(Andrew Bogusch will contribute a regular column every week to FTS. Any comments can be sent to FromTheSlot@gmail.com)
Melania Knauss OK’ing a marriage to Donald Trump. Emmitt Smith, Warren Sapp, Jerry Rice, et. al. agreeing to appear on Dancing with the Stars. The fact people care what the girls from The Hills think about anything. And the Sophomore Slump. All of these things are truly inexplicable.
Maybe Miss Knauss enjoys large bank accounts. Maybe the ex-NFLers missed the thrill of competition so much they put on leotards and pranced around on ABC. Maybe LC, Heidi and Audrina will one day solve our country’s greatest problems. But how do we explain young men grinding to a halt in Year 2 after a stellar Year 1?
Case in point this NHL season, Blackhawks center Jonathon Toews and Oilers winger Sam Gagner. Not only did Toews score 24 times in 64 games as a rookie, he was a +11 and displayed enough leadership skills to be given the C for this season. Gagner teamed with Andrew Cogliano and Robert Nilsson to nearly drive the injury-depleted Oilers into the playoffs late last season. All told, Toews and Gagner combined for 103 points in 2007-08. Through their first 21 combined games of ’08-‘09, they had zero goals and 8 assists between them. “It’s a long season,” Gagner said recently. “Guys go through slumps at different points in the season. Mine just happens to be now.”
Maybe Gagner is right, maybe this is just a season-opening slump. But maybe this is the weight of expectations, of being the 20-year-old leader of a much-hyped team in Toews’ case. Whatever it is, these two young men need to come up with a remedy fairly soon. Grow a beard, shave a beard. Change your tape color. Alter the order you get dressed. Locker room sacrifice a la Major League. Even go the Jason Giambi route and breakout a thong. Whatever it takes to find the back of the net because the Oilers and Blackhawks need these two to contribute on a nightly basis.
Gagner and Toews are no longer pesky teenagers. Teams are prepared for them each night, knowing their tendencies and weaknesses. The next adjustment is up to them. It’s now about finding a new way to find open space, a new way to get the puck into the net. It’s now about playing like rookies again.
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The shootout...The Ranger fan in me wants to giggle about Martin Brodeur’s elbow injury (surgery Thursday, he’s out upto 4 months), but as a hockey fan I have to be disappointed. While I won’t call Brodeur the best of all-time, he is must-see TV. He’ll be missed, just not that much…
The Anaheim Ducks are the latest team to express interest in free agent Mats Sundin. GM Brian Burke was to meet with Sundin by Wednesday. Adding the former Leaf would require more salary dumping by the up-against-the-cap Ducks. He would certainly help create secondary scoring, but at what cost? The Ducks have roughly $400,000 in cap space; the Canucks apparently have a 2-year, $20-million-dollar standing offer to Sundin. Burke is one of the game’s best managers, but he couldn’t open up enough room for Sundin without sacrificing the rest of his roster. He already had to compromise his blueline (Mathieu Schneider to ATL) to re-sign Teemu Selanne. Had Burke not wasted money on Todd Bertuzzi, who will take up cap space through next year, and Brendan Morrison, this would be slightly easier…
Rick DiPietro’s 15-year contract on Long Island is officially one of the worst contracts in sports history. The numbers have not been terrible (58 total wins and back-to-back sub-3.00 GAAs in the 2 full seasons signing on the dotted line), but it is DiPietro’s recent health issues that are the major red flag. Offseason hip surgery was followed recently by a knee operation. DiPietro is currently out 4-6 weeks -- he may come back from this latest issue and be superb the rest of the season. But is anyone overly confident in that? Hip and knee problems just don’t sound good when attached to a goalie. At least San Francisco Giants lefty Barry Zito is healthy...
We’ll write here often about uniforms, especially as teams continue to unveil alternate jerseys. This should be good news, and it is when it comes to the Hurricanes and Blues, but it’s not in Atlanta. The Thrashers mostly maroon concoction is atrocious. The fact that (presumably) multiple people, from marketing up to management, OK’d this jersey is mind-boggling. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check it out shop.nhl.com.
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