Sounds like he tried to do a couple of things to help his club, but in fine form, like his players he was unable to connect….

Jays do nothing….

Espn just reported deal for Ibanez is dead- Marriners pulled out.

Blair is now saying nothing to the Lind rumors….
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ESPN reporting that the Jays are officially out of the Bay talks but right in their with Ibanez
************************************************************************************** Jeff Blair is reporting that a deal for Ibanez could lead to opening the door for a bigger deal involving Lind also that the marlins are asking about Matt Stairs

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Espn and Fox sports both reporting that JP is trying to not sit tight and actually go get a bat for his team…

here is the Fox story

here is the ESPN story

here’s hoping he gets the bat, its for more then just this year and he doesn’t totally mortgage the future.

Well leaf fans expect the bud bashers to be in full force on the airwaves this afternoon and in print tomorrow as TSN is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks have hired Scotty Bowman away from the Red Wings in a senior advisory role.

Good on the Hawks, they are emerging from the hell that was life under Bill Wirtz. They are quickly becoming a fun Western team to watch.

Button down the hatches leaf fans it could be a nasty weekend with this news and if Mats decides a fate that doesn’t include the blue and white

For the record, Shoalts is one of the daily guys I actually think is pretty good. He is no Lance, but hey, who is?

Anyway, right from the get go in today’s piece about Mats (and I know he didn’t write the headline) he is off base on Mats.

“Time running out for Sundin to climb off the fence”

Here’s a little newsflash. Mats can probably take as long as he wants to get off that fence. Do you think for one second that if he announces on Friday that he is retiring that this is the end of this story. I guarantee you not (Hello Brett Farvre). I am not suggesting he will want to unretire. I am suggesting that there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that he won’t still be mentioned in hockey papers around the NHL as a potential savior for any given team.

“There was supposed to be a meeting yesterday between Sundin and Claes Elefalk, the Sweden-based representative of CAA Sports LLC, the agency that represents him. It was hoped Sundin might indicate which way he was leaning. But J.P. Barry of CAA Sports, Sundin’s chief representative, said the meeting was postponed until today because Sundin was entertaining other visitors at his home near Stockholm.”

There is why Friday is a soft deadline. Neither Barry nor the soon to be Mrs. Sundin is going to move Mats on this one. He is going to get enlightenment from some supreme being that is going to tell him what he wants to do and that is going to happen on Mats’ watch, and no one elses. Ya think for one second Mats told his buddies, don’t come today I have a meeting with my agent about a soft deadline…. Mats is driving this boat.

“Perhaps it is Sundin’s loyalty to the Leafs that is dragging out his decision. If he really can see himself only in blue and white, then he knows his Stanley Cup hopes are dead at 37, given the state of the team.

The decision, then, is whether he wants to be a mentor and elder statesman on an also-ran, or go to one of the contenders that can fit him under that pesky cap.”

Nahhh, I think it’s trying to decide if he wants to a) get his but in shape and go through all the physical rigors of another season and b) if he wants to put him with all the bs of an every day hockey player again..ie dealing with the media and the fans. i truly don’t think for one second this is about where to play, I really don’t think the guy is sure he wants to play.

“In any event, Sundin has to decide soon. A lot of NHL GMs are on vacation right now, but in the next couple of weeks, arbitration decisions on players will start coming in and the GMs will have to finalize their rosters. They simply won’t have time to wait any longer for Sundin’s decision.”

Here is where Shoalt’s goes really astray. The teams that want him will wait. There is no other asset or combination of assets out there that come close to #13. Mats was and is the big FA fish of the season. More importantly, the cash isn’t the driving force in Mats’ life. It is for his agent and for his bride to be, but he has so much cash socked away it is almost irrelevant. I guarantee you he will take a prorated amount if he waits as long as half way through the year. Teams were offering silly packages for Forsberg not knowing if he was healthy enough to play. With the exception of Steve Simmons, no one is questioning Mats’ health. The guy was simply awesome on a horseshit team last year.

The argument the other way is that teams will spend their money elsewhere. Are you suggesting that the night before training camp, Sundin tells JP Barry he wants to go to Montreal, to get a deal done (after saying he doesn’t want to play on or after the passing of the soft deadline) that Gainey doesn’t find a way to get it done? We all know the answer to that and it is the same for most teams. If a guy like Sundin suddenly want to play for you and it doesn’t cost you anything in terms of a trade to get him (I know you may need to dump a guy or three) you move heaven and earth.

So while we all want this to end soon there is no real need for it to end. Even if he says I am done, don’t bet on not hearing about #13 going somewhere again.

Don’t forget to vote in the where is Mats going poll:

here is the link:

http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php?option=com_altcaster&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=95701ed6b6

Yikes, doesn’t look to happy here.  Has Berger or Simmons found him in the Alps.  Or perhaps he is pissed at having a “soft deadline”

Please someone tell what the hell a “soft deadline” is?

Strange times indeed here in TO.

First, the Blue Jays. They are showing some signs of life (past game excluded). Yet given the current state of the league, they would have to play almost .700 ball the rest of the way to qualify for the post season. Possible? Sure, anything is possible, but highly unlikely.

The off field story however is much more intriguing. Where to start? Let’s see, every major news outlet has team President Paul Godfrey leaving at the end of the season. Pushed or jumped? No one is saying (not that it matters). Under him you have the PR disaster that is J.P. Ricciardi. To recall, he is now famous for uttering that a lie is not a lie if the speaker knows the truth. Hey J.P., ask Cliff Fletcher how quickly we forget memorable lines like that (draft schmaft anyone?) J.P. has on at least one occasion publicly written off the Jays for the 08 season. He then denied saying it, but of course, it is not a lie if…….. I digress. Anyway, he then, for reasons quite inexplicably announced to the world on Monday night that AJ Burnett was officially off the trade block:

“He’s not going anywhere,” Ricciardi said before the Jays beat the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 “Nope, [that's] not going to change.”

Until about 30 seconds later when he said:

“”We’re open to doing anything if it’s the right situation,” Ricciardi said, “but we haven’t been presented with it and A. J.’s been doing a great job for us.”

Right, it’s not a iie when…..

One has to believe that J.P. was trying to do a sales job (on Toronto Fans) when he made the comment. The ramifications though are quite puzzling. First, to his fellow GM’s, why pick up the phone and inquire about a player who a GM has announced he won’t deal? Secondly, and more importantly, who knoes what tomorrow may bring? If the Jays fall out of the race between now and say August 31st and another team offers a compelling package for AJ and you do trade him, once again, a liar you are….

Then, there is “his” manager, who is already talking about next year himself. Cito already publicly threw in the towel on this season too. He then was quoted as saying that he hopes he has AJ on his staff next year. JP, has publicly stated that if he has his way, Cito will be managing next season:

““I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t,” Ricciardi said. “We’re very happy with Cito.”

All seems fine and dandy except when the dominoes start to fall. Let’s see, if rumors are true that Godfrey is leaving (pushed or walking) then one has to assume that JP is right behind him. First JP has that out himself contractually and secondly, given the lack of success JP has achieved, I can’t imagine whomever inherits the Jays would want JP as their GM. Rewind to the hiring of JP, when the other option was Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski passed on the Jays allegedly over the fact that he wouldn’t get the President’s title. The GM title seems to carry with it that of President too. So, if Paul is gone (walked or pushed) and JP is gone (walked or pushed) then where does that leave Cito? Like i said, with the team needing to go something like 40-17 the rest of the way, the off field stuff should be much more interesting than the on field action.

Over in leaf land things are quiet now, but that isn’t going to last much longer. As the calendar turns to August, some happenings are right around the corner.

As bored as I am by Les Affairs Sundin, this has to end soon. If he chooses what’s behind door number 2 or 3 (retire or play for a team who plays its home games at an arena not called the ACC respectively) then the Leafs have money to spend and goals to acquire, somewhere, somehow. The Leafs have to spend close to the cap. They aren’t cutting prices and therefore the market demands they spend as much money as possible. They also need to replace some of Mat’s offensive contribution. One would think therefore that money will inevitably lead to adding goals. Unless the Hagman acquisition was really the Mats replacement, one would have to think something else will have to unfold should Mats head elsewhere (or retire).

The Pavel Kubina window to be dealt is about to close. With just over 2 weeks to be dealt, this chapter to will come to end shortly. I think that Cliff’s decision to trade him may very well hinge on what Mats is going to do.

Mr McCabe is the final piece of the puzzle. While not saying how, Cliff has made it perfectly clear Bryan won’t be back next season. The question to be answered over the next couple of weeks is where and how. Again, I have to believe that this decision is also tied to the Mats Sundin decision. What Mats does will enable or handcuff Cliff in his needs for return with respect to McCabe (and Kubina). If Mats is gone he can afford to take on more salary via trade(s)then if Mats is back.

Lots to look forward to right smack in the middle of the dog days of summer…

When the reigns changed in Tampa Bay, and Jay Feaster took an immediate back seat to the current regime you knew it would only be a matter of time before Feaster would be on the open market. Sure enough, Feaster and the Lightning mutually agreed to part ways the other day. This was not really news.

Of course, any time a GM becomes available both Leaf fans and Leaf media try to picture the world with that GM leading the way for the blue and white. This was the case again when Feaster became a free agent.

The guy does after all have the credentials that Richard Peddie listed as essential for the next leafs GM, he has experience (been the GM since 2002) and he has won a cup. He was named the NHL executive of the year by The Sporting News in a vote of his peers following the 2003-04 Stanley Cup championship season.

However a little nugget appeared in yesterday’s Boston Globe that made me want to immediately cross his name off the list:

“Since 1999, the first draft with Feaster as a member of the front office, the Lightning’s picks have combined for only 1,544 NHL games, fewest of any Eastern Conference team. Defenseman Paul Ranger, the 183d pick from 2002, leads all Lightning selections with 220 NHL games. In 2003, when future NHLers were falling into executives’ laps, a ninth-round pick, forward Nick Tarnasky, turned out to be the club’s best selection (169 NHL games).”

That is hard to believe. When one thinks of the Tampa Bay Lightning, one thinks, young talent. They aren’t filled with over the hill guys ala our beloved buds used to be. This was a model franchise (prior to this past season) To have that poor a track record while at the helm is stunning. I wouldn’t have guessed that.

The one thing the Buds need more then the credentials listed by Peddie is someone with experience building a hockey department. When you look at Detroit or New Jersey, they have so much experience on their staff. The players, coaches etc rave about their entire hockey department. I want someone who has built an successful hockey department to lead the blue and white. So even if you can’t blame the drafting squarely on the GM, you can blame it on his staff, and he is ultimately responsible for their performance or lack there of.

Sorry Jay, to the extent you were ever on the list…you have been voted off the island.

Thanks to all who have been reading and sending me email.. It’s comforting to know that I am not alone, suffering here in Toronto.

I am sure you all saw it before me…but in case you didn’t we were mentioned in today’s New York Times Hockey Blog:

Thanks!

Not sure if anyone else has seen this, but here is the latest…1 yr deal avoiding arbitration:

more details here

probably takes him off the block for a while.