Now shooting for the Leafs, Cliff Johnson

CP PHOTO

Wade Belak wears the A. Does that mean Carlton the Bear had the C for the night?

A Leafs win and some pretty good performances from some of the youngsters should cool the Stumpers, at least for a day.

Best read: Rosie on the DS (designated shooter), an outgrowth of the new rules, perhaps:

"It flies in the face of all that is holy in team sport."

You'd think she was talking about Terrell Owens, or somesuch. No, it's these shootouts. They play 60 minutes, then three guys on each side decide a game. And we didn't even mention the Zamboni break in between.

RD mentions Kyle Wellwood as a possible beneficiary. But I'm thinking that, in baseball, the DH has extended the careers of the likes of Dave Parker, Cecil Fielder et al. Who'd be the equivalent in hockey?

Our good friend Ken Campbell has a good look at some things to take from this one, a too-easy 5-0 shutout of the Bruins -- their first preseason game, and it showed.

Actually, the standout thing for me about last night's way-too-easy 5-0 shutout of the Bruins -- Boston's preseason debut, and it really showed -- was the play of defenceman Alexander Khavanov. The little feint at the point that opened up space and started a nifty three-way passing play for the second goal was a thing of beauty. I could have shut it off then, I'd seen enough -- the guy has puck sense. I think everyone knew that. It was just good to see it, this early in the big show.

As for Ben Ondrus, he's making headlines this morning. It was Ondrus who finished off that bing-bang-boom play, with John Pohl -- now there's a journeyman name if I ever heard one -- in the middle of it. Threw his weight around, too.

And those new rules? You know we couldn't go a day by without more on them. This just in: They're adjusting. And wondering.

Some links for you, from around the league:

LeCavalier a Hab? For one day, yes. Then he thought about it, and Montreal "is like England with their soccer teams."

Khabiboulin gets his first start as a Blackhawk tonight -- one of just five Cup-winning goalies in the league.

Luc and Stacia Robitaille are putting up two families left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. 

I know captains, Mr. Yashin, and you are no captain!

And so far, so good for former Leafs Alexander Mogilny (registration required).

Update: Lineup for tomorrow night's date with Les Habitants (thanks again, Zoro!)

Forwards - Alex Ponikarovski, Nik Antropov, Matt Stajan, Chad Kilger, Nathan Perrott, Kyle Wellwood, Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi, Steve Thomas, Alex Steen, Mariusz Czerkawski, Clarke Wilm

Defencemen - Carlo Colaiacovo, Aki Berg, Thomas Kaberle, Andy Wozniewski, Bryan Marchment

Goal - JS Aubin, Mikael Tellqvist

Comments

[Ken]

Designated shooters, eh? Good old Wendy Clark would make a great fifth man and captain to boot. The Leafs should let one young player stick to the team and that should be Kyle Wellwood. His style is perfect for the new rules. Ben Ondrus with his Rambo attitude should earn some dues in the minors-- let's see how he plays through a full AHL season.

[denial]

i've said it before and i'll say it again, because that's what i'm not paid to do: the shootout is an error. Wait until the team you love loses a game despite out-everything-ing the opponent, except for a weird "the goalie guessed wrong with the poke check" episode at the end. Then you will see what a total error this is.

There is NOTHING in the shootout experience that reflects the skills that you truly need to win this game. This isn't a tie breaker in tennis. This is a circus performance for a generation of fans weaned on NHL 94 (yes, best game ever).

and while i'm on the subway here, let me blurt out again that the new rules will NOT improve the game the way people think it will. The league has over-valued and over-estimated the actual talent in the league. There will be more goal scoring, but the talent and skill will not improve proportionately. Remember: clutching and grabbing IS a skill; a very deep one, actually. It's just a boring one to watch. The new rules are merely going to expose a lot of players who shouldn't be in the league as being unskilled. The end results will actually be less skill and playmaking, and more bad players getting beaten to, around, and by the puck. If the NHL wants to turn some games into the globetrotters versus the generals, more power to them. But it doesn't get at the core problem, which is: too many games, too many players, and too many teams named after too many dumb animals, like ducks and blue jackets.

[FlamFlim]

So the Leafs did a number on the Bruins last night, 5-nil. That's more like it.

Big Ben Ondrus is the Leaf rookie forward most impressive in the last two games, but that only means he won't make the team since Quinn doesn't like young, talented hockey players. No one should question whether or not Steve Thomas will make the team. He will. Ondrus (and Leaf fans) will be the victims of this looming Quinn faux pas.

Belfour was solid, as was rookie separatist JF Racine in goal.

Why Wade Belak is still on this team will continue to perplex me for all time. Great personality, weak player.

[Ken]

From Rosie DiManno's article:
"(I)t has some coaches scratching their heads over the wisdom of handing a precious roster spot to a player who might be little more than a one-dimensional shot savant."

Gee... it's not like coaches have been doing that since the bad old days of the Braodstreet Bullies. Name one team in the NHL that doesn't hand over a precious roster spot to a one-dimentional player, ie the GOON! Some employ more than one, but every team does it. At least in Ms. DiManno's vision, that valuable roster spot is taken by somebody with an actual hockey skill, ie. shooting and scoring. Please, if one dimentional players are going to be given a spot on the team, for the love of all that is good in this game let it go to the designated shooter rather than the designated fighter.

[Tom Bearse]

denial wrote "i've said it before and i'll say it again, because that's what i'm not paid to do: the shootout is an error."

I give all of you here my solemn pledge that from this day forward, I will head for the vomitories of the arena after every overtime period of a regular season game I attend that ends in a tie.

The misguided suggestion that the game has to be jazzed up as an accommodation to bitter, disgruntled fans by means of such innovations as shoot-outs, helmet-cams, out-sized and parti-colored rinks, among other modifications, in my opinion, threatens to fundamentally spoil the sport.

In the past, ties in the regular season had meaning. They meant that in the pitched battle of regulation, two teams were too well matched to anoint one the winner over the other. With inflationary scoring in sports like basketball, fans can afford the luxury of tie-breakers. In hockey, if goals are scarce it's because, as a general rule, a struggle is involved in producing one. I fail to see what's so objectionable about that.

[cy]

We've made an executive decision, because Spencer (he's the editor, and he's smarter) and myself are in complete agreement with the sentiments expressed here: the shootout stinks. To think that teams could gain an advantage in the standings because of a three-shot (THREE SHOTS!) game of roulette stinks. So ... we're going to regularly (say, weekly) put in the hockey blog an updated alternate standing disregarding the largely useless divisions (noting the important stuff, though, like division leaders and overall conference position), and treating regulation ties as a point apiece in the standings. my only question is whether to treat a regulation win as two points or soccer-style (three points; perhaps going this way would be straying too far from what we're trying to do here). your thoughts?

[conin79]

What is the feasability of a twenty man roster that looks like this?

Forwards: Sundin, O'Neill, Lindros, Czerkoski, Domi, Ponikarovsky, Allison,Tucker, Antropov, Steen, Stajan, Kilgar.

Defence: Kaberle, McCabe, Belak, Khavanov, Berg, Carlaiacovo, Kromwell

Goalies: Belfour, Tellqvist

A little group of friends are debating this and I wanted a little "enlightened" advice. Thanks

[denial]

all hail blog

I'm unused to people agreeing with me (including agreeing with myself). I don't know if I like this feeling.

What I do like -- I mean, aside from that woman on JAG who invariably makes me end up watching the whole terrible show before I know what hit me -- is when people at least back up their like or dislike of the overtime shootout with some kind of opinion other than "because". Trust me: if "because" worked, I would have proven that by now. But it doesn't work. Why? Because!

Alright, the overtime shootout. The shootout is fundamentally at odds with the concept of WHY a penalty shootout was created in the first place. It was created because a team took away a legitimate clear breakaway scoring attempt from another team. It is a means of punishment for a team for commiting that most unholy, but sometimes pragmatic, of penalties.

HOW they have taken something that was and is punitive, changed the context, given it a new hat, and shoved it into something that should have bears on unicycles and chorus girls on skates with road flares in their hands is absolutely BIZZAARRRRRE. It would be like taking pass interference in football and, if a game ends in a tie, playing a mini pass interference game to see who will win. It's insane.

How did this happen? Why did we let this happen? WHERE...no, sorry. Just a How and a Why for this one.

cy, I like your idea. I vote 2 points for a regular season win. It works in soccer because those teams actually know that they're going to get an extra point for a regular time win. But since the teams on the ice don't know if your and Spencer (Ezra Pound's) system, then your stats will be a bit skewed by that. If teams knew that they could get an extra point in the blog, you can bet they'd pour it on in the final minute.

my last words for today: you cannot get rid of ties in hockey without changing hockey. that is not a sentimental perspective; i am the least sentimental person I know (I have no plans to attend my own wedding). But the game itself -- the definition of the game, the concept of the game -- is built on ties. It is part of how this game is played. Take that away, and you lose something in this game. It will take a season for people to realize this, but my money says that within 2 years the shootout is scrapped.