The Chicago Blackhawks made a huge splash when the official gates of the NHL free agency fully opened. The Chicago fans welcome back the Finland kid who the Blackhawks drafted it seems a life time ago, Teuvo Teravainia who they traded 8 years ago to the Hurricanes. Teravainia gives the Blackhawks a 20 or more goal scorer to add to one of the team’s lines. The General Manager of the Blackhawks collected a haul from the recent draft. Many of those pieces will not be ready just quite yet. Kyle Davidson wanted to speed up the process of the rebuild as we all know he has the future hockey phenom skating on the top of the line rookie of the year, Connor Bedard. Bedard needs protection as he landed some veterans to do that job. He brought in several veterans that have had their hands on winning the Holy Grail, the Stanley Cup. Guys that know how to win. Guys that do the dirty work of the game. If the hockey rink was the Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome or any arena, these guys would thrive.

Nicknamed the Big Rig, Patrick Maroon is plowing through opponents while Connor Bedard skates freely is something the Blackhawks need wearing a Indian head sweatshirt. Maroon last year skated for the Boston Bruins, is 36 years old, and signed a 1 year deal with Chicago for $1.3 million. Maroon tallied 4 goals last season with 12 assists for 16 points. It’s the physical side Maroon will bring to the table. The bone crushing hits on opponents. If anyone wants to fight him, he may knock them into tomorrow. He has 13 seasons in the NHL and has been on 3 teams that raised the Cup. He has played for the Wild, Lightning, Blues, Devils, Oilers, and 5 seasons with the Ducks. Career numbers he has scored 121 goals while dishing out 183 assists for 304 life time points in the NHL. The Big Rig has racked 990 PIM. I like that he is a good locker room guy.

The Blackhawks have been in need of an upgrade for the back up spot in the net for several years now. The Indian Sweater will be worn by Lord Humungus. Because Kyle Davidson addressed this gaping hole with the signing of Laurent Brossoit, a 31 year old goalie with 10 years in the NHL. Last Brossoit played for the Jets and started 23 games. He had a record of 15-5-2 with three shutouts. The last two seasons in a back up role in 34 games he has a record of 22-5-5 with a save .927%. Petr Mrazek had a bounce back year last year and deserves to be the starter going into next season. Having Brossoit reminds me of Ray Emery who was 17-1 for the Blackhawks as a back up goalie in the 2012-13 season.

Brossoit will get a two year deal from the Blackhawks worth 3.3 million. He has helped Vegas win their recent Cup in the 2022-23 season as he played for the Oilers and Jets most of his career except the two seasons as a Golden Knight. Career record in goal is 64-46-13

The Blackhawks are stocking up on X-Golden Knights as they ink 36 year defenseman Alec Martinez to a 1 year 4 million deal. Martinez, like the Helicopter pilot in the Road Warrior called the Gyro Captain, has been around the NHL and through the wasteland. He’s a veteran leader. Martinez has played over 800 NHL games. He started his career with the LA Kings where he played 11 seasons. The last 5 seasons he has suited up in Vegas. He is part of three Stanley Cups with both teams he has skated for in his NHL career. Last year he scored only 4 goals and had 13 assists for 17 points. He has 83 career goals with 194 assists for 277 points. He gives the Blackhawks a defenseman that shoots from the left side. He does all the things that really don’t show up on back of the hockey card. The experience he has will pay off in this deal.

The Blackhawks add a 34 year center to the mix in Craig Smith who has 13 seasons in the NHL. Last year Smith suited up for the Dallas Stars and scored 9 goals while dishing out 11 assists for 20 points. Smith gets a one year deal worth 1 million. Smith played most of his career with the Predators as he had 5 seasons of 20 or more goals in Nashville. Smith has scored 211 career goals while dishing out 223 assists for 434 NHL points. Smith will give the Blackhawks depth at the center or forward positions. Smith, a former Badger out of the University of Wisconsin, has that menacing look of Immortan Joe in the Mad Max movies as his face will turn into your worst nightmare. Immortan Joe was a Warlord in the wasteland. Smith is one on the ice. He gives the Blackhawks toughness and depth to this roster.

The Blackhawks added another left handed defensemen in 34 year old TJ Brodie. Brodie gets a 2 year deal worth 3.75 million even coming off a down year for the Maple Leafs. He had 26 points last year, but only one goal and the rest were assists. His life time numbers he only has 56 goals and has set up his own teammates with 292 assists for 348 points in 14 seasons in the NHL. Started his career in Calgary as he played for the Flames for ten seasons and the last 4 in Toronto. You have to compare him to another War Lord in the Mad Max saga called Bullet Farmer. He is a two way defensemen that can give you solid defense every night. They say he is a defensive minded defensive player. He will bring toughness and experience to a young group of defenders that the Blackhawks had last year. New scenery for Brodie could pay off as Toronto hardly used him in the playoffs and towards the end of regular season.

We will be saving the best for last in 29 year old left winger Tyler Bertuzzi who is the Wez of the Road Warrior movie. Bertuzzi and Wez both bring high energy to the wasteland and the ice arena every day. Bertuzzi gets a 4 year deal with the Blackhawks worth 5.5 million. Last year for the Maple Leafs he scored 21 goals and had 22 assists for 43 points. He has nine years in the NHL of which he started with Detroit where he played 7 seasons. He played one season with the Bruins. He has the knack of putting the puck in the net in high traffic situations. He has that antagonistic style of play that can get opponents to sway away from their game and find themselves in the penalty box.

I notice many of these guys that have played at some point for Boston, Toronto, and Las Vegas. Three organizations you see in post-season almost every single year. Some of these guys they signed could be one year and done in the organization. If the Blackhawks want them back beyond next year I’m sure they will get another one year deal. All these guys have a chip on their shoulder and should help this young team with experience and show the kids how it’s done. The Blackhawks have not spent their money on stupid free agent signings over paying guys that are not productive like the last GM. I like having Connor Bedard protected. I like a quality back up goalie. Goals around the net and swagger with the Bertuzzi signing. This makes me excited for next season. The Blackhawks may be must-watch almost every time they are on like the dynasty years. The start of the Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews era was exciting when they added veterans to the mix. Competitive hockey is what the fans want. Which will get us closer to the playoffs. The Blackhawks still have all that talent to develop in the guys they just drafted. The dark clouds may be breaking up over the United Center this fall.

The Sacramento Kings had some good seasons but never a power house of any kind in their franchise’s existence. On the other hand the Chicago Bulls have had the best NBA player all-time and won six championships with Michael Jordan and company. For the Bulls, that might be a once in a lifetime thing landing your Airness. The Bulls are back to the drawing board with another tear down rebuild project. It seems Illinois road construction is faster than the Bulls way of life. That is not saying much. Meanwhile the Kings have an opportunity to improve and have a deal in place for the Bulls top scorer, DeMar DeRozan, in a sign and trade with 3 teams involved. DeRozan will get a 3 year deal with Sacramento worth 70 million. The Bulls get a former first round pick in Chris Duarte along with two future 2nd round picks. The third team, the Spurs, will get Harrison Barnes and will swap picks with the Kings in 2031.

The Sacramento Kings have been looking for the big fish to help them stay the course and compete in the Western Conference playoffs. Eventually the Kings want to win their first NBA championship as Sacramento. Once they were the Rochester Royals and they won it all in 1951. Can DeMar DeRozan be the fish that saved Sacramento? At 34 years old, DeRozan has the knack for putting the ball into the basket as he averaged 24.0 points per game with the Bulls last year. He has 15 seasons in the NBA with three different teams. Started as a Raptor & then played with the Spurs before arriving in the Windy City three seasons ago. In the 2022-23 season the Kings looked fabulous as they were the number three seed in the post-season. The Kings were quickly knocked out by the Golden State Warriors. Last year the Kings offense digressed and were ranked number 13 overall which was good for the 9th seed in the Western Conference. DeRozan is a guy that can create his own shot. He’s a guy that wants the ball to take the final shot and put the final nails in the coffin of the opposing team.

Meanwhile the Bulls, no secret about it, are in full rebuild. The Bulls have been stuck in the mediocre world of the NBA at best or maybe a tad below that. This is the second significant trade they have already made this off-season. The first deal Bulls management did was ship their best defender Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City and in return they landed Josh Giddey, an offensive threat who can create his own shot. The Bulls already have Zach Levine who is the same style player. The Bulls get a small forward, shooting guard Chris Duarte, who averaged 3.9 points per game last year in his first season as a King. He was drafted number 13 overall in the 2021 draft out of the University of Oregon. Duarte has three seasons in the NBA and is 27 years old. He has played in 160 games and averaged 8.2 points per game for his three year career. As a Bulls fan you may be more excited for the two 2nd round picks than Duarte.

This deal to land DeMar DeRozan done by the Sacramento Kings takes you back before the 2001-02 season when the front office acquired guard Mike Bibby from then the Vancouver Grizzlies. That deal was a significant trade back then that propelled the Kings to the Western Conference championship. They had a roster stacked then with Chris Weber, Vlade Divac, and Peja Stojakovic. Bibby made that team even better. Unfortunately for the Kings they met a Lakers team with superstars such as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Those Kings teams would never make it past those Lakers teams. Last year for the Kings De’Aaron Fox was the team’s go-to guy. The clutch shot. He handles the ball most of the game. The question is can De’Aaron and DeRozan, double D’s, coexist with each other? Double D’s in men’s lives always got along in my book. The Kings also have Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter who can be productive on the offensive side of the ball. If Fox and DeRozan can coexist with the others, this team will put points on the score board. Sacramento is not the ideal place to attract NBA free agents. The front office has to win on a trade to bring this together. I like this deal for both parties. The Kings add another scorer who has no fear making the shot to win the game. For DeRozan you head back to the west coast where you are from in LA. Sacramento is closer than Chicago. You have a team ready to compete in the post-season. You get out of a mediocre scene with the Bulls who are rebuilding. You got paid. Like to see some better defense out of you when you do suit up for your first game with the Kings. Yes, it’s good to be a Sacramento King. Not sure if this move will make them the King of the NBA world. That’s why we play the “game of thrones” for 82 games a season.

The Chicago Blackhawks are bringing back one of the guys that helped them win one of those Stanley Cups from the dynasty that seems light years ago. Sadly to say it is not Patrick Kane. We are still crossing our fingers for a return from Kane. Teuvo Teravainia was just a young pup from his country of Finland when he made his NHL debut for Chicago when he was 19 years old. Teravainia played three seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Hurricanes in 2016. The Blackhawks bring back the forward now with 11 seasons under his belt in the NHL on a three year deal worth 16.2 million.

Teuvo Teravainia is now 29 years old as he leaves Carolina after 8 seasons as he tallied 138 goals in a Hurricanes uniform. Teravainia was the 18th pick of the NHL draft in 2012 for the Blackhawks. He made his debut in the 2013-14 season. Last year he scored 25 goals and dished out 28 assists for 53 points. Nine of his goals were from the power play. Teravainia in 11 seasons has played in 670 games & 555 of those were in Carolina. Teravainia’s regular season numbers he has scored 155 goals while dishing out 304 assists for 459 points. He has played in 90 playoff games and has scored 23 goals in the post-season while setting up his teammates 27 times for 50 points. For the Blackhawks, Teravainia played in 11 games in the post-season and scored 2 goals with 4 assists earning himself his name etched on the Lord Stanley Cup when the Blackhawks won their 3rd one during that recent dynasty.

I always thought Teuvo Teravainia was going to be that second wave of young talent to skate with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks gave all their core players from that dynasty contract extensions with no-trade clauses. Blackhawks management thought they would all be there for the long haul. The wheels on the bus fell off the Blackhawks championship tour as most of these guys were done. The only exception is Patrick Kane who is still playing solid hockey even coming off off-season hip surgery last year. Guys like Teravainia and Artemi Panarin became expendable for the Blackhawks who were in salary cap space hell. They could not afford them so they were traded away for the future while the long contracts from the cores at the back end of them were not paying off on the ice. In 2016 with only 115 games played in regular season in three seasons Teravainia was traded at the age of 22.

The Blackhawks new general manager Kyle Davidson became lucky and got the winning lotto ticket in last year’s NHL draft. The jackpot gave him a young phenom, Connor Bedard, who was the Rookie of the Year after his first season in the league. Bedard has been compared to the greats like the Oilers’ Connor McDavid. The Blackhawks last week collected several young pieces in the first round of the draft this year. Most of the new draft pieces are guys that will be slated to help this Blackhawks team in a few seasons. The Blackhawks, with some money to spend in the free agency market, thought of a nice piece to help out their future super star bringing in a veteran forward they know and that’s Teuvo Teravainia. It’s like fixing a past mistake that is fixable. Teravainia is only 29 years old so he can help Bedard and this Blackhawks team find its way back to the post-season. I know the dream would have been Patrick Kane. Kane and Bedard sounds like 2 stealth bombers coming at the opponent’s goalies. The Blackhawks will need more than one goal score to fix the holes on this present roster. Rumor is they will be active in the free agent market as Teravainia is just the start. This is a savvy move by the Blackhawks GM. It’s a three year deal so the intention is Teravainia will be around when this franchise finds its way back to the post-season and Bedard is fully developed. Teravainia can create another lethal line for the Blackhawks or could be inserted with Bedard, and the team could have a really awesome first line.

I always wondered if the tree people had an issue with Bo Jackson destroying his baseball bats. How many trees were cut down to supply lumber for one of the greatest athletes in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s? Jackson played two professional sports and was pretty awesome at baseball and football. It would be on the grid iron, a hip injury, that would pretty much derail Bo’s career. He would make a comeback in baseball as football he was no longer going to play. His comeback story is amazing to the game of baseball and just sports in general. Bo was the first athlete to play a sport and compete with an artificial hip. What if Bo never got injured? Could he have been a two time Hall of Famer in Canton and Cooperstown? I always thought he was a better athlete than Deon Sanders, another two sports star at that time. At 61 years old, Bo Jackson will get his due. It’s not Canton nor Cooperstown. It’s the Royale with cheese, the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame where he played 5 seasons. The Royals this weekend honored their former left fielder before the game between Cleveland and Kansas City.

Bo Jackson played 511 games for the Royals. Jackson batted .250 with 109 home runs driving in 313. Bo’s 8 year baseball career, his life time numbers has him with a .250 batting average with 141 home runs driving in 415 runs while racking up 598 hits. He played a total of 694 games and he was a 5 tool player with speed as he swiped 82 bases. Jackson had some amazing web gems out in the outfield.

In 1989, Bo scaled the wall in Baltimore to make an unbelievable catch. Everyone will talk about when he gunned down Harold Reynolds at home plate from left field. In 1989 was Bo’s finest season in his MLB career when he hit 32 home runs drove in 105 and earned his first all-star game. In the summer classic he hit a mammoth home run and was MVP of the game for the American League squad.

After the baseball season would end, Bo Jackson would play roughly ten games on the schedule for the Raiders. Bo played 4 seasons in the NFL all with the Raiders. In 1989 his best year in baseball was also his best in football. In 11 games that year he rushed for 950 yards missing the 1,000 mark by 50. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry that season, so no wonder he was the best player in the Tecmo Bowl video game.

In 4 seasons he had 515 rushes for 2,782 yards with 16 touchdowns on the ground. Bo also caught two touchdown passes in his career giving him 18 in 4 seasons. He played 38 NFL games and averaged 5.4 yards per carry which is outstanding. Bo had two rushes for over 90 yards in his NFL career. He also had an 80 yard run. The game where he ran over Seattle’s linebacker Brian Bozworth, aka the BOZ, was priceless.

Then it was the AFC playoffs in 1990. The Raiders vs the Bengals one play, one tackle & Bo Jackson’s football career was over. Bo’s hip was dislocated as it basically came out of the socket. During that playoff game he had six carries for 77 rushing yards. One of those plays was a 34 yard run by Jackson.

In 1993, it was Bo Jackson’s 3 run home run that helped the Chicago White Sox clinched the AL West at the time. Bo was released by the Royals after the injury in football. The White Sox signed him as he rehabilitated with the team and played two seasons in the black and white. I was in high school watching those early 1990’s White Sox play. Landing Bo Jackson was awesome. His comeback earned him the comeback player of the year award in 1993. Bo played in 109 games for the White Sox over two seasons and had a batting average of .231 with 19 long balls and drove in 59. In 1994, Bo’s baseball career ended with the California Angels at the time. You have to remember 1994 was the strike year. Bo played in 75 games for the Angels, batted .279, and hit 13 home runs. If the league did not go on strike, he could have had 20 long balls or more. For some reason, he called it a career after that season. Even with pretty good numbers with the lumber. I’m glad the Royals are honoring him in their Hall of Fame. You think he should be in some kind of Hall of Fame because he was a freakish athlete and mastered two sports playing both games at a high level. Which is very hard to do. The commercials were the best part of Bo Jackson. BO KNOWS!! You know he will never starve with those ads.

Back then Michael Jordan with the Air Jordan sneakers and Bo Knows campaigns had people buying Nike shoes.

I really think the Chicago Bulls have been jinxed by Michael Jordan. When Jordan was winning championships in Chicago, the current GM at the time was plotting life without their superstar. It was not like Jerry Krause knew Jordan was retiring. It was just a pissing contest over who has the bigger man part. The super egos have left the building. Since Jordan last shot for the Bulls, the front office has been wiped clean. The rotation of head coaches is like a game of musical chairs with no winner in sight. The rebuild after rebuild that crumbles if the wolf was blowing down the house. We know the Bulls ownership is horrific as the fan base deserves better. The latest from the bad news Bulls is they are trading away their best defensive player, Alex Caruso, to the Oklahoma Thunder to acquire Josh Giddy, a guy that can create his own shot.

Alex Caruso has played for the Chicago Bulls the last three seasons as he started his NBA career in LA with the Lakers. He’s played 7 seasons in the NBA, is 30 years old, and is a guy that can defend the basket very well. The NBA wants scoring. The younger generation wants scoring and wouldn’t know what actually is defense unless they looked it up on their phone. In my book, defense wins you games. Sure you need to score points, but Caruso can execute on the defensive side of the court and create opportunities as well as stops for your team. Caruso is the Pete Rose of the basketball court as he is a guy that any team wants because he is “Johnny Hustle” out there. In 71 games, Caruso averaged 10.1 points per game as he secured 3.8 rebounds a game while dishing out 3.5 assists. Caruso can make some important shots in crunch time. He can get you the steal of the basketball. He can force the opposing team to turn over the ball. When the great Bulls teams were winning championships, guys like Dennis Rodman were the unsung heroes. Rodman did the dirty work in that second three-peat of championships in the late 1990’s. Another great Bulls defender was Ron Artest who changed his name to Metta World Peace. That guy defended very well but was not playing with a full deck. If I’m building a team, I want a guy like Caruso. The Thunder went deep into the playoffs last season. They are already a pretty solid defensive team overall and now got better.

Josh Giddey is only 21 years old & from Australia. He stands at 6’8″ and has 3 years in the NBA, all with Oklahoma. Since Giddey arrived in 2021 when he was drafted 6th overall, he has averaged 13.9 points per game with 7.3 rebounds while dishing out 5.7 assists. In 2022, Giddey averaged 16.6 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game, and dished out 6.2 assists. Last season, Giddey’s numbers regressed as he averaged 12.3 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and only 4.8 assists per game. The post-season Giddey’s playing time decreased as he averaged 8.7 points per game with only 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists as he averaged 18.1 minutes. Giddy is finishing up his rookie deal and will command bigger money. He is only 21 years of age.

This current Bulls team with Billy Donovan as the head coach were only good with a healthy Lonzo Ball. Back in the 2021-22 season, Ball only played 35 games but the team as a whole got off to a great start. When Ball got hurt this team was not the same in the playoffs. Then Ball would miss the next two seasons with a knee injury. This Bulls team now is mediocre at best. Not sure even if you found a talent like Ball with the same numbers and keeping all your pieces in place its not going to get you deep into post-season. No team should hinder on one player. The Bulls are not better today landing Josh Giddey and losing Alex Caruso. If you got rid of Zach LaVine and landed Giddey without losing Caruso, maybe you have something going for you. LaVine and Giddey are the same type of players in my book. We all know DeMar DeRozan is the Bulls’ best player but he is 34 years old and those are basketball years on that body. Do the Bulls bring back Lonzo Ball who says he’s ready to play once again after a two year hiatus? I think this current group is just a pipe dream and we have gone far enough with this group.

Rumor is the Bulls might blow this current team up which makes this Alex Caruso trade landing Josh Giddey even more baffling. Caruso could not give the Bulls GM Arturas Karnisovas draft picks? The Bulls seem like they never have a great plan in place. We built around Zach LaVine which has not worked out. Two summers in 2022, the Bulls gave LaVine a big deal. The Bulls were still trying to win that Jimmy Butler trade that sent him to Minnesota for LaVine. I really don’t think if we blow up the Bulls roster you are not going to get much for LaVine because of the contract. DeMar DeRozan may get you something. We will be stuck watching LaVine and Giddey showcasing their offensive talents with a young group assembled around them is my bet. Then you have to pay Giddey. The Bulls may add some veterans through free agency if they subtract some by trading away a few more guys on this current roster. Where does it all lead to? I’ll tell you. Mediocre!! The last few years of draft picks they should build around and sell off all the veterans for draft picks and hit the reset button. It’s the same ole story song and dance with the Chicago Bulls. Love to see the Bulls blow up the entire Bullsdom with a new owner who wants to actually win basketball games. Somebody with sense to keep guys like Caruso and discard the LaVine’s of the NBA world.

During the 1990’s, Jeremy Roenick was the Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks. The 1990’s Blackhawks were not the dynasty Kane and Jonathan Toews skated to. The 1990’s Blackhawks were a scrappy bunch that made it to one Stanley Cup finals and lost. They were a tough group to face in post season. Roenick was that young wild goal scorer who had spunk and a lot of words. Kane was a wild renegade when he first started with the Blackhawks. They both could light the lamp. They both are American-born hockey players that are two of the best all-time. They both had all the chicks wearing their jerseys. Kane we know will get to Toronto some day. Since 2012, Roenick’s name has been kicked around like a used car by the Hall of Fame committee for over a decade. Finally Jeremy got the call at a Starbucks as he was getting coffee. He recognized the Toronto area code so he picked up the phone not knowing who it was and got the news he is in the 2024 class to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall this November.

Jeremy Roenick was drafted in the first round by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1988 NHL draft, number 8 overall. Roenick was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He played the center position. He made his NHL debut later in the 1988-89 season. Roenick would play 20 seasons in the NHL with 5 different teams. Roenick played 8 seasons in Chicago & then played six seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes, 3 seasons in Philadelphia, 1 season in a Kings Uniform, and then finished his career in San Jose playing for the Sharks for 2 seasons. Roenick played in 1,363 games in the NHL scoring 516 goals. He dished out 703 assists as he racked up 1,216 points. Among American players, he is 4th in points in NHL history as Mike Modona is number 1 with 1,374, number 2 is Patrick Kane at 1,284, and then number three is Phil Housley with 1,232.

With the Chicago Blackhawks, Jeremy Roenick scored 267 of his goals. He had back-to-back seasons where he racked up 50 goal seasons. His first was the 1991-92 season. The second was the 93-94 season. In those two seasons he had back to back years with 107 points. It was the 1991-92 season when the Blackhawks went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. The Blackhawks won the first series of the post-season versus the Blues, 4 games to two. The Blackhawks then swept their archrival Red Wings & then won the conference sweeping Edmonton. They were red hot winning over ten games straight in the playoffs. Roenick in 18 games in post-season had 12 goals that season with 10 assists. The Blackhawks were loaded with talent. The Blackhawks had Ed Belfour who was one of the best goalies in the league. One of the top defensemen in the league with Chris Chelios. The Blackhawks had some star players like Steve Larmar, Michael Goulet, Dirk Graham, and Stu Grimson. They had the dictator as the head coach in Mike Keenan. It looked like the Blackhawks could win their first Stanley Cup since the 1960’s. Instead they met their maker in Mario Lemieux and the Penguins who took the wind out of the Blackhawks sails after erasing Chicago’s big lead in game one. The Blackhawks were swept and never got back to the Cup until Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews made a dynasty for the Indian sweater. Then eventually after the 95-96 season Roenick would leave town as he got paid by the Coyotes and played his final season wearing the Indian head sweater. Once again cheap and bad ownership in Chicago let their star get away because they don’t want to pay them. The Blackhawks at the time had a real miser running the show in owner Bill Wirtz, the Scrooge of the Windy City.

After the Blackhawks, Jeremy Roenick would have a pair of 30 goal seasons in a Coyotes uniform. He had a steady of 20-something goal seasons for awhile. His goals dropped under 20 in his last season in Philadelphia as he had 19 goals in the 2003-04 season. That was his lowest goals scoring season at the time since his rookie season when he only played 20 games and scored 9 goals. Roenick’s last two seasons in San Jose he had combined 18 goals. Then he hung up the skates after the 2008-09 season. After his playing days, Roenick joined the media and gave his hockey analysis in-between periods. In 2019, he had a fall out with NBC over a morals clause in his contract. In Chicago, he has been doing a local pizza commercials for the last few years that televised during the Blackhawks games. When he got the call he was shell-shocked. He was speechless and in tears as he thought he had no chance of ever getting in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I read the last 4 months he has done some soul searching trying to get past some of the days he might want back in life. Trying to enjoy family and friends more because they have been with him for the ups and downs of his life. As you can’t take nothing for granted in life. Finally making it to the Hockey Hall of Fame is worth celebrating with the people you love. For old number 27 or some of the times he flipped that number around to 97, he had a heck of a hockey career. He could put the biscuit in the basket with some of the best ever for sure. His mouth caused him problems with guys on the ice for sure. Some fans he probably alienated because of his attitude. When he worked out with Chris Chelios during the off-seasons, Roenick returned to the ice the following seasons and played every day like it was his last game on the ice and gave it all. The 1990’s Blackhawks you think should have a few of those guys in Toronto or jerseys retired by the Blackhawks. Those teams were tough to beat in the post-season and played hard. Again having a cheap ass as an owner is the result of not winning any cups to add another piece or two to get the talent you did have over the top. Great memories indeed by JR. Congratulations, you finally made it to the kingdom of hockey. The Hall of Fame!!!

The Florida Panthers win their first ever Stanley Cup in their 30 year history. It looked like the Panthers were heading down easy street as they dominated the first three games of the seven game series versus the Edmonton Oilers. Why did it take Kris Knoblauch’s team to finally show up at game 4? This was the same guy before the series even started who called this Florida team the Buffalo Bills, referring to the the 4 Superbowls they lost in a row back in the 1990’s. The Panthers had been beat down by the Vegas Golden Knights losing that series 4-1 in last year’s Stanley Cup finals. Before that you have to go back to 1996 when the Panthers made it for the first time and were swept by the Avalanche. Maybe Knoblauch was thinking back-to-back in his Bills reference and a total of three rather than Buffalo’s 4 in a row. That’s some bulletin board material the Oilers coach is spewing out when he acts like big brother giving the Panthers a 20 point lead in the garage at the ping pong table.

The Panthers needed one point in this ping pong game which equals out to one game in the final 4 games. Kris Knoblauch has the best player right now in the NHL in Connor McDavid as the Oilers would make this a series charging back like the run of the bulls in Spain to tie this series a 3-3 and force the game 7. McDavid would earn MVP honors in one of those rare moments when the guy on the losing squad gets the Conn Smythe trophy. The head coach of the Oilers would eat his words as the Panthers defended off Edmonton at home to prevail in game 7, winning 2-1. The Panthers got goals from Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe to give this franchise their first Stanley Cup celebration.

The Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup had a list of firsts for many. The Panthers had some nice goal tending by 35 year old net minder Sergei Bobrovsky who has a nick name of just Bob. Well, Bob had 23 saves in game seven as he allowed one goal to help the Panthers to defend off the Oilers run at some history which Florida did not want to part of. Bob who has played for the Flyers and Blue Jackets wins his first ever cup.

When it comes to winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, you have to talk about the longest tenured player which is the captain, Aleksander Barkov. He’s from Finland and he has played with the Panthers for 11 seasons. It’s the only franchise he has skated for in the NHL. Barkov makes some interesting history being the first ever Finland-born player that was the captain of his team to win the Stanley Cup. Barkov had 2 goals & three assists in the Stanley Cup finals. In 24 playoff games for the Panthers’ magic run, he had 8 goals as he dished out 14 assists which is good for 22 points.

NHL HOCKEY FAMILY GETS THEIR NAME ON THE CUP

Do you remember Keith Tkachuk? He played 18 seasons in the NHL and was kind of bad ass as he racked up 2,219 penalty minutes skating for the Jets, Coyotes, Blues, and the Thrashers but never won a cup. He has two sons, one is Brady who right now skates for the Senators. Then finally the Tkachuk that got his name on the Lord Stanley Cup, Matthew. Matthew arrived from Calgary in a trade in 2022. He was a big part of why the Panthers won the cup as he played in 80 regular season games, scored 26, and dished out 62 assists.

Then there is the coach of the Florida Panthers, Paul Maurice, who ranked number 6 all-time in wins in the NHL. This was his third Cup finals as he lost his first two. Back in 2002 he was coaching the Carolina Hurricanes when they lost to the Red Wings. Last year Maurice and his Panthers were throttled by the Vegas Golden Knights. Maurice got his first head coach job at the age of 28 back in 1995 for the Hartford Whalers.

He was the second youngest coach at the time. Now he is 57 as he coached 1,985 NHL games of which 1,848 of those were regular season games. He has 137 Stanley Cup playoff games under his belt. Most games ever in the NHL for a coach never winning a Stanley Cup. Now he has number one and makes history at the same time guiding the Panthers to their first ever.

It would have been nice to see a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup. It’s been awhile since a Canada team won it all. You have to go back to 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens won it. The Edmonton Oilers had their decade of being a dynasty during the 1980’s with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Something about Florida playing hockey with palm trees in your backyard all year long. Did we not get sick of the Tampa Bay Lightning having their day in the sun all those years? It was not very long ago. I can still taste the orange juice. Only 9 teams have not won a Stanley Cup in the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks have been around the longest out of those nine teams who have not won a cup yet. Expansion teams have won sports championships very quickly. When will the new kid on the block win their first? The Seattle Kraken have been to the playoffs once in the three seasons they’ve existed. Surprises me that the San Jose Sharks did not win one yet with the talent they had assembled. The others are the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, and the Ottawa Senators. These teams have not been around for a very long time. Then the Arizona Coyotes who have moved to Utah. Sometimes it’s good when a team like the Panthers in general wins it all. They built the team right. They had faith in their head coach who had all the experience. It was just a matter of when he could get this team to finish line. The Oilers had the best player in the league. Their roster was not solid from line 1 through 4 like the Panthers. The head coach of the Oilers insulting the Panthers off the bat like that is just plain stupid. They learned from the loss last year to the Golden Knights. He did not have his own team prepared out of the gates. I did not have a pony in this Stanley Cup final, but as a sports fan this one feels good.

In the very first USFL, the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars made it to the championship three times during the 1980’s. The Stars won 2 of them. The USFL shut down for any chances for a three peat for the Stars like many of these spring football leagues that come into our lives like cicadas who hang out for weeks and then die. The Birmingham Stallions won the very first USFL championship in the reboot in 2022. Then the USFL hung around for the second year and the Stallions won it again. Then the USFL merges with the XFL, they call themselves the UFL, and the Stallions won the very first championship in this league on Father’s Day. Head coach Skip Holtz is the mastermind behind this Stallions dynasty who is the son of great college coach Lou who won a National Championship with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Skip Holtz has coached with his father at the college level for years. Skip took on a head coaching job leaving his father. His last job he was fired at Louisiana Tech in 2021. Holtz first crack at professional football he definitely has some highlights for his new resume. Skip is 32-4 in three seasons with the Stallions. He has won with a different quarterback each season. In the first season it was J’Mar Smith who was still on the Stallions roster this season. Then Alex McGough in 2023 was magnificent as he was MVP of the USFL and now is on the Green Bay Packers roster as one of their back up QB’s. This year they won it with former Cornhusker Adrian Martinez who was the MVP of the first UFL championship game. The first UFL championship also was the debut of Tom Brady as a Fox sports announcer for the upcoming NFL season.

Brady gave the MVP award to Adrian Martinez after the game. Then he was a guest in the Fox broadcasting booth and threw in his two cents of how the game was going at the time. If you are a Brady hater like I am, you may be muting the games he broadcasts on the NFL this coming fall. The first UFL championship was being played in St.Louis so the other former NFL quarterback stole the show over Brady.

Former St. Louis Ram Kurt Warner was well applauded when he was announced before the game kicked off. Warner won a Superbowl with the Rams when they were in St. Louis. The BattleHawks fans showed up to the game despite their team losing to the San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL conference finals. The BattleHawks fans did not fill the stadium when their team played, but the UFL championship was in their city so why not. When Kurt Warner’s name was announced in the pregame festivities, the crowd went wild. The first UFL championship between the Brahmas and the Stallions had 27,396 people in attendance. Obviously the league would have wanted the BattleHawks to make it for a instant full house and to me a better game.

THE GAME

The first half in the first ever UFL championship game was like two boxers just dancing in the ring exchanging a few jabs. It was a sloppy first half. The defenses were playing tough. The two offenses may have been trying to get the butterflies out of their stomachs. Poor Wade Phillips waiting 55 years to get to a professional championship witnessed his quarterback turn into Jay Cutler and it seemed like he did not really want to be there. Chase Garbers twice did a quarterback slide around the first down marker to come up short of converting the third down.

Garbers could have easily made the first down by putting his head down and running to the marker on both those plays that killed potential scoring drives. His play seemed to irritate other players on his own team. Garbers’ body language during this game is the tale of the tape. He was playing like the team was down 40 to 0 in the first quarter. The Brahmas had to burn a time out for Teez Tabor, a defensive back, to change his socks. In Tabor’s defense he did lead the Brahmas defense with ten tackles.The Stallions drew first blood with 40 seconds left in the first half. Adrian Martinez suddenly came to life & hit Gary Jennings for an 8 yard touchdown strike for the first ever score in the UFL championship history.

Martinez then converted the 2 point conversion hitting his other wide receiver Amari Rodgers and at the end of the first half, 8-0 Stallions. In the second half, the Stallions got the ball first. They drove down the field as Martinez capped the drive off with an 11 yard run for a touchdown. Martinez finished the day completing only 13-28 for only 98 passing yards with the touchdown pass. However Martinez scored two rushing touchdowns for the Stallions with 52 yards on the ground. He was awarded MVP of the game. His running back Ricky Person had a nice day on the ground fighting for 102 rushing yards on 13 carries against the number one defense overall in the UFL, the Brahmas. The Stallions defense is a very close number two to the Brahmas defense. On Father’s Day, the Stallions looked like they had the number one defense in the UFL as they pitched a shut out 25-0. Which is the first shut out of the season in the UFL’s first season.

The Stallions’ Kyahva Tezino punched out the ball on Brahmas wide receiver Jontre Kirklin as Birmingham recovered the ball. The Brahmas turnover would lead to another score for the Stallions and put the game out of reach. Tezino played against the Stallions in the 2023 USFL championship as he suited up for the Pittsburgh Maulers then. Maulers would not be one of the teams picked in the merger. The Stallions like all the surviving teams got to draft the players from the teams that did not make the cut. The Stallions added talent to a team already having tons of it.

From the legend of Scooby Wright, the Stallions top line backer from the beginning of the Stallions journey. Injuries the last two seasons have kept him inactive recovering in the Mystery Van. The Stallions have that core in place with moving parts if they need replacements. I’m sure the NFL will pluck some talent away from Skip Holtz this off-season. It will not matter because the Stallions organization will find replacements for those pieces that will fit in those vacated spots on the roster. Holtz seems to get the best out of all his players who put on a Stallions uniform. The UFL is many players’ second chance to get back to the NFL. These players the NFL has failed to develop for whatever reason. Holtz is definitely the quarterback whisperer. The Stallions have that team concept so it is a dynasty that you can’t help but root for. Skippy is definitely King of the spring dance as he has found his calling for at least right now.

I feel like this first ever UFL championship comes down to who shoots J.R? Between San Antonio and Birmingham, this is one of those Cowboy it up style of fan bases meeting in archtown. Wade Phillips is a true Texan. Then the Stallions fans wearing their cowboy hats waiting to slaughter the Brahmas like they did back in the days of the Alamo. The state of Texas versus the state of Alabama in a true hoedown. A true battle of the south in spring football. Let’s see if we can decide on the winner.

USFL CHAMPS: BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS VS XFL CHAMPS: SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS

STALLIONS (9-1) Playoffs (1-0), BRAHMAS (7-3) Playoffs (1-0)

CONFERENCE RESULTS

Stallions knocked off the Panthers 31-18 to win the USFL conference.

Brahmas knocked off the BattleHawks 25-15 to win the XFL conference.

HEAD TO HEAD THIS SEASON

Brahmas beat Stallions 18-9 in week 9 their only meeting of the year.

We take the hot tub time machine back to 1985 in spring football of the original USFL.

They were the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL back in 1985 as they played the Birmingham Stallions once when it counted in regular season. The Gunslingers won 15-14 versus the Stallions on April 7th of ’85.

The only loss of the year to the Stallions was from the Brahmas who snapped a 15 game winning streak dating back to 2023 for Birmingham. The Brahmas have beaten the two best teams in the league as they took care of the BattleHawks in St. Louis to get here last week. The Stallions had a game with the Panthers. They pulled away from Michigan late in that contest to beat the Panthers for the 3rd time this season. The Stallions had the best record in the entire UFL. The Brahmas were number two seed and prevailed in the XFL Conference game.

QUARTERBACK

Adrian Martinez has been one of the best quarterbacks in the UFL. Martinez is a duel threat who can beat you with arm or legs. Chase Garbers is a pocket passer that wants to pick you apart with precision passes. Garbers only played in 5 regular season games as he tallied up 750 passing yards with six touch down passes and two interceptions. Martinez tallied up 1,750 passing yards and had 15 touchdown passes with 3 interceptions. With the legs, Martinez was numbered in the league in rushing yards with 528 and scored 3 rushing touchdowns. Grabers completes 68.6% of his passes while Martinez is completing 58.5% of his passes. Garbers is the key to the Brahmas success. Back up quarterbacks you have to favor the Stallions. If I was a Stallions fan, Martinez makes me nervous the last few weeks as he has struggled behind center. He was taken out of the game last week for back up Matt Corral. Corral is my X factor in this game. Coming in Brahmas have the better QB 1.

EDGE: SAN ANTONIO

THE PLAY MAKERS

The Brahmas have the best two headed monster at the running back position. John Lovett is the guy they run in between the tackles as he had 5 rushing touchdowns for the Brahmas. Then Anthony McFarland can create havoc out of the back field and really juice up that passing game. McFarland can get chunks of yards in open field. He is a game changer.

The Brahmas offensive coordinator AJ Smith has one of the best offensive minds in the UFL. He has a trio of talented wide receivers that can make big plays that feature Justin Smith, Marquez Stevenson, and Jontre Kirklin. Kirlin finished number two in the UFL with 614 yards with 56 catches.

The Stallions have the best tight end in the game with Jace Sternberger. Sternberger hauled in 42 passes for 454 yards with 4 receiving touchdowns. The Stallions use a slew of running backs along with Adrian Martinez escaping the pocket for chunks of yardage. Ricky Person is a Stallions back that has found the end zone six times this season. The Stallions also have weapons in the aerial attack. They have Deon Cain, Marlon Williams who had 4 touchdown catches this season, Kevin Austin Jr. and Amari Rodgers.

EDGE: DRAW

In the regular season the Stallions offense were number one averaging 347.5 yards per game. The Brahmas averaged 296.6 which is 4th in the UFL. The Stallions led the league averaging 26.5 points per game. The Brahmas averaged 19.3 points per game which is number 6 in the UFL.

DEFENSE

The Stallions and the Brahmas are the best two defenses in the league. The Stallions’ Taco Charlton can get to your quarterback while AJ Thomas can steal the ball from your quarterback for the Brahmas. Both units have a ton of talent on the defensive side of the ball. The Brahmas defense is only giving up 15.3 points per game which is the best in the UFL. The Stallions are number two giving up 18 points per game. The Stallions defense leads the league in takeaways with 17. The Brahmas are surprisingly last in that category. The Brahmas have tallied 32 total sacks while the Stallions right behind them with 29.

EDGE: DRAW

HEAD COACHES:

Head to head Wade Phillips beat the great Skip Holtz only a few weeks ago. It took 55 years of coaching for Phillips to reach his first championship. Holtz has found himself a niche in spring football. Holtz is looking for a three peat as he’s coming into this game winning back to back USFL championships. He is 31-4 as the head coach of the Stallions. That’s impressive.

EDGE: DRAW

I feel that I’m more a USFL guy than an XFL guy. The Stallions would be the team I root for in this first UFL championship game. This game should be a doozy. Two dominating defenses should keep this game a close affair and winner takes this first UFL championship in the last minute of the game. I like the Stallions roster depth. I like they have done this, been to this point before, and had great success. In close games I like the Stallions kicker, Chris Blewitt, over the Brahmas kicker, Ryan Santoso, who has struggled down the stretch. I think it is very hard to beat Skip Holtz twice in one season. Matt Corral could be the guy that saves Birmingham like he did last week. Chase Garbers is still playing with that sore wrist, so we can’t forget about that. His back up is Quentin Dormady which the Stallions would love to see just because of takeaways. In the end I’m picking Stallions in this one. Until I see a team knock them off I have to go Birmingham.

OUR PICK: BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS

The annual Nathan’s hot dog eating competition has a beef with their 16 time champion, Joey Chestnut. The organizers of the Coney Island event banned Chestnut this July 4th for signing an endorsement deal with Impossible foods that makes plant-based franks. I don’t see the Michael Jordan of competitive eating suddenly going vegan. Nathan’s is acting like a wiener in this because you don’t want the champion of your event to be supporting the competition’s dog. Seeing Chestnut win the belt and then hock the vegan franks. Which are made out of what exactly? If hot dogs have the mystery meats and bones rolled up together, a plant based frank is what? Dandelions and chick weed. The 4th of July without Chestnut may be to some like Christmas without a Santa Claus. The games will go on and the bigger players will survive as well.

Guys like Joey Chestnut will not just sit on his buns and take the news about being banned from the 4th of July tradition of Nathan’s. Chestnut who is 40 years old and his arch rival Takeru Kobayashi who is 46 years old, he too was banned from Nathan’s about a contract dispute. They will square off on Labor Day weekend. The event will be streaming all over the entire world being on Netflix. Not sure what hot dog brand will be the pick of poison for these two. Could the plant base frankfurters that Chestnut now backs get some legs? Kobayashi, they call him the Godfather of the eating world in these competitions. Kabayashi has won six Mustard belts he has won competing at Coney Island. Last time these rivals squared off was in 2007. Kabayashi actually announced he was retiring last month from competitive eating for health reasons. You know the sport of eating the most hot dogs is like boxing. Mike Tyson coming back to the ring this summer. Kabayashi wants to take down Chestnut one last time in this Labor Day weekend melee.

Everyone was sick of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and that dynasty. Many now are sick of Patrick Mahomes and those irritating State Farm commercials. In sports you want to see new blood once in a while. We know Joey Chestnut is impossible to beat as he wolfed down 76 dogs in 2021 in ten minutes. A record that can stand for the ages. Last year he scarfed down 63 doggies in ten minutes. I remember trying to eat close to ten White Castle sliders and how I felt. Yikes! The 2nd place finish last year at Nathan’s belonged to 49 year old Geoffrey Esper who is ranked 2nd in the competitive eating world. With Chestnut out, does this open the door for Esper? These eating competitions like in the movie Rocky 4 have fatalities when Apollo Creed went down. In 2019, a California man died after being a part of taco eating competition in Fresno, California. Esper won that event when he ate 73 tacos in 8 minutes. Impressive. This 4th of July the big money may be on Esper but who knows because maybe some new talent may surprise us.

On the 4th of July I never thought to myself I must turn on the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating competition. I would watch it if I came upon it. I listen to the results on ESPN normally. I’m intrigued about this Labor Day competition between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Koybayashi. This may be a must see. That’s what they want. These two will probably rake in the riches of one event by themselves competing rather than all of the years doing Nathan’s. I’m curious about who wins this July 4th without Chestnut in the fold. I always like Man vs Food in his daily show challenges. I always looked on the restaurant walls of those challenges the establishment had by eating their biggest steak or burger in so much time.

The movie with John Candy, The Great Outdoors, comes to mind where he eats the 96 oz of steak. Then the pie eating competition in the movie, Stand By Me.

I don’t know how all these competitive eaters muster enough belly room for dozens of hot dogs, tacos, oysters as the list goes on about the food competitions they have done. When you’re on the highway and you see a wreck, your eyes look at it to see what’s going on. If I came across a food, I would have to watch. To see them sweat as the time limit is about to expire. Then to wonder how a skinny guy, 5’7″ weighing a buck twenty, could have enough stomach liner to hold all of that food inside without bursting. That poor toilet afterwards.