It’s been a struggle to put a blog together for the last few
months.
I would not call it writer’s block. Not sure what to blame.
There have just been several thoughts bouncing around in my head about issues
and when I sat down to form an opinion piece it was difficult to make it fresh,
clear and simple.
So I’m going to make it easier on myself and build a bridge
to better blogs next week about the NHL Draft and the rest of the summer. I’m
emptying the notebook. Here’s a bunch of thoughts on the Lightning, other
sports and the best 2012 movies:
· I was very
disappointed in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season. In my opinion, the roster was
good enough to make them at least an eighth seed in the playoffs. Ultimately,
the Bolts have still yet to find a way to control their goals-against average. Goaltending
is just one of many issues. It’s more about the way they played. That gambling mentality
with the puck, the inability to clear the zone simply, poor decision-making in
key areas on the ice, the lack of enough puck possession caused by turnovers
and losing too many board battles all contributed to their downfall. Some key
players just did not get it done, or were inconsistent, and perhaps that forced
coach Guy Boucher to over react at times and make it worse.
· I believe
Boucher will be a really good NHL hockey coach down the road. Honestly, I think
he might have been a good choice for Colorado. He did some tremendous things
here and he should learn from the experience. I’m certainly not in the locker
room and the coaches’ room, so nobody knows what went on. My only concern was
what I saw in the defensive zone coverage at times (no, not talking about the overblown
1-3-1!). Opponents were left wide open way too often. Was it more his plan or
players making mistakes and losing battles? Who knows for sure? There were
times that perhaps Boucher seemed to make the game a little too complicated.
But again, it would not surprise me in the least to see him grab the Stanley
Cup and hoist it over his head some day.
*
· New coach Jon
Cooper’s challenge will be to develop an aggressive style of play that uses the
team’s abundance of creativity and skill while limiting the – often unforced –
turnovers that plagued the team. The teams that I watched in the playoffs did
not resemble the Lightning very much. Some of them weren’t very good
offensively, but they went North-South and didn’t give up the puck at their own
blue line or in the neutral zone easily.
· This might be a
more important offseason for Bolts GM Steve Yzerman than his first with the
team. The organizational depth is so much better now and he has some solid
young assets he could trade to fill key needs. Yzerman must retool or
tweak the defense and the forward corps and stay under the cap. A top-four
defenseman (is Keith Yandle available?) and a strong-skating power forward for
the top nine would help. He will have to make some decisions on Ryan Malone,
Eric Brewer and Benoit Pouliot. To me, I don’t understand the talk about buying
out Vincent Lecavalier. It doesn’t make sense financially or on the ice. He was
one of the team’s best players last season when he didn’t have the foot injury.
· This will be one
of the most interesting drafts in recent memory on June 30 in Newark, N.J. Only
the NSA knows what the boards of the teams with the top five picks say outside
their rooms. Colorado threw a curveball the other day by saying it would not
pick defenseman Seth Jones. I think the Avs might be playing games, but Nathan
MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin are incredible players. For the last month, you
figured the Lightning would be choosing between Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin and
Sasha Barkov at No. 3. Who knows now? Here’s the thing for the Bolts.
Nichushkin’s size, speed and power might be exactly what the Lightning needs,
but Drouin is an amazing talent who is hard to pass on. Not an easy choice. If
Jones is there, it would only make it harder.
· The first NHL
draft was 50 years ago on June 5. This will be the 51st. Every draft on a year
ending in a three has been memorable. Garry Monahan was the first pick in 1963
by Montreal in the four-round draft. Denis Potvin went first in 1973 and several
future players and executives/coaches were chosen including John Davidson, Bob
Gainey, Dave Lewis, Cap Raeder and Colin Campbell along with Tom Pyatt’s father
Nelson. Brian Lawton went No. 1 to Minnesota and Sylvain Turgeon to Hartford at
No. 2 in 1983. Oops. The Islanders scooped up Pat LaFontaine, the Red Wings
chose Yzerman and Tom Barrasso went to Buffalo. John MacLean and Russ
Courtnall, two 1,000-game players, went next. Brian Burke traded up to No. 2 to
grab Chris Pronger for the Whalers after Ottawa took underwhelming Alexandre
Daigle first. The Lightning picked Chris Gratton third and Paul Kariya went
fourth to Anaheim. Many think the 2003 draft might have been the best of all
time with such standouts as Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber, David Backes, Corey
Crawford and Jimmy Howard going after pick No. 44 in the second round after a
first round filled with talent. Unfortunately, the Lightning picked Mike Egener
at 34 and Matt Smaby at 41 that year. The 2013 draft has five elite prospects
and good depth.
· It still irks me
when I see how hard Gary Bettman is working to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in
Glendale, Ariz. He will say it’s different because there was an owner in place
and the state government went along with it in Connecticut, but the Commish
spent little time trying to figure out ways to keep the only major sports
franchise the state will ever have around. Hartford was like any other small
market. When the team won, the place was hopping. When they weren’t, the 10,000
diehards were there. State officials thought they could get the New England
Patriots, so they discarded the Whalers. If Bettman had dragged it out longer
and made them realize Bob Kraft would never move the team to Hartford, perhaps
the Whalers would still be in Hartford. But he bailed.
· I wasn’t going
to watch much of this NHL final because of my dislike for the Boston Bruins
organization, but it’s been difficult to look away. The first four games have
been so much more exciting than last year’s snoozer of a series between the
Kings and Devils. But please, not another Cup for the Bruins. I’m counting on
you “Steady” Joel Quenneville.
· Hey David Stern.
The WWE wants its referees back now that the NBA finals are over.
· After further
review, I am on board with the Darrelle Revis move for the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. Perhaps Tampa can change the name of Davis Island to Revis Island?
The concern I have with the Buccaneers is still depth.
· Can’t see the
Tampa Bay Rays going anywhere again this season. Getting the right return for David
Price in a trade is the key to their future, along with a new stadium. You
wonder if they wasted a chance to deal B.J. Upton for something last season,
but maybe they weren’t offered anything significant.
· My analysis of
2012 movies is done. Finally. It took me a while to see almost every
highly-rated movie I could and watch the top films a second and third time. Overall,
it was not a great year for movies. The worst – Prometheus, Rock of
Ages, Cosmopolis, Killer Joe, Taken 2, Killing Them Softly, Cloud Atlas, Les
Miserables and This is 40; Top Honorable mention – The Master,
Ted, Bernie, Trouble with the Curve, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,
Act of Valor; Top 25 -- 25. Goon; 24. Not Fade Away; 23. The Avengers; 22.
End of Watch; 21. Arbitrage; 20. Seven Psychopaths; 19. The Sessions; 18.
Bourne Legacy; 17. Parental Guidance; 16. Perks of Being a Wallflower; 15. Ruby
Sparks; 14. Promised Land; 13. Looper; 12. Searching for Sugarman; 11. Premium
Rush; Note -- Not everyone would like Perks and Ruby, but something
in the uniqueness of both made them work for me and Sugarman should probably be
higher. Great documentary…….. 10. Dark Knight Rises – Anne Hathaway
should have won an Oscar for this supporting role instead of the other; 9. The
Hunger Games – Jennifer Lawrence was superior in this as well; 8. Moonrise
Kingdom – goofy, quirky little comedy; 7. Skyfall – Best Bond in a
while. Bardem is a great villain; 6. Django Unchained -- Incredibly rich
scenes and characters, but editing was needed to make it better; 5. Flight
– liked it more the third and fourth times I watched it. Great
performance by Denzel Washington; 4. Lincoln – The changes in some of the
history for no reason annoyed me, but still a powerful film; 3. Zero
Dark Thirty – Jessica Chastain was brilliant. Kept switching it between
third and second; 2. Argo – Alan Arkin and John Goodman’s
performances helped a lot along with the pulsating ending; 1 – Silver
Linings Playbook – Liked it the first time, and then realized how truly
good it was the second and third viewings. It passed the Jim Valvano test with
As in all categories. It made you laugh, it made you think and it made you cry.
That’s why it was the best of the year.
- Mark Pukalo
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