Big Stars & Mental Health

Mental health is a big issues in today's world. Its not something that gets talked about as much as it should and its a sad trend. Well, there are some athletes in both the Olympics and in the Pro Sports game that are stepping up and stepping forward, bringing mental health to a brand new light. Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Robin Lehner are all taking a stand for mental health in recent days and its resonating in a big way with the fans and general public alike.

Lets start with the Olympic athletes first. Simone Biles, who is by far and away the best Gymnast on the planet, pulled out of the rest of the Olympic events due to mental health. This is a bit of a surprise to some but not to others when you really think about it. Simone has even said in press conferences that there's a lot of pressure on her to perform, because coming into the games she was labeled as the best at this sport. The pressure for her to live up to the hype, as they say, was a lot on her mentally. Physically, she said she has felt fine, but it was starting to take a bit of a mental toll on her.

Same argument can be made with Naomi Osaka. There was a lot of pressure on her as well. She lost her third round match at these Olympic games, in less than an hour on match time. This coming after withdrawing from Grand Slam events earlier this year to focus on Mental Health. She was, and is, considered the best in the game today and has been for a while now. Taking these kinds of steps is huge for all athletes, both amatur and professional.

Then there's Robin Lenher, the starting goalie of the Vegas Golden Knights. Earlier in the week, Vegas had traded Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago. This was a presumption by some fans that Lenher was going to be the number one goalie in Vegas. With that some people took shots at Lenher because of the move. Fans were attacking him and his mental health online after the Fleury trade.

Well hats off to Lehner for how he handled the whole things. This was his response on Twitter following the events: Hi. My name is Robin Lehner and I’m bipolar 1 and have ptsd. I take medicine and I have a psychiatrist that I talk to once a week. I’m in the NHL program and on top of that I’ve fought trough hell to be here. And I’m pretty good at stopping pucks. Not perfect. Bless you all (the exact tweet can be found here).

There is nothing more important than been in a good place mentally. It will lead to better things. Mentally and physically. If your not in a good place mentally, it does help to talk about it. Holding onto things like this is not healthy for anybody and could lead to bigger problems. The fact that these very high profile athletes are making a big statement on a big issue speaks volumes. It lets people know that even the big names out there, athlete or celebrity, are human just like everybody else and have problems just like everyone else. And they can take time away to deal with them just like everybody else.

Here's hoping this can lead to greater things in the area of mental health discussion.

NHL Schedules Released

It's that glorious time of the year once again. The National Hockey League has announced its schedule for the 2021-22 regular season. A lot to look forward to in the upcoming season as well. Tampa coming in as the two time defending cup champions and the debut of a new team in the league, the Seattle Kraken, is a big help. Before we get into the local action, here's a look at some of the big games for the rest of the league.

October 12th:
Penguins vs Lightning (Tampa raises cup banner)
Kraken vs Golden Knights (Seattle first game)

October 23rd:
Canucks vs Kraken (Seattle home opener)

December 7th:
Lightning vs Canadiens (Finals rematch)

January 1st:
Blues vs Wild (Winter Classic)

February 26th:
Lightning vs Predators (Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series)

Now for what we came here for. Here's the schedule for the locals.

October:
Oct 14 @ Carolina
Oct 16 @ Florida 
Oct 19 @ Chicago
Oct 21 @ Columbus
Oct 23 @ Arizona
Oct 24 @ Vegas
Oct 30 @ Nashville

November:
Nov 4 @ Montreal
Nov 6 @ Winnipeg
Nov 7 @ Minnesota
Nov 11 @ New Jersey
Nov 15 @ Tampa Bay
Nov 16 @ Florida
Nov 20 vs Calgary
Nov 21 vs Toronto
Nov 24 vs Rangers
Nov 26 vs Pittsburgh
Nov 28 @ Rangers
Nov 30 @ Philadelphia

December:
Dec 2 vs San Jose
Dec 4 @ Detroit
Dec 5 vs Chicago
Dec 7 @ Ottawa
Dec 9 vs Nashville
Dec 11 vs New Jersey
 Dec 14 @ Detroit
Dec 16 vs Boston
Dec 19 vs Vegas
Dec 20 vs Montreal
Dec 23 vs Washington
Dec 27 @ Buffalo
Dec 29 vs Detroit
Dec 30 vs Buffalo

January:
Jan 1 vs Edmonton
Jan 4 @ Seattle
Jan 5 @ Vancouver
Jan 8 @ Edmonton
Jan 11 @ Calgary
Jan 13 vs New Jersey
Jan 15 vs Washington
Jan 17 vs Philadelphia
Jan 18 vs Columbus
Jan 21 vs Arizona
Jan 22 @ Toronto
Jan 25 vs Philadelphia
Jan 27 vs Los Angeles
Jan 29 vs Seattle
Jan 30 vs Minnesota

February:
Feb 1 vs Ottawa
Feb 24 @ San Jose
Feb 26 @ Los Angeles
Feb 27 @ Anaheim 

March:
Mar 1 @ Colorado
Mar 3 vs Vancouver
Mar 5 vs St. Louis
Mar 7 vs Colorado
Mar 10 vs Pittsburgh
Mar 11 vs Winnipeg
Mar 13 vs Anaheim
Mar 15 @ Washington
Mar 19 vs Dallas
Mar 20 @ Philadelphia
Mar 22 vs Boston
Mar 24 vs Ottawa
Mar 26 @ Boston
Mar 27 vs Tampa Bay
Mar 29 @ Columbus
Mar 31 vs Columbus

April:
Apr 1 @ Rangers
Apr 3 @ New Jersey
Apr 5 @ Dallas
Apr 8 @ Carolina
Apr 9 @ St. Louis
Apr 14 @ Pittsburgh
Apr 15 @ Montreal
Apr 17 vs Toronto
Apr 19 vs Florida
Apr 21 vs Rangers 
Apr 23 @ Buffalo
Apr 24 vs Carolina
Apr 26 @ Washington
Apr 28 vs Tampa Bay

October:
Oct 13 @ Washington
Oct 14 vs Dallas
Oct 16 @ Montreal
Oct 18 @ Toronto
Oct 21 @ Nashville
Oct 23 @ Ottawa
Oct 25 vs Calgary
Oct 29 vs Columbus
Oct 31 @ Seattle

November:
Nov 2 @ Vancouver
Nov 5 @ Edmonton
Nov 6 @ Calgary
Nov 8 vs Florida
Nov 13 @ Columbus
Nov 14 vs New Jersey
Nov 16 vs Montreal
Nov 18 @ Toronto
Nov 20 @ Ottawa
Nov 21 vs Buffalo
Nov 24 @ Islanders
Nov 26 @ Boston
Nov 28 vs Islanders

December:
Dec 1 vs Philadelphia
Dec 3 vs San Jose
Dec 4 vs Chicago
Dec 7 @ Chicago
Dec 8 vs Colorado
Dec 10 @ Buffalo
Dec 12 vs Nashville
Dec 14 @ Colorado
Dec 15 @ Arizona
Dec 17 vs Vegas
Dec 22 vs Montreal
Dec 27 vs Detroit
Dec 29 @ Florida
Dec 31 @ Tampa Bay

January:
Jan 2 vs Tampa Bay
Jan 3 vs Edmonton
Jan 6 @ Vegas
Jan 8 @ Anaheim
Jan 10 @ Los Angeles
Jan 13 @ San Jose
Jan 15 @ Philadelphia
Jan 19 vs Toronto
Jan 21 @ Carolina
Jan 22 vs Arizona
Jan 24 vs Los Angeles
Jan 27 @ Columbus
Jan 28 vs Minnesota
Jan 30 vs Seattle

February
Feb 1 vs Florida
Feb 24 vs Washington
Feb 26 @ Pittsburgh
Feb 27 vs Vancouver

March:
Mar 2 vs St. Louis
Mar 4 vs New Jersey
Mar 6 @ Winnipeg
Mar 8 @ Minnesota
Mar 10 @ St. Louis
Mar 12 @ Dallas
Mar 15 vs Anaheim
Mar 19 @ Tampa Bay
Mar 20 @ Carolina
Mar 22 @ New Jersey
Mar 25 vs Pittsburgh
Mar 27 vs Buffalo
Mar 29 @ Pittsburgh
Mar 30 @ Detroit 

April:
Apr 1 vs Islanders
Apr 3 vs Philadelphia
Apr 5 @ New Jersey
Apr 7 vs Pittsburgh
Apr 9 vs Ottawa
Apr 12 vs Carolina
Apr 13 @ Philadelphia
Apr 16 vs Detroit
Apr 19 vs Winnipeg
Apr 21 @ Islanders
Apr 23 @ Boston
Apr 24 vs Boston
Apr 26 vs Carolina
Apr 29 vs Washington

October:
Oct 15 vs Chicago
Oct 19 vs Seattle
Oct 21 vs Washington
Oct 23 vs Buffalo
Oct 26 vs Calgary
Oct 30 @ Pittsburgh
Oct 31 vs Columbus

November:
Nov 2 @ Anaheim
Nov 5 @ Los Angeles
Nov 6 @ San Jose
Nov 9 vs Florida
Nov 11 vs Islanders
Nov 13 vs Boston
Nov 14 @ Rangers
Nov 16 vs Ottawa
Nov 18 @ Florida
Nov 20 @ Tampa Bay
Nov 24 vs Minnesota
Nov 26 @ Nashville
Nov 28 vs Philadelphia
Nov 30 vs San Jose 

December:
December 2nd @ Minnesota
Dec 3 @ Winnipeg
Dec 8 vs Philadelphia
Dec 10 vs Nashville
Dec 11 @ Islanders
Dec 14 @ Philadelphia
Dec 16 vs Vegas
Dec 18 @ Detroit
Dec 19 vs Pittsburgh
/Dec 21 @ Pittsburgh
Dec 23 vs Montreal
Dec 27 @ St. Louis
Dec 29 @ Buffalo
Dec 31 vs Edmonton

January:
Jan 2 @ Washington
Jan 4 @ Boston
Jan 6 vs Columbus
Jan 8 @ Columbus
Jan 10 vs Tampa Bay
Jan 13 @ Islanders
Jan 15 @ Montreal
Jan 17 @ Toronto
Jan 19 vs Arizona
Jan 22 vs Carolina
Jan 23 vs Los Angeles
Jan 25 vs Dallas
Jan 27 @ Tampa Bay
Jan 29 @ Carolina

February:
Feb 1 vs Toronto
Feb 24 vs Pittsburgh
Feb 25 @ Chicago
Feb 28 vs Vancouver

March:
Mar 1 @ Columbus
Mar 4 @ Rangers
Mar 6 vs St. Louis
Mar 8 vs Colorado
Mar 10 vs Winnipeg
Mar 12 vs Anaheim
Mar 15 @ Vancouver
Mar 16 @ Calgary
Mar 19 @ Edmonton
Mar 22 vs Rangers
Mar 23 @ Toronto
Mar 26 @ Washington
Mar 27 vs Montreal
Mar 31 @ Boston 

April:
Apr 3 vs Islanders
Apr 5 vs Rangers
Apr 7 @ Ottawa
Apr 9 @ Dallas
Apr 12 @ Arizona
Apr 14 @ Colorado
Apr 16 @ Seattle
Apr 18 @ Vegas
Apr 21 vs Buffalo
Apr 23 vs Carolina
Apr 24 vs Detroit
Apr 26 @ Ottawa
Apr 28 @ Carolina
Apr 29 vs Detroit

Kraken Roster

Hockey has hit the great Northwest in the United States. The National Hockey League has expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The puck will drop on October 12th in Vegas against the Golden Knights, and the home opener will take place on the 23rd against the Vancouver Canucks. In order to get a team on the ice, the Kraken need players. They had their expansion draft to get a team together. They have done that.

Here's what the Kraken roster looks like, following the expansion draft. 

Goalies:
Joey Daccord, Chris Driedger, Vítek Vaněček

Defense:
Gavin Bayreuther, Will Borgen, Dennis Cholowski, Vince Dunn, Cale Fleury, Haydn Fleury, Mark Giordano, Adam Larsson, Jérémy Lauzon, Kurtis MacDermid, Jamie Oleksiak, Carson Soucy

Forwards:
Jared McCann, Mason Appleton, Colin Blackwell, Morgan Geekie, Luke Henman, Tyler Pitlick, John Quenneville, Alexander True, Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, Carsen Twarynski, Nathan Bastian,  Joonas Donskoi Jordan Eberle, Calle Järnkrok, Kole Lind

There's still more work to be done. General Manager Ron Francis and head coach Dave Hakstol have good talent here to work with and they have the draft as well next week. So lets see how well they can build from here.

Blue Man On The Move?

If you've followed the NHL over the last decade, you know that Vladimir Tarasenko is one of the best forwards in this league. When he's healthy (he's been dealing with shoulder issues the last couple of seasons but seems to be near his old self), he can be one of the biggest offensive threats in the game. Now it appears that the 29 year old forward might want out of St Louis.

He's submitted a list of ten possible teams that he would consider a trade to. The teams that are rumored to be on the list include the Rangers, Islanders, Golden Knights, Bruins and Flyers (who were just thrown into the mix earlier this week). Also on the list are the Lightning, Capitals and Panthers. Now the question is, where will he land?

From a local point of view, it might not look very good. The Islanders don't have much room to work with. Hey I'd love to see them pull it off but at the same time they would have to give up quite a bit to be able to snag him and make the finances work in their favor. They have three RFA's they need to get locked up in Pelech, Sorokin and Beauvillier. Cizikas is a free agent come the end of the month and I have a good feeling that Islanders management is going to want to get him locked up to a long term deal here pretty soon to keep the best 4th line in hockey together.

They would also have to dump off some major parts to the Blues if the Islanders want to pull the trigger on this. And lets not forget, the expansion draft. I'm sure Islander management (and Blues management for that matter) is going to want to wait to see what's going to come out of the expansion draft before they decide on whether or not they want to pull the trigger on a move.

Now over in Manhattan, there might be some hope to try and land the high scoring winger. This is, after all, owner James Dolan we're talking about here. He's got no problem finding a way to spend the money to make either one of his teams better. New GM Chris Drury shouldn't have any trouble at all being able to makes a move. And the prospect of being able to put him on a line with a guy like Artemi Panarin. Sure leaves one drooling a little.

Of course, there's also 31 other teams who could be on the lookout for a guy of his talent level. It all depends on if the right off comes along the Blues way.

AL Keeps Rolling

Seems like it has become a recurring thing over the last few years. Another all star game, another win for the American League. Yesterday's All Star Game from Denver went to the AL by a 5-2 score in a game that the AL pretty much dominated from start to finish.

It was a game that had a little bit of everything. Shohei Ohtani stealing the show at the start, becoming the first player in history to ever start the game as a pitcher and then lead off as the DH the bottom half of the inning. We saw two moon shot home runs from game MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Mike Zunino. There was great plays in the field by both sides and stellar pitching as well.

Vlad Jr managed to do something his dad never did, and that was win MVP of the midsummer classic. He is also the first Blue Jay ever to win the all star game MVP honors. It marks the first time that a first baseman has snagged the award since Eric Hosmer did it in 2016 while he was playing for Kansas City.

What we saw last night shows the level of star power in the game. It also shows the strangle hold that the American League has on the all star game. They've now won eight years in a row and twenty of the last twenty five games (one tie in 2002 in Milwaukee). This year is more for show than anything, but still the fact that the AL has dominated since the turn of the century in the way that it has is pretty amazing.

Title Remains In Tampa

The Stanley Cup. The holy grail for hockey and the oldest championship awarded among the major North American Sports. Winning it once is hard to do. Winning it in back to back seasons is even harder to pull off. That's what happened this year. The Tampa Bay Lightning captured hockey's holy grail for the second year in a row, this time defeating the Montreal Canadians in five games to capture the prize.

It was a total domination from start to finish by the Lightning. Yes, the Canadiens got the game four win on the overtime goal from Josh Anderson. Montreal, give credit where it's due for getting this far. They came back from down 3-1 to Toronto to pull off the upset. Then swept Winnipeg. Finally added to it by beating the second best team in the league in Vegas in a hard fought third round series. Montreal surprised a lot of people with what they did. Carey Price played amazing in net in the playoffs and carried the Habs to where they finished, so full credit is do to all in Montreal for what they did.

\Tampa was just the better team. The team got hot at the right time, they got healthy at the right time and took that wave of momentum all the way to the title. They got their best players, guys like Hedman, Stamkos, Kucherov and Vasilevskiy all at the top of their game and getting better as the playoffs went along. Now the question is, can they keep this group together for a shot at a third title next season?

Winning back to back is a very tough thing to do in sports in the modern era. Winning a third straight is going to be even harder given the current climate in sports. With a cap and all of that, keeping dynasty teams in tact is tougher then it was thirty or more years ago. Tampa management has been good at being able to keep this core group together and keep the Lightning in the mix over the last number of years. They have to find a way to do it again, in even tougher circumstances with the expansion draft in Seattle coming up.

But with it all going on last year and this year, the fact that the Bolts have come out on top in each of the last two seasons speaks volumes about the team and how well its run. Congratulations to the Lightning for their second straight championship win!

Play Like An All Star

Ah the midsummer classic. The collection of the best of the best in the game gather in the city of Denver this year for the All Star Game. We will have the best players from all teams gather in the mile high city to see which league is the best. Lets not waste any more time, here's what the rosters look like for both leagues.

National League: 
Starters:
Catcher: Buster Posey (Giants 7th)
1st Base: Freddie Freeman (Braves 5th)
2nd Base: Adam Frazier (Pirates 1st)
3rd Base: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals 6th)
Shortstop: Fernando Tatís Jr. (Padres 1st) 
Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves 2nd)
Outfield: Nicholas Castellanos (Reds 1st)
Outfield: Jesse Winker (Reds 1st)

Reserves:
Catcher: J. T. Realmuto Phillies 3rd)
1st Base: Max Muncy Dodgers 2nd)
2nd Base: Ozzie Albieses (Braves 2nd), Jake Cronenworth (Padres 1st)
3rd Base: Kris Bryant (Cubs 4th) Eduardo Escobar (Diamondbacks 1st)
Shortstop: Brandon Crawford (Giants 3rd) Trea, Turner (Nationals 1st)
Outfield: Mookie Betts (Dodgers 5th), Bryan Reynolds (Pirates 1st), Kyle Schwarber (Nationals 1st), Juan Soto (Nationals 1st), Chris Taylor (Dodgers 1st)

Pitchers:
Corbin Burnes (Brewers 1st), Yu Darvish (Padres 5th), Jacob deGrom (Mets 4th), Kevin Gausman (Giants 1st), Josh Hader (Brewers 3rd), Craig Kimbrel (Cubs 8th), Germán Márquez (Rockies 1st), Mark Melancon (Padres 4th), Alex Reyes (Cardinals 1st), Trevor Rogers (Marlins 1st), Zack Wheeler (Phillies 1st), Brandon Woodruff (Brewers 2nd).

American League:
Starters:
Catcher: Salvador Pérez (Royals 7th)
1st Base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays 1st)
2nd Base: Marcus Semien (Blue Jays 1st)
3rd Base: Rafael Devers (Red Sox 1st)
Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox 3rd)
Outfield: Mike Trout (Angels 9th)
Outfield: Aaron Judge (Yankees 3rd)
Outfield: Teoscar Hernández (Blue Jays 1st)
Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani (Angels 1st)

Reserves: 
Catcher: Mike Zunino (Rays 1st)
1st Base: Matt Olson Athletics 1st), Jared Walsh (Angels 1st)
2nd Base: José Altuve (Astros 7th)
3rd Base: José Ramírez (Indians 3rd)
Shortstop: Bo Bichette (Blue Jays 1st), Carlos Correa (Astros 2nd)
Outfield: Michael Brantley (Astros 5th), Joey Gallo (Rangers 2nd), Adolis García (Rangers 1st), Cedric Mullins (Orioles 1st)
Designated Hitter: Nelson Cruz (Twins 7th), J. D. Martinez (Red Sox 4th)

Pitchers:
Matt Barnes (Red Sox 1st), Shane Bieber (Indians 2nd), Aroldis Chapman (Yankees 7th), Gerrit Cole (Yankees 4th), Nathan Eovaldi (Red Sox 1sth), Kyle Gibson (Rangers 1st), Liam Hendriks (White Sox 2nd), Yusei Kikuchi (Mariners 1st), Lance Lynn (White Sox 2nd), Shohei Ohtani (Angels 1st), Ryan Pressly (Astros 2nd), Carlos Rodón (White Sox 1st), Gregory Soto (Tigers 1st)

So is there anybody that's gotten snubbed?