Bleacher Report - Articles by Branden Leeman

Atlanta Braves Shock Philadelphia Phillies In Season Opener

Branden Leeman — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:39:33 -0400

The Atlanta Braves came out and shocked the defending champs as the they defeated the Phillies 4-1.

The Braves wasted little time in getting started scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Chipper Jones got it started with an opposite field single. The next batter to the plate was Brian McCann and he made no mistake in cracking a long ball deep to give the Braves a two-run lead early on.

Atlanta kept pouring it on in the second inning with Jeff Francoeur smashing a solo shot to make it three zip.

Also in the same inning rookie Center Fielder Jordan Schafer made his first appearance in the Big Leagues and he did not disappoint crushing a solo shot in the deepest part of the ball park straight to center field past the 401 foot mark. Schafer was not done there with a single up the middle his next at bat and being walked on purpose in his third at-bat.

Jordan played double-AA baseball last season and made the jump to the bigs this season. Boby Cox said he is going to move Jordan up in the line up he just wanted him to relax in his first game.

The Phillies could not muster anything for offense against Derek Lowe as he pitched a practically flawless outing against the defending champs. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez all went hitless in the home opener.

Brett Myers settled down after the first two innings were played and was pretty solid after coughing up four RBI on three home runs.

The Braves and the Phillies both get Monday off as they both will face off again on Tuesday in Philadelphia. They will wrap up the three-game series to start the season on Wednesday.

Your probable starters for Tuesdays game for the Braves will be Jair Jurrjens and for Philadelphia Jamie Moyer.

NHL Draft: Who Deserves the First Pick in 2009?

Branden Leeman — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:05:33 -0400

The 2009 NHL draft is coming up this June and everyone wants to know who will go first overall. Well, it's going to be John Tavares or Victor Headmen. So everyone knows those are the top two guys, but this article is not about them. This article is about who deserves the first pick in the 2009 draft.

I watched SportsCenter this morning, as I always do, and I could not help but notice that the New York Islanders are still leading the way for best shot for the first pick in the 2009 draft. Behind them sit Colorado, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

Now, I know that the Bolts have struggled this season, but I think a lot of people would agree with me that seeing another great Canadian kid go to Tampa Bay and waste away in a franchise that is not going anywhere with horrible ownership and probably the worst coach in the NHL would not be in the best of interest.

Colorado is right behind New York for the best shot at landing the first pick in the draft. The Avs are most likely happy to see this season come to an end, as it's the worst in Colorado's franchise history.

Since their existence in 1996, they have won two Stanley cups and eight straight Northwest division titles. Their scouting is among the best in the NHL, finding Wojtek Wolski 21st overall. Look at him this year—14 goals, 27 assists, a total of 41 points.

Paul Stastny, another Colorado draft pick if you can believe it, was drafted in the second round 44th overall. Stastny scored 20 goals in each of his first two seasons but is having an off year in this campaign, with only 11 goals in 45 games.

Needless to say, Colorado does not need John Tavares there just plagued by injury.

Atlanta has not had it very easy either, with only one division title and one playoff appearance since their creation in 1999.

The team traded away superstar Danny Heatley to a conference opponent and pretty much handed the Senators a 50-goal scorer to complete the top line on the team, Alfredson, Speeza, and Heatly, which is one of the most feared lines in hockey now.

The New York Islanders are one of the most storied franchisees in NHL history. In their glory days in the early '80s, they won four straight Stanley Cups.

Now, the Islanders are in need of a franchise saving player, and that said, John Tavares would be the perfect savior for New York.

So, with that said, I would say that New York is a real hockey market, unlike Tampa Bay or Atlanta.

Those are my thoughts on who deserves the first pick in the 2009 draft. What are you thoughts? Who do you think deserves first pick in this year's draft? New York Islanders? Colorado? Tampa Bay? Atlanta? Someone else?

St Louis Blues at Edmonton Oilers Jan. 11, 2009

Branden Leeman — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:53:14 -0500

So I was watching the St. Louis Blues play the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night on TSN.

Now, some of you out there are most likely thinking, why would you watch the Oilers, who are 20-18-3, which marks them 11th in the West, play the cellar-dwelling Blues. who are 16-22-3 (15th West)? Edmonton won the game, 2-1.

This was a tight-checking defensive game between two struggling clubs. This game was very evenly matched on the defensive end as both teams shut each other down. On the power play, Edmonton failed to score on five chances, as the Blues failed to score on their five opportunities.

Now as good a defencive game as this was, both power play units for these teams were sloppy and almost pathetic. With five power plays apiece and not one goal to show for it, you may think that the goalies bailed them out on the PK. But that was not the case. The Oilers only managed four shots. The Blues doubled that amount with 8 power-play shots.

The thing that mind-boggles me the most is that when Edmonton was shorthanded they played with more speed and chances. They mounted three odd-man rushes on one of the Blues' power plays, and later on in the second period Gilbert Brule was sprung on a shorthanded breakaway to score the goal that tied the game.

Sam Ganger scored the go-ahead goal with a little over eight minutes to go in the third period to make it 2-1 Oilers. Eric Cole made a beautiful pass across the offencive zone to Ganger, who was about 10 feet above the slot, and he one-timed the shot over the high glove on Manny Legace—the same place the Brule went on his shorthanded breakaway goal.

Some moments in this game that stood out to me are: After Brule scored his shorthanded goal, Legace was shaking his glove in frustration as if he should have saved the shot but from replays I reviewed I could not see how in any way he could have saved that shot. Brule roofed the shot high as Legace was already down early and it looked like the puck was a good portion away from his glove.

Now to some people this may come as a shock when I say Keith Tkachuk stood out to me as one of the best players on the ice. He was using his big frame well in the offencive zone and created many chances for his team and managed to log 17:38 of ice time.

Some of you may think that, yeah, well, this is one game. But this is not because I have watched the Blues play on five different occasions this year and in those five games I have noticed Keith as a standout player on St Louis.

The Oilers, who seem to be turning things around a little bit lately, are 6-4-0 in their last 10 and start a road trip next week beginning in Washington then heading to Minnesota before ending the trip in Colorado. This road swing will be important for the Oil as they face two divisional opponents on the way.

As for the Blues, they continue their road trip as they head to Calgary before they return home to face Colorado and then Chicago.

The leaders in ice time tonight are:

For St Louis

Barret Jackmen 22:55

Roman Polak 22:44

Jeff Woywitka 22:30

David Backes 19:43

Keith Tkachuk 17:38

For Edmonton

Sheldon Souray 25:11

Lubomir Visnoskie 24:46

Shawn Horcoff 22:03

Denis Grebeshkov 20:17

Tom Gilbert 19:37

Dwayne Roloson made 26 saves for the win and his counterpart Legace faced 22 shots for the loss.

Is Touch Icing Or No-Touch Icing Best for the NHL?

Branden Leeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:38:19 -0400

A lot of controversy surrounds the rule of touch icing. Although it does bring excitement to the game, with two players rushing down the ice to get the puck, would it be so bad to have no-touch icing?

Many injuries come from this every year. Kurtis Foster of the Minnesota Wild may have an opinion on it. After racing down the ice after the puck in a game last season in San Jose, Foster was tripped and slammed in to the boards breaking his left leg.

Foster is still rehabbing his leg after his March 20 injury, and he is still at least two months away from returning.

This just one of many incidents that happened over the season. Patrice Bergeron was absolutely plastered in to the boards from behind by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones.

After the hit, Bergeron collapsed to the ice, losing consciousness. The Boston Bruins forward suffered a broken cheek bone and a major concussion.

Bergeron missed the entire season but was cleared for the 2008 playoffs.

Randy Jones on the other hand only received a five-minute major.

So which would you rather see? Touch icing or no-touch icing?

Personally, I like the touch icing. It's been in the game forever, and there is just too many rule changes these days. After a while, the game is just going to be messed up so much that no one will watch.

Taking out the red line was good. Restricting the goalies so they cant play the puck? That’s just plan stupid. Plus, they keep messing with the goalie gear.

Has it ever occurred to the NHL that its not that the gear is too big but the goalies are actually that good? Yeah, imagine that: an NHL goalie who can stop the puck. Wow, I guess that’s just plain wrong these days.

Anyways I hope I get plenty of people’s opinion’s on this. So where does your vote stand touch or no-touch?

Branden Leeman

July 23, 2008

11:34 am

Jonathan Toews, Winter Classic Good for Chicago Blackhawks?

Branden Leeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:15:18 -0400

The Winter Classic will be held in Chicago at Wrigley Field next year and I have not heard much positives from Canadian fans about this choice.

I have asked many people what they think about this and they suggested Toronto and Montreal at the Rogers Centre or Ottawa and Toronto. Other answers I received were the New York Rangers at Montreal, Boston at Toronto and Boston at Montreal.

The matter of the fact is that Chicago needs this. They need to be promoted more, as they only had six televised games last year really.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane should help attract more interest from the fans in Chicago.

The Classic being held in Chicago will give 'Hawks fans a chance to see what this team really has to offer. This is a very talented team which was playing great hockey last season until Martin Havlat was once again injured with a separated shoulder.

If these boys can stay healthy and get great goaltending from Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet, this team should come out with a bang and smash in the playoffs of 2009.

The Hawks, who recently name Toews as there new captain, drew a questionable look from some peoples point of view. I have heard many things.

For example, I heard the 'Hawks are just trying to be like the Pens and make Toews the young hero of the city. I don’t think choosing Toews was a bad choice, but what about Martin Havlat? He definitely proved himself in my eyes.

In the long run, Toews could of worked his way up, but it seems to me these days the young guys are getting the call to lead their team.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is 20 years old and will turn 21 in August. Could young captains be the next trend?

Brenden Morrow practically stole the C right out from under Mike Modano’s nose. The days of vets taking the C is coming to an end and in an NHL that has eight or more teams with captains in there 20's, the new era in hockey also brings respect for the young guys.

Darcy Tucker in Colorado: Will It Work?

Branden Leeman — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:03:28 -0400

Darcy Tucker signed with the Colorado Avalanche on July 1 this year. The 33-year-old right winger signed a two-year deal worth $4.5 million with the Avs.

Tucker played in 74 games for the Maple Leafs last season, recording 18 goals and 16 assist for 34 points and was also a minus-8. He also chalked up 100 penalty minutes and seven power-play goals.

I am not quiet sure why Tucker would sign with Colorado, which also seems to be in the same position as Toronto was last year. Yes, Colorado is young and talented, but with a season of hope last year and nothing to come of it, maybe Tucker should have looked elsewhere?

Or maybe the market on Tucker just was not that big, as he is getting older and some say he is losing his gritty edge, not to mention his body is wearing down. Which brings me to this: Why choose the fast, crazy, hard-hitting West? I mean, no offence to the Eastern Conference, but the West is faster, better, hard-hitting hockey; it's just that simple.

So will Tucker survive? Though I'm biased (he is one of my favorite players), I think he most likely will.

Branden Leeman, 9:46 a.m., July 5

MLB: When Will These Blue Jays Change?

Branden Leeman — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:28:16 -0400

Back in April of this year, everyone was talking about how this is the Blue Jays' year and how this is their time to win the division.

Ok. It's now almost the end of June and the Jays have lost almost as many one run ball games as they have won.

Where is the offense? Vernon Wells, I mean, who is he again? Isn't he supposed to be our star player? Well, let's look at stats since they always tell the truth. Last season's numbers from Vern were as follows: 16 home runs 80 RBI and an average of .245. This guy is supposed to be are super star, not your average hitter.

And this guy Alex Rios, who just signed a huge deal, is playing terribly. Come on man, can Toronto buy a break? Apparently not. After trading Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen, Rolen was injured before the season even started.

The one thing this team does have is pitching. I will give them that. With a solid rotation of Holliday, Marcum, McGowan, Litsch the only hole there seems to be Burnett who is so over rated it is not even funny.

So when will it be the Blue Jays time? Who knows really. I love this team to death, but it always seems that when high expectations come upon this club they fold.

Branden Leeman June 26 2008 6:22pm

What Will The Leafs Do Next?...

Branden Leeman — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:41:47 -0400

Now that the Leafs have officially started rebuilding what is there next move?

Reports say that Pavel Kubina could be moved. July 1 and August 14 seems to be the window of opportunity for other teams to decide if they wantKubin a or not.

Cliff Fletcher has said that Kubina is a good solid D-man and the Leafs want a good offer for any one looking to acquire him.

Toronto dumped Klye Wellwood and Andrew Raycroft to waivers. Wellwood has already been picked up by the Vancouver Canuks while Raycroft can either claim reentry waivers or be sent to the minors by the Leafs.

The next step for the Leafs was to buy out Darcy Tucker's contract. Tucker scored 18 goals and 34 points last season in 74 games played but his physical condition has been a concern of the team.

The gritty forward does not seem to be wearing down scoring 24 goals 43 points in the 2006-2007 season and the year be for that in 2005-2006 he scored 28 goals 61 points. Despite his consistent performance, the 33-year-old will have to find some where else to play next season.

If the Leafs do not do anything to improve this off-season then Leafs Nation could be in pain next year as a very young team without a lot of skill or experience will be tested.

Branden Leeman June 26 2008 1:39 pm