By Rob Ficiur

As school ends students should be bringing home a report card.  (Parents, don’t let them try to fool you that schools don’t do report cards anymore).  Athletes get report cards too.  Here is their’s for this June.
A : NHL Salary Cap:  Almost as soon as the Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup, questions were being asked about which of the Hawks would be back next season?  In the old days the Islanders, Oilers and Canadiens held on to their players for a decade.  Now with the salary cap, teams will not be able to build dynasties the same way.  Even if the team wants to keep some players, the salary cap may force them to trade or not re-sign a free agent.  In the past rich teams could sign players to high dollar contracts and then “eat” the contract if the player is a bust.  Now it seems like every team is saddled with a big contract they don’t want.  No system is perfect, but this salary cap has allowed a level financial playing field; leaving it to the general managers to make good or dumb deals that will make or break their teams.
B : Toronto Blue Jays:  When the team traded their top player Roy Halladay in the off season, I was sure the team was destined to last place if not lower.  I was more certain of my prediction when none of the three players acquired for Halladay made the big league team.  The team traded away its best player, and  got no active player in return.  Some how the result has been a team that is winning.  How?  The bats are hot (so far) this year.  The pitching has been steady.  Before you start buying your 2010 Blue Jays World Series T-Shirts the team is just barely over .500.  The Blue Jays seem to be moving in the right direction (so hope their die hard fans).
C : Toronto Raptors:  The surprising Raptors made a playoff run this year.  When the team missed the playoffs, we all “knew” that Chris Bosch’s days as a Raptor would be over.  Bosch was chosen fourth overall in the 2003 NBA draft.  He has become the team leader in points.  However, in seven years with the Raptors the team has only made it to the playoffs twice, losing in the first round both times.  With free agency coming in July, why would Bosch want to re-sign with a team that appears to be going no where?  From the team point of view, Bosch has been their go to man for most of his career, and so far he hasn’t lead them anywhere.
F : Pat Quinn Head Coach (Former) of the Edmonton Oilers:  This week the Edmonton Oilers promoted Pat Quinn to a front office position and promoted associate coach Tom Renney to the dubious honor of coaching the Oilers next year.  As the Oilers’ earned their last place finish in the NHL, Coach Quinn was always good for a quote.  Rather than sugar coating a loss he shook his head and wondered what more could be done.  Oilers players and fans might not have been inspired by a coach who honestly told the media he was not sure how to turn this team around.
Even as Quinn was promoted to his new front office position, he called the new job a firing.  Oilers management talked about the transition plan to move Renney in as head coach.  Pat Quinn made more media noise by saying he had never heard of any transition plan.
Whether he was transitioned or fired, Pat Quinn’s honest post game comments will be missed next season.  At 68 years old, is this the last time Quinn will coach in the NHL?  Don’t bet on it.  Come March, a team may want a veteran coach to take them to a new level.