Moving Forward with Fists Clenched

If there's a plausible explanation for MLSE's leisurely approach to finding a new man to run the hockey operation - no candidates interviewed to date, no haste in doing so, leaving Cliff Fletcher in charge indefinitely - it may be that the top candidate has already been identified.

That person would most likely be Anaheim GM Brian Burke, and certainly the absence of a contract extension for Burke with the Ducks has raised many suspicions.

For now, we'll put aside the logic of waiting for just one person. Instead, it's worth wondering how Burke's approach would be welcomed in Toronto.

Specifically, his affection for smashmouth hockey.

Clearly, it's an approach that has worked in Anaheim, and the Ducks again lead the NHL in fighting this season. It's a mix of skill and muscle to be sure, and without Scott Niedermayer the Ducks are probably no better than most of the playoff teams in the west.

But is this really the style of hockey that Toronto would embrace?

For starters, to be accurate, it's an approach that has worked exactly once since the Flyers punched their way to Cups in the 1970s. Anaheim's immediate championship predecessors, Tampa Bay and Carolina, were hardly muscle teams, and the Hurricanes didn't even bother carrying an enforcer. Generally speaking, the toughest teams haven't usually won in the end.

The Leafs, it's fair to say, have been intermittently tough over the decades. There was the mid-1970s with Tiger Williams et al, the bizarre Paul Higgins experiment, the early 1990s with Ken Baumgartner and the teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s when Tie Domi, Gary Roberts, Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and others made the Leafs one of the more ornery NHL squads.

Enforcers have always been popular in this town, often far more popular than their actual abilities dictated. The late John Kordic, for example, drew many an ovation for his antics, and it was only recently that ACC crowds chanted Wade Belak's name.

But there's a big difference between that and the Burke approach, which is to use force first, second and third, then follow up with a touch of skill.

You can't criticize it too much because, in the end, it worked, and at least the man is honest about the type of hockey he prefers. He's not trying to fool anybody, and has also worked hard to protect the prospects the Ducks have and keep more coming, which is certainly more than has been the case with the Leafs.

But still, it's worth asking that if Burke were to come and the Leafs were the team leading the NHL in fighting in two years with a roster that might or might not be a playoff team by then, would it be a popular approach locally?

Or would the GTA respond more to a team built on speed and skill, like the Detroit Red Wings or Montreal Canadiens? The Leafs, after all, have never really tried that, have they?

The Mighty-Ish Habs

Last spring the Montreal Canadiens visited the ACC late in the season and had their playoff epitaph written for them.

Not quite twelve months later, the Habs return as one of the conference's best teams to take on a Leaf team tomorrow night that has already eliminated itself from the playoffs. Once again, Montreal's dominant place in Canada's hockey landscape over the intermittently competitive Leafs has been asserted.

But not all is well in Montreal. The hockey club itself is fine, but a controversy has erupted relating to the ugly violence in Chicoutimi last Saturday for which former Habs star goalie Patrick Roy and his son were suspended by Quebec junior hockey authorities.

Roy's conduct was dreadful, and for that reason, and others, some in the Quebec media are now saying that unofficial plans to deify Roy by retiring his number next season - the season of the Montreal franchise's centenary - should be postponed or cancelled entirely.

Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette, the greatest authority on all things bleu, blanc et rouge, has taken the position that the Habs should not honor Roy.

Fisher referred back to Roy's demand to leave Montreal in 1995 and a variety of ugly off-ice issues over the years, while remembering all of his great victories.

"Those were on-ice moments to cherish, but there also have been off-ice issues that people cannot forget or forgive. Ugly moments. Controversial moments. Disgusting moments such as Saturday's brawl," wrote Fisher.

If the Habs do choose not to honour Roy, it will make next season truly forgettable for the former goaltending star, for it seems almost certain his all-time record for wins in an NHL career (551) will be broken by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur. Brodeur has 534 already with his 36th birthday still two months away, and it seems like Roy's record will not only be reached by Brodeur, but utterly demolished.

It's a tricky issue for the Habs, who value class and tradition more than other NHL teams, and are now reaping the benefits of some intelligent building after a series of losing seasons.

In their 100th season, you have to believe they will not wish to welcome the controversy that would come with honoring Roy.

He is, in a reverse sense, Montreal's Dave Keon. The Leafs would love to honour Keon but he won't participate; Roy would certainly want to be so honoured, but now his former team may prefer to look the other way.

Thursday Mail Bag

Maybe it was all just a crazy coincidence.

But it sure seemed the more Marlies that were added to the Maple Leaf lineup over the past few weeks, the better the team played, and the more team play and urgency seemed a part of the club’s nightly effort.

Then before Tuesday’s game, Alex Foster was demoted back to the Marlies in order to get energetic Boyd Devereaux back on the roster.

And what happened? A dreadful team performance. That’s no knock on Devereaux. But its just the latest bit of evidence that suggests the team culture in Toronto seems to produce an atmosphere in which the highest paid veterans simply don’t perform with the same level of competitive urgency as the minor-leaguers, or at least not unless the minor-leaguers are around.

We saw it in the 2002 playoffs. We’re seeing it again now. It almost seems like the worst recipe for success with the Leafs is to make too many players too comfortable.

Now on to this week’s mail bag:

Q: With the season, realistically, over for the Leafs is it time for Fletcher to introduce Bryan McCabe to the press box and ask him if he enjoyed being a Leaf?

Clint Walker, Chantilly, VA

A: McCabe’s had a terrible season – actually, back-to-back lousy seasons – but there’s no point sitting him down now. That said, if they bring him back next season, they’re just asking for more of the same. It seems certain he’ll never again be a top player in Toronto.

Q: Damien! Thanks for answering our questions each week, I still find it unbelievable that with all the exposure the Leafs get I still have unanswered questions about the team!

My question is about Sundin. Why is it that Mats doesn't get the "future hall of famer" prefix that guys like Chris Chelios, Joe Sakic and Stevie Y have all recieved?

Do Sundin's stats really pale that much in comparison to the Sakics, Yzermans & Forsbergs? Besides, doesn't the fact that he was the first European ever selected first overall in the NHL draft come into play?

Jamie Prinderson, London, Ont.

Dreams for Even the Non-Partisan

We already know that, barring a major re-organization of the way in which the NHL does business, the Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens will never again play for the Stanley Cup.

Kinda sad.

The best they can possibly do is a conference final or the odd playoff series. They haven't met in the playoffs since 1979, and the Leafs haven't won a post-season game off the Habs since that memorable May 41 years ago.

Having covered the Leafs and the NHL since 1989, I've never covered a Leaf-Hab series, with of course the '93 playoffs having come the closest to producing that matchup before The Great One wrecked Canada's hockey party.

For the non-partisan, then, there is an obvious reason in these final two weeks of the season to hope the Leafs might be successful in their longshot attempt to qualify for the Stanley Cup tournament.

See, if the Leafs did make it, it would almost certainly be the Habs that would await them in the first round of the post-season.

Even if you absolutely despise the Habs or the Leafs, or both, you'd have to agree a playoff matchup would be a terrific spectacle for the game and the country.

Hab backers and many independent analysts, of course, would assert that Guy Carbonneau's quicksilver-like team would easily drub the Leafs, sweeping them just as they did in 1978 and 1979, and that might be true.

Montreal has a lethal power play, oodles of team speed, seemingly solid goaltending with Carey Price, outstanding leadership and the best arena atmosphere in the league.

What they don't have is a whole lot of playoff experience, with the club having failed to do much of anything in post-season play for 15 years. Alexei Kovalev, of course, has won a Cup, while the likes of Patrice Brisebois, Roman Hamrlik and Bryan Smolinski have been around the block a few times.

But this isn't a team loaded with playoff expertise among its most important players, particularly in goal, and under the right circumstances, that could make the Canadiens vulnerable to an early round upset.

No one would say today the Leafs could be the team to pull off that upset. But they have a hot goalie, and if they did manage to sneak into the playoffs, they'd surely be on a roll.

Moreover, a Montreal-Toronto playoff series next month would produce a unique dynamic that no one would be able to forecast with any great sense of confidence.

For the non-partisan, of course, it would just be great to see.

Still Twelfth, But. . .

Two things are known.

One, the Maple Leafs might be able to survive with an overtime or a shootout defeat, but one more regulation loss and they're cooked.

Two, sweeping the Bruins this week will have them in some kind of enhanced position by Friday, perhaps not a playoff berth but something better, and will have the ACC rockin' Saturday night against Montreal.

Minus their former GM, John Ferguson, and six vets once thought critical by many - Hal Gill, Chad Kilger, Wade Belak, Carlo Colaiacovo, Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov - the Leafs played terrific hockey last week in piecing together three straight road wins with a lineup of young leaders and Marlie callups.

So now Sundin's ready, or close to being ready.

And isn't this interesting?

Leaf fans, of course, remember the team that fought through the 2002 playoffs largely without Sundin then fell to Carolina in the conference championship even though the captain was back.

Of course you put him back in ASAP, right? Right?

Yes. But as the franchise mulls over what to do with No. 13 this summer - somebody's mulling, correct? - it would be an intriguing and complicating factor if Sundin returns but isn't able to help keep this snowball rolling.

The Bruins, to be sure, are a vulnerable team these days, and lost again to Montreal on Saturday to lose all eight against the Habs this season.

Maybe the Leafs should come out wearing red tomorrow and Thursday.

Safety and Consistency

There is always a call for no-touch icing in the NHL whenever somebody gets hurt.

And that's okay by me, even though I'm one of those people who believes the race for the puck is both an integral part of the game and often a meaningful one. Everybody's seen the hustling forward who negates an icing call in the final minutes of a game to save his team 200 feet of ice.

That said, injuries like that suffered by Minnesota's Kurtis Foster (broken leg) when he was either hit by San Jose's Torrey Mitchell or got tangled up with Mitchell are both unfortunate and often gruesome.

So if people want to call for automatic icing as a safety measure, that just makes sense.

But those same people better be consistent and call for major rule changes regarding other hockey circumstances in which players are hurt far more often.

For example, more players suffer nasty facial injuries because they don't wear visors than players are injured on icing calls.

So if you want safety to be the major consideration, then a call for no-touch icing should be accompanied by a call for mandatory visors like the American Hockey League.

What about checking from behind? Far more player are crunched illegally or semi-legally into the side boards and injured than on icing calls, so those rules should be changed as well.

More players are hurt fighting every season than the two or three that are hurt racing for icing calls. The Leafs' Mark Bell, for example, is still wearing a full cage after having his orbital bone fractured in a scrap earlier this season.

So those who call for a change to icing rules should also be interested in banning fighting.

For safety's sake, of course.

Fact is, hockey's a full-contact, high speed game, and people get hurt playing it. If you want to make the NHL game safer and prevent injuries, there would be many more meaningful places to start than no-touch icing.

You can't just pick and choose.

Thursday Mail Bag

Poor Carlo. Man, if the guy could ever stay healthy for a long stretch there’s a chance he would be regarded as one of the best first round picks the Maple Leafs have made in a long time.

Think about it. Colaiacovo was 17th overall in 2001. After he was taken, you might be able to point to Fedor Tyutin, Derek Roy, Mike Cammalleri or Jason Pominville as better players taken later in the first two rounds.

Maybe.

Meanwhile, before the Leafs took Colaiacovo, players like Alexander Svitov, Stanislav Chistov, hard-luck goalie Dan Blackburn and Igor Knyazev were taken.

So Colaiacovo was a good, shrewd pick at No. 17. If he hadn’t been injured so often, there’s enough evidence on the table to believe he would have been one of the best 10 players taken, maybe better.

But he has been hurt over and over, and was injured again Tuesday on Long Island. Now if you’re the Maple Leafs, do you again go into next season betting on Colaiacovo being healthy, or is it time to look to other answers and accept whatever he might be able to contribute as gravy?

Tough call. Now on to this week’s mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien, 
As a Habs fan who's subscribed to RDS and been able to see a ton of games this year, I've really grown to appreciate Roman Hamrlik. This guy has to be one of the best defensive defencemen in the game. He plays physically, he blocks shots, he moves the puck well, he's tough to beat one on one, and he always seems to make good decisions. Which got me wondering, if you were picking candidates for "best defensive defenceman" in the NHL, who would be on your list?

Geoff Read, Thunder Bay 

A: Wow. Well, there are different types of good defenders. Nicklas Lidstrom, for example, is usually cited for his offence, but he’s a finesse defender who plays against the other team’s best every night. Same for Scott Niedermayer.

Among those regarded as stay-at-home types, New Jersey’s Colin White is underrated. Ottawa’s tandem of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov would be up there. Ditto for Robyn Regehr in Calgary. There are lots more.

And mark my words, soon Braydon Coburn of Philly will be seen as one of the best.

Q: Hi Damien, I understand why Fletcher can't publicly say "we're out of it this year, so the emphasis now is going to be on evaluating the young talent in our system, maybe showcasing Raycroft for a possible summer time move and if that means we're going to lose a few more than we would have by leaning on the vets then so what? Heck, we'll even get a better draft pick."  BUT WHY IN THE WORLD IS HE NOT TELLING MAURICE THAT'S THE DEAL? Is MLSE just joking about a rebuild here?

Bradley Meldrew, Toronto 

A: I just think there’s a disconnect between management’s goals and the goals of the coaching staff right now, a staff trying to save its jobs. I mean, was Phoenix tanking by playing Mikael Tellqvist instead of Ilya Bryzgalov in Edmonton Tuesday night? Of course not. The Leafs should be using all of the players on their roster, playing the kids, urging them all to play as hard as possible and letting the cards fall where they may. Shutting down Raycroft for the season benefits no one. But they're choosing to pursue a different course and we'll see if it benefits them in the end.

Q: Hi Damien, You're one of the toughest Leafs' commentators in Toronto. Why hasn't MLSE thrown you out of the ACC yet, whereas they've torn down all the Bill Waters posters?

Raymond Young, Toronto 

A: Well, league rules prevent them from throwing me out on my ear, for starters. But I’m not one of those people who believes I’m so influential that somehow shutting me down would help the Leaf operation in any way, shape or form. Watters’ situation is somewhat different in that he works for the radio station that is the team’s rights-holder, but all the team has done by drawing attention to him is attract more listeners for AM640. In general, all of us in the media over-value our influence. It’s the fans, through their actions, who speak the loudest.

Q: Hey Damien, 
Given what happened last year with the Leafs knocking the Canadiens out of playoff contention, only to see their own hopes knocked off by the Islanders, what do you think are the chances that the last few games with Philly will end up helping either Buffalo or Washington make it into the playoffs?

Nick K., Ottawa

A: Well, based on what Buffalo did against Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, the Sabres look intent on staying in it until the bitter end. Not so sure about Washington, which will also make it very difficult, in my mind, for Alex Ovechkin to win the Hart.

Q: Is anything ever going to be done about the constant stream of hits from behind in the NHL? Watching last week's Leafs/Flyers game, I'm convinced McCabe's hit on Umberger was in part a retaliation for earlier hits on two of his teammates. Might it be time to adopt a rule from minor hockey, where a hit from behind penalty is an automatic minor or major penalty and a game misconduct? I fear that if Bettman and the league don't move soon on this issue, somebody's career is going to be over (or worse) before something is done.

Clark Aitken, Scarborough 

A: Well, Clay, your concern is the concern of many. I would say too often that a two-minute penalty is awarded for a very dangerous hit. Like many things, the NHL could get rid of hits from behind if it wanted by making every one a game misconduct and automatic suspension. The fact it doesn’t must mean it wants those types of hits as part of the game.

Q: Hi Damien, 
Tonight with the game tied at 3s, Paul Maurice pulled the goalie to go for the win. A move that was necessary given their getting-struck-by-lightning chances of making the playoffs. My question is: If they had scored the game-winner while their net was empty, who would be credited with the win?  I believe empty net goals don't count against the goalie who has been pulled so it wouldn't be fair to give it to Toskala. As a fan of quirky stats, I'd vote for the 6th skater who came out. That said, I'm guessing it might go to no one.

Thanks, and keep on fighting the good fight (against fighting). 

Andrew Munsch, Guelph 

A: Great question. My belief is that Martin Biron of the Flyers would have been credited with the win, and Toskala the loss. But let me dig a bit on that one.

Q: While watching Saturday's edition of the Leafs' "Charge of the Dumb Brigade" I heard that Brad Boyes now has 34 goals. I wondered who was responsible for the fact that, once the Leafs sorted out their dispute with Owen Nolan (over money, no less, something that MLSE has out the wazoo) the team did not at least trade him for something. The net result of this is that Nolan is performing well in Calgary, Boyes is a rising star and the Leafs have nothing. Any thoughts? 

Paul Vaillancourt, Ottawa

A: I’ve never dumped on the Leafs for the Nolan deal because I argued at the time it was a good deal for a team with a chance to go deep into the post-season. It obviously backfired on them, and while others are free to say it was a dumb trade by Pat Quinn, I can’t in all good conscience since it made sense to me at the time. Sometimes you have to give up something significant to go for a championship. Once upon a time the Dallas Stars wanted to go for it all and picked up Joe Nieuwendyk. They gave up a kid named Jarome Iginla in the bargain, but in ’99 got their Stanley Cup. Good deal? I’d say for both, but if the Stars had never managed to get that Cup, it would have been looked at as awfully wasteful.

Q: Damien, I have a question for next mail bag. I understand the NHL has a dispute with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation centered on compensation for players. But I was also lead to believe that it didn't hinder individual teams for pursuing individual deals with Russian players/teams. If that is the case, why wouldn't MLSE draft Nikita Filatov and cut a deal with his Russian pay masters? Second question: Would any money involved fall under the cap? I think Toronto with its very healthy finances should be looking for creative ways to get better without jeopradizing cap space and if paying a premium for a Russian prospect will do that . . . then what are they waiting for?

Mark Whitney, Toronto

A: First of all, nobody really knows what the rules are right now. The Leafs have had to work out a deal with Nikolai Kulemin and his Russian team, but still can’t be 100 per cent sure he’ll be here next year. But how much do you want to pay knowing that you’ll be setting a standard for other teams to live with? Transfer payments would not come under the cap. I guess the answer is if you believe Filatov is a franchise-type player, far better than the others available, then you go for it and take your chances. But I also think Russian players, in general, seem to be falling out of favour with NHL teams for a variety of reasons, and the situation with the transfer agreement and a possible new league in Russia offering larger contracts won’t improve matters.

Click here to submit a question for the mail bag.

Missing the Point

Its amazing sometimes how people want to defend something that isn't under attack.

I found this out last summer when I suggested that MLSE, as part of its proud tradition, had created a loser of a soccer team that people nonetheless want to support with all their hearts and souls and money.

Boy, did the cards and letters come in on that one.

Yesterday, I apparently had the temerity to question whether Bryan Colangelo really was the model executive the Maple Leafs should be looking for in their new hockey boss.

This, somehow, was interpreted as an all-out attack on Colangelo, his family and his family dog by some.

Now, it's great, I suppose, that Colangelo has so many uncritical admirers, particularly when his team appears to be falling apart.

But I really wasn't attacking him at all, and I certainly wasn't suggesting that he should be fired, or that he'd done a terrible job with the Raptors or that Rob Babcock should be brought back immediately. For the most part, Colangelo has been the best GM the Raps have ever had.

I was simply pointing out three facts; he's never won an NBA championship, the Raptors lost a first-round matchup last spring they probably could have won and the team appears worse this season.

Those three facts are indisputable.

For the Leafs, then, it was simply a suggestion that the Leafs might like to hire someone with a track record of championships and/or outstanding recent success. I suggested Gregg Popovich - yes, knowing full-well he's the coach, not the GM, of the Spurs - as an NBA figure with far more success on his resume than Colangelo.

That doesn't make Colangelo a stiff, and sure, he might end up a modern-day Red Auerbach, with multiple championships to his credit.

But he hasn't done it yet. Period. So all of you who simply want to parrot each other with the "stick to hockey" insults, try reading the blog and arguing the point.

I'd hate to throw you in with the soccer nuts.

The Search Goes On

Just wondering, but should the Maple Leafs really be looking for a "Bryan Colangelo of hockey" now?

That was one of the stated goals, you may remember, when John Ferguson Jr. was cashiered Jan. 22nd, that the MLSE brass was so very much in love with the sainted Colangelo that all they needed to do was locate a hockey man of similar qualities and all would be well.

Wondered about that at the time. Wondered why this halo surrounds the Raptor boss even though he has doesn't own an NBA championship ring and his team has yet to even win a playoff round in Toronto.

Sure it's impressive what he did in Phoenix, and yes, the Raptors were a laughingstock before he arrived and became a solid team in the weak Eastern Conference in his very first year.

But to the no-ring past and playoff disappointment of last spring we can now add a Raptor squad that is plummeting, possibly all the way to the seventh seed in the east unless they can get this thing straightened out soon.

The once formidable point guard tandem now looks shaky, no one knows what Andrea Bargnani is going to deliver on a nightly basis, nobody seems to want the ball at crunch time and doesn't it seem just a little strange that player who wasn't even in the NBA last year starts for this squad?

The Raps are 2-8 in their last 10, an abomination on the road, play matador defence many nights and can't seem to find their way in the absence of star forward Chris Bosh.

It seems pretty clear, based on the evidence, that this team isn't even as good as last year's group, and that a similar early-round ouster may be in the cards.

At some point, one should think, this will begin to reflect upon Colangelo.

And while we know MLSE always aims low when it comes to managers and expectations - and what they care about most is that the fans have started filling the building again in the Colangelo era - surely the club should really be looking for a hockey executive who can deliver more than their basketball man has so far, or, really, in his career.

If it's a basketball reference they need, shouldn't they be hunting for the Gregg Popovich of hockey?

Thursday Mail Bag

The time has probably come to stop wondering why it is the Leafs are playing as they are, or why they didn’t do it earlier, and just accept the fact the club is delivering high-quality hockey at the moment.

In five straight games against opponents likely headed for the playoffs, the Leafs outshot every one of them, managing six of 10 possible points. The play of Carlo Colaiacovo, in particular, has been eye-popping, and the captain, Mats Sundin, has been out-and-out terrific since the pre-deadline, no-trade-clause fiasco was played out.

You don’t have to particularly like this team to admire what they’ve been able to do of late, as counter-productive to the long-term growth of the franchise as it may be, given that a lottery draft pick is fading into the distance.

Look, mostly meaningless hockey is a lot more interesting than watching completely meaningless hockey. Given that there’s something on the line, you can’t even say with total accuracy that the team is only playing well now that there’s nothing to play for.

None of this has a carry-over effect to next year, and if I was a member of Leaf management, I’d worry that what’s motivating this team is less about team and more about individual agendas. Moreover, if subtracting Wade Belak, Chad Kilger and Hal Gill has produced a much better team, why didn’t Leaf management figure that out earlier?

Right now, the Leafs are an interesting team to watch, which is more than could be said from October through to February.

Now on to this week’s mail bag - got a question for next time? Send it here:

Q: Greetings Damien, As we all witnessed during the deadline day fiasco, the real rebuilding of the Toronto Maple Leafs will begin this June at the NHL Entry Draft.

My question to you is this: if the Leafs fail to acquire the #1 pick in this year’s draft, should they consider taking a chance on top Russian prospect Nikita Filatov if he is still available by the time its their turn to select? Obviously the lack of a Russian transfer agreement will scare many teams away, with the Alexei Cherepanov situation from last year’s draft serving as a perfect example. Yet one cannot deny the fact that Filatov has top five potential, considering the fact that both ISS and RLR rank him #2 in their lists of top players available in this year's draft, after his strong performance at the Five Nations U-18 last month.

Thus, should the Leafs take a chance and select a prospect that could potentially be a building block toward respectability, or should the lack of a transfer deal with Russia scare the Leafs away and force them to make a ‘safer’ pick with a North American based player?

Brad Lloyd, Waterloo, Ont.

A: Tough, tough question. Well, you always take the best player available. But the best player now, more than ever, may be defined as much by price and availability as talent.

The problems with the Russian federation are indeed real problems, and the Leafs, among other teams, can’t afford to waste a pick on a player who might not come to North America for years, if at all. I guess the answer is that unless you are absolutely convinced Filatov is the real deal and you have a depth chart that allows you to be patient, he might not be worth a top 10 pick at this time. The Leafs have had enough difficulty getting a commitment that Nikolai Kulemin will be able to come over next year, and it’s hard to see them taking this risk unless, of course, they’re certain he’s a franchise-type player.

Q: Damien, which of the teams in the east currently in a playoff position do you think has the  best chance to make it to the final?  And do you think that team will be competitive with the best team in the west?

Also, does anyone know what is going on with Chad Kilger?  He is still AWOL from Florida due to "personal reasons." Does this have anything to do with the Leafs trading him?  Maybe not being happy about going to Florida? I have always liked Kilger and was wondering what was going on.

Julianna Ruffolo, Angus, Ont.

A: I really like Montreal, and I liked what they did with Cristobal Huet/Carey Price at the deadline, and I think they could challenge anyone coming out of the west if they can stay healthy and if Price can stand the heat.

Re Kilger, there’s lots of rumours, but nothing concrete. Hopefully, he’ll get it all worked out.

Q: Hi Damien,

With the season basically over, is there any reason why they haven't played Pogge yet? Also, how would you rate Pogge against Price in Montreal?

Raymond Young, Toronto

A: Personally, I would have given Pogge a start or two already. What’s the harm? But Price is obviously much further ahead in his development at this point. That said, it’s not a race, and the Leafs have shown good patience with Pogge. I just don’t think giving him an NHL start would mean they would be rushing him.

Q: Damien, I was wondering your thoughts on two people that I think the Leafs should go after this summer. 1. Darcy Regier. What is his contract, can he get out of it, would the Leafs be interested? Look at all the players the Sabres have lost but they still always seem to have a pipeline of young talent that the Leafs lack.

2. Dale Hunter. It seems that all his London teams do every year is win but he does not get the same print or exposure that a Brent Sutter/Craig Hartsburg gets. Would he be a good fit in the NHL? Especially after the success that Sutter has had.

Andrew Stevens, Burlington, Ont.

A: Interesting possibilities. Regier appears pretty married to that Buffalo situation, and obviously he doesn’t meet the Leafs criteria of a new man having to have won at least one Stanley Cup. He’s solid, resourceful and a worker, but not necessarily the kind of star candidate the Leafs are looking for.

Hunter, like Quebec Remparts owner/president/GM/coach Patrick Roy, is a very intriguing possibility, and he would certainly give the Leafs a very different look and attitude. Having gone the route of hiring a GM with no experience (John Ferguson), I doubt the Leafs would want to head down this road again.