NHL Power Rankings (3 of 4)

Most teams have completed around 36-38 games of the 48 game season and they playoff races are beginning to heat up.  There were some buyers, sellers, sitters, and traders at the trade deadline and now teams are finalized heading into the final stretch of the NHL season.  This is the 3rd of 4 power rankings:

Pavelski and Galiardi celebrate a 7 game win
streak that has the Sharks right back in contention.

1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Boston Bruins
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. San Jose Sharks
8. Minnesota Wild
9. Los Angeles Kings
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
11. Ottawa Senators
12. St. Louis Blues
13. Detroit Red Wings
14. New York Rangers
15. Washington Capitals
16. New Jersey Devils
17. New York Islanders
18. Edmonton Oilers
19. Winnipeg Jets
20. Phoenix Coyotes
21. Columbus Blue Jackets
22. Nashville Predators
23. Philadelphia Flyers
24. Dallas Stars
25. Carolina Hurricanes
26. Tampa Bay Lightning
27. Buffalo Sabres
28. Calgary Flames
29. Florida Panthers
30. Colorado Avalanche

This is how I see all the divisions as of now:

Atlantic:

Obviously Pittsburgh is on top after that incredible 15 game win streak they put together.  They made some huge trade deadline acquisitions but lost Crosby, Letang, and Martin to injuries.  If they can get healthy in the final month of the season they will be the front runner to win it all come playoff time.  The Rangers and Columbus made their second blockbuster trade of the season in an exchange that sent Gaborik out of New York.  The depth they added with Brassard, Clowe, and Moore should put this team in a good spot heading into playoffs.  Do not forget the Rangers also have one of the very best goalies in the league in their net.  The Islanders are still hanging around and could be a late season hot streak away from a playoff spot.  New Jersey got off to a quick start but have only won 2 of their last 10 and dropped 5 straight.  They need to get it together if they want this shortened season to be a little bit longer.  Philly is on bottom of the division despite playing some of their best hockey the past week or so.  They have an outside shot at sneaking in the playoffs but chances are this year is done for them.

Northeast:

Montreal and Boston are still battling it out for 2nd place and the loser of that battle will most likely finish 4th.  They both have 24 wins and 8 regulation losses and they meet each other tonight.  These teams have been consistent and are looking like true contenders in the east.  Toronto and Ottawa are still in the mix as well.  Surprisingly, this may have beaten the Atlantic division as the strongest in the east.  Buffalo was a major disappointment this year but they made some moves thinking about the future and could be back in the mix next year.

Southeast:

This division makes me laugh.  Washington jumped from 11th to 3rd in the east with a win the other night.  They have less points than New Jersey who is currently outside of the playoffs.  Winnipeg is on a 5 game skid that cost them the division lead.  No matter what happens in the regular season, nobody in the Southeast should be expecting a Stanley Cup this year.

Central:
Chicago is still sitting pretty on top of the Western Conference as they keep winning games.  Detroit and St. Luis are still hanging on to the last two playoff spots while Nashville and Columbus look to stay in the hunt.  Columbus sent 4 guys out to New York for Marian Gaborik in a surprise move.  Meanwhile Nashville is getting desperate in their own way by playing Pekka Rinne every night for the rest of the year.  This is a deep division with great playoff aspirations, and it is still wide open going down the stretch.

Northwest:
Vancouver was expected to be on top of this division and most people expected Minnesota to be in the mix too.  This is exactly the case.  This division is very predictable due to the huge range of talent on the respective clubs.  Calgary is doomed for this season and years to come.  Although Vancouver has not been as dominant as many people expected, they have a good shot at having a deep playoff run if they can get their goalie situation ironed out.  It is worth noting the young Oilers are very much alive in the playoff race, but again they are a long way from Cup contention.

Pacific:
Anaheim has dropped off a little bit but they still look like a lock for the 2 seed in the West.  Perry and Getzlaf have received their massive contracts so they have sit back a little bit and slowed down their scoring. The Sharks are in their 2nd 7 game winning streak of the year.  They won their first 7 on the year before appearing to be a bad team.  They moved a couple of players out and brought a few into town and now look poised to have a deep playoff run that Sharks' fans have wanted for years.  Los Angeles is quietly hanging around the middle of the West while Dallas and Phoenix have dropped out of the playoff mix.  Dallas traded away Morrow, Ryder, Roy, and Jagr despite still being in the mix for most the season.  It seems they need to really reevaluate where there are as a team and decide whether or not next year is the year they are buyers or sellers.

Worst GM of All Time: Jay Feaster or Mike Milbury?

Mike Milbury looking clueless as ever as the Islanders' GM.

Lately I have been giving Jay Feaster a hard time, and deservingly so.  I have already emphatically mentioned not once, but twice that he needs to be fired.  The first time I said "Jay Feaster will always be in the shadows of Mike Milbury when the list of the worst GMs in NHL history is brought up."  Well since trading Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester away in the past week and getting pretty much nothing in return it is time to look things over and see if he possibly could be worse than Milbury. We will take a look at some of the NHL's worst transactions and make a determination.

Before we jump in let me explain the Jay Bouwmeester trade.  I already discussed the Iginla trade and how little return they received for him, but last night Feaster sent Bouwmeester to St. Louis for almost nothing.  The Blues gave up a conditional 1st round pick and 2 nearly unheard of prospects for the veteran defenseman.  Mark Cundari and Reto Berra are their names if you feel like looking up their subpar statistics. I was all for a Calgary fire sale and I thought Iginla and Bouwmeester needed to be part of it.  But come on Feaster bargain at least a little to get someone who can turn your team around.  Vladimir Sobotka, the Blues 4th line center is better than every single center the Flames are sending out each night, go after him or a prospect who has at least a little bit of hype behind him.

Now for the Milbury portion of the night.  I am going to borrow a lot from an article I previously read and comparing it to what I researched on Jay Feaster.  I read this article a while ago and it made me laugh, made me cry, and made me realize just how awful of a GM and all around human being Mike Milbury is.  The intro paragraph says it all, "Many might remember Mike Milbury as the hockey player who jumped into the MSG stands and beat a fan with his own shoe. Others might remember Milbury for his many controversies on and off the ice, but New York Islanders fans are imprinted with other not-so-fond memories of their former GM and coach."

So the worst moves of all time by an NHL GM, let's do this starting with the kinda bad moves and approach the disgustingly terrible moves: (Milbury in blue) (Feaster in red)

• Islanders traded Chris Osgood and a 3rd round pick to St. Louis for a 2nd round pick and Justin Papineau.
• Feaster traded Rene Bourque and a 2nd round pick for Mike Cammalleri and Karri Ramo.
• Feaster signs Hudler for 4 years at $16 million and Wideman to 5 years at $26.25 million and expected Calgary to make playoffs in 2013.  He also resigned Cory Sarich for 2 more years for $4 million.
• Calgary traded away Iginla and Bouwmeester for 2 late first round picks and low rated prospects.
• Milbury drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000.
• Feaster signs Vincent Lecavalier to an 11 year, $85 million dollar contract to stay with Tampa.  He will be 39 when the contract expires and will still be a $7.72 million dollar cap hit.
• Feaster drafter nobody of worth in 2003, which is widely considered the most talent rich draft in NHL history.  Really in his entire tenure with both Calgary and Tampa he has yet to draft a single All Star.
• Mike Milbury traded youngsters (at the time) Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi, and a 3rd round pick (who ended up being Jarkko Ruutu) for a past his prime Trevor Linden.
• Milbury Traded Zdeno Chara and the 2nd overall pick (who ended up being Jason Spezza) for Alexei Yashin.
• Milbury promptly resigned Yashin for 10 years at $87 million dollars. To put this one in perspective, Sidney Crosby just resigned for 8 years at the same salary that Yashin received in this contract.
• The Ryan O'Reilly offer sheet: this is probably the dumbest thing a GM possibly could have done but Jay Feaster can thank the Colorado Avalanche from saving him from potentially making this #1 on my list.
• Milbury traded Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen to Florida for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish.  This deal speaks for itself, 2 of the games top players for 2 guys who barely saw the NHL ice.

It is very apparent that both these GMs have done stupid things in their careers.  While Feaster may have more mistakes as GM, the magnitude of Mike Milbury's mistakes let him retain his top spot as worst GM in NHL history.  Also, I do have to say for as much as I dislike Jay Feaster as a GM, he seems like a good guy when he is interviewed or speaking publicly.  I cringe every time I see Milbury on a CBC or NBC broadcast.  Who are you to comment on a hockey game?  Clearly Milbury is clueless when it comes to hockey, and was a dirty player when he was still skating in the NHL.  Feaster is one terrible move away from jumping over Milbury for the worst spot, however.  So Calgary, please fire him before this happens.

Celebrate away Jay Feaster, you aren't
the worst GM of all time........yet.

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Baseball Season Is Here

Justin Verlander and the Tigers have
high hopes for the 2013 season.

I apologize this article is a day late as the undefeated Astros have thwarted the Rangers in the opening game of the year.  Nevertheless, it is baseball season and I have a few things to say about it.  Like I did with the NHL at the beginning of their season, here is my take on how the 2013 MLB season will play out:

Let me start with the National League:

NL East:

1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. New York Mets
5. Miami Marlins

Yet again, the Nats look to be the best team in the NL East.  However, it will be no surprise if they are on top this year.  They have a ton of expectations and look to improve on an incredible run last season.  The difference for them this year, they have Strasburg for the entire season.  Also, do not forget that they had the 2nd round all but locked up until the Cardinals had a comeback for the ages to steal game 5.  The Braves have young talent, pitching, and the Upton brothers who look to make noise in the division.  The Phillies have an old Doc and not the same dominant Cliff, but Hamels and company are still solid enough to make this team competitive.  Howard and Utley could make or break the Phillies season.  The Mets surprised a lot of people early last year, but fizzled out as a mediocre team towards the end.  Expect more mediocrity out of them in 2013.  The Marlins have Stanton.  Outside of this they are laughable since half their team is now playing in Toronto.

NL Central:

1. Cincinnati Reds
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Milwaukee Brewers

The Reds will look to dominate under Joey Votto and the Reds offense.  The Cardinals are always dangerous and have great batting as well.  The Cubs are a wild card team that could be great or simply awful.  They are young but seem to be heading in the right direction.  The Pirates have become relevant again, but are still a few pieces away from being a playoff team.  Milwaukee has little talent outside of Ryan Braun, who could be on the downside of his career after being busted for PEDs.

NL West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

The defending World Series Champions come out of the NL West, but pitching alone does not make a great regular season team.  Despite their great pitching, I see the Giants coming in second due to lackluster offense.  The Dodgers behind Kemp and Kershaw are looking to become a powerhouse in the West.  Watch out for even a potential LA vs LA World Series.  The Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres are all laughable contenders, so do not expect any of these teams to make too much noise in the National League.

American League:

AL East:

1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Boston Red Sox
5. New York Yankees

Is that backwards?  No, the Yanks are on the bottom and the Rays are on the top.  I still think this is the most talent rich division in baseball, but it is not the way it once was.  Old age and injuries have allowed the rest of the league to catch up to New York.  Boston made some solid signings to replace the guys they traded away last year, but that organization is still in disarray.  Tampa traded away great pitchers in Wade Davis and "Big Game" James Shields but receive more than adequate compensation for this trade.  They know how to develop young talent, and they have a lot of that.  Longoria, Zobrist, Price, Hellickson, and Rodney are the heart and soul of this team.  Do not underestimate them because of their payroll, they are for real.  As for Toronto, I had mentioned before that they have plenty of talent heading into 2013.  If they can properly utilize these tools to make a great team, they could be very scary.  Baltimore was a surprise team last year that was able to beat Texas in the Wildcard game but could not handle the Yankees in the ALDS.  They are a young team with promising pitching.  They could be at the top or the bottom when this year is over, so I took the easy road and put them in 3rd.

AL Central:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins

The AL Central is one of the more polarized divisions.  The Tigers have plenty of expectations heading into this season and should live up to it.  There is no real competition they face and the addition of Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez returning should lift up this offense to new heights.  The Royals added some pitching to go along with their young bats.  Cleveland added Swisher and veteran coach Terry Francona to make them a solid team in 2013.  Chicago was a surprise team last year and could be good again this year.  Their young pitching could struggle with the departure of AJ Pierzynski behind the plate.  The Twins have lost most of their talent and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are not the players they once were.  It is about time to rebuild in the twin city.

AL West:

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers
5. Houston Astos

The Angels added Josh Hamilton to a team that already had MVP candidates Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.  Throw in Trumbo and other great batters and the Angels have an offense few pitchers can stop.  Oakland was a fluke team last year when they won the division, but they have made movements towards being a contender again in 2013.  They could surprise again and be a top team in the West.  Seattle added Kendry Morales and Jesus Montero to strengthen their team.  They have solid pitching and could be a force in the AL West for the first time in a while.  The Rangers obviously lost Josh Hamilton, but also Michael Young and Mike Napoli.  There is also a slim chance that Beltre produces like he did last year.  Throw in the fact that Nelson Cruz is injured every year and the Rangers do not look as scary as they once did.  I see them struggling mightily and finishing the year below the .500 mark.  Houston is undefeated after a big opening day win.  However, this will be just one of only a few wings the Astros get this year.  They struggled in the NL and will do no better in the AL.  Houston will most likely be on the bottom of the division this year.

Here is how I see the standings at the end of the year.  Note the top 3 teams are division winners, and the 4th and 5th place teams secure the Wildcard spot.

National League:

1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Atlanta Braves
6. St. Louis Cardinals
7. Philadelphia Phillies
8. Chicago Cubs
9. Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Arizona Diamondbacks
11. New York Mets
12. Colorado Rockies
13. Milwaukee Brewers
14. Miami Marlins
15. San Diego Padres

American League:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles
6. Oakland Athletics
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Kansas City Royals
9. Cleveland Indians
10. New York Yankees
11. Seattle Mariners
12. Texas Rangers
13. Chicago White Sox
14. Minnesota Twins
15. Houston Astros

Penguins Do It Again

Team Canada's Jarome Iginla (left), Brenden Morrow (middle), and
Sidney Crosby (right) are all poised to win the Cup in Pittsburgh.

When I say the Pittsburgh Penguins do it again, I mean 2 things.  First, they keep winning, stretching their winning streak to an astounding 13 straight.  Secondly, they made noise in the trade game for the third day this week.  Morrow was big news, Murray was quiet but solid news, and what they did last night was ridiculous.  Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames is now joining the stacked Penguins team on their path to an almost expected Stanley Cup.

I was just about to bestow the Penguins with the Stanley Cup just the other day.  I held off because I said the Boston Bruins were "a Jarome Iginla" away from preventing this from happening.  When it looked like Iginla was packing his bags for Massachusetts a wild change in events resulted in the longtime Calgary Flame headed over to Pittsburgh.  I am not going to go into how good Pittsburgh is again, but it is worth noting that Crosby played with Iginla during the Olympics and they had great chemistry.  Kunitz is obviously coming into his own on Sid's line.  Pacal Dupuis might be out of his first line right winger job after this trade, but I would trade ice time for Jarome Iginla any day of the week.  Pittsburgh has some stupid good talent now and it would be a travesty if their season ends with anything but a 16 win postseason.

Earlier in the week I made little mention of the GMs behind the scenes.  Well let's talk GM.  Dallas Stars' GM Joe Nieuwendyk seems to do a solid job despite sketchy trades involving Neal (who i failed to mention is excited to have his old captain playing beside him again in Pittsburgh) and Ryder.  Outside of these he has done a solid job keeping Dallas relevant despite financial struggles within the organization.  Ron Wilson has assembled quite the team of his own in San Jose.  Both of these teams received excellent compensation for giving away Morrow and Murray.  Jay Feaster on the otherhand...

Jay Feaster has almost reached the point where people who have never watched a single hockey game in their lives know who this guy is.  He is that bad of a GM.  Have I mentioned before that Calgary should fire this guy?  Here it is one more time.  Fire this guy!  He traded away a Calgary legend.  In fact, Dallas drafted Iginla and traded him to Calgary for the man I just mentioned above, Joe Nieuwendyk.  But back to the point at hand, Feaster traded Iginla.  Now this is not necessarily a bad thing because his team is awful and Iginla deserves better than Calgary.  However, the return on this investment is beyond laughable.  Ray Shero has been one of the better GMs in the league for a while in Pittsburgh.  He had to have known Feaster was an idiot and took full advantage of the situation.  Pittsburgh receive one of the best players of the past decade in exchange for a first round pick (probably 30th after they win the Cup), Kenneth Agostino, and Ben Hanowski.  WOW!

For those of you who do not know Agostino and Hanowski, do not feel ashamed.  NOBODY DOES!  Agostino currently has put up an insane 37 points in 33 games for Yale this year.  That means the 5th round pick from 2010 will definitely translate into NHL talent.  Sarcasm.  As for Hanowski, he was a 3rd round pick in 2009 currently playing for St. Cloud State.  This right winger has a gargantuan 29 points in 34 games in the WCHA.  Like I said with Agostino, this guy is a can't miss prospect.  Kidding again.  There is, however, one thing I will never joke about ever.  Fire. Jay. Feaster. Please.  And never give that guy another GM position ever again.

Penguins Trade Splash

Former division rivals leave the only team
they ever played for to join Pittsburgh.

Don't look now, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are just 1 point behind the Chicago Blackhawks in the Presidents' Trophy race through 33 games.  They have won the last 12 games they have played and are doing so despite injuries to All Stars in Malkin and Letang.  Not only is Fleury looking great in net but perennial All Star Tomas Vokoun is the backup goalie on this team.  Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL and his line mates Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis are coming into their own as two of the NHL's best forwards.  So much can be said about just how good this team is, and they just got better.

On back to back days Pittsburgh has made trades for veteran forward Brenden Morrow and veteran defenseman Douglas Murray.  Morrow was the captain of the Dallas Stars and had many great seasons with that team.  Murray is a little bit of a different story than Morrow, but he is one of the hardest hitting defenseman in the league who is one heck of a shot blocker as well.  This adds talent to an already talented roster, but more importantly it adds grit.  These are hard nosed players who have battled each other for many years in the always competitive Pacific Division.  As pictured above, there used to be no love when Morrow's Stars took on Douglas Murray and the Sharks.  Now these two guys are the missing pieces to a potential Stanley Cup run for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh was eliminated from the playoffs last year by Philadelphia in some obnoxious high scoring, offense only games.  They got caught up playing the Flyers' style of play rather than stick to what got them there.  Rivals have the ability to do that to you.  By having Murray in the lineup to replace one of the younger guys, like Despres for example, you make this team so much more solid defensively.  He has a wealth of playoff experience and is a true student of the game.  In addition, you pick up a guy who can kill penalties, hit hard, and fight.  These are three things they needed against Philly in that epic, yet miserable (for Pens fans at least) playoff series.  The Sharks in return get two 2nd round picks for someone they probably could not resign anyway.  They have solid young defensemen to fill Murray's void so this is a trade that is beneficial to both teams.

As for Morrow, what can't you say about this guy?  He can do it all.  He is not the most prolific goal scorer the game has ever seen, but he has scored over 30 goals twice and has a career high 74 points which is not too shabby.  He may not be the offensive force he once was but what Pittsburgh will really get from him is just as important.  No disrespect to the leadership of Crosby, but this guy is a true locker room leader.  He was a captain that lead by example in Dallas and I think the younger guys in Pittsburgh can look up to him and learn a lot about the game from him.  Crosby and Morrow were teammates on the gold medal winning Team Canada so they have some brief history together.  His physical style of play is exactly what it takes to win playoff games.  This hitting and grit is something both Morrow and Murray will be bringing with them to the steel city.

What does this trade mean for the rest of the league?

I had made a bold prediction before the season started (even before the lockout) that whichever team Dallas trades Brenden Morrow to will win the Stanley Cup in 2013.  This was a bold statement for 2 reasons: 1, Morrow was not part of trade rumors because Dallas was thought to be a legitimate playoff contender going into this year.  And 2, I predicted that an unknown team would win the Stanley Cup just because of the addition of a savvy veteran who is at best a 3rd line left winger.  Well my prediction is not looking to bad now.  I just had a hunch that Morrow would land on a top 5 team in the league and it is hard to say Pittsburgh is anything but that.

Being from Detroit, I have to say that the Red Wings really missed out on Douglas Murray.  When you talk about talented teams that need desperately need to add grit, you are talking about Detroit.  They also are short on defense and should not expect to win a Cup when Quincey, Kindle, Smith, and Lashoff are playing every night.  Throw in the heavy Swedish presence on the team in Zetterberg, Samuelsson, Franzen, Ericsson, Kronwall, Nyquist, Gustafsson and Andersson and you have a player that feels at home away from home.  Looking at it with optimism, I can see Ken Holland signing him as a free agent this summer without having to give up those 2 draft picks that Pittsburgh dished out to get him.

As for teams like Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Anaheim, and other top teams who think this is their year, it's probably not.  I am not bestowing the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh now, but I do not see anyone being able to win a best out of 7 series with them.  Especially since they will most likely be the team to hold onto home ice in every series they play.  There are only 3 legitimate things that I think could happen that can give other teams hope:

1. Injury:  Letang and Malkin are on the shelf now with injuries and there is the always lurking thought that Sid could go down at any point too.  Too many injuries could derail this amazing team.
2. Morrow and Murray get homesick:  No I do not think they will lay awake at night missing the beautiful cities of San Jose and Dallas.  What I mean is that these guys have only played for one team and have had pretty long careers for that one team.  Getting divorced is not easy and moving on and being expected to play at a high level instantly is not a piece of cake.  Morrow and Murray could have a tough transition period and could be flops despite being seemingly perfect fits for the Penguins.
3. Counter trade moves: The trade deadline is not over.  Keep a sharp eye on Boston, LA, and Chicago in particular to make a splash before the end of the week.  Any one of these teams could be I don't know...A Jarome Iginla away from winning a Stanley Cup of their own.

One last side note: I am making this seem like only a small amount of the teams in the NHL have a chance at winning the cup.  That is obviously note the case.  There is more parity in the NHL than any other sport and therefore the Cup is still up for grabs right now (the Penguins are not the Miami Heat).  Goalies can get hot and steal a round.  I simply think that Pittsburgh is perfectly primed to win the cup and they are my prediction to be the last team standing at the end of the season.  Outside of the teams already mentioned in the heart of this article I see Vancouver, Detroit, St. Louis, San Jose, New York, New Jersey, and other teams right in the mix too.

UFC 158 Winners Saving UFC on Fox 7

Matt Brown made an impact last time he fought
on Fox and would love to do it again.

On April 20th the UFC will be putting on its 7th show on Fox in San Jose, California.  This event is just a short 5 weeks after UFC 158 from Montreal.  Despite the quick turnaround, UFC 158 fighters seem eager to get right back in the octagon.

What could be considered a shattered card could arguably have gotten better thanks to injuries.  Chad Mendes lost his opponent for their UFC on Fox fight, SHOCKER.  Despite Guida being injured too afraid to fight Mendes, Darren Elkins decided to step up and take the fight on 4 weeks notice.  He is coming off of an impressive win but he is taking on the #3 featherweight just 5 weeks after contending with the less than scary Antonio Carvalho.  This is not looking great for him, but it definitely will win over the favor of his boss Dana White.  But wait, it did not stop there.

Just a few days later, Dan Hardy announced he was injured and could not fight Matt Brown.  No worries.  Jordan Mein will step in to face Brown following up his devastating finish of Dan Miller at UFC 158.  Again, he is only taking this fight on 4 weeks notice and only 5 weeks after his last fight.  Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, BAM.  Down goes Rivera.  T.J. Dillashaw has agreed to step in to face 7-0 Hugo Viana in California.

I do not know what is more amazing: the fact that 3 fighters on 1 card all got hurt (or scared) within a week of each other.  Or the fact that 3 men who made relatively big statements (as big as an undercard fighter can make) are willing to take another bout 5 weeks after their wins.  Win or lose, Elkins, Mein, and Dillashaw have moved up the ranks in the standings with their UFC 158 wins and also moved up Dana White's list of his favorite fighters.  Dana never claims to have favorites but certain people do anything for that guy, and vise versa.  COUGH COUGH give GSP the easiest title defense ever in Nick Diaz because he asked for it.

Much props to these guys for stepping up.  The UFC needs guys to do this because like all violent sports, injuries are common and even the bench players need to be warmed up and ready to go. However these 3 may have won in Montreal, but they are all taking a big step up in competition.  Dillashaw should be fine with Hugo, but Brown and Mendes are enormous steps up in competition for the youngsters Elkins and Mein.  The good news in all of this is that Elkins, Mein, and Dillashaw can be thanked for ensuring fans get as many fights as they were expecting.

Updated Fighter Rankings (3-20-13)

Jake Ellenberger shot up the welterweight
division with his huge KO of Nate Marquardt

There was only 2 UFC events in March, but April has a crazy amount of events.  Even though I already broke down the March 3rd event in my last rankings, it is important to have the Brutal Sports Rankings in preparation for such a busy April.  We cannot forget about Bellator Thursdays and WSOF 2 on the 23rd, but none of the events in March should influence to top 10 of any weight classes.  Here is how things stand now:

Pound for Pound:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Jose Aldo
3. Jon Jones
4. Georges St. Pierre
5. Dominick Cruz
6. Renan Barao
7. Benson Henderson
8. Cain Velasquez
9. Demetrious Johnson
10. Ronda Rousey

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Antonio Silva
6. Mark Hunt
7. Frank Mir
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Travis Browne
10. Alistair Overeem

Light Heavywight:

1. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Gustafsson
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Glover Teixeira
5. Phil Davis
6. Dan Henderson
7. Rashad Evans
8. Shogun Rua
9. Ryan Bader
10. Gegard Mousasi

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chris Weidman
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Yushin Okami
5. Luke Rockhold
6. Michael Bisping
7. Costa Philippou
8. Ronaldo Souza
9. Tim Boetsch
10. Alan Belcher

Welterwight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Jake Ellenberger
4. Rory Macdonald
5. Demian Maia
6. Carlos Condit
7. Dong Hyun Kim
8. Tyron Woodley
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Tarec Saffiedine

Lightweight:

1. Benson Henderson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Anthony Pettis
4. Gray Maynard
5. Jim Miller
6. Michael Chandler
7. Eddie Alvarez
8. TJ Grant
9. Nate Diaz
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo
2. Ricardo Lamas
3. Chad Mendes
4. Cub Swanson
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Erik Koch
8. Denis Siver
9. Dustin Poirier
10. Darren Elkins

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Urijah Faber
4. Eddie Wineland
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Michael McDonald
7. Brad Pickett
8. Rafael Assuncao
9. Mike Easton
10. T.J. Dillashaw

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joe Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. John Moraga
5. Darrel Montague
6. Jussier Formiga
7. Ian McCall
8. Darren Uyenoyama
9. Chris Cariaso
10. Louis Gaudinot

Women's Pound for Pound:

1. Ronda Rousey
2. Miesha Tate
3. Cristiane Santos
4. Jessica Aguilar
5. Sarah Kaufman
6. Sara McMann
7. Jessica Penne
8. Alexis Davis
9. Marloes Coenen
10. Liz Carmouche

Side notes:

• Nick Diaz is removed from the welterweight rankings due to retirement, even though this is probably just the temporary retirement like Nick does after every loss
• Clay Guida was removed from his 10 spot due to his unwillingness to fight Mendes, combined with Elkins big win and willingness to take the Mendes fight
• Jordan Mein made a huge jump in the welterweight rankings but did not eclipse the top 10
• Brian Bowles removed from list due to inactivity.  Dillashaw sneaks into 10 spot.
• Curran could really jump into my featherweight rankings with a big win over Shamhalaev at Bellator 95 on April 4th