Silliness

No chance I'm getting in the middle of this Don Cherry-Brian Burke spat. Got my own wars to wage.

But let's get off this silliness about the Leafs not having enough players from Ontario. I mean seriously, people, how small do we want to get. Should Willowdale be outraged until a boy from that GTA quadrant is on the Leaf roster?

I suppose you could, if you were so inclined, be bothered if the Leafs had no Canadian player. But is Luke Schenn not Canadian enough, not homegrown as much as a kind from Haliburton would be? This is just the old xenophobia heard weekly on Saturday night squeezed a little tighter.

The point is, be upset if you wish about the quality of Burke's team. You have reason to be. But discussing the nationality of the players or coaches or executives is so irrelevant as to only be necessary for use as a straw man in an absurd debate.

Burke and Cherry are squabbling, and perhaps each man has a reasonable grievance. But to suggest this is seriously about whether the Leafs have Ontario-born players is to completely misunderstand that which is going on.

By the way, the Leafs took a player from the GTA in the first round of the NHL draft last summer. And when Burke won the Cup in Anaheim, the vast majority of players were from Canada.

You may dislike the guy or his managerial style. But he's not out to make the Leafs into Team America. He's just trying to win.

I'm pretty sure if the Leafs had no Ontarians and were in first place nothing would be said. That said, just saying the team would be better now if it had more Ontarians is as ridiculous as claiming Phil Kessel would be more successful if he just shot left-handed.

You know, like Bobby Orr did.

 

Comments

[JC]

You should all ignore Don Cherry and just follow @DonCherryParody on twitter. Way more entertaining.

[Kundan P.]

ONTARIO IS A HOCKEY FACTORY. TWO OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS EVER: WAYNE GRETZKY, BRANTFORD, BOBBY ORR, PARRY SOUND. ENOUGH SAID. The majority of all players who are from Ontario were or probably are Leafs fans. Imagine how motivated they would be to play for the Leafs and understand what the fans want, and what they go through.

[Jack]

Damien, you know how it works... controversy boosts the ratings, as does writing a piece opposing facts that you can't really argue about... see normally I wouldn't post a comment on your blog but here I am. What else are we going to rant about, world hunger , the environment, poverty or some other nonsense?

[LeafFanAtLarge]

Gee, what a surprise. First you say you are not going to get into the middle of the argument...and then you weigh in on the side that would be opposed to Don Cherry. So, I guess you are right. You are not in the middle.

And now, to the real point. Mr. Burke, without a doubt leans toward American-born players...though I personally doubt it is because he biased toward them. It is because he is more familiar with them...and more of his colleagues (who are also more familiar with young American talent) are American. He, like anyone else, will go with what he knows.

Having said that, let's look at some other facts. Roughly speaking, Canadians account for 55% of the players in the NHL....Americans 21%. On the Leafs current roster, it is 40% Canadians and 36% Americans. The Leafs are a middle of the pack team. Hmmm....

Let's have a look at the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. So far this year, they have dressed 9 Americans (most near the bottom of their depth in scoring, games played and ice time), and 18 Canadians. They are second overall in the Eastern Conference. Hmmm...

Just maybe Mr. Cherry has a point Damien. Put your hate aside for a tiny bit, and recognize that Canada still leads the way in players - and Ontario leads Canada (40% of Canadian NHL players are from Ontario)!

So...statistically...the Leafs should have about 12 Canadian players...and about 5 of these should be from Ontario.

Whether you like it or not...in all likelihood...the Leafs would be a better team if they had more Canadians, and more good old Ontario boys, wearing the Blue and White.

[Craig Scott]

I think the point is a valid one considering that every team in the league has at least 1 Ontario born player in their starting roster except for Toronto. Now the I am not saying that where a guy comes from should make a difference BUT, when you are developing the greatest numbers of NHL caliber hockey players in the world it makes sense to have them on your team. That is why it is strange to me, not because Burke is American but because in my opinion if you are not signing or drafting Ontario players then you are not getting the best in many cases.

To top it all off, when Burke makes excuses for his players because Ontario players play harder when they come to town then he opened that door, not Cherry

[Jim]

How about all the Ontario born players that refuse to play in Toronto because it's too much pressure, because they want more money, how is it that the guy that took a piece of crap team and turned them into young decent team on the rise, is a hater of Ontario, would he have chosen Toronto if he hated it?

[Jonathan, Montreal]

Cherry is a dinosaur.

[Brian Watt]

You just don't like Cherry so if he says black you automatically say white!
This rant was deserved as Burke (Burkie) went whinning behind his back to Cherry's bosses to get him fired or silenced about his buddy and coach Wilson who he turns around and fires him after saying this coach is going nowhere. The Ontario thing is somewhat true as Don feels that way especially Kingston boys but this just a way to let Burkie know how he feels about his gutless move going to the CBC.
This not the first time that he has wanted people removed who didn't suck up to Burkie. Krystal, Berger maybe!
I just wish the fans would start chanting " Fire Burkie " when the dust settles on the 2011-12 season and they missed the play-offs again, 4 years in a row for Mr. Burkie the blow hard who thinks he invented this game, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Tony Dodge]

Don needs to shut up about everything. No one cares what he says anymore. CBC needs to understand that people aren't putting off their 1st intermission scobby snack to see what Don has to say anymore.........one more thing..... I was born in Kingston....no one there cares what he says either. Time to retire Don.

[Glen]

Mr Cherry's rant about Toronto not having enough players from Ontario was a response to something that happened in the pre-game interview between Ron MacLean and Brian Burke. Mr Burke stated that it playing in Toronto was made more difficult because visiting teams have 4 or 5 players from Ontario, and that these players elevate their game when they come to play at the ACC in front of family and friends. Ron Maclean picked up on that and suggested to Mr Burke that if it works for the opposing team, wouldn't it then work if the Leafs had 4 or 5 locals...they would elevate their game as well?? Mr Burke then said about Toronto fans not caring what passport the players carried. Don Cherry was just continuing that point on Coaches Corner. That there are 40,000 players in the GTA, and that the local team should have the advantage of scouting those players, because they are in the NHL team's backyard. It's not necessarily about high draft picks...it's about mining the diamond in the rough in such a huge area that the Leafs don't seem to take advantage of.

[Tim Maher]

Nice article Damien, I hear ya. Love that Ron MacLean was timekeeping Cherry, oh, so he could plug his (Cherry's) TV movie bio. Yeah, Cherry goes over the top a lot, and Burke wants it both ways. This all goes away when (if) the Leafs start winning.
P.S How about a boxing match between Burke and Cherry, all proceeds going to their favorite charities? .

[Craig]

Defend Burke all you want Cox, but if it goes one way (no bias toward Ontarians) it should also go the other way (no bias toward Ducks and Team USAs). You think Burke has been objective about basically bringing in familiar faces since he got here? I don't think he's necessarily anti-Ontario but he's unquestionably pro-Anaheim and pro-TeamUSA to his own detriment and the team's. The fact Randy Carlyle (of all people) is now Ron Wilson's replacement makes me nauseous. I can't take it anymore. This manager obviously has an active bias the likes of which even Ontario hockey fans cannot claim.

I'm not saying to hire Ontario players. But broaden your horizons for Christ's sake! It's the same logic. So tired of making moves for Ducks... and Americans... the number of transactions there is far more than random probability could ever justify.

[Paul]

MacLeans question was idiotic. Ontario players from other teams get geared up to play in Toronto because it's a rare event for them, some of them only get to play here once every few years in front of family and friends. If you play for the Leafs Saturday night is just another regular home game. No special night for Ontario kids on the home team, no extra adrenaline. So what Burke was describing wouldn't change even if every Leaf was from Ontario.

So it was Macleans question that was bizarro. The two issues aren't related. And for the record Burke has drafted 10 Ontario kids in his three Leafs drafts. In the 10 years before three other Leafs GMs drafted 2 Ontario kids in total.

Congratulations to Don Cherry for once again using his taxpayer funded bully pulpit to manufacture a phony controversy based on where these kids are born.

[Mick]

Here a few statistics that may shed light on the Leafs, as well as the league in general. There are 763 players on active rosters amongst the 30 teams. There are 175 Americans (23%), 395 Canadians (52%) with 160 from Ontario (21%). Toronto has 7 American players and 11 Canadian players, with none from Toronto/Ontario. There are 12 teams with as many or more American players than the Leafs. Clearly they aren't 'Team America'. In fact, 23 NHL teams have at least 5 American players. The Leafs have 11 Canadian players (48%), which is just shy of the norm. There are 10 NHL teams with less Canadian players than Toronto. While Toronto does not have any players from Toronto, none of the other Canadian teams boast players from their respective cities, except for Calgary (Krys Kolanos) and Edmonton (Taylor Fedun). Food for thought. Remember: statistics should be used like a drunk uses a lamp post, for support rather than illumination. Use them as you will.