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

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Monday, July 07, 2008

Ducks to Sign Brendan Morrison and other musings of a Ducks fan

According to the O.C. Register, the Anaheim Ducks will announce tomorrow the signing of Brendan Morrison. He supposedly wants to reunite with Brian Burke (awwww). He is also expected to center the second line. He better be coming here cheap, because I don't see this being a good financial decision. Plus hopefully after knee surgery he doesn't suck.

Maybe if we wait a little longer we could ink Mats Sundin too, he seems to not know what the hell he wants to do. Oh well, I have officially given up on free agency for the Ducks. We're too close to the cap to have any fun anyway.

Please Teemu, Come Back!!!!!!!

In other Ducks news: Bettman (no it's not a mis-print, I mean the homo, not the super hero Batman) decided to play referee to the Brian Burke vs. Kevin Lowe fight. Citing that the men should "play nice" to which reportedly Lowe tossed a hissy fit saying California has no hockey market and was sent to the corner. Burke is rumored to have teased Lowe asking "Who's the moron now?"

I doubt its over, but damn its fun having my GM is better than your GM fights.

(I mean no offense with the gay reference above. If anyone would like me to remove it, I will.)

Oh yea, Hey Earl, I stole your Burkie and Lowe image for my article about it on Bleacher Report, its hilarious. Hope its ok, if its not, I'll change it.

22 comments:

Earl Sleek said...

Oh yea, Hey Earl, I stole your Burkie and Lowe image for my article about it on Bleacher Report, its hilarious. Hope its ok, if its not, I'll change it.

No worries on that. My policy is: any image published at Battle of California is free to steal... by anyone!

I figure I'm stealing enough images from the web. Time to pay it back.

Oh, and I'll write up a Morrison something-or-other pretty soon. Of course it all depends on salary, but assuming it's semi-rational, I'm way in favor of this move. Morrison's a natural fit behind Getzlaf, and allows Carter to develop without the pressures of a 2nd line pivot position.

Also: my Vancouver friend is pissed at me for the Ducks' acquiring B-Mo, so that's something.

Anonymous said...

I'm pissed at you too for B-Mo, Earl! *Grumble grumble*

Earl Sleek said...

Sorry, Alix!

Trust me, Burkie totally forgot to call and ask my permission on this one.

Anonymous said...

B-Mo's got a lot of heart. If he has some ok wingers he'll give you some points. Burkie should know he needs your permission! How dare he! Do you guys even have cap space for B-Mo? I'm confused.

RudyKelly said...

Let's just stomp this whole B-Mo thing to death right now.

Earl Sleek said...

Do you guys even have cap space for B-Mo? I'm confused.

Of course not, especially if you factor in a possible Teemu signing. But it's summertime, you can exceed the cap temporarily.

The Ducks will be clearing salary pretty soon, I'd guess, and I'd guess Matty Schneider gets moved. That's been the move I've been promoting, at least.

Let's just stomp this whole B-Mo thing to death right now.

Oh, I'm probably going to abuse it. You think typing out his name is going to happen consistently when there's such an easy out?

jamestobrien said...

Perhaps a hasty B-Mo replacement could be Brendan "Doors" Morrison or "Doors" for short.

Here's my take on the Brendan signing: inoffensive, yet non-dynamic.

Really, he's more or less "just a guy." Won't be the deciding factor for or against the Ducks.

But you can't beat a Bertuzzi-for-Morrison Canuck exchange (note: yes, this is oversimplifying but I'll always find a way to bash Todd B.)

Anonymous said...

Selannnnneeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! out of reach

Mike in OC said...

I'd guess Matty Schneider gets moved

They are reporting he goes to Nottowa for a pick.

Is Brendan fast? thats all I want to know. Can he keep up with Kunits and Teemu?

Earl Sleek said...

Is Brendan fast? thats all I want to know. Can he keep up with Kunits and Teemu?

He's coming off an injury year and knee surgery, but he had plenty of wheels before that.

And heck, with the Ducks' recent history of knee procedures (Selanne, Niedermayer), who knows? Maybe he comes back faster than ever.

Still, it's not all optimism. A former Burke guy coming off an injury year? Has a bit of a "Bertuzzi" ring to it (though I'm an idiot who tends not to worry enough).

Sarah said...

With the addition of Morrison, Selanne isn't coming back. Y'all can't have cake and eat it to. Besides, Schneider still needs to be moved. They've had several teams interested but all have moved on, so the Ducks need to get cracking on that before they worry about anything else.

Earl Sleek said...

With the addition of Morrison, Selanne isn't coming back.

Bah, color me skeptical. I've heard that claim and ignored it enough times last year; I'll have to hear it from the Finn himself to believe it.

As for the cap stuff, I'll take a look once B-Mo's salary is known, but for now I'm guessing that my ideal offseason looks like:

Teemu in
Schneider out, Marchant out

with Teemu (bless his soul) playing for peanuts.

Ken said...

I still think Teemu is back as well.

Mike in OC said...

According to NHL numbers.

Ducks Cap= 57.213 with Brendan.
remove Scneider for pick - 5.75
Cap = 51.463
Add Teemu for last seasons cap hit + 1.5
Cap = 52.963

I could see them wanting to get to 50 million, but sitting at 52.963 for the start of the season.

They can always move under performers at the trade deadline to shed salary and be at 50 million by the end of the season.

52.963 is not the end of the world.
Teemu will be back IMO.

Earl Sleek said...

And if your numbers are purely based on cap hit, don't forget that there are a few players who are getting paid less this year than for their cap value (notably Giguere, Getzlaf, Perry, and Kunitz, as seen in this cap-math post).

I haven't heard it directly from Burke, but I assume that when he means $50M, he is talking about money spent, not a cap number. Also, I'd guess another half-mil for Selanne, but who knows with that guy?

Thanks for doing the number-checking. I'm already a bit smilier today.

Sarah said...

Why the obsession with Teemu? I know he's good, and I know he's a fan favorite, but realistically, there are better things to do with the little under-the-cap money than recall an aging guy whose heart isn't 100% in it. Let him go, get some young blood, let Teemu retire and make more babies.

Teemu and Scott both remind me of a chick that works with my mom. She was so over her job, but wasn't the kind to quit. She spent 3 years trying to get herself fired so she wouldn't have to be the one to make the hard decision to leave.

Earl Sleek said...

Why the obsession with Teemu?

Without even getting into the "fan favorite" aspect of it (which is huge), since the guy has returned to Anaheim, he has scored 100 goals and added 107 assists in 188 regular season games. It's fantastic production, and his play at the end of last year showed he's still a top-end player, despite the age.

Then throw in the fact Teemu's repeated willingness to play for nearly nothing, and not even to shop around his services to other teams, and his heroics become legendary.

Granted, it's not fair that every team in the league doesn't have their own Teemu Selanne (top-end production for cheap cheap cheap), but that doesn't mean I'm not hanging on his retirement decision. Cheap talent makes a huge difference in a CBA-controlled league.

Oh yeah, and off the ice, fantastic guy I've heard and pretty much everyone loves him. In a "fair" world, Teemu would make $5 or $6M next year.

Sarah said...

I'm not speaking ill of Selanne. I like the guy. He was fun to have in SJ when he was here. But I can't seem to get the cognitive dissonance of "dump Schneider" and "please come back Selanne."

Schneider chose to come here and wants to stay, and people are packing his bags for him (and have been pretty much since he got here). Selanne has "left" once (his mock-retirement last year) and isn't sure he wants to come back this year, and people are begging him to stay.

But then again, I'm a cold hearted bitch when it comes to my team. I don't care what you've done for me in the past. It's what have you done for me today.

Earl Sleek said...

Hey, I'm cold-hearted, too! Just in a different way.

I don't care that much about "attitude", just performance and salary! And it's really on that scale where Selanne heavily trumps Schneider.

Besides, teams that are over the cap and care more about feelings than dollars are likely going to get screwed.

Schneider chose to come here and wants to stay, and people are packing his bags for him (and have been pretty much since he got here).

Not since he got here, but since Scott returned (Schneider had five months of feeling welcome). It's way difficult to keep a top-paid d-man AND his replacement, especially for a team that's uncomfortable being a top-spender.

Sarah said...

Right now, my joyous diversion (hockey) is giving me way too much anxiety.

If I didn't care so much about Schneider, I'd enjoy seeing the Ducks screw themselves.

Earl Sleek said...

If I didn't care so much about Schneider, I'd enjoy seeing the Ducks screw themselves.

Well, here's hoping that Ryane Clowe thinks he's worth a Dustin Penner contract, then :)

Ken said...

Teemu was a point a game player when he came back last season. If we can get him for 82 games thats be amazing. He still plays like he did in his 20's