Monday, May 19, 2008

Playoff Prediction Pool - Stanley Cup Final


Get your picks in!

Anyone is welcome, whether they participated in the previous rounds or not.

TO MAKE THINGS INTERESTING IN THE FINAL ROUND
20 points for correct team. 40 points for correct team and number of games. 10 points for correct number of games, but wrong team.

2 pools here:
1) Round winner
2) Overall Playoffs winner

The competitive standings are calculated below. Please notify if there are any miscalculations.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
STANLEY CUP FINAL - ROUND #4

My Picks (in bold):

Series A: Detroit vs Pittsburgh - 7 games

Round 3 Results:
PunjabiOil 10+20=30 (CO-WINNER)
PDO 10+20=30 (CO-WINNER)
MikeP 10+10=20
LittleFury 10+10=20
DeBakey 10+10=20
Jonathan 10+10=20
Paulus 0+20=20
YKOil 20+0=20
doritogrande 0+0=0

Round 2 Results:
JambonDan 10+20+20=50 (CO-WINNER)
MikeP 10+20+20=50 (CO-WINNER)
PunjabiOil 10+10+20=40
Paulus 20+10=30
doritogrande 10+10+10=30
Jonathan 10+10=20
LittleFury 20
Jon G 20
YKOil 10
PDO 10
DeBakey 0

Round 1 Results:
LittleFury 10+10+20+10+10+20+20=100 (WINNER)
YKOil 10+10+10+20+20+20=90
PDO 10+10+20+20+10+10=80
Mr DeBakey 10+10+10+10+10+10+20=80
JambonDan 10+10+20+10+10+20=80
doritogrande 10+10+20+10+20=70
jon 10+10+10+20+10+10=70
PunjabiOil 10+10+20+10+10+10=70
Jonathan 10+10+10+20+10=60
Paulus 10+20+10+10=50
Oilman 10+10+10+10+10=50
MikeP 10+10+10+10=40

Overall Standings after 3 of 4 rounds:
LittleFury 120+20=140
PunjabiOil 110+30=140
JambonDan 130+0=130
YKOil 100+20=120
PDO 90+30=120
MikeP 90+20=110
doritogrande 100+0=100
Mr DeBakey 80+20=100
Jonathan 80+20=100
Paulus 80+20=100
jon 70+0=70
Oilman 50+0=50
Jon G 20

Monday, May 12, 2008

Martin Erat Signed - 7 year/31M deal


Former Red Deer Rebel, and memorial cup champ in 2001, is set for life.

Dave Poile did another great job. Signed a 26 year old who gives up 6 years of unrestricted free agency, heading into the prime of his career, to a respectable 4.5M/year deal.

CAREER NUMBERS

Perhaps a bit too much today, but given free agency, age, and most importantly length of contract - I'm a fan of this deal.

Are you?

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Detroit Red Wings - The Template of a Successful Franchise


The Detroit Red Wings have been a template of a successful NHL franchise. Dominance in the win-loss category over the past 15 years, exceptional scouting, and a strong desire by players to play for the franchise. GM Ken Holland has done a masterful job negotiating contracts. There are quite a number of players significantly overperforming their contract's cap hit.

They include:

Kronwall, Niklas (3.000)
Zetterberg, Henrik (2.650)
Holmstrom, Tomas (2.250)
Samuelsson, Mikael (1.200)
Chelios, Chris (1.150)
Franzen, Johan (0.942)
Osgood, Chris (0.850)
Filppula, Valtteri (0.733)
Cleary, Daniel (0.662)

Of course many of these players will (already have) receive(d) significant raises in their next contract, but it's remarkable how none of these players are in their entry level contracts, when the window opportunity for ''bang-for-your-buck" is at its peak. I also have confidence in Holland to replenish that talent when one of these players prices himself out of Detroit.

Players like Cleary (2.800) and Osgood (1.417), Lidstrom (7.450), Draper (1.583) have recently signed extensions at very reasonable dollars. One can argue all of these have potential for overperformance of the contract.

You can look at the entire cap list and find it difficult to locate an overpaid contract. Perhaps Hasek, but that is for only 1 year. Rafalski may slow down by the end of the contract - but we'll see. Other than that however, this is an astute job by GM Ken Holland.

What inspired me to look closely at Detroit's situation?

Recent rumblings by Robin Brownlee, who posts on the Oilersnation blog (link on right), suggest Curtis Glencross is asking in the neighborhood of $2M. Can't say I don't like the player - he provides energy, hits, and has improved his scoring touch over the past few years. Yet, Kevin Lowe must exercise skeptism in this case, given the fact Curtis boasted a 22% shooting percentage in Edmonton, wasn't a full-time NHLer in Columbus, and played very soft minutes pn the 4th line. Anywhere near the 1.5M range and the Oilers aren't getting a player who will likely overperform his contract. With this topic on the table, how do the Oilers fare in terms of getting value from their contracts?

Let's examine closely to next year's cap situation.

Overperforming Contracts
Hemsky, Ales (4.100)
Horcoff, Shawn (3.600)
Gagner, Sam (1.625) - Entry Level Contract
Cogliano, Andrew (1.133) - Entry Level Contract
Stortini, Zack (0.534) - Entry Level Contract
Brodziak, Kyle (0.497)
Garon, Mathieu (1.100)

Reasonably Performing Contracts
Pisani, Fernando (2.500)
Reasoner, Marty (~1.00) - projected in next contract
Nilsson, Robert (2.000)
Staios, Steve (2.700)
Greene, Matt (1.150)
Grebeshkov, Denis (1.500)
Smid, Ladislav (.886) - Entry Level Contract

Underperforming Contracts
Penner, Dustin (4.250)
Torres, Raffi (2.250) - Slightly
Moreau, Ethan (2.000) - Slightly even when healthy
Souray, Sheldon (5.400)
Roy, Mathieu (0.500)
Roloson, Dwayne (3.667)

*Too early to tell:
(RFA's) Pouliot, Pitkanen, Stoll.
(UFA) Glencross
*Tempted to throw Gilbert in the underperforming contract for next season

Many of the overperforming contracts come in the form of rookie contracts. Horcoff and Garon becomes less of a bargain in their next contract. Likewise, as good of a player Pitkanen is, he'll be getting reasonably paid in his next contract, and like Gilbert's contract, it will be of the ''pay for potential'' variety. On the flip side of the coin, Roloson and Roy will cease to be in the underperforming list when their contracts expire next summer. It's also probably not fair to include Penner, since it was REQUIRED to overpay to obtain him.

In Summary, Kevin Lowe has done an OK job negotiating contracts.

But, he's no Ken Holland.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Monday, May 05, 2008

Playoff Predictions - Round 3 - Conference Finals


Get your picks in!

Anyone is welcome, whether they participated in the previous rounds or not.

10 points for correct team. 20 points for correct team and number of games. 0 points for correct number of games, but wrong team.

2 pools here:
1) Round winner
2) Overall Playoffs winner

The competitive standings are calculated below. Please notify if there are any miscalculations.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE FINALS - ROUND #3


My Picks (in bold):

Series A: Detroit vs Dallas - 5 games

Series B: Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia - 5 games

Round 2 Results:
JambonDan 10+20+20=50 (CO-WINNER)
MikeP 10+20+20=50 (CO-WINNER)
PunjabiOil 10+10+20=40
Paulus 20+10=30
doritogrande 10+10+10=30
Jonathan 10+10=20
LittleFury 20
Jon G 20
YKOil 10
PDO 10
DeBakey 0

Round 1 Results:
LittleFury 10+10+20+10+10+20+20=100 (WINNER)
YKOil 10+10+10+20+20+20=90
PDO 10+10+20+20+10+10=80
Mr DeBakey 10+10+10+10+10+10+20=80
JambonDan 10+10+20+10+10+20=80
doritogrande 10+10+20+10+20=70
jon 10+10+10+20+10+10=70
PunjabiOil 10+10+20+10+10+10=70
Jonathan 10+10+10+20+10=60
Paulus 10+20+10+10=50
Oilman 10+10+10+10+10=50
MikeP 10+10+10+10=40

Overall Standings after 2 of 4 rounds:

JambonDan 80+50=130
LittleFury 100+20=120
PunjabiOil 70+40=110
YKOil 90+10=100
doritogrande 70+30=100
MikeP 40+50=90
PDO 80+10=90
Mr DeBakey 80+0=80
Jonathan 60+20=80
Paulus 50+30=80
jon 70+0=70
Oilman 50+0=50
Jon G 20

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Worst. Deadline Deal. EVAAARRRR.


Bob Gainey has done a lot of things well. He selected Carey Price over Gilbert Brule in 2005, a move widely criticized at that time. He also managed to pick up Guillaume Latendresse in the 2nd round that year. Selecting Ryan McDonagh, despite the pressure to pick up local boy select Angelo Esposito seems to have turned out well, at least in early stages. The move to let Souray walk, while signing Hamerlik seems to have paid dividends one year later. He did a good job assembling good young talent, enough so to lead the Habs to a Conference title in 2007-2008.

But Bob Gainey may have singlehandedly killed the Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup push.

By trading the Habs number one goaltender, Cristobal Huet, at the trade deadline for a mere 2009 second round draft pick.

Ugly, ugly, ugly!

The deal has all the writings of a seller, not a buyer. I told my good friend then, a die-hard Habs fan, that I didn't like this deal. I don't like it now either.

One can already legitimately argue the Habs should have been more aggressive in the Marian Hossa sweepstakes, who went for 2 depth players, 1 bottom four first round draft pick, and a sinking prospect. However, other sides can legitimately counter this opinion.

I don't believe anyone can however, defend the Huet deal.

He was the Habs number one goalie, who played 39 games, posting a very respectable .916 SV%. In Washington, he posted a remarkable .936 SV% in 13 regular season games, and an .909 SV% in 7 playoff games.

EVEN if the Habs wished to throw a 20 year old Carey Price to the wolves, it would have made sense to keep the insurance policy intact.

They didn't. Jaroslav Halak is NOT a respectable insurance policy.

And now, the Habs are swimming in their own tears.

It didn't have to turn out this way.

Bob Gainey should legitimately feel the heat this summer.