Recently in South America during the Copa Sudamericana, 20 minutes into a soccer match, a fan stormed the field and blind sided Henry Gimenez of  Uruguay’s River Plate. It appeared after he hit the player that in his hand was a knife, luckily he did not stab anyone.  Flares were also thrown by fans and a member of the coaching staff was hit.

We all have heard of the passion that stems from soccer in South America but this seems to be taking it a little to far. I wonder what David Beckham would have done? To actually go out and attempt to hurt an athlete is one of the dumber things you can do, and telling from the video, those men in army fatigues probably don’t take these matter to lightly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the champ that ran on the field left the stadium in much worse shape then the player he tried to attack.

Video after the jump

Mike Cammalleri

Currently playing for the Calgary Flames after an off-season trade from Los Angeles, Cammalleri is enjoying a great season out in Cattle country. Averaging over a point a game this season,  it seems at the age of 26 Cammalleri is showing he can be a top player in the NHL.

He would be the first or second line center on the leafs and immediately would improve the team offensively. There are many reasons why this would work and it makes me believe if there is any free agent out there who is coming to the leafs it’s Cammalleri. Firstly, the Calgary Flames will be unable to sign him after this year after acquiring Olli Jokinen. Jokinen’s contract is for over 5 million next year, and if you include the contracts of Iginla, Pheneuf and Kipprusoff there is no way he is staying there. He is also from the Toronto area and most players from the area love coming back home to play (Lindros, Roberts, Nieuwendyk and Cujo to name a few) The difference difference is that he would be coming in his prime when the Leafs are looking for a local guy to lead this team, an opportunity I think he would relish. On top of that he played many years for the Los Angeles Kings so Brian Burke, from his days in Anahiem, knows him well.

The only way I don’t see this happening is if a Southern United States team overpays for him to appease fans such as teams last year did for players such as Ron Hainsey in Atlanta and Mike Commodore in Columbus. With the sagging economy and the persistent rumors that teams in the United States are struggling to stay afloat further declines the changes of this happening. Look to see Cammalleri in Toronto next year.

Francois Beauchemin

Currently a defensemen for the Ducks, one of Brian Burke’s first moves as General Manager of Anahiem was acquiring Beauchemin. He’s a tough defensemen who clears the front of the net and isn’t scared to take the body, he’s a player the Leafs would love to have. Although Defence is Toronto’s strong point, Adding Beauchemin would allow the Leafs the oppertunity to trade one of their more valuable defensemen in Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina or even Ian White. Ideally the guy to move would be Kubina, but his contract will be very difficult to move to another team. White might be the guy to go as he is valuable right now. I do not want to see him leave but a top 6 defence pairing of this.

• Kaberle/Schenn

• Kubina/White or Van Ryn

• Finger/Beauchemin

These defensive pairings for me, would mark one of the strongest 1 through 6 in the NHL. Adding Frogren and Stralman as the 7th and 8th guys, would make this fairly injury proof. I’d much rather see Kubina or Van Ryn gone instead of White, but with White we can get value in return, such as a solid forward. Adding Beauchemin in my opinion is worth it, and I expect Burke to definitely have interest.

Samuel Pahlsson

Another favourite of Brian Burke, he is also a free agent this summer. Palhsson brings grit, defensive intensity and a solid locker room presence to the table. Although the Leafs pretty much have 3 full lines of 3rd and 4th liners at the moment, Burke wants to make this his team, and he will get who he wants in those positions and trade who he doesn’t want.  Palhsson could help bring what Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper have brought to the Red Wings. A shut down pairing who works well on the Penalty Kill. As we know, the Red Wings aren’t a bad team to emulate.

Johan Franzen

Not sure on this one, but he seems to be the type of guy Burke likes, not afraid of the corners, goes to the net and drives goalies mad, and great for the power-play. I highly doubt Franzen leaves, even with the cap problems Detroit has, but if he becomes available, look for the Leafs to be interested.

Travis Moen

Another Burke favourite from their days in California, I very much believe Burke will go and get either Pahlsson or Moen, perhaps both.

Brian Gionta

After a 48 goal campaign in 2005-2006 Gionta has regressed badly. He’s almost become a reclamation project but the Leafs would be wise to at least take a look. Putting him on a line with Cammalleri would form a very fast 1-2 punch and could reignite his scoring prowess. With the market down and his numbers getting lower, he will not be able to command the salary he desires. What the leafs need in the first two lines is skill, Gionta has it, you don’t score 48 goals in a season and not have skill, especially when your playing in New Jersey.  He’s still young having just turned 30 and could be a nice pick up.

Daniel and Henrik Sedin

I highly doubt this as I feel they will both resign in Vancouver. I also think they are grossly overrated, but you cannot deny that back when they were drafted, then GM of the Vancouver Canucks Brian Burke did everything he could to get them both in Vancouver. Well they will both be free agents this summer, and Burke has the money to get them both. Time will tell if he goes after them.

As well as discussing potential Maple Leafs who could be coming this way, lets quickly discuss who I think will be gone from this year’s team.

Jamal Mayers

Cliff Fletcher did some good things while General Manager of the Leafs, this wasn’t one of them. Mayers won’t be back

Alexei Ponikarovsky

Spelled his name right on the first try, pretty happy with myself. He’s been way to inconsistent during his career in Toronto

Matt Stajan

This one I could see him staying, but I feel like he’s the classic case of getting points on a bad team, along the lines of Dominic Moore. I would be very happy seeing him go, He’s a third line player and with his good season this year, will command more than a 3rd line salary.

Lee Stempniak

In 52 games with the Leafs he has 26 points which Simply isn’t good enough. He still has a year on his contract so he could be stuck here, but I see Burke finding a home for him somehow.

Curtis Joseph

Thanks for the memories Cujo and the late season decent play. He is now talking about coming back next year, but hopefully he chooses retirement.

Pavel Kubina

I sincerely believe Burke will be able to find him a home this summer. Although he still has two years left on his contract at 5 million a season, he’s a very productive defensemen who contributes at both ends of the ice. The Leafs need to pounce on teams that are in the running for Jay Bowmeester but don’t sign him, Kubina could be the quick fix teams covet. Most likely we will have to take back salary, as we did in the McCabe trade, it may still be worth it. San Jose was interested last trade deadline, and could be again this year. They are one team who is still doing well in this economic time period, and a long playoff run will ensure they have the means to take on his contract.

These are just a few things I think the Leafs and GM Brian Burke have planned for the off-season.

Fred had become disillusioned with a lack of playing time over the last season and ends his tenure at Lyon unceremoniously. After refusing to return from Brazil, Lyon retaliated with an in-house suspension before the two sides mutually came to terms on a release Thursday. The Brazillian, described as a “fraudster” by Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, will join Fluminense on a 5 year deal with Lyon failing to recoup any of the 15 million Euros they paid Cruzerio in 2005.

I really don’t see any winners in this situation. Lyon looked to work a deal for the striker to ensure him playing time and shift his large wage of their books, but when Fred failed to show up for scheduled meetings with Tottenham officials this January what could they really do? With Karim Benzema a likely summer export, Lyon will look to heavily invest in forwards over the offseason since their next striking option behind Benzema and Fred is Frederic Piquionne who has managed just 1 goal in 15 appearances.  As for Fred, 2 goals in 15 games of French soccer and horrific character issues make him almost untouchable for any European side. I’m sure he considers Fluminense a stepping stone back to Europe, but it won’t be into the welcoming arms of Milan or Madrid likes he hopes. In the throngs of recession the last thing teams want are high risk, unprofessional hazards like Fred.

Brandon Roy put up 52 points on the Phoenix Suns last night.

Elton Brand from the Philadelphia 76ers is out at least a month.

Surprise, the NBA is struggling with attendance.

Mats Sundin to play with former Leaf Wellwood.

Sergei Zubov may never play in the NHL again.

The Montreal Canadians finally got a win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost a close one to the Indianapolis Colts.

Tarvaris Jackson will be starting this weekends game for the Minnesota Vikings.

MMA fighter may have killed himself and his wife.

The Red Sox say they don’t want Mark Teixiera.

Not a terrible season last year for the Ducks, but with a disappointing playoffs and two of their big free agent signings from a year ago gone, they’ll be looking to have a better year this year. But will they?

Ryan Getzlaf leads the Ducks forwards followed by Corey Perry, Chris Kunitz, Teemu Selanne and Rob Niedermayer.  Brendan Morrison will look to prove that he’s still a top 6 player and young Bobby Ryan is also looking to crack the top 6.

On defence Anaheim is lead by two of the best in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger.  Francois Beauchemin, Kent Huskins, Ken Klee and Steve Montador round out the blueline.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere is looking for another sold 30+ win season and Jonas Hiller showed last year that he’s a very capable backup.

Anaheim is a good team, but not great. Their lack of depth will end up hurting them and I could see them ending up in a war with Phoenix at the end of the season.

I think I speak for most raptors fans when I say that I have had enough of T. J. Ford.  I like T.J. as a player, I just don’t like him as a Raptor.  I feel that Jose Calderon is a much better player and teammate.  Calderon plays hard on both ends of the floor and most importantly keeps his mouth shut. 

Listening to some of the things said by Ford last season I could not help but be reminded of former Raptor and the only woman to ever play in the NBA Vince Carter.  When Carter was in Toronto he was a fan favorite, then his true colors showed and he wanted to leave the team.  In retrospect I’m happy that he left, because as he has proved in New Jersey he can’t win anything but a dunk contest. 

So Mr. Colangelo, please trade Ford before the situation gets worse and reward Calderon with the playing time he deserves.  There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks that the Raptors are targeting Cory Maggette in a possible trade with the Clippers.  This would be a good trade for both teams as the Clippers need a point guard with Livingston still rehabbing from a devastating knee injury, and the Raptors need any player that can get to the free throw line.  Maggette has been tagged as a selfish player at times who looks to score every time he gets the ball in his hands, with all the unselfish players that are on the Raptors roster this seems like a good fit.  

Another possible scenario sees the Raptors sending Ford to Miami for the second overall pick.  This seems less likely to me as I would doubt that Miami would want to use the pick to get a one dimensional guard with a history of injury problems, when they have the chance of landing a franchise player like Beasley or Rose. 

A more likely trade possibility would be with the Knicks.  New coach Mike D’antoni loves players with Fords set of skills who can run the floor and shoot the three.  The only question I have is where T.J. would fit on a roster full of guards.  Maybe they are willing to give up Nate Robinson who would look good backing up Calderon.  Perhaps they are willing to trade away their sixth overall pick.  I don’t know what the Raptors have planned for Ford but one thing is for sure, he has got to go.