I have no problem with it, but what up with NHL getting into bed with a gambling company?

“”I am pleased to announce today that the NHL will team with Pokerstars.net and the NHL Players’ Association to present [the poker tournament] in connection with the 2009 NHL Awards. Las Vegas is an ideal showcase for outstanding talent from the entertainment world, and I think there is more than enough room on this grand stage for the best athletes in sports, as well.”

So, come out and see the best athletes in sports play poker? Huh? How does one plus one equal two here? I am not trying to be picky, and I don’t think, given the current climate it’s a bad idea, I just don’t get how you reach the conclusion.

“The League has not yet announced its broadcast partner for the “NHL Charity Shootout Presented by Pokerstars.net” event, which will include NHL stars, NHL alumni and celebrity guests. The format will be the popular No Limit Texas Hold’em familiar to television viewers.” Says the article on NHL.com. Again, I am not anti gambling, I would love to see a team in Vegas. I have been to hockey games in Las Vegas. I think them joining up with a gambling partner opens the door for them to be there. I just know that if I were there I would want to be a guest of Wayne Gretaky, Mrs. Wayne Gretzky or Rick Tocchet! Don’t forget sports fans tickets start at $504 USD..

As reported here first last week, Marty York has agreed to join the folks over at 24 hours newspapers. No, that has nothing to do with Mats Sundin. Marty’s gig with 24 (perhaps we should call him Jack Bauer) will not only include his traditional sports coverage for the Canadian online and print editions of 24, Marty will also be writing a column on poker! Yes sir folks, Marty is the new media spokesman for Pokerstars! Not only will Marty be covering poker for 24 hours but also on television here in Canada. Of course, what’s a gig without some junkets right? Marty will represent PokerStars and 24 hours at events throughout the world, starting with the European poker championships in Monte Carlo in late April.
Near the end of every month, he’ll also be online at www.PokerStars.net where the general public can play against for great prizes.

Say what you want, Marty is a survivor and this is a great gig for him. We will be sure to keep our eyes on 24 hours to see what Jack, I mean Marty is up to.

Mats Sundin Pokerstars

It’s hard to believe how quickly things have gone from hope to bust for Mats Sundin.  There I was watching the Vancouver Canucks late last night take on the Minnesota Wild, the Wild were up by a goal, trying to hold on, when they took a penalty with under 5 minutes to go in the third.  The play went in to the Wild end and the Cancuks had a 6 on 4 advantage.  Where was Mats Sundin?  Centre, nope.  Right Wing?  Nope…Ok, playing D- Nope.  Mats’s ass was stapled to the bench, right next to Kyle Wellwood.  When have you ever seen that?  Could you ever imagine that happening to Sundin? Howie talks about the sadness to Cujo’s season, what do you say about Sundin so far??? I know it’s early.  However, the Vancouver media is just getting warmed up too:

“The curse of Mats Sundin grows more legendary by the day. His signing brought so much hope to the Canucks. But what always follows Vancouver’s hopes? The word dashed. Instead of reaping the benefits of a player with a Hall-of-Fame billing, the Canucks have been visited by the Grim Reaper. Instead of a large scythe, Sundin carries a Swedish accent, broken wheels and an attraction to penalty boxes.”

Those, the words of Jason Botchford, writing for The Vancouver Sun. Mats Sundin a curse????

“Since Sundin signed on Dec. 18, the Canucks have won four of 18 games. They have lost eight in a row overall, and nine in a row at home. They are two away from tying their all-time winless streak record. And believe it or not, they have a good team. Their visitor’s room is now officially the happiest place on earth.”

Does any of this sound familiar. Forget the signing of Sundin part. Have the Canucks become the toronto maple leafs?

Over at the Province things are less kind:

“Sundin doing nothing to earn his keep
Expectations not being met as time and hope are running out. While your eyes would tell you otherwise, and the stats sheet would back it up, the Vancouver Canucks have insisted that Mats Sundin is close; that the big Swede is a ticking-time bomb on the verge of detonation.”

Yes it is early, and he did miss the majority of the season. Patience may be a virtue, but records for futility aren’t anything to be proud of.

“Maybe it was unrealistic to expect him to make an immediate impact. Maybe it was unrealistic to expect him to step in and be the player we last saw in Toronto.
But, by any reasonable standard, he’s been here long enough to acclimatize himself to the NHL grind and bring his conditioning and timing up to an NHL standard. And not only has he failed there, he’s actually hindered the Canucks’ attempts to get on track.”

Those are not complimentary words, to say the least…

“Against the Wild, the final line told you all you needed to know — just over 17 minutes of ice time, minus-one, no points, three shots on goal, none of which resembled a scoring chance, and two more minors to his rapidly increasing PIM total. But what that ledger doesn’t reveal is the number of times he was put in a position to make a difference; to change the momentum of the game or to sustain momentum in the Canucks’ favour. Alain Vigneault gave Sundin every chance to succeed, every chance to leave his imprint on this game. And each time he failed.”

That is what I thought as I watched the game last night. Sundin looked old. O L D. He had chances to be the old Sundin and just couldn’t do it.

“Late in the second period Sundin was sent out immediately after Roberto Luongo had made a five-alarm save off Pierre-Marc Bouchard and took his second penalty.
Earlier in the middle frame — and right after Ryan Kesler had scored the Canucks’ first goal — he had three shifts during a five-minute power play and while he created a bit of a stir on the third, he couldn’t create a goal. By the end of the game, in fact, Sundin was stapled to the bench when Kesler scored the game-tying goal with Luongo out and the Canucks playing six-on-four.”

The penalties are brutal. We aren’t used to seeing Sundin to take the lazy penalties that he is taking in multiples per game. Yes, it’s early. However, the age old question in sports is here too, when does it stop being early and start to be too late?

Read Botchford here
Read the Province here

When it comes to sports sections in this area, few people think of the National Post as a major player. However, an article in today’s paper is BANG on, 100 % accurate with respect to the McCabe trade. It is the first level headed analysis of the deal I have seen:

“It was a great deal for Toronto no matter who or what was coming back, and no matter what the talking heads were saying last night on radio and TV panels across your dial.”

Huh??? Who are you? Do you really write for a Toronto paper?

“Look, Leafs fans, if the Rest Of The Country can tell you anything about the team you love – and the team we are forced far too often to watch – it is this:

Any trade that relieves your organization of one of those overpaid players with a no-movement clause in his contract is a good trade. Any such transaction that does not include the name Tomas Kaberle is a great trade for Toronto.”

Amen! I believe!!

“One of the oldest clichés in the game applies here – the one about how you are never supposed to critique a win. And this is a big win for Cliff Fletcher, who is quietly plodding along in his cleanup role, untying many of the knots that John Ferguson Jr., hamstrung this organization with during his damaging term as the Maple Leafs general manager.”

Exactly. That is what Cliff said he was going to do and that is what he has done. Hmmmm, state a plan and follow it…how rare….

“Van Ryn is younger, cheaper, and signed for a year less. Anyone who sees a hole in this deal from a Leafs’ perspective simply can not be looking at it from the mandate that Fletcher has in Toronto.”

Tomorrow we will see all kinds of crap about how dumb this is, how valuable McCabe was, how bad a signing McCabe was etc. The Muskoka five are almost gone. He chose to keep Kubina and Sundin is off playing poker with pokerstars.net

“This deal embodies every wrong decision that Fletcher has been hired to clean up, while he keeps the Leafs GM job warm for Brian Burke”

I am not so sure on the Burke part, but Cliff said he wanted to prevent the next GM from having 6 months of junk to go through, and that is what he has accomplished. For next years UFA season he will have lots of room and even more for the year after.

“And the least surprised about any of this? New head coach Ron Wilson, who put his cards on the table at his introductory news conference when he admitted that the Maple Leafs were going to have to go a bit further south before they could turn the ship north again.

That is something you won’t hear a new coach say very often, but it is worth applauding Wilson for coming to Toronto and calling a spade a spade. Wilson can do that because his years in San Jose gave him a distant vantage point in judging the Maple Leafs.”

Another reason why the Wilson hiring was a good one. He isn’t going to play vets to make a run to make the playoffs. He knows they aren’t supposed to be good this year; his job is to lay a foundation.

What a brilliant piece by Spector. I am impressed. You can read the whole story here.