Playoff Race

It has been some exciting times in hockey. The LAKings are in the midst of a very tight playoff race. Whether they play a game or not, the Kings move positions in the Western Conference standings. One night out of the playoffs in 9th, then up to 5th, down to 8th, then up to 6th. It's crazy. Similarly, my rec hockey team is jockeying for their first playoff appearance. Well, first with me on it. I'm playing my second season with this team and we've made some improvements to put us in contention.

 

Too much MMA?

Coming off a big week in MMA. UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator all had events. I follow those organizations as well as Dream and some K-1. My man Dan Henderson won the Light Heavy Championship on Saturday. As a fan it has been hard to watch him lose, and I honestly didn't know what to expect. The guy is 40 and there are only so many Randy Coutures in the sport. The hardest part of being an MMA fan is watching guys lose to Father Time, (see Chuck Liddell). But the big right hand landed and Feijao went down. I didn't catch the Bellator event. Shame on me. I am mostly focused on the lightweight division. I followed Eddie Alvarez's career into Bellator and watch the annual lightweight tourney. I don't really have a coherent point to this post. But that's all I got for today.

UFC on Versus 3

I'm not sure why, but the UFC Fight Nights and Versus events are usually better than PPV events. Maybe it is because I have lowered expectations for the free UFC broadcasts. Betting $55 that a fight card will be explosive, puts the expectations way up there for PPV. Also, the guys fighting on these cards are really making the most of their exposure. Some of the UFC veterans tend to be conservative, as a couple losses and you are out of the organization. Also, title fights are always PPV and those can become conservative/boring with so much on the line.

True to form, last night was great. There was a WEC rematch with deja-vu, as Brian Bowles guillotined Demacio Page at 3:30 of the first round, again. I loved seeing Mark Munoz place a stiff overhand right onto CB Dollaway's chin. Dollaway doesn't like to lose, who does? But after complaining about phantom tapouts, the "early stoppage" from last night was garbage. Dollaway was knocked out. I think it was great refereeing by Yamasaki. He saw that CB was out and defenseless; then he wisely stopped the fight. Fine. Next time let CB Dollaway take some extra punishment, by TKO or submission, just to be sure. Finally, we saw a tubby Diego Sanchez come from behind to out point Kampmann. I can feel for Kampmann, as I wanted him to win and he was picking apart Sanchez and bloodied him badly in the first round. To Diego's credit he kept coming, scored a takedown, and managed a unanimous decision.

Probably the biggest thing to come out of the fight was Dana White awarding the Fight of the Night bonus. He LOVED the Sanchez vs Kampmann fight. First it was $40K FOTN bonus. Later he ups it to $60K. Today it was announced as $100K, additional. Wow. Only the top UFC breadwinners usually take home $160K. That's on top of the agreed bout pay and win bonus. Sanchez probably earned over a quarter million. For once I love the precident that White's setting. Come to fight, put on a show, and I will compensate you. This can only have a positive effect on future events. C'mon boys, go get that FOTN bonus.

Lombardi Apologist

Some would say that Lombardi got the leftovers of the trade deadline, by not acting sooner. Maybe. I'm sure there was interest by rival GMs in most of the Kings' younger players. But I think his philosophy was clear, that none of the current roster players were moving.

I assume that Lombardi realizes that the locker room is a fickle thing. Tweak it too much or bring in the wrong guys, and it becomes a nightmare. And you don't mess with a good thing. Penner has some familarity with Stoll and Greene, so he wouldn't be a pure, hired gun (aka Kovalchuk this past summer). Lombardi showed solidarity and confidence in the guys that got him here. (Obviously, Sturm wasn't a part of that). Maybe that painted him into a corner and drove up the price, but a deal was done. At the end of the day, I think building from within is the way to go.

Penner to Kings

I was very busy yesterday and didn't even track the NHL trade deadline deals. I got back to my desk after lunch and saw that Lombardi had made a deal for Dustin Penner. My initial reaction is mixed.

The Good: The Kings did not give up a roster player. Lombardi said he wouldn't lose anyone from the roster and he kept his word. Penner is not a rental, and has another year of contract obligation. Penner is a big body with skill, those guys are pretty rare.

The Bad: The price was a little steep with prospect Colin Teubert, a first rounder in 2011, and second rounder in 2012. Actually, the 2012 pick is conditional, but since the Kings are making the playoffs this year, that makes it a 2nd round pick instead of a 3rd round pick. (I'm optimistic in the midst of the closest playoff race in NHL history.?)

The Ugly: Penner has a history of coasting. To me, these's nothing worse than a big guy that doesn't use his size. Dany Heatley comes to mind, yet Penner is not a sniper of Heatley's caliber. Jason Spezza also comes to mind, yet Penner is not the puck wizard Spezza is. Penner used to play for the Ducks. He helped then win a Cup. That kills me.

Realistically this is a good trade. Kings fans (& probably coaching staff?) have been clamouring for a scoring winger. This will satisfy those people for the time being, whether the move is a good one or not. Penner is coming out of Edmonton, whose media can and will slam any player with expectations as high as Penner had. I would reason that Penner could flourish playing as a piece to the puzzle, instead of trying to carry a team/city/province on his back. Penner also showed some class, making a graceful exit out of Edmonton; that's a good sign to me.

I have pretty high expectations on this guy. Obviously, since we are giving up three high picks. The Kings are far from in the Playoffs with a dogfight going on, one guy on the roster could make all the difference.