Bargains and busts…
On TSN tonight, there was an interesting second intermission during the Rangers vs Carolina game. Who are your ”bargains” and your ”busts” for the first quarter of this season?
I’ll make it a little different. You can choose players, teams, and you can even add good and bad coaches and Gms until now. In fact, let’s see for all of these categories. (Try to limit yourself to one or two bargains and busts per category). Also, for logical purposes, players on their first contracts (rookie contracts) don’t count!
Players :
Bargain : Chris Higgins (no he’s not on his rookie contract)
The guy has been injured for a couple weeks now but before that, Higgins had 8g, 5a for 13pts in 13gms. In addition, he has killed SH situations and scored 3SH goals, leader in the league! Not bad for a 0.672M guy!
Bust : Sergei Fedorov
6M to go totally unseen during this first quarter…although he did only play 12gms(3g, 4a 7pts), there is no reason why he isn’t amongst the top10-15 among scoring leaders especially since his wingers are young superstars Nash and Zherdev…he should be the leader for this team. Instead, he is quite a waste!
Teams :
Bargain : Washington Capitals
With a payroll at the minimum cap, the Washington Capitals are currently tied for the 8th spot in the east…who would’ve said the caps would’ve played for more than .500 after 20 games? Financially and on paper, they are the bargain and surprise until now!
Bust : Philadelphia Flyers
With all the big names the team has, they were supposed to be an offensive threat since the beginning of the season. Some predicted that they wouldn’t be that good but last of the east? I doubt anyone was waiting for that! A lot of disappointment in Philly!
Coaches/GMs :
Bargain : John Ferguson Jr. and Paul Maurice (Toronto Maple Leafs)
The weird part of this is that I am a Habs fan….and as much as I hate to admit this, these two have played their cards wonderfully until now since training camp with the results that Leafs are 4th in the East right now. They created a great mix of youngsters and veterans and it paid off.
Bust : Mike Barnett and Wayne Gretzky (Phoenix Coyotes)
With ”The Great One” behind the bench, everyone thought phoenix would at least become a decent team. Bad decisions during the summer turned into the results we know now on the ice for the coyotes. I know that Gretzky likes to work with his friends but if he wants to win, he’ll have to make some new ones!
So, who are your bargains and busts?