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June 29, 2008
Letters, numbers, animals
Hadn't caught it elsewhere, but Wild beatwriter Michael Russo posted the chart with the updated figures: draft-pick compensation if a team declines to match an offer sheet to a Group II player. (The original chart is in Section 10.4 of the CBA, but those numbers go up based on the average salary.) (And to me, that's a blog worth subscribing to on the RSS...)
Two bright sides to a painful day (for reasons I couldn't even begin to explain) -- found an old baseball glove that I had lost two years ago in Yonkers; and moments after I walked in the door, there was Andy Kaufman on the very first Saturday Night (Live), rebroadcast tonight. He put the phonograph needle on the record. I was laughing already.
And finally: If you're catching, and you see that a shallow popup is going to fall between your pitcher and third baseman, and you've got a good idea that the sucker's gonna bounce foul... YELL. SCREAM. SAY SOMETHING. Your chances for sleep that night will thank you.
Argh.
Posted by mike on 3:00 AM | Comments (3)
June 28, 2008
Tell us how you really feel
Jonathan Bombulie and Kevin Oklobzija do an eloquent job.
Thinking back on it today, I think what bugs me most about that rule at this level is that, simply, this is a development league. A key skill, at any level, is getting the puck out of the zone. You develop your skill at chipping the puck off the boards, off the glass, to clear. In game situations, you'll sometimes miss. The punishment for missing in this case borders on cruel and unusual, particularly when your team is already short-handed. I can understand wanting your rule book to mirror the NHL's, but, well... You wanna hang 'em in the Show, say they should be better by that point, well, we'll disagree, but OK; it won't be the first time. Down here, keeping him on the ice to try again is punishment enough.
But Kevin notes what may well be the key factor, and wouldn't you know, it involves lawsuits.
(I feel compelled to link to Randy Cassingham's Zero Tolerance pages.)
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Was in the middle of several things in the moments leading up to 2:10 or so Friday afternoon. And then I heard Gary Cohen speak words that seemed impossible to believe.
The Mets were wearing their blue caps.
On the road.
Brethren, you know I get into this stuff -- sometimes too much. But seeing that combination again -- albeit imperfectly, 'cause the jersey has undergone some changes over the past decade -- well, on its own, it almost made the afternoon.
Oh, who'm I kidding: It did.
And then other things happened over the next nine-plus hours, but long story short: Thanks, Charlie Samuels...
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Add San Jose's Dan Spang and Jonathan Tremblay to the non-tendered list.
Posted by mike on 2:07 AM | Comments (1)
June 27, 2008
Good news, bad news
Read this morning's news with kind of a split reaction. If I hadn't only used "Oh That's Bad/No That's Good" in print a few months ago, I'd have probably gone to it...
--Those games with Houston and San An (one home-and-home apiece), and the addition of an extra home-and-home with Springfield (four whole games! we're on a roll), come at the expense of games with Wilkes-Barre, Hershey and... Manchester, the only game with Manchester. Sniff. The only other time the Sound Tigers didn't play a conference foe? Manitoba, Year 1.
There are, meanwhile, still six games apiece with Lowell and Portland.
From the League:
--18+2. I hear coaches rejoicing.
--One-minute minor penalties in overtime. (Carryover time may be cut in half, but Jason Chaimovitch informs us that full details of those cases will be ironed out later.)
--The Rule Book has been "(brought) closer in line with the NHL's," which (shudder) includes the dreaded penalty for a puck shot over the glass from the defensive zone. Oh well. Fun while it lasted. The automatic major for an accidental high-stick that draws blood has been reduced to a double minor, like the NHL. The AHL also adopted the NHL's new, more explicit warnings about making contact on an icing-touchup race, as well as the rule that keeps the faceoff in the offensive zone if a shot goes off a post and out of play.
And we've also heard, as Dave Eminian reported yesterday, that the 72-game schedule was voted down.
Hershey president Doug Yingst, Norfolk VP Mark Bernard and ref Terry Koharski received awards from the league, too.
Belatedly: Here's where Daine Todd's going: the University of New Brunswick, from where Rob Hennigar is coming. So Todd may well play against some Sound Tigers in September...
Early reactions to the schedule formats: John Walton likes the diversity on some teams' that he's seen; Lindsay Kramer seems to find Syracuse's dull.
Starring today on The Wire: Todd Bertuzzi and Andrew Raycroft.
And RIP, Soviet Hall of Famer Viktor Kuzkin.
Posted by mike on 1:23 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2008
Didn't he do "I Feel For You"?
Greg Logan reports that the Shawn Bates buyout is coming to pass. Meanwhile, Dave Andrews will be around awhile longer; his contract was extended through 2013. More stuff should become official tomorrow; Dave Eminian notes two, one affirmatively (60-second penalties in overtime; to me, a good gimmick to ameliorate the effects of a bad gimmick), one negatorily (no 72-game season, which presumably broke down along logical lines: NHL teams yea, AHL owners nay). They apparently also talked (again) about adding an extra skater, making it 18+2; that may have a chance. (Wow, fourth lines!) And there may be some other stuff, too.
A reliable source, BTW, suggests not to ink Jason-Krog-to-Europe in pen just yet. We'll wait 'n' see.
Today on The Wire: Three Flames, including Marcus Nilson, go on waivers. And besides Shawn Bates, Houston's Shawn Chacon is there as well; he won his last fight but lost the war. If he could only skate a little better...
Pierre Parenteau re-signed with the Rangers, whose tendered/non-tendered list hasn't snuck out yet. Brandon Bochenski is among those who didn't get qualified.
Just trying to get a head start and work on a list... Here's what I've found that's officially out there on guys who weren't qualified:
ANA--Gerald Coleman, Shane Hynes. BOS--Chris Collins, T.J. Trevelyan, Nathan Saunders. DAL--Marius Holtet, Jussi Timonen, Janos Vas. FLA--Garth Murray, Adam Taylor, Martin Tuma. MIN--Miroslav Kopriva. MON--Jimmy Bonneau. NAS--Brandon Bochenski, John Vigilante, Dov Grumet-Morris. NJ--Jordan Parise*. NYI--Drew Fata, Aaron Johnson, Mike Mole, Steve Regier. PHX--Marcel Hossa. SJ--Dan Spang, Jonathan Tremblay. TB--Jonathan Boutin, Mike Egener, Zbynek Hrdel, Marek Kvapil, Ryan Munce, Mario Scalzo. WAS--Jamie Hunt, Stephen Werner.
And finally, and randomly: Have we completely given up on separating the usage of "refute" and "deny"? I've seen them used interchangeably all week, and while I know the dictionaries give "deny" as a second definition for "refute," it seems a lot clearer to just say "deny" when we mean "deny"... Even saves space.
*-Not the 2005 AHL ROTY.
Posted by mike on 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2008
What the market will bear
Got a little valediction from Steve Regier (he's only the all-time leader in GP), and that'll be in the paper tomorrow.
Went over some AHL free-agent names with Howard Saffan, and he said Micheal Haley, Tyler Haskins and Andy Sertich are all signed. Pascal Morency will be given a tryout invitation. Scott Ford and Colton Fretter are among those who probably won't be back; tryout kid Daine Todd is probably going to college. Peter MacArthur isn't signed but it sounds like he'll be coming to Kiddie Camp. Saffan also mentioned that Drew Fata had been talking about Europe.
In today's episode of The Wire: Kyle Wellwood to Vancouver; Marc Denis is free; Jozef Stumpel is next, while Mirtle summarizes the injury claims of Dan Cloutier and David Tanabe.
John Walton's blog has moved and is much more bloglike.
No more McGrattan in Ottawa.
Tarik El-Bashir reports Jamie Hunt didn't get qualified. The Globe's blog reports that Boston is cutting loose Chris Collins, T.J. Trevelyan and Nathan Saunders.
Quickly hit: George Carlin on Kiner's Korner, as seen on Faith and Fear in Flushing. The USFA is in trouble, SI's Brian Cazeneuve reports. RIP, Muppet designer Kermit Love. Who's ready for Doctor Horrible? Um, the University Heights Bridge... yep, been there.
And finally: Woo hoo!
Posted by mike on 10:42 PM | Comments (5)
