MLSE's Better Side

It wasn't a good day for Justin Pogge, the next saviour of the Maple Leafs, and you had to wonder how the math works that gets beer up to $6 a glass and pizza sold at $4.15 a slice.

But 6,800 fans couldn't all be wrong, and that was the number that filled Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday to watch the AHL Marlies play the Albany River Rats. With Pogge having a so-so matinee outing after playing in Hamilton the night before, the Rats won the game, but that didn't really dilute the fun in the building and the sense that the Marlies have something pretty good going on both on and off the ice.

They're a first place team, for starters.  But this is a situation in which MLSE actually listened to the public, and have been rewarded for doing so. They chopped ticket prices over the off-season, finally realizing that getting 2,500 or less a night was evidence that they'd overpriced their product.

On Sunday, the building was filled with kids and families, and rather than blasting heavy metal music, there was Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer mascots handing out goodies. Kids could get lunchboxes going in with Pogge bobblehead dolls, and there were actually dads and their children playing mini-sticks in concourses between periods.

The building itself really feels and looks like a hockey rink now. You can park for $11 in the underground lot adjacent to the rink and sit in a terrific seat for $30 or less. There's lots of room for walking around and getting food and drink, although the long lines on Sunday suggested the Marlies might not have been prepared for the big crowd that showed up.

For a long time, its been believed that this isn't a hockey town, but a Leaf town, and junior teams have struggled to establish a foothold despite years of trying. The Marlies may be proving to be an exception, although it could be argued that as a team that is effectively the next rung of the Leaf organization the Marlies are really proving the rule to be true.

But they've got a good team, it's a terrific arena to watch a game and the city's hockey fans, for whatever reason, seem to be responding.

On The Precipice

Either the NHL standings are lying and have been lying for three months, or the Maple Leafs have clearly established themselves as also-rans with very little chance of qualifying for post-season play. There's not even very much to argue about any more.

They sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference today, and have only briefly been among the top eight teams in the conference since the season began.

Even a recent hot streak - 5-1-1 in seven games - really didn't move them up much, and now they've gone cold again, including last night's 4-1 loss to a Philadelphia Flyers team that was going terribly until running into the Leafs.

During that strong streak of play, there were numerous promising signs. Now all the signs are sour, including:

- Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov, the club's two best attackers all season, have gone cold and have been split up as linemates.

- Darcy Tucker, a top-six forward a year ago, is now a seldom-used fourth liner and has three goals in 30 games. He played less than 10 minutes both games in losses to the Islanders and Flyers the last two nights.

- Andy Wozniewski, a regular member of the club's six defencemen all season, was sent to the press box Thursday in favour of Carlo Colaiacovo.

- Jason Blake, the club's key off-season free agent pickup, has five goals in 38 games and has developed a penchant for costly giveaways. He hasn't really meshed with any of the club's other forwards and spends his time tossing routine wrist shots at the enemy net from long distance.

- Kyle Wellwood, counted on as the team's No. 2 centre going into the season, has 10 points and, like Blake, is guilty of mid-ice turnovers on a regular basis and is generally ineffective five-on-five.

- Vesa Toskala, after earning the No. 1 goaltending job, is out with a mysterious groin problem. His backup, Andrew Raycroft, has given up eight goals in two games and is in the process of reducing any trade value he might have had with his terrible rebound control.

If Toskala can't go Saturday against the Rangers, it only makes sense to give Scott Clemmensen, strong all season with the Marlies, a chance to start after backing up Raycroft against the Isles and Flyers. He can't fare much worse.

In the bigger picture, only two teams - Washington and Los Angeles - have fewer wins than the Leafs' 15 triumphs in 38 games, while no team has lost as many games in OT or shootouts (eight).

Either the standings are lying, or. . .

After Turkey, We Resume Our Scheduled Programming. . . .

I'm a lucky guy. Whereas the weather in our neck of the woods - the GTA - has conspired in recent years to make outdoor rinks increasingly rare, or at least last increasingly briefly, my family has been able to count on a pond in Milton, Ont. for at least one or two days of memorable outdoor play every Christmas season.

It just makes you think about the game in a different way, know what I mean? You can spend an awful long time trying to perfect a saucer pass when there's no Zamboni barging on to end your session. Surrounded by trees and snow and gusts of wind, the game feels so very different than when you're in a rink. Just does, that's all.

So we get a chunk of that feeling in an utterly breathtaking location every Christmas up in Milton. Lucky us. That's probably what they're trying to re-create in Buffalo for New Year's Day, but there's no chance. That will be like dropping a line in your bathtub and calling it fishing.

Thursday, of course, is usually mail bag day, but the holidays have thrown us off schedule. We'll resume the mail bag next Thursday, so start sending in your thoughts and questions now. Click here to submit a question.

A couple of quickee thoughts for you:

-- Having already shunted Darcy Tucker to a fourth line role, a role he actually is much better suited for on the rare occasions he plays with energy, its a bit of a problem for the Leafs what to do with Jason Blake. Neither Tucker nor Blake is scoring, but while Tucker is basically having a neutral impact, Blake's penchant for giving the puck away all over the ice, and sometimes in critical situations, is becoming a increasing problem

Sitting him down for a game or two would make a strong statement to the rest of the team. But then again, should we simply be applauding the man for being out there as he deals with leukemia?

-- You can look at the Leafs league-high eight post-regulation losses - three by shootout, five in OT - in different ways. Yes, that's eight points left on the table that would have the club in a much better position in the standings. But in a more sensible system, one that gave two points to the winner and none to the loser, the Leafs would be eight points worse off and nowhere near post-season play.

The reality is the Leafs have too many players who either make big mistakes with the game on the line, or can't display the skill they otherwise have under pressure.

-- It's just so funny to watch the folks at Hockey Night in Canada passionately call for changes to the instigator rule every week when nobody else is really debating the topic. They insist this is what the majority of NHL players want, and dismiss out-of-hand the fact the players on the league's competition committee voted down the minor change to the instigator rule forced through by Brian Burke last winter.

The reality is most players mindlessly mouth what they believe to be the company line. Players on the competition committee - Rob Blake, Jarome Iginla etc. - are individual thinkers, less likely to be swayed by the mob mentality.

For a penalty that is almost never called, it's peculiar that the HNIC crowds feels it must discuss the instigator rule every week. It's almost as if certain influential individuals have an agenda. . .

Finally, it's nearly comical that those who want the instigator rule changed - they love to label themselves "hockey people," while those who differ apparently aren't - simply ignore the fact that the very people they want to give more power to police the game - the enforcers - are generally those causing the biggest disciplinary headaches for the league.

Yeah, they'll be great sheriffs.

Thursday Mail Bag

(NOTE: The Spin is on vacation until Dec. 27. Join us again after the holidays.)

Seven straight games on the road, starting Friday in Atlanta. Now this will be interesting to watch.

Vesa Toskala, it’s fair to say, is at the root of all the recent success, along with much improved work from Bryan McCabe and continued production from Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov. Even Jason Blake is scoring, and suddenly Andy Wozniewski doesn’t look so bad, does he?

Of course, if this road trip goes sour, everything goes back to the way it was. So we shall watch.

Now on to this week’s mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien. Is it reading too much into the tea leaves (Leafs?), in terms of who might be the next Leafs GM, to see that David Poile and Ken Holland both received promotions recently? Or is it simply a matter of two teams attempting to keep two quality executives from being poached by ANY other teams? Even with these promotions, are either/both available at the end of the season?
Stu Royal, Brampton

A: I would imagine both clubs want to make sure they can hang on to those hockey men, that’s for sure. Interestingly, a sales/marketing executive who used to work with Poile in Nashville has now surfaced in Detroit with Holland, so it’s a small world.

Re the Leafs, Poile, you’ll remember, had his chance to become Toronto GM once and turned it down. Can’t imagine he’d be interested now. Holland might be interested, but he’s locked in to the Red Wings and is a very loyal guy. That said, anything’s possible, but if the Leafs choose to someday go after somebody of that calibre under contract, they’d better be prepared to cough up significant compensation.

Q: I stopped listening to post-game fan commentary a long time ago, because much of it seemed to emanate from the beer hall... But your Thursday mailbag is proof that there are a lot of intelligent Leafs fans out there - despite the obvious contradiction of "intelligent" and "Leafs fan."

There's been a lot of talk about how JFJ's choices have weakened the pool of Leafs prospects, or that Leafs scouting is poor. But although I was never a proponent of Rask for Raycroft, and I bemoan the loss of the first rounder that was given up for Toskala, I don't see scouting as one of the Leaf's recent weaknesses. I feel that in Jiri Tlusty, Anton Stralman, Chris DiDomenico, Dale Mitchell, Brent Aubin and Nikolai Kulemin are all very good to excellent prospects. JFJ has only recently, I feel, become a good manager, and he has shown that he can learn. I know that his overall track record isn't great - but do you jettison him, now that he's fully trained? Or do you give him a more solid opportunity to finally show the promise that we'd all hoped for?
Regards,
Paul Hurtubise, Oshawa

A: And isn’t that the point? If you’ve suffered through the learning process with the guy, why let him go now? The answer of JFJ detractors, of course, would be that he’s never going to be any good.

Re the Leaf prospects, out of that group all have possibilities, but none are “excellent” prospects at this point. Tlusty might be a top-six forward one day, and Pogge might be an NHL goalie. Stralman, meanwhile, is still learning but so far can’t beat out Wozniewski, Staffan Kronwall or Ian White. Kulemin is the real wild card, and with Russians, its really hard to guess if they can translate quality in the Russian league over to the NHL. Look at Ottawa’s experience with Alexei Kaigorodov. So we’ll see. Bottom line until these guys are NHLers, they’re all suspects.

Q: I have been a religious reader ever since I found your work when I was in J school. You have great insight, are unbiased, objective and clearly know a great deal about the game and have been a journalistic inspiration to me. I've wanted to be as successful, talented and respected as you for yours. You are sitting in my dream job, I entered college dreaming of being in the position you are in and learning the trade from you.

Then, and I quote you "I couldn’t care less whether the Maple Leafs win or lose or tie or fold. I just don’t have a rooting interest."

How can this be? How can you say this? That main part of your writing job is involving the Leafs. I am not saying you have to be a fan, I am not saying you have to be a "hater." But how can you not care? How can you offer your opinion in this respected position about something you don't care about? What concerns me the most is that you day you have no interest and could care less if the team didn’t exist.

This is what your readers come in daily to read. That is a slap in the face to those who read you columns and bogs every day and respect your opinions. How can we, your loyal readers, respect what you say on a topic that you "couldn't care less" about?

I don't mean this to be an attack; I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and an opportunity to clarify. Maybe you misspoke or chose words that were to strong, but please clarify, not just to me, but for all your deserving readers, is it true that you don't care about the Leafs?

It is the job of writer to be fair and objective, an invested interest or personal bias does impact this, but you can care about something without it impacting you on a personal level. How can you be the main Toronto Maple Leafs columnist at a major Toronto publication and not care one iota about the team’s existence one way or the other? How can we as readers take any value in what you say about a subject you just shrug off?

How can your career be focused on something you don't care about? Again, if this is a misinterpretation or misunderstanding, I understand and deeply apologize, but if it isn't how can we trust and respect your words on this subject?
Kyle Bosley, Brockville

A: Kyle, thanks for the email, and you know, this is a point of confusion with many readers, some of who will write suggesting that I need to “support” the Leafs a little more. If I worked at city hall covering politics, should I support the mayor? If I covered the auto industry, should I cheer for Chrysler over Ford? Kyle, I’m a journalist, first and foremost, and my job is to approach my subject without a rooting interest in order to, as best I can, offer analysis and strong opinion.

When I say I don’t care about the Leafs, it means that their fortunes, win or lose, have no impact upon my approach to the job. I care passionately about doing my job well and doing it fairly, and for the sport in general, one that I play and coach, and one that my children play. But its not for me to be an advocate for one NHL team or another. That’s being a fan, and that’s the fun of being a fan. If I’m happy when the Leafs win or distraught when they lose, or vice versa, that totally destroys any neutral platform upon which I can offer my thoughts and opinions. And believe me, despite that I get lots of emails from Ottawa calling me a Leaf lover, and lots from Toronto calling me a Leaf basher. Just part of the territory.

Anyway, I hope this clears things up for you.

Q: Hey Damien. Great Blog. Question I haven't seen posted anywhere. Could be wrong. Remember when the Leafs put the two new dehumidifiers to improve the ice surface by ridding the ACC of all that extra moisture in the air? What have the players responses been regarding the quality of the ice surface since the installation? Any noticeable changes or comments from the team? Just curious.
James Booth, Ajax

A: To be honest, I haven’t heard a lot, which may be good. As I was heading back up to the press box the other night, two ice attendants were asking Tampa players as they went to the bus how they found the ACC ice, and received positive responses. But I’ll look into this more.

Q: Having reviewed Stanley Cup winners over the past several years, can you name one who hasn't had a skilled Canadian as their captain?

Could recognizing this fact by the Leafs hierarchy not begin to turn around this Leafs franchise?

Do the names Dave Keon and Doug Gilmour ring a bell???
Ross Turnbull, Mesa, Arizona

A: Well, its true that no European has yet to captain a Cup winner, and I’m assuming you’re attaching blame to Mats Sundin in this regard. All I can tell you is that non-North Americans have only started to become captains in the past decade, and that there are quality individuals currently serving as captains – Saku Koivu, Nicklas Lidstrom – who are certainly more than capable of leading their teams to championships. I just don’t think Canadians have a monopoly on leadership.

Q: I’ve always been curious about the arbitration process. Who are the arbitrators, who appoints them, and what criteria do the arbitrators use to make a decision; specifically is it solely based on statistical comparisons? I realize that shootout goals do not count in a player’s statistics, but with shootouts now playing a quantifiable role in determining the result of games and consequently impacting which teams make the playoffs, could a player who excels in shootouts, who scores goals that win games (Jussi Jokinen comes to mind) make a case in arbitration for a higher salary based on shootout prowess?
John Stewart, Calgary

A: Arbitrators are individuals, usually lawyers, mutually agreed upon by the league and NHL Players Association. In salary arbitration, any argument is admissible, and you can bet shootout stats will become fodder for the process.

Q: Hey Damien. I always enjoy reading your blog! I gotta ask you about Tucker.  I love the guy (in a manly way of course) but this year he's been hard to watch. First of all, with all the injuries mounting up on the poor guy what do you think the Leafs should do with him?  Could he condition himself better in the off-season?

Also, I know he's kind turning a corner in becoming more of a "goal scorer" but it seems to me that he's scores a lot more when he plays that rambunctious in-your-face game.  Maybe not at 100 per cent Sideshow Bob style but he doesn't seem to be much of a pest to anybody these days...  He often loses fights now, and even when he got it on with Sean Avery, Avery went on to score 2 goals!

It's funny, I used to say that Darcy was great but a little embarrassing... now I'm saying that he's great but I wish he'd more of a pest.  What do you think?
Christian Spiner, Pickering

A: It’s a tough line for Tucker to walk, that’s for sure. This season, he just doesn’t look like he’s skating as well as in the past, and thus unable to get to the spots he needs to get to, either to score a goal or deliver a hit. In terms of injuries, all players have something, and I just assume that if a player’s in the lineup, he’s healthy enough to play and healthy enough to produce. Otherwise, you’re just giving certain players the benefit of the doubt, but not others.

Right now, I don’t think he’s doing very much of anything, whether scoring or hitting or being a pest, and he’s not a strong defensive player. He and I don’t speak for a variety of reasons, so I can’t tell you what he thinks his problem may be. But I’m sure he’d like to turn his season around soon as well. It’s almost as if by scoring some goals the past two seasons he’s lost his identity, because he’s not a particularly skilled player. It’ll be interesting to see if he can pull himself out of this early season funk.

Click here to submit a question for the next mail bag.

A Crowded Field

To understand the depth of quality athletes in this country, all you have to look at is the fact that Steve Nash has found himself a bridesmaid in the Lou Marsh Trophy voting the last two years.

That's no shot at Nash. He's a dazzling athlete and sportsman. It's more of a comment on the extraordinary qualities of speed-skater Cindy Klassen, last year's Lou Marsh winner, and Sidney Crosby, this year's winner. To be seen as superior to the fabulous Nash in any year is a startling achievement.

Crosby won Canadian athlete-of-the-year honors, but only after a spirited discussion between many of Canada's most experienced sports media types and our esteemed chairperson, former Olympic rowing star Silken Laumann, a discussion that included heavy arguments in favour of Nash and alpine skiing star Erik Guay, among others.

It really was a terrific discussion to be part of, one which most avid sports fans would enjoy. The Fan 590's Bob McCown made a passionate argument in favour of Nash, while Scott Russell of the CBC explained with equal passion the achievements of Guay as part of our revitalized national ski program. The Star's Mary Ormsby, a former collegiate volleyball star and a dedicated hockey mom, made a convincing case for Crosby.

I went in planning to vote for Crosby, but found myself swayed heavily by those passionate pleas on behalf of others. It's not easy to compare team athletes with individual athletes, or those who bring down multi-million dollar salaries with those who still hold the status of amateur.

Curiously, in a hockey country, it's probably hardest for a hockey player to win, if only because Canada has so many talented players that its difficult to demonstrate that one has risen that significantly above all his fellow countrymen in the field.

Indeed, neither Martin Brodeur nor Scott Niedermayer, two of the most decorated and successful Canadian hockey players in history, has ever come close to winning the Lou Marsh. Vinny Lecavalier, to some the best player in the game right now, didn't get much of a mention this year.

For Crosby to become the first hockey player to win since '93, then, is an extraordinary achievement. He won, I think, because he has risen above his sport and above his team to become an ambassador for hockey and, really, the NHL's franchise player.

Where would the NHL be, exactly, in the post-lockout era without Crosby? Where would the Pittsburgh Penguins be? Kansas City?

In the end, I voted Crosby first, Guay second and Nash third, but in truth, I would have been more than satisfied had any of the three won. I kind of liked L.A. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin too, and he didn't even make it to the final round of balloting.

But feel free to disagree. Passionately. And don't be afraid to marvel at the quality of athletes in our country.

A Mighty Fall

If Michael Vick's attorney was really echoing his client's true feelings today after the disgraced NFL quarterback was sentenced to 23 months in prison, then Vick will have a shot at redemption somewhere down the line.

Instead of coming out blasting at authorities today claiming persecution or that his client was the victim of a witch hunt, Vick's attorney, Billy Martin, said after the sentencing that Vick has accepted that he was wrong to finance and operate a dog-fighting ring, and has accepted his prison sentence as an appropriate penalty.

This seemed to be different than Mike Tyson claiming his innocence after being convicted of rape. This was a man, through his lawyer, apparently admitting guilt and accepting the time for doing the crime.

Now maybe, of course, Vick actually feels differently, and perhaps his lawyer is simply making sure the right things are said publicly to begin the process of rehabilitating his image so one day he might be able to return to the NFL and make millions of dollars. Moreover, the judge in this case didn't see Vick as being suitably remorseful and didn't give him a break on sentencing.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has fallen so incredibly far in such a short period of time. The 2007 NFL season isn't even over, which means it was less than a calendar year ago that Vick was competing in the league and drawing an extraordinary paycheque from a 10-year, $130 million deal signed in 2004.

Eighteen months from now - the experience term he'll actually have to serve - he'll probably get a chance to try again. That means he could be free in June or July, 2009, with the chance to rejoin the NFL for the 2009 season at the age of 29. That said, league commissioner Roger Goodell, who placed Vick under indefinite suspension earlier this year, won't rule on any further discipline for Vick until he's out of jail, and could theoretically ban him for the 2009 season as well.

Imagine the impact this man could make on the game and his community if he does return and returns a changed man, if he comes back with honest intentions rather than a bitter snarl.

His fall from grace has been spectacular to watch. His rise back to the top, if he can pull it off and if its done the right way, could be equally spectacular.

A Pretty Good Deal

So is this the day the "John Ferguson is a Genius!" emails flood in?

Has to be, right?

Everyone, including this writer, has hammered JFJ over and over and over for the inflated Bryan McCabe contract. The Ed Belfour and Tie Domi deals were similarly panned, and there has been a picture painted that Ferguson is utterly incapable of making smart business arrangements with players.

Well, then how to explain the Nik Antropov contract?

Actually, Ferguson was slammed by many for that one as well, a two-year extension last June that will pay the Kazakh $1.95 million this season and $2.15 million next season.

He's got 29 points in 29 games, including 14 goals, good enough for 22nd on the NHL scoring list. That's one spot below Daniel Briere, who's in the first year of an eight-year, $52 million contract. Antropov has the same number of points as Jason Spezza (seven years, $49 million) and Ryan Getzlaf (five years, $27 million).

Now, that's not to say Antropov is as good as Briere, Spezza or Getzlaf.

But at his current salary, he appears to be an excellent bargain.

I get many emails from people wondering "Why do you defend John Ferguson so much?" Well, it's not up to me to defend him. But I am convinced he's not a complete village idiot, as some contend, and that he's done one or two good things during his tenure as Leaf GM, and that he was put in a very difficult position when he took the job and working for MLSE is no walk in the park.

In the case of Antropov, he's seems to have engineered a very good deal for the Leafs. You may not like everything he does, or very much at all, but you've got to give him credit for that one.

Thursday Mail Bag

This, it would appear, is going to be the type of NHL season Maple Leaf fans will have to endure. Two steps forward, three back, one sideways, two forward, one back. . .

In other words, just like the last two seasons, with the possibility of a different conclusion.

Call it inconsistency, call it the result of parity – it just seems that through the highs and lows, the Leafs are likely to stay around the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, which is the only goal they seem to have.

Now on to this week’s mail bag:

Q: Hey Damien, It's taken several years, but I finally have come to understand that you know what you're talking about.  Now for some questions... 1)  Do you ever get tired of listening to us leaf fans? 2)  Who would be YOUR ideal choices to run the team - assuming anyone was available for coaching/gm/president?  What about Pierre McGuire - the man did win a stanley cup?
Neil Henderson, Toronto

A: Don’t get tired of fans, ever, particularly the ones that understand that I’m not a fan, but that as passionate supporters of a team, they don’t have to make sense. Sometimes, it’s just what you feel. The only time I get ticked off is when its suggested I have a personal grudge against the team, a player or a coach, when the reality is I couldn’t care less whether the Maple Leafs win or lose or tie or fold. I just don’t have a rooting interest. Re choices to run the team, well, there are no shortage of possibilities, and certainly McGuire’s name has come up. He’s a passionate guy with experience, and he’s very tight with Scotty Bowman, so they might come as a package. I think Colin Campbell would be an intriguing choice, and an individual who probably has earned a shot.

Q: Hi Damien, My question pertains to Leaf management but not who stays or goes; enough time is being spent on that subject. Scouting - is there a way to determine how much teams spend on scouting. The leafs are a rich team and as far as I know there is no cap on scouting so they could have the best in the NHL if the will was there-it is not. In addition to trading high picks it seems they don't do much with what is left. Teams like Detroit seem to do well with low first round picks and the leafs need to address this area.
Marty Macfarlane, Kelowna

A: Well, Marty, we’ve been hearing this about the Leaf scouting department for, literally, decades. They have tried to beef things up in recent years, but the results speak for themselves; only Tomas Kaberle, really, stands out as an elite level player drafted by the Leafs in years, and there have been many, many misses. I agree that this is an area the Leafs could, if they were inclined, spend to get the best in the business. But they don’t seem inclined. Winning championships, you see, requires so much effort when the people will come anyway.

Q: Season's Greetings as another train wreck of a Maple Leafs season lurches towards the inevitable spring derailment.  After witnessing the Maple Leafs-Canadiens game on Nov 27th, I couldn't help but feel a sense of doom when the shootout was announced.  In a stirring show of organizational solidarity and ineptitude, even the Zamboni drivers had to come out three times in an attempt to clear a swath of ice down the centre to each net.  No wonder the Leaf's never win in the shootout.  It's an organization-wide problem.  Surely the Leafs keep track of stats on who tends to be successful and who doesn't.  Has Darcy Tucker or Nick Antropov EVER scored in the shootout?  Unless the NHL decides to can it (doubtful), the Leafs will forever be 4-6 points shy per season of the average.
Mike Ritchie, Toronto

A: And what’s interesting, Mike, is that despite the fact this ineptitude has been demonstrated over several seasons, they don’t seem to try to do anything about it. A player like Viktor Kozlov, for example, was available as an unrestricted free agent last summer. Kozlov’s been a dog for most of his career, but he’s very, very good on shootouts. Instead, he headed to Washington for $2.5 million per season. Maybe that was too rich for the Leafs, who knows. But what we do know is that they haven’t chased down players specifically for their shootout skills – Vesa Toskala was winless in shootouts when he was acquired – and that they’re still struggling to get extra points that way. Now look at Edmonton. Seven of their 13 wins have come through the shootout, their gunners are hitting at a 50 per cent clip and their goalies have allowed just five opposition goals on free shots. Being good in the shootout has made the world of difference to the Oilers.

Q: Hi Damien, Just thinking that since it's been 40 years since the Leafs have won a championship, and since there's no Cup in sight for the near future, the Leafs should probably change their slogan from "the passion that unites us all" to "the patience that unites us all." Just wondering if you could let me which of the Leafs management members I should send this idea to, because I think they'd really be interested. I'm hoping that I'll be in the running to replace Ferguson and this could really be away to get my foot in the door. Thanks!
Geoff Dennehy, Toronto

A: I like the way you’re thinking, although if you’re patience enough, sometimes a crowd at the ACC can seem passionate. The passionate patience that pleases the pension fund? Too much alliterative effort? You’re clearly better at this than I am.

Q: Hi Damien, I've been watching Hockey ever since we immigrated to Canada, and there is always one thing I've wondered about.. how does the Farm system work exactly? For instance, if the leafs lose 4 players to injury, and have to call up four from the Marlies.. what exactly do the Marlies do? Call up 4 from a lower league? Do they just play with what they have? Seems odd that the NHL team can just pluck the best players out of the roster at any time of their choosing, basically wrecking havoc on the AHL team coach's plan.  Am I missing something, or do I just not understand how the Farm system works at all?
Sahab Yazdani, Toronto

A: No, you’re not missing anything. There are limits on the numbers of players a team can call up, and whether they are promoted for emergency situations. Moreover, there are now tricky contractual and waiver issues that have made moving players up and down the system more difficult. But basically, the parent club, in this case the Leafs, controls the players under NHL contracts with the Marlies and can do with them what they like. Recall them, trade them, cut them – whatever. Does this wreak havoc with the minor league clubs? Absolutely. That’s why you’ll often see the teams that have the most success in the AHL playoffs linked to NHL clubs that miss the playoffs, and thus assign all their eligible players to the minor league affiliate. To some degree, that’s how Hamilton, Montreal’s farm team, won the Calder Cup last season.

Q: Damien, We're a long way into the season now, and Jason Blake isn't having much fun. Is it because the unfortunate Mr. Blake is faster than almost everyone around him? Simon Gamache is back on the Marlies. Why wasn't he given a shot at the "scoring line" on the Leafs? He looked like he had some moves in the pre-season, but I didn't see much of his play this year. Could you fill me in? Lastly, could Mark Recchi be a good fit for the Leafs, if they picked him up at bargain-basement prices?
Zac Kurylyk, Saint John, N.B.

A: Okay Zac, in order. Blake is the fastest Leaf, but that on its own shouldn’t preclude him from finding a helpful linemate or two. Interestingly, he has talked repeatedly how well he clicked with the widely-reviled Alexei Yashin last season on Long Island. With certain players, it’s just hard to find a fit, and sometimes it happens by accident. Re Gamache, the tough reality is players like that have to make a splash, because when it comes to contracts, it’s a lot easier to move them back to the minors than more established players on one-way deals with no movement clauses. He has some skills, but nobody else wanted him on waivers when the Leafs sent him down again. And Recchi? It looks like it’s all over for him. If he couldn’t play with Crosby this season, how could he help the Leafs?

Q: I understand it's against the CBA currently, but wouldn't it make sense to allow teams to cut players and not have that money count against the cap? The player wins, as he still gets paid, but now can go elsewhere and sign for anything. The team wins because they are free of the contract, and the new team will get a potentially very good player for cheap. This is the NFL system, but with the player still getting paid, unlike in the NFL. This would certainly allow teams to turn around things a lot quicker when they change GMs.
Shaun Guidolin, Cambridge

A: If you send a player to the minors, providing he was signed to a multi-year deal when he was 35 or older, his salary no longer counts against your team’s cap figure. So that’s already permissible. What is up for debate is the ease with which a demoted player can move to a new team. Currently, if he’s recalled and claimed by another team, the new club has to pay only half his salary, so that’s a disincentive for the team that owns the player in the first place. They’d rather trade him and get rid of the entire salary. The NHLPA isn’t happy how this has worked out, and it will be a point of contention in the next CBA negotiation.

Q: Hi Damien, With the Flyers running around with no regards to their opponents, it seems clear that the suspensions that the league has been handing out are ineffective. Do you think that needs to be overhauled like to a system where the offending player gets X number plus if they injure another player, remain ineligible to return to play until the injured player is able to play? That should smarten them up significantly. Right now it sickens me to see how a guy only gets slapped with a 2-3 game suspension while the guys they hurt remain out much longer.
Andrew M., Willowdale

A: Having the suspended player sit out until the injured player returns has been suggested many times, and the problem is, it’s open to abuse, particularly if the suspended athlete is a premier player and the other player is a peripheral type. The problem for league vice-president Colin Campbell is that it’s often not clear how injured a player is at the time he makes his decision. You wonder if he’d known that Patrice Bergeron was going to be out for such a long period that he would have given Randy Jones a heavier suspension. In my mind, the act is what should be punishable, not the extent of the injury.

Q: Hey Damien, My question is: Do you think JFJ could get better as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Brian Burke, who recently won a cup with Anaheim, once got fired by the Hartford Whalers after one season and more then 50 losses. He then went to Vancouver and  couldn't trade or sign a decent goalie for several years. How about this list of Hardy Astroms: Arthurs Irbe, Martin Brochu, Peter Skudra, Tyler Moss, Alfie Michaud and least we forget, Dan Cloutier.The rest of the stiffs are almost too embarrassing to list. In Anaheim, he already had a proven goaltender so its not like he had to find one. Burke took his lumps and became a champion. Maybe JFJ needs some hard times to get better. What do you think?
Ray Brewer, Cambridge, ON

A: Sure it’s possible. Joe Torre wasn’t a very successful baseball manager his first time around. Bill Belichick had no success in Cleveland. Peter Laviolette was canned in Long Island before winning it all in Carolina. Ottawa’s GM Bryan Murray has been dumped as a GM by various teams. In sports, its about opportunity meeting experience meeting talent. There’s no reason JFJ couldn’t follow this as well, except that he’s never been fired as a GM. You have to wonder if his success might come down the road with another team.

Q: Hi, Damien. Who at MSLE is watching Richard Peddie's back?  When a CEO is in open warfare with the Chairman of the Board, as Peddie is with Tannebaum, there must be someone looking out for him. And is Gary Bettman leaning on MSLE to clean up this mess, the way David Stern did with respect to the Raptors?  When the NHL's most valuable, and arguably most important, franchise is in complete chaos, it cannot bode well for the league.
John Hunt, Harvard, Massachusetts

A: John, Peddie is not in “open warfare” with Tanenbaum. People on the inside tell me that the two men often disagree, but its not a dysfunctional relationship like that between Ken Dryden and Pat Quinn when both worked for the Leafs and were barely on speaking terms. Moreover, Peddie doesn’t need anyone to watch his back; he’s got a pension fund with more than $100 billion in assets fully supporting his decisions. That, by the way, helps explain why the teachers pension fund doesn’t get all worked up about the Leafs. They’re such a small, small part of the pension fund’s overall portfolio. And Bettman worry about the Leafs? Naw. He’s got bigger problems, believe me.

 

 

 

A Page From the Past

For one night, at least, it was as though the fabled Monday Night Football of my youth was back, vibrant and thrilling.

Then, it was Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith providing a wonderful verbal overlay to games that were often exciting, if only because they seemed a little more special on Monday night.

Last night, it was the threesome of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser supplying the words while the New England Patriots, in search of a perfect season, banged heads with the Baltimore Ravens.

Tirico and Co. have developed brilliantly this season, so much better than Al Michaels and John Madden on Sunday nights. Kornheiser, in particular, has one of those verbal motors that just never shuts down and keeps tossing out smart, witty stuff. He's a sportswriter, too, and believe me, we never speak too kindly of one another. But in this case, it's unavoidable - Kornheiser is just that good.

So you have the personality, the smarts and the information in the booth, and on the field, the Pats and Ravens delivered a marvellously flawed game. Kornheiser kept using the term "tragic inevitability" to describe the sense that while the Ravens led the game into the final minutes, it just always seemed the Patriots would win in the end.

Which they did.

From one angle, it made you think these guys will, in fact, be able to put together the first perfect NFL season since the '72 Dolphins. From another, piled on top of last week's narrow escape against the Eagles, you wondered if the Pats are getting closer and closer to losing, showing a new wart every week.

"I think the "S" has kind of been ripped off their shirts," said Baltimore cornerback Corey Ivy.

Maybe. The Steelers, who blitz almost as much as the Ravens, are next up, followed by the Jets, Dolphins and the New York Giants.

It's hard not to feel that everybody in football, outside the Pats and their fans, want them to lose one of those games. Watching New England defensive back Rodney Harrison taunt Baltimore head coach Brian Billick during last night's game - Billick responded by blowing kisses - just gave a lot of people another reason to dislike the terrific and terrifically arrogant Patriots.

The NFL, to me, just seemed too tough for any team to go unbeaten, but now, even I'm starting to wonder if New England will pull this off.

This much seems true. They're showing a few holes these days, and you have to wonder if there's a possibility that they could be perfect in the regular season, but then exposed in the playoffs.

If only MNF did the post-season.

Crisis, What Crisis?

So what was that exactly?

A week ago, Rome was burning, or at least the Maple Leafs were in freefall, candidates were openly lobbying for John Ferguson's job, Richard Peddie was saying all kinds of silly things and major organizational change seemed imminent.

Then came a credible performance in a shootout loss to Montreal, followed by a solid victory in Atlanta and an impressive triumph against the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice Saturday night.

So can the alarm be turned off now? Or should it never have been turned on in the first place?

Well, no and no.

The Leafs did look dreadful eight days ago in Phoenix, Ferguson still is a lame duck GM - a "mistake" according to Peddie - and the team wouldn't be part of post-season play if the playoffs began today.

Morever, the overall concept that the Leafs could use this season to move assets and build for a better future hasn't changed. If they continue as they are, and even make the playoffs, they'll be forced to ice basically the same team next season because they have between $41-43 million tied up in contracts.

Now, if they reel off another 10 games in which they win or get a point, well, then they get to tell everybody to shut up.

Otherwise, all this period of improved hockey really should do is better position JFJ to make the moves that need to be made.

After all, it's always far easier to make trades when you're winning, as opposed to when you're losing.

Trying to do it when you're losing just allows your adversaries to squeeze you a little more. They can smell the desperation.

The NHL governors didn't change the trading system last week as Brian Burke advocated, allowing teams to pay for part of the salaries they acquire in deals. But enough teams are in a state of unhappiness that moves just might start occurring on their own in the next few weeks.

Calgary and Pittsburgh just can't get moving, and don't look now, but mighty Anaheim just lost back-to-back games against Edmonton and has taken a plunge in the standings. Carolina and Ottawa, so hot to begin the season, have hit hard times. Tampa Bay, too, while the New Jersey Devils, after being forced to start the season with nine straight road games, are not moving up the Eastern Conference standings.

The Leafs can celebrate all they want, and they should celebrate improved play from their roster. But the opportunities out there to re-shape this team are still what they were a week ago, and it would be a mistake to let three good games cloud that reality.