Difference Makers

With one heroic game, Eric Staal and Cam Ward made themselves favourites to play for Canada at next year's Winter Olymics.

Ditto for Jonathan Toews, who showed the country what he's made up while leading the youthful Chicago Blackhawks past the Calgary Flames.

MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

Eric Staal dancing squarely in the spotlight last night.

By contrast, it's hard to imagine that either Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau of the Sharks will be in Vancouver, not after yet another in a series of playoff failures. You even have to wonder about Calgary's Jarome Iginla, who would have been considered an Olympic shoo-in but didn't have a big series for the Flames and is captain of a team that has lost in the first round for four straight years.

Jeff Carter, meanwhile, was mostly silent for the Flyers in the first round, while a serious shoulder injury to Mike Richards might compromise his Olympic candidacy.

See, that's the added meaning these playoffs come with this spring, which is very much unlike the process leading up to Torino in '06.

That year, the NHL was coming off a lockout, so there were no playoffs in the spring of '05 in which players could make a case for their inclusion on the team, or exclusion, for that matter.

But this spring, when a player like Staal wins a playoff series with such a dramatic goal, that's a moment that has to put that player front and centre in the mind of Steve Yzerman, Canada's Olympic chief. That it came last night against Olympic incumbent goalie Martin Brodeur after Ward had done such a brilliant job keeping the Canes alive, well, that impacts the Olympic futures of Staal and Ward.

Happily for Yzerman, the results of the first round mean he'll get to see more of players like Staal, Ward, Toews, Alex Burrows, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in action, all players who weren't part of the Torino squad, although Staal was an alternate.

That's the subtext to these playoffs. Makes 'em even more interesting, don't you think?

Rangers-Capitals: Setting up Game 7

A Slightly Different Take

Ron Wilson was clearly not the problem in San Jose.

And no, Brian Burke did not leave the Anaheim Ducks in shambles.

MARK AVERY/AP

Three of Brian Burke's finds, from left, Francois Beauchemin, Jonas Hiller and Bobby Ryan.

That would be the angle a hardcore member of the Leaf Nation might take from Anaheim’s stunning first round upset of the Sharks, completed last night in Orange County.

Now, this is clearly a myopic, Toronto-based way of looking at things, and certainly from a hockey-wide point-of-view there are a lot of other perspectives on what went wrong for San Jose and what went right for the Ducks.

But there were no shortage of people in the hockey industry who pinpointed Wilson as the culprit last year when the Sharks failed in the post-season, and lots of folks who gleefully rejoiced in the work of first year coach Todd MacLellan this year as Wilson’s replacement.

Everyone knew, however, that the Shark season didn’t begin until the first round of the playoffs, and the result is the same.

This doesn’t make Wilson the greatest coach, but it does remove him as the convenient reason for San Jose’s repeated playoff failures.

Burke, meanwhile, was widely criticized for the way in which he ran the Ducks after that club won the 2007 Stanley Cup, particularly his aggressive style of salary cap management. Many ripped him for not only getting out of his contract in Anaheim partway through this season, but for deserting a sinking ship.

Well, that’s apparently not the truth, either.

The Ducks proved to be hardy playoff participants, and credit for the construction of that team over the years should be spread around many people, including Bryan Murray, Dave MacNab, Burke and Bob Murray. Burke, meanwhile, hired Bob Murray and made sure he got the GM job when he left. He also hired Randy Carlyle as head coach and brought in a bunch of good players, including Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin.

Burke was also responsible for signing free agent Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller and drafting Bobby Ryan right after Sidney Crosby.

He’d be the first to tell you he doesn’t deserve all the credit for making the Ducks champions, and has credited others, including Bryan Murray for drafting Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Bob Murray, meanwhile, always got the credit from Burke for scouting Beauchemin’s potential.

But Burke also didn’t leave the Ducks in a mess. Instead, he went to one.

Throw in the fact that a Vancouver Canucks team built largely by Dave Nonis is looking very, very dangerous in these playoffs and a Leaf fan might have reason to believe MLSE finally has the right hockey men in place.

Here’s some questions for today’s playoff mail bag:

Q: Hey Damien,

For the life of me I can't understand why Colin Campbell was so lenient on Donald Brashear. If the NHL was really serious about getting head shots and dirty play out of the game, they would have come down much harder on Brashear. Please explain why they didn't use this situation as a precedent and give Donald 25 games for a really really dirty play?

Adam M., Toronto

A: Well, what ever gave you the impression the NHL was really serious about getting rid of head shots? The league has had many opportunities to draft new rules in this regard, but has chosen not to out of concern that new legislation would take hitting out of the game. Even with Brashear, league officials felt it was a shoulder-to-head hit, not an elbow, and they have repeatedly said they want to keep the shoulder-to-head hit in the game as a legal play. Brashear got the five games for the hit because it was late, and because it caused injury. To be fair, Colin Campbell started several months ago to give tougher bans on head-related hits, but there is no consensus on the league to adopt new rules even though the players association appealed to the league for actioin at the GMs meeting in March.

As a side note, this was yet another incident perpetrated by an enforcer, the type of player who is supposed to “police” the game and keep the dirty stuff out.

Q: Hi Damien,

Whether it is in the corporate world or sports world, as you go up the hierarchy, part of leadership is setting an example of the actions and behaviors you want those who are part of your organization to follow. Tortorella's actions were just as selfish and undisciplined as those of Avery's in Game 5. How can the coach expect the players to funnel and control their emotions if the coach can't, with just a little verbal prodding from a fan? Do you think it matters what was said?

I feel that the game is Washington's to lose, so let's assume the Rangers do lose Game 7. Where does Glen Sather stand? Gomez, Drury, Redden contracts are just scary.

Craig Fulford, Toronto

A: Okay, well on Tortorella, we agree. He surrendered the high ground on disciple issues with his behaviour, whether it was warranted or not. But you have to be around the Ranger staff these days to understand the high state of alert these people are on. This team has gone from being a smart, controlled (maybe too controlled?) operation under Tom Renney to Tortorella’s preference for constant tension and controversy. I agree with you – if the coach can’t control himself, its impossible to demand that from his players. I always felt that was the way when Pat Quinn coached the Leafs. He constantly whined and berated officials, then wondered why his teams took too many penalties and were widely despised around the league.

In terms of the future of the Rangers, they sure have some issues. Now they do have Evgeny Grachev coming, and Matt Gilroy too, so they have some youth, a great goaltender and depth. But it’s the high end of the Ranger lineup that’s really in question, the guys dragging down the major dollars like Drury, Gomez and Redden, who you mentioned. Moving any of those players will be extremely difficult in the current environment. There’s no indication, however, that Sather is in any kind of trouble if the Rangers do go down to the Caps tonight.

Q: What do you think of Bob Gainey's outrage and allegation that the Tampa organization leaked the names of the Montreal players (Higgins, Plekanec and Georges) in a potential deal for Lecavalier? Are you surprised how candidly Gainey expressed his anger on this? Do you think this apparent dispute between the teams could affect the trade from still occurring prior to July 1?

Jeff Stal, Toronto

A: It’s all he said, he said stuff. Lawton denies all of Gainey’s allegations and suggests the Habs are looking for somebody to blame for their first round ouster. I was surprised to hear Gainey speak so openly, almost like a Brian Burke-Kevin Lowe type of spat. Maybe the old boys club isn’t going to be quite as collegial any more. I think that while Gainey took aim at Lawton, however, its more likely his anger should have been directed at Tampa owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie, who have become renowned for trying to make trades on their own. If Tampa did leak some of the names of Montreal players, I’m betting it was the owners, not Lawton.

And no, it shouldn’t affect a deal if a deal is there to be made. But that’s one nasty contract Lecavalier has, and more than a few people would tell you he did not have a great season this year, fighting through shoulder problems and then shutting it down with three games to play to have wrist surgery.

Q: Hello Damien – I’d like to ask you about John Tortorella and his handling of the media. As someone who has probably interviewed every coach in the league at one point or another, is his press conference/interview style that much different than other coaches, or is it just that he’s in NY and it gets magnified as a result? He does seem to be unusually adversarial, and often comes across as condescending to you guys. It must make the reporter’s job covering the team harder. Clearly he and New York Post beat reporter Larry Brooks have issues, for example. Can you share anything about Tortorella and this type of issue? Thanks in advance.

Todd Sloan, Phoenix, Arizona

A: First of all, many in the media love Tortorella. He’s newsy and fills notebooks. I don’t find him condescending, just unusually antagonistic, like he’s trying to pick a fight every day. I understand he’s got a Stanley Cup ring, but he was also the coach of the worst team in hockey last year, and a little humility might go a long way. I did think it was too bad for a guy who had all the answers while on TV that when it came to answering simple questions about being suspended for Game 6 of this series, he refused to give any explanation at all, as though he’s somehow above it all. No one was asking him to rip his players, and it was a chance for him to show some humility, accept responsibility and move on.

(Ed. Note: And then when you think you have Tortorella figured out, he does what he did today, which is be charming, self-effacing, interesting and introspective in his morning press conference. He had expansive, useful answers to the questions asked, didn't duck any, and was clearly trying to provide helpful responses. So that's what makes Tortorella, well, Tortorella, from a media point-of-view. Never dull, that's for sure.)

In case you missed it, here’s the New York Post’s account of the discussion between Tortorella and Brooks on Sunday:

"I have no response, I'm not discussing that," Tortorella said when asked by the Post's Larry Brooks for a reaction to his suspension.

"You're not discussing the fact you were suspended for a playoff game?" responded Brooks.

"That's just what I said," said Tortorella. "Next question."

"That's unbelievable, John. Unbelievable."

"You guys have your opinions, write 'em. Next question."

"So after a player commits a mistake, he doesn't have an obligation to talk?"

"You guys think you're entitled to all information, Larry."

"I'm asking for your opinion, not information."

"You have your opinion. You don't need mine and I'm not going to give it to you. Next question.”

During the playoffs, Damien Cox is answering your questions daily. Click here to submit a question.
**Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Damien. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**

Rangers Blow It, Caps Still Alive

Bad Boy Punished

Well, it was a surprise, but then again, it wasn't a surprise.

Perennial NHL troublemaker Sean Avery has been scratched from the New York Rangers lineup for tonight's Game 5 contest in Washington against the Capitals after a series of indiscretions in the past two games.

In particular, Rangers head coach John Tortorella was incensed after a New York win in Game 4 that put the Blueshirts ahead three games to one was jeopardized by two pointless Avery penalties in the final period.

Luckily for Avery, the Caps weren't able to capitalize by putting any pucks past Henrik (The King) Lundqvist in the New York net, but he wasn't so lucky for Game 5 as Tortorella clearly decided his team had a better chance of winning without the infamous bad boy.

The Rangers had been the one team willing to give Avery another chance after he was suspended last fall by the NHL while playing for Dallas for some intemperate public remarks aimed at a former girlfriend and her boyfriend, Calgary defenceman Dion Phaneuf.

Avery underwent anger management therapy while on leave from the NHL. When he returned, the Stars waived him and the Rangers picked him up. For the most part, he had been a good citizen, aside from a silly incident involving Boston goalie Tim Thomas in the final days of the regular season.

Against the Caps, however, Avery has become increasingly unpredictable, almost as if he was daring either the referees to call penalties or Tortorella to take some action against him.

Well, Tortorella did tonight, replacing Avery - pointless with 24 penalty minutes in the series - with grinding winger Aaron Voros.

And here’s a couple of extra playoff mail bag questions:

Q: With the London Knights now eliminated from the playoffs, would John Tavares be eligible to play in the upcoming world championships? I don't know whether or not it would be worthwhile to do so, but I am just curious.

Daniel Gray, London, Ont.

A: Yes, Tavares is eligible. In fact, you might remember that Jonathan Toews played for Team Canada at the 2007 world championships after his college season ended. It’s all about nationality, and, of course, availability. But you don’t have to be an NHLer to play in the worlds.

Q: Hi Damien,

Now that the Habs are out of the playoffs, I suspect there will be big changes with the roster during the off-season. I think the days of Koivu and Kovalev are over. I also think that the Habs will make a serious push for Lecavalier.

In a deal with Tampa do you think the Habs will have the upper hand since Tampa is bleeding money? Or will the Habs have to trade half of their roster for Vincent? What would Tampa be looking for? Are there any other teams that would be in the running for Vincent?

Sanjay Bali, Scarborough

A: Well, based on Bob Gainey’s outburst at Tampa GM Brian Lawton yesterday, the atmosphere may be permanently poisoned between the two clubs. Gainey insists Tampa was talking about trading Lecavalier and they discussed players, while Lawton seems to deny any and all of that. The Lecavalier contract is really nasty, particularly in an industry where the salary cap may fall. To me, it’s the Canadiens that would be more desperate to make this move now. The Bolts have serious money problems, but they have other options, like moving a player like Ryan Malone. I seriously doubt that if Lecavalier were to go to Montreal, the gains in terms of players and futures for the Lightning might not be as great as you might think. The biggest gain for Tampa in that kind of deal is deleting Lecavalier’s contract.

Q: Damien,

I just can't seem to find an answer to this question. When Antropov was dealt to the Rangers the Leafs recieved a 2nd round draft pick and a conditional draft pick. What are the conditions on this pick?

Steve Lipskie, Guelph, Ont.

A: If Rangers win two rounds this spring, the Leafs get their fourth rounder in 2010. It’s not a biggee, but if you’re a Leaf fan, I guess you cheer for the Rangers this spring.

During the playoffs, Damien Cox is answering your questions daily. Click here to submit a question.
**Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Damien. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**

Washington becomes a hockey town

Talking Two Teams in Toronto

A New Layer to An Old Story

For the first time, there may be more than smoke.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly today confirmed that he recently met with a group of GTA businessmen interested in putting another NHL team in the Toronto area, likely near Vaughan.

“While we did in fact meet with individuals interested in having another NHL team in the Toronto area, it is safe to say that there isn’t any consideration being given to that prospect at this point in time,” said Daly in an email. “We have no interest in expanding, and we have no desire to relocate any existing franchises.”

The Globe and Mail today published a story saying Daly met with the group of unidentified businessmen last week for 2 1/2 hours to discuss their ideas. The story also said the group has spoken with NHL Players Association chief Paul Kelly, but union sources denied that.

Richard Peddie, speaking for the Maple Leafs, said he was unaware of the meeting.

"We've had no discussions with the league on expansion or transfer of franchises into our territory," Peddie told The Star's Kevin McGran. "If or when that ever occurs, I trust the NHL to bring it to the board of governors in their normal, thorough, analytical fashion and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will make a decision at that time, what we think about it.

"To comment on the flavour of the day and the usual suspects, that's not very fruitful to us and we choose to have no other comment,"

The story of a second NHL team in Toronto has been kicking around for years, but the road block has always been that the Leafs, and possibly the Buffalo Sabres, would have to be compensated. When Jim Basillie, a Waterloo businessman, was looking at buying either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Nashville Predators and possibly moving them to Hamilton, Ont., the compensation for the Leafs and Sabres was again an issue.

Peddie wouldn't say whether the Leafs would have a veto over another team being located in the GTA.

"We're not talking about the process at all," he said. "We'll deal with what our position is when or if we ever see something from the league."

The City of Vaughan, identified in the Globe report as the potential location for an arena and a new team, would also fall inside the Leafs’ territory.

Balsillie was apparently not personally involved in last week’s meeting, but rumours are already circulating that he may be an interested party.

The fact the NHL is at least willing to discuss the issue opens a new chapter in this story, and is likely connected to the fact that several U.S.-based franchises, notably Phoenix, are in severe financial distress. New York Islanders owner Charles Wang has said his team is losing upwards of $20 million a season and has threatened to move the team if he can’t get clearance for a new arena, while the Tampa Bay Lightning are rumoured to be in the red to the tune of $25 million per season just a year after being sold to Hollywood producer Oren Koules and former NHL player Len Barrie.

Rather than folding teams, the league would prefer to re-locate them if absolutely necessary, but in these economic times cities willing and able to accommodate new teams would be hard to find.

The league is also clearly kicking the tires on Las Vegas, having agreed to hold its awards show in that city for the next three years starting this June.

All that said, a source familiar with last week's meeting played down its important, calling the meeting "extremely insignificant."

Chop, Chop, Chop

Had a question the other day about whether Mikhail Grabovski might be able to use the threat of going to play in the Kontinental Hockey League as leverage in his negotiations with the Maple Leafs over a new contract this summer.

ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR

Alexei Yashin skates in the KHL in November, 2008.

To me, the threat of this league was always overblown, and the tragic death of Alexei Cherepanov last season during a KHL game, an incident which seemed to question the level of safety for players in the league, sure didn’t help.

Well, the latest news from the KHL suggests this is a league where few agents of quality NHLers will be sending their players in the near future.

But it might also provide a template for the NHL should economic matters deteriorate and begin to cause serious problems.

With the agreement of its players union, the KHL held a “re-draft” today, essentially a tool to allow teams to slash some player salaries.

Here’s how it worked.

Each of the current 24 teams – the league has ambitious plans to expand – protected 15 players. Of those exposed, players that were taken in the first round would have their entire contracts embraced untouched by their new team.

Three players changed teams.

After that, things got a little Stalin-esque.

Players taken in the second round, you see, had their paycheques cut by 20 per cent, and nine players were taken.

Two more players went in the third round when salaries were chopped by 40 per cent. In the fourth round, players selected saw their pay decreased by 50 per cent.

In all, 17 players were picked. The rest of the available players, 42 in total, were then shipped back to their original teams with a 50 per cent pay cut.

The Orwellian explanation for the process was that it was designed to “ensure the future stability of the League.”

Maybe. And certainly cutting costs is both a way to stay alive and a means of attracting other teams and investors. The Canadian Football League would be a decent comparison, and football in general is an industry in which players frequently get their salaries reduced for salary cap or other reasons.

Four years ago, meanwhile, NHL salaries were slashed 24 per cent across the board as part of the new collective bargaining agreement between owners and players.

Drastic times often require drastic measures. It could be that with the current NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement expiring in 2011, around the time when financial hardship could be hitting the NHL, the measures taken by the KHL today could seem mild by comparison.

Here’s a few added questions from our playoff mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien,

I wanted to hear your thoughts on Mats Sundin. After watching Sundin during the stretch run and the early part of these playoffs, what is wrong with this guy?

I have heard the argument that it's conditioning, but let's be honest, after 35+ games, conditioning shouldn't be an issue. Some of said his skills have deteriorated, along with losing a step, but is it possible for someone to diminish that much in such a short period? I wonder if he's hiding some other injury, because if you watch him play, he's always the first guy off on a line change, which was never the case in Toronto. Secondly he doesn't seem to be taking many slap shots.

Lastly, in his last year in Toronto, he scored the majority of his points using down-low cycle game. Do you think his skills might of eroded earlier, but because of the type of game he play no one in Toronto noticed?

Punji Panicker, Toronto

A: Two things. Sundin was pretty darn good last year, but as Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne showed last season, taking half-a-year off just isn’t kind to NHL players. It takes them a while to catch up.

Secondly, Sundin was featured by the Leafs in every important situation, given every power-play chance with the best players. That hasn’t been the case in Vancouver.

Finally, his reluctance over whether he wanted to play this season always suggested he just wasn’t sure, and in the end he was either convinced to play or lured by the money. Well, this is too hard a league for anyone to compete in who isn’t fully committed to the work and sacrifice at hand.

Q: Hi Damien,

Did the Habs underperform this year or did they overperform last year? Their last 4 seasons have looked like: 93 pts (8th), 104 pts (1st), 90 pts (10th), 93 pts (7th).

It can be argued that they improved last year, but it didn't look like they were improving enough compared to other teams in the east to keep pace. I'll confess, I came into the season thinking they were destined for 6th-8th. Am I just a curmudgeon or could it be that the Habs simply overperformed last year (as opposed to having a break out year) and just aren't that good?

Carl Hill, Toronto

A: Great question, and I’m sure one that Bob Gainey is mulling over. I would still argue this team under-performed, if only because so many of its key players – Carey Price, Alexei Kovalev, Andrei Kostitsyn, Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik, Saku Koivu – suffered through inexplicable off-years. These are good players who seemed to wilt as the situation got worse, but they’re still good players. What seemed to be the case is that the balance of the team was wrong, that the addition of players like Georges Laraque and Robert Lang didn’t address the team’s real needs, particularly the need for size and production at centre ice. Things are miserable in Montreal right now, but they at least still have lots of young players and a chance to fix it this summer.

Q: Good to see the Leafs go to the university pool for new talent but as a former NCAA and CIS player it is disappointing that the eggheads and scouts in Toronto and most of the NHL along with the Canadian press give the NCAA so much attention yet virtually ignore the Canadian university scene.

Here we have Matt Gilroy a 25 year old - Hobey Baker winner and great player no doubt - signing a $3.5 million, one way contract with the Rangers yet to my knowledge no contract, and certainly little fanfare for the Canadian University player of the year (Senator Joseph A. Sullivan trophy) Marc Rancourt from St. Mary's. He has a very impressive junior and college career as well as being an academic award winner.

Just surprises me that with the talent level so high in Canadian university hockey there are so few recruited by the NHL. It just seems a missed opportunity. And without the intense media coverage the investment risk in contracts is so much less than the NCAA route.

Hype is a huge reason but any thoughts on this?

Chris Cathcart, Toronto

A: Bit of a mystery to me, although it has always been the case. You’d have to believe there is some talent there, although NHL scouts suggest the level of play just isn’t comparable to the NCAA and that the CIS is populated by far too many players in their early to mid-20s. It’s almost a semi-pro league because of the ages of the players.

Darryl Boyce, a Leaf farmhand this season, is one player who went from major junior to CIS hockey and then to pro hockey, but he hasn’t been a success story yet like Mike Ridley and Steve Rucchin were once upon a time. I’ve always believed that if the CIS wanted to be taken more seriously as a breeding ground for pro talent, it had to address the age issue. The average age of a CIS player is about 23, much older than the NCAA, although that gap has closed in recent years. There are also more teams in the NCAA, and they play longer schedules.

All in all, my experience is that NHL teams will go anywhere in search of talent, and if they believed it was there in the CIS, they’d be chasing it.

Q: Watching the Flames play at the end of the season with 17 because of the salary cap, I wonder what is the penalty for exceeding the cap. I can't find an answer.

Nes Chyz, Windsor Ont.

A: There is no penalty. You just can’t do it. The league won’t register the contract if it takes a team over the cap.

During the playoffs, Damien Cox is answering your questions daily. Click here to submit a question.
**Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Damien. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**

Olympics, Burrows and More Playoff Mail Bag

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Alex Burrows gets a high-five for his play so far in the playoffs.

Part of what is making these Stanley Cup playoffs interesting is the backdrop of the 2010 Winter Olympics. You can bet Steve Yzerman and his Olympic crew are taking special notice of those who play well in the most difficult time of the year. Already a youngster like Jonathan Toews is serving notice that it will be awfully difficult to keep him off Team Canada as is the dynamic duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in Anaheim.

Ducks defenceman Scott Niedermayer is clearly demonstrating he’s got miles left on his chassis, and just when you thought Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were going to all but eliminate themselves from consideration with another disappointing spring, the Sharks beat the Ducks to stay alive in their Western Conference series.

But how about Alex Burrows of the Canucks? Going into the season he wouldn’t have been on anyone’s list, and now it seems likely he will at the very least be one of the 40-plus players invited to Canada’s pre-Olympic camp in August.

Burrows’ second goal of the game Tuesday night ended St. Louis’ surprising season, but his skating, his dogged play, his ability to annoy the opposition and his growing offensive abilities should put him on Yzerman’s list with the selection of the Canadian team still eight months away.

Now for some extra questions in our daily playoff mail bag:

Q: Damien, After viewing the Calgary/Chicago game Tuesday, my wife turned to me and said, wow, that was a great game. She is university educated, somewhat of a pacifist who dislikes confrontation of any sort, except with me of course. Keep in mind she has witnessed bench clearing brawls first hand when I played, which was one reason she stopped coming to games when we were dating. This being said, in addition to the fact she was cheering for Calgary, she was into the emotion of the game actually vocally cheering goals, which is most certainly out of character. At the end of the game a cross check from Burrish on Bourque really had her puzzled. “How can he let him do that” she asked. “Why are his (Bourque’s) teammates not going after him”? After a brief scrum ensued, emotions became heightened with apparent “trash talking” directed at Iginla further fueling the already ignited fire. Guess what though, no outright fights. In fact the refs were running around with 13 seconds left obviously making threats of formal litigation followed up by expulsion from the league if anyone stood up for themselves and actually dropped the mitts.

Although it would seem that you are on the anti-fighting band wagon, I cite this game as well as the recent Lucic incident as a sign of things to come. People who sit in armchairs, and say that hockey has no need for fighting, do so at arms length from knowledge and understanding of the game. The truth is that emotions run high and lines are crossed. When this happens, what lessens the tension buildup is a fight. It seems now though players have turned to using sticks in place of fists. Voila, we have turned our game into the “New Improved European version". Understanding and having been in the thick of these, I can say, rational goes out the window, tunnel vision ensues with one purpose, to go after a player on the opposition. If not with a fist, then it will be a stick, a skate, a water bottle or anything else you can get your hands on. Barbaric, perhaps, but it is reality.

Damien, given all this, if you were playing, someone came up and gave you a stick to the face that exerted pain and you knew was most certainly on purpose, what do you feel is the proper way to deal with it? Take a stick and try to gouge out someone’s eye, stand up for yourself, send the message you won’t take it and drop your gloves, or hope the league saw it, gives the player at least a 3 game suspension. Remember, you have 3 seconds to make a decision!

S. H., Mississauga

A: A couple of points. You make it sound as though stickwork in the NHL, or stickwork in the playoffs, is some brand new thing. How long have you been watching this league? The most vicious stick-fight in the history of the NHL between Wayne Maki and Ted Green took place almost 40 years ago. Stick-swinging duels used to be common place. To suggest this is somehow a brand new reaction to other factors in the game is not only ludicrous, it shows a complete ignorance of the history of the game.

Second, you state that fights “lessen the tension buildup.” On what basis do you make this claim? If that was the case, Todd Bertuzzi would never have clubbed Steve Moore into pre-mature retirement, given that Moore had already fought earlier in that game. I can give you many examples of fights increasing ugliness in games.

All of this said, if you are suggesting the referees appear to be losing control of what is happening in these playoff games, I would agree with you to a large extent. There appear to be little or no repercussions to those who use these post-whistle scrums to get cheap shots in, and that’s a shame. League officials have the ability to use their clout to cut down on this nonsense, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. That’s what would stop it, not having more fights. Fights have never stopped violence in the game, in my opinion. They have only made it worse by creating precisely the environment that you complain about, which is an atmosphere of vigilante justice in which players act outside the rules in the pursuit of some warped sense of hockey morality.

Q: Hey Mr. Cox,

I hope all is well and I really enjoy your column. I'm hoping you can answer a question on something written about two weeks ago. I apologize, I'm not sure if it was you or one of the other writers. It stated that the Leafs could only have 50 contracts under the CBA. They were at 49. Yet, they proceeded to sign at least three more players. Can you clarify?

Thanks in advance for any assistance,

Long-suffering-newfie-on-the-rock-Leaf-Fan,

Dean Menchions

A: Dean, I was wondering this myself, and here’s how it works. Each team has a reserve list comprised of signed players, unsigned draft choices, so-called “defected” players and suspended players. On that list, each club can only have 50 NHL contracts for a given year. So the Leafs, for example, have more than 70 players on their reserve list, but they are limited to those 50 contracts.

After signing Christian Hanson, they were at 49, and more collegiate signings could have been a problem. If necessary, they had a suspended player named Derek Walser on their reserve list who left the club last fall to play in Russia, and if necessary, the Leafs feel confident they could have got relief from the league if, for example, they’d been able to sign Matt Gilroy and wanted to use Tyler Bozak this season.

They were able to sign several other players – Bozak, Robert Slaney, Alex Berry, Viktor Stahlberg – because all of those players signed for future NHL years. In other words, none of their contracts kick in until July, 2009. So they didn’t count against this year’s 50 allowed contracts. By July 1st, more than 20 Leaf contracts will expire, which will leave them all kinds of room to sign new players.

Hope that helps.

Q: Hello Damien. Given the miserable career playoff records of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, is there any way either one merits any consideration for Team Canada 2010?

Lorne Brady, Callander, Ont.

A: I think both merit consideration. But I don’t think Marleau will make the team, and Thornton is in tough if only because of the large number of very talented Canadian centres.

Q: More of an observation, than a comment.

Of the 16 teams involved in this years playoffs, Mike Keenan has coached seven of them; Philadelphia, Chicago, New York Rangers, St. Louis, Vancouver, Boston and Calgary.

Mohamad Azimi, Acton, Ont.

A: And I think I’ve interviewed him at every single stop. Now THAT makes me feel a wee bit old.

Q: Hi Damien, hope you’re enjoying the playoffs as much as I am.

With Mikhail Grabovski soon to be a restricted free agent, do you think there will be any interest in him? I also read that he could use the KHL as a bargaining chip. If "Grabo" bolts to Russia while an RFA, do the Leafs receive any compensation?

Also, CuJo has said he may not be quite ready to hang them up. Do you think CuJo's career rests with Jonas Gustavsson? I'm not sold on there being much outside interest in him.

Thanks. Keep up the great work.

Dave Arnold,Toronto

A: Thanks for the questions, Dave. Okay, I don’t think there’s going to be an offer sheet out there waiting for Grabovski. He just doesn’t, in my opinion, fit the profile of those who have been pursued in this way before, whether it was Dustin Penner, Ryan Kesler, Tomas Vanek or David Backes. That he might use Russia as a bargaining chip wouldn’t be a surprise. NHLers don’t have much other leverage. I’m guessing if he tries to do that seriously the Leafs will wish him well and ask him to contact them when he wants to play in the world’s top league again. And no, they would receive no compensation should he head to the KHL.

And on Cujo, he’s not coming back to the Leafs. Period. They don’t want him. It has nothing to do with Gustavsson.

Q Brian Burke's quest to select a guy like John Tavares or Victor Hedman doesn't make sense when there are such talented kids out there i.e Ryan Ellis and Taylor Hall, ranked where Burke would have no trouble getting one or even both these guys.

I’ve been watching the OHL play offs and these two young guys are the heart and soul of their team while it looks ( my opinion ) like Tavares' heart doesn't seem to be in this series.

Walter Bakema, Windsor, Ont.

A: Thanks, Walter. For starters, Hall isn’t draft eligible until 2010, and he’s the early favourite to go No. 1 in that draft. Ellis is indeed a talented defenceman, but he’s undersized and it would be a gamble for any NHL team to take him in the top 10, let alone at the Leafs No. 7 slot or higher. I’m hoping he proves everyone wrong, ‘cause I like little guys who make it, but the NHL is a nasty, unfriendly place for defencemen his size.

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