Weird Foods from Around the World

Maple Leafs at the NHL Amateur Draft

I don't get too excited about the NHL Amateur Draft coming up this weekend. For the Maple Leafs it is almost a non-event most years which is part of their problem. For several seasons (2001, 2002) they drafted well under the direction of Scouting Director Barry Trapp. Trapp's picks make up all the young players on the current Leaf roster (Stajan, Steen, Wellwood, Colaiacovo, White). But John Ferguson dumped Trapp for one of his cronies and new regime is back to questionable draft picks.

Over the pat 10 years, the Leafs have traded 3 first round picks away before drafting (1997, 2003, 2004), traded 2 picks after the draft ( Boyce/2000, Rask/2005) and 1 pick is out of hockey (Cedera/1999) and one will play with the Marlies next season after a so so year in the OHA (Tlusty/2006). That leave only 3 first round picks on the Leaf roster - Antropov (1998), Colaiacovo (2001) and Steen (2002).

Going into the draft the Leafs biggest needs are a #1 centre to replace Sundin who it appears may be in his last season. Steen, Wellwood and Stajan have not shown enough to be more than 2nd or 3rd line players. Also the team should be looking for a power forward. They currently have little size on the wings. They could fill these needs through trades as well. They have a surplus of defensemen which explains why the rumours regarding a trade for Bryan McCabe. Not an easy contract to move. More likely is Stefan Kronwall.

OK. Which Duck dented the Cup?

This Blog is "Out of Order"

With smoke coming out of my computer this morning it would be safe to say I'm in the market for a new one.

Ouch!

Do the Leafs have Low Expectations?

The Ottawa Senators announced today that coach Bryan Murray was being promoted to general manager and that John Muckler was now unemployed. I find it hard to believe that the move has to do with the team's failure to win the Stanley Cup after making it to the finals. Afterall, after many years of playoff disappointment, the Senators finally lived up to expectation but ultimately fell short.

So Muckler is probably leaving because of some grand plan of owner Eugene Melnyk. But it's interesting that a GM would be let go after such a successful season. Meanwhile in Toronto, John Ferguson has been given an endorsement and contract extension although his team has not made the playoffs the past two season. Clearly a case of lower expectations.

Crosby is no Longer the Next One

When Sidney Crosby walked away Thursday with the Hart, Pearson and Art Ross trophy, it settled the debate who the best player in the NHL was.

Crosby is the youngest-ever winner of the NHL scoring race (Gretzky was 20 when he won his first of 10).

Crosby is the first teenager to win a scoring title in any major professional sport, and the youngest professional hockey player to record a 100-point season. Crosby has done it twice now in his first two NHL seasons.

He is also the youngest NHLer chosen as a first-team all-star, another honour picked up this past week. On May 31, Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins named him their captain, too, making him the youngest team leader in league history.

The most successful Leaf in trophy voting was Thomas Kaberle. He finished 8th in votes for the Lady Bying Trophy. Surprisingly Kyle Wellwood finished only 24th and he didn't receive a single penalty all season. Kaberle finished 17th in votes for the Norris Trophy. For some unexplained reason McCable finished 24th (I didn't know salary factored in the voting). Finally, Paul Maurice finished 16th in votes for the Jack Adams Award. Why would anyone vote for a coach who's team didn't make the playoffs (Maurice wasn't alone here)?

Excellent Spelling

By the way this sign was spotted in a major pharmacy chain in New York City and not in a 3rd world country.

Here is something you don't see in North America

Coca Cola sells a drink in Japan that's called Water Salad and taste like....water salad.

The Predators are Coming

By the end of day 1, Balsillie reeled in about $6.25-million in deposits on season tickets and luxury suites at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.

Sixty of the 70 proposed suites were booked at $5,000 each, according to The Canadian Press, while 4,700 lower-bowl seats went for $1,000 each and about 2,500 upper-bowl seats went for $500 each.

Battle to Move Predators to Hamilton May Get Nasty

There is certainly is some momentum building in Jim Balsillie's efforts to purchase the Nashvillie Predators and move them to Southern Ontario. On the positive side:

The purchase price of $238 million is well above what the franchise is worth and what anyone was willing to pay so the current owner is eager to sell to Balsillie and the NHL governors cannot possibly turn down the sale (requires 75% majority)

Nashville officials have already indicated what they are looking for to let Balsillie out of their lease ($18 million) and he seems to be fine with that. Any Save-the-Predators activity will not be effective because the team receives little support from the Nashville business community. Meanwhile Balsillie has already worked out a 20-lease arrangement for Copps Coliseum. Should the transfer be approved he will use the next year to bring the arena up to NHL standards.

The Leafs have been silent about the move and it is rumoured that they have been offered $50 million as compensation for infringing on the Leafs' territory. I don't see the Teachers' Pension Plan turning down that kind of money since they are guaranteed to continue to sell out the ACC.

Balsillie has been in contact with the federal Competition Bureau which has had concerns that the NHL bylaws contravene the Competition Act.

However, on the negative side:

Gary Bettman is opposed to more franchises in Canada and supports expansion to Houston and Kansas City. He continues to believe that he can land a significant U.S. TV contract despite falling interest in hockey in the U.S.

The NHL governors are resisting dealing with the sale and franchise move at the same time (which is preferred by Balsillie) and have now postponed their June 19 meeting to discuss the sale.

One NHL governor, who requested anonymity, told a Globe reporter that he and a number of his peers are not happy with the way Balsillie is conducting his bid for the team. "This guy is showing he is a pain in the ass before he even gets in the club". Balsillie's likely to succeed in his crusade for the simple reason that he'd be less of "a pain in the ass" if granted his team than if they try to fight this new development.

It's unsure if Balsillie will have sufficient votes for the move and whether certain teams have the ability to veto the move. This is where the Competition Bureau may step in. However, Balsillie appears to be more than willing to go to court if necessary. He fought the U.S. government over access to the U.S. market for his blackberry products so the NHL is small potatoes to him.

NHL Still Dominated by North Americans

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

Today Pepsi Launches Cucumber Pop in Japan

... not without a Ranch vegetable dip.

Girl Forgets Words to U.S. National Anthem

I bet they taste like bananas

No Stanley Cup Parade for Anaheim

If you thought the New Jersey Devils holding a Stanley Cup 'parade party' in a parking lot was bad, check out what the Ducks are doing.

There won't be a Stanley Cup parade in Anaheim, although it won't be because of traffic issues. Instead, there will be a rally at the Honda Center tomorrow night, if the locals haven't already forgotten about this Stanley Cup victory.


So, how are the Ducks spinning this?

"We want to make sure the fans have a way to celebrate and acknowledge the players who brought this championship to Orange County," said city spokesman John Nicoletti.

"We always take our cue from the team, and the team wanted to make sure the celebration and grand arrival of the players is concurrent," he said. "This gives everybody the opportunity to be in one place."

Who were the winners at the NHL trade deasdline?

Let's take all the big names that went at the trade deadline — Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk, Alexei Zhitnik, Peter Forsberg, Ryan Smyth, Gary Roberts, Ladislav Nagy, Mattias Norstrom, Todd Bertuzzi and Dainius Zubrus.

Only Zubrus and Bertuzzi advanced to a conference final and they were the only ones of this distinguished group to record seven or more points (Bertuzzi had seven; Zubrus eight, but did not score). It's always difficult to question a GM who has the intestinal fortitude to make a big trade, but, in hindsight, it doesn't seem like very much return for the futures that were spent to acquire these big-ticket players.

Again, the sellers all won.

Is the makings of a Cup contender?

Below is an updated list of Leaf contracts for next season. As you can see, John Ferguson has been busy locking up last year's team and is quickly approaching next season's salary cap. With Sundin and Colaiacovo still to be signed the Leafs will be at about $42 million. Unrestricted free agents are Perreault, Peca, O'neill and Aubin. Replacing them will bring the Leafs right up to the cap which is expected to be $48 million likely without any real improvement over last season.

Salary Commitments

Player	Pos	Status	06-07 Cap Hit	o7-08 Cap Hit
Belfour	G	Year 2 of buy-out	$750K	$750K
Devereaux	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$650K
Antropov	F	Signed to 2009	$1.125M	$2.05M
Kilger	F	Signed to 2009	$900K	$900K
Newbury	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$450K
Ondrus	F	Signed to 2008	$475K	$475K
Pohl	F	Signed to 2009	$463K	$463K
Ponikarovsky	F	Signed to 2010	$713K	$2.105M
Raycroft	G	Signed to 2009	$2M	$2M
Stajan	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Steen	F	Signed to 2008	$901K	$901K
Tucker	F	Signed to 2012	$1.59M	$3M
Sundin	F	Club option	$6.33M	TBD
Wellwood	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Westrum	F	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463K
Belak	D	Signed to 2008	$670K	$670K
Gill	D	Signed to 2009	$2.075M	$2.075M
Kaberle	D	Signed to 2011	$4.25M	$4.25M
Kronwall	D	Signed to 2009	$625K	$475K
Kubina	D	Signed to 2010	$5M	$5M
McCabe	D	Signed to 2011	$5.75M	$5.75M
White	D	Signed to 2010	$453K	$850K
Wozniewski	D	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463
TOTAL				*$35,490,000

NHL Relocation Policy Will Likely be Challenged

According to a report from the National Post, the Canadian Competition Bureau is investigating the NHL's franchise relocation policies and specifically the aspects that involve the "territorial rights" of teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's hard not to believe that Jim Balsillie didn't have just a little to do with the fact this is now being investigated, and you wonder if this business is making the Maple Leafs brass squirm. He would love to move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton and has already had some discussions regarding arena leases.

I would love to see this happen. The Toronto Maple Leaf organization treats its very loyal fans poorly - that is a fact. They charge the highest ticket prices in the league and provide a very poor product. Their commitment is to making money (and they make lots of it) and not to winning. It is a country club atmosphere built around a culture of losing.

Let's face it the GTA is a huge market that can be shared by two hockey teams. A second team will introduce competition and force the Leafs to examine their product and price for the first time. The other owners have no love for the Leaf organization because of their weak support of the lockout and the amount of money they make. Wouldn't it be nice if the other owners ganged up on Toronto and forced them to accept another team in their territory? Or better yet,what if Balsillie copied the Baltimore Colts and just packed up their hockey bags and moved to Hamilton? What would the league do?

The Ducks are Finally Mighty

The Anaheim Ducks went all the way to become Stanley Cup champions because they had the greatest depth of talent. No luck was involved.

The Ducks had three strong forward lines that could all score, Norris Trophy finalists Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger to man the blue-lines and a consistently good goaltender in Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The Senators were impressive through three rounds but could not cope with the rough-and-tumble Ducks in the final, and it didn’t help that goaltender Ray Emery had his worst performance of the post-season in the final game.

It took the Ducks 14 years to win the Cup. While the Leafs completed the 40th year since winning their last Cup without even making the playoffs. Comparing the Leaf and Duck rosters underscores how far the Leafs need to go to compete. The Ducks have a line made up of 2nd year players (Getzlf, Perry and Penner) that will all be stars while the Leafs best young players (Wellwood, Steen, Stajan) struggled this past season.

Meanwhile, Leaf GM, John Ferguson has been busy locking up Antropov, Ponikarovsky, Tucker, Devereaux, White and soon will add Sundin. So there will be minimal change in the Leaf line up despite the fact that they couldn't even qualify for the playoffs. Once Ferguson signs all his free agents, there will be little cap money left to sign additional help.

So the culture of losing will continue in Toronto. Losers always have an excuse for not winning. When asked by Canadian Press to provide a post-mortem on the Leaf's most-recent season, Ferguson said "We were number one in the league to man games lost to injury in what turned out to be the toughest division in the East and probably in the league to qualify." When asked about the impact Sean Hill's delayed suspension had on the Leafs and Islanders, Ferguson said, "For sure I think we would have made the playoffs."

So less calories than regular water?

Don Cherry on NBC

I watched Don Cherry on NBC and he toned it down - in the wardrobe department anyway, for that much hyped second intermission appearance on NBC, alongside host Bill Clement and analyst Brett Hull. Cherry was wearing a white suit, with a polka-dotted tie - conservative attire by his usual standards. His rationale: "I didn't think the U.S. crowd was ready for one of my biggies" - but promised to trot out something more audacious if he was invited back on.

Cherry spent much of the time advocating for more fights in the NHL. He suggested it would be good for the NHL in America and for NBC. Seems 2-1 scores are fine for Cherry as long as there are 6 fights. He was not the usual bombastic Don Cherry partly because he voice was hoarse. But as well, Hull wasn't about to let Cherry dominate the air time.

Hello My Name is....

Spelling Bee organizers need to be able to spell

I'm pretty sure it's spelt MARYLAND.

Dry Swimsuits Only!

Colin Campbell is Trying to Clean Up the Game

Give Colin Campbell some credit. He for one recognizes that hits to the head are not good for the NHL. So for the second time in the playoffs Chris Pronger has a 1-game suspension. When you suspend one of the game's star players, everyone else sits up and take notice. I doubt Don Cherry will be happy about this.



Dean McAmmond was skating 1-on-1 against Pronger early in the third period of Game 3 when Pronger hit McAmmond with an elbow. McAmmond was knocked out from the blow and is doubtful for Game 4 as well.

In Toronto Star online poll, 88% of respondents agreed with the suspension.

The NHL is all but dead in the U.S.

We all knew that the NHL had plummeted to relative obscurity in the U.S., but who knew it would drop this far. The sport that was once considered in the top four has been through a bad, bad stretch. The year-long lockout didn't help anything, and neither did its getting dropped by ESPN. To make matters worse, Anaheim's 3-2 victory over Ottawa in the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals netted a paltry 0.72 rating on obscure cable station Versus.

What does that mean exactly? Well it means that only 523,000 households watched the game in the U.S. But perhaps what it really further illustrates is that nobody cares about hockey in the U.S. any more. The rating was down 18% from last year's opening game, which had a 0.88 rating. Here's a way to put things in perspective: The capacity for Ducks games at the Honda Center is 17,174. The team could match the overall viewership for Game One by selling out just 31 home games. Or another way - Versus reaches 73 million homes, which means that less than 1% of it possible audience watched the game.

Simply put, the NHL has no fans south of the border. Ratings are bound to increase when the series shifts to NBC after Game 2, but much of that will come from drop-in traffic. But if you want to use a true metric of real NHL fans, the Versus games are the ones to look at. They are the real fans that sought out the game. They are the ones who fought through the TV Guide and found Versus on channel 42,446. These 523,000 are the last real American NHL fans standing.

Edit: I hear that the local NBC affiliate in San Diego cut the last few minutes of Saturday's Game 3 Ottawa win over the Ducks so they could show Wheel of Fortune in HD instead. That sums of the state of the NHL in the U.S.

Two people I would never expect to see together

...Snoop Dogg and Gary Bettman

The NHL in the USA

Since Gary Bettman jumped over from the NBA to the NHL, his mission has been to make hockey a major sport in the U.S. So far his plan has been a total bust. The NHL has lost almost $2 billion over the past 10 years. Teams that lost money before the lockout are still losing money. Franchises are in markets where they don't belong (Phoenix, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville). About 8 teams are for sale but there are enough rich Canadians around to buy them all up.

So last night was the start of the Stanley Cup finals. Of course the games will all be televised in Canada. Afterall, NHL hockey is one of the few profitable programs for the CBC. So I cruised through all the U.S. networks, Fox, NBC, etc. No one is televising the game.

I can think of one reason why hockey will never become anything in the US. Here is the reason. This is the roster of the Anaheim Ducks:


This is the roster of the Ottawa Senators:

How many American players do you see out of all those players? Exactly.

Why you don't leave your car while in a carwash

It pays to be patient...

My Final Playoff Prediction

Here is my final prediction:

FINALS

Anaheim over Ottawa in 7 games. During the past week I was leaning towards Ottawa. Afterall, they have played some strong opponents and in each series has won handily in 5 games. Their top line have the 3 of the top 4 spots in the playoff scoring race and they are getting good goaltending. But then I reminded myself that they are not getting MVP goaltending - like what Giguere is giving Anaheim. As well, the Duck star defensive pair of Niedermayer and Pronger and defensive forward Pahlsson are more than capable of handling Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza. With the edge in defense and net going to Anaheim, they should win the Cup.

More on the Predators

Jim Balsillie wasn't the only one, according to the Wall Street Journal, angling for the Nashville franchise. Also bidding for the team was a group including Anschutz Entertainment Group, which had hoped to move the team to Kansas City which has been looking for an NHL team to move into a new $276 million arena that will open this fall.

What's interesting is that the NHL had a choice between Balsillie (Southern Ontario) and Anschutz (Kansas City), and the Canadian bid won out.

It's no secret that teams in Phoenix and Atlanta and Florida as well as Nashville can't make money even under the new collective agreement. The first to move after Nashville is likely Atlanta (maybe to Kansas City) where the owner is tired of losing money. Business groups in Winnipeg and eager to move the Phoenix franchise back to Manitoba.

Although the NHL has ignored Canada since awarding a franchise to Ottawa (and how bad did that turn out), it may be coming to realize that small markets in Canada can better support a franchise than larger communities in the U.S. sunbelt.

Balsillie Gets his Team

There’s certain to be a ninth season in the Nashville this fall, but it looks to be a lame duck one. Because while professional sports has its fair share of well-heeled absentee owners, hockey’s newest moneyman has already proven he isn’t out to grow the game in the nether regions of the United States.

He wants to bring it home.

Jim Balsillie bailed on what was, in essence, a done deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in December when it was stipulated the team had to stay put — despite the fact Mario Lemieux’s club is a mere hop away from Kitchener-Waterloo on a chartered flight — something that makes it difficult to believe he’s got a soft spot for the fans of Nashville.
Finally, one of ‘our teams’ is coming home.

My Playoff Predictions

So how did I do with my third round predictions?

Eastern Conference
Ottawa in 7 >> Ottawa in 5

Western Conference
Anaheim in 6 >> Anaheim in 6


My 3rd round results: 2-0
My 2007 playoff results: 11-3

Not Too Worried

Ottawa Fans Getting Into It

Senators will never be Canada's Team

This is my rough guess:

Canada (population): 32.9 million
Ontario (population): 12.7 million
Greater Ottawa (population): 1.15 million
Percentage of Ontario that cheers for the Leafs: 90-95%
Percentage of Leafs fans that cheer for Sens: 0.1%
Percentage of country left over: 60-65%

It has been a lousy spring for hockey fans in many parts of Canada and understandably so as most of our NHL teams either failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs or got knocked out early. But the mood is particularly sour among the citizenry of the Leaf nation, as I have discovered in recent days by posing the question to many acquaintances:: Can you handle the Senators in the final?

The answer every time has been an emphatic, unequivocal "no," uttered with a mix of indignation and disgust. In fact, some even admitted that they were hoping the Buffalo Sabres would beat the Senators in the semifinal.

The fact of the matter is that, through the Flames' and Oilers' ultimately unsuccessful runs in 2004 and 2006, many of Leafs Nation's hardcore fans had no problem getting on the 'Canada's Team' bandwagon (it was, after all, nice to cheer for a winner) and I had little trouble finding accompaniment to the local watering holes to watch the exploits of Iginla/Smyth and friends.

Well, here's some advice for those who bleed blue and white, or the colours of other colours of other Canadian teams: take a pill and get over it.

Senator Fans are Getting Rowdy

NHL and the TV Networks

NBC pulled the plug on coverage of the overtime period between the Ottawa Senators-Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, denying viewers in most of the United States the conclusion the Eastern Conference final's Game 5.

NBC dropped the overtime period, which decided the series and sent the Senators to the Stanley Cup final, because it didn't want the hockey telecast running into its scheduled 90-minute coverage of the Preakness Stakes starting at 5 p.m. EDT.

An utter embarrassment, more so for NBC than the league. The only reason yesterday's game was broadcast in the afternoon was for American television interests, and when those interests are as obviously subsidiary to all others on the network, it really makes you question just why the game had been pushed into the afternoon (or morning, for those in the Pacific time zone) at all. The league gets almost no money out of this and a lot of bad press. It's time for Gary Bettman to give up on the American networks.

Meanwhile, the CBC which has been able to carry a Canadian team through the playoffs isn't doing too well either. It is reported that there numbers are really poor because all the Leaf fans are not watching. For reasons I don't fully comprehend, Leaf fans can't stomach watching Ottawa win a cup.

Leaf Salaries

UPDATED: Leafs have signed Boyd Devereaux and Ian White and Ponikarovsky (a whopping 3yr/$6+ million deal)...

Commitments

Player	Pos	Status	06-07 Cap Hit	o7-08 Cap Hit
Belfour	G	Year 2 of buy-out	$750K	$750K
Devereaux	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$650K
Kilger	F	Signed to 2009	$900K	$900K
Newbury	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$450K
Ondrus	F	Signed to 2008	$475K	$475K
Pohl	F	Signed to 2009	$463K	$463K
Ponikarovsky	F	Signed to 2010	$713K	$2.105M
Raycroft	G	Signed to 2009	$2M	$2M
Stajan	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Steen	F	Signed to 2008	$901K	$901K
Tucker	F	Signed to 2012	$1.59M	$3M
Sundin	F	Club option	$6.33M	TBD
Wellwood	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Westrum	F	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463K
Belak	D	Signed to 2008	$670K	$670K
Gill	D	Signed to 2009	$2.075M	$2.075M
Kaberle	D	Signed to 2011	$4.25M	$4.25M
Kubina	D	Signed to 2010	$5M	$5M
McCabe	D	Signed to 2011	$5.75M	$5.75M
White	D	Signed to 2010	$453K	$850K
Wozniewski	D	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463
TOTAL				*32,965,000

Leaf RFAs

Player	Pos	Status	06-07 Cap Hit	o7-08 Minimum Cap Hit**
Colaiacovo	D	RFA	$825K	$866K
Harrison	D	RFA	$450K	$495K
Kronwall	D	RFA	$625K	$656K
Williams	F	RFA	$570K	$557K
Suglabov	F	RFA	$550K	$605K
TOTAL				$3.7M**

Salary cap is expected to rise to $47 to $48 million for 2007-08

*initial cap hit does not include club option on Mats Sundin.
** RFAs earning $600K or less, must be qualified with a 10% raise; RFAs earning earning $660,001 to $1M, must be qualified with a 5% raise - these are the required minimums only, players may, can and will likely sign for more.

Kyle Wellwood Turns 24 Today

Leafs could have had Andy Murray

Hockey Canada is now considering Andy Murray as coach of the 2010 Olympic team following Canada's surprise gold medal at the World Championships. He has now won 3 gold medals in 4 opportunities at that level. Whether or not that happens, he now goes back to his regular job which is coach of the St. Louis blues.

What's not well known is that Murray applied for the Marlie job last summer. The competition was essentially between Murray and Greg Gilbert but Gilbert won out because of his association with Ferguson when both were in St. Louis. Gilbert was a disaster as coach of the Calgary Flames and Mississauga Ice Dogs. The Marlies had a poor season and, unlike the previous season when they were coached by Paul Maurice, did not develop any young players for the Leafs to call up during the season or to compete for jobs next fall.

I wonder how much farther ahead the Leafs would be if Murray had been hired? But this is not the only position filled by a Ferguson colleague. He has operated like many before him. Hiring cronies rather than the most qualified.

Lost in Translation

Cheap shot by Pronger gets penalized

A continuing sign that the NHL is cracking down on hits to the head. The referee blew this call. Rob Niedermayer keeps his elbow down and makes a clean play, but the same can't certainly be said for Chris Pronger. However, Colin Campbell announced yesterday that Pronger would sit a one game suspension for a hit to the head.

Storm Nation is about to take off

The worst sports owners of all-time

The Feed has his Top 10 list of bad owners together, and amazingly hockey's Harold Ballard is not at the very top of it.

Although mighty close. Harold stood only 3rd.

Rick Nash Highlight Goal at the Worlds

The Answer is Not "C"

Dear Michael,

Every year I attempt to boost my students' final grades by giving them this relatively simple exam consisting of 100 True/False questions from only 3 chapters of material. For the past 20 years that I have taught Intro Communications 101 at this institution I have never once seen someone score below a 65 on this exam. Consequently, your score of a zero is the first in history and ultimately brought the entire class average down a whole 8 points.

There were two possible answer choices: A (True) and B (False). You chose C for all 100 questions in an obvious attempt to get lucky with a least a quarter of the answers. It's as if you didn't look at a single question. Unfortunately, this brings your final grade in this class to failing. See you next year!May God have mercy on your soul.

Sincerely,

Professor William Turner

P.S. If all else fails, go with B from now on. B is the new C.

Canada Wins Gold

Team Canada won an unexpected gold today at the 2007 World Championships. It was a team that it almost seemed like no one wanted to play for as one after another NHL star turned down an invitation to play. The top line of captain Shane Doan, Matthew Lombardi and Rick Nash was its most reliable and carried the team offensively. In addition, the team recieved great goaltending from Cam Ward and Dwayne Roloson who equally shared the goaltending. This was the third world championship title in five years.

The Original 6

It's been 40 years since the NHL expanded from the original 6 teams to 12 teams. Funny how I used to think 12 was a lot of teams. I've come across a list of the original 6 teams' records since the league first expanded in 1967.

Record since expansion (W-L-T-OTL/SOL)
(3,096 regular season games played)
Montreal: 1644-990-421-41
Boston: 1616-1021-403-56
N.Y. Rangers: 1430-1237-387-42
Detroit: 1382-1268-409-37
Chicago: 1359-1255-438-44
Toronto: 1298-1378-383-37


Points (and average points percentage)
Montreal: 3,750 (.605)
Boston: 3,691 (.597)
N.Y. Rangers: 3,289 (.532)
Detroit: 3,210 (.519)
Chicago: 3,200 (.518)
Toronto: 3,016 (.487)


Goals scored (goals per game)
Boston: 11,138 (3.60)
Montreal: 10,956 (3.54)
N.Y. Rangers: 10,565 (3.41)
Detroit: 10,441 (3.37)
Toronto: 10,132 (3.27)
Chicago: 10,001 (3.23)


Goals against (GAA)
Montreal: 8,758 (2.83)
Boston: 9,408 (3.04)
Chicago: 9,731 (3.14)
Rangers: 10,002 (3.23)
Detroit: 10,332 (3.34)
Toronto: 10,643 (3.44)


Stanley Cups
Montreal: 10
Detroit: 3
Boston: 2
N.Y. Rangers: 1
Chicago: 0
Toronto: 0


Finals appearances:
Montreal: 11
Boston: 7
Detroit: 4
Chicago: 3
Rangers: 3
Toronto: 0


Playoff misses:
Detroit: 16
Toronto: 13
N.Y. Rangers: 11
Chicago: 9
Montreal: 7
Boston: 5

Not going to graduate

Ouch, This Really Hurts

After finishing ahead of the Red Sox last season, a $90 million payroll, and the signing of free agent, Frank Thomas and a contract extension for Vernon Wells, there was some reason to be optimistic about the Toronto Blue Jays. With a 1/3 the roster on the Disabled List, they will be fortunate to avoid losing 100 games. For the record they are missing:

#1 starter - Roy Halladay
#3 starter - Gustavo Chacin
#5 starter- Victor Zambrano
closer - B.J. Ryan
setup for closer - Brandon League
leadoff hitter- Reed Johnson
all star 3rd baseman - Troy Glauss
starting catcher - Greg Zuan

And its only 5 weeks into the season.

Updated Leaf Salary Cap

UPDATED: Leafs have signed Boyd Devereaux and Ian White and still paying Belfour's salary.

Commitments

Player	Pos	Status	06-07 Cap Hit	o7-08 Cap Hit
Belfour	G	Year 2 of buy-out	$750K	$750K
Devereaux	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$650K
Kilger	F	Signed to 2009	$900K	$900K
Newbury	F	Signed to 2009	$450K	$450K
Ondrus	F	Signed to 2008	$475K	$475K
Pohl	F	Signed to 2009	$463K	$463K
Raycroft	G	Signed to 2009	$2M	$2M
Stajan	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Steen	F	Signed to 2008	$901K	$901K
Tucker	F	Signed to 2012	$1.59M	$3M
Sundin	F	Club option	$6.33M	TBD
Wellwood	F	Signed to 2008	$875K	$875K
Westrum	F	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463K
Belak	D	Signed to 2008	$670K	$670K
Gill	D	Signed to 2009	$2.075M	$2.075M
Kaberle	D	Signed to 2011	$4.25M	$4.25M
Kubina	D	Signed to 2010	$5M	$5M
McCabe	D	Signed to 2011	$5.75M	$5.75M
White	D	Signed to 2010	$453K	$850K
Wozniewski	D	Signed to 2008	$463K	$463
TOTAL				*30,860,000

Leaf RFAs

Player	Pos	Status	06-07 Cap Hit	o7-08 Minimum Cap Hit**
Colaiacovo	D	RFA	$825K	$866K
Harrison	D	RFA	$450K	$495K
Kronwall	D	RFA	$625K	$656K
Ponikarovsky	F	RFA	$713K	$749K
Suglabov	F	RFA	$550K	$605K
Williams	F	RFA	$507K	$557K
TOTAL				$4.427M**

Salary cap is expected to rise to $47 to $48 million for 2007-08.

If the Leafs re-sign Mats at $5M, re-sign their RFAs at league minimum (not going to happen) and keep Antropov, total committed payroll will be approx $40.2M

*initial cap hit does not include club option on Mats Sundin.
** RFAs earning $600K or less, must be qualified with a 10% raise; RFAs earning earning $660,001 to $1M, must be qualified with a 5% raise - these are the required minimums only, players may, can and will likely sign for more.

McDonalds Sells More Chicken Than KFC

Who knew? McDonalds is now the largest seller of chicken in the US, according to Bill Lamar, McDonald's U.S. marketing chief. Yum! Brands (KFC's parent company) spokesperson Laurie Schalow, countered with the fact that KFC still sells more chicken per store. Story here.

My Playoff Predictions

Here are my round #3 predictions:

EAST

Ottawa over Buffalo in 7 games. It has become obvious that Ottawa has finally addressed its past deficiencies - weak goaltending and a lack of physical play. Now add to that an unstoppable line of Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson and you have a Stanley Cup finalist. Buffalo is a great team with excellent goaltending as well. But so far in the playoffs they have not displayed the offense or the defense that Ottawa brings to the table. Buffalo today is Ottawa 4 years ago. Not quite ready for prime time.

WEST

Anaheim over Detroit in 6 games. Detroit is beginning to rack up injuries and the loss of Schneider is big. You don't lose your #2 defenseman and powerplay quarterback and not feel it. Although Detroit's euro-look has been a success all year, they are now playing the most physical team in the NHL. Anaheim will wear the Wings down over the course of this series.

10 Attributes of a Really Lazy Person

1. Inability to put forth the effort required to complete any task.












yawn

No Surgery for Mats

Apparently Mats Sundin's career isn't in danger of being cut short after all. Hmm what a shocker.

A week after a published report in the Toronto Sun claimed the Maple Leaf captain might require career-threatening hip surgery, it turns out Sundin doesn't need any surgery at all.
Sundin was examined in Stockholm today by an orthopedic doctor specializing in sports medicine. The finding was that no surgery is required.

The original report cited "medical sources" and said Sundin would definitely require surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, and that doctors would determine whether it was serious enough to be compared to the hip problems that ultimately wrecked Alexander Mogilny's hip.

As it turns out, the story was completely wrong, and there's great speculation in and around the Leaf camp that the story was planted to make it appear as though GM John Ferguson didn't have a handle on health issues facing his team as Ferguson. There are some evil people working down there.

Vernon Wells knows how to handle hecklers

Toronto Blue Jays centerfielder Vernon Wells was getting heckled by some unruly fans in Cleveland. So he tossed them a baseball.


"Dear Mr. Dork,Here is your ball! Can you please tell me what gas station you work at, so when you are pumping my gas, I can yell at you!!! Now sit down, shut up and enjoy the game.- Your favorite centrefielder

Leafs are after everyone's hard earned dollars

The price of being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan continues to go up.

After Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment raised ticket prices this month, the company is now planning to put as many as 20 Leaf games on its digital channel – an increase of up to eight over last season. You can see where this trend is going.

Meanwhile regional televised games (on TSN and Sportsnet) will fall from 35 to 27. I can see a day when the only free games will be HNIC televised games on Saturday nights. And as Leaf TV gets more games, look for the monthly fee to be increased as well.

Bruins Welcome Arrival of Future Savior Rask

Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli announced the signing of the club's top prospect Tuukka Rask to a three-year contract worth $850,000 per season, the maximum allowed under the CBA. The team also announced he's headed for North America and will join the Providence Bruins for the duration of their AHL playoff run. Chiarelli noted Rask will only practice with the team and not play.

The 20-year-old Rask recently finished his season with Ilves Tampere with an impressive .928 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average. A 2005 first-round pick of Toronto, Rask was acquired on last June's draft day for Andrew Raycroft.

While Chiarelli was quick to point out that Rask is a potential No. 1 puck-stopper, and everyone who talks about the 20-year-old claims he’s mature beyond his years, Rask said he isn’t sure how he’ll match up once he gets on a North American rink.

It seems a longshot for Rask to earn one of the Bruins’ two goaltending spots to start next season - though that could change if the Bruins, as some predict, trade away Hannu Toivonen. It also could change if Rask came to camp and simply dazzled. So the Raycroft trade make begin looking real bad for the Leafs as early as next season.

Lost in Translation

The Power of 64K of Memory

I remember this "portable" personal computer weighed about 23 lbs.

My Playoff Predictions

So how did I do with my second round predictions?


Eastern Conference
Buffalo in 5 >> Buffalo in 6
Ottawa in 7 >> Ottawa in 5


Western Conference
Anaheim in 5 >> Anaheim in 5
San Jose in 7 >> Detroit in 6


My 2nd round results: 3-1
My 2007 playoff results: 9-3

Next Season's Power Skating Coach

Leafs Lower Marlie Ticket Prices

Fans in Toronto apparently will pay any price for Leafs tickets, but they have not shown the same tendencies with their AHL affiliate. So the Toronto Marlies and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment have come to their senses and are implementing a ticket-pricing that reflects that they are in the AHL.

AHL fans are hockey junkies, families, couples on dates looking for affordable hockey. They are not the well-heeled Bay Street clientele that occupies the Air Canada Centre. Model big-city franchises like Chicago, Manitoba and Philadelphia have long understood this dynamic and priced their tickets accordingly. Marlies ticket prices maxed out at $54 this season, an utterly absurd price to pay for an AHL game.

More than 84% of the seats at Ricoh Coliseum will now be $25 or less with season seat prices ranging from $15 to $30 per game.

Leafs Raise Ticket Prices

Season ticket holders will pay nearly six per cent more to watch the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre in 2007-08. The highest priced tickets have been raised the most with platinum and gold sides going up to $182 each from $171.52. The lowest priced seats, purples, have been raised to $37 from $34.70.

Is the price increase justified? Well of course. According to MLSE President Richard Peddie:

"Show me businesses that have not passed on costs of the last three, four years," said Peddie. "That's not being greedy. I think in real dollars that dollar today is still worth less in real buying terms to us than it was four years ago because we're not keeping up with inflation. I think our behaviour in the last couple of years has not been greedy at all."

Well at least he didn't suggest that the tickets were a great entertainment value. I guess he may have seen the ESPN Fan Satisfaction Ranking that I had posted earlier on the affordability of Leaf tickets.

Be sure to book all your emergencies

Too Much Information

About blogging

Thank You Wayne for the Wonderful Memento

I couldn't think of a better way to cap off this past season - a DVD screening highlighting the past year. I think I speak for everyone that Wayne's labour of love was beyond expectation and something to look back at for years to come. From the disappointment against Durham to the thrilling shootout win against Mississauga, from Jasmine's centre ice tumble to Rebecca's victory dance - it was all there!

As I've mentioned previously, I enjoy each season but we had a special group of people on the team this year that I will always look back with fond memories. I hope both parents and our newest ex-players drop by at the arena from time to time to let us know how you are doing. And there will always be the blog and email to catch up on what's happening.

Janice is leaving our staff and we certainly enjoyed and appreciated her support - you will be missed. Also, S. K., we will be thinking of you later this month and wish you a speedy recovery.

Good luck to everyone next year!

Coach Willie

Who is out to sabotage the Sundin contract?

The reports today about Sundin's career-threatening injury makes me very suspicious. Leaf management and the Sundin camp were quick to refute the claim. So where did the rumour come from? My only guess is that someone is out to sabotage the negotiations. But the target is not Sundin but rather Ferguson.

My guess is that another power struggle is underway in the Leaf organization and Ferguson may be caught in the middle. The allegation that Ferguson is about to sign a seriously injured player is an attempt to embarrass the manager. Remember in the past Cliff Fletcher, Mike Smith, Ken Dryden and Pat Quinn were all victims of behind the scene executive battles. This might be just another one in development. Stay tuned!

Politics and Hockey

I think this is just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard:

Hockey Canada officials are being summoned by a parliamentary committee to explain their choice of Shane Doan as captain of the national team at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

The Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP supported a Bloc Quebecois motion that demands officials from Hockey Canada and Sport Canada appear before the House of Commons' Official Languages Committee.

At issue is an alleged derogatory remark by Doan toward a French-Canadian referee during a game in 2005. Doan denies making a slur and was cleared by the NHL. Quebec politicians just won't let it go. Their justification for interfering is that Hockey Canada gets a lot of money from the government.

And politicians wonder why much of this country is disillusioned with the political process.

Sundin May Require Career Ending Surgery

The Toronto Sun reports Sundin needs surgery almost immediately to repair a hip problem, complicating his still-to-be determined contractual status with the Leafs. The hip trouble and surgery is similar to the operation that all but ended Alexander Mogilny's career as an NHL player at the age of 37.

In the past, Ferguson got himself into some difficulty signing Ed Belfour to a long-term contract before determining the goalie needed back surgery. Considering the heat Ferguson took on the Belfour contract, he may not be in a hurry to sign Sundin to an extension or even pick up his option? On the other hand, he may have $6 million more to spend on a younger free agent.

Note: Ferguson has now told TSN that this story is 100 per cent inaccurate. Sundin hasn't been examined by a doctor.

Quebec Remparts Drop Jewish Hockey Player

Benjamin Rubin’s decision to stay true to his Orthodox Jewish beliefs means he will not be playing with the Quebec Remparts junior hockey team next year. Coach and owner Patrick Roy gave the promising forward an ultimatum that he either play full time next season, including the Sabbath, or he won’t be invited to this summer’s training camp.

Rubin, who turned 18 in January, did not hesitate to respond that he would not change his way of life. He will not play, practice or travel between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. He hopes to catch on with another Junior team.

He played in only 29 games during the Remparts’ 70-game regular season, scoring three goals and one assist. The Remparts played 38 games on Fridays and Saturdays. But Rubin had little ice time after mid-January, even when he could play.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty