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By Anthony De Franco  July 1, 2009, at 11:44 pm  Wow. If this is real, it’s one of the worst money grabs of all time. From MMAweekly.com:
In a seemingly revolving door of endless negotiations, the former UFC champion sounds as if he is nearing the time when he will set foot back in the cage, once again ready to compete.
“I’m in negotiations right now with Strikeforce and working with CBS and Showtime, so all three of us are going back and forth to make a contract that makes sense to me,” he told MMAWeekly.com recently.
“Hopefully by October I’ll be competing. We’re finishing the contract I’d say with CBS, Showtime, and Strikeforce and making a deal that UFC can’t match.”
When asked what his motivation was, he brought up the man that might be the best pound for pound fighter in the world:
“After that, I don’t want no more warm-up fights. I’m hoping by my fourth fight, possibly fight Fedor Emelianenko at a catchweight. That’d be something that I’m looking forward to possibly by the middle of next year.”
Wow. Tito hasn’t fought in nearly a year, and hasn’t won a fight in almost three years. Last time we saw him he was being beaten in a decision by current UFC Light Heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida. Now, he wants to step in against Fedor. You sir, are going to get crushed.
This is news because Ortiz is one of the biggest names in MMA, but if you expect him to ever fight at a championship level again, you are going to be disappointed.
By Zach Schiff July 1, 2009, at 11:43 pm Well, I’m a lot happier today than on July 1, 2008, when the Rangers signed Wade Redden and I started ripping apart my girlfriend’s house in anger. By the way, she was mad.
Let’s put it this way. If I had told you 3 days ago that the Rangers were going to trade Scott Gomez and his $7.357M Cap hit over the next 5 years for Marian Gaborik and his $7.5M Cap hit over 5 years, would you? And as an added bonus, Long Island-native Chris Higgins would be on board, adding grit, passion, energy, and a few goals. Sounds like a good deal, right?
Indeed it is. Glen Sather got it right – get Gaborik and his frail body for just money, and ignore Dany Heatley and his mind games when it would have cost money AND a few players.
Donald Brashear… whatever. It’s going to be very hard to root for him, but he’ll protect Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, and whatever Russian named Nik ends up on the team.
I would like to wish a fond farewell to Freddy Sjostrom, though, who is off to Calgary, where he will no doubt be beneficial to their defense-first movement and can also play first-line winger with Jarome Iginla, if need be. Better him than Jamie Lundmark with Iginla, no?
And while I’m upset that Mike Cammellari signed in Montreal, he did get a very high deal from them. $6M for him is too much I think. If he signed in New York for $5M, okay, but not that much.
I also think Gomez and Cammellari, if teamed up, should do very well. If nothing else, a power play with Gomez dishing to Cammellari and his old buddy Brian Gionta will be spectacular. With Andrei Markov and possibly Alexei Kovalev on the ice then also, that could be killer.
Oh, and about the Hossa deal. It’s not 12 years. It’s 8 years. Well, it’s 12 years, but it’s a fake 4 years at the end. He’ll be making the league-minimum for a player over 35 then, and he might not even play. Either him or Chicago probably said, “Ok, 8 years for 7 million each year.” “No, better idea, higher amount, 4 longer years, $5.2 million Cap hit. Detroit did it, why can’t we!”
* * *
So this is how the Rangers roster shapes up, as of now. Don’t pay any attention to lines or positions, and keep in mind trades can still happen. Last year, if you remember, Ryan Hollweg was traded to Toronto on like July 14th.
Avery – Dubinsky – Gaborik
Higgins – Drury – Callahan
Voros – Anisimov – Boyle
Korpikoski – Brashear – Zherdev
That’s 12 forwards, but we don’t know about Zherdev. Brashear and Voros won’t be everyday players, and who knows about Boyle. We also don’t know about Hartford and who might make the team (P.A. Parenteau? Mark Bell? Jordan Owens? Dale Weise?) So we have 8 forwards to play everyday, possibly 10, but there still is a need.
Expect atleast one or two more forwards, hopefully a puck-carrying, first-line center, if there are any available. Not everything happens on July 1, remember. Markus Naslund was signed July 3 last year. Uh, so was Dmitri Kalinin.
On D…
Redden – Rozsival
Staal – Girardi
Potter – Gilroy – Sanguenetti – Del Zotto
No room for a big D really, especially since the money should be spent on offense instead. Mike Komisarek would’ve been excellent, but maybe Rob Scuderi can be signed on the cheap.
* * *
Should make for an interesting Day 2. I would definitely expect 2 forwards to be signed, and maybe a veteran 7th D so that there aren’t too many rookies on the backline. Hey, maybe Paul Mara will take another discount to play here.
By Bryan Berg July 1, 2009, at 9:08 pm Earlier in the day, we had a thread that we’d update anytime something big happened. Well, since then, we’ve seen quite a bit of activity. So let’s pick up where we left off…
– Marian Gaborik to NY Rangers, 5 years, $37.5m ($7.5m/year)
This is the big one for Rangers fans. This is the reason they traded Scott Gomez. Was it worth it? Only time will tell. On one hand, Gaborik is the scorer the Rangers need desperately. On the other, Gaborik is extremely injury-prone and might not be able to handle the New York pressure cooker. I can easily see Gaborik being the latest target for the Garden faithful’s boos. Many will point to his track record of injuries and his 17 games played last year. Optimists will note that Gaborik scored 13 goals in those 17 games. Either way, Gaborik fits a hole on this team that Scott Gomez never came close to filling – that role, of course, being a pure goal scorer.
– Mike Komisarek to Toronto, 5 years, $22m ($4.5m/year)
A lot of Islanders fans were hopeful their hometown boy would come home, but it was never going to happen. That’s life. I guess it’s appropriate that Komisarek ended up in Toronto, though. He gets his big pay day, but with that salary comes a ton of pressure. When the Leafs struggle, fans are going to point to Komisarek’s meager point totals and criticize his play, fair or not. Honestly, I don’t see him playing the full five years in Toronto. But the truth is, someone was going to overpay for Komisarek’s services today, and I’m glad it’s someone outside of the Atlantic Division.
– Mike Cammalleri to Montreal, 5 years, $30m ($6m/year)
After a 39-goal season in Calgary, Cammalleri cashes in and heads to the greener pastures of Montreal. The Habs essentially fell apart last year, but they hope Cammalleri can provide the offensive ability to return them to their 2007-08 levels. The money is about right, but the years are a bit much. Then again, the same can be said about pretty much everyone. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve said/typed/texted “(x) years is a lot for a player who (some sort of comment about a player’s one-dimensional style)” Earlier today, Botta called to mind the putrid 2007 free agent class. Hopefully, this one isn’t as bad. But there have been a lot of lengthy deals today, and more than a few are destined to backfire.
– Scott Clemmensen to Florida, Mike Rupp to Pittsburgh, Brian Gionta to Montreal, John Madden to Chicago.
These deals are all wonderful for the teams who are receiving these players. Each one of them fills a need. But the Devils are letting a ton of “their” guys go. Rupp and Madden are the defense-first forwards the Devils have built the last fifteen year of success upon. Gionta was one of their only dependable scorers before an off-year in 2008-09. And Clemmensen kept the Devils in the playoff race last year while Martin Brodeur was injured. What’s going on with the Devils? They suddenly have a ton of cap room and can make a serious splash in any number of ways. My gut tells me they have a trade in the works. Lou Lamoriello does not let loyal players go for just any reason. There’s got to be more to this story.
– Nikolai Khabibulin to Edmonton, 4 years, $15m ($3.75m/year)
So let me get this straight. The Oilers wouldn’t give Dwayne Roloson a second year, but they’re willing to give four years to Khabibulin? Let’s count the ways in which this is a horrible move. First, Khabibulin will be forty years old when this deal is over. He was drafted by Winnipeg, for Christ’s sake. Second, he has a history of not playing very well when his financial security is guaranteed. Look at his numbers. His three best years were the three years he was playing for a new contract (1998-99, 2003-04, 2008-09). Third, he hasn’t exactly been stellar since the lockout. His number of games played has dwindled over the past three years, going from 60 in 2006-07 to 50 in 2007-08 all the way down to 42 in 2008-09. Yes his GAA and save percentage have gotten better in those years, but so have the Blackhawks. How will he do on a team with far less talent and where he has to be the number one guy? This deal isn’t one I would have made, let’s put it that way.
– Brian Boucher to Philadelphia, 2 years, $1.85m ($925k/year)
This is the move that will solve all of Philadelphia’s goaltending problems. Oh wait, this is 2009, not 1999. Never mind.
– Dany Heatley to… Edmonton?
Dany Heatley deserves a special spot on in the Primadonna Hall of Fame, along with the likes of Eric Lindros, Terrell Owens, and Chad Johnson. For those of you who don’t recall the whole Heatley saga, here’s a refresher. After Heatley’s car accident in Atlanta which killed teammate Dan Snyder, Heatley requested a trade. He was sent to Ottawa for Marian Hossa. After two straight 50-goal seasons, Heatley signed a six-year, $45 million extension to his then-current contract, which had one year left. The deal had a no-trade clause. After the 2008-09 season ended – the first season under his lucrative extension – Heatley requested a trade. Ottawa moved to make a deal before July 1 in order to avoid paying him a $4 million roster bonus.
That takes us up to last night, when Ottawa made a deal with Edmonton for Heatley. So what happened? Heatley invoked his no-trade clause and killed the deal. Rumors state that Heatley is just trying to screw the Senators out of $4 million and will approve the trade after Ottawa is officially on the hook for this money. If you believe what you hear, the Rangers were so turned off by this display that they removed themselves from the Heatley sweepstakes.
To me, it doesn’t work both ways. You can’t request a trade, then conveniently cite your no-trade clause as a reason for nixing a potential deal. If Heatley refuses to go to Edmonton, if I were Bryan Murray, I’d take Heatley off the block and force him to play for Ottawa. After all, Heatley did sign a no-trade clause.
By Anthony De Franco July 1, 2009, at 7:36 pm Yet another fight from out UFC 103 Rumors column comes to fruition. Check out MMAweekly’s coverage:
A battle between rising heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin is set for UFC 104 in October, MMAWeekly has learned.
Fiveouncesofpain was the first to report the match-up, and it was subsequently confirmed by sources close to the fight.
Carwin (11-0) was recently cleared for hard training after suffering a broken nose at UFC 96 that required surgery. The 34 year-old Colorado native was going down a hard road with former contender Gabriel Gonzaga before his right hand stopped the Brazilian in his tracks. The finish immediately put him on the list of heavyweight contenders.
Velasquez (6-0) is coming off an important career victory as well, running the striking gauntlet of Cheik Kongo to wrestle his way to a decision victory. The 26 year-old American Kickboxing Academy product has come up fast in the ranks with his aggressive style and collegiate wrestling credentials.
Damn, we were off by a month.
These guys are without a doubt the two best contenders in this division. Both have similar ground and pound styles, with one huge difference: Carwin has the knockout power that Velasquez lacks. I’ve spent a lot of time recently checking out the fights that both of these guys have fought in the UFC and I have to say that I feel good predicting Carwin to win by TKO.
By Anthony De Franco July 1, 2009, at 6:11 pm Wow, this video is simply too funny to be described. Therefore, check it out, and then check out the english translation over at Cage Potato.
We all knew that this fight was coming, as they are going to be coaching Season Kimbo of the The Ultimate Fighter, but the time and place is news. I’ve wanted to see this fight for quite a while because of the matchup that it presents. When Rampage looks at Evans, he might as well be looking at himself seven years ago. While Jackson has basically become a power striker, Evans still uses his wrestling while he continues to develop power.
The fight will be the UFC’s second card in Tennessee and should be numbered UFC 106. No guarantees though, as we all know that the people at Zuffa like to put together as many cards as they can in a short amount of time.
Update: (7:39 PM) Turns out that it’s going to be at UFC 107. UFC staffer Marc Ratner confirmed that the event will take place in Memphis at the FedEx Forum, but wouldn’t confirm the fight. Expect this rumor to be true.
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