Saturday, March 7, 2009

"Band-Aid To Stop A Gushing Wound!?!"

I heard this expression a couple days back and I immediately had a 'Eureka!' moment on how this phrase relates to the NHL this season...

The Top 5 Moves This Season In Hockey That Are Like "Using a Band-Aid To Stop A Gushing Wound":

1. Dallas Stars signing Sean "The Idiot" Avery in the off-season to a ridiculous 4 yr - $15.5 million dollar contract. We all know now how well that worked out. Even I was amazed how much the Stars improved after they ditched him. An example that best exemplifies "addition by subtraction".

2. NY Rangers strike again when they claim "The Idiot" (Don't make me say his name twice in the same post - if you want to know how I really feel read this post) on re-entry waivers from Dallas, who were the ultimate big winners in this transaction. This headline maddened me just to read "The Idiot" and "successful return" in the same sentence. Send this guy to Siberia in the KHL for a minimum of 1 yr and then I might accept giving him a chance back to the big leagues.

3. Steve Downie slashes an official and gets a 20 game suspension in the NHL. Are you kidding me?!? With his history, this is another slap on the wrist. Another Siberian solution might work for him - I kind of think he needs a minimum of 2 years though!

4. Maple Leafs sign GM Brian Burke in another version of hockey's worst kept secrets. I'm not a fan of this arrogant guy and I think he's gotten more credit than he deserves in some of his various NHL stops, I guess it is somewhat of a step in the right direction for the Leafs, who can't do any worse really. I was disappointed in what he wasn't able to do at the trade deadline. I agree with holding onto Kaberle, but I thought more moves could've been made.

5. NY Rangers firing Tom Renney. Do you really think Renney was the problem here? I'm amazed he had them in a playoff position. GM Sather and his misguided FA signings should've been the one to go. Good luck Tortorella!

Feel free to comment on the above or add your own events that qualify.


5 comments:

The Hockey Spy,  Mar 8, 2009, 12:48:00 PM  

Hey Paul: Thanks for the enthusiastic endorsement! ;)
So...you think Avery, Downie are Lady Bying candidates, then?!?
As for Mr. Burke, I don't deny his success with the Ducks, but he is NOT the hockey demi-god most would have you think...In actual fact, it was previous Duck GM Bryan Murray who gave Burke a GREAT foundation, after drafting Getzlaf & Corey Perry and signed Chris Kunitz. To his credit, he did bring in Niedermayer, Pronger - which wasn't exactly uncovering diamonds in the rough. He also signed Selanne, who would only play for Anaheim anyway. Check out some of the following aritcles:
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/08/26/brian-burkenot-so-good/
http://www.tosports.ca/?p=1912
I hope he does bring some success to the Leafs organization - by Zeus, the fans deserve it. Unfortunately, he's likely to bring more quotes to the sports media than great hockey moves.
In the words of Jim Rome:
"Boom...outta here!"

JAG,  Mar 8, 2009, 10:43:00 PM  

Pretty entertaining article. I disagree about Burke. He's a solid GM and since taking over the Leaf's has made some decent moves, albeit it wasn't exactly hard to improve on the way things were be run pre-Burke In Toronto.

The Hockey Spy,  Mar 8, 2009, 11:15:00 PM  

Thanks Jag - I knew Burke would be controversial added in here, but I still would argue my case with anyone. He's been in the right place at the right time for a lot of his successes, but hopefully he'll improve things in TO.

yauzer,  Mar 9, 2009, 11:59:00 AM  

Burke is an overrated GM. His success in Anaheim was mainly due to Murray's work before him. Likewise in Vancouver (Keenan, Quinn). His childish behavior with the whole Penner scandal showed zero class. He could learn a thing or two from Darcy Regier was faced with the same situation with Vanek.

The Hockey Spy,  Mar 9, 2009, 12:52:00 PM  

I hear ya Yauzer! Regier is a classic example of a class-act GM. Burke's personality fits in I guess with TO and as I said will give the sports media lots of good quotes and story lines. As for the on-ice product...it's going to take more than his yapping to turn things around. If they can build around Schenn and make good on what should be a high pick this June, they should have somewhat of a foundation to continue to build around.

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