(NOT SO) Deep thoughts
A few scattered thoughts for the weekend we celebrate Remembrance Day. And watch the entire 10 hours of Band of Brothers for the 25th time ...
WRONG BUILDER
Gary Bettman will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday as a builder.
Don Cherry still isn’t in. Fail.
GETTING RIDICULOUS
As you surely heard, Bryce Harper rejected a US$300-million contract offer from the Washington Nationals this week. That’s $396 million in Canadian.
For some context, that deal would’ve paid him $108,434 every day for the next decade whether he was playing or not. He is reportedly seeking something closer to US$40 million a season ($52.9 million Canadian) which would work out to $145,000 a day.
Admit it, hearing that you’re now hoping he suffers some kind of career-limiting injury in offseason workouts and has to sign for a fraction of that.
KA-CHING V
Speaking of big money, now for today’s instalment of the William Nylander Lost Salary Meter.
Based on a 186-day NHL season and a salary of somewhere between $6 million (what the Leafs are reportedly offering, meaning $32,258 a day) and $8 million (what some reports say he’s demanding which is $43,010 a day), he’s lost somewhere between $1,193,546 and $1,591,370 already.
JUMBO ACHIEVEMENT
This week, Joe Thornton be-
came the first-ever first overall NHL draft pick to play 1,500 games. The draft has been held since 1963.
Eight first overall picks are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. How many can you name? The list is at the bottom.
NOT GOOD
If Thornton is one of the best first overall draft picks in NHL history, who are the worst? Here’s our choice for the bottom five. Shockingly, Alexandre Daigle doesn’t make the list. Though barely ...
1. Andre Veilleux (NY Rangers, 1965)
Never played pro hockey. Could’ve had Pierre Bouchard.
2. Claude Gauthier (Detroit 1964)
Never played in the NHL. Could’ve had Ken Dryden.
3. Rick Pagnutti (LA Kings, 1967)
Never played in the NHL. Could’ve had Battleship Kelly.
4. Greg Joly (Washington, 1974)
Collected 97 career points. Could’ve had Bryan Trottier.
5. Nail Yakupov (Edmonton, 2012)
Out of the NHL. Could’ve had Morgan Rielly.
THIS HURTS
At training camp, Hamilton Bulldogs GM Steve Staios said he didn’t expect Robert Thomas to come back from St. Louis. On Friday night when the 19-yearold was scheduled to play his 10th game with the Blues and thereby activated his entry-level contract, that turned out to be true.
It’s a big, big lost opportunity for the Bulldogs. Had Thomas returned, he could’ve joined Brandon Saigeon and Arthur Kaliyev to make up the top line in Canadian junior hockey. Later, he could’ve been traded for a boatload of prospects and draft picks.
SHOULD BE THERE
Speaking of Staios, the Bulldogs have never had a player on Canada’s world junior team. Thomas played on it last year but was still a member of the London Knights at the time and was traded here only after the tournament ended.
That should change this year. Staios is GM of that team as well and one of his easier decisions should be naming Bulldogs’ captain Mackenzie Enwistle to the roster. Every time he’s played for Canada, he’s been excellent.
On Thursday in the OHL’s Canada-Russia Series game, he scored the winning goal and was on the ice for all of his side’s three goals.
OF COURSE, BUT ...
The Alabama Crimson Tide are the unquestioned kings of college football. The Buffalo Bills appear to be in the running for the worst team in the NFL. So what would happen if they played a game against each other?
Westgate Las Vegas Superbook gave odds on this fictional matchup and said the Bills would be 28.5-point favourites. Meaning they’d be favoured by more than four touchdowns.
That makes sense. They are a pro team after all. Bigger, stronger, faster and more-experienced. But four touchdowns better means they would have to score at least four touchdowns. The gambling house does know Nathan Peterman is Buffalo’s quarterback, right?
BEEN A WHILE
At 22, Hamilton Tiger-Cats rookie offensive lineman Darius Ciraco from Burlington is the youngest player on the team. He was three the last time the black and gold won the Grey Cup in 1999 and nine months old last time the championship game was held here in town.
COULDA BEEN HIM
If you recall his tweets from last week, Ticats receiver Brandon Banks thought he should’ve been the team’s nominee for most outstanding player instead of quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. Which is true, even if a little awkward.
Anyway, you can imagine how salty he is today hearing that Masoli is now the East Division’s finalist for the award. A spot that almost certainly would’ve been his.
NICE CAREER
The Montreal Canadians put Tomas Plekanec on waivers Friday with the purpose of terminating his contract. After 1,001 bigleague games this looks like the end of the hockey line for him.
Before becoming an NHL regular, the 36-year-old played 233 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs when they were an AHL team. That’s 12th-most in franchise history. He’s one of just two players — Jason Chimera is the other — to play at least 200 games for the Bulldogs and 1,000 games in the NHL.
STRUGGLING
Carey Price is the highest-paid goalie in the NHL at $10.5 million a season and tied for the thirdhighest paid player at any position. Yet right now, 48 goalies have a higher save percentage than his .892 and 40 have a better goals against average than his 3.07.
Included in that list ahead of him are such luminaries as Laurent Brossoit, Casey DeSmith, David Rittich, Keith Kinkaid, Juuse Saros, Mikko Koskinen, Aaron Dell and Pheonix Copley.
Their combined salary: $9.8 million.
AS IN, ARZIONA
Pheonix Copley is spelled that way for a reason according to the Chicago Wolves’ website. According to an interview with him posted there, his dad was reading Greek mythology while mom was pregnant and liked the name but not the spelling.
“When I was young, I was taught, ‘When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking,’ ” he said. “Pheonix made sense to me.”
STARS EVERYWHERE
There is already tons of buzz around Canada’s RJ Barrett. The Duke freshman is almost certain to be one of the first two players taken in next spring’s NBA draft and he may well soon become the best player from the country not named Steve Nash.
But some folks are already looking down the road to the 2023 draft and saying there’s an even better Canadian kid. Toronto’s Elijah Fisher is ranked as the top middle schooler in the world.
In Grade 8, he’s 6-foot-5 and comparisons to LeBron James are already popping up online.
With him, Andrew Wiggins, Barrett, Cory Joseph and Kelly Olynyk as a base, you wonder what the Canadian men’s basketball team might be able to do in the 2024 Olympics.
THE ANSWER
The eight first overall NHL draft picks who are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame are Gilbert Perreault (1970), Guy Lafleur (1971), Denis Potvin (1973), Dale Hawerchuk (1981), Mario Lemieux (1984), Mike Modano (1988), Mats Sundin (1989) and Eric Lindros (1991).
sradley@thespec.com 905-526-2440 | @radleyatthespec Spectator columnist Scott Radley hosts The Scott Radley Show weeknights from 6-8 on 900CHML