Poking My Heatley Voodoo Doll Again

With the Edmonton Oilers visiting Scotiabank Place tonight, it seems a fine time to tell a good ol’ fish story and lament the one that got away.

When legend Dany Heatley went sideways last spring, Sens GM Bryan Murray went fishing for offers. He hooked onto a good one in Edmonton, a deal quickly vetoed by Legend. The Sens would have received Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano and Ladislav Smid. Instead they got Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo.

In Penner and Cheechoo, Murray was taking on contract, hoping for a resurrection. Both weren’t living up their salaries. Penner makes $4.25M. Cheechoo $3.5M. Right now, with 21 points, Penner is playing at a $6M pace. With just 2 assists, Cheechoo is playing at a Binghamton pace. Just the Sens’ luck. The big fish jumps out of the boat and they land a minnow instead.

However, it’s not as bad as it seems. I think Penner will tail off. For fantasy geeks, it’s a classic sell high opportunity. Penner has averaged 0.56 points per game in 278 NHL games. Maybe he’s a late bloomer at 27 but the odds are against it, just as they are for Mike Fisher who, at 29, isn’t likely to stay at his 80 point pace.

Michalek’s play takes some of the sting away. He reminds one of Martin Havlat. Same number, same speed down the wing. Michalek is not as good at finishing or getting hurt.

Despite the 11 point lead Penner currently holds, I think Michalek will be right there with Penner this season. Cheechoo is, of course, a disappointment. But at least he leaves you with the impression he’s trying and cares. There’s no getting around it, though. Penner has been great, outscoring Michalek 2 to 1. I’d take Cogliano over Cheechoo in a heartbeat and Smid, even with the swine flu, would have a shot to make the Sens top 4 on the blueline right now.

But not making that deal is not on Murray. He wanted it. Legend didn’t.

No, if you’re going to go after Murray for anything this season it will more likely be for the signing of Alexei Kovalev. Just 14 games in, it’s too early for full on rage. But Kovalev isn’t producing and, based on his demeanor on the ice, he seems fine with it. He’s tied with Chris Kelly and Jarkko Ruutu with 6 points. Kovalev gets more money and ice time than those two put together.

Murray is talking today about acquiring another scoring forward. That’s clear concern for where Kovalev is right now. Would he be talking this way if he thought Kovalev was set to erupt with his awesome-one-night, invisible-the-next routine? Probably not.

Right now, Murray is like many of the fans, probably starting to get a Peter Bondra vibe off this guy. It was exciting to get a player like Bondra in the spring of ’04 but it only took about 14 games to start wondering if the end might be near.

If Heatley weren’t such an ass, the Sens could have made the Oiler deal. It was agreed upon by the two sides the day before the 2009 free agent market opened. The Oilers spent days trying to woo Heatley before the deal was finally nixed. On July 6th the Sens got what they could and signed Kovalev.

While that was going on, 49 players signed elsewhere on July 1st, including several who were way ahead of Kovy on the free agency depth chart. Marion Hossa, Martin Havlat, Marion Gaborik, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta.

How’s that team look? Would you make this deal? Kovalev, Cheechoo and Michalek for Gaborik, Penner, Cogliano, Smid and the 4 million Melnyk bucks Heater pocketed on Canada Day? All day long, my friend. All day long.

Another reason to resent Heater.

Helping the Umpires Not Suck

Another Major League Baseball season is in the books. The free spending Yankees won it all, an ending as cliché as “the butler did it.” But what truly defined the 2009 Major League Baseball post season was not the outcome, but rather the number of really bad calls throughout the playoffs.

So here’s another loud vote for expansion of instant replay in baseball.

Flashback to Game Two of the ALDS between the Yankees and Twins: Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer hit what should have been a double, given that it dropped at least a foot inside the foul line. However, the umpire called it foul and the Twins were robbed of a hit that could have led to a momentum-changing victory.

Phil Cuzzi, the umpire who made the grotesquely bad call, apologized after the game. Last time I checked, there is no spot in the box score for umpire apologies. The Twins lost the game and the series. The Yankees' subsequent victory over the Angels was marred by at least three bad calls, all ruthlessly exposed on television through instant replay.

The fans and media can judge every controversial play (except home runs) through slow motion HD instant replay, but the umpires, the only judges who matter, cannot. The result? The umpires look incompetent.

Over the 162 game regular season, bad calls tend to even out. Over a best of seven series, they're magnified and deeply effect the final outcome. So extra steps have to be taken to get the call right, particularly in the playoffs.

Here’s an easy solution. Give each manager two “challenges” per game, to be used at his discretion. They can be used for anything at anytime, except for ball or strike calls. Like football, there must be irrefutable evidence to overturn a call. The umpires can go to instant replay if needed. I would think the umpires would support this idea wholeheartedly for the very reason that it saves them from potential embarrassment.

Of course, baseball traditionalists will argue that the games are too long as it is. This is correct. If you’re still of fan of such a slow moving sport in this ADD world, you surely have the attention span to hang on for 2 minutes while they check a crucial replay.

Besides I’d argue it will actually save time. We’d never again have to endure the fake outrage between manager and umpire which eats up a lot more time than an instant replay. Rather than storm onto the field, the manager would simply present his challenge to the umpire prior to the next pitch.

I haven’t decided what form the challenge should be in. Perhaps spitting into the Challenge Spitoon? This part of my plan still needs some fine tuning.

Baseball hasn’t exactly adapted quickly to change (insert Jackie Robinson reference here). But this change is an easy one to make because it carries with it the most crucial consideration: GETTING THE CALL RIGHT.

(with files from Savidant media)