THE TIME IS NOW

BY MIKE RIFKIN

On Friday Night Smackdown Cody Rhodes defended the WWE Championship against Gunther with Sami Zayn as the guest referee. Eventually Gunther got frustrated and powerbombed Zayn, and then after that things went as you’d expect. Which has led to a triple threat match between Rhodes, Gunther and Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Night Of Champions. 

In my opinion there’s only one person that should win the match… Sami Zayn. Zayn, is the only person in the match to never be the World Champion, and while he’s had opportunities in the past, WWE has refused to pull the trigger on him winning the big one. If they have Zayn lose at Night Of Champions, I don’t see how people can view him as a threat for the title, unless he wins Money In The Bank or something. 

Zayn has won every other major title in WWE, this is the one he is missing. If Sami, were to win they could continue either story with Zayn vs Cody or Zayn vs Gunther and it would be compelling. Both Gunther and Rhodes will win the title again. The other reason for putting the title on Zayn would be who would take the title off of Rhodes? If they wanted it to be Gunther, they should have done that at Clash in Italy. If they were to go with whoever wins King Of The Ring between Oba Femi and Jey Uso (hopefully it’s Femi) Femi vs Roman Reigns sounds like a better match than Femi vs Rhodes. And if they were to have Uso win the KOTR, there’d be an interesting dynamic because of their history, but I didn’t love the first Jey title run. 

Sami Zayn needs to win the title, he’s earned it. I don’t even think it has to be a long run, but just based on Sami’s history and what he’s done in the wrestling industry, he deserves to be the WWE Champion.

WORLD CUP MENU AROUND THE WORLD

By MARK HALPERN

    When going to a sporting event you are not only going for the enjoyment to watch your team play. You are there celebrating with other fans outside and inside the venue. The moment you step into the venue the waft of many different aromas hit the nostrils. The smell of different foods from sweet to savory make the taste buds dance. When we have an event like the World Cup you’re going to be able to really sample many delicacies from other countries (sometimes more wild than you would think.) This is a sample of a few countries main attraction dish at the World cup games.

MEXICO CITY: Lets face it, in Mexico you could picture a lot of items being thrusted to the fore forefront from Tacos to Enchiladas. However, the main attraction is a Saffron-Infused Tostada. Saffron is a very expensive spice and usually harvested in Afghanistan brings a crunchy corn tostada topped with a golden Saffron infused sauce. 

Los Angeles: In California along the beach lines the different kinds of fish restaurants fill the air and it doesn’t surprise me that the main attraction in LA is a Pacific Salmon Ceviche. In a hollowed out lime you have a prime piece of Pacific Salmon with jalapeno and splash of craft beer. A quick and tasty appetizer.

Toronto: Toronto has cooked up a nice spicy bowl you can take to your seat. A Bison Briyani which is Bison in a rich broth with rice and usually south American flavors.

Miami: Leave it to a hot city like Miami to put out a really cool refreshment. It’s not a drink but, a Mango and Chili Ice Cream that has given a real latin flair in a cool sweet dish.

Seattle: Now this isn’t Baseball so there are no crickets here but, Seattle has brought a Korean staple to an American Classic. A Kimchi glazed Corn Dog. Usually found more at fairs and carnivals the Corn Dog is dipped is this yummy glaze and with just a hint of Gochujang.

    Food has a way of bringing more people together than tearing them apart and what a job each Country and venue has done.

WHAT A CULTURE

BY MARK HALPERN

        I have attended so many different sporting events in my life. No matter the event you attend there’s always a constant (outside of having fun). Every venue that I have gone to nobody ever heard of a garbage can. I won’t say I never left something but if I did, I am sorry. I had the pleasure of running a small minor league stadium that could hold just about 5,000 people back in 2019. The amount of trash a night that we cleaned up was mounds upon mounds. That’s nothing compared to newer stadiums, that seat almost 40 or 50,000 people.

     The World Cup is being held right now and one country has come prepared to show what it means for them to attend. A recent Match at AT&T stadium showed the Japanese cleaned after their team’s game. The Japanese are very prideful people and love to attend sporting events, (watch a Shohei Ohtani start.) The fans stayed and cleaned up all the garbage not from what they might have had but, went around and cleaned up after everyone else as well. The Japanese are brought up to respect the cleanliness of their country and want to show that respect to every country that host them for these events. 

   To me the WORLD should look at what has been transpired and this isn’t the first time. Since the World Baseball Classic every game that Japan played the fans cleaned. I humbly respect and raise my hat to such great respect.  TO THE JAPANESE DOMO ORIGATO

IT HAS HAPPENED

BY MIKE RIFKIN

For the first time in 53 years the New York Knicks won the NBA Championship. For the first time since 2012 there will be a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, and for the first time in my life (soon to be 33 years) I’ve witnessed one of my teams win a title. 

One of the things sports can do is be a distraction from things that go on in the real world. And for the last two months, for roughly about three hours watching the Knicks was a distraction from what is going on in the world. Now, I am not the biggest Basketball fan in the world, but this team was so damn fun and likeable. 

If you were to ask me when I was a kid who would be the first team I get to witness win a title that I genuinely rooted for the Knicks wouldn’t have been the choice. I’m not old enough to really remember the Patrick Ewing era, but what I do remember was the Knicks bringing in big names and most of the time it flopped. For most of my childhood the Knicks were a laughingstock. 

July 12th, 2022, is a day that changed the entire fortune of a franchise. Jalen Brunson signed with the team. And while talking heads and pundits could question the contract, all Brunson did was endear himself to New York. He left money on the table for the Knicks to make moves to surround him with great players. He got a few of his college teammates, and then they add OG Anunoby and Karl Anthony Towns. But what they did was not just win a Championship for a city that pined for one, they brought back something that I had never seen in my life, they brought a swagger to Madison Square Garden. 

When we look at MSG they always show the celebrities at the games. Whether it’s Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, Timothee Chalamet, etc… they’re always shown but at the end of the day they’re all New Yorkers and Knicks fans. Yes, it’s been 53 years since the Knicks won it all, but this championship unites the state of New York and when you see people celebrate in the streets, because in a world filled with chaos, the Knicks have given us joy. And whether you’re a celebrity or another fan we’re all New Yorkers and we’re all Knick fans at the end, and in a time where we talk about the “superteams” a real team won a title, and that’s pretty damn neat.

SEEING RED

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Rangers General Manager Chris Drury has a task in front of him this summer, he has to make the team competitive, also while restocking the farm system. The good news for Drury is he can do a bit of both as he has almost 27 million dollars in cap space along with 11 picks. He’ll have multiple picks in the first (2), third (4) and sixth (2) rounds of the draft. 

Early in the season the Rangers had a problem scoring goals, and it got harder after they traded Artemi Panarin to the Kings. For the season the Rangers averaged 2.87 goals per game. Chris Drury needs to take a swing this summer, and it has to hit. So far the big Drury swing was a miss, and no I’m not talking about the JT Miller trade, it’s when Drury didn’t make a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jake Guentzel. Reports surfaced that the Penguins wanted Kappo Kakko and Brennan Othmann from the Rangers in exchange for Guentzel. Drury didn’t make the deal and allowed Guentzel to go to Carolina, who has since moved him to Tampa. Guentzel is still a guy the Rangers could use, and with Kakko and Othmann out of the organization it looks even worse. 

Usually the Rangers would be aggressive in free agency, but this year’s group which was going to be filled with an abundance of talent has gone by the wayside. So instead of putting a lot of emphasis on a player like Alex Tuch, the Rangers can use some of their draft capital to swing a trade. The team they should be monitoring is the Detroit Red Wings, who just saw their captain Dylan Larkin request a trade. Now, Larkin, who did win an Olympic Gold Medal with Team USA, coached by Rangers coach Mike Sullivan would be a nice add, that’s not who the Rangers should inquire about. The Rangers should inquire about Alex DeBrincat, who scored 41 goals and had 85 points in 82 games. In fact DeBrincat has missed scoring 20 goals only one time in his career, and that was the Covid shortened 2019-2020 season. DeBrincat has one year left at 7.875 Million dollars. So the Rangers can eat the money, and potentially sign DeBrincat to an extension. DeBrincat will be 29 in December so he fits the timeline for the Rangers, and depending on what Steve Yzerman wants to do, this is a swing Chris Drury really should look into.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

BY MIKE RIFKIN

The Carolina Hurricanes evened the Stanley Cup Final at two games apiece with their 5-3 win over the Golden Knights on Tuesday. This has been an excellent Stanley Cup Final where no lead has been safe and both teams have shown their depth. Brandon Bussi was fantastic in game four, after relieving Freddie Andersen in game three, and he’s gotten a lot of attention for tying the series, there’s someone else who deserves a ton of credit. 

Hurricane captain Jordan Staal has been sensational in the series. Staal had two goals in Game four, including the go ahead goal in the third, he now has five goals in the four games. Staal’s offense has been big for the Canes, as they’ve gotten zero goals from Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis have one goal each. 

It’s not just the offense Staal has provided, he’s won 70 % of the faceoffs he’s taken. And his line has done it’s job against Jack Eichel, who hasn’t been a difference maker in this series. Staal has been a factor on special teams too, scoring a power play goal in two of the last three games, and has been a part of a penalty kill that has surrendered one power play goal over the first four goals. 

Staal, who was a part of the 09 Penguins is looking for his second cup. At 37 years old he’s been arguably Carolina’s best forward in the series, and has put himself in the Conn Smythe conversation if the Canes win it all.

ALTERING THE YZERPLAN

BY MIKE RIFKIN

When Steve Yzerman took over as the GM of the Red Wings in 2019, most people thought there were more glory days ahead. Instead the Red Wings still haven’t made the playoffs under Yzerman, in fact the Wings haven’t made the postseason since 2016. This after successfully making the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons. And missing the playoffs this season had to be the most difficult, as the Wings were tied for first in the conference on January 24th. But a 9-14-4 record after that really hurt the team. The biggest issue was scoring, after the 24th of January, the Wings averaged just 2.59 goals per game.

Thursday the Yzerplan took a major hit, as Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade. Larkin signed an eight year 69.6 million dollar contract on March 1st 2023 and is signed through 2031. Larkin scored 34 goals and had 67 points in 74 games played this season. For Larkin it was his fifth consecutive thirty goal season. Larkin was also a key contributor for team USA on their way to the Gold Medal.

Yzerman is in a tough spot, on one hand he could trade Larkin and reap a lot of benefits, or he can hold onto him . Either way the Wings have to make the playoffs next season, but in my opinion they’re better off trading Larkin and altering the Yzerplan a tad. The Wings have a nice young nucleus led by Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider,etc… And there are more young players coming. With the Atlantic Division being what it is becoming, the Wings may want to alter their plans and not just trade Larkin, but look into a couple of other guys. Alex Debrincat and Andrew Copp are also both entering the final years of their respective contracts, maybe you shop them at the draft, and try to recoup the first round pick you lost when you traded for Justin Faulk. The other guy they can look to move is John Gibson, with top prospect Trey Augustine signing his ELC, it could be time to turn to the kid in net. Gibson has one year left on his deal and there are a lot of teams in need of a goalie.

 While the Yzerplan has yet to be successful, now could be a perfect time for it to be altered. Yes, the Wings would be getting rid of good players, but these players haven’t won anything there, Steve Yzerman should be listening on everything.

THE RIGHT CALL

BY MIKE RIFKIN

With the Stanley Cup Final being played, it also means that it’s award season across the NHL. The latest award that was handed out was the Jack Adams (Coach Of The Year) and it was given to Lightning coach Jon Cooper. Cooper edged out Lindy Ruff of the Sabres and Dan Muse of the Penguins to win his first Jack Adams. 

I know most people wanted this award to go to Lindy Ruff for the Sabres ending their 14 year drought. But, I think the voters got this right, while Cooper is considered by many including myself to be the best coach in the league, this year he proved it. Victor Hedman played in 33 games, Ryan Mcdonagh played in 48, Erik Cernak played in 61, we are talking about half of the defense missing significant time. And in that time players like JJ Moser and Darren Raddysh (who is about to get paid this summer) stepped up in bigger roles than they’d ever had before. Jon Cooper gets what I call the “Steve Kerr treatment” meaning we don’t appreciate the job he does, because of the roster he has. 

Lindy Ruff did a tremendous job this season in turning the Sabres around, and they’ll be around for a while, but don’t get this mixed up the thing that changed the Sabres season was the firing of Kevyn Adams. Now, this is no disrespect to Ruff, who has a place in Toronto waiting for him (hockey hall of fame, not the Leafs job) he has the fourth most wins for a coach in NHL history. Also the Atlantic Division had five coaches voted in the top eight which is just insane.

DO SOMETHING

By Mike Rifkin

If you want to go on a diet, I’d suggest don’t watch the New York Mets. They’ll cause you to stress eat. As each game is played I feel like Randy Quaid in Major League 2, there’s just not an enough positives and way too many negatives. And if you’re a struggling starting pitcher, you’d volunteer to face this Mets lineup because they’re so inept.

The Memorial day lineup was an insult to the fans intelligence, to bat Marcus Semien cleanup  is insane. I understand there are injuries but Semien was 3-20 on the last road trip and has done squat offensively (except with RISP). Speaking of the Memorial Day lineup, do you know who has the highest average in the lineup, outside of AJ Ewing, who just came up? If you answered Carson Benge, you’d be right. Two rookies had the highest average for the Mets in their Memorial Day lineup, if you want to be glass half full guy (like me usually) you’d say that’s good for the future. In reality it shows how bad this offense is and has been and yes Juan Soto missed the game due to illness, probably from having to carry the offense. 

As  I mentioned above there are injuries, but with no timetable of those guys returning, it’s on what the Mets have now to try and turn this around, will they? This team has shown little fight to make us believe that they will, this kind of reminds me of 2023, after getting punched in the face by the Padres and the Mets never truly recovered. I’m not looking to call for Stearns or Mendoza to be fired based on the team’s play, but show some emotion instead of the same robotic answers. But the biggest indictment on this team is that if they keep playing this way Citi Field will be empty this summer, with one big omission and that’s when the Mets celebrate their 1986 World Series team.

TEMPTING OFFERS

BY MIKE RIFKIN

We’re down to the final four in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which means July 1st is right around the corner. One team that should be active during July first is the New York Rangers. The Rangers, who missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, were one of the biggest disappointments in the league. The Rangers will have almost 27 million dollars in cap space and have 11 picks in the 2026 draft (2 in the first, four in the third and two in the sixth) they also have trade chips in Center Vincent Trocheck and Defenseman Braden Schneider. In his “letter” to the fans Chris Drury talked about a “retool” and fans witnessed some of that during the final six weeks of the season with some young players getting an opportunity. Young forwards like Gabe Perrault (12 g 27 pts in 49 gp), Noah Laba (9g, 24 pts in 74 gp), Jaroslav Chemlar ( 4g 6 pts in 28 gp), Adam Sykora (3g 4pts in 11 gp) got an opportunity to show what they’re capable of. 

The usual way the Rangers would handle a situation like this would be to throw a ton of money at big time free agents, well the unrestricted free agent market is not as deep as usual. And throwing a bunch of money at Alex Tuch doesn’t solve much in my opinion. 

One area the Rangers could take advantage is Restricted free agents, and they could utilize some of the draft capital they have at the draft to make a trade work. A big key when being aggressive towards RFA’s is to look at team’s cap situations. There are three teams for the Rangers to look at when assessing certain RFAS.

The first team the Rangers should look at are the Dallas Stars. The Stars lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Wild. The Stars will have 10.9 million dollars in space, and have two intriguing RFAS Jason Robertson and Mavrik Bourque. Robertson posted 45 goals and 96 points in 82 games. Robertson has been very consistent the past few seasons, becoming one of the best goal scorers in the league. Robertson has also been a big player in the playoffs with 23 goals and 52 points in 63 games played. Robertson, reportedly is looking for a similar number to teammate Mikko Rantanen got which is 12 million dollars per year, if the Stars don’t want to pay Robertson that Chris Drury should jump on the phone. If the Stars do pay Robertson, Mavrik Bourque could be in play. Bourque had 20 goals and 41 points in 82 games this season, and for the Rangers maybe he could be their future top line Center, still only 24 years of age. 

Another Western Conference heavyweight to watch are the Vegas Golden Knights, in particular Pavel Dorofeyev, who currently leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 10 goals. Dorofeyev had 37 goals in the regular season, after scoring 35 in 2024-25. Vegas will have 4.6 million dollars in cap space (could be more if Alex Pietrangelo retires), and you’d think a chunk of that would go to Carter Hart after the postseason he’s had. Vegas also has four picks total in the draft, and none in the first two rounds. 

The other team the Rangers should monitoring this summer is a team they’ve done a lot of business the past few years and that’s the Anaheim Ducks. The first target is not an RFA, it’s Mason McTavish, who saw his production drop this season, his contract dispute could’ve had something to do with that. Anaheim has to re-sign forwards Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson. They also have to figure out the blue line with Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas and John Carlson all expected to be free agents. The other Duck to look into will be an RFA and that’s Pavel Mintyukov. The 22 year old has previously requested a trade from Anaheim and depending on their free agent status might give him what he’s asked for. Anaheim will have the cap space to do whatever they want, but Drury should be eyeing them. 

Then there are the cases of Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. If either one wants out of their current situation and wants to play at MSG, the Rangers should obviously try to acquire them. But that can’t be the basis for the Summer.’

 With the Knicks doing what they’re doing, you remember the vibes of playoff hockey. While James Dolan might not want to put the pressure on Drury, the fans are because the play of this team over the last two seasons has been inexcusable. If one person needs this “retool” to be a success it’s Drury, because if it’s not he will get the boot.