NFL POOL FINAL STANDINGS

T-1) Mr.Khan, Stefano: 37-31

T-2) Matthew, Producer, Listener: 34-34

3) Moe: 33-35

4) Mitch: 31-37

5) Sean: 27-41

The not so definitive 2014 Canadian Men's Hockey Team Roster

Okay, it's been a looooong time since I've written a blog post. How long? Well, let's just say that most Americans had still not heard of Rob Ford the last time I wrote anything meaningful in this space.

Anyhow, on to business. I've been reading and listening to everyone making their men's hockey roster predictions, and pined for the day that I could do the same. You see, my December 24th and 31st TSN 690 shows were cancelled due to the holiday break.

But suddenly, I realized that I still had this great vehicle to vent about my opinion. So take that!

Alright, now here we go. My list plays favourites, makes assumptions and even generalizes. That said, I still think it's a pretty darn good roster. This roster isn't a fantasy hockey team. This is a team built to win on international ice. There are no Rob Zamuners on this squad!

Forwards

Top Line - Couture - Crosby - Stamkos 

I know what you're thinking, "What? Logan? On the top line? And no Kunitz? And Stamkos, isn't he hobbled?" Yes. Yes. No. Kinda.

Logan Couture is this generation's Joe Sakic, except bigger. He is that damn good. He will do anything to win and has already proven to be clutch. Couture can also slide in and take a draw in a pinch, kills penalties effectively, and will do the dirty work for both Crosby and Stamkos. The entire country underrates what he can already do.

As for Stamkos, he WILL be ready. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on radio. However, it would seem to me that the man is ahead of schedule and is one of the world's best conditioned athletes. Give me the game's top trigger man for the game's premiere centre for my team, please.

Line 2 - St. Louis - Getzlaf - Perry

Inexplicably, a lot of people leave Marty off this team and I can't understand it. This is an international ice tournament, people. St. Louis is small and quick, and has the experience and leadership to boot. And has anyone noticed that the man is STILL producing in Tampa, even without Stamkos? Getzlaf and Perry are warriors, but they could use some speed on their line, to say the least. If St. Louis makes this team, it should be alongside a couple of big dudes.

Line 3 - Tavares - Toews - Carter

Arguably, this could be the most important line of the team. The third line can either be responsible for checking the opposing team's top line, or it can be pressed into offensive duty, to perhaps spell a top-two struggling line.

Toews and Carter are winners, having hoisted the cup and come up big in primetime matchups. As for Tavares, he's another guy who is underrated because of the team he plays for. Like St. Louis, Tavares has done more than enough to be a part of this squad, and he is versatile and elite enough to play multiple roles on a club. All three of these guys can play centre, but this is the alignment that I would prefer.

Line 4 - Neal - Bergeron - Sharp

For the fourth line, you want guys who can play specific roles, but also be ultimate team guys. Bergeron is a clutch face-off and checker, capable of scoring the winning goal. Neal is a big body who can crash the net and score. Sharp is a winner with a quick trigger who can play on the power play or adapt to any role required of him. It's hard to see this combo failing.

Extra forwards - Duchene-E. Staal-Giroux

I know, how can Eric Staal be off the top 12 forwards, right? Well, he's had some horrendous starts to his seasons the last couple of years. He's not as dominant as he's been in the past. Heck, even his own brother couldn't help him catch fire. Still, he's very good and some will argue that he could even be slotted alongside Crosby.

Matt Duchene was the trendy name at the start of the season, before he got injured and tailed off. His body of work simply isn't dominant enough to merit a starting assignment on this team. However, his skillset should be brought to the Games as an insurance policy.

Claude Giroux is world class when he's on his game. Unfortunately, he has been inconsistent in recent years. Bring him to the Games and use him as a motivator to get others going, I say.

Omissions - Kunitz - Seguin - Nash

On his own team, Chris Kunitz is a core player. But, his skillset is surpassed by his countrymen above him on this list. You can't bring him just because he plays with Crosby in the regular season.

Tyler Seguin has matured and blossomed in Dallas. But it's hard to put the nation's fate in a young guy with a spotty track record thus far. Give me more dependable guys, please.

Rick Nash is a living MASH unit. As soon as you announce his name to the team, he'd probably raise his hand in celebration and dislocate his shoulder. No thanks.

Defencemen

Keith - Doughty
Bouwmeester - Pietrangelo
Letang - Weber

Vlasic - Subban

Okay, I've seen some arguments for leaving Subban off the team. But I just don't buy any of them. For me, he's at the very least an extra D for now. As for Letang on the wrong side? Well, I don't believe in taking lesser skilled and experienced players because of that right-left shooting breakdown. We're taking about wider ice here, folks, and I think either Letang or another right D would be fine moving over.

My only iffy pick here is Bouwmeester. He's having a good year in St. Louis, but he's just not known as a winner.

Omissions - Seabrook - Boyle - M. Staal

Well, it was tough not to bring Seabrook. The man is a warrior and obviously would mesh well with Keith. However, it's also hard to argue with anyone ahead of him on this list.

Speaking of warriors, Boyle is another D who I loooooove. But I just felt like it was time to go with an up-and-comer.

Marc Staal is steady but not special. I don't think the team would miss him.

Goaltenders

Luongo
Price
Smith

Call me crazy, but I'll take the guy who won the gold medal in 2010 over the guy who has not played for his country in quite some time. Luongo has had a good year and I think he deserves the first start in the round robin. If he pulls a 2010 Brodeur, simply slot in Price. Also, Mike Smith has been as consistent a goaltender in the world over the last few years as anyone. He needs to be on this roster.

Omissions-Crawford-Ward-Brodeur

The depth isn't what it used to be. I don't think anyone could make a case for any of these guys ahead of the three I went with.

Bottom line

Well, there you have it. These are my picks. And what do they mean? Absolutely nothing. But still, it relieved the pressure on my brain that resulted from not sharing the, in the first place. So thanks for indulging me.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment and I'll discuss them on my January 7th TSN 690 program.

Listen to Game Points with Matthew Ross on TSN 690 Radio in Montreal Tuesdays at midnight and hear him host the station's Sunday NFL coverage throughout the day. Follow Matthew on Twitter @TSNmatthew

NFL Pool Week 17 Standings

Standings

1) Mr.Khan: 35-29

2) Stefano: 34-30

3) Producer: 32-32

T-4) Matthew, Listener: 31-33

6) Moe: 30-34

7) Mitch: 29-35

8) Sean: 26-38


Week 17 NFL Picks:

Green Bay -3.5 @ Chicago

Baltimore +5.5 @ Cincinnati

San Francisco -1.5 @ Arizona

Philadelphia -6.5 @ Dallas




Matthew: CHI, CIN, SF, DAL
Moe: GB, BAL, SF, DAL,
Producer: CHI, BAL, SF, DAL
Stefano: CHI, CIN, SF, DAL
Listener: CHI, CIN, SF, DAL
Mitch: CHI, BAL, SF, PHI
Sean: CHI, BAL, SF, PHI
Mr.Khan: GB, BAL, AZ, DAL

NFL Sunday Week 15

Montreal Baseball Project Feasibility Study

NFL Pool Standings + Week 16 Picks

Standings

1) Mr.Khan: 33-27

2) Stefano: 32-28

3) Producer: 31-29

T-4) Matthew, Listener: 30-30

6) Moe: 29-31

7) Mitch: 27-33

8) Sean: 24-36


Week 16 NFL Picks:

New Orleans +2.5 @ Carolina

Pittsburgh PK @ Green Bay

New England +2.5 @ Baltimore

Chicago +3.5 @ Philadelphia


Matthew: CAR, GB, BAL, CHI
Moe: NO, GB, BAL, PHI
Producer: NO, GB, NE, CHI
Stefano: CAR, GB, BAL, CHI
Listener: NO, PIT, BAL, CHI
Mitch: NO, PIT, BAL, PHI
Sean: CAR, GB, NE, CHI
Mr.Khan: CAR, GB, BAL, PHI

Dave Pagnotta on NHL Trade Rumors

John Hoven on Habs vs Kings

NFL Pool Standings + Week 15 Picks

Standings

1) Mr.Khan: 31-25

2) Stefano: 29-27

T-3) Moe, Matthew, Listeners: 28-28

6) Producer: 27-29

7)Mitch: 24-32

8) Sean: 22-34


Week 15 NFL Picks:

San Diego +10.5 @ Denver

New England -2.5 @ Miami

Cincinnati -2.5 @ Pittsburgh

Baltimore +5.5 @ Detroit


Matthew: SD, MIA, DET, PIT
Moe: DEN, NE, CIN, BAL
Producer: SD, MIA, PIT, BAL
Stefano: SD, MIA, CIN, BAL
Listener: DEN, NE, PIT, BAL
Mitch: DEN, MIA, PIT, BAL
Sean: SD, NE, PIT, DET
Mr.Khan: DEN, MIA, PIT, DET

Gabriel Morency on GamePoints

Concordia taking small steps towards naming their new head coach

On Friday afternoon, Concordia Stingers athletic director Patrick Boivin officially opened up the vacant head coaching football position for all applicants.

For Boivin, this is his first big move since coming into power, given his strong business acumen, he has created a search committee to help him throughout this process. Instantly upon hearing this, I anointed this group as the "knights of the roundtable".

No question there are strong voices with Andre Bolduc, Sylvain Girard, and Liam Mahoney. This trio has a good pulse on the current situation considering they're prominent former players of the program.

However, this is where it becomes befuddling. To the surprise of many within the CIS community, the inclusion of former Stingers and current Queens Golden Gaels head coach, Pat Sheahan, and RSEQ member Tom Allen has raised a few eyebrows.

It could be argued that the Stingers last great run of dominance was under Sheahan in the late 90s. But how could any athletic program include a current CIS head coach of a school they recruit against on a yearly basis? Could anyone imagine if the Laval Rouge et Or asked Montreal Carabins head coach Danny Maciocia to be a part of their search committee if Glen Constantin decided to move on?

How does Sheahan now approach a top tier recruit who may be looking at Concordia? I would love to be a fly on the wall during his recruiting pitch while he doubles himself as a member of this search committee.  

As for Allen, he has worked tirelessly to help elevate the RSEQ profile. However, there are those within the football community who have mixed reviews on his tenure. He has a past connection to the Bishop's Gaiters. If you're Concordia, would it not have made sense to bring on an important donor of the program to aide this search rather than Allen?

When the Stingers season mathematically ended in early October, when did Boivin realize that a change needed to happen towards the end of the agonizing Gerry McGrath era? Concordia is already behind the eight ball in the search for their next head coach as December is here.

The likely target date for a new head coach being named won't be until in the early part of the 2014 calendar year. This year's recruiting class will be handcuffed with no actual leader in-place to convince them to come to Concordia.

Furthermore, with spring camp not too far away, the new coach in charge will need to assemble a staff, and implement his systems, which would take a while to master considering these are not his very own recruits. 

  

This program requires substantial upgrades in their image, facilities, and overall talent. Whomever assumes this task will need at least two years before they could become competitive. That is based on recruiting well in their backyard, which Concordia has failed to do so in the last few years.

The question that remains; does the athletic program have the deep money pockets needed to reel in a big name coach? Here are three candidates (in no particular order) that could be on the list.

Jacques Chapdelaine: The former B.C. Lions offensive coordinator parted ways with the CFL club. He has already become a hot name candidate in both leagues. In the CIS circles, according to multiple reports, Simon Fraser University (NAIA), the alumni would like bring back the former Clan star and are willing to shell out the dollars. But SFU administration could be looking elsewhere (Jeff Reinebold). Could the Stingers be interested? It would require a lot of finances to sway him to come back east. He did win the Rouge et Or's first ever Vanier Cup and it would add another intriguing storyline with his return to the RSEQ. The offense would be revolutionized into a modern day scheme. It will take a lot of convincing, but it is worth a phone call to gauge his interest.

Bryan Chiu: The current assistant has been a part of the current staff since 2010. He has grown into his position where he is well respected by the alumni, players, and fans. By popular vote, a lot of the players and fans hope Chiu gets an opportunity to lead this program. Some fans have imagined the staff he could put together in trying to revive this sagging program. Even without knowing what the future holds for many inside the football walls, Chiu continues to work in trying to better the team's situation. One has to wonder if himself and others on the staff are working for nothing if they will not be retained. If he is Concordia's top choice, it is better they notify him now than in January so he can start assembling his staff.

Brad Collinson: The former Stingers and current Rouge et Or assistant is one the few remaining links to the Stingers being relevant, but that was over a decade ago. Collinson has earned his stripes in helping Team Quebec win multiple gold medals at the nationals. He is a fantastic recruiter that has redirected the Vanier College pipeline from Concordia to Laval. With his time spent learning from Constantin, he will most certainly apply a new tough minded attitude to a sullen environment. Collinson knows what it takes to win (see his three Vanier Cup rings), he is charismatic, and media friendly. But could he be the white knight to save this descending program? They certainly need an infusion of optimism and he can bring it to the table. 

   

Just 15 years ago, Concordia’s head coaching position was a desired job. Today, the program resembles little of its past glory years, and will surely take major renovations to help clean up the decaying mess. Certainly, if the Stingers are able to raise the capital within their alumni hierarchy, create an excitement among the remaining fan base, win back the recruiting territory, this program could be relevant in the near future.

For now, as Christmas approaches, Santa Claus will not be bringing them a present in a form of a new head coach, but Boivin must hope his belated gift will be a homerun hire. 

Follow me on Twitter @MoeKhan19

NFL Pool Standings + Week 14 Picks

Standings

1) Mr.Khan: 28-24

T-2) Matthew, Stefano: 26-26

T-4) Moe, Listeners: 25-27

6) Producer: 24-28

7)Mitch: 22-30

8) Sean: 19-33


Week 14 NFL Picks:

Indianapolis +5.5 @ Cincinnati

Detroit +2.5 @ Philadelphia

Seattle +2.5 @ San Francisco

Carolina +4.5 @ New Orleans


Matthew: CIN, DET, SF, NO
Moe: CIN, PHI, SF, NO
Producer: IND, PHI, SEA, NO
Stefano: CIN, PHI, SEA, CAR
Listener: CIN, DET, SF, NO
Mitch: CIN, PHI, SF, CAR
Sean: IND, PHI, SEA, NO
Mr.Khan: CIN, PHI, SF, NO