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The Daily 3: The 'We're not all this exciting' edition

FELDY: I usually hate it when sports reporters, and newspaper/TV/radio reporters in general, become the story rather than the ones telling it. But two of the three D3 items today are about sports reporters becoming the story. The No. 3 item doesn't really fit, but we can't expect three sports reporters to make news in one day can we?

3. Kenechi Udeze to hang up the cleats. That Kenechi Udeze even was able to come close to returning to the NFL is an amazing story. That he apparently has ended his comeback and decided to retire shouldn't be a sad day; his battle with lukemia and his recovery from it, should be celebrated.

2. Mets reporter called out by GM. New York Daily News sports reporter Adam Rubin showed up at the Mets brand new CitiField on MOnday expecting to report on a press conference where GM Omar Minaya was going to fire Mets vice president of baseball operations Tony Bernezard. Instead, Rubin ended up being the subject most talked about after the press conference. Rubin wrote more than one story leading up to Bernazard's dismissal, detailing how overbearing and rude Bernazard was to Mets employees, players and minor-leaguers. Minaya claimed that Rubin was trying to bad-mouth Bernazard in order to get his foot in the door for a front-office job with the Mets. ... It didn't take long for other New York reporters and columnists to take the gloves off and commence bashing of Minaya. Such as this one. This one is quite entertaining. Tuesday, Rubin explained his side and made Minaya look even dumber or dumberer.

1. New Hampshire sports writer ran prostitution ring. I can guarantee you most sports reporters aren't smart enough to even think of something like this. But, the good news is, it looks like a job covering an American Hockey League team will be opening up at the New Hampshire Union Leader! Just kidding, boss. I like it here. And I know nothing about running a prostitution ring.

The Daily 3: The 'All Favre, all the time' edition

FELDY: Anything newsworthy happen with the Vikings QB situation in the past 24 hours? ... Let's get Brett Favre out of the way today and not come back to him until Week 4, when Sage and T-Jack are both hurt, and Bretty comes riding in to save the day. My goodness, listening to some Vikings fans, you'd think this is worse news than "Gary Anderson wide right."

I laid my thoughts out on the whole situation in today's P-B. I'll link to the column once it's posted to our Web site. I basically wrote that it's time for the Vikings to cut ties with Favre. If he calls in three weeks, Chili shouldn't bother listening. What I didn't put in print, though, is the possibility of injury to Sage Rosenfels and/or Tarvaris Jackson. Would I want Bretty in that case? Absolutely, because he's darn sure better than the current No. 4 on the Vikings roster.

Today's D3 is dedicated entirely to King Cheese, in hopes that I won't have to write his name again this year when it relates to the Vikings. After reading a ton of Favre-related opinion columns and articles today, here are three goodies:

3. According to the know-it-all sports editor of the Green Bay Press Gazette, the Vikings might as well just fold up shop and hand the NFC North to the Packers or Bears or Lions. Because now the Purple has tweedledee and tweedledum at QB. ... Yes, Mr. Vandermause, you should rip our QB situation because that Aaron Rodgers-led 6-10 season last year was pretty spectacular.

2. ESPN.com's Jeffrey Chadiha is right that Favre's decision was ill-timed, but he's wrong in thinking that Favre turning down the Vikings has left coach Brad Childress in a tough situation. Football is a business and Jackson and Rosenfels just have to accept that Childress was trying to make the team better. Now that Favre has said no, put whatever hurt feelings they might have aside and play football. They have each other to worry about now, because they're battling for a starting job.

1. As always, the wittiest columnist in the Twin Cities sums up the whole Favre fiasco/situation/mess ... whatever you want to call it. My favorite line: Going from Favre to Jackson or Rosenfels is like going from filet mignon to turkey jerkey. 

Colin Stuart on the move again

FELDY: Rochester's Colin Stuart has been traded again. After being dealt from Atlanta to Toronto on the opening day of the free-agent signing period (July 1), Stuart was shipped away from the Maple Leafs organization on Monday, but he's staying in Canada.

Stuart, 27, defenseman Anton Stralman and the Leafs' 7th round pick in 2012 were sent to Calgary in exchange for F Wayne Primeau and Calgary's 2nd round pick in 2011.

Here is the official announcement from the Flames' Web site.

An article in the Calgary Herald indicates that the deal was made in large part so the Flames could trim their payroll by shedding Primeau's $1.4 million salary this season, just a month after getting rid of Jim Vandermeer's $2.3 million hit this season. Vandermeer was traded to Phoenix in a draft-day deal.

Stuart was quoted in the Calgary Herald article as saying he is "surprised, to say the least."

"I don't think anyone expects to get traded, especially twice in the same month. ... I had been hearing more and more about (being in the Leafs' plans). Then, sure enough, I'm heading to Calgary."

Stuart's odds of landing a roster spot in Calgary are good. Helping his cause is that he's on a one-way contract, which means he gets his $500,000 salary whether he's playing in the NHL or with the Flames' AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, B.C.

"Obviously, there's no promises with any franchise," Stuart told the Calgary paper. "I'm going to show up with one goal in mind, and that's to stay in Calgary."

Here is the complete article from the Calgary Herald.

The Flames meet Boston just once this season, which would be a meeting of brothers, as Colin's brother Mark is a defenseman for the Bruins. That game is scheduled for Saturday, March 27, at Noon Central Time, at Boston.

If Stuart snags a roster spot with the Flames, that means he's playing in the same division as the Minnesota Wild, so his hometown fans can finally see him play close to home, in person. In a bit of a scheduling quirk, though, the Flames and Wild play just once before the calendar flips to 2010. Here are the scheduled meetings between Calgary and Minnesota this season:

(All times are Central):
Friday, Dec. 11, at Calgary (8 p.m.)
Wed., Jan. 6, at Minnesota (7 p.m.)
Wed., March 3, at Calgary (7 p.m.)
Sunday, March 7, at Minnesota (2 p.m.)
Sunday, March 21, at Minnesota (2 p.m.)
Thursday, April 8, at Calgary (6:30 p.m.)

The Daily 3: The 'non-sports sports sports' edition

FELDY: Since it's a relatively slow sports time for the next few days, I thought I'd search the news wires a bit, and there are a few things that I just can't believe didn't happen in Sconnie.

3. I know a lot of guys think it's funny to refer to a snake in their pants, but this dude in Connecticut was actually driving with TWO SNAKES in his pants pockets.

2. I've always thought it would be cool to drive a monster truck, but I've never really had the desire to get struck by one, nor to have it bury me in mud.

1. I guess if you're going to get car-jacked, this is the way to have it happen. At least for the guys out there.

The Daily 3: The 'Time to go camping' edition

FELDY: It's 9:10 a.m., is it nap time yet? For all my fellow "Office Space" fans, I think I have a case of the Mondays. ... The good news is that football season is finally here! Some teams have opened training camp already, while all four NFC North teams open late this week. The Vikings, Bears and Lions are set to hold their first practices on Friday, while the Packers will open on Saturday. So how about an all-NFC North D3 today?

3. Should the Lions throw Matthew Stafford into the fire? Considering that their next best option is Daunte Culpepper, the answer might be a resounding "yes." But, I didn't think Daunte was as bad the past two seasons (first in Oakland, then in Detroit) as everyone else seemed to think. Sure, he looks like he's on the Pat Williams diet plan, but Culpepper still moved fairly well for weighing 280 (or maybe 290 ...or maybe 300?). And he still throws a decent ball. I know the Lions have a new head coach who probably wants to make a splash, but he should let Stafford sit for a season, learn about life in the NFL, then step in as the starter in Year 2, or maybe late this season. Yes, the Falcons turned things around last year with Matt Ryan (ditto for the Ravens and Joe Flacco), but this is the Lions we're talking about. Stafford --nor any QB for that matter -- is not going to take this team from 0-16 to the playoffs in one season.

2. While we're on the subject of that disastrous Lions team, its head coach, Rod Marinelli, is now the defensive line/assistant head coach with the Chicago Bears. That should make Bears fans feel better. The addition of QB Jay Cutler is a nice one, but I still wonder who is he going to throw it to? RB Matt Forte is a very good pass-catcher, but how long can you rely on your top RB to be your top receiver? Young TE Greg Olsen might also fill this role, but let's be honest, did the Bears make a whopper of a trade for Cutler so he could throw to his tight end all day? That's what they had Kyle Orton for. The Bears have just two receivers -- Devin Hester and Rashied Davis -- who have more than 7 career NFL receptions. Of course, if the defense struggles, it may not matter who Cutler is throwing to.

1. Is moving Kampman good for Green Bay. I had forgotten about this (I try to forget everything Packers related during the offseason), but Green Bay is making a rather dramatic shift on defense this year. With the addition of new defensive coordinator Dom Capers, the Packers are going to a 3-4 defense. That means star defensive end Aaron Kampman will become an outside linebacker. I know there a handful of Packers rubes who read Faceoff, and I'd like to know what green and gold-bleeding rubes think about the 3-4 and Kampman switching spots. I mean, why move a guy who has become one of the premier hand-on-the-ground players in the NFL? Seems like a bit of a gamble, considering Kampman is just 29 and he's in the last year of his contract.

Lampman singing the Blues

FELDY: Rochester native Bryce Lampman is celebrating his return to a NHL organization in style this weekend. I caught Lampman on his cell phone this afternoon while he was at his lake place taking a cruise on his boat.

Lampman signed with the St. Louis Blues on Friday. After a bad leg injury limited him to nine games in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League last season, Lampman put a lot of thought into where he wanted to play this coming season. He said he told his agent a couple weeks ago to put the word out to NHL teams that he was interested in coming back to play in the U.S. and the Blues were the first organization to call.

Lampman said it wasn't an easy decision to make another run at the NHL because he loved playing in Russia. He said the KHL pays as well if not better than the NHL, and the caliber of play there was also on-par with the NHL. But this is the first time he has been able to pick his place to play in the NHL as an unrestricted free agent, something he said felt extremely good. "I can't wait to get to camp," he said. 

Signing with St. Louis came down basically to two things: 1. Lampman said he really wants a shot at sticking with an NHL team (he's played 10 games in the NHL during his career), and the Blues offer a great chance for that, and 2. "Russia is really a long way from home."

St. Louis isn't loaded with superstar defesemen, so Lampman -- a versatile player who goes 6-feet-1, 200 pound -- will hopefully be given a legitimate shot to make the big club during camp. And St. Louis captain and top defenseman, Eric Brewer, is battling a nerve problem in his leg and may not be ready for the start of the regular season.

Here is a link to the Blues' roster.

Here is a link to the Blues' schedule.

It won't hurt that Blues President of Hockey Operations John Davidson knows Lampman having watched him play in the New York Rangers system. Davidson was a color analyst for MSG Network while Lampman was with the Rangers organization.

There are a few Minnesota connections on the Blues' roster, too. Second-year defenseman Erik Johnson is a Bloomington native who played one season for the Gophers. Forward David Backes played at Spring Lake Park High School, then spent three seasons at MSU, Mankato; and young forward T.J. Oshie led Warroad High School to a state Class A hockey championship in 2005 before spending three seasons at North Dakota.

If Lampman does not make the team out of camp, the Blues' AHL affiliate is in Peoria, Ill. And a heads-up; if Lampman makes the Blues roster, they play at the Xcel Energy Center against the Wild three times this year -- once in the preseason (Thursday, Sept. 24) and twice in the regular season (Saturday, Dec. 26 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 14 at 5 p.m.).

Pro Hockey: Lampman will decide soon where he'll play in 09-10

FELDY: Rochester's Bryce Lampman will likely decide within a few days as to where he will play his pro hockey next season. Lampman played in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League last season, but was injured early in the preseason and missed most of the year. He returned and played the final 9 games for Khabarovsk Amur.

KHL teams aren't afraid to spend money -- the Moscow Dynamo lured Detroit Red Wings star Jiri Hudler away earlier this month -- so it wouldn't be surprising to see Lampman head back to Russia.

That said, if he can find the right situation with an NHL team -- a team that will give him a legitimate chance, rather than push him to the side because another player makes more dough -- I'm sure he'd love to stay in the U.S. (or Canada, for that matter). Just throwing some NHL teams out there that seem to need defensemen -- might Ottawa, Vancouver or St. Louis be a good fit?

Lampman, a defenseman, has played in 10 NHL games in his career, all with the New York Rangers (8 in 2003-04, 1 each in 2005-06 and 06-07). He also has played all or parts of five seasons in the American Hockey League, with top affiliates of NHL clubs. He has 26 career goals and 71 career assists in AHL play.

Lampman played three seasons in the USHL (one and a half for the Rochester Mustangs) and one at the University of Nebraska-Omaha before moving on to the pro ranks.

New Hawks: Whitney, Weber

FELDY: The Rochester Ice Hawks' 2009-10 roster is forming up nicely. One of the biggest concerns for Hawks fans (and coaches, quite honestly) was what they were going to do to address all the defensemen who aged out after last season. Those worries really shouldn't exist anymore.

Two more Rochester Mayo grads will turn in the green and gold of Mayo for the red and black of the Ice Hawks this fall. Defenseman Rick Weber and forward Alex Whitney were introduced as the newest Ice Hawks at a press conference on Thursday afternoon at the Rec Center.

And a quick side-note, because as a fan I'm always interested in this kind of stuff: Whitney will wear No. 16, the same number he wore at Mayo. Weber will wear No. 19, wore last year by captain Jay Gorman. Big skates to fill for Weber!

Hawks coach Nick Fatis said Weber projects as a top-two defenseman, in the mold of Bryce Stevens. I probably don't need to tell Hawks fans how big of a compliment that is. And Weber (13-44--57 career points at Mayo) is humble about it all, telling me that he "has to go out and prove to myself and the coaches that I am that top-2 guy." 

If you watched any of last weekend's Ice Hawks tryout camp scrimmages, you saw how effective new d-man Dan McCamey was on both ends of the ice. To be able to send a tremendous two-way d-man like Weber out there, either with McCamey, or in a different pairing, is going to make it difficult for Hawks opponents to get good shots off. 

Weber wasn't at last weekend's tryout camp at the Rec because he was finishing up an NAHL tryout with the Southern Minnesota Express in Owatonna. The coaches there wanted Weber, but only as a 7th or 8th defenseman, which means he would rarely have even dressed for a game. 

For any of you Hawks fans who didn't have the chance to watch Mayo play over the past couple of seasons, you'll really enjoy watching Weber. He stepped up and played forward for the second half of last season because Mayo was searching for some offensive support. He transitioned flawlessly and ended up as the team's fourth-leading scorer. Fatis likes that Weber has that versatility, but he is so strong on the blue line, that he'll stay there as a No. 1 or No. 2 guy.

I think Fatis put it best when asked about Whitney. Fatis noted that, yes, Whitney is an extremely talented offensive player and play-maker, but what often got overlooked was the work he put in on the other end of the ice. He's willing to backcheck; he's willing to play physical hockey; and he's willing to learn and get better.

Whitney had 106 career points at Mayo, including 55 last season, when he was named honorable mention All-State.

More on both of these guys in tomorrow's P-B.

The D3: The 'Hockey, hockey, hockey' edition

FELDY: Since the Twins are pretty much making me ill and Vikings talk will heat up next week, if not today or tomorrow (and Phersy and I talked Purple in today's print version of Faceoff), I'm devoting today's D3 entirely to my favorite sport. Let's talk some puck ...

3. Five from Minnesota to play in Hlinka Tournament. Five 17-year-olds from Minnesota will compete for Team USA in the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, Aug. 11-15, in Slovakia. A couple of them should be familiar to Rochester high school hockey fans -- forward Christian Isakson (6-3, 180) played for St. Thomas Academy and had a strong game when the Cadets beat Rochester Lourdes last winter. Another forward, Blaine's Nick Bjugstad, put on a show against Rochester Century in the first round of the state tournament back in March. Bjugstad (6-4, 193) is big, fast and has a tremendous shot. He'll be a big-time player for the Gophers as soon as he suits up. Isakson is also a Gophers recruit. Other Minnesotans who made the team for the Hlinka are F Kyle Rau of Eden Prairie, D Ben Marshall of Mahtomedi and G Zane Gothberg of Thief River Falls. Marshall is also a Gophers recruit; Gothberg has committed to North Dakota. The country's top 17-year-olds (which means, this time around, the top 1992-born players) who aren't with the US National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, play in the Hlinka Tournament each year.

2. Ice Hawks adding some players today. News conference. 1 p.m. Rec Center. Phersy's covering some Legion baseball playoffs today so yours truly will be at the Rec and I'll post here as soon as the press conference is done. I'm just speculating here, but I think one of the players we'll be introduced to today was not at the Ice Hawks open tryout camp last weekend. Again I haven't been told anything, but I think we'll see a defenseman from a Rochester school introduced as a new Hawk. I'll let you know as soon as I do (and as the Ice Hawks pipeline goes, I'm guessing most of Nest Nation already knows who the players are that will be introduced today).

1. Lots going on in college hockey. Phersy's head is spinning about this one: Troy Jutting gets a four-year contract extension at MSU, Mankato. The deal is worth more than $153,000 per year. Phersy's not too high about this one, considering the Mavs have struggled the past few years and haven't made it out of the first round of the WCHA playoffs in recent seasons and finished in eighth place in the league last year. Of course, Jutting faces some obvious recruiting obstacles, with some beautiful new rinks popping up around the WCHA. "Troy has continued to outperform the resources we provide," MSUM AD Kevin Buisman said. ... North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol didn't take long to punish junior F Matt Frattin for the spring cleaning job he and former Sioux Joe Finley did on a garage in Grand Forks. Frattin, the team's third-leading scorer as a sophomore last season, will miss at least the team's first two games and is having his scholarship money reduced. Take this one to the bank, though: Frattin's suspension won't last longer than two games. The Gophers roll into Grand Forks for the Sioux's third and fourth games of the season. ... Elsewhere in the WCHA, one Colorado team gets a big boost with the return of arguably the top defenseman in the country, while another Colorado school gets shunned by a high NHL draft pick who had committed there, but will now go to major juniors in Canada.

The two days in a row 3: Phersy says

PHERSY: Nah-nah-nah-boo-boo, I beat Feldy to the "Daily" 3 again today. He's going to stomp into the office any minute now and yell at me. Anyway, here goes nothing ...

No. 1 -- Yet another UND player arrested: Sorry Feldy, I had to put this one on the list (and I like it at No. 1). Ex-UND "star" (and by star, I mean the really tall kid who skated slow and played defense) Joe Finley was arrested at 3 a.m. Tuesday for "throwing so many objects from a residential garage that traffic had to be halted." Read the rest of the story here ... it's a good one! Just typical activity from that UND program. They're starting to become college hockey's version of the Iowa Hawkeyes. I'm sure Feldy will come back with the "but there's nothing else to do in North Dakota" excuse. It's valid, of course. I guess the real question is ... who's next???

No. 2 -- Mike Vick is out of federal custody: Michael Vick is officially out of federal custody now. Vick is meeting with commish Roger Goodell in an attempt to be reinstated by the NFL. He'd like to play football again, hopefully this year. Now Feldy, I know you've been completely against Vick ever playing in the league again. But I'm wondering if you still take that stance? Feldy's a huge dog guy, and so am I. Still, I think Vick has served his time, and really, we can't ask for too much more. We can still choose to dislike him and detest what he did, but I think he should be allowed to play football again. Of course, that's going to be left up to Goodell. At least Vick's not Donte Stallworth, who drove drunk and killed a man (by the way, he served a fraction of the time Vick did, which is equally disgusting).

No. 3 -- Tom Watson would need an exemption to play in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine: Golf's feel-good story of the summer, Tom Watson, is not among the automatic qualifiers for next month's PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Watson would need an exemption from the PGA to get into the event. My question is ... should he receive one? I think most people would immediately snap back "Heck yes!! He was one shot away from winning the British Open." But personally, I don't think Watson should receive an exemption. Why? Because there is absolutely no chance he can contend at Hazeltine. The course is way, way too long for him, and the setup is brutal and favors the longer hitters. Yes, a short hitter like Rich Beem won the thing last time, but the course is even longer now. I think it would take a miracle for Watson to even make the cut, and as much as I love seeing him do well, I'd rather not watch him struggle on a course like Hazeltine. All that said, he'll probably get the invite. I'll be turning the other way. 

 

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FELDY: Geez, Phersy, quit stepping on my bit! Plus, you're supposed to count 'em down 3-2-1, so the top story's at the end. Build our reader's (yes, just one) excitement up as he prepares to see what's No. 1. Plus, two days in a row on Faceoff, Phersy! I'm impressed. I think this is the most consecutive days you've been on here since March!

 

1. Have you ever been to North Dakota, Phersy? There really is nothing else to do in non-puck season other than sit around with a cooler full of beer and talk about the price of sugar beets. Plus, don't link to the weak Star Tribune story, link to the story in the Grand Forks paper (it's right here), which actually makes this all even funnier. Finley might be the most recognizable person in the city, yet he told cops that he was someone else! That'd be like Randy Moss telling the traffic cop he ran over that he was really Ed McDaniel. Plus, we Sioux fans don't claim Finley as ours anyway. He was terrible most of the time at UND and he's a cake-eater from Edina. We know those kids do whatever they want anyway.

 

2. As for Vick, the fact that I'm a dog guy is only part of the reason I think Goodell should slap him with a steep penalty, maybe a one- or two-year ban from the league. I'll back off my ban-him-for-life stance because, yes, he has served his prison time. Still, Vick sat in a meeting with Goodell, face-to-face, before any of the charges against Vick became public, and lied to the NFL Commissioner. Goodell let Pacman Jones get away that crap too often. He can't let Vick get away with it. ... Also, when/if Vick does return to the NFL, who's going to want him? Who wants to deal with that PR nightmare? And if he ever ends up in purple, that's it for me. I'll find a new color jersey to wear. Or maybe I'll follow Denny Green and become a big UFL fan.

 

3. Agreed 100 percent with you, Phersy. If that had been any other golfer who lost in the playoff to Stewart Cink, there would be little to no clamoring for a PGA Championship exemption. Watson was a great story, but he can't hit the ball long enough to come close to winning at Hazeltine. And the way Rich Beem plays, I'll be shocked if he makes the cut.