Mike Babcock is controlling, pig-headed and stubborn. And he’s a genius

By Ken Campbell

http://www.thehockeynews.com/

February 21, 2014

Sidney Crosby #87 of Canada handles the puck against Brooks Orpik #44 of the United States in the third period during the Men's Ice Hockey Semifinal Playoff on Day 14 of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 21, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

SOCHI – Mike Babcock can be the most controlling, stubborn and pig-headed person you’ll ever meet. And because of that, Canada is playing in the gold medal game Sunday against Sweden.

Throughout this Olympic tournament, Babcock has been receiving criticism from all corners, including this one, for everything from how he was deploying his players to the suffocating defensive style of play to having Chris Kunitz playing on the top line with Sidney Crosby. Through it all, Babcock remained defiant and confident and has never, ever waivered from his playbook.

And that is making him look like a genius. Canada played as close as you’ll ever see to a perfect game in Friday’s 1-0 win over USA in the Olympic semifinal, a game that featured a frenetic pace, all kinds of personal sacrifice and outstanding goaltending. It’s a credit to USA, and particularly to goaltender Jonathan Quick, that the Canadian team played as well as it did, yet only won the game by one goal.

Now it comes down to a showdown with Sweden, a team Babcock knows well through his association with the Detroit Red Wings. He calls the Swedish team “egoless” and he’s right, but he could also use the same adjective to describe his own group. Canada has some of the most talented, highly paid and decorated players on the planet, but when it comes to individual accolades, they just don’t care. What they cared about Friday was executing a game plan, which they did to perfection. They were first on almost every puck, they were impenetrable and they outskated an American team that was supposed to have a big edge in speed.

“We haven’t scored and no one seems to care,” Babcock said. “It doesn’t matter. As you watch these other athletes at the Olympic Games compete and they spend four years of their life…you know how important the Olympic Games are. It doesn’t matter about any individual success, it just matters about team.”

So Babcock and the Canadian team may feel as though they’re looking in the mirror when they cast a glance to the other side of the ice during warm-up on Sunday. Both teams have thrived on outstanding defensive play and goaltending. Both have high, high, high-end offensive talent and both represent countries that are social democracies. What more could you want?

“Obviously, I’m a huge fan of Swedes,” Babcock said. “It’s a beautiful country and they’re good people. There are really good men on that team who I’m a huge fan of. They play well, they play structured, they don’t give anything up for free, their power play is very dangerous. It should be fun.”

Babcock claims the team will find its scoring touch. It has one game to do it. And the funny thing is, it might not need to locate it. Ever. This is a team that could conceivably win a gold medal by scoring 15 goals in six games. This is a team that could conceivably win a gold medal with Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Rick Nash, Chris Kunitz and Patrick Marleau scoring the same number of goals as Roberto Luongo. All it has to do is win another 1-0 game on Sunday.

How many of us think that possibility is entirely feasible? Thought so.

All Canada has to do to against Sweden is what it did to the Americans. USA could not play the game that best suited its roster simply because Canada wouldn’t let it. It neutralized the American’s speed by staying with their players step for step, by making the right play almost all the time, by having the puck on their sticks for a remarkable amount of time. And by getting one single goal off a shot-pass deflection. Both Babcock and USA coach Dan Bylsma remarked after the game that there were a ton of chances that were better than the only goal of the game.

Crosby had a lot of those chances. In fact, he and his Pittsburgh teammate Kunitz had arguably the best zero-point effort in the history of hockey, along with linemate Patrice Bergeron. Their ability to trap loose pucks allowed goalie Carey Price to simply concentrate on stopping the puck. No worries about having to direct it out of danger into the corner. If Price stopped the first one, as he did while being at his technical best, there almost never was going to be a second one.

“They were right there to clean up any of the messes I left,” Price said.

And in doing so, they managed to keep their record unblemished and their house completely in order going into what will be one of the biggest parties of their lives.

Hurdle's message: Time is now

By Jayson Stark
http://espn.go.com/blog/jayson-stark/
February 18, 2014

BRADENTON, Fla. -- This wouldn't be the first spring training in history in which thePittsburgh Pirates found themselves trying to master the art of Turning the Page. 

Just this year, it’s a whole different kind of page. 

No late-season collapses have to be expunged from their memory banks this year. No more ghosts of Sid Bream, or Derek Bell's Operation Shutdown, or those they-traded-Aramis-Ramirez-for-WHAT? nightmares need to be sifted through. Not anymore. 

Here, finally, in the spring of 2014, the Pirates have crossed a threshold many western Pennsylvanians never thought they’d live to see them cross: the Pirates as winners. What a concept. 

So for a change, they’re not trying to Turn the Page in spring training because they remember that page as a major migraine waiting to happen. 

No, this year they’re Turning the Page because the good times -- the 94 wins and the beautiful trip to October that finally came last year -- are worth zero wins this year. Or at least that’s what they've been told by the proper authorities. 

So when their golden-throated poet laureate of a manager, Clint Hurdle, stood before them Tuesday morning, on the day their whole team finally assembled for the first full-squad workout, he had an important word to present to them: 

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Gene J. PuskarFour months after a 94-win season and a postseason berth, manager Clint Hurdle and his Pirates closed the book on a wonderful 2013 campaign.

Now. 

No need for us to try to characterize what Hurdle said, in his momentous First Day of Spring address to the troops. We’ll let him describe it, as only he can. 

“We brought closure to the 2013 season today,” Hurdle said, “collectively, as a group. I wanted to wait for everybody to get here to do that. We revisited some things -- together. And then we closed the book -- together. 

“NOW, where are we going to go?” he bellowed, his voice soaring, like a modern-day Winston Churchill in uniform. “NOW, how are we going to get there? The importance of NOW. The next step for us, in all the different facets of the game. We've got to nail NOW. We’ve got to take care of NOW. 

“And the men are on board. They get the fact that, OK, we've had enough positive experience from the hard work that’s played out. And there’s more there. We've got to go get more. And NOW is the day that we start that next journey. The journey of the 2014 season starts NOW. Today.” 

Whoah. Anybody else out there ready to charge across the Fort Pitt Bridge and try to win about 150 games? Clint Hurdle can have that effect on any room he’s in, as soon as his vocal cords start warbling. And on this memorable Tuesday morning, he sold his message masterfully once again. 

“Clint’s the ultimate leader and speaker,” said his closer, Jason Grilli. “And I think the point was definitely made. The book has been closed on what it needs to be closed on. We’re all here together, starting a new season. So we’re all on the same page. 

“He commands the room when he speaks,” Grilli went on. “And he’s very intelligent. And he drove his point home. He’s getting us all focused. We've got meat left on the bone here. We didn't win the World Series last year. And that’s what we’re out to do.” 

But before we -- or the Pirates, for that matter -- completely start placing what they did do in 2013 in the same ancient-history file as, say, the fall of the Roman Empire, let’s remember something: 

What they did last year mattered. And it still matters NOW. 

What they went through last year -- all of them, players and fans alike -- was special and magical. And it will reverberate through this spring and this season no matter how hard they work at Turning the Page. 

“It was pretty common for people to tell me all winter that us, as a team, kind of revived their liking of baseball,” said second baseman Neil Walker, who spent most of that winter living right there in Pittsburgh. “I heard that many, many, many times. It seems like everybody’s a Pirates fan, whether they want to be or not.” 

So there you go. Involuntary, mandatory Pirates fandom. Hopefully, there’s no cure for that.

GM Neal Huntington told a story Tuesday of walking through a Home Depot over the winter -- “looking for a snow shovel, probably” -- when a man approached him, with a story to tell.

“He came up to me,” the GM said, “and expressed to me how grateful he was to be able to share that playoff experience with his father and also with his son. They’d kind of come and gone with their love for the Pirates, because we’d put them through some tough years. But the sheer joy that they had last year, and to share the postseason run with his dad and with his son, that’s pretty cool. That hits home. It made me realize this is a lot bigger than wins and losses.” 

Which it is. And was. So not everything about last year should be forgotten, or needs to be forgotten for this team to take another step this year. When they all think back on last year, said reliever Mark Melancon, “I don’t want it to be a bad thing.” 

It shouldn't be, because it was life-changing. It was psyche-changing. It transformed an entire franchise, in a powerful and meaningful way. So there’s no reason to Turn the Page on that part of 2013. 

But when Hurdle was asked what he doesn't want his team to forget about last season, he had other memories in mind. He wants them to remember “how well they took care of 'today,' each and every day,” he said. 

“As I shared with them, if you've got one foot in yesterday and you've got one foot in tomorrow, you've got a chance to [make a mess of] today,” Hurdle said. “And we got very professional about taking care of today, taking care of playing in the moment, individually and collectively as a club. When they finished a challenge, then they prepared for the next challenge. So I don’t want them to take that away. 

“And I don’t want them to take away the importance of the next man up, how we continue to focus on what we do have, not what we don’t have. I want them to hold on to the fact that their attitude and their effort [is something] they can bring every day. 

“We create strategies through probabilities, through statistical analysis,” he said. “But we create attitudes through possibilities. And whatever we think is possible, IS possible.” 

What they think is possible, of course, is to go this year where they didn't get to go last year -- to the NLCS, to the World Series, to the parade floats. That won’t be easy, following a winter in which they made minimal additions but had several significant subtractions -- in the loss of their ace, A.J. Burnett, and their October cleanup hitter, Justin Morneau, and a right fielder who hit .364/.391/.591 in the postseason, Marlon Byrd. 

But there is so much pitching depth here that it’s not out of the question that a starter who made the All-Star team last year, Jeff Locke, could be challenged to make the rotation this year. And there are big-time prospects with a chance to make a major contribution this season -- especially outfield stud Gregory Polanco and former No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft, right-hander Jameson Taillon. 

So the future remains picturesque, just as the past remains unforgettably euphoric. But none of that matters on the first full day of spring training. 

What matters, Clint Hurdle reminds us one more time, is NOW. 

“The light is on,” said baseball’s most eloquent manager. “But we've gotta go play.”

No excuses for Crosby, Malkin

By Dejan Kovacevic 
http://triblive.com/sports/
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, 5:51 p.m.

Evgeni Malkin (Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty)

SOCHI, Russia — There has to be temptation for any Pittsburgher to cringe, maybe even clench a fist, when hearing or reading the criticism of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at these Olympics.

I mean, nobody knows them like us, right?

They're ours. Always have been.

Besides, the bulk of it has been legitimately unfair.

There's nothing more ridiculous than Canadians pointing out their captain's low point total — two assists through three games — without acknowledging Crosby has put tape-to-tape passes on nearly a dozen blades in point-blank range only to watch them come up empty time and again.

For that matter, if Crosby wouldn't be playing with his fourth different set of linemates in as many games Wednesday in the quarterfinal against Latvia — Chris Kunitz is back, and Patrice Bergeron is on the right — maybe there would be some semblance of continuity.

Almost as ridiculous has been the Russian criticism of Malkin. He has only a goal and two assists, nothing in the past three games, including a 4-0 flattening of Norway on Tuesday in the qualification round. It looks awful, but the Russians' coaching, from line combos to that passive 1-4 trap to ... man, just how clueless they look, has ranged from damaging to deadly.

Unless, of course, anyone can identify the first iota of logic in Malkin being on the second power-play unit.

A lot of what has been spoken and written has been out of line, no question.

That said, so what?

Seriously, isn't it about time, instead of Pittsburghers making excuses legit or otherwise, instead of debating linemates or strategy, instead of bowing before the opponents' goalie or system, that Crosby and Malkin just rise above it all?

Isn't that what great players do?

Let's see it.

Because, you know, it's been a while:

• In their only other Olympics, 2010 in Vancouver, Crosby delivered one of the great goals in hockey history. It was clutch to the max. It was iconic. But he'd be the first to tell you he didn't have a great tournament, with seven points in seven games. Malkin's Russians finished an embarrassing sixth while he had six points in four games.

• In NHL playoff series in which the Penguins were eliminated since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009 — not including 2011, when Crosby and Malkin were injured — Crosby had 13 points in 17 games, Malkin 11 points in 17 games. And nothing at all on Tuukka Rask, you might recall.

• Crosby never has scored a playoff overtime goal.

• The most recent playoff game-winner for both came in 2010, Crosby against Ottawa and Malkin against Montreal.

• Crosby has one third-period goal in his past 28 postseason games. One!

Sidney Crosby during the match between Canada and Norway at the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 13, 2014 at the Bolshoy Ice Dome. (Alex Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

I could keep going except that it'll come across as disrespectful. This isn't intended as anything of the sort. I believe Crosby and Malkin are the two best players on the planet as well as unparalleled competitors.

But here's the thing: Holding those distinctions would powerfully suggest that such a player/competitor should be atop his craft when it matters most.

Circumstances be damned.

Tuesday after practice, Crosby sounded at least a little aware of the fuss back home about him and Kunitz and why they were unable to pummel Norway and Austria by a couple of touchdowns each. That's very much the Canadian way.

“I'd like to score more. I'd have said that a month ago, too,” Crosby said. “I don't think I'm out there thinking about where a guy's going to be or second-guessing a play because I haven't played with that guy. I would do the same things I would do in Pittsburgh.”

The primary knock — and this is where Kunitz comes in — has been that Crosby is difficult to play with. That's true. Everyone knows that. But the myth that has arisen is that he doesn't pass well or make other players better, both of which are ridiculous.

Here's the real issue, as Canada teammate Rick Nash described Tuesday as well as anyone I've heard: “He's a tough guy to keep up with. He's so fast. The way he thinks about the game seems like it's far beyond everyone else's thought process.”

Exactly. Which is why the best thing Crosby can do, from this view, is just be himself. He has denied it a couple of times when I've asked if he has slowed down and over-passed, but I don't buy it. He needs to skate at warp speed, cycle and spin at will, drive to that net and wreak his usual havoc. That's when Crosby's at his best, whether he's with Jonathan Toews or Jayson Megna.

Only the Russians know what Malkin is thinking, of course — he's still not speaking with North American reporters — but his problem has been the polar opposite of Crosby's: You couldn't pry the puck off his stick with a crowbar since he has come over. Rather than capitalizing on sharing a line with the world's most feared shooter, he's pretty much trying to stickhandle through entire nations.

If he tried that in Pittsburgh, James Neal would read him the riot act. Ovechkin won't. The vacant coaches won't. So it's incumbent on the great player to figure out greatness for himself.

Both need to do that and sooner rather than later in their otherwise brilliant careers. Events like this can kill false narratives or fan them to new heights.

Circumstances be damned.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/5610127-74/states-united-crosby#ixzz2tlW4TkDK 
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Colbert, Steelers stay the course

By Scott Brown 
http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers
February 17, 2014


PITTSBURGH -- He sat at a round table with a small group of reporters last week, having assumed the media responsibilities that are coach Mike Tomlin's domain during the season. 

Wearing blue jeans and a pullover befitting the cold weather that appears to have no end in sight, Kevin Colbert talked publicly for the first time since the Steelers missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. That ignominious feat hadn't happened to the Steelers since Colbert returned to his native Pittsburgh almost 15 years ago. 

His answers to questions ranging from the Steelers' salary-cap challenges, which also appear to have no end in sight, and the team's approach to the draft, were remarkably similar to ones he gives every year. 

Just change the names, and it could be Colbert talking after any season -- whether the Steelers have won the Super Bowl or just finished 8-8. 

[+] Enlarge

Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports"It will never be acceptable for this organization to gut it and start over," GM Kevin Colbert said.

That consistency is what makes Colbert the pulse of the Steelers, an organization that moves deliberately no matter how much a source of frustration that can be to its fans. 

Colbert is not prone to rash judgments. Nor is he a proponent of quick fixes. 

For better (three Super Bowl appearances and two world championships from 2005-10) or for worse (back-to-back non-winning seasons), Colbert stays the course. 

And that is exactly what the Steelers will do after hitting their first extended rough patch since Tomlin took over as head coach in 2007. 

"It will never be acceptable for this organization to gut it and start over," Colbert said. "Our challenge is to compete and improve at the same time." 

That charge seemingly puts as much pressure on Colbert as at any time since he took over the player personnel department in 2000. 

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as Colbert acknowledged last week, won't play forever and the Steelers have to maximize the snaps he has left. 

They have to surround Roethlisberger with more talent and that starts with drafting better. 

The Steelers have had mixed results since Colbert and Tomlin started running the team's drafts. 

No player from the disastrous 2008 class that included wide receiver Limas Sweed and outside linebacker Bruce Davis is still on the team. The draft class that followed will have pretty much been wiped out as well if first-round pick Ziggy Hood signs elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent. 

The Steelers needed more from both classes, which is why they are lacking both playmakers and depth at some positions. 

Given that reality and how flush the 2014 draft is with talent the tendency might be for Colbert to fill as many needs as possible, confident that there are enough good players to do that and make up for past mistakes. 

"You just can't do it," Colbert said. "If we bypass a great player to fill a spot we're going to disrupt the natural evolution of the roster. As tempting as it may be you have to avoid that." 

The Steelers, in addition to following the draft board they put together over the next two-and-a-half months, will also stick with their fundamental philosophy of drafting with an eye toward 2015. 

The Steelers, Colbert has long maintained, look at any contributions they get from their first-year players as a bonus and never go into a season counting on any of them to start. 

There have been exceptions with Roethlisberger the most notable one and running backLe'Veon Bell the most recent one. 

Such thinking may seem a little antiquated given that players can reach free agency sooner in the new collective bargaining agreement and how much pressure there is to win now. But Colbert refuses to waver or tweak his philosophy when it comes to the draft. 

"I know that we believe that the longer a guy can delay his play," Colbert said, "the better his chances of succeeding in the long run." 

Viewed through that prism, the Steelers' 2013 draft class looms as the more critical one, not the one it will assemble in the beginning of May. 

Bell has to continue to evolve into a complete back who can become a focal point of the offense. Outside linebacker Jarvis Jones must make a big jump after managing just one sack his rookie season. 

The same goes for wide receiver Markus Wheaton, who may have to start in 2014 with it appearing increasingly unlikely that Emmanuel Sanders returns to the Steelers. 

And for all of the speculation that the Steelers will take a safety early in this year's draft, 2013 fourth-round pick Shamarko Thomas is the most logical candidate to add youth to the back end of the defense. 

The 2013 rookie class will in many ways validate whether the Steelers' approach to the draft, to building a team that can compete for the Super Bowl on a regular basis, still works.

Panicking won't return the Steelers to prominence. Sticking with the plan that has resulted in more sustained success than most franchises over the last decade is the way back. 

That is Colbert's ardent belief. 

For better or for worse.

Understanding what drives Crosby

By Josh Yohe
http://blog.triblive.com/chipped-ice
February 17, 2014


Feb 14, 2014; Sochi, RUSSIA; Canada forward Sidney Crosby (87) skates with the puck against Austria in a men’s preliminary round ice hockey game during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports


Three games. No goals. Two assists.

What’s wrong with Sidney Crosby, you ask?

I’ll be the first to admit that Crosby hasn’t been his dominant self in these Olympics, that the lightning bolt speed, precision passes and otherworldly work along the boards haven’t been especially evident in Sochi.

But really, we’re all missing the point here.

Partially because of this era, and also because of the way Crosby is wired, we can’t measure him on statistics. Legends of hockey’s past are measured on statistics, but they played in a different time.

Follow me here.

Historically speaking, we’ll only be able to compare Crosby to Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. He’s fourth behind those two (and Mike Bossy) in NHL all-time points per game. 
Crosby is also arguably the most hyped and publicized player of all time.

He’s the player of his era, much like Gretzky and Lemieux were. All three are much different, but how we must judge Crosby is radically different.

When you think of Gretzky and Lemieux and their respective greatest international moments, you think of the 1987 Canada Cup, right?

You think of Gretzky leading the tournament in points, and of Lemieux scoring and astounding 11 goals, including four in the final two games against Russia. Great stuff, with Gretzky nearing the end of his prime and Lemieux entering his.

Now, let’s take a look at the final score of the three games involving Russia and Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup.

6-5, 6-5, 6-5.

That’s right, 33 goals in three games.

Fast-forward 27 years. Can you imagine any game the remainder of these Olympics being played at a 6-5 clip? Did you watch Canada play Finland today? Both teams were trying to win 2-1. Only one managed to pull it off.

Perhaps a better example is when the United States played Russia on Saturday. The U.S. team is blessed with speed and does nothing but attack. Russia offers Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk.

And we got four goals out of that game until the shootout.

But, you see, we still remember Wayne and Mario putting up points whether their team was winning or not. They were savants that way, really. Honestly, Lemieux probably would have put up seven points against Norway if he felt like it. Maybe more. That’s how he was. He craved producing points, and Gretzky did also.

This brings us back to Crosby, who is entirely different. Those early round blowouts feel like all-star games. Mario and Wayne put on shows in all-star games. They loved it. Crosby stinks in all-star games. It’s not what makes him tick. It’s not real. Now, the games start to matter.

Has he been great? No, certainly not. But what exactly do you expect him to do? What has Jonathan Toews done in this tournament? How about Patrick Kane? What have Ovechkin and Malkin done since that first period of their first game?

Zero points, that’s what.

The game is different now. Defense rules. Allowing infractions to go uncalled rules. Goaltenders have never been better. Scouting reports have never been better.

Hockey, in essence, has minimized star power. Take the NHL’s current season, if you will. One man (Ovechkin) is on pace to surpass 50 goals. One man (Crosby) is on pace to surpass 100 points.

Think about that.

Listen, I could recommend some strategies that will ignite Crosby. And, in fact, I will.

He played 10 minutes through the first two periods. What is Mike Babcock thinking? Either he’s trying to keep everyone happy, or he’s displaying the height of arrogance, letting the world know that Canada is so deep that it can roll four lines with no drawback. Either way, it’s insane. Great players need lots of ice time. Ryan Getzlaf is terrific. He isn’t Crosby.

Crosby is at his very best when he receives the puck with speed in the neutral zone. It’s during these times that he draws penalties, creates opportunities for his wingers, and scorers many of his goals. The defense that Finland played today – calling it passive wouldn’t be a stretch – never allowed Crosby time to maneuver with speed. Also, the Canadian defenseman, none of whom have played considerable time with Crosby, don’t know when to give him the puck. I counted three times today when Crosby skated with passion through the neutral zone, clearly wanting the puck, and did not receive it. That will come with time, though there is only so much time in such a tournament.

Leave him with Kunitz. Seriously. He’s the creature of habit in a world of people who are creatures of habits. Canada put Jamie Benn on Crosby’s left wing. The only time I noticed Benn all game was when he crosschecked a Finnish defenseman from behind late in the third period. Nothing was called on this play, which is typical. The officiating was very NHL-like today, as in, stars were being restricted throughout with no penalties being called. That doesn’t help Crosby either.

Aside from these thoughts, my ultimate suggestion for the restless Canadian faction of people expecting more from Crosby is to be patient.

Maybe he won’t lead the tournament in scoring. Maybe he isn’t producing points the way legends before him did.

But remember this about Sidney Crosby: He isn’t a man of statistics. He’s a man of moments.

His highest career goal total isn’t etched in our minds. But that shootout goal in Buffalo is.

His highest career point total isn’t something that every Canadian kid remembers. But they sure remember the Golden Goal.

I couldn’t tell you, off the top of my head, how many goals he has scored in personal matchups with Ovechkin. But we all remember that breakaway in Game 7 in Washington, when Crosby stripped Ovechkin, buried a shot and announced that the hockey world was his.

How many power play points has he produced in his career? I don’t know. But I still remember everything about that night when he returned from a concussion against the Islanders. You do, too.

Crosby is a man of moments. We can’t measure him any other way.

Will he have his moment in this tournament? It’s tough to say. Tournaments like these aren’t really made for stars to shine. His own country, more than any other, likes it that way. It’s all about the team, eh?

But the coach of the team has to ride Crosby, and I expect him to sooner rather than later.

I’ll never forget an answer from Mike Babcock to a question I asked about Crosby one month following the 2010 Olympics.

“The thing about Sid,” Babcock said, “is that he seems to have a magic about him.”

That’s just it. And you never know when magic will appear.

The Russians feel it’s their birth right to win this tournament, and make no mistake, the Americans have clearly been the best team in Sochi.

Meanwhile, the Canadians have looked lifeless and a tad slow. They don’t look like champions right now, and their captain doesn’t, either.

But before we dismiss mighty Canada, and before we dismiss its captain, we must realize that moments remain in this tournament, and he hasn’t had his yet.

Crosby, you see, does not dream of points or pretty goals. He dreams of the moment. We better not sleep on that.

Read more: http://blog.triblive.com/chipped-ice/2014/02/17/yohe-understanding-what-drives-crosby/#ixzz2tfiTxKT0
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A.J. Burnett makes puzzling decision to sign with Phillies

BY JAY JAFFE
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/
February 12, 2014


A.J. Burnett will not retire after all. (USATSI)

Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana remain unsigned, but one big-name free agent pitcher has finally found a home. According to multiple reports, A. J. Burnett has agreed to a one-year, $16 million deal with the Phillies. It’s a curious landing spot for the 37-year-old righty, who is fresh off helping the Pirates to the postseason for the first time in 21 years. This could be Burnett’s final season, but he’s starting it with a team that has little realistic hope of returning to the playoffs.

The 2013 season was Burnett’s final one under the five-year, $82.5 million deal he signed with the Yankees in December 2008 — a move that many (this scribe included) figured would be derailed by his notorious lack of durability. After reaching the 30-start plateau just twice in his career to that point, Burnett did it in all five seasons under that pact, averaging 32 starts and 195 innings. But after helping the Yankees win the 2009 World Series, his performance declined precipitously, and he was subjected to boos from fans and constant scrutiny from the media. Tagged for a cumulative 1.3 homers per nine in 2010 and ’11, he finished both seasons with ERAs above 5.00.

New York mercifully traded Burnett to Pittsburgh for two non-prospects, eating $19.5 million of the remaining $33 million of his deal. Back in the National League for the first time since 2005 — and in a pitcher-friendly ballpark to boot — Burnett thrived. Despite missing most of spring training and the first two weeks of the regular season due to a fractured orbital bone suffered during a bunting drill, he shaved his gaudy walk and homer rates and boosted his groundball rate to deliver a 3.51 ERA and 8.0 strikeouts per nine across 202 1/3 innings for the Bucs. Just as impressively, he emerged as a mentor to a young pitching staff.

Though he missed four weeks in June and July with a calf strain, Burnett replicated that role while improving his performance in 2013. He pitched to a 3.30 ERA while striking out a league-high (and career-best) 9.8 per nine in 191 innings. His 209 strikeouts were his highest total since 2008, while his 3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio was another best for his 15-year major league career. Beyond his individual accomplishments, he reprised his role as the staff mentor, and helped the Pirates not only to their first winning season since 1992 but an NL wild card berth.

What’s been behind Burnett’s renaissance? Mainly, he adjusted his arsenal to cope with reduced velocity. Via the data at Brooks Baseball, after averaging around 94 mph with his four-seamer (which he threw 47 percent of the time) and sinker (19 percent) from 2007-11, he’s down to around 92.5 mph since, but the share of those two pitches has changed to 23 percent and 36 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, he’s throwing a few more curves as well. According to the data at FanGraphs, the package has boosted his groundball rate from 47.7 percent (2007-11) to 56.7 percent (2012 and ’13), the second-highest rate in the majors among pitchers with at least 300 innings over the latter period.

After playing such a critical role in helping Pittsburgh get over the hump, Burnett’s lone postseason start last October was a dreadful one. Facing the Cardinals in the Division Series opener, he allowed 10 of the 14 hitters he faced to reach base and wound up being charged for seven runs in two-plus innings.

Nobody wants to go out on that note, yet Burnett spent much of the winter mulling retirement before revealing in late January that he would return for one more season. The Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays and Diamondbacks were all rumored to be seriously interested in his services, but strangely the Pirates — who received the only ‘F’ in our Winter Report Cards series, mostly for their lack of activity — never seemed to be, despite Burnett’s previously stated desire to return.

That Burnett chose an East Coast team isn’t a surprise, given that he, his wife and children make their home in Maryland; his previous free agent choice of the Yankees was influenced by location as well. The surprise is that he chose to sign with the downtrodden Phillies, who went 73-89 last year, their first losing season since 2002 and their worst since 2000. Not only do they have an aging core — Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins are all entering their age-35 seasons, Ryan Howard his age-34 and Marlon Byrd his age-36 — but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and those above him seem incapable of acknowledging the glaring need to rebuild. Last year, Philadelphia received a D- in our Winter Report Card series; this year, it upped that all the way to a D+, as Amaro signed Byrd and re-signed Ruiz despite a wide array of younger options.

The strength of the Phillies is their rotation, and Burnett does bolster that. He’ll slot behind co-aces Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee, though it’s worth noting that the announcement of his signing comes on the same day as a report that the former won’t be ready by Opening Day due to shoulder tendonitis. Assuming that’s just a minor setback, the rotation will be rounded out by Kyle Kendrick and either Roberto Hernandez (the former Fausto Carmona), Chad Gaudin or Cuban defector Miguel Gonzalez. If that starting five can get enough run support form a lineup that magically turns back the clock, the Phillies could be a .500ish team, but it’s difficult to see them challenging the younger and deeper Braves and Nationals for NL East supremacy. Baseball Prospectus’ preliminary PECOTA projections forecast the Phillies for a 76-86 record, while FanGraphs’ projections put them at 74-88. Even if Burnett — whose salary places him among the top 15 starters in terms of average annual value — is a three-win upgrade over, say, Hernandez, that won’t be enough to move the needle on Philadelphia’s chances.

On the other hand, such a move would have had a much greater impact for the Pirates, whom FanGraphs projects to finish 84-78 (the spread on those projections is so narrow that the top teams come in at 89 wins); even a two-win gain would improve their postseason chances exponentially. While the team can hope for full seasons from the front four of Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Wandy Rodriguez and Charlie Morton, that quartet totaled just 77 major league starts in 2013 due to injuries and the rookie Cole’s midseason arrival. Jeff Locke, the only Pirate besides Burnett to make 30 starts last year, is also on hand, as is reclamation project Edinson Volquez, who was torched for a 5.71 ERA for the second year out of the last three. It’s possible that top prospect Jameson Taillon could provide a midseason boost, as Cole did. But even given his steep price tag, not re-signing Burnett is a lost opportunity that could cost the Bucs.

What remains unknown is whether Burnett’s deal includes either a full or partial no-trade clause that would allow the Phillies to flip him at midseason if they’re not contending. Lee, Hamels, Ruiz and Howard all have limited no-trade clauses that allow them to block deals to most teams (via Cot’s Contracts, 21 seems to be the recurring number) while Utley has a full no-trade clause. The presence of a similar clause in Burnett’s deal wouldn’t preclude him from a midseason move if the Phillies are again in sell mode, but it would give him the leverage to remain with a contender on the East Coast, if he so desires.

[Update: via MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, Burnett's deal does indeed include a limited no-trade clause as well as a mutual option for 2015.]

In all, this is a head-scratching move for both player and team, one that may have been dictated more by the dollar figure and location than any hopes of winning a championship. Burnett has enjoyed a nice little rebound over the past two years and could have gone to a team with more realistic hopes of contention. Instead he’s chosen one whose hopes arereduced to a punchline.

TAGS: A.J. BURNETT, CLIFF LEE, COLE HAMELS, GERRIT COLE, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES, PITTSBURGH PIRATES, RUBEN AMARO JR.