain lockout in 2012. Thankfully, like most people with common sense, they were able to see that this new deal for the Russian sniper was indeed legit and did not circumvent the CBA. The reason the first deal was rejected is because Ilya would have made $650,000 for the last six years of the deal. In that scenario, it's hard to fathom that he would still play in the NHL for peanuts. So, the Devils intent with that deal was two things. The first being the lowered cap hit. Rather than have a cap hit exceeding $7 million, they were able to get it under $6 million and make it far more manageable in the short term. The second idea for NJ was that Kovalchuk would retire as soon as his paycheck dropped down into 4th-liner territory. By him retiring, it would not be $650,000 that the Devils recovered, it would be the entire cap hit. They would have recouped just under $6 million in cap space when Kovalchuk retired, despite his salary being almost $5 million below that figure. Yes, the NHL treaded into dangerous territory when they rejected that initial deal, but they were able to come to amends and make things work for everybody. Had they, however, rejected this deal, it would have been an absolute shit storm that would have sent Kovalchuk to Russia and the NHL into a tailspin for the next several years.

Now that the Kovalchuk debacle is a thing of the past, the rest of the NHL can stop standing still and we can finally see some activity. It will start with the Devils freeing up cap space, because they'll need to trade either Danius Zubrus, Travis Zajac, or Bryce Salvador (or any combo of the 3) by the end of September in order to be in compliance with the salary cap. And it's not only the Devils who are over the cap and need to make adjustments, because there are several other teams that need to move money around (the B's and the Canucks to name two). The Canucks will try to move Kevin Bieksa in order to get under the cap, and I'm sure the Bruins will talk to teams about Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, and maybe even Savard. The Bruins are in a funky situation, though. They don't need to make their move until the middle of November or early December, when Marco Sturm will come off long-term IR and go back on the books. At that point, if Ryder hasn't moved and is still performing at last years pace, he'll probably just be buried in the minors and they'll take a chance on Jordan Caron or Brad Marchand at wing.

Also, the NHL goaltending situations have begun to iron themselves out. As predicted by BSP, Anti Niemi ended up in San Jose, where he'll be in a timeshare with Antero Niittymaki, and Carey Price ended up back in Montreal. No surprises on either end. Doug Wilson had to have known that Niittymaki wasn't a 60 game goaltender for a contending team when he signed him, and Niemi will help take some of the load off his fellow Finn. Then you have the curious case of Carey Price, who, by all means, could still become the best goalie in the league if he screws his head on straight. Again, him staying in Montreal comes as no surprise. If Pierre Gauthier had let him get away after they sent Jaroslav Halak out of town, he would have never made it out of Montreal alive. He basically had no choice but to come compromise with Price. The Canadiens are another team now financially strapped to some degree, so they might have to work on a deal to get one of their overpaid defensemen out of town (Roman Hamrlik).

Anyways, that's all I have for now. Believe me, the NHL is about to heat up in terms of trade talk and the rest of the free agents finding their homes, so I'll be back and buzzing about all of that. Rumor even had it that the Bruins were looking to bring Steve Begin back to Beantown for the veterans minimum, which would be money well spent if they're able to make it happen. For now, we have to wait.

Cops busted up the party

Once again it has been a week or more since the Sports Party saw a post. I realized this morning the reason for the slowness. First off, it's not like I am swimming in a pool of free time most days. But that's not an excuse. I finally realized that my slower pace on the blog is because I largely don't care about the sports going on right now. Yes, I do care about the Patriots, a blog post about how beastly Rob Gronkowski is will be here shortly. But the only team in Boston playing on an everyday basis during their respective regular season right now is the fucking Red Sox, and all of New England has lost interest in those bums. So I've decided to make a decision, and it's to blog exclusively about two sports, hockey and football. Now I can't promise that there won't be a baseball note or an NBA-bash in any of these posts, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. The way I see it, I'm hoping that once Week 1 comes around, Bmal will get off his lazy ass and right a weekly review about the only sports team he's ever been passionate about. It's an 82 game season, but I fully intend to put a full 82 game reviews on the BSP once the Bruins get fired up. So that is the status of the BSP moving forward here, at least from my point of view. I can't speak for Danny D or any of our other bloggers (maybe Wilson fires up Celtic game reviews once they start), but it's going to continue to be a slow month come September. In October, you readers will have plenty to read!

Now, a quick update I suppose...from the NHL. The Devils have allegedly submitted a "reworked" deal to bring Ilya Kovalchuk back to New Jersey, which seems like a big mistake on their part...yet again. The Devils' biggest problem last year was defense, and this deal will force them to empty out their blueline depth, probably by dealing Bryce Salvador. Heck, it already cost them a top 4 blueliner in Johnny Oduya to get him to the Jersey Shore. I'll be interested to see exactly what the cap-hit will be on this new deal. Not only will it force guys like Salvador and Danius Zubrus out of town, but it may jeopardize their ability to retain Travis Zajac or Zach Parise down the line. They are moving around an awful lot of parts here and jumping through hoops for a guy who actually made them a far worse team when he arrived last year.

The best thing about the Kovalchuk-saga coming nearly to an end is that it will finally allow the dominoes to start falling. Guys like Lee Stempniak, who scored 28 goals last year, are still without a team. For teams like the Kings, Islanders, Rangers, and Blues, Kovalchuk signing in Jersey will start their search for secondary options. Maybe the Islanders make a move to trade for Bobby Ryan, maybe the Rangers finally deal Brandon Dubinsky to the Flames, and maybe the goaltending market moves for the first time in what seems like months. Carey Price, once considered to be the best up-and-coming goalie in the league (and still possibly is), hasn't signed! Anti Niemi just won a cup and he's not signed! Something has to give.

Meanwhile, Paul Kariya is going to miss the upcoming season due to post-concussion syndrome. Too bad for Kariya, but worse for the teams courting him. The Penguins were seemingly an ideal fit for the aging player, but now he won't have the chance to play alongside Sidney Crosby. Teemu Selanne was hopeful of Kariya returning to Anaheim, but now that's not happening either. This news is going to change the market for guys like Stempniak, Bill Guerin, Tyler Kennedy, and Eric Belanger. Hopefully the market starts to see some actions and these guys are able to find homes, that way I can get my NHL Preview 2010-2011 under way.

Snails Pace

Yea, this blog has sucked since I started working. Without storylines and writing-manpower it's tough to keep the pace that the BSP was seeing in May and June. I would like to add some more writers to the mix, and thought that I had mere weeks ago, but the budget just isn't there for the time being. In the meantime, I've been a combination of lazy and uninterested. The blog has suffered as a result, but I'm sure the world has spun at the same exact pace. If all 9 of BSP's readers are in outrage over the lack of posting, please let me know so that I can tell you to fuck off.

A few weeks ago, when Brett Favre decided to announce his retirement for the eleventh time, nobody believed he was for real, including me. Rightfully so. The joke that continues to be Brett Fart has embarrassed himself once again. What's it been? Three or four years in a row now where he thinks he's fooling everyone by announcing his retirement? The worst thing about the whole ordeal(s) is the fact that the media absolutely eats the story up every year and runs with it for weeks or months on end. We already know that ESPN has become the Comedy Central of sports. They are physical and mentally incapable of delivering actual news these days. But back to Favre. Aside from Lebron James and Ulf Samuelsson, I'm not sure that there is a single more despiseable athlete for me. Yes, I do think he was robbed of the MVP award last year, but I still absolutely hate the man. Regardless of what he accomplished in the regular season in '09, it's common knowledge by now that he's choked away big games routinely over the past decade. So him saying that he came back "for his team" and to help them win a championship is complete fucking bullshit. Yea, maybe he's coming back out of love for the game...but I'm guessing that $20 million had something to do with his decision. Of course, he could have handled it like any other normal athlete and just never retired (fully knowing he was coming back anyways). But no, Brett Favre has to be recognized as a savior of the Purple. He has to be seen 10 years from now as the "ironman" who just wouldn't quit on his team. Rather than go through a non-dramatic offseason, he needs to have all the attention on him and would humbly like to be recognized as the greatest human to walk the planet. Fuck Favre. I said a few weeks ago that I'd only buy a retirement from him when he was 6 feet in the ground. So, Brett, go drive yourself off a fucking cliff you piece of shit.

I got the most angry segment of the post out of the way first, but it doesn't get much better from here. This time it's about the Ellsbury's and the Pedroia's of the world, more of the anger is directed at Ellsbury. First off, kudos to Theo Epstein on this one, and I've probably said this before. But the whole point of signing Mike Cameron was to be able to conserve Jacoby's body and place him in left, where he would supposedly be "less susceptible to injuries." Well, not only is Mike Cameron a corpse and a waste of all that money, but moving Jacoby to left actually resulted in him suffering the most "serious" injury of his career. Oh, and god forbid we parted with the guy last offseason for Adrian Gonzalez. Why have a perennial MVP candidate and 40 HR hitter when you can have a guy that steals 70 bases and still can't score 100 runs when playing for one of the best offensive teams in baseball and hitting leadoff. Anyways, Jacoby has missed the better part of this year (and probably the rest of it) with...queue the "laugh box"...a broken rib! If I were to venture an educated guess as to the amount of games Tom Brady or even Marc Savard has played with a broken rib, I wouldn't be able to count the amount on both hands and feet. So the fact that Ellsbury has A.) missed so many games due to a pussy injury and B.) left the team completely to "rehab" the injury basically sums up why so many Sox fans have abandoned ship this year. I love Pedroia, as a player and as a personality, but he's adding to the Red Sox team image this year. They are a team with a pussy mentality. They are missing Ellsbury because of his ribs, Mike Cameron because his teeth fell out, Pedroia because he bruised his foot, and Youkilis because of a THUMB injury. Add to that the fact that Beckett and Dice-K had their seasonal injuries and the reality of Papelbon being a douchbag and an overall shitty player these days and BAM, you have a recipe for fans jumping ship. Yea, the Pats are dealing with injuries and the Bruins are fresh off an injury plagued season, but at least their players missed time with real injuries...torn MCL's, ACL's, concussions, etc.

Speaking of the Bruins, tickets to their Rookie Game vs. the Islanders in mid-September went on sale, and they're only $5 each. So for $5 bucks I get to see a sneak preview of Tyler Seguin, Joe Colborne, and the rest of the Bruins future stars...and that's a bargain.

On a blog note...I would like to blog about the Patriots' preseason thus far, but I missed last nights game against the Falcons due to exhaustion, so I can't give a good review (unless the people want me to plagiarize LB's morning recap from the Hillman Morning Show). So, it is my hope that our football correspondent will step up to the plate and offer the readers (and myself) his thoughts on the Patriots outlook this year and what they've accomplished since mid-April and the NFL Draft. Brian, put pen to paper before school starts back up and you start bitching about your "absurd" workload and how tough it is to balance school and blogging. GET ON IT.

Hopefully I'll get another post up tomorrow or Sunday, but for now that's all I got...so don't call me Shirley.

Papelbon Sucks, and Brady's not signed....

Been several days since I last blogged, but with the new computer fired up and ready to go we should be seeing a little bit more consistency with BSP's activity. First off, I want to take a golden opportunity to shit all over Papelbon for his pathetic showing in America's Hat earlier this week. The Rays are giving the Sox a shitload of opportunities to be in a race that they have no business being in, and yet Paps still can't close the door with a 2-run lead and nobody on base. To think that the Sox have roughly the same record as they did this time last year is absurd considering the amount of games-lost-to-injury they've had this year. How is this team, minus Jason Bay, even competing? Dice K's injury woes and inconsistency were no secret heading into this year. But, couple that with the losses of Beckett, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Victor, Mike Cameron, Buchholz for a time, and now Kevin Youkilis. Those guys, with the exception of Cameron, account for roughly 90% of the Red Sox core players, Lester is the only healthy guy of the group! Yes, Adrian Beltre's resurgence has been a huge part of this team's success, but even with that considered I don't think anyone expected them to be sniffing the playoffs at this point. But that bring me back to the main point here, and that is Papelbon's assenine antics. When the Sox signed Lackey in the offseason, Papelbon said two weeks later that he didn't know it had happened. Like, yea, we know you don't live baseball all year round, and we wouldn't expect you to, but stop being a complete fuckhead and pay attention! Then you had his whole Cinco-Ocho ordeal where he was proclaiming himself to be the best thing since free online-porn. He was pissed last year when the Sox brought Billy Wagner into the mix, and he was pissed this offseason when some labeled Daniel Bard as the future closer of this team. Turns out Papelbon was talking the talk he couldn't walk. Yea, he was elite for a few years. But now he's a guy with a mid-90's fastball, a walk-on-water mentality, and not much more. To put it simply, he's just not that special. A friend recently argued with me about Papelbon's importance to this team and his future in the MLB, saying that "he is the next Rivera." Umm, yea....'bout that. More like the next John Rocker. He peaked early, and he was instrumental in bringing that second World Series to the Sox, and for that we should be grateful. But right now, we must realize that no matter his mentality and reputation, he's no more than a middle-of-the-road closer, and that Daniel Bard is already the superior pitcher.

Now to the Patriots, and this might even be the first Pats-related material in the history of the BSP (I can't remember right now but I think it might be). I've been waiting months for Bmal to grace us with his "high" football IQ, but he hasn't pulled through just yet. As I have been in the past with the Sox and the Bruins, I will be now with the Patriots...critical. How we have managed to get this far into Training Camp without Brady locked up long-term is a joke! It's incredible to see how much the organization takes for granted sometimes. Back when Brady signed his first extension, he took significantly lower than market-value in hopes that the team would surround him with championship-caliber players to build a dynasty around. Well, after Brady signed his hometown-discount of a deal, the Patriots proceeded to dump Deion Branch and David Givens, followed by Asante Samuel being ushered out of town. Yes, they did go out and spend in 2007, I can give them that. Bringing in Moss and Welker helped create the best offense the planet has ever seen. But that's not the point. The point is that they spurned Brady the first time around. He took a "cheaper" deal so that they could allocate some of those dollars on players like Branch and Givens, yet they decided to play the "value" game and spurn those players and shipped them away. Something tells me that Brady won't be giving the Pats the same hometown discount this time around, especially when noting the insane amount of guaranteed cash Sam Bradford just got (that whole system is a joke, but that's for another time). To put things simply, Brady is the face of the franchise and one of the faces of the biggest pro sports operation this side of NASCAR. Not only that, but he's still among the elite quarterbacks in the league. The thing is, though, is that they haven't spent that money elsewhere! So they have no excuse! Yes, they overpayed for Banta-Cain to come back, which was mistake one in some ways. But they haven't made any significant splashes this year! They could have gone for Julius Peppers, but nope, the "value" wasn't there. They could have signed Jason Taylor (who is semi-washed up, but still a good player), but no, let the Jets take him. Even worse, they are treating their own best Offensive Lineman like garbage. Logan Mankins is a fan favorite because of his tenacity, but he's also one of the league's premier guards! Yet, rather than give him a comparable deal to Jahri Evans, they lowballed him (it was a good offer, in fairness to the Pats, but not comparable to Evans' deal, and Mankins is the better player). The Patriots absolutely have to get it into their heads that the window is closing on the Brady era. Welker will never be the same as he was these last few years, Moss isn't getting any younger, the defense is still as suspect as it was last year (if not moreso). So please, Kraft and Co., you've done a great job in building this team, but PLEASE realize that your window for a championship with this core is closing fast, don't spoil the opportunity by being stingy!

Tidbits:

-As far as activity in the NHL this weekend...Tomas Kaberle's no-trade clause kicks-in on the 16th, so if he is going to be moved at all, it's happening this weekend. For a lot of teams in the Kaberle-chase, a deal for them hinges on their interest level in Kovalchuk. For some teams, Kaberle is the ultimate prize. If the Kings feel that they are no closer to a deal for Kovalchuk, I could see them making a pitch for the Toronto defenseman. But, for now, with Kovalchuk still a big question mark, I think it's going to be some dark-horse team like Columbus or Tampa that steps up to the plate and nabs him. It could all just be smokescreens by Burke, and Kaberle could stay, but my bet is that he's packing his bags this weekend.

-Ty Warren's out for the year now, terrific. While Warren was a shell of his former-self last year, he's still a huge upgrade over guys like Gerard Warren and Myron Pryor. This just makes it all the more frustrating that the Patriots failed to make a splash this offseason and bring on and impact pass rusher like Peppers. Yea, nice job bringing on failed first rounders like Damione Lewis. This stupid "value" mentality like the Red Sox really pisses me off sometimes.

-Just watched the first Hard Knocks of the season. All I can say is that if I weren't a Pats fan, I would be a Jets fan. Rex Ryan is a great coach, and he's a great personality for that city. Kudos once again for Woody Johnson putting him behind the wheel last offseason. And although Revis is holding out, I can still see them being a dangerous team. Revis makes them SuperBowl contenders, but I still think they can contend for the playoffs without him. We'll see...

Back to the Pile!

The independent arbitrator dealing with the Kovalchuk hearing has decided that Ilya's 17-year pact with the New Jersey Devils is null-and-void. This, by default, makes the league's most heralded free agent in the last five years an unrestricted free agent once more. As I posted yesterday, almost all major offseason activity in the NHL hinges on where Kovy ends up. It's somewhat amazing that a 40+ goal scorer is still on the market as we approach the middle of August. Most teams already have a basic understanding of where they stand going into the 2010-11 season, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions are all parties involved in the Kovalchuk sweepstakes (and possibly the Kaberle negotiations as well). I can't imagine that a new deal for Kovalchuk will take nearly as long to hammer-out as the first one did, so expect the Russian to sign on with the team of his choice by week's end.

I was a skeptic when the Devils chose to re-ink Kovy a few weeks ago, and I remain critical of that decision. To me, it would be a huge surprise if they devoted a higher cap hit to the sniper who, by all means, made them a worse team last season after he arrived. With Zach Parise headed toward free agency next season, the Devils have more important items on their agenda. Having said that, they certainly will explore bringing him back and should not be eliminated altogether.

My prediction, and yes, I'm going bold on this one, is that Kovalchuk sticks in the NHL and signs with the Islanders. I know that the boys on Long Island have gone relatively unnoticed throughout this debacle, but it seems like too good a fit! The Kings and Devils, even maybe the Rangers, have hogged the rumor mill surrounding Kovalchuk, but I think the Islanders represent the best fit. You have a team that has struggled to draw an audience at home since the lockout. Last year, John Tavares helped restore interest in the team. If they are going to stay on Long Island and get a new arena, they are going to need to prove to the league and ownership that they are capable of drawing fans to their games. A team consisting of Kovalchuk, Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Nino Neiderrater, Mark Streit, Rob Schremp, and possibly Kiril Petrov or Kiril Kabanov would be a fun team to watch (keep in mind that Kabanov was compared to Kovalchuk during this past Entry Draft, yet slipped to the 3rd round because of attitude concerns). Not only would Kovy add electricity to their lineup, but it would prove to fans that the team is dedicated to winning NOW. Again, this is a move that probably makes too much sense to actually happen, but if the Islanders want to survive in the long-run, they might want to strongly consider this possibility.

Calm Before the Storm

We are about a week away from any significant movement in the NHL. With Kovalchuk's arbitration hearing already behind us, the hockey world is just looking for "The Decision: NHL." Rumor is that ESPN will be starting a series called "The Decision." Lebron was just the tip of the iceberg. Kovalchuk's one-hour special will air at some point this week, and Brett Favre will follow it up by announcing his return in a week or two. Other rumored decisions include the purchase of the Texas Rangers, Roger Goodell's decision whether or not to have a lockout in 2011, and David Stern's decision on whether or not he will grow back his mustache. But back to the NHL. It's unlikely the league will see any significant movement before Kovalchuk has been anchored in place, whether it be on the Jersey Shore, in Hollywood, or somewhere in Siberia. Once that happens (we already thought it did once), we should see the dominoes start to fall. Kaberle will be dealt, free agents will finally be packing their bags, and any other trades or cap-casualties will fall into place. Before we are uprooted by the oncoming storm, I thought I'd try and predict how many levee's are going to fail with the storm...too soon?

Kovalchuk: There is no way that the independent arbitrator dealing with this case is going to overrule the league's decision on this. Yes, the league should have put their foot down much earlier when it came to these front-loaded contracts, but this deal was so painfully obvious that they almost couldn't let it go. Had Bettman and Co. done this a long time ago (Pronger, Zetterberg, Hossa, Savard deals) then we wouldn't even have a problem. But to have Kovalchuk's cap hit at around $6 million when he is actually going to be making $11 million is absurd. The deal, without doubt, circumvents the league's salary cap, so it's likely we will see the arbitrator uphold the league's decision. With that said, I think Kovalchuk still stays in the NHL. If the Devils are forced to shorten the deal and take a higher cap hit, then they might balk at it and focus their attention on Zach Parise's new deal. Maybe NJ takes the high cap hit to keep Kovy. If they pass, I would expect the Islanders (yes, the Islanders) or the Kings to jump all over Kovalchuk and get a deal done quickly. Once all of this is finalized, we will start to see some of the following activity:

Lee Stempniak: For a guy who had 28 goals last year, including 14 in the last 18 games in a playoff run with Phoenix, it's pretty remarkable that he's still on the market...especially when you consider he is likely going to get $3 mil a year as opposed to $5 or 6. Stempniak is an affordable two-way player with a great shot and a knack for scoring powerplay goals. My guess is that he will sign with Buffalo. The Sabres, for reasons unknown, walked away from a very good player in Tim Kennedy (despite his price tag only being $1 million for 1 season). The only reason I see for them to pass on a good player like Kennedy is if they are targeting a better option in free agency and needed that cap space. Stempniak would be a solid fit with the Sabres, and they now have the cap-space to get a deal done.

Tomas Kaberle: Kaberle has been the subject of trade rumors for years now, which makes you wonder if anything will ever get done or if this is all just fun speculation. The problem with Kaberle moving is his price tag, and I don't mean the actual dollar amount ($4 mil cap hit). The tough part to moving him is going to be Brian Burke's asking price. At last years draft, Burke tried to deal Kaberle to the Bruins for Phil Kessel. In that deal, the Bruins thought they were getting the Leafs first round pick, but there was some confusion, and Burke was demanding Kessel (a 36 goal scorer) and a first round pick for Kaberle. With an asking price like that, it's no wonder they haven't been able to move him just yet. Kaberle is one of the league's premiere puck moving defenseman, so there certainly is plenty of interest. There have been rumors that the Sharks are interested, but those don't make too much sense to me. The Sharks already have an elite puck-mover in Dan Boyle, and two rising-stars in Jason Demers and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The Sharks are more in need of a big-hitting, stay-at-home defender these days (in the wake of Rob Blake's retirement). My guess here, is that either the Devils or Kings will make a move for Kaberle. One of those teams will lose-out on the big prize and focus their attention to the Leafs d-man. My guess is that it will be the Kings calling. If Burke were to deal with the Kings, I'm sure a package consisting of Wayne Simmonds and either Oscar Moller or Thomas Hickey would be plenty to facilitate a deal.

Marc Savard: There have been plenty of rumors that the Bruins would like to deal Savard, and it's fun for NHL geeks like myself to speculate as to where he might land or what type of package he would fetch. The big reason for the rumors is the Bruins' cap situation. For now, the B's are roughly $2.5 million over the cap, and getting rid of Savard's $4.17 cap hit would largely solve that problem. But, while it's fun to think about what could happen to Savard, the Bruins have several easier-fixes to the salary cap situation. What I'm trying to say is that Savard isn't going anywhere. First of all, why would the Bruins get rid of Savard after they just replaced Kessel? They went out and got Nathan Horton to help their scoring woes of last season, so it would hardly make any sense for the team to get rid of it's best playmaker. And even financially, there are better options. Firstly, the cap-situation won't become a real problem until mid-November, when Marco Sturm will need to be taken off long-term IR and put back on the books. So fixing the cap isn't necessarily an immediate problem. But, come November, when Sturm is back, the Bruins could simply just bury Michael Ryder's $4 mil cap hit in Providence and POOF, cap problems solved. Trading Savard at this stage just doesn't make sense...well, unless they are able to get a Kaberle or a Regehr in return. But the chances of getting either of those guys in return is slim, just as slim as the chances of Savard playing elsewhere in October.

2nd-tier Free Agents: Guys like Willie Mitchell, Bill Guerin, Paul Kariya, and Teemu Selanne are still without places to call home. Well, Selanne is going back to Anaheim if anything, but that remains to be seen. Once the Kovalchuk situation figures itself out, we'll see these guys finding homes left and right. The intriguing player here, for Bruins fans, is Guerin. There has been widespread rumors saying that there is "mutual interest" between the two sides and that things could heat up shortly. While you don't want to see the Bruins adding more sets of 40 year old legs, Guerin can still play. If they could get him at a Recchi price ($1 million), then it would be a very good way to replace Ryder, should they bury him in the minors. Guerin still has an elite wrist-shot and would be a very good leader for the B's. Here is where I see these guys landing:

Guerin - Boston
Mitchell - Washington
Kariya - Pittsburgh (to replace Guerin)
Selanne - Anaheim


Goalies: The Blackhawks made perhaps their biggest mistake of a mistake-filled offseason when they let Anti Niemi walk last week and replaced him with an aging Marty Turco. Rather than the goalie market getting thinner, the Blackhawks added the most attractive piece to it. Niemi, Jose Theodore, Andrew Raycroft, and Vesa Toskala still remain without homes. There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the first two of that group, but it's unlikely that the other two will find NHL gigs. Then you have to add the Carey Price fiasco to this. Will the Canadiens give up on Price negotiations and focus their attention on Niemi? Might they even go with both of them? If the Canadiens let Price walk after dealing playoff-hero Jaro Halak, there will be uproar in the greatest hockey city in the world. So Price is staying, whether the Habs like it or not. I don't think their cap restraints will allow them to have both him and Niemi, so Anti is gonna be heading elsewhere. My predictions:

Price - Montreal
Niemi - San Jose (no way can they possibly think Antero Niittymaki is a 60-game goalie, no way)
Theodore - Nashville


In addition to all this mess, there is a bevy of remaining RFA's (Bobby Ryan, Wayne Simmonds, Peter Mueller, Chris Stewart, James Neal, Patric Hornqvist, Marc Staal, Martin Hanzal, and Steve Downie). All of those guys are team-changers. Most, if not all, of those forwards are 1st or 2nd liners, and then Marc Staal is a #1 defenseman in the making. However, it's unlikely that too many of these guys are going to be moved. They will either resign with their current team or holdout into the season. The most likely to be traded amongst this group is probably Simmonds. The most likely to holdout into the season is either Ryan or Staal. These players hinge less on the Kovy happenings, but we should still see some activity in the next weeks regarding their new contracts.

Well, this was fun, and now we play the waiting game....(I couldn't find the Family Guy clip of Peter saying that, but maybe one of my fellow BSP bloggers will come across it).