So Long Fergie

The axe finally dropped. As many have suspected for some time, John Ferguson Jr. has been relieved of his duties as general manager and vice president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In what might seem like a time warp back to 1991 for most Leaf fans, Cliff Fletcher is again general manager of the team. This time the tag "interim" has been attached to his name and the organization has stated that Fletcher will run the team for 19 months and will lead the quest to find a permanent boss.

First off, it's quite evident that Ferguson was never given full control of this team. It would appear that he had someone looking over his shoulder at each and every turn. Regardless of this fact, it would appear there is a great deal of pressure put on the general manager by the board at MLSE to make the playoffs every season. They would of course like to win a Stanley Cup, they are not trying to lose but simply making the playoffs is the first objective of the organization from an ownership point of view.

When any manager feels such pressure, it's only natural to mortgage the team's future for short term gain. Hence the trade of Raycroft for Rask and the signing of Kubina to an absurd contract, just to name a few. No, Richard Peddie nor any of the other board members orchestrated these moves, but when pressured into making the playoffs last season, Ferguson did what he felt necessary to please his bosses. These moves were ultimately missteps, moves that (along with several others) led to Ferguson's eventual dismissal. Ferguson had to be dismissed, there's no doubt about it, but he's not solely the one to blame for the disfunction of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Any observer of the Maple Leafs agrees that the team needs to rebuild from the ground up. They need to sell off any remaining valuable assets (Mats Sundin is the only tradeable commodity at this time) and start over. Beyond Sundin, the Leafs are still strapped with an abundance of bloated contracts. Jason Blake at 4 million a season over the next 5 years, Darcy Tucker for 3 million a season over the next 4, Bryan McCabe for just under 6 million a season over the next 4 and Pavel Kubina for 5 million a season over the next 3 years (each of those contracts includes this season). That's 18 million dollars tied up in four players over the next 3 years who aren't anywhere near elite status.

Darcy Tucker is a glorified third line player, a competitor and fan favourite, but not someone who can be counted on for consistent offense. Jason Blake was 34 years old and coming off a career season where he exploded for 40 goals after averaging 25 a season the three previous years. A drop in production had to be expected, but the Leafs signed him to a long term deal that will keep him in Toronto till the age of 39. Blake was of course diagnosed with leukemia, but has received clearance from to his doctor's to remain playing hockey. The leukemia doesn't affect his health on the ice supposedly, but one can only assume that this disease will affect his performance at least on a mental level. Blake therefore can't be criticized for his lack of production this season, but the Leafs are stuck with his contract. A contract that was far too generous before he was diagnosed.

Bryan McCabe's contract is ridiculous, we knew that from day one, as well as Pavel Kubina's. In McCabe, Ferguson overpaid to retain his rights. In Kubina's case, Ferguson overpaid to patch up the Leafs spotty blueline. Moves both made under pressure to make the playoffs, not to help the team long term.

At any rate, Fletcher and whomever is given the job of full time general manager, has a lot of work to do to get this team on the right track. It's hard to imagine anyone taking on those above contracts in today's cap crazed NHL. Fletcher was the one who acquired Sundin in 1995 for Leaf legend and captain at the time, Wendel Clark. For Leaf fans, let's hope Fletcher can swing a deal as fortuitous for the Leafs as that deal was. Trading away a captain and an icon is not easy, but given his track record, the Leafs might have hired the right man to do the job (in the interim). Then again, we are talking about a man who hasn't managed an NHL team in 10 years.

As many have stated before, the Leafs need to hire a proven GM with a solid track record. This person needs to be given complete control of the team. It seems quite obvious to all of the outside observers. But when Air Canada Centre is sold out night after night to watch the same borderline playoff team play year after year, why would things ever change? The board is pleased with Richard Peddie and the profit he brings in so he won't ever change the way he does business. Leaf fans can only hope that Peddie feels even pity for them and builds the team the right way. Until then, the next general manager will fair no better than John Ferguson Jr.

All-Star Teams

It's just about time for everyone's favourite all-star game! Well, not really. It's one of my least favourite all-star games (the best in my opinion is the NBA's, followed by Major League Baseball. Fortunately for the NHL, the Pro Bowl is the worst of the bunch). We are just past the midway point in the season and the all-star teams have been announced, so I figured why not name mine? Well I did.

What a sweet logo by the way. The NHL really went out of their way to change things from last year.

I created a new formula and took hours of time to figure out these teams. There I go lying again. I didn't include a player from each team, the way the NHL does. The best players are therefore not included. I know that pro sports league's do it this way so fans from each city have one of their own in the game, but do fans in Chicago really care if Duncan Keith is in the game? No, they don't. Duncan Keith is a solid defenseman, but not an all-star. Host teams should have at least one representative however, I understand that philosophy. Someone decided Atlanta should have two and thus included Marian Hossa as well as the deserving Ilya Kovalchuk. Hossa is having his slowest year since his early Senator days and should be nowhere near this team.

I won't keep you in suspense any longer, here they are.

East

Forwards

Daniel Alfredsson – Ottawa Senators

Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins

Dany Heatley – Ottawa Senators

Ilya Kovalchuk – Atlanta Thrashers

Vincent Lecavalier – Tampa Bay Lightning

Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals

Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh Penguins

Mike Richards – Philadelphia Flyers

Jason Spezza – Ottawa Senators

Martin St. Louis – Tampa Bay Lightning

Eric Staal – Carolina Hurricanes

Mats Sundin – Toronto Maple Leafs

Defence

Brian Campbell – Buffalo Sabres

Zdeno Chara – Boston Bruins

Sergei Gonchar – Pittsburgh Penguins

Mike Green – Washington Capitals

Andrei Markov – Montreal Canadiens

Michal Roszival – New York Rangers

Goalies

Martin Brodeur – New Jersey Devils

Rick DiPietro – New York Islanders

Tomas Voukoun – Florida Panthers

West

Forwards

Brad Boyes – St. Louis Blues

Pavel Datsyuk – Detroit Red Wings

Marian Gaborik – Minnesota Wild

Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks

Shawn Horcoff – Edmonton Oilers

Jarome Iginla – Calgary Flames

Rick Nash – Columbus Blue Jackets

Mike Ribeiro – Dallas Stars

Paul Statsny – Colorado Avalanche

Daniel Sedin – Vancouver Canucks

Joe Thornton – San Jose Sharks

Henrik Zetterberg – Detroit Red Wings

Defence

Brent Burns – Minnesota Wild

Nicklas Lidstrom – Detroit Red Wings

Dion Phaneuf – Calgary Flames

Chris Pronger – Anaheim Ducks

Brian Rafalski – Detroit Red Wings

Sergei Zubov – Dallas Stars

Goalies

Pascal Leclaire – Columbus Blue Jackets

Robert Luongo – Vancouver Canucks

Evgeni Nabokov – San Jose Sharks

Some notes on some of the omissions. Some very good players are obviously left off, especially two goaltenders having sensational years in the Western Conference. While I sung the praises of Chris Osgood a few days ago, I ultimately had to leave him off because I felt both Pascal Leclaire and Evgeni Nabokov are more crucial parts of their teams right now. While Osgood has been fantastic this season losing only two games, he has split playing time with Dominik Hasek right down the middle. Nabokov on the other hand has started every game for the Sharks this season. Leclaire meanwhile has been phenomenal and has kept a below average Blue Jackets team in the playoff hunt. It was really a coin flip between Leclaire and Manny Legace of St. Louis. Both have carried their teams all season and have kept their teams in the playoff picture. I give the edge to Leclaire because of seven outstanding shutout performances (Legace has three in case you were wondering).

A few deserving forwards in the East were left off as well. Olli Jokinen, Alexei Kovalev, Daniel Briere, Marc Savard and Zach Parise were all tough omissions. I went with Mike Richards over
this bunch because of strong two way play. He's quickly becoming one of the best two way centres in the league and will soon enough become captain of the Flyers. Ask anyone around this team and they'll tell you Richards is the team's best player. Eric Staal got the nod just barely because while the Canes haven't been anything special lately, they still lead their division and need a bit of representation. Staal's defensive play is improving and he's been used sufficiently on the PK for the first time in his career. Staal and explosive, exciting player who's a bit more interesting to watch than the other forwards that were omitted. Plus, the Staal family needed some representation as well.

One dark horse I strongly considered was Chris Phillips of Ottawa. He's not flashy and doesn't put up big numbers, but he might be the top stay at home defenseman in hockey. He and Anton Volchenkov make up the best shut down defensive pairing in the league right now. The defensive defensemen never get their due and ultimately I didn't give Phillips' his. I couldn't leave off Mike Green and his 11 goals. He's given the Capitals a whole new dimension with his pucking moving ability.

I took Daniel instead of Henrik Sedin. Who can tell the difference anyway? One scores, the other sets up. Look at the pictures (Daniel on the left, Henrik on the right - Daniel the left winger, Henrik the centreman...didn't want to confuse them). Now one might think they would shave different goatees or something, but no. They are identical. Makes you wonder whether they sit in front of the mirror and shave together. They must love to mess with their Canuck teammates. If they ever smile in real life, something I have never seen either of them do outside of these posed team photos. I took the goal scorer who also plays the wing because I felt I had too many centres.

Anze Kopitar was another tough one to leave off. It was between he and Shawn Horcoff for the last forward spot. Their numbers are nearly identical (both have 18 goals, Kopitar has one more assist but Horcoff has played one more game). But Horcoff's defensive play gets him the nod over the Slovenian (although the fact that he's Slovenian was a major consideration.) Horcoff is one of the better two way centres in the NHL. He's a valuable leader to the Oilers as well.

The Maple Leafs Are Not A Good Hockey Team

The Leafs are bad, very bad. Cross your fingers Leaf fans, maybe management will get the picture. On the other hand, they probably won't.

It's Getting Ugly

No one seemed to believe Paul Maurice at the beginning of the year when he boldly stated that the Maple Leafs would "compete for the Stanley Cup." We all thought he was out to lunch on that one, but the playoffs certainly were a reasonable expectation and maybe even a playoff upset was in the Leafs' sights. Maurice's claim now sounds completely ridiculous. This team is not only going to miss the playoffs, but they are going to finish near the bottom of the NHL.

Toronto is now 28th in the NHL with 40 points, six points up on the last place team that disposed of them last night, the Los Angeles Kings. They are tied with the Kings and Lightning for the fewest wins in the league however. The only thing keeping them out of the basement is the ridiculous point system the NHL uses, awarding a team a point for a loss. Apparently a loss is half a win, according to the NHL and their point system. Yes, I know it's an overtime or shootout loss that they are being awarded for. They played such a stellar 60 minutes that they deserve something, don't they? That's the sob story that the NHL would lead you to believe. The fact of the matter is the NHL loves the "parody" that exits. It's a lot easier for the NHL to "sell their product" with the standings as close as they are. That way fans in Washington for example will come out to see their "playoff contending team" down the stretch. Nearly every team in each conference is in the playoff race, but is that good for the game? Are we really seeing the best brand of hockey as a result? Outside of Ottawa and Detroit, there aren't any truly superb hockey teams. I'm not so sure that makes for great hockey.

So despite the Leafs horrific play so far this season, they sit only five points out of a playoff spot. Everyone in this market who watches or follows this team knows they shouldn't be anywhere near the playoffs the way they've played this year. The NHL is keeping it close though. If the Leafs pull off a couple of victories, they will have their ownership and gullible fan base believing they can make a run at the playoffs. That might prevent them from trading their marquee player, Mats Sundin which is crucial at this point. We all know Mats is a hall of famer, a stand up guy who works his hardest every night but this team needs to move in a new direction. Everyone knows it, including Mats himself. It should have been done last season but the organization as usual felt making a run at the playoffs was more important than building for the future. Really, how can you blame John Ferguson for being so short sighted? He's given a one year deal every season and knows that if the team doesn't contend for a playoff spot that he will be axed. He's made some bad trades and poor free agent signings, but he hasn't been given the kind of security he needs to run the team and as we all know MLSE doesn't seem to give him complete control of the hockey club. He will be fired sometime in 2008 and given his track record he should be, but I feel sorry for the man. People will chuckle when they hear his name even after he's long gone. He hasn't left himself a particularly pretty legacy, but his job is not easy.

Leafs fans can only hope that the team continues to lose and lose miserably. Then maybe MLSE will get the picture and bring in someone to run the team who is given complete control of the hockey club. Someone who has the experience and courage to withstand the abuse from the Toronto media. Even then, with this organization, who knows if they will get the picture? They might have a top pick in this year's draft, but that alone won't save the franchise. Judging by their drafting history, it's tough to say they will make the right choice or keep that player until he does reach the NHL (see Tuukka Rask and Brad Boyes). Don't keep your hopes up Leaf fans, you have a long, long, long (can I stress the length some more?) long, long way to go.

Mid-Season Awards

It's the midway point in the season (well, a little bit past the midway point - every NHL team has played a minimum of 41 games except for two. St. Louis and Philadelphia are those two teams in case you were wondering). Why not give away some awards? Let's do it.

Hart Trophy

Vincent Lecavalier has been the most productive player, but Sidney Crosby is the league's most valuable. Crosby's Penguins sit 4th in the Eastern Conference and without him, they would be nowhere near the playoff picture even in a weak conference. Lecavalier might be playing better right now, but it's tough to call a player playing on the second worst team in the NHL it's most valuable at the same time. Lecavalier has more of a scoring touch than does Crosby, but Crosby (more than anyone else in the NHL) makes his teammates so much better. He finds the open man, he sacrifices his body, he bails his teammates out and plays every shift as if it was his last. It's not to say that Lecavalier or Jarome Iginla or Nicklas Lidstrom or Alex Ovechkin do not, but Crosby elevates his game to the next level consistently more than anyone else. At the midway point, the Hart race (as the Art Ross race) is extremely close. Over the course of a full season of course, we'll have a better idea of the true front runners.

Winner: Crosby

Runners Up: Iginla, Nicklas Lidstrom

Vezina Trophy

Judging by the numbers alone, it's not a bad time to be a goaltender. Scoring is down again, nearly at the level before the lockout. Three goalies GAA is under two. One of those three is the Vezina Award winner at the midway point: Roberto Luongo (Chris Osgood & Pascal Leclaire are the other two goalies). After a slow start, Luongo has the Canucks sitting atop the very competitive Northwest division and third in the Western Conference. Since the Canucks' 4-2 loss to the Sharks on October 15th, Luongo has given up more than 3 goals in a game only once. The Canucks without Luongo, are at best a mediocre, border line playoff team. With Luongo in goal, they are one of the top teams in the Western Conference. This race is also very close right now. After a slow start, Martin Brodeur has turned things in New Jersey. The Devils appear to be one of only a few teams that might be able to give Ottawa a ride for their money in the East and Brodeur (as always) is a huge reason for that. Henrik Lundqvist (unlike Luongo and Brodeur) got off to a great start, but has struggled a bit of late. Chris Osgood generally gets overlooked because he plays behind such a good Detroit team, but couldn't have performed any better so far this season. He's generally not a game changing goaltender in the mold of a Luongo or a Brodeur, but he's been one of the most under appreciated goalies in hockey over the past decade. Finally, where the heck did Pascal Leclaire come from? After bouncing between the minors and the Blue Jackets for the past three years, Leclaire stormed out of the gate recording four shutouts in his first six games. Playing behind a much better defensive system spearheaded by head coach Ken Hitchcock, Leclaire has flourished during the first half of the season and has become the goaltender the Jackets expected when they drafted him in the first round in the 2001 draft.

Winner: Luongo

Runners Up: Brodeur, Leclaire

Norris Trophy

No surprise here, but the best blueliner in the NHL is Nicklas Lidstrom. At the age of 37, Lidstrom leads all defenseman in scoring and all players in plus/minus. Chris Chelios is still playing at 45 years of age, which makes you wonder how long Lidstrom can go seeing how productive he is in his late thirties. He's the kind of player who likely will only play in the NHL if he's at the top of his game. He may also want to play a year or two in the Swedish Elite League before he hangs up his skates, as many of his other countrymen have hinted at. Chris Pronger has been stellar as usual and Andrei Markov has turned into an elite NHL blueliner this season after the departure of Sheldon Souray during the off season, but right now there's no doubt what so ever that Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the NHL.

Winner: Lidstrom

Runners Up: Pronger, Markov

Jack Adams Trophy

The coach of the year award in any sport seems to be given to the coach that leads the team to the best turnaround from the season before. This has always puzzled me. Great career coaches rarely seem to win coach of the year awards. The greatest coach in NHL history, Scott Bowman, only won the award twice. While Mike Babcock has not turned around the Red Wings by any stretch, he has coached them to far and away the best record in hockey. Babcock has his entire team buying into his strong defensive system and deserves some recognition for the fantastic job that during done over the past 2 and a half season in Motown. Andy Murray has done a great job in St. Louis, taking over midway through last season. With a couple of very nice moves by GM Larry Pleau (most notably trading for former Leaf prospect Brad Boyes and picking up Paul Kariya) in addition to a couple of very good looking rookies (Erik Johnson and David Perron) things are certainly looking up in St. Louis. In the summer I never thought I'd be saying this but Wayne Gretzky has done a great job in Phoenix this year. While myself and many others predicted the Coyotes to be basement dwellers, they are only two points out of a playoff spot and are three games above .500 (as far as I'm concerned, a shootout or OT loss is a loss, despite the fact that the NHL likes putting it in separate column.) As I've mentioned before, Wayne's always entertaining behind the bench and with some very solid rookies like Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal, promising youngsters such as Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Ballard the Coyotes might not have such a dismal future after all. Ilya Bryzgalov has been a saviour in net and has solidified that position for the future.

Winner: Babcock

Runners Up: Murray, Gretzky

That's it. I can't give out any of the other NHL awards at this point...or at any point really. Lady Byng? Come on.

Exceeding Expectations

I must admit, I had some doubts regarding the "Winter Classic". All of those doubts were erased after watching yesterday's game.

My one worry about the game was that it would in no way match up against the "Heritage Classic" played in Edmonton four years ago. Part of what made that event so special was not the NHL game itself, but the "Legends" game that took place earlier in the afternoon. Seeing Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Lafleur and a cast of others suit up for an outdoor game was truly a sight. Not only that, but in many ways the "Winter Classic" seemed in many ways a sequel to the "Heritage Classic", an attempt to duplicate the original's success. Sequels rarely match up to the original, but just like Godfather Part II, this one did. I won't say it exceeded the original (just as the second Godfather doesn't exceed the first), but it was unique in it's own way and is certainly right there with it's predecessor.

Let's hope the NHL doesn't go too far and schedule something like this every year. The novelty will surely wear off. We all remember what a disaster Godfather Part III was.

The NHL couldn't have a written a better ending for the game . A shootout featuring the world's best and most marketable player? Quite a nice finish for the league and the game itself. Makes you wonder what Gary Bettman was really on the phone in his suite at Ralph Wilson Stadium...

Okay, I won't start in with any conspiracy theories. I have to admit, I was hoping for a shootout myself. Watching each shooter struggle at the blueline with the snow build up was quite a sight. Anyone who's ever played any outdoor hockey can relate to the conditions yesterday in Orchard Park, which for me is what made the "Classic" so enjoyable.

Token Leafs Report

It's become apparent to me that no matter how hard I try, I can't help but comment on the Leafs the night after a game. There certainly wasn't the same deal of drama involved in last night's game at the ACC as there was earlier in the day at Orchard Park.

The Leafs got their two points, but not without blowing another lead late in the third period. Some success in the shootout is a positive to build upon for the Leafs however. Tomas Kaberle has proven that he can produce in the shootout (he's now 2 for 4 lifetime). He should become a fixture in the shootout from now on. For his sake, Jason Blake needs to build on his three point night. Maybe this time he's finally found some chemistry with Mats Sundin.

At the other end, the Lightning look like their in some trouble. They are last in the Eastern Conference with 34 points (mind you in the weak East they are only 8 points out of the final playoff spot). They have possibly the weakest goaltending in the NHL (they've surrendered more goals than any other team) and do not score enough to offset their defensive inefficiencies. Vinny Lecavalier is at the top of his game, but he, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards can't carry the load on their own. That group is logging so much ice time that you'd have to expect them to begin wearing down soon and their production to take a slide. Richards is a league worst -23, but he's also averaging more ice time than any other forward at 24 minutes and 47 seconds per game (St. Louis is second with 24:33 per game). It might be a good time to start things over in Tampa because the salary they have invested in their three best players is hindering this team from making any progress in the standings.

Everything Else

Two games and 23 goals scored between the Senators and Capitals in a home and home series. Both games were very entertaining, but if Ottawa wants any chance to win the Cup this season they will have to improve their team defense drastically, even if it comes at a price for some goals. The loss of Anton Volchenkov has hurt their blueline, but their forwards must help out more often as well. What separates Detroit right now from Ottawa is their forwards play in their own zone. The Red Wings most skilled forwards (namely Datsyuk and Zetterberg, especially Zetterberg) are much more responsible in their own end than the likes of Heatley and Spezza.

The NHL needs to do a better job of policing itself and speeding things up during a blowout late in the third period. Things got pretty ugly in LA last night after the Kings took a 7-2 lead over the Hawks, en route to an eventual 9-2 drubbing. Four misconducts, one match penalty and one game misconduct were handed out. This game was clearly out of reach after two periods. Why not levy stiffer fines to those taking major penalties and run the clock after a team is down by six goals with 10 minutes left in the third period? Say what you want about where fighting fits into the game, these pointless scuffles are irrelevant at this point.