In his career, the left winger from Moscow has had over 45 goals five
times, 50 or more goals four times, and sixty goals once. Last season
Ovechkin had 32 goals and 53 assists, and while a total of 85 points
is well above average, they were a letdown for Alexander the Great. In
fact, 2010 was his worst statistical season in a number of categories
– his 32 goals were 14 shy of his previous career low, his 85 points
were 7 below his previous career low, and he took the least amount of
shots in his career as well.

In every season of his career, Ovechkin has logged an average of over
21 minutes of ice time per game, and perhaps fatigue could be an
excuse for his low production last season. Perhaps all the ice time
caught up to him and his play was affected. This would also explain
the lack of shots on goal – in his career Ovechkin has had over 400
shots on goal three times and has had 500 or more shots once – last
year he had only 367, even though it was still the most in the NHL by
a single player.

Regardless of Ovechkin’s abnormally low production, he still led the
Washington Capitals in goals, assists, points, and plus/minus.
Alexander Semin was second on the team in goals with 28 and Nicklas
Backstrom was second in assists and points, with 47 and 65
respectively.

The Capitals put together an excellent season as usual, totaling 107
points, good for 1st in the Eastern Conference. They had the second
most points in the NHL, behind the Vancouver Canucks, who had 117.

While the regular season was kind to the Caps, the playoffs surely
weren’t. After they took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the 8th
seeded Montreal Canadiens, they proceeding to lose the next three
games and were sent packing in the midst of an epic collapse. In fact,
the collapse was so epic that the Capitals became the first number 1
seed in NHL history to blow a 3-1 series lead over an 8th seeded team.

Both Ovechkin and the Capitals are out for redemption come 2011,
making Washington even more frightening than usual. When you have a
great team that is also playing with a chip on their shoulder you
should watch out. It is safe to say that Ovechkin will return to form
and produce great individual statistics, while leading his team deep
into the playoffs in this upcoming season.

Written by Daniel Ferrara

Bush, when on the field, has never lived up to the high expectations
he earned coming out of college. He had his best season when he was a
rookie, rushing for 565 yards and scoring 6 touchdowns, while catching
88 passes for 742 yards and 2 touchdowns. The rushing touchdowns,
receptions, and receiving yards were all career highs set during that
rookie campaign. Since then, it has sort of been all downhill for Bush
– he took his time in New Orleans about as far as it could go, but the
anxious fan base and organization could not wait any longer – the New
Orleans Saints traded Reggie Bush to the Miami Dolphins for a reserve
safety and a few undisclosed draft picks.

The deal made perfect sense for all of the parties involved. The New
Orleans Saints avoided paying Bush his high salary for the 2011
season, the Miami Dolphins got a potential filled offensive weapon,
and Reggie Bush gets a change of scenery and a fresh start.

In my eyes, there is no better fit in the NFL for Reggie Bush than
with the Miami Dolphins. With the departures of both Ronnie Brown and
Ricky Williams, who went to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore
Ravens respectively, Reggie Bush should be the featured back and the
facilitator of the wild cat offense. When you look at Bush’s
attributes, they seem perfect for the wild cat system, one that is
perfected by head coach Tony Sparano in Miami. Bush can run the ball
out of the backfield, catch balls from the backfield, or line up as a
receiver in the slot or anywhere else. Bush gives the dynamic of an
end-around play, a reverse, or a flea flicker. Reggie Bush will be
given the opportunity to make big plays and become the difference
maker that he was once projected to become – if he stays healthy, I
expect Bush to have the best year of his career this upcoming season.

The only players competing with Bush for touches and playing time
will be Daniel Thomas and Lex Hilliard. Thomas was the Dolphins’
second round pick in last year’s draft and Hilliard was a 6th round
pick back in 2008 who has only had 23 rushes in his first two pro
seasons, so Bush will get most of the carries. The situation seems
perfect and the talent is there, so look for Reggie Bush to have a
great season.

Written by Danny Ferrara, Twitter @Ferrara34

Uggla is not being confused with an all-time great, even though he is one of the better offensive second baseman in the league.  Over the last five plus seasons, Uggla has the most home runs among major league second basemen with 178, but only holds a career average of .258, with his career high of .287 coming last season with Florida.  His style is more built around power, and is certainly not a ‘hit-for-average’ kind of player, which we expect hitters to be who go on these long hitting streaks.  Given all these offensive accomplishments and the fact that he is a two-time All-Star, Uggla is still best known for his three-error performance in the 2008 All-Star Game, but perhaps that will change with this memorable, albeit, mind-boggling stretch.  A look at the numbers over the last 30 games says it all about the full-back shaped second baseman.

This is the twenty-eighth 30+ game hitting streak since DiMaggio and it is without a doubt the most improbable.  Uggla was hitting a putrid .173 when his streak started on July 4th.  Since then, Uggla has raised his number to .220 while collecting just ONE hit in 22 of the 30 games during the streak.  He has nine infield singles during the streak including one in each of the past two games to reach the 30 game mark, and it isn’t as if Uggla is being confused with teammate Michael Bourn on the base paths.  In fact, Uggla is just 3-for-14 (.214) in his last three games, which is LOWER than his current average, yet the streak continues to endure.

Now, no one is saying that Uggla will get there as he is still an entire month’s worth of games away, but he has certainly put himself in rarified air.  The 56-game hitting streak was achieved by one of the game’s greats in Joe DiMaggio and Uggla is more than half way to that mark, even though their names may never be mentioned in the same sentence ever again.  But, that’s the joy in baseball statistics.  New records and achievements can be reached in every game on the schedule, and that’s what endears baseball fans to these moments.  Dan Uggla was locked in a three-plus month slump that was unprecedented in his career to start 2011, but the last thirty games have put him on a historical watch list on his way to one of the more unprecedented baseball feats ever seen.  While the numbers and figures are befuddling, and every baseball analyst, coach, executive, player, and fan are surely asking themselves, “How is this happening?”, Dan Uggla continues to creep his way to history one infield hit at a time.  Let’s ignore the statistical anomalies, and enjoy the ride.

By Brett Mariani

The New York Giants went 10-6 last season but failed to make the
playoffs for the second consecutive season, putting head coach Tom
Coughlin on the hot seat for the time being. In reality, the only
member of the Giants’ front office that should be on the hot seat is
GM Jerry Reese, who has been so inactive during the last month that
all of his staff and family members have been calling him non-stop
wondering if he is still alive.

The Giants’ big offseason move thus far has been resigning running
back Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants rewarded the oft-injured Bradshaw by
assuring him that they would be placing $18 million in his slippery
hands over the next four years – Bradshaw fumbled 7 times last year,
good for second in the NFL behind Browns’ halfback Peyton Hillis.
Don’t get me wrong, Bradshaw is an extremely effective player when he
is healthy. In fact, Bradshaw rushed for 1,235 yards on 276 attempts
last year, an average of 4.5 yards per carry. His yards total placed
him 9th in the NFL, not bad for someone who only started 11 games and
shared the load with Brandon Jacobs. Bradshaw has been held back due
to several ankle and foot problems, eventually leading to surgical
procedures. Resigning him was a good move and something that had to be
done, but when you mention that as your biggest move in the entire
offseason, something is wrong.

The Giants also resigned Mathias Kiwanuka to a two year deal worth
$8.6 million. Boy, it sure must feel great to miss 13 games, have no
definite position and still have the luxury of adding that type of
money to your bank account. Kiwanuka was a defensive end, then a
linebacker, then a defensive end, then a defensive tackle, then an end
again, and then he got injured and missed 13 games of the 2010 season
– now he is getting paid all that money to play where exactly? The
Giants seem to be pretty deep at the defensive end position and
extremely thin at linebacker, so perhaps a position change back to
linebacker is in the works for Kiwanuka. He is also a solid player
when he is healthy. Kiwanuka’s best season was 2008 when he had 8
sacks and 51 tackles, while starting in all 16 games. He recorded 4
sacks in just 3 games last season before getting injured.

The Giants let tight end Kevin Boss sign with the Oakland Raiders,
leaving the team with no solid option at the position. Travis Beckum
can certainly catch the ball but he is too small and cannot block,
while Bear Pascoe uses his big body to block effectively without
having the luxury of having the ability to catch a pass. The two
replacement options are the exact opposite of one another and a lot of
two tight end sets appear evident for the Giants this upcoming season,
unless they find a tight end out there who can both block and catch.
Say what you want about Kevin Boss, but he was a tough player who took
a beating and still produced. Boss was one of Eli Manning’s favorite
targets in past years, catching 110 passes for 16 touchdowns in the
three seasons since becoming a starter. Boss missed three games in
those three years.

The wide receiver position just got a lot thinner today with the news
that Giants’ receiver Steve Smith signed a one year deal with the
Philadelphia Eagles. You have to be kidding me – resigning Smith
appeared to be a no-brainer. Although he is still recovering from
micro fracture knee surgery and will not be ready for the start of the
2011 season, the Eagles have already won just by prying Smith away
from New York. Steve Smith became a starter in the 2009 season and
immediately exploded into a star, earning his spot on the Pro Bowl
roster. Smith caught 107 balls for 1,220 yards and 7 TD’s during that
season. Smith was 2nd in the NFL in receptions and 8th in the NFL in
receiving yards that season. Smith has 20 career receptions for 201
yards in four games against the Philadelphia Eagles and was always the
go-to guy for the Giants on offense. It seemed like every 3rd down,
Manning would pass it to Smith for the first down. During the 2009
season, statistics show that Eli Manning targeted Steve Smith 157
times, 29.4% of the time he threw the ball.

Osi Umenyiora is starting to cry again, and this time it is getting
very ugly. Last preseason, Umenyiora started his antics and left
practice early in an effort to plead his case to the Giants’ front
office. He felt like he was cheated by Jerry Reese, saying that Reese
promised him a contract extension which Umenyiora has yet to receive.
He called the general manager a liar but eventually quieted down and
played football, realizing that the Giants had leverage due to the
fact that Osi missed the entire 2008 season because of injury.
Umenyiora started all 16 games for the Giants in 2010 and recorded
11.5 sacks, tying fellow defensive end Justin Tuck for the team lead.
Umenyiora also forced 10 fumbles, most in the NFL by a ton, with James
Hall coming in second with 6. The tension between the two sides has
gotten worse over the last week, with the Giants granting Umenyiora
the right to seek his own trade and then eventually rescinding the
offer. Umenyiora is currently a camp holdout and is apparently
visiting a doctor in his hometown to check out his “knee discomfort”.
Most people feel as if this is just a ploy for Umenyiora to get out of
New York.

With two less options to throw to, Eli Manning might have a hard time
driving down the field and putting the ball in the end zone this
season. It might be even harder for him given the fact that the Giants
are going to start Will Beatty and David Baas on the offensive line,
losing a few key members including center Shaun O’Hara. The defense is
already hampered, having lost safety Michael Johnson to the Seattle
Seahawks and electing to not resign safety Deon Grant. The Giants’
number one draft pick, corner back Prince Amukamara, is expected to
miss two months after breaking his foot a few days ago. Amukamara will
undergo a surgical procedure that involves inserting screws into the
foot, which does not sound good at all. The Giants still have no
linebackers, for the third straight season. The one definite
linebacker is Michael Boley, who is horrendous. Jonathan Goff is
expected to start at middle linebacker for the second straight season
after recording 78 total tackles in 2010. The other linebacker will
either be Mathias Kiwanuka or Clint Sintim.

To put it simply, the Giants have not made any improvements to a team
that missed the playoffs a season ago, and you can definitely make the
case that they have gotten worse given all of their departures. How
can the Giants save their uneventful offseason? The obvious choice
would be to go out and sign a good receiver, since Ramses Barden is
currently third on the depth chart. Jerricho Cotchery showed that he
can both play in the NFL and have success playing in New York when he
received over 800 yards in every season from 2006-2009 as a member of
the Jets.

We will see how the season pans out, but it is hard to imagine the
Giants making the playoffs this season. They have only gotten worse
this offseason and the Philadelphia Eagles have signed everyone and
immediately become the Super Bowl favorites. The Dallas Cowboys will
have quarter back Tony Romo healthy and it is hard to imagine them
being as bad as last season, when they went 6-10. It will be very
difficult for the Giants to be successful this season, or at least it
appears so. If Osi Umenyiora plays and is as effective as last season
then maybe the Giants’ strong defensive line can cover up for a weak
line backing unit. If the Giants sign a good free agent wide receiver
and/or tight end then that will help a depleted passing attack and
have the offense firing on all cylinders again. Those are a lot of
“ifs”, however.

Written by Daniel Ferrara (Twitter @Ferrara34)

The biggest free agent to change teams thus far has been Nnamdi
Asomugha, the corner back from the Oakland Raiders. Asomugha agreed to
a 5 year, $60 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and will
play alongside Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The
Eagles acquired Rodgers-Cromartie from the Arizona Cardinals when they
sent quarter back Kevin Kolb to the desert. The strong secondary will
make it very difficult for opposing teams to generate much of a
passing game against Philadelphia.

Besides the Kevin Kolb trade, there have been a few other big trades
around the league. Donovan McNabb’s short and rough tenure in the
nation’s capital ended after just one season when he was sent to
Minnesota for a couple of sixth round draft picks. Reggie Bush was
traded to the Miami Dolphins for a backup safety and a few undisclosed
future draft choices – Bush also signed a new 2 year contract worth
about $10 million. It will be interesting to see how Bush is used in
Miami, and while he claims he wants to be the featured running back,
conventional wisdom says he will be returning punts, used as a slot
receiver, and will make his presence felt in the wildcat package.

In other football news, top draft pick Cam Newton has come to an
agreement with the Carolina Panthers. He will make $22 million over 4
years, which is much lower than the contracts of the number one draft
picks before him. Sam Bradford, quarter back of the St. Louis Rams,
inked a 6 year deal worth $78 million last season, an absolutely
ridiculous amount for a kid coming out of college who hasn’t proven
anything. The new collective bargaining agreement has curbed the
salaries of rookies to a much more respectable and normal amount.

The New York Jets may have struck out in the Nnamdi Asomugha
sweepstakes but they did resign wide receiver Santonio Holmes – Holmes
will be paid $50 million over the next five seasons. Holmes caught 27
less passes for 502 less yards last season when compared to his 2009
campaign, but the drop-off in statistics did not affect his free agent
pay day.

The New England Patriots continue to get better and master-mind Bill
Belichick now has some new toys to play with. The Patriots worked out
two separate trades – one with the Cincinnati Bengals and one with the
Washington Redskins – bringing wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and
defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth to Foxboro. Ochocinco has always
had a big mouth and been a bit of a clown around the league, so the
Patriots will try and work their magic and keep him in line. The logic
is that they are getting a talented receiver to play opposite Wes
Welker, which will make Tom Brady a very happy man. Haynesworth signed
an enormous $100 million contract with the Redskins when he declared
for free agency from the Tennessee Titans before the 2010 season.
Haynesworth gained weight, failed a conditioning test, got into Coach
Shanahan’s dog house, and protested the change to a 3-4 defense –
overall the experience was a disaster. The Patriots will try to get
Haynesworth into shape and get some use out of him.

The free agent period has just begun, so many more signings are to
come. While there have been a few big trades already, there will most
likely be some more in the near future. This is an exciting period of
time with many players changing teams and organizations trying to
out-duel each other and stay in the competition. It will be
interesting to see how the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys respond
to the Philadelphia Eagles’ new secondary. Wide receiver Roy Williams
has already left Dallas in favor of the Chicago Bears and the Giants
have to deal with their reception machine Steve Smith being a free
agent. Many believe that the Giants will sign Plaxico Burress, who won
the Super Bowl with the Giants and has recently gotten out of prison.

Written by Danny Ferrara, twitter @Ferrara34

Colts owner Jim Irsay believes that Manning will be ready in time for the regular season, whenever it begins. Training camp is scheduled to start this week, and if the collective bargaining agreement is signed before that point in time then everything will run according to schedule and no time will be lost. While this is good news for fans around the country, it might not be such great news for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts – Manning might need to miss some time in training camp due to his offseason neck surgery.

Manning had surgery on his neck for the second time in fourteen months in May of this year and has not progressed as well as he was expected to. His father, Archie Manning, said that Peyton did not recover as quickly as he did last March when he first had the surgery done.

Due to the work stoppage, players have not been able to have any contact with the owners or other employees within their respective organizations. Manning could not receive the treatment and rehabilitation from the Colts’ training staff and he has said that this has forced him to be extra cautious and not take any chances with his neck. That is why he is experiencing a prolonged recovery this time around.

After a while you just trust Manning. The eleven time Pro-Bowler has led his team to victory time after time, with forty seven career fourth quarter comebacks and game winning drives in his thirteen seasons. So, while neck surgery might frighten most, nobody is really concerned about Manning and whether or not he will produce when he comes back. He has always produced in the past, and until we see otherwise, then we will assume that he will continue to play at an extremely high level.

Manning threw for a career high 4,700 yards in 2010 following his offseason neck surgery, so there is really no cause for concern – he has come back from the injury before and produced like few can do. Manning also threw 33 TD’s on a career-high 679 pass attempts last season for the Colts. When the lockout ends, Manning will likely sign a long-term deal that makes him the highest paid NFL player in the history of the sport, and rightly so – the man is simply unbelievable.

Written by Danny Ferrara – Twitter: @Ferrara34

While negotiations went nowhere for a few months, it is believed that
they are picking up now. A few weeks ago the possibility that there
would be an NFL season appeared to be bleak, but now there is clear
optimism throughout the league. Players have said that they are
getting places in the talks and that is most likely due to the fact
that the pressure has been applied.

Preliminary talks were utterly useless but now both sides are on the
clock so to speak. We are very close to the point where training camp
usually begins and the players and owners will have to act quickly to
avoid missing any time of training camp. It is assumed that if each
side wants to keep the preseason schedule in tact then they must agree
to terms in the next week.

There is a deal in place right now – it just has to be voted on and
agreed upon. The owners are expected to vote on the deal today,
Thursday, and at least 24 of the 32 will have to approve the terms.
Although players were supposed to vote yesterday, they did not –
instead, the player representatives of the individual teams gave their
approval of the agreement, which was labeled a “conditional approval”.
In order for the deal to go through, the majority of the players must
agree to the terms of the proposal.

It is looking more and more like there will be an NFL season with no
time lost. Both sides seem close to coming to terms and this will be
the best for everyone. The players will get their money, the owners
will not lose any money due to a shortened season, and the fans will
be able to watch the football season as normal.

Hopefully the two sides can come to terms soon and the work stoppage ends.

Follow Danny on Twitter – @Ferrara34

This latest story was just another piece to the Pittsburgh Steelers
puzzle – poor off the field behavior seems to be contagious within the
team and may be the downfall of the organization. The Steelers have
made the playoffs seven times in the last decade and have appeared in
three Super Bowls, coming out victorious in two of them. The problem
has not been being successful but staying out of trouble.

Ben Roethlisberger’s off the field issues have been very well
documented and he is probably as much associated with being a sexual
offender as he is with being a Super Bowl champion. Besides the two
accusations of sexual assault and harassment, with one resulting in a
four game suspension, Roethlisberger was in a near-fatal motorcycle
accident.

Hines Ward is known around the country now – mainly by middle-aged
women, teenagers, and children – but not for football, of course. Ward
became a household name when he appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the
Stars. When he’s not on the field making plays, Ward is out driving
drunk and damaging his reputation. Hines Ward was arrested in Georgia
for driving under the influence after he failed sobriety tests on July
9th.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are quickly racking up the bad publicity and
all of these off-the-field issues may become a big problem once the
lockout ends. Some could mistake the Steelers for another AFC North
team, the Cincinnati Bengals of a few years ago. The Bengals were
ridden with problem players and even a few ex-cons. If there is a
season this year then we will be able to find out if all of these
troubles will carry over to the field and affect the teams’ level of
play. A defensive unit that was based on cohesion may see Harrison as
an outcast and not play as well after all that he has said and done.
We will see what happens when play resumes.

Written by Daniel Ferrara – follow Daniel on Twitter, @Ferrara34

Brouwer, who played on and off for the Boston Bruins since 2006, fluctuating between the Bruins and the AHL, saw a drop in his numbers this year – 17 goals and 19 assists – after posting career highs in 2009-2010, but provided nice depth for the eventual world champions. Billed as 6’3’’, 215lbs, the twenty-five year old will not unleash a scoring onslaught for the Washington Capitals, rather toughness, stamina and speed serve as his most valuable contributions – areas of the game and corresponding value not accurately measured by statistics. (Although, his toughness did translate into 262 soul-rocking hits last season.)

While Brouwer is not the final piece, merely a piece among many others, utilized to maximize his strengths, he can make a difference.

Article by Ryan Chase

The Florida Panthers have been very active so far. After finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference and 28th in the NHL with just 72 points, they are making an all out effort to compete next season. They have already signed center Marcel Goc, forward Scottie Upshall, goalie Jose Theodore, winger Tomas Fleischmann, defenseman Nolan Yonkman, forward Sean Bergenheim, and winger Matt Bradley. The Panthers also resigned forward Mike Santorelli. As far as trades are concerned, the Panthers have acquired defenseman Keith Seabrook from the Calgary Flames, forward Sergei Shirokov from the Vancouver Canucks, forward Angelo Esposito from the Winnipeg Jets, forward Kris Versteeg from the Philadelphia Flyers, the rights to forward Tomas Kopecky from the Chicago Blackhawks, a 2011 first round pick and a 2012 third round pick from the San Jose Sharks, and defenseman Brian Campbell from the Chicago Blackhawks. The organization is hoping that the seven free agent signings and six trades will help cap off a huge overhaul of the roster and bring the Panthers back into playoff contention come next season.

The Buffalo Sabres finished as the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference and totaled 96 points before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in a seven game series in the first round of the playoffs last season. This off season they have resigned forward Cody McCormick, forward Colin Stuart, forward Derek Whitmore and defenseman Mike Weber. They have signed forward Ville Leino and goalie Drew MacIntyre. In the trade market they have acquired a 2012 seventh round draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks, the rights to defenseman Christian Ehrhoff from the New York Islanders, and defenseman Robyn Regehr, forward Ales Kotalik, and a 2012 second round pick from the Calgary Flames.

More trades and free agent signings are soon to come as we still have over three months until the start of the 2012 season. The flurry of moves thus far has been quite surprising and the activity on the trade market has been shocking. Teams have parted ways with very good players in an effort to get draft picks and young talent in return or just shed salary. We will see what happens in the future before the start of the season.

Written by Daniel Ferrara – follow on Twitter, @Ferrara34