By Paul Gotham

Taking time here on Valentine’s Day to ponder a sampling of topics going on around the sports world.

Trade Deadlines

To trade, or not to trade. That is the question. As NBA and NHL teams jockey for playoff position (or futility), exchanging players puts front offices on the front page of sports discussions.

Is there any truth to the rumor that has Amare Stoudemire leaving Phoenix for Cleveland? I am trying to imagine LeBron, Shaq, and Stoudemire on the floor at the same time. What set or sets could or would the Cavs run? With Stoudemire in the game, the Cavs could actually run the floor. With Shaq in the game? Well…we all know running is not important to the old boy.

Do the Cavs have anyone to offer in return? Or is the fact that the Suns would not have to worry about Stoudemire’s contract enough to swing this deal?

How are Josh Howard and Drew Gooden feeling today? Being sent from the Mavs to the Wizards has to seem like a prison sentence.

Note to Wizard GM Ernie Grunfeld: Howard’s past is not exactly squeaky clean. You have gone from guns in the locker room to a guy who has openly admitted marijuana use. Yeah, the locker room was a little ‘stale’ as you said. You hoped these two guys would re-energize it. You might get more than you asked for.

Tracy McGrady is still looking for work.  I can think of  Russian owner that wouldn’t mind putting T-Mac on the floor.

Switching to the frozen pond.

Where will Martin Biron go? Right now, Biron is the third string goalie for the New York Islanders. The Isles, by the way, are six points off the playoff pace right now. Do the Isles keep Biron? Or do they trade second string goalie, Dwayne Roloson.

Either way, will the Buffalo Sabres be involved if the Isles move a goalie?

Buffalo’s Ryan Miller needs a rest. And he is not going to get it over the next two weeks. While most of the NHL rests during the Olympics, Miller will tend the net for Team U.S.A.. The experience should drain Miller. Buffalo’s second string goalie, Patrick Lalime, has proven himself less than capable of giving the Sabres valuable minutes between the pipes.

Speaking of the Sabres – thankfully, Buffalo has an 11-point buffer. Coming out of the Olympic break, the Sabres play at Pittsburgh, against Washington, Philadelphia, and at the Rangers the first week back from the break. Two and two might be a reasonable goal for that week.

Margin of error and the Olympics

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili – the Georgian luger who lost his life during a practice run on Friday. I can not imagine what they are going through.

There is no comparison to the tragedy experienced by that family.

Saturday night showed how minute the difference is between climbing the medal stand and watching an opponent do the same.

The 1,500 speed skating event saw a pair of Korean skaters crash into the wall. The accident might have been poetic justice as replays showed one skater gaining an advantage by interference. Still, the slightest slip was the difference in the race. Four years of training ends in a spill. Is there any measure to that frustration.

Same goes for the moguls. I’m not sure of the woman’s name, but I watched her do a back flip and land slightly off balance and fall. Again, four years of training and the smallest of margins proves decisive.

Cheers to Chris Mazdzer. The Olympic rookie from Saranac Lake, New York is having a good showing in the luge.

Valentine irony

On this day dedicated to amour, is ESPN Classic having a little fun at the expense of Red Sox fans? Earlier today, Classic replayed game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Many a Red Sox fan hearts were torn out that night.

Got any rebounds or putbacks? Post them here.

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn

By Paul Gotham

Taking time here on the ‘un-official’ holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday to ponder a sampling of topics going on around the sports world.

The NHL getting it right this time

The last time the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins met, the NHL took a little heat. Critics spewed about the league’s perpetual inability to highlight its marquee games. Instead of putting that  game on a major network on a Sunday afternoon, NHL rising stars, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, dueled on a Thursday night. To make matters worse, the game was pitted opposite the Lakers – Cavs/ Kobe-LeBron match-up.

Today, as sports fans settle in for a long winter’s viewing, they can catch the NHL’s finest on display. Props to the Penguins for doing their finest post man impersonation. Given the record snow fall in the nation’s capital, the Penguins will have to make the trek despite rain, or SNOW, or sleet, or hail, or lots of snow. Wonder if the NHL will be grabbing people off the streets to make sure the seats are full.

The NHL has to figure out a foil to the Kobe-LeBron ad campaign. I love the latest puppet ads with Bryant and James. “LeBron, did you hear that? My shoes started the fire.” That is great stuff.

More frozen pond

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been in existence for over 90 years. Jean-Sebastien Giguere needed two games to etch his name into Leaf lore.

Acquired in a trade on January 31st, Giguere got his first start two days later. The netminder made 30 saves on 30 shots to shutout the New Jersey Devils, 3-0. Four nights later, Giguere repeated the feat shutting out the Senators, 5-0. Giguere is now the first goalie in Leaf history to earn shutouts in his first two starts.

Now, Giguere will need to prove he is worthy of mentioning with Johnny Bower, Turk Broda, and other great Leaf goalies of the past. Of course, Leaf fans would probably be happy to just get out of the Eastern Conference basement.

A small dose of irony for Buffalo Sabre fans when considering Giguere’s feat. Buffalo is 5-0 against the Leafs this year, including a shutout win back in November.  Meanwhile, the Sabres are 0-4 against the Senators.

Buffalo fell for the fourth consecutive time Saturday night. There is reason for concern that Sabre netminder, Ryan Miller, is in need of some rest. The timing is poor considering Miller will be between the pipes for Team USA in the upcoming Olympics. Buffalo currently sits in third place in the conference with a 12-point buffer from the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Sabres schedule after the Olympics is less than kind – at Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, and at the Rangers in the first week of March.

Did any other Sabre fans just gulp?

Kobe passes West

With 44 points Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, Kobe Bryant passed Jerry West on the all-time Laker scoring list. There was some rumblings from Pau Gasol and Phil Jackson that this was not exactly a happy occasion. The two expressed relief in putting the record behind them, so they could focus on team pursuits. This wouldn’t be the first time Kobe put self in front of the team

Maybe I need my antenna adjusted, but I am having a difficult time putting Kobe ahead of Mr. Clutch on my personal pantheon of NBA greats. Okay, Kobe has 25,246 points as opposed to West’s 25,192. It’s important to note that West played 932 games. Kobe has suited up for 999. Something tells me points were more difficult to come by in West’s time. Certainly, money was a lot more difficult when West made his way. I’m thinking Jerry was not afforded as much time to train in the off-season. He probably needed to work jobs to make ends meet.

Nonetheless, I still love the Kobe commercials. Did I mention that already?

Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images

Measure of an MVP

We are about  to find out the value of Chris Paul. The Hornets’ point guard is out for a month, and the team is already two games out of the playoffs. It does not look good for the Cajun Kings.

Props to Hornets for pulling out the Mardi Gras home colors – nice touch.

Much ado about Phil

Scott McCarron apologized. Phil Mickelson accepted. And a wedge has been put in the bag.

I’m still scratching my head.

McCarron accused Mickelson of gaining an unfair advantage with a club that other tour members use.

I’m not even going to pretend that I know much about golf, but the USGA only allows Ping wedges made prior to 1990?

1990?

Am I wrong in suggesting that there have been some significant advancements in the technology of golf equipment since 1990?

Terry loses the ‘C’

No one knows what goes behind closed doors, and soccer proved golf is not alone in sex scandals.

England’s coach, Fabio Capello, announced this week that John Terry has lost his team captaincy. This after allegations became public of Terry’s affair with teammate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend.

The situation increased on the weird scale when it unearthed a scandal within the U.S. team from over a decade ago. Now we find out why John Harkes was cut from the 1998 U.S. team: he had an affair with Eric Wynalda’s wife.

Ya just never know.

Winter Olympics anyone?

Who’s looking forward to the Games? I know I will make time to watch the athletes. Time for a confession: I enjoy curling. I know it’s crazy, but there is something hypnotic about it.

Got any rebounds and putbacks? Post them here.

AP Photo/Matt York

By Paul Gotham

Just another night at the office

Steve Nash’s numbers on Christmas Day: 14 pts. on 6-10 shooting from the field/ 1-1 from the free throw line and 1-3 from the arc. To go with those points, Nash accumulated eight assists.

The final number should not be overlooked. With eight, Nash had more assists than baskets made.

Phoenix defeated the lowly Clippers 124-93 on Christmas night.

Getting more assists than baskets is a familiar situation for the Sun point guard.  Against Oklahoma City on the 23rd, Nash went 10-17 from the field with 12 assists. Two nights earlier, the Santa Clara grad finished 7-13 against the Cavs with 10 assists.  Nash dished out 15 assists versus the Wizards going 6-12.

Nash has 7,852 career assists with 5,074 field goals.

It can be argued that Nash has more field goal attempts than assists. Imagine if the NBA kepth track of assist attempts. How many lay ups does Nash provide for teammates that go unfinished? Better yet, how many shots does Nash provide where a foul and miss occurs?

Is there any coincidence Phoenix leads the league in scoring? Nash is an old school point guard who thinks pass first and shot second.

Go figure

Pittsburgh’s Penguins rank number one in the NHL with 26 wins. The Penguins’ 121 goals rank third in the league. Sidney Crosby with 22 goals and 24 assists is fifth in the league with 46 points.

Despite those impressive offensive numbers, Pittsburgh ranks dead last in power play efficiency. Pittsburgh has had 169 power play opportunities (more than any team in the league). The Penguins have connected on only 26 of those chances – or 15.4 per cent of the time – 30th in the league.

Miller for MVP

How much longer before Buffalo’s Ryan Miller is mentioned in the MVP conversation? The Sabre netminder has made 913 saves out of 976 opportunities for a league-leading save percentage of .935 per cent.  Miller is second in the league with 4 shut outs (Ilya Bryzgalov leads with 5). Miller’s 1.98 goals against average is second only to Boston’s Tuuka Rask. Rask has played 17 fewer games than Miller.

Don’t hold your breath

USC’s Joe McKnight is under investigation for the use of an SUV. Anyone wonder how long the inquisition will take? After all, we are still waiting for a decision on Reggie Bush.

McKnight. Bush. OJ Mayo. Matt Leinart. Who is the USC compliance officer? How much is that person making? I am about ready to apply for the job.

Timing is everything

Someone please explain why Urban Meyer had to come out and announce he was stepping down over a week BEFORE the Sugar Bowl. Why not wait until after the game? And now Meyer has already changed his mind? Geez. Who is he taking lessons from? Bobby Cremins? Or Brett Favre? Or both?

Forecast calls for…

SNOW in Boston on Friday. Should be a great day for an outdoor hockey game. Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

Anyone have a rebound and putback? Post them here.

By Paul Gotham

What a week of sports action. We have a number of performances with which to choose. Step right up readers and give us the one (1), uno, une performance that stands out for you this past week.

Ryan Miller grabs my POTW.

When the Washington Capitals came to town Thursday night, they brought with them a league-high 108 goals and Alex Ovechkin – the league’s second leading scorer.

Miller and the Sabres gave the Capitals nothing in a 3-0 triumph.  The Sabre net-minder made 35 saves including 13 in the third period for his fourth shutout of the season and 16th of his career. Miller made a pair of spectacular saves in the final stanza. First, he took away an open-net opportunity from Brendan Morrison. Miller also gloved a Niklas Backstrom shot with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Miller’s four shutouts tie him for the lead league. The native of East Lansing, Michigan also leads the league in goals against (1.83) and save percentage (.939).

Nathan Gerbe notched his first career NHL goal. Steve Montador and Henrik Tallinder added tallies as the Sabres halted the Caps’ six-game winning streak. The shutout was the first in eleven months for Washington.

Who gets your POTW?