Two series, two sweeps - Time to retool - and an Adios from yours truly

Below is what I began typing up as the game was going on. As I type this, the Angels trail 5-3 7-3 in the ninth with the 5, 6, an 7 hitters coming up. JC Romero can't get anyone out, and Chris Bootcheck is coming in throwing gasoline on the fire, and the Angels will soon lose their fifth straight game and drop into a tie for last with Seattle.

Look, I hate people like me. I hate people that predict doom and gloom all season long. There are plenty of people on the Kings message board that do that, and I hate them too. But you know what, they were right. Regardless, half of the energy I spent rooting for the Kings was really spent just wanting to prove those guys wrong. And here I am, turning into one of them.

This is why I'm quitting this blog indefinitely, or at least the Angels related portion of it, which these days, is pretty much all of it. My Angels blogging days are over. I don't know when or if I'll start up again. I've kept it up for over a year now, but I refuse to dwell on what is really a depressing situation. This team is awful, and if I continue to write about them, I'll continue to get depressed, and I'm going to turn some of you from people who root for the Angels to people who root for people like me to be wrong. Rather than continue down that road, I'm ending this for now. Call me a bandwaggoner if you'd like. I'll still be watching every game. I probably won't shell out to go the Cell next week, but that has more to do with the larger crowds and Illinois State Mid-Am Championship than the quality, or lack thereof, of this team.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I'll see you when I see you.
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Well, this one was pretty uneventful until Jason Kendall decided to act like an ass.

I think it's time to just about close the book on 2006. Trade Kennedy and Cabrera. Call up Morales, Weaver, and Wood. Shut down Bart for the year, and let's get this train ready for 2007. This team can't compete over a full season. They simply can't hit, and there's too much pressure on the pitchers to be perfect. As I type this, the A's are ready to remove any doubt from a game that essentially ended before it began. It's really sad when you can put runners on first and third for your 3, 4, and 5 hitters, and you can't even move the back runner up a base. And they aren't facing Nolan Ryan, folks. They're facing the A's sixth starter.

A's 2; Angels 1

And the long slide into mediocrity out of mediocrity and into downright suckitude continues. And with the schedule for the next week, it doesn't appear that thing will get any better. Look, the horse is dead, so he's not going to mind the beating, but this offense is just absolutely awful. Yeah, I know that Anderson and Salmon hit a couple of balls pretty hard. Big deal. A loud out is still an out. As I said over the Rev's site, it's gotta be a great feeling rooting for the Angels' opponent, knowing that as soon as you get a lead, the game is essentially over. They have one guy that can get them back into ballgames, and he's hitting just as poorly as everyone else right now.

Lost in the shuffle was a fine beformance by Pipo, who held the A's to one run through six strong innings. But you could tell watching this game that one run was going to be enough. They. Can't. Score. Runs.

In about a week I'm going to be ready to call up Weaver, Wood, and Morales, trade Kennedy, cut Alfonso, and just throw 2006 to the history books. Just tell the kids that no matter how bad it gets, they're going to play, because this is becoming a lost season. In about a week, after they lose another 1-0 or 2-1 game to the A's and their Cy Young candidate Brad Halsey tomorrow, after they've dropped two Detroit, three of four to Toronto, and after they get swept in Chicago, they'll be officially done. Give Bart the rest of the year to recover, give the kids a ton of at bats, and let's get 'em in 2007.

Congratulations to Kendrick on his first major league hit. He was tied for the most productive hitter on the team tonight. Although looking at this lineup, it's nothing to brag about.

Lost Weekend - Sox 6; Angels 5

Another game against the Sox, another loss, and is increasingly becoming the case, another loss helped along by completely icompetent umpiring.

Ervin Santana was not very good today. He had a crazy preoccupation with base runners, which really caused him to lose his effectiveness. He alllowed five runs in seven innings, and though he only walked one, it seemed like he was in trouble quite a bit (he also hit Joe Crede's bat, which apparently gets you a trip to first base these days). Despite his struggles, the Angels had chances to win. Santana gave back a 2-0 first inning lead, then blew a 5-3 lead in the sixth with help second base dipshit umpire Greg Gibson. Rob Machowiak singled (yes, singled) to left center field. Upon sliding into second, he overslid the bag, where he was tagged by Adam Kennedy on two separate parts of his anatomy. But in Greg Gibson's world, you're apparently allowed to overslide second much like you're allowed to overrun first. Machowiak was allowed to stay at second, and later scored the tying run. It stayed that way, thanks in part to a baserunning miscue by Tim Salmon in the bottom of the sixth, until a single by Chris Widger, a stolen base by Pablo Ozuna, a sac bunt by Scott Podsednik, and a wild pitch by Shields did the damage and allowed the winning run to score.

Right now, like most of last season, the Angels aren't very good. They can beat up on bad and middle of the road teams, but they're going to get killed by good teams, as they were this weekend. The offense is offensive, and the pitchers have essentially no margin for error. That's not recipe for success. The schedule doesn't get any easier with two versus Oakland before trips to Detroit, Toronto, and Chicago. I think a 4-7 over that stretch is actually setting the bar pretty high at this point. This season could get real ugly real quick.

White Sox 2; Angels 1

Kelvim, welcome to 2004. Of course, the lack of run support tonight came against a pitcher who apparently found something in mid-season last year, because he's been terrific ever since. Credit Don Cooper for noticing something in Contreras and getting him to Chicago where he could figure it out.

All of this shouldn't obscure the fact that the Angels' offense just absolutely sucks. They have one great hitter, one good hitter, a few OK hitters, and a bunch of dudes that are pretty much automatic outs. It doesn't help when Scioscia, apparently suffering from some massive head injury, decides to start Edgardo Alfonso at designated out-maker. I'm still trying to figure out why Tim Salmon wasn't at the plate at some point in the ninth inning. You can argue that he can no longer turn on a Jenks fastball, but to make that argument, you have to convince me that Alfonso can.

Escobar left the game for some reason after 72 pitches, but not before he provided some fireworks in the second when he plunked AJ Pieraslkdfjsky. I've said it before, but I hold no ill will towards AJ for what happened in last year's playoffs. He didn't do anything wrong. It's not his fault that Doug Eddings is a serial liar and incompetent piece of shit. But speaking of pieces of shit, AJ definitely qualifies, as most people who played with him on the Twins and Giants seem to agree with. The guy has been an asshole his entire major league career, and as such, if he were to get plunked in every at bat for the rest of his career, well, he probably deserves it.

This was a game the Angels could have won, though Scioscia's playing time decisions hamstrung them a bit. Now they have to win tomorrow against a pitcher who really doesn't scare me. We'll see which Magic Man shows up tomorrow. Let's hope it's the one who shut out the Sox last year in his second major league start.

White Sox 8; Angels 5

Jeff Weaver. He's not very good.

Silver linings: The bullpen ERA came way down. I got to watch the Lakers game instead. I didn't have to spend the whole night listening to Hawk and DJ.

Oh well, I figured this matchup was in their favor. I think the next two are pretty even, but the Angels need to take at least one.

Tiger 0; Angels 4

Getting to this one a little late for a couple of reasons. First, it was a day game, which meant I could only watch it intermittently while at work. Second, I got home last night around 6:30. Screwed around on the computer for about 20 minutes. Laid down in front of the TV (didn't even turn it on, mind you), and eventually woke up about 1:30 in the morning.

So anyway, obviously the big news was the arrival of Howie Kendrick in the starting lineup, if just for a day. If you had told me beforehand that he wouldn't get a hit, but would make three pretty nice defensive plays at second base, I would have been mildly surprised. But that's exactly what he did. I hope you didn't blink, or you likely missed his first two at bats. Four at bats, four balls in play, which included two ground outs to the pitcher, one to second, and a pop up to second. But he started a double play in the third that was thwarted by Quinlan's inability to scoop Cabrera's throw, and another one in the eighth after Brandon Inge walked to lead off the inning.

On the mound, Lackey was dominant, if a little wild at times. He finished the game with five walks, but allowed only one hit and struck out eight. Just when it seemed like he was ready to explode under a heavy pitch count, he found another gear and worked three more innings in which he faced the minimum and struck out two. He dropped his ERA about a run, and he's pitching like the John Lackey that we all expected to see this season. Scot Shields came on to close the game out as B-Don and Frankie grabbed another day of rest. He was touched only by Magglio Ordonez's single to right, but he was there long, as Vlad gunned him down after Maggs ventured a little too far off of first.

That wasn't the only highlight Vlad provided. He crushed his fifth home run of the year with Garret Anderson on base. GA had singled home Orlando Cabrera, and Vlad's homer made it a quick 3-0 lead. Mike Maroth must have kicked the official scorekeeper's dog, because he ruled Cabrera's routine grounder to short a hit when Carlos Guillen threw it away, which turned three runs that should have been unearned into earned runs. Maroth, off to a terrific start this season, saw his ERA triple as a result. Chone Figgins added some insurance and angered K-Rod owners by scoring in the fifth.

That makes three straight series wins in a row for the Angels who face the World Champs starting Friday. Freddy Garcia, who's been better than his ERA, take on Jeff Weaver, who hasn't been. Escobar vs. Contreras should be a great matchup, and I think the Angels have the advantage in the Sunday tilt between the Magic Man and John Garland. The Sox are really playing well right now, and Jim Thome is on fire. I can't remember seeing him play in person too often, be he hit a really impressive home run on Saturday. I mean, just a beautiful ball flight. A win in this series would be pretty nice. It would be even better if it came with the kids making some contributions at the plate. They've gotta start building some confidence.

Tigers 5; Angels 2

That's pretty much what happens when the Angels face Bonderman. They lose. And they don't hit. And as such, I really don't have very much to say about this game.

In other news, Grant Lee Phillips was on tonight's Gilmore Girls episode. Yes, I DVRd tonight's episode because I knew Grant Lee was going to be on. I'm not ashamed to admit it. He's a cool dude and great songwriter. But the coolest thing is that tonight, in his brief 30 seconds or so, he was singing "40 Years" which was one of the singles from the debut album "Monkey on a Chain Gang" by House of Freaks, whose lead singer, Bryan Harvey, was murdered on New Years Day. I'm sure Harvey and Grant Lee were acquaintances, though I've never seen them linked anywhere, but I thought that was pretty neat.

Tigers 0; Angels 3

That was a pretty freaking tremendous pitching performance all the way around. The Kid was fantastic, albeit he made a lot of pitches. But hey, that will happen when you strike out ten guys. He held the cats to 0 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, and escaped a bases loaded jam in the third inning. His fastball was really popping, and his curveball, though erratic at times, was plenty good enough to get the job done. Fantastic outing.

As if that wasn't enough, the relievers stepped up and tried to outdo him. B-Don entered in the seventh, as Santana had thrown 111 pitches to that point (only 65 for strikes - he had a lot of three ball counts) and retired the side in order, one by strikeout. Shields entered for the eighth and other than a two out double to Ordonez, was his normal virtually unhittable self.

That set the stage for Frankie. As if he had been reading Rob's recent posts, he took the mound and absolutely blew the Tigers away. He blazed three fastballs past Chris Shelton. He got ahead of Craig Monroe and sent him to the dugout on a breaking pitch (Monroe struck out four times). Then, just to show off, he struck out pinch hitter Alexis Gomez on another curve ball. That's now 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, and his ERA has dropped to 3.72. I must admit, I'm curious to see what Rob thought was wrong with him tonight. But I kid Rob.

The only thing that could have outshown the pitchers tonight was a big night from Tim Salmon, and to make sure the pitchers didn't get all the credit, he responded with a homer to left on a breaking ball, then added some insurance with a two out RBI single in the sixth inning.

Nice way to start the homestand. Pipo takes the mound tomorrow, and hopefully he can give them five innings or so, and Kevin Gregg can pick up most of the other four, because I gotta think that the back end of the bullpen won't be available. Finally, note to the Tigers color guy, please don't comment on things you know nothing about. Just because Chone Figgins is small does not mean he doesn't have a strong arm. He does. And if you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that. There were also a couple of other asanine comments that I didn't write down, but trust me, they were there. Lucky for him he has a consummate professional in Mario Impemba in the booth next to him.

40 out; 36 in = 76

My first individual competitive round since sometime around 1997 went pretty well. Today I played in a qualifier for the Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship (limited to those with a handicap somewhere under 6 for people over 25). I fired a 76 at Balmorol Woods in Crete, IL. It's not a particularly long course, but the greens have some serious teeth, and they were rolling pretty quick today. The cut eventually came in at 79, which means I've qualified for the championship next month. It's a two day even with a cut after the first day, so the goal right now is to make it to the second day.

As for today's round, it was kind of strange, really. I bogeyed #1, which is probably one of the three or four easiest holes on the course, and one on which I can never seem to do better than bogey. I followed that up with seven straight pars, including a 3-putt par on #3, a short par five on which I hit driver - 4-iron, then proceeded to 3 jack away an easy birdie. Another 3 putt on #9 was my first bogey in 8 holes. I followed that up 8 straight pars, including brilliant up-and-downs on #13 and #16, while missing a great birdie chance on #14. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had a stretch of at least seven consecutive pars before today, let alone two.

Then came #18. I figured that 76 would be safe, and that I could probably get in with 77. After the par on 14, I figured I had three shots to play with, and I was going to need at least two, as #15 is a tough hole, and I figured there was another bogey lurking somewhere. So I went to 18 at two over, feeling pretty safe, knowing I had at the very least one shot to play with, probably two, maybe three (as it turns out, it was four). I hit an absolutely perfect drive (I drove the ball pretty well all day). At that point, I figured I was in. Worst case scenario, I make bogey and walk off with a 75. At that point, me and a fellow competitor (who, with an 85, didn't play as well as he could have) started talking about the course at which the championship is being played, counting my chickens, if you will. King of surprising, because I'm certainly no chicken counter. Anyway, I stepped up to the ball and proceeded to shank it dead right. Got a lucky break off a tree, and followed that up by chunking the next shot. So now I'm lying three in the fairway, praying that I could make double. Which is exactly what I did. Not exactly how you want to finish. I don't know how the CDGA sets up their tournaments, but this may affect my tee time. When I played in the USGA Publinx, I barely qualified for the sectional, and was in one of the last groups.

Anyway, I figured that this year would be a good year to build up some tournament experience, and next year I'd make more of a run at these events, but I'm ahead of my own schedule right now. I didn't play as well as I could have, but it was my first round in a while that meant something, where I had to hole out every putt, and I responded fairly well. Let's hope I play a little better next month.

Angels 4: A's 3

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Busy/Lazy weekend

But for now, I'd just like to know what happened to all of the "Frankie: is hiding an injury; sucks; should be replaced by Shields; etc." comments seem to have gone. Funny how that happens.

Angels 6; Twins 4

Nice recovery from last night's debacle. Despite some early game struggles from Hector Carrasco, he was able to settle down and turn the game over the Kevin Gregg in the fifth inning who escaped a two on, none out jam with no damage. Excellent contribution in his first game replacing Bart, who was placed on the DL. He gave them four strong innings with only one run allowed. He entered the game trailing and left with the lead, turning it over to Donnelly, who struggled through two four hitters.

The big brass ones award goes to Mike Scioscia. One night after watching Frankie get lit, he brought him in for a four out save. Frankie responded, retiring the first three hitters he faced before allowing a two out single, after which he struck out Torii Hunter to end the game. Every time he struggles, Will Carroll (who is actually a pretty good guy in person) is ready to bury him, and today was no different, as Will speculated that Frankie could be hiding an injury. Maybe he is, but if that's the case, he sure hid it pretty damn well today. Look, anyone can predict that a small guy who throws 96 is going to get hurt. Hell, anyone can predict that ANY pitcher will get hurt. Do it long enough, and you're bound to be right. This is the fourth straight year that a fairly serious injury has been predicted for K-Rod. At what point does the law of averages turn analysis into an amazing ability to predict the inevitable?

Adam Kennedy is in full contract year mode. Two more hits and two more RBIs today. He's up to .388 and as NPCody pointed out over at the Rev's site, he's got a higher batting average (.388) than wunderkind Howie Kendrick (.386). He's been dominant on the road trip, and if he could hit for power, he could be carrying the team. He can also catch, which is a step above just about everyone else on the team.

Big set with Oakland gets underway tomorrow. The A's choked one away against the Tigers today, giving the Angels sole posession of first place. Big series, man. Big series.

Angels 10; Twins 12

Pretty much everything about the Angels right now is awful. They can't get anybody out, and when they do get guys to hit the ball to people, they drop it. If you lose a game to the Twins in which you score double digit runs, you truly suck. The sad thing is that it was so predictable. I have yet to watch a fly ball go to right field without cringing as it approached Vlad. He gets lazy, and he drops easy fly balls. He's done it his entire career, and he did it again tonight.

The stat I find almost unbelievable is the seven walks allowed by Angels pitchers. This was not exactly what you'd call a small strike zone, yet Angels pitchers still were unable to hit it. Almost as unbelievable were the three walks drawn by the Angels. That has to be damn close to a season high.

If you saw Frankie pitch to Joe Mauer and came away thinking that the Angels had a chance in hell to get to a 10th inning, you truly are a person of faith, because that was just about the most predictable ninth inning I've ever seen. The only unexpected aspect of the inning was that the Angels held the Twins to only one run. Every person in the universe knew exactly what pitch was on the way to Mauer at 0-2, and he drilled it. With Sierra at the plate, you could see the fear in Frankie's eyes, as he wanted absolutely no part of the slugger. And then the coup de grace, a 3-2 bases loaded slider. I understand he'd just thrown one in the zone, but that's all the more reason to realize that lightning wasn't going to strike twice. A predictable walk, a tie game, and a few minutes later, the complete reversal of a 9-4 lead into a 12-10 loss was completed with Michael Cuddyer's walk off home run.

Piss poor play has defined the Angels' season this year, and it's tough to see it getting better any time soon. The only guy really ready to come up and possible make a difference plays the one position that has been fairly productive for the Angels. Now might be the time to trade Kennedy, as he's hitting well and might actually fetch something.

Right now, this is a very bad baseball team. Fortunately, the A's suck just as much right now. Welcome to the AL Worst, folks.

Angels 8; Twins 2

The pythagorean numbers are starting to come back to earth now that the Angels have been on the winning end of two lopsided vicotories in their last three. I have to admit, I wasn't optimistic about this one. After watching Vlad hit into a first inning double play, visions of the the five double play, 11 hit shutout that Silva threw against the Angels last year were dancing in my head. When the Twins got on the board first in the third inning, I was pretty sure that the Angels were done. Fortunately, I don't write the script, and the Angels responded with two runs in the top of the fourth, and three more in the top of the fifth, the final two coming on a monster shot over the right field baggie by noted slugger Chone Figgins.

Kelvim almost let the lead get away from him, giving up a double to Lew Ford, followed by two straight singles to open the bottom of the fifth. But he responded by striking out Joe Mauer and Luis Castillo before inducing an inning ending grounder from Tony Batista. The good news was that the infield actually held on to the ball this time and actually did end the inning. Escobar escaped with only one run in the frame, and the Twins wouldn't score again. Those were two of 10 strikeouts from Kelvim, who rebounded from a poor start in his previous effort.

Our Santana takes the mound tomorrow night. The Angels mercifully avoid their Santana later in the week. Then again, as his fantasy owners will tell you (me included), their Santana has been pretty mediocre to awful in his first few starts, so maybe that's not necessarily a good thing. The Angels go back up over Oakland by a half game for a couple of hours until Oakland dispatches the Tigers. The good news is that despite the Halos' uninspiring play to this point, they're still atop the division, thanks to the rest of the division playing really crappy as well. The bad news is they've missed a golden opportunity to open a three game lead or so. Oh well, it's a long season.

Angels 2: Orioles 4 - and who cares, because it's Luc's final night.

Didn't see one pitch. Yeah, I know, I've been slacking to this point as I've probably missed more games than I've seen. I wouldn't be shocked if you never came back. But look at your calendar. It's April 17th, which is the first working day after after April 15th. Now is a good time to remind yourself that I work in the tax department of an accounting firm, which means today is kind of a big day. If you can't remember that, well, I hope you don't get a letter from the IRS. Anyway, I work in sales tax, which means for me, today isn't a huge day, but at the same time, the tax department throws a big party with lots and lots of free food, and most importantly, free beer.

So anyway, knowing Jeff Weaver was on the mound, I decided to drink free beer rather than watch the Angels lose, which frankly, was pretty obviously going to happen. It's a combination of crappy pitcher being backed up by an offense that has a history of making guys like Daniel Cabrera, a pitcher who refuses to live up to his potential, look like Cy Young candidates. Tonight was no exception.

Anyway, tonight is a night to celebrate the end of tax season, and a night to watch the greatest left wing in the history of the NHL play the final game of his career. Here's to you, Luc. Soon you'll have your number up on the rafters of Staples Center, and in a few years, you'll be in the hall of fame. I didn't make it to Toronto when Peter Stastny, the greatest European in the history of the NHL, made it to the hall of fame, but a few years out, I plan on making the trip for Luc's induction ceremony. Congratulations on a wonderful career Luc. I'm gonna miss your presence in the lineup.

:(

Angels 9; Orioles 3

Well, the good guys salvaged one from the series, and for once, they're on the right end of a blow-out. Vlad obviously had a huge game, and from what little I saw, they did a good job executing the little things. It didn't hurt that they benefitted from some mistakes on the other side.

I only saw the hilights from this one. I recorded it to the DVR and headed off to the Sox game for about three innings before that one got rained out, then headed to a friend's house for Easter dinner. But from the looks of things, Lackey is on track a few weeks early, and I have every reason to believe he is going to be a top five Cy Young guy this year.

There's gonna be some concern about Frankie, and well there should be, especially considering that Shields hasn't been particularly sharp so far. According to the Times, it's not expected to sideline Frankie for very long, if at all. Almost makes you wonder if he was getting drilled because he was hurt or if he....I won't go there.

Angels try to complete the split today. With Weaver on the mound and the ball flying out of that ballpark, let's just say I'm not optimistic.

Angels 2; Orioles 3

Didn't see this one. I'm sure it was available on the computer, but I have a qualifying round for the Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship in a little over a week, and I needed to get out and practice. The good news is that in my first real round of the year, I fired a 74, and that's with a double bogey on the last hole when I inexplicably decided to play conservative. I did string together a stretch of three holes where I was four under par (birdie, eagle, birdie), so that's a good sign.

As for the game, it's my understanding that the Angels still refuse to play defense. When you don't score a lot of runs, it's imperative to keep the other team from scoring some of their own, and refusing to play defense is somewhat incompatible with that. The ace is on the mound tomorrow, and if I could choose one guy to help us salvage a game, it would be Lackey. Let's hope he starts like he finished his last game.

Angels 5; Orioles 6

Second 6-5 loss of the season. Santana looked a little ragged actually. Not many walks, but he had trouble finding the zone at times, and got tagged for three homers. The bullpen, which has been hit and miss so far, was miss tonight, with Shields blowing the save in the 8th, then giving up the walk off homer in the ninth.

On the bright side, the Angels took advantage of the wind to unleash their power bats, with Anderson, Rivera, Kennedy and Mathis getting in on the action. Mathis' came with two out in the ninth to extend the game an extra half frame, so that's a positive sign that he can perform under pressure.

As for today, it's another day with a lot of hockey, so it appears I won't be getting this one on TV, which means it's computer or nothing.

Kings officially done

Just for the three people out there who held out hope, the Kings were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs tonight. The death blow came before they decided to not try to beat Phoenix, so the fact that they got their assess kicked by the pathetic, yet demonstrably superior Coyotes was more or less meaningless. So instead of doing a long post mortem, I'm going to bed.

But please don't let that stop you from enjoying this wonderful excerpt from an episode of Gimmie Gimmie Octopus.

"Kure Kure Takora" everyone!

Sean Avery - done with the Kings

According to this article in the Times, Sean Avery will no longer play for the LA Kings, this season or next. This ends a tenure in which he was twice the most penalized player in the league.

Avery has always been the type of player of whom people said "I hate his guts, but I'd love to have him on my team." And frankly, that was the feeling of most Kings fans this season, as was evidenced by the quick selling "What would Avery do?" T-shirts. But as the team's fortunes went south, so did a lot of the patience with Avery, no doubt accentuated by the fact that he took a lot of penalties on a team that simply refuses to try to kill them.

Avery set career highs this season with 15 goals, 24 assists, and 39 points. He's only 26, and if he can rein in his emotions, I think he could be a hell of an NHL player. Hell, even if he can't, I think he has the skating ability and talent to be a 30 goal scorer at some point in his career, maybe better. But his act wore thin on management and apparently some of the guys in the locker room as well. He was dismissed from practice for refusing to perform a drill, then getting into an argument with Mark Hardy. Not to defend Avery, but maybe if more people stopped listening to Hardy, they'd be able to kill a power play every now and then.

One thing's for sure. This is going to look like a much different team next year. Unfortunately, they're probably not going to look much better. As for Avery, there will be takers, and I fear he'll turn into a productive offensive player as he matures. I'm right on the fence on this one, but I'm leaning more toward "sad to see him go" than "good riddance".