More Fighting In Hockey

Earlier this year I wrote about fighting in hockey.

This past weekend the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins met up in what became a fairly rough match up.
It started with James Neal kneeing Brad Marchant in the head (Marchant was laying on the ice) in what was, in my opinion, clearly an intentional motion.
After that, we saw the Bruins' Shawn Thornton punch Brooks Orpik and continue to punch him as he lay on the ice. Apparently Orpik was knocked out, though that seems to be something that is still in question as he was able to travel with the team and was conscious when he arrived at the hospital. Regardless of how bad the injury was, that is not the point. Thank goodness he is ok.
To add to that Loui Eriksson suffered a concussion from a hit that Brooks Orpik laid on him and Chris Kelly suffered a broken ankle at the hands of Pascal Dupuis.

Clearly this game was a mess.

I won't go on my rant about getting rid of fighting in hockey. I did that in my previous post. What I want to point out is the lack of consequences.
If you look at the box score for that game 12 penalties were given out. So that says to me that the referees were trying to get control and couldn't. I can't really blame the refs in this situation. All they could do is start calling every little thing and that would not help matters. So where does that leave it? Brennan Shannahan and the NHL department for Player Safety.

James Neal was given a 5 game suspension. Apparently that is the maximum a player can receive for an over-the-phone hearing. In my opinion, that's bullshit. His intent, which normally is next to impossible to determine, was quite clear. He wanted to hit Marchant, I doubt anyone can dispute that.
So that raises the next question: why was this only an over-the-phone hearing? I don't know what the factor is that changes a phone hearing to a hearing in person. I'm not sure that the NHL does either, as I can not find a clear definition. I do see a simple solution though: If the phone is the main issue preventing this from having a longer suspension all you need to do is call the player and say "this is going to require a face to face meeting". Problem solved. This isn't James Neal's first suspension. This was clearly intentional. He should get at least 25 games in my mind. If it was me, I'd tell him to take the rest of the season off.

Shawn Thornton is scheduled to meet with the NHL on Friday (December 13) and he will have his suspension decided at that time. I will say this to Shawn's credit he really seemed sincerely apologetic in the post game interviews. It was refreshing versus the usual typical response that is vague and tries to chalk it up to being "part of the game" or "the heat of the moment".
That being said, Shawn must accept that what he did was wrong. Not only a violation of the rules within the sport but also wrong in the context of society as a whole. If I went out and punched out somebody like that in the street then I would be in jail. This happened during a hockey game so he won't be in jail (which is a whole other topic for another day) but the suspension should be heavy. If I were a betting man I'd guess the NHL will give him between 5 and 10 games. If it were me, much like with James Neal, I'd say take a year off. Come back next season.

Some may say that's harsh. I say this: If you don't start making it clear that you want this crap out of the game then this crap will stay in the game. Sending a strong message out to the entire league by sending these players home for the year would do exactly that.
To boot, the salaries that these players loose should be donated to a foundation that does research pertaining to concussions and their effects on the brain. Make the money help counter the damage the player is contributing to.

That's my 2 cents.

Quack, Quack, Quack

October 13, 2013.
A day for people like me who love their sports uniforms.
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim returned (if only for 1 night) in all their teal and eggplant glory.
Nothing more can be said besides "I want one" in reference to the jerseys.
For more pictures check out the Icethetics blog post or the NHL.com gallery.

That is one beautiful jersey

Fighting In Hockey

Clearly this is the topic of the day in the NHL world. It's not a new topic, it seems to come up every time a serious injury takes place. Last night that injury occurred during the Leafs/Canadians game when Colton Orr and George Parros got into their second fight of the night.

A concussion was the result of this fight. Clearly (in my opinion) Orr did not do this on purpose. It was a mistake, a "fight gone wrong". Now Parros (who thankfully was released from hospital this morning) is not sure when/if he can come back to play. Parros is a Princeton educated man, this is a potential waste of what is (dare is even say possibly "was") clearly an above average mind.

I've had a strong opinion on this topic for some time now. Fighting in hockey is, in my opinion, no longer necessary. The notion that each team carries a player or two who plays minimal minutes and does not have the same abilities or skills as the other players on the ice is insane. Of course these players are going to get hurt. Besides the fact that they punch at each other for a living, they also can't skate at the same pace and as a result end up hurting themselves and other players when trying to land a proper body check.

Now don't get me wrong. I understand that hockey is a physical sport and I do not suggest that we take body contact out of hockey. Hitting a player properly in order to remove them from the puck is just as much a part of the game as a proper tackle is in football. I also understand that hockey is a face paced game that involved quick thinking and as a result there are a lot of "gut reactions". So sometimes when you play a sport and you want to win you will feel more emotional. Sometimes that emotion is anger and you'll want to fight. I accept that.

So where does that leave the fighting issue? Well, first of all, because of the emotions, you can't stop it all together. Just like you can't stop people from doing crimes. So just like that guy who steals a candy bar (my point being it's not the end of the world if it happens once in a while but it is still a crime) you develop rules to minimize the potential of fights happening. Much like the person who steals a candy bar knows that if they are caught there is a potential to go to jail, the people who choose to fight need to know they are going to have to "do their time".

It's simple use an escalating scale. 1 fight is 10 minute major and an ejection from the game. Fight number 2 is another 10 minute major and an ejection plus an additional game. From there you get 2 additional games, then 4, then 8 and so on. Essentially, if you really want to fight, that's fine but you better make it worth it because your team will suffer.

This should eliminate all these "fake" fights that the 2 enforcers get into in an attempt to "change the momentum of the game". That's my opinion on what should be done.

Don't get the point of this post confused though. This is not a prediction. I realize that the NHL sees fights as part of the entertainment value and they will probably not change a thing. Personally, I've been to plenty of hockey games in my time and I've seen how the crowd gets when there is a fight. I don't participate. I stay sitting and don't clap. I don't find it entertaining. It's not boxing, it's not UFC, it's not wrestling. There's no "sweet science", it's 2 guys clutching at jerseys and landing the odd punch. That's it.

It's 2013 not 1913. Goalies wear masks, players wear helmets. We've evolved from a large, heavy chunk of wood as a stick to a lightweight material. Jerseys are no longer big wool sweaters, they are microfiber, repel sweat and, weigh less. Players now have to wear visors. Why is fighting still tolerated?

Busy Toronto Sports Day

Yesterday was an interesting day for Toronto sports.

The first news of Phil Kessel re-signing with the Leafs broke, and now it seems like it will be an 8 year deal at 8 million per year. That's big money but he's also the big name player for this team so I don't feel strongly either way about the deal. It makes sense, offer him some more cash so he doesn't test the market.

The news of a roof at BMO field broke this past weekend (funny enough, I first saw the news on TV while eating a post TFC-game burrito in liberty village) and I've been looking for a good reaction from both supporters and non-supporters with very little luck. The main concern is that the cost will be passed on via increases to ticket prices.
Personally, I like BMO a lot. It's not the fanciest stadium, nor is it state of the art. I get it, Tim Leiweke wants to make TFC one of the premier clubs in MLS. TFC already has a great academy set up and now they want to make BMO one of the best grounds. I just don't think MLSE needs to spend 100 million on a roof at BMO. For that money they could build a new stadium and leave BMO to the city and the Argos.
If BMO gets a glass roof, I won't really care (assuming that the glass won't obstruct the scenery surrounding BMO) but I think that BMO is unique in the sense that the stadium is an addition to the exhibition grounds as opposed to being a stadium built on a plot of land that was designated for a stadium. At certain times over the summer you get to see the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in the background and other times you can hear the music coming from the Molson Amphitheater across the street or even seeing the Honda Indy being set up. It's really cool how the different events of the year take place around this stadium and putting a roof on the stadium could block all that out. Not to mention the view of the CN Tower rising up over the east side stands. BMO field; for all it's plumbing issues in cold weather and it's "lack of amenities" (which, I would argue are just fine) is a unique little stadium in a prime spot and I really don't want to see the experience compromised.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that the concern is when it is raining no one is coming to the games, but frankly I don't care. I'm a half season ticket holder since season 2. I know that come rain or shine the real supporters of TFC will be in attendance regardless.
I love BMO. Don't change it just for the sake of saying "we have a roof".

Then we got the news about Drake and the Raptors yesterday. 
Frankly, I'm not a huge basketball fan. I enjoy going to games as I feel basketball is a much better in-stadium game than it is on TV but I really dislike how the NBA has become a league of guys grouping together via free agency and trying to win championships all together in the city that is the flavor of the week. First it was Boston, then Miami and now, Brooklyn.
Part of the reason it is Brooklyn, at least it is apparent that the Raptors believe, is due to Jay-Z's involvement with getting the Nets out of New Jersey. I'm not so naive to think that it didn't play a part but then again Jay-Z was also a part owner.
Drake is not.
Drake is a famous rapper that happens to be from Toronto and goes to a fair amount of games. That's it. Are the Lakers giving Jack Nicolas an undefined role as "Global Ambassador" because he has season tickets? Come on. This is so stupid. Drake isn't going to be negotiating contracts or trying to make trades. Masai Ujiri is.
Look, I get it. The MLSE wants to turn the Raptors around because, outside of a few years when Vince Carter was around, this team has been nothing but a joke. So how do you do that? You win. You don't bring on a famous rapper, your don't change the team's name (thank goodness that isn't happening) and, you don't try to make the future all about hosting an all-star game (which Toronto will do in 2016). Congrats on getting the all-star game, but you don't make that the biggest deal for basketball in Toronto since the team came to town.
I'm glad Drake wants to see the Raptors win. So do I and, I bet so do many other people out there. Do I deserve a job with the Raptors because of that? No, because I don't know enough about basketball.
Frankly, I'm embarrassed (as a big sports fan who is a resident of the GTA and supports Toronto's teams) about the publicity stunt pulled yesterday. If it wasn't enough only last week Drake was on ESPN's First Take and said (and I quote) "That's my team. I'm always there, I'm always supporting" in reference to Miami. LAST WEEK!!!!
Stupid.

Those are my rants for today. Surprisingly it was not the Leafs that got me going today. Drop me a comment if you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear the opinions out there.

Beast Unleashed; Rob Collins and Josh McQuade

As we get closer and closer to the start of the hockey season the Beast are announcing signing after signing. Today I'm bringing 2 profiles at you as today is another Free Agent Friday and the Beast will be announcing 2 more signing later today.
Another quick side note, the Brampton Beast and Oscar's Road House (a restaurant in Brampton) revealed the "Beast Burger" this past week. It's a 40oz patty on a bun that is roughly as much bread as a loaf of bread. The toppings include onion rings, peameal bacon and of course, a side of fries (not that you need them!). That's a massive burger!

Josh McQuade:

Josh is a 24 year old right winger from Grimsby, Ontario. He stands at 5'10, weighs 185 pounds and, shoots right.

Josh's road to becoming a Beast started in with the junior Hamilton Bulldogs in AAA hockey where he scored 43 points in 47 games. Enough to get him drafted by the Peterborough Petes. It was 2007/08. He only played one game with the Petes (scoring 1 goal) but he went down to the Newmarket Hurricanes for the season and in 47 games he scored 60 points with 49 penalty minutes.

For 2008/09 Josh moved to the Hamilton Red Wings (Who eventually became what is now the Erie Otters). He played 39 games scoring 80 points and 132 PIM before jumping from the OHL to the QMJHL. In the "Q" he played with the Gatineau Olympiques for 24 games, totalling 11 points and 12 PIM. He also was a part of the playoff run for Gatineau. In 10 games he scored 4 points and 4 PIM.

2009/10 involved a move to Junior B. He played for the Brantford Golden Eagles (Now the Caledonia Corvairs) and in 51 games he scored an incredible 150 points and 80 PIM. The Golden Eagles went to the playoffs and in 16 games Josh scored 26 points and 60 PIM.

In 2010/11 Josh took his skills to the University of Western Ontario. Josh only played 14 games for the Mustangs but scored 12 points and 10 PIM. The playoffs that year only lasted 8 games but in those 8 games Josh scored 9 points and 6 PIM.

Finally, some stability in his hockey career came from the Fayetteville FireAntz. He spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 with the Southern Professional Hockey League club. (A theme that seems to be growing with the Beast as head coach Mark DeSantis was head coach of the FireAntz). In 2 seasons with the FireAntz Josh scored 127 points and 94 PIM. The "Antz" did not make the playoffs in 2011/12 but they did in 2012/13. They only played 2 games but in those games Josh obtained 2 assists. 2012/13 was also the year that the FireAntz made Josh an assistant captain. 2012/13 was a great year as Josh was also named to the SPHL 1st team all-stars, he scored the most goals in the league and he scored the most points in the league.

Looking at Josh's resume, it's easy to see that coach DeSantis will be looking to Josh to be putting points up for the Beast this year.

Rob Collins:

Rob is a 35 year old who plays both right wing and center from Edmonton, Alberta. He stands at 5'10 and weight 172 pounds.

Rob's career started at university. He played for Ferris State University of the NCAA in Big Rapids, Michigan. From the 1998/99 season to the 2000/01 season Rob scored 75 points and 76 penalty minutes over 109 games. The 2001/02 season was a big one for Rob. He was named assistant captain for the university. He scored 48 points and 23 PIM over 36 games and, was named to the NCAA first team all-stars. He was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker award (for the top NCAA player).
All these accolades landed Rob a contract as an undrafted free-agent with the New York Islanders. He ended up getting 5 games in 2001/02 with the Grand Rapids Griffins where he scored 2 assists.

Rob played his first full season in the AHL in 2002/03. In 73 games he scored 31 points and 16 PIM. The Griffins went to the playoffs as well and in 15 games he scored 11 points and 40 PIM. The Griffins won their division that year.

In 2003/04 the Islanders changed their AHL affiliation to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rob spent all of 2003/04 and 2004/05 with the Sound Tigers. Over that time he played 153 games and scored 94 points with 109 PIM. The Sound Tigers made the playoffs in 2003/04 and in 7 games Rob scored 8 points and 10 PIM. Unfortunately there was no playoff appearance in 2004/05.

2005/06 Was the big year for Rob. He played 8 games for the Islanders that year. His first goal was on December 9 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over those 8 games he only scored that 1 goal and 1 assist. Both on that night against the Leafs. He spent the rest of the season with the Sound Tigers. In those 67 games he scored 69 points and 54 PIM. The Sound Tigers returned to the playoffs that season and in 7 games Rob scored 6 points and 10 assists.

Rob would move "across the pond" to Germany and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2006/07 season. He signed with the DEG Metro Stars who played in Dusseldorf (The team is now known as Dusseldorfer EG). He played 5 seasons with the club, the final season being the 2010/11 season. In those 5 seasons he played 255 games scoring 245 points and 319 PIM during the regular season. Although he never won a league championship the Metro Stars went to the playoffs every years Rob was a part of the team. In his 45 playoff games he scored 33 points and 44 PIM.

Rob moved to the Hamburg Freezers for the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. For the 2012/13 season he was the team's assistant captain. In his 87 games with the Freezers he scored 60 points and 82 PIM. The Freezers, much like the Metro Stars, made the playoffs both seasons Rob was playing for them. In his 11 playoff games with the Freezers he scored 8 points and 20 PIM.

Clearly Rob has a wealth of experience and I expect that will be a big part of his contribution to the Beast this season.

The Argos to Move to BMO?

Could the Double Blue Come to BMO?

I need to say one thing first.
I love Canadian football. When people start talking about how "it's not as good as the NFL" I'm the first to explain that the CFL comes from the rugby roots and that it's actually much more "pure" than the NFL version is (at least in terms of to sport of football evolving from ruby). I still like the NFL but I feel the CFL is a more entertaining game.

The Toronto Argonauts are, and always have been, my team in the CFL. From my early teens when Pinball and Flutie were kicking butt to the surprise season of 2004 to the resurgence of the team the past couple of seasons.

That said the Argos DO NOT belong at BMO field.
In order to accommodate the Argos you would need to:

A) Essentially demolish a whole side of the stadium and rebuild it further out (I assume the east stands).You will also need to do the same with the north or south end to make the field longer.

B) The field will need to go back to turf. Tim Leiweke mentioned that currently BMO holds rugby matches and that Stubhub Stadium in LA also held football games. That's fine but not comparable. Those are once, maybe twice a year type of events. The CFL is a full 18 game season (9 home games) which run at the same time as MLS does. Not to mention any games that the Canadian national soccer teams may play. That's a lot of wear and tear on the grass.

C) Add more seating. It's too small. BMO holds 22 thousand. Outside of 8 seasons since 1959 the Argos average attendance has been higher than 22 thousand. It doesn't make sense to be moving to a smaller stadium!!!

Honestly, it drives me crazy. Yes the Roger's Centre is too big for the Argos (It's too big for the Jays too for that matter) and the likelihood of replacing the dome seems very small as Rogers has been putting money into upgrading it but I just don't think BMO is a fit for the Argos.
I realize that the Argos need something smaller than the Roger's Centre. I also would like to see an outdoor stadium for the Argos maybe something that seats 35 thousand and can expand for Grey Cup games or big CIS games but that's not the point. The point is that the Argos do not belong in BMO Field.

Beast Unleashed: Tylor Michel

Tylor (right) in Sweden

Before the Beast announce more player signings tomorrow I wanted to get up a bio on Tylor Michel.

Tylor is a 29 year old centre who is from Sudbury, Ontario.

Tylor started his career in the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League which was a Junior B level league. It is now a division in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (as of 2007). Tylor played for the Owen Sound Greys for both the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons.
In his time with Owen Sound he scored 54 goals, 77 assists and, 221 penalty minutes.

After his time in Owen Sound was over it was off to school for Tylor. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. During his first 3 season at the university (2004/05 to 2006/07) he scored 17 goals, 21 assists and, 39 PIM over 86 games.

2007/08 was a little different for Tylor. He played 37 games for Wayne State (22 points and 94 PIM) and ended up signing with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL. He played 4 games in the regular season (2 assists, 6 PIM) and went on to the playoffs where he played 6 more games and got 4 PIM.

In 2008/09 the Condors gave Tylor a full season to show them what he is made of. In 64 regular season games he scored 8 goals, 16 assists and, 60 PIM. The Condors would again make the playoffs and in 4 games Tylor played 4 games and got 4 PIM.

For 2009/10 Tylor headed off to the United Kingdom to play in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Cardiff Devils. He spent both 2009/10 and 2010/11 with the Devils and scored 47 goals, 65 assists and, 283 PIM in 121 regular season games. Both seasons the Devils went to the playoffs. in 8 playoff games Tylor score 4 goals, 3 assists and, 6 PIM.

In 2011 Tylor moved to Sweden to play for IF Bjorkloven.
This was an interesting situation as the team he was moving to was ready to be promoted to division 1  in Sweden for the 2010/11 season but, due to financial issues the team had to declare bankruptcy. As a result of this the Swedish Ice Hockey Association relegated IF Bjorkloven to the 3rd division. Going into 2011/12 the team was finally allowed to move to division 1. So Tylor was joining a team that jumped up 2 divisions for 2011/12. As for Tylor, he scored 29 points and 110 PIM over his 36 games in Sweden. He was also the most penalized player in the league. In the Kval, a round robin tournament in Sweden to determine what division the clubs play in the next season,  Tylor scored 2 goals, 3 assists and , 6 PIM over 5 games.

2012/13 brought Tylor back to the U.K. and the Eilte Ice Hockey League to play for the Sheffield Steelers. In 59 games he scored 24 goals, 27 assists and, 139 PIM. The playoffs only brought 2 games for Tylor but he scored 2 goals, 1 assist and, 4 PIM. This year the Steelers also competed in the Challenge Cup. It is a side tournament that the EIHL hosts. In 6 games there Tylor scored 3 goals, 3 assists and, 38 PIM.

Tylor is coming back home for 2013/14 to play for the Beast and hopefully can mesh well with a player like Jason Pitton who also spent time in the EIHL.

Michael Couch

As the days and weeks continue to pass, the roster continues to fill out for the Brampton Beast.
The Beast added Michael Couch recently. Couch is a 30 year old defenseman from Hanna, Alberta who stands at 6'4".

Mike started his career in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads. Couch spent the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons with Halifax and played 102 games with the team, scoring 4 goals and 13 assists and added 181 penalty minutes. During the playoffs Mike got in 15 games with 2 points and 6 penalty minutes.

In 2002/03 he was traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and he also spent 2003/04 with the Huskies. Over those 2 seasons he played 133 games and scored 47 points. He also amassed 250 PIM. He also had a chance to play in the playoffs both years, a total of 15 games with 7 points and 35 PIM.

After his time in major junior was over Mike headed to St. Thomas University and played 2 seasons in the CIS while majoring in economics. His 2 years in Fredericton, New Brunswick (where the university is located) saw him playing 55 games and scoring 12 points and 24 PIM.

With his time in university completed Mike headed over to Italy to start his professional career. He played for the no longer existent club HC All Stars Piemonte which was a tier 2 club that was created to develop younger players in the Turin area. He spent 1 season with the club in which he played 21 games, scoring 2 goals, 8 assists and, 42 PIM.

Mike came back to North America after that season in Italy and signed with the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. In 81 games with the Sea Wolves Mike scored 21 points and received 168 PIM. Unfortunately the Sea Wolves only made the playoffs in 2007/08 but in those 4 games Mike scored a goal and ended up with 10 penalty minutes.

At the end of 2009 the Sea Wolves folded and Mike signed on with the Gwinnett Gladiators. He only spent 11 games with the Gladiators (no points, 18 PIM) before being moved to the Johnstown Chiefs. He had much better luck with the Chiefs playing 60 games during the 2009/10 season. He scored 1 goal, 10 assists and, 84 PIM.

The Chiefs packed up after the 2010 season and moved to Greenville, South Carolina but Mike did not make the move with the team. It was at this point which he signed on with his first Central Hockey League team. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. During the 2010/11 season he played 54 games and totaled 1 goal, 6 assists and, 55 PIM. The Mudbugs went on to the CeHL playoffs and in 21 games he ended up with 8 assists and 22 PIM. The Mudbugs won the league championship that year (the Ray Miron President's Cup)! Strangely enough, 2 weeks later the Mudbugs would cease operations.

Mike signed on, along with 2 former Mudbug team mates, with the Rapid City Rush for 2011/12. A 58 game season consisted of 5 goals and 16 assists. Add to that 53 penalty minutes. The team played 6 playoff games which saw Mike obtain 1 assist. This was his highest scoring year as a professional and as a result the Rush offered him a contract extension for the 2012/13 season. During the '12/13 season Mike scored 2 goals and 12 assists with 34 PIM. The Rush went back to the playoffs and again lost in 6 games. Mike also ended up with 1 assist.

Hopefully the reunion with coach Mark DeSantis (who coached Mike in 2011/12 in Rapid City)  will mean big things for the Beast this year.

Get Use to It.

"Get used to it".

That's the words uttered by TFC President Kevin Payne on Wednesday night. To be fair, the exact quote was "They should get used to it. We're gonna play these games. I don't think it's a detriment". This was the response to TSN's Jason DeVos and his questions at half time regarding the fact that the TFC supporter's groups were strongly against this friendly game being played against AS Roma of the Italian Serie A.

Look, I get it. Bring in the big club to sell tickets to people who might like the big name teams from around the world but don't necessarily like MLS. I also get that you want TFC to play these games (as opposed to getting 2 big name teams to come in and just selling tickets to that game). You want the people who wouldn't normally buy TFC tickets to see the team and think "yeah, maybe I will check out a TFC game after all".

The problem is this: you can't just tell a whole group of people (who make up most of your season seat holders by the way) "too bad, it's happening, deal with it" and expect them not to be upset. The team has never made the playoffs and outside of 1 season, hasn't even been close. There has been many rumors about behind the scenes issues and plenty of mismanagement. Not to mention there have been plenty of players that have been mediocre at TFC but once they moved on, they seemed to preform much better. TFC is a club that is a complete mess. No other way to describe it. So to tell your dwindling season ticket base to "get used to it" is just detrimental. Here's, in my humble opinion, the worst part. This game was jammed in the middle of a short week for TFC. TFC played this past Sunday and will play again on Saturday. To boot, TFC is on a little 2 game win streak in MLS (though as a fan, it feels like much more than a "little" win streak) and I'm worried that the messed up training schedule and the loss to Roma might take the wind out of their sails.

End of the day, these are going to happen. It's an attempt to get more people to come out to the park and watch MLS games. I think that's not going to change anytime soon. I have "gotten used to it". I just don't go because I like to watch MLS, Canadian Championship or, Concacaf Champion's league games. Kevin Payne, I've gotten used to it. All you needed to admit that this could have been scheduled at a better time. I hope you "get use" to less and less people coming to games because a stupid comment like that will not help your case.

The Next 4

Last night MLS commissioner Don Garber announced that MLS will expand to 24 teams by 2020.
So that begs the question: which 4 cities will it be? Let me first say, I'd love to see Canada (the likelihood is that it would be Ottawa) get another team but I highly doubt that will happen. I also think San Diego is a great market for MLS, but I'm confidant that Chivas USA will end up there. Hopefully with new ownership and a complete re-brand. So those 2 market are off the list.
With that said: Here is the 4 markets I think MLS should expand to.

Orlando: Orlando City FC have been a success in the USL since their entry in 2010. The club has loyal supporters, they've been good on the field and, the ownership has been trying to get a 20,000 seat soccer specific stadium build in an attempt to get to MLS. MLS also folded their Florida state teams in 2001 and have been wanting back in the state and this market is the closest to being ready for MLS in Florida.

Atlanta: Since 1995 the Silverbacks have been in Atlanta. So right off the bat, like Portland and Seattle, there is a proven history of being able to sustain a franchise in the market. In 2006 the Silverbacks built their own stadium (currently 7,500 seating)  that has been designed to expand seating up to 15,000. The complex includes a several international sized practise fields, a club house, pool and, fitness center. So they are all ready to go for MLS they just need to expand the stadium. Another side point is that Atlanta is the biggest media market without an MLS team.

Minneapolis-St. Paul: It's been a little bit of a weird history in Minneapolis for soccer. In 1990 the Minnesota Thunder were founded and played in the USL-1 (which was teir 2 at the time) when the USL was shutting down and making way for the new NASL the Minnesota Thunder folded. Luckily, NSC Minnesota (a completely different franchise) came to be. in 2011, the team was going to be operated by the NASL (as opposed to the National Sports Center). 2012 saw the team name change to the Minnesota Stars and they became NASL champions. Most recently the team has been sold to private ownership and has been renamed Minnesota United FC. There is no soccer specific stadium large enough in the area at this time, which might be a problem for MLS but it's clear that since 1990 tier 2 soccer has been in the area and I'm sure that MLS would do well in the twin cities.

Carolina: Another city that has proved they like soccer. The Railhawks have been playing since 2007 and have developed rivalries with the Rochester Rhinos, Atlanta Silverbacks,Charleston Battery and, Puerto Rico Islanders. Their home field, WakeMed Soccer Park, is a 10,000 seat stadium that could easily be redeveloped into a larger stadium for MLS. All the ingredients are there.

That said, David Beckham has been rumored to  be taking meetings in Miami about the possibility of getting an expansion club in Miami (Beckham was promised that he could have an MLS club when he retired as part of his MLS contract) so I wouldn't be surprised to see a club in that market either.

Possible MLS Locations

The Top 5

The other night my I had an interesting conversation with my good friend about who the top 5 wrestlers of all time are.

Obviously any list of this nature is an opinion only, with the fact that some people have all time favorites that didn't last long or that weren't transcendent but rather, they just were a personal favorite. For me, Kevin Fertig (who first did the Mordecai and then the Kevin Thorn characters in WWE) would fall into that category.

So I needed to come up with a criteria.

First of all length of career is important. A wrestler like the Ultimate Warrior was huge for a period of time but he did not stick around for a long time.

Secondly a significant impact on the wrestling world. I mentioned Kevin Fertig above. Yes the characters he played were a little more gimmicky and brought something different to the table but you can't say that he had a significant impact on the wrestling world. He was just a cool character for a period of time.

Third; DO NOT consider their personality outside of wrestling. For example we all know that Ric Flair is a complete mess outside the ring. He's been divorced so many times and has no money left. He also is known to drink too much and party too hard, but I'm not going to hold that against him. We're only talking in a wrestling context here, not personal life.

Fourth; Championships do not matter. They sure don't hurt of course but, you can not compare numbers. Brunno Sammartino had the WWWF had only 2 title reigns but they lasted a combined 11 years. Meanwhile Triple H has won 13 world championships which haven't lasted half the time Sammartino was champion. Of course Roddy Piper never won the NWA/WCW/WWE world championship and is still considered an all time great. On the flip side Ric Flair has won 16 world championships....or 21 as he says. Which proves the point that there are many discrepancies. So world championships are not to be taken into consideration, though they tend to be associated with the all time greats.

I should also note that these are NOT my all time favorite wrestlers. In fact only one of these 5 would make it to my top 5 list of personal all time favorites (which may be a blog post for the future).

With that all said. My top 5 (in no particular order)

Ric Flair: I don't see how anyone can have a top 5 list and leave out Ric Flair, for over 40 years he's been one of the top names in wrestling. Known for his playboy gimmick (going so far as to once arrive to a wrestling event in a helicopter) and lavish clothes Ric Flair had the rare ability to wrestle good matches and work the mic very well. His trademark "Woo" can still be heard at wrestling shows today when a series of chops is preformed. The 16 time world champion was the hottest thing going in the NWA/WCW and became famous for his feuds with Ricky Steamboat, Sting, Dusty Rhodes and, Harley Race. He was the lead member of the famous 4 Horsemen group that through it's lifetime created many new stars. Through the 70s and 80s Ric Flair was the star of the NWA/WCW while Hulk Hogan was the star of the WWF. Then in 1991 Ric Flair jumped ship WITH the WCW championship belt. You see back in the NWA days the champion had to pay a deposit on the world championship belt when they won it. The NWA thought that would be the way that they could ensure getting the belt back when it was time for a champion to loose it. Ric Flair dropped and won the belt back so many times that he never bothered to collect his deposit and felt that he was owed his deposit back now that he changed companies. WCW sued him and eventually Flair gave the belt back and just wore a replica version on WWF TV, but for the first little while both WCW's and WWF's championship belts were on WWF tv, another reason Ric Flair is one of the all time greats, he made memorable moments at every turn. Eventually he went back to WCW in 1993 and, like most big names who wrestled in WCW during the late 90s/early 2000s he became a bit stale. When WWF bought WCW Ric came back, first as an owner of the Raw brand, then as the elder statesman of Evolution, a group that included Triple H, Batista and, Randy Orton and was very 4 Horsemen like. Right up until 2008 Flair remained a somewhat active wrestler and wrestled the big names you never got to see him wrestle like Shawn Michaels Triple H, Edge and, Chris Jericho.
Flair has gone on to sints in ROH and TNA as well, in both cases as the authority figure role with limited wrestling.
Without question Ric Flair's signature robes and crimson masks are some of the most memorable moment's in wrestling history and generations later up and coming wrestlers still claim he has been part of the reason they have gotten into wrestling.
That's why Ric Flair makes my top 5.

Mil Mascaras: Much like Antonio Anoki (who I'll talk about later) Mil Mascaras was a huge cultural icon who helped revolutionize wrestling. It all started in 1965. Mascaras rose to fame quickly because he was a well conditioned luchador in a heavyweight division that was dominated by foreigners at that time. Unlike most luchadores, who tend to be short and not heavy enough to be heavyweights, Mascaras was able to compete in Mexico, the USA and, Japan as a heavyweight. This alone set him apart from most luchadores. He was also one of the first luchdores to complete outside of Mexico in non-heel rolls and was known for being an expert when it came to countering moves. He's also credited for being one of the first wrestlers to bring the luchador style of wrestling to Japan.
1968 was the year Mascaras made his debut internationally, starting to wrestle in the Los Angeles area predominately gaining his fame by wrestling Ernie Ladd. In 1971 he debuted for All Japan Pro Wrestling and defeated Kantaro Hoshino. During this period in time he gained fame by wrestling an American masked wrestler known as The Destroyer.  During the '70s, Máscaras also had feuds with Mexican wrestlers such as TNT, El Canek, El Halcon, and Angel Blanco. These feuds took place mostly in Mexico and the USA, and were broadcast on Spanish language stations in the USA. Interesting little fact: during the 70s Mascaras was also the heavyweight champion of the IWA wrestling promotion, which was founded by Eddie Einhorn, and still holds the title to this day.
Mascaras made his wasy to the WWF in the late 70s after a ban on masked wrestlers was lifted specifically for him. During his time in the WWF he had a feud with "Superstar" Billy Graham over the WWF Championship. in the 1980s and 1990s Mascaras went over to Puerto Rico to wrestle for World Wrestling Council on a regular basis.
Mascaras ended up in WCW in 1990 and wrestled Cactus Jack at clash of the champions and, would make his return to WWF in 1997 at the Royal Rumble.
In 1991 Mascaras won his last championship, the WWA (Mexico) World Heavyweight Championship. He held that title until 1994 and at that time he assumed a semi-retired role in the wrestling world.

Clearly Mil Mascaras wrestled all around the world for all the big promotions but, he also was a massive movie star in Mexico. That career all started in 1966 when he was cast to be in a wrestler/horror movie which was the popular genre at the time. In fact, this movie was the launching point of the Mil Mascaras character and his wrestling career started as promotional appearances for this movie. You see at the time Enrique Vergara (a Mexican film producer) had issues with his 2 stars walking out on him. Those 2 starts were actually Blue Demon (who was actually injured) and Santos (contract dispute). So, because Vergara didn't want to stop making his films, which were quick to make and successful, he decided to use Mil Mascaras as he was new and relatively unknown to the wrestling world at the time and, his wrestling trunks were very flashy. Perfect for the movie world.
So, Mascaras was scheduled to appear in 2 movies. The first was simply called Mil Mascaras and was a black and white origin story about a kid who adopted by scientists and was created to be a superhero of sorts. Very "comic book-esk". Los Canallas was the second movie in which Mascaras fought a gang.
Federico Curiel directed the next 2 movies Mascaras was in. Enigma of Death and Las Vampiras. Both featured John Carradine as the "bad guy". Enigma of Death had Mascaras facing off against an underground Nazi group while Las Vampiras had him facing off against a cult of femlae vampires.
In 1970 Curiel then had a brilliant idea, it was time to make a couple "team up movies". First one was The Mummies of Guanajuato in which Mascaras, Blue Demon and, El Santo teamed up to take on a team of mummies. That movie became the highest grossing Mexican wrestler film of all time. The Champions of Justice (also 1970) saw Mil in action with fellow wrestlers Blue Demon, Tinieblas, El Medico Asesino and La Sombra Vengadora (who all joined together as sort of a super-team to fight monsters, mad scientists, criminals, evil dwarves or whatever else crossed their paths.) He would continue to do team up movies through 1983 gaining the reputation as the "team up king". The one exception being 1972's A Rose in the Ring.
In 2007 Mil Mascaras vs the Aztec Mummy (or Mil Mascaras: Resurrection) was the first movie in the wrestler genere done by "the big 3" (Mascaras, Blue Demon and, Santo) to be made in English. The film was screened at film festivals around the world and even got a magazine cover as late as 2012. Mascaras is not retired from movies and is currently working on his 20th film.

Mascaras, like many traditional luchadores, has made it very important that his real identity is not seen and wears his masks in public at all times. He's never been unmasked in the ring. He is also an uncle to the current world heavyweight champion in WWE Alberto Del Rio. He also has appeared on 3 stamps in Mexico.

For being the predecessor to what The Rock is now doing, for being an international wrestling star and, for being a defining figure in Mexican pop culture Mil Mascaras makes my top 5.

Andre the Giant: The 8th wonder of the world, Andre the Giant's career spanned over 30 years and across the globe, a popular name in both North America and Japan. In his early days, he was a hot commodity for territories who needed a boost at the gates and Vince McMahon sr. would loan him out all over the country and as a result his career's wins and losses were lied about and he was billed as an undefeated Giant. He grew to the main event level in WWf in the late 80s wrestling names like Ken Patera and King Kong Bundy. It was during this era he made his appearance in the classic film "The Princess Bride" and was one of the first crossovers from wrestling to movies, something that hulk Hogan would later do to a bigger degree. Then in 1987 Andre turned heel, setting up the "biggest match of all time" as Hogan was the top babyface at the time. It all culminated at Wrestlemania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome just outside of Detroit, Michigan. Andre was being billed as "the only undefeated wrestler in professional wrestling" as well as weighing 520 pounds and seven feet tall. Of course, in those days it was easier to lie about all this stuff as WWF had just become the first national promotion and the history of wrestlers was very blurry from territory to territory. Andre went on to loose via bodyslam and leg drop to Hogan and that helped cement Hogan as one of the all time greatest.
Andre went on to be the "goon" for the Million Dollar Man, winning the WWF championship and "sold" the championship to Ted DiBiase in one of the more famous and original storylines of all time. From there he went on to feud with Jake Roberts, team with Haku and, eventually became the guy who was constantly used by WWF to make up and comers look better.
For being the first wrestler to star in multiple movies, for his involvement in making huge starts like Hogan and DiBiase, for being the "8th wonder of the world" and, for becoming a worldwide wrestling legend Andre makes my top 5.

Chris Jericho: This may see a little surprising as Jericho is a WWE guy and why wouldn't I pick the The Rock or Stone Cold over Jericho? Well I plan on telling you.
It's been almost 30 years that Jericho has been in the business, believe it or not. From his training at the Heart Brothers Wrestling School where he met Lance Storm and immediately set out as one of the best tag teams on the independent scene to becoming the go-to guy in WWE right now Jericho has done it all.
Jericho started wrestling in 1990 exactly and was a hot commodity in the Canadian independent scene fairly quick. Being known for partnering with Lance Storm and feuding with the guys who eventually would be Christian and Edge. Only a year into his career Jericho made his way to Japan, Germany and, eventually Mexico's famous CMLL. Along the way he wrestled names like Ultimo Dragon, Silver King, Gedo, the Rock n' Roll Express and, the Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit).
Jericho came to ECW by 1996, just over 5 years into his career. He didn't stay in ECW long due to his strong matches with RVD, Taz, Sabu, 2 Cold Scorpio and, Shane Douglas.
In August of 1996 Jericho made his way to WCW, making his name by competing as part of the cruiser weight division that had gotten it's reputation as having fast paced matches and was lined with stars from Mexico and Japan. His work with wrestlers like Rey Mysterio, Alex Wright and, Juventude Guerrera got him a push in WCW which is something that was rare for wrestlers in that cruiser weight division. in 1998 Jericho made his way into the the TV championship picture and really started to blossom. His character became an ego maniac that did really weird things all the time, including one night on Nitro when he listed the 1,001 holds that he knew and during his feud with Saturn constantly asking for matches with weird stipulations like "the looser wears a dress match". During this time Jericho could not get booked as a main event star and became annoyed with WCW and eventually just let his contract run out so he could go elsewhere.
That's where the famous Y2J problem came to be. A series of videos, playing off the "Y2K" computer scares would pop up on WWF shows counting down a debut. It caused tons of conversation "who is it?". Finally on August 9, 1999 the Y2J problem arrived in WWF.....and we would never, eeevvveeerrr be the same again. The first long feud Jericho was involved in was for the Intercontinental championship and it was against Chyna in which they shared the title. Right off the bat Jericho was being different and making a name for himself. Buy 2001 Jericho was one of the most over babyfaces in WWF due to his incredible mic skills and when WWF decided to merge the WCW and WWF championships Jericho got his first huge push and became the first ever undisputed champion, which he held until Wrestlemania 18.
He then went on to one of my all tiem favorite fueds/teams with Christian. The were originally a tag team, with Jericho having a love intrest in Trish Stratus which they agreed would not work due to a bet over 1 Canadian Dollar that was offensive to women, They made amends, making Jericho face and eventually Trish turned on Jericho, revealing her and Christian were a couple which lead to a match between Jericho and Christian. Jericho continued his persuit of the world championships until he left WWE in 2005.
In 2007 Jericho returned after spending time with his band, Fozzy and working on various TV projects.
He returned with a similar countdown clock, this time in a more Matrix style clock. When he returned he claimed that he was coming back to WWE to save all the fans from the how boring things had become. He was a cocky, well dressed heel that was a self proclaimed savior of the WWE. He started feuding with the big names like Shawn Micheals and Randy Orton, Even teaming with Big Show as Jeri-show. It was this period in time from 2007 to 2010 in which he cemented himself as a main event star. He left again in 2010 and wouldn't be seen until September 2011. Again working on his band and other various projects.
His 2011 return he re-invented himself again! He came out with a jacket that had flashing lights and would be jumping and high fiveing fans but every time he went to speak on the mic, he could find the words. Essentially, Jericho turned himself heel (as he was a face at his return due to the crowds cheers) without saying a word! Since his 2011 return he's been used in feds with up and coming stars to help them get over by giving them a good match every night.
Jericho's band, Fozzy, has released 5 studio albums and have gone from being a gimmicky cover band to a serious rock band. Jericho has also written 3 books, 4 movies, been part of 7 TV shows, participated in sketch comedy troupes and, has been a main actor in a theatrical production called Opening Night.
For his ability to constantly reinvent himself as a wrestler, his microphone skills and, his ability to be a significant part of popular culture Chris Jericho makes my top 5 wrestlers of all time.

Antonio Inoki: I think if I left this gentleman off the list it'd be one of my biggest mistakes. Antonio Inoki met Japanese superstar wrestler, Rikidozan at the age of 17 and (along with another future star, Giant Baba) became one of Rikidozan's "disciples" or students right up until the time of Rikidozan's death.
During the 1960s Inoki wrestled in the USA from time to time and flipped between Japan Wrestling association and Tokyo Pro Wrestling. It wasn't until 1971 when Inoki was fired from Japan Wrestling Association (he was planning a takeover of the promotion) that his significance went from being a popular wrestler to becoming a massive hero in Japan.
It was 1972 when Inoki started New Japan Pro Wrestling, A promotion that was considered as saving pro wrestling from the Yakuza and all the scandals that happened during Rikidozan's days. Inoki, became a big legend in Japan when he fought Muhammad Ali in 1976 in a "Boxing vs wrestling" match. Unfortunately it was for the wrong reasons as the match was scored a draw, Anoki, who's strategy was to lay on the ground and kick up at Ali, said later that he had, in fact, won but lost points due to penalties. Of course Ali just called Inoki a cheater. To this day people still are not certain if this was a worked match or not.
Inoki continued his legacy on November 30, 1979 when he beat WWF champion Bob Backlund in Japan for the WWF title. Then on December 6 they had a rematch which Backlund won but the title did not change hands due to interference but, Inoki refused the title and it was declared vacant. Later, Backund won the belt back and WWE still does not recognize this event as a title change (this is why you see one title reign for Backlund from 1978-1983 as the official record).
Inoki became so popular in Japanese culture that in 1989 Inoki established his own political group, the sports and peace part and was elected into the Japanese Legislature. In fact, in 1990 he was sent to negotiate with Saddam Hussein  over the release of Japanese prisoners being held hostage in Iraq.
1995 saw another high profile match involving Inoki. The Japanese and Korean governments had arranged a 2 day peace festival. Part of the festivities was a TV segment in which Inoki went to Rikidozan's grave site and paid tribute to his career. The day after Inoki and Ric Flair had a match in which Inoki won.
From 1994 to 1998 Inoki had his retirement tour billed as "the final countdown". The series was all re-matches of his famous matches culminating in a match with Don Frye.
As the years went on Inoki's influence with New Japan continued to decline, culminating in selling his 51.5% share in the company to Yuke's (A video game company). He has since started a new promotion (in 2007) called Inoki Genome Federation.

For being a pioneer of Japanese pro wrestling, for being in some of the most high profile matches of all time and, for remaining relevant in Japanese wrestling AND politics since the 1970s Anotnio Inoki makes my top 5 wrestlers of all time.

With that said, this is just how I feel.
I realize that there are names out there like Lou Thez, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers, "Whipper" Bill Watson and, Sting (just to name a few) that deserve consideration for this list. Don't get me wrong, these people all deserve a place in wrestling's history and I'm not taking anything away from them, I just think these 5 are the biggest influences on the wrestling world.

Calin Wild

The Wild Beast

Last week I posted a player profile on Brampton's own Jason Pitton. This week I'm following it up with the second signing announced by the Beast at Oscar's Roadhouse on July 11.

Calin "The Wild Beast" Wild (Yes I'm going to try to get that nickname to stick) has had a more direct path to Brampton that Jason Pitton has. As we were told, he currently lives in Brampton but he is originally from Winnipeg. He's 6'1, weighs 180 pounds, plays center and, shoots left.

Calin started his career with the Winnipeg South Blues in junior "A" in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. That was the 2004-05 season and he scored 21 points and amassed 41 penalty minutes.

From there, Calin went to university. He spent 4 years (2006-07 to 2009-10) playing for the University of Manitoba while obtaining his bachelor of commerce. His 4 years at university consisted of 111 regular season games in which he scored 44 points and 104 penalty minutes. In addition to that, he played 6 playoff games in 2009-10 where get obtained 2 PIM. Calin received the Mike Ridley award in 2006-07 which is for "superior athletic ability, good academic standing and, high level of leadership as a full time student.". He also participated in a 100 hour non-stop ball hockey game that same season. It set the Guinness world record for the largest non-stop game of ball hockey and raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

For the 2010-11 season Calin signed with the then Texas Brahmas of the Central Hockey League. In 55 games he scored 21 points and 24 PIM. He also played 4 playoff games in which he scored 1 goal, 1 assist and 2 penalty minutes.

In August 2011 Calin signed with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the East Coast Hockey League. Unfortunately that didn't stick and he was released by the Gladiators in October but returned to play the 2011-12 season with the Texas Brahmas. The 65 games he played that season brought him 23 points and 33 PIM. The Brahmas went a little deeper into the playoffs and in 12 games during the 2011-12 season he scored 1 goal, 3 assists and, 4 PIM.

October of 2012 was a little nicer to Calin than October of 2011. The Brahmas, who were bought by a Fort-Worth based investment group and re-named the Fort Worth Brahams, signed Calin to a 1 year extension. 2012-13 saw only 43 games for Calin but he managed 32 points (the most he has gotten in the CeHL) and 17 PIM. The Brahmas then went to the playoffs and Calin scored 2 goals and 1 assist with 2 PIM during the 9 games.

Unfortunately, there were ownership issues in Fort Worth. Some of the financial contributors never ended up coming to the table with the money promised and during the 2012-13 season the Brahmas struggled financially. As a result of the financial difficulties the franchise announced that they would go inactive for at least the 2013-14 season while trying to find a more favorable lease as well as financial backing. With the Brahmas going dormant the CeHL made the players on the Brahmas all free agents. This is how Calin ended up a member of the Brampton Beast.

I'll leave you with a little interview Calin did while in Gwinnett:

Jason Pitton Profile

Last week I did a little re-cap of the Brampton Beast player signing announcements. Today I wanted to take the time out and do a little player profile on Jason Pitton.
Jason is actually a Brampton native, which is a nice tie-in for the team. He's a 27 year old who was drafted by the Islanders in the 2004 Entry Draft. Jason stands at 6'2 and weighs 215 lbs.

Jason started his career on the path to pro hockey in the 2002-03 season with the Brampton Capitals of the OPJHL (junior B). He did manage to get 1 game in with his OHL team that season, the Sault Saint Marie Greyhounds.

For the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons Jason spent the time with the Greyhounds scoring 66 points and 76 penalty minutes.
2004 was the year of his draft and he was selected by the New York Islanders in the 8th round, 244th overall. The Islanders decided to send him back to the OHL for some more seasoning and, In his final OHL season (2005-06) Jason was traded to the Guelph Storm about halfway through the season. That season he came up with 50 PIM and 42 points.

The 2006-07 season was spent with the Islander's AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Jason scored 19 points that year but came out with 65 penalty minutes.

2007-08 was split between the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies and Bridgeport. over 44 games in the 2 leagues Jason scored 18 points and 45 PIM.

2008-09 was a bit of a step up as Jason managed to stay in the AHL all season, but he only scored 4 points. He came out with 47 PIM.

In 2009-10 Jason signed a contract with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL. So did younger brother Bryan who plays goaltender. Jason spent 38 games with the team scoring 24 points and 48 PIM. As a result, he earned a professional tryout agreement with the Spingfield Falcons of the AHL. He spent 25 games with the Falcons and scored 1 goal, 1 assist and got 22 PIM. He then returned to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL for the playoffs. In 15 playoff games he scored 14 points and added 20 PIM..

2010-11 Was a really interesting season for Jason. He returned to the Stockton Thunder and in 41 games during the course of the ECHL season he scored 30 points and 73 PIM. The thing about the season that made it so interesting was that Stockton loaned him to 3 separate AHL teams during the course of the season. I haven't been able to find out exactly why in each case, but I can assume that it was either to cover for a call up to the NHL or injury related. He spent 1 game with the Manitoba Moose where he did not score and ended up with 2 PIM. Jason spent 9 games with the Worcester Sharks where he scored 2 goals, 1 assist and, got 7 PIM. Finally he spent 16 games with his old team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He scored 1 goal and 4 assists in Bridgeport and also ended up with 7 PIM.

For the 2011-12 season Jason decided to head over to Italy. He signed with HC Asiago of the Italian "La Serie A di hockey su ghiaccio" or "A series of ice hockey" in hockey. Asiago was the 2 time defending Serie A champions. He played 32 games with Asiago ending with 21 points and 86 PIM. Unfortunately there was no repeat.

2012-13 took Jason to the EIHL (Elite Ice Hockey League) in the United Kingdom. He joined the Fife Flyers, a team based in Scotland. The Flyers were actually established in 1938 and have won 60 Scottish and British titles over the years.
Jason was reunited with his younger brother Bryan, who himself is a former member of the Brampton Battalion. In 50 games in the UK Jason scored 58 points and got 187 PIM.

Here is a video done by the Fife Flyers about Jason

Now, it's all come full circle. Jason is back at home and ready to play 2013-14 for the Brampton Beast.

Darren O'Dea

I was reading Duane Rollins' recent column over at Canadian Soccer News about Darren O'Dea leaving Toronto FC.

The paragraph that really hit home is this one:

What we do know is that a 26 year old player, good enough for his national team and good enough to be named captain, who could have been part of Toronto FC for a number of years into the future won’t be sticking around. Regardless of the arguments over its necessity, and obvious lack of efficacy, the culture of disposability at TFC hasn't been changed.

This signing was one of the best signings in club history in my opinion. A young player who is clearly one of the best from his country (being an Irish international) who wanted to come to TFC and help fix the struggling back line. To boot, due to his age, he could have stuck around for a long time and started to turn TFC into a place for some higher profile players to consider coming to.

I strongly believe that this is one of the worst moves TFC has made to date. O'Dea is worth the $200K they are were paying him in my opinion.

I'm really not happy about this.

Beast Unleashed

On Tuesday night I received a tweet from the Brampton Beast, inviting me to come out to a player signing announcement event. I thought that was really cool of the team and it goes to what I was saying in my previous blog post about the Beast in terms of their goal to reach out to the community and actually try to sell tickets (as opposed to the Battalion who never advertised).

So my good friend and I went down to Oscar's Roadhouse, a local Brampton restaurant, to check out the event. I have to admit, I was surprised when we arrived to find that the restaurant was packed. We got a seat in the back corner and settled in to hear the news.

The first person we heard from was Carey Kaplin. Carey is the President, General Manager and, co-owner of the Beast. The first thing he mentioned was that the team has sold 2,000 tickets to every game thus far (keep in mind he did not say that they sold 2,000 season seats) and that the club feels that they are trending towards getting sell out crowds. I remain in the "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind. In all fairness, that's not directed towards the team but rather the citizens of Brampton and how much they really care for hockey.
Carey also mentioned that the Beast will have both an NHL and a AHL affiliation team and that will be announced in the next couple of months. Personally that was the biggest news of the night to me. If the team can gain an affiliation then they may get a chance to be loaned an AHL player coming back from an injury which can't hurt the ticket sales.
The next piece of information is that the new scoreboard is about to begin construction. Apparently it will be big one too, spanning from blue line to blue line. I got the impression that it will basically be a mini version of the scoreboard the Dallas Cowboys have in their new stadium, which is to say a big video screen in a rectangular shape.
There was also mention that the team's jersey will be unveiled soon and there will be another event for that (which I'm looking forward to) but we were basically told to "stay tuned" for that information.
We were also told that the Beast intend on having plenty of give-a-ways at all of their games and theme nights. I'm sure my friends over at the Chris Creamer Sports Logo Community will look forward to those themed nights (and potential themed jerseys) as much as I will.

Next a video was played showing pictures from the community event the Beast have attended, I do not recall the number mentioned now but I know it was over 100. That was pretty impressive.

Next up we had counselor Sanderson. He didn't really say anything in terms of news. He gave the Beast organization kudos for their community involvement, told us that he bought his season tickets and, told us to buy our season seats. The highlight of his speech was when he said the Battalion didn't ever do a thing to advertise. I found that funny. True, but funny. In fairness to counselor Sanderson, he did say that he wished the Battalion the best of luck right after.

At this point head coach Mark DeSantis came up and told the crowd that he has been constantly on the phone and the computer scouting and talking to player agents. He mentioned that his goal is to have a competitive team right off the bat. He admitted that it is hard as an expansion team to do so but he wanted a winning team. He then went into the player signing announcements:

Calin Wild is the first player announced. Cal is a Brampton resident who was born in Winnipeg. Calin played the last 3 season with the Texas/Fort Worth Brahmas organisation who are right now an "inactive" team looking for a new venue to play in. Calin seems to be about a 20 point a season who plays center. My friend kind of laughed when he heard Calin's last name mentioning that it was perfect to fit in with the club's branding. Calin "The Beast" Wild, ha ha ha.

The second player announced was Jason Pitton. Jason was born and raised in Brampton. Jason is a former member of the old Junior "B" Brampton Capitals, played with the Sault Saint Marie Greyhounds and Guelph Storm in the OHL. He's the older brother of former Battalion goaltender Bryan Pitton and spent last year with his brother in the UK playing for the Fife Flyers. Jason plays on the left wing.





Finally, Bret Smith (the first Beast signing) came up to the podium to confirm he will wear number 41. He mentioned that the Beast said they were so excited to sign him and that when he arrived in Brampton they gave him the number 14 and he started to wonder if they really wanted him (jokingly of course). He also said that he was glad to have some teammates because he wasn't sure if he could do it all himself. Seems like a pretty funny guy.

The night ended with a couple of questions from the audience, nothing serious, just wanting to know the players positions, ect.

All in all, pretty much what you would expect from a player announcement but it was cool that the team gave out so much information as to what they are working on so willingly.

Next week I plan on going into more depth on the players with a some player profiles, so stay tuned if you'd like to hear more about the Brampton Beast players.

***Edit: The nickname was to be Calin "The Wild Beast" Wild. My apologies Garrett!***

Diego Frolan to TFC?

I got a text this morning from a good friend of mine.

"Did I just hear that TFC is signing Diego? Fancy!".

I asked said friend what she (take note of the gender) thought of the signing. The response was basically "Well he is an MVP and he's sexy LOL".

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not going to slag my friend at all. She's not exactly a soccer fanatic and she probably represents a large portion of the population. It's clear she has the perception that TFC is signing a star player (well he was 4 years ago in reference to her MVP comment). I even saw a New England fan tweet this morning that he would like to purchase a Forlan TFC jersey.

The stats speak for themselves. From 2007 to 2011 he played 134 league games and score 74 goals. He also played 62 international games and 22 goals. That was all part of his stay with Athletico Madrid. In this time frame he won the Golden Ball (best player of the tournament) at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and became Uruguay's all time leading scorer.

From 2011 up until the end of the 2013 season (in Brazil) he played 37 club games and scored 7 goals. Meanwhile he only had 2 appearances on the international stage, no goals. This time from was spent between 2 different clubs as well, Inter Milan and Internacional.

So now that I've laid out the stats to back it up, here's my opinion on this signing:

Stupid.

Yup, that's it. It clear that he's at a stage where he's older and more injury prone, This is not his fault, this is a common occurrence for players who are coming towards the end of their career. You can't blame the player for this, you can only blame TFC management.
I mean, a simple look on the internet would have told you his stats and that should be enough to think "maybe this isn't going to be a good idea, he obviously isn't as productive as he used to be.".

Now, If TFC comes out and says "look, we realize that he's not as productive as he once was but we wanted to bring in a player that has name recognition" then I'll be less upset. But who am I kidding? That's not going to happen. This is TFC trying to make the big name signing in order to get some more butts in the seats. That's fine too, but I have no disillusions of this being anything other than that and I think if TFC tries to sell us on this being a tactical signing then they are stupid.

I hate when players like this come into MLS. It's a wasted roster spot. If MLS has a grand vision of being one of the top leagues in the world by 2020 (tm: Don Garber) then they have to stop signing old players who aren't worth the insane amounts of money they sign for. We've seen this story with TFC before, Danny Kovermans (who by the way, I really like), Toresten Frings (another player I liked but was injury prone) and, Mista. They play so little because they are injured half the time and usually it all ends with a player being waived and a career ending. If TFC is going to be bad on the field, I'd rather they use that roster spot to sign a young Canadian player and let that player develop in MLS.

This signing may sell some more tickets but it's probably not going to help the team win at all.
It's starting to feel like nothing ever will.
That sincerely makes me sad.

The Beast

For those of you who don't know, the OHL's Brampton Battalion decided to pack up and move to North Bay. Poor attendance and an unfavorable lease agreement with the city of Brampton's Powerade Centre being the reasons. It was sad to see the Battalion go but, when butts aren't in the seats what do you expect will happen?

It didn't take long for the city of Brampton to come up with some alternative content to put in the Powerade Centre. The Brampton A's of the National Basketball League of Canada will be 1 option.
The Brampton Beast of the Central Hockey League is the other option.

Now, I'm not going to kid myself. These are 2 leagues that call themselves professional but are anything but professional. I'll go check out the A's mostly because I want to see what basketball will look like in the "Powerade" as I call it. That's not what I wanted to post about today though.

The Brampton Beast are the team I want to speak about. Let me give you a little background on the Central Hockey League.
The CeHL (as opposed to CHL because the Canadian Hockey League gets the CHL short form) is technically a mid-level minor professional hockey league. In terms of the North American hockey pyramid, it is tier 4. Currently the league does have NHL and AHL affiliates but rarely will you see NHL prospects play in the league.

The Beast themselves came to be on March 8, 2013. Clearly the OHL is considered a much better brand of hockey so the question lingers, why are the Beast and the CeHL going to work when the Battalion and the OHL didn't?

I don't know that they are, if I can be completely honest. This is the only Canadian team in the league, in fact the next closest team is located in Moline, Illinois (3 hours west of Chicago). So travel cost are going to be expensive. Obviously Brampton is not a "hockey town". The attendance number for the Battalion proved that to be the case and if the OHL is a better brand of hockey then what would make the people come out to see the Beast?

Well, there are a few reasons. Reason number one is that the city is working very closely with this team. As far as I have been able to find out, the city thought that the Battalion weren't going anywhere and could basically negotiate a nice chunk of change as rent for the Powerade Centre. Of course that caused a problem with Scott Abott (owner of the Battalion...and, side fun fact, co creator of the board game Trivial Pursuit) and was part of the reason he moved the team. I have to think the Beast are paying less than the Battalion ever did but, in all fairness, I don't know that for a fact. This time around the city has also committed to installing a new state of the art score clock.

Reason number two: advertising in the community. This was literally NEVER done with the Battalion. I guess the Battalion figured that because Brampton re-named all the rep hockey teams after the OHL team, that was advertisement enough. Of course not, the hockey community is going to know about the hockey teams they can go see, it's the people outside of that community that you need to advertise to! As of today, I've seen the Beast have representatives at every city event. Last night (July 1st) I saw them at 10pm in the park where the city's firework display was going off. I've seen them outside of Brampton's theatre for the preforming arts (called the Rose Centre) and, I've even seen them at the farmer's market. In fact; my grandmother, who couldn't care less about hockey, even saw them at an event for seniors and she asked me what kind of hockey the Beast are. That's getting your name out there.

Reason three is not a sure-fire thing,  but it helps. Brampton's minority owner and president/GM is Cary Kiplan. Cary is a former Canadian Soccer League commissioner and former president of the Hamilton Bulldogs. My feelings aside on the CSL (they are very strongly negative, but that's another story for another day) that's still a pretty impressive resume.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect the Beast to be a success. According to the management of the club, they have sold 2,000 tickets for every game next season. This is about the numbers the Battalion did (including walk up) so the team has more work to do, but if they keep getting out there in the community and make sure that people know their name then maybe this team does stand a chance.

Wrestlemania 29 and Raw on April 8

I was going to post my Wrestlemania thoughts yesterday but decided to wait and see how the follow up Raw would be. 

The tradition has become that the Raw after 'mania has become just as much of an event as Wrestlemania itself. This year Raw proved to be the better show.

Let me say first that I had ordered the PPV online and had about 10 people over to watch, and the stream from wwe.com did not work all night long. I have e-mailed WWE since and explained how disappointed my guests were and I requested a refund. WWE has come back telling me that I was given an extra 48 hours to "enjoy" the event at my leisure. I've responded again explaining that the 10 guests I had over don't get that same luxury. Plus, the results are out and the excitement and surprises of watching a live event are now gone. Anyway, that battle for my $60 back goes on. But here are my 'mania thoughts. (Yes, we found another way to watch it but that is not the point is it? I paid for a service that I did not receive)

Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett vs The Miz

Short match as part of the pre show. Miz got the submission (with the figure 4) and won the title. I did not feel strongly either way. Until Raw when Barrett used his rematch clause and won the title back! So what was the point? Seems a little stupid to me.

The Shield vs Randy Orton, Sheamus and, The Big Show  

I actually enjoyed this match. I felt that the shield was kept strong and it was not at the expense of the WWE crew of guys. Ambrose got the clean pin on Orton which I thought was a nice touch to keep the shield strong. Afterwards Big Show knocked out Sheamus and Orton. It was a little confusing because Big show was a heel already and he just kind of eased off of it in this story line. So he didn't really turn on Orton or Sheamus he just kind of stopped playing nice. It was justified in the post show on wwe.com by Big Show. He mentioned that he tried to be a good guy and do the right thing but Orton and Sheamus screwed that up for him (or something to that effect) and that he just can't play nice anymore.

Mark Henry vs Ryback

It was a short match, which I feel it should have been due to the fact that these 2 can't go that long. In the end it was nothing spectacular and Mark Henry won. After that Ryback attacked Henry. Kind of defeated the purpose if you ask me. On Raw Henry wrestled Cena and got disqualified. Had Henry won that match he would have got a title shot. After the DQ Henry continued to attack Cena until Ryback came down and took out Henry. Ryback then took out Cena. So I guess it's a 3 way for the WWE championship coming up. I guess Ryback is also heel now? 

WWE Tag Team Championship: Team Hell No vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston

Team Hello No ended up defending the titles. I didn't feel that there was much to this match but the start was funny as Ziggler and AJ kissed and Daniel Bryan went for the pin right away. Just like last year when Bryan and AJ kissed and Sheamus used that to his advantage to win the World Heavyweight Championship. I was really hoping Ziggler and Big E would win this. On Raw Ziggler took advantage of a beat up Alberto Del Rio and cashed in his money in the bank to win the World Heavyweight Championship. To me that makes sense, you get the divas belt on AJ and then you have a group that has tons of gold. 

Fandango vs Chris Jericho

I expected this one to be the match of the night. It didn't end up being the match of the night but it was still good. Not a heck of a lot to say, Jericho put Fandango over

as expected and now WWE needs to follow up with making a star out of Fandango.

World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger

I really don't have much to say. The match was not exciting and Alberto Del Rio retained. It was just a back and forth between the 2 wrestler's submission holds.

The Undertaker vs CM Punk

I think that I was expecting this to be a let down. Punk was going to save this match for sure but I thought that Taker was just too old and beat up. I was wrong, this was the match of the night! Not too much to note. Punk did the old school to Undertaker and teased a tombstone which was countered. In the end it was a well worked match that kept myself and the crowd pretty excited. Taker continued the streak (as expected) and all is right in the world. On Raw Taker came out to do a little promo and The Shield interrupted him. They came down to ring side but as soon as they got there Kane's fireworks went off and Daniel Bryan and Kane ran down to the ring to back up Taker. The Shield retreated. I guess this means that Taker is sticking around for another match this year. That's pretty cool and I like the idea of the Brothers of Destruction working together again.

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match

The stipulation was that if Triple H lost he'd have to retire. Brock had Paul Heyman in his corner and HHH had Shaun Michaels in his. 

I did not really enjoy this match. There was so many suplex spots that it just got a little stupid. Belly to belly, belly to back...we started making jokes that the next suplex would be a back to back suplex. There were some chair shots, the stairs were used and, good old sledgy (as I call Triple H's sledge hammer) made an appearance. Triple H went through the Spanish announce table. Lesnar took out HBK with an F-5. Triple H applied the Kimura lock on Brock Lesnar a few times after Brock had done it to him already. The last 5 - 10 miniutes of the match were basically the 2 guys beating each other's arms up. In the end Triple H won, he doesn't have to retire.

WWE Championship: The Rock vs John Cena

Snooze fest! Honestly, it was a slow match that never really got going. John Cena won and is the new WWE champion as expected. Apparently Rock had torn his abdomen and adductor muscles right off the bone so maybe that played a factor. Either way it served the purpose, bring back Rock to get more eyes on the product.

Just another thought: The crowd at Raw was super hot, they deserve a lot of credit. When Ziggler cashed in and won the title I thought the roof was going to blow off that stadium, it's been a long time since that has happened. Also the match that was taken off the Wrestlemania card: Tons of funk with the Funkadactyls vs Rhodes Scholars and the Bella Twins was on Raw. So no 'mania payday but the match did happen. 

Kevin Kolb is a Bill

The Buffalo Bills signed QB Kevin Kolb yesterday.

If you recall Kevin Kolb was supposed to take over the reins from Donnovan McNab in Philadelphia about 6 years ago, or at least that was the intent the Eagles had when drafting him. He never quite made it, lost his job to the returning Michael Vick and ended up in Arizona after playing only 19 games in 4 years.

His 2 seasons in Arizona (as the starter) he ended up playing only 15 games, most due to injury issues. Last season he got 4 wins in his 6 games. Not horrible, but I think the real number that sticks out is his 8 touchdown passes with only 3 interceptions.

The rumors were very lively that the Jets and Raiders were both very interested in in bringing Kolb in, the likelihood is that it was meant to be in a backup capacity. If not a backup then a QB who could push for the starting role in an attempt to get better performances from the established starters. That's not the case in Buffalo.

So now the Bills have Kevin Kolb, Travaris Jackson and, Aaron Corp (was a practise squad member in 2012) on the roster fighting for the lead QB spot. It will come of no surprise that the Bills intend to draft a QB this year as well. Basically we are looking at an injury prone QB, a 30 year old who's best days seem to be behind him, a draft pick and, a 2012 undrafted practise squad player.

Sometime I seriously wonder what the heck the Bills are thinking. I get that there is no elite name out there to sign right now and, with as poorly as this team has played over the last 10+ years, the last thing that the Bills need to do is trade assets away to get a QB. I also get that there is no real elite QB in this year's draft, at least nothing like last year's draft. Here's what you do: just play the season. Use Travaris Jackson. Use your 2013 draft pick for a receiver (another position that is seriously lacking in Buffalo) and just play. It will be a brutal year but that will put the Bills in a spot to draft a highly touted QB or use that draft pick to trade for a good, established QB.

I don't really think this is rocket science.
This is fairly common practise. Why the Bills insist on getting "middle of the road" players at QB and having 5 to 8 win seasons just blows my mind. Now the Bills have invested another 13 million (over 2 years) to a QB who just doesn't isn't going to be god enough to be a game changer.
So annoying.