z_The Hockey Page - Toronto Star

Wishing for a Christmas Karel

Karel Pilar. I just got used to pronouncing his name, and now he's going to be out till the New Year, and perhaps longer?

We'll get more details today, presumably, but it looks like Pilar is on the shelf with heart problems -- a recurrence of the viral myopathy that has interrupted his career twice before. Tim Wharnsby has a story in today's Globe, following on a report out of the Czech Republic, with confirmation from Pilar's agent:

"If everything goes well, around Christmas, Karel should put his skates on and start training again. The specialist from Montreal is optimistic."

Good for the specialist. Leafs fans wouldn't know optimism if it stood on the corner and asked 'em for a bowl of soup. Let's hope Pilar gets better, for his own sake. But for the Leafs, with two weeks until camp opens, what else can go wrong? They've got head cases. They've got back troubles. Now they've got a pain right in the heart, from a guy who was looking more and more like a solid contributor, after those earlier problems?

So what now? Will Carlo Colaiacovo step up? Is there anyone else in the system, or outside of it, who can fill the void? (If Chris Chelios can still play, and Scott Stevens might, has anyone bothered to ask Borje Salming?)

Elsewhere, the usual thin gruel. Ken Hitchcock has been given a one-year extension with the Flyers, and you have to like the way he's talking in this Hitch quote from the Philadelphia Daily News:

"In my opinion, management has done a terrific job at giving us the parts of a very, very competitive team and come training camp it will be my opportunity to see what I can do with it. And if people think that we have a championship-type team, then that's great because that means that people will come to watch us. I love that responsibility."

I guess Hitch has been looking at the early Stanley Cup odds.

Felix Potvin -- remember him? Sure you do -- may end up in Atlanta.

Then there is Shane Doan, rustler and cattle puncher (okay, I really don't know if he's ever punched a cattle). Nice piece from Dan Bickley in the Arizona Republic on the Phoenix captain, including Doan noting the time Johnny Cash showed up on his ranch. Wouldn't you love to have been there? Yeah, but right now, I'd settle for Karel Pilar back, and soon.

Darcy's new Leaf

Darcy Tucker has lost 10 pounds and gained -- well, we'll have to wait and see. For now, as the phony war continues leading up to the dawning of what's being called the "new NHL", Tucker is dreaming of something quite new: a 30-goal season.

Gary Bettman can talk all he wants about the league moving more toward skill, more red lights and less violence (excepting when it comes to Todd Bertuzzi's suspension, that is -- and as Denial noted in a comment here yesterday, when did this guy ever talk about anything being wrong with the NHL's version of hockey before last year's nuclear winter hit, or before they decided to expand faster than Kirstie Alley?). If this renaissance is half what it's cracked up to be, Tucker may well be a a guy whose signal lights flip over from red to green.

And if that is indeed the way it works out -- the goals, and the flow -- should we be surprised? Not really. Tucker scored 64 goals in his final junior season, and 93 points as a freshman pro with AHL Fredericton. The door is open for wingers to partner Mats Sundin, and he's among the first in line, if he can just keep his head:

"I probably shot myself in the foot at times with overzealous physical play. This year there's an opportunity maybe not to bang around so much, but to be a factor physically and make room for my teammates."

The flipside, given all these stars apparently in alignment, is that if Tucker doesn't show any improvement offensively or in terms of brainlocks -- his career high in four full seasons in Toronto is a humdrum 59 points -- there'll be some kind of pressure come February and March.

Elsewhere on a typically slim late-August filing, the best of the rest is Monica's lovely farewell to Alex Mogilny, one of the guys whose shoes Tucker is trying to fill (it's sort of like replacing a Lexus with a hanging strap on the 501 King car), on the TMLfans website. Okay, I'm not the best guy to ask for a Mogilny tribute -- one of my Alex memories involves paying way too much money for my once-a-season ACC treat a couple of years back, and watching him sleepwalk through a snoreworthy 1-0 loss to Montreal -- but he is/was the kind of scarily skilled player the Leafs never seem to have, and Monica gives him a heartfelt farewell. (Perhaps I missed something, but the boo-hoos surrounding the departure of Mogilny seemed much cooler compared to the sky-is-falling hysteria around Roberts and Nieuwendyk leaving).

Hey, and going around the league, can we never get enough news about 40something defencemen? Chris Chelios signed a while back. Now it's Al McInnis, c'mon down! Tommy Albelin, there could be a spot for you (registration required for this one)! Somewhere amid this madness, Danny Syvret, one of our favourites from last year's splendid OHL Knights squad and Team Canada, has signed with the Oilers. Kid's only 20, for pete's sake.

   

Niche programming

You know it's a slow weekend in the NHL when the top story is Dick Tarnstrom's arbitration update.

It's even slower in Leafs country, but as the countdown to Labour Day begins and after that, some real news -- can't wait to see those line combinations -- we make do with ... hockey fights, and what one of the shills on the weekend's Hockey Enforcers broadcast called, "history in the making", which, come to think of it, was the same thing they said about Lingerie Bowl I.

Perhaps the only thing about this one that's more historic than the $200 top ticket was the $24.95 pay-per-view charge.

The Star's Chris Zelkovich was not amused, but I suspect that anyone fool enough to lay out that kind of money got exactly what they wanted. And I wonder if Zelko's reaching a bit by pinning the tail on the NHL donkey for this one -- no one gets after King Football for the aforementioned Lingerie Bowl, Super Bowl day's babes-in-skivvies PPV.

No, what Hockey Enforcers may well illustrate -- besides another illustration of the bar being set a little lower, that is -- is the increasing marginalization of hockey fighters under new rules brought in by the NHL to open up the game. This is niche programming.

As Scott Burnside puts it, NHL general managers in this new era are "asking themselves whether they can afford $450,000 on a player whose contributions are limited to five or six minutes a night, a large portion of which will be spent trying to batter an opponent senseless." And at least in Chicago, the Blackhawks are spending their money in different ways -- like hiring an Olympic gold medalist speed skater as a training camp instructor.

More skating. Less fighting. Is it as simple as that?

Back to the front

If there's good news this morning for Leaf fans, it has to be Ed Belfour's proclamation that his back is all better. If there's a key to the Leafs success this season, it's probably that little disc he had repaired one year ago today.

A 301-day layoff will do that to a guy. Said Mats Sundin (welcome back, Mats) yesterday on the lockout:

"I used this as a great opportunity to heal my body, both physically and mentally, to prepare for the season and hopefully extend my own career."

We're thinking a lot of players feel the same way. (Mario Lemieux has to be near the top of that list).

Have been reading a lot about Dany Heatley and the Senators (perhaps making Leaf Nation a bit nervous). Here's how Dan Snyder's family feels about Heatley's move to Ottawa.

And what are they saying in Atlanta? Well, keep in mind Hossa's stats, then take note that his ice time in Ottawa's defensive-minded system was barely average for a player of his calibre. Now, Thrashers coach Bob Hartley really likes to unleash his stars and play them a lot - Ilya Kovalchuk led NHL forwards in ice time (23:41) in 2003-04. What will Hossa do with all that extra playing time?

"It could be more opportunity to do more stuff," he says.

Fantasy pool alert: An unleashed Marian Hossa will score a pile of goals this year.

Florida goalie Roberto Luongo was "awarded" $3.2 million in his salary arbitration case yesterday, a dollar figure that has people saying the Panthers won that deal. GM Mike Keenan says the goalie shouldn't be paid large until he's proven himself tobe one of the best in the business.

Fantasy pool alert No. 2: Roberto Luongo is motivated and will be one of the best.

Here's an update on the New Jersey Devils infirmary ward. Where Scott Stevens is working out and Patrick Elias has gained most of the 22 pounds he lost after contracting hepatitis.

If we ever need to borrow a pen, we're calling Tampa Bay GM Jay Feaster. Yesterday, he resigned yet another of his players (yes, yes, Nikolai Khabibulin is gone. But all that good ink can be expensive). Former Leaf scoring machine (ah the memories) Dave Andreychuk, now 42-years-old, got a 2-year deal. Are the Bolts happy?

"Every guy, and I mean every guy, I talked to," Feaster said, "wanted to know what was going to happen with Andy."

Now we've mentioned Scott Stevens and Dave Andreychuk. What's up with the other members of the NHL's 40-plus club. Take a look right here.

Welcome to the jungle

Good morning, Mr. Lindros. Welcome back to Toronto, Mr. O'Neill. Greetings, Mr. Allison.

The new Leafs are in town. Been on the ice at Lakeshore Lions Arena. And even with 41 days still to go before the season starts:

"I've been to a Stanley Cup final once and that was the only time I've seen it like this."

Says Jeff O'Neill of the local media throg. Sorry Jeff, but it's only gonna get worse, trust us.

Sticking with (too much) media attention, Dany Heatley wanted a change and he gets one in Ottawa. In Atlanta, there are questions about Heatley's recent choices. He's on his third agent in a year, played for two different Euorpean clubs during the lockout, reports said he was out of shape at Canada's Olympic camp. But in Ottawa, they hope the past is the past - injuries and all. And the loaded up Senators are as pumped to have him as he is to be there. So Leafs fans, are you worried?

Off to Buffalo, enforcer Andrew Peters happily tells the Buffalo News he used androstenedione, a performance-enhancing supplement which the World Anti-Doping Agency considers an anabolic androgenic steroid. Do we have our first NHL drug crisis on our hands?

In Boston, owner Jeremy Jacobs promised fans to spend on good players and says he delivered (but they'd better perform, he adds). But be warned, Jacobs says: watch that cap next year. If it goes down, clubs who were busy spending this year will find they probably did too much and won't be able to chase players like Patrick Elias next year.

We never realized, if the NFL is the Beatles, the NHL is Boss.

Of course, the Lightning have MVP Martin St. Louis locked up. They sure look good right now.

The Canucks are happy with what they've done, even though they've spent more than they wanted.

Finally, hey, who better than Chico Resch to talk about the new NHL rules?

New beginning

Just when you thought it was safe to close down your so-called "blog" and run off to the golf course ... (actually we "prefer electronic diary correspondence"). Well, yesterday we sure liked those Senators, with Marian Hossa signed for 3 years, the core of a very good, young team was in tact.

Little did we know.

We also said yesterday that Hossa's signing was bad news for the Leafs, thinking the balance of power in Ontario is shifting. Does this trade worry Leafs fans? The balance is still moving to the east and fast. Though Jeff O'Neill thinks Leaf Nation should be patient.

"Frankly, to hear people already saying we will miss the playoffs, well, that's ridiculous."

We hope you're right, Mr. O'Neill...and welcome to the chaotic centre of the hockey universe. Click the comments link below and tell us what you think about the Heatley deal and, as always, the Maple Leafs.

So who does John Muckler think he is? A savvy general manager?

Dany Heatley is granted his reasonable request for a fresh start, Atlanta gets an awesome player in Hossa (Hossa and Kovalchuk - who will score more goals? Discuss) and the Senators pick up Heatley, who's history we all know, on the ice and off. Ottawa sure hopes Heatley can be the player he seemed destined to be before his car accident. Looks like the Thrashers think otherwise.

Over to Buffalo, where it's been quiet this summer. Too quiet. But with more cap room than Kevin Mench, the Sabres might be ready to make their move. Just 'cause we all like Leafs rumours, Ken Klee's name has popped up.

The Penguins, the antithesis of the Sabres after all those ping pong balls and expensive signings, are not all sign and keep and celebrate after all. Aleksey Morozov and hot prospect Evgeni Malkin likely won't be in Pittsburgh this season.

"It doesn't look good at all," says agent Pat Brisson.

Finally, speaking of not looking good, today we hope to get a look at our first nasty arbitration case (thanks a lot Ottawa Senators) when Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers battle for some loot. Apparently, the rising star didn't like GM Mike Keenan's 4-year offer.

"I'm biased, obviously, but if I was in Roberto's shoes, I would have accepted it," said Keenan.

Yes, Mr. Keenan. You are biased. Good luck today.

Not Finnished yet

Today we strike Teemu Selanne off our he's-still-out-there-and-he'd-make-such-a-good-Maple-Leaf list.

"When I can't use my speed, I'm useless. I have really high expectations of this year," he says.

With Scott Niedermayer, Sergei Fedorov and the Finnish Flash, we're thinking the Ducks are gonna fly. Though Selanne's arrival could leave expensive winger Petr Sykora on the trade block.

A very quick look at who's left: Adam Deadmarsh, Ron Francis (!), Mark Messier (!!), Yanic Perrault, Felix Potvin, Cliff Ronning, Brian Savage and yes, Steve Thomas is out there and still presumed to be in "great shape". Hey, technically Mario Lemieux is an unrestricted free agent. Wonder what he'll get paid (besides housing fees for Sydney Crosby)?

But we're not going to ask why Super Mario should sign with Toronto, giving the Leafs the greatest crop of centres in the history of the sport and no wingers to help them. This week is about your predictions for the 2005-06 NHL season. Who are the winners and losers from this summer-shuffle of free agent signings? Click the comments link below and send your predictions for this year.

Be sure to factor in young Carlo Colaiacovo, who's excited about his chances of joining the Buds' blue line this year.

Also today, the first player arbitration hearing is held, where Marian Hossa will hear why he's no Jarome Iginla (more of a Milan Hejduk, they'll say), while the Senators will hear all about how Hossa is one of the most skilled players in the league and should be paid that way. We're leaning towards Milan Hejduk argument. Thanks to this ugly process the Hossa trade rumours are buzzing in Ottawa. Update: Well, Hossa got his deal today. Three years, Hejduk money in the first year, builiding to Iginla money in the third. Sounds like a compromise to us. Certainly bad news for the arch rivals in Toronto.

The Red Wings are having trouble with their own young star. Pavel Datsyuk is in Moscow awaiting an NHL contract where he apparently:

"Scored a beautiful, highlight goal" the other day.

Come on Detroit, we need those highlights in the NHL!

Another player caught in the cash crunch is Mr. MVP himself, Martin St. Louis. Probably won't get Vincent Lecavalier money from Tampa Bay, so should he just suck it up and sign already? Bet Montreal Canadiens fans would like to see that relationship fail, followed by a homecoming.

And those of us who just couldn't get used to the idea that Paul Kariya was absent from Team Canada's Olympic training camp? Neither could he.

Finally, remember when we told you about a Denver reporter who was taking emails from angry fans on the Avs signing of Brad May? Looks like that Mayday issue isn't going away.

Predictions, predictions

The puck drops in 44 days folks.

The player movement has slowed to a Jaroslav Balastik here and a Janos Vas there. Oh, we've still got our eye on places like Atlanta, courting Peter Bondra's scoring and Ottawa as player arbitration hearings get underway this week (good luck, Marian Hossa).

But we take this space today to ask for your predictions for the 2005-06 NHL season.

Send us your (very) early predictions. What's your final four look like? Who'll be MVP? And of course, your forecast for the Maple Leafs in the new-era NHL. As always on this page, click the comments link below to send your opinion.

We're not expecting many votes of confidence in the Sabres, where the biggest summer addition has been Teppo Numminen after losing Miroslav Satan and Alexei Zhitnik. A story in yesterday's Buffalo News alleges:

"That a group of influential players, over time, has spread word around the league: Don't play for the Sabres."

Said Slava Kozlov after he became a member of the Thrashers:

"I couldn't stand it."

Yikes.

Meanwhile:

In New Jersey, 41-year-old Scott Stevens is still mulling retirement.

Would the Florida Panthers consider trading Jay Bouwmeester?

Backup plan

That's about it for another week. Feel free to check out the latest comments here over the weekend, and add your own opinions. We'll have a new question for you on Monday.   

Welcome aboard, Jean-Sebastien Aubin. The young-yet-experienced goalie was signed yesterday by the Maple Leafs to push Mikael Tellqvist for the Ringo role to Ed Belfour's rest of the Beatles. We're thinking Leaf fans hope Belfour's back holds up and the Buds have to rely on neither this year.

And if you're wondering what this whole OLN thing is about, well, hockey fans in Canada are well taken care of (CBC lockout pending), but in the U.S. they're doing the math, while diehard fans have some questions.

Around the horn:

The Devils are preparing to play without Scott Stevens this year.

In Washington, they'd like to have Peter Bondra back, but it's up to the scorer to decide.

Curtis Joseph is looking forward to being a desert dog for a couple of reasons:

"I've never played in a warm place," he said.

The Boston Bruins would like to add some depth to their blue line and could use slick winger Sergei Samsonov or P.J. Axelsson as trade bait.

Tampa Bay continues the negotiation "process" with firecracker Martin St. Louis, but could lose him after this season.

A sign it's time to move on from the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident?

"I wish (Bertuzzi) could be playing in Colorado with me," Avalanche winger Alex Tanguay said from Team Canada's Olympic camp.

The great outdoors (network)

Welcome to the Outdoor Life Network, NHL. Sporting giant ESPN took a pass on your new brand and so the home of the Tour de Lance takes over. Which will draw higher ratings in the U.S.? More evidence of the work the league must do to win back even the corporate fans.

Will the rule changes help? In Edmonton, Paul Coffey, who will have his No. 7 retired in October, thinks the game will be better and the onus will be on the defencemen to move the puck.

Will the salary cap help? Perhaps fans in places like Nashville will watch closer, now that the big spenders have been brought back to the pack.

But we digress.

Sorry Leaf fans, you wanted Anson Carter, and for a million bucks, (about one-third of an Alexander Mogilny) he probably would've been worth it. But Carter chose Vancouver where he'll tutor the Sedin twins.

"I just think their explosive lineup attracted me the most," he said.

Not explosive enough in Toronto, eh? Looks like GM John Ferguson could be done building the Leafs roster, so we ask:

How will the Maple Leafs do this year? Are the playoffs just a dream? Or will they march into the spring on another playoff run? Click the comments link below and tell us what you think.

Off we go:

Looking east to Ottawa, the Senators and sniper Marian Hossa still can't agree on who their franchise player is. An arbitrator may have to decide. Meanwhile, the rumour mill yesterday had the Sens working to trade defenceman Wade Redden because he wouldn't fit under the cap. But both Redden and the Senators want him in Ottawa.

In Tampa, the defending champs (yes, still) have Vincent Lecavalier locked up, now they'll try and keep MVP Martin St. Louis and later Brad Richards in town. But the salary cap won't make it an easy task. Just ask general manager Jay Feaster.

"In the long term, this system will be good for our franchise," Feaster said. "But right now, with the players we have at the age they are, it's killing us."

How does Richards feel about the penny-pinching that's already cost the Bolts goalie Nikolai Khabibulin?

"It sucks."