STORM NATION

Folks, the end is here

2010-03-05T22:50:00.004-05:00

It was almost cathartic watching the team lose tonight. You like to imagine finishing with a bang and it certainly the heart was there but with a short bench it just didn't happen. A string of 414 games behind the bench and it comes to an end at Malvern of all places. Well there may be a few more games if we get into the Brampton Tournament. This just doesn't feel right.

Yes this is my 1,800th and last post on Storm Nation. It won't be closed down - it will always be here for you to visit. This seems the right time to do this because next week I'm going away. But I will not be disappearing from the blogosphere. I have created a new blog for you to follow.

I hope you will visit The Curse of Frank Mahovlich so that I can share with my fellow suffering Leaf fans the plight of the Toronto Maple Leafs - the Chicago Cubs of hockey.

To the 98,879 visitors to this blog - Thank you!!

Yes the Leafs are getting younger and younger

2010-03-04T23:38:00.001-05:00

Player	G1	G62	Age
Beauchemin	Y	Y	29
Blake	Y	N	36
Bozak	N	Y	23
Caputi	N	Y	21
Exelby	Y	Y	28
Finger	Y	Y	30
Grabovski	Y	Y	26
Hagman	Y	N	30
Hanson	N	Y	23
Giguere	N	Y	32
Gunnarsson	N	Y	23
Gustavsson	Y	Y	25
Kaberle	Y	Y	31
Kessel	Y	Y	22
Komisarek	Y	Y	28
Kulemin	Y	Y	23
Mayers	Y	N	35
Lundmark	N	Y	29
Mitchell	Y	Y	25
Orr	Y	Y	27
Phaneuf	N	Y	24
Ponikarovsky	Y	N	29
Primeau	Y	Y	33
Rosehill	Y	Y	24
Schenn	Y	Y	20
Sjostrom	N	Y	26
Stajan	Y	N	26
Stalberg	Y	Y	24
Stempniak	Y	N	27
Toskala	Y	N	32
Wallin	Y	Y	29
White	Y	N	25

Through the years

2010-03-03T22:11:00.006-05:00

2009-10

2008-09

2007-08

2006-07

2005-06

2004-05

2003-04

2002-03

2001-02

Tomas Kaberle remains a Maple Leaf for now

2010-03-03T20:52:00.002-05:00

There was high expectation that Tomas Kaberle would be moved today prior to the NHL trading deadline. This was more wishful thinking on the part of fans who are desperate to see the Leafs regain a first round draft pick. This theory involved a temporary departure from reality because Kaberle has a no-trade contract and make it clear over and over again that he was comfortable here in Toronto and was not going to agree to a trade. So not surprising he is still here.

This coming summer as was the case over the past 2 summers, there is a window of opportunity to trade him without his consent. No trade was made previously although he was originally offered to a deal for Phil Kessel. This time it is more likely to happen. Kaberle is entering the final year in his current contact and Brian Burke will be pushing to sign him to an extension prior to next season to ensure that he doesn't become a free agent and leave without any compensation. However the deal he will be offered may not be as sweet as his current deal. It will be for fewer years, not much more money and without a no-trade clause.

That puts Kaberle in a bind. If he wants to finish his career as a Leaf he will have to potentially give up a lot of money. Even then without the no-trade clause there will be no guarantee he retires as a Leaf. I expect he will reject the extension which will set the stage for Burke to move him this summer. It may mean Kaberle will have to play somewhere he doesn't want to go for one season. However, the reward will be free agency and most likely a huge contract.

The 10 most memorable games of my coaching career

2010-03-02T19:50:00.007-05:00

Looking back at the past 9 seasons there are certain games that have stood out. Here is my list of the 10 most memorable games.

10. Storm 3 Kitchener 0 - 2004 Sarnia Tournament

We had a poor start to the Sarnia Tournament that year with losses to Elmhurst and Strothroy in the first two games. There were tears in the dressing room after game 2 when it had sunk in that we had already been eliminated. Bruce and I joked around with players berating them that there's no crying in hockey. The next thing you know the entire team is chanting "There's no crying in hockey!" When the scores were posted later on I realized that if we won our game against Kitchener by 3 goals or more later that day we would actually move on. Well the mood for the game was much improved and the girls were still chanting "There's no crying in hockey" during the warm up despite strange looks from others in the arena. They came out hard in the first period and jumped into a 2-0 lead. But as the game went on the couldn't get the third goals. With about 2 minutes remaining and still leading by a score of 2-0 we pulled our goalie. The other team was in shock, no doubt not realizing why a team would pull a goalie with the lead. With less than a minute remaining we got goal 3 and moved on the the semi-finals.

9. Storm 0 Orangeville 1 - 2002 regular season game

In the 2001-02 season, my first as a coach, Orangeville had a powerful team. They finished the season 20-0-2 and early in the season had blown us away 9-0. It was a late season game and we had only 8 skaters and a goalie to start the game. It looked really bleak. I walked into the dressing room and announced that we were going to play the West German trap today to the puzzlement of the players in the room. I explained we would line up five players on our blue line and force Orangeville to dump it in our end. The defense would get it and just dump it in the neutral zone. We would only send one player to chase the puck in their end. Well everyone went along and it worked like a charm. The Orangeville skaters tried to carry the puck into our end but couldn't because there wasn't enough skating room with everyone on the blue line. It just kept getting clogged up. It was still 0-0 at the end of the second period and the Orangeville coach was conducting quite an animated discussion at the break. In the third they became more aggressive and began dumping and chasing the puck but our defense just lifted it out to the neutral zone. Then with just over 3 minutes remaining Orangeville took a penalty. I told the girls that we would go with our regular powerplay and try to win the game. It almost worked but out top player Michelle Kerr hit the post. When the penalty was over Orangeville poured it on and put tremendous pressure on us. They finally scored with 2.8 seconds. But the Storm players got a standing ovation from everyone in the arena including the officials.

8. Storm 4 Peterborough 3 - 2008 Clarington Tournament Finals

It's been 6 years since the last time the team won a tournament. The Storm defeated the Peterborough Ice Kats by a score on 4-3 to win the Clarington Tournament. The Peterborough team was a powerhouse last season wining the LLFHL East Division and a bronze at the Championships. It was the first of two tournament wins and a final that season. It was a classic see saw battle that went down to the wire. However, the Storm pulled out the win with a terrific scoring play. From behind her own net, Lauren Novak threw the puck up to Amanda Tam at the blue line who found Mari Galloway alone in neutral ice. Mari went in for a breakaway and beat the goalie high with less than 3 minutes remaining. The Ice Kats pulled their goalie but couldn't penetrate the Storm defense which was employing the now famous West German trap. Mari finished the game 2 goals and an assist. She scored many key goals that season and went on to score 52 points in 53 games.

7. Storm 6 Mississauga 0 - 2009 regular season game

Over the years Mississauga had been the nemesis of the Storm. But this season it was different. It was late January and first place was at stake. It wasn't even close as the Storm crushed the Chiefs 6-0. The game was the start of a 3-game shutout steak to close the season. The team did not stop skating from the opening faceoff. They backchecked ferociously and picked up every stray puck. It was one of finest games I have ever seen the Storm play. The Storm finishes the season with a remarkable 13 wins and 30 points. They also scored 54 goals which topped the entire tier.

6. Storm 2 Mississauga 1 (SO) - 2007 North Metro Bronze Medal Game

This game goes on my list because it had the greatest goaltending display in my coaching history. Alisha Cattelin literally stole this game from Mississauga. She had Mississauga's number all season long. The Chiefs hadn't lost all season going 17-0-3. All three ties were 1-1 games against the Storm. The Storm scored the first goal at in the 2nd period on a goal by Heather Saffery. That lead held until early in the 3rd period when Mississauga finally scored while on the powerplay. From that point on the Storm team was on the ropes for the remainder of the game and into overtime although there were several times when it looked like the game could have been won. During the shootout, Jasmine Kakuk was the first shooter and tried to shoot through the goalies legs but got her in the pads. The Mississauga shooter tried to deke but Alisha covered up down low and made the save. Next shooter up was Heather who cut to the goalie's blocker side and lifted the puck over her shoulder. Again, Alisha stopped the Mississauga player as the Storm spilled onto the ice to celebrate the 2-1 victory. The only losses during the season for Mississauga were in the North Metro Championships. As a result they went home empty handed.

5. Storm 3 Buffalo 1 - 2010 Erie Tournament Semi Finals

This year's Erie Tournament featured the best hockey the Storm had played during the season. In the preliminary round the Storm played a Buffalo team with a player that was all-state. She was virtually unstoppable and finished the game with 3 goals as the Storm went down 7-2. We were matched up with them again in the semi-finals but this time we were ready. Caitlin Gourley and Genevieve Harvey were assigned the task of shadowing their stud player. They literally stuck to her like glue. The strategy worked and she registered only two weak shots on net and no goals. Caitlin took time out from her shadowing duties to break down the wing and fire a wrist shot just under the crossbar for the second goal of the game. Then the frustration set in. Five penalties in the third period pretty much took Buffalo out of the game. The final score was 3-1 with an empty net goal by Paitra van Bilsen with just 31 seconds left.

4. Storm 4 Etobicoke 1 (SO) - 2009 LLFHL round 2 playoffs

An intense rivalry had been going on between the Storm and Dolphins for two seasons which carried into the playoffs. The two teams met in the second round of the LLFHL playoffs. The first game was a scoreless tie. In the second game the Storm played a lacklustre game and were shutout 3-0. The loss meant that the Storm had to beat Etobicoke in game 3 just to tie up the series. The two teams would then have to to into overtime to decide the series. It turned out to be one of the most tense games I've ever witnessed. It was a war out there. There were 12 penalties handed out in the third period and overtime. The Storm were determined not to be shutout again but it wasn't until late in the second period that Jackie Vanek finally found the back of the Dolphin net to give the Storm a one goal lead. Incredibly they had been held off the scoresheet for 81 straight minutes. At one point in the second period Mari Galloway hobbled off the ice with a broken skate blade. She was able to return to the game in the third period on borrowed skates that were a size or two too large. The Storm won the game 3-1 which set up the overtime. After the scoreless overtime period the game went into shootout. First shooter for Etobicoke scored. Lauren Novak shot first for the Storm and also scored. Shootout was tied 1-1. The next Etobicoke shooter also scored but Jackie tried deking the goalie and her shot missed the net. Etobicoke was up 2-1. The third Etobicoke shooter was stopped by Bianca Granicolo. Mari was the final Storm shooter and she beat the goalie to tie the shootout at 2-2. At this point the shootout becomes a sudden death match. The next Dolphin shooter also was stopped by Bianca. Amanda Tam was the next Storm shooter and she flew in on net and fired a high backhand past the Dolphin goalie to win the shootout 3-2 and win the series. Ironically, the following season the same two teams once again went into a shootout in game 3 but this time the Dolphins prevailed.

3. Storm 3 Cambridge 2 - 2003 Provincial Championship Gold Medal Game

The Storm were quite tired going into the gold medal game after playing almost 2 overtime periods in the semi finals (see #1 below). Our opponents, Cambridge had played into the fourth overtime period to win their semi final game. The Storm hadn't scored more than 2 goals in any of the previous games and had to rely on some stellar goaltending from Jennifer Santos and Krysta Graovac. This game was no different than the previous ones, low scoring and tight checking. The game was tied 2-2 going into the 3rd period on goals by Jessica Prisor and Karen Dillane. With 6 minutes remaining in regulation time Karen scored again and the team hung on to win 3-2 and take the gold medal. An incredible accomplishment for a season that began so poorly. The star of the series was Jessica who scored 6 of the 12 goals scored by the team in the 5 games played.

2. Storm 3 Kingston 2 - 2002 Provincial Championship Quarter Finals

When Bruce and I met back in the spring of 2001 and agreed to work together we had a hard time convincing players to come to our team. I had brought my daughter Sarah and a few of her former teammates. Bruce brought his daughter Lindsay and a few of her friends. We had about 4 players walk in from the Forest Hill houseleague. The remainder were players who couldn't find anywhere else to play. We weren't anyone's first destination. But this ragtag group turned out to be pretty good and battled all the way to the Provincial Championships. We had one outstanding player, Michelle Kerr who at times carried the team. In the preliminary round at Provincials we played well enough (1-1-1) to finish second in the pool and move onto the quarter finals. We were up against a pretty good team from Kingston but managed to hang in through grit and some decent goaltending. Going into the 3rd period we were down 2-1 but early in that period we got a goal from Meghan O'Reilly (niece of former Bruin Terry O'Reilly) to tie up the score. The rest of the game we were pretty much on our heals but hanging on. With about 20 seconds remaining Michelle picked off a pass at the Kingston blue line for a breakaway and beat the goalie between her legs to win the game with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock. The bench was euphoric. I couldn't believe it myself. The team that no one wanted to play for was now just one of 4 teams still standing in the province. Who would have ever thought? Sadly the girls literally ran out of gas and did not win their semi final game or the bronze medal game. Yet none of us had ever gotten that deep in Provincials, until the following season.

1. Storm 2 Belmont 1 (OT) - 2003 Provincial Semi Finals

In the 2002-03 season we had what I would call a slow start. We got our first goal in game 5 and our first win in game 12 of the season. As the season went on we got better and got into Provincials with a bye. In the preliminary round we finished in a 3-way tie for for first place in our Pool and qualified for the semi-final game on the 5th tie breaker - fewest penalty minutes. We faced Belmont who was first in the other pool and was undefeated in the preliminary round. Belmont scored early in the game and hung onto that one goal lead right to the final minute. With the goalie pulled, Sharifa Mohamed beat the goalie with 33 seconds remaining. Our goalie, Jennifer Santos, had an unorthodox style. She didn't go into a butterfly but did the splits with her pads spread from post to post. In the first overtime period we made a terrible line change and Belmont had a breakaway. At the bench we had our fingers crossed that the forward would try to deke rather than shoot. She did deke and Jennifer did the splits and smothered the puck in her pads. The first overtime period remained scoreless. In the second overtime period, Belmont who had shortened their bench began to fade. We continued to throw out our regular three lines. With less than 3 minutes left in the period Mallory Bey beat a Belmont defenseman to the puck in the corner. She threw the puck in front of the net where Melissa Bruno was waiting and Melissa just one timed it into the net. It was Melissa's first goal of the season. It was the biggest goal of the season and sent us into the gold medal game. That game was almost anti-climatic in comparison.

My last game behind the bench will be this Friday

2010-03-01T23:35:00.005-05:00

After 9 seasons behind the bench I'm hanging up the whistle, retiring the pez dispenser and ending this blog this Friday. It was a difficult decision to make but with work and family pressures it had to be made. The Bruce and Willie pre-game floor show is shutting down.

I have enjoyed every minute of every practice, game, tryout, (ok maybe not tryouts), team party. I have been so fortunate to be able to pursue this passion as long as I have. In the 9 seasons I coached 92 girls and enjoyed every single one. I never thought twice about the time I put into the teams. My pleasure came from the smiles in the dressing room. Hockey is that one thing we always had in common. It crosses generations, gender and origin. It may sound corny but it is part of what defines this nation. Just look what happened this past week.

I have so many wonderful memories to last me the rest of my life. My office wall is covered in mementos including a provincial championship medal.

I'm going to miss it.

We now return to our regular programming

2010-03-01T23:21:00.002-05:00

Going from a Canada-USA gold medal game yesterday to a Leaf-Hurricane game tomorrow is a enormous drop off in quality. Like coming off of a huge sugar high. The Maple Leafs will inevitably finish in the bottom three which will forever brand the Kessel trade as disaster unless one day in the future he is carrying a Stanley Cup wearing the blue maple leaf on his jersey. If Brian Burke moves useful bodies for draft picks to replenish his bare cupboard, the Leafs will sink even further in the standings. Unless Burke can convince the Capitals that they need to dump Alex Ovechkin's salary for Maple Leaf spare parts.

Toronto, how does the NHL look from the bottom of the standings? Get used to it. We will be a fixture there for the next couple of seasons.

Play like girls

2010-03-01T08:37:00.001-05:00

Storm players are all winners!

2010-02-28T23:39:00.002-05:00

It was an incredible game to cap a terrific season. No one expected this team to win but someone forgot to the players that. Early blowouts didn't matter. We just went out and beat the same teams the next time out. The early tournament losses came to an end in Erie where the team came together and beat everyone but an A team. We weren't expected to do much against Etobicoke in the playoffs. Hadn't beaten them all year. But there we were in a final game that had to be decided in a shootout. The other team was terrified of us because we refused to give up. We came out hard in the first period and Amanda gave the team an early lead. By the end of the period it was 2-0 on a goal by Caitlin. Then the Storm just checked, checked, checked. The scoring chances were all ours as the backchecking took away and opportunities for the Dolphins to score. Same thing happened in overtime. So it had to come down to a shootout and the superior shooting team pervailed although they didn't really play well enough to win. And they knew it. Their faces told the story.

The Storm had 14 games in the month of February which is quite workload and only lost 5. We played hard most of the season and despite holes in our game just wouldn't give up. Next season will be even better.

It's our game!

2010-02-28T21:34:00.001-05:00

Maybe Brian Burke and Rown Wilson knows something about building a winner

2010-02-27T16:09:00.003-05:00

I'm amazed how many Leaf fans have recently called for the dismissal of both Brian Burke and Ron Wilson. As if in a few months they can reverse 43 years of futility. How fair is that?

So I have to admit I get great satisfaction and encouragement in watching what has been happening with the U.S. Olympic hockey team. No one really gave them a chance of winning. My guess is only two players, Ryan Miller and Zach Parise, could have made the Canadian team. Yet they are the only undefeated team in the Olympic tournament and playing for gold against the stacked Canadian team.

So who still thinks Brian Burke doesn't know how to build a winner or Ron Wilson can't coach? I'm looking forward to the next few years.

Look out USA we are going for GOLD!

2010-02-27T00:30:00.001-05:00

Storm stay alive

2010-02-27T00:22:00.003-05:00

With our leading scorer out with a bad wing and our backs against the wall, the Storm came out swinging. We played Storm hockey tonight. Short shifts, fast pace and tough along the boards. Amanda jumped up to take Gabby's spot in on right wing and scored a fabulous goal on a wrap around. The Dolphins battled back to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Staring at elimination just 12 minutes away we took it to the Dolphins and tied the game up on a goal by Genevieve off a rebound following a great scoring chance by Alex(the scorer's version). For those who saw Alex's shot go in, well you aren't blind (please no comments about the refs). The Dolphins put on pressure late in the game but couldn't beat Paolina and the game ended 2-2.

This sets up a possible thriller on Sunday when the Storm must win the game and then beat the Dolphins in overtime. It happened last year so why not this season?

Politics sink the Russian hockey team

2010-02-25T22:44:00.003-05:00

After the opening barrage in last night's hockey game, the Russians folded and called it a night. In was shocking to see how passionless the team played and the contrast to the Canadian juggernaut was so obvious. To some extent the team never came together in time just like Team Canada in 2006. In fact Team Canada may have been fortunate to have lost to the Americans on Sunday because it game them an extra game to come together.

Still I can't help but wonder whether the Russians ever had a chance. Some very prominent Russian NHL players were never invited to play including Sergei Zubov, Alexei Kovalev and Alexander Frolov. Instead, the Russian team was stacked with nine KHL players to go with the 14 NHLers. The team captain was not Alex Ovechkin or Pavel Datsyuk but KHL player Alexei Morozov. I have no doubt that politics was a factor in these selections. There has been tremendous pressure to repatriate as many Russian players back to Russian leagues. Someone was also pressured to include as many players playing in Russia in order to make a political statement. Except it didn't work out too well.

I'm guessing the selection process will change considerably in four years.

Team Canada outscores opposition 48-2

2010-02-25T22:22:00.002-05:00

The Canadian women's hockey team dominated these Olympics scoring 48 goals and only giving up a pair over 5 games. We will hear the usual noise about how this shouldn't be an Olympic event. Just a lot of nonsense. Yes this has largely been a 2 country competition since introduced in 1998. It will take time for the rest of the world to catch up.

In the 1924 Olympics, the Canadian men's hockey team outscored their opponents in the preliminary round 84-0 over 3 games (30-0 against the Czechs, 22-0 against the Swede and 33-0 against the Swiss). They went on to win the gold medal with a 6-1 win over the USA. Harry Watson was their top scorer with 37 goals in 5 games. Things have changed since 1924. In Vancouver, Canada needed a shootout to beat Switzerland. The gap has been closed and the same will happen over time in women's hockey.

So enjoy the victory because over time they will not come this easy.

Whoa baby! That was amazing!

2010-02-24T23:01:00.002-05:00

That had to have been one of the most exciting hockey games I've ever seen. It goes down there with game 8 of the 1972 hockey summit. Except tonight's game saw Team Canada Russia, something that haven't done since the 1950s. At times I thought I was watching a replay of the Canada-Norway game.

They dominated in every way. Besides outscoring the Russians 7-3 and outshooting them 42-28, they also badly out hit them. I haven't been able to find hitting statistics for the game but I'm sure Canada at least doubled the Russians in hits. Certainly the Canadian doubters have jumped back on the bandwagon. As I told my American friend on Sunday, the Canada-U.S. game was meaningless since both were moving on. I suggested that he "enjoy the moment" and we will "see you in the final."

Today turned out to be one of the greatest days in Olympic history for Canada. The gold and silver in women's bobsled is unprecedented for Canada. Add to that the silver in the women’s short-track. But the most significant win was bronze by 37-year old Clara Hughes in the 5,000 metre long track skating. Hughes is one of the greatest Canadian athletes of all time. In fact few athletes around the world have matched her accomplishments. Six medals spread over four Winter and Summer Olympics. She is truly an inspiration and role model.

It was a great day to be a Canadian!

Canada hasn't lost anything yet

2010-02-22T23:11:00.002-05:00

The panic button is being hit right across Canada after last night's loss to the U.S. In short series goalies can steal a win or two That's why the Stanley Cup is a best 4 out of 7. Certainly Team Canada could have played better last night. Defensive coverage at times was weak and the team took a series of damaging penalties. However they dominated the game and just couldn't beat Miller more than 3 times.

This isn't the same team that went to Turin and was shutout 3 times. More like the 2002 team. If you remember that team lost the opener to Sweden 5-2. They squeaked by Germany 3-2 and then tied the Czechs 3-3. So their record after the initial round robin was just 1-1-1. At the time the country was also in panic mode and Wayne Gretzky went to the media to declare the world was against them after a missed call by a referee on a hit from behind on Theo Fleury. In the quarterfinals Canada beat the Finns 2-1 and then blew away Belarus 8-1. In the finals the handed the Americans a 5-2 loss.

It's hard to go undefeated in a tournament like this. The gap between Canada and the rest of the world has closed considerably. Many hockey nations now have strong goaltending which helps to level the playing field. Countries that are largely made up of NHL players do not prepare for the Olympics which creates a considerable disadvantage. Meanwhile the Swiss and Germans have 4 year hockey programs designed to inflict the maximum pain to powerhouses like Canada and Russia.

The Swiss team are drawn largely from the Swiss league and practice regularly during the hockey season. They have developed a distinct style of play - much like Muhammad Ali's "rope a dope" approach in his fight with George Forman. They will sit back and allow you to attack while waiting for you to make a mistake. That's what the Americans did last night. Canada has to take a much more conservative approach to international play. Much like what you would do in the 7th game of a Stanley Cup final.

So tomorrow they take on the Germans which will be followed by the Russians. If they are truly the best team at the Olympics then they will eventually have to take care of Ovechkin and company.

As for the Americans, they are not guaranteed a birth in the finals quite yet. They have to take on the pesky Swiss with their version of goaltending hell in the form of Jonas Hiller.

Ouch, that wasn't pretty

2010-02-21T22:56:00.004-05:00

Canada badly out shot and out chanced the Americans yet played a brutal game with bad penalties, poor penalty killing, and some erratic play by Martin Brodeur. It will be interesting to see who starts the quarterfinal game.

Probably nothing more embarrassing than the three Canadian players colliding into each other.

It's not over yet but sure is getting interesting.

Turning point of the Russia/Czech Republic game

2010-02-21T22:51:00.001-05:00

Jagr took the puck at center ice and saw Ovechkin steaming towards him at the red line. He attempted to avoid the hit by bringing the puck to his backhand and move around him. Then BOOM!

How does Team Canada and Team USA match up

2010-02-21T00:23:00.000-05:00

	Canada	USA
Career goals	372	263
Career wins (goalies)	992	355
Average height	6’ 2.2”	6’ 0.5”
Average weight	208 lb	203 lb
Average age	28.3	26.2
Stanley Cup winners	14	6
Trophy winners	Hart (4), Art Ross (3), Vezina (4), Norris (2)	Vezina (1)

Storm come back from the brink

2010-02-20T23:11:00.002-05:00

Once again the Storm waste a very strong effot by taking late penalties to put themselves in a hole but this time they dug themselves out for an thrilling finish. The Storm came out flying and held a strong territorial advantage in the first period but couldn't beat the Etobicoke goalie. But after 142 minutes and 39 seconds of going scoreless against the Dolphins, the goose egg was broken. Genevieve on a breakaway finally scored to give the Storm a 1-0 lead. However, just over a minute later, while on the powerplay the Dolphins once again scored to even up the game.

Early the in the third period the Storm once again began taking a series of penalties and the Dolphins once again capitalized to take a 3-1 lead. It wasn't looking good for the Storm. However, Genevieve scored her second of the game to bring the Storm to within one. With less than 4 minutes remaining the Storm was again killing a penalty but this time they were able to kill it off. When even strength and Bianca on the bench for an extra skater the Storm were pressing the Dolphins and forcing their goalie to come up with some big saves. With the clocking ticking down Gabby passed the puck into the crease from the corner where Alex redirected it over the goalie's shoulder with just 6 seconds remaining in game.

With 3 out of 4 points in their first 2 playdown games, the Storm are still in contention for the one regional Provincial spot.

Storm let game slip away

2010-02-19T23:59:00.002-05:00

A terrific effort by the Storm was wasted tonight as a pair of third period penalties led to two powerplay goals by the Dolphins big gun. That was the games as the Storm went down 2-0. There were plenty of scoring chances but the gals couldn't finish giving the Dolphins their 4th shutout in 4 games against us. Not a good place to be in with a playdown game coming up against the same team. Hey eventually we're going to score against this team. I know it's going to be the next game.

GO STORM GO!

Storm start off Playdowns with a win

2010-02-17T22:52:00.002-05:00

The Storm scored just 25 seconds into the game and cruised to an easy 3-1 win over the lifeless Wildcats from Leaside. Let's face it the margin would have been much larger if not for the great work by the Leaside goalie who has kept scores close all season long. Caitlin opened the scoring finishing off a beautiful three-way passing play with her linemates Maddie L and Alicia. Shortly after that Leaside did tie the score when the jumped on a loose puck in front of the Storm net. Later in the period the Storm jumped ahead off a breakaway by Genevieve. The third period saw the Storm pepper the Leaside net with some tough shots but only shot by Kailee off a rebound actually found the back of the net.

The next playdown game should be tougher when the Storm faceoff against Etobicoke.

LLFHL Divisional Semi Finals

2010-02-17T22:48:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to the Storm Midget BB, Midget B and PeeWee B teams for qualifying for Round 2 of the LLFHL playoffs.

GO STORM GO!

Worst outfits in Vancouver go to...

2010-02-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

the Norwegian curling squad.

Fellow Canadians we have to stop saying we’re sorry!

2010-02-16T23:27:00.001-05:00

So there is grumbling from some quarters that the Vancouver Olympics haven’t been perfect. Big deal! The big beefs are weather and transportation.

Vancouver is experiencing the mildest January on record. Weather is a factor in every Olympic and guess what – you can’t go anything about it. No one has invented a mechanism for redirecting frigid Arctic air. If they knew how to, I happen to know where they can find a lot of hot air that needs chilling. In the meantime, how often do you get to wear shorts at a Winter Olympics.

Every Olympics also have some transportation issues. As I recall the Atlanta Olympics was a nightmare. Let’s face it you typically will have some problems when you have to transport a whole lot of people quickly around an already congested city. Usually the bugs are worked out after a couple of days. A lot of buses have been crapping out. Organizers said Monday that 100 new buses had been ordered to replace vehicles leased from California (the engine were probably made by Pontiac) that appeared to be having mechanical issues.

Some in the international press have labeled the ‘Own the Podium’ program as arrogant nationalism and contrary to the Olympic spirit. Not true. The program was aimed to provide enough funding to athletes so that we wouldn’t be embarrassed on the world stage as we were in 1976 and 1988. Nonetheless, our funding pales compared to some countries. The program was also intended to encourage Canadian athletes to believe in themselves. If you want to see arrogance, trying checking out an NBA game some time soon.

Over the weekend several American friends kindly reported back to me that the opening ceremony was boring. It wasn’t like Beijing two years ago. Well no apologies from me that we didn’t spend $0.5 billion on a 3 hour show. We didn’t have a thousand drummers (likely prisoners chained together) wearing diapers. We didn’t have dissidents picked up and jailed for the duration of the games. We just had a very low key, Canadian production that highlighted Canadian heritage and culture. I thought it was moving. If you didn’t like it then you could have switched to that culturally-challenged karaoke show, American Idol. Now that is entertainment. If you couldn’t appreciate that inspirational performance of “We Are More” by Shane Koyczan well that’s just too bad. I’m not sorry.

Roges can solve your Maple Leaf anxiety issues

2010-02-14T17:34:00.000-05:00

Canada crushes Slovakia 18-0

2010-02-14T13:02:00.003-05:00

It was an embarrassing win that will further fuel critics who don’t believe the women’s game is competitive enough to be part of the Winter Games. One of my stealth reporters was able to video a skill competition involving the top female hockey players in Slovakia.

Happy Valentine's Day To Storm Nation

2010-02-14T08:16:00.003-05:00

Very cruel

2010-02-13T23:56:00.000-05:00

PEZ Power prevals!

2010-02-13T23:32:00.005-05:00

You can't beat the power of PEZ and that's what carried us through the first round of the LLFHL playoffs. With the series tied one game each, the third was expected to be a tight game and it was. Things did not start off to well when we fell behind 1-0 just 26 seconds into the game. While we stood around our own end following the opening face off, a Storm II players slapped a puck past Bianca from the slot. Slowly as the period progressed we finally began to find our legs. With just over 2 minutes left in the first period Maddie A. fed the puck up to Caitlin at centre ice who broke by the opposition defense. A defenseman tried to knock away the puck on a diving sweep check but got both the puck and Caitlin. Caitlin was awarded a penalty shot and when the goalie charged out about 12 feet from the crease, Caitlin easily went around her to backhand the puck into the empty net.

The score remained tied through the second period as both teams played a very cautious game. Early in the third period Paitra was called for tripping. The Storm killed off the penalty and as she stepped out of the penalty box she picked up a loose puck and broke down towards the opposition net. A defender caught her as she tried to get off a shot and the puck deflected into the corner. However, Paitra was the first one in and fed the puck into the slot to Alicia who was trailing on the play. The goalie who was out of position had no chance as Alicia fired it into the open side of the net. Storm II poured it on during the late stages of the game and pulled the goalie in the last minute but could not tie up the game. Storm I wins 2-1 and moves on the face the Dolphins.

Post-Erie blues returns

2010-02-12T05:53:00.004-05:00

Just like 2009, the Storm once again returned from a great weekend at the Erie Tournament to play some unispiring hockey. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, the toll of all that shopping or lugging home that big trophy. But we just didn't have any jump in our second playoff game against the rival Storm team. In fact we were shutout 1-0 with few scoring chances.

Saturday's game, which will decide the series, will likely be a heck of a game.

Maple Leafs are getting younger

2010-02-10T21:57:00.002-05:00

It's not hard to figure out that the Maple Leafs are getting younger. As illustrated in the chart below, at the start of the season the average age of the 24 players that were on the Leaf roster was 27.6. Today, after 60 games the average age has slipped to 26.2. I will revisit the average age after the trade deadline when it is expected a few more veterans will be shipped out.

Player	G1	G60	Age
Beauchemin	Y	Y	29
Blake	Y	N	36
Bozak	N	Y	23
Exelby	Y	Y	28
Finger	Y	Y	30
Grabovski	Y	Y	26
Hagman	Y	N	30
Hanson	N	Y	23
Giguere	N	Y	32
Gunnarsson	N	Y	23
Gustavsson	Y	Y	25
Kaberle	Y	Y	31
Kessel	Y	Y	22
Komisarek	Y	Y	28
Kulemin	Y	Y	23
Mayers	Y	N	35
Mitchell	Y	Y	25
Orr	Y	Y	27
Phaneuf	N	Y	24
Ponikarovsky	Y	Y	29
Primeau	Y	Y	33
Rosehill	Y	Y	24
Schenn	Y	Y	20
Sjostrom	N	Y	26
Stajan	Y	N	26
Stalberg	Y	Y	24
Stempniak	Y	Y	27
Toskala	Y	N	32
Wallin	Y	Y	29
White	Y	N	25

Storm win silver in Erie!!

2010-02-07T22:31:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend it was. The girls battled with schedule makers, they battled stacked opponents but they kept winning. Right to the very end. And kudos to the smaller players like Alex, Maddie A, Caitlin and Alicia. They were often against giants on the weekend and more than held their own. But the poor girls just ran out of gas on Sunday afternoon. Who could blame them. Seriously how can anyone play their best playing 3 games in nine hours. Even Alex Ovechkin would look like he was skating with snowshoes by game 3.

We flew down the ice all weekend and showed so much heart. It doesn't get much better than this.

And happy birthday Bianca!

Revenge of the Storm

2010-02-07T22:07:00.002-05:00

This was the biggest upset in the history of hockey. No make that the biggest upset in the history of sport. I never saw a cockier bunch of players than bunch of delinquents from Buffalo. After that lopsided win on Saturday morning they thought we were just a small bump in the road on the way to the finals. Little did they know we had a plan. Neutralize their one stud player and it's a new ballgame.

So the plan called for Caitlin and Genevieve to shadow #66 while our stable of fleet footed stallions take over. And it worked like a charm. The stud with the big shot never got a good shot on net because every time she wound up to let loose a cannon, someone was there to strip the puck away. All you heard was the WIFF sound every time she swung at air.

But seriously this was monumental team effort. This was bigger to the Super Bowl - well at least to us. In fact we struck first early in the first period when Gabby banged in a puck off a feed from Genevieve. We jumped into a 2-0 lead in the middle of the second period when Caitlin took time out from her shadowing duties to break down the wing and fire a wrist shot just under the crossbar. The Regals did get one later that period to keep the game close but they couldn't get another one. Maybe they should think about tossing out some of those chips they carry on their shoulders and play some real hockey. Five penalties in the third period pretty much took them out of the game. The final score was 3-1 with an empty net goal by Paitra with just 31 seconds left.

It was like the famous Mohammad Ali "rope-a-dope" move against George Foreman in the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight. Let the opponent get over confident and then knock them out with the guard down. The looks on those dejected faces brought a tear to my eye.

Storm scalp the Mohawks and move on to the Semis

2010-02-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

Nothing like 7:10 am at the Igloo to make you think nice thoughts about Booth arena. Yet there we were and ready to play. It was a thrilling game that was perhaps closer than it should have been. After a scoreless first period, Kailee banged a one timer from in front of the net off a perfect feed from Amanda. Mohawk evened the score shortly after but before the end of the period the Storm scored a pair of goals. The first on a breakaway by Gabby followed by a high wrist shot from the point by Maddie A. Early in the third Mohawk came within one goal but nine seconds later Alexa banged in a rebound to restore the lead to two. A minute later Caitlin fired the puck over the shoulder of the Mohawk goalie to make the lead three goals. But Mohawk battled back to with two goals in the last five minutes but could do no more damage. The final score was 5-4 and a rematch with Buffalo at the Civic Centre.

Were we set up?

2010-02-06T14:13:00.001-05:00

Hey Yvette I know what was up. Last year we blew into Erie and blew the doors off. We whipped that team from Binghamton. Pushed around Ohio and Amherst. Then in the final we hammered Buffalo 9-0 to win the big pink trophy.

So today we show up to play Erie but instead who steps out on the ice but a team from Buffalo who whip our asses 7-2. Coincidence? Ironic? I don't think so. I figure Yvette who organizes this party decides they can't have that Canadian team come back here and win again. So she matches up with a team full of ringers from Buffalo of all places. Probably half the girls are from Fort Erie anyway. Hey we can take. We're the Storm after all. You'll have to excuse me while i kick the Buffalo dung off my shoes.

It was Happy Gilmour afterall

2010-02-05T22:23:00.001-05:00

The Storm was in a charitable mood this evening as it opened up the Erie Tournament at the lovely Merceyhurst College ice rink. We gave up a goal on each of the first three shots on net to spot Gilmour a 3-0 first period lead. It looked grim. But slowly we began to dig ourselves out of that hole. In the second period the Storm started skating and battled back to tie the score with goals by Amanda, Alicia and Gabby. In fact the Gilmour goalie did a great job in keeping the game close. The Storm continued to battle in third period with no success. But with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Gabby brought the puck out of the corner and rang a shot off the goalpost. The rebound bounced right back to her stick and she buried it just under the crossbar to pull out a win.

It was a sluggish game considering the high pace games from earlier in the week. But its still and win. Thank you Gilmour.

A skaky start to the playoffs

2010-02-04T22:45:00.000-05:00

Not the ideal match up as the two Storm teams faced each other in the first round of the LLFHL playoffs. Well at least we know one Storm team will survive. We jumped into an early first period 2-0 lead and then went into snooze-control. If not for some brilliant goaltending from Bianca we would not have hung onto a 2-1 lead. The scariest moment came in the last minute of the game with Gabby in the penalty box and the Ioi team pulling their goalie. However, Amanda did an outstanding job at tying up the puck along the boards to eat up time on the clock. Goal scorers were Gabby and Alexa which made it feel like it was Greek Night at Habitant.

Next game in the series is next Thursday at the Mastercard Centre.

We had the second best record for all Storm teams

2010-02-04T22:38:00.002-05:00

TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	WIN%
Atom B	22	17	3	2	36	74	21	81.82%
Midget B-H	22	10	9	3	23	38	37	52.27%
Bantam BB	22	9	8	5	23	27	22	52.27%
Peewee B	22	9	10	3	21	45	32	47.73%
Midget BB	22	8	9	5	21	45	43	47.73%
Midget B - I	22	8	9	5	21	34	33	47.73%
Intermediate	22	5	13	4	14	48	71	31.82%
Midget A	22	3	14	5	11	23	55	25.00%
Bantam C	22	4	16	2	10	18	100	22.73%
Bantam B	22	2	16	4	8	13	56	18.18%
Atom C	22	2	18	2	6	9	80	13.64%
Peewee C	22	0	19	3	3	12	63	6.82%

Phaneuf thinks the Leafs can still make the playoffs

2010-02-04T08:37:00.001-05:00

In an attempt to motivate the Leafs as they finish out the season, Dion Phaneuf has suggested that they can still grab a playoff spot. Somehow I doubt any of his teammates are buying this one nor should fans. Sure they are only 10 points back of 8th spot but based on past finishes, it will take about 93 points to qualify for the playoffs. With only 47 points and 25 games remaining, the Leafs would need to win 23 of their remaining games to finish with 93 points. Maybe because the East is so weak this season, it will only take 90 points to finish in the top 8. Even then the Leafs would have to finish the season with a 21-3-1 record.

Here is what it will take for teams in the East to make the playoffs:

Washington 5-20-1
New Jersey 10-16-1
Buffalo 11-16
Pittsburgh 11-14
Ottawa 12-12-1
Philadelphia 17-10
Montreal 17-7
Tampa Bay 18-9
Florida 18-8
NY Rangers 18-7
Atlanta 18-8-1
Boston 19-9
NY Islanders 19-6-1
Toronto 23-2
Carolina 24-2

The down side of big contracts under the NHL salary cap

2010-02-03T22:11:00.003-05:00

The standard procedure in the NHL these days is to lock up your big stars to long term contracts. The Islanders got the ball rolling in 2001 by signing Alexei Yashin to a 10-year, $87.5 million contract. That was eclipsed in 2006 n 2006, when they signed Rick DiPietro to a 15-year, $67.5 million contract. There was Mike Richards' contract at 12-year, $69 million, Vincent Lecavalier received an 11-year contract worth $85 million, Roberto Luongo got a 12-year, $64 million contract, but the wopper goes to Alex Ovechkin at 13 years and an incredible $124 million.

The thinking among GMs is that you can't afford to lose a franchise player and if you don't pay your star big bucks then someone else will. With players becoming eligible for free agency at much younger ages, these players are being locked up for 10 years or more. However, not only are the risks high if you don't lock your stars in to long term contracts but they are also high when you do sign them. Players get hurt (DiPietro), their production can decline earlier than anticipated (Lecavlier) or they just don't develop into the player you were expecting (Spezza).

The NHL has only had three 50-goal scorers over the age of 30 - Johnny Bucyk (35), Jaromir Jagr (34) and Joe Mullen (32). Goal scorers decline considerably after age 30. But all of these star players will be pulling in big salaries well into their 30s. Should you be stuck with a contract that goes bad or that you can no longer afford, dropping that salary will be a challenge.

The two big contracts that Brian Burke recently picked up are classic examples. J-S Giguere in 2007, signed a 4-year, $24 million contact with Anaheim at the age of 30. Not a huge contract for today's standards. But shortly afterwards, his production began to decline and by the end of last season he had lost his starting job to Jonas Hiller. But no one was interested in picking up a goalie with declining skills that would be paid $7 million next season. That would place him tied for second among the highest paid goalies. In the end they had no choice but to accept two toxic contracts from the Leafs because they perceived that to be a preferable situation to carrying Giguere for another season.

As for Dion Phaneuf, the Flames signed him to a 6-year, $39 million contract at the age of 23. They were expecting him to develop into a franchise player and were paying him accordingly. But it never happened so they found themselves stuck with the 8th best paid defenseman who possessed very ordinary statistics. But with a contract like that you can't expect to trade Phaneuf for Ilya Kovalchuk. Instead the best the Flames could do was a package of players from one of the worst teams in the league. If they had no impact in Toronto, nothing is going to change in Calgary.

As they say in the securities world, buy low and sell high. Nothing could be truer in the NHL today.

When is the rest of the Leaf roster getting traded?

2010-01-31T19:44:00.002-05:00

Many Leaf fans have been so fed up over ineptness of the Maple Leafs that they have been suggested that the entire roster get dumped. Well Brian Burke did his best to meet that demand by trading away over 25% of the roster in two deals today.

I had planned to write a post today outlining what the Leafs greatest needs were and who they should deal away. Of course their greatest need is another goalie. That has now been addressed but with with a large cap hit. J.S. Guigere comes with a cap hit of $6 million. That can partially be swallowed by the loss of Jason Blake whose cap hit is $4 million.

I was going to suggest that the Leaf should attempt to move the line of Stajan-Ponikarovsky-Hagman. The first two were to become unrestricted free agents this summer and likely not worth the cost for a team that was deep into a rebuild. As for Hagman, at 30 his best contribution might also come in the form of prospects or draft picks. Only Ponikarovsky remains for now. He too may be moved because it may take $3.5 to $4 million to sign him to a contract. Not sure if he is worth it. A big man that rarely uses his big frame.

The only significant player traded by the Leafs was Ian White who arguably has been their best defenseman over the past two seasons. However, picking up Dion Phaneuf makes White expendable.

As for the numbers, the Leafs moved out $14,933,333 in cap space and received back $13,250,000 so it seems like a wash. However, when you consider only the contracts that don't expire this season, the Leafs moved out only $7 million so they have lost a lot of flexibility for next season. They have 15 players under contract for $48 million. That does not include Jonas Gustavsson, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Nik Kulemin, Garnet Exelby, Wayne Primeau, Mike van Ryn, John Mitchell and Lee Stempniak from their current roster. With a potential salary cap at around $50 million, Burke will need to unload some more contracts. Considering they have 7 defensemen on contract for next season totalling more than half the cap, it shouldn't be shock to see Tomas Kaberle traded during the off season. Hopefully, Jeff Finger as well.

How was that for a finish to the season?

2010-01-31T19:12:00.002-05:00

It was a meaningless game since whether we won or lost, we would finish in 4th place and Durham would finish in 6th. However, it was played like everything was on the line and resulted in the most exciting game of the season. For almost three period the play was up and down the ice at tremendous speed and no score despite numerous scoring opportunities. The game opened with a end to end rush by a Lightning defenseman and that set the pace for the game. Both goalie were terrific and it looked like we see a scoreless tie reminicent of the game earlier in the month against Etobicoke. However with less that three minute in the game Amanda fired a shot at the Durham net that was stopped. The rebound bounced out to Gabby who banged at it; the shot was partially stopped by the Durham goalie but the puck went up in the air and floated over the goalie's out stretched trapper into the net behind her. It wasn't the prettiest goal but likely much appreciated by Paolina who earned her first win of the season on the last day of regulation play.

You never know when you put together a team in the spring how well it will come together in the new season, especially when you are absorbing nine new players. There were some growing pains this season but you have to admire the work ethic of this team. This will be a competitive team in the playoffs and if it remains largely intact next season, a force to be reckoned with.

Congratulations Storm!!

Storm crash into 4th place

2010-01-30T22:37:00.002-05:00

Bring on the playoffs! The Storm win their 3rd game out of 4 played this week to jump into a 4th place tie with the Ioi Storm team. Now a loss tomorrow would drop us back to 6th but either way this team is ready for the second season after a convincing 4-0 win against the Ioi Storm team. Today we won every battle for the puck and used both speed and size dominate the first two periods.

The first goal game off a rebound after Caitlin fired a high wrist stop that the goalie had problems handling. Maddie L was their to bang in the rebound. During the second period Maddie picked up a pass from Caitlin at the opposition blueline and powered her way towards the net. As she was falling from about 10 feet out with a defenseman draped over her, she fired the puck over the pads of the sprawling goalie. Before the period was up the line of Gabby, Skye and Genevieve were crashing the net and in the ensuing scramble, Skye banged the puck in the net. The final goal was scored by Caitlin with less than a minute remaining in the game on a breakaway off a feed from Maddie A.

Ever wonder what impact there would be if shootout were eliminated?

2010-01-29T23:28:00.004-05:00

If you received 2 points for a win (regulation or overtime), 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss, not much in the East would change. The largest differential in the standing would occur for Atlanta who would fall the spots. Most teams would not move at all.

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	SOW	N. Pts	Rank Diff	P Diff
1	Washington	53	35	12	4	66	0	-10
2	New Jersey	52	34	16	6	62	0	-8
3	Pittsburgh	55	33	21	6	60	1	-7
4	Buffalo	52	31	14	3	59	-1	-10
5	Ottawa	55	30	21	4	56	0	-8
6	Philadelphia	52	26	23	3	49	1	-6
7	NY Rangers	54	24	23	2	46	1	-9
8	Montreal	55	25	25	4	46	1	-9
9	Atlanta	53	24	21	4	44	-3	-12
10	Tampa Bay	52	22	20	2	42	1	-12
11	Florida	53	23	21	5	41	-1	-14
12	Islanders	54	23	23	6	40	0	-14
13	Boston	51	23	20	6	40	0	-14
14	Toronto	54	17	27	1	33	0	-11
15	Carolina	53	18	28	3	33	0	-10

Why the Maple Leafs stink

2010-01-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

Under a salary cap there is only one way to build a winner in the NHL, through the draft. Every team has figured it out but the Maple Leafs. That is why at the 2009 trading deadline, only one deal was made for a first round draft pick. It is suicide in the NHL today to give away high draft picks. And the way teams lock up their few star players, you aren't going to get another crack at them as free agents (the Sedins, Rick Nash, etc). Every other team has figured it out but our Leafs.

Below are the five drafts since the lockout. Some rounds the Leafs have multiple picks as a result of trades. The players in blue are currently with the Leafs. The players in green are picks still in the Leaf system. The ones in red are the players picked up in trades for draft picks.

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Round 1	Andrew Raycroft	Phillippe Paradis	Veas Toskala	Luke Schenn	Nazem Kadri
Round 2	Brian Leetch	Nikolai Kulemin	Vesa Toskala	James Hayes	Kenny Ryan Jesse Blacker
Round 3	Phil Oreskovic	Jeff O’Neill	Dale Mitchell	Jamal Mayers	Jamie Devane
Round 4	Ron Francis	James Reimer Korbinian Holzer	Matt Frattin Ben Winnett	Mikhail Stefanovich	Vesa Toskala
Round 5	Alex Berry	Luke Richardson	Juraj Mikus	Greg Pateryn Joel Champagne Jerome Flaake	Eric Knodel
Round 6	John Pohl	Viktor Stalberg Tyler Ruegsegger Leo Komarov	Chris DiDomenico	Grant Rollheiser	Jerry D’Amigo
Round 7	Chad Rau	Chris Frank Benn Ferriero	Carl Gunnarsson	Andrew MacWilliam	Barron Smith

I still don't believe he made this shot

2010-01-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

The prank was set up perfectly. A high school girls' basketball coach in Kansas was told he'd win tickets to the Final Four if he hit a half-court shot while blindfolded. The crowd was instructed to scream wildly when his attempt inevitably failed (because, really, that shot is nearly impossible) so the coach would think the shot went in. For an instant ,he'd think he was Final-Four-bound and then the joke would be revealed. There was just one problem, though: He made it.

source

The Brian Burke miracle isn't happening

2010-01-26T23:09:00.002-05:00

Maybe the expectations were too high, but you can't get very excited about the 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs. It has to be pretty much accepted that this is the worst Leaf team since 1984-85. When Brian Burke suggested at the start of this season the Leafs would compete for a playoff spot it appears that either:

He had grossly overestimated the strength of his team (quite common in sports),
He is risk taker and things have not been going his way, or
He knew the team stunk and has been blowing a lot of smoke.

I'm not quite sure which is the case. Maybe a combination of all three. Here's how I see it.

The college free agents

After signing Hanson and Bozak as college free agents (and throw Gustavsson in with them), Burke declared that this group was the equivalent of 3 first round picks in the amateur draft. Now that is just a pile of crap, All three players were overlooked over the course of three draft years. That doesn't happen if these guys were that good. All three are well beyond 18 years of age and struggling to learn how to play in the NHL.

Unrestricte free agents

In addition to the college free agents, Burke went out and offered big contracts to Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin to strengthen the Leaf defense. Both players have been disappointments. But then both players were coming off of sub par years which were shortened by injuries. So is this a case of gambling or overestimating their value and ability?

The truculence factor

Part of Burke's plan was to change the culture on the Leafs by bringing in a group of tough players to fill out the bottom end of the lineup. So he sighed Colton Orr, Jay Rosehill and traded away Pavel Kubina for Garnet Exelby. No Leaf player is in the top 10 in the league in fighting majors. As a team the Leafs are 10th in fighting majors and 12th in penalty minutes. However, they also happen to be one of the worst penalty killing teams in the history of the NHL. As a result, the more physical game has mostly become a liability.

Goaltending

Goalies are fill the most important position in hockey and one of the more critical positions in sports. So Burke decides to hang his season on a veteran with chronic injuries coming off surgery and an unknown and unproven Swedish rookie who has never played in North America. Of couse perhaps Gustavsson might have had an entirely different season had he not undergone heart surgery twice. Some more bad luck or a poor read on his lineup.

Phil Kessel trade

This has to be an example of grossly overestimating both the team he has and the impact that Kessel would have. I am sure Burke was convinced that he was giving up two middle round first picks in the trade with Boston. That certainly would make the Kessel trade look pretty good. But Kessel has looked out of shape coming off of shoulder surgery and has not had a significant impact on the Leafs. Well you know how the rest of it goes. The Leafs are at the bottom of the standings and Boston stands to get a pretty good pick in 2010 and maybe the same in 2011. Meanwhile the Leafs cannot get significantly better without some young prospects to build around. This trade might make Leafs forget about the Raycroft trade very soon and that's not a good thing.

So what has worked out? Not too much. No free agent has stood out. His lineup has a number of players with big contracts and little production. The farm system is pretty barren. The Marlies are near the bottom of the standing and their top scorer is a fighter, Andre Deveaux. Their goalie of the future has some potentially serious health issues.

Brian we're waiting. Show us something.

Storm are moving on up

2010-01-26T22:56:00.002-05:00

The Storm continue to slowly climb in the standing after a slow start to the season. A 2-1 win of the other team called the North Storm puts the real Storm into a 5th place tie with Durham West.

The game featured the wide-open, skating game that has been our calling card for some time now. There were several breakaways but unlike the night before, no one was able to capitlize. However, in the second period we finally took the lead. Kailee stripped the puck off an opponent deep in the offensive zone. She passed the puck to Alex in the corner who fed it through the crease to Genevieve who drove it home. Later in the same period Caitlin picked up a rebound in a scramble and fired the puck into an empty net.

Early in the third the game could have shifted the other way after we took two consecutive high sticking penalties. However, the penality killers did their job and no harm was done. Not until the last minute of the game when the other Storm team finally beat Bianca on a scramble with their goalie pulled.

Despite a short bench. the four defensemen, Paitra, Emma, Maddie A, and Skye, had strong games. As did Alex and Kailee who both finished with two assists each.

Alex drops out of the race for the Lady Byng Trophy

2010-01-26T00:01:00.002-05:00

With 1:31 remaining in the second period tonight against Mississauga the unthinkable happened. Alex got a penalty. I'm not kidding! The game was stopped and the on-ice officials skated to the Storm bench to confirm that 88 was actually Alex and not some call up. And with that indiscretion, a little obstruction against 15 on the Chiefs and her clean record gone for good. I saw a tear form in the corner of Coach Bruce's eye though he will never admit that it happened.

As far as the game goes, well we lost 4-2. Pez honours went to Caitlin for a one-timer goal off a beautiful feed from Maddie L. while on the powerplay. Kailee fired a rebound off a shot by Amanda for the Storms' other goal.

Not the prettiest goal but they all count the same

2010-01-24T23:58:00.001-05:00

Nothing like Leaside bashing to put a smile on your face

2010-01-24T22:56:00.002-05:00

Remember that 5-0 pasting we took from Leaside early in the season? Sure we weren't playing well at the time but I did say they would pay for that. Well today they took on the chin by a score of 5-1 and add to that the previous 3-0 win over the ~~Wildcats~~ Pussycats, and I'd say we got them back pretty good.

This game had it all. All couple of powerplay goals by Caitlin and Alicia. Two pretty breakaway goals by Genevieve and Gabby. And a two goal performance by Alicia.

It gets a little tougher with games the next two days against Mississauga and that other North York team. We're short a couple of bodies but that shouldn't matter. This team is starting to find its stride now.

No breaks in Milton

2010-01-24T12:16:00.001-05:00

Sometimes hard work just doesn't payoff. Just ask Ron Wilson. That was the story for the Storm on Saturday morning as they blew into Milton, were all over the Twisters but couldn't score when it counted. And just like the Maple Leafs found themselves in a 2-0 hole in the first period before beginning to climb out. Kaitlin did score a powerplay goal late in the first period to cut the lead down to one. However, a botched play in the Storm end led to another goal and the first period ended 3-1. In the second period Gabby closed the lead again but the tying goal never came. It was close though. With the goalie pulled, Caitlin hit the goal post with seconds left in the game. A disappointing 3-2 loss.

Is it time to name Ian White captain?

2010-01-23T13:58:00.003-05:00

With all the talk about Tomas Kaberle and Matt Stajan having career years it has also been suggested that one of the two be named captain. Always over looked is the most under-rated yet most valuable player on the team, Ian White.

Although Kaberle is 4th in the NHL in scoring for defensemen with 43 points, White is tied for 7th in goal scored by defensemen with 9. However, White is a +4 while Kaberle is a -9, a 13-goal differential. That puts White in the top 75 defensemen for =/- which might not sound like a big deal but look at the goaltending be plays in front of. Kaberle is not even in the top 200. Their ice time is equal with over 23 minutes played per game but much of Kaberle's ice time is on the powerplay. On penalty kills and five-on-five you are more likely to see White on the ice. He seems to be out there in every key situation.

As for Matt Stajan, he has yet to prove he is a front line player. He is merely fill in as one until some more quality players arrive. So his career year may require an asterisk. In addition, his tenure on the Leafs is very much up in the air. Although Stajan may want to remain a Leaf, it's hard to say if management fells the same way.

Maybe no one is deserving of the captaincy at the moment but also no one is more deserving at this moment than Ian White.

Oh my! Carey Price gets drilled

2010-01-22T23:55:00.001-05:00

They say goalies are fair targets if they leave their crease but I think their should be rules to protect them just as the NFL has for quarterbacks. Cam Janssen's hit was excessive and a penalty was called. But give Price credit, he peeled a teammate off of Janssen so he could get a piece of him.

Rangers stand around and watch their star player get mugged

2010-01-22T23:48:00.003-05:00

Another soft team. Gaborik gets worked over by Carcillo and no teammate lifts a glove to help him. Sean Avery later goes after Carcillo and he wasn't on the ice when the incident occurred. But his teammates have no guts.

Angry Leaf fan

2010-01-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

How about this shootout goal?

2010-01-20T21:45:00.002-05:00

I wouldn't miss shootout if they eliminated it. It's become a show for players with trick shots that if they are effective only embarrass goalies. I can't see how that is good for the game and certainly shouldn't determine the outcome of a game and who makes the playoffs. Here is a classic example of what I'm taking about.

Controversial shootout goal

2010-01-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe you could have a controversy over a shootout goal (the NHL's biggest mistake) but here it is.

Leafs might as well start planning for next season now

2010-01-17T17:39:00.002-05:00

Well the Maple Leafs remain in 14th place in the East and nine points out of a playoff berth. So it's about time to forget about how well you do this season and look to making next season end better than this one. That means stop fretting about how high the draft pick that goes to the Bruins for Phil Kessel. Watching the standings isn't really going to help.

Free agents

The Leafs have a boatload of restricted and unrestricted free agents including Gustavsson (RFA), Toskala (UFA), White (RFA), Exelby (UFA), Van Ryn (UFA), Hanson (RFA), Mitchell (RFA), Wallin (UFA), Primeau (UFA), Mayers (UFA), Kulemin (RFA), Stajan (UFA), Ponikarovsky (UFA), and Stempniak (UFA). Those you do not plan to keep or may price themselves too high (as was the case with Moore last season) you see if you can pick up a draft pick at the trading deadline. They might include Primeau, Mayers, Exelby for teams looking for some more toughness going into the playoffs. For those looking for scoring depth maybe Stempniak might help. The tougher decisions are on players like Ponikarovsky and Stajan. Statistically both are doing well enough to earn significant raises next season -certainly in excess of $3 million per season. But are they the types of players you want to build around. If not then an offer of a second round pick will find them on new teams in March.

Goaltending

The endless analysis of this Leaf team runs from coaching, to penalty killing, to shaky defense. But the Leaf lineup is not much different than 20 other teams in the league with the exception of goaltending. It has been abysmal. Had the goaltending held out, I have no doubt that the team would be fighting for a playoff spot. Both have shown to be no better than an adequate backup. You can get rid of both as the Flyers did in the offseason and start fresh. Though re-signing Gustavsson makes some sense. It has had a difficult season with his health and deserves further consideration. I think that Toskala will return to Europe to find his game. So the search for a bona fida starter continues. I would have rather handed over all those draft picks it took to get Kessel in order to acquire a top goalie.

The Youth

Most young players have not developed as far as we would have liked. The only exception has been Kulemin who has shown a combination of speed, physical play, defense and offense this year. However, Schenn, Bozak, Hanson, Gunnarsson, Gustavsson and Stulberg are going to take some time still. The problem is that there isn't much else in the system right now. Kadri will be given a shot at making the team next season but there isn't much else for a while.

Trading for draft picks

It's always a good idea to pick up draft picks when you're rebuilding but the Leafs have little to offer. When Stajan and Hagman were scoring they might have tempted some managers although neither would get you back a first round pick. But if they continue to play as they have in the last few weeks, second round picks may also be out of the question. Tomas Kaberle is the only player that might get back a first round pick. However, getting back a low first round pick from a contender is not going to provide much return. As well, he is the offensive catalyst on this team for some time to come. There is likely more value to the team by keeping him than by moving him.

Big name free agents

The Leafs will likely have some dollars to spend on free agents this summer. I'm sure everyone is thinking about Kovalchuk in a Leaf uniform. Without goaltending he isn't the cure and he will be very expensive. Burke's signings to stabilize the defense last summer were expensive and not very effective - though I think Bobby Orr couldn't cure the Leaf's goaltending. Rebuilding has to be through youth and cannot happen through free agency under a salary cap.

Twisters pay back Storm at home

2010-01-17T17:29:00.002-05:00

Back in December the Storm dropped in at Milton to take on North Halton and stole a road game from the Twisters by a 1-0 score. Well the Twisters returned the favour Saturday at Risk arena by an identical 1-0 score. It was a real shame since it wasted a good goaltending effort by Paolina. She has now given up just 1 goal in straight games against the top two teams in the division.

The Storm had 4 powerplay opportunities but didn't move the puck well and created few good chances. The loss returns the Storm to below .500 and keeps the team in 6th place.

Tyler Bozak's first NHL goal was a classic

2010-01-14T23:37:00.001-05:00

I see a pattern forming

2010-01-12T22:09:00.003-05:00

The Leafs give up the first goal. They give up at least one powerplay goal. They badly out shoot the opposition. The Leafs lose. MLSE makes a healthy profit.

This might have been billed as the Battle for Taylor Hall...if they game had been played in Boston. Let's face it the Leafs are no longer playing for a playoff spot. They fighting off the embarrassment of having to hand over a lottery pick to the Bruins and failing miserably at that.

Incredibly the Leafs have now played 10 games this season in which they have had at least 40 shots on net and not won even one of those games. Only the most die hard Leaf fans can blame this on hot goaltending. The real explanation is bad goaltending - in the Leafs' end. It also proves that shots on net are a poor indicator of how well a team has played. A better indicator is scoring chances and giveaways. My guess is that the Leafs do not fair well in these areas. As far as the truculence indicator, well Carolina out hit our Maple Leafs 21-17.

SHOTS	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
61	Islanders	OT Loss
50	Buffalo	Loss
49	Montreal	OT Loss
46	Montreal	OT Loss
43	Pittsburgh	Loss
42	Buffalo	Loss
41	Tampa Bay	OT Loss
41	Washington	SO Loss
40	Calgary	Loss
40	Carolina	Loss

The penalty shot that wasn't

2010-01-10T18:19:00.002-05:00

After watching the clip you may be wonder why Gonchar still get penalized, and why Toronto does not get its penalty shot? It's all explained in the NHL rulebook under section 78.6.

Any penalties signaled during the period of time between the apparent goal and the next stoppage of play shall be assessed in the normal manner, except when a minor penalty is to be assessed to the team scored upon, and is therefore nullified by the scoring of the goal. If an infraction happens after the first stoppage of play following an apparent goal (infraction after the whistle) by either team, it is assessed and served in the normal manner regardless as to the decision rendered by the Video Goal Judge.

Only ONE goal may be awarded during a single stoppage in play. Because Toronto could have scored a goal on the penalty shot -- the same stoppage as Gonchar's goal -- that would have obviously been more than one goal on a single stoppage. It's also because of that rule that if Ponikarovsky had scored on his initial breakaway that goal would have been erased from the scoreboard.

Storm blow by Chiefs

2010-01-10T16:00:00.005-05:00

The Storm have now faced the Mississauga Chiefs twice this season and have now beaten them twice by identical scores of 3-1. The Storm have continued their recent strong play to out hustle Mississauga and coast to the win.

The score remained scoreless in the first period but early in the second Kailee redirected a shot by Allie to give the Storm a 1-0 lead. Later in the period Gabbie tipped in a backhand shot by Alicia to increase the lead by two goals. Early in the third period the Storm gave up a shorthanded goal at the end of a long shift as the Mississauga penalty killers outskated some tired legs. However, the two goal lead was restored at the end of the powerplay with a goal off the face off by Maddie L on a set up by Emma.

The weekend turned out a success with 3 out of 4 points against the top two teams in the division. Slowly the Storm has begun to move up the standing moving into 6th place but only 6 points back of 2nd place Mississauga with 3 games in hand.

Storm team standings

2010-01-09T20:34:00.001-05:00

TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	WIN%
Atom B	17	15	1	1	31	59	13	91.18%
Bantam BB	15	6	5	4	16	20	16	53.33%
Midget B - I	17	6	6	5	17	26	23	50.00%
Midget B - H	14	5	6	3	13	19	26	46.43%
Midget BB	18	5	8	5	15	39	38	41.67%
Peewee B	15	5	8	2	12	26	24	40.00%
Intermediate	18	5	10	3	13	39	54	36.11%
Bantam C	15	3	10	2	8	15	68	26.67%
Midget A	17	2	11	4	8	28	53	23.53%
Bantam B	16	1	12	3	5	47	32	15.63%
Atom C	17	1	15	1	3	7	71	8.82%
Peewee C	16	0	15	1	1	9	47	3.13%

Leafs get 50 shots and still lose

2010-01-08T22:23:00.002-05:00

Yup the Leafs do it again. They fall behind by 3 goals, storm back but fall short, losing 3-2. They get 50 shots on Ryan Miller, their second highest shot total this season but only score twice.

SHOTS	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
61	Islanders	OT Loss
50	Buffalo	Loss
49	Montreal	OT Loss
46	Montreal	OT Loss
42	Buffalo	Loss
41	Tampa Bay	OT Loss
40	Washington	SO Loss
40	Calgary	Loss
39	Minnesota	Loss
39	Anaheim	Win

Storm tie up first place Dolphines

2010-01-08T22:03:00.002-05:00

The Storm finished the last decade with a shutout and begin the new decade with a shutout. The high flying Storm out-skated, out-shot and out-hustled the first place Dolphins but could eke out a goal to win the game. Paolina stopped every shot she faced including some tough ones for the shutout. But the best scoring chance belonged to the Storm including Alicia, Maddie L, and Genevieve but they couldn't get the puck by the Dolphin goalie.

The single point moves the Storm into a tie for sixth place with Scarborough and only one point out of fifth place with 3 games in hand on Durham West.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Is the glass half full or half empty?

2010-01-07T23:25:00.005-05:00

When it comes to Toronto Maple Leaf fans, many view their team through blue tinted glasses. In every loss they see a silver lining - the team worked hard, they were able to comeback from a 2-goal deficit, Matt Stajan had a strong game, the referees were bad, it was a moral victory. Many fans think they have a strong core and with a few additions, a lot of those losses will turn into wins. The same fans think that you can trade Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala for Jeff Carter.

So are the Leafs on their way to being competitive or are they headed in the opposite direction? Truthfully you can't always tell. This team has shown a lot of resiliency despite falling behind at least 2-0 in 22 games this season. But in addition to being fairly resilient, they have played some pretty bad hockey. Why else have they fallen behind by 2 goals so many times? They are awful on special teams. For example they have had the 9th fewest penalties to kill off in the NHL this season but have given up the most goals killing penalties. Almost one out of three Leaf penalties leads to a goal. Their penalty killing is third worst in NHL history, only slightly better than the 79-80 Kings and the 82-83 Kings.

The goaltending is the worst in the league. Their #1 goalie (Vesa Toskala) has the worst goals against average and save percentage in the league which has forced the team to sit him on the bench. The backup goalie (Jonas Gustavsson) is a rookie who has been forced into the starting role because of the inept play of Toskala. The problem is Gustavsson is just not ready to be a #1 goalie. The result has been a disaster and part of the explanation why the Leafs keep falling behind in games. Teams with strong goaltending can get away with an off night but the Leafs can never afford to have an off night.

As was the case last season, a weak forward corpse means players are assigned roles they are not suited for. For example, Matt Stajan has neither the size or skill to be a first line centre. Stajan is this year's Dominic Moore who last season had inflated numbers and unrealistic salary demands. We know how that turned out. Fans can't understand why the Leafs aren't bringing up that terrific young talent on the Marlies roster. Well that's because no one is ready for prime time. The Marlies top scorer is 62nd in scoring in the AHL. And that player is none other than Andre Deveaux. Yes, a fighter is their leading scorer. Folks, the cupboard is bare.

As we are all well aware, Brian Burke's eagerness to acquire a top end talent led him to trade two first round draft picks for Phil Kessell so there will be no hot prospects to look forward to next spring. To compensate, Burke will be looking to trade veterans with any value in March for draft picks so that he has some reason to show up at the draft before round 3. No that doesn't mean Toskala or Blake. You would need to give away draft picks to convince another GM to take them off your hands. The players most likely to be traded are Hagman, Kaberle and Stajan. But if someone is willing to send a low draft pick for a Mayers or a Stempniak, they will be gone too.

So back to my question - is the glass half full or half empty?

Creator of Pez dispenser has passed away

2010-01-06T22:46:00.002-05:00

This is a truly sad day. A titan of industry. A captain of candy. A Nikola Tesla-like inventor, has died. Yep, the guy that invented the miraculous PEZ dispenser is gone.

Candy genius Curtis Allina died at the age of 87.

It was in 1955 that Mr. Allina brought the Austrian candy to the USA and started a pop culture phenomenon. Who hasn't owned a Pez dispenser? What other candy is mentioned in Seinfeld?

Canadian Junior loss has a silver lining

2010-01-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

I don't mind when you get beat by a better team and last night's loss by Canada's Junior men's hockey team was just that. The Americans had more speed, more discipline, and more grit. But more important, the Americans had better goaltending.

In the four games played against opponents other than the U.S., Canada outscored the opposition 36-3. It appeared they had superb goaltending but as it turned out the results were skewed by weak opponents. A fairer test was the U.S. who managed 10 goals in the 2 games played. Clearly not good enough to win gold. In fact, had they not pulled out the win on New Years Eve, they may not have made it to the gold medal game. This is no knock on Jake Allen who is an excellent player but his glove hand failed him throughout the tournament.

Losing to a team like Team USA is no shame. Those were incredibly exciting and entertaining games. As well. winning 5 golds and 2 silvers over 7 World tournaments speaks volumes to Canada's outstanding Junior hockey program. I would doubt Canada's professional players could match that record.

I'm not a big fan of Rickard Wallin

2010-01-06T09:15:00.003-05:00

I call him the invisible man - you hardly notice Rickard Wallin when he is in the lineup. He played a fair amount early in the season but until the recent injuries to Grabovski and and Primeau, he had been relegated to the press box for much of the past month.

He doesn't appear to do anything particularly well. He has no speed, shot, or physical presence. He has no goals and just 3 assists in 31 games. Only 5 players have played more games than Wallin without scoring a goal but most of these players are fighters.

Wallin is projected to score ZERO goals this season. He hasn't even come close to scoring a goal. He has been averaging 11:30 minutes per game for a total of 356 minutes of ice time with not much to show for it. He has to be one of the worst players in the NHL.

I'm not sure what the Leafs saw in him during last year's World Championships that would make them want to sign him to a contract or why he isn't finishing the season with the Marlies. Did he come as a package deal with Jonas Gustavsson? Is their organizational depth so thin that they need to keep him on their roster?

He actually has scored at the NHL level. Prior to the lockout, he played 19 games for Minnesota and scored 6 goals. Perhaps he was more suited for the NHL game prior to the lockout or maybe at 29 he is already beyond is prime. I guess he may just be filling a roster spot on a rebuilding team while prospects develop in the minors. Maybe the Leafs expected more out of him. I noticed that the Bruins signed Miroslav Satan as a free agent last week for about the same money that Wallin got. Wouldn't that have been a better option for the Leafs in the short term?

Brian Burke tries shaking things up for Team USA

2010-01-04T22:27:00.004-05:00

Team USA did miserably at the 2006 Olympics finishing 4th in their pool with only 1 win against Kazahkstan. They subsequently knocked out in the semis by Finland. So Brian Burke figures why go with the lineup that crashed and burned 4 years ago. No Modano, Gomez, Guerin and Tkachuk this time. Though as long as Ryan Miller is in net, maybe it doesn't matter who else is in the lineup. Team USA will be interesting.

DEFENSEMEN	GP	G	A	P	MIN/G
IN
Erik Johnson	38	4	17	21	21:42
Jack Johnson	39	4	11	15	22:54
Brooks Orpik	37	0	14	14	19:57
Brian Rafalski	35	2	13	15	24:03
Ryan Suter	40	2	18	20	24:07
Paul Martin	9	0	2	2	23:57
Mike Komisarek	33	0	4	4	19:55
OUT
Ryan Whitney	39	3	19	22	25:35
Andy Greene	35	5	18	23	23:59
Zach Bogosain	39	8	8	16	22:36

FORWARDS
IN	GP	G	A	P	MIN/G
David Backes	39	9	9	18	17:53
Dustin Brown	40	9	19	28	19:12
Ryan Callahan	39	9	10	19	19:37
Chris Drury	34	5	9	14	17:09
Patrick Kane	39	17	27	44	19:01
Ryan Kesler	40	10	23	33	19:29
Phil Kessel	29	14	8	22	20:05
Jamie Langengrunner	38	9	22	31	20:01
Ryan Malone	40	19	16	35	19:30
Zach Parise	38	17	25	43	19:47
Joe Pavelski	24	7	11	18	19:14
Bobby Ryan	39	19	14	33	19:19
Paul Stastny	41	9	30	39	21:33
OUT
Tim Conolly	39	9	20	29	18:35
Bill Guerin	41	12	16	28	17:43
Jason Pominville	39	10	17	27	18:48
Scott Gomez	38	5	20	25	19:47
Brian Rolston	37	13	9	22	17:42
R.J. Umberger	41	13	14	27	18:58
Mike Madano	26	6	8	14	14:27
Keith Tkachuk	37	8	14	22	14:14
Kyle Okposo	40	6	21	27	20:22

Olympic hockey teams load up on NHL players

2010-01-03T08:36:00.001-05:00

According to my count the countries entering men's hockey teams in the 2010 Olympics have selected 142 NHL players. That does not include former NHL players such as Sergei Federov who will also be playing in Vancouver. The interesting thing is that you would think that the top teams in the NHL are providing most of the players. That is not always the case. Teams at the bottom of the standings (Toronto, Anaheim, Columbus) are providing more players than some of the top teams (Buffalo, Phoenix, Calgary). San Jose who is first overall in the NHL is providing the most players with 8 on Olympic squads but right behind with 7 are Anaheim, Vancouver and Detroit.

It's quite easy to explain. Only Canada has an abundance of talent in the NHL (about 400 players). So if a NHL team has a Swiss, German or Slovak player, odds are they are good enough to make that country's Olympic team. To show how powerful of a lineup The Sharks had, not only did they have the most players selected but also the most Canadian players (4). While the struggling Islanders are only providing one player to the Swiss team.

Here is the breakdown of Olympians by NHL team:

1. San Jose (8)
2. New Jersey (6)
3. Chicago (6)
4. Buffalo (3)
5. Washington (5)
6. Phoenix (3)
7. Colorado (3)
8. Calgary (4)
9. Pittsburgh (5)
10. Nashville (4)
11. Vancouver (7)
12. Los Angeles (5)
13. Boston (5)
14. Detroit (7)
15. Dallas (4)
16. Ottawa (5)
17. Montreal (6)
18. New York Rangers (4)
19. Minnesota (5)
20. Atlanta (5)
21. Tampa Bay (5)
22. New York Islanders (1)
23. Philadelphia (5)
24. St. Louis (3)
25. Anaheim (7)
26. Florida (2)
27. Columbus (6)
28. Toronto (8)
29. Edmonton (2)
30. Carolina (3)

You don't see many goals like this

2010-01-02T22:12:00.001-05:00

What could be clearer than this sign?

2009-12-31T17:16:00.003-05:00

Just take a look at this sign. No ambiguity here. What could be clearer? The only thing I can think of is a sign that says "This is a sign." Or maybe a statement like the Toronto Maple Leafs will NOT win the Stanley Cup in 2010.

My top 10 players of the decade

2009-12-30T07:04:00.004-05:00

10. Scott Niedermayer

9. Chris Pronger

8. Joe Sakic

7. Jose Theodore

6. Jaromir Jagr

5. Pavel Datsyuk

4. Martin Brodeur

3. Sidney Crosby

2. Niklas Lidstrom

1. Alex Ovechkin

Will return on January 3rd

2009-12-27T15:56:00.001-05:00

Same old story for the Maple Leafs

2009-12-27T06:50:00.002-05:00

As I watched the Leafs fall behind 2-0 to Montreal last night, I turned to my out of town guest and predicted the Leafs would tie the game up in the third period and loss in overtime. He laughed and asked how I could be so sure. Because the Leafs are the most predictable team in the NHL.

Sure enough the Leafs peppered 49 shots at Halak last night but lost in overtime 3-2. In the 10 games where the Leafs have had their highest shot total, they only won once and that was against Anaheim who at the time had a record worse than the Leafs. Five games were lost in overtime or shootout. You would think that the Leafs are just running into a string of great goaltenders. But that isn't really what is happening.

In the offensive zone the Leafs are aggressive on the forecheck and winning a lot of battles for the puck. It is producing a high number of scoring opportunities but with a lack of snipers, the number of shots are pretty much meaningless. Many are harmless and with the lack of large forwards, they often take long shots without screening the goalie. Meanwhile the Leafs often have poor starts and fall behind early in the game. This forces them to take too many chances in their own end which leads to turnovers and goals. You are more often than not going to lose to Washington if you try to outgun them. They have too much firepower. Meanwhile strong defensive teams like Buffalo will sit back and wait for you to make a mistake.

Winning game starts in your own end. Something the Leafs have yet to learn.

SHOTS	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
61	Islanders	OT Loss
49	Montreal	OT Loss
46	Montreal	OT Loss
42	Buffalo	Loss
41	Tampa Bay	OT Loss
40	Washington	SO Loss
40	Calgary	Loss
39	Minnesota	Loss
39	Anaheim	Win
38	Buffalo	Loss

Time lapse video of Fenway rink

2009-12-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty cool video from NHL.com of the entire building process for the rink at Fenway Park for the 2010 NHL Winter Classic.

Matt Stajan is playing his way off the Leafs

2009-12-25T09:16:00.003-05:00

Matt Stajan has looked very good of late. However, I'm afraid he has looked too good. He is having a career year playing centre to Phil Kessel and is the leading all Leaf forwards in scoring with 28 points. At this pace he will score 24 goals and 61 points.

Stajan is also 26 and a UFA this summer. His salary is a comfortable $1,750,000 is you are Brian Burke. The problem is that UFA with Stajan's stats are getting $4 million per season. Nik Antropov scored 59 points last season and is earning $4 million; Johan Franzen scored 34 goals and 59 points last season and is earning $5.5 million (with a cap hit of $3.955); The Sharks' Ryane Clowe is earning $3.5 million and in his best season he scored 52 points; Alex Frolov of the Kings is earning $4 million (but cap his only $2.9) and his best season was 67 points; and finally the Devils' Travis Zajac who had a career year of 62 points last year and is earning $2.75 million (the cap hit is $3.888).

But is Matt Stajan really a number 1 centre? I don't think so. Playing along side Kessel and inflating his numbers. The Leafs have signed Grabovski for 3 years to centre a 2nd line who is another small centre but with more offensive potential. Do you think Brian Burke will want to pay a centre easily knocked off the puck and who relies on linemates to pick up points $3 to $4 million?

However, as was the case with Moore and Antropov last season, the ideal time to maximize your return is to trade a player who is having a career year. Don't be surprised to see Stajan moved at the trading deadline this season. I would rather see Jeff Finger or Jason Blake but there isn't a market for these overpriced commodities. My guess is Burke will continue to search for a legitimate 1st line centre and look for a more physical centre to put on the 3rd line. Now I would rather keep Stajan over Grabovski for the 2nd line but the Leafs lack creative players with the puck so Grabovski will likely stick around.

Kulemin is beginning to show he belongs

2009-12-23T15:47:00.002-05:00

When Nikolai Kulemin joined the Leafs last season there was a lot of optimism as well as speculation that he might be a useful 2nd line forward. Well so far that hasn't been the case.

Kulemin is the product of the Metallurg hockey system that has also produced other strong young prospects like Evgeny Malkin . He worked his way up through Metallurg’s system, delivering two strong campaigns with the club’s junior farm team before getting an opportunity to skate in the Super League during the 2005-06 season. Kulemin also skated for Russia’s 86 born U18 squad in several tournaments, including the 2004 U18 WJC.

During the 2005-06 season, Kulemin made his Super League debut and while this young forward was expected to play a strictly supporting role on the deep Metallurg roster, he managed to make a lot of impact and earned significant minutes on the club’s third line, and spent some time skating with future Pittsburgh Penguins super star Malkin.

As a 20-year-old Kulemin led his Russian league team in goal scoring with 27 goals and, really, it wasn’t even close as the next player had only 17 goals. The Leafs drafted him 44th overall.

Last season when he was brought in my immediate conclusion was that he just wasn't ready for the NHL. Although there were some instances of good hockey, for the most part he was invisible. For a short time he was lined up with Grabovski and Ponikarovsky and the trio appeared to have some chemistry. His lacklustre play continued in the early part of this season.

However, that all seemed to change in the past month. He has begun to use his speed and size. He is not afraid to battle for the puck along the boards and has become very responsible in his own end. He is now playing with Primeau and Stempniak to form a pretty good shutdown line. It now appears that it will only be a matter of time before the offensive side of his game catches up to the defense. He is listed at 6'1" and 125 lbs so he can certainly handle the physical stuff. Although he is just 9th among Leaf forwards in shots, he is 3rd among forwards in hits.

It appears that Kulemin is developing into a similar type of player as Ponikarovsky with a physical side to his game and some scoring. This summer he becomes a RFA and at 23 I can't see why Brian Burke wouldn't be bringing him back. He will remain affordable for some time.

Roloson makes more incredible saves

2009-12-22T23:52:00.000-05:00

What to do with John Mitchell?

2009-12-22T19:15:00.002-05:00

John Mitchell’s recent knee injury strangely seems to have actually improved the Maple Leaf lineup. Back in late November, Ron Wilson was still playing around with different line combinations to find the right centre for Phil Kessel. Although the initial paring had Matt Stajan as centre he was replaced by Mitchell and Stajan was on the third line with checkers. After Mitchell was knocked out of the lineup on November 23, Wilson returned Stajan to centre the #1 line with Kessel and Ponikarvosky and the trio has looked good ever since. Meanwhile Wayne Primeau has been promoted from the 4^th line to the 3^rd line and has made the checking line much more effective. Primeau has very much been ignored early in the season in favour of younger centres. Rickard Wallin is now either on the 4^th unit or in the press box. His reduced ice time has been a blessing.

Since Mitchell’s injury the Maple Leafs have been 7-5-1 and both their offensive and checking game has improved. So what happens to John Mitchell when he recovers? He may be headed to the Marlies but if not, he will likely only see 4^th line duty. Sometimes injuries work in your favour.

Storm Holiday Brunch

2009-12-21T22:04:00.003-05:00

Vesa Toskala continues his string of bad goals

2009-12-20T17:46:00.002-05:00

Friday night against Buffalo...

Let's not forget this beauty (short-handed no less)...

Protesting the MLSE ripoff

2009-12-20T00:03:00.002-05:00

The card posted below was being handed out to fans outside the ACC tonight prior to the Leaf game. About 4,000 were handed out. No doubt it's being handed out at other games. It is a group protesting the high prices being charged by the Leafs and they have a website BeFairToT heFans.com. The site indicates they have 1375 members which suggests there isn't that many disgruntled fans with tickets.

The Olympic torch passed by my office

2009-12-19T23:47:00.005-05:00

37 SHOTS!!

2009-12-16T21:52:00.002-05:00

Give the girls some credit. After an incredible stinker of a game, the Storm dumps all over Leaside. They unleashed 37 shots at the Leaside net and only some stellar goaltending kept the score respectible. Only two late goals in the third period got by the goalie who was both good and a little lucky. Meanwhile Bianca cruised to a 9-shot shutout. There were parts of the game where Bianca could have gone to the snackbar for a cup of coffee, whipped off a couple of text messages and got her nails done and not missed a shot on net. Big kudos to the Kailee-Phyllis-Alex line who worked their butts off and made things happen. Caitlin and Gabby were flying down the ice all night cause havoc. Goals by Gabby and Maddie L iced the win for the Storm.

Darn but I really enjoyed that one - afterall it was Leaside. A nice way to go into the break.

NHL Power Ranking: Leafs finally move up

2009-12-16T07:30:00.002-05:00

For the first 10 weeks of the season, the Maple Leafs have been occuping either 29th or 30th spot in the various power rankings posted online. This week they have finally moved up although they remain in the bottom 1/3 of the league. Hopefully, for not much longer. Here is a sampling:

The Hockey News - 19th (+5)
CBS Sportsline - 20th (+7)
LA Times - 21st (+6)
CBC - 21st (+5)
NY Daily News - 23rd (+3)
TSN - 24th (+5)
Sportsnet - 25th (+4)
ESPN - 26th (+3)

Check this goal out

2009-12-14T23:29:00.001-05:00

Parity has definitely arrived at the NHL

2009-12-14T22:39:00.002-05:00

OK, even the biggest cynic has to admit the Toronto Maple Leafs are hot. They are winners of 7 out of the past 10 games and earned 20 points in the past 14 games. So here is the weird part of this. The Maple Leafs have only moved up 1 spot in the standings. They are still 29th overall and 14th in the East although tied with 4 other teams. Yet they are only 2 points out of a playoff position.

In the incredibly tight East, there are 3 points separating 8 teams. The Leafs are no where near being a Cup contender but they also don't look like a team that will be handing over a lottery draft pick to the Bruins this spring.

What turned this mess around? Well decent goaltending has been the main contributing factor. Also a consistent sniper (Kessel) has made the team much more effective during 5 on 5 situations. You can't win games by totally relying on your powerplay for goals. Most encouraging is that they play an entertaining game.

I don't see the Leafs maintaining a winning percentage of 70% but I don't see them going losing 8 games straight either. I guess the boo-birds have stopped calling for Ron Wilson's head - at least for the time being.

In defense of Don Cherry

2009-12-14T21:32:00.002-05:00

Renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Tator is a leading expert on head injury so when he speaks people listen. He has seen the irreparable damage that can take place following a head injury and is a strong advocate for preventative measures. This past weekend he got a lot of attention his fight against head injuries by labeling Don Cherry as a negative influence by promoting violence in hockey.

People by now know that I’m not a big Cherry fan. Mostly because of his right wing and xenophobic views rather than his views on the game. His flamboyant approach reflects his desire to promote Don Cherry. Hockey is actually second on his list of priorities. However, Cherry’s views on the game reflect the public views and not the other way around. When you go down to the ACC or any arena, a breakaway doesn’t bring people out of their seats unless the home team scores. Yet, every fight brings people to their feet even the reserved Toronto crowds. The game is physical and violent, even the girls game. Don Cherry can’t change that.

Don Cherry does not promote a reckless, dangerous style of hockey. He like many fans of the game like the physicality and believe that fighting actually curtails the dangerous use of sticks. Clearly his approach sees the game teetering on the edge between controlled and uncontrolled violence. Occasionally players go too far and cross the line. The game then has to deal with those individuals and ensure that everyone else gets the message as well. I am not a fan of fighting but I also understand that it cannot be eliminated from the game. Sure there are other sports where any amount of fighting is not tolerated. However, hockey has had fighting since its inception and you just can’t start from scratch. Also Cherry and others are correct. A good on ice beating sometimes works better than a 3 game suspension as a preventative measure in the bad stuff that goes on.

The game has evolved much faster than those “in charge” can adjust to these changes. Protective equipment like elbow and shoulder pads are as effective as weapons as they are in preventing injuries. Hip check virtually disappeared when molded plaster shoulder pads were introduced. Meanwhile, helmet technology has not moved ahead as quickly as say stick technology. Rink also design contributes to injuries. Players do not take proper measures to protect themselves by wearing a chin strap that keeps their helmets on. The game is faster and high speed collisions are more likely to occur with negative consequences. Eliminating obstruction has in fact high speed collisions. Nothing Don Cherry can say is going to change how this game develops. He is merely stating what he likes and doesn’t like. And so is Charles Tator.

We stunk the joint out

2009-12-14T20:04:00.002-05:00

The third game of the weekend did not go well. Maybe we were tired. Maybe it was the weather. But we had no jump. It was 3-0 for Scarborough after easily beating them in the first 2 games this season. Hey it's going to happen a few times in the course of the season. We'll get it back against Leaside on Wednesday.

Storm leave Twisters in knots

2009-12-12T16:13:00.002-05:00

Game two for the weekend was in Milton for our first game against the second place Norht Halton Twisters. It was another close up and down game that wasn't decided until late in the 3rd period. While earlier in the season the Storm faded in the third period, now we are scoring key goals late in games. This game was a scoreless tie until with less than 2 minutes remaining Alicia intercepted a pass in the Twister end and drove to the net. She deked the left and try to slide a backhand past the goalie who made a pad save. Caitlin who was trailing on the play fired the rebound past the goalie for the only goal of the game. Both teams successfully killed off 5 on 3 penalties in the second period when it looked like the game might have been broken open. Bianca finished the game with her second shutout on 16 saves.

The win also moves the Storm into 6th place for the first time this season.

Storm at the half way point

2009-12-12T15:56:00.002-05:00

Yes it's already half way through the season. Well this young team is starting to come together and playing some good wide open hockey - just what I like to see. We don't get pushed around and we never give up.

The team record is just 3-5-2 but they have only lost once in the past five games and the lopsided losses seem to be a thing of the past. In 10 games the team has scored 16 and given up 23 but 10 of those goals given up were in just 2 games. Over the remaining 8 games were have actually scored more goals (15) than have had scored against us (13). Although the team sits in 7th place, it has 3 or 4 games in hand on most of the teams in front of it so the remaining 3 games this week will largely determine how high they will finish. Third or fourth is not out of the question.

Leading in points including league, tournament and exhibition games is Gabby with 13 and she also leads the team in goals scored with 11. Alexa leads the team in assists with 5. Caitlin has been in the penalty box for 18 minutes which is tops on the Storm. There are 6 skaters that have played in all 22 exhibition, league and tournament games - Madeleine A, Madeleine L, Caitlin, Amanda, Alexa and Gabby.

Gabby comes through again

2009-12-11T23:43:00.002-05:00

With just over 3 minutes left in the game, Gabby slips a backhand shot past the Lightning goalie for a powerplay goal to give the Storm a lead for the first time in the game. It was Gabby's 6th goal in the past 4 games. It wasn't enough as the Storm gave up a goal just 20 seconds later and finished the game at a 1-1 draw. It was a tough battle and the tie was only possible because of a series of big saves by Bianca. She made several key kick saves with her right pad as the Storm stumbled slightly in the second period. With just 2 minutes remaining Alexa was imprinted into the boards giving the Storm a powerplay. Unfortunately they were unable to get the lead back. A surprise guest was former Storm player Jackie in from Montreal.

If this becomes an Olympic event, I may qualify

2009-12-10T21:49:00.001-05:00

Chick Slams Face Against Hoop - Watch more Funny Videos

The record they thought that would never be broken

2009-12-09T22:32:00.002-05:00

Terry Sawchuk's 103rd and final shutout came with the Rangers, a 6-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden in 1970. He died shortly after that. At the time it was believed that the record would never be broken. It was like Hank Aaron's home run record. So when Martin Brodeur passes Sawchuk later this season, the same thing will likely be said. No one will touch the new shutout record.

Well it might take another 39 years or maybe longer. Because if you look at the career shutout leaders, they are all oldtimers. Even the great Patrick Roy had only 66. No active contemporary of Brodeur is even close. The active leader is Chris Osgood with 51 and he is older than Brodeur. If Brodeur plays another 3 seasons the record will be that much more unreachable.