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Random Thoughts

by Mike Chen on 02/03/09 at 12:10 PM ET
Comments (2)

A few random thoughts after playing catch-up with the past few days:

-Those marketing geniuses down in the Tuscon, Arizona market show they know how to get someone’s attention during a sporting event. Maybe the Coyotes should consider hiring the minds behind that for some of their promotion. Imagine the anticipation as viewers wonder when the Phoenix Coyotes broadcast just might turn into 30 seconds of uncensored adult material. “Wayne Gretzky just said what?”

-Am I the only one thinking that John Tortorella was the best available candidate for the Ottawa Senators job? Here’s a no-guff guy who knows how to combine discipline and responsibility with his famous safe-is-death on-ice system. If he could get through to Vincent Lecavalier, why couldn’t he work the same magic with Jason Spezza? Of course, Vinny and Torts had their differences but I think Vinny will be the first to admit that he’s a much better player for having gone through it.

-Is there anyone on the trade market comparable to Jay Bouwmeester? I say no, and that’s why if I’m Jacques Martin, I’m holding everyone interested over a barrel for a hell of a bidding war. Bouwmeester can play in any situation and he eats minutes up every night; if he was playing in a more prominent market, the media would be all over him. Those defensemen are rare, and it’s going to take much more than the rumored Alexei Kovalev package to nab him. At least, I’d hope so, but you never know how dumb Martin might be.

-The guys on XM Home Ice speculated this morning about what Philadelphia would do about its goaltending situation and its cap woes. One proposal that came out—and again, this is just speculation and has no foundation in reality—is Columbus’ Pascal Leclaire for Daniel “Call me Danny” Briere. Both players are injured and injury-prone, so it’d almost be a swap of damaged goods. However, when healthy, it’s one of those things that seems to fill holes for both teams (and I’m assuming the sensible thing to do for Columbus would be to package in another asset to try and get one of Philly’s veteran goalies in return as support for Steve Mason). As far as I can tell, Leclaire’s still 5-7 weeks away and Briere’s about a month away.

-And speaking of trades, I know we’re getting into the silly season, but remember that all sorts of “throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” information gets tossed around the media at this point. If you read it from Bruce Garrioch or Al Strachan, take it with a grain of salt, please!

-A final thought on All-Star Games—someone floated the idea of a cash incentive for the winning team but how about the league takes the initiative from Zdeno Chara and pledges to donate a certain amount of cash to the favorite charity for each player on the winning team, along with a bonus donation for the game’s MVP? Not only will it do a lot of good for a lot of worthwhile causes, it’ll be a ton of good PR for the league.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Alexei+Kovalev, Daniel+Briere, Jay+Bouwmeester, John+Tortorella, Pascal+Leclaire,

Comments

I still think a one dollar donation to a players chosen charity for every all star vote kills two birds with one stone. No more extreme ballot stuffing and great PR.

Posted by Mogen_david on 02/03/09 at 02:01 PM ET

I foresee a slight problem in your proposed trade between Philadelphia and Columbus for Briere and LeClaire. See, Briere signed his rediculous contract with a No Trade Clause. Possible even a No-Movement Clause which means they can’t even send the bum to the minors.

So unless Briere is all of a sudden dying to play again with former teammate RJ Umberger, this trade is about as likely as the Leafs winning the Cup this year.

Posted by Nealio from Moncton on 02/03/09 at 02:54 PM ET

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

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