Just Gonna Have To Wait And See

This orgy of minute analysis two years into Brian Burke's term as hockey boss of the Maple Leafs is all quite understandable. To a point.

Anniversaries are signposts along the way, and it's worth seeing where the Leafs were when Burke landed in town and where they are today. Or at least interesting.

But conclusions? Nope. It's just too early.

Now I understand that part of the modern media system is that outrage must always be immediate and twittered, and that it's vital to be able to declare winners and losers as soon as possible, like election night. Perspective, it seems these days, is for suckers.

But sometimes you have to wait and let it all play out, at least to a reasonable degree.

In the case of the Leafs, every game cannot be a referendum on Burke's blueprint. Losses in Buffalo and Ottawa last weekend were no more definitive of the team's development than were the three wins in four games that preceded those defeats. When you've playing with two 21-year-olds on the back end, a 19-year-old on the top line and overall, the youngest team in hockey, there are going to be peaks and valleys. Big ones.

More to the point, evaluating the way in which Burke has gone about rebuilding the Leafs may ultimately prove it's been a failure. But it isn't yet. 

As much as people want to go on and on about how finishing low and drafting high is the only way to produce a strong team, it's just not true. It can work, and, as the folks in the Windy City can tell you, it does. But Florida, the Islanders and Columbus are examples where it hasn't worked.

Moreover, look at the team atop the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings. Never bottomed out, and there's no Ovechkin, Crosby or Stamkos on that roster, unless you want to count Mike Modano, the first overall pick in the NHL draft 22 years ago. And he's injured. Otherwise, there were no picks made by Detroit in even the top 10 selections that altered the course of the franchise.

Yes, much of that foundation was built before the lockout. But the lockout was five years ago, the Wings have been operating under the same salary cap constraints as every other team, they've lost key talent over the past two years and they're still riding high.

So there must be another way to win, correct?

Philly bottomed out and got James Van Riemsdyk, but so far, he's no franchise player. The Flyers constructed a very strong team with good late first rounders (Mike Richards, Jeff Carter), resourcefulness (Michael Leighton, Sergei Bobrovsky) and a willingness to take risky gambles (trading a ton of futures for Chris Pronger).

The Flyers did get to the Cup final a year ago. So again, there is another way. Montreal, other than the drafting of Carey Price, hasn't built this year's quality team on finishing last. They've done it in a variety a ways, but certainly not like Washington, Pittsburgh or Chicago did it.

Now, whether Burke can find his own alternate route looks uncertain, or even doubtful now, but rebuilding projects always look this way. Three years after drafting Alex Ovechkin, the Caps had 70 points. But George McPhee wasn't fired. It's been four years since the St. Louis Blues bottomed out and took Erik Johnson first overall, and after a fast start it appears the Blues are likely to be fighting for a playoff spot again this season. Don't hear anybody calling for John Davidson's head.

These things take time, yet so many want to scream "Failure!" at the Burke regime after just two years. Make no sense.

Similarly, reaching final conclusions on Phil Kessel, the closest thing the Leafs have to a franchise forward, makes no sense either. Bill Watters, the former Leaf executive and radio analyst on A640, called Kessel a "dog" repeatedly on the air yesterday, and maybe he's right. Ol' Wilbur has been around the game a long time and talks to a long of folks in the sport, so I'm certainly not dismissing his opinion.

At the same time, Kessel is 23 years old, has 66 goals in the past two NHL seasons and has 10 in 22 games this season despite playing on a team on which he is the only threat to score. I would submit that deciding Kessel is never going to be a top player in this league is a little premature, like all the years Steve Yzerman was lambasted as a guy who couldn't win the big one. Until he did. (I know people will try and twist that into a comparison between Kessel and Yzerman, which it isn't, but I'm confident reasonable folks will understand the point).

Yes, Kessel has to add to his game. Yes, he's got to play harder. Yes, he settles for the long wrist shot instead of taking the puck to the net, although the fact opponents know he has no one to pass to limits his options.

And yes, he may fail to do all of those things and never be a better player than he is today.

But nobody knows that yet anymore than they know for sure whether Tyler Segin, second in the draft behind Taylor Hall, will be better than David Legwand, second in the draft to Vinny Lecavalier 12 years ago. (The next other three top 5 picks that year were Brad Stuart, Bryan Allen and Vitali Vishnevski, again suggesting finishing low and drafting high doesn't necessarily mean a championship is just around the corner).

Over the next three days, the Leafs will test themselves against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Edmonton Oilers, two clubs who also finished well down the standings last year, like the Leafs, and are trying to re-build.

As much as some will try to use these games to prove or disprove Burke's rebuilding theories, they won't. That said, I can guarantee that if the Leafs were to win both games, there will be no one proclaiming that they are clearly ahead of both teams in their attempts to develop a winning team.

But if the Leafs lose both? Oh my, you can beat there will be many screaming that Burke has it all wrong. 

It's weird, but in a town where so many maintain they want a patient approach to rebuilding the Leafs, patience is in remarkable short supply.

Thursday Mail Bag

With 20 games down, the next 10 games are looking mighty interesting - and pivotal - for the Maple Leafs.

First two road games this weekend, starting tomorrow night in Buffalo, and then up to Ottawa for Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada.Then, home to Tampa for the first of three home starts, continuing with struggling Edmonton and then another shot for Phil Kessel against Boston.

The Leafs then hit the road for two toughies, in Pittsburgh and in Washington, then home for difficult challenges against the Habs and Flyers.The 10th game is then in Edmonton as the first match of a three-game western Canadian road trip.

So that's two games against the Oilers and one against Buffalo, a team with the same number of points as the Leafs, but having played three more games.

Ottawa's currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, but the other six games are against teams with significantly better records than the Leafs. If today's projection in The Star that the Leafs are historically doomed to miss the playoffs because they aren't in a post-season berth by U.S. Thanksgiving is to prove to be off the mark, as Leaf fans hope it will be, getting through this next chunk of games with at least 10 points to show for their efforts looks pivotal. With only two wins to show for their first eight road outings of the season in a schedule that has been heavily weighted towards home starts, a big part of staying in contention for a post-season berth will clearly be finding a way to have more success away from the ACC.

 

Now on to this week's mail bag:

 

Q: Paul Hunter's recent story on shot blocking confirmed a trend that I had been noticing in the increasing amount of blocked shots throughout the league.  Was also nice to see that the Leafs are ranked in the top 10 for something positive for a change! As Paul eludes to the increase in blocked shots can somewhat be attributed to increased protection from equipment as well as potentially a shift in the culture. 

So, my question is: What is it that makes a team better at shot blocking than others? Is it simply having an abundance of "fearless" players? Is it a culture thing, driven by the coach?  Would appreciate your insights.

Thanks,

PS half way done 'The Ovechkin Project'...a very interesting story on a very interesting player, nice work!

Nick Bloomfield, Toronto

A: Thanks for the shout out on the book, Nick. It was great working with Gare Joyce and we're pretty happy with how it all turned out.

Re shot-blocking, this is something that has increased dramatically in the past three or four years, which means its not just equipment, and I don't think today's players are any braver. The expansion of the offensive zone by 10 feet was one of the least noticed changes after the lockout and it convinced coaches that teams had to collapse even more in the defensive zone. You hear analysts talk about covering the points, but they neglect to mention the points are farther away than they used to be for defenders, and if they do attack the points, it opens up larger holes deeper in the zone. So more collapsing means more time for point men to shoot, but also more players to shoot through as coaches get their players to get in the shooting lanes more today than in years past. You can literally see players line up behind each other as a point man goes to shoot the puck. I'm not sure this is good for the game - rarely is a blocked shot an exciting play - but it appears here to stay.

Q: I heard it mentioned in passing on Saturday Nights Broadcast of the Leafs/Habs game that the Leaf players have curfews when they're on the road. Do all teams do this? What kind of curfews do they actually have? Would love to know. Thanks!

Adam Timmermans, Ennismore, Ont.

A: Curfews, and breaking curfew, is a tradition as old as the game itself. All teams have them from time to time, and all teams have players who break curfew from time to time. The next step beyond a curfew is the dreaded bed check, but you don't hear of teams in the modern era doing bed checks quite as much. It's a little humiliating for one and all, I think. Still, it's probably not unreasonable the night before a game to request that players be in by 11. It's what they do on their off days during road trips is what can get them in trouble.

Q: Hey Damien,... I had a shoot out Idea that i wanted to run by ya. I get kinda bored watching the same guys take shots in the shoot out over and over, hockey being a team game, what do you think of teams having to use all of the 20 man roster before being able to go back to there original shooter..eg if Kessel shot tonight they would have to go through 20 names before he can shoot again. With all the teams following the same rules this would mean spreading your talent out and would involve more strategizing for the coach and more second guessing by the fans. A team game should involve the whole team.

Mike Diver, Oshawa

A: I see where you're going, Mike, but I don't think I can go there with you. The shootout is really there to a) break ties and b) provide the most talented players with another outlet for their skill. I'm not really interested in seeing Colton Orr or Francois Beauchemin show what they can do in the shootout. Frankly, I like the IIHF version which allows individuals to take multiple attempts in the same shootout.

Q: Question for you. I am a former NHL player (grew up in Bolton Ontario) reading more and more every month about discipline, suspensions, headshots, concussions, etc. in the NHL. We have owners, management, former players on committees about the game, why don't we have former players on committees for discipline? I'm sure there are some players who would welcome the chance to help the league. If players are not to police themselves on the ice, don't you think they should help police them off the ice? If captains can pick the NHL All-Star teams this year, can't players help decide how long a suspension should last?

Gotta be some former Lady Byng winners out there willing.

Thanks.

Steven Halko, Raleigh

A: Assuming this is the same Steven Halko who played at the University of Michigan and chunks of different seasons for the Hurricanes, good to hear from you. I think I understand what you're suggesting, and while it's worth noting that Colin Campbell, not to mention his assistants Mike Murphy and Kris King, all had long NHL careers, I think you're looking for either a committee of former players or even some current players to be involved. The committee idea has been brought up many times, particularly of late in the wake of the Campball email controversy, and I'm just not so sure decisions of a committee would be any less controversial than decisions of one person, and even saying that, Campbell confers with his hockey department and often commissioner Gary Bettman before making rulings. Moreover, while Campbell is in hot water for making comments relating to his son, Gregory, who plays for Boston, all players and former players could easily be accused of favoring their former teams or friends or linemates. I think we'd all like a better system, I'm just not sure what that system might be .

Q: Damien,

I am unclear about something regarding free-agency and I hope you can help. Steven Stamkos is a Toronto kid who, for the sake of discussion, wants to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Couldn't he just wait until his entry-level contract expires and sign with the Leafs?  If so, why don't more players do this, that is, sign with the team they love?  Is it naive to assume that a professional athlete might still want to play for his hometown or his country?  Why doesn't it happen more often?  Or does it?

Moe Green

Austin, TX

A: Pretty simple answer. Stamkos could wait until his entry level contract expires, and he could sign an offer sheet with the Leafs. But the Lightning would have the right to match and would match. The earliest Stamkos would have full freedom of choice (unrestricted free agency) would be at age 25 after seven years of NHL service, but you can bet the Lightning plan on locking him up for years beyond that. As far as players wanting to play in their hometown, some do, some don't. Most are looking for the best contract possible with a team that has a good chance to be successful. Stamkos might want to play in Toronto, but there are lots of other cities in which he'd be equally happy. That's the nature of the modern game.

Q: Good Day Damien,

So the Leafs managed to string a few wins together, good.  I'm glad to see that they are able to be competitive in short spurts.  I'm trying to be realistic as a fan and what it all comes down to is, that I don't believe this team as is, is a playoff contender.  My question is, why hasn't Jonathan Cheechoo's name come up? Here is a guy who scored 56 goals one season and probably deserves some sort of a shot.  You'd hope he could put up 20, which after browsing over the Leafs roster would be an improvement over other players currently wearing the Blue and White. Thoughts?

Liam Murphy

Barrie

A: Cheechoo is 30 now and has failed to catch on with the Ottawa Senators and Dallas Stars since leaving San Jose as part of the Dany Heatley trade. He's now four full seasons removed from that magical 56-goal season and has had multiple opportunities to demonstrate that it wasn't a fluke. Injuries have played a part, but the fact is that in his last 127 games he has scored 17 goals. He's back playing with AHL Worcester Sharks and we'll see if he can work his way back, but I would doubt at this point he would offer a team like the Leafs much help.

Q: The New Jersey Devils are very interesting this year.  They remind me of the days when the Great One called them a Mickey Mouse operation. Would a player like Martin Brodeur accept a trade to contender for one more shot at the cup, then come back to the Devils and retire at a much lower rate of salary?

The Devils will clear some much needed cap room but would Martin accept a trade for the good of the team that is the million dollar question.

Walter Marto

Richmond Hill

A: Brodeur has young children settled in the Jersey area and I doubt he would have much interest at all in moving. He has one more year on his contract after this season and I think the more interesting question is whether he'd be inclined to look at other options if the Devils weren't keenly interested in his services at that time. My guess is he'll retire a Devil, but anything is possible.

Q: Hi Damien,

Am I the only one getting sick of cement-heads around the league complaining about PK Subban being too cocky (hello Mike Richards)? What is he supposed to do, come in and play like a shrinking violet until he "earns their respect"? At one point do we start to wonder if this isn't about race, especially when it comes from long-time French and European bashers like Don Cherry, and especially when white kids who break into the league and play "with an edge" are applauded while Subban is criticized?

Geoff Read

London

A: I would like to think Richards and other players have too much respect for themselves and the game to think that way. But for the life of me I don't undertand why a player like Subban is being singled out when there are many players who do as much or more chatting on the ice and aren't nearly the player this guy is. I'd chalk it up to gamesmanship. People have been trying to find ways to knock Subban off his game since junior hockey, or before, and this is probably nothing new.

 

 

 

The Big Fella on D

Since calling up Nazem Kadri and Keith Aulie from the AHL Marlies, the Leafs have played two partially good games and three strong ones, resulting in three wins and two losses.

A loss to Vancouver in which the Leafs dominated the third. A sloppy, wild win over Nashville, with the Leafs coming back from a 4-1 deficit. A solid win over Jersey, a tight loss in Montreal, another solid performance over a curiously listless Dallas squad.

It's pretty clear that both Kadri and Aulie have added to the strength of the team, evidence that Brian Burke's management team knew what it was doing while those - like myself - who worried that both youngsters were being elevated too quickly were being needlessly pessimistic.

Maybe it was breaking with the plan to recall the kids. But both have clearly looked like they belong in the NHL, and the team has been better, certainly better than it was in a listless, two-game road trip to Florida.

Kadri, 19, and Aulie, 21, made the Leafs the youngest team in the NHL, a curious reality given all the hand-wringing over the loss of two first round picks to acquire Phil Kessel. The current Leaf power play includes only one player over the age, so charges that Burke has completely thrown away the future to win now may have been inaccurate, or at least overblown.

Lots has been written on Kadri, but Aulie is also an intriguing player.

The Calgary-Toronto trade that brought Dion Phaneuf to the Leafs still seems wonky from a variety of standpoints. It's understandable that the Flames wanted the offence they were getting in Matt Stajan and Nik Hagman, and they clearly wanted Phaneuf out of the dressing room. 

Freddie Sjostrom was a spare part. But how the Flames were convinced to include a viable prospect like Aulie in the deal seems a little inexplicable. They were more inclined to give up one of their other blueline prospects, probably John Negrin or Toronto-born Matt Pelech, but the Leafs insisted on Aulie. Why? Well, Burke asked v.p. of  hockey operations Dave Poulin to get input from his pro scouts, and Poulin came back with Aulie on the recommendation of scouts Rob (Cowboy) Cowie and Steve (Ghost) Kasper. Burke asked for other names. Cowie and Kasper again came back with Aulie, and only Aulie.

It actually held up the deal for a day, and then Aulie was included. Maybe the Flames felt that in Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, Mark Giordano plus White in the NHL, and with T.J. Brodie, Negrin and Pelech in the minors, they had plenty of depth.

But right now, that piece of the deal looks very useful for the Leafs. In five games, Aulie has played in the 10-14 minute range, adding a very simple approach to the Leafs third defensive pair. He moves very well for a big man, and apparently may even have added an inch since the trade, measuring in at 6-foot-6 these days.

He's more of a long-armed, suffocating defender, rather than a mean, hardhitting type. Something along the lines of what Jeff Schultz supplies on the Washington blueline. The Leaf defence corps now includes Phaneuf, 25, Luke Schenn, 21, Carl Gunnarson, 24 and the 21-year-old Aulie. Even Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek are hardly old men at the age of 28.

This may not be a good team, or a contending one, but it's a very young one at pretty much every position. It wasn't a young team when Burke arrived, which next Monday will be two years to the day.

Whether the assembled youth will be good enough to produce a winning team, we'll have to wait and see.

 

 

 

Of Riders and Richards

Thank goodness Rider Pride made it.

In fact, you could make an argument that everytime the Saskatchewan Roughriders qualify for the Grey Cup, it's better for everyone because nobody brings it to the big game like Regina fans. They helped enormously the year the Grey Cup was in Toronto, they were a difference maker last year in Calgary and they'll probably be the life of the party next weekend in Edmonton.

It's the third year out of four that the Riders have made it to the CFL's championship game, with a chance to win their third title in 11 years. This is the most success this franchise has had since the 1960s, and if not for last year's too-many-men-on-the-field screwup, they'd be going for back-to-back Grey Cups.

It's not like Commonwealth Stadium needed the Riders to make for a successful Grey Cup. The game was sold out five months ago.

But Rider Pride will inject enthusiasm into the weekend. Bet on it.

. . . .and there's all kinds of speculation and chatter locally, not about the demise of the Argonauts but about the future of P.E.I.'s Brad Richards, in town tonight with the Dallas Stars.

Richards, 30, is set to be an unrestricted free agent in July after making $7.8 million this season with the Stars. The Leafs would love to have him, either then or during this season, with Dallas management facing the dilemma of whether to hang on to him knowing instability at the ownership level may make it impossible for them to lock him up.

For the Leafs, however, these are very different scenarios, and both are problematic.

If Richards goes on the trading block sometime before the winter trading deadline, there is going to be an auction for his services and you can bet Dallas will be looking for young players, prospects and draft picks.

In other words, exactly the commodities the Leafs can't afford to be selling even if Richards would make them a playoff team next spring.

If Richards goes to free agency in July, there will be multiple bidders, and it could become a situation similar to that which surrounded Ilya Kovalchuk last summer. The numbers could get huge and the term long, with some teams undoubtedly set to offer the kind of "back-diving" contract that Kovalchuk signed and Brian Burke has long insisted he wants no part of.

In fact, after testifying against the Kovalchuk deal last summer, Burke would surely open himself up to charges of hypocrisy both inside and outside the industry were he to go down that road with Richards.

The Leafs, with the contracts of J.S. Giguere ($6 million) and Tomas Kaberle ($4.25 million) set to expire after this season, will have room next summer, although new deals for players like Luke Schenn will eat up cash. So there will be room there, and even now, there's $4 million-plus available.

But the costs of trading for Richards now may be prohibitive, and the financial burden of signing him as a free agent next summer could be problematic.

So Leaf fans can dream of Richards. Even if he becomes available by trade or free agency, however, getting him to Toronto will be another issue entirely.

 

 

Thursday Mail Bag and Trade Chatter

For the Maple Leafs, it's been two days of relative peace and tranquility.

During the past 48 hours, they won a game to end an eight-game losing streak, saw slump-ridden Kris Versteeg score twice in that game, received encouraging reports on the recuperation of team captain Dion Phaneuf and even had one of the team's prospects, Marlie goalie Jussi Rynnas, decorated as the AHL's player-of-the-week for his sparkling play.

For the Caps or Hawks or Red Wings, this wouldn't mean much. For the Leafs, it marked distinct progress, or at least a couple of days in which every aspect of the organization wasn't being ripped to shreds.

Tonight at the ACC they'll encounter a team that's been hard for them to find, a club that's having even greater difficulties in this young NHL season. The difference is, of course, that while even optimists forecast the Leafs as only possibly a contender for a playoff berth, the New Jersey Devils believed they could be a Stanley Cup contender, having fortified their lineup with the $100 million shootout specialist, Ilya Kovalchuk.

Well, as has been well documented on both sides of the border, things have not gone well for the Men From Newark. So far the Devs have only 12 points, and while injuries to key players have contributed to that, those same injuries have bought the club time as it seeks to wriggle out of the salary cap problems that already existed and were further complicated by the addition of Kovalchuk.

The Devils are averaging a league-low 1.83 goals per game, and to help fix that problem, it's expected Kovalchuk will have a new centre for tonight's game in veteran Dainius Zubrus. Only the dreadful New York Islanders have fewer points in the Eastern Conference than the Devils, but then again, less than two weeks ago the Buffalo Sabres came in to Toronto's last overall and won a shootout in come-from-behind shootout.

So this is an equally big game for the Leafs, who will have to lean on The Monster, Jonas Gustavsson, for the near future.

The Leafs and Devils, meanwhile, are two teams that would like to make a deal or two, minor or major, and so it was undoubtedly interesting to both that an actual trade occurred in the league this week between Calgary and Carolina. The Flames sent ex-Leaf defenceman Ian White to Carolina to be re-united with head coach Paul Maurice, and Calgary GM Darryl Sutter included his legally troubled son, Brett, in the transaction.

Coming the other way were Russian defenceman Anton Babchuk and journeyman checker Tom Kostopolous, making this another one of those head-scratcher deals for the struggling Flames, who went down at home to Phoenix last night. White probably had to go after signing a one-year, $3 million deal last summer with little likeliehood the Flames were going to be able to keep him next summer after signing rearguard Mark Giordano, but it still leaves the Flames now with only Matt Stajan and Niklas Hagman to show directly from last winter's Phaneuf deal.

Given that Flames loyalists argued at the time that White was a cheaper equivalent of Phaneuf, this deal has to rankle even the club's most rabid supporters.

Still, it was a legimitable hockey deal, albeit one with cap benefits for Calgary, and proved that at least a trade is possible these days. Whether it will open the sluice gates for more transactions, we'll see.

Leaf GM Brian Burke was on the road this week, and the chip he may have to play is stay-at-home defenceman Francois Beauchemin, who unlike some of his colleagues, doesn't have no-trade, no movement protection and with $3.8 million and $3.8 million next year left on his deal, isn't a particularly cumbersome contract.

For the Devils, long-term injuries to Zach Parise and Bryce Salvador mean they still have time to sort out their cap issues, but Lou Lamoriello has said he will re-evaluate his squad at the 20-game mark and undoubtedly would like to make a move. Captain Jamie Langenbrunner isn't on this trip, and his name has been whispered in trade rumours.

Another team in the bottom rungs of the league, the Edmonton Oilers, may also be looking to shake things up. As fans in Edmonton are learning to their chagrin, while the rosy long-term prognostications for a team that finishes well down the standings for multiple years are heartening, the actual process can be mighty painful, as was the case last night when the Oilers were whacked at home by the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks to stay at four wins on the season.

The kids are learning, although it's entirely possible that none of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle or Magnus Paajarvi will hit the 20-goal or 60-point mark this season despite enormous pre-season buildups. Given that Sidney Crosby had 102 points as a rookie and Alex Ovechkin had 52 goals in his freshman season, both while playing for awful teams, it could be that none of the three Oilers will be that type of franchise player. Few players are, although even Patrick Kane had 72 points in his first NHL season. L.A.'s Anze Kopitar had 20 goals and 41 assists as a rookie, and that might be the most any of the Oiler trio will be able to muster.

That said, Hall, Eberle and Paajarvi all have undeniable promise, and another top pick looms in the 2011 draft.There's clearly a foundation being built with the Oilers.

What's making life difficult for the Oil, and what may make a trade more likely, is the state of their underperforming veteran core. After all, Ryan Whitney leads the team in scoring and doesn't yet have a goal.

In particular, centre Shawn Horcoff, winger Ales Hemsky - both of whom were benched Wednesday night - forward Dustin Penner and rearguard Tom Gilbert are all playing poorly. All are at $4 million or more per season, while, Horcoff is at $5.5 million with four more years to go after this season on one nasty contract that few teams would want. The club bought into the belief Horcoff was a No. 1 centre after that surprise run to the Cup final in '06 and has been paying for it ever since.

He is a centre, and centres are in great demand, but he's also 32, coming off a 13-goal, minus-29 season, and he has 10 points in 14 games this season.

Gilbert, with his bloated deal (three more years at $4 million), is becoming a whipping boy, particularly for his matador-like blueline play that is reminiscent of a young Tomas Kaberle. Or a current Kaberle.

All these Oiler vets are hard to move - Hemsky has the most value - and the Oilers are already paying Sheldon Souray $5.4 million to break his hands in the minors. Interestingly, Edmonton can't shed that much more salary and still stay above the floor.

In theory, Beauchemin could help their back end, and the Leafs could move him if they belief Luke Schenn can maintain consistency and Keith Aulie (12:02 against Nashville on Tuesday) might be ready. Would Burke have any interest in Penner, the big softie who once played so well for the Leaf GM in Anaheim? Could the Devils and Oilers cook up a deal, possibly with a player like Langenbrunner going west to give Edmonton some veteran leadership and the Devils some cap relief?

It's all just speculation. But at least it's trade talk. Don't hear much of that these days.

Now on to this week's mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien,

What are your thoughts on how Colin Campbell comes across with regards to emails exchanged by Campbell with members of NHL brass in 2006 and 2007? These were submitted as evidence in a complaint brought before the Ontario Labour Relations Board by former NHL official Dean Warren, who disputed his termination from the NHL.

The blogger Tyler Dellow has blasted Campbell with his own words. He's posted a few dozen emails exchanged by Campbell. It's not pretty. He seems biased towards his son (Panthers' Gregory Campbell), against any official who makes calls that go against his son, and against Marc Savard -- of all people. It puts the non-suspension of Matt Cooke in a different light, among other incidents.

Wade Ivan, Toronto

A: How does he come across? Well, some seemed bothered by all the profanity, which I think is funny because this is how hockey people talk. Certainly these are emails he never believed would be made public, as they were originally after a labour relations board hearing nine months ago.

But there's no question they've put him, the league and his son, Gregory, in an uncomfortable position. Fired referee Dean Warren has suggested Gregory Campbell gets preferential treatment because of his father's job as NHL disciplinarian, and if that can be corroborated with other NHL officials and Warren can be shown to be more than an unhappy ex-employee, Campbell's position will have be compromised severely.

But we're not there yet, despite all the howls of outrage you're hearing. To me, the evidence we've heard is not nearly enough to force Campbell out. While it's entirely possible the Bettman administration will have to cut ties with Campbell, or that Campbell may decide as a father he needs to do some other work to make life easier for his son, this is a man who has been at the centre of controversy for years as isn't likely to curl up into the fetal position now. The NHL has shown, meanwhile, with Phoenix and other matters, that it tends to dig in its heels when things get controversial.

Out of all of this, the least convincing suggestion is that Campbell has to go in order to straighten out the NHL justice system. That's just naive. The owners set the parameters for NHL discipline, and Campbell has to work within those. His successor, or this theoretical panel of people that no other league feels compelled to use, would face the exact same bitter criticism unless the owners want to change the system.

Q: A friend of mine recently posted on facebook that he thinks Ron Wilson has "lost the dressing room." My theory? He's never truly had it. I think the current line-up is so inextricably linked to Brian Burke that it takes away some of the deference that should be afforded the coach of an NHL team, but Burke's personality overshadows the job, good or bad, that Wilson is doing. I think of all of these players have come to play for Burke and the vision that he's selling them. Komisarek, Armstrong, Macarthur, Beauchemin. The rookie free agents he signed, and the players in trades like Phaneuf, Kessel and Versteeg. Then he'll throw out a salvo like he's in "trade talks" to rile up the masses. No other GM's do this, and no players sign with Washington to play for George McPhee. Maybe that's what it takes for players to sign with this sad-sack franchise, but I personally think it's doing Wilson no favours in the dressing room.

Any thoughts on that subject?

Michael Nugent, Toronto

A: An interesting theory. Burke, of course, didn't hire Wilson, although they've known each other for years. It's more Burke's team than Wilson, and Burke is clearly the face of the franchise. Whether that puts the two men in opposition to each other in terms of winning the confidence of the players is an intriguing notion. Certainly, Burke has always been known as a "players'" GM while Wilson has never been anyone's idea of a players' coach.

Q: Hi Damien. Mr. Burke went hard after John Tavares a couple of drafts ago. Now that the Islanders are again showing their ineptness do you think Tavares may be looking for a ticket off the Isle and into Leaf land?

Neil Craig, Toronto

A: He might, but he's not going anywhere at least for this season and next. Beyond that, he'll be a restricted free agent when his entry level deal expires. You could make a case the overall ineptitude of the franchise might make he want to get out, but that would be easier said than done. He could try to force his way out like Phil Kessel did in Boston, but that was easier given the fact the Bruins were willing to move Kessel. The Isles won't want to let Tavares go, and can match any offer sheet he gets.

Q: The trade that brought Versteeg to the Leafs and sent Stalberg to the Blackhawks is getting a lot of analysis these days. As I was reading one of your columns earlier this week, a thought came to mind. I am having trouble coming up with a role player that was either signed as a free agent or traded from a team that had won the Cup the year before that was not an overpriced bust. Again, I have not really researched to see if my recollection is correct, but if it is, then my theory would be that anyone other than the top two or three players on a Stanley Cup roster will likely never achieve a similar level of success on another team. I have heard many comments that Versteeg is struggling because he doesn’t have the Blackhawk stars around him and that Stalberg is having a good year because he does. Wouldn’t logic suggest that if that is true then they are basically interchangeable players for the two clubs, which in turn would suggest that paying a higher price for Versteeg is a less efficient use of cap space than having kept Stalberg?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Burke and hope that things work out. However, by adding Versteeg and Giguere for a premium because they have rings and selling the farm to bring in Kessel, is it possible that the Toronto pressure cooker has gotten into Burke’s head? Throw in continuing to hold on to a coach and coaching staff that are well beyond their expiration date and I am starting to question whether or not Burke is as unflappable as he is thought to be. Thoughts?

Stephen Sims, St. Catharines

A: Well, you've made about nine different points there. Let me focus on Versteeg for Stalberg. Both are 24 years old, Stalberg, who was playing on the same line last night as Kane and Jonathan Toews, is having a slightly better season right now, although it's early. The Leafs have Versteeg this year and next at $3.083 million, while Stalberg is in the final year of a deal that pays him $850,000 per season. If he can score 20 goals this season, he'll be looking at a new contract in the neighborhood of $2.5 million to $3 million next year, just like Matt Stajan and Ian White both hit big paydays in Calgary after being traded from Toronto. Versteeg has already played in the playoffs and shown he can be effective, Stalberg will likely get that chance next spring. So this is a trade that will take time to play out. Still, both teams got what they wanted. The Leafs wanted some experience and a more North American look, the Hawks needed cap relief.

Q: Hi Damien,

With the revamping of the all-star game in the news these days I'd love to hear your opinion on this idea to revamp the playoffs.

Instead of basing the match-ups automatically on the standings (e.g. #1 vs. #8) how about having the GM of the top seeded teams select their opponent from the bottom seeds? You still keep home ice advantage for the teams that would get it (owners would like this) and you get to put GMs to the test (or at least give the fans more opportunities to second guess them) as they pick the opponent they think they have the best chance of beating. It also would add a little something to the match-ups immediately as the lower seeded teams will feel disrespected that the other team thinks they are the easiest potential opponent. I think you could even run and televise the selection process (similar to the draft) creating perhaps more drama and interest in the playoffs (which the league brass would be in favor of). Thoughts?

Kris Thiele, Kingston

A: Might be fun for the fans. But the league, owners and GMs wouldn't go for it in a million years.

Q: Damien, all of the scoring pressure seems to be on the Leafs top two lines. I appreciate that is the scoring lines primary focus, but what about the Leafs denfense? They have a grand total of two goals which is last in the league. Should that group not be at least middle of the pack?

David T, London

A: Agreed, and wrote about this earlier this week. Schenn did get one on Tuesday, but to me, it's Kaberle, who gets more power play time than anybody, is the one who should be contributing more. He has no goals.

Q: Hi Damien,

Big fan of the columns all the way over here in England.

What I wanted to ask is why do you think Wilson and Burke won't use Kadri as a winger? It seems a good move to me at the moment for a few reasons. Firstly although he has bulked up this year (apparently) Kadri doesn't have the size and presence to play as an NHL center yet. He is however, lightning fast, with quick hands and good puck-handling. What better way for him to find his feet by temporarily relieving him of some defensive responsibility? Once he becomes confident on the ice and starts to score goals, they could then move him back as see how he develops.

I won't start on how horribly Kadri was treated before this year by Wilson.

Thoughts Damien?

Chris McHugh, Oxford, England

A: So Chris obviously wrote this before Kadri was moved into a left wing position upon arriving in Toronto. It seems to make sense in the short-term, and right now, the Leafs seem intent on playing the youngster significant minutes. But they need him (desperately) to be a centre over the long haul. When that switch comes - this year, next year - will be intriguing to see.

 

Colin Campbell and Those Messy E-Mails

E-mails. Again. They tripped up Ted Saskin, or at least his penchant for reading those of others, and now it's Colin Campbell's turn.

This is the great "AHA!" moment for some, and while it's not quite a Tiger Woods sexting episode, it's making the NHL's disciplinarian squirm.

Actually, that was more the case nine months ago when the emails were first made public at a hearing into the dismissal of referee Dean Warren. Star reporter Rob Cribb, one of the best in the business, covered that hearing with a series of stories that included Campbell's emails to referee-in-chief Stephen Walkom.

And no one cared. Nobody else even covered the story. And the NHL wasn't happy that The Star did.

Today, the reverberations are different because local blogger Tyler Dellow took the evidence one step further, putting together some evidence on the players he believes Campbell was referring to in those emails, including Campbell's son.

Now, suddenly everybody cares. When it was just about a fired ref, it didn't matter. It's an interesting comment on these media times, including the fact some "bloggers" are twisting this to suggest the "main stream media" is out to protect the establishment and figures in power. Why these people weren't outraged and up in arms when Cribb was writing his stories and The Star was publishing them is unclear. If you employ the logic of the bloggers, their silence was evidence that they were the ones protecting the establishment.

But all that's just superficial media chatter. The meat of this story boils down to one straightforward question; does this constitute this a firing offence for Campbell?

The NHL says no. That's what they said in February, and that's what they say now. The connection some want to make is that the NHL disciplinary system is a mess, and Campbell runs that system, and these emails prove he lacks integrity, so firing him will fix the system.

Well, parts of that might be true, and other parts not so much.

The NHL disciplinary system is an illogical swamp of confusion, and it's been that way for a long, long time, well before Campbell took over. It's why they once had a nasty riot in Montreal. Other than occasional spasms of enlightenment, the NHL has historically chosen not to punish transgressors very hard, and sometimes not at all. Lest we forget, it was Brian Burke who decided Claude Lemieux only deserved two playoff games for crushing Kris Draper's face in during the 1996 playoffs.

But remember, Burke worked for Gary Bettman, and Bettman worked and still works for the owners. It's the owners, folks, who make the macro decisions on how they want the suspension system to work, and that continues through to today. If Tom Golisano or Philip Anschutz or Charles Wang or Jeremy Jacobs or Daryl Katz or Rocky Wirtz wanted to patch together enough votes at the NHL board of governors to vote in a new system that would abolish the current two games here, one game there system, it would happen.

But the owners don't want that, because they know it might adversely affect their team and possibily their business. Look at the screaming reaction of the San Jose Sharks when Joe Thornton received a TWO GAME ban recently. You think Shark ownership will be at the meetings next month in West Palm Beach demanding a more draconian justice system for the league? Of course not.

Just as Brian O'Neill, then, didn't design the parameters of NHL supplemental discipline back in his day, but simply dispensed it within those parameters, so it was the same for Burke and for Campbell today. This is not a league populated by owners who want all violence or misconduct punished heavily, so that leaves Campbell, just like his predecessors, in a tricky spot.

So if you, like I, believe the NHL disciplinary system needs an overhaul, the people who can change it are the owners. Campbell's an employee doing his job under the job description handed to him and to pretend otherwise is either naivete or ignorance. The other part of the equation is that he has to deal with the NHL Players Association, which only goes to bat for those who break the law, never the victims. It's a weird system that produces unjust results. Just ask Steve Moore.

So we go back to the connection between these emails, Campbell and the system. Firing him won't change the system. The next guy will face the same limitations.

Does he deserve to be canned anyway for the inappropriate comments made through internal emails to a fellow employee? Can you imagine if your company emails were made public, and how you'd explain the ones you sent to your buddy because you trusted him and never believed the world would see them? But it's clear Campbell's emails produce an unflattering picture of how the league dealt with a specific problem.

What we do know is that the Ontario Labour Relations Board has decided the emails did not show Warren was unfairly fired, but that he was dismissed for "substandard performance." That's what the hearing was about. The new argument made by through Dellow's blog and by Campbell critics is that the emails show he was biased against certain NHLers and in favour of others, specifically his son, Gregory.

If specific proof beyond these emails can be offered, that would be damning evidence indeed. Campbell's a very good man, but he can't run the league in favour of some more than others, and if it can be demonstrated that's the case, and it hasn't been so far, than it would be difficult for him to stay. Hey, even Don Fehr might poke his head out and take notice if union members were being treated unfairly.

In years of regular conversations with Campbell I cannot recall a single incident in which it seemed he was out to get or embarrass a certain player. In fact, I often urged him to be tougher on the perceived jerks and rats of the league, but he was always willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. He always thought as a player, and still does. When it came to his son, other than laughing about the fact his wife wanted him to talk Gregory into wearing a visor, there was never a scrap of a suggestion he had any involvement other than a dad watching his kid. That some call this nepotism is ridiculous; Campbell didn't hire his son, didn't draft him or play for him. Gregory has always had to deal with this nonsense - imagine the crap a creep like Sean Avery spits at him - but he chose to be a hockey player, just like his pa.

If you want to hang Colin Campbell based on these emails because you believe they are evidence of a biased person, that's your perogative. I won't, even though I have written critical columns of Campbell and the NHL justice system since the middle 1990s. He believes fighting is part of the game, I don't. I thought James Wisniewski deserved 20 games. He didn't. We don't agree on a whole lot, but because we disagree doesn't mean I think he lacks integrity. Just the opposite, in fact. My guess is the NHL won't be inclined to dump Campbell either. He's been too good a human shield for the Bettman administration for too long.

Still, it could be that Campbell's time has run out anyway. Doing this thankless job for more than a decade may just be too long, if only because the job entails being a daily lightning rod for a disciplinary system that is under the control of others. The enormously positive changes in the sport that Campbell ushered through the system during and after the lockout - he's the one who sold them to the owners, who bought what he was selling and produced a vastly improved game - aren't valued to the same extent he's blamed for the wonky suspension system.

If Campbell goes, the next hanging judge will find himself in the very same situation. He'll just know to be more careful with the email trail.

 

 

 

Leaf Ideas To Ponder

Poor Brian Burke. Can't even go to a hockey team in which his Maple Leafs aren't playing without getting a kick in the teeth.

Sunday night, Burke was at the United Centre in Chicago and lo and behold, it was Viktor Stalberg scoring the OT winner for the Blackhawks in a 3-2 win over Anaheim. Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Phillipe Paradis went to Chicago last summer for Kris Versteeg and Bill Sweatt, and so far Stalberg, who also has a shootout winning goal, has outscored Versteeg six goals to two.

The Leafs didn't bother signing Sweatt. DiDomenico is struggling in his first pro season with Rockford, while Paradis is off to a strong start with his new QMJHL team, the Prince Edward Island Rocket. Presumably, Burke was in the Windy City looking for trade options with either the Hawks or Ducks.

A couple of other interesting Leaf points as the losing streak continues:

--All the focus is up front as the Leaf offence continues to struggle. But it's worth pointing out a big part of the problem may be the lack of offensive input from the blueline, which has scored only two goals, one from Mike Komisarek and one from Francois Beauchemin. Despite all the power play time he gets, Tomas Kaberle has yet to score. By comparison, Nashville, which visits the ACC tomorrow night, has 10 goals from it's defence, including four (double the Leaf total) from Cody Franson.

--It was very noticeable on Saturday night that the Vancouver Canucks were the tougher, more physical team compared to the Leafs. Despite all the talk about how the Leafs were going to become this nasty team after Burke arrived, it hasn't happened. Two-thirds of the teams in the league take more penalties (probably good considering Toronto's penalty killing) and the Leafs are 11th in fighting majors. Mike Brown is the only forward who plays with consistent sandpaper to his game. Colton Orr has fought only four times, which wouldn't matter except that he performs no other function for the team. In fact, it's interesting how Orr is always excluded from consideration when it comes to healthy scratches. One wonders what he'll do tomorrow night against the Predators, a team that comes in with only four fighting majors, two by diminutive Francois Bouillon. You've gotta really buy into this fighting nonsense to believe the Leafs would be any worse off without Orr in the lineup.

--Of the 39 NHL goalies who have played six games or more, 31 have a better save percentage than Toronto's Jean-Sebastien Giguere (.899), who at $7 million per is the third highest paid goaltender in the NHL behind Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist. Anaheim signed Giguere to that contract, but it was Burke who was the GM at the time. It's pretty clear that for Giguere to return next season as a Leaf, he's going to have to take the salary haircut of all salary haircuts.

So far, Giguere has played 11 games, Jonas Gustavsson just five. With the season looking as though it won't result in a playoff berth, isn't it about time the Leafs took the training wheels off Gustavsson to see if he can really play? He's 26 years old, after all, not 19. Surely playing The Monster in at least half the games at this point would make sense.

It was suggested here before the season that Toronto's goaltending might not be as improved as some suggested. Given that neither goalie has a save percentage of .900 or better, that more and more appears to be the case.

 

 

This Week's Mail Bag

So the game plan has changed.

What was about having Nazem Kadri learn to be a pro in the AHL has changed after only 14 games, and he'll be in the Leaf lineup tomorrow night on Hockey Night in Canada against the Vancouver Canucks.

Suddenly, the future is now.

To comment on this story, click here.

Immediate reaction from Leaf fans has been intriguing, and by 10:30 this morning, Kadri was already a national trending topic on Twitter. The majority so far seem not to like the move, seeing it as rushing Kadri and defenceman Keith Aulie, who was also called up. Others say it's about time the Leafs summoned their 2009 first-round pick to help the club score a few goals.

And, in an unusual twist, there are those who see the Toronto media as the root of all evil and to blame for all the club's ills.

The most useful part of all of this is that it serves as a nice distraction from the real problems of the team for a day, primarily the poor performance of so many of the club's veteran players in recent weeks and the continuing inability of Ron Wilson to get better performances from the players in this, his third season.

Kadri, by the way, has been wearing No. 13 with the Marlies after wearning No. 43 with the Leafs in the pre-season. Would they give him Mats Sundin's old number for tomorrow night's game against the team for which Sundin left the Leafs?

Unfortunately, this is what serves for excitement in a city in which the NHL franchise hasn't made the post-season since 2004.

Now on to this week's mail bag:

Q: Hi Damien, always look forward to The Spin and mailbag. Hate to admit it but you seem to be right most of the time.

My question is probably something you have been asked... but why won't the Leafs play to their strengths and institute a defensive/counter attack system? Ken Hitchcock is out there. Wilson has done better this year, but I am getting sick of the same old cycle and pass to the defence who pinch and 2-on-1 results. Most of the top teams play a tight defensive system and many of them (are) recent cup winners. 2 more quick questions: Leaf Fans were finally ready for a rebuild through the draft, and thought Burke was brought in for that purpose (could be starting with Schenn Khadri and Seguin (plus this year's first pick). Why did they try the same old quick fix when fans were finally ready for the patient rebuild? 3 - Do you think when Burke says he wants to change the culture, that it includes the media as well? I think Wilson had a point when a lot of the crap reporting comes from Toronto, such as calling for coaches head...even in other cities than Toronto. Thanks for reading!

Jeff Iles, Haliburton

A: Okay, so we'll go through these one-by-one. First, I guess the answer is that Wilson believes high-tempo, attack hockey is the right way to play. I suppose I have to applaud him for sticking to his guns. Second, nobody seems to know why Burke went for the Kessel deal when there was indeed a mood in the city for a slow, gradual approach. I can't explain it either. Sorry. Third, there are plenty of cities in which coaches are on the hot seat if their teams underachieve. Montreal. Philly. New York. Ottawa. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton. Wilson's point is ridiculous. It just shows that after years of working in Washington, Anaheim and San Jose, he grew used to towns where there was essentially no media coverage at all. He can't take the heat of being the coach in a big hockey town. Don't blame Toronto and, while obviously it's self-serving to say this, don't blame the media here unless you're winning to put our names on the Cup if and when the Leafs ever win it.

 

Q: Damien,

I know many people have issues regarding the Hockey Hall of Fame. I know there've been plenty of complaints regarding the lack of transparency of the Hall, especially compared to other sports. My concern with the Hall that no one ever discusses is the potential conflicts of interest. It seems pretty obvious to me that there is potential conflict when you have former players like Mike Gartner or Lanny McDonald voting on former teammates (or opponents), or former coaches like Pat Quinn or Scott Bowman voting on their former players. To me, this just makes the HHOF that much more of a joke. Your thoughts?

Ron Rogers, Toronto

A: I agree. They've also had people temporarily re-sign from the induction committee in order to accept their own nomination and induction, and then go back on the committee again. There have clearly been players held out for years - Glenn Anderson is a good example - because members held a personal grudge. It's 2010. Secrecy just doesn't fly any more.

 

Q: Damien:

Do you think there would be any benefit to the Maple Leafs to sign a UFA, like Bill Guerin, who has years of NHL experience, and see if he can help the Leafs? Pittsburgh brought him in to help the Penguins and 'Sid the Kid' and he got a Stanley Cup ring out of it.

I mention this for this reason. Two seasons ago the leafs were having similar troubles and there was a UFA just sitting there waiting for a NHL team to call him. I said at the time, 'Why don't the Leafs sign him for the rest of the season?', which was already half over, and see if he could help them. The Leafs didn't call him but, about a month later, another NHL team did. That player is still playing for that NHL team and already has 6 goals and 9 assists this year. His name is Teemu Selanne. Even though he's 40 years old, just like Guerin, you can't argue with the numbers.

All I'm saying is that when you consider all the troubles the Leafs are having right now to bring in a veteran like Bill Guerin, with all his NHL experience, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him around. He knows the game so well, could help settle down the young leaf players when they hit rough spots and you CAN'T TEACH the kind of experience he has. For the Leafs he would come cheap but his years of NHL experience would be invaluable to the team. I can't think of ANY down side to this move. Selanne helped the Ducks and Guerin helped the Penguins.

Am I wrong?

Is there another or better UFA player out there you know about that you think would help the Leafs.

Miroslav Satan; Adam Mair; Ryan Johnson are just some. I'm sure there are more. What do you think Damien?

Dennis Tuck, Toronto

A: There's no guarantee Guerin would or wouldn't help the team. I just think these short-term bandaid solutions aren't going to be particularly meaningful one way or another. Every move this team makes has to be about being competitive by, say, 2013. Through that prism, I can't see much point in signing Guerin.

 

Q: Hi Damien,

I'm a big fan of yours...

Were you surprised to see Korbinian Holzer called up in the wake of Dion Phaneuf's injury? I thought Matt Lashoff or Keith Aulie would have been next in line to receive that call.

Thanks,
Mike Robertson, Toronto

A: Well Mike, you weren't far off. You sent this earlier in the week, obviously, and today Aulie is up and Holzer is back down. I think they went for Holzer first because he was playing well and the plan was to give Aulie until Christmas before a callup. That plan obviously went out the window.

Oh yes. . .thanks for the nice compliment!

Q: Damien, I am fine with Brian Burke saying Wilson is safe as coach. However what do you think it will take for Burke to finally realize that Wilson isn't the right fit in Toronto? Perhaps a certain amount of losses. Sooner or later someone above Brian will want better results.

Richard Latendresse, Brampton 

A: It could be that calling up Kadri is the last logical thing Burke can try before turning to the coach. That said, he can be stubborn on certain things, and right now, he's saying Wilson isn't going anywhere, although he won't guarantee he'll finish the season.

 

Q: Has MSLE over-estimated the abilities of Brian Burke?

I ask not just because the club seems to be only marginally better since Burke has taken over but also because it seems he has become increasingly irrational dealing with the media. Firstly he continually preaches how he likes tough teams. Well the Leafs are about the least physical teams in the league. Other then a few of those stupid premeditated fights by guys who really should not be in the league I don’t see much toughness at all. They are weak along the boards, do not make the opposition pay to stand in front of the net and do not do the tough work to get to the opposition net. When Nikolai Kulemin is your toughest forward you have problems.

Now the GM spouts off in the press on a regular basis when his players get booed and his coach gets criticized. I got news for MLSE and Burke: I split a pair of seasons tickets, of which I usually sell 10 and keep 10. Well guess what? I got all 20 cus no on one wanted to buy them this year so Burke has not heard anything yet.

David Isaacs, Toronto

A: In my opinion, you cannot draw conclusions about Burke yet, although you certainly can question some of his decisions. There has been a massive tear-down here, and the sacrifice of top picks has made it difficult to readily understand the game plan. But really, did anyone expect this to be a winning season? If not, what has really changed?

And I really don't find that he's become "increasingly irrational" with the media. Generally speaking, he's excellent to deal with.

 

Q: Damien,

When do you think this experiment with Tyler Bozak as a first-line NHL center will come to a conclusion? We've seen him for almost a full season now between last year and this. I've made some observations. He barely ever carries the puck this season. He's knocked off the puck and/or his skates far too easily when he does and he's not producing. Is this all somehow tied into Burke's ego, i.e. Bozak can't be seen to fail since it was Burke's gamble to sign him out of the NCAA? I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks,

Pete van Hoof, Pickering

A: I don't think this is a Burke ego thing. Bozak was, they believed, the best they had, and no centre on the team has outplayed him. That said, he's clearly not up to the job, and Kadri will likely get the chance to be the No. 1 centre. Perhaps moving down the line is exactly what Bozak needs.

Stevie Y's Inheritance

They're not the first place Tampa Bay Lightning anymore, the result of a difficult western road trip that produced three tough losses before returning home to face the Maple Leafs tonight. The scoring dried up, and now head coach Guy Boucher's job is to reset the team's focus with tonight's game followed by road matches in Washington and Pittsburgh.

Still, they are the improved Lightning, and the stabilized Lightning. The Oren Koules-Len Barrie gong show is no more, and new owner Jeff Vinik appears to have steadied the ship. Then again, we've been hearing that ever since Phil Esposito brought the Lightning into being back in the early 1990s.

Somehow, this team won a Stanley Cup in 2004. Now it appears to be on the way back after a series of pretty strange seasons, with Steve Yzerman now the front man for the organization and Steven Stamkos quite clearly the team's marquee player.

The Bolts will still lose buckets of money this season, but the overall tone of what's happening in Tampa seems to be positive, and much of that has to do with Yzerman's presence and sterling reputation in the industry.

That said, much of what Yzerman has been able to accomplish in the first quarter of the season was because of what was accomplished over the previous two seasons by the former GM, Brian Lawton, who was fired at the end of last season by Vinik.

This, of course, is not a new story. Brian Burke won a title in Anaheim partly on the basis of what Bryan Murray put in place. Dale Tallon received a Stanley Cup ring from the Blackhawks this fall even though he's now GM in Florida. It was Chicago management's way of acknowledging the fact that Tallon built the team that Stan Bowman won with. People in Pittsburgh will tell you Dan Bylsma coached the Penguins to the Cup, but it was much of what Michel Therrien put in place that paved the way.

In a sport in which management and coaches change frequently, this is the way it works.

Yzerman has made a few moves in Tampa, although the most notable, trading for Simon Gagne, has thus far been completely unproductive. Additions of players like Dominic Moore, Brett Clark, Sean Bergenheim and goalie Dan Ellis have helped.

Really, he's benefitted from the stability of a deep-pocketed new owner and the foundation established by Lawton, particularly in getting the Lightning on the same draft-and-develop path as the Penguins, Capitals, Blackhawks, Kings and Blues while Yzerman was constructing what would be Canada's gold medal winning team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Lawton, remember, drafted both Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Maybe they were no-brainers, but Lawton did resist temptation to move first round picks for immediate help in a effort to save his job. He was authorized to make a big move at last winter's trade deadline, but decided against it and held on to his first round selection, which Yzerman then used to draft intriguing Brett Connolly of Prince George with the No. 6 selection.

Solid Lawton draftees like Carter Ashton - a second first round pick in the Hedman draft - and Richard Panik remain in the Tampa organization.

Lawton also made the deal that brought Steve Downie to town for defenceman Matt Carle. Carle played well for Philly last year on a team that went to the Cup final, but Downie is now on Tampa's first line with Stamkos and Marty St. Louis. So it's entirely arguable that the Lightning were on the right path before Yzerman arrived, and now he's doing well with a flexible roster that had already been whittled down to 28 contracts and generates one of the lowest payrolls in the league.

What worked against Lawton? Well, the mysterious decision of defenceman Paul Ranger to disappear from hockey - he didn't sign a qualifying offer last summer, hasn't returned this season - robbed the team of one of its better young players. The ownership of Koules and Barrie was a disaster to the point NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had to summon them to league offices last year and convince them to play nice together, at least for public consumption. It was that ownership tandem, before they stopped getting along, that signed Vinny Lecavalier to a contract that makes him all but untradeable, dealt Dan Boyle to San Jose in an awful deal - Boyle still calls the pair "poison" - and hired Barry Melrose to coach the team, which turned out to be utter farce.

Lawton was then forced to accept Melrose's assistant, Rick Tocchet, and that didn't work either. The GM wanted to fire Tocchet partway through last season but wasn't allowed to, and now the Lightning are showing the benefits of quality coaching, with Yzerman given the authority to hire the highly-touted Boucher.

"I'm very proud of the job we did in Tampa," said Lawton from his Minnesota home this week. "Everyone in the league knew and could see the ownership issues we had but our staff always remained focussed on putting together a core group of players.

"We made lot of mistakes over the two years I was there but we called more right than wrong when it came to making decisions. When your two best players are 20 years old the future is bright for your organization."

Yzerman has major challenges, such as the contractual commitment to Lecavalier through to the summer of 2020. Ryan Malone has one goal this season and will make $4.5 million through 2015. Plans are already afoot to sign Stamkos, but to what kind of deal? The controversy over Ilya Kovalchuk's deal and other back-sliding contracts have changed the environment. Washington did double-digit terms on both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, but it's not clear whether Tampa will want the same kind of commitment.

And Lawton? It will be interesting to see if he gets another shot at running a team. He's an ambitious, creative guy, and while he has his critics, the situation he left behind in Tampa for Yzerman to work with clearly suggests he had a plan.

Monday Morning Chatter

Not sure what Brian Burke is so bothered about.

Nobody suggested Ron Wilson should be fired. Well, I get emails and messages every day suggesting Wilson is long past his due date, but I haven't said Wilson should be fired, and I'm not aware of any prominent media people who have called for his public beheading.

That said, Wilson is the only common Leaf denominator from the last full three seasons, along with his assistants Rob Zettler and Tim Hunter. Moreover, while he is not solely to blame when things go wrong, he is the head coach and therefore in a position to have as much impact on the results of the operation as any non-playing personnel.

It would also be reasonable to suggest he bears more responsibiity than some of the players, say, Tim Brent or Mike Brown or Carl Gunnarson.

Point is, you can't possibly evaluate the Leafs without evaluating the coaching staff. Burke seemed to suggest that Wilson has nothing to do with the current losing streak, that it has only to do with the players and the coach should be exempt from any discussions about possible team improvements. Well, that just not logical.

Burke should defend his coach, except in this case, Wilson isn't under attack. It's simply been noted that should the bleeding continue, at some point the coach's future will come into question.

Other weekend musings:

--Sounds like Tuesday's GM meetings in Toronto would be more chatter than decision-making. The issue they should be discussing but won't be is the increasing frequency in which a player who lands a clean bodycheck on an opponent is forced to fight. Sometimes the player who jumps the initial hitter gets the instigator, sometimes - like Saturday when Steve Montador jumped Mike Komisarek after a legal hit on Tyler Ennis - there's only a two-minute roughing minor awarded.

Everybody is worried about keeping hitting in the game. Well if a player like Komisarek has to decide between bodychecking an opponent, having to fight and sitting in the box for five minutes or not delivering the bodycheck in the first place, at some point he's going to decide the hit isn't worth the trouble and will back off. That's just not good for the game.

--The sense of excitement rose in the Rogers Centre on Sunday every time Devin Hester touched the ball. Sadly, that just didn't happen quite enough.

--It's terrific that Danny Brannagan got the chance to take a few snaps in Montreal on Sunday. That's huge for the kid, and now gives him at least a fighting chance to be the third stringer next season, with current No. 3 Ken Dorsey likely to retire.

--Nikolai Khabibulin doesn't have the numbers, but he's been largely terrific for the Oilers this season behind a defence that is rather suspect. In general, Edmonton has reason to be excited about Messrs. Hall, Paajarvi and Eberle, but the club still is thin at centre and on defence. If they're going to address all of those depth issues through the draft alone, this rebuild will take forever.

--Noticeable on Sunday at the dome was that all the hotel windows in the end zone were covered over with ads. Nobody gets to watch the mightly NFL for free. Also noticeable was the fact that that a video message was needed to explain the singer was performing "The Canadian National Anthem," rather than O Canada. It's like us being non-imports in our own league.

--Loved the CIS action on the weekend. Did have to mention one bit of hyperbole during The Score's broadcast of the Mac-Western tilt on Saturday in which, for reasons not clear, it was suggested that Niagara Falls is one of the seven wonders of the world. It's not.

--Only if you think David Perron had a chance to brace and protect himself can you think Joe Thornton's hit was legal. Perron, by the way, missed both Saturday's and Sunday's games for the Blues with dizziness and headaches.

--Peyton Hillis is my new favourite football player. If there's an element largely missing in today's CFL, its the bruising, downhill fullback. There are some, but not many.