2007, Hockey, Politics, Society, Sports

Cheney and NHL’s Silly Season

The NBA isn’t the only league with a silly season any more, but first…The Whores!

I was calling for something on here the other day, and I fucked up. Now the reason I fucked up doesn’t excuse me for fucking up. But, it is still a reason.

I was shocked that there is no talk of Cheney’s impeachment but it turns out there has been since April. However, the major papers (surprise, surprise…after all, they’ve done this before) and the major networks (there’s a shocker…they do this every day) have utterly ignored the story, as far as I know. There are now 10 cosponsors of the impeach Cheney bill. All I can say, it’s about time somebody did something. However, the media shouldn’t just look back and say they failed with regard to Iraq…they are failing right now. As an article I read said, whenever the major news outlets decided to start covering this story, they will be at pains to explain how, seemingly out of the blue, Congress suddenly decided to exercise its role as a check on executive power. Anyway, I feel a whole lot better about the situation now that I know at least 10 people are still somewhat in the grip of sanity.

It is official, with the cap rising, the NHL’s offseason has gone silly. Not completely, mind you, but pretty close to completely.
As a benchmark, lets note that the Sharks signed Thornton (who had the more points over the last 4 years than any other player in the leauge) to an extension with an average of 7.2. That normally would make me think “silly” on it’s own, but let’s claim it is reasonable.

  • Todd White: 4/9.5, I wouldn’t pay it but whatever
  • Poti: 4/14 is a reasonable deal
  • Zednick at 2/3.25 is also very reasonable
  • Schneider for 2/11.25 is starting to get unreasonable, especially given his age
  • The Oilers signings after that weren’t disclosed so I have no comment

Then it got crazy:

  • Briere: 8/52, when I first saw this I thought it was nuts. But I only had to wait. I mean, I like him, but he’s no franchise player.
  • Sarich for 5/18 is not something I would have done but it is not insane like what’s coming
  • Rafalski replaces Schneider for 5/30, which is starting to get into the nuts realm for D-men, despite what Chara makes
  • Perreault at 1.5 is actually quite a good signing for both sides, I think as he has clearly been undervalued a lot
  • S. Thornton’s terms not disclosed
  • Ditto Dvorak
  • I don’t even think I know who Jeff Hamilton is
  • 2/3.5 for Ouellet is probably too much, but I could be wrong
  • Perrin for 2/1.5 is quite reasonable
  • Blake is 33. He is signed for 5 years. Am I the only person who thinks that is nuts. Blake, Bell, Toskala will not win the cup for the Leafs. They are a better team than at the end of the season, but that isn’t saying much. If I were a betting man, I would not bet 4/season that Blake may duplicate his career year in any of the next five years, or ever. I would maybe bet 2. But then he would have gone somehwere else. Oh well. The last time Ferguson rewarded someone for a career year he ended up with the McCabe contract. That’s all I’m saying. A 40 goal scorer for 4 mil seems reasonable, a 20 not so much. A 15, no, not at all. We will see.

And the most ridiculous contract so far goes to:

  • Scott Gomez. On average, Gomez is supposed to earn 7.3. That is $100,000 more per year than Joe Thornton. Gomez has scored more than 20 goals once. He averages something around 70-75 points a season. And he is being paid more than arguably one of the top 3 or top 5 players in the league. I don’t know what to say.
  • At least Drury’s deal isn’t so long. But it’s still a lot of money for a 69-point guy.

The only way these deals are justified is if the Rangers win the cup in the next 5 years, or if Gomez / Drury fetch the players that win the cup (Gomez will no doubt be traded before the end of his insane contract). This is not happening, so it makes no sense.

  • V. Kozlov at 2/5 is too much money.
  • Sabourin at 2/1.025 works for Pittsburgh, provided he does what he has to.
  • Hannan at 4/18 makes sense to me. Colorado is starting to look good, except for the whole goaltender thing.
  • Jon Sim! Undisclosed
  • Smyth is interesting. On the right team, he can score 50 goals (the Nucks, maybe as an example). I don’t know if Colorado is the right team, but if they are, the contract makes sense. If not, then it doesn’t. But it makes sense for lots of teams to not get him, as the Leafs and Habs (for example) are not teams that would have worked in that respect. In the right situation, Smyth is worth that money. Time will tell.
  • If I were Paul Kariya, and the Pens were interested in me, I would sign with the Pens, even though they may pay me less than the Blues. Because, if I were Paul Kariya, I would be aware that I am running out of time, slowly but surely, and the Pens will win a cup in the next few years, and the Blues will not. But I am not Paul Kariya.
  • But then Pens made a good move anyway in getting Sydor at 2/5. I don’t get why some D-men get reasonable deals, and others don’t.
  • And then they got Sykora, and if it’s for not that much money, that could be one of the moves of the summer. You say, Sykora isn’t that great. And he only had about 1/3 of a good year in Edmonton. And I say, Crosby/Malkin et al nullify such concerns.
  • Ortmeyer at 2/1.5 is also within the realm of reason.
  • I thought Battaglia wasn’t coming back, but at 2/1.3 the price is right. I’d rather him than Ortmeyer
    Krajicek at 2/2.2 is probably reasonable, though I don’t remember what he’s like off the top of my head.

So that’s my summary of 27 hours. It’s been pretty silly. But it hasn’t gone totally nuts, only because of the cap, me thinks.
Anyway, the Rangers don’t remember there is a cap.

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