Tampa Bay Lightning: From Pretenders to Contenders

No doubt the Tampa Bay Lightning have been the busiest team in the NHL offseason. Starting with new co-owners, Barry and Coolis, the Tampa Bay organization has transformed its team, representing one of the largest overhaul in NHL history. Along with new coaching and a new general manager, the roster changes have been even greater:

Notable Signings:

F Ryan Malone (7-year, $31.5 million contract)
F Gary Roberts (1-year contract)
F Vaclav Prospal (multi-year contract)
F Radim Vrbata (3 years, $9 million)
F Adam Hall (3-year, $1.8 million)
G Olaf Kolzig (1-year, $1.5 million)
F Ryan Craig (2-years, $1.575 million)
D Janne Niskala (1-year, $600,000)
F Mark Recchi (1-year, $1.25 million)
F Brandon Bochenski (two-year contract)
D Andrew Hutchinson (2-year contract)
F Chris Gratton (1-year contract)

Trades:

Acquired Vaclav Prospal from the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2008 seventh-round pick and a 2009 conditional fourth-round pick
Acquired defenceman Matt Carle, defenceman Ty Wishart, a first round selection in the 2009 entry draft and a fourth round selection in the 2010 entry draft for defencemen Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich from the San Jose Sharks.

The Lightning, have also solidified signing their captain, Lecavalier. However, their signings and moves have not come without some negative remarks from Dan Boyle, who said he was threatened and mistreated before being dealt to San Jose.

Though there have been many changes, and though they seem pretty positive for the team, will the team gel in time for the season? The Lightning, will of course, be the team to watch in the 2008 and 2009 season. Winners of the Stanley Cup 4 years ago, and led by a new coach, Barry Melrose, and the first overall selection, Steve Stamkos, the Lightning look poised to rise to the top once again.

Will the $150 million the owners invested in their players, will the Lightning succeed? Though they may not win, they have a strong chance of finishing top 3 in the East. The Lightning, have turned their organization around, which brings speculation as to why the Toronto Maple Leafs have not done the same.

The Lightning, finishing last, were in the same position as the Leafs, but have clearly done a better job. Well, we'll see.

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Joe Nieuwendyk as Assistant GM

Leafs added Joe Nieuwendyk to the head office. The veteran, will become the 'special assistant to the general manager.'

Nieuy: Has experience? Yes. Is he respected? Yes. Will he become a success? We do not know. Is he another John Ferguson who does not know the league? We do not know. And will he even do anything in the office? Obviously some minor changes, but anything innovative and new?

While some fans are screaming for joy, this writer is a skeptic. Leaf fans are desperate for anything. They want change, and they believe a move in the front office will help change our fortunes. But will Nieuy, actually make great changes for this organization? My answer is... no. No offense to Joe, he is not a GM. He is a hockey player, and hockey players are not brewed to become GMs. They are brewed to help the organization on the ice, not off the ice.

Does adding Nieuwyndyk actually do anything for the leafs? How many times has Mats Sundin made phone calls to different players and has gotten rejected. But that is because the Leafs have a bad rep. Perhaps adding Nieuy will bolster the damaged rep of the Maple Leafs Organization.

Some others say that Nieuwyndyk can become the Leafs' future GM. No offense, that's really not going to happen for a long time. Maybe 4-5 years down the road, but even then, chances are slim.

Nieuy, is basically your classic 'poster boy' sent to help a poorly structured system. He will be the face, but will not actually conrtibute much in terms of new signings or moves.

In short, Nieuy will not have an enormous impact on the Leafs, but will rather help revitalize the image of the leafs. Of course, what I'm stating is completely my opinion. I would love to hear from you guys.

Kelvin

New Number 1 Seed?

Rafael Nadal's epic victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final allowed him to significantly narrow the gap at the top of the ATP rankings.

Before the tournament Federer's lead fell from 6,900 pts to 5,755. And during the tournament, it fell 545 points more.

Nadal, defeating Federer after an epic 5 game match, by a score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7, on the other hand, has been steadily rising in the point total in the ATP rankings.

Thus, the longest final in Wimbeldon history, partially thanks to a 48 minute rain delay, was finished in style, with two of the biggest heavyweights in tennis.

Nadal, who was defeated by Federer in last year's Wimbeldon, was extremely close to winning. Nadal, finally won a grad slam title not on the clay, and defeated the King of the grass, Federer.

The super Spaniard dominated Federer in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 triumph last month in the French Open final, and on Sunday survived an epic comeback to earn his fifth Grand Slam title and deny Federer his 13th. Nadal also became the first Spaniard to win on the famed lawns of the London slam since Manuel Santana in 1966.

This marked the 18th meeting between the two rivals. Nadal now holds a 12-6 advantage, including 4-0 this year. He is also 10-4 against Federer when the two meet for a title.

MLB Starting Lineups

AL

Catcher - Joe Mauer - Minnesota Twins
2008 Stats: .325 AVG - 4 HR - 54 R

First Base - Kevin Youkilis - Boston Red Sox
2008 Stats: .308 AVG - 13 HR - 53 RBI

Second Base - Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox
2008 Stats: .313 AVG - 9 HR - 39 RBI

Shortstop - Derek Jeter - New York Yankees
2008 Stats: .282 AVG - 4 HR - 48 R

Third Base - Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees
2008 Stats: .320 AVG - 17 HR - 49 RBI

Outfield - Ichiro - Seattle Mariners
2008 Stats: .304 AVG - 3 HR - 61 R

Outfield - Manny Ramirez - Boston Red Sox
2008 Stats: .279 AVG - 16 HR - 53 RBI

Outfield - Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers
2008 Stats: .307 AVG - 19 HR - 83 RBI

DH - David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox

2008 Stats: .252 AVG - 13 HR - 43 RBI

NL

Catcher - Geovany Soto - Chicago Cubs

2008 Stats: .291 AVG - 14 HR - 51 RBI

First Base -Lance Berkman - Houston Astros

2008 Stats: .350 AVG - 22 HR - 69 RBI

Second Base - Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies

2008 Stats: .296 AVG - 24 HR - 67 RBI

Shortstop - Hanley Ramirez - Florida Marlins

2008 Stats: .302 AVG - 21 HR - 43 RBI

Third Base - Chipper Jones - Atlanta Braves

2008 Stats: .385 AVG - 17 HR - 48 RBI

Outfield - Alfonso Soriano - Chicago Cubs

2008 Stats: .283 AVG - 15 HR - 40 RBI

Outfield - Kosuke Fukudome - Chicago Cubs

2008 Stats: .285 AVG - 7 HR - 57 R

Outfield - Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers

2008 Stats: .279 AVG - 20 HR - 58 RBI

DH - ?

History: AL has not lost since 1996

Rising Salary of Youngsters in the NHL

Brian Burke, once again was disgusted by Kevin Lowe's move to sign young players at high prices. Burke, believeing that Lowe has raised the standards and price levels for young players, states that Lowe has hurt other teams.

Last year, with the massive signing of Dustin Penner, Burke was infuriated. Ever since that day, Burke and Lowe have been jabbing and making fun of each other.

Burke, after signing Corey Perry to a 5 yr deal, worth 26.63 million, stated: "You go right now from entry-level to what used to be the third contract, thanks to two offer sheets from Kevin Lowe... Thanks to the Oilers, the second contract has dissapeared."

Inflating prices have always occured in eveyr league, not just hockey. But Lowe has greatly increased salaries by offering them an unusual amount of money. Should there be a cap for these young players? Should these players prove themselves before being given a large salary? Is Brian Burke just being a whiner (he does after all, possess a large amount of young players)?

Leafs Grab Grabovski

Toronto announced that they had traded for Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second round draft pick in 2010 from the Montreal Canadians.

The German center, who impressed the Maple Leafs will immediately join training camp and will most likely be a starter in the Leafs' regular roster.

The 24 yr old, scored 3 goals and had 6 assists in 24 games with Montreal last year.

Newest NHL Transfers

Red Wings - Hossa for $7.4 million 1 yr deal, Ty Conklin

Tampa Bay Lightning - Adam Hall,, Radim Vrbata, Kolzig, Ryan Craig, Janne Niskala

Washington Capitals - Jose Theodore

Minnesota Wild - Marek Zidlicky (acquired by trading Ryan Jones and 2009 2nd round), Andrew Brunette

Edmonton Oilers: Gilbert Brule (traded for Torres), Erik Cole (traded for Pitkanen), Lubomir Visnovsky

Florida Panthers - Corey Stillman

Ottawa Senators - Alex Auld

Chicago Blackhawks - Cristobal Huet, Brian Campbell (8 yr, 56.8 million)

Colorado Avalanche - Darcy Tucker, Andrew Raycroft

New Jersey Devils - Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik

Phoenix Coyotes - Kurt Sauer

L.A. Kings - Denis Gauthier

New York Rangers - Rosival (resigned), Wade Redden

New York Islanders - Mark Streit

Boston Bruins - Michael Ryder

Columbus Blue Jackets - Mike Commodore, Raffi Torres (for Giblert Brule)

Vancouver Canucks - Darcy Hordichuk, Wellwood, Sundin offer (2 yr, $20 million)

Dallas - Sean Avery (4 yr, 15.5 million)

Montreal Canadiens - A. Kostitsyn

Toronto Maple Leafs - Curtis Joseph ($700,000, 1 yr), Jeff Finger (4 yr, $3.5 million per year), Niklas Hagman (4 yr, $12 million dollar deal)

NFL Next Year

Because of the growing popularity of the NFL, maany are already very anxious for the NFL season to start. Here is a guess on what is going to happen with the NFL season.

AFC East:

Buffalo Bills (8-8)
Miami Dolphins (6-10)

New England Patriots (13-3)
New York Jets (3-13)

AFC North:
Baltimore Ravens (4-12)
Cincinatti Bengals (5-11)
Cleveland Browns (8-8)
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
AFC South:

Houston Texans (6-10)

Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6)

Tennessee Titans (9-7)

AFC West:
Denver Broncos (9-7)
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10)
Oakland Raiders (7-9)
San Diego Chargers (12-4)

NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys (12-4)

New York Giants (10-6)

Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

Washington Redskins (3-13)

NFC North:
Chicago Bears (3-13)
Detroit Lions (3-13)
Green Bay Packers (6-10)
Minnesota Vikings (10-6)

NFC South:
Atlanta Falcons (0-16)
Carolina Panthers (8-8)
New Orleans Saints (10-6)
Tampa Bay Bucaneers (8-8)

NFC West:
Arizona Cardinals (3-13)
St. Louis Rams (9-7)
San Francisco 49ers (11-5)
Seattle Seahawks (10-6)

The schedule of each of these teams was looked at and from the difficulty or the ease of the schedule, a prediction for each of these teams was created.

Division Winners:

AFC:

New England

Pittsburgh

Indianapolis

San Diego

Wild Cards:

Jacksonville

Denver

NFC:
Dallas
Minnesota
New Orleans
San Francisco
Wild Cards:
Seattle
Philadelphia

Playoff Outlook:

Wild Card Match Ups

Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis
Denver vs. Pittsburgh

Seattle Seahawks vs. New Orleans
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota

Divisional Match Ups

New England vs. Jacksonville
San Diego vs. Pittsburgh

Dallas vs. Minnesota
San Francisco vs. Seattle

Conference Match Ups

New England vs. San Diego

Dallas vs. Seattle

Super Bowl Match Up

San Diego vs. Dallas
CHAMPION = San Diego

Because you guys took the time to look the these predictions, we have prepared a small video for our viewers and contributors.

Raps Claim Calderon

Today, Calderon released a statement on his website indicating that he has a preliminary agreement in place to return to the Toronto Raptors.

Calderon, who led the league with a 5.38 assist to turnover ratio, averaging 11.2 pts per game, 8.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in just more than 30 minutes per game, was the playmaker for the Raptors last year. A team player, (Calderon did not complain that he split the time with T.J. Ford, who was clearly the weaker one of the two, and is a pass first, score second type of pointgaurd - a trait that is hard to find in today's NBA)/

In addition to Calderon, Colangelo has also reached an agreement with Roko Ukic (the 24-yr old Croatian will back up Calderon in the pointguard position) and are also currently negotiating with Hassan Adams (6"4, 3-man who played with in the Italian League).

Clearly Colangelo is not afraid of the 'European type players'. This team, which does not lack in offense, lacks in defense. Is Colangelo taking the right risks in bringing in these Europeans? The Raptors, who do well in the season, do not really do well in playoffs... Perhaps it's because they lack grit that the North American Players have?

The Raptors have signed O'neal, but can he alone turn around their defense? The Raptor perimeter defense, is terrible, constantly double teaming for no particular reason and letting team shoot easy jump shots.

Only time can tell if Colangelo is doing the right thing. Though he is different than other GM's - no GM has signed this many European players, Colangelo may be making a poor decision. But perhaps he is making a great decision - perhaps he is building a franchise that will dominate come 3/4 years down the road.

The Raps have promise, but will that promise come through?