Stewart: Blockbuster Bruins Trade, A Red Sox Ace And Fantasy Booking For 2015
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's a New Year and time for a new challenge.
As a point of reference, I've not written in more than 140 characters since I was "Behind the Glass" with Michael Berger.
What I Think Will Happen In 2015
The Patriots will beat the Dallas Cowboys in Arizona on Sunday, Feb. 1 in the final game of the NFL season. Darrelle Revis will be the MVP of the game and the Patriots will sign him to a long-term contract that will make him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. The Revis contract extension won't be without drama, but in the end it gets done.
The Red Sox will get an ace, his name is Jordan Zimmerman. Much to my dismay, the Red Sox are NOT going to acquire Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox. From all that I read, Zimmerman can be had via trade. If the Red Sox don't get him for this upcoming season, he'll be a prime target for the team following the 2015 baseball season. His annual salary will likely be between $23 million and $27 million.
I expect the Bruins to announce that they will be hosting the Winter Classic in Foxboro against the New York Rangers.
CM Punk will win his first UFC fight in Chicago this fall.
Beyond the Blue Paint
The Bruins need to do what it takes to get Taylor Hall wearing an eight-spoked B. Hockey people who are much smarter than I don't think it will happen, but come over to the water cooler and let's gossip about it.
Taylor Hall checks a lot of the need boxes for the local hockey team.
He's a goal scorer. Some PHWA members think he would score 40 in Boston. I don't buy that, but 30 would be good by my standards. He's a physical player and he's a player the Bruins can market. He plays the Bruins style.
We don't know how good or bad Hall is in his own zone, considering he's playing in Edmonton with younger players. His defensive awareness is hard to rate. He's a career minus-28.
I would consider this deal:
Traded to Boston: Taylor Hall, Boyd Gordon, Andrew Ference, Darnell Nurse
Traded to Edmonton: Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly, Dougie Hamilton, Malcolm Subban
Yup, that deal hurts, but if you want a front-line player, you have to give up something that hurts. This is real life, not NHL 15 where you can change the trade setting to easy just so you can load up your team.
For the record, NO, they're NOT trading Tuukka Rask for Taylor Hall. Nor do I want them to make that deal.
Rask is a top NHL goalie. Is he an elite goaltender? Yes, he is elite. If you're an NHL team with an elite goaltender, you don't trade him.
During the 2013 Bruins playoff run, he didn't make the game in, game out, jaw-dropping, breathtaking saves, but he was at the top of his game.
He played 22 games, posting a .940 save percentage and 1.88 goals-against average.
In the four-game sweep against Pittsburgh, two goals got past him on 136 shots.
TWO!
Brandon Sutter and Chris Kuntiz are the Penguins who get to brag about that. It's one series but a .985 save percentage against that season's No. 1 scoring team screams elite.
Here are my "Elite" goaltender power rankings:
1. Jonathan Quick
2. Pekka Rinne
3. Tuukka Rask
4. Carey Price
5. Henrik Lundqvist
6. Sergei Bobrovsky
Rankings subject to change at any time.
One final Bruins opinion: I believe that Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic were given the night off against Detroit as a test to see how the team would react. The test of the team really began in Columbus.
Claude on NESN after the game in Columbus said he sent Bergeron to the room during the game.
Here is the transcript:
Jack Edwards: "We didn't see Patrice Bergeron on the bench for most of the last third of the third period. Was he held out partly because of the nature of the score or was there a precaution involved?"
Claude Julien: "No, nature of the score, I sent him to the room myself."
Fantasy Booker
I contend that the Wrestlemania 31 main event should be Seth Rollins defending and retaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Here's the outline for how the WWE can get there:
John Cena beats Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble to capture his 16th championship and get his second win against Brock since his return from UFC.
During the Cena celebration, Seth Rollins comes out and successfully cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.
Roman Reigns wins the Royal Rumble and for the moment is set for a one on one match against Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania 31.
John Cena and Brock Lesnar both have reasons to be given a rematch for the WWE Championship and are put into the Wrestlemania 31 main event as challengers.
The main event in San Francisco would be a four-way elimination match for the WWE Championship with Rollins defending against Cena, Brock and Reigns.
Reigns pins Cena ...
Reigns taps out Brock ...
Rollins flash pins Reigns ...
The finishes within the match keep Roman Reignns strong while Seth Rollins retains the WWE Championship on a screwy pin of Reigns, beginning the real pursuit of the WWE Championship for Reigns. The chase would end at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas.
It's been the year of Seth Rollins and he has earned the right to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at the end of Wrestlemania 31.
In closing
I'm told the way success works on the Internet is pageviews, so if you find this particular story page interesting, you'll read it, share it and anticipate me typing the next one.
When will that next one be? When I feel the passion to put fingers to the keyboard and type into a Word document.
Sports is about passion, watching sports is my passion, and my hope is you'll feel my passion through the words that I type.
I'm part of the 11 percent of the world that is on Twitter. Feel free to tweet me @IAmJamesStewart.
"Have a nice day! Bang! Bang!"
James Stewart is the executive producer of the Felger and Massarotti Show, which airs 2-6 p.m. on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
