The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

After the first slew of NHL pre-season games, there seems to be two constants: lots of goals, and lots of penalties. This is usually when we hear the whining by GMs and coaches (*cough*QUINN*cough*) that all the penalty calls disrupts the flow of the game, and that there's no possible way one team can be the dirty team with twelve penalties while the other team only has one. It's absolutely imperative the NHL stays the course and calls all the obstruction that has hampered the game for the last few years. Eventually the players will adapt and there won't be as nearly as many penalties as before, and we'll have a game without the clutching and grabbing...I had to do a quick double take when I read in The Hockey News the NY Islanders offered G Rick DiPietro a FIFTEEN year contract worth almost SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS!!! Are you frickin' kidding me? Did they learn ANYTHING from the 10-year Yashin deal what a horrible idea that is? And what has DiPietro done to deserve such a huge windfall? Anyway, the contract was pulled because of insurance issues regarding the length of the deal, and a one year contract was signed instead...The only reason I can see why the NHLPA filed a grievance for Keith Tkachuk's suspension from the Blues for being out of shape is to try and save face for the overpriced forward. So there's maybe a 1% doubt now that he didn't really show up in no condition to play, but I'm 99% sure he decided to super-size his meals through the lockout...I'm entering three different hockey pools starting next week, and as always, it's a crapshoot as to who you end up with. The key is finding players that will stay healthy, which is why likely I won't pick guys like Peter Forsberg, Mario Lemieux, Zigmund Palffy or Eric Lindros. I'd stay clear of Russians too, they seem to want to play overseas...Speaking of which, I'm still not certain if Red Wings F Pavel Datsyuk is going to play in the NHL this year or not, but if I were Detroit's GM, I'd try to trade him if he signed. You shouldn't have to force someone to play in the NHL, it should already be a player's dream. If money is all your future star player cares about, where's the character and heart required to lead your team to a championship?...I complained about PPV games the Senators are considering for next year, but at least we still have decent free TV coverage. In Chicago, owner Bill Wirtz blacks out EVERY Black Hawks home game, even if you purchase an NHL centre-ice package. Thanks for showing the fans you want them back, Bill...Back to the further ineptness by the Islanders, they are even more desperate than the NY Rangers offering F Jaromir Jagr the captaincy. F Alexei Yashin has been approached to be the leader for this upcoming season. You can ask Senators' fans how that will turn out...D Jason York opted not to sign a two-way deal to play for Ottawa, and instead sign a contract to play in Switzerland. What would you rather do, help a team win a Stanley Cup or eat Swiss cheese?...F Adam Deadmarsh had a respectable NHL career including winning a Stanley Cup ring, and now it's over because of concussion problems. It all started with a fight he had against Canucks' D Ed Jovanovski in 2000; it was further aggravated by getting hit in the head accidentally by a knee two years later. It's hard to say if his career still would have continued had not the initial fight happened, but that's where his problems first started and it demonstrates that fighting on the ice does indeed hurt and injure players. Yes, you can probably tell I'm in the minority of hockey fans who believes fighting should be banned. It is truly bizarre that bare-knuckled brawling is allowed in a pro-sport (but, I'm just as guilty as any other fan by cheering it on when it happens) ...And to sign off on a lighter note, Roger's local cable TV station will show the Leafs-Senators pre-season game this Sunday. Sweet, my first taste of NHL acion since the lockout! I'll definitely be tuning in.