I hope everyone had a great weekend…Just a few comments before signing off for the night.

Let’s start with the Leafs

What a performance against the Senators. While Giguere certainly played a great game (getting his second straight shutout), the team limited the Sens to very few quality chances. I didn’t recognize #2…he was actually skating with the puck – not treating it like a hot potato. And then he started shooting it! Unreal…2 goals. Is it possible that Phaneuf has already had an influence on him? It’s probably too early to suggest this but, is it possible that Dion is team captain material?  Wilson keeps talking about how vocal he is and how different the dressing room is now.  I really like “b side” to the Leafs – Flames deal….Sjostrom is fast and smart. Paired with Kulemin and the team has a legit / quality shutdown unit.  BTW, I know Bozak may not appear to be lighting it up but, 10 points in 14 games is pretty damn good for the rookie. Kessel is really showing his stuff again. Do you think the Bruins would like him back about now?

BTW, the Leafs should be 3-0 after the Flames and Ducks deals…I’m with TSM, Wilson missed calling a time out to settle his team down in Jersey.

Brendan Burke Tributes

A lot of writers and bloggers had some great articles/posts over the weekend re: Brendan Burke – most did a great job (McGran not included). If you are only going to read 1 post, read Kevin Allen…He sheds some insight into how important family is to Brian and tells a great story about Brian reaching out to him during a tough time. You can read Allen here.

I also liked Ron Wilson’s post game comments. You really get a sense for how close he and Brian are. According to Wilson, Brian exchanged texts with Dave Nonis during the game. The boys gave him one less thing to think/worry about...Maybe even a smile. The next couple of days are going to be real tough for Brian – the funeral is on Tuesday. Thank goodness the schedule worked out and the entire team can join their leader. Wilson’s presser below.

wilson

If you want to read the official obituary and get details re: donations, you can find it here.

Super Bowl

Queen Latifah: thumbs down.

Carrie Underwood: I’m not a fan but she outperformed Latifah.

Halftime: I may have been in the minority but, I thought The Who was good. The drummer (Ringo Star’s son) looked just like Keith Moon!

So what did you think of the game? The score and the stats all point to a great game… but….for some reason; it seemed to go by quick and for me and not very exciting. It’s a good thing the Saints won because their coach almost blew it for them. Sean Payton will probably be written up in the papers as a genius but in my opinion both “gutsy” calls were dumb. Drew Brees deserves to be talked about amongst the greats….what a season, what a game. TSN starts their headline article with “Peyton Manning made his first major mistake of Super Bowl XLIV in the final minutes of the fourth quarter “… I need to watch the replay again but; my first reaction was that the received screwed up…his job was to come back to the ball on that play.

Congrats to the Saints and the people of New Orleans…you needed something to smile about.

Ov v. Crosby

Last comment….Ovechkin may have won today’s game – and he may win the cup.  I’m okay with all of that as long as Sidney brings home gold!

Happy Sunday night everyone.

LT

Superbowl XLIV is so close, yet so far away. I’m actually surprised the media hype hasn’t been worse, and Dwight Freeney injury aside, over-analysis of the two teams has been kept to a minimum. I actually enjoy that a good chunk of the spotlight has been put on Jim Caldwell and Sean Payton, the two coaches. Instead of waiting until the end of the article like normal to make my pick, I’m going to jump right into it.

The Indianapolis Colts will defeat the New Orleans Saints, 34-21, to capture Superbowl XLIV.

Two words why this is going to happen: Peyton Manning. I’ve been saying for years now (even prior to his Superbowl victory) that Peyton Manning is the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen. I fully believe that by the time he retires, he’s going to hold most of the significant passing records. We saw against the New York Jets two weeks ago what Manning can do to a defence. He played the first half just testing out the Jets’ stop unit, and in the second half, he completely dissected it.

On Sunday, Manning will be up against a New Orleans defence that specializes in turnovers. They’ll continue to utilize an array of blitz packages on Indy, and their ball-hawking secondary will be ready to pounce on mistakes. The Saints D may be able to keep the team in the game, and of course, their offence features Drew Brees. I have no doubt that the Saints will put up some points, but I see the Colts’ defence providing a surprisingly tough challenge. In their two previous playoff games, New Orleans has faced defences that believe in constant pressure. Indianapolis will look to use its front four to get to Brees (for the record, I believe Freeney will play), but Caldwell & Co. will be happy to sit back in their Cover 2 package and wait for their opportunities.

KEY PLAYERS

Indianapolis: Joseph Addai & Donald Brown. I know it’s two, but one of them needs to step up and deliver for the Colts. I’m not just talking about running the ball, I’m more looking towards catching passes in the flat. With the Saints dealing up all kinds of pressure, the Colts’ rushers are going to need to be aware and get themselves open for check downs.

New Orleans: Darren Sharper. If the Saints want to have a shot of winning the game, Sharper is going to need to play big. He’s the veteran anchor of their secondary, and is quite good at forcing turnovers. I believe Jabari Greer will be able to hold his own against Reggie Wayne, but Sharper will have to help out Tracy Porter and the rest of the Saints’ cornerbacks with Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. And of course, there’s also Dallas Clark.

Either way the game goes Sunday, let’s all hope for an exciting matchup. Enjoy the game!

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- I’ve just finished reading the scariest item I’ve ever seen: NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in regards to how likely a lockout is in 2011, “On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 14.”

- the Buffalo Bills are switching to a 3-4 base defence. This one won’t be pretty, give it some time

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

Big game tonight in the NFL Thursday night-er. The Indianapolis Colts (13-0) take their perfect record into Jacksonville to take on the division rival Jaguars (7-6). Earlier these two teams met in Indy and obviously the Colts won that contest, squeaking by with a 14-12 win. The Colts have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams and hold an overall 13-4 edge in the series. Just don’t count out the Jaguars just yet. Out of all the teams that in the Indy’s division Jacksonville gives them the most problems and the games typically come down to the last minute. Offensively the Jags are led by quarterback David Garrard and running back Maurice Jones-Drew. Garrard is having an average season by his own standards. He’s close to 3000 yards passing and would need only just over 600 yards over the next three weeks to eclipse his own personal best. Whats impressive about his stats is that he has a very young receiving core and is still building that bound between QB and wide out. For Jones-Drew, this is the first season he has been the feature back in the Jags attack. One time starter Fred Taylor was released in the off season and was picked up by the New England Patriots. Jones-Drew has thrived with the new role. He’s already set a career high in rushing yards (1136) and touchdowns (14). For the Colts the big question is whether or not to sit players and start resting up for the play offs. Indy has already secured the top spot in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the post season. Indy struggles with it’s running game (30th in the league) so a lot of the offensive load has been on the shoulders of quarterback Peyton Manning. Which isn’t a problem for the 12 year vet. He leads the league in passing yards (3905), attempts per game (38.6), yards per game (300.4) and trails only Drew Brees in touchdowns thrown (Manning has 29). Manning may attempt the most throws but he is also well protected. He’s only been sacked 10 times.  Manning too has dealt with receiver turnover. 13 year Colt Marvin Harrison was let go and he was replaced by second year man Pierre Garcon and rookie Austin Collie. Along with Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark they make up a formidable receiving core.

There’s a thought process out there that sitting players for the play offs is a mistake. In fact Indy has first hand experience. There have been at least two seasons when the team sat players in preparation for the post season and were knocked out early. The year the Colts had to player their starters until the end of the season they went on to win the Super Bowl. It will be interesting to see what philosophy rookie coach Jim Caldwell follows.

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

For the second straight week the NFL Monday Night-er will feature a team that once represented the city it’s playing against. Last week it was the Baltimore Ravens (formerly the Cleveland Browns) taking on the ‘new’ Browns in Cleveland. This week the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) are in Houston to battle the Texans. Unfortunately like last week this game also features two teams at the bottom of their   division. This time it’s the AFC South. The Texans are 5-4 and sit a game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for second spot in the division. Last week Houston was on a bye, but in week nine they suffered a heart-wrenching 20-17 to the Indianapolis Colts. They played the Colts tough and that game could have gone either way. Quarterback Matt Schaub has stayed healthy this season and he’s put up some pretty good numbers. Schaub is top ten in the league for passing yards (2653), touchdowns thrown (17) and completion percentage (67.5). Tennessee started the season 0-6, but they’re on fire winning three straight. Their defence has been a lot better and quarterback Vince Young has been behind centre for all three wins, including a 41-17 week 10 pounding of the Buffalo Bills. The word in the locker room is Young has comeback from last season’s demotion more mature and a better teammate. He’s also a match up nightmare for most defences. In his last three starts he’s taken chances at throwing the ball deep which takes away from defences cheating against the run. That opens up the running game not only for himself, but also uber-stud running back Chris Johnson. Johnson is already at the one thousand mark in rushing yards (1091), has eight touchdowns and is gaining a gaudy 6.4 yards per carry. Not good news a Texans defence that’s giving up over a hundred rushing yards a game.

If you’d rather watch some puck tonight, there’s a good divisional battle between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators. Detroit’s been pretty good as of late (7-2-1 in their last 10), but they still sit in the three spot in the Northwest division. The Predators come into this one red hot. They’ve won five straight and trail the Red Wings by a point. Nashville has dominated Detroit as of late. Last season they finished 4-2 against the Red Wings and come into this one with a three game winning streak over their opponents.

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

The last time the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts met was back in week 17 of 2006. Peyton Manning threw for two touchdowns and the Colts won 27-22. Out of the last six times these two teams battled the Dolphins have the edge of the Colts, beating them four times. Tonight in Florida these teams go it with a lot to prove. For Indianapolis they want to show the rest of the league that they’re still the dominant team that won the Super Bowl three years ago and should not be overlooked. Future Hall-of-Famer receiver Marvin Harrison is no longer on the team and his replacement, Anthony Gonzalez is out for two to eight weeks with a knee injury. Manning still has go-to wide out Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark. Both should expect many throws their way and will factor into the decision of this game. Defensively Indianapolis will miss the services of safety Bob Sanders for this one as he too is dealing with knee problems.

Miami wants to show everybody that last season was no fluke. They surprised the NFL by winning the AFC East relying heavily on the wildcat formation. Last week they looked bad, committing  four turnovers en route to a 19-7 lose to the Atlanta Falcons. For the Dolphins to be successful Chad Pennington needs to eliminate mistakes and they need to get the ball into the hands of running back Ronnie Brown as often as possible. Last season Brown was the key factor in the Dolphin’s wildcat offence, rushing for 916 yards, scoring 10 touchdowns along with 254 receiving yards. Miami also has to play sound defence, limiting the big plays and getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. A year ago linebacker Joey Porter had a career year leading the team with 17.5 sacks.