NHL Trade Bits & Bites #2

Moving on to some other possible NHL trade moves:

• Anaheim Ducks need a 2nd line Centre.  Could trading JS (waive the no trade?) or Hillier be in the cards?  Highly doubt it but it may come to that if they want post season success.  Bret Hedican and Francois Beauchemin (if healthy) could be trade bait but what could you get in return for both or either?  Not a 2nd centre.
• Atlanta Thrashers are in need of team D.  Any trade to this end is worthwhile.  Any trade in any other direction is beyond ridonkulous.
• What to do with Sean Avery in Dallas?  He might get packaged out by the deadline as part of a bigger deal.  But we doubt he’ll be even ready for the NHL by the deadline so we see him getting put on waivers after the deadline and if a particular team didn’t get what they wanted on trade day, he’ll be gone.  Ranger or not.
• LA Kings, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks will all be silent on the deadline.  Except for the Kings, they all might trade a pick for some insurance depth.  Kings need to stay as hot as they are now to make the playoffs. We don’t forsee them sacrificing their youth for a 2009  playoff run.

More to come!

You Can’t Say Enough About Him

We are glad Avery is seeking professional help.  If we were the commish, he wouldn’t play until he’d finished a program (a la Theo Fleury).  But a 6 game suspension is a slap in the face to every player who ever got hit from behind, received a concussion, was intentionally injured, and/or nearly died on the ice.  Recently those kinds of infractions got the offenders less of a suspension than Avery.  What is the message the NHL is sending out here?  That it is not ok to insult?  But go ahead and maim all you want?  Both are bad.  Both need to be treated seriously and obviously one is not.   This story is far from over and another case of Does the Punishment Fit the Crime.

In other news, tonight’s sked is a great one if you are at all a fan of the Northwest division.  Should be a dandy night in a division so tight!  Can’t wait! The beers are already chillin’!

Plus ever need help figurin’ out the NHL cap?  Check this site out!

The Season is a Marathon, not a Sprint

When we first started his blog 2 months ago we didn’t want to just blah, blah, blah about just anything. There’s just too much junk and garbage already on the internet.  We didn’t want to become a blog that just kept posting so there was new material here often.  Rather, we want to post when we feel we have something to say.  Our mantra is to only post when the spirit moves us. What this means in a literal sense is our posts will only be made when the bell goes off in our heads and shouts “we can’t wait to write about this!“. If that doesn’t happen, then expect zilch at The Hills Are Alive.  The plan moving forward is that we do hope to get moved to write more and more and only time will tell of course if that happens.  In the meantime,  do stay tuned!

Having said that, recent news in the sporting world has once again moved us to write. With the Cirque de Burke now official in Toronto, the Raptors have replacing their head coach and Avery’s outburst all making headlines, we just had to have our say. But not about any of those things…..haha! Ok, enough with the kidding… we do want to address those things.

Brian Burke is now the GM of the Leafs. What does this all mean? No much in the short term. He’s vowed to let the team personel prove their worth and even gave a trade moritorium over most of December. Essentially that means there will be no changes until the new year. The long term diagnosis is debateable. He definitely appears to be the right man for the job and has said all the right things during his brief press conference over the past weekend. We think Burke’s the man to lead the Leafs to the promised land. Just be patient in a Colangelo way Leaf fans and you’ll be rewarded.

Speaking of the Raps, we morn the loss of Coach Sam. His departure was written all over his face after the 39 point loss to Denver on Tuesday night. It was clear he had lost the players attention and when that happens, frontier justice is swift in the professional coaching world.  Bryan had pull the trigger.  Any GM worth a grain of salt would have done the same.  Sam, we will miss your bluntless, sense of humour and “matter of fact” approach.  Now the focus switches to the Canuck Jay Triano at least for the short term.  Enjoy your time in the limelight Jay as we predict you’ll have luke warm success but when Bryan’s man comes in, you’ll be finally shown the door.  But don’t fret, the NBA will still need ya!  Just you’ve been with the team for a long time already (in many capacities) and if the team is to move forward, a fresh bench is needed for long term success.

Sean Avery’s comments were horrible.  The punishment swift and just.  But consider a few things: 

• That the NHL needs Avery just like the NBA needed Denis Rodman.  The press this has gotten the NHL is something the league couldn’t buy with a million bucks.  Rodman had his time expire.  Avery has yet to reach that point.  NHL should milk Avery for every cent they can if they were smart (which is debateable).
• Avery is smart guy and only makes comments/actions thinking 2 steps ahead.  He got the NHL during the last playoffs to make a rule change (exposing the league for the blundering idiots they are.)  The NHL always say they can’t make rules changes without the Board of Governors consent and then go ahead on a whim and make a rule change right in the middle of the playoffs!  It remains to be seen what this exact outburst will bring but there is always something behind Avery’s actions and we doubt this case is no different.
• The comments were bad enough but did the sports media need to play it over and over and over again?  The answer is no.  Next time, bleep them out just like you would this you  $$^#*!@ jerks!  Where was the sensitivity in the media?  They were just as guilty as Avery IOHO.  As we write this its been more than 36 hours since the comments were made and they are still airing unbleeped in headlines everywhere on TV!  When will the shame on the game end?  Most likely never thanks to the media.
• Our Avery Prediciton?  We see him suspended til’ January.  Maybe longer by the Dallas Stars and then placed on waivers/traded.  The team will have to eat some of his salary but he’ll play again this year.  Just not as a Star.

Lastly, check out Toronto Sports Media for all things sports and media related.  We visit there often and recently enjoyed their take on the Toronto Sports Radio scene.

They’re Looking at 3rd Down & Forever

Prediction time!

This will be the Buffalo Bills coach’s last season.  Only a Super Bowl win can save Dick Jauron now.  The Bills in Toronto Debacle won’t be his last game no matter what the outcome.   Jauron will last the season but he won’t be back.  Speaking of Bills and blogs, why even bother with an official Blog for the Bills in Toronto if you don’t even bother writing in it during the week of?  (as we write, the last post was on Nov. 30th meaning 3 days away from the BIG game, the last post was on the last game day for the Buffalo Bills).  Honestly, if this was a big deal (we believe it is) , the blog should have daily if not, multiple daily posts counting down to the main event.  There’s more than enough story lines and material out there for the Historic NFL Event.  Talk about dropping the ball in the Red Zone!  Its the first NFL game ever in Canada!  Blog like the event deserves!

Things we’ve found interesting of late:

• Bryan Berard likes playing the in KHL. Whaaatttt?
• Six NBA games to watch in December is a good read.  Mark Christmas day down!
• The NHL was wrong to suspend Avery. 
• Avery is done in Dallas.  Hello Atlanta Thrashers!  They sure could use the profile!
• This Star article explains the reasoning for legalizing gambling which oddly echoes the same reasons for legalizing pot. Does this mean the paper will be coming out in favour of pot legalization too? When reading the article substitute the word “gambling” with ”marijuana” and you’ll see what we mean.
• Ted Rogers legacy will be long and lasting and he’ll still have an effect on the landscape moving forwards.  The 2010 Olympics will be considered the Cell Phone Games.  I can’t wait to watch it on my phone.  Whodathunkit?  Ah, Ted did and years ago.  Tuesday was a sad day indeed.