Mustache Power!

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Mustache Power

Here are my round 2 playoff bets:

Pit to beat Mtl – $50 to win $11.11 (if possible, I’d bet the farm on this series)
Phi to beat Bos – $50 to win $65
Det to beat SJ – $50 to win $50
Van to beat Chi – $50 to win $60

Pit and Phi to win – $50 to win $90
Det and Van to win – $50 to win $165

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

My Round 2 Playoff Bets

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

What if Pierre wasn’t Creepy?

So there ya have it. The only bet I’m not 100% comfortable with is taking Nashville over Chicago. However, I think they have a better than 3:1 shot of doing so. Therefore, the price was right.

Bring on the playoffs!

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

My Round 1 Playoff Bets

I’ve been interviewing for a bunch of jobs lately at places like Microsoft, Telus, and IBM. They’ve been more work then your typical interview as I need to make sure I’m ready for the technical questions that come up. I’m confident I know my stuff, but in the world of software there’s just always more to learn. I love it.

Hopefully I’ll find a company to call home in the not so distant future and won’t have to worry about job hunting come April.

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As for my $100 NHL/NFL challenge, I lost my last bet. I must have missed something because I actually have an extra $20 in my account, maybe a bonus was released. Anyway, the current balance is $163.87.

Tonight I’m betting $20 on PIT Penguins to beat BOS Bruins (sorry Uncle Rob). I stand to win $40.10.

Go Pens Go!

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Busy Times

I put in $100 for the year and will track how I do throughout the year. So far I’ve made the following four bets:

30th September 2008:
PIT Steelers to beat BAL Ravens by 6 or more. Bet $10. Won $0
PIT Steelers and BAL Ravens to score 35 or more points total. Bet $10. Won $19.30
Balance: $99.30

7th October 2008:
MIN Vikings to beat NEO Saints. Bet $10. Won $20.70.
Balance: $110

10th October 2008:
TOR Maple Leafs to beat DET Red Wings. Bet $20. Won $63.87.
Balance: $153.87

Tonight I am betting $10 on DET Red Wings to defeat VAN Canucks. I stand to win $15.

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

My $100 NHL/NFL Challenge

The Goalie Situation
We stopped playing Russian Roulette in net when we dumped Raycroft. Toskala is a solid starter who can play many games. To fill the back-up position I think its time we give Justin Pogge a few games with the big boys. Bring him up and have him back-up Toskala this season.

Defence
Not a whole lot needs to be done defensively, aside from remaining healthy. We still have a solid core of defence in Kaberle, McCabe (I predict a rebound from last season), Coliacavo (protect that glass jaw!), Kubina, White, and Krohnwall. I think we have a solid up-and-coming defense core with some proven older guys to lead the way. I can’t express how happy I am to be without Hal Gill. He looked just as useless with Pittsburgh who somehow managed to make the finals despite being held down by this enormous bag of useless.

Offence
This is where we need the help. Although it would be nice if Sundin came back (he’s definitely worth the $7 million price tag) it doesn’t appear as if that is likely at the moment. So that leaves us with two players who I believe can be consistent offensive threats: Antropov and Blake. Antropov had a stellar year while Blake slumped. I’m expecting good things from them this year.

After those two we’re left with a roster that is begging for help. Mostly consisting of younger players that have shown promise at times but have yet to prove that they are people you can count on. So, who do we get to boost the roster?

Corey Perry is a RFA with Anaheim this year. He may not be available at all depending on whether Selanne and Niedermayer decide to resign. If they don’t resign you better believe that Anaheim will be keeping him around. Last season Brian Burke lost his lid when Edmonton stole on of his players in hockey’s equivalent to a hostile takeover. He’d probably be pissed again, but he can get over it fast enough when he’s GM of the Leafs next year

Craig Conroy is an UFA this year and would be a solid second line forward.

Sticking with Calgary, Kristian Huselius is also an UFA come July 1. With 25 goals and 41 helpers in 81 games last season it is clear he has the ability to score.

Jason Williams from the Blackhawks scored 13 goals with 23 assists in 43 games last season. Without putting that big of a dent on the salary cap, this would be a good acquisition. In fact, none of the players I have mentioned so far took in more then $2 million last season.

Andrew Brunette from Colorado put in 19 goals with 40 assists last season. Also under $2 million last season.

Pavol Demitra has been a proven 20-30 goal scorer. He’s coming off a bad season, netting only 15. He might be someone we can pick up at a discount. He’s an UFA out of Minnesota this season.

Also out of Minnesota is Brian Rolston. He’s coming off 3 consecutive 30 goal seasons and is expecting a bump in pay from his previous 2.5 million. I think he’s worth the investment as a bonafide scoring threat.

The most controversial player in the NHL… hated by most, but I love him. Sean Avery is on the market this season and I would LOVE to see him in Toronto. He may be a dick, but he helps his team win. Him and Blake would need to kiss and make up before playing together. Avery would not only help the team win, but he is as entertaining as they come.

Again out of New York is Martin Straka who is coming off disappointing season. Along with Demitra he could be a player we could pick up on the cheap and still expect a lot out of him.

We should get Jim Dowd. He’s no big deal, but his name is fun to say. Try it, in a deep voice: Jim Dowd

Out of Phoenix Radim Vrbata had a career season. We may have to pony up to get him, but he can put the puck in the net and is a one-person highlight reel.

Finally, Brendan Morrison could be a big name the Leaf’s can bring in if Sundin doesn’t come back. A proven winner and yet another person who can put the puck away, he would certainly be welcome by all.

Alright Fletcher, now you have the Cliff notes (good lord I am hilarious). Go to work.

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Ryan Price’s Off-Season Game Plan for the Toronto Maple Leafs Pt. II

Fletcher Hires Ron Wilson as Head Coach
Solid move. I liked Paul Maurice as coach but he just didn’t seem to get his team going. Ron Wilson has proven to be a good coach, and bringing anyone new tends to light fires under players who have lulled themselves into playing mediocre at best.

Leafs Acquire John Mayers from St. Louis
Now, we only gave up a third round pick to get him so no biggie either way really. I don’t know this guy very well but looking at his stats is not promising. He’s a combined -60 over the last three seasons. In fact, he hasn’t plus-season since ’02-’03 when he was a +1 through 15 games. Unless Fletcher has some magical talent juice he plans on slipping in the water bottle I’m expecting Mayers to be with the Marlies.

Some would argue he’s a 4th liner. However, if you’re willing to trade away phenomenal 4th liners like Wade Belak I don’t know why we’re acquiring guys like Mayers.

Leafs move up in draft to select Schenn
Great move. The real talent was in the top 5 this season and even though this means we only moved up two spots (we had 7th overall prior, Schenn was picked 5th) it was a good move. Won’t effect the team this season, but still a good a move.

Leafs place Raycroft and Wellwood on Waivers
Good thing for Raycroft. We took a gamble that he would return to his spectacular form of two years ago and he disappointed immensely. Why we traded Rask for him in the first place still boggles my mind.

As for Wellwood, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!. He underperformed last year, sure. However he was dealing with injuries. This guy has shown amazing hands and vision on the ice and is someone we could have kept around for under $2 million. This is the type of guy you take a chance on. Vancouver has already picked him up off waivers and I have a feeling this will come back to bite us in the ass. Big mistake Fletcher.

Leafs buyout Tucker
Another mistake. Tucker just needed someone else on the team to get him pumped up and playing with his patented fire in his eyes. We need another guy with a similar mentality which would allow them to feed off each other and energize the team. I have one man in mind, but I’ll cover that in Part II.

Fletcher’s getting a B+ in my books so far. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt with the whole Tucker/Wellwood thing and hope he’s got something up his sleeve as far as signings go come July 1st. My recommendations in Part II (I know, you can’t wait…)

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Ryan Price’s Off-Season Game Plan for the Toronto Maple Leafs Pt. I

Whoop. Dee. Doo.

I personally liked Maurice and although I understand that with a losing season comes a coaching change I don’t think it was the right decision. Maurice has proven that he can take a group of young players and make them winners in the AHL. The cards he was dealt at the NHL level were not favourable.

I really can’t see a guy like Ron Wilson make any sweeping changes with the team. I’d also like to see a little more enthusiasm then this when taking over the greatest organization in the history of pro sports:

“My goal is obviously to win a Stanley Cup, personally,” Wilson said Monday. “The team I was coaching in San Jose was starting to knock on that door. We’re nowhere near as close with the Maple Leafs organization.” – TSN.ca

Screw you old man! This is our year!

I may be am a biased die-hard fan, but I think a coach should have a little more optimism then that. Hopefully he’s just not saying anything to the ravenous media in Toronto that can come back to bite him in the ass. UPOD.

The decisions that will really effect the Leafs for next season won’t be Wilson’s – they’re going to come from Fletcher or whoever eventually takes over for him. In case they’re wondering, I’m available.

Go Leafs Go!

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Ron Wilson takes over the Mighty Blue and White

Sportsnet offers a grand prize (entertainment system) for the overall winner which I sadly missed out on. However, they also offer a prize to the winner of each round: a $75 gift card to Boston Pizza and a Sportsnet prize pack. That equates to about 2.8 team pitchers and enough swag to put off laundry for one more day.

I hate laundry and love beer so you can imagine my thrill (well… at least mild enthusiasm) when I was going into game 6 last night tied for the lead. All that needed to happen was for Kronwall not to outscore Lidstrom or Rafalski.

He did. So here I sit naked with no swag to wear and no beer to console me. Kronwall – you owe me $75.

This post is from Ryan Price’s blog.

Kronwall Owes Me $75 to Boston Pizza