Dose: A Cautionary Tale

Documentaries have a way of warping your mind even when you go in with a “take this with a grain of salt” approach. Sometimes that’s even a good thing.

The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Broke” really highlighted how easily athletes can be manipulated by friends, families and flat-out financial predators until there’s nothing left. It’s easy to cruelly laugh at Antoine Walker being a guy who went from $100 million contracts to bankruptcy until you realize that a) these guys aren’t always equipped to handle these situations and b) by the time they wise up, their playing primes could very well be over.

In many cases, I think we forget how short sporting careers can be, at least from the perspective of those “prime earning years.” I’ve hammered this point before, but fans too easily fall into the trap of hating players when the owners are usually the ones committing mass fraud and generally being despicable.

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The Columbus Dispatch presents an especially heartbreaking (though sadly not that surprising) case of a player going broke, as it appears that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson’s parents took out enough ridiculous, high-interest loans to put the American-born blueliner in bankruptcy.

Including the 2014-15 campaign, Johnson, 27, has four years remaining on a deal that pays him $5 million in salary each season. (His cap hit’s a little lower.) I’m not a bankruptcy lawyer, mind you, but I’d be surprised if he sees more than the bare minimum of that money.

I acknowledge that this isn’t particularly fantasy-related (aside from maybe a reason to cheer on Johnson, who for all his possession-related faults provides a potpourri of fantasy benefits), but it’s a remarkably well-investigated piece that should leave people thinking twice about mocking the human side of athletes … and also maybe taking a look at their own finances to make sure that they’re not heading down a Johnson-like path.

Seriously, you should read it.

OK, enough of real life, let’s get to the recaps.

CANUCKS 5, OILERS 4

-- Do you think Vancouver gets kind of nostalgic about beating up on the Northwest Division whenever they get a chance to roll over Edmonton? Considering Minnesota's up-and-down start, Colorado's slide back and other factors, I'd wager the Canucks experience at least a tinge of that feeling.

-- In mild defense of the Oilers: all four of their consecutive losses have been by one goal. They've put up a decent amount of shots in each game, too. They're ranked 12th in possession stats, so it's not like they're necessarily deserving of "Still the worst" designation. Are they good? Nah, not really ... but maybe it's not as bad as it looks?

In a way, this team reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs, just in a tougher conference: their front office is slowly starting to "get it." The problem is that they're multiple seasons behind others who got it a long time ago, and considering the lack of value they're getting on some costly investments (Taylor Hall and maybe a couple others excepted), it's a frustrating situation.

Like Toronto, I think they should stop flirting and get with the firing, although I'd start with Kevin Lowe (instead of the coach, as in the Maple Leafs case ... not to say that Dallas Eakins is necessarily the man for the job, mind you).

-- In less defense of the Oilers: Edmonton still doesn’t have a win against the Western Conference. They're 6-2-1 against the East and 0-9-1 against the West this season.

-- My gut feeling is that while the Sedins + Radim Vrbata might not be the "best" line in the NHL, it might be the most "automatic." That said, they were a little less effective before last night's nice work. Henrik Sedin was shut out offensively in three of his previous four games (although with last night's duo of assists, he has four points in five games). Daniel Sedin faced a similar path, although he has five points in five games now. Vrbata seems like the "feast or famine" guy of the bunch since he's the trigger-man, but eight goals and 15 points in 17 games played (with a healthy 58 SOG) has to be considered a strong return on what was likely relative bargain investments.

Really love this line, not gonna lie.

-- It looks like the Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle line is back together after the Oilers at least flirted with greater offensive variety by keeping Benoit Pouliot in Hall’s spot (Pouliot replaced Hall during his injury absence). While I think there’s some understandable logic in spreading the wealth, fantasy owners tend to dig “super lines,” and with just as much reason. So … bad for the Oilers, good for fantasy owners, then?

-- I feel kind of bad for Ben Scrivens and the Oilers here. All the excuses in the world don't excuse an .895 save percentage. His stats are the only things that are reminiscent of Edmonton's golden age in the 80's, sadly.

That said, how many goalies will go through the Oilers meat grinder before it becomes as much about the team/system/defensemen as it is about the goalies? In situations like these, it's often a little of both, and that's depressing.

-- Copper & Blue's recap ended with a sad but maybe accurate line:

Tonight, Oilers fans will dream dreams of Connor McDavid.

The Oilers should be mandated by the NHL to clean house if they end up with McDavid, though. That would be kind of sickening, although McDavid - Hall - RNH would be buckets of fun.

RANGERS 2, FLYERS 0

-- The Rangers keep climbing my "just plain baffling" power rankings. I honestly don't know what to make of them, but maybe they're just hit-or-miss and it's as simple as that.

-- Friday presents an interesting choice for Alain Vigneault: does he reward Cam Talbot for his shutout or try to give Henrik Lundqvist a confidence-booster against the Buffalo Sabres? Talbot helped the Rangers through a tough start last season, so perhaps he can do so again?

-- You have to have a pretty cold heart not to enjoy Rick Nash's redemption. Thirteen goals and 70 SOG in 19 games played? Impressive. He'll almost certainly slow down, but maybe not as much as his detractors expect. It'll be interesting to see what Martin St. Louis' next contract looks like, by the way.

-- Dan Boyle still doesn't have a point this season, but he did fire four SOG on Wednesday. There's no real reason to rush in snatching him up, but I'd at least glance at him every now and then.

There's a chance he's flat-out done, though.

-- I was surprised to see Claude Giroux play last night. Whether he was hampered a bit by injuries or not, he managed four SOG and played almost 26 minutes.

-- Steve Mason hasn't been amazing, but his 3-6-1 record is worse than his passable work (.914 save percentage). He's not necessarily the solution, but it would be foolish to single him out as the problem.

-- The offense will come and go for Wayne Simmonds, but he remains great from a peripheral standpoint. Is it weird to be "disappointed" with 10 PIM, though?

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