THIS AND THAT
David Poile has done this before. He didn match the Scott Stevens restricted offer sheet in 1990. And oddly enough, his Washington Capitals actually got better the following season. But that won happen in Nashville after already losing Ryan Suter to free agency. Poile must match the Philadelphia offer for Shea Weber if only to maintain credibility for a franchise forever fighting for acceptance . Give Paul Holmgren credit. He is nothing if not aggressive. In the past year and some, he has traded away Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, James van Riemsdyk and Sergei Bobrovsky; lost Matt Carle, Kris Versteeg and Ville Leino to free agency; signed Jaromir Jagr (then lost him), Ilya NFL Carolina Panthers Jerseys Cheap Free Shipping Bryzgalov and Max Talbot as free agents; traded for Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Luke Schenn, and an early first round pick, lost Chris Pronger to concussion and signed Weber to a monster free agent contract that may or may not work out in his favour. Wouldn every fan in hockey want a GM so unafraid of making big, bold moves? . If this, indeed, is the end for Pronger, then we should sit back and marvel at his career. He carried the Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers within a win or two of the Stanley Cup, won the Cup in Anaheim, should have won a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2006, won the Norris, won the Hart in 2000 as MVP and just for fun, twice was traded for Joffrey Lupul in packages. He changed games, slowed them down, understood how to play hard and preserve energy all at the same time and used intimidation as his friend. He was that complete and occasionally that vicious. HEAR AND THERE I can hear Scotty Bowman voice in my head after the Blue Jays 10 man trade of semi consequence on Friday: for nothing, Bowman once grumbled about dealing Danny Gare for Mike Foligno. And those were mainstream players . Good for Colby Rasmus, being true to himself and ignoring Tony LaRussa and not turning his World Series ring presentation into something phony. Rasmus couldn stand playing for LaRussa. Why make nice now? . Why the Red Sox are still in the race: Kids like Felix Doubront (10 4) and Will Middledbrooks (with better first year numbers than Brett Lawrie) have really stepped up. Name a young Jay on the big league roster not named Rasmus who has performed beyond expectations . What doesn make sense: Most of the Blue Jays rotation is out. Ricky Romero has one win and a 6.95 earned run average in his last eight starts. And the Jays are still one hot streak away from being in contention. Not that it going to happen. But, heck, in Toronto these days what if Womens San Francisco 49Ers Jerseys Cheap Custom/Vintage/Authentic is better than no chance, isn it? . If you believe Sports Illustrated, don expect a lot of Canadian medals from the London Olympics. In its pre Olympic edition, SI has tabbed Canada to win 15 medals, and only two gold. Their tipping both Tara Whitten of Edmonton and Catharine Pendrel of Fredericton to win cycling golds. SI is also picking Canada women wrestlers to come home with three medals. SCENE AND HEARD The Leafs started asking about goalie Jonathan Bernier right after the Stanley Cup. Kings GM Dean Lombardi originally insisted he wouldn trade Bernier but all that changed when Jonathan Quick signed a longterm deal and Bernier asked out. The apparent asking price for Bernier is Matt Frattin and a draft pick. If the Leafs truly believe in Bernier they make that trade. Otherwise, they wait around to see if the Roberto Luongo to Florida mess falls apart. The problem with Bernier is: He no sure thing. Is he the next Cam Ward or the next Justin Pogge? . Strictly for the potential comedy, wouldn it have been fun had Nikolai Kulemin taken the Leafs to arbitration and you could watch it on TV? Imagine trying to make a case for a raise after a pathetic seven goal season. I like to see an agent argue that one in front of Judge Judy . Strange piece of coaching business: Larry Robinson leaves New Jersey as an assistant coach to take a similar job with the SaMoore case could be riveting
The multimillion dollar lawsuit finally goes to court in late September. And of major concern now is the status of key witness (for both sides) Marc Crawford, who was coach of the Vancouver Canucks when Bertuzzi ended Moore career in 2004.
Crawford has signed on to coach in Switzerland for the coming hockey season. Whether he returns to testify or can be forced to return to testify is a matter yet to be determined.
The Bertuzzi Moore case is certain to get all kinds of coverage come September and should there be an NHL lockout at the time, this overdue piece of nasty business will be the featured event on the hockey calendar. The league and the sport will essentially be on trial. The testimony, with or without Crawford, should be fascinating, emotional and at times, angry.