All Sport Report

This is a new feature I hope to write every day. Each evening, late at night, I plan to run through the top stories in the Sports World. In the Run Down, you’ll get a crash course through the hottest stories, latest scandals, and most exciting news on all of your favorite sports. If you want to know what is going on in Sports, then the Run Down will offer all of the information you need to keep you wanting more!

In this week’s Run Down:

Baseball

Bonds Bombs in Entire Dodgers Series, Losing Streak Continues Onward– Barry Bonds, just five home runs away from beating the home run record of Henry “Hank” Aaron (a true ball player who didn’t have to use steroids to hit 756 home runs – but don’t get me started on how unfair I think this is), is in a slump. Fellow Giants short-stop, Omar Vizquel, said the slugger just hasn’t been the same since he had an All Star Game party, playing host until the wee hours of the morning, a week and a half ago.

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At thirty seven years of age, Joe Sakic had his best year of producton in terms of offense since the 2000-2001 season. With 100 points by way of 36 goals and 64 assists he led the Avalanche in both categories, so why would he bother retiring?

Joe Sakic could have, very easily, taken a tour of many NHL cities this coming off season, and almost named his price on the free-agent market, after all a good captain is hard to come by and there isn’t a better captain in the League than Joe Sakic. So why did Sakic sign a one year deal with the Avalanche, before even hearing the multitude of offers that would have been made available to him?

In his words, Colorado and the Avalanche are “home”. Sakic was originally drafted by the Quebec Nordiques (the team that later moved and became the Colorado Avalanche) in the first round of the 1987 draft. He played his first game for the team in 1988 and has been an integral part of the organization ever since.

The contracts were Tuesday, just a few days after the regular season ended. The Avalanche failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 1993-1994 season despite an incredible run over the course of the last 20 games of the season.

In ‘07 Sakic had the best of his twleve all-star game appearances, collecting four assists as the elder statesman on the ice

Sakic led the Avalanche to two Stanley Cup Championships - in the ‘95-’96 season and again in 2000-2001 and he’ll be entering next season poised to move himself up in the record books. Joe currently sits in ninth position on the all-time points list and tied for fourteenth on the all time goals scored list.

At the mid-way point of the NHL season, I gave some predictions as to what teams would still be on the ice come playoff time - How did I do? Well two out of the three teams I said it would come down to in the East are still with us while the third has packed their bags, and same goes for the West two for three there as well.

I called for the Phoenix Coyotes to come on strong the second half of the season and be a surprise playoff contender, my wife must have slipped something into my coffee before that prediction because the Coyotes finished dead last in the West.

My pick from the East that didn’t make it was a real shocker to me, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricaines didn’t make the cut, finishing in eleventh place in the East with only 40 wins.

So, with the final eight set in either conference and the playoffs beginning tomorrow night, here’s what you’re likely to see:

Round on in the East:

Buffalo over the Islanders in five games

Devils over the Lightining in six games

Rangers over Atlanta in six games

Penguins over Senators in five games

Round two in the East:

Buffalo over the Rangers in five games

Penguins over the Devils in seven games

Eastern Conference Finals

Buffallo Sweeps a tired Penguins team to take the Eastern Conference Championship

First Round in the Western Conference:

Detroit over Calgary in four games

Anaheim over Minnesota in five games

Dallas over Vancouver in five games

San Jose over Nashville in four games - that’s right big Joe Thorton breaks out his broom on Peter Forsberg and the Predators

Round two in the West:

Detroit over Dallas in six games

San Jose over the Ducks in six games

Western Conference finals:

San Jose over Detroit in five games

Stanley Cup Finals:

I’m going to stick with my pick from mid-season and say the Sharks beat up on the team with the best record in the NHL in five games. Sorry Sabres but the Cup belongs to Joe Thorton and the Sharks this year!

It was less than a minute into the action, Todd “fridge” Fedoruk jumped on the ice to square off with Colton Orr in a battle of enforcers. Both teams wanted to assert themselves early after their last meeting.

The last time the Rangers and Flyers met was a down and dirty, heavy hitting game that left both Brendan Shanahan and Mike Knuble sidelined after a wicked accidental collision. Mike’s been back on the ice for just four games, this game marked Shanahan’s return to the ice.

The Flyers lost this game 5-0, no surprises there. New York was on a high from having Shanahan return and the Flyers haven’t been the most impressive team on the ice this year, but the fight mere seconds after the game began sucked whatever wind the Flyers may have had right out of their sail.

Almost as fast as the fight began Orr landed a thunderous right hand to Fedoruk’s face, immediatley rendering him unconcious. Medical assistance was rushed onto the ice to Fedoruk’s side, putting on a neck brace and pushing him out of the rink on a stretcher.

I’ve watched a lot of hockey fights in my day, bought vhs videos filled with six hours of nothing but on ice fisticuffs. I honestly don’t remember ever seeing such a brutally convincing knockout.

Fedoruk spent the night at St. Vincents hospital for observation, but the Ranger’s neurologist has commented the Todd is doing fine and other than a few problems with short term memory loss there were no signs at all of any neurologic damage and no fractures.

Fedoruk stated that he feels a little sore, but otherwise fine, “I guess I just got my bell rung.”

Fridge already has titanium plates in his face from injuries sustained during fights earlier in the season. He spent time on the injured reserve while he was with Anaheim after incurring injuries during a game with Minnesota. Then Fedoruk suffered broken cheek and orbital bones in a fight against Eric Cairns of the Islanders that required surgery and the insertion of the plates, now he’s unsure if he’ll play again this season after this most recent incident.

I’ve watched this video, I don’t know, probably two dozen times. It doesn’t seem any less scary the more I watch it. I think Todd Fedoruk should take the rest of the season off and begin to work on his finess game. I never saw Wayne Gretzky get punched that hard. Think about it Todd, next time you might not be so lucky.

Todd Fedoruk, Colton Orr, hockey fight, hockey knockout

Saturday night in Nashville, Dallas took a 3-2 loss courtesy of two goals by Kimmo Timonen, but all that mattered were the two goals on Dallas’ side of the scoreboard.

With eleven games left the Stars sit in seventh place, eleven points ahead of ninth place Colorado and though there is no mathematic certainty to the equation, the Stars will most likely hold onto a playoff spot.

So the question is - why do two goals in a losing effort mean anything at all? They were both scored by Center Mike Modano, making him the all-time American born goal scoring king with 503 goals over the course of his illustrious seventeen year hockey career. So this season, Mike Modano first reached the ultra impressive milestone of 500 career goals, then took over the undisputed American goal scoring crown. Take a gander at this and tell me American boys can’t play hockey:

What makes it all the sweeter is that Modano has played his entire career with the same organization, first in Minnesota then through the move to Dallas each one of Modano’s 503 goals and each one of his 1217 career points(2nd all-time for American born players behind only Phil Housley) have come in a Stars sweater. The only thing that could have made this amazing night better would have been to do it at home, in front of the fans that have been cheering him on for the last 17 years.

Congratulations to Mike Modano for adding yet another milestone to the virtual highlight reel that is his career!

Mike Modano, Dallas Stars, 500 goals, top American goal scorers

There it was - a big, clean hit into the boards from Ryan Hollweg that made Chris Simon of the Islanders go beyond the point of just losing composure. For the vicious attack the league has handed Simon a twenty-five game suspension, which is the longest suspension in terms of games that has ever been handed down by NHL officials.

Simon, who’s made a career out of the “enforcer” role, hurt more than just Hollweg with his boneheaded move. The Islanders are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference fighting to stay in a playoff position, the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens are just a few points out of contention. The Isles have fifteen games left in the regular season, this disruption in the roster may be enough for one of those teams to squeeze their way in and leave the Isles out in the cold.

The hit also marred Simon’s reputation, he was always a goon on the ice, but over the last two or three seasons he’s actually showed a little bit of hockey ability that didn’t involve the use of fists. He had become an integral part of the Islanders team but Chris Simon will probably never recover from this incident, just ask Todd Bertuzzi or Marty McSorley.

Both McSorely and Bertuzzi were charged criminally for their violent on ice attacks, and I expect prosecutors to go after Simon as well. Chris Simon may not only miss the remainder of this season as a result of this ill advised act, he could spend time in jail and it may very well end his hockey career.

In a statement Simon alluded to the fact that he was “out of it” following the big hit from Hollweg, he said it wasn’t an excuse for his actions, but that he actually had to view the tape of the incident to recall all of the details.

It’s obvious that Simon is aggresive on the ice, he’s been suspended four times before for on ice violence, but I don’t buy that this incident occured as a result of Simon being knocked loopy from the check. I think he got hit hard, he was pissed-off and he let his emotions get out of control.

I have no problem with guys going out and playing their respective sports with the utmost of passion, but if a guy lays a clean hit on you, you get up dust yourself off, skate over to him like a gentleman and ask if he’d like to drop the gloves. You show who’s the better man by going toe to toe in a fair fight, you most certainly don’t try to decapitate him with your stick. If Chris Simon doesn’t understand this after fourteen years of professional hockey, or if his emotions can get that far out of control, then he has no place being on the ice.

All things considered, if Chris Simon gets out of this situation with nothing more than his career ending, he should consider himself lucky. If his stick landed a few inches higher or an inch or two lower, and the damage to Hollweg was more extensive than a few stitches, Simon may have found himself encountering something much more severe than the assault charges he’ll likely face once the season is over.

Chris Simon, Islanders, Rangers, Ryan Hollweg, cheap shot

The Atlanta Thrashers had a pretty big lead, poised at the top of their division almost assured of an easy playoff berth, their team full of talent being led by the likes of Marion Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov… So much for a sure thing.

The Thrashers began a devistating downward spiral including 9 loses in eleven games coming into this past weekend, falling to sixth in the Eastern Conference struggling to stay above the teams breathing down their necks in the playoff hunt.

The trade deadline was rapidly approaching, something needed to be done for this team to turn around. The Thrashers have a dismal 5-12 record during regulation since the start of the new year, their powerplay is among the worst in hockey. They were in a position where drastic measures were required to fix whatever had broken and GM Don Waddell took those potentially drastic measures.

First up, the aquisition of veteran defenseman Alexei Zhitnik from the Philadelphia Flyers. Waddell sent 21 year old Braydon Coburn, the 8th overall pick in the 2003 draft to Philadelphia to make this deal happen. Zhitnik is 34, but proven, he was the most solid player on the Flyers defensive corp. This trade is a potential win for both teams, the Flyers are in a stage of rebuilding and Coburn certainly has the potential to be a solid defenseman when he gets some more games under his belt, while Zhitnik will sure up Atlanta’s defense and adds a lot of playoff experience.

Forward Kieth Tkachuk was the number two on the drastic moves list. Waddell sent Center Glen Metropolit and a couple draft picks to the also rebuilding St Louis Blues for the veteran forward. In my opinion this was a much better move for Atlanta than the Zhitnik deal, Metropolit isn’t any spring chicken at 32 years old, he may bit a little above average, but he’s not likely going to get a whole lot better as the years go on. Tkachuk is a big, rough forward who not only throws the body and plays physical, but can put the puck between the pipes, he’s got twenty goals this year eight of which have come on the powerplay.

Tkachuk, like Zhitnik is thirty four years of age, neither one is going to be around into the too distant future, but all things considered they only need to be at their best for a few months for these trades to work out.

Thrashers, Tkachuk, Zhitnik

It happens from time to time in hockey, two players will be focused on getting someplace without really seeing what’s coming in front of them, in this case Brendan Shanahan was trying to get to the bench for a line change, Mike Knuble skating up ice - the result, a bone crushing meeting, literally.

The wicked accidental collision between the Rangers Brendan Shanahan and the Flyers Mike Knuble that came in the third period of Saturday’s game is going to impact both teams for what could be quite a while.

Often, seemingly violent collisions on the ice appear much worse than they actually are, that was not the case in this incident. Ranger forward Shanahan lay unconcious on the ice for nearly ten minutes before being fitted for a neck brace and being wheeled off on a stretcher. He sustained a concussion and would end up spending Saturday night in the hospital for monitoring.

Mike Knuble’s injuries were more extensive, he suffered a broken cheek bone and a broken orbital bone. Knuble will undergo surgery to repair the damage and is expected to miss at least four weeks of action, and though he’ll be missed by the Flyers, his absence won’t have much of an effect on the Flyers playoff hopes, which ended shortly after the season began.

Shanahan’s injury will be much more painful to his team. The Rangers are fighting for position for a playoff spot, they are currently sitting in eleventh place, a few points away from a berth with just over twenty games left. Shanahan who leads the Rangers in goals will definitely miss the two upcoming games with the rival New Jersey Devils, and he may very well be out beyond the end of the month.

If New York doesn’t get some players to step up in a big way through this Shanahanless stretch of very tough opponents they could very well find themselves on the golf course with the Flyers come the post season.

The Flyers have taken my advice and traded Peter Forsberg. I’m glad someone in a Philadelphia sports organization is finally listening. Forsberg is officially flying south to Nashville, y’all.

After having a very impressive 9 year stint with the Avalanche organization, Peter the Great spent the last season and a half in Orange and Black. My visions were filled with images of Lord Stanleys cup being escorted down Broad Street, playing hookie from work to be present at the first parade in Philadelphia in a long, long time.

But Peter’s tenure in Philly wasn’t all that I’d hoped, in fact it was injury plagued and not very impressive at all- he missed over twenty games last season and only managed 75 points; and he’s missed more than ten by the halfway point of this year. Now 75 points may seem like nothing to complain about, but we’re talking about a guy who’s supposed to be tops in talent in the NHL.

This trade could potentially accomplish two things for the Predators - firstly, the team is already good - number one in the West, adding Forsberg to the mix with other big talent like Paul Kariya(pictured below) and Jason Arnott can only make them better. If Peter can stay on the ice this team has a chance of going very deep into the playoffs. Secondly, and also very important to the franchise it will put rear ends in the seats - the team needs to make money to stay in Nashville.

There are two potential negatives as well - Forsberg could continue to suffer from the bizarre skate related injury and spend most of his time off the ice not really helping the cause; and he refuses to talk about next year until this year is out, making for what could be a very costly and potentially unproductive rental.

So what does this trade do for Philadelphia - well for starters it gives them Ryan Parent, the Predators first round pick in ‘05, he’s a young defenseman with good potential. The Flyers also get 23 year old forward Scott Upshaw as well as Nashvilles 1st and 3rd round picks in the upcoming draft.

This works two fold for the Flyers as well - they are potentially putting together a team that could remain together far into the future with a chance to develop as a cohesive unit, and secondly it will force them to pick a captain and give the team identity. The Flyers haven’t lacked talent over the course of the last few years, they’ve lacked leadership, no one has taken the reigns since Kieth Primeau was injured. This trade not only gives someone the chance to step up it requires it - Mike Richards, are you listening - this is your time to shine!

It happens in every sport, every year, the trade deadline comes creeping up and the teams who are just close enough to smell a playoff berth go on the hunt for a player or players that will help them get over the hump. As a Flyers fan I’m not used to being on this side of things, but it’s time for not only me, but for the team to admit it, the Flyers stink.

The Orange and Black are firmly cemented in last place, holding onto the worst record in all of hockey, and they aren’t getting any better. So what do you do if you’re the GM of the Flyers - you deal Peter Forsberg to the highest bidder.

I’ll admit it, I was one of the guys who acted like a little kid on Christmas morning when the news came down that Philly was going to be the new home for Peter the great, but it just isn’t working out as planned.

There are apparently more than ten teams who’ve contacted the Flyers already with interest in Forsberg. The teams have not been disclosed, but in my opinion the five who are most foaming out the mouth may include: New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and Peter’s former residence the Colorodo Avalanche. Each of these teams are missing one or two key elements that may keep them out of the hunt for Lord Stanley’s Cup, and a healthy Forsberg may bring the answer to each and every one of them.

There is still about a month to hammer out any negotitions that would have to take place and Peter the Great would have to waive his no trade clause, but I’m getting anxious. There is no getting over the hump for the Flyers this year, it’s time to rebuild, and dealing Forsberg for a few solid prospects and draft picks would be a good start.

I’m also very interested to see if Forsberg’s nagging foot injury heals up when he’s playing on a line with Brendan Shanahan or Sidney Crosby, or if they make a skate that will fit him back in his old home with the Avalanche. Call me crazy but I think he may make more of an effort to get out on the ice if his team is in playoff contention.

I’ll be the first to admit, I though the notion of voting a write in candidate to the NHL All Star game was a bit silly, but team Rory had their stuff together. Okay, so he’s not going to start in the game, he finished third in the voting for Western Conference defensemen behind Scott Niedermayer and Nicklas Lidstrom, two perennial powerhouses among hockey defensemen. My first inclination was “told you so” in the direction of the Rory Fitzpatrick faithful, until I examined the results of the voting.

Journeyman defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick, the man of a meager one point thus far in the season recieved 550,174 write in votes for the NHL all-star game, making him by far the highest write in vote recipient in the history of write in voting for an NHL All Star spot. In fact Rory received more votes than seven of the players who will start on January 24th.

Sidney Crosby was the top vote getter overall, which comes as no shock, but only four other starters got more votes than Fitzpatrick: Bill Campbell of Buffalo, Joe Thornton of San Jose and Niedermayer and Lidstrom. This means three of the top six vote getters were Western Conference defensemen, I don’t have all of the voting history directly in front of me, but I’d venture to say it would be a safe bet that this has never occured before.

Fitzpatrick got more votes than Eastern Conference captain Bredan Shanahan, he also got more votes than Teemu Selanne and Joe Sakic and he didn’t earn a starting spot, correct me if I’m wrong but something certainly doesn’t seem right here.

I’m not saying that something underhanded definitely happened, but I would like to suggest that Team Rory start getting everything together early next season for their second effort, Let’s get Fitzpatrick one million votes next season, just to make sure there’s nothing rotten in Denmark(or Canada)

We’ve talked basketball, now lets discuss some hockey. The two conferences are a lot more closely match on the ice than they are the hardwood, but my pick is still coming from the West.

Lets talk about the beasts from the East first and the three it’s gonna come down to:

First - the Buffalo Sabres, at present time they have the best record in the conference. Chris Drury is having an excellent years with twenty-two goals and Daniel Briere leads the team with fifty-two points. Gone is the team that used to be nothing but a boring trap defense, this team is for real on both sides of the puck.

Second - Carolina Hurricaines, led by former Flyers(ugh!) Rod Brind’Amour and Justin Williams and don’t forget about Eric Staal, this team is hungry to drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup again, and they have all the pieces in place to do it again too.

Third - New York Rangers

Jaromir Jagr is one of the greatest hockey players of all time and he’s playing with the active leader in goals scored in Brendan Shanahan. When I heard the Rangers had signed Shanahan I thought “so what he’s like forty years old, he can’t make much of an impact” well his twenty-four goals at the halfway point of the season prove me wrong.

What about the West. I’ll tell ya, I see it being all Pacific.

First - Anaheim, Teemu Selanne is tied for the league lead in goals and seems to be able to score at will, throw in the rock solid play of veteran Scott Niedermayer and you’ve got yourselves a serious contender.

Second - Right behind the Ducks sit The San Jose Sharks. The Sharks made a smart move trading for Joe Thornton last year, he leads the team in points and Patrick Marleau is having a standout year with twenty goals.

Third, the Dark Horse - Phoenix Coyotes, I know their record isn’t showing it right now, but they’ve won seven of their last ten. Their defense is showing a marked improvement and the recent pick up of Mikael Tellquist gives them two very good net minders (Curtis Joseph). The Coyotes also have a not-so-secret weapon.

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time, if he can pass just a little of his knowledge onto his young team they are going to be very scary.

So how does it all come down - Jagr and Shanahan’s talent and experience push them through to the finals from the East and a Shark can eat a Duck so San Jose sneaks into the finals from the West.

The blockbuster trade to land Thornton in San Jose pays off big time this year, in the form of the Stanley Cup. Sharks over the Rangers in six.