ESPN Loses, NHL Wins

Recently the NHL signed a new 10 year contract with NBC and Versus (who is actually going to be renamed NBC Sports) which will pay the league $200 million a year.  While the NHL negotiated with other broadcasters including ESPN, this they felt was their best offer and what was best for the sport.  I tend to agree.

Yes, ESPN is the "sports leader" in broadcasting but I don't think they are really the best option for the NHL.  They do have name recognition, and they are on nearly every TV everywhere, so the NHL does miss out a bit there.  They are also considered one of the top sports stations available and likely have more viewers than any other sports network.  So why do I think that the NHL did it right this time by NOT going with ESPN?

The Calder is for Rookies, Right?

The Calder Trophy is the award handed out each year "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League" ... but does it really get given to that player?  Sure, I suppose it can be argued that it does, however there is a pretty big problem with who is considered a rookie and who isn't.  I have gone into changes I believe should be made with other trophies but previously I haven't discussed this one.  However that changes here today.

The Avalanche Offseason

Even though the playoffs still rage on the Avalanche season has been over for a while now and thus it isn't too early to start considering what the team should do heading towards next season.  The draft I will touch on in its own blog, but here I will focus on the current members of the Avalanche and give my thoughts on whose contracts should be renewed and who should be allowed to go on their way.  I may even touch on some free agents that will be out there and comment on who I think the Avalanche should pursue.

You'll find that this writing will touch on everyone that ended this past season as an Av and will also have a few of the young guys coming up in the system as I will be listing them and commenting on each, and then I'll give additional thoughts after that.

Past Meet Present - Wait, the Treasure Map is Real?

After a week off because of a busy work schedule the "Karameikan Fist" adventuring company was back at it again last night.  A good deal happened last night and we saw our first in party disagreements, and by the end of the night they discovered that there may be more to Temeris's treasure map than they initially gave credit for.  Here is what happened...

Tron, Hereafter, 127 Hours

Yet another weekend has passed and we got the chance to watch a few more movies.  This week I got to check out the new Tron, then watched "Hereafter" which I knew little about going into it, and we also got to see why all the awards were talking about "127" Hours and James Franco (or as you'll come to read, we didn't get to see why in my opinion).  Without further ado, here are my brief thoughts on those movies.

Huskers in the Draft

It was a pretty decent draft for the Huskers this year.  With no real star power on offense, and a defense that has some good players but few true stars as well, having 7 players taken is a pretty good day. 

The first of the group, and highly rated cornerback, was Prince Amukamara.  Being a shutdown corner I was hoping he would go to Detroit who could use his skills.  Despite being a 49ers fan growing up I have rooted for the Detroit Lions for a while (despite the bad years or maybe because of them) and then when Suh went there last year Detroit actually got much more of my attention than the '9ers.  Having another Husker on the team would have been nice but Detroit instead got another defensive tackle who is supposed to make that defensive line one of the best in the league.  Instead though Prince fell to the Giants at 19th.  Unfortunately I will wish him the best but can't root for the Giants.

Avalanche recap - a Season of Disappointment

Life sure has been busy of late, leaving little time for writing of anything.  Then add to that the content of this post, a recap of the Colorado Avalanche season, and you get more hesitation in writing as the epic collapse during the second half of the season took a while to get over and fully sink in.  Going from in a playoff spot in January to winning only a handful of games and falling all the way to 29th in the league over the last couple of months, along with some trades that I wasn't a fan of, the injuries that were ever present in the season, and disappointments all around, and it isn't surprising that this writing has been started and stopped as well as delayed a few times.

I had considered doing a player by player recap and even breaking this into three posts, one focusing on the offense, one on the defense, and then a final one on the goalies and the front office, however in the end I'm just going to do the one post and while some players will be touched on it won't be a review of every player as I had initially thought to do.  Thus, without further ado, here is a recap of a season that was painful to watch near the end...