Quick Wild Talk

There is less than 24 hours until the New York Islanders make the first selection of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Minnesota Wild fans are excited to see what the Wild will do tomorrow. With the talks of trades and the big question: who will the Wild choose? Russo states the Wild are tossing around all three Minnesotans and some other names. I am still hoping the Wild choose Gopher forward Jordan Schroeder. Russo also said that it looks like the Los Angeles Kings are the front runners for Dany Heatley. Which is disappointing to Wild fans, even though it was a long shot to aquire him. But, Chuck is surely still in many different trade talks and I am confident that he will make some sort of deal tomorrow.

I attended the Minnesota Wild Summer Bash today and took in the festivities in downtown St. Paul. I got a chance to ask James Sheppard a couple of questions. When asked about the draft tomorrow he said, "it will be exciting to see who we pick and who the other teams pick..with three Minnesota guys in there it will be interesting to see where they end up." I asked him about his draft day experience and he described it as follows: "a lot of my family was there with me and when they called my name it was awesome." I also asked him if the new style the Wild will play will be better for him than the Lemaire regime. "Yea it will definitely be different, and I am excited to see how it all works it out. Jacques did a great job of coaching us and this will be different from his style for sure." Thanks to James for taking the time to answer my questions.

I just wanted to jump on and throw that little bit in there. I will be on alert all day tomorrow for major news from the Wild or any big trades in the league. I will be blogging tomorrow after the draft tomorrow night. During the day I will try to tweet as often as possible when new news comes out. https://twitter.com/BetchaSports

2009 NHL Mock Draft

I wanted to kind of put up how I think the board will look like after the first round tomorrow night. Of course once teams start making trades and other things, the board will probably look completely different. But, as the order is set right now these are my picks. Each player has their name then (position, height, weight, team, and country they are from.)

1. John Tavares (C, 6'0", 183 lbs., London (OHL), Canada)
This is the pick that everyone seen coming. Islanders fan have been excited about this pick since the end of the season when they were chanting his name. He tallied 50 points in 24 games for the London Knights last season. Look for him to be on the NHL roster next year. Many debated that Tavares would not go first because of his lack of speed and his defensive skills. Which brings me to the number two pick...

2. Victor Hedman (D, 6'7", 229 lbs., Modo, Sweden)
Touted as the best european skater available in the draft. He is a big defensemen, but moves like a smaller guy. He is very mobile, and has excellent puck sense. He is fully capable of being a leader and playing 20 minutes right away. Hedman recorded 21 points in 43 games for his Swedish Elite League club and earned the Rookie of the Year honors in 2008-09.

3. Matt Duchene (C, 5'11", 200 lbs., Brampton (OHL), Canada)
Duchene is a pure offensive player who also is a great penalty killer. He has great speed, and has the ability to read the play. He put up 79 points in 59 games and was voted the Best Playmaker and Best Stickhandler in the OHL Eastern Conference Coaches Poll.

4. Evander Kane (C, 6'1", 176 lbs., Vancouver (WHL), Canada)
He has power forward qualities and he does not like being denied access to the net. Anytime he has the puck he is heading straight for the net. He will be a 200-pound forward in the NHL. He plays bigger than his size, and has surprised a lot of people with his strength going to the net. He tallied 96 point in 61 games with Vancouver of the WHL last year.

5. Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi (LW, 6'2", 200 lbs., Timra, Sweden)
Man do the Kings love their European players, thats why I chose to put Magnus here. He is a speed extraordinaire, ability to freeze defenders and make all his good moves work even more effectively. He is the stereotypical Euro coming to the NHL. He looks to be the only player besides Tavares that is NHL ready.

6. Brayden Schenn (F, 6'1", 198 lbs., Brandon (WHL), Canada)
He has learned a little about the NHL from his older brother Luke Schenn and he knows how to go to the net. He is a threat to score at all times on the ice and dishes the puck very effectively to his linemates in getting the amount of assists that he does. He has the power forward mindset. He put up 88 points in 70 games for Brandon (WHL) last season.

7. Jared Cowen (D, 6'5", 220 lbs., Spokane (WHL), Canada)
He has size and looks to be a big guy to put at the blue line. This is exactly what GM Brian Burke loves: size and toughness. It will take him a year or two in the minors to develop speed and get used to fast pace style of the NHL. When he gets there he will be a force to be reckond with. He posted 21 points in 48 games for Spokane (WHL) last season.

8. Zack Kassian (RW, 6'3", 210 lbs., Peterborough, Canada)
Kassian is one of the toughest guys in the OHL and probably the entire draft. He is at his best when he is playing physical and tough along the boards. He protects the puck very well and fights through checks. He has very good play-making and puck-handling abilities. This guy will be able to play the game while getting involved in the fisticuffs. He tallied 63 points in 61 games with Peterborough while racking up 136 PIM.

9. John Moore (D, 6'2", 189 lbs., Chicago Steel (USHL), USA)
Moore is a gifted skater with tremendous skill that allows him to create time and space with the puck and offensive opportunities. He passes the puck like a pro and has a big time shot as well. He has great leadership qualities and comes in knowing he has to get better everyday. He put up 39 points in 57 games for Chicago (USHL) last season.

10. Carter Ashton (RW, 6'3", 205 lbs., Lethbridge (WHL), Canada)
He knows the game and really is astute at the power-play and penalty kill, offensive and defensive parts of his game. He is the stereotypical power forward. He skates well and has a decent skill set. He recorded 50 points in 70 games for Lethbridge (WHL) last season.

11. Scott Glennie (LW, 6'2", 177 lbs., Brandon (WHL), Canada)
He is a tremendous skater, an excellent puck handler, and scores many different ways. Glennie has the power forward abilities and is compared to Jonathan Cheechoo and Jonathan Toews for the kind of offensive ability. He put up 70 points in 55 games last season for Brandon (WHL).

12. Jordan Schroeder (RW, 5'10", 175 lbs., U of MN, USA)
He has a phenomenal wrist shot and he can beat you by putting the puck in the net, going around a defender, or freezing the goaltender and passing it off to one of his wingers. He is hard to knock off the puck and has good speed. The only concern for Schroeder is his size, this is what causes him to drop to 12th in the draft. He tallied 40 points in 32 games with the Gophers last season and won the WCHA Rookie of the Year.

Thanks to the NHL for some of their scouting information.

A Busy Week In Hockey

Just over a week after the NHL season ended, things are heating up in preparation for the upcoming season. With the NHL draft starting Friday teams are wheeling and dealing to get things accomplished. General Manager's phones are ringing off the hooks hearing from other GM's about deals, talking to players, and staff. The past few weeks have been time for each organization to evaluate their team, look at what they need to improve on, who they are going to draft, and if they will improve through free agency or trades. All these things are going through every single general manager's mind. Another thing that is on their minds is adjusting to the certain possibility of having a salary cap, which is at about 56.6 million, could lower by a few million dollars lower. Which is one of the factors fueling Ottawa to trade Dany Heatley to take some stress off of the cap. Other organizations have been busier long than that; looking for a new GM, coach, or a whole new staff. One of those organizations is the Minnesota Wild. Chuck Fletcher has had a busy few weeks himself, and it won't end for quite awhile. He has to deal with free agents starting on July 1st.

So far the rumors are bouncing off the walls as we come to the draft tomorrow. Big names are getting thrown around as usual, as teams try to relieve some of their cap stress. The two types of players that teams are offering are about average players with big contracts and big time players with expiring contracts or wanting big raises. A name that is getting tossed around a bit is former Gopher Phil Kessel. It is unclear if the Bruins will trade him for sure, but they are listening to offers. They Bruins are about $6 million under the cap and Kessel is expected to ask for somewhere around $5 million a year. Boston have to clear some cap room for more substantial players coming up next year, including Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara. Like all trade talks, Chuck Fletcher is involved in talks for Kessel as well. But, Boston wants a first round draft pick and a top young prospect for Kessel. Which would cost Minnesota the 12th pick tomorrow and someone like James Sheppard. It is rumored that the Wild have been looking into acquiring Penguins winger Ruslan Fedotenko. As for Minnesota trading Josh Harding there are a lot of speculations, including trading him to the St. Louis Blues are are very interested. They have a full artillery of young players that they can deal for Harding. Other teams reportedly interested are Edmonton, Colorado, Detroit, St. Louis, Philly and Toronto. According to rumors the Wild are offering Harding and Wild D Marek Zidlicky to Toronto for Leafs D Tomas Kaberle. That is a pure rumor though, there are no sources confirming this. One player that the Wild could be shopping is top draft pick Pierre Marc Bouchard. He had a verbal no trade promise from Risebrough, but that does not mean that he is safe with Fletcher at the helms. He is a big cap hit and did not step up after his 50 assist season two years ago.

Another thing to mention is Marian Gaborik has reportedly bought a house in Vancouver. Is this a sign that he is going to sign with the Canucks? It could show that Vancouver is already in talks with Gaborik, which is tampering. The Wild already filed tampering charges against the Canucks before when Vancouver allegedly talked to Pavol Demitra early. Demitra ultimately signed with the Canucks. If they sign Gaborik that could mean that Vancouver loses their top two players the Sedin twins. So it looks that Gaborik is as good as gone. Another top player leaving the team for nothing.

So the draft is tomorrow and there is looking like a lot of deals can go down anytime within today and tomorrow. I will be on later today if any trades or big news comes out. Otherwise, I will be on tomorrow after the draft with a full days recap. Thanks to Michael Russo and his "Russo's Rants" for all the inside information on hockey. I will also probably tweet about things as they go on. Check it out at https://twitter.com/BetchaSports

Too Much Too Soon

One of my favorite quotes and scenes from the classic hockey movie Slap Shot. It has been about a week since I have been on and man do I have a lot to talk about. From the ice to the diamond to hoops to everything. First off lets start with the biggest news in the hockey world; the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Red Wings in seven games to capture the chalice. The game was very close after one and then the Pens broke out a two goal lead after two. Then, for the first ten minutes of the third it was pretty much dump and chase on the Pens' end. Something that makes me cringe after watching it for so many years here in Minnesota. as soon as the Red Wings stepped up the heat and scored the Pens realized they would have to do the same. They held control of the puck pretty well at the end of the third besides a couple of flurries. Anyway, the team I picked to win this series since my picks at the start of the season (Blackhawks beat Montreal in 6) fizzled out, prevailed. For everyone who said there is no way they can beat the Red Wings, I told you so. There was too much compassion, leadership, and determination to stop the Pens. Geno won the Conn Smythe thank goodness. If it would have went to Crosby it would have been a sad day in the hockey world. Speaking of Crosby, he did not shake all the hands of the Red Wings players, including captain Nick Lindstrom. Another classless act the Sidney. So the Pens win it! Lets not have a repeat next year ok? Positive- Pens beat the Red Wings and Geno gets the Conn Smythe. Con- Crybaby Crosby gets a cup.

Good news out here in the State of Hockey. The guy who I thought was going to be hired as the Wild coach has been hired. Now former assitant San Jose assitant coach Todd Richards has been hired to succeed Jacques Lemaire. This is a Minnesota boy, which we absolutely love, and this could show Fletcher is willing to actually bring Minnesotans to play for the Wild. Richards is going to bring an up tempo, hard nosed, attack the puck style of hockey. It is going to require the defensemen who usually sit back to come up and take part in the scoring. Fletcher said this is a guy he was looking for because he expects a lot but is fair, and he is a strong communicator. This could also help bring Wild center James Sheppard to his full potential, this style of play is right down his alley. Anyway, Todd has a long list of accomplishments and jobs. He is leaving his assistant coaching job in San Jose where they have been the top team or close to it for the past couple regular seasons. Richards also spent four seasons as an assistant in Milwaukee, winning one Calder Cup with the team. He also spent time as the head coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he met Fletch. As a player, he won two WCHA titles with the Gophers, a 1991 Calder Cup with Springfield, a 2001 Turner Cup with Orlando of the IHL. He was also the IHL Defenseman of the Year in 1993-94. He is very deserving of this and hopefully he can help bring Lord Stanley to where it belongs.

16 year old baseball phenom, Bryce Harper out of Las Vegas high scool is skipping out of his final two years in high school. He is going to be a JUCO so he can be eligeible for the 2010 draft. He figures that he is already good enough so why not move on? And boy is he right, kind of. It just shows another flaw in the system, allowing this 16 year old kid to get his GED and go to junior college. All so he can go on and get his projected number 1 pick and $20 million guaranteed. He has already enrolled and sign to play with the college's baseball team. Just a few weeks after he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, he made this announcement. Will he be struck by the SI curse? Or will he actually suceed through this situation?

The Lakers won their 15th NBA title ousting the Orlando Magic and winning the series 4-1. I don't have too much to say about this because I really don't have much of an interest in basketball. Look what team we have to watch here in Minnesota. Kobe proved to the world that he could win a title without Shaq. Who is part of trade talks that are heating up after they cooled down during the regular season. Now all of the barriers that stopped this trade during the regular season are cleared and he could be headed to the Cavs with LeBron James.

Sad but expected news from the New York Times today. Sammy Sosa has been named as one of the 104 players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. There really is not too much information about this yet. But, it is sad that the beloved Cubbie used the juice. Even though, it was pretty much expected after his home run race with fellow juicer Mark McGwire in 1998.

I do not have much left to say besides a few things about the teams I watch. The Twins continued their dominance of National League teams with a 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Joe Mauer went 4-4 with an rbi to help lead the Twins past the Pirates. This brings his average up to .429 on the season, and speaking of average Nick Punto went 1 for 3 and brought his average up to a whopping .213 on the year. Much higher than his .083 in the WBC for Italy. Also, the Cubbies and White Sox game was postponed tonight because of rain. That is all I have for now, I will have a more in depth look including quotes from the presss conference today for the new Wild head coach.

And The Number 1 Pick Is....

It is expected that the Washington Nationals are going to take pitcher, Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State in tonight's MLB Amateur Draft. This twenty year old righty stands at 6'4" and 220 pounds. His fastball has topped out at 103 m.p.h and he has a nasty curve ball. Over his two year college careers he has pitched 206 and 1/3 innings while going 21-4. He has struck out 228 batters over two years including 23 in his sophomore year against the University of Utah. You name it this kid has already done it. The only thing he has yet to accomplish: get drafted and signed to a big league contract. Strasburg was passed up by all thirty teams in over fifty rounds when he entered the draft after high school. Now after two years of college experience he is expected to sign around a six year $50 million contract. That is if the Nats can come to terms with his "advisor" Scott Boras, who is known to hold out until he gets top dollar for his clients. I will cover more on this as negotiations start taking place.

Sources are saying that New Jersey Devils head coach, Brent Sutter, will announce he is stepping down from his position today. It is speculated that he will join his brother who is the gm for the Calgary Flames. This opens up doors for a new coach, which will be the 15th time GM Lamoriello will be faced to hire a coach. If he does not hire himself for the third time. Something must be wrong if you go through 14 coaches over 20 years. You are averaging just over one season for each coach. One man that could be interested in the job is former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire. He stated that he wants to coach again, out east, and for a GM he knows. What better than an organization that he lead to the Stanley Cup?

Some quick notes:
- The courts will decide if the Coyotes will be sold to Jim Basille, even with no support from the league owners.
- Bobby Cox has picked up his 2000th career win as a coach.
- The Twins continue to have problems winning on the road.
- Game three for the NBA Finals is tonight. The Lakers lead the series 2-0 over the Orlando Magic.

And It's All Tied Up

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been darn near unstoppable at Mellon Arena this year. As they tied up the series last night to two games a piece. The Pens easily took care of the Red Wings with another 4-2 victory, as the series heads back to the Joe on Saturday. A big reason for the win was Pittsburgh finally got a lot of help out of their pride and joy Sidney Crosby. He contributed with a goal and an assist, as did big Evgeni Malkin. Fleury was hot for the Pens last night as he stopped 37 of 39 shots and secured the game for the Pens. Detroit struggled on the power play last night, having four chances and not being able to convert on any of them. The Pens went one for three on their power plays. Game five is slated for Saturday, at 7 p.m. CDT on NBC.

The Wild organization will be saying goodbye to their longtime assistant coach Mario Tremblay. He did not make the cut for the head coaching job and was disappointed by that. He was offered to be an assistant coach, but Tremblay felt it was best if he moved on. It is suspected that he will join the Montreal Canadiens' coaching staff. Mike Ramsey is in the last year of his contract and may be heading out as well. The other two assistant coaches Matt Shaw and Bob Mason are expected to stay on the Wild bench.

Chuck Fletcher held a press conference today with a few newspapers. He said that he has talked to Gaborik but there really hasn't been any negotiations yet. He also said he is starting to trim down his list of coaching candidates. The front runners still appear to be: Todd Richards, Craig MacTavish, and Peter Laviolette. He also hinted at wanting to make a move before free agency, which means around draft time. The people he is reported to be shopping around are Josh Harding, Benoit Pouliot, and unfortunately Derek Boogaard. It is also mention that Mark Parish, who the Wild are still paying, wants another shot with the team.

In baseball news, Randy Johnson won his 300th game last night with the San Francisco Giants. He went six innings, while gibing up one run on two hits and striking out two. The Atlanta Braves released Tom Glavine who is just five wins away from 300. He was not happy with the way the Braves organization handled it, but said a couple teams have called already.

A funny note here: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced he would not be running for a third term as governor. He started his announcement out with this: "Good afternoon. Thanks for coming to the announcement that, in light of the Brett Favre situation and its unsettling impact on the people of Minnesota, I am signing an executive order requiring St. Paul native Joe Mauer, in addition to catching for the Twins, to also play quarterback for the Vikings. These are tough times, Joe, and everybody has to dig deep." Pretty good joke by the Governor, as everyone knows Joe was the Gatorade National Player of the year in 2000 as quarterback for Cretin-Derham Hall. He turned down a scholarship to play QB for Flordia State.

That is all I can muster up for now. I will have an update added to this post. So check back for more.

Thank You Mr. Talbot

The Pittsburgh Penguins finally got it together at home tonight. The Pens won game three of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight with a score of 4-2. Much in part of Max Talbot's two goals and three assists from Evgeni "Geno" Malkin. The Pens struck first in the first period followed by two goals by the Red Wings, but Kris Letang tied it up when he netted his fourth goal of the playoffs. The rest of the scoring was done by the Pens, who converted on two of their three powerplay chances. While the Red Wings could only strike on one of their two chances. Detroit edged the Pens in shots and faceoffs. Yet, the Pens were able to prevail and cut the series lead down to 2-1 in favor of Detroit. Game four is slated for Thursday in Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. CDT on Versus.


The Cubs officially said goodbye to their Gatorade dispenser yesterday. Just days after two brutal attacks by Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano, the dispenser will be moved into the hallway. It looks like Ryan Theriot may have a thing with the dispenser because he wants to take it home. Dempster who attacked the machine in the first place said this, "I'm going to miss it. It's part of our team. I gave it a big hug." He must have forgiven the machine that played a trick on him before he attacked it (see yesterday's post).

Just some other things of note:
- Ichiro has hit safely in his 26th striaght game tonight.
- Joe Mauer hit his twelfth home run of the year as he went three for three in the Twins' 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians.
- Last years' comeback story in Josh Hamilton for the Texas Rangers could be out up to two months with a abdominal strain.
- Ratings are up big in both the Stanley Cup playoffs and the NBA playoffs.
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Malkin’s Suspension Rescinded, Canadiens pick Martin

Like I predicted last night Evgeni Malkin was not fined or suspended by the NHL for receiving an instigator with less than five minutes left in the game. NHL Disciplinarian Colin Campbell said: "None of the criteria in this rule applied in this situation. Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight. A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded" (Puck Daddy). The biggest reason that he did not get suspended was because it is the playoffs and they would lose ratings if they lose this year’s potential MVP. This system has been hit and miss in the playoffs, let alone the whole season. Scott Walker was not given a suspension either when he viciously sucker punched Aaron Ward. If it were the regular season both would have been suspended no questions asked. Anyway, they need to be more consistent with their rule book.

The Montreal Canadiens hired Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin for their head coaching position. Martin has proved that he is a better coach than a talent evaluator. Martin has coached fourteen season, this will be his fifteenth and first with the Habs. He has coached the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, and the Florida Panthers. Over his fourteen seasons of coaching, Martin has established a record of 517-406-119. This includes three division championships with the Senators and eight total playoff appearances. Leading the Senators in the 2002-2003 season to the conference finals. We will see if Martin is the missing piece that the Habs have been searching for.

Chicago Bulls Rookie of the Year, Derrick Rose, is facing accusations by the NCAA. Even though he is down to earth and a charitable young man, he was not strong in academics. Rose is being accused of having grades changed in high school to help his recruiting chances and he is being accused of having someone take the SAT for him to get into Memphis. More info on the story at Yahoo Sports.

Here are some other stories to check out:
- Jamie Moyer won his 250th Career Game. Yahoo Sports
- The Green Bay Packers are switching to a 3-4 defense. Yahoo Sports
- No one wants to recruit top prospect Lance Stephenson because of his poor personality. Rivals
- The Florida State baseball team put up a 37 spot on Ohio State. Rivals
- A historic May by Joe Mauer. Star Tribune
- University of Minnesota baseball was eliminated by LSU. Star Tribune