Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

BoC announces roster cut

Well, I blew it. Just a month after bringing in the Puck Drop’s Ken Armer to help cover the Ducks end of this blog, we’ve already parted ways. It’s entirely my fault for not doing any actual research on his newspaper-like writing style, but I think stylistically it created a clash of sorts, and I decided to pull the plug.

Nothing against Ken, who's definitely been enthusiastic about blogging for the Ducks, but if hockey blogging can be equated to a cereal box, Ken provides the straightforward listing of the FDA recommended daily allowances per serving, while BoC’s legacy is in providing the idiot kids’ puzzle on the back of the box. Both are certainly valuable functions, but it’s a wide open internet, and I decided that BoC should stick to its strong suits—creativity and original content. I don’t want to get this blog confused with “press release” sites; we try to keep it obvious which side of the glass we sit on.

Also factoring in: my “time-crunch crisis period” is nearly over. I’ll be moving down to Irvine over the next couple of weeks, but with a significantly shorter work commute I should be freed up considerably to devote a bit more time to Ducks writing and blog art.

So unfortunately, Ken got “Bochenski’d”—a short-term fill-in who didn’t fit in the grand scheme. Could this whole thing have been handled a lot better by Blog Overlord Sleek? Undoubtedly—I hate playing blogmaster if I don’t have to, and making a decision to part ways wasn’t easy on either of us, but I figure it’s for the best. Really, my lazy hiring was the culprit, and it boils down to the fact that I’ve been spoiled on this blog; I didn’t do hardly any research to investigate the writing of the other contributors, but we’ve evolved into a fairly blended style, none of which you’d find in a sports page or official site.


Anyways, full props to Ken for his contributions to this blog and handling the break-up very well. Ken’s certainly kept his chin up, and has already taken the BoC dream to the next level by starting up the Battle of the Pacific, which is in the process of recruiting contributors, but already has something we’ve never had—a voice for the Phoenix Coyotes. Go check it out; it certainly promises to break news faster than BoC’s laid back approach.

-------------------------

As for the Ducks, there’s been some minor news of late, but nothing that’s terribly post-inspiring. In terms of "big picture", after the Ducks were eliminated last spring, I listed out my five major questions for the summer, and most of them have been addressed. I’ve marked in bold the questions that still need resolving:
1. Is Scott Niedermayer going to retire, and if not, can the Ducks find a trade partner to take Mathieu Schneider off the payroll?

2. How much will Corey Perry sign for, and for how long?

3. Is Teemu Selanne going to play another year? If not, when's the retirement ceremony?

4. Is there any truth to the rumors of Brian Burke pursuing a GM position in Toronto or Vancouver?

5. What does the future hold for Jonas Hiller?
Other than the Lowe-Burke media feud and the unforeseen Bertuzzi buy-out and subsequent B-Mo signing, the summer’s gone very according to projection, I’d say. I keep getting in trouble for calling it a “boring summer” for the Ducks (we didn’t fire our coach or have any real money to spend), but considering last year’s shortest summer ever and next year’s mostly-empty roster, it’s probably a nice change of pace.

Still, with only two major issues remaining and two months until training camp, expect some more Sleek nonsense as the summer drags along.

Go Ducks (eventually).

17 comments:

Alexander Dubcek said...

How much will Ken's buyout count against BoC's cap, and will this hinder BoC's efforts to retain its own RFAs? I hear HockeyBuzz is looking for a new Kings blogger and is primed to tender a big offer sheet to BoC rising star Rudy Kelly. Will Earl match? Or will he opt to save salary and accept the boatload of crappy rumors in return for letting Rudy walk? This could be the most intriguing BoC subplot of the offseason.

Earl Sleek said...

Yeah, rumors are certainly a-swirling.

Additional storylines to pay attention to:

1. Will PJ sign in Russia for the KHL blog, since there's no blogger transfer agreement in place?

2. Any truth to the rumors of a three-way blogger exchange that would see Nicky Khabibulin writing goalie nonsense on BoC?

3. If web traffic slows significantly, will BoC get relocated to the Battle of Hamilton?

When actual news slows down, that's when the fun begins.

Mike said...

Also, will the cap situation cause BoC to be renamed to BoSC? There have been more posts about teams outside of California in the past two months than about the Sharks.

Cheechew, I'm looking in your general direction.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he will sign a one year, below market contract with a Red Wing blog.

Earl Sleek said...

The thing about Sharks' coverage (and I'm not sure if I can blame anyone) is that it seems to ignore petty things like the offseason and the regular season.

All Sharks bloggers seem to care about is that pesky 2nd round of the playoffs. Everything before that is meaningless, since it always seems to lead to the same demise.

My theory, anyway.

Unknown said...

Hey Earl, long time first time. I had every intention of emailing you about the Ken situation several times, but then I'd have to actually put a few words together and just tried to ignore him instead. Good call on giving him the boot. I think you really gotta have a love hate relationship with your team to blog on this site. No fault to Ken, but he just seemed to have a little too much love and not enough hate. Keep up the good work!

Earl Sleek said...

No fault to Ken, but he just seemed to have a little too much love and not enough hate.

Yeah, I hear you about having trouble putting the clash into words, it was tough for me as well.

Still, if there's any positive, I think I understand better what BoC is meant to be (or at least what we're good at). Ken at least provided us with that contrast.

Still, if I can avoid making any big blog decisions in a while, that probably is where I'm most comfortable. Thanks for the support, though.

RudyKelly said...

Sorry guys, I was going to write a round-up of the Kings' schedule today but I have to leave now to go line up for the midnight showing tonight. I can't remember being this excited for a movie in, well, ever.

Is anyone else going to see Mama Mia tonight?

Ken said...

As far as my buyout from BoC, now i know how Bertuzzi felt. Oh well, I had a blast blogging here, and I learned a lot. Sadly it wasn't the satire this place is known for. Anyway, check out the Battle of the Pacific. I'm hoping to get Rudy and Earl to spread there satire there once in awhile.

Take care, everyone.

Michael Smith said...

I don't like to say this but I was doing a lot more skimming than actual reading with the new guys' pieces. It was obvious after about two sentences that no long-time BoC blogger punched the thing out on his keyboard. The straight-forward approach didn't really work.

Though, having said that, Ken's writing kicks my writing's ass any day of the week. Poor Ken. All he needed to do was get good and drunk, do some cussin', wish death upon a Ducks equivalent of Brian Willsie, draw hilarious cartoons or some combination of all of the above and he was in.



I fandangoed my Mamma Mia tickets like last week. Pumped is the only word that comes to mind.

Lola said...

Ya'll are TOO MUCH. I love it!!!

jamestobrien said...

The sad thing is, I wrote for college and high school newspapers for almost 6 years and no one ever confused me with a newspaper writer.

Then again, most newspapers don't allow phrases such as "dipsy-doo dunkeroo" to see the light of day, so maybe I'm in the right place.

Miss. Scarlett said...

Then again, most newspapers don't allow phrases such as "dipsy-doo dunkeroo" to see the light of day, so maybe I'm in the right place.

Never say never, I expect the Ottawa Sun to print something like that any day now.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your blog and other writing endeavors Ken.

I'm relatively new to lurking around here, but I've noticed that the bloggers here have a bit of a warped, AB-normalness that is sort of enduring---those crazy kids. Must be something about living on the edge of continent or the air in our beautiful state. Either that or self-deprecation is survival mode for us nine or so denizens of the "pathetic hockey" market and our two neighbors to the north.

On to other things...

ES, I can't help but think that your two unresolved questions may be linked together somehow. If one is resolved, we may know, or at least get an idea of what is going to happen with the other. The problem is I have no idea which is the chicken and which is the egg.

I should probably be thankful that this summer has be relatively tame for us Duck fans. No offer sheets, no ugly, overinflated signings of washed up UFAs, only one superstar sitting on the pot (whoopee...grrr), no stupid-a** road trip coming up in London. But still, c'mon, DO SOMETHING SOMEONE!!! I'm part of the instant gratification generation, so my patience is wearing thin.

Earl Sleek said...

ES, I can't help but think that your two unresolved questions may be linked together somehow. If one is resolved, we may know, or at least get an idea of what is going to happen with the other. The problem is I have no idea which is the chicken and which is the egg.

Well, they're both related in that they're both playing with money very close to the cap, but I think regardless of Teemu's decision, Schneider is gone.

The Ducks are currently over the cap and Burke has professed a desire to spend $50M (and lose money) this coming season, and really Schneider's the logical choice.

Teemu, meanwhile, is being crunched by that budget. Even if Schneider goes, it's looking like Selanne will have to sign for peanutes (under $2M?). Fortunately, at least the Finn's shown a willingness to play cheap for Anaheim in the past.

What may be more linked is Teemu's retirement decision and whether or not Burke keeps Todd Marchant on the Ducks' roster. That's my guess, any way.

Anonymous said...

Well, they're both related in that they're both playing with money very close to the cap, but I think regardless of Teemu's decision, Schneider is gone.

I agree that Schneider will be gone no matter what. I just don't know what needs to happen first. I think that what Teemu decides might affect what Burke settles for in terms of trade value for Schneider. If Teemu comes back, the Ducks can't afford to take on salary, so do the Ducks just take picks or minor prospects and maybe give up Schneider +_______ (as an incentive for another team to take on Schneider's salary). If Teemu doesn't come back does Burke try to get another forward or an asset that he can parlay into another forward?

On the other hand, I have no idea what's being offered for Schneider, or if Burke is getting any offers at all. Is Burke not getting any offers that would relieve enough cap space to even sign Selanne? In which case I can see your point about trading Marchant as well.

Earl Sleek said...

Ah, I understand your point now.

I'd guess (or probably, recommend) that Burke make trading Schneider his top priority, and then tell Teemu afterwards what he's allowed to sign for, possibly after Teemu's been drinking.

It would be nice to have Teemu tell us "no matter the answer, I'm in", but frankly, I think he'd be a fool to commit to that.

For now, I think Burke has to rely on Teemu's willing history with the Ducks and his non-declaration of retirement as good omens, which probably isn't ideal, but I'd guess that's the order in which things need to happen.