After my 2 week sabbatical where I did nothing but celebrate the Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX Victory over the Seattle Seahawks (which I’ll get into later this month), here’s my wrap up of the past week in Sports.
1. Obviously the biggest news this week was the NHL’s first blockbuster trade of the season, which saw the much scrutinized Evander Kane, finally getting his wish, and being shipped out of Winnipeg. Kane had never really endeared himself to Winnipeg fans and media due to his behaviour off the ice and his inability to perform while on it. Plus, it really just seemed like he didn’t want to play for the Jets. Well, the good news for Evander, he’s out of Winter-peg. The bad news? He’s going to Buffalo. Plus, the Sabres aren’t very good, so double whammy.
Going to the Sabres are Kane and former 3rd overall pick, Zach Bogosian, while the Jets haul in former Calder Trophy winning Defenseman Tyler Myers, along with winger Drew Stafford and prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux.
The Sabres pick up a guy who still has a shot to turn his career around and get back to scoring 30 goals a season, as well as a solid blue-liner in Bogosian. Both haven’t lived up to their potential to this point in their careers, but they’ve got a fresh start on a rebuilding team that’s all but guaranteed to get one of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, especially after trading Jhonas Enroth for Anders Lindback and a Conditional 3rd, giving them 2 goalies with a combined 5 wins on the season. Tim Murray really knows how to tank.
I’m most impressed with what Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets were able to come away with, despite the other 29 NHL Teams knowing Kane was forcing a trade out of Winnipeg. Most people believe that Bogosian and Myers wash each other out (they have posted similar numbers recently and both are 25), but I’d give the slight edge to Myers. The towering D-man has demonstrated his offensive capabilities in the past and now has far more talent surrounding him in Winnipeg. Besides that, Stafford gives the Jets more depth at forward, and the additions of Lemieux and Armia strengthen Winnipeg’s already formidable prospect pool that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Nic Petan, and Eric Comrie.
The jury is still out on who won the trade, and this will surely be one transaction that fans will follow closely for years to come.
2. Of course, another big trade occurred within the past 48 hours, and this one hits a little closer to home for me. Those crazy Toronto Maple Leafs, who seem to have finally accepted that they must start from scratch in order to be successful again, packaged offensive defenseman Cody Franson, and winger Mike Santorelli, to the Nashville Predators for veteran centre Olli Jokinen, prospect Brendan Leipsic, and a 1st round pick in the upcoming draft.
It seems like both teams got what they wanted in this swap. The Predators get a top 4 D-Man to bolster a unit that already has Shea Weber and Roman Josi, as well as a productive 3rd line forward in Santorelli. It should be interesting to see whether Nashville attempts to retain the two at season’s end, as both are pending Unrestricted Free Agents.
Meanwhile, the Leafs make the wise decision of trading their future UFAs, rather than holding onto them for the entire season and then letting them walk for nothing (See MacArthur, Clarke & Kulemin, Nikolai). It was all but certain the Leafs weren’t going to be able to keep either, so to be able to get a high draft pick is a nice change. They just better not draft another Tyler Biggs with the pick. Toronto also gets Brendan Leipsic who led the WHL in scoring with 120 points for the Portland Winterhawks a couple of years ago, and seems poised to become the next Brendan Gallagher. Hilariously, Olli Jokinen is headed to Toronto as well. Yes, THAT Olli Jokinen. He is well past his prime, and has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to play in Toronto. He’s likely to be swapped for a mid to low round draft pick, so it’s OK Olli, we don’t want you here either.
All in all, can’t complain as a Leafs fan. This move is a step in the right direction.
3. Happy Birthday to Jaromir Jagr! The Most Interesting Man in the NHL! Jagr celebrated his 43rd birthday yesterday, and yes, he is the oldest player in the league. Let’s just look back on Jagr’s career a bit
- He’s 5th in NHL all-time scoring, that includes missing 2 seasons due to lockouts and choosing to go play in Russia for another 3, just cause he felt like it.
- He’s won the Art Ross 5 times (including 4 years in a row from 1998-2001!!!), the Hart once, and the Lester B. Pearson 3 times.
- He’s part of the Triple Gold Club
- He has a phenomenal mullet
- He’s been everywhere. A lot of people know him for his time with the Penguins, but Jagr has gotten around. After Pittsburgh, Washington, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston and now New Jersey
- He’s tough as hell and still in better shape than his teammates who are 20 years younger than him
- How much fun is it to actually say his name?
- He loves his Peanut Butter
- He rocked a Jofa
- The salute – which is an NHL celebration classic
So here’s to you Jaromir! The NHL salutes you! Including Danny Markov!
4. Remember Devan Dubnyk? Y’know, the Oilers former ‘Goalie of the Future’, who stunk up the joint, got traded to Nashville for an overpaid 4th liner, and then to Montreal for basically nothing? Whatever happened to that guy? Guess we’ll never know…
I’m only bringing this up because recently, the Minnesota Wild have been on an absolute tear. They looked to be well out of the playoff picture a couple of months ago; Head Coach Mike Yeo freaked out on his team in practice, and most were calling this season a write-off for Minnesota.
A few weeks ago however, they picked up this goalie from Arizona, and since then they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games, 23 of a possible 26 points, and are only 2 points out of a playoff spot. Most of that can be accredited to this new goalie, who’s posted a 10-1-1 record, with a .938 save percentage, 1.60 Goals Against Average and 4 shutouts! That’s incredible!
That mystery goalie? Devan Dubnyk. He never had more than 2 Shutouts in a season in Edmonton and his save percentage before getting traded last season was under .900. Dubnyk’s completely turned around his career, and who knows, maybe the Wild will sneak in after all behind Dubnyk’s resurrection.
5. On a sadder note, Steve Montador was found dead in his Mississauga home yesterday. He had a history of concussion problems and battled depression in the past, which may have contributed to his death. It seemed like Montador got along with everyone he met, and was also a bit of a character. Here’s a light-hearted anecdote on Montador in the wake of his tragic death.
Another NHLer that was taken from us way too soon.
6. This past weekend, the NBA held their annual All-Star festivities in New York/Brooklyn. The highlight of NBA All-Star Weekend every year is of course, the Slam Dunk Contest. Recently however, the Contest has turned into somewhat of joke; the best example being when the competition was entirely fixed in 2011 so that Blake Griffin would win.
This year was different.
Victor Oladipo had a sensational dunk in the first round that would’ve the best slam of the night in past years.
Then it was Zach LaVine’s turn to go.
And he absolutely blew the roof off of the Barclays Center.
LaVine plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently have the worst record in the Western Conference. But with Andrew Wiggins taking MVP of the Rising Stars game and LaVine winning the Dunk Contest, if you want to jump on the Timberwolves bandwagon, you should probably do that, right, about, now.
Also, I think Zach LaVine is a little bit happier now than he was when he got drafted.
7. While everyone always talks about the Slam Dunk Contest, this year the 3 point contest was getting just as much hype. The shoot-out contained 4 of the NBA’s top 11 in scoring, including James ‘The Beard’ Harden, Kyrie Irving and the Splash Bros., Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. It also had probably the best all-around shooter in the NBA right now, Kyle Korver.
If you’ve been around me recently, you’ve probably already heard me ramble on about Kyle Korver and how he’s on pace for the NBA’s greatest shooting season of all-time. His True Shooting Percentage, which takes into account Shooting percentage from the field, beyond the arc, and from the free throw line, is 73.1%! Kyle Korver is some type of android; he is as close to automatic as it gets.
But this was just Curry’s night. There’s a reason he got more votes than anyone else. 7th in scoring per game, 5th in assists per game, and the main reason why the Warriors have been so dominant this year.
He hit 13 in a row in the championship round and if he nailed that last 3, I’d have lost my mind. Stephen Curry is unreal, and not a day goes by that I don’t regret not buying a Curry Warriors Jersey in San Francisco.
8. The Celebrity All-Star game was another one of the highlights of the weekend. Kevin Hart looked to go for his 4th straight MVP by drawing as much attention to himself as possible by screaming nonsensically. He got it, unsurprisingly, because we all really just needed to see more of him. Getting a little tired of his schtick.
Team World beat Team USA in the Rising Stars Challenge, and Canadian Boy, scratch that, Toronto boy, Andrew Wiggins, took home MVP honours with a big performance. Alvin Gentry of the Golden State Warriors probably had the best quote about the game, saying “I think it should be North America against the World. Then that way, we get Canada.” There’s no denying the increase of Canadian talent in the NBA, with Wiggins leading the way.
Oh right, and then there was the actual game, the reason why all these events were happening. Kyle Lowry #NBABallot did start, so that ridiculous twitter campaign did mean something in the end, but the East lost to the West by a score of 163-158. Russell Westbrook won MVP and probably could’ve set the All-Star game scoring record if he didn’t get sat late in the game. No one’s more intense than Russell, and that’s one of the main reasons why he’s becoming one of the NBA next big superstars.
I just can’t wait until it all comes to Toronto next year.
9. Richie Incognito is back in the NFL, after signing with the Buffalo Bills to a one year deal worth 2.25 million. Now I get why the Bills would do it, their Offensive Line was one of their biggest weaknesses last season, and Incognito has shown in the past that he can play at a pro-bowl calibre level.
But how many chances are you going to give this guy? His entire career he’s had issues off of the field. When he was playing college ball at the University of Nebraska, he spat in players faces, got into fights at practice, was arrested for assault, and kicked out of the school. On talent alone, he was able to get drafted into the NFL, where he has been voted the dirtiest player in the league. Then of course, there was the Jonathan Martin bullying scandal. The things he said to Martin, who battled depression and contemplated suicide because of Incognito’s actions, were despicable.
This has to be Incognito’s last chance at the NFL, but the fact someone gave him another shot, pisses me right off. Incognito doesn’t seem to have changed one bit since his days at Nebraska, so why anyone would think this time will be different, is beyond me. I hope he’s a huge flop and is out of the NFL by season’s end. Incognito is the type of guy that needs the NFL, but the NFL doesn’t need him.
10. I’ll close by saying this: Pitchers and Catchers report for Spring Training in a couple of days. I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m excited that Baseball is only a few weeks away, because Baseball = warm weather, and let’s get real, NOBODY gets used to “Feels like -41” temperatures. The Boys of summer will be back soon. Go Sox.
nolancattell 
