Toe to Toe – Bulldogs playoff run and free agent frenzy
Two combatants from Cogeco’s Sports Firing line Frank “The Toe” Caruso (left), and Chris Dawson (right) now take their arguments to the web with a new BayToday.ca weekly sports opinion feature called, “Toe to Toe.” Photo by Lee Anne Dawson.
Two combatants from Cogeco’s Sports Firing line Frank “The Toe” Caruso (left), and Chris Dawson (right) now take their arguments to the web with a new BayToday.ca weekly sports opinion feature called, “Toe to Toe.” Photo by Lee Anne Dawson.
The North Bay Bulldogs travel to Sault Ste. Marie in the NFC quarter-finals. In the club’s only meeting, the Bulldogs lost in a low scoring affair 7-0 at Rollie Fischer field in week 3. What do the Bulldogs have to do to make it to the semi’s?
Frank:
“Yeah, they are going to be in tough, but I think the key is to generate some offence. I think the Bulldogs have a shot here. I think what they are going to have to do is throw the ball and I think they need to do it early because this is one of those games where they are going to have to throw it early so they can open up the run because their strong suit is the running game obviously with the league’s leading rusher in Bilz. They are going to have to throw the ball, extend the defence a little bit and then they can run it and it will be more balanced later on in the game. But early in the game if the Bulldogs can pass the ball offensively they will be fine. Defensively they’ve got to do what they’ve been doing all year, they’ve got a solid corps, I think if they continue to play as well as they have all year I think the Bulldogs will pull off an upset.”
Chris:
“C’mon Frank! The key to this win is giving Mick Bilz the rock!!! This guy has been on fire and it appears the O-line is healthy once again. I would have agreed completely with your game plan about halfway through the year but with the run game so effective the past few weeks they have to base their offense around the run game and because it has been so solid it will allow a more confident Dave Wilson to go downfield like he did the last two weeks.
“The Steelers had one of the top rushers in the league in Toby Traverson and he’s been out for most of the second half and let’s face it, quarterback Travis Mclean got lucky on that game winning bomb he threw with his eyes closed in week three that set up the Steelers last minute game winning touchdown.
“Like you Frank, I predict a win for the Bulldogs. They’ll make it through to the semi’s with a 21-10 win.”
It has been the busiest summer ever for free agent signings in the National Hockey League. Who are your winners and losers so far?
Chris:
“Now let’s start with the losers and let’s start with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, they got Jeff O’Neill on draft day but in turn, they’ve lost Brian Leetch, they’ve lost Joe Nieuwendyk, they’ve lost Gary Roberts and they may start the season without Nik Antropov who may stay in Russia to make more coin. The Leafs are feeling the wrath of the new salary cap system and they have done nothing creative so far to show that they will be anything more than an average hockey team this fall.
“Another big loser so far is Colorado, they lose Foote and Forsberg and replace them with Pierre Turgeon and Patrice Brisebois. That’s like going from a Porsche to a Yugo!
“Winners have to be Anaheim and Pittsburgh. The Ducks pluck the best free agent in Niedermayer and allow him to play alongside his brother in Duck land. That alone is a solid deal for a team that’s surrounded by great young offence in Joffrey Lupul, Stanislav Chistov, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf along with veteran Sergei Fedorov.
“The Penguins are winners through the draft of course nabbing Sidney Crosby, but now with the addition of Sergei Gonchar they have a guy that can launch those long two-line passes and off to the races for Mario and Sid. They also made another smart deal to sign tough guy Andre Roy from Tampa as the club’s enforcer. They made the right choice signing Roy over Tie Domi. They will also be signing a backup netminder, that probably being Sean Burke or possibly Curtis Joseph.
“The Ducks and Pens may not have made as many signings as teams like Philly but the impact of their signings will be much more significant.”
Frank:
My three winners have to be Philadelphia number one, Edmonton number two and Calgary number three. I think the reason for that Edmonton and Calgary (signed Tony Amonte, and Darren McCarty) did what they had to do. Calgary signed the guys they had to sign early and they made some great pickups to go along with Iginla and Leopold. Edmonton did some great trades to get themselves in the position where they can solidify their defence with Pronger and they also get a great player in Peca who a lot of people have forgotten about. I still think he’s a terrific player and the atmosphere in Canada I think is going to be good but without a doubt Philadelphia is the big winner and they solidify their defence with three big guys and they go get Jon Sim who’s a tough rugged winger and of course Peter Forsberg, the pick of the crop. Him and Niedermayer were the cream’s of the crop in this free agency but I think Philly is the big winner.
”The big losers I think have to be Washington and Buffalo because Washington really hasn’t done anything, they may go after Pallfy, but I was surprised in Washington because they have the lowest salary going into it, surprised at what the Capitals have done and Buffalo, they continue to lose everbody and don’t make any strides, so I think Buffalo and Washington are the big losers.”
Toe to Toe can be seen every Friday on BayToday.ca
