To and flow

We were holding back on responding to conin79's comment from yesterday, asking us to give a look at his suggested 20-man roster. Now, that looks suspiciously like a Pat Quinn incognito roster.

Is that really you lurking behind that handle, Coach? I mean, there's no Wellwood. No Wilm. Not going there, Pat/conin. Me no likey. Our good friend Mark Zwolinski gives us an idea, though, of how the Leafs roster is taking shape this morning. And it does include Mr Steen. And Mr. Stumpy - what would one of these mornings be without Steve Thomas to ponder?

Meantime, over at the Sun, Paul Maurice gets some mentions.

Some good news on "antsy" Jason Allison - why all this injury talk so soon? Beathe, Leaf Nation, you're not alone. As if we needed another reason to blame the lockout (reg. req'd).

Okay, while we're playing the blame game, the first flood of exhibition play has the critics in full swing.

"They all talk about flow, these new guys on the owners' board of directors,'' Harry Sinden tells the Boston Herald. "We've got to get the flow back,' they all say. I asked them, 'Do you know what you're taking about? What do you mean when you say flow?' They're not really quite sure what to say."

We love Harry Sinden. Please, go on.

"I say to them, 'Well, I think you mean this: One team comes down on the attack here, then the other team gets the puck and goes back the other way. That's the kind of flow you like. But I said, 'Can you think of anything that disturbs the flow of a hockey game more than a two-minute penalty? The flow ends as soon as you call the penalty."

So Harry's not sure yet. But in the interest of being fair and balanced (hey, that's what they taught us in school) the Preds seem to have no "flow" problems. But if you're looking for answers, why not ask the best player in the world (arguably, quite).

"I think it's going to be easier to score goals," says Jaromir Jagr.

Good line (reg. req'd) in the Inquirer today, where we hear the first call for more penalties, as in two minutes for "boring".

"Last night the score was 2-1 Flyers and 28-0 referees."

Finally, Sid Crosby made his NHL debut last night. One assist, 16 shifts, 5 shots, drank from the water bottle 17 times ... etc. etc. But they're saying he's found some chemistry with Mark Recchi.

OHL report: Dylan Hunter impressing in Buffalo -- was last year's London Knights (79-9-2) one of the most dominant teams of all-time or what?

Adam Deadmarsh is retiring.

Comments

[Ken66]

Leafs have got to get rid of old guys like Thomas and marchment, when will the prospects EVER get a chance to play and get experience?? remember now, the Free Agency age is gonna drop to 27 or 28 so the longer time u don't let these guys play, the less time u get to use them for your team!
And if they were going to get veteran players why didn't they try to get better guys like Mogilny, Selanne, Bondra, all world class players

[mm]

I like Conin79's line up but he forgot about Klee who is in my books the number 2 man on our D. With Ken in Marchment should be scrapped...or traded. He is still a good player and one that will stick his face in front of a slap shot to help prevent goals but he is done...and we need youth. Carlo is a heads up puck handler who will only develop the big league D skills of Marchment if he plays in the big league...going back to the Marlies will do him more harm than good. A start feeding the poor kid...he needs another 20 pounds. A couple Domi burgers a day at the ACC should help.

Matt Stajan. Whomever has considered sending him back down has to give their head a shake. He played very well he last time around and I would say he adapted to the NHL faster then the likes of Antropov and Pony. Mark Crawford would keep him, Maurice would keep him. Quinn? Still considering him. No, That is completely wrong. We need him as a fourth line centre.

Thats all for my thoughts for now.

[denial]

find me another team in this league who, 3 weeks away from dropping the puck, is fixated upon whether someone like Steve Thomas should be on the ice. Even the non-teams, like Nashville and Columbus and Pheonix understand what gameplan they're going to move forward with: veterans or youth.

this isn't anything against Steve Thomas; it's not his fault that the Leafs organization is so messed up.

MLSE is like the herpes virus. it's an illness that's always there, but you don't feel it most of the time. But as soon as the immune system weakens, even slightly, it emerges. What's happening with the 24-hour Thomas-watch is that virus coming to life. It's the sickness that is this entire organization.

I didn't think I'd live to see the day that I agreed with something Harry Sinden said, so I assume I'm dead and that this is the afterlife. He's right -- they're talking about flow as if the new rules are a giant suppository. They ain't. they ain't they ain't they ain't. If we "see" the game has more flow, then it's a placebo and we're seeing what we want to see. I'll bet you anything that if you take a "this game has more flow!" fan and sit them in front of a Calgary/Tampa Bay game from the cup 2 years ago and convince them that it's a live game, they'll smile and nod and go "see? look at all that flow!".

the flow of a game is not about the rules -- it is engaging the fans IN the game. it's not a pinball game. Hockey is a team sport that combines unimaginably good skating (do you see how close to the boards those guys get? one misstep and they DIE, literally, they will DIE), tape to tape passing, shooting rubber (now now) at 100 mph towards someone's unprotected ankle -- and nobody flinching -- and knowing, like a QB in football, that if you have the audacity to touch the puck, then you WILL get drilled. And it will hurt, and when you go home at night, you will need to take painkillers because you won't be able to sleep.

hockey is simply in places where it shouldn't be. that is the problem. fans in Toronto, Montreal, and a few other places worth noting, hell, even ottawa, WILL tolerate a clutch and grab game, because we're engaged in the game. we understand it, and we respect it. But hockey is being shoved down the throats of people who just don't like it, and so everyone's freaking out about flow. It's extortion, really -- if some retiree in South Florida wants to see players take slower shots because it's hard to see that black thing on the ice, then some NHL focus group will recommend that. If they want to make the ice black and the puck white, they probably eventually will.

here's a suggestion to increase the flow in this game: STOP TRYING TO INCREASE THE FLOW IN THIS GAME. let hockey be played in places where people actually care about the game, and embrace what seems to be boredom to a casual, superficial, ignorant audience who is watching hockey in between Nascar and Jerry Springer.

i totally believe that until this is accepted, that hockey is what hockey is, then they can try everything thinkable until they finally silli-fy (that's my Jesse Jackson for the day) the game and make it unrecognizable to someone over the age of 40. It will be an embrassment.

oh well. i have heard that the sun is supposed to blow up in 5 billion years (not the Toronto Sun, that blew up a decade or so ago). so in the new earth, circa 5 billion years from now, perhaps our evolved decendants will create a Canadian National Hockey League in places like Halifax and Quebec City and Regina and so on, where people actually get this game and have gotten it for a century or so.

i'm so sad.

[denial]

...i was sad until i saw the stumpy meter. that is the funniest thing i've seen since i died.

[GLG]

I love Stumpy. In his day he was the next Ronnie Ellis for our beloved Maple Leafs. Hard working, drive the net, team player. He's the kind of guy the orginization should keep around. I'd like to see him in a player development role. I don't want to see him taking a spot that may have gone to Wellwood or Wilm.

I'm going to trust John Ferguson on this one. His track record is one where emotion is over ruled by logic. I think the logic in this case is development opportunity over nostalgia.

Speaking of Ferguson, I was very sceptical over his decision to bring Alex Khavanov to town but I've been very impressed so far.

[Chris Corrigan]

You can't create flow, you can only create the conditions for flow. This same-as-the-old NHL had great "flow" in the playoffs...no one ever complained about that quality of hockey.

And why?

Well, the games meant something, so there was more self-policing by the players. Refs called penalities usually only when there was an injury or a scoring chance taken away (yeah yeah, Jim Ralph criteria, I know), and there were only 16 (of the best) teams in the league.

HINT HINT.

Having said that, I like the new two line pass rule. Canucks got burned by Mike Peca on that play last night and it was a thing of sweetness to see the outlet pass given its day in the sun. Imagine Bryan Berard threading those needles? He was great back when the Leafs had a masterful transition game back around the turn of the century.

[Paul McDougall]

Want to end the clutching and grabbing but not end up with a bunch of bogus penalties? Then this is the solution: Simply make it a rule that players have two hands on their sticks at all times.