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Last Word On Sports

Sports News Since 2011. Honestly.

Last Word On Sports Logo

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012

How will Canada Fare at Wimbledon?

Posted on by Greg Persson

Every tennis fan knows that the beginning of summer can mean only one thing – Wimbledon.  It is simply the oldest of the grand slam tournaments and the only remaining major to be played on grass. Many eyes will be on the dominant players such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and on the women’s side Maria Sharapova and defending champion Petra Kvitova among others.  However, being Canadian, my attention will be directed towards the four Canucks who will be showcasing their grass court game at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club.

Canada’s top hope will be Milos Raonic, the owner of arguably the best service game in tennis today. Raonic comes into Wimbledon ranked number 21, and has been on a very good run recently including a personal best 3rd round appearance at the French Open and a Quarter Finals appearance in Halle. What made the German grass court result interesting was the fact that Raonic went to a final set tiebreak with the great Roger Federer, a showing that he can definitely be proud of. Raonic will be looking to ride this momentum into a deep run at Wimbledon.

Raonic was forced to retire from last year’s tournament due to injury in the second round, which was obviously terribly disappointing. His powerful serve and forehand are immensely effective weapons, especially on grass, and he will look to use those tools to erase last year’s debacle from memory with a strong showing in 2012. The road to the round of 16 for Raonic is daunting, yet I believe very manageable. One big challenge appears to be number 16, Marin Cilic, the big serving Croatian who he might meet in the third round. Cilic however, has struggled at Wimbledon, suffering elimination in the first round the last two years.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, there is a potential second-round obstacle in Sam Querrey, who may pose a threat despite not having played at Wimbledon in the past two years. Querrey has an impressive resume and won’t be an easy match.

If Milos is fortunate to find himself into fourth round he will likely run into hometown hopeful, Andy Murray. Raonic and Murray have split their season series 1-1, and if his serve holds true Milos has a chance to send many British fans home unhappy. Look for Raonic to make the round of 16, but I imagine few will have him going and further.  I believe Milos has the skills to pull off an upset and advance to his first Wimbledon QF and perhaps beyond. Some tennis analysts are even picking Raonic as their dark horse to win the title, which would be historic for Canadian tennis.

On the way to the much-anticipated matchup with Murray, Milos may have to face another Canadian in the second round. Vasek Pospisil will make his first Wimbledon appearance in the main draw this year and will be warmly welcomed by Sam Querrey in the first round. Pospisil is coming off a very close defeat at the hands of talented young American Ryan Harrison and has shown that he can handle himself on grass, if he manages to get past Querrey we will likely see an all-Canadian matchup in the second round, from which Raonic will almost assuredly emerge. Pospisil is only 22 and a win over Querrey would be a big accomplishment, yet I just can’t see that happening. He will have to utilize his two-handed backhand and hope Querrey’s strong serve is not in top form to advance.  You never know.

On the women’s side of the draw there are also two Canadians in the mix, and oddly enough they are also matched up-quite closely in the draw. Aleksandra Wozniak has been a staple of Canadian women’s tennis for quite a while and at one point made a healthy run at the top 32. She had a good showing at the French Open making the third round, but she tends to be more successful on clay than grass.  Her first round opponent is Vera Dushevina, who Wozniak defeated in their only previous matchup on grass in 2009. Wozniak should take this match as she is the better player and will likely move on to possibly face another Canadian, Stephanie Dubois.

Dubois is a feisty 5’4″ counter-puncher who is very fun to watch when she can get a good rally going, however, she is in tough against number 25 Zheng Jie in the opening round. Zheng plays a similar back and forth athletic style game to Dubois. She has excellent shot placement and has fantastic speed and movement. Dubois will face a nearly impossible task in advancing past the first round to meet Wozniak. The probable second round matchup between Wozniak and Zheng will be interesting. Wozniak defeated Zheng at the French but Zheng is much stronger on grass, having reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon a few years ago. However, in their only other match in 2009, Wozniak defeated Zheng in a grass tournament so the history is in favor of Canada, and Wozniak is a serious threat to make the third round for the first time in her career. If she does make round 3 she will run into the buzz saw that is Serena Williams who will be looking to erase her first round loss at the French.  I’m hoping for a miracle, but if Wozniak makes it to Serena this match will likely end poorly for Aleksandra. A third round appearance would certainly be a nice feather in her cap.

It is worthwhile to mention Rebecca Marino who will miss Wimbledon as she continues to recover from a very difficult 2011 and early 2012. Hopefully Canadian tennis fans will see the 6 foot tall power player return soon as her serve and forehand are a pleasure to watch.

In the end, Raonic is Canada’s star and I expect he will give Canadian tennis fans a lot to cheer for in the next two weeks. As a bonus it would be nice to see Wozniak go deep as well. All four Canadians will be in action on Tuesday and a 4 for 4 day is a great way to prepare for July 1st weekend.

…and that is the Last Word.

Feel free to comment below.

NHL Draft Weekend: Winners and Losers

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Okay, I know its early to judge the winners and losers of this year’s NHL Entry draft.  And yes, its true, the real winners and losers of Draft Day will not be known for 3-5 years, but thats not gonna stop me from giving my early opinion on the winners and losers of the 2012 Entry Draft Weekend, now that its over.  And heck, if we’re wrong 3-5 years from now, we won’t be writing about the draft, we’ll be writing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so lets do the draft recap now.

The Top 3 Big Winners

These three clubs really impressed me on draft weekend, and have set themselves up going forward.

1) Montreal Canadiens: Marc Bergevin’s first draft as GM of the Montreal Canadiens looks like an outstanding success.  Bergevin came from the Blackhawks organization who built their team around Jonathan Toews, and the Habs filled their long standing hole at Centre with the closest thing there is to a Toews clone in Alex Galchenyuk.  Bergevin and head scout, Trevor Timmins  would then grab a potential steal of the draft at 33rd overall in Sebastian Collberg, a player we had ranked in our top 10.  In time Collberg could develop into a Patrick Kane-like sidekick for Galchenyuk.  At 51st overall  and 64th overall the Habs would land two more prospects from our top 35 in Dalton Thrower and Tim Bozon. The Habs would then get our 51st ranked prospect Brady Vail at 94th overall and our 65th ranked prospect Charles Hudon at 122nd overall.  With two prospects in our top 10, and six in our top 65, this is an incredible haul.   On top of all that, the Habs turned not one but two organizational weaknesses into strengths, really improving their prospect depth at both Centre and Left Wing.

2) Dallas Stars:  The Stars had a banner draft.  Like Montreal, they managed to pick up six prospects we had ranked and done full profiles of.  Joe Nieuwendyk found a big, two way centre in Radek Faksa with the 13th overall pick. The Stars would then grab 22nd ranked Ludvig Bystrom at 44th overall, 52nd ranked Mike Winther at 54th overall,  honourable mention Devin Shore at 61st overall, 60th ranked Gemel Smith at 104th Overall and 64th ranked Branden Troock at 134th overall.  The Stars also grabbed Esa Lindell, a quality defence prospect out of Sweden who just missed the cut of our top 80.  The Stars got great value on nearly all of their picks, really improved their prospect depth at forward and also grabbed two quality Swedish defenders.  J.R. Ewing would be happy finding a oil-well with this much value in Dallas.

3) Pittsburgh Penguins: The weekend started out on a bad note as Jordan Staal turned down a 10 year, $60 million offer from the Pens.  He also indicated to the team that he wished to play with his brother Eric in Carolina, and if still with Pittsburgh, he would test free agency on July 1st, 2013.  This really put the Penguins in a bind and took away most of the potential dance partners for a trade.  Despite this GM Ray Shero was able to get good value out of Carolina in the #8 overall pick, along with Brandon Sutter, who will replace Staal on the third line, and defence prospect Brian DuMoulin.  The Pens may have reached a little in taking Derrick Pouliot with the 8th overall pick, however they then got great value in Olli Maatta at 23.  I also like the picks of Matt Murray at 83, Matia Marcantuoni at 92 and Anton Zlobin at 173.  The Penguins would make a second trade on the weekend, moving expensive Dman Zybanek Michalek to Phoenix.  On top of the quality picks, the Penguins have freed up a ton of cap space for July 1st, and set themselves up to take a healthy run at Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, or maybe even both.  If they choose to go the trade route, the Pens could fit Rick Nash, Keith Yandle or Bobby Ryan under their cap.

Other Winners (Alphabetical order)

Buffalo Sabres: Got great value picks in Mikhail Grigorenko, and Zemgus Girgensons, two players who solve the Sabres need for big centres.  Also got good value in picking Jake McCabe, and a potential sleeper in Logan Nelson a talented centre for Victoria in the WHL. The draft re-entry really showed his offensive potential when he was given minutes.  The Sabres were able to turn the surplus of early picks they accumulated into good players who also fill organizational needs.

Carolina Hurricanes:  I talked about the Jordan Staal trade above, and while the Hurricanes did give up value to get him, they won the trade when Jordan put them in the catbird’s seat by making it known he wanted to play with brother Eric.  The acquisition of Jordan is a major organizational coup, and puts Carolina in the winner’s column this weekend.  Solid picks of Phil Di Giuseppe, and Trevor Carrick just add to that.

Chicago Blackhawks:The Blackhawks were beneficiaries when two falling prospects, fell right into their laps. They must have been ecstatic to get Teuvo Teravainen at 18th overall. That is an absolute steal. Later in the draft they were able to get Brandon Whitney, getting huge value in the 7th round. Their 2nd rounder, Dillon Fournier may have been a bit of a reach, but he’s still a good prospect.

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs got a pair of good defencemen in Morgan Rielly at 5th overall and Matt Finn at 35th overall.  Finn in particular was a real steal given his ranking and draft position.  This left the Leafs with a glut of young players on the blue line.  With that in mind I like how they were able to move Luke Schenn and address the need for a big forward in getting James Van Riemsdyk.  Schenn may benefit from the change in scenery, but it just wasn’t happening for him in Toronto, and Van Riemsdyk might use his change in scenery to finally blossom in Toronto.

Some Good Stuff, but a lot of What were you thinking?

I don’t really want to call these teams losers, as how can you be a loser when you get the Best Player in the Draft in Nail Yakupov, or the best Defenceman in the draft in Ryan Murray, or even a first round steal in Filip Forsberg, but these teams made other moves on draft day that left me shaking my head.

Columbus Blue Jackets:  Jackets fans have to love the Ryan Murray pick.   Oscar Dansk was also good value and filled an organizational need.  However the rest of the weekend was off the rails.  They gave up a 2nd round pick and two 4th round picks for Sergei Bobrovsky.  Really?  Have the Jackets watched this guy over the last two years in Philadelphia?  He’s not number 1 goalie material and I don’t see where he fills their need for a number 1 goalie or how he has that much trade value.  The Jackets also took another goalie in Joonas Korpisalo in the 3rd round.  Taking a second goalie after grabbing Dansk tells me that Columbus has no faith in Bobrovsky as a long term solution, but the price they paid for him indicated that he was.  If you don’t believe in Bobrovsky, and are just taking a chance on him, then don’t give up 3 picks to get him including a mid second.  I don’t get it.   To top off their weekend the Jackets went and fired 4 scouts immediately after the draft was over.  Classy move to fire a guy while he’s still in a hotel room in Pittsburgh and far away from home.

Edmonton Oilers:  Coming into the draft, we knew the Oilers were well stocked with good young wingers.  We also knew that they could take the best player available in Nail Yakupov, or try to fill an organizational need on defence.  They also need a future second line centre behind Ryan Nugent Hopkins, as Sam Gagner is not the answer.  Two small offensive centres just isn’t going to work.  The Oilers went Best Player Available at first overall in Yakupov, and that was clearly the right move in my eyes.  However after that, the train came off the rails.  Mitch Moroz, a left wing was a serious reach at 32, especially with so many defencemen in this draft.  Then the Oilers took two more wingers with their next two picks in Juhjar Khaira, and Daniil Zharkov, meaning they took four wingers in their first four picks.  With Petry, Marcinin, Teubert, Klefbom, Musil, and Gernat I’m not as down on the Oilers defensive prospects as some people are, but really Tambellini and Lowe have to recognize that at some point they need to load up on defence, as right now they have little room for error if a couple of those prospects bust. They also didn’t address the need for the 2nd line centre.

Washington Capitals: The Capitals got a draft day steal with Filip Forberg.  I’m not crazy about how high they took Tom Wilson, as I feel that is a reach and his potential is to be a third liner. The Mike Ribeiro trade is a head scratcher, the Caps had shown their best playoff success by moving to a more gritty, physical, defensive style under Dale Hunter.  Even with Hunter gone, I would have thought that they’d continue down that road, but they trade for Mike Ribeiro?  This doesn’t add up.

The 3 Biggest Losers

3) Vancouver Canucks:  I like the Brendan Gaunce pick a lot.  However Alexandre Mallet is a real reach in the second round, and the lack of third and fourth rounders due to earlier trades make this day a loss.

2) Boston Bruins:  The Bruins got decent value in Malcolm Subban, but the rest of their draft is mess.  Matthew Grzelcyk is a 5’9″ defenceman who just doesn’t have the skills to overcome that size deficiency, in my opinion.  I would have pegged him as a bubble guy to even be a 7th round pick.  Taking him in the third round is among the worst reaches in the draft.  They also lacked 2nd round and 4th round picks which make the day a loss.  Also didn’t get enough value for Benoit Pouliot who scored 16 goals for the Bruins.  Seth Griffith was however good value in the 5th, but is still a project.

1) Colorado Avalanche:   Had to watch as Filip Forsberg was picked with the first rounder given up in the Semyon Varlamov trade.  Then reached for Mitchell Heard in the 2nd round, as he is more of a 5th round pick or later.  Troy Bourke in round 3 is a decent pick but the real lack of a lot of picks due to earlier trades makes this draft tough.    Anytime you trade away your future picks for roster players, and then fail to make the playoffs, you’ve got to be called a draft day loser.  Reach with the highest pick you do have, and you become the biggest draft day loser.

Feel free to leave your comments below, and follow me on Twitter @LastWordBKerr

… and thats the Last Word.

NFL Inside Access – ALL 22

Posted on by Ben Kerr

The NFL is back, baby!

Well, it never really went away, we just won’t let it.  It has become the sport without an off-season.  But for me, I started really looking forward to the upcoming season with the announcement from the league that they will make available the All-22 film on NFL Game Rewind for this upcoming season.  For those unfamiliar, Game Rewind allows you to view any game that has already happened for that season over the internet.  The All-22 film is the endzone angle of the field allowing the camera to capture all 22 players on the screen and not miss any of the action.  This might not seem like a big deal to the casual fan, but it will still have an impact.

Very few casual fans would ever care to watch a game after it has been played if it does not involve their team, and even fewer still would enjoy watching that game from a far-off angle that almost removes you from the action.  But for the die-hard fan, the dedicated columnist, crackpot analyst or degenerate gambler, the All-22 film is going to be some essential viewing for this upcoming season.  While having the camera film up-close to the action is great for viewing big hits and the speed of some of the players, being able to see the play from afar as it develops is the best angle for analyzing a game.  And before long this extra analysis will trickle down to the casual fan in the form of more informed opinions, columns and websites (not necessarily better opinions though,  just more informed ones).  How long until there is a website breaking down the All-22 for every game?

This was a great move by the NFL because their game is so loved that this is actually a valuable commodity to the NFL fan. Roll the film.

…and that is the Last Word.

The "Sissification" of NASCAR *Rant Warning*

Posted on by Chris Bruce

Now I’m not going to call myself a mind reader, but chances are that since you are reading this wonderful website that you just might be a sports fan. And since you are a sports fan let me pose a question to you; what is it that you find so gripping about your favourite sport?

I’m just guessing here, but one of the things at the top of your list would be the emotion that sports carries – be it the fans, the players or even those fantastic folks that broadcast into your home. So what’s the deal with NASCAR?

The France family has done some fantastic things with our sport, in getting our races on television every week, and growing the brand to the point that you can stroll on down to your local Walmart to purchase your driver’s gear.  They have sponsors lined up willing to put down millions every year to have their brand on your favorite drivers hood and create unreal brand loyalty.

With all things great, life has a funny way of balancing things out by throwing in some polar opposites.  For me, with all the fantastic things going on in NASCAR, in my opinion the true emotion of our beloved drivers is what is lacking. Case in point, driver X finishes in 3rd place and following his great finish the question comes, “Tell us how things went out there to get you that 3rd place today, Driver X”.  To which he (or Danica) responds “Well, I have to say that we had a strong day in the #(insert number) (insert sponsor) (insert car manufacture).  The car ran great all day, our team really made the needed adjustments to make it work and the crew was fantastic on pit stops.”  Back to the reporter – “Alright Driver X, thanks and congrats again on a great run….blah blah blah.”

You’re telling me that with the rubbing, racing and everything else going on out there that this is what drivers really feel after a race?  Here is the problem – NASCAR has these drivers so worried about saying anything inappropriate, which could lead to a fine, docked points or suspension, that drivers are choosing to say nothing at all.

Just ask former champion and resident bad boy Kurt Busch, who you will recall was suspended for a race and fined $50,000 for losing his cool and saying some foul words to a reporter.  I concede that he went overboard, but it’s nice seeing a guy let his emotions get the best of him.

I reminisce of  the days past when Tony Stewart used to go off the deep end, curse, yell and complain about how driver X better get his stuff together and learn how to drive a car or he would give him a little lesson. I enjoyed listening in on Robby Gordon’s radio communications at Watkins Glen and tell his team, in not such a nice way, that it’s unacceptable to lose that many race positions on a damn pit stop. I like seeing a tussle between drivers after a crash and to hear guys not being shy in front of the media as they tell another driver what he should go and do with himself.

Kurt Busch has been put on probation through the rest of the season for some words that he said, which was followed by the owner of Phoenix Racing saying that he was going to put Busch on a race-by-race contract to see if things will work between them.

Oh, and while I’m at it, breaking news for you James Finch – nobody paid any attention to your team, including the cameras,over the last 19 years, except for the day that Keselowski wrecked Edwards to lead one lap and win at Talladega.  Now, your media coverage has gone through the roof, so you must be pretty happy now that Busch used his emotions to help him lose his ride with Penske.

I know what the excuse is – the sponsors don’t like it, the publicity is bad for the sport.  However, let’s not forget that the first ever nationally televised Daytona 500 back in ’79 wasn’t a success as a result of Richard Petty winning.  Rather, we remember it because of Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison duking it out on the grass afterwards.  Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not looking for NASCAR to become the WWE,  but these guys run 400+ miles every Sunday with fear in the back of their minds as they head into every corner.

Please, NASCAR, let’s ease the fear these guys feel when talking to the reporters when races are finished.

End rant.

…and that is the Last Word.

Feel free to comment below.

Why the Blue Jays Won't Make the Playoffs in 2012

Posted on by Max Warner

Last month, I wrote an article about the “crisis” in Boston as the high-priced Red Sox struggled to gain traction in the AL East.  I’m sure that many of you thoroughly enjoyed this article (sound of crickets chirping).  Unfortunately for fans of the Blue Jays, the crisis in the AL East has now spread to Toronto.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as a lifelong fan of the Jays, I can see that this year’s edition simply does not have what it takes to make the playoffs.  In fact, I have to say that the 2012 Blue Jays are one of the worst editions of the team I have seen since the 2004 squad which lost 94 games.  This team will be lucky to finish higher than 4th in the division.  I dearly hope that the Blue Jays prove me wrong, but I’m preparing for another season without playoff baseball in Toronto.

It is a rite of spring with the mainstream Toronto media to each year pronounce that the Jays are finally ready to contend in baseball’s toughest division.  Such was the case again in 2012.  It’s hard to imagine why some television stations which are owned by Rogers Communications continuously played melodramatic propaganda about how good the Jays were going to be in 2012, when the team happened to be owned by…Rogers Communications.  However, some very seasoned fans, including yours truly, saw a lot of potential for disaster with this club.  The starting rotation had more holes than J.P. Arencibia’s swing, the bullpen was filled with too many gas cans and not enough flamethrowers, and the Jays had four players penciled into their starting lineup (Arencibia, Thames, Lind and Johnson) whose defensive abilities were best described as “hands of stone”.  To top it all off, the Jays had built their hopes of competing in 2012 on receiving the same or better production from nearly every position on the diamond.

In all fairness to the Jays, the team has suffered some really bad fortune, with injuries to Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison in consecutive starts earlier this month.  Drabek actually had no business pitching in the major leagues this year with his 1.60 WHIP and his averaging as many walks as strikeouts per nine innings.  His recent injury aside, one has to wonder if Drabek is ever going to be more than back-of-the rotation filler in his career.  The only things that hurts more than Kyle Drabek’s elbow is my heart knowing that this player was the centrepiece of the return netted in the trade of the best pitcher in franchise history, Roy Halladay.

The recent rash of injuries has exposed just how little depth the Jays had in their pitching staff.  Seven of the pitchers used as relievers in 2012 have spent the majority of the season in the minor leagues.  The Jays have used eight different starters this year, only three of whom had pitched 200 innings or more in their careers prior to this season.

And it’s not as though the Jays are flush with depth among their position players.  Adam Lind, Eric Thames and Travis Snider, who were expected to be the starting first baseman and left fielders, respectively, are currently playing in AAA.   Hand’s up if you feel good about or predicted that Rajai Davis would be the starting left fielder in June.  Worst of all, Omar Vizquel has been used as a pinch-hitter on several occasions this year.

It’s time for this club to give Travis D’Arnaud a shot at the starting catcher’s position.  J.P. Arencibia is a terrible defensive catcher (2nd in MLB with 8 passed balls and tied for 10th with 4 errors), and he does not look like he will be able to carry a batting average above .230.  When watching Arencibia chase balls to the backstop and swing and miss with such frequency, the phrase “glass ceiling” comes to mind.  Conversely, D’Arnaud has put up a 1.000 OPS this year in Triple-A, was named the best defensive catcher in the Double-A Eastern League in 2011, and is three years younger than Arencibia.  Because Arencibia is a 26-year-old catcher who hit 23 home runs last year, he still has tremendous perceived value, and the Blue Jays should do everything possible to trade him for a good, major league ready starting pitcher.

Kelly Johnson has an above-average bat for second base (career .778 OPS) and is only two seasons removed from belting 26 home runs.  He is a free agent at season’s end, and the Jays need to parlay his offense-first reputation into another solid major league pitcher.

Travis Snider is 24 and has every tool in the baseball shed, but his wandering path to the Majors evokes memories of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe in 1522.  With top prospect Anthony Gose on the horizon and Thames still in the mix in left field, there is no room left in the Toronto outfield of the future.  Toronto doesn’t have time to wait for Snider to round out his game in AAA; if he can’t be a big contributor in the Show this year, he needs to be moved for a useful piece.  The Jays should showcase Snider in the Majors for a couple of weeks and hope he catches fire, and then package him in a trade for a first baseman, or, you guessed it, a good starting pitcher.

I’m not saying that there are no bright spots for this team because there are many.  Jose Bautista is one of the most valuable players in baseball, and already has smashed 23 home runs and is second in the league with 8 outfield assists.  Colby Rasmus has been scorching the ball all year, has a .796 OPS and is playing great defense in center (5th in MLB with 6 Total Fielding Runs above average).  Brandon Morrow led the club with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP before he was injured this month.  Brett Lawrie has the heart of a lion and tons of potential.  Despite all of these positives, I suspect that many Blue Jays fans are, like me, tired of seeing this team fighting it out for 3rd place in the AL East on a shoestring budget in the fourth largest market in North America.  One really has to feel for manager John Farrell being asked to compete in the same division as baseball’s two biggest spenders with such a paper-thin roster.

The biggest indictment of the Blue Jays is the decision by Rogers and the team management to do absolutely nothing in the offseason to improve this team and sell the fan base yet another promise of contention come October.  Over the past couple of years, the Blue Jays have milked every possible ounce of goodwill out of the fan base from the 1992 and 1993 World Series Championships, even returning to their classic logo and uniforms this season.  The new generation of Blue Jays fans don’t remember the World Series years, and won’t continue to buy tickets to Jays’ games if this club doesn’t put a truly competitive team on the field in the next two or three seasons.

…and that’s the Last Word.

Announcement: NHL Podcast Draft Coverage

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Tonight during the NHL draft I will be appearing as a guest on Eric Smith’s “Fire The Cannon” podcast.

Eric will be talking NHL Draft with myself and a panel of other guests.  I highly recommend you tune in.

You can find the podcast at

 

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eric-Smith/HOCKEYBUZZ-DRAFT-SHOW-STARTS-AT-7PM/96/45136

 

I am on from about 45 minutes – 1:30 minute mark

and the 2 hour 30 minute mark – 4 hour mark.

The replay is available under Hockeybuzz Draft Special in the archives.

 

 

We’d like to thank Eric for the opportunity, and hope all our Last Word Draft geeks tune in.

Follow me on twitter @LastWordBKerr and follow Eric @EricSmithHockey

 

 

… and thats the Last Word.

Report: Damien Brunner chooses Detroit

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Earlier we told you that this year’s sought after European free agent was Damien Brunner of Switzerland.  You can read the article and see videos of Brunner here.

It appears Brunner has choosen his destination, and has signed to play for the Red Wings.

Brunner will be just one more weapon in the Wings arsenal of talented European forwards.  Brunner became the first Swiss born and trained player in thirty years to lead the Swiss elite league in scoring this season.  Playing for Zug, he scored 60 points in just 45 games.  He was also extremely impressive for the undermanned Swiss team at the 2012 IIHF World Championships.

Brunner, now 26, is a classic late bloomer.  He was undrafted, and has been slowly working his way up the ladder in Europe increasing his points for Zug nearly every year.

Undersized but blessed with good skating and stickhandling ability it will be interesting to see how Brunner’s game translates to North America.

I think its now fair to ask what becomes of Jiri Hudler who will be an unrestricted free agent for the Wings this summer.  Does this signing indicate the Wings will be allowing him to walk away?  or do they treat Brunner the same way they treated Fabian Brunnstrom?  Sure you’ve got a shot in training camp, but you’ve proven nothing and you might end up in the AHL?

Either way the Wings have added yet another piece to their team and management has shown that they will continue to try and add pieces to win now, despite the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom.

Feel free to leave your comments below and follow me on twitter @LastWordBKerr.

… and thats the Last Word.

Who Has the Inside Track for the Queen’s Plate?

Posted on by Dwayne Edwards

The 2012 Queens Plate takes place Sunday, June 24th, at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.  Queen Elizabeth, herself may or may not show.  She has been there in the past, but nonetheless the main attraction is the race itself.

With a field of 14 going to the gate, your guess is as good as mine as to who will pull off the victory. There seems to be only one horse on form that deserves the respect to be considered a favorite, and he didn’t run all that well in the Plate Trail because of illness.

Who’s Got the Inside Track on the Queen’s Plate?

Strait of Dover, since coming to Toronto last year, is a perfect four-for-four on the polytrack. The only glitch in his record came when he won a race and was later disqualified, and has steadily improved since.  The last race he ran, he finally stretched-out to two turns (a mile and a sixteenth) in the Marine and won after a very confident ride by Justin Stein. The rumor is that people in his barn were very confident that he was going to win the Marine, so perhaps this horse good enough to win the Plate.  My only hesitation is that I’m still questioning his conditioning a little, after not running in the Plate trial because of the illness.

As for the rest of the field, who knows which horse will show up on ‘This Given Sunday’. Inconsistency and inexperience pretty much sums up the rest of the field.  On the brighter side, I expect big payouts in this race. Oftentimes in the big races you can go with the hot jockey or trainer at the track, but this year at Woodbine seems to be the closest I’ve seen the leaders standings in years.

The top five jockeys are all separated by only nine wins – Husbands 47, Contreras 46, Emma-Jayne 42, Rosa Da Silva 29, and Stein 38. Without taking anything away from any other riders, these five are at the top of their game, riding the best horses and are competing day in and day out for every win, every race. Add into the Queen’s Plate mix the last two Eclipse winning jockeys, Dominguez and Leparoux, and we’ve got ourselves a jockey’s race!

Alright, so you can’t narrow it down by picking horses or jockeys, so let’s look at the trainers.  Maybe there are some trainers who stand out. Woodbine’s 2012 meet has Casse with 26 wins, Tiller 24 and Baker 21, so this race for leading trainer is tight as well.  Other great trainers in the race include; Roger Attfield, he is only the most successful trainer in Canada’s history; Josie Carroll, the only female trainer to win the Queen’s Plate, twice, including last year’s champion Inglorious; Keogh, Doyle, Banach, Vella and Frostad have all been very successful throughout their careers, as has American trainer Darrin Miller, and the ALWAYS dangerous Todd Pletcher.

So that doesn’t help me out much either.  So as I see it, my favorite for the race, Strait of Dover, is also a huge question mark as a result of the illness and lack of preparation time.  Chances are that he is in top form for this race, but sometimes as we all know a cold can be hard to shake. This leaves me pondering another option – let’s pick by looking and watching the horses in the paddock and post parade.

Always look to see what horse is dripping sweat, because this can mean a horse is already using his energy, and what I like to say “is already running his race”. So I throw them out.  I like horses that are calm, cool, and professional, horses that a rider seems to get along with in post parade and is not acting up.

I’m expecting a big payout with a good chance of a horse that has not completely proven himself to run a big race, looking for a horse that will like the distance. To cover the chance of the favorite winning, I would also put a bet on Strait of Dover on top in a triactor.
It’s a very tough race to handicap but is also a good chance for a big payout in a large field. This race should make for an exciting day at Woodbine, and Fort Erie Race Track will be awaiting the winner and the contenders in three weeks when they host The Prince Of Wales Stakes.

Stupid Musings from Around the Premier League – Volume 1

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

As I drifted in and out of consciousness today at work, I got thinking of some of the ridiculous comments I read that becomes the subject of what passes as football news these day.   So, rather than fight it, I thought I would embrace it, if only for a fleeting moment or two.  So, I now present to you for the first time, the first edition of “Stupid Musings from Around the Premier League”.

1.  Scott Parker, on “Mario Balotelli”

Perhaps the most ridiculous article I read today was entirely based on Scott Parker’s “in-depth” analysis of Mario Balotelli’s game.  In the article, the Spurs midfield reveals that the Italian is good.  Really, there’s not much more than that.  Rather than me paraphrasing, here is just a glimpse of his insight:

“He’s a very good player and someone we are going to have to keep our eye on him.” 

Really, Scott, the only analysis you can give us is to tell us that Balotelli is a good player?   I wonder if you spilled the beans on England’s defensive gameplan when you said “…we are going to have to keep our eye on him.”  What does that even mean?  Don’t you keep an eye on all strikers on the pitch?  Or are some so very bad that you don’t even need to keep tabs on?  Moreover, consider that someone felt Scott Parker’s analysis needed to be shared with the world.

2. Denilson to return to Arsenal

“Denilson won’t stay.  Arsenal want €6million for him, but we won’t pay that so we expect him to leave soon.  Of course we will try to get the loan deal extended for another year, but it won’t be easy.”

I will assume that many readers are not Arsenal fans.  If you are, you will completely understand my reasoning about why this is stupid simply by reading the title.  If you are not a Gooner, let me explain.  Denilson was full of promise when Le Professeur brought Denilson to the Emirates from Brazil.  But since then, it has been nothing but misery for him, for his impact (or lack thereof) on the team, and most importantly to Arsenal supporters.  He was chased so fast from North London even Spurs fans felt sorry for him.  So the very fact that Arsenal are expecting anything at all for him on loan to Sao Paulo is just stupid, as painful as it is to admit.

3.  Arshavin to be deported

Well, he’s not going to be deported, but if you ask Zenit owner, Valery Galubev, he should be.  After Russia’s early exit from Euro 2012, Andrei Arshavin, who featured so well for Russia to open the tournament, had this to say about the loss:

 “If you have had high expectations for our team here, then it’s your problem, not ours.”

Okay, what a stupid thing to say.  Of course we had high expectations – Russia was supposed to be a great team.  The Arsenal mid was Russia’s captain, and apparently was not eager to go down with the ship.

As stupid as Arshavin’s comment was, it is at least matched by Galubev’s comment:

“How can a citizen of Russia treat the honour of his country like that?  He should be deported.”

Excuse me?  You want to deport a guy from your country because he told people it was their fault for having high expectations?  Sheesh.

 

Alright lads, here you have the Stupidest Musings from Around the Premier League, Vol. #1.  I will be back next Friday with volume #2.  I am sure I will have no shortage of stupidity from which to draw upon.

…until tomorrow, lads.

I would love to hear your feedback.  Please post comments below.