The Fifth Liners

Remember last season when Nazem Kadri tried to wrangle a monster contract out of the Leafs and ended up with a two year bridging contract? Yeah? Well replace Kadri with Ryan Johansen and the Leafs with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it's the same story again. The BC native and the Blue Jackets aren't seeing eye to eye when it comes to contract negotiations. Now that training camp has started, there's even more pressure on the various parties to reach a deal. Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt has now reduced his price, down to $4.7 million per season from $6.8 million. So that's something but it's still miles away from the Blue Jackets' offer of $3 million per season. FYI $3 is David Legwand money. The 6'4" center notched 33 goals last regular season. This put him top the table in Columbus, and 12th overall in the NHL. That said, his great season follows two mediocre seasons at the Jackets. NHL teams crave consistency and one swallow doesn'...

Casey Janssen may have been one of the more effective closing pitchers in baseball since 2012, but according to Sports Net it appears his time for the Toronto Blue Jays may be winding down. Although this would leave the Jays with a notable hole in the bullpen, you have to feel this decision has been coming. Making his debut in 2006, Janssen  currently holds a win/loss record of 29-34 with an ERA of 3.54 and has recorded 89 saves. But this season the man has looked a shadow of his former self and because of this loss of form, he has started to make fans nervous! On August 8 he notably gave up back to back home runs in the 9th inning a 5-4 loss to Detroit (to which I had the misfortune to witness), there has also been other poor recent performances in our recent series loss to the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. Although he is not entirely responsible for the Blues fall from first place in the AL East Division, his errors made have certainly made this ride less co...

In the Czech League, former NHL bruiser Ryan Hollweg has made headlines again but this time not for any kind of bad play. Currently playing for HC Plzen , he become involved in an altercation with Slavia Praha player Tomas Vlasak, previously Hollweg served a 10 game ban for kneeing the same guy! The hilarious moment here is the reaction of Vlasak's team mate, Michal Poletin who at first acts tough- but upon Hollweg taking a swing he takes a flop worthy of Rivaldo! Click here to see just how cringing this moment is! Hockey humour always comes when you least expect it! How silly do you feel now Poletin?

Yesterday, it has emerged that the once strong image of the Toronto Maple Leafs has officially hit a new low as ESPN has ranked them as the least popular franchise in North American Sport. Money wise, this team can do no wrong since the Air Canada Centre is routinely packed out week to week with loyal fans. Problem is despite their bank balances singing loudly, there is an air apathy about this team and the fact that they haven't taken home a Stanley Cup since 1967 nor come close to challenging since doesn't justify value for money. Problem seems to be that the franchise doesn't appear to feel the need to challenge for glory, when they are in a stable financial position. Also the long suffering fans seem happy to pay what ever high prices the ACC deems fit to put in front of them. Despite the distinction of being one of the 'Original Six' of the NHL, the Maple Leafs name isn't considered among the league or sports elite any more (they placed lower than the Mi...

The 'Spin-O-Rama' move, as described in Section 24.2 of the 2013-14 NHL Rule Book, will no longer be permitted either in Penalty Shot situations or in the Shootout. Noooo! Damn you NHL suits! While I accept that a lot of the rule changes introduced a week ago are good, especially the diving and overtime changes, banning the Spin-O-Rama is just not cool. The Spin-O-Rama is fun, it's a perfect example of skaters showing off, and why shouldn't they? The NHL is the best hockey league in the world. It's skaters have the best skills in the world. The issue with the Spin-O-Rama is that when taking a penalty shot, they puck isn't allowed to stop moving. With the 360 movement of the spin, the puck definitely looks like it stops. Whether it does or not has been debated in sports bars all over the world. Why not remove the constant movement rule? Instead of restricting the movements the attacking skater can make, let them do what they want, as long as it doesn...

There will be no player wearing the 'C' emblem next year at the Bell Centre as today it was announced that for the first time since 2009-10, the Montreal Canadiens will opt to have no official Captain on the ice and will instead go with four alternate captains instead. Andrei Markov , Max Pacioretty , Tomas Plekanec and P.K Subban have been chosen to fill the various leadership roles next season. Ever since former captain Brian Gionta opted to join the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent, the Habs franchise has been slow to appoint a successor, Subban appeared to be the main candidate, but it appears that he will not be the ruler on ice just yet. But what is the effect of selecting four different leaders? Well it does means that the Habs have a new flux of leadership on ice which could create better harmony on ice which will be needed after the problems that Subban's contract negotiation caused. However, with no out and out figure to guide them, it could cause issues wit...

Normally I wouldn't blog about the NFL or go within a mile of its stats or play, but it seems this week I shall be breaking an age old tradition! It's football time again, and as another season starts without Tim Tebow , is there a place in the NFL for the former Heisman trophy winner? Ah yes, that man! Tim Tebow has gained many column inches for his beliefs and actions rather than his play on the field. The former quarterback for the Denver Broncos , New York Jets and more recently the New England Patriots was once the poster boy for college football and many expected him to raise his game early. But less than four years in, his pro career has basically washed out and he now turns to TV punditry to keep him in the public eye! So does he deserve a place among the NFL elite?  Well it has been noted that the QB class for 2014 is worryingly thin on the ground and many teams could well look towards a guy with over 2,422 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 989 rushing yards. But ...