First Round NHL All-Stars

This article has been submitted by Deven Hiscock. Welcome back, welcome back, welcome baaaaack.

The first round of the NHL playoffs is the round that produces the best hockey and best performances in my opinion. Watching the first round this April felt like, for the first time, I was watching the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which is the measuring stick as far as I am concerned for entertainment. Although this round has lacked the 5-overtime games that last year’s first round produced, the hockey has been of the highest caliber. If you’ve watched any of the Philadelphia/Washington series you would agree, the play is on a totally higher level than the regular season.

So in what has been a fantastic round of hockey, here are the players who made their mark on their series, whether they won or not.
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My Thoughts on the NHL Deadline

This article has been submitted by Deven ‘Which Wing Doesn’t Matter Just Keep Me On a Line With Blake” Hiscock.

For more on the trade deadline, check out our all-day coverage from yesterday.

Tampa Bay deals Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern
A decent move for the Stars, who land a legitimate scoring threat, first line forward and a power play specialist. Although he has been at the bottom of the plus/minus stats this season, Richards will be a decent addition to an already strong team. A change of scenery combined with the knowledge he no longer has to score every night to win should help him to fit in and contribute quickly.

The goaltenders in the deal both have different significance to both teams. To Dallas, Holmqvist is a solid backup behind a guy who is a legitimate number one, and he has some playoff experience should Turco go down.

In Tampa Bay, where there was a desperate need for a goaltender, enter Smith, who has number one potential and will get a shot in the Bay. But the major part of this deal for Tampa was the elimination of Richard’s $ 7.8 million salary to the cap for the next three years. This leaves them money to re-sign Dan Boyle and should open up their options in the free agent market this off-season. Also, Jokinen is a solid second/third line player at best but deadly in the shootout. Halpern can also chip in occasionally but don’t expect too much.
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Congressional Joke Show

This article has been submitted by steroid-free second baseman Deven Hiscock.

Is anyone else getting tired of this steroid “witch hunt” which is currently taking place in Major League Baseball by congress? And no, I am not defending Roger Clemens and his creation of the world “Misremember” in his congressional hearing the other day. But the fact is, if baseball had wanted to deal with this problem they would have done it sooner than after a steroid policy was in place in MLB. So it is quite clear that it is not the biggest deal to Major League Baseball and its owners. I myself, a big baseball fan, couldn’t care less if Roger Clemens was injected with HGH by Brian Mcnamee back in 1999.
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Should The Leafs Trade Mats Sundin?

Note: This article has been submitted by regular contributor and second baseman extraordinaire, Deven Hiscock.

Should Mats Sundin wave his no-trade clause? Is this the best move for the franchice? For Sundin?

The NHL trade deadline is getting closer and closer and everyone is looking to make a move, either to get a big name or get rid of one. The trade deadline is sometimes like playing Russian Roulette in that General Managers can either define themselves as deadline deal masters or victims of delusions of Stanley Cup parades. Last season the major buzz around the deadline was obviously the market for then-Philadelphia forward Peter Forsberg. Nashville was the supposed “winner” of those sweepstakes giving up solid defense prospect Ryan Parent, Scottie Upshall (a regular contributor for Philly) and a first and third round draft pick.

The trade did little to help Nashville as they lost their first round playoff series against the San Jose Sharks in five games. This season, Forsberg is playing in Sweden and the Predators, who were coming off of a 51 win campaign the year before, are already just a few losses away from matching all of last season’s total. The Philadelphia Flyers, who finished in the bottom of the NHL standing last season, are currently leading their division and look to have rebounded from a tough 06/07 campaign. This was an example of a great deadline deal for Philadelphia and a trigger happy Predators team hoping to find that missing piece. Of course, Forsberg would have been traded to another team if Nashville hadn’t taken the offer, but you can’t help but think of the long term effects of the trade.

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The Ultimate SuperBowl Preview Panel

Note: This article is a collaborative piece from Blake Murphy, Stu Wilkinson, Alex Pennycook, Samuel Cassady, Dave Power, Trevor Smith, Deven Hiscock, and Kyle Norton.

This Sunday while I’m deep into a medium pizza and a pound of wings ($20, Double Double Colossus Deal, what it do!) and an intense NBA Jam Session rematch with Stu (last year I defeated him in my rookie contest, this year we will be posting our box-score and a review article), the rest of the world will be watching the SuperBowl. Have you heard of it? Every television station and website (sports or not) has been covering the event non-stop for two weeks and I’ve actually made an active attempt to limit the amount of football coverage on the site to this Super Article. Upon launch of the site, I e-mailed all of our writers (potential or legit) with five questions they had the option to answer as part of an enormous SuperBowl panel. Well, here is my space- and time-saving brainchild come to fruition, with the responses of eight different writers to five burning SuperBowl questions. All the hype you need in just one article.
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Five Things I Learned from the Australian Open

This article has been submitted by Deven Hiscock with a big assists from tennis exper/Federer fan Dustin Hiscock.

After an exciting two weeks of tennis it is now time to reflect on what we have learned from this year’s Australian Open. Coming into the Open it was clear that Roger Federer was the clear favorite on the men’s side of the draw, as he was attempting to win his thirteenth career Grand Slam title and third Aussie Open in a row. On the women’s side of the draw it was not so clear cut with a legitimate number one favourite, but names such as Henin and Williams and were expected to claim the first Grand Slam of the season.
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My Top 10 SuperBowl Moments

Note: This article has been submitted by Deven Hiscock.

This is my list of top ten SuperBowl moments and memories in my mind. These are all images, thoughts, and games that come to my mind when I hear the word SuperBowl.
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Time To Spill This Bowl

Note: This article was contributed by journalism/broadcasting student Deven Hiscock.

Although the Bowl Championship Series has now passed us and the NCAA’s attention turns to basketball, it is time for the annual debate: Is college football ready to scrap the BCS and implement a playoff format?
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