Popular Posts
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What is Darrelle Revis Worth to the Jets?
Revis Island can be a lonely place for receivers. At the moment it’s also a lonely place for a Darrelle Revis. The man who was hands-down the best defensive player in the league last year is not practicing or spending time with his teammates, and it HAS to be a frustrating way to follow up [...]
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Ponikarovsky Signing Gives LA a Line of Corsi Kings
For those of us that believe outshooting the opponent is the most surefire way to victory in the NHL, the LA Kings signing of Alexei Ponikarovsky should set off fireworks.
In his book, Moneyball, Michael Lewis referred to Kevin Youkilis’ as “The Greek God of Walks”. For NHL GMs, Ponikarovsky could be Ukrainian for “Net-peppering Ninja”.
I [...]
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Sports Opinionated is 1 Year Old!!!
Exactly one year ago, I decided to start the Sports Opinionated blog over on Blogger.com. The goal was to give myself a creative outlet to express my many views on sports, whether misguided or fact-based.
My goal when I started was to write 2-3 posts per week on anything that I was passionate about and to [...]
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The NHL’s Most Intriguing Free Agents
Let’s put it this way. I don’t give a flying puck where LeBron is going on July 1st. I care about celebrating Canada Day and seeing where NHL free agents end up. As a fan, there are always players that are more fun to track than others, since they could have a big impact on [...]
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Published on Puck Prospectus: The Tomas Plekanec Contract
Here is the latest analysis I wrote for the great team at Puck Prospectus. Feel free to read it over there with this link or continue reading below.
The reason I wanted to explore the contract value was the initial reaction so many people had to the dollar figure. I personally felt it was WAY too much [...]
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by Ryan Popilchak
 With news that Cristobal Huet is headed to Switzerland to play for HC Fribourg-Gotteron, the Huet Haters are becoming more vocal than Don Cherry and Pierre McGuire combined.
While it’s easy to say that he didn’t live up to expectations in Chicago the past two seasons, the question remains as to how good Huet really is [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 an article I posted at Matchsticks & Gasoline this week
Last week I proposed a few trades the Flames could potentially make in order to get both under the cap and to add a prospect.
All trades aside, I am ridiculously curious to see what the line combinations will be for the Flames this year.
There are a [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 This article was posted originally on Matchsticks & Gasoline. I have signed on as an author at this fantastic Flames’ blog, so come on by and check it out.
I’m obsessed with the behavior of GMs and how they handle the salary cap. It’s amazing how many teams are run by men who can only see [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 For those of us that believe outshooting the opponent is the most surefire way to victory in the NHL, the LA Kings signing of Alexei Ponikarovsky should set off fireworks.
In his book, Moneyball, Michael Lewis referred to Kevin Youkilis’ as “The Greek God of Walks”. For NHL GMs, Ponikarovsky could be Ukrainian for “Net-peppering Ninja”.
I [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 A review of Kovalchuk’s contract that I wrote for Puck Prospectus on Wednesday. I was away for a few days so didn’t have time to share it here until now.
Front Office Focus – Is the NHL doing the Devils a Favor with the Kovalchuk contract?
All H-E-double-hockey-sticks has broken loose with the NHL rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk’s [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 Yesterday over at Behind the Net, Gabe made a post about Mikko Koivu’s contract extension with the Wild. In the comments, there was some great debate about how the contract compared to those signed by Tomas Plekanec and Nicklas Backstrom. Given that I’d written up reviews of both contracts here and here, I figured it [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 Here is the story as published on Puck Prospectus today.
Front Office Focus – The Flames Free Agent Moves
Free agency frequently brings a variety of deals that range from astute to downright absurd. This year’s free agency period was no different.
While there are a variety of teams that have appeared to alter their talent level significantly [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 We’re almost a week into Free Agency at this point and there is no way to declare who has won or lost, just like we should never declare the winner of the NHL draft two days after it’s happened.
That said, we can definitely evaluate the dollars spent at various positions and the deals that seem [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 Let’s put it this way. I don’t give a flying puck where LeBron is going on July 1st. I care about celebrating Canada Day and seeing where NHL free agents end up. As a fan, there are always players that are more fun to track than others, since they could have a big impact on [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
Here is the latest analysis I wrote for the great team at Puck Prospectus. Feel free to read it over there with this link or continue reading below.
The reason I wanted to explore the contract value was the initial reaction so many people had to the dollar figure. I personally felt it was WAY too much [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 I have to admit that I’m pretty excited today. The great people over at Puck Prospectus have agreed to publish one of my articles. A special thanks to Timo Seppa for all his ideas and help along with Andrew Rothstein for agreeing to publish it.
For those of you that have never been to PP’s site, [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 After watching the ‘Hawks appear to decimate the Flyers in Game 5, I couldn’t help but think that the last few games had seemed so different from the beginning of the series. The ‘Hawks just seemed more aggressive with the puck and appeared to control the play more. Now if I was a TV announcer, [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 I can’t lie to you, I was awesome in the conference finals. No, I didn’t actually play any games, but I picked those series bang on. Sure a monkey or a coin could do the same thing 25% of the time, but just let me gloat. Just a little more….a few more minutes….OK, I’m good, [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 While the playoffs are in full gear, a fairly interesting piece of news was announced in the NHL in the last week. Nicklas Backstrom signed a 10-year deal with the Washington Capitals that ensures they have their top pair of he and Alex Ovechkin intact for a very long time.
At first, $67 million over 10 [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 If you missed my predictions for the Eastern Conference Finals, go take a look.
The East Finals will be flooded with stories about which Cinderella has the more dainty glass slipper. Here’s a tip for you though, it doesn’t matter. The West has two powerhouse teams playing and whomever wins the West will win the Cup.
Just [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 We’ve just hit my favorite part of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the conference finals. We’re down to only four deserving teams and it’s now possible to watch every game left without ending up in a divorce.
The real question, as always, is who will win. Here is my Eastern Conference prediction, and I’ll try to post [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 Not since 1987 has a Shark gotten his revenge like this. But that was on the silver screen and this is on the frozen stage.
“Jumbo” Joe Thornton was shipped out of Boston for his failure to lead the Bruins to the promised land. And since his arrival in San Jose, he’s been a regular season [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 A breakdown of the series between Montreal and Washington, including shot differential, shot blocking, powerplay and goaltending. Jaroslav Halak and Alex Ovechkin figure [...]
by Ryan Popilchak
 For the last 8 years the LA Kings have missed out on the playoffs and have been treated like the younger, less successful Golden State brother by the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks.
At one time, the Kings were the talk of the town. Wayne Gretzky isn’t around to boost the team reputation any more, [...]
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