the 4th star

This past summer has been all about the money. There was the unrestricted free agent *frenzy.* That was around the same time the Phoenix Coyotes financial problems came into the spotlight, when BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie threw his two cents into the fray and the league kept talking out of both sides of its mouth. You know, the place they seem reluctant to put their money in.

Screwed up contracts — both legitimate Chicago fuck-ups and the over-spending variety — became commonplace, and some players decided to gamble on the bigger payday in Russia. Terms like “escrow” and “cap numbers” came to be a part of the conversation, too. Then there was even more change — and even less sense — from Patrick Kane, who allegedly tag-teamed a Buffalo cab driver with his cousin over 20 cents.

It seems talk of climbing out of this recession has put money on the mind and our mind on the money, so in the spirit of cash, let’s take a look at all 21 teams 30 teams as training camps get set to fire up this month. Like most financial ventures, some teams will offer a greater return than others.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Central Division
2008-09 record: 46-24-12, second in the division, fourth in the conference
Cap space: $0.456 million

Tip sheet:
Dirk Graham’s hat-trick in the ’92 final in Chicago — I’ve never seen more hats hit the ice…Sticking with Graham, I believe MasterClark has a dining story about the former ‘Hawks captain. Maybe he’ll enlighten us in the comments…If Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews keeps living up to the hype, he’ll one day have a bowling alley named after him…Remember how shitty Joe Murphy was?

Fun fact:
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville has replaced St. Louis president John Davidson as the guy who most looks like my father.

You should really invest in this club because…
The offence. Kaboom! Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa are just the start. Patrick Sharp? What about Kris Versteeg? Hey, that Andrew Ladd scores some big goals, doesn’t he? I haven’t even mentioned the defence, which loves to jump up at the first sign of having their plus minus go up.

The bottom will fall out with…
Cristobal Huet. Prediction: The Hawks bring in a new netminder before December.

Key acquisition:
Hossa. A sniper like No. 81 is an upgrade over Martin Havlat, no matter how you slice it.

Bottom line:
In the playoffs for the next 10 years. Goaltending pending, of course.

Just got back from the lake. Lots to get into following another Winnipeg Blue Bombers loss, but instead I’m going to let ET’s description of what might be the perfect summation to this season do all the talking. Just when you think you’ve seen it all this season. How do you screw up a coin toss? Easy. It’s called attention to detail.

The trouble for the Bombers actually began not long after the national anthem was belted out and before the opening kickoff when there was some confusion on the coin toss. The Bombers lost the toss and the Riders deferred to the second half so they could have a gusting wind at their backs in the fourth quarter. But somehow, some way Winnipeg not only had to kick off to open the game, but had the wind, too.

Head coach Mike Kelly and quarterback Michael Bishop raced across the field to speak to referee Glen Johnson about the confusion, but the decision wasn’t reversed.

“I’m not going to talk about the officials in the league,” said Kelly afterward. “We’ll just leave it at ‘semantics’ and leave it at that.”

Asked if there was a mix-up, Kelly said: “Se-man-tics. Yes. Next question.”

At least everyone was wearing white socks. Right before Labour Day, too.

Simply put, semantics is the study of meaning; a term often used in ordinary language to denote a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or implication. Like when someone says they want the wind in the second quarter, an official might assume that a head-strong coach who takes everything as an opportunity to be combative ‘wants’ the wind in the second quarter — like it’s a challenge or an obstacle that must be overcome.

“We want that wind in the second quarter! Yeah! Bring it on, wind. Is that all you got?”

Semantics. You know, like they do in Philly.