Classless

That's the cleanest word I can come up with right now for how I feel about the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo was well on it's way to victory last night against Philadelphia when I witnessed something that should have been contemptible at the least and downright inexcusable at the most.

With all of five seconds left in the third period and trailing 6-3, the Flyers were whistled for a penalty. The faceoff was in the Flyers' defensive zone, to the left of goalie Antero Niittymaki. Remember, Buffalo was winning 6-3 with five seconds left in the game. There was absolutely zero chance for the Flyers to win this game. All that was left was for the linesman to drop the puck and for the timekeeper to run off five seconds.

So, what does Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff do? He sends out his number one powerplay unit to take the draw -- with five seconds left!! The worst part is that the players actually went for it. Sabres center Daniel Briere, who, in the interest of full disclosure, is on my fantasy team, won the draw back to the point and the defenseman actually took a shot that was, thankfully, blocked.

What was the point to this? For the players, it's a chance to pad the stats. For Ruff, a chance to run up the score on a team that he's had a few run-ins with over the years. (One incident that comes to mind is when Ruff was pelted in the face with a beer after the Sabres eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs a few years back. Talk about wasting a beer.)

This whole incident displays to me the complete lack of respect and classlessness -- if that's even a word -- that the Sabres embody. Once upon a time I felt bad about the no-goal Stanley Cup loss they suffered. I could even get onboard with them in the whole small market, underdog thing they had going for awhile. Not anymore.

Combine the worst uniform/logo in all of hockey with the utter disrespect they show to their opponents and you come up with a team that deserves nothing but disdain from every self-respecting hockey fan.

POST-SCRIPT: You know what the worst part of this is? This incident didn't receive one mention in either Tim Panaccio's or Ed Moran's recount of the game. For all the talk lately of how the Flyers have started to stand up for one another, where was it last night at the end of the game? They just rolled over and took it from the Sabres. So long as that keeps happening, they have no chance of improving.

Something is better than nothing, but . . .

I thought I wouldn't get around to blogging about the deal, but wound up pulling my thoughts together pretty quickly. All in all, a shrug of the shoulders is about all I can manage in response to the deal.

On one hand, it would have been nice to have seen Forsberg stick around, since, with the right moves made in the offseason, the team -- contrary to popular opinion -- most likely won't be as bad next year as they are this year.

On the other hand, since he would not sign an extension I'm glad they got anything for him at all.

Now, that being said, I am a little bothered over what they did get.

Scottie Upshall is a high-energy, character-type guy who has yet to find his way in the NHL after putting up good numbers in junior and the AHL. This season, he has missed around three months with a groin injury. This is not a good sign for a player who is (a) only 23 years old and (b) relies on his skating ability for a good portion of his game. This has all the makings of a career-long, nagging injury.

Ryan Parent is allegedly the centerpiece of the deal, as he projects to be a top-flight, stay-at-home, shutdown defenseman. Another big character guy, Parent is already troubled with a bad back at the tender age of 19. Another situation that sounds like it will be a career-long injury.

Also included in the deal is a first-round pick -- which will likely be somewhere between 28th and 30th overall -- and a conditional third-round pick which will go to the Flyers if Forsberg re-signs with Nashville.

So, the sum total of the Forsberg trade will be two young players who have some upside but already have injury troubles and a first-round pick in a draft that most experts consider to be one of the weakest in years.

While it's better than nothing, it won't go down as the greatest deal in Flyers' history. Now, if only they could get rid of Hatcher . . .

LINK: More on Parent and Upshall.

Forsberg deal done?

610 WIP is reporting that Peter Forsberg was on the ice for the pre-game skate but has been pulled from the lineup and will be a healthy scratch.

UPDATE: Comcast Sportsnet is reporting that Flyers GM Paul Holmgren will hold a press conference during the second intermission. TSN is reporting that Forsberg has been traded to Nashville. Details to come.

UPDATE 2: Tim Panaccio is also reporting the trade now, which seems to be Forsberg to Nashville for forward Scott Upshall, prospect Ryan Parent, a first round pick and a third round pick.

The Usual Suspects

It's that time of the year again as the Phillies have officially opened their training camp with pitchers and catchers reporting today. The easy theme to go with today would be to discuss the irony of Old Man Winter dumping an awful winter storm upon us that caused nasty car accidents and power outages -- I'm talking to you, PSE&G -- while at the same time in Florida spring has sprung in the form of grown men playing baseball. As I said, that would be the easy route but I won't take it since writing about baseball isn't my bag. Instead, I'll point you around the phlogosphere to five of the best bloggers -- let alone phloggers -- around for spring training coverage far better than I could provide.

• Balls, Sticks & Stuff


• BeerLeaguer


• Philling Station


• Shallow Center


• Swing and a Miss

The hardest working man in hockey

Well, maybe in hockey blogging. Eric McErlain, who runs Off Wing Opinion and Winging It along with co-hosting a weekly podcast on the Washington Capitals called Caps Corner, has yet another gig on these here internets:

Welcome to the NHL on NBC blog, a new feature that my friends at NBCSports.com have agreed to let me experiment with for the remainder of the season. Throughout the week, we'll be talking about the teams that will be featured on NBC's regional NHL coverage for that coming weekend. The goal is simple: To capture what hockey fans are talking about across the country and get them all talking to one another in the run-up to that weekend's big game. With that in mind, we'll be reviewing all the best blogs, podcasts, message boards and other online content and sharing it with you.

Flyers, Kapanen agree to extension

The Flyers announced yesterday that they signed forward Sami Kapanen to a two-year contract extension.

Yesterday, the Flyers announced that they have signed the 33-year-old Finn to a 2-year, $2.5 million contract extension through the 2008-09 season.

"We are excited about having Sami around for a few more years," [GM Paul] Holmgren said. "We feel that he brings a lot of qualities to our hockey team in terms of what he does both on and off the ice. He is a quality person and he's a good utility player who can play anywhere in our lineup."

Kapanen's contract is for $1.25 million per year. His current salary is $1.52 million.

I like this signing a lot. $1.25 million for a cap number is completely manageable and two years isn't that long to have to deal with. Kapanen can literally play anywhere on the ice, and has been used on every line this season by coach John Stevens. He can kill penalties and play on the power play. For once, this is something that I agree with Holmgren on.

NHL going overseas

ESPN.com is reporting that the NHL may open the 2007-08 season with a pair of games in Europe:

According to multiple sources, the Los Angeles Kings will open next season with a pair of games at The O2 in London. The O2 is a state-of-the-art arena scheduled to open with a series of Justin Timberlake concerts in early July. It is operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which also owns the Kings.

Bettman talks, Forsberg walks?

Sportsnet is reporting that commissioner Gary Bettman "[w]hen grilled on the unbalanced schedule and lack of geographic rivalries, Bettman candidly revealed the prospects of realignment are 'good.'"

TSN's Darren Dreger is reporting that Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has begun contacting teams he thinks Peter Forsberg might be interested in playing for if Forsberg decides he would like to move on. The catch?

However, an added twist is word that Forsberg has been asked to meet with Flyers chairman Ed Snider.

Penguins to go public?

Throwing another wrench into the works of the Penguins and their immediate future, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that a candidate for Pittsburgh controller thinks the city should have the right to purchase the team.

The public should have the right to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins, former Allegheny County Commissioner Mike Dawida argued yesterday, in a letter to the state's U.S. senators and three congressmen.

Mr. Dawida, a lawyer and candidate for Pittsburgh controller in the May 15 Democratic primary, said the public's investments in Mellon Arena give it legal standing to challenge any attempt by the team to move. Public officials or fans could go to federal court to seek the right to turn the team into a public asset.

This is certainly an interesting take on the situation, though it's easy to conclude that Mr. Dawida is merely trying to make waves for his political campaign.

Bettman here to stay

As reported last week by ESPN.com's Terry Blount, "people involved with the NHL" approached Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage "about joining the league and eventually replacing commissioner Gary Bettman . . . Bettman's contract expires after the 2007-08 season."

Canadian Press files an article today clearing up some misconceptions about Gary Bettman and his contract status.

"I've watched with fascination some of the newspaper reports having me going on sabbatical shortly," Bettman said prior to the Vancouver Canucks playing the Chicago Blackhawks. "That isn't the case, wasn't the case.

"I think people were somehow under the impression my contract had a year to run and got fixated on that. Those stories were, to say the least, inaccurate."

TSN's Bob McKenzie also checks in on the scrum and sets the facts straight on Bettman's contract status.

Bettman's contract does not expire at the end of next season. Or the one after that.

In fact, an NHL owner tells TSN that Bettman has another five full years left on his deal after this season.

The owners are apparently happy enough with his work that last fall they extended his deal to one year beyond the expiry of the current cba. that will take him through to the summer of 2012.

So it doesn't look as though Bettman will be leaving office any time soon.

This is essentially the same thing I said last week. Off Wing, meanwhile, posts about something buried deeper in the CP article -- a possible change in the points system for next season.

Operation Slap Shot: One year later

The Associated Press takes a look at the status of the gambling case against former NHLer Rick Tocchet. It was one year ago today that the charges against Tocchet, New Jersey State Trooper James Harney and a third man, James Ulmer, were announced. Harney and Ulmer have both plead guilty and are cooperating with authorities in the case against Tocchet.

And though it's been a year since he was arrested, charges have yet to be filed against Tocchet in the case.

"Waiting a year suggests the evidence may not be as strong as they'd like," said George C. Thomas, a professor at the Rutgers University School of Law in Newark.

But Mike Pinsky, a prominent New Jersey defense lawyer, said it's not unusual for the state attorney general's office to take more than a year to comb through evidence between filing charges and seeking an indictment.

"With wiretap cases, I don't consider a year a long time for a state grand jury," Pinsky said. "After year and a half or two years, I'd wonder what's going on."

Dynamo girls

I opened my e-mail tonight and found this picture waiting for me:















These are two of my nieces from northern Virginia. All I can say is that I'm one lucky uncle.

MLS on the way to Philly?

Officials in Salt Lake City killed a deal last week that would have paved the way for a new stadium for Real Salt Lake. Real will play the 2007 season in Salt Lake City, but has no home for 2008 and beyond. Could this lead to MLS finally bringing a team to Philadelphia? Here's hoping so.

Check out Sons of Ben -- Philadelphia's first MLS supporter group -- for more info on the MLS-Philadelphia connection.

Crazy like a . . . well, like a nut

I've been pretty busy at work lately, so I haven't had much time to surf around. However, I did come across this gem from DC SportsChick about a woman claiming to be Michael Jordan's mistress and who has decided to start her own blog about their "relationship." DCSC deconstructs a post from the woman which is funny enough, but the best part is the comments section. The woman actually posts comments in response to DCSC. It's both hilarious and extremely scary.

Time to get my geek on

I recently watched "Star Trek: First Contact" for the umpteenth time. In so doing, I once again noticed something that bothered me almost to the point of distraction.

First, a little summary. The enemy in this movie is The Borg, a race of cybernetic beings (of all species) that have no individuality and function as a collective unit. Their mission is to conquer Earth and assimilate mankind into their collective. The Federation gather (almost) every available starship to stop them, but are unable.

Violating direct orders to stay out of the battle, Capt. Picard -- himself once assimilated into the Borg collective -- leads the Enterprise into the battle where he takes command of the fleet and destroys the Borg ship.

Before the ship is destroyed, however, the Borg launch an escape pod on a direct course for Earth. This pod is equipped with some sort of time travel device and allows the Borg to travel back to April 4, 2063, the day before humanity makes first contact with an alien species. Their intent is to stop this first contact and assimilate Earth in the past in order to control the future. The Enterprise follows the Borg ship back in time in order to stop the Borg and preserve First Contact.

So, as the movie goes, the Borg gain control of part of the Enterprise itself. One of the areas they control is the "deflector dish," which can be modified into a sort of satellite to communicate with the Borg that are on the other side of the galaxy in 2063.

In order to stop them, Capt. Picard, Lt. Worf, and Lt. Hawk attack the Borg modifying the deflector dish -- on the outside of the ship. To do this, the three don spacesuits and magnetic boots in order to walk on the hull.

Here is where the problem comes in. They are also carrying weapons with them -- phaser rifles, to be exact. At one point, all three men lay their rifles down on the hull. Can someone please explain to me how physics goes out the window here? The rifles do not float away as they should in a zero-gravity environment. They remain lying on the hull, where they are picked up by each man at one point or another.

Look, I can suspend disbelief enough to enjoy a good time travel movie. But when something simple like gravity is completely forgotten . . . well, let's just say I cannot make it so.

Bettman's 14 years and counting

Yahoo's Dan Wetzel gets his dander up on the upcoming anniversary of Gary Bettman's installation as commissioner of the NHL.

This is Bettman's NHL. Fourteen years, four bankruptcies, three franchise moves, two lockouts, one lost season and no effective leadership.

This is one of the milder quotes from Wetzel, as he picks apart Bettman's NHL.

It's hard to disagree with his point on the whole, but some of the arguments Wetzel makes are just nonsense.

Teams play eight games per season against division foes, or 32 a year against just four teams.

Bettman claimed it would spawn "new" rivalries. Of course, old rivalries such as Detroit-Toronto – two hockey-mad towns separated by a single highway that actually has an exit for Wayne Gretzky Blvd. – no longer play a home-and-home series each season. It's like killing Red Sox-Yankees so Blue Jays-Diamondbacks might catch on.

First, because they play in opposite conferences, Detroit and Toronto would play only two games against each other under the old, balanced schedule. The Red Sox and Yankees -- playing in the same division within MLB's unbalanced schedule -- face each other 19 times each season. Not quite the same, is it?

Second, the reason Detroit and Toronto had a rivalry is because they've been playing each other for almost 80 years. And while I agree that eight regular season games does not a rivalry make, I don't think this is a downfall on the NHL. Familiarity breeds contempt, after all.

Still, true rivalries are only born in one place -- the playoffs. If you meet the same team in the playoffs over and over again, a natural hatred ensues simply because the playoffs are it -- lose and you're done.

When the same team ends your season year after year, well, just ask Dallas and Edmonton what they think of each other. These two teams have absolutely nothing in common, except for the fact that they met in the playoffs every year from 1997 until 2001 and again in 2003 -- and there's certainly no love lost between them.

Love him or hate him, and there's probably many more of the latter, Bettman is here for a while. Fans either need to get on board with him or get out of the way.

Nothing doing for Flyers, Forsberg

After meeting earlier today, the Flyers and Peter Forsberg have decided to not make a decision on his future.

"We said that we have to figure out the foot before we talk about anything else," Forsberg told reporters after the meeting. "And that's what we're going to focus on."

Until the 33-year-old Swede feels any better, it's useless to talk about a possible trade.

"Everybody is looking at the trading deadline and talking about that but it's just so far out of the question right now," Forsberg said.

The ball was clearly out . . .

The Associated Press files a report today on the use of instant replay in professional tennis. Some players like it -- Andy Roddick and James Blake, notably -- and some don't -- count Roger Federer in this camp.

Here's Roddick on the system: "I think it's great what they've done with the challenge system," Roddick said. "I think it takes a lot of the question out of it."

Blake: "It humbles the players sometimes. It humbles the officials sometimes. And I think it's great because we're probably both too arrogant at times. The players always think they're right and the umpires always think they're right, and it shows that neither of us are always right."

And here's Federer, arguably the greatest to ever play the game, on challenges: "I think it's nonsense," he said. "Now they can hide even more behind these calls. We would like to be able to rely a little bit on umpires. They tend to now just let us do the work, the tough stuff. They let us get embarrassed, basically."

Personally, I'm all for the instant replay system -- which gives players two challenges per set -- with one caveat. I don't think it should be used in a tournament unless it is available on every court. Otherwise, matches are being played under different conditions, which, I think, erodes the credibility of the tournament.

Still, I think Blake sums it up best: "As long as the fans like it," Blake said, "I say we keep it."

NHLPA civil war looming?

Damien Cox posts today about the ongoing feud within the NHL Players' Association. The player representatives for each team recently approved an investigation into the hiring of Ted Saskin, the Association's executive director.

This has been a very strange situation from the beginning, with the charge against Saskin being led by former NHLer Trent Klatt and current Detroit Red Wing -- and Dynamo 26 Enemy #1 -- Chris Chelios. It's hard to say where this will lead. Regardless of what may happen to Saskin, for the good of the game here's hoping that the resolution of this does not see the reinstatement of Bob Goodenow.

"Are you saying you want a piece of me?"

Tim Panaccio reports in this morning's Inquirer that Todd Fedoruk took a shot at teammate Joni Pitkanen in practice yesterday. Panaccio noted that things "have become tense on a club that went into the all-star break with an eight-game losing streak."

I saw footage of the incident on Comcast last night. A large group of players were milling around by the boards, while Fedoruk and Pitkanen were jawing back and forth. After a few seconds Fedoruk threw a right to Pitkanen's face, which prompted several teammates to step in the way. The biggest surprise? Pitkanen didn't even attempt to get back at Fedoruk. He took the punch and stood there, waiting to get hit again.

Interviewed after practice, Fedoruk said, "[S]omewhere along the way, this team has lost its identity of Flyers hockey and what it means to be a Flyer . . . We need to create an identity."

I, for one, would like that identity not to include standing around waiting to get punched in the face.