Orioles Victory Card 36: No action at the deadline

Baltimore Orioles Victory Number 36: 8-5 over the San Diego Padres

1987 Topps Mike Boddicker

Yes, this is going to post late. How do I know? Because I'm watching the Orioles Thursday night game as I type this. Part of it is by design (wanted to wait till after the trade deadline), part of it is by circumstance (a friend was in town last night and we went to the Salt Lake Bees game) and part of it is because I was working on some hockey writing (check out Raw Charge tomorrow). Oh, and the typical laziness.

The MLB trade deadline went by on Wednesday and unlike last season the Orioles were not a serious player. In fact, they made all of one transaction. And it didn't even affect the major league roster. Dan Strailey was traded to the Phildelphia Phillies for everyone's favorite asset - cash.

So, Thursday's line-up is pretty much the same as Tuesday's. Trey Mancini is still there. Hanser Alberto is still there, snagging line-drives and flaring base hits into right field. Dylan Bundy will get a start this weekend and at some point we'll see Mychal Givens closing games out.

Mike Elias was undoubtedly on the phones trying to make some magic happen, but nothing materialized. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Chances are the returns just weren't worth making the deals so he passed. Making trades for the sake of making trades is a good way to screw up a rebuild.

For now, they are still Orioles. Will that stay true through the winter? Possibly not. One thing to consider, all of the main trade pieces that could have been moved this week are still under Orioles control for another season. Now they have another two months to boost their trade value.

The Orioles were 12-12 in the month of July and put together their best string of baseball out on the West Coast. If they keep playing like this, it will be because Jonathan Villar is still hitting and Dylan Bundy is getting his workman like 5-inning starts in.

A team may have been interested in Givens, after all not everyone throws 95+ and has a sharp breaking slider. Still, he's struggled to put it together this season and dealing him in July would have been selling him low. If he can harness his potential through August and September, the Orioles may be able to pry a decent prospect out of a competitor.

With the deadline behind them, the players should relax a little and hopefully that translates to about 24 more wins. They're already within striking distance of last year's total and while they have a rough stretch coming up soon, there are also some winnable games on their schedule.

Why is Mike Boddicker staring at you? Well, back in 1988 the Orioles were not very good (starting off 0-21 will knock you out of the race pretty quickly) and Boddicker was a veteran pitcher garnering some interest around the league. There was some speculation that the Orioles wanted to move him to the Yankees for a young right-handed slugger named Jay Buhner.

Instead they dealt the soft-tossing righty to Boston for another young outfield prospect, Brady Anderson, and a double-A pitcher by the name of Curt Schilling. Imagine a world where Brady stays with the Red Sox and Buhner is launching home runs in Baltimore instead of Seattle. Well, for one thing, we would never have had this:

Or this baseball card:

Or this poster:

So, yeah it worked out ok in the end. As for Boddicker, he went 7-3 down the stretch for the Red Sox in 1988 averaging almost 6 innings a start as Boston won the AL East by a game over the Detroit Tigers. Things did not go well in the playoffs as Boddicker started Game 3 of the ALCS and didn't make it out of the third inning as the Oakland A's touched him for three home runs. Mark McGwire, Carney Lansford and Ron Hassey went deep as the A's scored six runs against him on their way to a 10-6 victory. Oakland would sweep the Red Sox before getting eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Boddicker pitched two more seasons for the Red Sox before joining the Kansas City Royals as a free agent before the 1991 season. Brady Anderson had a pretty good career for the Orioles while Curt Schilling would be part of the Orioles most infamous trade - the 1991 deal for Glenn Davis. 

Love On The Rocks - Marty St. Louis is Gone

I know it hurts now.  You thought he would be around forever.  You thought every morning you woke up he would still be there.  Fourteen years is a lifetime.  You thought you knew everything about him, that he cared for you as much as you cared for him.  Yet here you are, the morning after, eyes red and puffy from crying, a discarded pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream lying by the bed.  Shredded pictures of better times cover the floor while angry posts litter your Facebook timeline.  Face it Lightning fan - you are acting like a jilted lover.

Now, of course, I don’t mean all of you.  I have seen some sensible posts about the biggest deadline deal in recent Lightning history. However, throughout yesterday’s trading bonanza there was a lot of name calling going on in regards to Marty St. Louis and his trade to the Rangers.  “Cry Baby” “Diva”  “Quitter”.  All those words and more floated across the internet.  I understand, anger is a justifiable emotion.  It’s also the first step to recovery.  Trust me, understanding and forgiveness are right around the corner.

This saga has dragged out in the open air for almost two months now.  Whispers started around the time that St. Louis was initially left off of the Canadian Olympic roster.  That’s when the question of “How would he be able to co-exist with Steve Yzerman after being snubbed?” first arose.  Then the firestorm was ignited by Boomer Easison of all people who tweeted out that the Rangers had a deal in place to trade their captain, Ryan Callahan, and that St. Louis was one of the possible pieces coming back. That led to the story that St. Louis had asked Mr. Yzerman to trade him and the internet flaming was on.

During the whole time there was a lingering question that bothered me.  Why would St. Louis, who had spent his entire career with the reputation as a team-first, heart-and-soul of the Lightning player be so adamant about wanting out.  Why now, when the team was poised to make a run at the Stanley Cup?

Sure pride had something to do with it. Having his own GM say he wasn’t initially worthy of playing for gold had to hurt, but is that enough to turn your back on a community that wholly embraced you like few athletes ever have been in this market?  He was the underdog that brought respectability to a market that is often mocked on the national level. We loved him for that.  There has to be more to it.  Both Mr. Yzerman and St. Louis have alluded to it.

In his press conference after the deadline, Mr. Yzerman acknowledged that St. Louis had come to him before the Olympic debacle and asked to be traded.  He refused to elaborate saying that he didn’t want to "put words into Marty's mouth".  Marty didn’t offer any details either just a vague “this is a decision that is best for my family” comment in a letter released to the media and fans.

Maybe in the future we will know the whole story and it will make sense.  What doesn’t make sense is bashing a guy who has done more for this team than anyone else who ever skated in the black/blue/silver/white/lightning-sleeved uniform. He is responsible for the most exciting moment in the history of the organization (Yo Fedotenko Imma let you finish, but Game 6 double overtime was a better moment).

He also piled up points and accolades unseen by any Lightning player to date.  Two Art Ross trophies, three Lady Byngs, a Hart Memorial and Lester B. Pearson award to go along with multiple all-star appearances.  No one has ever done that for the team.  His conditioning and work ethic were talked about by everyone who coached him, played with him and played against him. This is the same player who played 499 consecutive games before a broken face knocked him out of the line-up.  A broken face that kept him out for exactly five games. Incidentally, the shooter of the puck that hit him in the face - Dominic Moore.  One of his new teammates in New York - Dominic Moore.  Keep that shield on Marty.

Yup, I added the broken face part so I could repost this bad photoshop.

No matter what line he was thrown on he thrived, and made those players better.  He had no issue bouncing back and forth between lines with Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos.  When Stamkos went down this season St. Louis found himself on a line with two rookies.  Is it a coincidence that both of the rookies could win the Calder?

My point is that no matter how he left, what he did on the ice outweighs any controversy that has arisen over the last three months.  When athletes who are fueled by pride come to the end of their career it always ends awkwardly.  Johnny Unitas was traded to the Chargers at the end of his career because he thought he could still play. Does that diminish his legacy in Baltimore? Hell no.  Neither does Willie Mays stumbling around awkwardly in a Mets uniform or Emmitt Smith getting blown up in the backfield as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.

This is just so weird looking.

St. Louis’ exit from the Lightning was always going to be ugly.  Whether it was by the team releasing him, not re-signing him, or a trade request orchestrated by the team instead of the player it was going to end badly. There was going to be a time when the organization felt that there was a better option than him playing for them and at that time St. Louis was going to disagree with them.  What happened this winter just expedited the process.

In my last post I wrote that it was more likely that Mr. Yzerman was more likely to trade him in the off-season as he didn’t want to hurt the team.  Apparently I had misjudged (shocking I know) the depth of the problem.  With the handicaps that he was dealing with, the general manager swung the best deal possible.  I don’t see them signing Ryan Callahan for the money he’s asking for, but for the next 20 games or more he should help them defensively as he moves between the second and third line (according to the Tribune’s Erik Erlendsson he was taking rushes on the second line with Filppula and Kucherov).

Line rushes: Killorn-Stamkos-Purcell; Callahan-Filppula-Kucherov; Palat-Johnson-Malone; Brown-Thompson-Panik
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) March 6, 2014

More important are the draft picks.  The 2015 first round pick could be gold (especially if the Rangers self-destruct next season) while the other pick has the potential to reach the first round if the Rangers make it to the Eastern Conference finals this season.  The deal also gives Mr, Yzerman about $5 million extra next season to sign a plethora of restricted free agents.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few of the younger players sign multi-year deals over the next couple of months now that he has some more cap room to play with.


Finally lets address the playoff comment.  You know the one that was tweeted about, “It’s not like I’ve played a ton of playoff hockey in the last little while and as you get older you want to get more kicks at the can…”  Some are taking that as St. Louis thinking that the Rangers are better set than the Lightning to be playoff contenders for the near future.  I don’t see it that way.

If the ultimate goal of this move was family based, then the Rangers are the only team that makes sense for him to be asked to be traded to.  There are a handful of teams that would be considered close to his Connecticut home. The Islanders are a mess (although a Tavares/ St. Louis line would be fun to watch) and not knocking on the playoff door anytime soon.  The Devils are better off than the Islanders, but still a team in flux that seems to be wanting to jettison older players and is going through their own rebuild.  As for the Bruins, St. Louis has to be smart enough to know there is no way in hell that Mr. Yzerman was going to trade him there. Thus his request to be transferred to the Rangers.

So, to me, the “more kicks at the can” is more of a disparaging comment about the Islanders and Devils then it is at the Lightning. And as a Lightning fan you can’t argue with the first half of the statement since, other than the 2010-11 season, the team has been playing more golf than hockey in April, May and June.

Martin St. Louis, at this moment in time, is the best player to have ever pulled on a Lightning sweater. At some point Steven Stamkos or Jonathan Drouin or Teddy Purcell will eclipse him (probably not Teddy Purcell). To me that is more important than how he departed the organization.  He has not “tarnished” his legacy with the team.  Sometime in the near future, he will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.  The stories told of him on that day will not be about his days as a Ranger or whatever team he plays for when the Rangers trade him next season.  Those stories will be about what he did on the ice as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

So, Lightning Fans, take a deep breath.  Focus on the team that we have now. Let Marty go do his thing. We are in a better place for having him to love and him leaving, then for us to have never had him at all.

RIP MVP Line Forever

Fan Favorite Conacher Traded For A Really Tall Guy

Cory Conacher is the new points leader for the Ottawa Senators

When I started writing this blog, well actually the other blog, I told myself that I would follow a couple of rules.  One of them being, “Never write anything when you’re angry.”  More than likely if I didn’t follow that rule I would go off on some rage-fueled rant about something or another and then feel embarrassed about it the next day.  Not that I don’t feel embarrassed about half the things I post anyways, but that’s just because I don’t really edit my work. So that is why I didn’t write anything about the move the Tampa Bay Lightning made during the trade deadline yesterday.

I love the NHL trade deadline.  I love it even more when I have the day off and can fully enjoy it without interruption.  I love it especially now in the twitter/24-hour coverage/live-streaming world that we live in. You literally cannot get enough NHL talk on Hockey Christmas.

So I was doing my thing (sitting on the couch refreshing twitter and surfing the web while listening to TSN radio) for most of the day and it looked like it would be a quiet day for the Lightning.  After all, they weren’t really in a position to go all in, and it didn’t seem like there was much demand for the players they had (although with the price being paid for defensemen I’m surprised Sami Salo didn’t draw any interest). There were some rumors floating around that the Lightning were one of six teams interested in Ben Bishop, but nothing concrete from any of the insiders (or insiderrrrrs).

Overall there wasn’t much going on overall in the morning, in fact, the most entertaining aspect was watching the guys for The Score get increasingly drunk as the day went on thanks to their Deadline Day drinking game. So at about 1pm CST The Duchess and I went out to lunch.  While we were at Kuma’s Too (brand new sister location of Chicago’s legendary burger bar/hard rock shrine Kuma’s Korner) I couldn’t resist occasionally checking my phone to see what was going on.  Needless to say, my better half wasn’t amused by that.

As we were finishing up our beers (Three Floyds Robert the Bruce for me) Bob McKenzie sent out the tweet heard ‘round the Tampa Bay area, “Ben Bishop informed he’s been traded to Tampa.”  My initial thought, “Ehhh.  They finally got him, wonder who they gave up for him.”  I figured it would be some combination of a pick and a B-level prospect (or in my wildest dreams a semi-healthy Ryan Malone).

Then the follow-up tweets began.  First it was Darren Millard and then Bruce “Not many fans in Tampa” Garrioch.  They both had the same name – Cory Conacher. I was not pleased.  In fact, I was quite agitated, one might even say angry.  That’s despite the fact that I am at the age where anger shouldn’t really be an emotion associated with sports.  Disappointment, yes.  Jubilation, yes.  But anger, never anger, after all it’s only a game.  Why let it hijack my emotions to the point of being physically upset?

However, there it was - anger.  How could the Lightning trade one of their new fan favorites, the five-foot-nothin, one-hundred-and-nothin’, undrafted scrapper who clawed his way into the NHL by outworking and outscoring everyone else? He is a rookie-of-the-year candidate for goodness sake! The online fan base will no longer be able to use the #DeathTaxesConacher on out tweets anymore. The undersized line of Conacher, Tyler Johnson and Martin St. Louis would never exist again.  All for another oversized goalie with potential?

Now imagine that paragraph spread out over a thousand words.  That’s what you would have read yesterday had I taken to keyboard as soon as I had gotten home from the burger place.  Instead, I waited. I waited through the final flurry of deals, through Bobby Luongo’s “My Contract Sucks” press conference, through the endless speculation involving the Washington/Nashville deal and finally through the knee-jerk-who-won-who-lost analysis of the day. I watched some TV (The West Wing) and went to sleep.

Now I’m writing.  I still don’t like the deal, but I’m not so upset about it.  Non-partisan reviews have made me feel a little better about the move. Yes, it was a steep price for Mr. Yzerman to pay, especially given the exorbitant price he paid in the off-season for Anders Lindback.  If you’re following along at home the current price tag for the future in the Lightning net stands at Cory Conacher, a 4^th round pick, Sebastien Caron, two 2^nd round picks and a 3^rd round pick. Oh and neither one is signed past next season.

While the reports on Bishop are positive, like Lindback before him, he hasn’t been tested as a true number one. I wonder if Mr. Yzerman is that blackjack player who, after being dealt a few losing hands, starts doubling his bets in order to make his money back.   He’s been able to build a young, solid team in front of the net, but inconsistent goaltending has plagued his regime and already cost one coach his job. 

If Bishop struggles in Hockey Paradise I willing to wager the next coach collecting unemployment will be Frantz John. The relatively under-the-radar goaltending consultant has been with the organization since 2010, joining the team after spending many years in the QMJHL. During his tenure only Dwayne Roloson in 2010-11 played anywhere near an acceptable level in net while two players (Mike Smith and Dan Ellis) have gone on to play much better with their new teams. 

Mr. Yzerman’s legacy is going to hinge on the two deals he made for goaltenders.  The luster of the Eastern Conference Finals run has worn off.  The sellout streak has ended. Next season is going to be interesting as the team already has $61 million committed to the roster and still has to get Bishop and at least five other players signed with less than $4 million to play with (actually closer to $7 million if they put Mattias Ohlund on Long Term Injury Relief). Couple that with moving to a tougher division and the questions really start to pile up.

In the end the deal does, at least on paper, make the team better. Does it make the fans happier?  Well, that depends on Ben Bishop and how many wins he gets.  

The Lightning Card of The Week -Tik Toc The PC is

So much red in this card.

2008-09 ITG Between the Pipes Future Stars Dustin Tokarski #15

Well, it looks like another personal collection bites the dust.  I woke up to the news on Twitter that the Lightning had traded goaltending prospect Dustin Tokarski to the Montreal Canadians for Cedric Desjardins - the once and future Tampa Bay net minder.  Not exactly the type of news I wanted to see at the crack of 9:30am (hey I worked till 1:30 last night).

Most people have no idea of who either of those players are, heck to most hockey fans it's a minor league deal involving a couple of at-best back-up goaltenders.  For me, however, it's yet another waste of eBay money and trades.  I have a small (about 20 cards) collection for the former 5th round pick, but unlike my other PC's this one was speckled with some higher-end cards.  That's the joy of collecting a prospect for a sunbelt team, I guess. It's easy to pick up decent cards for rather cheap prices.

It's funny, when a favorite player is traded it feels like their career is ending.  With Tokarski that's hardy the case. At only 23-years-old he definitely has more than enough time to establish himself as a NHL-caliber goalie. For some reason his progress in Tampa has stalled.  He had been usurped in the organizational rankings by Jaroslav Janus and Russian prospect Andrey Vasilevskiy and his inconsistent play seem to frustrate management.  General Manager Steve Yzerman alluded to the fact that it was time for a scenery change for Tokarski when discussing the move with the press.

It also appears that Mr. Yzerman wasn't comfortable with either Janus or Tokarski as an option should the Lightning need them this season.  Despite having less actual game experience in the NHL than Tokarski (2 games to 3) his age and experience lend to Desjardins an edge should the big league club need him.  There is also the fact that Coach Boucher is familiar with the 27-year-old from his days in Hamilton.

I don't follow the minor leagues much, but it seems Syracuse was struggling with getting consistency in the net (seems to be an organizational problem) and this move will hopefully shore that up. That Crunch seem to be a team in flux especially with all of the recent call prospect call ups.

Hopefully, the storyline stays in Syracuse as that means all is well between the pipes in Tampa.  As for Tokarski it is a chance for him to start over in a new organization (although one where he is stuck behind a  guy named Carey Price). Wherever he has gone he has won, from juniors to the national team to the AHL.  We'll see if that continues.

As for my collection, I think I'll hold on to it for now (unless, of course, some Canadians collector comes along with an offer I can't refuse) and maybe add the occasional Tampa-clad card to it.  I doubt I'll replace him with another player in the personal collection folder, especially since I won't be able to get my hands on any Cory Conacher Lightning cards until next season.

Catching Up On Some Trades (Non-NHL Edition)

It goes without saying that the card trading folks in this here blog-o-sphere are, without question, some of the most generous traders out there.  I’m a little behind on my trade posts, much like I’m behind on just about everything in life (well except for the rent).  So let’s see if we can rectify that over the next week or so.  Especially since I have a couple more of deals in the hopper now that Zistle is back up an running.

Back in the month of January, back when we here in Chicago thought winter might still hold something nasty for us, I was contacted by Kyle over as JABOS.  He actually liked something on one of my 200 trade bait posts and wanted to know if I’d be willing to send them his way in exchange for some 1983 Topps.

Without a doubt I was interested. …. Side note - John Cena just uttered my favorite sentence of 2012, “I lost a bro-ski for a ho-ski”….yes I occasionally tune into the random wrestling broadcast.  Yes, the Duchess makes fun of me for it.  I’m not quite sure which ranks higher on her, “My boyfriend is a 35-year-old-teenager” list.  Probably the wrestling.  At least with the cards I’ve brought a little cash into the house.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the level of interest in getting rid of some 2010 Trade Bait. It was high.  So after a couple of emails the trade was on! I but the cards in the good ol’ yellow envelope and sent them on their way.  Twelve minutes later I promptly forgot about it.  Hey, I have a short attention span. It’s amazing I can type 500 words about one topic at a time.

So imagine my surprise when this showed up in my lobby.

Best part of not working - not having to wear shoes

OK. So it was actually sealed, but still it was a box!  A box of cards! He wasn’t kidding when he said he had a large bunch.

My netbook is BPA free- cause the sticker says so!

Five stacks of pure cardboard greatness. 

I was so excited to enter the cards in the database!

Thanks to Kyle’s generosity I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel with this project.  Which, of course, means I’ll just move onto another quest.  Maybe the 1976 set?

Trade Time! Card's That Is..

I haven’t declared 2012 a year of trading yet, but so far it looks like it’s turning out that way.  I’ve pulled off two already and am in the middle of a third.  Not bad for one month.  Since I’m not one for going in order, let’s break down the second trade first. 

Scrolling through the interwebs one day I noticed a Vinny Lecavalier on the Card Boarded site. I scrambled through my collection to see if I had anything even remotely close to value that I could offer Paul.  I found a Jimmy Howard Parkhurst rookie and a handful of other Red Wings cards.  Luckily enough he accepted and mentioned that he would throw in a couple of Lightning cards in addition to the Lecavalier.

First up the Vincent – 

 Oh parallel goodness – the Blue Mirror version of 2010-11 Leaf Certified.  Only 1000 more parallels to go to complete the rainbow!  This particular card is numbered 98/100…98 is his rookie year….eBay one of one!

Now for the Lightning “throw ins”

A trio of the Big Three from 2009-10 Artifacts. No team gets a higher percentage of goals from their top players than the Lightning.  I’d look up the numbers, but I’m feeling kind of lazy right now.

Three Score cards. Mike Smith – redeeming his career in Phoenix, Steve Downie cruising to lay the smack down on somebody who outweighs him by 30 pounds, and Dwayne Roloson making a save (so you know it’s from last season).

Dana Tyrell Black Diamond Rookie Gems.  The latest member of the Lightning’s walking wounded brigade, Tyrell suffered a lower body injury last Sunday against the Penguins and looks to be out for a few more games.

Finally….a surprise card that instantly becomes the front runner for 2012’s Card of the Year:

Daymond Langkow 1997-98 National Pride Die-cut #’d 207/1997.   This card is wonderful.  It’s die-cut, it’s serial numbered and most importantly it features the greatest uniform in Lightning history, the short-lived flame sleeves third jersey.  It features a pretty solid player as well.

Langow was drafted in the first round by the Lightning in 1995 and managed to play parts of 4 seasons with the Bolts before being traded to Philadelphia with Mikael Renberg for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger. He’s still in the league now having come back from a neck injury to skate in 39 games for the Phoenix Coyotes this season.

Paul – thanks for the trade!

It's Mailbag Time!

That's right, the only time that's better than T-Shirt Time is mailbag time.  So let's delve into what Mr. Postman delivered this week.

We have a padded envelope from Mr. San Jose Fuji!  I unloaded a San Jose Sharks relic card that was collecting some dust on my desk and in return he knocked off a couple of want list cards.  Let's see what he sent:

First Up - the greatest calling card of all time.

Next - an autographed Fredrik Modin Be A Player card.  This is the main card I was looking for as it will contribute greatly to my double secret probation wantlist. Modin is definitely one of the most missed Lightning players from the Cup era.

A trio of Murray cards that I needed. Love the oddball sets from Kaybee and Woolworth. Top it off with a Members Only Stadium Club and I'm happy. For those keeping track, once card with double gloves and two with no batting gloves.

Not a card, but part of a card set.  It's a little, bitty Vinny jersey.  From the 2007-08 Upper Deck Mini Jersey set.  I busted one pack of this product and pulled a Mike Modano jersey, which I think I still have somewhere.

The card I specifically requested and forced Fuji to go hunting in his archives for- the 1981 Floyd Rayford rookie card.  Boom! That guy on the left had a pretty good career for the birds as well. Mark Corey, unfortunately, did not.  He appeared in 59 games over three seasons (1979-81) and hit .211.  He did hit one major league home run - so he can tell his grand kids that!

Thanks, Fuji!

Another Annual Tradition - Let's Trade Ryan Malone!

The thermometer is hovering around 95 and for the first time in my life I live in a building that doesn’t have central air. So in order to cool off I’m typing this with a Lasko box fan on high two feet from my face; and I’m thinking about hockey.

Unfortunately, in the middle of July there isn’t much going on in the hockey world. The major free agents have signed and the dust seems to have settled on big trades. Still it’s better than writing about the O’s. Other than a glaring hole the size of Steven Stamkos on the roster, the Lightning are pretty much going about business as usual. Most of their recent signing have been depth moves aimed at filling out Norfolk’s roster.

Teddy Purcell’s arbitration hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, and barring a last minute compromise it appears the two sides will get a chance to state their respective cases. These types of dealings can get contentious, after all, the Lightning front office will be making their case against paying him what he thinks he’s worth, and really the only way to do that is to bring up the negative aspects of his game. The good news is, no matter what the outcome he will be skating on with the Bolts next season.

Reports of changes underway at the Ice Palace are encouraging, it seems Lightning fans will enjoy most of the upgrades once they get a chance to attend a game in October. While I doubt I’ll be there for the home opener, I do hope to see at least one or two games at some point next season. Once I do, I’ll be sure to pass along my opinions. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Vinik is able to recoup any of his expenditures from the city of Tampa once the upgrades are done.

Even in the Twitter-verse things are relatively quiet, especially when compared to hysteria that accompanied the free agent frenzy at the beginning of the month. The only thing that popped up in the last couple of days was a rumor that had Tampa talking with Toronto. Normally, I don’t engage with speculation from unconfirmed sources, but with the overall landscape being quite bare let’s indulge a little shall we?

Any time trade speculation comes up the first thought is that Tampa Bay is giving up and dealing the rights to Stamkos to another club. In this case that’s highly unlikely. The Leafs aren’t exactly dealing with tons of cap space so in order to afford Stamkos they would have to move a rather large contract back to Tampa Bay.

In scouring their current roster, I must say there really isn’t all that much to choose from. Their biggest cap hits are: Phil Kessel ($5.4million for three more seasons), newly signed Tim Connolly (2 years at $4.75), Dion Phaneuf ($6.5 for three more years), and Mike Komisarek ($4.5 for three more years).

No one in that group would be worth taking on in exchange for Stamkos even with a top prospect and a high round pick or two. Sure, Phaneuf would provide some big hits and the occasional goal, but that’s a steep price tag for a player who is basically Mattias Ohlund, without all of the oldness.

Kessel would provide some scoring, but he has garnered a reputation as a sullen player who might not be the best clubhouse fit. The Lightning appear to be a tight-knit group and instilling a negative influence might not be great for team chemistry.

So in all likelihood the players being discussed don’t involve number 91. More likely, this is the emerging of the yearly Ryan Malone to Toronto trade rumors (now entering its third season!) Malone’s $4.5 million cap hit and declining salary might be more enticing to the Leafs than the $7.5-$8 million it will take to sign Stamkos. Malone, when healthy can provide 20-25 goals and be the big presence in front of the net that teams seem to desire these days.

The “when healthy” qualifier is important. He hasn’t played more than 70 games in a season since signing with the Lightning in 2008-09 and for some stretches, even when he’s been in the lineup it’s apparent that he hasn’t been 100%.
His role with Tampa Bay is hard to define as well. When most of the press talks about the type of forward that coach Guy Boucher prefers they use adjectives such as quick, fast-skating, hard working, defensive minded, two-way, back-checking, etc.

Those aren’t exactly Malone’s strong points. While he isn’t a horrible skater, he also isn’t going to win many fastest skater competitions either. His place is in front of the net where he can use his strength and natural pestering abilities to redirect pucks and stuff home rebounds. That takes skill and determination that I’m not sure many hockey fans appreciate. However, it might not be as important for the Lightning as it is for other teams.

What could the Lightning expect back for Mr. Malone? Well a draft pick and a mid –range prospect or third line NHL’er. The Lightning won’t be at the cap when they sign Stamkos and Purcell, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to save some money. Turning that $4.5 million hit into a $1.5 million hit would give them some payroll flexibility should they need it down the road.

Who would replace him on the roster? With the loss of Sean Bergenheim and Simon Gagne it’s accepted that Malone would return to his role as one of the top six forwards on the team – a position he had and lost at the end of last season.

My immediate thought would be that he would be replaced from within. Recently Damian Cristodero had an article in the St. Pete Times that discussed Carter Ashton and his chances for making the club out of camp. The argument was that his best chance would be to change his game and become more of a third line center. If a Malone deal happens, wouldn’t it make more sense to have Ashton and his offensive skills on the
top lines instead of mucking it up for 8 minutes a game with the grinders?

Granted, it would be a big adjustment for Ashton to jump from juniors all the way to the NHL, but isn’t that why you trade up to draft elite talent? At some point these prospects are going to have to have their mettle tested against the big boys. Why not next season?

In all probability this is just speculation and Malone will be skating alongside Vincent next season on the second line. Still, that’s what these summer months are for. Well that and ice cream.

It's That Time Again

Is that live hockey I spy? Why yes it is. Thanks to my love of bad TV I'm not able to watch the Lightning/Blackhawks preseason tilt, but I can listen to the subdued Dave Mishkin over the Internet while I post about something totally un-hockey related.

It's Mailbag Monday! But Justin, you say, it's not Monday. I know, but I didn't get to it on Monday. So you get it on Wednesday. Which is better than Monday - 'cause it's closer to Friday.

First up. Fellow blogger and trader Nachos Grande added to my Carl Crawford collection (a collection I've neglected a bit this year). In exchange for some Reds cards and Allen & Ginter that I didn't need he sent over a care package highlighted by this card.



It's blue and shiny. I like blue and shiny.



Being the kind blogger he is, he threw in some assorted O's cards. Gosh darn I love me that Don Aase '88 Topps. It's the entire junk wax era wrapped up in one card. Posed shot, awesome mustache, curly afro poking out of the cap. I love it.

I also like the Markakis card. He's staring off into the distance contemplating something. What could it be? Perhaps his inexplicable loss of power? How many cheeseburgers he can buy with one paycheck? We'll never know.

Moving on

Ebay provided the first of the next two lots.




Like I mentioned I've been neglecting my Crawford collection so I figured I'd go for the best deal I could find. I actually needed four of these cards and they became mine for less than $3.00 so, yea me. I also like the fact that he is wearing 5 different uniforms.



This last one was more of an impulse buy. Not sure why, but I have very few Brooks Robinson cards in my collection. I decided to rectify that. The cards aren't in the best condition, but they're mine and they're older then I am which is cool.


So there ya go. More thoughts on hockey later, oh by the way Simon Gagne scored for the Lightning while I was typing this. The Bolts might be feisty this year.

O's Pick Up A Win...Make That Wynn..the Only Way They Know How

The O's dismantling began this afternoon as Miguel Tejada was traded to San Diego for right-hander Wynn Pelzer. Not quite the haul they got back in 2007 when the O's fleeced Houston for Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate and Luke Scott.

Funny that Scott was considered a throw-in at the time. Now he's one of their top sluggers.

I can say that I don't know much about Pelzer, a quick look at his stats suggest that he needs to get the walks down if he's going to advance, but he was San Diego's 7th best prospect - so he has that going for him.

Look for Josh Bell to get a good look at 3rd base for the rest of the season.

The Winds of Change Blow Throw Tampa

During a break in my new hire orientation I received a text from my buddy Link. He let me know that the last vestiges of the old regime had been swept away. As of Monday morning Brian Lawton and Rick Tocchet were eligible for unemployment benefits. Unable to verify the information online (visiting non-approved websites on the first day of the new job seemed uncouth) I chose to take some time and reflect upon this information instead of learning about the company’s 401k matching.

So what was my first reaction to the news? Well, it wasn’t surprise, maybe understanding and hopeful trepidation would be better words to use. Despite a minimum season-over-season improvement, the performance of the team post-Olympic break sealed their fates.

For the time being Tom Kuevers will be the interim GM tasked with setting up a search for the new CEO. The search, we can assume, has been underway since the day Jeff Vinik took over the organization and should be wrapped up quickly.

The reason this needs to be accomplished post-haste is that the new GM needs to be in place in time to prepare for the upcoming draft (June 25th-26th) and free agency (starts July 1st). Two months is not a lot of time to learn an organization and plan for its immediate future, especially with the chance that the team could acquire a huge rebuilding piece in the form of a top 5 draft pick.

Figuring out which young stud to pick is not the only pile of work on the new GM’s desk. While the Bolts don’t stand to lose too many key pieces to free agency they do have to make decisions on a couple of restricted free agents and a certain young forward who has one year left on his entry level contract.

Signing Steven Stamkos to a long term deal after a 51 goal season is going to cost the organization some money, but not as much as it will if they wait and he has another sensational season. It’s better to get him locked up quickly this summer and get some sort of framework of a budget in place for signing free agents.

One free agent that they’re probably going to lose out on is Antero Nittymakii. The Finland native didn’t play well enough to carry the team to the playoffs, but he did play his way into a number one keeper’s payday. There are enough teams with enough questions in net that are willing to throw a decent sized contract his way.

The Bolts, having to afford their offense, will take a serious look at Dustin Tokarski and give him a chance to win the job in camp. Some salary could be cleared if they find a taker for Mike Smith, and that money could then be spent on a veteran backup. Brent Johnson, Johan Hedberg and Perer Budaj will all be looking for work next season and could be had for less than Smith’s $2.2 million cap hit.

One thing the soon-to-be GM won’t have to worry about, hopefully, will be Vincent Lecavalier and his constant companion – trade rumor. Vinik seems to understand the importance of the captain. While some fans may clamor for him to trade, if the owner succumbed to that temptation then the negative reaction would swamp the franchise. For better or worse the enigmatic center is the face of the franchise. Stamkos might be the sexy scorer and Marty St. Louis might be the team’s heart, but trading Lecavalier will be seen as a major step back for the Lightning. His goal scoring might have declined but he did still throw 70 points on the board, and showed signs of his pre-injury self in the second half of the season.

So whoever takes the unheralded job as the next Lightning GM will be busy this season. Every decision he makes will be second and third guessed. Even if he trades Andrej Meszaros for Evgeni Nabokov fans will complain. Face it, it’s what we do. All we can hope for right now is that he explains his decisions and takes ownership of them. If the team he assembles for next season doesn’t win then he has to be the one responsible for it.

As for the coach…well let’s leave that for another day.