Here We Go Again

You'd think Ron Wilson would learn from the Luke Schenn experience.

Keeping teenagers in the NHL is a tricky business, fraught with peril. Yet there was Wilson yesterday essentially saying he wants Nazem Kadri on the Leaf roster next fall.

He didn't say Kadri must earn a roster position and beating out older more experienced players like Tyler Bozak, John Mitchell, Christian Hanson and Mikhail Grabovski.

He didn't say Kadri better be ready to fight for a spot. He didn't say what Leaf management believes, that Kadri better come to camp in superior condition and play well or he'll find himself back in London next fall.

It was Wilson who said Schenn was ready, and two years later you have a former fifth overall pick of uncertain value. Schenn never should have stayed in the NHL as an 18-year-old, but Wilson saw he was better than what he otherwise had.

That's why you don't let coaches make calls on teenagers. As coaches, they necessarily think short term.

If Kadri isn't forced to earn a position, you get right back into this circle of self-entitlement that the Leafs were supposed to be trying to exorcise from the organization.

Wilson's words put him in direct conflict with the front office, particularly when he now says he would have preferred to go with a much younger team last fall. He's second guessing Brian Burke and Co., and already setting the stage for next fall when, if the team doesn't do well, he can say he's doing the best he can with a 19-year-old at the No. 1 centre spot.

Kadri should only be a Leaf next fall if he's truly ready, and really, if Bozak and Hanson and Viktor Stalberg had to spend time in the minors this season, why couldn't Kadri spend another year in junior if that was best for his development.

Got a feeling this could be a tricky issue next fall.

Farewell to the Regular Season

One of the better untold stories of this Leaf season was how a group of players was found out planning a helicopter trip from New Jersey into Manhattan for a night of partying the day before a game against the Devils.

Once head coach Ron Wilson got wind of the fun, he called a bed check. Oddly, none of those players are with the Leafs any longer.

Other bits and pieces from the final weekend of the NHL season:

• It will be interesting to see if there are any takers at all for Olli Jokinen, a poster boy for underachievers, in unrestricted free agency this summer. Will anybody pay this $5 million player more than $2 million? At least, anybody in North America?

• So St. Louis finishes 15th overall and misses the playoffs. Montreal finishes 19th and makes the playoffs. The schedule isn't balanced, but still, that seems a bit out of whack.

• It took him a full season of professional hockey split between the AHL and NHL, but Saturday night in Montreal was the first time Christian Hanson seemed to actually understand the advantage being a big body in the pros can be.

• Don't forget, teams can vault upwards up to four positions in Tuesday's NHL draft lottery. So the Islanders theoretically could yet draft first two years in a row.

• John Tortorella leaving Marian Gaborik on the bench in a season-ending shootout to the Flyers isn't exactly like Marc Crawford letting Wayne Gretzky sit in Nagano. But it's in the same conversation.

• It's great that Brian Burke is somehow willing to be Team USA's general manager for the upcoming world championships in Germany. But given Burke's personal hardship over recent months, USA Hockey should not be asking him to do an extra month's work. The bureaucrats just hope Burke will convince more American players to want to play knowing he'll probably be running the Olympic program four years from now in Sochi.

• Phoenix is probably the best example that building through the draft isn't the only way to go. Of their last 15 drafts, the Coyotes only have two first round picks currently on their roster as contributing players. Those players are Martin Hanzal (17th overall, 2005) and Shane Doan (seventh, 1996). The guts of the Phoenix lineup was acquired through trades and free agency, plus, of course, one of the best waiver pickups in recent memory, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
  
  Meanwhile, teams like the Islanders, Lightning, Blue Jackets and Panthers keep picking high and keep going nowhere. The only point, folks, is that there's more than one way to do it, and smart GMs know that.

• Could be Nazem Kadri's last junior game tonight as he and his London Knights play Kitchener in Game 7 of their OHL series.

• Islanders owner Charles Wang wants every NHL team to make the playoffs. Others simply want more teams. How about this for a little April intrigue? How about a week-long elimination tournament, with the winner getting the first overall pick in the entry draft?
  
  The only logistical problem would be what to do with teams that had already traded their first pick away. But otherwise, if they held that tournament of non-playoff teams starting today, which team would win and would your Leafs have a shot?

• Love Steven Stamkos and his season. Just fabulous. But those who keep complaining that he wasn't on the Olympic team need to give it a rest. The team won, already. Ditto for those who suggest he's a Hart candidate. You've got to at least make the playoffs, folks.
  
  The Bolts, by the way, look like the likeliest candidates to blow up the entire organization with a new owner riding into town. (Check that: Both GM Brian Lawton and coach Rick Tocchet were fired this morning.)

• Think about this statistical comparison. Washington defenceman Jeff Schultz led the NHL this season with a plus-50. Edmonton forward Patrick O'Sullivan was a league-worst minus-35. That means O'Sullivan was on the ice for 85 more even-strength and shorthanded goals than Schultz this season. That's quite incredible.
  
  Best plus-minus on a non-playoff team? That's Dallas defenceman Mark Fistric with a plus-27. Worst plus-minus on a playoff team? Ruslan Fedotenko's minus-17 with the Penguins.

A Fascinating Debate

So if I were to make a case for Sidney Crosby to win the Hart Trophy this season, it would go something along these lines.

Obviously he's having a tremendous season, including his best goal-scoring campaign ever with 49 goals as of today. If you believe goals matter more than points, and certainly second assists are given out like candy in the NHL, than Crosby's numbers heading into the final weekend are unassailable.

He's also pretty much doing it alone.

In Washington, Alexander Ovechkin is the best player on the best team and the argument may begin and end there. Ovechkin, it should be noted, has Nicklas Backstrom to play with every night, and somehow Backstrom is still flying below the radar in terms of elite NHLers. This guy is fabulous, and controls the puck as well as anybody outside of Pavel Datsyuk. The Caps have seven 20-goal scorers and will have eight if Mike Green can find the net one more time.

In Vancouver, Henrik Sedin plays every shift with his twin brother, Daniel. In fact, the two are clearly locked in some sort of Star Trek-like, Vulcan mind thing. Quite extraordinary. The focus is on whether Henrik should be a Hart candidate, or even the winner, but less attention has been paid to the fact that Daniel's season, on a points per game basis, is nearly as good as his brother's, but in fewer games. The story out of Vancouver should be less about Henrik and more about the twins finally becoming the dynamic one-two punch that Brian Burke believed they would become when he pulled off all those moves on draft day 11 years ago to land them.

Crosby, by comparison, is the Lone Ranger. His linemates are usually Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz, hardy NHL workers, but neither a top-end NHL sniper. Of Crosby's teammates, only Evgeny Malkin has more than 50 points, and only Malkin, Jordan Staal and Guerin have cracked the 20-goal barrier.

More than last year, this has been the Crosby Show pretty much every night. Whether that's enough to get him the Hart is up to the voters.

Thursday Mail Bag

Philosophically, the Phil Kessel trade has always made good sense to me. I realize that may have put me in the minority, but the key factor was that Kessel was 21 at the time of the deal, not 28 or 32.

Still, had GM Brian Burke known that he was surrendering a top two pick in the June draft, he wouldn't have made the deal. He might say publicly he would have, but having the club finish so near the bottom this season upped the cost of the deal beyond what Burke could have imagined.

That doesn't mean it will turn out badly for the Leafs. In Kessel, they have a guy who can score 35 goals rolling out of bed. But it's now up to the team to make him a better player, and to him as well. Meanwhile, the risk that the deal will look worse over time has gone up significantly.

Clearly, Burke's forecast on the capability of his team this season was well off the mark. Now we may see whether another of his forcecasts was accurate.

In bringing Dave Poulin into the front office last summer, Burke said repeatedly that part of his thinking was that his right hand man, Dave Nonis, would likely be leaving this coming summer for a GM job somewhere else. Now, Nonis' name, quite rightly, has already surfaced in speculation about who the Calgary Flames may hire if, as many believe, GM Darryl Sutter gets fired.

How strange would that be? Nonis was instrumental in the decision to send four Leafs to Calgary in a deal to land Dion Phaneuf, and if he were to be hired by the Flames, he'd have to deal with the results of his own larceny.

Sutter may yet survive, although its difficult to see how. If he doesn't, Steve Yzerman's name will surely pop up, and Yzerman is clearly ready for a big job. Nonis' resume includes vast experience in the Western Conference and the fact he's run an NHL club before.

Still, the Leafs should hope that either Sutter doesn't get canned or that the Flames inexplicably overlook Nonis. After this wreckage of a season, the Leafs surely can't afford to lose him.

Now on to this week's mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien,

What do you think about violence and mixed messages promoted by the NHL 10 video game? For example I happened to catch my son playing and watched his player get hit and struggle to the bench. The trainer's diagnosis was the he had a concussion and could "play if needed". What is this saying to the children that are tomorrow's generation of hockey?

Sam Harding, Burlington

A: Sam, I'm not a video game guy, and we don't have video games in our house. I just don't see the benefits, although my 11-year-old son thinks I'm wrong, and obviously when he goes to see buddies, he gets his fill then. So if you're concerned, the easy answer is not to have the game in your home. Otherwise, from the NHL's point of view, it's not a mixed message. They promote fighting in the sport every day and twice on Sundays. The league advertises blood and the anticipation of violence as part of its entertainment package. So, really, the nonsense they sell with the video game is consistent with the league's message. It's idiotic, but consistent.

Q: Hi Damien,

First of all: Yes, my name is Neil McNeil. Secondly, I know home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final is given to the team that had the most regular season points, but what do you think of the idea of awarding it to the team that beat the other team in the regular season. Might give teams a little added incentive to perform well in interconference games during the season! Would love to hear your thoughts!

Neil McNeil, Toronto

A: To those unfamiliar with Toronto hockey history, Neil McNeil was, of course, a school that worked as part of the Leaf feeder system during the 1960s before the universal draft was introduced. Thus the inside joke.

As far as awarding home ice advantage in the final, I'm not sure there's a truly equitable way of deciding it. So I'm fine with the way it works now, and anything that rewards teams for regular season excellence is okay by me.

Q: Damien, I heard Brian Burke talking yesterday about revamping the Leafs forward corps(e) when free agency opens July 1st. Since the compensation for signing a restricted free agent is a First and a Third round pick, and as everyone knows the Kessel trade zapped next year's first-round draft pick, can the Leafs realistically be targeting 1 or more restricted free agents?

Also, there are a few UFA's I'd like your 2 cents on, in terms of fitting in with the Leafs: Raffi Torres, Colby Armstrong, Marek Svatos, Tim Jackman, Tomas Plekanec and Matthew Lombardi.

Are any of these guys a fit?

Stephen Woods, Centreville, Ont.

A: The Leafs won't be signing any significant restricted free agents to offer sheets. Burke was clearly referring to UFAs. The best he can do with the restricted types, because he has no first round picks, is to try to make a deal involving other commodities with a team that can't sign its own RFA. So if Dallas can't sign James Neal, would they take Luke Schenn? That's just a theoretical scenario, not a rumour or anything, by the way.

As far as those UFAs you listed, I could see Torres fitting in, maybe Armstrong.

Q: Next season, do you see the Leafs continuing to alternate games between Giguere and Gustavsson? Also, at what annual salary do you see willing to resign Giguere to a contract beyond 2010-11?

John Hunt, Harvard, Mass.

A: They will want Gustavsson to assert himself and try to play 50 games. If he can't, they may alternate. Giguere's contract beyond next year totally depends on both his play and whether the Leafs have a reasonable alternative. If he shows next year he can still do it, a huge pay cut that will still see him bring home $2 million makes sense. If he ends up being the starter and has a huge year, he might be able to stay up in the $4-5 million range.

Q: Hi Damien,

What exactly is the players' stance regarding the salary cap? If they are against it (which I believe they are) will there be any chance that they will want to send it to the scrapheap come the next C-B-A negotiations? Or will the cap always be a part of the N-H-L?

Clinton Cox, Hamilton

A: Can't see the cap going anywhere. Players have no leverage and no stomach for another big fight. They'll probably try to get rid of escrow. Good luck to 'em.

Q: Hey Damien,

I am curious to know what is the status of Mike Van Ryn and his return from injury?

Do you know what Brian Burke's plans for him this year? I believe he is entering free agency.

Do you believe he has a spot somewhere on the Maple Leafs blueline next year, where it looks like Phanuef, Schenn, Gunnarsson, Komisarerk and Beauchemin account for the Top 5 next year (Ieave out Kaberle, because no one knows if he will be here in September)?

With both Exelby and Van Ryn entering UFA, who has a better chance of being resigned?

Curious to know this and what any mangment types might know about him.

Thanks,

Dan Loghin, Ottawa

A: At this point, Van Ryn is a longshot to be part of the picture next fall. That said, the Leafs like him, and if he comes in at a low number - probably under $1 million after making $3.35 million this season - he may get a chance on a short-term deal in Toronto. Can't see there being a big market out there for his services. If he can get healthy, he'd be a perfect fifth or sixth D-man.

Q: Hey Damien. Why are the Teams wearing their colors at home and their whites on the road? Doesn't it make more sense to wear the whites at home and let their fans get the whole array of colors throughout the season? Are they planning on ever shifting back to Home Whites?

Dave Russell, Holmes Beach, Fla.

A: To be honest, with the way in which teams switch uniforms at home and on the road these days, I'm not sure what the rule is. Not sure I really care a whole lot. More concerned with fact that both the Leaf blues and whites are wholly unattractive. The re-design planned for next fall has got to deliver something better than that.

Q: Hi Damien,

Do you believe this year's version of the Sharks have a materially different attitude than the San Jose teams that have made premature post-season exits these last few years? And how many more years do you believe the Sharks will be able to compete for the Cup before their proverbial window of opportunity closes?

Thanks,

Marc Johnson, Mississauga

A: GM Doug Wilson has done a good job of keeping his picks and developing young players, particularly given the fact the Sharks are a team with a budget, not a cap team. So I don't necessarily believe the proverbial window is closing on the Sharks' chances to be champions.

That said, I don't see this year's team as materially different or improved. Sharks management, however, does believe the team is better, and they'll get a chance to demonstrate that starting next week.

Disaster in Calgary

JACK CUSANO/REUTERS

Calgary Flames players, from left, Ales Kotalik, David Moss, Nigel Dawes and Eric Nystromto react at the end of their NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in Calgary, April 6, 2010.

The question last fall wasn't whether the Calgary Flames would make the playoffs. It was whether they could challenge San Jose and Chicago for the top of the Western Conference.

Dominated by the Sutter clan from the front office to the coaching staff to the scouts to the players, this was as much about one family as it was about one team. That the Flames, managed by Darryl Sutter and coached by Brent Sutter, won't be playing any post-season matches this spring will likely have major repercussions that could render the team Sutter-less in short order.

Darryl Sutter started making bad trades in the winter of '09, picking up Olli Jokinen from Phoenix and giving up his 2010 first rounder in the process, and kept making them this year. The deal that sent Dion Phaneuf was awful, didn't produce a team turnaround and was made worse by a decision to sign Matt Stajan to a $14 million contract that even the doormat Leafs wouldn't have considered.

Jokinen was peddled to New York, which many viewed as addition by subtraction. The only problem was that Jokinen, at least, was an expiring contract. The Flames don't have to worry about the nearly useless Chris Higgins beyond this season, but they get to pay Ales Kotalik $3 million for each of the next two years, heavy dough for a player nearly as useless as Higgins.

As a trio of trades, the first Jokinen deal, the Phaneuf transaction and the second Jokinen represent a remarkably mediocre effort by Darryl Sutter to fix his roster. The decision to sign Jay Bouwmeester to a gigantic contract doesn't look great either given that Bouwmeester was good, but nothing close to great, as a Flame. He's got four more years at $6.6 million per coming and based on this season, is a stay-at-home defenceman without much offensive game.

Brent Sutter, eliminated in the first round of the playoffs two years in a row in Jersey, now misses them entirely.The aura he had as the best coach outside the NHL while guiding the Canadian national junior team to gold medals has completely evaporated.

Then there's Jarome Iginla, goal-less in his last nine games, a hero from the Vancouver Olympics but no hero in Calgary today. There are those who dream the Flames might flip Iginla to Boston for the Bruins top pick acquired from the Leafs, but given that the 33-year-old Iginla has three more years at $7 million per season, the Flames would probably have to throw something else into the deal to make the B's even think about doing it.

Yes, Boston, the NHL's lowest scoring team, needs goals. But the Flames were only one spot better on offence than Boston, and that was with Iginla. Logically, he wouldn't be able to make that much of a difference to the Bruins.

This is a mess in Calgary, and suddenly both teams in Alberta, the Oilers and Flames, have hit hard times. The Sutters might think they can patch things and get back into the playoffs next spring, but as currently constructed, this is a team without a present or a future.

The Oilers, likely with the top pick in the June draft, have a bushel of bad contracts. So their return to competitiveness won't be easy, either.

A More Likeable Tiger

Anyone who reads this blog knows you don't come here to read about golf too often.

I'm no golf fan. By connection, other than the fact he's one of two or three guys on the pro tour who actually looks like he knows where the gym is, I've never been a Tiger Woods fan. Hard to be appreciative of an athlete who plays a sport you don't really admire.

All that said, I'm more of a Tiger fan today than I was before he faced the international media at Augusta yesterday. More of a fan of the man, anyways. 

To me, the important moment came when he was pressed about whether his betrayed wife would be at The Masters this week to cheer him on. He refused to go there. Many a politician who has strayed to the dark side has then come out and told the world how his Mrs. supports him despite everything he's done. Well, Woods never said that, and when it came to his wife's plans, the fact he wouldn't answer meant he understood that while prying eyes can focus on him, his wife's privacy is her business and deserves to be protected.

That showed some understanding of what he's done and the damage he's caused to the lives of others. Apparently, those 45 days of treatment actually helped him because at that moment he was thinking of somebody else, not just himself.

And the rest? He talked about his game, PEDs, his golf injuries, his injuries from that nasty night last fall and a number of other things.

Did he get into detail about mistress No. 5, or his texting habits? No. What fool would? And nobody asked him anyway. Did he explain the precise details of his treatment? Of course not. No doctor would suggest he should, let alone any lawyer. He described his behavior as "terrible" and "horrible," and showed an understanding of the damage he'd done to his family.

He showed remorse for his actions. There were no excuses or rationales and no crocodile tears. He apologized to his fellow professionals. He promised to behave better on and off the course, and to those in the media who let him act like a boor for years and get away with this, please feel free not to protect the world's greatest golfer from here on in.

I've seen many of these "I'm so sorry" pressers over the years, from Tie Domi to Mark McGwire to Michael Vick to John Edwards - the list is so long we'll stop it there - and quite frankly, Tiger's effort yesterday was about as sincere as you get. Did he have financial reasons to speak publicly? Of course he did, and does. 

Frankly, given that it's been all about his personal life, I've never felt entitled to answers. Hell, he went further than I would have, and did it sooner than most would have. Imagine how much better off McGwire would be, for instance, if he'd done just what Woods did yesterday, but did it five years ago.

To me, the book is now closed on Tiger Woods and what he did. It's now about what he does. He can't be a hero or a role model, but he can try to do no more harm and attempt, through charitable and community works, to contribute to his sport and society in a positive way. Actually, he can do that in ways most of us couldn't possibly imagine.

And what if he strays again? It'll be splashed all over the tabloids and the cost will be heavy, heavier than its been this time. But you know what? Others have erred again. This is a sport that has welcomed back John Dally time after time after time. Baseball had Steve Howe. Hockey had Bob Probert. Football, well, again, the list is too long.

Remember. Tiger Woods may not play golf like any other human. But that doesn't mean he isn't human.

A Season Gone A Little Sideways

There was the magical period before the Olympics, a time when Alexander Ovechkin scored seven goals in three games against the Rangers, Thrashers and Penguins, when it appeared the Russian winger had put himself on a higher level than the rest of the NHL.

But then came the Olympics, and the disappointment of Mother Russia, and the crushing aftermath in which Ovechkin felt absolutely devastated, as though he'd let down his country.

Since then, he just hasn't been the same. With four goals in 14 games since returning from Vancouver, and only one multiple-goal game, Ovechkin has surrendered the scoring lead to Canuck centre Henrik Sedin, is in a dogfight with Sidney Crosby and Steve Stamkos for the Rocket Richard Trophy and has allowed others to become more prominent in the discussion over who should be named league MVP this season.

Happily for the Capitals captain and his team, the wins have kept coming. R.J. Umberger may not appreciate the way in which Washington and head coach Bruce Boudreau go about their business, but the Caps clinched their first-ever Presidents Trophy on the weekend and waved bye-bye to the rest of the Eastern Conference a long time ago.

But can they go deep into the post-season without Ovechkin finding his way out of his current funk?

Probably not, although the issue of goaltending, and whether it will be Jose Theodore or Semyon Varlamov between the pipes when the playoffs commence, is likely to be a much bigger issue. In addition to the Olympic letdown, Ovechkin, more than most of his teammates, seems to be suffering from the fact the Caps distanced themselves from the pack weeks ago and haven't had much to play for in recent days.

Boudreau has tinkered with his lineup, at least partially to make use of the new players acquired by GM George McPhee at the trade deadline, and that has altered the rhythms and dynamics in the Washington dressing room. Again, however, the team has kept winning — 7-1-2 in the last 10 games — and there's a sense this is a club with lots of weapons and improved depth (seven players with 20-plus goals), both of which should bear fruit in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The good news for Boudreau is that among the Caps' final four games is a visit to Pittsburgh tomorrow, and a game against the Pens always gets his team's collective blood boiling. A big night or two from the captain isn't absolutely necessary by season's end, but it might be just what is needed to get Ovechkin to forget the Olympics and move on.

A test for more than just Tiger

Monday is going to be a big day for Tiger Woods as he mounts a podium at Augusta National to answer questions. Presumably, it will be an extraordinary challenge, and an opportunity for Woods to come off as a square shooter and a person who can show grace under fire.

Presumably. See, Monday's much-anticipated press conference is also a test of the world sporting press, particularly of the willingness of the North American media to be controlled by the use of privileges and credentials.

No one seems certain, you see, exactly what kind of questions will be permitted to be asked of Woods on Monday. Golf only? None relating to his personal life? What about queries relating to performance-enhancing drugs? Are the events of that strange night when he backed out of his driveway and crashed into a tree fair game?

Two things seem clear. Woods will try to control the process, just as he tried several weeks ago during his awkward television mea culpa, one that was partially boycotted by the North American golf media because Woods tried to invite only a select - and acceptable - few. His recent TV "interviews" have shown a similar intent to make sure he isn't put in a situation beyond his control.

Augusta National, meanwhile, will also try to manage this press conference. These are people who don't allow women in their club and insist that those who attend The Masters as paying customers are referred to as "patrons," not "fans." Augusta's determination to allow TV to show only what it wants TV to show is legendary, and one supposes the good old boys who run the place might not necessarily think shining the light of scrutiny on private lives is so good for the game, their course, or them.

But they wield enormous power over the media. This isn't like a season's pass to Nashville Predators games. A press pass to the Masters is a very meaningful document, one that folks in the media can lord over their peers and colleagues, one not easily surrendered. It's a status symbol.

So if there are ground rules laid down on Monday as to what can and can't be asked of Woods, will the media go along, or will it fight back? Surely, there will be those who will realize that holding a press credential to an event where a free and open press is discouraged makes that a fairly useless credential. On the other hand, holding a Masters press pass comes with perks, like an opportunity once in a while to play the course.

Who's going to give that up to play hero? What editor, with many media outlets in North America in dire straits, will counsel their reporter or columnist to damn the torpedos and insist on asking unwelcome questions if it means possibly becoming as unwelcome at Augusta as female members?

This will be fascinating to watch. Hopefully, Woods will just do what he should have done some time ago, sit down and try to patiently answer whatever questions are lobbed his way. He can answer "No comment." He can lecture the media on his private life and say its none of its concerns. He can lie and obfuscate, if he thinks it's worth the risk.

Showing up is his challenge. The media's, too.