Trade Winds Blow Wild at NHL Draft

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Wild and their general manager Chuck Fletcher did some wheeling and dealing before and after the NHL Entry Draft, which just happened to be held in St. Paul over the weekend.  By the time it was over, they gave up one of their best and most popular players and gained plenty of question marks.

The Wild began by trading Brent burns to the San Jose Sharks for Darin Sebaguchi and a couple of other draft picks.  Burns was in his free-agent year and wanted to stay here (he even bought a house in the area), but the Wild have not been very good about keeping talent at a reasonable price.  See:  Marian Gaborik.

The move enabled the Wild to make two first round draft picks:  Jonas Brodin from Sweden and Zach Phillips in the Burns trade.  For a little local flavor, they added Mario Lucia, whose father is the University of Minnesota's hockey coach.

Two veterans have also been added:  Darroll Powe from the Philadelphia Flyers and Chuck Kobasew from the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.  Both were acquired for prospects and picks.

So what does all this mean for the Wild?  It means that, for new coach Mike Yeo, he has two veteran goal scorers in Setoguchi and Powe to help make up for the lack of offense in his lineup.  That's good.  But they haven't addressed their need to have a reliable goaltender behind Niklas Backstrom, should Josh Harding be rendered ineffective due to injuries that kept him out most of last season.  That's not good.

All those moves that Fletcher made in the past week or so doesn't necessarily inspire confidence in the ticket-buying public, for whom Xcel Energy Center is seeing a lot less of these days.  What happens when the puck drops in October will go a long way toward whether Fletcher is proven right.

Timberwolves: The Whims of Kahn

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeHow serious are the Minnesota Timberwolves about improving their lot after another bad season?  Well, the answer depends on what general manager David Kahn is doing at the moment.

• As expected, the Wolves chose Derrick Williams of Arizona as their top pick in this year's NBA draft.  So far as we know, they're going to keep him in spite of all the trade rumors out there.  The same can't be said for fellow first-round pick Donatas Motiejunas and for Jonny Flynn, who were both traded to the Houston Rockets for Brad Miller and some draft picks.  Did we mention that Kevin McHale coaches the Rockets now?
• Ricky Rubio was given a hero's welcome (but something less than a ticker tape parade) when he arrived in the Twin Cities after the Wolves finally signed him.  Looking like a Spanish Justin Bieber, Rubio was the prime pick in Kahn's collection of point guards.  But his play in Europe, even though he was part of a Barcelona team that won a championship there, left something to be desired to those in the know.  Kahn has confidence that Rubio can play in the NBA, so it'll be interesting to see if he's more than just a pretty face.
• If you believe the media reports, Kurt Rambis will no longer be the Timberwolves' coach by the time you read this.  The only person who hasn't confirmed this is Kahn, who has inexplicably kept Rambis on a string up until now while deciding his fate.  Is Kahn really this indecisive, or does he have someone in mind and couldn't announce it yet?

Now let's see if all this tweaking means that the Timberwolves have finally turned the corner, or if it's still a toxic mess.  Only David Kahn knows for sure.

On a June Weekend

Image via WikipediaNews and notes from the past weekend:

• As Tiger Woods sits out another of golf's majors because of injuries he should have taken care of sooner, his heir apparent dominated the U.S. Open.  Rory McIlroy led every round of the tournament near Washington, mostly by several strokes over his nearest competitors.  He has forever erased the final round meltdown that occurred months earlier at the Masters with a performance that was beyond impressive.  Woods will be back soon, but it's clear his best days are behind him.
• The Minnesota Twins are playing better baseball after a lousy start these days, having won their last seven games.  They're still in last place in the American League's Central division, eight games behind the Detroit Tigers.  But Joe Mauer has returned from his mystery injury to a standing ovation at Target Field, in a show of Minnesota Nice willing to overlook how his news was handled by the team.  The Twins are still this close to falling out of the race completely, so enjoy it while you can.
• The NHL Wild named Mike Yeo as their new head coach.  Yeo was promoted after one season from the AHL's Houston Aeros, who went as far as the Calder Cup finals before losing to Binghamton.  Now Yeo must convince an increasingly skeptical State of Hockey that he's the right guy to coach the Wild when Todd Richards wasn't.
• So Ricky Rubio has decided to play for the Timberwolves after all?  That's wonderful.  Now please do something about coach Kurt Rambis.  Is he staying or going?  General manager David Kahn still hasn't decided.
• As the end of the NFL lockout is apparently being negotiated, the Vikings are still working on their Arden Hills stadium deal with Ramsey County.  They, like just about everyone else in Minnesota, are waiting for a legislative special session that would keep state government afloat.  And what if it doesn't happen?

Bruins Come Up Sevens To Win Stanley Cup

Image via WikipediaThe NHL's Stanley Cup goes to the Boston Bruins, who shut out the favored Vancouver Canucks 4-0 Wednesday night in Game 7 of the finals.  Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron scored two goals each, and goaltender Tim Thomas made 37 saves to ensure the victory.

The Bruins won their last Cup back in 1972, during the Phil Esposito-Bobby Orr era.  It also marks the second time the Canucks lost the Cup to an Original Six team that hadn't won in decades, with that one being the New York Rangers in 1994.

The Bruins are also the first team to win three Game Sevens to get to the Cup, having also defeated the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning in earlier rounds to become Eastern Conference champions.

This has been one of the roughest Stanley Cup finals in recent memory, in ways that could only be appreciated by Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.  Besides the alleged biting incident in Game One, Nathan Horton of the Bruins and Mason Raymond of the Canucks were sent to the hospital because of devastating hits that laid them flat on the ice.  Both were up and around for the final game, but as spectators.

Until Game 7, the home team had won every game.  The Canucks won close games in Vancouver, while the Bruins enjoyed blowouts in Boston.  But this time the Bruins were one of the few teams to win a seventh game on the road, the last one being the Pittsburgh Penguins on Detroit's home ice two years ago.

Roberto Luongo of the Canucks was in goal for Team Canada when they won the men's hockey gold medal over the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  A year later, on the same Rogers Arena ice, Luongo had to settle for the silver.  His Bruins counterpart Tim Thomas got to dance around the rink with the Stanley Cup, as well as having his picture taken with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman as recipient of the Conn Smythe trophy for being the MVP of the playoffs.

No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens last did it in 1993.  With some fans  reacting in un-Canadian-like fashion by torching cars on the streets of Vancouver, the wait continues.  Wonder how Bostonians will react?

UPDATE:  A bit more on the post-game disturbances.  Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Vancouver police used tear gas to disperse the rioters, and that 140 had to be hospitalized.  The CBC's website says that the police arrested more than 100 people, and that the chief of police described the ones who started the trouble as "anarchists" and "criminals".  So not all Canucks fans were sore losers.  They just weren't fans at all.

Lone Star Champions

Image by Keith Allison via FlickrThe Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title Sunday night with a 105-95 victory over the Miami Heat, claiming their series in six games before a relatively quiet sea of white shirts at American Airlines Center.

Dirk Nowitzki, who has had an impressive playoff run whether he was well enough to play or not, was the league's Finals MVP.  He scored 21 points during Game 6 while teammate Jason Terry led the Mavericks with 27.  Nowitzki waited five years for another shot at NBA glory after the Heat defeated Dallas to win the 2006 title.  Well, he got his along with Jason Kidd, an 18-year veteran who had also never won a trophy.

Owner Mark Cuban became rich and famous through his many businesses, and for mouthing off about the state of the Mavericks and the quality of NBA officials, resulting in writing numerous checks to commissioner David Stern.  Finally, all of Cuban's money to pay for premium players has resulted in a championship.  But he has been noticeably silent during the playoffs.  Was he afraid of getting fined again?

While it would have been awkward to see Stern hand the Lawrence O'Brien trophy to Cuban, just like baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn presented the World Series trophy to Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle handing the Vince Lombardi trophy to Raiders owner Al Davis, Cuban avoided it by having original Mavericks owner Donald Carter accept the NBA trophy.  Maybe it wasn't a choice?

As for the Heat, all the ballyhoo surrounding the mega-trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh resulted in 72 regular-season wins and no title.  In the championship round, they dropped their final three games to Dallas by running out of gas near the end.  So leaving Cleveland to win a championship seemed like a good idea at the time.  Isn't that right, LeBron?

The Heat, and the rest of the NBA, face an uncertain future.  The collective bargaining agreement expires soon, which means that they might be joining their NFL brethren on the sidelines as the owners lock them out.  And whatever agreement does come from this, you're not going to see another super team like the Heat suck the air out of the rest of the league anytime soon.

NBC Keeps An Olympic Ring On It

Image via WikipediaNBC remains the network of the Olympic Games for the next decade, having paid more than four billion dollars to keep the American media rights through 2020.

The new deal includes the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janiero, and two other future Games in sites yet to be determined.  NBC already has the rights to the 2012 London Summer Games.

Some have wondered if Comcast, the new owners of NBCUniversal, would pony up enough bucks to outbid ESPN and Fox.  They did.  Some have also wondered if the departure of Dick Ebersol as NBC sports chief would hurt their chances of retaining the Olympics.  They did not.  It was a matter of familiarity breeding content for the International Olympic Committee, who seem to be more than pleased to be working with the same U.S. TV partner they've had since 1988.

The merger of Comcast and NBC creates new possibilities for Olympic events to be found on the cable channels both entities own.  For instance, Versus would run hockey and basketball, and E! would carry gymnastics and figure skating.  That would leave CNBC and MSNBC to go back to news coverage instead of curling and soccer.

For those of you who have complained over the years that NBC holds the best events (gymnastics and figure skating) for its prime time telecasts, even though those events were held several hours earlier no matter what the time zone, the network has promised to change that.  We'll believe it when we see it.

Since the new contract extends to 2020, you might be wondering:  What will TV look like by then?  Will the Olympics remain relevant?  Will Bob Costas die in the anchor chair?  Will NBC become a relic of the past?

Thrashers Fly North to Winnipeg

Image via WikipediaAs the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks gets under way, one of the league's Southern-based franchises is migrating north.

The Atlanta Thrashers, who have been in business since 1999, were purchased by a Canadian group which is moving them to Winnipeg, Manitoba in time for next season (pending NHL approval, of course).

This is Winnipeg's second chance at an NHL team, just like the second chances the league gave Minnesota and Atlanta.  The first time, they lost the Jets to Phoenix in 1996 because it was a small market with an old arena and a declining Canadian dollar.  Winnipeg is still a small market, but they have a new arena (MTS Centre) and the country's currency is doing much better these days, thank you.

This is the second time Atlanta has lost an NHL franchise to western Canada, with the Flames having moved to Calgary in 1980.  The Thrashers have made the playoffs maybe once in its history.  Its home rink Philips Arena didn't sell out much.  And the owners had problems in promoting hockey to a region more enamored with football and NASCAR racing.  So it was no surprise when they couldn't find anyone who would keep the Thrashers in town.

It also isn't much of a surprise that Atlanta is considered one of the worst areas in North America when it comes to supporting pro sports.  Thanks to the historical mediocrity of its teams, people find reasons to stay home.  Even when the Braves win baseball championships year after year, empty seats still abound.

The NHL's track record of putting teams in non-hockey markets has been spotty.  They've done well in Dallas, North Carolina and Tampa Bay, not so well in Florida and Nashville, and hanging by a thread in Phoenix.

The move of the Thrashers to Winnipeg (or any other team) normally means that they'd be changing divisions next season, in this case from the Southeast to the Northwest.  But the situation is complicated by the Phoenix Coyotes, who would have moved back to its original home (and become the NHL's version of the Oakland Raiders) had the city of Glendale, AZ not raised $25 million to keep the team there at least one more season.  The NHL owns the Coyotes at the moment, trying to sell the team to the right buyer who would either keep them in the desert or go elsewhere once the legal issues are cleared up.  So as it stands, the Winnipeg Whatevers would remain in the Southeast next season.

For the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba, the return of NHL hockey is vindication among the faithful that they never should have left town in the first place.  For Atlanta, it only proves that ice belongs in a glass of lemonade on a hot summer's day.

.