Olli Jokinen back to the Flames.

I know I'm way late on this and that most of the hockey bologosphere has already filed this tidbit away for future 'rippin on Darryl Sutter' columns, but still, every single time I think about this move, and then Sutter's defense of it, I just crack up.

I was on Yahoo! Sports earlier today (like I am every day) and I started reading an article by Sam McCaig from 10 days ago about the various needs that Canadian teams would attempt to address via free agency (the premise was that the Canadiens and the Canucks were the two teams that needed the least and would make the fewest moves. I was/am skeptical, since the needs of a contending team can be dealt with better via free agency than, for example, the gaping holes that Toronto and Edmonton have in their rosters.) Anyways, the article was pretty simple and kind of just basic common sense, but there was one team section that made my day.

Take it away Sam:

Calgary Flames This should come as no surprise: The Flames need a No. 1 center to set up power winger Jarome Iginla. Just like last season, the season before that and the season before that (and the season before that). Calgary’s current top centers, Matt Stajan and Daymond Langkow, simply don’t cut it; Stajan is a second-liner at best, while Langkow turns 34 in September and is slowing down.

Problem is, the Flames have less than $7 million to spend, and need to re-sign defenseman Ian White as well as at least three other depth forwards. Not to mention, Calgary is banking on Swedish rookie Henrik Karlsson to back up Miikka Kiprusoff. Karlsson, 26, is a 6-foot-6 specimen who starred in Sweden last year, but he hasn’t played a second in the NHL.

Another problem: Beyond ex-Flame Matthew Lombardi, there’s not a lot out of there in the way of UFA centers. It’s not like Calgary is going to bring back Olli Jokinen.

"...It's not like Calgary is going to bring back Olli Jokinen." The author of the article has got to have some kind of extremely potent blackmail on Darryl Sutter (I mean I think he must, but how do you blackmail a man who feels no shame?), because there's no way he wrote this column without already knowing exactly how this was all going to play out.

Read it again, and this time keep in mind what we know now, that Olli is, at this very moment, enjoying the "agriculture-related attractions and free, fun-packed activities and presentations" offered by Agrium Ag-tivity in the City at the Stampede. It's the greatest bit of comedy ever written right? The whole Flames section sets up that last punchline perfectly.

And speaking of great comedy, I want to take this opportunity to revive the 2nd most popular piece of artwork to ever adorn the pages of the HCP:

The Olli:

CB4 and a couple other guys are headed to Miami

So it's happened. LeBron, Wade and Bosh have all joined forces to make a bigger better three.

This isn't the most exciting possible result (see my previous post on the Brooklyn Nets for that) but it is going to be very, very interesting.

The team, as it stands right now is Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Michael Beasley. That's an instant power-team in the East but whether they're going to be able to get past Orlando, the Celtics or possibly the Lakers in the Finals is heavily dependent on who else is added and how this team is put together.

Who else needs to join this team in order for these guys to maximize their potential?

First off, you need shooters and defenders. LeBron and Wade are both streak-shooters from the outside and Wade had a particularly poor shooting slump this past season. Chalmers is a pretty terrible shooter in his own right so you can't expect him to pick up the slack there. And both Bosh and Beasley should be playing mostly near to the basket.

So the team needs a couple of guards/swingmen who can shoot and defend (Rafer would fit, Michael Finley, Keith Bogans, Q-Rich [all oldish who might take a min contract for a shot at a title]) and then another big or two. Bosh has played Center before so he can move over to the 5 if Beasley somehow gets something going over the summer and is ready to contribute in the starting five.

Coming out of all of this, the player who's game has the potential to improve the most is Chris Bosh. With LeBron knowing he has to prove himself desperately (by winning) and Wade's crazy competitiveness, Bosh is really going to have to learn to bring the intensity every night and on every possession. As a long-time Raptors semi-fan I can say from experience how frustrating Bosh can be. He has ridiculous talent but is mentally weak. I've seen nights when Bosh either got a basket or got to the line every single time he drove or made a move in the low post but still preferred to take fadeaway jumpers from the baseline and/or the high post. LeBron and Wade are either going to turn him into an absolute monster or crush his confidence forever.

Regardless, nobody can say how good this team is going to be until we watch the big three and the rest of the guys Pat Riley gets all play together as a team. I want to see these guys make the kind of beautiful basketball music we saw from team USA at the Beijing Olympics and hopefully get us a superstar-studded Finals match-up with the Lakers.

Player Profile: Steve Blake

The Lakers' signing of Steve Blake for 4 years/ 16 million may go down as the most significant role-player signing of free-agency 2010.

Despite his limitations - average ball-handling for a PG, poor driving and finishing ability, poor athleticism - his strengths match up extremely well with the requirements for a PG in the Lakers' triangle offense. He is an excellent spot-up shooter who has proved his willingness to work alongside a ball-dominating 2 guard (Roy, soon to be Kobe) while still being effective with the touches he does get. What he doesn't have is the kind of crazy athleticism/potential of Shannon Brown and/or Jordan Farmar, but he could easily be the Lakers starting PG for the next 4 years.

My only concern is that the skills and contributions he brings to the table are almost identical to what Fish already provides for the Lakeshow. If Fish is re-signed (and I hope he is, if only because he's the 2nd clutchest man alive, after this guy), then the Lakers first and second-string PG's will play very, very similarly. And, while I realize that having a certain degree of redundancy is beneficial in some cases (spermicidal condoms, RAID drives) I've always liked the idea of having a change-of pace guard coming off the bench, like what Nate Robinson did for the Celtics in the Playoffs this year.

Regardless, this move does nothing to address the Laker's inability to guard top-tier point-guards (Blake is as bad as Fish) but they have added yet another layer to their already deadly offense and extended their championship window by a couple more years.

Let's build a super team

Alright, so first off I want to say, fuck LeBron and the media build-up to this summer. I didn't want to get sucked into this ego-trip but I just can't help myself.

Ever since EA introduced Career mode, later known as Franchise or Dynasty mode, to NHL '99 I've had a passion for building super-teams. I reached a new level in NHL 2003 when I got so good at the actual gameplay that it became ridiculously boring. All I wanted to do was fill my teams with 99 Potential guys like Steve Eminger and just have them run roughshod over the league for 10 straight years.

But you never get to do that in the real, which is what makes this summer so special.

So this is what's going to happen:

First, what's not going to happen. The two most important conditions for this summer to be a good one are that LeBron does NOT go back to Cleveland and that he does NOT go to The Knicks.

I've narrowed his options down to two Eastern franchises:

The Bulls

current depth chart:

PG - Derrick Rose

SG -

SF - Luol Deng

PF - Taj Gibson

C - Joakim Noah

Back up SF/PF - James Johnson

Looking to add: LeBron + Bosh

Now I can see why some people are excited about combining a much-hyped PG in Rose and a very good defensive center in Noah with the ridiculous offense that James and Bosh would bring to the table.

The two problems with this formula are that Rose just isn't very good yet and that I can't see the current group plus CB4/LBJ working as a TEAM. Maybe they could sign a couple good spot-up shooters and do something with Luol Deng's contract (maybe in exchange for Bosh?) but it's not an organic fit.

The organic fit is the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets current depth chart:

PG - Devin Harris

SG - Courtney Lee

SF -

PF -

C - Brook Lopez

6th man - Terrence Williams

7th man/developing with tutoring from Bosh - Derrick Favors

Looking to add: LeBron, Bosh.

This team would be sick. Just off the wall fun. I don't know how good they'd be in their first year but they would be young, exciting and the success would be sustainable. This would be the opposite of the Chicago Blackhwawks team that just won the Cup and then imploded. This team would have the chance to establish a dynasty.

As much as I'm still a Lakers/Kobe fan, I want this to happen. I want to see Lakers-Nets finals for the next 4 straight years. I want to see veterans lining up to take minimum contracts with either team in the hopes of a ring. Most of all, I want to consider just how fucking cool the Nets could become, just a year removed from being a laughingstock.

Prokhorov is almost definitely the best thing to happen to the NBA since black people (and the only sports owner I've ever read about for a poli sci course), Jay-Z's getting more public in his minority-ownership role and the whole thing is moving from New Jersey to Brooklyn? After having had to play in New Jersey all these years, after having coming perilously close to being the worst team ever, after putting up with Vince Carter (I'm a Canadian, I can empathize), after not getting the #1 choice in the draft? Give these guys LBJ and Bosh, they deserve it.

Steve's Picks for the 2010-11 Canucks

The next few weeks, before free agency quiets down and we're all forced to watch baseball highlights, are always a time to have some fun sculpting our own rosters. Although comparing us to Gillis is like pitting The Godfather against The Wolfman (I'm watching it now..it lives up to the hype and totally sucks balls), we at the HCP will give it a shot. And we'll try to avoid any NHL '10 trades, so unfortunately Malkin, Crosby, and Steve Chamberlain (skill rating: 99) will not be joining the team this year.

Signings:
Resign Mitchell to 1 year, $2 million
Sign Neidermayer to 1 year, $5 million
Sign Madden to 1 year, $3.0 million
Resign SOB to 2 years, $3.6 million
Resign Raymond to 3 years, $9.6 million

Trades:
Trade Bieksa for picks/prospects
Trade Bernier for picks/bags of pucks
Trade Salo for picks/prospects
One of those trades needs to get a 2nd round pick back

Offer sheets:
2nd rounder from Bieksa/Bernier/Salo trade to make a 4 year/$12 million offer to Hjalmersson

Final Roster: (tip of the hat to capgeek.com)

Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) / Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($2.500m)
Mason Raymond ($3.200m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Alexandre Burrows ($2.000m)
Jannik Hansen ($0.850m) / Cody Hodgson ($1.696m) / Jordan Schroeder ($1.025m)
Michael Grabner ($0.843m) /Madden ($3.000m) / Darcy Hordichuk ($0.775m)
Rick Rypien ($0.550m) / Tanner Glass ($0.500m)

Neidermayer ($5.000m) / Alexander Edler ($3.250m)
Christian Ehrhoff ($3.100m) / Hjalmersson ($3.000m)
Willie Mitchell ($2.000m) / Shane O'Brien ($1.800m)
Evan Oberg ($1.562m)

Roberto Luongo ($5.333m) / Cory Schneider ($0.900m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS
(these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)
ROSTER: 23; CAP: $58.8m; PAYROLL: $60.085m; CAP ROOM: $0.828m BONUSES: $2.112m

I didn't really want get rid of Salo, but needed to in order to get under the cap. Gillis gets his Stanley Cup experience in Hjalmersson, Madden, and Neids and the Canucks get much, much more mobile on defense. However, the plan rests entirely on our young players like Oberg, Hodgson, Schroeder, and Grabner stepping up into big time roles.

Thoughts? Concerns? Think you've got the right package for Ovechkin and Green? Let us know.

If Only This Were Baseball, and We Could Buy Them All

Living in Montreal, getting caught up in the Habs madness, and free new kicks from Foot Locker have somewhat dampened the usual post-Canucks hangover that usually rolls around in early May. However, with a Flyers-Hawks final looming and the thought that Dustin Byfuglien may soon wrap his greasy paws around a Stanley Cup, the offseason blues have started to hit home. With that in mind, we're looking ahead to see what our godly GM can do to fill in our weaknesses; namely, our defense and arranging a quick and efficient ride to the airport for Demitra. Keeping in mind that Gillis is the only mortal who can go in against a Sicilian when death in on the line, let's look at his top defensive targets.

Anton Volchenkov:
Contract Status: UFA, Current Salary: $3.20 million
A shot-blocking machine and a defensive coach's wet dream, Volchenkov is the perfect fit for the Canucks which unfortunately means he's the perfect fit for a lot of teams needing defensive help. Reports over the last few days have suggested that it's all but a done deal that he'll be joining a specific team not named the Canucks. Quick, lets play the guessing game! Which team has firepower up front but needs a defensive defenceman? And which team has a plethora of Russians? Hmm...

Paul Martin
UFA, $4.50 million
Probably the second-most desirable defensive UFA out there, Martin will likely be too pricey for the Canucks unless some trades get made. Also, he may steer clear of Canadian teams in order to avoid the onslaught of "former Prime Minister" jokes.

Dan Hamhuis
UFA, $2.50 million
Despite the Nostradamuses over at the Canucks.com forum, the race for Hamhuis is wide open. Like he did at the deadline, Gillis will target him, but only at the right price. He's a good young player, but don't forget he's played the last few years with Weber and Suter, who are apparently pretty good at hockey.

Braydon Coburn
RFA, $1.40 million
This kid is only 24, and will be an anchor on some team's blueline for years. The Flyers paid a heavy price to get him, although heavy in this case refers to the 215-pound Alexei Zhitnik who gave the Thrashers a year and a half of service before leaving for the KHL for reasons related to "not being good at playing competitive hockey." Philly won't give him up easily, but with Pronger, Timonen (making $6.33 million for the next three years) and Carle on the back end and Briere, Carter, Richards et al. up front commanding big salaries, Gillis might be able to swing a deal. Bieksa and Schneider perhaps? Anyone? Anyone?

Scott Neidermayer
UFA, $6.00 million
He's been on the 'Nucks wishlist for years, and for those who say Old Man 'Neids still can't bring it they may have missed that tournament thingy earlier that gave out all them pretty gold medals. Are the Ducks committing to a semi-rebuild? If so, Scott could return back to his home province. If not, the Ducks will surely throw the kitchen sink at keeping him a Duck until retirement.

Niklas Hjalmarsson
RFA, $0.666 million
The current runner-up in the "Blackhawks Whose Name Nobody Can Pronounce" sweepstakes, he may be a victim when the Hawks realize the whole "cap" thing might be an issue. A well-placed offer sheet could force Chicago to take the picks and let him walk.

Pavel Kubina
UFA, $5.00 million
Old, probably too slow, couldn't effectively anchor an albeit much-improved Thrashers blueline, but hey, he's out there. He'll probably re-up with the Thrashers or bolt to the KHL.

James Wisniewski
RFA, $2.75 million
Young defenseman? Check. Lots of potential? Check. Hurts Blackhawks? Check. Where do we sign?

Andreas Lilja
UFA, $1.25 million
While he may best be known for anchoring my buddy Jack's NHL 07 run to the Stanley Cup years ago, he's the kind of big body with championship experience Gillis might look at if the price is right. After all, going out and getting a big defensemen at the deadline worked out soooo well...

Joe Corvo
UFA, $2.75 million
Gillis could target Corvo if he gets desperate, but another offensive blueliner with questionable defense is not needed on this team, thank you very much. Kevin Bieksa is filling that void very nicely.

Marc Staal
RFA, $0.76 million
We can dream, can't we? The Rangers are still mired in a tough cap situation, but unless a Luke Schenn, 10-first-round-draft-pick type situation emerges, even Sather won't let this kid go.

What do you think? Did we miss anything? Think Alberts is ready to take the next big, big step next year and that our defense is sound? Let us know.

Goodbye

With the end of the Canucks season on Tuesday there is now one question on the mind of every true fan: Will Kyle Wellwood ever squeeze himself into an extra-extra-extra-large Canuck sweater again?

No, that's the question on my mind, but for most it's simply this: What just happened?

Losing in 6 games to the best team in the National Hockey League isn't the end of the world. But the way in which our team lost, the way we got blown out, in crucial games and at home, is what resonates from this series.

Our friend Haruki breaks it down over at Agora Sports Forum.