Reaction to Phaneuf deal

Today was supposed to be catch-up day for PTSR, and instead Burke wrecks my plans with the Phaneuf deal. I keep getting asked about "the trade", so here's my thoughts. Leafs needed to act now. Absolutely no way Burke can afford a bottom 5 finish this year.

Add those two elements together and the flames and leafs were perfect trading partners.

Being married to a Calgarian, we watch Flames games very regularly and Phaneuf is nowhere near the defenceman he used to be (this year or last.) Leafs gamble on Phaneufs contract (6.5 for the next 4 years.) If he's a bust, leafs are in trouble with a contract that's iron clad. On the other hand, the Flames do get salary relief next year with most of the acquisitions from the Leafs being UFAs, and in this salary cap era that cannot be under estimated.

Sutter is probably one of the best minds in hockey. There's no way he lets Phaneuf go unless there is a problem and feels the contract is too much of a risk for the performance he is getting. On the other hand, Burke must feel he can 'rehab' Phaneuf and is willing to take a risk.

I spent the better part of the day listening to both Toronto and Calgary sports radio and was surprised that Leafs nation wasn't jumping for joy about this one and had skepticism about Phaneuf. On the other hand, Flames nation was generally upset that they did not receive more for Phaneuf.

Two other quick notes:
- The parallels between the Flames/Phaneuf relationship and Sens/Redden relationship is eerie
- Amazing work done by Darren Dregger from TSN on this trade, particularly from twitter end

Stay tuned to see what Bobcat thinks of the deal later on Monday at Prime Time Sports!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Tuesday: Nick Kypreos, Rogers Sportsnet hockey analyst; Jeff Blair, sports columnist for the Globe and Mail; former WWE wrestler and co-founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, Chris Nowinski; Calgary Flames president and CEO, Ken King; Ed Tait from the Winnipeg Free Press.

Kipper brought up the best point in the ongoing saga which is the McCown-MacLean debate. How do we know that MacLean didn't rip into the Balsillie camp when he joined their team? The "peacemaker" Brunt is supposedly working behind the scenes to bridge the gap…wonder how those negotiations are going?!?!

Nadir Mohamed will be the new public enemy Rogers in Prime Time Sports land. Hopefully he comes on the air as the Jays season comes to an end.

From all accounts from the media, Theoren Fleury is good to go from a fitness point of view. Mentally whether Theoren Fleury is ready to go, is another question all together. Why would Calgary take the risk of bringing Fleury on their final roster with the likes of Bouwmeester, Iginla, Phaneuf and Kipper, in this incredible promising year for the Flames? While I love Fleury and the heart he has possessed, I can't see the Flames taking a chance on him and putting their Stanley Cup dreams in jeopardy.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday, May 22, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Roundtable with Bob McCown, Stephen Brunt, Neil Smith, and James Deacon

Interesting to hear the roundtable literally go down the list of offenses that one would not be allowed back into the NFL for. "Child abuse, for sure" - weird radio for a bit. Almost as weird as the boys trying to go over the lineage of teams that Mike Keenan coached!

What an fantastic week of radio on Prime Time Sports eh?

Happy (60th, right Brunt) to the ol-Bobcat...never sounded better!!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday April 29, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Jim Kelley
Guests: Ken King, president and CEO of the Calgary Flames; Comcast SportsNet's Al Morganti, and former GM of the New York Rangers, Neil Smith; head golf club designer for Callaway Golf, Roger Cleveland.

It's great to hear Morganti and Smith again and hear the boys talk hockey which has been incredible over the past couple of weeks!

In argument #28 in Bob McCown's book "The 100 Greatest Hockey Arguments", McCown argued that "The Sens have earned the reputation of choking dogs." He goes into detail explaining that in the 11 years the Sens made the playoffs in a row, it translated to the following:

• One Cup Final
• One Eastern Conference Final
• Four series victories in nine years
• Five first round knockouts

On today's show, we heard from Ken King, Prez of the Flames after a disastrous knock out by the Flames the night before from the up and coming Chicago Blackhawks. King is a long time guest of Prime Time Sports and his candor is normally straight up, and if he can't answer a question, he'll say so.

I couldn't believe how easy both McCown and Kelley were on King. I realize Kelley doesn't have any previous connection with the Flames (that I know of) as opposed to the Sens who kicked out a good friend of his, John Muckler. Kelley has enjoyed taking shots at the Sens, including GM Murray and their playoff history.

Bobcat on the other hand seemed like he had no interest dissecting why things went awry nor leveling any criticism the way both he and Kelley did when Sens Management has been on in the past. Understood that I don't remember Murray being on the show, but other Management on the Sens have been.

...and the comparison McCown had of Iginla to Yzerman...wow...for Sens fans, that sounds all together familiar. Only problem is, Yzerman's story is so special that it can't be repeated. Players like Iginla and Alfredsson will never be able to carry their team and make those around them better (with one or two exceptions in their career) like Yzerman did.

Bottom line - 4 straight first round exits by the Flames may not earn them the title of "choking dogs", but they certainly have earned half of that title (I'll let you all choose).

Monday, March 9 - 6:00-7:00

Host: McCown
Co-Host: Kelley, Grange

Kelley and the gang had no problem understanding the coaching move the Gainey Canadiens made, but had problems when the Sens did the same. The respect that they have for Gainey to go behind the bench is dramatically different than the arrows that were slung towards Sens GM Murray.

Kelley rambled on for what seemed like forever about the Bills management ineptitude, and the manifestation of this fact in hiring T.O.. Even Bob McCown tried to jump in to reason with Kelley, but Kelley was nothing short of possessed!

Bob McCown then took a shot at Sportsnet for interrupting a WBC game that had been on for 8 innings to show the Canada-US WBC game. My, how things have changed (see below from wikipedia:

"On March 14, 1987, Dave Hodge was the in-studio host as the CBC carried a game between the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs , which ended early. The network then switched over to a regional game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens for the end of the third period. It ended in a tie just before 11:00 PM Eastern Time, meaning it would require overtime. CBC executives, however, decided that only viewers in Quebec, who had seen the game from the start, would get to continue watching after 11:00, while the rest of the network would cut away. "That's the way things go these days in sports and at this network," Hodge said in disgust, flipping his pencil in the air. "We'll leave you in suspense. Good night from Hockey Night in Canada." Hodge was replaced the following week by western correspondent Ron MacLean and eventually fired from the network"

I think radio vets like Bob McCown owe a debt to guys like Dave Hodge - what difference time makes, eh?

Monday, February 23rd - 6:00-7:00

Well, both Kelley and Brunt are part of the mini-roundtable tonight. (For the record, Kelley kept the co-host chair, and Brunt took the 'guest' chair!)

Tom Renney was discussed and the relevant merits of him as a Coach. I agree with discussion that surrounded Tortorella as incoming Head Coach. As far as cashing two cheques goes - in the rare times it happens in ones life, I say TAKE IT! :)

The boys discussed the trade deadline and how it's more for show then anything else. Bobcat brought up the point that he brought up in his book saying that the trade deadline is all hype and even the busiest teams never materializes into anything significant in the standings.

I tend to disagree - the pressure on GMs to make a deal only occurs twice during the year - the draft and trade deadline. Other than these times, it's virtually quiet during the NHL year. The media scruitny on GMs will push them into actions they normally wouldn't make. I predict there will be a blockbuster deal this year (lecalvier/spezza.)

They then proceeded to do a cross Canada tour spending (shock of shocks) considerable amount of time on the Leafs. Kelley continues to have a major axe to grind on Murray as he's a feverish Muckler supporter. The reality is Murray has had one draft. There isn't any decision Murray has made that has been questionable at the time he made it. The age-old scare tactics of PTS really came out when they spoke about how viable the Sens would be if they were on the decline. Even in a brutal economy, the Sens are 2nd in attendance (source). The Sens have built a solid base here and this team isn't going anywhere...

In terms of the Spezza-Heatley debate, it's sad to see the 3 wise men not take note of Heatley's NTC. Heatley simply can't be moved anywhere, unless he waives his NTC. Spezza is the only option for the Sens. Not sure why this point is missed so much by the media (not only PTS).

In summary, here's how they broke everything down:
Sens - buyers/sellers - who the heck knows?
Leafs - sellers
Habs - buyers
Flames - buyers
Oilers - not sellers
Canucks - buyers

The worst Coach in the NHL according to Bobcat - Wayne Gretzky.

Parting shots:
Kelley - 99% of trade rumors you hear are false, so calm down...
Brunt - Jays are screwed
Bobcat - yep, Jays are screwed

(Just a quick edit - I worried a lot about agreeing with everything the Bobcat said, but this inaugural post makes me feel much better!)

ps. what do you guys think?