All Good Things Must End

The Lightning and The Deadline - I Name Names

"We traded who? Is he on my line? No. Ok. I'm going to go score a goal now."

It’s time to light the fires on one of the best weeks in the NHL.  Well, the best week that doesn’t involve playoff games, that is.  From now until the 27^th phone bills around the league are skyrocketing as general managers try to find the final pieces for their playoff teams. Or, teams that are out of the race look for the building blocks for next season.

The Lightning are occupying the nebulous area in between the two right now.  They currently stand six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot with at least a game in hand on everyone they’re chasing.  The problem is that there are a bunch of teams that they are chasing. Including the eighth-spot Maple Leafs there are five teams within six points (and two more seven points out).  That’s a close race.

It’s closer than last week when Steve Yzerman admitted he was looking for the future instead of this season as the deadline approached.  His actions echoed his words as he was able to move Dominic Moore to the San Jose Sharks for a 2^nd round pick and Pavel Kubina to the Flyers for a conditional 2^nd round pick (either this draft or 2013), a 4^th round pick and a John Kalinski. 

What a John Kalinski looks like.

Mr. Yzerman turned two unrestricted free agents into three draft picks and a fringe prospect.  That isn’t too shabby. I like Kubina, but he doesn’t fit the defensive mold that he and Coach Boucher have been looking for in their two seasons in Tampa Bay.  If you take a look at who’ve they’ve brought in they’ve all been younger, puck-moving defensemen.  The only exception left on the roster right now is Brett Clark, and not to foreshadow the rest of the column, I wonder if he’ll still be here in a week.

What hasn’t been mentioned too much in the press about these moves, is that the Lightning saved a little over $1 million in real salary.  Even with owner Jeff Vinik raising the team’s payroll over the last two seasons, they still have to be careful with their money.

 Attendance has been steady this year despite the team’s struggles (ESPN has them ranked 13^th in home attendance averaging 18,334 fans per contest).  With a notorious fickle fan base, throwing in the towel could see a drop in fans showing up which could hurt the team financially.  Saving a little bit of money while stocking future assets is a win/win for the organization.

I’ve thought for awhile that this team hasn’t performed to the level of a playoff team.  Even if they do leapfrog the teams in front of them, they still look like first round fodder for the Rangers or Flyers.  Even with the better play of late they’re struggling to make up ground.  It seems when they win, so does everyone else around them. 

With the team winning twice since Mr. Yzerman began his team transformation he has backed off his fire-sale mentality and said that he’ll let the team on the ice play out the year.  Which to me means, he doesn’t have anything pending and if nothing pops up he has no problem waiting till the summer to finish refurbishing the squad.

However, I don’t think he’s ignoring the phone.  Kubina and Moore were probably the top two assets on his trade list, but that doesn’t mean he is currently out of bullets.  From surfing the web and seeing what other teams are looking for, here are the players that I think could still move:

-          Adam Hall – a solid defensive center with face-off skills. He could fill a role a roll for a team looking for depth.

-          Brett Clark – he’s not flashy, but he blocks a lot of shots and can fill in on the power play occasionally.

-          Ryan Malone – the name drawing the most chatter, but I think his health history might keep some teams away.

-          Mathieu Garon – my dark horse trade candidate.  Say the Kings move Jonathon Bernier for offense, it wouldn’t be impossible to think they might pick up Garon as insurance against injury.

Overall, I think the trade deadline will be quiet this year due to two factors.  One, so many teams are in contention there aren’t that many big name potential free agents available.  Secondly, with an uncertain future in regards to the CBA, GM’s might be wary of taking on a long term contract.

I’ll still be following along, trying to weed out the fake twitter accounts (hint, check number of followers and previous tweets) and reading between the lines. 

Your Steve Downie Photo of theWeek - Steve Downie Goal Scorer

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?

The One Where I Piggy Back A Post Off of a Real Website

Welcome to a new, and hopefully reoccurring, part of this blog. The fine folks over at Raw Charge (The Internet’s Bestest Place for All Things Lightning Related) have been posting a question of the week for some time now.  I’m not sure how long, definitely not as long Vinny’s 20-goal streak but longer than Niklas Sundstrom’s Lightning career.

 I’ve occasionally commented on their questions, but have always wanted to have a platform to expound upon my thoughts.  Then I remember that I had a blog.  Not only that, but a blog that sometimes even mentioned the Lightning. So with Chief-Raw Charger-Officer’s blessing I’ll be posting my thoughts (no matter how incoherent they are) on the weekly question.  He did make me promise not to call anyone mollycoddles or Johnny Bum’s so that might limit my quest to bring those words back into vogue, but that’s neither here nor there.

This week’s question: “What ONE thing would you go back andchange before the start of the season?”

Of course, Mr. Fontana would echo my thoughts with his answer – keeping Cedric Desjardins in the organization.  Allowing the Boucher-approved net minder to leave for rockier pastures of Colorado thinned out the Lightning’s stable of NHL-ready goaltenders.  Which is something that would have been nice with the pre-season number one allowing almost 4 goals a game and his counterpart proving that he can’t really handle the workload of a number one puck stopper.

So instead I’m going to say that if I was granted one very specific Lightning related wish I would have sent Brett Connolly back to his junior team this season.  I know, I know I’ve argued that he belonged with the team at the beginning of the season and heck, just the other day I twittered, tweeted, twitted that he could be the recipient of more playing time now that Dominic Moore is a Shark (Hmmm….in a future Winnipeg/San Jose match-up will they have the cojones to have a “Dress as your favorite ‘West Side Story’ character” night?).

Back when Connolly and the Lightning Power Play could score.  Photo from AP.

However, I’ve come to change my mind.  Seeing the difference in his play from earlier in the season to now makes it almost obvious that he wasn’t ready to be a factor for an NHL team.  After starting the season averaging almost 13 minutes of ice-time a game he hasn’t played more than 9 minutes a game since January 7^th. In those 15 games since the 7^th he has one assist and hasn’t scored a goal since November 17^th against Pittsburgh (Ha. Suck it Penguins’ fans!)

He’s been a scratch of the healthy variety several times since the calendar has flipped to 2012. It’s obvious that Coach Boucher isn’t at the point where he’s comfortable having the young winger on the ice during critical parts of the game.

His slump should help me acquire this card at a reasonable price. Bonus!

This doesn’t mean I think he’s a bust, or a dud if you prefer Lightning historical nomenclature.  The Campbell River native’s performance on the big stage of the World Juniors proved that he can perform against the best in the world; he just needs a little more seasoning to elevate his game in the NHL.

Would he have gotten that seasoning by spending a year in a league that he dominated in previously? That’s hard to say, but another year would have allowed the 19 year-old to put on more weight and become stronger.  Very few players can come into the league under the age of 20 and be effective. There is just such a tremendous difference in the speed and size of the players that it is hard to overcome, plus you can’t even enjoy a beer with your teammates after a hard-fought victory.  They still do that, right? Sit around the clubhouse and crack open a Molson or two while their various cuts get stitched up.  I like to think they do.

Next season will be a big test for Connolly.  He’ll have to earn his spot on the club especially with young prospects such as Carter Ashton and Cory Conacher knocking on the door.  Connolly has shown that he is willing to play physically, whether it’s crashing the net or going into the corners to battle for the puck. That’s going to be the biggest factor for him staying in the league. If, and it’s always a big if when talking about prospects, he can take it to the next level and finish the opportunities he creates.

He has undoubtedly learned a lot by being in the NHL, but with 20/20 hindsight, I think his days (if not his bank account) would have been better off in juniors for one more season.

Yea! New Through-the-Mail!

Apparently the secret to getting my through-the-mail autographs back is to go stand in line for a free autograph.  For the second time in a row, within days of getting a free in-person autograph of a Chicago Blackhawk Hall of Famer I've gotten an envelope in the mail with my mailing label on it.

Unfortunately, for the first time I've suffered some damage on the return shipping.  It appears that the athlete put the card back in the penny sleeve before the ink dried on the card AND neglected to include the toploader on the return shipping as well.  Oh and I don't think they actually sealed the envelope.

But hey I still got an autographed card and it's a member of the Lightning.

Love the look of Heroes and Prospects

That's right, it's Teddy Two-Goals!  Or Two-Time Teddy. Or Teddy Two-Step.  Or whatever I call him on twitter when he scores a goal.

As you can you see, some of the Sharpie rubbed off on the penny sleeve and the signature itself is a bit smudges.  Of course, some of it is my fault.  I didn't prep the card at all, thinking that the ITG Heroes and Prospects set didn't have that high of a gloss on it.  My bad.

Still, to add a Teddy Purcell autograph to my collection is a plus.  If he hadn't signed a two-year deal before this season, chances are he'd be on the trade block for the Bolts along with Pavel Kubina and the recently departed Dominic Moore. 

Purcell was a deadline pickup for the Lightning in 2010 as Tampa Bay sent Jeff Halpern to Los Angeles for the young winger.  Last season was a bit of a breakout for Purcell,  as he potted 17 goals and 51 points for the Bolts. A slick skater with a sneaky quick snapshot Purcell has 14 goals this year and is showing that he is a valid secondary scoring option for the sometimes punchless Tampa squad.

He would be even more potent if he shot the puck more, but playing on a line with Steven Stamkos kind of prevents that from happening.  Anytime you are on the same line as the best shooter in the NHL you tend to defer to him whenever possible. 

Thanks for sending the card back Teddy!

A Lightning Hall of Fame Autograph

Ok. So that's a bit of a misleading title.  Of the 1196 games he played in the NHL only 105 of them were with the Lightning. He did manage to score 24 goals and put up 63 points in the blue, black and silver which is good enough for 36th on the all-time Lightning points leader list (tied with Ryan Craig!).

He's probably best known for his work with Chicago Blackhawks, who the Lightning traded him back to in 1995 for a 6th round pick which Tampa Bay used to draft Eduard Pershin. You remember him, right?


Look at those stats, how could you not remember him? Kudos to me for figuring out how to embed some stats, by the way.  That should help with the deadline fire sale the Lightning should be holding in about a week. My guess is Pavel Kubina, Dominic Moore and Adam Hall are forwarding their mail in March and GM Steve Yzerman is figuring out what to do with some extra mid-round draft picks.

Have you figured out who the newest addition to my autograph collection is yet?

At this rate I'm going to have to start collecting the base Champs set all over again

Hall of Famer Denis Savard was signing for free at the Chicago Auto Show today and with nothing better to do I headed down there.  I don't really have any story to tell like I did with the Esposito autograph (and really that wasn't an exciting story, was it?).

I was kind of shocked at how short the line was for Savard's autograph and then I remembered most folks were at work between the hours of 4 and 6 pm on a Wednesday.  Guess there's something to be said for not having a job. Heck, I even got $4 off of admission because I brought a can of food.  Although, the lady accepting the food wasn't happy that I only brought one.  Look Miss, I like my canned soup, you're lucky to be getting anything.

The car show itself was impressive, if you're into that kind of thing I guess.  A lot of folks walking around taking pictures of cars, I mean A LOT of photos.  It makes me wonder how many actually get printed out- less than 1% maybe? What are they going to do with a picture of a 2013 Honda Civic taken with their iPhone?  Although some folks had some sweet camera rigs, and they didn't look like they were with the press - bloggers maybe?

I did take one picture with my woefully outdated Blackberry.  Ford unveiled the new Shelby Cobra Mustang at the show and I snapped a photo to send to my Pops who owns a 60-something-ish Mustang of his own.  Figured I'd show him the newest member of the family.  Not gonna lie, it was kind of bad ass looking. I imagine it would look sweet stuck in traffic on the Kennedy everyday.

How many words at 2 cents a word would it take to own this? I don't know, I don't do math

Where was I? Oh yeah, the line for Savard. There really wasn't one.  I took my spot at 3:45 or so and there were maybe 20 folks in front of me, including a Blackhawks fan who stopped talking to me once I said my best memories of Savard were of him as a Bolt.  Which was kind of a lie, because I don't really remember him as a Bolt as it predates my fascination with the team (1997) and the only reason I knew he played for the Lighting is because I have a British Long Ton of his cards from the Neo-Vintage era.

The line moved pretty briskly, Denis wasn't chit-chatting with the folks.  He was extremely pleasant even when I put two items in front of him (the card and a 5x7 for my boy Link).  He signed both and wished me a good day.  I debated jumping back in line to get a Montreal Canadians card signed as well, but figured the El ride  home would be packed if I dallied any longer.

Eddie Olczyk signs on Friday, but I think I'm skipping that one.  As much as I'd like him to sign something with the phrase "Happy Humans"on it, I'm not sure I can justify another ticket or listen to some dame spout off the specs of a car I'll never be able to afford.

That being said I'm glad to add this card to the collection.  One of these day's I'm going to figure out what to do with the signed cards other than stick them in a binder.  Till then...well it's going in a binder.

Something for the Baseball Fan in Your Life

If I had the room I would definitely have a sports shrine dedicated to my favorite teams.  Alas, living in the city kind of limits the amount of wall space I have available.  That’s not a complaint, moving to Chicago definitely outweighs having a shelf of bobbleheads hanging over the desk in my office. That being said I still keep an eye out for random things that would look cool once I do have space again.

I already have a box of posters and autographed 8x10’s that I’ve lugged from Florida to Chicago and plan on framing and hanging once I have a man cave to decorate.  Of course, if anyone is interested in an autographed 8x10 of Corey Schwab I think we can work out a deal.

Along with the basic things to hang on the wall, I’m always looking for something a little different to hang up as well.  A few years ago I got wind of an artist who has been putting out some unique pieces of art dedicated almost solely to the baseball fans among us.

Chris Speakman is a print maker living in Massachusetts (won’t hold that against him) who has been churning out one-of-a-kind screen prints on his website for the last few years. Those of us who collect baseball cards might remember the 2009 insert set based on his work.

His limited edition prints evoke the World War II-era propaganda style posters that have recently become popular.  To me, the use of the teams primary colors really make them pop and would look fantastic on the wall surrounded by other team-related memorabilia.

 Dodgers fans should rejoice because he just announced his latest MLB-approved pieces- Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.  The screen prints will each be hand-made, signed by Mr. Speakman and limited to just 200 copies.  The fifty-dollar price tag isn’t too unreasonable for the quality of work he provides.

I haven’t bought one for myself yet, but I did buy one of Camden Yards as a present a few years ago and can attest to how great they look in person.  Framing them probably won’t be cheap as they measure 21x17, but would well be worth it. This isn’t something you hang on the wall with thumbtacks.

It would be nice to see him expand into other sports (God knows I’d spend $100 for a Lecavalier) or offer a greater selection in his posters.  But that’s just a minor complaint. Having an artist out there (even if he’s a Red Sox fan) putting out works as creative as his should be appreciated.