Nicklas Lindstrom hangs up his skates

Nicklas Lindstrom has decided at age 42 years old has decided enough is enough and after 20 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings he has decided to hang up his skates as a professional hockey player. He has been the rock of the Red Wings especially on the D and would be an automatic hall of famer but diffidently will go into hockey shrine at his first opportunity and he was able to help the Red Wings hoist the cup for the first time in 42 years as the Red Wings won in 1997 and has helped them collect 4 of their 11 rings in the past 15 years. He has won 7 Norris Award as the best defense man in his career as he won three in a row from 2001 to 2003 and then did it again from 2005-2008 and won 6 of 7 Norris Trophies between 2001-2008 with only Scott Niedermayer being the only other defense man to win the trophy which happened in 2004-04 season. He had three 70-point seasons and scored 15 goals or more in 8 of seasons with a career high of 20 goals in the 1999-2000 season and ended up putting up 1142 points (264 G - 878 A) in his 20 amazing seasons. The Red Wings have a huge hole to fill on their back line without Lindstrom in the lineup but the smart Red Wings have a ton of money to go out and spend on a guy like Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators but he will be no Lindstrom and I feel it may take a couple seasons to recover. Nicklas Lindstrom is one of the greatest defense man in the NHL and won of the greatest Red Wing of all-time Tom Mehegan

Jonathan Quick Vs Martin Brodeur a great match-up for the Stanley Cup Final

tonight the Stanley cup final begins tonight as LA Kings heading to New Jersey to face the Devils and it will be a defensive battle and it will be the Kings young goalie (Quick) vs the Devils hall of fame Goalie (Brodeur) who will decide if the Kings lift their first cup or will Brodeur lift his fourth cup.

Martin Brodeur has played in 193 playoff games in the NHL and has 109 playoff wins (the most in NHL history) and has a 9.19 save% and 2.01 GAA and has been looking like he is drinking from the fountain of youth for the 40-year-old as this playoffs he is 12-5 and 5 with a 9.23 save% and a GAA of 2.04 after play into the second round twice and no further with 4 one and done playoff in the last decade since the Devils last Stanley Cup.

Jonathan Quick who was five-years old when Brodeur made his NHL debut and was 9 years-old when Brodeur won his first cup and Jonathan Quick has only played 26 playoff games and it his first playoffs to get out of the first round in his NHL career. He has helped the Kings win all their 8 road games and 12 and 2 this playoffs and has two shutout and has a .946 save% and a GAA of 1.54.

It will be interesting to see how Darryl Sutter will get into Brodeur's face and if the king will be able to get through the Devils D and get scoring opportunities on him and the first goal will be the most important goal of the game will set the tone for the remainder of the game. Also staying out of the penalty box as the man advantage so if a team gets undisciplined may cost a team or even the cup.

It will be interesting

Tom Mehegan

The Spurs experience Vs the Thunder youthful legs will be a great Western Final

The San Antonio Spurs are a very veteran players who have 4 rings while OKC Thunder are talented players looking for their first ring.

The Spurs went through the Jazz and Clippers like hot knife through butter and really have not been challenge yet while the Thunder had big comebacks vs the Lakers and not even Kobe was not able to will his team to win a game or even the series.

The Spurs have 4 players in double digits in points lead by Tony Parker who has 19.1 points and 7.1 assists while Tim Duncan has been putting up 17.6 points and 9 boards a game along with Manu Ginobili (11.3 points) and Danny Green (10.4 points). The Spurs have given up 88.8 a game in their 8 straight playoff wins which going back into the regular season has won their last 18 games and are working as a team and has been working as fine oiled machine since Tim Duncan arrived for the 1997-98 regular season.

While the Thunder are lead by Kevin Durant who has put up 26.7 points and 8.1 rebounds and Russell Westbrook who has 24.1 points while he had 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists and it is looking like it is a two man team but they are very good talent players and they have put up 50.8% of the teams 100 points a game over 9 playoff games while given up 91.9 points a game which is 3 points more than the Spurs.

I believe that the Spurs experience will better the young and talented Thunder and Greg Popovich will come up with a great game plan to frustrate the big two of the Thunder and with a week off for both teams the Spurs can handle the layoff much better than the younger Thunder will handle it.

It will be a good series that will start on Sunday

Tom Mehegan

SHANE DOAN and the Coyotes piised and Kings going to miss their captain for a bit

SHANE DOAN was pissed off after the game after the Kings beat the Coyotes right after Dustin Brown angled his leg and blow out MICHAL ROZSIVAL 's knee on knee hit after the whistle and Doan was pissed off in the locker room and wondered how both refs and the lines men did not see the knee-on-knee contact and wondered how he had gotten three penalties in last two games. Mike Smith felt that the refs and the league wanted the Kings to win the series while KEITH YANDLE felt that Dustin Brown should get the same punishment as Raffi Torres got (25 games) and that the Kings took advantage of the Coyotes not having any ownership to be able to stick up for the players. Dustin Brown will be playing in the Stanley Cup final and that is interesting as he was very close to being traded at the trade deadline but he will miss the first and maybe even the second or even the third game of the finals. This is because Brown went out and targeted ROZSIVAL's knee with his own and had every chance to not do it but in the end he went through with it and should be suspended for a few games as ROZSIVAL's knee is not OK and was unable to put pressure on his left leg. Shane Doan was a very classy individual as he did shake Brown's hand and did say something to Brown and it was not have a great Stanley Cup Final and Doan has had a lot of chances to leave the Coyotes and he is sticking up for the team whenever possible. The Kings did get away with a lot in the overtime as the Coyotes should of gotten a powerplay when the Kings cleared the puck into the stands without hitting the glass which is an automatic penalty Tom Mehegan

Christian is the new intercontinental champ while Bryant/Punk stole the show

Christian returned tonight in a battle royal to end the youtube part and the beginning of the PPV and he won it and was award his choice of US or intercontinental title opportunity later in the night and after Cody was excited that he was going after the US title (Merilla) and Christian over heard and went after intercontinental title. The match went back and forth with Cody working Christian's arm but in the end Cody ran at Christian and missed and ran into the turnbuckle and Christian got the kill switch for the win.

The match of the night was Punk and Bryant and before the match Punk had an interview which was very funny with him saying if U had said to Vince 10 years ago that Punk and Bryant would be wrestling for the heavyweight title to things would happen and one was Vince would say who the hell is Punk and Bryant while thing would be that his head would explode.

The Match was very good with Punk getting figure four and the Macho elbow on Bryant and Bryant throw around Punk and throw him into the outside ring post and worked the arm and both different abdominal stretch on each other. The finish was absolutely amazing as Bryant had Punk in the YES lock and then pulled himself while Punk was still in the YES lock onto his back and the ref counted Bryant's shoulders to the mat just before Punk tapped so Punk keeps the title and the feud continues.

In the main event Johnny Ace beat Cena thanks to the Big Show help as he attacked Cena and put the match in Johnny's favor and he got the pin to keep his job.

The worst match of the night was Kingston and Truth Vs Swagger and Ziggler and it was because if U did not have video and only audio it would of been a segment about Vicki's naval as that is the only thing that the announcers paid attention to in the match but the finish was still amazing with Swagger running at Kingston who did amazing trouble in paradise as he flow at Swagger and got the win.

In the four way match Shamus kept his title by sneaking in for the pin after all the wrestlers were out because they took another's finisher.

Then there were also a squash match as Camacho got squashico by Reyback less than 2 minutes as there was more Goldberg chants but Reyback is still the most over monster character while Miz and Clay had a dance off turned into a long match for Clay but he still got to bury Miz even more by splashing him.

Layla kept the Diva title against Beth who beat done Layla and worked over her repaired ankle but Layla out of nowhere delivered her finisher for the win while Karama chants were everywhere during the match.

Bryant/Punk match was worth paying for the show and the surprise of Christian was the icing on the top

Tom Mehegan

At 35 Roy Halladay is getting better and better

It is Roy Halladay 35 birthday and he has 191 wins in his 14 plus season and has a .668 winning% and only 95 loses in 360 games he has started and he is likely to take a run at 300 wins. The reason that the Colorado Spring, Colorado native has a chance because between 2008 and 2011 has won 77 wins and has not had an ERA over 2.79 over the last four seasons and has an amazing 35 complete games and 11 shutout in the last four season. After his first four season with the Blue Jays he a total of 18 wins and since then he win 170 in the next ten seasons before the start of the 2012 so if he continues is on pace to get 300 wins in 2118 when he is 41 years old as long as he stays healthy as he has been healthy every since the beginning of 2005 when he had two straight injury plagued seasons. Since his no hitter in his first career post season start he is 2-2 and not able to get the job done and get the Phillies into the next round with a 3.10 ERA but he will put it together and get the Phillies a world series ring. He will go down as one of the best pitchers in baseball history if he is not taken down like Barry Bonds or Roger Celmons and will be in Cooperstown in a decade and a bit. So Happy Birthday Halladay Tom Mehegan

TSN radio is coming soon to TSN 2

The Mike Richards morning show has been picking up steam recently getting the younger audience listening to them meaning pre-teens and young teens and Mike has been hinting about going to tv which means that after the 2012 NHL playoffs are over it is be set to take over for hockey 2 nite all morning. This could happen in June/July or they may wait even longer and go to air after Labor Day as that is when things get back to normal after the summer of none activity and the getting ready for TV is why they moved their operation outside of Toronto to a much more TV friendly building and it is about time because they need to take themselves more seriously and it would also begin a different audience to the Mike Richards show as he has been very popular in Calgary and they may tune in to watch.

When TSN 2 starts airing TSN radio programming they may also bring their most popular radio program which is Cybulski & Company to TV and it would even more competitive battle against the Bobcat show which is on Sportsnet one.

The reality is that TSN radio has made Toronto sports radio muck better as it has made it necessary for Sportsnet Radio to pull up their socks and completely rebrand themselves and bring a totally different lineup to their radio station that has been surprisingly much better then anyone would of expected.

If TSN radio wanted to get even more of a competitor for Sportsnet Radio they would be advised that they need to get ESPN off the station and put Matt Cauz into the overnight slot and would be a great challenge for Stormin'" Norman Rumack. It would be a great change for Matt Cauz as right now he is Richards side-kick and is much more sports smart guy then Richards is and makes him look foolish so he is being wasted in the morning show spot and getting his own show will better the radio station.

It is nice having two sports radio stations in T.O.

Tom Mehegan

NHL needs to throw in the towel on the weak markets

The NHL is very strong in Canada with all 7 teams are profitable with the likes of the Canucks, the Maple Leafs, and the Canadiens are really making coin. Then U look at places like Phoenix are losing money hand over fist and have no reason to be still there and they look for huge breaks from the city of Glendale and the city is in huge debt and the citizens of Glendale are going to be taxed to recover the 27 million they are in the hole and most of that is the Coyotes. They are not the only team that needs to go as the Nashville Predators are getting lots of money from the profitable organization in the NHL and Ryan Sutter is going elsewhere in free agency and after taken another one year contract for this season Shea Weber will be gone in free agency a year from now and the Predators will not be good after these two studs on D are no longer playing in Nashville. Florida Panthers are not drawing flies and it is another team that the other teams prob it up and U can throw in Anaheim and Columbus into the mix as well and these teams bring the salary cap down. If the NHL brings a team or two back to Canada to places like Quebec City and maybe even somewhere in Southern Ontario hopefully closer to Toronto than Buffalo because Buffalo needs the Canada fans to support their franchise. Quebec City will be a great franchise for the NHL and the stronger the NHL franchises are the higher the payroll will be and that will make both sides happy or at least anyone not named Gary Bettman will be much happier. Get healthy NHL and come back to Canada Tom Mehegan

Mariano Rivera may be finished as he is done for the season with a torn acl

With a torn acl Mariano Rivera season is over and at 42 years young so could the career of the last major league player to every wear the number 42 because the number has been eliminated from MLB as a show of respect to Jackie Robinson and it was grandfathered in so if a player had the number at the time it was eliminated they could keep it and Rivera is the last man standing wearing the number. Mariano Rivera has been staple of the New York Yankees and if he was not as good as he has been the Yankees would not have their most recent group of World Series rings as he has been unbeatable in the post season with a 8-1 record and 42 saves to go with a 0.70 ERA and when it Rivera time U knew the game was over as he simply did not given anything to the opponents as helped the Yankees win 5 World Series and continue to be one of the elite teams in baseball. Also with 608 saves in the regular season he is absolute lock as a first ballot hall of famer and whoever steps into those shoes will have a mighty big legacy to follow.

The way he may of ended his career was weird as it was Jason Nix hitting a ball to wall during batting practice and U knew it was batting practice because one he is unlikely hit a ball to the track during a game as he does not have that kind of power and second of all he is a 25th man on the roster at best.

So the east gets even more wide open as the Yankees may have just said goodbye to an elite closer in the game and one of the best pitchers of all-time

Tom Mehegan

Amare Stoudemire had a fight with a fire extinguisher and may leaving the apple

Amare Stoudemire after 10 point lost to the Heat Monday night and on the way back to the locker room he decided to take his frustration out on a glass box that contained a fire extinguisher and punch it hard and the glass box and fire extinguisher won the fight hands down as his left needed 15 stitches and is now questionable for the rest of the playoffs. So it looks like Amare can not stand the heat in the big apple and him and his 100 million dollar contract will be wanting out of town after the season is finished this weekend. The reason why Amare is frustrated because the combo of Carmelo and himself is not working as Carmelo is taken too many shots as took 26 shots in Monday game and made 3 field goals in the second half and after having 21 first half points and then only had 9 in the second half and they are under 500 when both played in a game. This season when Amare did not play with the Knicks they have a record of 14-5 and most of those wins were with both of the front line players sideline and Jeremy Lin dominated the league and helped the team put together a win streak that got them into the playoffs and gave enough of a cushion to make the playoffs and helped Mike D'Antino keep his job a little bit longer.

In the end the Knicks are needing a different bunch of players to get a better playoff spot and actually win a playoff game as they have not won a playoff game since 2001 and have lost their last 12 playoff games and the Knicks will need to get either Carmelo or Amare needs to sent packing and build better around the other one.

Tom Mehegan