Patriots vs. Dolphins: Week 1 Preview

Well, it's that time of year again Patriots fans. The beginning of another season. The beginning of (hopefully) another Super Bowl run. It all starts with Week 1, and this Week 1 is on the national stage. Monday Night Football versus one of our bigger rivals, the Miami Dolphins. All I've been hearing from Dolphins fans is complete nonsense. "Chad Henne is going to be a star QB" "Reggie Bush is a stud runningback" "Brandon Marshall is the best receiver in the NFL" Um, no, no, and no. Henne is just bad. You keep saying he's "improved" when all he's done in his career is digress instead of progress. Reggie Bush has been a 3rd down 'back all of his NFL career, he's proven squat. Marshall is good, I'll give them that, but he's definitely not the best. He also needs someone to throw him the ball. Whether it's Henne all year or Moore half way through (maybe even sooner pending how bad Henne plays). I'll get back to the offense in a moment. I want to focus on what worries me the most, the defense. The 'Fins defense is very good. Ranked 6th in the league last year. There are tons of game breakers, some of which include: Cameron Wake, Vontae Davis, and Darnell Dockett to name a few. Then again the Patriots are fielding 2010s unanimous MVP, Tom Brady. Anytime Tom Brady is on the field you can guarantee the Patriots will put up points, and in bunches. Though I don't expect them to win like they did last year on Monday Night. It will be much closer, but I still expect to win. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are very good corners, yes, but Ochocinco and Branch are very good receivers. When you do cover them, what about Welker? What about Gronkowski? What about Hernandez? You can double cover Welker, sure, then you leave either a safety or linebacker on the two tight ends. Which is exactly what Belichick wants, you bring a safeties on them, they throw it down the sidelines with no safety help. You put a linebacker on them, Hernandez is too fast for them and Hernandez is too big for them. They are match-up nightmares. The run game is much improved. Green-Ellis got 1,000 yards last year, Woodhead gets a full year to learn the playbook, Stevan Ridley looked tremendous in pre-season, and Vereen could be another Woodhead but bigger and stronger. Lets go look at the new defense. The new additions include Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter and oh yeah a very motivated Albert Haynesworth. Remember the last time Haynesworth was motivated? Oh yeah, he had 8.5 sacks and was an All-Pro. Yikes. This time he has the best nose tackle in football, Vince Wilfork, to help him. This is another thing I love about this defense. If you double team Haynesworth or Wilfork then the other is single teamed which is dangerous and then Shaun Ellis and Andre Carter are on their own as well is pretty bad too. The linebackers are solid. Captain Jerod Mayo led the NFL in tackles last year. Brandon Spikes showed flashes last year and Gary Guyton/Rob Ninkovich are solid. The secondary is where people are most concerned but, I think it's just Free Safety. Devin McCourty had 7 INTs last year as a rookie and looks like a shutdown corner in the making, Leigh Bodden is coming back from injury who had 5 INTs in 2009 with the Patriots, Kyle Arrington can finally be a slot corner like he should be, Ras-I Dowling will be very good but it will take time. Pat Chung is a very good Strong Safety. That about covers the Patriots' defense. They greatly improved the pass rush which should help the pas defense as a whole. Getting Bodden back also helps. Back to the Dolphins offense. They lost RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and replaced them with Reggie Bush, Daniel Thomas, and Larry Johnson. Rookie Thomas is going to be out for the game so it'll be Bush and Johnson carrying the load. Johnson is just flat out old. Does he have enough left to be a feature 'back because Lord knows Bush isn't a feature NFL 'back. Receivers Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess are good but then you have the QB, Chad Henne. This is what ticks me off most about 'Fins fans. They constantly say Henne will lead them to a playoff berth or even a Super Bowl. As Chad Ochocinco would say, child please! Chad Henne is just bad. I would start Matt Moore over him but I guess you have to give him one last look. He is the big downfall for them and I expect him to be the downfall on Monday too. I've covered basically everything. I expect a win on Monday night but I wouldn't be shocked if we lost a close one, but I doubt it. Go Patriots!

My YouTube Channel

I've finally decided to post videos on my YouTube channel. I'm going to make tribute videos for hockey players, basketball players and I'll attempt football players and baseball players too!
I have 3 videos up right now:
Mike Green Tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3KZmIVkPXU&feature=related

Luke Schenn Tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjZHD5IjAF8&feature=related

Nazem Kadri Tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-aVZSuGLE&feature=related

I'll probably be doing a Martin St. Louis  tribute tomorrow and a Brandon Jennings tribute sometime during the week. Subscribe!

What Will The Toronto Blue Jays Look Like in 2018?

This will be my first blog post about baseball and my favorite team is my hometown Toronto Blue Jays. I have been tortured by hearing that they are building for the future every year for the past 5-6 years now. So I have taken it upon myself to write about what will this team look like in the future. The future in this case being 7 years. I chose 7 years because most of the starters now probably will either be retired, traded or too old to be relied upon. So, without further ado here are my predictions for what the Toronto Blue Jays will look like in 2018 using only prospects and some starters now.
Catcher: Travis d'Arnaud. Age in 2018: 29. With 3 great catching prospects right now (JP Arencibia, d'Arnaud and Carlos Perez) I believe that at least one of them will be traded but I don't think it will be d'Arnaud. The back-up will either be Arencibia (age: 32) or Perez (age: 27)
1st Base: Michael McDade. Age in 2018: 28. McDade was drafted as a catcher in 2007 but was moved to 1st base shortly after. He fields extremely well with .993 FLD% this year in AA. His bat is really coming along hitting .290 with 14HRs in AA this year. His back-up I would assume to be a veteran Adam Lind or David Cooper.
2nd base: Kellen Sweeney. Age in 2018: 26. The Jays have 2 2B prospects, Sweeney and Ryan Schimpf (Age: 26) I haven't heard much on either but from the little I have heard, Sweeney will probably be better than Sweeney. Both have below average minor league stats this year but Schimpf has the better stats but Sweeney has higher potential.
3rd base: Brett "God" Lawrie. Age in 2018: 28. As I write this Lawrie has just hit his first Major League home run. This kid will be a star. He's a Canadian boy and he will be the pride of Canada's team. Other 3B prospects: Christopher Hawkins, Sean Ochinko, and Gabriel Cenas.
SS: Adeiny Hechavarria. Age in 2018: 29. 'Hech was signed as a Cuban free agent and has flown through the system. His bat still needs to develop but he has Gold Glove potential in the field. Other SS prospects: Dickie Joe Thon, Shane Opitz, and Gustavo Pierre.
LF: Travis Snider. Age in 2018: 30. I still think that Snider will still be a very great player. The kid has so much potential its ridiculous. He just needs to figure it out and I think he will.
CF: Colby Rasmus. Age in 2018: 31. Yes, Anthony Gose has Gold Glove potential but Rasmus has the great defense and a terrific bat. Rasmus will still be productive at 31 when Gose is 27. But Gose would probably take over in a couple year after.
RF: Jake Marisnick. Age in 2018: 26. The youngster of this outfield will be another star. I really like this guy from what I hear. In A this year he's hitting .309 with 10 HRs, 66 RBI and 27 SB. Something has to go horribly wrong for him not to make the majors.
As for the 4th outfielder it should be Anthony Gose.
DH: Eric Thames. Age in 2018: 31. If Thames can keep up what he's doing now in the majors he should be around on this team for a long time. If not then you should expect Arencibia as the DH or an old Adam Lind.
Now lets get to what most people are excited about, the pitching.
SP1: Kyle Drabek. Age in 2018: 30. Drabek will be the ace of this team for a looong time. He has great stuff and will even out this Halladay trade.
SP2: Aaron Sanchez. Age in 2018: 25. Sanchez has ace stuff but Drabek has just too much potential to have Sanchez over him.
SP3: Deck McGuire. Age in 2018: 27. We drafted McGuire last year as our top draft pick and I expect that he will be in our rotation for the future.
SP4: Asher Wojciechowski. Age in 2018: 29. I like to refer to him as Asher Wojnfsonsonsf.Whoever the play by play guy is for the Jays in 2018 will have a tough time pronouncing his name while hitters will have a tough time hitting his pitches.
SP5: Noah Snydergaard. Age in 2018: 25. I was debating whether the 5th spot should go to Snydergaard or Drew Hutchinson. I decided on Snydergaard because of the fact that he will be younger and may have the potential to work up even higher in the rotation in his career while Hutchinson will just be hitting his prime.
Long reliever: Drew Hutchinson. Age in 2018: 27. Drew missed out on the 5th starting spot but still gets to be a big man in the bullpen as long reliever.
Closer: Henderson Alvarez. Age in 2018: 27. Alvarez is a starter at the moment but if you have a guy that can throw up to 100mph in you system he'll eventually become the closer with that kind of stuff. We may even see Alvarez in the majors this year as a September call-up.

I did not want to do the middle relievers because that is too hard to predict because a lot of them may end up being free agents signings and whatnot.
Thank you for reading!

Will The LA Kings Finally Wear The Crown?

If you asked me that question a few years ago, I roll on the floor killing myself laughing but the LA Kings have actually built a Stanley Cup contender. All those miserable seasons are finally starting to pay off. 2 years ago the Kings were one of the young dark horse teams that only the hockey nerds thought would make the playoffs, and sure enough they did finishing 6th in the Western Conference with 101pt and a first round date with the Vancouver Canucks. It was a very entertaining series but in the end the Canucks were too strong for the Kings and finished them off in 6 games. Then came the offseason. Ilya Kovalchuk, one of the leagues best goal scorers, was on the free agent market and the Kings were one of the major suitors for his services. It was widely accepted that he would be getting paid upwards of $100M in total and the Kings had the money to spend. It was also widely accepted that it was a 2 horse race for Kovalchuk, the Kings, and the team he was traded to during that season, the New Jersey Devils. Some speculated that Devils GM, Lou Lamoriello wouldn't pay Kovalchuk that kind of money because he is known for not throwing money at any free agents. There were reports all throughout the first week of free agency that Kovalchuk signed in LA, that he signed in New Jersey, even him signing in the Russian pro-league the KHL but nothing had actually happened (except visiting LA) then came reports that Kings GM, Dean Lombardi had pulled out of the Kovalchuk sweepstakes leaving the Devils the clear-cut front runner but the roller coaster ride was far from over. The Devils had reportedly signed Kovalchuk to a contract worth $102M over 17 years but the league didn't like that so they rejected it because it "circumvented the salary cap" (Yes, they actually said that...) So Kovalchuk was a free agent again and the Kings were (reportedly) back in the race. It wouldn't matter as the Devils eventually signed Kovalchuk to a (non-circumventing) $100M 15-year deal. So Dean Lombardi needed an insurance policy so he went out and signed former Maple Leaf and Penguin forward Alexei Ponikarovsky. Going into the 2010-2011 season the Kings were expected to make the leap into Cup contender status and they sure started off that way going 14-3 in their first 17 games including a win over the New Jersey Kovalchuks Devils. Then they started to round off before going on a bit of a slump. The roller coaster season continued when the Kings traded for Edmonton Oiler (and eating king) Dustin Penner. Finally giving the Kings a first line left winger for star center Anze Kopitar. At first it looked like it was working out but when Kopitar got hurt and lost the rest of his season and 2nd line winger Justin Williams got hurt as well and it looked like all hope was lost on a Kings deep playoff run. They made the playoffs finishing 7th with 97pts. But Kings fans were given hope in the fact that their 1st round match-up was vs the perennial playoff choking San Jose Sharks but even that wasn't enough as the Kings went out in 6 games again including 3 OT losses with one of them coming on an epic collapse in which they had a 4-0 lead and lost 6-5. Many speculate that if Kopitar was there the Kings win that series, but lets not get into a game of "what if's". So going into the offseason the Kings' main priorities were signing young star defenseman Drew Doughty and getting a real 2nd line center. Well they addressed that in a BIG way trading for great 2way center Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for top prospect Brayden Schenn, young power forward Wayne Simmonds and a pick. Then the Kings were aggressive to sign coveted free agent Brad Richards bringing out all of the top brass in the organization and a presentation that included video messages from Wayne Gretzky and Kobe Bryant. In the end B. Richards signed with the New York Rangers. the team everyone expected him to sign with. There were even rumours that they would trade for New Jersey star forward Zach Parise but that hasn't happened... yet. And after trading veteran forward Ryan Smyth to Edmonton for Colin Fraser and a pick they signed another veteran, Simon Gagne, to replace him. So as of right now here are my line predictions for the LA Kings.
1st Line:
Dustin Penner - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
2nd Line:
Simon Gagne - Mike Richards - Dustin Brown
3rd Line:
Kyle Clifford - Jarret Stoll - Scott Parse
4th Line:
Brad Richardson - Trevor Lewis - Kevin Westgarth

BUBBLE FORWARDS: Colin Fraser and Andrei Loktionov

This looks like a tremendous forward group if Penner can regain his form and the new pieces can gel with the returning forwards and they should be fine. My favorite line is the Gagne/Richards/Brown line simply because Richards and Brown will end worlds with how well they hit. Teams must keep their heads up when those 2 are on the ice.
Now on to the defense.

1st defensive pairing:
Drew Doughty - Rob Scuderi
2nd defensive pairing:
Jack Johnson - Matt Greene
3rd defensive pairing:
Willie Mitchell - Alec Martinez

BUBBLE DEFENSEMEN: Davis Drewiske and many defensive prospects in AHL.
I fully expect Drew Doughty to re-sign and turn it around from last year. He plays well with Rob Scuderi and they should be paired together. The Kings are set if any of these guys get hurt for a long period of time as they have insane defensive prospect depth in the AHL.
Goaltenders on the way:

Starter:
Jonathan Quick
Back-up:
Jonathan Bernier
This is one of the best young goalie tandems in the NHL. Quick nearly stole games in the playoffs vs San Jose last year while Bernier has the potential to be a very, very good goalie. This is a very good problem to have for the Kings organization.

Season/Playoff Prediction: 2nd in the Western Conference and Conference Finals loss.
Thanks for reading!

New England Patriots Season Preview + Starting Lineups!

This is obviously subject to change because the Patriots still do not have a real pass rusher despite the signing of Mark Anderson today. The Patriots have recently worked out players like DT Tommie Harris (ended up signing with Colts) OLB/DE Matt Roth (still unsigned) DE Raheem Brock (re-signed with Seattle) DE/OLB Quentin Moses (remains unsigned) DL Shaun Ellis (also unsigned) and just today LB Channing Crowder. The 2 I would like to see most on the Patriots would probably be Matt Roth and Channing Crowder. I love watching Matt Roth. He's not that best linebacker in the world but he's a very solid option and would be a great add for the team. Channing Crowder is a punk, but any guy that hates the Jets as much as I do is good with me. In the end I think you'd have to go with Matt Roth because he's played in a lot of very similar Bill Belichick defenses throughout his career.
You probably already know my thoughts about the Patriots' major trades so far (Oh, you don't know my thoughts? Well read this good friend: http://bshawsportsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/patriots-update-and-next-season-preview.html) So now why not get right down to what matters: Where the f*ck are these guys going to play? Well you came to the right place, as I think I know what's going to go down.
QB: Tom Brady. If you didn't expect this then...
RB: BenJarvus Green-Ellis. With all the new RBs and Woodhead still here expect The Law Firms production to go down from last year.
TE: Rob Gronkowski & Aaron Hernandez. I expect these two to have great years because of the addition of Ochocinco to open up more space for the two talented tight ends.
OL: (in no order at all) Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, and Dan Connolly. Makins gets to start the year with the Patriots this time. Nate Solder will probably play at some point, maybe even a start.
WR: Chad Ochocinco and Deion Branch. "But Wes Welker is awesome!" not so fast Patriots fan! This was tough for me but I think it will be Ocho and Branch on the outside and Welker in the slot in the regular sets.
FB: (When needed) Sammy Morris.
I really like this offense and any offense with Tom Brady will score a lot of points. Offensive Coordinator Bill O'Brien should be drooling at the thought of all his new tools for this year. Chad Ochocinco, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley. The development of Gronkowski and Hernandez. Danny Woodhead for a full year. Sounds good to me!
Now to the part that gets me excited the most; the defense!
DT: Vince Wilfork and Albert Haynesworth. This is a combined 690lbs coming at the QB. Be afraid.... very, very afraid.
DE: Two of either Mike Wright/Mark Anderson/Jermaine Cunningham/Eric Moore/Markell Carter. I would assume it would be Mike Wright and Jermaine Cunningham while they split with Anderson and co.
MLB: Jerod Mayo or Brandon Spikes. "But Jerod Mayo is one of the best linebackers in the NFL!" Just listen to my next predictions good sir/ma'am.
ROLB: Rob Ninkovich or Jerod Mayo. Since Spikes is strictly a MLB and with a 4-3 defense Mayo wouldn't have to rush the QB much anyway as an outside linebacker it fits well.
LOLB: Gary Guyton or Jerod Mayo. See above.
CB: Devin McCourty and Leigh Bodden. The Patriots didn't have a solid 2nd corner to compliment McCourty but now with Bodden healthy, that problem should be solved.
SS: Pat Chung. Unless you think Sergio Brown or Brandon McGowan can beat him out, this is the obvious pick.
FS: Brandon Meriweather. I know a lot of Pats fans don't like BM31 but I think he was just trying to do too much last year because of our mediocre corners (other than McCourty) he had to cover more, something that is not his strength. Now, with Bodden back he should play better and get back to those hard hits that we all love!
The defense is an interesting thing to predict. I've read articles where it says that Belichick is switching to a 4-3 and leaving his traditional 3-4. But with the addition of Albert Haynesworth you have to think that you'd put him with Wilfork to dominate all offensive lines. Just think about it, they both demand double teams and you can't have 4 out of 5 of your offensive line blocking 2 guys. I guess you could put tight ends in but what if a safety (Meriweather) is blitzing? That's what so awesome about this defense, they're a huge match-up problem for anyone. If the Patriots stay with the 3-4 I expect it to look like this:
DT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Mike Wright/Mark Anderson/Eric Moore/Markell Carter
MLB: Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes
ROLB: Rob Ninkovich or Gary Guyton or Jermaine Cunningham
LOLB: See above.
The defensive backs should remain the same.
Bill Belichick will have a fun time even though he only added ONE guy. Shows how much a motivated Haynesworth can do for a team.
Next up is special teams:
K: Stephen Gostkowski. He's expected to be ready for the first pre-season game.
P: Zoltan Mesko. Had a great rookie season last year, hopes to build off of it.
KR: Brandon Tate. Not the best receiver but is a very good kick returner.
PR: Julian Edelman. He showed flashes of brilliance last year and almost had a TD off a punt return but a penalty took it back.
Nothing new to the special teams game unless Shane Vereen decides he can return kicks/punts.
All in all this should be a very good year in Foxboro. I'm predicting a 13-3 record for the Pats this year.
Remember this could all change depending on what Belichick does in free agency and trades.
Thanks for reading!

Patriots Update and Next Season Preview

Well the Patriots were very aggressive yesterday. First, I wake up and find out that the Patriots traded a 5th round pick in 2013 to the Washington Redskins for DT Albert Haynesworth. I like the trade. Its a very low risk, high reward trade. Haynesworth should be motivated playing for coach Bill Belichick and having a great leader like Vince Wilfork to help him. Haynesworth is a very talented player... when he wants to be. He's known for showing up to training camp with the Redskins last year and failed 3 conditioning tests before finally passing one. I think he's a great and I can't wait to see him on the field. Then I went out to a Blue Jays game and I come home and see the Patriots acquired WR Chad Ochocinco. This one wasn't as much of a surprise because Ocho wanted to be a Patriot, has a good relationship with Belichick and Tom Brady, and wanted to be traded from Cincinnati for some time because the team was losing so much and their star QB Carson Palmer is now retiring because of the team not trading him, and so many other stories. So right off the bat this trade is significant because of the name. Ochocinco has over 2 million Twitter followers and is known for his awesome TD celebrations and his outspoken nature. But that's not the "Patriot Way" as people like to call it, since Belichick is known for keeping his team very quiet and respectful so people are wondering if Ochocinco will be able to do that in New England. Now, obviously Bill won't ask Chad to turn his Twitter off but, Chad needs to know that if he can't shut up then he won't be playing in games (just ask Wes Welker) because Belichick won't tolerate it. I think it's a good add, not just for name value, but because I think Chad is still a good receiver and now playing with an MVP QB like Tom Brady, and I think it'll revitalize his career coming off a 831yd, 4 TD year. I'm not sure what the Patriots are giving up but I'm hearing its 2 late round picks, one in 2012 the other in 2013 so another low risk, high reward move.
Today the Patriots also released some players, most notably: DE Ty Warren, TE Alge Crumpler and OT Nick Kazcur. Warrens release I'm very surprised about considering our already weak pass rush. I'm guessing we may trade for someone since there aren't too many guys available that the Patriots like who they'd sign. I've heard Osi Umenyiora's named linked to the Patriots because of his contract dispute with the Giants. Though we've seen before that with Belichick, you can never predict what he's going to do.
On to hockey, I was busy today so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my Los Angeles Kings season preview up. I'll try and do it after my baseball game today but we'll see!

Can Flyers Acquisitions Lead Them To A Cup?

Now in terms of blockbuster deals, I don't think we've ever seen 2 in the span of one hour by one team. But that's exactly what the Philadelphia Flyers did on Tuesday, June 23rd 2011 when they first traded star sniper Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets for young forward Jakub Voracek and the 8th overall pick in 2011 and a 3rd round pick also in 2011. Carter was rumored to be going to the Blue Jackets for some time before this deal went down so it came as no surprise to me. But then mere minutes after the trade was finalized there were rumblings that Flyers captain Mike Richards was being traded. In fact, the Flyers offered the Toronto Maple Leafs Richards for young 2-way forward Nikolai Kulemin and blue chip prospect Nazem Kadri. But it ended up being Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings for The Hockey News' #1 rated prospect and Canadian world junior star Brayden Schenn and young power forward and Scarborough native Wayne Simmonds. This is the one that shocked me because not only was Mike Richards the captain and face of the franchise but he was loved throughout Philly and by GM Paul Holmgren (who was nearly in tears announcing the trade of Richards). I still believe both trades were even for both sides. The Blue Jackets finally get the #1 center they wanted for star winger Rick Nash and the Flyers get a great young piece in Voracek and the 8th overall pick was turned into forward Sean Couturier. The Kings get their #2 center to compliment underrated talent Anze Kopitar and the Flyers receive Brayden Schenn, who's drawn comparisons to Mike Richards, and Wayne Simmonds who, even though he struggled last year, can develop into a very good power forward. The Flyers were also active in their pursuit for a true #1 goalie and got it when they traded for (and eventually signed) Coyotes star Ilya Bryzgalov. The Broad Street Bullies also were players in the free agent market signing forwards former NHL star Jaromir Jagr, and former Penguins pest Maxime Talbot.
Lets now take a look at how I think the forwards will go together:
Line 1:
James van Reimsdyk - Claude Giroux - Jaromir Jagr
Line 2:
Scott Hartnell - Daniel Briere - Jakub Voracek
Line 3:
Max Talbot - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds
Line 4:
Jody Shelley - Blair Betts - Andreas Nodl

Bubble forwards: Ben Holmstrom, Ian Laperriere

Even with the loss of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards (among others) the Flyers still have a very intimidating forward group. Anyone in the first 3 lines can be moved up or down depending on performance, chemistry and whatnot. My personal favorite line is the 3rd line of Talbot/Schenn/Simmonds because all of those guys are very good two-way players and all capable of scoring 15+ goals, assuming they get the playing time I expect. This group of forwards is a great mix of young (van Reimsdyk, Giroux, Voracek, Talbot, Schenn, Simmonds, Nodl) and not-so-young (Jagr, Hartnell, Briere, Shelley, Betts) and I think they'll thrive together.
On to the defensive pairings:
Defensive Pairing 1:
Chris Pronger - Kimmo Timonen
Defensive Pairing 2:
Braydon Coburn - Matt Carle
Defensive Pairing 3:
Andrej Meszaros - Andreas Lilja

Bubble defensemen: Oskars Bartulis, Erik Gustafsson

I had a tough time choosing between the veteran Lilja or the youngster Bartulis but in the end I chose the experience. The rest was fairly simple and like the forwards they can all be mix-and-matched. My favorite pairing is probably Coburn/Carle because they're styles compliment each other so well.
Now the goalies:
Starter:
Ilya Bryzgalov

Back-up:
Sergei Bobrovsky

This was fairly obvious. Bryzgalov is a proven veteran. I'm not going to slight Bobrovsky but he was a little inconsistent at times last year. This has to be up there in the league as one of the best tandems in the league.

Now I've gone back and forth on whether I like or dislike the Flyers' moves this off-season going as high as them going to the Cup and as low as missing the playoffs, but as of right now...
My Prediction: Out 2nd round of the playoffs.

Panthers Ready To Pounce?

The Florida Panthers were one of the busiest teams in the off season in terms of signings and trades. Acquiring guys like Kris Versteeg, Ed Jovanovski, and Scottie Upshall. This was mainly done to reach the NHL salary cap floor. But with all of these quality players are the Panthers actually a playoff team from it?
My initial reaction was along the lines of "ahahahaha F**K NO!" now its more like "ehhhh maybe?"
Lets see how the lines would look in my eyes:
Line 1:
David Booth - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Line 2:
Sean Bergenheim - Tomas Fleishmann - Jack Skille
Line 3:
Tim Kennedy - Marcel Goc - Scottie Upshall
Line 4:
Tomas Kopecky - Ryan Carter - Bill Thomas/Steve Bernier (if either gets re-signed)

Bubble forwards: Evgeny Dadonov, Scott Timmins, Michal Repik

I actually like this group of forwards. Its a good mix of speed, scoring and two-way ability. The top 3 RWs can all be interchangeable and Versteeg and Fleishmann can play any forward position. My favorite line would have to be the 2nd line of  Bergenheim/Fleishmann/Skille. All are solid 2-way players with lots of speed and skill. The LW is very strong as well with Booth, Bergenheim, Kennedy and Kopecky. Kopecky would be 3rd line but I don't think Kennedy or Dadonov would be 4th liners. But, if Bergenheim struggles then he and Kopecky switch or Bergenheim and Kennedy switch. The center position kind of drops of after Weiss and Feishmann, with Goc and Carter but with the 3rd and 4th lines you don't need anything spectacular.
Now on to the defensive pairings:
Defensive Pairing 1:
Ed Jovanovski - Dmitry Kulikov
Defensive Pairing 2:
Brian Campbell - Keaton Ellerby
Defensive Pairing 3:
Nolan Yonkman - Mike Weaver

Bubble defensemen: Tyson Strachan, Jason Garrison
I also like this defense corps. Jovanovski is a great veteran leader to help develop budding star Dmitry Kulikov. Veteran Brian Campbell would help Kulikov as well as they would likely be together on the powerplay considering their natural offensive instincts. He will also be able to teach young defenseman Keaton Ellerby. Nolan Yonkman and Mike Weaver round out the group as solid but not spectacular defensemen. Now the goalies.

Starting Goalie:
Jose Theodore
Back-up:
Scott Clemmensen

Bubble goalie: Jacob Markstrom
This ones pretty simple. Let Theodore start the year if he struggles, let Clemmensen take over and if Markstrom dominates the AHL call him up and let him be the starter.

Now after looking at all that the big question is: Can all the new guys mesh together? There are a lot of new faces and it'll be interesting in Florida this year for once.

My prediction: Just miss the playoffs.

Something different... And Patriots stuff!

Starting (probably) tomorrow, I'll give my thoughts on some NHL teams' moves during this off-season. Teams like: Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, and many more!

I will also post about the NFL lockout ending and about what I want the Patriots to do in free agency.

Patriots news!
I read today that the Patriots have agreed to terms with a bunch of undrafted rookies. I'm trying to go through all the names but, I'm not for sure on anything yet.

The Patriots are set to release OLB Tully Banta-Cain. This comes after it was announced he would have surgery on an abdominal tear and would miss 4 to 5 weeks.

And, apparently, Pro Bowl offensive guard Logan Mankins has agreed to sign his franchise tender of (wait for it) 10.1 million! and there was a lockout, why?
Nonetheless, glad he's back!

What a busy time for the Leafs!

Well, well, well, after a day where the Leafs signed/traded for nobody, the Leafs have been one of the busiest teams I'll start with the signing of C Tim Connolly. You probably all know that prized free agent Brad Richards was signed by the New York Rangers and not the Leafs. So they turned to plan B, Tim Connolly (2 years/9.5 total/4.75 per) I'm pretty OK with this signing considering that we desperately needed a center. While he probably isn't a real #1 center, that's why he only got a 2 year deal. He's a pretty good passer from what I hear and that's what we needed to help Phil Kessel. (Tim Connolly highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIauE5XrMsk&annotation_id=annotation_658719&feature=iv ) Then next day they trade D Brett Lebda and LW Robert Slaney to the Nashville Predators for C Matthew Lombardi and D Cody Franson. At first thought I thought we FLEECED the Predators but from what I've heard and figured out after, the Preds needed to clear cap space from Lombardi's contract and Burke wouldn't have done it without Franson in the trade. Lombardi is a speedy center but played all of 2 games last year because of a concussion but he's confident he will be ready for next year. Franson is a big 6'5 defenceman but the knock on him is that he doesn't play too physical but he has great offensive ability scoring 8 goals last year from the back-end (except this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkEXnbrF2ao and Lombardi highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v32nT1ePBU ) Then yesterday the Leafs re-signed forwards Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak. (MacArthur highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g67OGB2Vf0 and Bozak highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCRBO32oPEY ) GO LEAFS GO!

NBA/NHL Draft

So the NHL and NBA drafts have come and gone. My favorite teams in each sport were busy so that kept me happy. For the NBA draft I will talk about the Milwaukee Bucks and my hometown Toronto Raptors. For the NHL draft I will talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and other trades etc.

Lets start with the NBA draft where the Milwaukee Bucks entered with the 10th overall selection. I read plenty of mock drafts to know that either Klay Thompson or Alec Burks would be selected there. I liked both players but I would have also accepted a trade down, which they did. To Milwaukee: 19th overall pick (from Charlotte) Stephen Jackson, Beno Udrih and Shaun Livingston. To Charlotte: 7th overall pick (from Sacramento), and Corey Maggette. To Sacramento: 10th overall pick (from Milwaukee), and John Salmons. Now I'm going to be biased a little here and say the Bucks won this trade. But a lot of analysts say they did too. Jackson is a great addition to the team as he has won a NBA title, can drop 20-25 points a night, and plays good defense. Udrih will be a solid back-up for Brandon Jennings and Livingston should just be a bench warmer but has talent though is also injury prone. With the 19th overall pick the Bucks drafted Tobias Harris out of Tennessee University. From what I've heard he is a tweener of a SF and SG. He's the youngest player in the draft and has a very high upside. I don't expect him to start until maybe next year at the earliest. The 10th pick that the Bucks traded away turned into Jimmer Fredette, the college star from BYU. A lot of fans will be mad at this but he didn't want to play for the Bucks anyway, turning down a workout from the team. Now for the Toronto Raptors. They had the 5th overall pick in the draft and took Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas. Most Raptor fans were mad with the pick because they thought the Raps should have taken a PG like Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker. But I really like the pick, even though he won't be here until the 2012-2013 season (due to contract issues with his European team) there might not even be a season this year so it won't really matter. Valanciunas is not the the stereotypical Euro big man. He's tough, he'll rebound the ball, block shots, and play physical, something the Raptors sorely lacked last year. This probably means that Andrea Bargnani will be moved to PF and if that doesn't work, well, bye Andrea.

Draft Grades:
Toronto Raptors: B
Milwaukee Bucks: A-

Now onto the NHL draft where my Toronto Maple Leafs held the 25th and 30th overall picks thanks to trades from the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins (30th) and Philadelphia Flyers (25th) . There was a trade involving the Leafs before the draft but I'll talk about that after. As we neared the 25th overall pick the Leafs made a trade with the Anaheim Ducks (shocker). To Toronto: 22nd overall pick. To Anaheim: 30th and 39th overall picks. So with the 22nd pick the Leafs drafted Tyler Biggs. I like Biggs. He's a big physical winger with some offensive upside. He's been compared to Kings' Dustin Brown and Bruins' Milan Lucic. I could see Biggs on the PP screening in front of the net, something Leafs fans have wanted forever. Then with the 25th overall pick the Leafs draft Stuart Percy. Percy is a very good defensive defenseman who could be a top 4 guy. He's been compared to Red Wings star Nicklas Lidstrom because of his defensive game and smarts with the puck.

Draft Grade:
Toronto Maple Leafs: B+

Now about the trade the Leafs were involved in. To Toronto: John Michael-Liles. To Colorado: 2nd round pick in 2012 (From Bruins). Huge, huge win here. The Bruins pick should be late and we only have Liles for a year so if he fails we can just let him go. Great trade.

Coming up: other big NHL trades, NHL free agency

Oops!

Well... I kind of haven't posted anything in forever. My baaad. More stuff coming up, including: NBA Draft, NHL Draft, and NHL Free Agency. BOOM.

Bye-Bye Patriots

Well, this is tough for me. My favorite team, the New England Patriots lost to the hated New York Jets Sunday. It's simple, we were out coached, outplayed, and outworked. As much as people will blame Tom Brady for this loss it is in no way his own fault. The Jets pass coverage was incredible. The reason Brady was sacked 5 times was not because the Jets blitzed a lot, but because the coverage was so good Brady had no one to throw too and the players got there. The Jets offence, which started off slowly, played very well and the Pats couldn't stop it. The Patriots were controlling the game until Tom Brady, who had only threw 4 INTs the whole year finally threw one to David Harris and after that the Jets had all the momentum and never really gave it up. The season is now over and now we look towards the draft where the Patriots own 3 picks in the first 33 including two 1st rounders. I expect them to draft a defensive lineman somewhere in that 1st round.

On to the rest of the games now.
The Green Bay Packers man handled the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons, 48-21. Aaron Rodgers had a GREAT game throwing for 300+ yards and 3 TDs. I really liked the Falcons but the Packers are a dangerous team and I believe will now win the Super Bowl. Next Game: @Chicago Bears, NFC Championship Game.

Finally the worst playoff team in NFL history is out. Don't let the 35-24 final fool you. The Bears were way better than the 11 points they won by over the Seahawks. It wasn't really close at all. Bears looked great, but it was the Seahawks, so we'll see how they handle the Packers next week. Next Game: vs. Green Bay Packers, NFC Championship Game.

Wow, at first it looked like the Baltimore Ravens were handling the Pittsburgh Steelers fairly easily. But things change and the Steelers came back from a 14 point halftime deficit to beat the Ravens 31-24. The downhill spiral for the Ravens all started when Ray Rice fumbled the ball and ended with Ben Roethlisberger threw a great pass to Antonio Brown, who made a terrific catch and set up the Steelers game winning TD. Next Game: vs. NY Jets, AFC Championship Game.

Offensive Player of the Week: Aaron Rodgers.
Explanation: What more do I need to say? He is the reason the #1 seeded Falcons are no longer in the playoffs. 31/36, 300+ yards, and 3 TDs. Very impressive.

Defensive Player of the Week: Tramon Williams.
Explanation: This was VERY tough. There were some tremendous defensive performances this week but Williams had a crucial pick six of Matt Ryan at the end of the 2nd quarter.

Goat Horns of the Week: T.J Houshmandzadeh
Explanation: The Ravens could've came back to score a tying TD. But T.J's major drop on 4th down killed the Ravens. If he caught the ball his team would've had a first down and major momentum.

AFC/NFC Championship Game predictions coming later this week as well as a Patriots season review and off season preview.

Wild Week For The Leafs

So far I have only covered football (Divisional Playoff review coming up too) but, my favorite sport is hockey and my favorite team, ever since I was born has been the Toronto Maple Leafs (go ahead and laugh) so I decided to do a weekly review of what happens in Leaf Land.

Monday, January 10, 2011
The Leafs defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in L.A. It was a great game to watch and even better that they won. It was a great team effort all around. Goals were scored by: Darryl Boyce, Phil Kessel, and Nikolai Kulemin with the winner.

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
The Leafs defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 in San Jose. James Reimer kept us in it for most of the game and looked great. It was also Ron Wilson's 600th career win. Goals were scored by: Phil Kessel, Clarke MacArthur, Carl Gunnarsson (winner) and Clarke MacArthur (2) (empty net)

Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Before the game the Leafs acquired Fabian Brunnstrom from the Dallas Stars in exchange for fading prospect Mikhail Stefanovich. Brunnstrom is now playing for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The Leafs also had a game vs the Phoenix Coyotes, which they lost, snapping a 4 game winning streak by the score of 5-1. James Reimer looked pretty bad on a lot of the goals but, the Leafs weren't giving him much help on the scoreboard anyways. Goal scored by: Colby Armstrong. Maple Leafs forward Mike Brown was also suspended for 3 games for his head shot of Ed Jovanovski.

Saturday, January 15th, 2011
The Leafs were defeated by the Calgary Flames in a snore fest by a score of 2-1 (SO) There wasn't much action in this game until midway through the 3rd period. Even though they lost, they still manage to get a point. Goal was scored by: Mikhail Grabovski.

Upcoming schedule for the Leafs: @NY Rangers (1/19/11), vs. Anaheim Ducks (1/20/11), and vs. Washington Capitals (1/22/11)

NFL Divisonal Round Predictions/BCS National Champioship review

So, as promised I am going to do my NFL Divisional Round. But first the National Championship. I wanted Oregon to win for a few reasons. 1. I like their colours. 2. I'm not a big Cam Newton fan. and 3. Their my second favorite US college (WVU!) But of course they didn't.. It wasn't the big 60-55 shootout everyone thought it would be. Both defences looked fired up to stop the oppositions high powered offences.

Offensive Player of the Game: Michael Dyer
Explanation: He rushed for 143 yards on 22 carries and whenever Cam Newton wasn't playing well Auburn just turned to Dyer and he picked up yards.

Defensive Player of the Game: Nick Fairley
Explanation: This one was easy. He shut down LaMichael James and the rest of the Oregon offence and forced them to not use their up-tempo fast paced offence.

Goat Horns of the Game: Darron Thomas
Explanation: No so much in the 2nd half but early on he was just not playing well at all. Maybe if he was better earlier on the Ducks might have won.

Now onto my predictions. (Not in order)
First game: Seattle vs. Chicago.
This is just the downer of an otherwise great Divisional round. It probably won't be a blow-out, but again I just don't think the Seahawks will win. But I said that for last game and look what happened. Winner: Chicago.

Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh.
This will be one hell of a game. Both teams hate each other and they're evenly matched. I think if the Steelers can stop Ray Rice, they'll win. If the Ravens can stop Hines Ward and Mike Wallace, they'll win. Winner: Baltimore.

Green Bay vs Atlanta.
Green Bay might just be the most dangerous 6th seed ever. Not even with a good running game their dangerous. But when you add James Starks running it so well they're almost unbeatable. I guess that'll be the X-Factor whether the Packers can run it well again. Winner: Atlanta

New England vs. New York Jets.
Let me go out and say right away. This will not be another 45-3 blow out. It will be a closer, tighter, good game. The Jets have confidence after the win vs. Indy and the Patriots have rest thanks to the first round bye. This might come down to coaching. Belichick is the best at keeping things to himself and preparing his team while Rex Ryan (as much as I hate him) is the best trash talker and still being able to keep his team focused. Winner: Patriots

I'm going to start doing weekly Toronto Maple Leaf recaps. Starting on Monday, January 17th.

Eagles PACK it in, Ravens soar

(Oh I crack myself up...) I'm going to review the Packers-Eagles game because of a few reasons. 1. It was a blowout. 2. I picked the Chiefs.. and I am embarrassed. and 3. I didn't watch most of it. So lets begin. Going into this game I wanted the Eagles to win because well... it'd be easier for the Patriots, because the Packers are a bad match-up for them. But of course nothing goes my way and the Packers won pretty easily. The main problem for the Eagles, they couldn't do anything consistently well. Throwing was ok, but when DeSean Jackson got hurt for a while it didn't work. Running was below average, maybe it was the blockers not creating holes or maybe it was just the Packers defence getting to McCoy quicker but it just did not work. Pass defence, although 180 yards doesn't look like much, 3 TD passes and 6.7 yards per pass does. They were lucky James Jones had that brutal drop near the end of the first half which would've all but sealed it. Run defence, what more is needed to be said other than they gave up 123 yards to a 6th round rookie who was originally going to be a 3rd stringer. The only positive I can really come up with for the Eagles is that it could've been much worse.

As for the Packers, they were rolling all game it seemed, don't let the final score of 21-16 fool you the Packers dominated both sides of the ball. Aaron Rodgers had no trouble throwing the ball, or scrambling and picking up yards on the ground. They ran well, with rookie James Starks picking up 123 yards on 23 carries. On defence they never let Vick get into a rhythm, picking up 3 sacks. Stopped LeSean McCoy from burning them (they didn't give up a run play longer than 15 yards) and kept Vick in check when he ran too. Jason Avant had a pretty solid day though with 7 catches for 93 yards and a TD. All in all a very good day for the Packers who now go on to play the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta for the Divisional round of the playoffs.
(Other NFC Divisional match-up: Seattle Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears)

Offensive Player of the Game: James Starks.
Explanation: He was the main reason that the Packers had success on offence. Without him the passing attack would not have worked as well.

Defensive Player of the Game: Tramon Williams.
Explanation: He was all over the field all game. He covered his assignments well. And got the game saving interception in the dying seconds to seal a Packer win.

Goat Horns of the Game: Winston Justice.
Explanation: It would've been James Jones if the Packers lost. But they won so it's Justice. He got 3 penalties called on him on back to back plays. First a false start on him. There goes 5 yards. Then on the same play, tackles Packers linebacker Clay Matthews to the ground as a "block" and gets an illegal formation because he lined up in the back field and a holding (more like throwing) call. And there goes 10 more yards. Good job Mr. Justice...
Want to see the embarassment? Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_-hPnfvdIM

Other Sunday game, the Baltimore Ravens blew out the Kansas City Chiefs 30-7 and will now play division rival Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Predictions for the Divisional round will be up sometime this week. GO PATRIOTS!

The SEAHAWKS!? Whaaa?

Did that actually just happen? The worst playoff team ever, the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks just beat the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints 41-36. Now, I actually picked the Seahawks because of the spread being 11, but I NEVER thought they would win the game! The Saints just could not stop Marshawn Lynch out there (19 carries, 131 yards, 1 TD) and while they weren't spectacular the Seahawks defence did what it needed to do to stop the Saints offence. While the Saints only ran the ball about 20 times, the Seahawks didn't let Reggie Bush or Julius Jones do any damage, they combined for 20 carries, 71 yards, and 2 TDs. But don't let those 2 TDs fool you, they weren't big gains at all. Those two TD runs were a total of 9 yards. But the Saints did have some success passing the ball with Drew Brees throwing 60 passes to make up for their non-existent run game. But again the Seahawks didn't give up a big TD play. The two TD passes combined for a whopping total of... 7 yards.

But the biggest weakness for the Saints, their defence. More specifically, their secondary. What happened to this new solidified secondary with Jabari Greer and Malcolm Jenkins? Now you might look at the passing yard total and say "Well, they only gave up 266 pass yards compared to 397 thrown by the Saints" But it was the big TD plays that killed the Saints secondary. 2 of the 4 TD passes thrown by Matt Hasselbeck went for more than 35 yards. When you have guys like Brandon Stokley out running your defensive backs, you have a problem on your hands. The other 2 TD passes? Both to TE John Carlson and both times he was left WIDE OPEN. Especially on the 2nd, where there wasn't a Saints defender within a good 7 yards of him. And one thing that just came to my mind about some of these TDs, Roman Harper was getting burned all day. Cameron Morrahs only catch a 39 yarder that almost was a TD who's fault? Harper. Carlson's 2nd TD? Harper. Stokleys big TD? Harper. But it wasn't just Harper. Mike Williams' 38 yard TD? Safety Darren Sharper. Carlson's 1st TD? Sharper.

But what also shocks me is that twice the Saints had a 10 point lead over the Seahawks, and they could not put them away. Letting Hasselbeck and his offence do whatever they wanted on almost every drive. But I cannot fault Drew Brees, he did not make many mistakes (if any) and threw for 400+ yards and two TDs. But it was the secondary of the Saints that let them down.

Offensive Player of the Game: Marshawn Lynch.
Explanation: It would've been Hasselbeck but it was more because of the bad safety play that he had his TDs. And Lynch's running set-up the passing game

Defensive Player of the Game: Raheem Brock.
Explanation: This was tough. You had David Hawthorne, Earl Thomas, and even Scott Shanle from the Saints. But Brock forced the Jones fumble and had a crucial sack of Brees

Goat Horns of the Game: Roman Harper.
Explanation: He let 2 guys run by him for huge gains (Stokley and Morrah) 2 guys burnt him for TDs (Carlson and Stokley) he was just shaky the whole game.

Other Saturday game; New York Jets def. Indianapolis Colts 17-16 on a last second field goal by Nick Folk. Jets go on to play the New England Patriots.

Why The Patriots Will Win Super Bowl XLV (45)

Ahh.. The 14-2 New England Patriots. Now the easy thing to say would be "Well, just let Tom Brady throw and run the ball from time to time and hopefully the defence forces some turnovers and hopefully the offence doesn't turn it over" Yeah... And I've "hoped" for 14 years the Toronto Maple Leafs would win a Stanley Cup.. First of all, it's not all about Tom Brady. He has tremendous talent catching the ball; Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and (when needed) Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The most well known name is clearly Wes Welker, and for good reason, 500+ receptions, 5,000+ yards, and 20+ TDs. But for now lets focus on the two rookie tight ends, Hernandez and Gronkowski. Now coming out of the draft you'd look at the Patriots selections for offence and you say "Well, you have a marijuana user (Hernandez) a kind of slow, average catching, tight end (Gronkowski) and a low profile receiver (Taylor Price)" Now, you look at the two TEs and your like "Wow, I wish my team drafted these guys!"Just look at the stats. Gronkowski: 42 receptions, 546 yards, and 10 TDs. Hernandez: 45 receptions, 563 yards, and 6 TDs (Note: Hernandez didn't even play the last two games of the year, so those totals could've been higher)

Now, onto the running backs Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. I'll start with Green-Ellis. Just let me start by saying, he was an undrafted free agent. Look at the stats (again) 229 carries, 1,008 yards, and 13 TDs. When you think of the Patriots you think of our passing game more than anything else, now to get a running back who puts up an 1,000 yard rushing year? That makes the attack even more dangerous. Of course we can't forget about Mr. Everything, Danny Woodhead. Don't even get me started... He's 5'8 (maybe not even that!) and he's arguably our most dynamic player! 926 total yards and 6 total TDs. He also didn't play for us until Week 3, so he could've had over 1,000 total yards and 10 total TDs!

I don't need to go into much detail with our QB (MVP! MVP! MVP!) or our receivers (2 combined for over 1,500 yards and 13 TDs) So, I will now focus on our defence.

25th most yards given up per game, 30th most pass yards given up per game. Sounds like we have a problem here? Not so fast, 8th least points given up per game, and (my favorite stat) 25 INTs (best in the NFL) Looking at the stats we have a high risk, high reward defence. But, you need to watch them play before you can judge them. We have improved every game. Great young talent (McCourty, Meriweather, Chung, Mayo, Spikes, Cunningham) and great veteran leadership (Wilfork, Gerard Warren, Banta-Cain) add that to the best coach in the NFL and you have a good defence for a while to come. (Don't forget they have 2  first round picks this year so we can get even younger and better)

It's not all about stats though. The Patriots do a lot of the little things right: blocking, route running, coverage, pass rushing. And that might just be the X-Factor, whether or not we can continue to do all of those things well. I truly believe they can (and will) win the Super Bowl and contend for years to come!