Maddux Sports Blog

We learned  couple of things from the Home Run Derby tonight - it can incredibly entertaining, and the overall format is flawed. Watching Josh Hamilton’s tour de force was one of the coolest things I have done in a long while. The problem, though, is that no one cared about the result after that all happened. Justin Morneau is a fellow Canadian, and I am proud of him for coming through, but he didn’t deserve to win, and no one cares that he does. Instead of making it a three round contest like it is which just tires out batters and pitchers and rarely builds to a dramatic finish, it is time they tweak it a bit. They should invite a few more guys to participate, give each guy a few more outs, and just have one round. It didn’t matter what happened after Hamilton did his thing, so the format should be such that he didn’t have to do anything. The way it is now, Morneau hit fewer home runs in three rounds than Hamilton did in one, and he still won.

Interesting news out of Indianapolis today - Peyton Manning had knee surgery to remove an inflamed bursa sac. He’s been trying to recover since February, but surgery finally became the best option. He is expected back at his best in four to six weeks, and his consecutive game streak shouldn’t be threatened. It is amazing how some guys operate under the microscope while other mega-stars can totally elude scrutiny. Obviously being in Indianapolis has something to do with it - we know nothing about what Manning does when he isn’t on the field, and we knew nothing about Marvin Harrison until his alleged shooting incident in the spring (which has conveniently seemed to have gone away).

Again, I must qualify this next story by saying that summer league basketball is virtually meaningless. That being said, a couple of interesting performances came out in the first game for Minnesota and Dallas. The T-Wolves cruised to an easy win on the strength of an impressive showing by Kevin Love. The start was rocky, but he ended up with 18 points and 13 rebounds. I have reasonably high hopes that he will exceed expectations as a pro, so this was a good start. The other one to note was Dallas’ Shan Foster. The former Vanderbilt star had 17 points. Foster didn’t get the respect I think he deserved in the draft. He’s a bit one-dimensional, but he just knows how to score. He joins DeAndre Jordan and Chris Douglas-Roberts as guys who could wind up being major steals in the second round.

Strange story from the Islanders’ camp. They fired Ted Nolan today after two years as coach, citing differing philosophies between coach and management. Nolan was out of coaching for about a decade after winning coach of the year in Buffalo. He reportedly feuded with his goalie there, and many say he got his GM fired as well. In New York he got more out of the team than they deserved with the talent they had, but he reportedly feuded with his goaltender, and he obviously couldn’t get along with his GM. It will be very interesting to see if he will get another job, or if the emerging pattern will put him squarely back on the black list. Things must have been pretty bleak if they warranted his firing this long after the season ended, and this close to rookie camps and, as hard as it is to believe, the start of training camp. The new staff will be starting from behind.

Jeff Borris, the agent for Barry Bonds, says his client has not received a single offer from a team looking for his services, and that the prospects look bleak for him to play this year. I hate when bad things happen to good people.

This is shaping up to be a strange day full of somewhat surprising news. Only one item is truly shocking, but all are of interest.

First, the shocking one. Baron Davis is a Clipper. Huh? After saying repeatedly that he wasn’t going to opt out of the final year of his contract in Golden State that’s exactly what he did. The only theory that I can say makes sense is that his agent told him that the L.A. team that plays in the Staples Center wanted him, and he signed before he did more digging. Why else would he go to the Clippers at this point in his career. He is an elite player, but he’s not a youngster anymore, and he doesn’t really have the luxury of time to build a contender. And there is a lot of building to do in L.A. - especially sine Elton Brand and Corey Maggette opted out this week. Brand may be back, but that’s not certain. In Golden Sate he had a team that was returning its core and had won 48 games last year. They were in trouble because they were in the very tough West, but so are the Clippers. This is a step back. A giant one. Davis is in the movie business, and he is from So Cal, but I honestly don’t understand why the lure of home would be this strong. It says pretty strongly to me that winning isn’t as important to Davis as I thought it was. He traded proximity to the film business for 25 fewer wins last year, and he has joined one of the worst run teams in existence.

Now the one that is totally ridiculous but not at all surprising. Brett Favre has reportedly told the Packers that he has the itch to play this year. Shocking. Not surprisingly, the Packers only comment was to say that they don’t have a comment. The fact that Favre didn’t see this coming means that he has the self awareness of a mosquito. Favre has to realize that the Pack moved on because he told them to move on. I suspect he will spend the season in Mississippi, but it would be kinda fun to see him in a different uniform. How about going to Minnesota for one year to lead his new team past his former team? Or maybe to Kansas City - they need a QB, but since they have no one to protect him and no one to throw to that seems unlikely. I guess the thing is that I don’t really care, and I really hope that this isn’t the beginning of another annual installment of the Favre soap opera.

Finally, kudos to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They sounded like they were going to make a serious mistake, but they avoided doing so. They were reportedly shopping Evgeni Malkin so that they could sign Marian Hossa, but ultimately they let Hossa go and extended Malkin for five more years. This is absolutely the right decision. Malkin is younger, he has more upside, and he showed by how he stepped up when Sidney Crosby was injured that he is a real player. Hossa has been on two teams that couldn’t win, and the fact that Pittsburgh made the final with him has as much to do with the rest of the team as him. Malkin had a lousy Stanley Cup final, but he will only learn from that, and he is going to get better. You can’t say the same about Hossa - what you see is what you get. Malkin has had trouble with the coaching staff reportedly, but that can be dealt with as it needs to be. They weren’t going to get good value by dealing Malkin, so this was the right move, and a positive move for the future. On the other side, Hossa took a surprising risk. He signed for one year with the Red Wings, the team that beat him in the Stanley Cup finals, and he signed for $7.4 million. It makes sense in the sense that the Wings probably have another deep run in them, but they couldn’t afford to sign him long term because of the other players they will have to pay starting next year, so this was the only way he could sign wit the team. If he has a good year then it will work out for him because he will be able to sign a rich long term deal with another team next year. It’s a huge gamble, though. More money and a longer term were on the table from several teams, so if he has a bad year this year or he gets hurt then it will cost him a fortune. In balance, though, I like the move - it shows that Hossa is hungry to win, and that makes me respect him more as a player than I previously have.

Finally, here’s something that you don’t see every day - Mats Sundin was offered a two year contract to be the highest paid player in the NHL, and it appears that  he has passed on it. Vancouver was the team that offered him the preposterous contract, and Montreal and Toronto were among the teams that were also interested. He says that he wants time to think on it, and that that may take several weeks. That seems to sound like he may retire or play in Europe. That’s not surprising given that he is 37, but it is surprising in that the delay almost certainly means that the big deals won’t be on the table any more if and when he does want to return. The move makes sense on some levels, but it’s not every day that you see a player turn down an obscene amount of money.

The Tampa Bay Lightning made Steven Stamkos the number one pick in the NHL Draft. Stamkos is a high scoring center from the Ontario Hockey League. If you live in Canada or a hockey town elsewhere then this comes as no surprise - Stamkos has been pegged as the top pick for five years or so. He’s got a ridiculous scoring touch, he’s strong and versatile, and he is frequently compared to Joe Sakic. He’ll make the team next year as the second center, and he is already the heavy favorite to be rookie of the year.

Recent history points to a successful career for Stamkos. Since 2000, the roster of number one picks is impressive. Rick DiPietro is the number on goalie for the Islanders, and he really came into his own this year. Ilya Kovalchuk is a scoring machine. So is Rick Nash. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was the playoff star for Pittsburgh this year. 2004 pick Alexander Ovechkin and 2005 pick Sidney Crosby are in a duel to be called the best player in the league. Last year’s top choice, Patrick Kane, was rookie of the year this year. Of all the picks since 2000 the only one who isn’t a certified star is defenseman Erik Johnson of St. Louis, and he put together a pretty solid rookie year in his own right.

Since Mario Lemieux was taken in 1984 there have really only been two guys, Alexander Daigle and Patrik Stefan, who haven’t put together very solid careers. Clearly it is much easier to assess top talent in hockey than any of the other major sports. Since 1984 in the NFL there have been eight or ten duds from the top spot, and the NBA has had at least five. Baseball is about as bad as football.

The Lightning remind me of the Bulls. They both have the top pick in their drafts, and they will both add a player who is as close to a lock as there is. Both teams had truly terrible years, but they both have good foundations of talent and were much better the previous year. Both of their top picks will contribute early and often this year and will elevate their new teams immediately. Both teams have also made much needed coaching changes. Both teams strike me as teams that are going to be much, much better next year. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see both of them in the playoffs, and at least at the start of their seasons I will bet them accordingly.

After blowing their chance to even the Stanley Cup final with Detroit at two games a piece on home ice despite scoring the first goal of the game on Saturday, Pittsburgh is in dire straits. They now have to head into the hostile Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to win a game from a team and a crowd that has won it all before and knows and loves the smell of blood in the water. The sportsbooks really don’t like their chances - Detroit is a very solid -230 favorite for game five. If they do manage to pull off a miraculous win tonight all they have to do is win two more in a row against the best team in the league and the hottest goaltender on the planet. Not an easy task for anyone, never mind a team that’s core is made up of guys that are too young to grow a playoff beard. Playoff peach fuzz reigns in Pittsburgh.

It looks like an uphill battle for the Penguins tonight, but they can pull it off, can’t they? The short answer is no, probably not, but let’s take a closer look.

Let’s start with history. This does not make it look good for the underdogs. A team has come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals before, but not for 66 years. Recent history is no more forgiving. All the team has to do is win two games in a building that they have yet to score a goal  in. Two straight shutouts started this series, and the Pens will have those bitter memories bouncing around in their heads. That’s not the only problem. Pittsburgh has a truly explosive offense but they have score just four goals in four games, and they have been shut down by Detroit. Sidney Crosby has been very good, and Marian Hossa has been solid, but Evgeni Malkin has been invisible, and the secondary scoring hasn’t existed.

Handicapping this series comes down to just one thing - what do you think the mental state of the team is? If Pittsburgh realizes that they have nothing to lose and they can se their situation as a rallying point then they can make a contest of this. If you buy into that then you’ll like the juicy longshot price you can get in game 5. On the other hand, the team could dwell on the fact that Detroit has been better, faster, and stronger and has dominated them in pretty much every aspect of the series. If that’s where the thoughts lie, or at least where the majority of them do, then the game could be ugly tonight.

For me, it comes down to this - I’ll be cheering for Pittsburgh to make the series interesting, but I can’t justify betting against Detroit. Sadly, I won’t be betting on them either given the price.  I guess I’ll satisfy my habits tonight by betting on baseball and watching hockey.

Now that the the Stanley Cup finals are just around the corner, people may actually start paying attention to Canada’s obsession. Hockey doesn’t get a lot of love, but this final should be enough to please even the most skeptical fan. Both Pittsburgh and Detroit are very good teams that are poised to entertain. As I am getting ready for the series to start on Saturday there are a few things in the hockey world that are interesting and relevant:

• Johan Franzen is practicing with the Red Wings again, and he could be back in action soon. He’ll probably miss game one, but should be ready for the second game in Detroit. That’s big news for the team if he can capture his ridiculous form. The guy has been scary good - he is leading the playoffs in goals scored with 12 despite having missed the last five games of the series against Dallas. Unfortunately for the Wings, his successful return is far from a sure thing because he is struggling to overcome a concussion. Detroit would probably be okay without him, but the more they can score the better given Pittsburgh’s potential for potency.
• The Avalanche made a truly bizarre move on the coaching front today - they hired Tony Granato as their new coach. It’s not that he is a bad guy or a bad coach. It’s just that he was already their coach once before, and they dumped him when someone better came along. He coached for part of one season and all of the next, and he did quite well - 72-33-17-11. Despite that, the team dumped him when Joel Quenneville came along. The biggest knock against Granato at that time was that he couldn’t perform in the playoffs. He spent the last four years as Quenneville’s assistant, and he’s now the head man again. I’m sure he’ll do a decent job, but it’s sure not a move that inspires confidence.
• Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is in his fourth year in the league, but the last couple of months are the first time I have really felt that he is an elite keeper. As strange as it sounds, it seems as if it was an injury that helped him turn the corner. He had a high ankle sprain at the start of the new year, and since he returned to action he has won 22 of the 27 games he has appeared in and tied another. His goals-against average over that stretch is just 1.62 and his save percentage is .942. Those are superhuman numbers, but he’s playing with incredible confidence and it is carrying over to his whole team. He won’t get the attention of the offensive stars, but I think that Fleury holds the fate of his team on his shoulders.

So here we go. Neither team has ever won the Cup. Okay, cool. So, who is going to take it?

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The Redwings are a star-laden team facing elimination as they go up against the Anaheim Ducks. Both goaltenders have been tough with Dominic Hasek posting a 1.67 GAA and a .928 SV%. Jean-Sebastien Giguere has also been stellar, with a 1.78 GAA and .935 SV%.

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The Ottawa Senators are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time ever. They did it by beating the Buffalo Sabres 4 games to 1, including a 3-2 OT win in the final game of the series.

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