Author Archives: djstevem

Judge Rules For Players

As of about 6 p.m. Eastern Time Monday night, the NFL Lockout has been lifted by federal judge Susan Richard Nelson when she ruled in favor of the NFL Players and the NFL Players Trade Association and issued a preliminary injunction. The first NFL work stoppage in 24 years has been in effect since March 10.

NFL owners are expected to appeal the decision before Nelson this morning. If denied, they would then go before the 8th District Court of Appeals in St. Louis MO in an effort to seek a stay and to be able to continue the lockout. The NFL believes that federal law bars injunctions in labor disputes.

NFL LockoutAt this time judge Nelson only ruled on the lockout part of the players complaint and did nothing with the accusations of anti-trust violations and other issues between the parties as stated in Brady, et al v. the NFL.

She stated in her 89-page ruling that the players “have made a strong showing that allowing the league to continue their lockout is presently inflicting, and will continue to inflict, irreparable harm upon them, particularly when weighed against the lack of any real injury that would be imposed on the NFL by issuing the preliminary injunction.”

Lester Munson, a lawyer who is an ESPN consultant, says that judge Nelson’s ruling is written in a manner making it unlikely an Appeals Court would grant a stay and he expects the lockout to die. He goes onto say the opinion was written for appellate judges and he believes it is airtight.

Historically lower court rulings are upheld unless there is a mistake in the application of the law. That’s what the NFL owners will argue but from what Munson is saying it looks unlikely that they have anything to hang their hat on. Appeals judges aren’t allowed to just substitute their opinion on the case when deciding a stay on appeal and heavy deference is usually placed toward the ruling of the original judge in cases like this. But according to a former NLRB chairman there is no court more sympathetic to employers than the 8th District Court. So I wouldn’t be holding my breath quite yet.

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So what does this mean?

Well I really don’t know. There are reports out there that players from teams are planning to report to team facilities tomorrow to work out. Several Pittsburgh Steelers players have said they are showing up en masse.

Other players are wondering how this affects their workout bonuses and will be calling their teams in the morning seeking payment. While others wonder if they can now get the playbooks they weren’t allowed to have prior to the lockout and can they work with coaching staffs and do their off season programs and OTA’s.

Where does this leave free agency? Can players start to sign contracts with new teams as of now? Are teams now free to trade players? Without a labor agreement what does this do to things like franchise tags and free agency status?

Remember the league played without a CBA from 1987 to 1993. That’s from the end of the last work stoppage until the advent of free agency and the salary cap as the NFL has known for the last decade and a half. And it could do so again.

The league would have to come up with some rules for the season. Rules for free agency, rules for franchise tags if they will even exist and they would also play without a salary cap like they did this past season leaving teams to spend as much or as little as they want on player personnel.

Some predict chaos come Tuesday, as no one truly knows what to expect. We are really in uncharted territory here as far as professional sports leagues and work stoppages go. One thing we do know is the NFL will not start a new league calendar year until their appeal on the stay of the lockout has been heard.

As a fan I hate this more than anything and it’s the major reason I haven’t written on the topic until now. At this time I’ve gone from being pessimistic about an on-time start to the 2011 NFL season to being cautiously optimistic. When things are the hands of judges you never really know how things will turn out until they issue their ruling.

 

In The Red Zone – 2011 Pre-Draft Edition

In The Red Zone

With the NFL Draft happening this coming weekend, I decided it was time to give an update on some of the New England Patriots draft information.

Bill Belichick and Nick Cesario have nine picks to work with in the 2011 NFL Draft with double picks in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, the Pats have 6 picks in the first 92; 4 of them come in the first 60 selections and 3 are in the Top 33.

The teams’ official selections are:

  • 1st Round Pick 17 and Pick 28
  • 2nd Round Pick 33 and Pick 60
  • 3rd Round Pick 74 and Pick 92
  • 4th Round Pick 125
  • 5th Round Pick 159
  • 6th Round Pick 193
  • 7th Round no picks

Of course this can change over the course of the draft, as Belichick isn’t immune to trading picks, sometimes swapping picks in hopes of improving his draft slot in the next draft. In fact in 11 previous drafts for the Patriots he has made 101 picks while trading away another 42 in draft day deals.  Due to the ongoing NFL Lockout, this year only picks can be traded so there won’t be any big deals involving current players that you usually see on draft day.

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So with this in mind let’s see what the Patriots media hoard is saying about the 2011 NFL Draft.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

The Patriots know what they’re looking for in the draft [Boston Globe]

Under Armor is giving 12 fans the chance to meet NFL MVP Tom Brady and talk about the draft [Boston Globe]

Patriots could have backup plans for Brady [Boston Globe]

Dad’s deeds don’t dog Ingram [Boston Globe]

Draft Analysis: Why Mark Ingram would be the Patriots most devastating pick [Boston Herald]

USC OT Tyron Smith visits Patriots [ESPN Boston]

Plenty of interest in Patriots picks [ESPN Boston]

Quick hit thoughts on Patriots and the league [ESPN Boston]

Should Patriots begin search for Brady’s heir? [ESPN AFC East Blog]

Hall of Fame LB Andre Tippett to announce Patriots 2nd Round Picks [WEEI]

Richard Seymour vs. the 17th pick [Monterey Herald via Pats Propaganda]

Patriots draft scenario’s [Patriots Daily]

What would you do? [Patriots Football weekly]

Led By Matsuzaka Starters Have Been Spectacular

Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka #28 of the Boston Red Sox watches the game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 24, 2011 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. The Red Sox won 7-0.

As we all have seen the Boston Red Sox starting pitching has had an amazing turn around over the last week and a half.  On April 14th with the team reeling they got a rain out against Tampa Bay and then had the following day as a scheduled day off.  With the unscheduled two-day break manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Curt Young worked to re-arrange the starting staff.  In doing so, they skipped a John Lackey start and pushed back Daisuke Matsuzaka who had been rocked by the Rays only a few days earlier.

Little did Francona and Young know that after a Friday night loss to Toronto, who is now managed by the Red Sox former pitching coach John Farrell, that the their little plan would have such an effect on a team and possibly a season. Clay Buchholz started that Friday night game and struggled saying he couldn’t get comfortable on the mound all night.  He only turned in five innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and five walks in what was only a so-so performance.

But the next day when Josh Beckett took the mound something happened.  It was the start of an entire staff turn around and it would set the tone that lead to the current stretch of nine games in which the starters have turned in eight quality starts (when a pitcher pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or less).

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In the next nine days the Red Sox as a team would go 8-1 only losing a 5-0 decision to Oakland in which Lackey was really good going six innings and allowing only one earned run on four hits while striking out  three and walking one.

In the eight wins by the club, the starting staff has earned seven of those wins. The only non-decision coming on Thursday night in Anaheim when the team won 4-2 in 11 innings but Beckett didn’t figure in the decision.

The only start of the nine that wasn’t a quality start belongs to Buchholz who went 5.1 innings against Oakland while earning a win as the club won 5-3.  Buchholz gave up six hits and four walks but allowed only one earned run while striking out two.

Since Beckett’s no decision on Thursday the starters Jon Lester, Matsuzaka and Lackey have not allowed an earned run over 20 innings in three games.  Over that span the starters have only allowed 11 hits and six walks while striking out 23 hitters.

In this streak the staff break down is as follows:

  • Buchholz 1-0 5.1 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 4 BB 2 K 1 HR 1.68 ERA
  • Beckett  1-0 15 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 4 BB 14 K 1 HR 1.80 ERA
  • Lackey  1-1 14 IP 10 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 9 K 0 HR 0.64 ERA
  • Lester 2-0 12 IP 10 H 1 R 1 ER 5 BB 14 K 0 HR 0.75 ERA
  • Matsuzaka 2-0 15 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 4 BB 12 K 0 HR 0.00 ERA
  • Staff Totals 7-1 61.1 IP 34H 6 R 6 ER 21 BB 50K 2 HR 0.88 ERA

I don’t know how much longer the starters can keep doing this but there comes a few times over the course of a long season when one aspect of the team seems to carry it.  Sometimes the hitters are hot and they carry the weight and other times it’s the pitchers turn.  Right now the pitchers, especially the starters, have been wonderful now if they can only get some of the bats going a little we will all see what everyone has felt that this team is capable of.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Avon’s Ben Smith Sends Blackhawks To Game 7

Chicago Blackhawks Ben Smith (C) reacts with teammate Marian Hossa (R) after his game-winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in overtime of Game 6 in their NHL Western Conference quarter-final hockey game in Chicago, April 24, 2011. On the left is Vancouver Canucks Daniel Sedin.

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks have been playing with their backs to the wall since they dug themselves a 3-0 hole against the Vancouver Canucks.  But after a 7-2 win in Game 4 at the United Center and a 5-0 shutout in Vancouver the Hawks have been rejuvenated.

Tonight in Game 6 in Chicago the Blackhawks forced the Canucks to 7th heaven when Connecticut’s very own Ben Smith found the twine with 4:30 to play in the first overtime period.

No one, this side of the New York Mets, collapse like the Vancouver Canucks.

Game 7 is Tuesday night, who will be the hero?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tEdmKnFvHHA?rel=0&hd=1

Photo credit: Reuters Pictures

NFL Contingency Plan for Lockout

In case the lockout now over 40 days and counting, pushes into the fall and jeopardizes the start of the NFL regular season the league has made some contingency plans.

NFL LockoutAt this time the NFL could kickoff on Week 4 (Oct 2/3) and still get in all the regular season games and the playoffs with some adjustments to the schedule.  After that they start losing games from the schedule.

First they have blocked out the hotels, Lucas Oil Stadium and other facilities for an additional week.  Currently Super Bowl XLVI is scheduled for Sunday February 5 in Indianapolis.  The league also has the stadium on February 12th if need be.

The second thing that would happen is that the normal week off between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl would be cut as it was in the case of the 9/11 tragedy in 2001.  The AFC and NFC title games would then be played on the original date of the Super Bowl February 5th.

Those two changes would allow for the missed games in Week 1 (September 8-12) and Week 2 (September 18-19) to be made up at the end the regular schedule.

In the case of the Patriots here would be the potential last two weeks of play under this scenario:

  • Week 15 January 9 @Miami 7p MNF
  • Week 16 January 15 SAN DIEGO 4:15p

This must leave the Chargers wondering how they can get this season started on time as no west coast team, especially a Norv Turner team, wants to be in Foxboro in mid-January with a potential playoff spot on the line.

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The third thing that would happen is that all the teams who would have faced each other in Week 3 (September 25/26) were scheduled with the same bye week.  So the Week 3 games would be made up over the course of the normally scheduled six bye weeks.

So your rescheduled Week 3 would look like this:

  • New England @ Buffalo moved to Week 7
  • Jacksonville @ Carolina moved to Week 9
  • Denver @ Tennessee moved to Week 6
  • Houston @ New Orleans moved to Week 11
  • Detroit @ Minnesota moved to Week 9
  • New York Giants @ Philadelphia moved to Week 7
  • Miami @ Cleveland moved to Week 5
  • San Francisco @ Cincinnati moved to Week 7
  • New York Jets @ Oakland moved to Week 8
  • Baltimore @ St. Louis moved to Week 5
  • Kansas City @ San Diego moved to Week 6
  • Atlanta @ Tampa Bay moved to Week 8
  • Green Bay @ Chicago moved to Week 8
  • Arizona @ Seattle moved to Week 6
  • Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis moved to Week 11
  • Washington @ Dallas moved to Week 5

The losers in this scenario are the players who would no longer have that much needed and waited for bye week plus two television networks, NBC and ESPN.  Normally Pittsburgh and Indianapolis would have been the Sunday Night Football game on NBC while Washington and Dallas would be the Monday Night feast on ESPN.

Obviously in Week 11 and Week 5 there are already games scheduled for Sunday Night and Monday night.  So a few things could happen.  Week 11 is the first week of the flex games, NBC could chose to flex the Week 11 Sunday night game Eagles @ Giants for the Steelers and Colts.  I don’t see that happening as both games have potential to be huge in playoff battles.  So NBC may have to look at either a Saturday night game or a Sunday night doubleheader of 7p and 10p.  The issue with this is that the 7p kickoff would interfere with broadcast windows of the 4:15p games. But NBC would have to be willing to make some kind of concession in order to avoid missing revenue from a missed game.

In ESPN’s case it is a little easier even though Week 5 isn’t a flex week and MNF games are locked into the schedule.  The best way for ESPN to not miss the revenue from a missed game is to have the NFL allow them to schedule the game for a Monday Night Football doubleheader with a 7p and an 10p start like they do in Week 1.  The currently scheduled Week 5 MNF game is Chicago @ Detroit.  The Lions play in the Eastern Time zone while Dallas is in the Central.  So they would give the Bears and Lions a 7p start and move the Redskins and Cowboys back to 10p eastern which is a 9p kickoff in the Big D.

While the NFL didn’t say what would happen with those affected Sunday and Monday night games I am sure they have some sort of plan in effect with the networks.

Hopefully it doesn’t come down to all of this and we have football on time this fall.  But when the ego’s of billionaires and millionaires are battling each other over money and other issues I am choosing to remain pessimistic to an on time start to the 2011 NFL season.

2011 New England Patriots Schedule Released

In The Red Zone

On Tuesday night the NFL released the potential schedules for the 2011 season.  I use “potential” because with the lock out now well over 30 days and no end in sight as of this minute who knows when we will see NFL football in 2011, if at all.

The New England Patriots schedule is as follows, I have included the pre season schedule which was released last week.

The Patriots will play two home and two road games in the preseason and conclude with the traditional game against the New York Giants.  Due to the schedule rotation, the Giants will also visit Foxboro in the regular season.

Other potential regular season games of note include home games with the Dallas Cowboys and a Sunday night tilt with the Indianapolis Colts and big road games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders.

For the first time in four years the team will open the regular season on the road.  They also have 3 of their first four games away from Foxboro, which will give them a more heavy home schedule towards the end of the season.

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Here’s the 2011 New England Patriots schedule:

Home Games in Caps

Preseason:

Week 1 August 11 JACKSONVILLE Time TBA Patriots TV Network

Week 2 August 20 @Tampa Bay Time TBA Patriots TV Network

Week 3 August 27 @Detroit 8p FOX

Week 4 September 1 NY GIANTS Time TBA Patriots TV Network

Regular Season:

Week 1 September 12 @Miami 7p MNF ESPN

Week 2 September 18 SAN DIEGO 4:15p CBS

Week 3 September 25 @Buffalo 1p CBS

Week 4 October 2 @Oakland 4:15p CBS

Week 5 October 9 NY JETS 4:15p CBS

Week 6 October 16 DALLAS 4:15p FOX

Week 7 October 23 BYE WEEK

Week 8 October 30 @Pittsburgh 4:15p CBS

Week 9 November 6 NY GIANTS 4:15p FOX

Week 10 November 13 @NY Jets 8:20p SNF NBC

Week 11 November 21 KANSAS CITY 8:30p MNF ESPN

Week 12 November 27 @Philadelphia 4:15p CBS

Week 13 December 4 INDIANAPOLIS 8:20p SNF NBC

Week 14 December 11 @Washington 1p CBS

Week 15 December 18 @Denver 4:15p CBS

Week 16 December 24 MIAMI 1p CBS

Week 17 January 1 BUFFALO 1p CBS

Manny Isn’t Manny Anymore

Tampa Bay Rays' Manny Ramirez walks back to the dugout after grounding to the shortstop during the seventh inning of their MLB American League baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in St. Petersburg, Florida, in this April 1, 2011 file photo. Ramirez, a 12-times All-Star who won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, has announced his retirement, Major League Baseball said on April 8, 2011. Ramirez, who was suspended 50 games in 2009 for violating the league's drug policy, was recently informed by Major League Baseball that there was an issue relating to the policy.

Friday the music stopped for former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez when he abruptly retired from baseball after 19 seasons after being told their was an issue with his drug test.

Ramirez, who played for Boston from 2000 to 2008, was known as flake on and off the field as an aloof player who could turn it on when he needed too.  It became known as Manny being Manny.  As of Friday, Manny isn’t Manny any longer.

It came to attention of the drug program with Major League Baseball that according to a confidential source Ramirez tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug (PED).  We all remember that after Ramirez ended up in Los Angeles with the Dodgers after worming his way out of Boston he got snagged for taking a women’s fertility drug that is a banned substance.  For his little dalliance of supposedly trying to become the first pregnant major leaguer, he bought himself a 50-game suspension in 2009.  After missing nearly two months of the season he came back and wasn’t nearly the same player the Dodgers got at the trade deadline on July 31, 2008 from the Red Sox and then committed $45 million over two seasons to that previous off season.

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After struggling through the rest of 2009 and most of 2010 with Los Angeles he was dealt again late in the season to the Chicago White Sox, who hoped he would help them down the pennant stretch as he did in LA in ’08.  Manny hit just one HR for the Pale Hose down the stretch and went until nearly the start of spring training this year before the Tampa Bay Rays reached out and gave him a one-year deal for $2 million. Once again another team was hoping Manny was still Manny.

But in five games this season with the Rays, Manny had just one hit in 17 AB’s.  Then came the news today during of all things the middle of the first Red Sox-Yankees tilt of the season, which just happened to be the Boston home opener.  So now as a two-time offender of the MLB PED policy Ramirez was looking at being suspended for 100 games.  Obviously knowing he had no excuse and no way of getting the penalty reduced or dropped the mop headed Ramirez decided he was better off walking away.

In addition to the Dodgers, White Sox, Rays and Red Sox he played from 1993 to 1999 with the Cleveland Indians helping take the team to two World Series both resulting in losses.  The first was in 1995 to Atlanta and the other in 1997 to Florida.  Upon becoming a free agent he signed in Boston where he went to two more World Series this time winning both in 2004 against St. Louis where he earned series MVP honors and in 2007 against Colorado.  The next year he decided he had enough of Boston and forced his way out of town.

Ramirez, who would have been a surefire Hall of Famer had he stayed clean, is now an unlikely nominee to baseball’s shrine.  He finishes his career having hit .312 with 555 HRs, 1831 RBI and 1122 extra base hits.  The man was a hitting savant; it’s too bad he didn’t use that talent to make better decisions off the field.

Photo credit: Reuters Pictures

Congrats To Avon’s Ben Smith

Chicago Blackhawks center Ben Smith (57) scores a goal on Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (35) in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Friday, April 8, 2011.

Ben Smith of Avon, CT scored his first NHL goal Friday night for the Chicago Blackhawks in their must win game against the Detroit Red Wings.  Smith’s goal came in the first period at the 6:07 mark to give Chicago a 2-0 lead in a game they eventually won 4-2 at Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit.

On the play, Blackhawks Cup hero Patrick Kane knocked the puck away from Detroit’s Valtteri Filppula in the high slot and the puck ended up on Smith’s stick between the hashmarks and he beat Red Wing goalie Jimmy Howard for his first NHL marker in his fifth NHL game.  Later in the game he nearly had a second goal but was robbed by Howard.

Smith, who was born in North Carolina, grew up in Avon Connecticut and attended Westminster School in Simsbury where he played hockey for former New England Whaler Tom Rowe.  He went on to play his college hockey at Boston College winning two national championships (2008 and 2010) and was named MOP of the 2010 Frozen Four.  Chicago selected him in the 6th round of the 2008 NHL Draft.

Photo credit: AP Photo

It Sure Isn’t Pretty

Manager Terry Francona #47 of the Boston Red Sox watches the field be prepared prior to the game against the Cleveland Indians on April 6, 2011 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Heading into Wednesday night’s game in Cleveland against the Indians, the Boston Red Sox are in a 0-4 hole to start the season.  Is it time to panic? No.  I’m not, Theo Epstein isn’t, neither is Terry Francona.  I’m a little concerned, as I am sure they are to some extent but I am far from seeking out the nearest bridge or high rise.

But with the exception of Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Matt Albers, Bobby Jenks, Dennys Reyes and Tim Wakefield the rest of the team hasn’t done a thing.  Granted teams go through slumps and as I’ve seen from some Boston media if this was say, June or July and they lost 4 straight it would be less noticeable.  But when you start the season that way you are looking at the potential for wide spread panic in the streets of Boston not seen since well Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS.

Looking at the hitting stats of the team two thirds of the starting lineup has failed to hit.  Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .188; Carl Crawford .133; Kevin Youkilis .182; J.D. Drew .167, Jarrod Saltalamacchia .091 and Marco Scutaro is hitless.

Then thrown in the four bench guys and there is one hit between Darnell McDonald, Mike Cameron, Jed Lowrie and Jason Varitek and that belongs to Lowrie.  It also needs to be said that Tek has yet to get an AB this year but still.

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You want to know what’s even uglier?  How about hitting with runners in scoring position (RISP) and runners left on base (LOB).  In the opening day loss to Texas they were 4 for 12 with RISP and had 5 LOB.  The next night in the massacre they were 0 for 11 with RISP and had 8 LOB. In the Sunday finale they were 1 for 5 with RISP and had 6 LOB and then Tuesday night in Cleveland they were 1 for 2 with RISP and had 5 LOB.  In four games that is 6 for 30 (.200) and 24 runners stranded.  Folks, that’s the population of a small hamlet in Vermont.

Then there’s the pitching.  Reyes (1.2 IP), Jenks and Albers (2 IP each) have been good all with ERA’s of 0.00.  Wakefield has been admirable and has done with what he’s been given and has an ERA of 4.50 in 2 IP.  After that, holy Hannah let’s look at the ERA’s.  The starters Josh Beckett 5.40; Jon Lester 8.44; Clay Buchholz 5.68 and John Lackey a whopping 22.09.  Who would have thought Daisuke Matsuzaka would be the teams stopper?

The bullpen has been just as bad.  Dan Wheeler 13.50 in 1.1 IP; Jonathan Papelbon 9.00 in 1 IP and Daniel Bard actually lowered his ERA last night to 21.60.

This team is better than this, we all know that.  Epstein and Francona and the staff know it too and no one is panicking yet.  But it would be nice to see the bats come alive the last two games in Cleveland so they don’t limp into the home opener Friday afternoon against New York still winless.  Then that has the potential to be ugly.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Ice Chips – 4/6

I’ve been remiss over the last couple of months in writing my Ice Chips columns.  With the Connecticut Whale PR staff doing a wonderful job of covering the team on and off the ice I think it’s time we change Ice Chips basically to a look at the past history of our beloved Hartford/New England Whalers.

Head coach Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes watches from the bench during the NHL game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Jobing.com Arena on March 24, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona. In the past we closed the columns out with a look at a few former players who were on the team at some point in their career.  In this column we’re going to take a look at not only some former Whalers players but current NHL coaches.  In fact we are going to look at possibly the largest contingent of Hartford alumni known to man masquerading as the coaching staff for the Phoenix Coyotes.

The head coach in Phoenix is the one and only Dave Tippett. In addition he is joined on his staff by two other members of the SOX & Dawgs All-Whalers team in Ulf Samuelsson and Sean Burke as well as Doug Sulliman.

Tippett, a left wing played with the Whalers from 1983-84 to 1989-90 scoring 75 goals and 120 assists for 195 points in 483 games.  Tippett, one of the most liked and respected players to ever wear the Whale tail, also played for Washington, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in addition to the Canadian Olympic team in 1984 and 1992.

After he finished playing he went on to coach the Dallas Stars for six seasons and shortly after being removed as head coach he was hired in Phoenix to succeed Wayne Gretzky behind the bench where he is now in his second year leading the Coyotes.

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Burke was one of the best net minders in Whalers history.  He played 256 games for the club after coming over in a trade from New Jersey with Eric Weinrich for Bobby Holik and a 1993 2nd round draft pick on August 28, 1992. As a Whaler Burke registered 10 shutouts for the club and posed a 3.21 GAA while recording his 100th Hartford win in the teams last game against Tampa Bay. Burke also played for Carolina, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Florida, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Phoenix as well as the Canadian Olympic and National teams prior to retiring.  He is now the Coyotes goalie coach.

Samuelsson, a native of Sweden, was a Whalers 4th round draft pick in 1982 and was with the team until the blockbuster trade that sent the defenseman and captain Ron Francis along with two Stanley Cup Championships to Pittsburgh in 1991.  After playing in Sweden he made his Whalers debut in 1984-85 playing in 41 games.  Overall he played in 441 games for Hartford scoring 31 goals and 144 assists for 175 total points.  In addition to Pittsburgh and Hartford, Ulfie played for the New York Rangers, Philadelphia and Detroit before retiring.  He is probably best known as the man who ruined Cam Neely’s career with what some thing was a premeditated vicious knee on knee hit.

Sulliman, probably the least known of the Coyote coaching quartet, was a first round (13th overall) pick of the New York Rangers in 1979.  Sulliman, a rightwing who never really caught on with New York came to Hartford for the 1981-82 season and played three seasons with the club.  In 321 games he scored 57 goals and 72 assists for 129 points.  Sulliman’s best NHL season came in his first year in Hartford when he notched 29 goals and 40 assists for 69 points in 77 games.  After that his production dropped off and he was dealt in the summer of 1984 to New Jersey.  He finished his career with Philadelphia in 1990.

Photo credit: Getty Images