Atomic

Vermette... Winnik... Stewart... sure is looking like a soft trade market this season.

Just put on "Big 97.5" and they are playing Under My Thumb by Rolling Stones. Just happens to be one of my favourites so they win this round. This also marks the return of Jay Richardson to Winnipeg radio as he is doing the morning show along with Jolene Lebsack.

If we truly switched third rounders in the Kromah trade then that would mean we do not have pick 20. We traded it for 26, which we just traded. Hence, no third round pick.

My radio use is mostly dominated by TSN 1290 honestly. But even that is generally just when I'm in the car.

Come on man. Getzlaf at that price is asinine. He hasn't shown to be a 150k guy in a awhile.. Let alone 200k.. I'm not saying he is worth it. I'm just saying you can't look at it in a vacuum. What does a 150k Canadian receiver look like? That's Cory Watson's salary and Getzlaf has been far and away better than Watson every single year. What does one expect from a 150k Canadian receiver? All Canadian starters are making six figures and Getzlaf is at worst a top 3 Canadian receiver in the league. Top 3 Canadians at any position are pulling in 200k+.

He used our 4 draft picks to take Mike Morris, Adam Bestard, Peter Quinney, and Thaine Carter. If those names aren't familiar, there's a pretty good reason. They were terrible picks. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he traded some of those 2009 picks. Kelly let Gauthier, Koch, Picard and Goodspeed walk in free agency. I know Goodspeed isn't a NI, but if I don't mention him, Kelly's "I think we can re-sign all four!" doesn't quite make sense. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he could have extended these guys earlier. Kelly claimed he was going to do a better job of hanging on to our draft picks than Taman ever did. As I recall, we were still missing a pick in the 2013 draft from one of Kelly's many traded picks. None of that is shared with Taman. You'd have to do a pretty comprehensive essay to convince me Kelly added anything to this team other than bloated bombast, including the area of NI talent. I feel like when he said "Mike Kelly added to it", he means he added to the problem, not to our NI depth. But I could be wrong.

Not many Canadian receivers going over 1000 yards these days and Getzlaf has done it a couple times. It's all supply and demand. Where are the good Canadian receivers? Few and far between.

Winnipeg radio blows

Shaking glands? Which glands? Mammary glands? That sly dog.

Maybe **** LeBeau liked Ian Wild and he's not there anymore so the team is looking for different players. Who knows.

You and me both. **** the Flyers!

Harrison's play in front of his own net over the last few has made me wonder if getting him for a 6th wasn't a robbery after all. I've been thinking the same thing. He is awfully careless with the puck in our end and seems to panic a bit. Makes for a decent 7th defenceman though.

Did we make any other trades with Hamilton? The 26th pick is the second last of round 3 so it would have originally been their pick. There was Aprile for Bucknor but there were no picks reported as a part of that trade.

I see 2, 11, 15, 20, 29, 38, and 46. Traded 35 (which we acquired from Sask in the Neufeld trade) to Hamilton for Brohm. Traded 55 to the Argos for Portis. We just traded 26 and I have no idea where we got it.

Love the trade. Not so sure the Riders will move a receiver. They may be looking at starting 3 Canadian receivers. I'm convinced we will land at least one of Heenan or Holmes. We may even wildly overpay, but to me it looks like Walters isn't going to take no for an answer. Where the heck did we get the 26th overall pick?

When you're dealing with taxpayer dollars, politicians must ensure they are transparent and getting value for money. It really amazes me how some people just don't understand this concept. But that's fine, I'll continue to be the bad/unreasonable guy here. It really amazes me how you still don't get it. When you are wasting millions of dollars just to put on a show for the unreasonable observer, that's not getting value for money. That's bureaucratic waste. Bureaucratic process is the worst enemy of progress and innovation. Sometimes the right choice is obvious and you don't have to jump through ten hoops to know it.

Couldn't agree more with the editorial. Bang on. Bowman is basically going through the motions and potentially wasting millions of dollars just to satisfy all the gbill's out there.

Rather middling player when he was here. Methinks he's simply flourishing under Jones. Not too upsetting. Well he only played 2 games last season, so "flourishing under Jones" might be a bit of a stretch.

Gotta love the way that whole line is playing. Did you know that with 5 goals, Thorburn has more goals in one season than he's ever scored for the Jets before? Although he had more with the Thrashers.

Oh yeah and Wojt was never a backup this season, he was injured. He only played in one game.

Personally I just hate Giguere and would have a hell of a hard time cheering for him as a Bomber. And Ottawa certainly could sign both Sinopoli and Giguere... why not?

Pavelec's worst game of the season. Looked like he was half asleep out there.

Agreed, he ain't Canadian doe. Was going to write up an American top 5 too but ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow.

There is officially only 2 weeks remaining until free agency. As we all know, there is still plenty of time to re-sign potential free agents but many who have waited this long will increasingly be tempted to test free agency. So without further Apu, I present my authoritative list of the top 5 Canadian Free Agents (from a Blue Bomber perspective). Here we go! TOP 5 CANADIAN FREE AGENTS 1. BEN HEENAN - This one is too easy. Everyone knows he is going to be the number one target in free agency, and he may even get some NFL looks. But with the right offer, maybe the Canadian Big Ben ends up in Winnipeg and moves our OL further towards respectability. Heenan's value comes from his outstanding play but also his versatility. Many believe that he would be best-suited as a guard, but his value as a proven starting tackle can't be ignored. Even if the Bombers only made this one signing, the free agency period would have to be deemed a success. A ratio changer, and likely even better than any of the American tackle options currently on the roster. To borrow a term from soccer, this signing is a slam dunk home run. 2. TYLER HOLMES - It should be no surprise that another offensive lineman heads up this list. Holmes may not be as much of a big-name as Heenan, but he has the potential to make just as great an impact (and probably at a lower cap hit). After being drafted 7th overall in 2011 (3 spots behind the immortal Jade Etienne), Holmes spent the 2012 season with the Minnesota Vikings, suiting up at Guard in 4 pre-season games. He played another 2 pre-season games for the Vikes before being cut during camp in 2013. Shortly afterwards, Holmes signed with the Argos where he spent the last two seasons starting at left guard. Although Holmes would appear to have settled in as a CFL guard, he was an OT in college and may still have the potential to play tackle. He is only 26 years old. The Redblacks are rumoured to have interest in his services, and I imagine many other teams will as well. Holmes is the son of former CFL RB Richard Holmes, who played 3 seasons in Ottawa and one in Winnipeg. 3. SPENCER WATT - My first non-OL pick in free agency goes to fifth year Argonaut Spencer Watt. This pick is all about depth and versatility. While Watt is certainly not a household star, he has been a consistent performer for the Argos at the wide-side receiver spot. The Bombers only have three Canadian receivers under contract right now, and with the unreliable health of Cory Watson, depth is still needed here. Adding Watt will give the Bombers a reliable player that coach O'Shea is already familiar with, and one who has five years under his belt while being the same age as Cory Watson was when he was first drafted. Adding Watt would give the Bombers flexibility in the passing game, perhaps allowing Rory Kohlert to move inside and get more passes thrown his way, or to even have 3 Canadian receivers starting at times. 4. GREG WOJT - We quickly shift our focus back to the offensive line. If the Bombers whiff on their first two OL targets, Greg Wojt could at least be a decent consolation prize. Wojt has started many games in the CFL for both Edmonton and Hamilton, mostly at guard but occasionally filling in at tackle. Wojt could be valuable depth and present stiff competition to both Chris Greaves and Patrick Neufeld for their starting spots, which should not be guaranteed at this point. Wojt was named a Western Division all star in 2011 but hasn't been able to attain that level of play since then. However he is still just 29 and could be entering the prime of his career. A date with Bob Wylie could be just what Wojt needs to rejuvenate his career. Hell, we'd all love a date with Bob Wylie... did you know he's a magician? 5. DON ORAMASIONWU - Could 2015 see the return of DONNY O to the Blue Bombers lineup? The Bombers were already thin along the defensive line when DT Ryan Lucas announced his retirement, and they desperately need some help here. Jake Thomas is a wonderful player but he could use some Canadian help in the middle. The Bombers also have Louie Richardson and Ameet Pall on the defensive line, but both could be considered "tweeners" and might not fit into Richie Hall's schemes as well as they did for Gary Etcheverry. Don missed most of last season but if healthy could be a great asset to the Bombers' DL, taking some rotational reps and possibly even starting if necessary. I would still like to see the Bombers draft a strong DT but Donny O would be good insurance in case that is not possible. And it's always nice to have a local guy on the roster. So there's the list. And if you're not down with that, I got two words for you....... WHY NOT???

I think this might be true but not for playoffs. Who rotates goalies in the playoffs? Only teams that lose in the playoffs. Jets v1 hold the record I think. Yeah until someone wins doing it, and then everyone will do it.