Archive for the ‘hockey’ Category

How was your week

Posted: October 8, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, hockey, sports
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The division series have started in the MLB playoffs. The National League has one game under it’s belt while the American League teams have played two and are on a travel day today.

We’re going to work backwards here as the last game of the day was the best game of the day. The Chicago Cubs got past the San Francisco Giants in a pitchers duel 1-0. Jon Lester and Johnny Cueto both showed why they are Cy Young Award contenders as they pitched shut out baseball for 8 innings. Cueto was great pitching 8 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 10 and not walking anyone. They one mistake Cueto made was giving up a solo home run to Javier Baez in the bottom of the 8th inning for the only run of the game. Lester was on his game as well as he pitched 8 innings giving up 5 hits and striking out 5 while not allowing a walk or a run. Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th and get the save. Game 2 is today 7:00 p.m. CST as Kyle Hendricks and Jeff Samardzjia are the starting pitchers as the Cubs look to go up 2-0 in the series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers took the first game of their division series 4-3 over the Washington Nationals. All the scoring in this game happened pretty early. The Dodgers got to Max Scherzer for 4 runs in the first 3 innings. The Nationals got back into the game putting up 3 runs on Clayton Kershaw over the first 4 innings of the game. Just as it looked like we where in for a high scoring game the runs stopped scoring. Kershaw picked up the win pitching giving up 8 hits and 3 runs while walking 1 and striking out 7. The Dodgers bullpen shut the Nationals down over the final 4 innings. Joe Blanton pitched 2/3rds of an inning walking 1. Grant Dayton also pitched 2/3rds of an inning walking 1 and striking out 1. Pedro Baez worked an inning then Kenley Jansen came in to get the save. Jensen gave up 1 hit I his inning of work. Scherzer went 6 innings for the Nationals giving up 4 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5. The Dodgers did get to Scherzer for 2 hone runs in the game. The Nationals bullpen matched the Dodgers bullpen as they didn’t allow a run either. Sammy Solis pitched 2 innings giving up 1 hit while walking1 and striking out 1. Nationals closer Mark Melancon got an inning of work in the game. Melancon gave up 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 3 in his inning of work. Game 2 has a 3:00 p.m. scheduled start time as Rich Hill gets the start for the Dodgers and the Nationals turn to Tanner Roark to try to draw them even in the series.

In both American League series teams took 2 games to 0 leads, but I’m not sure they’re the teams the experts thought they would be. The Toronto Blue Jays went into Texas and swept the Rangers in the first two games of their division series. The Cleveland Indians held home field advantage as they won the first two games of their series against the Boston Red Sox.

The Blue Jays put up 10 runs in Game 1 of the series for a 10-1 win. Game 2 saw the Blue Jays get a little closer win at 5-3. Most if not all of the experts had the Rangers as the favorite in these first two games as they had Cole Hamels as their Game 1 starter and then Yu Darvish ready for Game 2. Hamels lasted just 3 1/3rd innings in Game 1. Hamels gave up 6 runs. walked 3 and struck out 1 in his start. Hamels was totally out pitched by Marco Estrada who went 8 1/3rd innings giving up 1 run and striking out 6 for Toronto. Darvish struggled as well pitching 5 inning giving up 5 hits and 5 runs while walking 1 and striking out 4. Darvish gave up 4 home runs in his 5 innings. 20-game winner J.A. Happ was the Game 2 starter for the Blue Jays and while he didn’t pitch great he pitched good enough to win with the support he got. Happ went 5 innings; he gave up 1 run on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 5. Troy Tulowitzki has been the breakout hitter in the first two games for Toronto. “Tulo” has a triple and a home run while hitting .556 with 5 RBI’s. The series heads to Toronto for Game 3 on Sunday. American League ERA leader Aaron Sanchez  (3.00) gets the start for the Blue Jays as the rangers turn to Colby Lewis to try and keep their season alive.

In a surprise the Indians used Trevor Bauer as their Game  starter. Corey Kluber has been battling an injury and was pushed back to Game 2 to give him some extra rest. With Cy Young favorite and 22-game winner Rick Porcello line up to start Game 1 the Red Sox looked like a heavy favorite. Bauer didn’t have a shut down type of outing, but he kept the Indians in the game and their bats came through. Bauer pitched 4 2/3rd innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6. Cleveland went to there bullpen set up of Andrew Miller 2 innings and the win, Bryan Shaw who gave up a run in 2/3rds of an inning and Cody Allen 1 1/3rd of an inning getting the save as they took Game 1. Porcello pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 5 runs on 6 hits with 3 of those hits being home runs while striking out 6. Drew Pomeranz 2 1/3rd innings, Joe Kelly 1/3rd of an inning and Koji Uehara 1 inning didn’t allow a run, but the Red Sox where unable to pull of a comeback win and the Indians took Game 1 5-4. The extra day of rest really helped Kluber, He pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits and while he did walk 3 batters he didn’t allow a run and stuck out 7. The Red Sox countered with David Price who has had his post seasons struggles and they continued yesterday. Price lasted just 3 1/3rd innings giving up 5 runs on 6 hits; one of them a home run. Price walked 2 and struck out 3 as he fell to 0-8 in his post season career. Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw each pitched a scoreless inning in Game 2 to lock down the Indians 6-0 win and a 2-0 lead in the series. The series shifts to Boston Sunday at 3:00 p.m.for a must win Game 3 for the Red Sox. Clay Buchholz will be called on to keep the Red Sox season alive at home while Josh Tomlin is the Game 3 starter for the Indians.

Admit it you didn’t have the Blue Jays or the Indians winning the first two games of their series. Now the question is will we see either the Rangers or the Red Sox be swept out of the playoffs.

Tonight is the Sports Time Radio fantasy hockey draft. It’s an auction style draft and since we’re a Chicago based league we’ll see how much some of the Blackhawks go for. I’ve had some success in fantasy hockey and while I haven’t won the league yet maybe this will be my year. I am woefully unprepared. With the baseball playoffs going on I’ve been distracted, but I have stayed up to date with the injuries; so that should help me out. The draft is at 7:15 p.m. tonight; so I have some time to still get ready. Wish me luck.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com you can also find the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week?

Posted: July 23, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, Uncategorized
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Derrick Rose is a member of the New York Knicks. Now I’m not sure if Knicks fans should take Rose’s last interview as confidence in his new team or if he needs to be drug tested. Rose implied that the Knicks are a “super team” in the same class as the Golden State Warriors. Rose never specifically says who has put the Knicks in that class and uses terms like “some people” and “they’re” when mentioning who has the Knicks in that class. Golden State set a record for regular season wins with 73. The Warriors went to the NBA Finals for the second season in a row. After winning the NBA title in 2014-15 season they did lose last seasons finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So what did the Warriors do to try and help ensure a trip back to the NBA Finals. They signed the top free agent on the market Kevin Durant. Last season the Knicks won 32 games and didn’t qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Now besides Rose the Knicks have added Brandon Jennings to back up Rose, Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee in free agency. Rose, Noah and Lee should join Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis in the Knicks starting line up. While it looks like a solid starting line up for the Knicks and Jennings can score off the bench I think Rose may have put up too high of expectations for his new team. If the Knicks are going to get anywhere close to the “super team” rose has said they would be, he’ll have to stay healthy and play close to the form that won him the NBA MVP award in 2010-11. Rose played in and started 66 games for the Chicago Bulls last season. Those where the most games he’s played in since his MVP season. Rose’s scoring average fell to 16.4 points per game last season. Rose has never been a great shooter especially from behind the 3-point line. 29.3% last season and for his career he’s shot 30.2% from behind the 3-point line. Are the Knicks a super team? I’m not so sold on that, but they should improve on the 32 win team they where last season and may find their way into the Eastern Conference playoffs next season. Derrick Rose Stats

It’s that time in the baseball season where everyone is trading everyone to everybody. Outside of the talk there was actually a trade this week as the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs came to an agreement on a 4-player deal. The Mariners sent left handed pitcher Mike Montgomery and and minor league right hander Jordan Pries to the Cubs for minor league 1st baseman Dan Vogelbach and and right handed minor league pitcher Paul Blackburn.

Montgomery will give the Cubs some immediate help out of the bullpen. Montgomery has appeared in 32 games for the Mariners; 2 of them being starts. He has and ERA of 2.34 on the season. Lefties are hitting just .164 against Montgomery this season. Pries is a 26 year old pitcher who was pitching in Triple-A for the Mariners before the trade. He was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.85 in 7 games. Pries has spent 6 seasons in the minors and is 40-24 with an ERA of 4.41. He’s appeared in 109 career games with 93 of those as a starting pitcher.

Vogelbach was moved up to Triple-A for the Cubs. He got just 32 at bats there and was hitting just.125. Vogelbach has spent 6 seasons in the minors. He is a career .281 hitter and has 60 home runs. Vogelbach was blocked at 1st base with the Cubs by Anthony Rizzo; so turning him into a solid bullpen piece was a smart move. Reports have also said that Vogelbach is a below average defender. Now in the American League he’ll be able to spend time as a DH. Blackburn was one of the top rated pitchers in the Cubs  organization.  Blackburn is 22 years old and has been pitching in Double-A for the Cubs. He’s made 18 starts and is 6-4 with a 3.17 ERA. Over 102 1/3rd innings Blackburn has 72 strikeouts to 26 walks.

This looks like a deal that could benefit both teams. The Cubs needed bullpen help especially left handed bullpen help. Montgomery should supply that for the Cubs and down the road there’s a chance he could move into the starting rotation, but right now his value is in the bullpen for a World Series contender. The Mariners find themselves 4 1/2 games out of the wild card and the A.L. West lead. While it’s a reasonable total and the Mariners could move up they have to jump 4 teams to get a wild card spot and that’s a lot even with 66 games left in the season. Being that the Mariners got prospects you just never know, but Vogelbach has hit at every level and will get a shot in the majors with Seattle. Blackburn is young and has good numbers, but you just never know as a pitcher. We might have to wait and see how this deal turns out for Seattle.

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed the #1 overall pick in the draft Austin Matthews to a 3-year entry level contract. Matthews 18-year old from Scottsdale, Arizona, immediately became the face of the Maple Leafs’ franchise when they selected him first in last month’s draft. Matthews deal includes the maximum entry level salary of $925,000 per year plus potential bonuses that could add up to an average annual value of $3,775,000. Matthews says he will spend most of the summer at home in Arizona, preparing for the season and the World Cup of Hockey, where he will play for the North American under-23 team in September. The Leafs also signed 23- year old forward Josh Leivo to a two-year contract. Leivo was a third round pick in the 2011 draft. The Maple Leafs are coming off a season where they won 29 games and accumulated 69 points. The 18-year old Matthews and the 23-year old Leivo are part of Toronto’s youth movement as they try to rebuild their team. Will it be enough to get the Maple Leafs into the playoffs or are they still a year away from making there?

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How Was Your Week?

Posted: July 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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NBA free agency kicked of yesterday (July 1st) and to say the least it was Lin-sanity. I meant insanity even though Jeremy Lin was one of the players to verbal agree to a contract. None of these deals can become official until July 7th and you wonder if there will be another DeAndre Jordan moment like last season. In case you forgot what happened with Jordan he agreed verbally to a contract with the Dallas Mavericks, but after a visit from former team the Los Angeles Clippers he changed his mind and ended up resigning with them.

 With the salary cap going up to close to $93 million per team it seems like everyone who got a contract yesterday was overpaid, but it just seems that’s how it’s going to go in the NBA. I believe the minimum salary total a team can have is $83 million; so there are teams scrambling just to make that number. Out of all of the signings yesterday the two biggest names to come off the board may have both ended up with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies resigned their point guard Mike Conley to a 5-year $153 million dollar deal. They also agreed with free agent Chandler Parsons formerly of the Mavericks to a 4-year $94 million dollar deal. 

Looking at those contract numbers what are players like LeBron James or Kevin Durant going to get when they sign with a team. There have also been reports that Dwayne Wade wants a contract worth $20 plus million a season and looking at the contracts that where handed out that shouldn’t be a problem; even if that contract isn’t with the Miami Heat.

 The new television contract the NBA signed with ESPN/TNT has really put more money into the game. The salary cap is due to go up over $100 million next season; so we may go through something just like this again.

 Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck just signed a new contract this week. Luck got a 6-year deal worth $140 million dollars. There where two deals signed yesterday worth more in total than Luck’s and there where  9 players signed to contract who will make more per season than Luck does. Now Luck is in the top tier of quarterbacks in the NFL; I’m not sure if some of the guys who where signed to these huge deals yesterday are in the top tier of their positions in the NBA. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of deal the Cleveland Cavaliers end up giving James and just what kind of money it’s going to take for Durant to sign with a team. I guess if you’re a parent with a young son who hasn’t found a sport he likes basketball might be the way too go.

Speaking of Durant; he has met with 3 of the 6 teams he had planned to meet with. His current or possible former team the Oklahoma City Thunder had the first meeting with him. After that meeting, there where reports that said there was a 90% chance that Durant would resign with Oklahoma City. Then Durant met with the Golden State Warriors. Golden State had there owner Joe Lacob, General Manager Bob Myers, head coach Steve Kerr as well as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala at the meeting with Durant. Golden State’s meeting with Durant ran longer than it was scheduled to and that caused NBA insiders to report that the Warriors where now the front runner to sign Durant. 

Yesterday it was the Los Angeles Clippers turn to meet with Durant  and they made a four hour presentation to him. The Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Coach Doc Rivers and front-office executives Lawrence Frank and Dave Wohl attended the meeting along with star players Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Point guard Chris Paul could not make it because of a scheduling conflict with his vacation in Spain but had spoken with Durant about his hopes of becoming teammates. Durant is still scheduled to sit down with the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and the Thunder a second time before reaching his decision next week.

There hasn’t been much talk or any meetings involving where LeBron may play next season. It appears as everyone is convinced that he’ll resign with Cleveland. Remember Cleveland can offer James more money than any other team can and that appears to be what James is interested in right now. The only real question coming up regarding James was a tweet he sent out congratulating Matthew Dellavedova on his new contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. Was James unaware that Dellavedova was a restricted free agent and that the Cavaliers have a right to match Milwaukee’s offer or was he implying that Cleveland won’t match the offer to Dellavedova. Of course given the fact the James is pretty much the ipso facto general manger of the Cavaliers you’d think Dellavedova will be a former James teammate.

July 1st also meant that NHL teams could begin signing unrestricted free agents and even with Steven Stamkos off the board there where sign quite a few players signing with teams. Stamkos received an 8-year deal worth $8.5 million annually from the Tampa Bay Lighting before he ever reached free agency. Besides Stamkos the Lighting also signed defenseman Victor Hedman to an 8-year $63 million dollar deal. Some of the other bigger free agent goal scores signed yesterday as well. Milan Lucic signed a 7-year $42 million dollar deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Kyle Okposo got the same contract as Lucic did, but from the Buffalo Sabres. Loui Eriksson got a 6-year $36 million dollar deal from the Vancouver Canucks while Frans Nielsen got 6 years and $31.5 million to join the Detroit Red Wings. For us locally in Chicago the Blackhawks did sign defenseman Brian Campbeel for 1-year at $2.25 million dollars, but they saw Andrew Ladd leave for the New York Islanders on a 7-year $38.5 million dollar deal.

There are still plenty of NHL and NBA free agents out there. Did you like the moves your team made? Or where they one of the teams that didn’t make any moves yet?

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How Was Your Week?

Posted: June 25, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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We had some drafting done to end the week and not the fantasy kind. On Thursday the NBA had it’s draft. That was followed up on Friday by the NHL holding it’s annual draft. I’ll start with the NBA draft since I saw more of that.

First the things that drive me crazy. Why does the NBA not allow teams to make trades during the draft so we can actually see where the player is going and not have to hear about it later. It drives me nuts when a player is drafted by a team and he goes up on stage gets the hat and the jersey from the team that picked him and does the picture thing with Commissioner Adam Silver only to find out that he’s not with that team now. There where a couple of occasions when the television announce crew would spend 5 to 10 minutes breaking down a player and how he fit with the team that drafted him only to have to turn around and do it again for the team who had already traded for him. It’s not like all these trades are happening right now and the league can’t keep up with them. How is it possible that the NFL can handle teams making trades while they’re on the clock t draft, but the NBA is lost and can’t find a way to do it. Moving on; streamline the draft coverage. Why was the television coverage so long? For whatever reason ESPN stretched out the actual draft itself to like four hours when it probably could’ve been done in have the time. Would it of been that hard for them to put a draft recap show on or something like that instead of just dragging out the draft and making it unwatchable. I get it they overpaid for their contract to cover the NBA so they’re going to do everything they can to keep them on television, but stretching out the draft coverage like this makes it boring. With the way they handle the coverage they don;t seem to understand that the majority of the fans watching will go away from the channel and the draft after a pick has been made and then come back and pick the coverage up when it gets closer to the next pick being made. Maybe this doesn’t reflect in the ratings; so it doesn’t hurt their numbers. If it did then they’d care about it.

As for the actual draft itself. It went like most experts had predicted it would. Ben Simmons (LSU) went #1 overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. Then Brandon Ingram (Duke) went #2 to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Boston Celtics on the clock at #3 with one of there 8 picks on the night did everything they could according to reports to deal this pick for some veteran help, but couldn’t find a trade partner and ended up selecting Jaylon Brown (California) with the pick. Most experts thought after the first two picks came off the board any of the top players could be picked by any of the teams in the draft lottery and that’s how it went. The first real surprised was when the Milwaukee Bucks selected high schooler Thon Maker with the 10th pick in the 1st round. Maker didn’t attend college or play overseas, but spent last season at the Athlete Institute in Canada and this had some people questioning his eligibility for the NBA draft. There is also some question about his age. Maker is listed as being 19 years old, but there where NBA teams that took him off there draft boards as there are reports that he’s actually between the of 21 and 23. After Milwaukee took Maker the draft kind of settled back in and the story became how far would Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) fall. Most if not every mock draft had Labissiece being selected in the Top 10. Labissece was eventually selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 28th pick, but was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a draft day trade; that we of course didn’t find out about until after the pick was made. In his one season at Kentucky Labissece didn’t produce like it was thought he would, but still entered the NBA draft. The down season along with his performance at the NBA Draft Combine contributed to Labissece fall to #28. Back to the Celtics and all there draft picks. Besides Brown at #3 the Celtics selected Guerschon Yabusele out of France with the 16th pick of the 1st round and then at #23 the Celtics picked Ante Zizic from Croatia. As of no it appears that they’ll be keeping all three of these draft picks. Of course when you pick a player from overseas he might not be eligible to play in the NBA right away depending on what his contract situation is with his current team. The Celtics where able to deal a couple of their 2nd round draft picks #31 and #35 to the Memphis Grizzlies, but still had three 2nd round picks of there own. At #45 they took Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame), at #51 they took Ben Bentil (Providence) and at # 58 Boston took Abdel Nader (Iowa State) to wrap up it’s draft night. I don;t think that the Celtics and there General Manager Danny Ainge thought they would walk away from the draft having picked six players. I guess will have to wait and see if there are some deals still in the works for the Celtics or if they’re going to open the 2016-17 season with quite a few rookies on their roster.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don;t know much of anything about the players that where drafted by the NHL last night. Auston Matthews get #1 overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs and I’d expect to see him with them in the 2016-17 season. I’m sure we’ll see a few of these 1st round draft picks playing in the NHL next season, but I just don;t know a whole lot about them. What I wanted to venture off into was some of the draft day trades that where made. The Detroit Red Wings traded Pavel Datsyuk; who I thought I heard was either going to retire or play next season in Russia along with the 16th pick in the draft to the Arizona Coyotes for 20th pick, the 53rd pick and Joe Vitale. I was a little surprise to hear that the St. Louis Blues broke up their goaltending tandem, but they did sending Brian Elliott to Calgary Flames for 2016 2nd-round pick (35th overall), 2018 conditional 3rd-round pick. The Chicago Blackhawks also made a move to help with there salary cap issues as they sent Andrew Shaw to Montreal Canadiens for two 2nd round picks #39 and #45. We’ll see if these deals impact any free agent signings or if some of the teams in these deals where so close to the salary cap that they just needed the relief.

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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: June 15, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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Joey Logano picked up the win Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn Michigan. It was Logano’s first win of the season and it gives him a place in The Chase. Logano is the 10th driver to pick up a win this season and lock up a Chase spot. The other nine drivers are Kyle Busch (3), Jimmie Johnson (2), Carl Edwards (2), Brad Keslowski (2), Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin. There are 16 Chase spots and if there aren’t 16 race winners the rest of the spots are awarded on points. It’s always better to find your way to victory lane than to try and point your way into The Chase.

On the Sunday podcast of Sports Time Radio we had a little difficult with Chris Olmstead the the phone connection, but his picks did very well in Michigan. He had Chase Elliott who finished 2nd, Kyle Larson who finished 3rd and Tony Stewart who finished 7th. Chris joins us on Sports Time Radio every Sunday morning there’s a Sprint Cup race. He previews the race with us and then gives us his three drivers with the best chance to end up in victory lane. You can find Chris’ writing at BeyondtheFlag.com

Now Tony Stewart is an interesting case. He had the injury earlier in the season and missed some races. He was giving a waiver by NASCAR to make The Chase if he wins a race and finishes in the Top 30 in points. Stewart is currently 35th in points. He’s 45 points behind 30th place Brian Scott. Getting into the Top 30 may be the easy part. Winning a race may be the tougher part of the deal. Because of the injury Stewart has run just 7 races this season. He has had an average finish of 19th. Stewart announced his retirement before the start of this season. Can he get that win that will send him out as a Chase driver is the big question.

The Sprint Cup series is taking a week off before going into it’s first road course race of the season on June 26th. The series heads to the Sonoma Speedway for the Toyota-Save Mart 350. The road courses are always fun and interesting to see as it really opens up the field. Stewart is a good road course racer; so maybe this is where he gets his win or possible another under the radar type of driver finds his or her way into the Chase with a win at Sonoma.

As salary caps go the NHL’s is easily the toughest one to deal with out of all the major sports. While the Chicago Blackhawks have managed to win the Stanley Cup three times in this salary cap era’ they’ve also had to deal off some of the fans favorite players. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad where both dealt for salary cap reason. The Blackhawks where eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the 2nd round of this past seasons playoffs. Now even though the Blackhawks didn’t win back to back Stanley Cups they are still dealing with some salary cap issues. To try to free up some salary cap space the Blackhawks have sent Forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell to the Carolina Hurricanes for a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2017 draft. Teravainen, 21, had 13 goals and 35 points in 78 regular-season games and one point and 13 shots on goal in seven Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was selected by the Blackhawks with the 18th pick of the 2012 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut during the 2013-14 season. He had 10 points in 18 playoff games last year to help the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. Bickell, 30, had two assists in 25 games with the Blackhawks this season. He was placed on waivers and sent to Rockford of the American Hockey League twice this season, and had 15 goals and 31 points in 47 AHL games. Selected by the Blackhawks in the second round (No. 41) of the 2014 NHL Draft, he helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. In 384 NHL games he has 65 goals and 135 points in parts of nine seasons, all with the Blackhawks. Bickell will have a salary-cap charge of $4 million next season. It’s the last season of a four-year contract he signed with the Blackhawks on June 30, 2013.

There was finally something that went on during the NBA Finals that caught my interest. It doesn’t have anything to do with what is happening on the basketball court itself, but on the sidelines. Turner Sports reporter Craig Sager will get a chance to work his first NBA Finals, thanks to a unique partnership with ESPN. Sager, a 34-year Turner veteran and popular TNT sideline reporter known for wearing flashy suits, has continued to work as he faces a recurrence of the leukemia he has been battling for the past few years. He has never worked an NBA Finals series but will share sideline reporting duties with Doris Burke for Thursday’s Game 6 in Cleveland between the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.

Andrew Bogut left Game 5 with a sprained left knee. It’s being reported that the knee will not require surgery, but Bogut will miss the remainder of the NBA Finals. It’s been reported that Bogut will be out 6 to 8 weeks with the knee injury. Bogut was injured when he collided with J.R. Smith and Smith hit Bogut’s fully extended left knee. If Golden State decides to start a center either Festus Ezeli or former Cavalier Anderson Varejao would be called upon to fill Bogut’s spot. Golden State could always start a small line up with someone like Draymond Green at the center position and possible someone like Andre Iguodala moving into the starting line up. Will the loss of Bogut allow the Cavaliers to get more aggressive going to the basket or can Ezeli or Anderson be enough of a deterrent in the lane for Golden State.

@Burketime

 

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Let’s Call it Wednesday!

Posted: June 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Even though the Golden State Warriors came back from being down 3 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals and advanced with the chance to win the NBA title for the second straight season. It seemed that the talk turned pretty quickly to where Kevin Durant will be playing next season. Durant is entering free agency for the first time in his career and has played his entire career for the Oklahoma City Thunder. You have to figure that just about every team in the NBA will contact Durnat’s agent to see if there’s a chance he’d be willing to come t there team. Don’t forget the Washington Wizards hired Durant’s former head coach Scott Brooks hoping that might give them an inside track. Even the top Western Conference teams have been mentioned as a posssible landing spot for Durant. Golden State has been mentioned as being interested as well as the San Antonio Spurs would be interested in Durant’s services. There’s also been mention of the Boston Celtics who have a ton of draft picks and could build the team around Durant. Then there was some talk of Durant going to Los Angeles, but not to play for the Lakers, but for the Clippers. Of course I believe that might have to be a sign and trade with a player like Blake Griffin heading to Oklahoma City, but it could be possible. Not I’m sure between now and when NBA free agency kicks off in about a month there will be even more teams added to the Kevin Durant derby. Now if I had to put my money down on something happened I’d go with him staying wit the Thunder. I’m guessing he’ll sign a short term Max deal with an opt out like LeBron James has done with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant could get just under $26 million a season from the Thunder; so maybe he signs a 2-year deal with an opt out after the first year and then he could get even more money as the NBA salary cap continues to go up. Don’t forget that Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are both under contract with Oklahoma City for one more season. Wouldn’t it make sense for Durant to return to the Thunder for one more run at the NBA title; especially after as close as they where to knocking Golden State out of the playoffs this season. It could be quite a situation for Oklahoma City if Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka all hit free agency at the same time after the 2016-17 season. Would it be worth it if they won the NBA title next season and then those three players headed into free agency?

The NBA Finals tip off tomorrow and it’s rematch of last season with the Golden State Warriors defending their title against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The biggest difference between this season and last is that the Cavaliers will be healthy than last years finals. Both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are 100% this time the two teams meet for the title. Even with the Cavaliers being in better health it appears as though Golden State is still the trendy pick. On the Sports Time radio podcast Ben Beeken from DunkinWithWolves.com has the Warriors winning the series in 6 games. Even though Dan the Man didn’t give a number of games for the series he also has Golden State repeating as champions. I didn’t make a pick on the podcast yesterday, but I believe that Golden State will will the series in five games. It seems that everyone I’ve heard predict the series has Golden State winning in five or six games. Who do you have winning the NBA title?

Here’s an odd stat for you and maybe you can win a bar bet or two with it. Anderson Varejao is the first player to play for the teams meeting in the NBA finals in the same season. Varejao started the season with the Cavaliers where he played 31 games. After being realeased by Cleveland he signed on with the Warriors where played in 22 regular season games. and 11 playoff games so far.

The Stanley Cup Finals dropped the puck on Monday night as the San Jose Sharks where in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period on goals by Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary.The Penguins really looked like the better team throughout the 1st period. Pittsburgh had 15 shots on goal in the 1st period while San Jose could only muster 4 shots on goal. In the 2nd period it appeared as though the teams switched roles. Goals by Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau even the game at 2-2 after 2 periods of action. The game stayed at 2-2, but the Penguins where getting quite a few shots on goal and you had to wonder if soponer or later if the puck would find it’s way into the back of the net. At 17:27 of the 3rd period Nick Bonino beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones and give Pittsburgh the 3-2 lead and as it turned out the game winning goal. The Penguins doubled up the Sharks shot totals in the 3rd period as Pitttsburgh had 18 shots on goal to San Jose’s 9. The Penguins did go 0 for 3 on the power play while the Sharks went 1 for 2. So Pittsburgh won Game 1 at home and tonight the Penguins look to win Game 2 at home before the series shifts to San Jose.

While the St. Louis Blues didn’t quite make there goal of winning the Stanley Cup the team did well enough for them to want to bring back head coach Ken Hitchcock for next season. During his press conference;  Hitchcock announced that the 2016-17 season will be his final season coaching in the NHL.Hitchcock guided the Blues to the Western Conference finals this year following a regular season in which St. Louis finished with 107 points, the fourth-highest total in franchise history. Four of the top five regular-season finishes in St. Louis franchise history have come with Hitchcock behind the bench. Next season will be Hitchcock’s 20th as an NHL head coach. He won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and has a career record of 757-453-194. He ranks fourth all-time in regular season wins and is likely headed to the Hall of Fame when he’s done.

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link and you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 25, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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The Pittsburgh Penguins evened up there Eastern Conference finals series with the Tampa Bay Lighting at 3 game apiece with a 5-2 win in Game 6 last night. It looked as tough Pittsburgh was headed for an easy victory. Phil Kessel scored the only goal of the 1st period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Then in the 2nd period a goal by Kris Letang and then another by Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead and it seems as the game was pretty much settled. Then in the 3rd period Brian Boyle scored unassisted for Tampa bay t make it 3-1. Then a second goal by Boyle cut the Penguins lead to just one goal at 3-2. That was as close as the Lighting would get as Bryan Rust and Nick Bonino added 3rd period goals for the Penguins to make the final score 5-3 and send the series to a Game 7 Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins went back to Matt Murray on goal and he stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced in Game 6. You have to figure he’ll get the call in net for Game 7. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been solid in goal for the Lighting, but you have to wonder if we’ll see Ben Bishop in Game 7 if he’s close to being ready to go.

Over in the Western Conference the San Jose Sharks took a 3 games to 2 lead in there series against the St. Louis Blues with a 6-3 win in St. Louis. San Jose will have a chance to close out the series tonight as they host the Blues in Game 6. With there season on the line tonight the Blues announced that Brian Elliott will be the starting goalie for Game 6 in San Jose. Jake Allen started the previous two games against San Jose. Elliott is undefeated this postseason in elimination games, winning a pair of Game 7’s against the Blackhawks and Stars. Overall, Elliott is 9-8 with a .925 save percentage this postseason. San Jose will stick with Martin Jones in goal. Jones is 11-6 with a goals against average of 2.13 and a save percentage of .918.  Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture are leading San Jose in points this post season with 21 apiece while the Blues are led by Robby Fabbri who has 15 points. If St. Louis wins tonight and forces a Game 7 it will be played back at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday night.

Are the Golden State Warriors in trouble? Last night the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3 games to 1 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Warriors with an easy 118-94 victory. This is the second game in a row that Oklahoma City has won the game by 20 plus points. While it was a 24 point margin of victory last night in Game 4 in Game 3 they won by 28 points 133-105. Oklahoma City got out to a double digit lead early, but by the end of the 1st quarter Golden State had cut the lead to just 4 at 30-26. The 2nd quarter is where the game really swung Oklahoma City’s way as they outscored Golden State 42-27 in the quarter and took a 72-53 lead into the locker room at halftime. Golden State did manage to knock 7 points off the lead by outscoring Oklahoma City 29-22 in the 3rd quarter, but it was already to little too late. With a 94-82 going int the 4th quarter Oklahoma City actually added to there lead outscoring Golden State 24-12 in the final quarter.

All five of the Thunder’s starters scored in double figures led by Russell Westbrook’s 36 points. Those 36 points where part of Westbrook’s triple-double as he added a team high 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant had 26 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson each scored 17 points while Roberson grabbed a team high 12 rebounds. Steve Adams chipped in 11 points for Oklahoma City while Dion Waiters scored 10 points off the Thunder bench.

Golden State was led by Klay Thompson with 26 points. Stephen Curry scored 19 points, but was just 2 of 10 from behind the 3-point line. Curry did hand out a team high 5 assists. Harrison Barnes was the only other Golden State player to reach double figures had 11 points. Draymond Green who let’s face it shouldn’t even of been playing in this game led the Warriors in rebounds with 11. Golden State shot 9 of 30 (30.0%) from behind the 3-point line in the game. Golden State does head home for Game 5 facing elimination, but as we know they’re very good at home.

In the Eastern Conference finals; who had the Toronto Raptors winning both of there games at home and evening the series at 2 games apiece. There where people who thought that the Raptors wouldn’t win a game in this series and now they’ve won two. Are they a real threat to win this series? Game 5 is tonight in Cleveland and it’s going to be tough for the Raptors to win there as the Cavaliers get a large disparity in fouls called. I did get a chuckle out of the huge flop LeBron James took when he git hit in the face in I think Game 3. The referees being incredibly stupid called a technical foul on one of the three Toronto players standing there when as it turned out it was LeBron’s own teammate Tristan Thompson who hit him in the face. Does the NBA still fine players for flopping? and would there dare try and fine LeBron for his terrible flop?

The NFL handed out the Super Bowl for the 2019, 2020 and the 2021 seasons. For 2017 the game will be held in Houston’s NRG Stadium. The other Super Bowl that was already on the books was 2018 and that will be played in the Minnesota Vikings new U.S. Bank stadium. For 2019 the Super Bowl goes to Atlanta and will be played at the Mercedes-Benz stadium. The 2020 game will be at the New Miami stadium, Miami Gardens home of the Dolphins. I’m not sure why, but for some reason the NFL listed this game as being played in South Florida with no details of which city it would be in. Then finally the 2021 Super Bowl will be played at the home of the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, California as long as the stadium is ready; which hopefully it will be by 2021.

 

 

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link and you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week?

Posted: May 21, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, hockey, horse racing, sports, Uncategorized
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While it is just May as we like to say on the podcast May is coming to an end next week. When the calendar turns to June will you worry about your favorite baseball team then? I’m think if you’re a fan of the New York Mets you might want to get started a little early. The Mets are currently 23-18 and in 3rd place in the National League East just 2 1/2 games behind the division leading Washington Nationals.

Is there possible an issue with the Mets starting rotation? The team is being built around it’s young pitching and those young pitchers did get the Mets into the World Series last season. There have been some cracks in that young pitching foundation that the Mets need to keep their eye on. Steven Matz made his 7th start last night after being skipped in the rotation because of elbow soreness. Even with 11 days off Matz pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 earned runs and striking out 8 while picking up the win in the Mets 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Matz made 9 starts for the Mets last season and 3 of those where in the post season. Matz is 6-1 this season with an ERA of 2.81 in his 7 starts, but at 241 years old will the Mets have to watch his innings as the season moves along. While there doesn’t seem to be any injury concerns with Jacob deGrom his velocity seems to be a little down in his last couple of starts; which where no decisions. deGrom did miss a couple of starts earlier this season as he left the team to attend to a medical issue with his newborn son. He’s made 3 starts since returning to the Mets and is 0-1 after winning his first 3 starts of the season. deGrom’s ERA is 2.50 on the season and you have to wonder if it’s just a case of him building up his arm strength again, but it is something the Mets have to watch. Then there’s Mat Harvey. Harvey started on Thursday night against the division leading Nationals. He lasted just 2 2/3rd of an inning, gave up 8 hits, 9 runs 6 of them earned while walking 2 and striking out 2. Harvey was boo’d off the field when Mets manager Terry Collins came out to remove him from the game. Harvey hasn’t last more than 6 innings in any of his 9 starts this season. Harvey is 3-6 and his ERA is 5.77 in his 9 starts this season. There have been no reports about any injuries, but if you remember just a few weeks back Harvey himself said he felt a little off was the term he used. Harvey had that terrible outing against the Nationals, but his start before that wasn’t much either. He pitched 5 2/3rd innings while giving up 5 earned runs on 11 hits, but struck out 6 against the Colorado Rockies. I don;t think that anyone noticed that start because it was in Coors Field and many pitchers have had trouble there. According to reports that came out on Friday Harvey will not be skipped in the rotation and is due t make his next start against the Nationals again on Tuesday, May 24th; this time the game is in Washington’s Nationals Park.Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard are the other two pitchers holding down the Mets rotation. Colon has made 8 starts and is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.75, There’s nothing wrong with those numbers out of a 5th starter especially when you find out that pitcher is 42 years old. Is Syndergarrd the ace of this staff? He’s 4-2 in 8 starts, but has the lowest ERA among the starers at 2.19. 7 of his 8 starts have been quality starts and he’s struck out 65 batters while walking just 9 on the season. Syndergaard has a WHIP of 0.99 and his K/9 or strikeouts per 9 innings ratio is 10.97 this season. You’d think that talent like tis can easily get the Mets back into the playoffs and don;t forget that Zack Wheeler is due to return in a couple of weeks. Wheeler had Tommy John surgery last season and is finishing up his recovery. I am wondering if some of the struggles this young Mets staff has had reminded any long time fans of the team of the Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher pitching trio that the Mets where going to be built around in the late 90’s.

The Tampa Bay Lighting jumped out to a 4-0 lead last night and looked as though they’d easily even up there Eastern Conference Finals series with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 2 games apiece. While the Lighting did even up the series with the Penguins there was nothing easy about it. Tampa bay got goals from Ryan Callahan and Andrew Sustr in the 1st period t take a 2-0 lead. Callahan’s goal came 27 seconds into the game. Tampa Bay added 2 more goals in the 2nd period as Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson put the puck in the net and effectively ended the night of Pittsburgh starting goaltender Matt Murray. With Marc-Andre Fleury back in goal the Penguins seem to get a little lift even down 4-0. Phil Kessel got the Penguins on the scoreboard at 1:18 of the 3rd period with a goal. Play settled down for about 10 minutes and then Evgeni Malkin scored the Penguins 2nd goal of the period. It’s still 4-2 Lighting; so there was no need for their fans to panic; yet. When Chris Kunitz scored just after the 13 minute mark of the period to make it a 1-goal game at 4-3 I’m sure Lighting fans where worried. Fleury was pulled for the extra skater with about 4 minutes left in the game, but Andrei Vasilevskiy held on in goal for Tampa Bay and they took Game 4.

Game 5 is Sunday night as the series heads back to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

The second leg of horse racing Triple-Crown The Preakness Stakes is today. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is the favorite at 3 to 5. Can Nyquist win here? There is another horse that while not the betting favorite is close. Exaggerator is going off at 3 to 1. I believe I heard that these 2 horses have matched up 4 times and Nyquist has won all 4 of those races. Will today be the day Exaggerator finally beats Nyquist or will Nyquist move on to the Belmont Stakes with a chance t win the Triple-Crown. I know everyone is just waiting for my pick since I know so much about horse racing. I decided that I’m going with Cherry Wine at 20 to 1 to win the Preakness. That of course menas stay as far away from that horse as possible.

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday!

Posted: May 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t show any rust coming off their 9 day lay off as they easily handled the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals 115-84. The Cavaliers put up 33 points in the 1st quarter to take a 5-point lead 33-28. They followed that up with a 33 point 2nd quarter to really extend the lead going into halftime to 66-44. Still pressing in the 3rd quarter the Cavaliers added 6 points to the lead by outscoring the Raptors 29-23 in the 3rd. With a 95-67 heading into the 4th quarter the Cavaliers still outscored the Raptors in the quarter 20-17 to get the game to the 115-84 final and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 27 points and handed out a team high 5 assists. LeBron James shot 11 for 13 from the field on his way to a 24 point night. Kevin Love was the only other Cleveland player to score in double figures with 14 points. Richard Jefferson came off the Cavaliers bench to lead the team in rebounding with 11. The Cavaliers went 41 of 74 (55.4%) from inside the 3-point line in the victory.

Toronto was led by DeMar DeRozan with 18 points. DeRozan also tied for the team lead in assists with Kyle Lowry at 5 apiece.  Bismack Biyombo made every shot he took as he went 5 for 5 from the field and made both his free throw attempts for 12 points. Biyombo also tied for the team lead in rebounds with Lowry and James Johnson at 4. Johnson also came off the Raptors bench to add 10 points. In comparison to  Cleveland’s 55.4% the Raptors shot just 42.1% from inside the 3-point line going 32 for 76.

Game 2 will be tomorrow (Thursday) night in Cleveland. Do the Raptors have a chance to even the series? or will the Cavaliers make it 10 straight playoff victories this season?

If you listened to the Sports Time radio podcast yesterday (Tuesday) I was convinced that the Los Angeles Lakers would move up in the NBA Draft Lottery and get the #1 overall pick. I was wrong; not only didn’t the Lakers move up no one did. The Philadelphia 76ers had the best chance to get the #1 pick and they did. The Lakers stayed at 2 with the Boston Celtics at #3 on a pick they acquired from the Brooklyn Nets. The Phoenix Suns have two lottery picks and the first one is at #4. The Minnesota Timberwolves are at #5 with the New Orleans Pelicans at #6. The Denver Nuggets will pick 6th as they picked up this pick in a deal with the New York Knicks. The Sacramento Kings will pick 8th while the Raptors have the well traveled 9th pick as it was originally owned by Denver, but was sent to the Knicks and then to Toronto. The Milwaukee Bucks are at #10 with Orlando Magic at #11 and Utah Jazz at #12. The Suns show up again at #13 with a pick they acquired from the Washington Wizards. The Chicago Bulls round out the lottery with the 14th pick. The draft will be held in Brooklyn at Barclays Center on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

Both the Eastern and Western Conference finals in the NHL are tied at 1-1. The Pittsburgh Penguins used a quick goal by Sidney Crosby in overtime of Game 2 on Monday to tie up the series with the Tampa Bay Lighting. The series now shifts to Tampa Bay’s Amalie Arena for tonight’s Game 3 and Friday nights Game 4.

Tommy Wingels put the San Jose Sharks up 1-0 in the 1st period of last nights game against the St. Louis Blues. Brent Burns had a power play goal in the 2nd period to make it 2-0 Sharks. Burns added another power play goal at the start of the 3rd period and then a Dainius Zubrus empty net goal made it 4-0 as the Sharks evened the series with the Blues. The series will head out west to San Jose’s SAP Center for Game 3 on Thursday and then Game 4 on Saturday night.

The suspensions where handed down by Major League Baseball (MLB) for the bench clearing brawl in Sunday’s Texas Rangers/Toronto Blue Jays game. To no one’s surprise Roughned Odor got the longest suspension of anyone at 8 games. I was quite surprised to hear that Jose Bautista received just a 1 game suspension. I really thought that Bautista would end up getting something in the 3 to 5 game area, but it turned out to be just 1. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons got a 3 game suspension. Remember Gibbons had been ejected earlier in the game and came back out on the field during the fight. Blue Jays 1st base coach Tim Leiper also got a 1 game suspension as he was also ejected, but came back out onto the field when the fight broke out. The other suspension I was a little surprised by was the 3 game one Jesse Chavez got. While Chavez did hit Prince Fielder in retaliation I thought 3 games was a little high for that. Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus was the other player to receive a suspension; he got 1 game. While Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Rangers bench coach Steve Buechele where both ejected during the brawl they weren’t suspended, but where fined. It appears as Odor will be accessed the largest fine at a reported $5000. There where four other players who where just fined for the parts in the brawl. Rangers pitchers San Dyson, A.J. Griffin and Matt Bush; who hit Bautista along with catcher Robinson Chirinos where all fined as was Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar.

The Rangers series clinching victory Sunday was the final regular season meeting between the two clubs. A feud had been simmering between the teams since Bautista’s bat flip in last year’s American League Division Series.

Fredi Gonzalez became the first manager to get fired this season as the 9-28 Atlanta Braves made the move before their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Brian Snitker, manager of Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett farm team, will replace Gonzalez as the Braves’ interim manager through the end of the season. Snitker was Atlanta’s third-base coach from 2006 to 2013. Snitker also had two stints with Atlanta as the bullpen coach in 1985 and from 1988 to 1990. Gonzalez learned he was likely to be fired about an hour after Monday night’s loss, when he received an automated email from an airline notifying him that he was scheduled to be on a flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta on Tuesday, even though the Braves are playing the Pirates through Thursday. Braves general manager John Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart had planned to inform him Tuesday morning. Gonzalez, 52, managed the Marlins from 2007 to 2010 and was named manager in Atlanta in 2011 after Hall of Famer Bobby Cox retired. He coached third base for the Braves for four years before landing the Marlins job. Gonzalez wasn’t the only one fired. Braves bench coach Carlos Tosca, an assistant under Gonzalez in Atlanta and Miami, was also let go. First-base coach Terry Pendleton, a former Braves great, will become bench coach, with bullpen coach Eddie Perez moving to first. Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed will take Perez’s spot.

Former Braves All-Star Chipper Jones is said to not interested in managing the Braves this season,

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: May 14, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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We had what has to be considered the first upset in the NBA playoffs. On Thursday the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 113-99 to take Game 6 and win that playoffs series 4 games to 2. As Oklahoma City advances to the Western Conference Finals to face the Golden State Warriors the talk turned to what will San Antonio look like next season. The media stupidly wanted an immediate decision from Tim Duncan on if he would be back next season, but of course he didn’t have an answer. Duncan who just turn 40 years of age on April 25th was the #1 pick in the draft by the Spurs in 1997 and has spent the last 19 seasons with the Spurs. Duncan had a down year in 2015-16.San Antonio did what they could to keep Duncan healthy. He played in 61 games and averaged just 25.2 minutes per game which was a career low. Duncan also had his lowest points per game average (8.6) and rebounds per game (7.3) averages in his career. If Duncan does decide to retire he is a sure fire Hall of Fame selection. Duncan won 5 NBA championships with San Antonio and was Finals MVP 3 times. He was a 15 time All-Star and won the MVP of that game 1 time. He was also the league MVP in back to back seasons in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Duncan also won the Rookie of the Year in 1997-98. Besides Duncan the Spurs will also have to wait and see if Manu Ginobili decides to retire. Ginobili will turn 39 on July 28 and just completed his 14th NBA season. Don’t forget Ginobili didn’t start playing in the NBA until he was 25. Ginoblil played professionally in Argentine starting in 1995 before moving to Europe to play in Italy. San Antonio drafted Ginobili drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 draft, but he choose to stay with his Italian team Kinder Bologna, which he helped win the 2001 Italian Championship, the 2001 and 2002 Italian Cups, and the 2001 Euroleague, where he was named the Euroleague 2000–01 Euroleague Finals MVP.[6] He was also named the Italian League MVP in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and made the Italian League’s All-Star Game three times during this period. Ginobili has won 4 NBA tiles with the Spurs. He is also a 2-time All-Star and was elected 6-Man of the Year in  2008. The 2015-16 season was the first time since his rookie season that Ginobili didn’t average double digit points per game. Will Duncan and Ginobili decide to retire? or will they try to make one more championship run in 2016-17?

Now over in the Eastern Conference it seems as though the Cleveland Cavaliers have been waiting two weeks to find out if they’ll play the Toronto Raptors or Miami Heat in the conference finals. Miami picked up a 103-91 victory on Friday night to force the series to a 7th game. The teams meet Sunday afternoon to decide who will move on t face the Cavaliers. Besides possible to much these playoffs couldn’t of went better for Cleveland. The Cavaliers are a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs with sweeps of the Detroit Pistons in the first round and the Atlanta Hawks in the second round. As the Cavaliers wait for their next opponent you have to wonder what kind of shape that opponent will be in. Hasan Whiteside has a sprained MCL and has already been ruled out of Game 7 against Toronto and who knows if he’ll be ready to play in the conference finals. Luol Deng did play for Miami last night, but took just 5 shots as he’s dealing wit a wrist injury and is less than 100%. If the Heat do advance Deng’s injury will linger through that series. On the Toronto side Jonas Valanciunas left the series in Game 5 with a ankle injury and has been ruled out for the remained of this series. Would that ankle be healthy enough to allow him to play in a series against Cleveland. Also for Toronto Demarre Carroll played just 25 minutes in Game 6 because of a wrist injury. Carroll also took just 4 shots in Game 6. He’ll play in Game 7 and would also play if the Raptors advance, but he’s another player who won’t be 100%. It looks as though no matter which team advances to face Cleveland the Cavaliers are going to have a huge advantage health wise heading into the Eastern Conference Finals.

The NHL is down to just 4 teams and the Tampa Bay Lighting took the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It appeared with Steven Stamkos already out for Tampa Bay that Pittsburgh would have an advantage. Then when the Lighting’s Tyler Johnson went knee to knee with the Penguins Chris Kunitz and had to miss some ice time Tampa Bay had to wonder what was next. Sadly for the Lighting what happened next was goaltender Ben Bishop needed to be stretchered off the ice with 7:35 left in the 1st period. It looked as though Bishop caught a skate on the ice and fell awkwardly injuring a knee. It was reported that Bishop’s x-rays where negative for structural damage, but his status for Game 2 in uncertain. Bishop is a Vezina Trophy nominee, but like last seasons playoffs if he’s going to miss time back up  Andrei Vasilevskiy will take over in net. Tampa Bay got out to a 1-0 lead when Alex Killorn scored his 4th goal of the playoffs at 14:46 of the 1st period. The Lighting extended that lead to 3-0 on 2nd period goals by Ondrej Palat at 2:33 of the period and then Jonathan Drouin at 18:25. Pittsburgh picked up it’s only goal of the game in the 2nd period as well when Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:05 of the period. Pittsburgh had 16 shots on goal in the 3rd period, Vasilevskiy turned them all away. For the game he stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced after replacing Bishop. Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Western Conference Finals doesn’t start until Sunday night and that features the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues. The Blues have home ice and have reached the Conference finals by knocking off the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the 1st round and the #1 seeded Dallas Stars in the 2nd round. San Jose reached the Conference finals by beating the Los Angeles Kings in 5 games and then winning a Game 7 against the Nashville Predators to take that series.

Just to get it a record Dan the Man has picked Pittsburgh to come out of the Eastern conference after they knocked off his Washington Capitals. Dan also likes San Jose to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals.

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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