Two in the Box

The dominoes are falling

February 10, 2011September 17, 2012Chris Ostrander1 Comment

It is now officially trade season in the NHL. Forget the 20 trades that happened prior to February, or the fact that ten of those trades involved players that were immediately inserted into their new team’s lineup. We are 18 days from the deadline and the fire sales can now officially begin.

As I mentioned there have been ten trades that involved players going to a new team and immediately being inserted into the lineup. What I mean is that there were ten meaningful trades before tonight. Dwayne Roloson to the Lightning for Ty Wishart crops up right away as does Jamie Langenbrunner’s move back to Dallas or the Avs, Caps and Habs all adding needed talent to their blue line.

I am making this point to show that trades don’t need to happen at the last moment, or two weeks before the last moment. Brian Burke said he likes to get out in front of the deadline, he did today (sorta). I just wonder if GM’s will wise up and start dealing in January in the future. Continue reading →

How is this for a sweet deal?

February 10, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

All of the people who got jobbed out of a seat at Super Bowl XLV got the royal treatment. In fact, they may have gotten a better deal than if they had gotten to sit in a tiny, uncomfortable plastic chair somewhere just below the gears that open the roof at Cowboys Stadium.

There have been a few different stories in regards to what each person was offered/given by the NFL. ESPN seems to have the bead on exactly what’s up.

In addition to the fact that these people got set up in a lounge in the stadium with free refreshments and swag, they now will get $2,400! Or they can simply go to the Super Bowl anytime and receive airfare and hotel accommodations.

Not a bad deal. Of course, most of these jokers probably dropped $2,400 on one ticket alone before factoring in any other expense. But why are they complaining? Or suing, for that matter.

Now they can sit on their hands and wait out their favorite team for a return to the Super Bowl, unless they’re Bills fans. For the Steelers and Packers fans, they likely won’t have to wait too long or they can sell the tickets on the secondary market and come away with a profit, hopefully. For the rabid football fan who just wanted to snag a ticket, going next year probably doesn’t make too big of a difference. It is still the Super Bowl, you’re in a covered dome and there is a good chance you will have a decent seat for the game.

While I give no forgiveness to the NFL for this error, I don’t think too much fault can be found in their fire plan.

One last Super Bowl tidbit

February 9, 2011September 17, 2012Chris Ostrander1 Comment

I noticed pretty early in the Super Bowl that the turf looked pretty ragged in all of the spots that had new logos for the Super Bowl. In fact, I felt that it looked so bad that it might affect play.

I don’t think it ever really made a difference. As it turns out, the only reason it looked so brutal was that it was probably brand new. I just found out that Cowboys Stadium uses this nifty new roll-out turf system that allows them to interchange parts of the field. So the answer to my original query was that the new turf had not been run on enough to look uniform. You learn something everyday.

Reflecting on the Super Bowl

February 8, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Super Bowl, as I said in a previous post, is a jumbled, orchestrated hodgepodge.

The game was not bad.

There were a few minutes in the third quarter where me, and the entire party I was at, had forgotten there was a game on. The Steelers robbery of momentum ended up sucking any and all firepower out of the game.

Luckily, both teams managed to find some footing in the fourth quarter and it made for a great finish. There is no way a penalty was committed on the final Steelers play. It was nothing more than strong coverage and a poorly thrown ball.

In the end, Big Ben made far too many mistakes for the rest of his team to cover up. I was in the majority of people who thought he was going to march the Steelers down the field to victory in the final 2:00. Continue reading →

Sabres lay an egg in front of new owner

February 5, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Sabres played their first game in front of their new owner last night, and they laid an egg. Hopefully tonight’s game is a bit better.

While Terry Pegula has yet to obtain full control over the Sabres, all signs point to the final steps as a mere formality. The biggest question in Sabreland is, what changes will be made?

After playing 10 good minutes the Sabres went on to play 40 bad minutes before turning it on a bit in the final minutes of the third period. However, even without Sid the Kid and Geno, the Pens were a better team.

Continue reading →

TH3 R1CK got KTFO

February 3, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Apparently Rick DiPietro’s chin is just as durable as the rest of his body.

What DiPietro was thinking on that one is beyond me, he is giving up four inches on Johnson. Although, it is good to see two American boys going at it. Ask yourself this; who doesn’t love a goalie fight?

In other NHL news:

– Johan Franzen just about went Sittler on the Senators tonight. He lit up the Sens for five goals as the Red Wings won a barn burner, 7-5. The Wings also benefited from a reaaaaallllllly bad call. C’mon War Room, you can’t say the puck was under the goalie when it is obviously in the net. Add to that, the “intent to blow the whistle” ruling is totally bogus and shouldn’t even exist.

– Also the Sabres got some help from the Habs as they managed to beat the Panthers in regulation. Keep the hope tank filled boys and girls.

Pegula officially buys the Sabres

February 1, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

It is official boys and girls. Terry Pegula has purchased the Buffalo Sabres from Tom Golisano for a cool $175M.

Of course there are still i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed. There is also the small task of being approved by the other owners. However, that is reported to be a mere formality after Pegula’s meeting with them last weekend.

Ultimately there won’t be a whole lot done in the short term, as I wrote about yesterday. This will be a long term project as the assumed plan is for the man, described as a puckhead, builds a true competitor in Buffalo.

I’ll have more later on Pegula and the great deed the Golisano did for this city.

Welcome to Pegulaville

February 1, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

It is official. According to multiple sources, Terry Pegula signed an official purchase agreement to buy the Buffalo Sabres from Tom Golisano for, a reported, $175 million plus $14 million in debt. (The Buffalo News report)

For those of you playing at home, that is $189 million – or %6.3 of Pegula’s wealth. To equate that number to a realistic figure, think of going to the mall and spending about $100, that is what this transaction represents to Pegula.

An announcement will be made at the Arena on Thursday and I would assume Pegula will take over full control before the trade deadline hits.

Now, Sabres fans everywhere are doing backflips at the idea that Pegula is going to throw money at every big-name free agent out there and snag a GM that will wheel and deal on the trade market. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

He is a savvy businessman with a passion for hockey. He will let his management team do their job and guide the franchise in the right direction. In a year or two I wouldn’t be surprised to see some big moves made, but they won’t be made right out of the blocks.

Be patient, wait for the deadline to come and lets see what (the newly extended) Darcy Regier will do. That might begin to paint the picture of how the new regime is going to operate down at HSBC Arena. Either way there is certainly cause for excitement, just don’t expect the world people.

Introducing the Tampa Bay Blue Wings…er…Lightning!

January 31, 2011September 17, 2012Chris Ostrander2 Comments

Tampa Bay unveiled a new set of unis, today, that dropped the iconic sliver and black that had graced their threads since their inception. Beginning next year, they will be taking the ice in these unis:

Not a bad set right? I am on board with the changes, even if the logo looks a wee bit like the Incredibles/The Flash. The uniforms have a distinct Red Wings feel to them with the basic stripe pattern. However, the change is good and I like the baseball feel to the road unis by including Tampa Bay above the bolt. They also have an awesome shoulder patch for these bad boys. For more pictures and info check out Icethetics.

I give a thumbs up to the Lightning for a job well done on the redesign. I understand that the new ownership group wanted to put their own stamp on the franchise. Lightning fans should be glad they didn’t take this route.

I will yearn for them to put the bolt back on the pants as they have had for years, just as I hope the Rangers bring back the Lady Liberty third jerseys.

Breaking down the ASG from the top

January 30, 2011September 17, 2012Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The NHL All Star weekend concluded with a fairly-ish entertaining game that saw Team Lidstrom spoil all of the ~~racing~~ hockey fan’s weekend in Raleigh.