The Weekend that Was

Not a bad weekend to be a sports fan. I eagerly awaited the dropping of the puck on Saturday afternoon. That in conjunction with the NFL Play - off's on Sunday, throw in some Dominion All - Star Curling and I found myself spending way too much time in front of the television.

Regardless, the excitement of the weekend has carried into the week and some big news, or potential news also arising that will be discussed later.

The NHL dropped the puck Saturday afternoon on 13 fronts. The hockey was what I expected it to be, not as sharp as it normally would be on opening night given the fact that camp was condensed into five days but you know, it was hockey, it was back and I couldn't have been happier. Just a few highlights that have stood out for me in the first three days of the NHL's return:
* The Corey Schneider experiment in Vancouver didn't start as smoothly as I bet many on the left coast would have hoped. Schneider was terrible against Anaheim and was pulled after giving up five goals on fourteen shots. To make the situation more tumultuous or interesting if you will, he sat on the bench to watch the Canucks drop a 3 - 2 SO decision to the Oilers the next night. (More on that to come...)
* The St. Louis Blues look really good. Led by Vladimir Tarasenko, whose three points last night give him five on the young season, the Blues steamrailed the Red Wings on Saturday and improved to 2 - 0 last night. I know the season is VERY young but the Blues may very well be that under the radar team to be afraid of moving forward.
* I loved watching the Calgary Flames stumble out of the gates to an 0 - 2 start. Mikka Kipprusoff has not been good and with the exception of two periods, the 1st on Sunday and the 2nd last night the Flames have been outclassed and look to be in for a potentially long season.
* I am no Leafs fan, never have been but watching Colton Orr jump into a duel with big John Scott last night and then watching him drop the big man to his knees was really impressive in my books.
* Jordan Eberle's opening tally for the Oilers on Sunday night was beautiful. Even though they won in a shootout, to me personally the Oilers looked like much better than Vancouver that night. True the Canucks were in the 2nd half of back to back nights but the Oil showed a lot of why there is so much promise and potential in Edmonton this year.

The big news out of the NHL today is word from Canuck GM Mike Gillis that Roberto Luongo trade talks have picked up and a trade is potentially in place. All that needs to happen according to TSN is the second team (that which would be acquiring Luongo) needs to make some sort of decision as it relates to another player. Speculation is speculation but with the changes to the buy - out procedures, it is safe to assume the Flyers may look to buy out Ilya Bryzgalov and then make a deal for Bobby Lou? They need a tender and also have some young talent in the likes of Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier that the Canucks would arguably covet given the injuries to David Booth and Ryan Kesler. At the same time, is it Toronto as many have speculated? The Leafs have seemend hesitant to give up what the Canucks have asked for but they still require goaltending; neithe Reimer not Scrivens will take Toronto where they want to go. Other possibilites are sure to arise and I would not count out Tampa Bay (Lecavalier) and Florida (Weiss) as potential landing spots. He wants to be close to his off season home in Miami and I would like to think that the Canucks are looking at the Eastern Conference as they would hate to run into Luongo in the post season and have him outshine Schneider. Time will tell but I would expect something to get done sooner rather than later as the longer this drags out the harder it will be on both Luongo, Schneider and the Canucks organzation.

The Superbowl is set. It will see a battle of brothers (which is already annoying) as Jim's 49ers take on John's Ravens in what many have dubbed the SuperBaugh or Harbowl. Say what you will, like it or not, lots of talk will surround the match up of brothers leading to kick off on February 3rd.

The Falcons/49ers game was a gem. Many had the Falcons going onto New Orleans when they jumped out to a 17 - 0 lead. However, they also blew a lead against the Seahawks the week before, and once again could not hang on to a large lead. The demise of the Falcons falls on the shoulders of the defence and not the offence as 24 points in the NFL should win you most games. The officials to me blew two calls late in the game; Harry Douglas did NOT catch the ball and Navarro Bowman should have been called for pass interference on Roddy White on 4th and 4 inside the 10. Regardless, the catch stood, no flag was thrown and the 49ers will look to equal the Steelers 6th Superbowl victory which is the most by any franchise in the history of the NFL.

I never realized how cocky, arrogant and down right pathetic the Patriots were until the conclusion of their 28 - 13 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Bill Belichick refusing to speak to the media at the conclusion of the game is pathetic, demonstates awful sportsmanship and should come with a hefty fine from the NFL. For as long as I have watched sports, the defeated coach has ALWAYS at least given the media a couple of minutes to drop the traditional cliches of how proud they are of their team but that they just came up short on that given day. I mean if Ken Miller had the guts to address the media after the Riders 13th man debacle in 2009, surely Bill Belichick could take two minutes from his life. Oh and by the way Bill, put some sleeves on; you look like a bum.

More controversy emanates from the AFC Championship game as Tom Brady's slide late in the 2nd half that saw him spike Ed Reed was intentional in my books. If a defender can't touch a QB as they are sliding, surely the QB should not be allowed to pull a stunt like that.

And if that wasn't enough, did you hear Ravens DE Terrell Suggs go OFF about the arrogance of the Patriots from Belichick down. He had some very choice words for the Patriots organization prior to wishing them well at the Pro Bowl. He went one step further stating that since Spygate was uncovered the Patriots have won nothing. While you could make the argument they have reached two Superbowls, he does make a point. I can't say I disagree with the words Suggs spoke. I might not care for the language and brashness with which they were spoke but he was not in left field with his comments.

One more note on the NFL before we move on to the Rider news of the past few days. Seattle QB Russell Wilson (through his agent, and later rescinded) has said he would like to be paid more after his performance this year. The Hawks QB is scheduled to make $600,000 for the first three years of his contract; a contract that can not be renegotiated until the three year rookie contract concludes. Sitting with buddies yesterday watching PTI, a great point came up about players wanting to renegotiate after a strong season. How would the players like it if the owners or GM's came out after he had a poor season and say we would like to pay you less? If nothing else the allure of more money should be the incentive to continue to train hard and avoid becoming lethargic as your contract expires. You are only as good as your last game in my mind and Russell Wilson will get his money, he will just have to wait two more years.

And the Riders have made some headlines the last two days with a high profile hiring along with the release of a well - known player. George Cortez was not out of work long. The coach, recently fired by the Hamilton Tiger Cats has resurfaced in Regina where he takes on OC duties from Bob Dyce who will still remain in the organization in a capacity that is yet to be announced. Hamilton had a tremendous offense last season, and in this bloggers mind had no more star power or talent than we have at the current time. If Cortez can bring those ideas here and get the guys to buy in, we might very well have a very dangerous offense. Durant, Sheets, Sanders, Dressler, Smith and the list goes on could become the most feared opposition in the CFL.

That news was followed by today's release of S James Patrick, a five year Rider vet who two years ago led the league in interceptions. Many on twitter were lamenting the loss of Patrick as being a mistake. However as I tweeted last night, those people obviously didn't watch him play last year or understand some of what is required to play football at a high level. James Patrick was the worst tackling defender in the league last year. He can not tackle in the open field. Sure he was a ball hawk at times but the Riders lose nothing in that department with Craig Butler who also happens to be a better tackler. At the same time the ability to run Butler out there at safety opens up another spot for an import at another defensive position. Specultaion here; purely speculation but that could spell the end for Shomari Williams at LB for the Riders.

That's it' that's all...time to go home and prep for the Oilers home opener vs. the Sharks tonight.