Get Ready For Fantasy Hockey!

Tired of arguing? Think bloggers are always getting the final say?

Well perhaps it’s time to shut up your favorite (or least favorite) bloggers for good by beating them in a good old fashion game of hockey.

Okay, so we’re playing fantasy hockey and not the real thing…but hey, I’m sure most of you haven’t touched a hockey stick since high school floor hockey anyway.

Just kidding ….or am I?

Anyway, we are putting together a fantasy hockey league via Yahoo Sports. Right now we have around 16 people and are looking for a few more. If you would like to get in on the action, be sure to leave us a comment at the end of this post. Once we think we have enough people, either Dave or myself will email you the link and information to joining our league.

Come get some!

The Worst GM In Hockey Award? Your call. (Updated)

It’s funny. Last summer I had a much easier time giving former Flames GM Darryl Sutter The Worst GM In Hockey Award. Sutter presided over one of the worst farm systems in the league, he had handed out more no-movement clauses than any other GM in the game, and he sent his organization back years when he traded franchise defensemen, Dion Phaneuf to Toronto without receiving a single prospect or draft pick in return.

As it turns out, Calgary’s ownership didn’t disagree with me. Sutter “stepped down” last December.

This summer has been a different story. Not because there have been any shortage of dumb moves, but because there were so many GM’s that made risky trades and financially unsound signings, it’s hard to pick just one guy. So this year I am going to do things a little differently. Rather than anoint the worst GM in hockey myself, I am going to let you decide.

Let’s look at the candidates.

Dale Tallon – Florida Panthers

Tallon is an interesting character. Out in Chicago everyone credits him for being the architect of the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup Championship team. On the other hand he got blamed for their dismantling due to bad contracts. He was also fired that off-season for not submitting offers to their restricted free agents before the deadline, which cost the organization millions.

Of course this post is about what he’s done in Miami, which has been under scrutiny by the 26 people who go to Panthers games.

Tallon signed Tomas Fleischmann – a guy who scored 23 goals once – to a 4 year/$4.5 million per year contract. He also gave the enigmatic forward a no-movement clause. Tallon then traded for Brian Campbell, the most overpaid defensemen in the league ($7.1 mill per until 2016), and he signed oft injured Ed Jovanovski to a 4 year deal worth $16.5 million. Jovanovski signed this contract at age 35, meaning his cap-hit will remain for the next 4 years regardless of what happens to his position on the roster.

But hey, at least they gave up picks for Kris Versteeg!

Chuck Fletcher – Minnesota Wild

There is no franchise that disappoints me more than the Minnesota Wild. They play in arguably the best hockey market in the country, yet year in and year out they play .500 hockey, despite an abundance of resources. This summer they finally got aggressive, and to say the moves they made were risky is an understatement.

Fletcher traded Martin Havlat for Dany Heatley. On paper this seems like a fairly even swap. However, Heatley’s cap-hit is for $7.5 million vs. Havlat’s who’s cap-hit comes in at $5M. Plus there is also the fact that Heatley burns through coaches and organizations like Amy Winehouse burned through an eight ball of…yea you’re right, too soon.

Fletch also traded away all-star defensemen Brent Burns (he of 17 goals) to San Jose for Devin Setoguchi. Sure Seto scored 31 goals in 2009, his second year in the league, but he’s average 20 goals and 39 points since then. A change of scenery may help the kid, but do you really give up one of the best offensive defensemen in the game for a guy who needs a change of scenery?

What may save this trade and ultimately Fletcher’s rear-end, is that he managed to also get Sharks prospect/B.U. sophomore Charlie Coyle and a 1st round pick (Zack Phillips), while giving up just a 2nd rounder.

Paul Holmgren - Philadelphia Flyers

Paul Holmgren is either a genius or a fool. There’s no middle ground when you trade your 26 year old franchise player (Mike Richards) and turn the team over to a 37 year old (Chris Pronger). It’s a ballsy move. Trading one dimensional sniper, Jeff Carter to Columbus was probably the right move. But missing out on Tomas Vokoun, who signed with the Caps for 1 year/$1.5 mill, makes the 9 year contract Philly gave to Ilya Bryzgalov look silly. Especially since Vokoun is a much better goalie than Bryz.

Greg Sherman – Colorado Avalanche***

Sorry folks, I forgot to add this bum (I write these posts at like 1-2am). Thanks to our readers for pointing it out.

Sherman traded away Chris Stewart, a rare combo of goal scoring ability and size along with Kevin Shattenkirk and a conditional second round pick, to the St. Louis Blues for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and a conditional first round pick. 

Still that trade wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the move for Capital’s goalie Semyon Varlamov, whom he traded for with a first-round pick in 2012 and a second-rounder in 2012 or 2013. Varlamov is mediocre at best.

Close call…

I was going to nominate Bryan Murray of the Ottawa Senators, another team that just can’t ever put it together, but they finally woke the f- up and started to rebuild this past year. Somehow Murray got a 1st round pick for Mr. Carrie Underwood (aka Mike Fischer) and a 2nd round pick for Chris Kelly. So he escaped being branded for now…

Anyway, feel free to disagree. The choice is ultimately yours people, so let’s put one of these guys in The Sin Bin…

[poll id="56"]

The Sin Bin – Final Tally

So with the offseason nearing the end, so to is The Sin Bin. We decided to wrap this up for the summer, since we will have more pressing issues to focus on as we near the start of the season. Besides, how many times could we possibly put Section 121 into The Sin Bin anyway? Hopefully next summer someone else will step up and out-stupefy him.

Just kidding we bro. You know we love ya!

The final best comment winner was Matt J, so he will again have a crack at a guest post. The quote…

I was thinking (moving the Isles) to maybe the Yukon territories. Maybe the team could travel by dog sled or something…

Headed to The Sin Bin for the worst comment (his second nod) is Harlem Blue.

The PUNK ASS Mayor never put Yankee or Citi Field up for public vote. It never would have past!

Harlem Blue beat Bruce Garrioch, who called me out on twitter, by a single vote! Bummer. Have no fear, I will get under Brucey Boys skin again

Welcome To The Sin Bin Garrioch

If you’re not following me on twitter, you’re missing out on mediocre, but well known hockey writers throwing jabs at one of you’re favorite (and most likely best dressed) Rangers blogger. This week, Bruce Garrioch takes on The Suit in The Sin Bin. Loser has to give up covering hockey for Women’s Basketball…

More importantly, this past week frequent Sin Bin candidate, Mikeyyyy, finally climbed out of the dark hole of worst comments to take his first win in Best Comment Of The Week. Don’t forget to get us a post!

The quote…

And most players can’t play with broken testicles like Girardi did last year – Mikeyyyy

Headed to the Sin Bin is some dude named Dave, but not the Dave who has a trail of puck bunnies stalking him on the LIRR asking for his autograph. Oh the joys of creating Blue Seat Blogs…

Evil Dave’s comment…

90% of (Callahan’s) goals anyone with 2 hands can score right in front of the net either an open net off a rebound or a great pass right to him!

Twitter Giveaway!

So Chris and I find ourselves with a lot of memorabilia that we want to share with fans of the blog.  After all, it is you all that keep us “in business”.  So if you want free stuff, here’s what you need to do.

1. If you don’t have Twitter, sign up for free.

2. Follow Chris (@NYR_Jugs88) and myself (@BlueSeatBlogs)

3. After following us, tweet the following messages (minus the quotes):

“RT and follow @BlueSeatBlogs for a chance to win an 8×10 autographed photo of Sean Avery.”
“RT and follow @NYR_Jugs88 for a chance to win a game used puck signed by Petr Prucha.”

4. Remember, you must tweet BOTH messages AND follow us both to be entered. These are two separate competitions, so if you only follow and tweet one message, then you are only entered into one contest.  If you tweet and don’t follow, you aren’t entered.  If you follow and don’t tweet, you aren’t entered.  Fairly straight forward.  Both contests will end at 5pm EST.

5. A little about the prizes:  Both prizes are purchased through Steiner Sports, thus come with a certificate of authenticity.

Suit unfortunately has no memorabilia, but he does have a spare tie if you ask him nicely.  Make sure you follow him on Twitter as well (@thehockeysuit) and ask him about pleated pants.

Is Dolan Becoming A Decent Owner For The Rangers?

If I’ve learned anything working in pro sports, it’s that there is a lot of turnover in front offices, probably more so than most other industries. Few teams consistently make money year in and year out and even fewer teams win championships. As a result, people are often shuffled around the organization and eventually out the door.

Although the unease of instability can be daunting, if there is one good takeaway, it’s that you get to know people who have worked for many different owners and thus you seem to have the inside scoop on everybody.

Time and time again you hear the same bullet points from those who have worked for a “good owner.” The points are pretty basic. “He stayed out of our way, he let us do our job, and he gave us the proper resources to succeed.”

If you think about just those basic concepts and apply them to how Jimmy Dolan has run the Rangers the last several years, it appears as if the tide is changing.

Jimmy allowed Glen Sather to bury Redden’s colossal contract in the minors, allowed Chris Drury to be bought out, and hasn’t blinked at re-upping any of our core RFA pieces (e.g. Cally, Dubi, Lundqvist, Staal, etc). These things would not happen in Buffalo in years past, Miami, New Jersey, hell even Toronto. In each instance where we could have a potential problem, Dolan is there with his wallet wide open, and that isn’t a bad thing at all.

Look at Daryl Katz of the Oilers, he has the money to build his franchise a new arena, but he’s refused to do so, and have opted to battle with his local government for public funds (aka taxes) instead of just dipping into his billion savings. MSG on the other hand will be completely renovated without taking a single cent from the taxpayer. No other owner in the Tri-State area can make that claim.

As far as micromanagement goes, by all accounts, Dolan lets Sather do his job. He doesn’t veto Glen’s plans the way Steinbrenner has with Cashman, or the way Wilpon has with every GM in their history, and he certainly doesn’t cheap out when it comes to free agents (something Verbeek is finally learning).

Now to be fair, Dolan has had a media policy that rivals 20^th century communism and he’s done the fans no favors with outrageous price increases (though he mistakenly kept prices flat during our post-season drought). He also presided over a humiliating trial, destroyed the Jets Westside bid, and he has refused to sell MSG’s HD feed to Verizon Fios (which is interesting consider the Rangers have subpar TV ratings). Yet, none of the above really impacts the Rangers ability to put a competitive team on the ice.

Sure he’s no Rocky Wirtz or Ted Leonsis, and by no means am I saying he’s a great owner. But is he really all that terrible when dealing with just the Rangers?

Perhaps the answer isn’t as obvious as one might assume…

Oh Snap, It’s Sin Bin Time (updated)

There really isn’t an update from this morning, I just had to move this to the afternoon since Chris tried to post over me this morning…I guess he’s trying to bury the fact that he’s in the Sin Bin this week…sneaky Brits

It came down to the wire this week, but Glen Sather, I mean Matt J took home the coveted prize (by just one vote!) with his hilarious reincarnation of Full Metal Jacket’s infamous soliloquy.

This is my cap. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My cap is my friend. I must master it as I master my life. My cap, without me, is useless. Without my cap, I am useless – Glen Sather aka Matt J

Section 121 unfortunately was voted into The Sin Bin again for “worst comment of the week.” Since banishment to the hfboards didn’t work out for the young lad, I’ve decided that his new punishment will be to listen to every Chris Drury interview ever recorded. Good luck with that! ZZzzz…

His quote:

Hagelin has as much of a chance to crack the lineup this year as Enver Lisin has of being our top line LW – Section 121

As always, I urge you to “nominate” comments at the bottom of our posts.

For week 5′s polls, click here to cast your vote!

The Sin Bin – Take 4

It’s Thirsty Thursday folks and you know what that means…time to banish fans to The Sin Bin!

This past week Brian SCS took home the prize for “best comment,” beating Dave by just one vote! This will be Brian’s second win and will be tabbed for another Guest Post. Get crackin…

Unfortunately, Section 121 won “worst comment” by a landslide. I guess his trade proposals only fly at hfboards. Still, Section 121 will be back in the gauntlet this week where he can either completely redeem himself in the best comments poll, or suffer another blow to the ego in The Sin Bin.

It’s up to you Rangers fans! Make it happen…

Last week’s winners:

Worst comment: Kreider, Wolski, Johnson/Talbot/Stajcer, 1st, and two of (Hagelin, Lindberg, Bourque, MZA, Kundratek, or Valentenko) for Evander Kane – Section 121

Best comment:  I would never want Semin on my team. Any man who throws slaps in a hockey fight has no business playing in NY, much less a Ranger – Brian SCS

As I said last week, If you have a problem with this completely subjective/ridiculous nomination process, I urge you to nominate comments at the bottom of our posts. And don’t just nominate comments for the best poll, man up and nominate the worst as well.

For week 4′s polls, click the link above and cast your vote!

The Sin Bin – Take 3

The Sin Bin is back for round three. We had a great run last week with Matt J taking home the prize of best comment. LeatherneckinLV will unfortunately be flogged at center ice on Opening Night or be locked away at Guantanamo and forced to read Bleacher Report every day. Take your pick…

Last week’s winners:

Worst comment: You do not build a team via trades and free agency…I can see a Stastny or a Laich as being part of the solution – Leatherneckinlv

Worst comment runner up: Suit, Is your team so pathetic that you have to sign onto ranger web sites to write comments…get a life – Timranger1

Best comment:  We will start winning now because our captain (whoever it is) won’t be on the 4th line – Matt J

Best comment runner up: Tim, you are aware Suit is a Ranger fan, and he WRITES here, right? – Dave

Those of you interested in the methodology for nominating comments, it pretty much works like this…for the best comments I’m looking for either something insightful about hockey and/or the Rangers, or something hilariously clever. In other words…amuse me. For the worst comments, I tend to pick extreme opinions, or something that made me laugh in a “WTF, this is retarded?” kind of way.

If you have a problem with this completely subjective/ridiculous nomination process, I urge you to nominate comments at the bottom of our posts or email your faves to me. 

For week 3′s polls, click the link above and cast your vote!

The Sin Bin – Take 2

Last week we created The Sin Bin, a new page here at BSB that features a series of polls asking our readers to vote on the best and worst user comments of the week. This isn’t really a serious thing, we just figured it would be a fun way to get our readers more involved with our site.

Each week the reader with the most votes for “best comment” will have an opportunity to write a guest post. Last week the winner was yours truly, because lets face it, I’m a pretty clever. However, I’m sure none of you want to read more than my allotted one – two posts per week. So, to be fair, in second place and winner of the guest post was Brian SCS. So Brian, get cracking (just kidding, we’ll reach out to you with the details).

As for the user with the most votes for “worst comment of the week,” you will be forced to go to Suit University, or you can be publicly flogged. Your choice…

For week 2′s polls, click the link above and cast your vote!  We got some good ones this week