Disappointment on The Lawn

LONDON--Milos Raonic expected so much more. So did the tennis world.

But expectations don't necessarily translate into results, and so the Maple Leaf Missile was swept out of Wimbledon today by Sam Querrey of the U.S. in a second round match that began on Thursday and ended fairly quickly today.

The match resumed at 3-3 in the third set, with each player having won a set. But Querrey won the third tiebreak of the match, and then broke the 21-year-old Canadian in the first game of the fourth set. The American held serve the rest of the way to post a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (8), 6-4 upset victory.

Raonic served well, but he made far too many errors today, particularly on his forehand, which completely betrayed him. It was another week of hard lessons and challenging circumstances, and the tennis world will surely start wondering when Raonic will post a noteworthy result in one of the game's four Grand Slams.

Raonic went out early in the Australian and French Opens this year. He was eliminated in the second round of Wimbledon last year as well after falling and being forced to withdraw.

Raonic was labelled a "darkhorse" by many tennis experts for Wimbledon this year, and the way in which he lost - tons of errors, seemingly easily discouraged - had the tournament buzzing afterwards. Querrey is the 64th ranked player in the world, while Raonic was Wimbledon's No. 21 seed.

He'll be back at the All-England Club in four weeks to compete for Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

 

 

When Yesterday Bleeds Into Today. . .and Tomorrow?

LONDON--Apparently, Milos Raonic needs to become accustomed to tennis matches that last for more than one day. You know, like a cricket match. Or stomach flu.

it happened to Canada's No. 1 player on Tuesday when he was prevented by rain from dispatching Columbia's Santiago Giraldo until Wednesday, and it happened to him again on Thursday when his second round hammer match with Sam Querrey was stopped at dead even in the third set by an absence of necessary natural light and carried over into Friday.

This is, of course, the nature of Wimbledon, where John Isner and Nicolas Mahut can tell you matches sometimes take three days because it can be rainy and there's no lights and stuff like that. For Raonic, having his match with Querrey suspended overnight might turn out to be very, very good news, or then again, it might kill his chances of a dream date with Andy Murray next week.

First, the possible good news. Deadlocked at one set apiece with the third set tied 3-3, it was as good a time as any for Raonic to get a break and a chance to consult with coach Galo Blanco and recalibrate. Yes, he had 17 aces and a higher first serve percentage than the 6-foot-6 Querrey in a match that one American commentator described as a "rock fight" and was roughly akin to watch two men pound a stake into the ground with sledgehammers.

No, guile was not on the menu in this one. But Raonic won the first set tiebreak and then had two set points in the second, and so in the third set, or at least the first six games of it, it wasn't hard to get the feeling that Querrey, slightly more experienced at 24 years of age than his 21-year-old opponent, was feeling just a wee bit more comfortable in the situation while Raonic was still agonizing over what might have been. Querrey has played Isner in finals before. He knows what its like to trade ace-for-ace, winner-for-winner and treat extended rallies like they are for the weak.

So overnight, the Maple Leaf Missile gets to review and consider new options. Thursday was a weird day on all fronts, because he practiced at 11 a.m. figuring to be on court by 4ish and instead, because Mardy Fish refused to finish off British journeyman James Ward when he should have, didn't get to start trading bombs with Querrey until 7 p.m.

That'll leave an athlete feeling out of sorts. At least Roanic knows that the third set is on serve and will commence - barring rain - at 1 p.m. London time on Friday on the same court. He might have to wait for the weather, but not for other matches.

The bad news, however, is that lean and hard-serving Marin Cilic awaits the winner of the Raonic-Querrey match, and Cilic soared through his match on Thursday and will have Friday off before facing the victor of the "rock fight" on Saturday. If Raonic gets there, then, he'll have prepared and played five straight days, not the recipe for success here.

Statistically, Raonic and Querrey were close to even when they broke for the day on Thursday. If there was a notable difference, it was the 23 points Raonic had won on 31 visits to the net, part of his game that still needs development, and part of his game that could ultimately turn him from promising to devastating.

We'll see what a night's sleep did. Fitful nightmares or blissful dreams? Dreadful images of Querrey's howitzer serve or visions of piledriving the American into submission with his own forehand? 

This one could go either way. London's Friday morning started with heavy clouds, wind and rain, so more surprises and delays are possible. Raonic-Querrey is on the only second round match in the men's draw unfinished, and the third round has to be completed tomorrow. Sunday is a day off, and Monday is the big day, the Round of 16 for both men and women.

So even though the policy is usually that a match must be completed on the court on which it started, it's worth wondering that if there are more rain delays today, might Raonic-Querrey be switched indoors to roof-covered Centre Court to get it done?

Still, a break in the action gave everyone time to reconsider where they are, where they want to go and how to get there.

 

 

 

 

Hornet's Nest

LONDON--You've got to at least give Gilles Simon credit for not turtling.

The new president of the ATP players council stirred the pot early this week by questioning equal pay for men and women in tennis, and after being eliminated at Wimbledon today by Xavier Malisse in straight sets, the Frenchman didn't back off or claim misquote.

"My point of view was just about ‑ it's a difficult topic ‑ but it was just about the entertainment.  If you just watch how it is working in every other, like, sport, but even for the singers, for everything, you're just paid by the public directly," he said. "My point was that I have the feeling that men's tennis is actually more interesting than women's tennis.  As in any business or anything, you just have to be paid just about that.  It's not because we play five sets and they are playing three."

No less a figure than Maria Sharapova, No. 1 on the women's tour and the richest female athlete in history, took umbrage with Simon's point of view.

"We women have fought so long to get equal prize money," said Sharapova. "It was a big challenge and nobody really supported us.  It's been a few years since we've gotten that.  We're all really proud of it, and we continue to build the sport and make it bigger. 

"No matter what anyone says, or the criticisms that we get, despite everything else, I mean, I'm sure there are a few more people that watch my matches than (Simon's), so..."

Ouch. Simon tried to stick to the larger issue in response, and said he believes the vast majority of players on the men's tour agree with him.

"It's not about me, one player, or another one.  Maria is more famous than me.  I know it.  She deserves to win more money than me.  That is not the problem," he said. "Just check the price of the ticket from the men's final and the woman's final for example.  It's not about me anymore, it's about the tennis.  That's the way it works in life and everything. 

". . .entertainment is not about being a man or woman.  It's just about, as I said, public coming to watch you or not.  It's not about how hard you work.  You can work hard and be a very famous singer.  You can work hard and just sing in your bathroom.  That's the way it works.  It's maybe sad, but this is the way it works."

One one point Simon is bang on. At Wimbledon, the top price for the men's final is 120 pounds ($192 CAN). For the women's, 105 pounds ($168 CAN).

Let the debate continue.

 

 

 

 

Curiousity From Afar

LONDON--Even from overseas, it's fascinating to watch the commotion over Justin Schultz, perhaps deserved, perhaps not.

Everybody, from the Maple Leafs to at least 19 other clubs, it sounds like, are hot on the trail of the University of Wisconsin defenceman. As always, it's worth wondering if it's because of his talent - and the kid has a chunk of it - or simply because he is free, at least as of Monday. No need to trade players or prospects or picks to get him, no need to even expend a high draft selection - you just sign him.

This, going back to the days of Ray Staszak, has always caused NHL clubs to absolutely lose their minds and all perspective. Similar unrestricted young players have come on line in recent years, from Teddy Purcell to Matt Gilroy, from Fabian Brunnstrom to Jonas (The Monster) Gustavsson, from Jussi Rynnas to Mats (The Norwegian Hobbit) Zuccarello, from Christian Hanson to Tyler Bozak. Heck, once upon a time teams went bananas over Mike Van Ryn because he managed to make himself an unrestricted free agent.

They never seem to turn out to be stars. Adam Oates, signed by Detroit out of RPI back in '85, certainly did, and he went on to a Hall of Fame career.

But sometimes, these kinds of UFAs don't make it at all.

Which brings us back to the much-hyped Schultz, currently sifting through offers with his representatives from Newport Sports, experts in the field of maximizing financial possibilities for their clients. 

It might be worth remembering at this point that in 2008, Schultz was a second round pick, 43rd overall. Florida liked Jacob Markstrom better, L.A. liked Slava Voynov better, Nashville preferred Roman Josi and Ottawa, with the No. 42, selected Patrick Wiercioch. Schultz was a B.C. Tier II player at the time and has since gone on to become a star at Wisconsin, increasing his marketabiity to the point the team that drafted him, Anaheim, couldn't afford to sign him or at least didn't believe he was worth that investment.

Or maybe, as is speculated, there's been some tampering going on. Who knows? 

Now, the NHL salary cap system prevents teams from blowing out their brains on such players, as Detroit once did with Staszak. The entry level salary is set, and what's negotiable is performance bonuses. So that's a $925,000 base salary, including $92,500 signing bonus, plus $2.85 million in performance bonuses for a $3.77 million cap hit, according to Capgeek.com.

Also negotiable are guarantees on NHL roster positions, and that's where this gets interesting.

Schultz appears to be in a position where he can essentially demand to be in the NHL next season. But is that in his best interests, or best interests of the team with which he signs? He's only 22, and maybe he's like Jake Gardiner and can jump right in, or maybe he'll need to adjust. Time in the minors has been known to help the odd player.

Schultz turns 22 next month. Gilroy was 24 coming out of Boston University as a similarly sized, right-hand shooting defenceman with offensive abilities, and hyped just as much or more. He only spent five games in the minors, but has since been traded twice, with both the Rangers and Lightning deciding fairly quickly they could do better. The Leafs were after Gilroy hot and heavy back then, too, but the Rangers got him because they were willing to offer guarantees Toronto would not.

Gilroy was supposed to be a star, and maybe he will be with Ottawa, the team he joined last season. But his story should at least give teams pause with Schultz.

At the same time, it's all about acquiring assets, and Schultz is as good an asset at this point as, say, Matt Finn, the impressive Guelph defenceman selected by the Leafs in the second round this year. Finn lasted until the 35th pick, and the question NHL teams have to ask themselves is whether Schultz has a better chance of making it, and then put a value on that.

Detroit has acknowledged they've been told they're not on Schultz's short list. If the kid wants to play, he probably knows that's a tough lineup to crack. Or he might be leaning towards a western Canadian team.

Some team will win this sweepstakes and be very happy about it. Somewhere down the line, we'll find out whether it was even close to worth it. 

 

 

 

Short Work

LONDON--Milos Raonic says he's not haunted by the memories of the Wimbledon tumble that wrecked his season last year.

But just in case, Raonic acknowledged today that he has asked All-England Club officials not to place him on Court No. 3 for any of his matches. That was the court on which he fell against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and wrenched his hip, an injury which required surgery and knocked him out for three months.

"They said they didn't see a problem," he said today. "But no promises."

Raonic will face Sam Querrey of the U.S. on Thursday - no court has yet been assigned - after needing only two minutes and nine seconds to finish off his victory over Santiago Giraldo of Columbia this morning at Wimbledon in five quick points.

Stopped by rained late Tuesday, Raonic was serving for the match at 6-4, 6-4. 5-4, and had a whole night to think about delivering the knockout blow when the two resumed play just before 2 p.m. today.

Raonic started with his 20th ace of the match down the middle, as if to send Giraldo a strong message that he had no hope of climbing back into the match. Giraldo's return of a second serve sailed long to make it 30-0. Raonic then double faulted, perhaps an expression of how amped up he was, then unleashed another lethal serve down the middle that Giraldo barely got a racquet on.

On match point, Raonic's serve coaxed a weak, high return, and he smashed the ball off the court and over the 10-foot fence to end the match and avenge a loss to Giraldo in their only previous match two years ago.

The 21-year-old Raonic and the 24-year-old Querrey have never played. Querrey, once ranked as high as No. 17 in the world, is now No. 64.

Raonic said he believes he has learned how to let his body go when he slides on the sometimes slick grass courts here, rather than try to quickly regain his footing.

"I'm more cautious now," he said.

 

 

Working Her Way Back

LONDON--It was only three years ago that it appeared Aleksandra Wozniak was about to burst into the top echelon of the tennis world just as Milos Raonic has done.

Except it didn't happen.

At Wimbledon 2009, Wozniak entered the tournament as the 23rd seed, having strung together a series of impressive wins. But she lost in the first round to Italy's Francesca Schiavone, and soon after found herself basically out of tennis, sidelined by painful forearm tendinitis.

For 10 months, she rehabbed the injury. Sat around her home in Blainville, Quebec. Lost a ton of weight and muscle. But here she is, back at Wimbledon for the 2012 event, and on Tuesday she rolled to a straight sets win over Vera Dushivina of Russia. Regardless of what happens with the rest of this tournament, she'll also represent Canada next month at the London Olympics.

 

"I feel the momentum is getting back," she said today. "I'm so close. I've been there in the past and I want to get back to it."

Once as high as No. 21 in the world, the 24-year-old Wozniak is now 56th. Still, she believes she's better now than she was. 

"It's different, absolutely different. I'm a different person, a different player," she said. "I learned a lot of things. It strengthened my character and how I see things. My perspective. I feel more complete, you could say. I feel more confident I can play against the top players like I did before.

"The injury was tough, 10 months out. I've always been in tennis, so it was very difficult. For the first time in my life I was in the normal world. Being with friends, going to movies, being at home - it was boring, because I'd never had a taste of that life. Its so fast in the tennis world, travelling and competing every week. If you're not playing matches, you're training hard every day."

Against Dushivina, she won the first set easily, then had a few speed wobbles in the second before closing to a 6-2, 7-5 win. That makes her the last Canadian woman in the draw, with Stephanie Dubois blowing a lead and ultimately losing to No. 25 seeded Jie Zheng of China.

Wozniak will now play Zheng in the next round. The two women have played twice before, including last month at Roland Garros, and Wozniak has won both matches.

Last year at this time, it was Rebecca Marino of Vancouver who led the Canadian female contingent into the All-England club. She was knocked out quickly, and after losing in the first round of the Australian Open this year, chose to take a break from the WTA tour because of "intense mental and physical fatigue." There's no indication when or if Marino will return from her mysterious sabbatical.

"I didn't know that she was going to take a break until after," said Wozniak. "Lots of girls on the tour ask me, 'Where's Rebecca?" I just say I heard she's taking a break, but I don't know why.

"Every tournament, we played together. I think she's a shy person who keeps her emotions under wraps. She doesn't talk much. It's a strange break with the year of the Olympics. Whatever it is she's going through, I've been through a lot, and she's just got to get past it.

"Tennis is such an individual sport, and as a player and an athlete you put a lot of pressure on yourself to succeed, to play well, and you want to achieve your goals. For sure, there are always going to be obstacles in tennis and in life. You have to persevere and not give up. I got more determined after my injury. Anything that comes my way I have to find a way to get past it."

Wozniak, for her part, said it wasn't easy to get back to tennis after being out for so long.

"I needed to get some weight back on, get back to my routine," she said. "You know, curfews, waking up. I had to push myself to eat again. I got so lean after not playing. I was skinny. Maybe half the size I am now. Stress and everything and not working hard, and you don't have to push yourself to eat carbs to keep your energy up. It was tough for me."

Wozniak's Polish-born father and long-time coach, Antoni, is now retired from his job as a mechanical engineer and is travelling with her full-time.

Soon, she'll be an Olympian.

"I've been dreaming about it since I was a little girl," she said. "I'm very excited.

---

Venus Williams refuses to go quietly

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Again, With Feeling

LONDON--It's the biennial British cringe.

A defeat in a major international soccer event - either Euro or the World Cup - followed nearly immediately by a turn in attention to the possibility that Scotland's Andy Murray will end Great Britain's long, long wait for a males singles champion at Wimbledon.

"i don't understand you guys because he's from Scotland and you're British," said Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko, Murray's first round opponent today, while intentionally poking a little fun at U.K. national sensibilities.

"He is Scottish. Haven't you had a war for 100 years with Scotland?"

Today, the post-mortem over England's penalty kicks loss to Italy in Kiev on Sunday was in full bloom with, remarkably, only manager Roy Hodgson excaping the usual scathing critiques from the British press and former Englisher footballers.

What went wrong? Not enough Wayne Rooney, and questions about why he took a Vegas vacation at the end of the English Premiership season. Not enough Jack Wilshere. Not enough ball possession (39 per cent against the Italians). Too much reliance on a defence-first, 4-4-2 alignment that left the midfield chasing all the time. No break in the English season to give the best footballers a break. Why Cristian Ronaldo has as many shots on goal as the entire English team. Why the Spanish complete more passes in a game than the English do in a tournament. Not enough emphasis on skill to counter the Andrea Pirios of the world stage.

"A very defensive team," said the Italian star after his country's 4-2 triumph. "It's just a shame we took so long to beat them and used up a lot of energy."

It was the seventh time in eight major internationals decided by penalty kicks that the English have lost, and that's a debate all on its own. We may debate why Wayne Gretzky didn't get to shoot in Nagano in 1998, but this is a country that can't get anybody to score, any year.

Shamefully, and in echoes of the vicious treatment accorded Joel Ward in the Stanley Cup playoffs, English stars Ashley Cole and Ashley Young were slagged in social media with all variety of racial epithets for missing their penalties, causing the Football Association to come to their aid.

"They have just given everything for the national team at Euro 2012 and it is appalling and unacceptable that messages of an abusive type are being posted," said the FA in a release.

English fans appear to love Hodgson because he makes the lads sing the national anthem and because, well, he's English, not Italian or Swedish. Hodgson is promising "revolution" in tactics and personnel before the next friendly in Bern, Switzerland against the same Italians, and then will come World Cup qualifying matches on the road in Moldova and at home against Ukraine, both in the fall.

There is, of course, a predictable nature to these self-flagellating reviews that follow each and every national setback.

"Behind the scenes, however, the radical restructuring must start today to ensure the next generation can aspire to something more," wrote former national team member Jamie Carragher in The Guardian. "If not, we will all be making precisely the same observations at the end of the 2022 World Cup."

So now British lonely eyes turn to Murray. Youngster Heather Watson gave the Brits something to cheer about on Monday night by becoming the first British woman to win on Centre Court in a quarter-century, but Murray is the one with all the attention.

Bookies have him at 12-1, a longer shot than in other years, and his association with new coach Ivan Lendl started with a bang but seems to have levelled off. Murray seems to have been at No. 4 in the world forever, and seemingly unable to knock off one of the The Big Three to break through and win a major.

So this biennial cringe is a half-hearted lament for English football and a half-hearted hope for Murray. Half-hearted, but certainly dependable every two years. 

Getting Ready

LONDON--Milos Raonic figures his parents are using the carrot-and-stick approach.

Neither his father nor mother are in town for the beginning of his second assault on Wimbledon, but might be around by the end of the week.

"They have things to take care of," he smiled today after a morning workout on the practice courts at the All-England Club. "They may come if I do well. I think they're trying to motivate me."

Raonic hit today with Spanish star David Ferrer for about an hour before being displaced by Roger Federer and Jarkko Nieminen. On an adjacent court, Rafael Nadal was going through his paces, while Andy Murray trudged on to a nearby court followed by the usual phalanx of cameras that greet his every move at this event. The practice courts are open to the public, and the buzz of Wimbledon on these courts as the tournament begins is unique.

With the first day competition beginning on the main courts, Raonic and Ferrer hit on a warm English morning, and played some games as well, with Raonic's coach Galo Blanco looking on. Raonic and Blanco are both convinced that a loss on grass to Federer earlier this month in Germany was largely the result of the young Canadian playing one of his poorest matches of the year.

"I served well. That's about it," said Raonic good-naturedly.

He gets Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in the first round on Tuesday, a player who has beaten Raonic in their only previous meeting, a Davis Cup clash on clay in 2010.

Raonic has his team of Blanco, a physiotherapist and a trainer set up in a house near Wimbledon, plus a friend from Toronto, and looks set for his best run in a Grand Slam event yet. He won his first match last year against Marc Giquel before being injured in his second match against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Raonic's father, Dusan, was at the All-England Club from the start of the tournament last year. For the most part, Raonic's parents are rarely seen, very different from players like Murray and Novak Djokovic. Nadal, of course, is coached by his Uncle Toni, and a large contingent of family supporters, including his parents, were at Roland Garros early this month to see him capture his seventh French Open title.

 

 

 

Canucks Don't Yet Hold All The Cards

It depends how bad the feelings are between Brian Burke and Mike Gillis.

After the weekend, it's not hard to say they're sour, with gusts to out-and-out dislike.

That's okay. GMs who don't like each other can do hockey deals, and part of the weekend was spent by both men trying to see if they can work out a trade that would move Roberto Luongo and his enormous contract into the Leaf tent.

Nothing happened, and Burke's comments that he wasn't going to "strip-mine" his organization to get a goalie without mentioning Luongo specifically suggested Gillis is asking for a lot more than Burke - or anybody - is willing to give. Only Florida is also in the mix, it appears, which works for Luongo since it's his first choice.

Gillis says he's in no hurry. Well, he might want to re-think that.

There's one card Burke could play, one that would turn relations between the two clubs downright ugly.

The Leaf GM could lay down a huge, multi-year, multi-million offer sheet next Monday for the other Vancouver goalie, 26-year-old restricted free agent Cory Schneider, the Canucks goalie every team would rather get if they had a choice.

That wouldn't get them Schneider; Vancouver would have to match rather than accept multiple first rounders from Toronto.

But it would force Vancouver's hand in the same way San Jose forced Chicago to let Antti Niemi go a few years ago by signing Niklas Hjalmarsson. Let's say the Schneider offer was eight years for $40 million. The Canucks would be stuck with more than $10 million in annual goalie costs, with both at lengthy terms. The Leafs could also, if they wanted, load the deal with so-called "lockout" money, say $15 million in the first year that would be Schneider's even if there's a lockout next season.

If you're the Leafs, why not? Worst thing that could happen is you might actually get Schneider, or that the Canucks might poach Leaf RFAs down the line.

Otherwise, these two teams don't like each other anyway. Might as well play hardball.

The Canucks are a wealthy team. But no owner would want to carry a contract like that, and Luongo's.

If the Leafs did it, it would poison the waters between the teams, just like years ago when the Leafs put down an offer sheet for Mattias Ohlund. Theoretically, the Canucks could give Luongo to some other team to spite the Leafs, but what good would that do Gillis? Burke hasn't liked long-term deals in the past because he believes they contravene the salary cap, but he appears to be past that principle. His colleagues have convinced him it's putting the Leafs at a competitive disadvantage.

The Vancouver GM, of course, could sidestep this threat by signing Schneider himself this week, but Schneider seems unlikely to sign until he knows the starting job in Vancouver is all his. There's not a chance, despite Gillis' bluster, that Schneider wants to show up in camp next fall still faced with battling Luongo for starts.

So really, Gillis needs to solve this problem this week by trading Luongo, if not to the Leafs, then somewhere. No Luongo, no threat for a Schneider offer sheet.  It's hard to gauge what Florida's actual interest would be, or whether they'd be willing to give roster players, draft picks and top prospects to Vancouver as Gillis appears to be demanding.

We know he's not getting Jake Gardiner from the Leafs, and Luke Schenn is gone. He might get a roster player (Tyler Bozak) or a second-line prospect (Jesse Blacker, Korbinian Holzer) and a second rounder. Demand Nazem Kadri or Stuart Percy and a second and Burke might really have to think.

Problem is, Gillis has told Canuck fans he's determined to get a bigger package than that for Luongo. He suggests he has all the cards. Funny, because its starting to look as though he's a man backed into a corner.

 

 

 

 

 

Provincial D-Men

In this Battle of Ontario, Ottawa emerged as the big winner.

After all, it was quite a week for Erik Karlsson, wasn't it? First, the Senators backliner signed a gigantic new seven-year, $45.5 million contract, and then he walked away with the Norris Trophy on Wednesday night as the NHL's best defenceman.

We can quibble a little on that one - there's not a GM in hockey who wouldn't take Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara over Karlsson - but the fact is the slender Swede was adjudged to be the best of the best by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and so he gets his name on the trophy. Congrats. No easy win for a player from a small market.

The Maple Leafs, provincial rivals of the Sens, traditionally don't get anywhere near this kind of hardware, and they certainly don't have a blueliner with the offensive explosiveness of Karlsson. But on awards night, a night on which Will Arnett's spoofs of Brendan Shanahan were the first, second and third most entertaining parts of the program, the Leaf blueline got a small slice of recognition when Jake Gardiner was named to the NHL all-rookie team.

For a defenceman nobody was really figuring into Toronto's plans prior to training camp this season, it's a heck of an achievement for Gardiner to be placed alongside prized freshmen like Calder Trophy winner Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique and Justin Faulk. For Leaf management, it's an example of a very good trade made in recent years, one that doesn't get the attention of the Phil Kessel deal but delivered huge results.

Gardiner is one year younger than Karlsson, but has played two fewer NHL seasons, so they're not at the same points in their careers. Still, they are destined to lock horns over the coming seasons in future Battles of Ontario, and if Gardiner can even approach the 78-point season delivered by Karlsson this year, the Leafs would be thrilled. In a league becoming more and more defensive, these are two young rearguards who love to wheel with the puck, show off their terrific skating skills and make plays.

Ottawa has locked down Karlsson, and while the Leafs contractually have two more years before they need to worry about Gardiner, they also need to make sure he stays a Leaf, as opposed to be parcelled off in some flight of fancy for a veteran goalie or an established scorer.

In fact, Gardiner's college defence partner, Justin Schultz, is an unsigned Anaheim draft pick who will be unrestricted in a matter of days, and the Leafs will be among a horde of teams in their pitching hard. It's a good example of the overall approach the Leafs need to take. Rather than focussing on figuring out how to get this young team into the post-season, they need to find ways to add more young players to the stock of youngsters they already own. In other words, worry about the process of building a really good team rather than the result of getting into the post-season.

That approach will provide more satisfying results over a longer period.