The Stanley Cup Finals and Sidney's 'Snub'

So, this piece is going to be very unpolished and stream-of-consciousness, but anyways. Two days after the finish to the Stanley Cup Finals, Sidney Crosby has won his first cup, leading his Penguins over the Red Wings in seven games. Credit to both teams; everybody played hard, and left it all on the ice. Except, maybe, Kris Draper.

After the clock wound out at the end of game 7, standard raucous celebration and dogpiling ensued on the part of the Penguins. No biggie there, I don't think. Handshakes came shortly after, Detroit lined up, and both teams went through the handshake line. Unfortunately, Crosby was evidently slow to the party, and Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom had already left the ice by the time Crosby had fought his way through the masses of reporters, microphones, and cameras. He did manage to shake hands with some of the Wings' players and key staff, but many had already left.

So here's where it gets fuzzy. Did Crosby intentionally snub the Red Wings in the handshake line out of malice or arrogance? Not likely, I don't think. Crosby, frequently accused of being a whiner, is probably one of the more respectful and respectable players in the NHL. Maybe the Red Wings were in a hurry to get off the ice afterwards? I don't know. Might be, might not. Regardless, this snap from Draper has me seething a bit:

Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand...That's ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that! (Associated Press)

My (very, VERY blunt) opinion? Draper's being unnecessarily butt-hurt and making a mountain out of a molehill. I'll openly admit, I didn't pay much attention to how long the whole thing took, and how long the Wings waited on the ice (supposedly, not very; I wasn't keeping track). But considering Crosby would've had to fight through and likely knock over at least five dozen people with cameras and microphones, I don't think he should be terribly surprised or offended that he was a little late to the line.

Regrettably, the Crosby haters seem to be out in full force after this snit, and want to call him out for being classless, snobbish, whatever. They need to take a look at the situation here; he's a KID. He's not even 22 years old yet, and just led his team to a Stanley Cup. Life's dream. A billion different emotions at once. A hiccup in following protocol. That's all that happened. He's not snubbing anyone, he's not being a prima donna, he's not doing anything they might think he is, I don't believe.

Hate all you want; Sidney Crosby now has his name on the Cup. Miserable that a great series, and probably the best playoffs I've watched in years, has to wrap up with this, of all things. I don't believe for a second that this was a snub, particularly how Crosby is not only the face of the franchise, but of the entire NHL. He was late; that's it. Of course, nothing I say will stop the haters from hating, but it has to be said.

Let him have his night, Kris. You've already had four.

Setting the Tone - An Observational Experiment

A hunch I've had about Alex Rios, especially watching him for this season and last season, has been that he has a tendency to let his first at-bat really dictate how he hits for the rest of his game. If he has a good result early, he hits well; if not, he has a bad game at the plate. So what I've decided to do is to actually chart this and do a little statistical analysis on the findings.

So here's the rough explanation:
Duration: April 21st to June 7th, 45 games
First AB will be labeled either 'good', 'neutral', or 'bad'
Batting average will be tracked in those three categories
Good ABs: Hits, Sac Fly
Neutral ABs: Walks, HBP, ROE, Sac bunt
Bad ABs: Any outs other than sacrifices
Stats tracked: Hits, AB, batting average, HR, RBI, K, RISP

Over the course of those games, results get tabulated, and at the end of the experiment, we'll determine the batting average over those three categories, and see how they bear out. Might extend the experiment further, as well, to 60 games or so. Seeing how this affects how Rios at the plate should be an interesting exercise, and my hypothesis is that the numbers are going to bear out the qualitative observations over the last year. Also, I could use a project like this to fill my time.

Week One

So I'm aware of the fact that over six games, what I say is not statistically significant, but thus far, I've liked what I've seen out of the 2009 Blue Jays so far. They've been able to come back and win games from behind that they had no business winning, have gotten good to excellent starting pitching, and have been tearing the cover off the ball, and that's led them to a 5-1 start. So in here, I'll feature a few cogs of the Jays machine and my thoughts on their performances this week.

The Brilliant

• Adam Lind, DH. Lind has absolutely flogged the baseball in his first six games, putting up a six-RBI performance on opening night, and wrapping up this week going 12-26, with three homeruns and 12 RBI. Lind was a terrific hitter all through his minor league career, and expect him to continue to thrive here at the MLB level now under Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace.
• Aaron Hill, 2B. Hill has put up a very strong 8-26 so far in the early goings, along with eight RBI and two homeruns, one of those a key three-run bomb in the second game against Detroit, and starting the season on a six-game hit streak. Hill has always had a quick bat; if he puts up power numbers like he did in 2007, and can improve his on-base percentage, he'll be a key piece that was sorely missed in 2008.
• Roy Halladay, SP. Yeah, I don't think this name is really a surprise. Save a shaky 7th inning in his start against Detroit, Doc has been sharp as a razor, posting a 3.86 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and a 2-0 record in his two starts. Expect another Cy Young push out of Roy, as well as a run at 20 wins once again.

The Good

• Scott Rolen, 3B. Rolen is off to a great start as far as his hitting in concerned, currently sitting on 8-17, and continues to play his excellent defense, but didn't have a great start as far as production numbers go, with only two RBI. Admittedly, not entirely his fault with Lind hitting the way he has been this week.
• David Purcey, SP. Purcey's start against Detroit was very well executed, in spite of the no-decision. The 27-year-old left-hander pitched seven strong innings with five strikeouts, two earned runs, and three walks. That last number he'll have to bring down, but he will win his fair share of games this season if he does.
• Ricky Romero, SP. The rookie left-hander pitched a solid game against Detroit on Thursday, a six-inning, two-run, five-strikeout effort. The brightest thing about that game though, was that in one inning, with the Tigers having already scored two and still threatening, he escaped the inning, and would pitch well for the rest of the outing and get his first MLB win.

The Bad

• Jesse Litsch, SP. Although Litsch pitched reasonably efficiently in his Wednesday start, he had a lot of trouble keeping the ball down, and got burned as a result, giving up five runs on seven hits, including three homeruns. On the plus side, it's a pretty minimal correction to make, and he should have a strong start on his next time out.
• Rod Barajas, C. Barajas has started the season just 1-14 with just one RBI, and while you generally don't look for huge offensive output from the catcher position, you'd like Barajas to be giving you a bit more than this. Upside? Still strong defensively in the first week, and for the most part, he's got his pitching staff in good sorts.
  

The Ugly

• BJ Ryan, RP. Ryan has started off ice-cold for Toronto this season, in two outings, he's had 1 2/3 IP, four earned runs, four hits, three walks, and a blown save. He needs to get it together, and get back to his 2006 form, or he'll likely lose the closer role if he can't find a way to throw strikes.
  
• The Opening Night Fans. I had the misfortune of witnessing a debacle at the 2008 home opener last season, where rally towels, garbage, and a pizza were thrown onto the field, and a streaker took the field. A similar mess happened this season, with more garbage, baseballs, and golf balls thrown onto the field, bad enough that the Tigers actually left the field during a nine-minute delay, and resulted in a threat of forfeiture. That has to stop.

All things said, I think Jays fans have a lot to look forward to this season. If the young pitchers can play well and the offense keeps clicking, they'll be able to put the league on notice with a strong April.

Samson's Team Canada

With less than 11 months now until the start of the 2010 Olympic Men's Hockey tournament, it won't be too long before Steve Yzerman's selections for the Canadian roster is announced, and it's at this point that I'm going to put together my own roster for the tournament. I can't decide whether or not Yzerman has an enviable position; there's certainly no shortage of talent in the pool for him to draw from, but who goes and who stays is the question.

One certainty about this roster will be experience. Canadian players have no shortage of international play time, whether it be from the Olympics, World Championships, or from their time in the World Juniors, and every player on the roster will have worn the colours at least once. Another is that among the forwards, because of Canada's enormous depth at the centre position, a few of them are going to be playing out of position on the wing. Last, Yzerman will, particularly on the blue line, be looking for players who can play a strong two-way game, and complement their offense with strong defense.

We'll start between the pipes, and two of the picks for goalie are no doubters. As the primary, I'm taking Martin Brodeur. Even though he'll be a few months shy of 38 years old by that point next year, he's said himself that he wants to be the go-to guy, and he's still playing like he can be after a long-term injury layoff this season. Second is Roberto Luongo. Arguably the most talented goalie in the world, he can stop pucks that most goalies wouldn't be able to. He's said that if he goes, he wants to be the number one goalie, and he's good enough, no doubt; it's a coin toss as to who takes the lead between those two. For the third-string keeper, I'm more keen to take someone younger; the third-stringer is more a cheerleader position than anything, and for that I'll name Cam Ward from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Now, on to the blue line. As I mentioned before, many of the names here are going to be strong two-way players; guys that can run a power play, have big shots, but can also kill penalties and shut down at the same time. So, here are my seven choices, in list form:

Roster Selections:

• Chris Pronger (Anaheim Ducks)
• Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks)
• Sheldon Souray (Edmonton Oilers)
• Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
  
• Dion Phaneuf (Calgary Flames)
• Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
• Mike Green (Washington Capitals)

All seven of these defencemen are very strong offensive players, either in a playmaking or power-play-leading scenario (Niedermayer and Boyle particularly), or as shooters (especially Souray, Pronger, and Phaneuf). All of these players, however, have strong defensive awareness; Pronger, Phaneuf, and Weber give a tremendous physical presence, and Scott Niedermayer still gets back on defense as quickly as anybody. Also a key bit to note: Mike Green is on this list because of his absurd stat line so far this season; 62 games played (13 missed so far), 28 goals, 67 points, both of which lead all defensemen in scoring, and has an outside shot at scoring 35 goals this year, a number beyond anything I can remember by a defenceman since the heady days of Orr, Bourque, and Coffey. As well, Souray and Weber each have scored 21 goals thus far this season.

Other Possibilities: Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks; Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers; Dennis Wideman, Boston Bruins. All three of these players are certainly capable players, and have qualities that coaches love; Brian Campbell has terrific speed and can get back almost as well as Niedermayer, Bouwmeester is an excellent puck-mover, and Wideman plays a very hard-checking defense, as well as having had a strong offensive year this year with nearly 50 points to date. Working against Wideman, however, is his lack of international experience; he has yet to play for Canada in an IIHF tournament. This may be his year, though.

Notable Exceptions: Rob Blake, San Jose Sharks; Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames; Wade Redden, New York Rangers. Rob Blake while still an offensive and defensive presence, will be 40 years old by the time the Olympic Tournament starts next year; there's no guarantee he'll even be playing next season, and I don't wish to use a roster spot on him when there are equally deserving players. Regehr, while a strong stay-at-home defenceman, lacks the two-way ability of the other defencemen in the roster; there are simply more offensively gifted and more physically punishing options. Redden, similarly to Regehr, doesn't have the offensive ability that he used to have, and also lacks Regehr's defensive capability.

As for the forwards, the major problem (and it's not a bad problem to have, truth be told) is that there are so many good centres available that if you take the best thirteen forwards, you'll have too many forwards, and you'll have some of those extra centres playing out of position on the wings. That being said, many of these forwards are certainly adaptable enough to do that, and Canada will be able to field one of the most dangerous offenses in the tournament, top to bottom.

Roster Selections:

• Captain - Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
• Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
• Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators)
• Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)
• Rick Nash (Columbus Bluejackets)
• Jason Spezza (Ottawa Senators)
• Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Jeff Carter (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Marc Savard (Boston Bruins)
• Simon Gagne (Philadelphia Flyers)

So here's part of the problem: All of these thirteen forwards, and only five wingers. All of these forwards are fantastically talented, though, and make for a formidable setup. For a big-time, high-speed scoring line, expect to see a setup such as Crosby/Savard/Gagne, or a Heatley/Spezza/Carter combination. Spezza flanked by two gifted scorers, Carter, who has broken 40 goals this year, and his Ottawa teammate Heatley, a two-time 50-goal scorer. If you're more a fan of a power-forward line, you'll like an Iginla/Getzlaf/Nash line to fill that role, or alternately, Getzlaf/Thornton/Nash. No shortage of dangerous combinations for the Canadian team to put together.

Other Possibilities: Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes; Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers; Brad Richards, Dallas Stars; Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks; Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks; Mike Cammalleri, Calgary Flames; Brad Boyes, St. Louis Blues, Ryan Smyth, Colorado Avalanche.

Notable Omissions: Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche; Jonathan Tavares, OHL London Knights; Brendan Shanahan, New Jersey Devils. With all due respect to Sakic and Shanahan, the two will be 40 and 41 years old respectively at the time of the Olympics next year, and while Sakic, when not battling hernia problems, can play with the best of them, I don't think it's likely that he will be playing next year, nor will Shanahan. As to Tavares, as gifted a player as he is, Yzerman has said that he doesn't plan to have any teenagers on the team, and I don't expect Tavares to be named, just as I doubted that Sidney Crosby would be named to the 2006 team. Expect Tavares to be playing for Canada in 2014, if the NHL decides to go.

With a roster like this, and an opportunity to avenge an underwhelming 7th place finish in Italy back in 2006, this edition of Team Canada looks to be more versatile, more balanced, and faster than the 2006 incarnation. Explosive scoring, hard hitting, and fast moving. It should be a good tournament and a good home crowd in Vancouver for this one.

Spring Is In The Air

And what does that mean? Baseball. Spring training has begun for Major League Baseball, and this weekend marked the start of the second World Baseball Classic, an international 16-country tournament. Already, there's been an enormous upset in the double-elimination first round with the Netherlands managing to hold onto a 3-2 win over the Dominican Republic, putting the Dominicans on the chopping block.

This afternoon, though, if you were lucky enough to see the Canada vs. USA game, you saw a great one. It was an intense game through and through, and while it's a shame that Canada came out on the wrong end of a 6-5 score, I enjoyed every second of that game. My thoughts on the Canadian team:

On the mound: Canadian starter Mike Johnson pitched a solid four innings, after running up onto his pitch count. He clearly has a great mental makeup, very cool and collected on the mound, and has solid stuff on the mound as well the confidence to throw any pitch at any time (including striking out David Wright on a 3-2 slider).

Another pitcher to make a note of is Seattle Mariners farm hand Philippe Aumont, a 6'7" right-hander. Similar cool manner, brings a hard mid-90s fastball with some nasty inside-out movement, and a hard 82-mph slider, with a seldom-used curve to go with it. Aumont looked a little shaky early on with a couple walks and ended up loading the bases with none out, but buckled down very well and stopped the threat with a pop-up and two strikeouts.

The Canadian pitching staff definitely boasts some great arms; the only knock on them is experience. Few of them have played on a stage quite as big as this, but they've showed themselves to be quite a solid bunch. Almost a pity that four of the starters that were originally going to come out for Canada couldn't (or didn't) do it for some reason or another (Ryan Dempster opted not to compete; Rich Harden, Jeff Francis, and Erik Bedard are all injured).

At the plate: Canada appears to be boasting quite an impressive lineup, featuring both MLB veterans and some minor league prospects in various organizations. Star of the show today proved to be Joey Votto, with a terrific 4-5 performance, with a double, a towering homerun off Jake Peavy, and two RBIs. Votto is a future all-star with the Cincinnati Reds, and with days like today, you can see why.

Russell Martin and Jason Bay showed why they're in the show as well. Martin had a homerun and a double himself today, and Bay, though hitless, had three walks, and demonstrated just how good a hitter he can be, and why he's an all-star. Canada also bears a remarkably dangerous 2-6 stretch in the batting order, with the aforementioned Martin and Votto in the 2 and 3 holes, 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau batting cleanup, Jason Bay batting fifth, and the lightning-fast swing of Matt Stairs in the sixth spot.

With the loss, Canada does face elimination on Monday, against the loser of tonight's game between Italy and Venezuela, but with this lineup, expect Canada to at least survive to contend for a second-round berth, much like they did in 2006, where their only loss in the first round was to Mexico, and even managed to upset the USA team 8-6 with a great pitching performance from Adam Loewen.

This is going to be a great tournament.

Wheeling and Dealing

So as a Toronto sports fan, by and large, I've had the unenviable task of rooting for some rather mediocre teams, not the least of which being the 2008-09 incarnation of the Toronto Raptors, who, admittedly with some critical injuries, have been underachieving all year. With signing point guard Jose Calderon long-term and picking up Jermaine O'Neal from the Indiana Pacers in a trade this off-season, things were starting to look up after a middling effort in the 2007-08 season at 41-41. Anyone who paid attention knew that the O'Neal pickup was definitely an experiment or a project, and as of last night, that experiment appears to be over by way of trade with the Miami Heat:

TO MIAMI HEAT:
C/F Jermaine O'Neal
F Jamario Moon
Conditional First Round draft pick

TO TORONTO RAPTORS:
F Shawn Marion
G Marcus Banks
$3M cash considerations

As for my thoughts on the trade, I don't think it's a bad move, difficult though losing Jamario Moon is to swallow, and a nagging feeling that GM Bryan Colangelo gave up a bit too much as a result. Moon was an energetic, enthusiastic player, and while certainly not up to snuff as a starter, was a solid bench option, and with his athleticism, a superb help defender. O'Neal, while a strong frontcourt player and rebounder, something the Raptors desperately needed, was a question mark with regards to the health of his knee, and with both he and star player Chris Bosh preferring to operate in the post, may not have been the best fit. As unfortunate as it is to see these guys go, it's business, and in the case of O'Neal, it's probably for the best. O'Neal looks like he may be a good fit in Miami as well, who had traded Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Marion, and will give the Heat the post presence that they've been lacking after Shaq's departure.

Picking up Shawn Marion gives the Raptors, when they get healthy, a solid secondary scoring and rebounding option to Bosh, and a dedicated small forward. Although his 12.o PPG this season with Miami certainly leave something to be desired, with a point guard that can take care of and move the ball like Calderon, it's not an unreasonable expectation to see that number rise in Toronto, while maintaining his eight or nine rebounds per game clip. Marcus Banks will give Toronto a good secondary point guard option to Calderon, or at least another option along with Roko Ukic, which will have Anthony Parker as a dedicated shooting guard, and will make guard Will Solomon expendable.

This trade also gives the Raptors significant flexibility for the coming off-season as well; by off-loading the near-$23M owed to O'Neal next year, and replacing it with Marion's expiring contract, that frees up a tidy sum for Colangelo to work with, either to re-up Marion or to explore the free agent market and use that money elsewhere. Additionally, once the Raptors return to full health, this will give their starting five some stability by, for better or worse, making Andrea Bargnani the starting centre, and slotting Marion in at small forward, rather than having a revolving door in the frontcourt with the likes of Moon, Bosh, Bargnani, Joey Graham, and O'Neal.

Overall, I think this trade is a good move. It gives the Raptors some lineup stability, a secondary scorer, and one less question mark about health, as well as some increased financial flexibility. I doubt this will help the Raptors vault into the playoffs this season, but down the road it can bring them back to respectability.