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Everything posted by mbrg
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Nice, but needs more "wearing a barrel with suspenders".
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The "does not get along with others" part is a concern, but his resume certainly has greater appeal to me than that of our current OC.
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Sorry, scratch all that. Need more coffee.
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Next: Who is going to FA, who is not .... Priorities
mbrg replied to BigBlue's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
No one is fascinated with tying up money on an import receiver. We're just acknowledging the possibility that we're not in control during free agency, the players are, and we are not guaranteed to get what we want. So if that doesn't go our way, what is our next course of action: a ) status quo, and leave $500,000 in the account for upgrades to Captain Blue's airplane? b ) spend the money to improve a different position? c ) make Greg Peach the highest paid DE in the league? There is not a single Bomber fan in the world who is arguing to spend money on receivers OVER the Oline. Not a one. -
Can't help but notice every interview is with a head coach or GM, except for Ottawa. So either Desjardins missed the plane, or he's still on the luggage carousel going round and round, having the time of his life. I'd put it at 70 - 30. Ahh, he's still in Ottawa going around their luggage carousels and missed the plane because of it. It's so obvious.
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Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
He's had a couple of decent seasons in his career, is becoming a 3rd wheel in Florida's youth movement, might cost very little and be a decent fit. The problem is the timing. Florida's sitting on the playoff bubble, and with the trade deadline over a month away, they have no reason to act now. The Jets on the other hand, will have to send one of their defenceman thru waivers as soon as Perreault is healthy if they want to bring him back into the lineup, which they will. Florida can wait, we can't. We need to move one of these guys sooner rather than later (which is not the definition of a buyer floyd). The other teams in the league can be patient. They don't owe us any favours. But like I said elsewhere, losing one of those guys on waivers really isn't the worst thing in the world. It's the loss of an asset that we don't really need anymore with the acquisition of Harrison and emergence of Chiarot. It would be nice to use one to address a need elsewhere, but the timing may work against us. -
Sigh. Boy, I got to step 4 of the 5 steps pretty quick. Come back Ian, come back! Shoot, now I'm back at step 3. Frick that makes me angry. Oh dear, I'm not coping as well as I thought. Which step is the one that involves Captain Morgan and a jug of Fruitopia?
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Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
I'm not sure what to do with this. It's such an incredible oversimplification it's hard to know where to start. First off, the other 29 teams in the NHL aren't there to serve the wishes of the Jets. They are addressing internal needs, which vary by team. A team that is going to the playoffs but doesn't love their defensive depth might be very interested in Pardy. That same team likely has no interest in Postma. Conversely a team completely out of the playoffs will want to get something for a UFA who they don't think they can re-sign. Maybe they'll be interested in Postma, but Pardy on the other hand, while not a bad guy to have, is not a guy to think about when management is standing in front of the "build for the future" whiteboard. Secondly, we aren't "buyers". We are in a strange position where our roster has 9 healthy defencemen on it (and we are ironically thankful that Clitsome got hurt or it would be 10) and we're soon going to be handcuffed by it. Making a trade is the best and smartest way to get out of that position, but now is not a great time to make that trade as many potential trading partners will want to wait another month and see where their team is in the standings, and other GMs know exactly what our situation is. "Must evict players" is a better description of our position. If it happened closer to the trade deadline, we probably could make a bit more out of it, but we have to act long before other GMs have to. So we are the ones trading out of a position of weakness. Thirdly, Postma isn't much of a bargaining chip. He's okay but not really trustworthy in his own end (admittedly has handled his responsibilities better than I expected this year), but his supposed upside is his offence. He has 2 goals and 4 assists in 29 games this year, 18 points in 99 games in his career. So...what upside? He has 2 more points than Pardy this year in the same number of games. Someone might take a chance on him, but they're not going to give up much to do it. Sure. We are contending for the playoffs this year. They say there's an 87% chance we're making the playoffs based on where we are in the standings right now, so, pretty good. Did you mean the cup? Ho boy. Yes, in a world full of infinite possibilities, the Jets winning the cup this year is one of them. This is a hard team to play against, and could easily make some noise with a favourable matchup (not the Blues, not the Blues, crossing fingers, not the Blues). But we are not a player away from being on the same level as the elite teams. We could easily be a bad trade away from falling back to a bunch of also-rans. Every year there are a couple of teams who make a terrible trade, terrible terrible trade, thinking they need to make a push RIGHT THEN. More often than not it's a terrible miscalculation - how's that Martin Erat for Filip Forsberg trade working out for you Washington? Now begins your decade of regret. This team continually shows it's making sound decisions and is on the right path. Don't get impatient and start taking bad shortcuts. And if we lose one or both of those guys on waivers because we couldn't make a smart trade with them? It's really not the worst thing in the world. Just don't make a dumb trade. -
Next: Who is going to FA, who is not .... Priorities
mbrg replied to BigBlue's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
The Oline sucks, therefore if we can't improve that we should not improve anything else either? Boy, I hope Walters also deals in absolutes. Just keep calling Heenan and Holmes, over and over. And what to do if they both go somewhere else? Shut down the office. Call it a day. There is only one thing to try and do this offseason. -
Kinda thought this happened 2 weeks ago. Are they really just announcing this now? STOP DISRESPECTING YOUR FAN BASE BC!!!
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Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
No, just that there will be other teams willing to offer much more than we should, so we won't get him. The interesting thing for the Jets is that Postma and Pardy represent the same "problem" and yet their situations should be handled quite differently. The optimum market for Postma is a team that is totally out of the playoffs and would like to land prospects. Pardy on the other hand, the most value we will get for him is to a cup contender, especially if there is one with some injury problem at their back end. He's big, has experience at this level, can easily slide into a 5-6 pairing and eat up 20 minutes of icetime, and has demonstrated a decent level of trustworthiness so far this season. If we didn't have so many bodies on the blue line, keeping Pardy for our potential playoff run would be a pretty good idea, but the numbers right now make that next to impossible. The logic says that we should get more for Postma as he's young and has offensive upside, but I suspect we can get more for Pardy - there will be several teams looking to add exactly that type of player for their stretch/playoff run. Postma has far more value in either scenario. He's been fairly steady but he also has something every team wants - he's a young puck mover with offensive upside. Postma has far more potential. If I'm a coach making a serious run at the cup I'm not making a trade for potential, I'm looking for a player I can trust with 12 to 15 minutes of ice time in game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. And right now Pardy is light years ahead of Postma in that regard. I'm adding a 6th/7th defenceman who's main job requirement is to not screw up in our end. Game 7 in the cup final? I'm not letting Postma out on the ice at this point in his career. I'd have thrown his helmet out the bus window on the drive from the hotel to the rink. -
Next: Who is going to FA, who is not .... Priorities
mbrg replied to BigBlue's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
there's absolutely no way. zero In a world where Marcel Desjardins is allowed to run a football team, never say never. But yes, no other sane GM would pay that. Sinopoli in a Bomber uniform...hmm. I am not opposed. -
Next: Who is going to FA, who is not .... Priorities
mbrg replied to BigBlue's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
I agree with you, and not just because it's written in italics, but because you're looking at the player as a human. And the italics. -
Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
No, just that there will be other teams willing to offer much more than we should, so we won't get him. The interesting thing for the Jets is that Postma and Pardy represent the same "problem" and yet their situations should be handled quite differently. The optimum market for Postma is a team that is totally out of the playoffs and would like to land prospects. Pardy on the other hand, the most value we will get for him is to a cup contender, especially if there is one with some injury problem at their back end. He's big, has experience at this level, can easily slide into a 5-6 pairing and eat up 20 minutes of icetime, and has demonstrated a decent level of trustworthiness so far this season. If we didn't have so many bodies on the blue line, keeping Pardy for our potential playoff run would be a pretty good idea, but the numbers right now make that next to impossible. The logic says that we should get more for Postma as he's young and has offensive upside, but I suspect we can get more for Pardy - there will be several teams looking to add exactly that type of player for their stretch/playoff run. -
I used to say that if the leaves ever won the Stanley Cup again, as the buzzer sounded you'd hear microphones hitting the floor, silence for around 60 seconds, then Bob Cole and Harry Neale would run naked out onto the ice, hugging the players and waving their shirts in the air. Which is obviously silly - at their age now, it'd take them at least 4 minutes to get down to the ice. Oh yes, and great game. I missed the first half, so all the talk about how great Hutch played was lost on me, I guess he took some heavy fire in the first 30 minutes, but that save in the 3rd with the left muffin was a doozy - he reacted to the first move and then changed his mind halfway thru, shifted over and was in position for the second move/shot. Most goalies would have committed too hard to pull back and re-position. An all-around great sequence for him.
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Next: Who is going to FA, who is not .... Priorities
mbrg replied to BigBlue's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
No way we sink money into another receiver. We needed to make a big splash last off season to prove to players/agents we would spend money. We tried going after Butler but lost out, Moore was an awesome consolation prize who tragically ended up being injured most of the season. We're going to go hard after Heenan for sure, and probably check the potential of Holmes and Bryant as well. I hope the Bombers will go hard after Ernest Jackson. From an SMS perspective he may give us the most bang for the buck. Willy can't complete passes to even the best route runners if he has no time to throw the ball. Fix the OL and CanCon first, and Moore, Denmark, Watson, and whoever else they field will be more than dangerous enough that we don't need to add a receiver. The best laid plans... Just because we want Heenan and Holmes does not mean we will get Heenan and Holmes. Even if Walters does everything right. Free agency is the rare time players have the power. There will be 9 teams interested in these guys, and maybe outside of Montreal and Calgary, they will all be offering buckets of cash. And seemingly lost on the internet, players are actually humans, not just commodities. Maybe Holmes has been anxiously waiting his rookie contract out so he can finally move home to Ottawa and be closer to his sick grandmother or something like that. Maybe Heenan is sick of the prairies after living here his whole life and doesn't want to move just one province over, maybe he wants to live in Vancouver and spend his winters skiing, cause why not do it while he's young, these opportunities come around once or twice in a lifetime? Free agency isn't just an auction with players going to the highest bidder. So anyways, say we set aside approx half a million just to go after those guys and land neither, then what? Have a money bonfire? Sign Hurl for $400,000 just because he's a NI who kinda sorta could start, or if nothing else has totally bitchin hair? Of course plan A and B should be chasing after NI Olinemen, but if plan A and B don't work out through no fault of our own, is having a plan C that includes bringing in another premier receiver for our young QB to target such a terrible idea? I don't think it is. And the notion that we can't bring in a top grade receiver AND a guy like Heenan is nonsense. Josh Bourke isn't making chicken feed in Montreal, or Perrette and the rest of that Oline, and Popp said they offered SJ Green enough money to make him the highest non-QB player in the league. There is room in the salary cap to afford lots of talented players on the same team. -
Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
I don't know who all falls into the category of a "Vermette type", but Postma and a pick does not get us Vermette. Unless it's a high pick, in which case it's probably not a great idea. I've been fascinated with Peluso's play over the last few weeks. He's trying so hard to be defensively sound out there. He doesn't always succeed, but boy is he trying, and he's much faster than I would expect from a 4th line slugger. It's got to be awesome having a guy like that in your locker room. -
Winnipeg Outdoor Heritage Classic game could be postponed
mbrg replied to Rich's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
Problem is the all-star game has gotten so big over the years - I'm not sure the Royal Albert Arms has enough rooms to host all the dignitaries that would come to town. -
One or two unannounced signings (update 1/21)
mbrg replied to Mike's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
Dwayne Slay doesn't think so. -
Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
It's definitely not a coincidence. And in a healthier year I would have included Pittsburgh. I get you're a fan and prone to letting emotion dictate your reactions to everything, but it's pretty black and white - these teams have more top to bottom talent, which is why they can trust their 4th line in the playoffs. They are in the extreme minority. Do the Jets have a potential Jared Stoll or Mike Richards sitting around to center their 4th line? So yes, what huh lol - talent. It actually does matter. And whatever we might get in return for Pardy or Postma isn't going to be nearly enough to put us in that elite group. -
Hall most likely to be new DC (Now Official)
mbrg replied to Mr. Perfect's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
The guy who bought those urinals and installed them in his garage sure must be loving life these days. Going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing the tax return has a checkmark next to "single". -
Do you think Jets will make any trades now?
mbrg replied to Brandon's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
They don't and shouldn't give a hoot about rolling all 4 lines in the playoffs. Roll 4 lines? The playoffs is when the bench gets shortened. Using 4 lines more in the regular season allows you to enter the playoffs with some of your horses a little more rested. There are a smattering of elite teams that roll 4 lines in the playoffs. LA, Boston, Chicago and a couple others. The rest cut the minutes back. Even a team perceived as the cream of the crop like St. Louis shaves several minutes off of Ryan Reave's average ice time. Right now the Jets aren't at the point where rolling 3 lines in the playoffs is a total green light. Hallischuk getting 20 minutes of ice time in the playoffs? Now hold on a second there. Yes, a trade will help in this regard, but the amount of help from this trade will sorely disappoint you based on the expectations you're giving. If everything goes right in terms of drafting and player development, it's possible we could be knocking on the door of that very exclusive club in 2 years time, but even that's optimistic to the point of perhaps being unrealistic. Those dynastic teams are a decade in the making. Some longer. Why would that same process be half as long for us? -
Ottawa had an import doing both kicking jobs who had the worst accuracy in the league (remember the outcry when we cut him?). Obviously the whole kicking debacle leading up to Ottawa's first game is yet another of the many examples of Desjardins being the worst GM in the league, but if someone talks enough sense into him, he may see the light in having lousy kicking numbers coming from a NI instead of an import. So there is one place that might be interested.
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New CFL Commissioner Short List Down to 3 People
mbrg replied to Rich's topic in Blue Bomber Discussion
Tom Anselmi (born c. 1956) is a Canadian sports executive who most recently served as the President and COO for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Anselmi is an alumnus of Ryerson University and University of Saskatchewan. Not sure what qualifications an investment banker would have to be commissioner of the CFL. Connected at one time to MLSE. I see where this is going. I imagine being connected to MLSE is a job requirement. What with the earth revolving around the toronto maple leaves. -
Winnipeg Outdoor Heritage Classic game could be postponed
mbrg replied to Rich's topic in Winnipeg Jets Discussion
The cost argument may not be related to the scaffolding at all, or that may only be part of it. I never considered what happens to the stadium in the offseason, but it sounds like the entire place is shuttered with the exception of the store, offices and locker rooms. Which makes complete sense. So that would probably include blowing out all the plumbing lines in the stadium, which is a massive undertaking, but has to be done. It sounds like a big part of that cost is literally going to be heating the stadium for 3 months so the lines don't freeze, which for a massive outdoor structure in Manitoba would be incredibly expensive.