Who should the Vikings take in the 2008 draft?

With the 2008 NFL draft approaching in less than a month, I figured it was time to sort out the different scenarios that could come about for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have some massive holes to fill on defense, and there are many different players in this years draft that could help the team tremendously right away in their rookie year. After reading many mock drafts, I have compiled a list of possible draft choices (that seem logical) that the Vikings could go with for next months draft. All of these choices obviously depend on how the teams ahead of the Vikings choose, but I'm just pretending that every player I go over will be available for Minnesota's 17th pick.

Possible players:

Derrick Harvey (DE University of Florida)-Harvey is a guy that would fit right in with Minnesota. With good size (6-5 271 pounds) and decent speed (4.84 40), he is the type of tackling player we need on the line. He is listed as the 3rd overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. Harvey registered 49 tackles and 8.5 sacks for the Gators last season while starting all 13 games. He has shown enough agility and strength that teams that run both the 3-4 and the 4-3 defense have lined up to watch him. Harvey is definitely a guy that Minnesota should look at if he isn't snatched up earlier in the draft.

Philip Merling (DE Clemson)-Merling is another guy that would seem to be a great fit with the Vikings. About the same size as Harvey (6-4 276 pounds), Merling is listed as the 4th overall DE at nfldraftscout.com. He collected a career-high 78 tackles with 7 sacks last season while starting in all 13 games. He was given the Rock Solid award at Clemson last season for his consistency on the field. His 40 yard dash time is just slightly better than Harvey (4.73), but Harvey seems to have a little more agility than Merling. Although he is intriguing because of his numbers, there is a bit of a worry with him. Merling hasn't been able to work out for scouts since the season ended due to a sports hernia. He wasn't able to compete in the NFL Combine, citing a groin pull as the reason. Based strictly on numbers, Merling seems to be a guy that could help the Vikings, but the injury is sure to catch the teams attention.

Calais Campbell (DE Miami)-Campbell is a huge guy that would plug the hole the Vikings are trying to fill. Campbell is listed at 6-8, 290 pounds, making him much bigger than the other two prospective defensive ends. Campbell isn't the fastest guy (5.04 40), but his size is a big advantage. He registered 50 tackles for the Hurricanes last year to go along with 6 sacks. Campbell may be big, but his strength is an issue to some NFL scouts. Campbell was only able to do 16 reps at 225 pounds when tested in strength. His lack of strength coupled with his not-so-good speed has been causing him to slip down the draft board, making him the most likely to be available for the Vikings. Although there are concerns about him, Campbell is another DE that has a tremendous upside if he can work out a few kinks in his game.

Antoine Cason (CB Arizona)-Even with the upgrade of the secondary by adding Madieu Williams, the Vikings still lack the depth that makes teams afraid to throw against them. By drafting Cason, the Vikings could become a legitimate pass defense. Cason is listed at 6-0 and 190 pounds, making him the ideal size for a speedy corner. Cason has the speed (4.45 40) and has shown that he has the talent to be a great cover guy. He recorded 71 tackles last year and intercepted 5 passes, returning two of those 5 for touchdowns. Many teams would like a guy like Cason on their team, but if he were to slip to 17, I would hope the Vikings take a serious look at him.

Of course these are all hypothetical draft picks we're looking at, but it is obvious that the Vikings should upgrade the DE position, and if Cason becomes available, they should look at upgrading their secondary, too. It's hard to really think about which player would work best for Minnesota, but if I had a choice, I think I would want Harvey on the Vikings, followed by Cason, Merling, and then Campbell. I also read today that it is a possibility the Vikings may explore the chance to trade oft-injured Bryant McKinnie to the Miami Dolphins for Jason Taylor. That would definitely be a trade I would be in favor of, since losing McKinnie wouldn't be that big of a deal. I also wish that the Vikings would either draft or trade for a reliable quarterback to take over for Tavaris Jackson. Until they get a QB that can throw the ball more than 40 yards downfield, they will not go very far. The Vikings have taken huge steps to becoming a team that could make it to the Super Bowl, and it shows. I'm definitely counting down the days to the draft so I can see just how good the Vikings may be this year.

All stats courtesy of nfldraftscout.com

Wild kick it into gear, send Canucks to fourth straight loss

With just 4 games remaining in the regular season, the Minnesota Wild are getting hot at the right time. Mikko Koivu had a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom had 28 saves en route to a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks. The game featured everything a Wild fan could want: a dominating win by a team that had been struggling to score, a brawl in the middle of the third period, and a wicked performance by Backstrom that propelled the Wild to victory.

The Wild jumped out to a 1-0 lead quickly in the first period when Pierre-Marc Bouchard took a beautiful pass from Benoit Pouliot and blasted a slapshot past Roberto Luongo from the top of the circle at the 11:37 mark of the period. That was just the beginning of a scoring barrage that lasted for a period and a half. It took only 6 more minutes for the Wild to score again, and this time it was Mikko Koivu who cashed in for the Wild. With Koivu in possession of the puck deep in the Canucks zone, he threw it across the left circle to Brian Rolston, who passed it back to Koivu who in one fluid motion deked Willie Mitchell out of his breezers and lifted the puck past Luongo at the 17:21 mark of the first. That was it for scoring in the first period as the Wild wound down one of their best periods of play in a long time.

The second period started off with the Wild dominating again, but it took until the 8:28 mark for them to sneak one past Luongo again. Pavol Demitra carried the puck behind Luongo, looking to dump it off to Marian Gaborik. Gabby came streaking behind the net and took the puck to the sidewall where he passed it across the middle to a streaking Brent Burns who shot it home to give the Wild a 3-0 lead. Exactly 5 minutes later, the Wild put the dagger in the hearts of the Canucks. After a broken play in the Wild zone, Gaborik gathered the puck and used his speed to skate down the rink on the right side with just one man in front of him. Gabby looked to his left and saw Todd Fedoruk streaking with him, giving the Wild a 2 on 1. As Gabby crossed the blueline, he slowed down to allow Fedoruk to catch up, and threw the puck across the ice to Fridge as he held on long enough for Luongo to make the first move. Fridge hit the top shelf to give the Wild the 4-0 lead, and all the insurance they would need. After that fourth goal, Curtis Sanford came in for the depleted Luongo, who had given up all 4 goals in less than two full periods.

After 4 goals for the home team, you'd think the fans would be happy at that, but what happened at the 9:43 mark of the third really made the fans excited. Up to this point, there hadn't been many penalties in the game, not like the usual Vancouver/Minnesota matchups. But about halfway through the third, that all changed. After an attempted spear by Alex Burrows, Bouchard reacted with a retaliatory slash that could be heard around the arena. As soon as Bouchard hit Burrows, all hell broke loose. All 10 players on the ice reacted in a split second, and soon, 10 pairs of gloves and 10 sticks were on the ice. Players were being held back by one another, and Burns soon got tangled with Nathan McIver. After Burns pounded McIver, Bouchard squared off with Burrows. Neither got any real punches off, and they were split before anything else got started. It took a good 10 minutes for the penalties to be handed out, and this is how they went:

Alex Burrows: Fighting Major (5 minutes) and a 10 minute match penalty for intent to injure

Nathan McIver: Fighting Major (5 minutes)

Brent Burns: Fighting Major (5 minutes), instigator (2 minutes), unsportsmanlike conduct (2 minutes), and a 10 minute game misconduct

Pierre-Marc Bouchard: Fighting Major (5 minutes) and a slashing major (5 minutes)

With all that settled, the Canucks ended up with a 4 minute powerplay, but that was soon shortened to just over a minute after Henrik Sedin took a penalty for interference just after the melee ended. The Wild continued their dominance for the rest of the game, and ended up with the much-needed big win they had been looking for for a month. If the Wild continue to play the way they did tonight for the rest of the season, there is no doubt they will make it deep into the playoffs.

Father knows best

Jonathan Roy, the son of legendary NHL goalie Patrick Roy, is facing discipline for beating the tar out of another goalie in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The trouble started when at 19:32 of the second period, Quebec forward Christophe Poirer and Chicoutimi centre Joel Champagne collided in Quebec's end of the rink. All 10 players immediately threw their gloves off and started a brawl. Roy, who plays for Quebec, didn't want to be left out of the action so he skated across the ice, looking for Chicoutimi goalie Bobby Nadeau. The refs restrained Roy for a little bit before letting him go to break up the other fights. Bad idea by the refs. Roy continued to go for Nadeau, and when he met up with him, he went crazy. Roy slammed Nadeau back into his own goal and started to pummel him. Even when Nadeau crawled to the ice, Roy continued to pound him while the refs were on the other side of the rink. As Roy skated away after the fight (I guess it wasn't much of a fight, it was more like target practice for Roy), he put both of his middle fingers in the air and pointed them to the crowd.

Now this is definitely not the classiest thing I've ever seen, but I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy watching it. I hope Nadeau wasn't injured, and I know that Roy will get suspended, but it was hilarious to see how much he flipped out. I guess we should have known that Roy had that in him though, his dad was the same way.

Story from TSN Canada

My Bracket for March Madness

Since tomorrow is the opening of the Big Dance (not including the play-in game), I figured I'd post my picks to see what everyone thinks. After last years tourney, I'm really hesitant with a lot of my picks, but I feel fairly confident in many of my upsets. I guess we'll see how it goes:

Teams advancing to the second round:

East Bracket (seed in parentheses):

(1) North Carolina

(9) Arkansas

(5) Notre Dame

(4) Washington State

(6) Oklahoma

(3) Louisville

(7) Butler

(2) Tennessee

Midwest Bracket:

(1) Kansas

(8) UNLV

(12) Villanova

(4) Vanderbilt

(11) Kansas State

(3) Wisconsin

(7) Gonzaga

(2) Georgetown

Upsets: Villanova over Clemson, Kansas State over USC

South Bracket:

(1) Memphis

(8) Mississippi State

(5) Michigan State

(4) Pittsburgh

(6) Marquette

(3) Stanford

(7) Miami

(2) Texas

West Bracket:

(1) UCLA

(9) Texas A&M

(5) Drake

(4) Connecticut

(6) Purdue

(3) Xavier

(10) Arizona

(2) Duke

Upsets: Arizona over West Virginia

Teams advancing to the Sweet 16:

East:

(1) North Carolina

(4) Washington State

(6) Oklahoma

(2) Tennessee

Upsets: Oklahoma over Louisville

Midwest:

(1) Kansas

(4) Vanderbilt

(3) Wisconsin

(2) Georgetown

South:

(1) Memphis

(5) Michigan State

(6) Marquette

(2) Texas

Upsets: Marquette over Stanford

West:

(1) UCLA

(5) Drake

(3) Xavier

(10) Arizona

Major upset: Arizona over Duke

Teams advancing to the Elite 8:

East:

(1) North Carolina

(2) Tennessee

Midwest:

(1) Kansas

(2) Georgetown

South:

(1) Memphis

(2) Texas

West:

(1) UCLA

(3) Xavier

My Final Four:

(1) North Carolina vs. (2) Georgetown

(1) Memphis vs. (3) Xavier

Championship:

(1) North Carolina vs. (1) Memphis

Final Score: 74-68 North Carolina Tar Heels

I know a lot of these are kind of far-fetched, but most of the upsets, especially the Arizona over Duke, are straight gut guesses. I like Arizona a lot with Budinger and Bayless, and if their defense can hold, they will make some noise. I also like Kansas a lot, I always do, but they always seem to choke when it counts, and I can't stand to be disappointed anymore. Feel free to criticize or agree with any of my picks, we'll see how they go.

Gone

For anyone who may read my blog often, or to anyone who happens to be roaming the Internet and stumbled across my blog, it is with sad news that I tell you I will not be blogging for the next 8 days or so. From Tuesday the 18th until Wednesday the 26th I will be down in Fort Myers, Florida helping out with the Minnesota Twins spring training season. I won't have time to blog about much, but I will do my best to post some pictures if I get the chance. Thanks to the people who may read this, it is greatly appreciated and I will get back to blogging as soon as possible.

Tiger Woods is....Tiger Woods

After yet another victory at Bay Hill this last weekend, Tiger Woods takes a step closer to gaining the momentum needed to pull off the biggest accomplishment in sports, winning the Grand Slam. Tiger is now 6 for 6 in tournaments this year, keeping my prediction of him winning every tournament he enters this season still intact. This win was Tigers 64th of his career on the tour, tying him with the great Ben Hogan on the PGA's career tour list. When Woods sank his 25-foot birdie putt for the victory, Tiger slammed his hat against the course and did his famous fist-pump. He was so in the zone on that putt that when his caddie Steve Williams handed his hat back to him, Tiger had no idea how he lost it.

"I was like, 'how the hell did he get my hat?' " Woods quipped after getting his hat back. "Evidently, it came off. I need to see the highlights. I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament."

Quotes like these are what make Tiger the best and most respected golfer around. While staying focused on the course, he is able to become personable off of it. Second place finisher Bart Bryant stood in amazement of what Tiger accomplished.

"What he's doing right now, you can't even fathom," Bryant said just moments after he heard the eruption of the crowd celebrating Tigers miraculous putt.

This victory for Tiger was his fifth overall at Bay Hill, making him the first golfer ever to win 4 different tournaments at least 5 times...and he's still only 32 years old. While Tiger was still out on the course putting for his life, Bryant was sitting in the trailer, praying for a Woods mishap to allow him to climb back in the tournament. When Bryant heard the crowd erupt, he knew it was over.

"I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer, but I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play," Bryant said after the putt.

Bryant did his best to put said pressure back on to Tiger, but Tiger has a knack for coming out on top. Bryant was the only golfer to break par all four rounds in this tournament, but unfortunately, all it got him was second. Tiger also had to battle the heat during the final round, with the temperature reaching 85 degrees on Sunday. But as is the case most times, Tiger prevailed, proving yet again that he is the greatest athlete in any individual sport ever.

Should the Vikings go for Julius Peppers?

If Julius Peppers, the star defensive end from Carolina, becomes available, should the Vikings do everything in their power to land him? The answer is without a doubt yes. It's glaringly obvious that the Vikings are in dire need of a versatile guy on the line. Last season, not one person on defense had more than 5 sacks. If contract talks continue to stall with Carolina and Peppers, there is no reason the Vikings shouldn't use all of their resources to get him.

Of course there is no guarantee that Peppers will become available; right now it's just speculation. But after seeing the contract that Indianapolis gave to defensive end Dwight Freeney (7 years $72 million), it is going to at least $20 million in guaranteed money to wrap up Peppers. Carolina has three options when it comes to Peppers: They could sign him and hope that his 2007 season (where he had just 3 sacks) was just an anomaly. They could let him play out the final year of his contract to determine if he is worth close to $30 million in guaranteed money. Or they could trade him, much to the dismay of Carolina fans everywhere.

Peppers is definitely a guy that could help the Vikings tremendously. The Vikings had three guys last year with 5 sacks, the most by any one player. Peppers, with the exception of last year, has averaged 10.7 sacks a year for his first 5 seasons in the league. Kenechi Udeze, arguably the Vikings best defensive end last season, is out indefinitely with Leukemia (I wish you the best Kenechi). That leaves the Vikings with a big hole at a position where nothing was certain anyway. There are many very good DE's in the draft this year, and there is no doubt that with the 17th overall pick the Vikings could haul a guy that could turn out to be a stud, but if you have the resources and the chance to land a proven star at the position, why wouldn't you? With the Vikings still over $18 million under the cap this season, they have the money to make it happen. As a big Vikings fan myself, I can only say that I hope the Panthers decide to trade him or let him walk, because I know what a help he could be to the Vikings.

And the Guinness Record for Guitar Hero III goes to...

Chris Chike of Rochester, Minnesota. This really doesn't have much to do with sports, I suppose it's a matter of opinion, but I thought it was awesome nonetheless. This kid, a 16 year old who goes to Century High School in Rochester, scored a 97% completion rate on expert level for the song "Through The Fire And The Flames" by DragonForce. His total score was 870,647 points, which is unbelievable. When I play Guitar Hero, I'm happy when I'm able to complete a song all the way through on the hard level, and this kid is pretty much cruising through expert with his eyes closed. He claims that he has gotten a higher score when he did the song at home, and I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt and believe him. For Chris' accomplishments he will be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best ever at Guitar Hero.

Around The Sports World

Mitch Williams does not tolerate bad officiating (Bugs & Cranks)

Jeff Mackey repeats as Iditarod Champion (East Coast Bias)

How could a hockey game damage the memory of Yankee Stadium? (Going Five Hole)

Way to go Red Sox, you're very own hatchback (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Even at 80, Lasorda still runs the 4.4 40 (Larry Brown Sports)

Brent Wisnewski faces a disciplinary hearing (TSN)

John Daly Has A Good Time

When John Daly parties, he parties hard. Butch Harmon, a reknowned swing coach who has worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, has decided to call it quits with Daly after becoming fed-up with Daly's "shenanigans." First off, I have to give Harmon credit for using the term shenanigans, I haven't heard that in years. The word from Harmon is that Daly spends more time getting drunk than he spends on his golf game. While that is not hard to fathom considering Daly's past, it's still a little disappointing. Besides watching Tiger, seeing Daly crush the ball is one of the most exciting actions of the sport. He waddles up to the tee, sets up the ball and just unloads. He doesn't spend much time checking his shot, he does a few wrist-flicks and then off he goes.

"I've let him know that after his actions of last weekend, we are no longer together," Harmon said. "In all honesty, I'm a very busy person."

The actions Harmon is referring to is where Daly hung out during a rain delay during the PODS Championship recently. While the golfers had to wait for two and a half hours while the rain fell, Daly headed over to the Hooters tent behind the 17th green at Innisbruck. Now I know if I were a professional golfer, I would probably spend that time working on my game, but seeing as I'm not, I can't blame Daly. So he went to have some fun, what's the big deal? He's a friendly guy that likes to mingle with people, I don't see anything wrong with that. Sure it's probably not the best idea to be drinking beer during the rain delay, but who am I to judge. I'm not going to say it was a bad idea for Harmon to dump Daly, in all honesty I don't know why he would be working with him in the first place. But the best part of this whole story is what happened after the rain delay.

John Gruden, who happen to run into Daly during the delay, came out when play resumed and was the caddy for Daly for the remaining few holes. Gruden, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had a good time with Daly, and Daly with Gruden. But Harmon was apparently not having fun, which really is too bad because hanging out with Daly and Gruden has to be a good time.

"Jon Gruden caddying, I thought it was ridiculous. I thought he made a circus out of the whole event."

That was Harmons response to a little fun. Lighten up Butch, I know you need to be focused to win and all that, but it's O.K. to have a good time. At that point in the tournament, Daly was already shooting a terrible round, so he decided to shake things up. I'm totally fine with Daly's decision to have Gruden carry his clubs. In fact I'm in total support of it, I'm sure it was quite the adventure for both of them.

NHL Awards (Predictions) 2007-2008 season

As the NHL regular season starts to come to a close, I'm going to take a look back on this season and predict (hopefully fairly accurately) who will win what award for this year. Some will be fairly obvious, some will be a toss-up, and some will be complete guesses, but here are my predictions (with the occasional commentary):

1) The Stanley Cup: Dallas Stars-I hate to vote against my hometown team from Minnesota, but I have to be realistic. The Wild are playing terribly right now, so there is no way in hell I can confidently say I think they have a shot at winning it all. The Stars on the other hand are up there at the top of the conference. Although they are only 6-4 in their last 10 games, the Stars definitely have the firepower to go far in the playoffs. At 89 points they are in first place in their division (although San Jose is creeping up really fast) and second only to Detroit in the conference. With the acquisition of Brad Richards at the trade deadline, look for the Stars to go deep into the postseason.

2) Presidents Trophy (Best overall record): Detroit Red Wings-This one is pretty obvious because, hey, they're the almighty Red Wings. Even though they have stumbled recently (4-5-1 in their last 10), they have the players that will be able to right the ship and take home the trophy for the best overall record.

3) Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Champion): Pittsburgh Penguins-This is a very tough choice, I like the Devils and the Canadiens as possibilities for this too, but the Penguins became the front runner as soon as they got Marian Hossa from the Thrashers. With Sid the Kid back on the ice and Evgeni Malkin collecting points like they're pennies, this team is going to be unstoppable, at least until they meet the mighty Western Conference in the Stanley Cup.

4) Clarence S. Campbell Bowl (Western Conference Champion): Dallas Stars-I already chose them to win the Cup, so by default they win this too.

5) Art Ross Trophy (Most Individual Points Scored): Alexander Ovechkin-I love how Malkin has come onto the scene in his sophomore year and lit the lamp, but there is no way I'm going to vote against a guy that will most likely hit 60 goals and has a shot as 70.

6) Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Niklas Backstrom-Patrick Kane is probably the most talented rookie this year, but I think that Backstrom will overtake Kane in the points department and take home the trophy. Peter Mueller is also a very talented rookie, and Kane skates along side Jonathan Toews, but Backstrom will end up with this one.

7) Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Alexander Ovechkin-No question about this one. If he hits 60 goals, it's already a lock, and since he's on pace for 70, this is the only clear-cut choice.

8) Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): John Stevens (Philadelphia Flyers)-I'm going to be honest and say I really can't stand the Flyers as a team. After a rash of suspensions for the team at the beginning of the season, the only thing I saw them as was a team of thugs. But being realistic, this team has made a dramatic turnaround from last season. At this point this season, the Flyers are already 22 points ahead of where they finished last year with 56 points and in dead last in the Eastern Conference. With 13 games left to go, the Flyers should have no problem passing the 90 point mark and making it into the postseason.

9) James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom-This is definitely a no-brainer. Lidstrom has shown year in and year out that he is the premier defenseman in this league, and this season is no exception. Lidstrom has 7 goals and 52 assists this year to go along with a 38 +/- rating. Those numbers scream Norris Trophy.

10) Maurice Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer): Alexander Ovechkin-I've said quite enough about this guy in this post.

11) Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender): Martin Brodeur-Evgeni Nabokov has shown that he is one of the best goalies in the league, but I believe the voters will give this trophy to Marty. The Devils are leading the Eastern Conference and Brodeur's 2.12 goals against average shows where much of the credit goes to. Although Nabokov has his team near the top of the West, I think Brodeur will get the benefit of the doubt due to reputation.

It's always hard to predict trophies and awards with 13 or so games remaining in a season, but based on how the season has gone so far, this is what I see happening. I'm still holding out hope that the Wild can bust out of their major slump and start scoring goals, but until that happens, I'm just going to hope that Mike Modano can bring the trophy home for the Stars.

Benoit Pouliot gets close and personal with the ice

On Friday March 7th, the Houston Aeros took on the Hartford Wolfpack in an AHL game in Houston. The Aero's scored about 9 minutes into the game, but beside that goal, it was a fairly uneventful game, at least until the end. Time was winding down in the third period with Houston up 1-0 when with under a minute left (12 seconds to be exact), a big scrum started in front of the Aero's net. It seemed like any other dustup that happens in a hockey game, except for the fact that after a few seconds, Benoit Pouliot got caught up in a battle with Rangers draft pick Dane Byers. Pouliot, as evident in the video, wanted absolutely nothing to do with this fight (and why would he, he's a goal-scorer, not a fighter). But Byers insisted on making sure Pouliot took him on like a man, so while Pouliot is in the "turtle" position on the ice trying to avoid getting hit, Byers starts punching him and soon throws Pouliot's helmet off. Then Byers promptly takes a hold of the back of Pouliots jersey and slams his head into the ice completely unprovoked.

Benoit Pouliot gets attacked

It's really amazing things like this happen in hockey. I understand the violent nature of hockey, I've followed it ever since I can remember, but cheap shots like that are just crazy. Pouliot went as far as to crouch down on the ice to avoid getting hit, but somehow Byers finds a way to "fight" him anyway. In the postgame interview, Byers says that it was an emotional game and that he got caught up in it. Good job trying to justify your actions Byers, but is there really no way you could have just let him go? The worst part of the situation is that in the game, they only had one linesman as opposed to two in a normal game. So on the ice was one referee and one linesman to break up 9 guys going at it. And then the one linesman that is on the ice watches over Byers as he pummels Pouliot into the ice, apparently afraid to step in and break it up. The end result is a broken jaw and a few missing teeth for Pouliot and no suspension for Byers (at least currently, I've heard the Aero's are filing for petition to have it reviewed). Luckily Pouliot came back and played the next night with a jaw protector and visor and actually netted the OT winner for the Aeros that game. I really hope the AHL takes another look at this game and deems Byers actions suspension-worthy, because although I love seeing the hard checks, seeing one guy get beaten while he is crouched down is not something that is appealing to me.

The Pioneers come out on top

In front of a crowd of more than 19,000 people, the Hill-Murray Pioneers rose to the challenge and knocked off powerhouse Edina to win the 2008 Minnesota High School League Boys State Hockey Tournament. I'm going to be honest and say that I was rooting for Hornets, but in the end, the best team won. The Pioneers (27-3-1) completely dominated all three games of the tournament they played in and deserved to come out victorious. Although many people were hoping to see an Edina/Roseau match up in the finals, the game between the Hornets and the Pioneers was one that many enjoyed. After dispatching Lakeville South in the quarterfinals and taking care of previously undefeated Roseau in the semis, Hill-Murray came into the championship ready to take down Edina (28-3). Here is a recap of Hill-Murray's remarkable title run:

State Quarterfinals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Lakeville South Cougars (14-14-3): The game started off nicely for the underdog Cougars. Lakeville was quick to counter Hill's speed with spectacular passing and a great back-check. The game remained tied until the Pioneer's Ryan Furne scored with exactly 3 minutes remaining in the period. Once the second period started, the game had a whole different tempo. Hill-Murray came out firing from all angles, but Cougars goalie Hakan Yumusaklar stood tall and made save after save. At the 12:24 mark of the period, Hill struck again, and this time it was Dan Cecka with the goal (with me cheering against Hill, it's a good thing Cecka's dad moved in between periods so he wasn't sitting directly behind me like he was in the first period). Lakeville kept it close again until time was running out in the second and Furne struck again. The third period showcased Hill just keeping the puck neutral in order to preserve the shutout for goalie Joe Phillippi. The game ended without any additional scoring with the final tally 3-0.

State Semifinals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Roseau Rams (29-2): This is a game virtually nobody outside of the Hill faithful saw coming. The Roseau Rams, defending State AA champions and undefeated this season up to this point, had been the front-runners for the entire year. With Mr. Hockey finalist Aaron Ness back on their blueline, Roseau was supposed to be able to sedate the Pioneers fast, aggressive attack. Roseau did anything but what was expected. The game was fairly close at the beginning, but Hill was the team that was creating most of the pressure. Soon that pressure got to the Rams and Hill-Murray broke a scoreless tie when Nick Widing scored to put the Pioneers up by 1. It took only 1:40 for Hill to shoot one past Roseau goalie Mike Lee yet again, this time it was Furne who scored for the third time in this tournament. The game was manageable for Roseau at that point, and going into the locker room, a two goal lead by the Pioneers seemed like nothing after just one period. It took Hill only 2:40 into the second period for them to put the dagger in the heart of fans everywhere. Dave Cascalenda was the lucky recipient of the third goal scored by the Pioneers, and after Roseau struggled to score on 5 combined powerplays in the first two periods, the wind was really knocked out of them. The Rams never recovered and eventually the game ended with a huge upset with Hill beating Roseau 6-2.

State Finals-Hill-Murray Pioneers vs. Edina Hornets (28-3): Even with the mystique of an Edina/Roseau match up out of the question, there was still a record crowd on hand to watch the Pioneers take on the Hornets. As had been the theme throughout the tournament, Hill got the game started quickly when they took the lead just two and a half minutes into the first period (you guessed it, Ryan Furne yet again). After the majority of the first had been played fairly evenly, Edina goalie Derrick Caschetta had a minor letdown after a solid period. With seconds ticking off of the clock in the first, Ryan Furne carried the puck through the neutral zone and shot of a wrister with just one second left on the clock. Caschetta got handcuffed by the shot and Furne had his 5th goal of the tournament with time expiring in the first. Although disappointing, that fluke goal didn't seem to get to Edina. The second period was played pretty evenly although Edina outshot Hill-Murray 15-4. The score remained the same at 2-0 until the 4:36 mark of the third when the Pioneers shut the door on Edina and Lou Metcalf put one behind Caschetta to diminish any hope for the Hornets. In front of nearly 20,000 people, the Hill-Murray Pioneers had captured their first state title since 1991.

It was truly a great tournament to be part of. The Minnesota State Hockey tournament is something that gets more and more exciting every year. It really is one of the premier high school tournaments in the country, and it showcases numerous players who are destined for professional hockey. I have to mention that my Alma-mater, the Woodbury Royals, played a great tournament and ended up with a fifth place finish in the state. Here are the results from the rest of the tournament including the Class A bracket:

AA:

1st-Hill-Murray Pioneers

2nd-Edina Hornets

3rd-Benilde St. Margaret's Red Knights

4th-Roseau Rams

5th-Woodbury Royals

6th-Blaine Bengals

7th-Lakeville Cougars/Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks

A:

1st-St. Thomas Academy Cadets

2nd-Duluth-Marshall Hilltoppers

3rd-Warroad Warriors

4th-St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders

5th-Little Falls Flyers

6th-Mankato West Scarlets

7th-The Blake School Bears/Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato Dragons

Vikings best in NFC North after Favre retirement?

After Brett Favre announced his retirement this morning, it got me thinking what the state of the Packers would be for this upcoming season. After a stunning 13-3 season in which Favre threw for 4,155 yards and 28 TD's, Green Bay will be thrusting career backup Aaron Rodgers into the spotlight. Rodgers, who has played in a grand total of 7 NFL games, was drafted out of Cal in the first round of the 2005 draft to serve as the eventual replacement for Favre. After sitting on the bench for 3 full seasons, Rodgers is going to have to show he has the stuff to succeed one of the best there ever was. Although Green Bay has many intrical parts returning from a season in which they won 13 games and lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, I still believe that with the Packers losing their most important piece, the NFC North title is now the Minnesota Vikings for the taking.

Now I'll be the first to admit, the NFC North is definitely not a strong division. We have the up-and-down Packers, the underachieving Vikings, the "one more shot for Rex Grossman" Bears, and the Matt Millen-run Lions. Realistically any of these four teams could easily get lucky and take this division. But after the upgrades the Vikings made and the subsequent loss of Favre to the Packers, the Vikings look to be able to capture their first division title since 2000. The Packers are definitely still a solid team with receivers like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, Defensive Ends like Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and a decent kicker in Mason Crosby. Looking at it realistically though, the Packers will have growing pains this season. With a big shakeup in the NFC North, here is how I think the division will turn out this year:

1st Place: Minnesota Vikings (12-4)-After a rash of seasons in which the Vikings were second in the division, this is the year they finally break out of that funk. With recent upgrades in the secondary (Madieu Williams) and receiving units (Bernard Berrian), the Vikings are already a step-up from last year when they finished 8-8. The Vikings Defensive End position is a little shaky right now with Kenechi Udeze out of the picture, but they will either find someone to fill that gap through free agency or use their 17th overall pick to take one of the many good DE's out there. If Tarvaris Jackson can improve from last year and learn to handle pressure, the Vikings will be a team with some force come end of the season.

2nd Place: Green Bay Packers (7-9)-Not many people saw last season coming for the Packers. With a revitalized Brett Favre and a young receiving corps ready to go, the Pack came out shooting and finished with a 13-3 record and a first round playoff win. After a 2006 season in which Favre threw for only 18 TD's and 18 interceptions, 2007 was a nice surprise for Packers fans. It is tough to tell how the Packers really will be this year with Rodgers stepping in, but I don't think it will be pretty. Although still an all-around solid team, I don't believe that with an inexperienced QB the Packers can keep riding the wave from last season.

3rd Place: Chicago Bears (6-10)-The Bears definitely have a tough schedule coming up in 2008, and with Rex Grossman taking snaps, I don't see this team making any difference in the division. Now that the Bears have traded their backup in Brian Griese, if Rex struggles (and of course he will), what are the Bears going to do? It's a good sign that Chicago was able to re-up Lance Briggs to a 6 year contract, but the defense will not be much improved over last season. And with the loss of Muhsin Muhammad to the Panthers and Bernard Berrian, their top receiver, to the Vikings, even when Grossman throws the ball, there will be no one there to catch it. Good luck this season Bears, you're definitely going to need it.

4th Place: Detroit Lions (4-12)-I don't even really know what to say about these guys. It's admirable they try, and last season was fun to watch, but let's be honest, this is not a team that is going to compete. Sure Jon Kitna is a solid quarterback, and eventually Calvin Johnson will turn into something special, but outside of that the only really good player they have is their kicker, Jason Hanson. The Lions fell off the radar even more when they traded Shaun Rogers, a defensive tackle who had 7 sacks last year, to the Cleveland Browns. Leigh Bodden, a defensive back they got from the trade, is a good player, but in the grand scheme of things, they have so much more to correct it won't help them too much. I do hope the Lions can pull off some upsets this year, but if they start off slow next season, they will fall quickly.

Let's keep in mind that this is early in the offseason, players will still be traded and picked up, but this is my early impression of how things will go. Good luck in retirement Brett, I'll miss watching you throw the ball like you're still in your 20's.

AP Top 25

1. North Carolina

2. Memphis

3. UCLA

4. Tennessee

5. Kansas

6. Duke

7. Stanford

8. Xavier

9. Texas

10. Wisconsin

11. Georgetown

12. Louisville

13. Connecticut

14. Butler

15. Purdue

16. Vanderbilt

17. Michigan State

18. Indiana

19. Notre Dame

20. Drake

21. Marquette

22. Gonzaga

23. Washington State

24. Clemson

25. Davidson

Overall, I like the look of the new standings. After then number one Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt last week, Memphis had a shot to regain the top spot, but the voters went with North Carolina. If the season were to end today, I would assume the Tar Heels would take the overall number one seed in the tournament, but Tennessee and Memphis would both have a shot too. As long as North Carolina avoids a collapse in the coming week (particularly against a tough Florida State team), they should pull that number one seed. As this week rolls on though, the main story line will be which bubble teams will make it in. Teams to watch for: Clemson, Oklahoma, Kansas State and USC.

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