Ex-Leafs in the playoffs

Eleven ex-Leafs made appearances in the 2009 Stanley Cups, including six who were on the team last season (2007-08). Sundin, Wellwood, and Gill were the only ones who played on a team that advanced at least one round.

Below is a table of all ex-Leafs who played in the 2009 playoffs, including former draft picks who never actually played with the Toronto Maple Leafs (Brad Boyes and Shawn Thornton, the latter who seems to like to shoot the puck).

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Mats Sundin	VAN	8	5	3	8
Kyle Wellwood	VAN	10	1	5	6
Brad Boyes	STL	4	2	1	3
Nik Antropov	NYR	7	2	1	3
Hal Gill	PIT	24	0	2	2
Fredrik Modin	CLB	4	1	0	1
Alexander Steen	STL	4	0	1	1
Shawn Thornton	BOS	10	1	0	1
Mathieu Schnieder	MTR	2	0	0	0
Michael Peca	CLB	4	0	0	0
Carlo Colaiacovo	STL	4	0	0	0

Happy Fathers Day Storm Nation

The battle to sign Jonas Gustavsson

It appears to be a 4-way battle to sign free agent Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson between Toronto, Colorado, San Jose and Dallas. Gustavsson just completed a tour of the 4 NHL cities and some people are saying the Leafs have the leading contenders (mostly Toronto media I suspect). Every team has had the big guns out trying to win him over. The collective agreement caps entry level salaries so money will not be the deciding factors. His representatives have indicated that he does not expect to be a starting goalie and realizes it would be better not be a starter right away. But he would like lots of playing opportunity. Here is what Gustavsson has been looking at:

Dallas Stars

Fabian Brunnstrom is a good friend of Gustavsson's has been talking to him. Les Jackson was the man who won the recruiting battle to sign Brunnstrom and has directed the Stars' recruiting effort with Gustavsson. Also a big player has been Stars goaltending consultant Andy Moog, who visited Gustavsson in Sweden with Stars scout Johan Garpenlov. Everyone is getting the Swedes out to meet with Gustavsson. The Stars have not been happy with their backup goaltending which means too much work for starter Marty Turko. Dallas would like to have a backup play 20-25 games. Turko who is 33 will be a UFA at the end of the season is using up $5.7 million of salary cap space.

Colorado Avalanche

It has been confirmed that Peter Forsberg has talked to the goalie and so have other players though Avs management isn't saying who. He also met with new coach Joe Sacco, and team management. The Avs have no goalie at the moment having decided not to bring back Peter Budaj or Andrew Raycroft. Colorado acknowledges they are not the front runners and are the only ones able to offer a starting job right away. It is well known that this franchise is currently a mess.

San Jose Sharks

Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov is also 33 and on the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.375 million. Backup Brian Boucher is a free agent. There’s a connection between the Sharks and Joe Resnick, the agent who represents Jonas Gustavsson. Resnick and John Thornton, brother of center Joe Thornton, are the two co-founders of Top Shelf Sports Management. Who knows if that means anything here.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs have gone all out in the hunt of "The Monster" as Gustavsson is referred to. Brian Burke has already met with him several times. The Leafs had fellow Swede Jonas Frogren talk up the team with Gustavsson. Leaf legend Borje Salming had a word with him. But the Leafs feel their ace in the hole is goalie guru Francois Allaire who has already had the opportunity to work briefly with Gustavsson.

Heatley not coming to the Leafs

Slow news day, not to worry. Just shove a microphone in Brian Burke's face and count to three. You are bound to get a headline.

Sure enought Brian Burke blasted Dany Heatley and his agents for the way in which they handled his trade request.

“We’re not going to be in on that,” Burke stated. “He’s a good player but I have certain guidelines on how players ask for trades.”

“When you have players come ask you for a trade, I tell the players ‘don’t finish that sentence,’ because once you ask, I’m going to move you,” Burke stated. “If a player wants out, you’re darn right I’m going to move you. I’m not kissing anyone’s ass to play in my town, so to hell with you, don’t finish the sentence. My second rule is if I hear about this, you’re not going anywhere.”

“For a player to pop off and say he wants out or leak it (to the media), in my mind you are now no longer interested in your team. If you’ve done that you’ve handicapped them, you’ve handcuffed your GM.”

I'm not a big Dany Heatley fan despite his obvious regular season numbers. He is likely a team chemistry killer.

Now I tried to check out trades made by Burke to test his rule. There is already some debate that he has contradicted himself on the Pronger trade. Pronger had asked Edmonton for a trade and some say it was Oiler GM Kevin Lowe that informed the media of the request. While others suggest Pronger's agent, Pat Morris, had been quietly spreading the word around to other GMs and it eventually leaked to the media. Either way the media will be closely scrutinizing Burke's deals (as if they wouldn't otherwise).

Stanley Cup gets around

The Stanley Cup wound up this week in Mario Lemieux's pool. However, this isn't the Cup first dip in Mario's pool. In 1991, Stanley was found at the bottom of Lemieux's swimming pool, a feat later duplicated by Avalanche goalkeeper Patrick Roy. There have been many other unusual trips experienced by Lord Stanley's Cup.

In 1996, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre had his daughter baptized in the cup.

In 1980, New York Islander Clark Gillies allowed his dog to eat from it. Ranger Ed Olczyk did Stanley a little more honor when he let 1994 Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin eat from it.

In 1906, members of a Montreal club took the cup to a local photographer. Pictures were taken but the cup was forgotten. It wasn't until weeks later that hockey officials found that the photographer's mother was using the cup to plant geraniums, which were decorating the studio window.

In 1905, some Ottawa Silver Seven players, reveling in their championship, decided they could punt the cup over the Rideau Canal on the Ottawa River. The water was frozen, and at the time the cup didn't have so many rings around the bottom, so it wasn't much larger than a football. The trophy was recovered the next day on the ice.

In 1924, some Montreal Canadiens left the Cup on the side of the road. They were en route to the team owner's house for a victory party and pulled over to fix a flat tire. They didn't realize until after they arrived that they had left the cup roadside. After a frantic ride back, they found it untouched, a mile and a half from the party site.

Will we get a Penguin-Red Wing rubber match next spring?

It doesn't get much more exciting than this year's Stanley Cup finals. No over-matched sweep this year. It came down to a last second sprawling chest save by Fleury on Lindstrom to decide this series. The win by the Penguins is also a win for the NHL. A young flashy team with two of the top stars in the league. I can just see the NHL marketing department spinning this all summer.



So I'm thinking why wouldn't these two teams meet again next year in the finals? First you have to look at the salary cap situation. Both teams have their top players locked in (Crosby, Fleury, Malkin, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Lindstrom)for the next few years. The rest of the players are all replaceable. Just look at the the players the Penguins lost last season but it didn't seemed to have mattered. The Red Wings will likely move out some older players but who has more organizational depth than Detroit?

I can't wait.

It's back to the drawing board for Gary Balsillie

I've had this feeling from the start the Judge Redfield Baum was not going to make a ruling outside his court's jurisdiction. He repeatedly directed the parties to negotiate but to no avail. Lets face it, bankruptcy judges are not going to rule on anti-trust matters. You have to bring those suits before the proper court. So those the majority who voted in my poll last month turned out to be wrong.

Most laypeople like myself interpreted some of the criticism aimed at the NHL by Judge Baum as siding with Balsillie However, that was not the case. While noting that the case raised many unique legal issues, Judge Baum sided with the league on most of the issues. The judge said the Coyotes had a contract to play in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb, and Balsillie’s offer would violate that contract. I understand the type of bankruptcy filing in this case requires that all existing contracts be honoured.

So where does that leave Gary Balsillie. He has several options as I see it:

• Submit a new bid to purchase the team but it couldn't include a relocation requirement. Then sue the NHL under anti-trust law. Though that has been tried before and failed.
  
• Appeal the decision but a successful appeal is unlikely.
• Try purchasing another team under distress. There quite a few of these around but somehow I suspect the NHL will reject him as an owner.
• Start winning over existing NHL owner one at a time. When he has enough support then go after a franchise at that time.

Stanley Cup playoffs do alright on NBC

The numbers below are in millions. The are dwarfed by the Super Bowl and the World Series but for hockey in the U.S. they are decent. Not close to a record but if you drop the two games on Versus (games 3 and 4) then the NBC only average is 5.4 million which is still not at record levels but enough to get the NHL happy that have been chasing NBC.

Game	Viewers
1	4.51
2	5.33
3	2.96
4	3.45
5	4.28
6	5.45
7	7.51
Avg.	4.78

The hockey Gods have not been kind to Marian Hossa

NHL has never collected a relocation fee

When Judge Renfield Baum suggested that it was quite reasonable for the NHL to receive a relocation fee to move the Coyotes to Hamilton he likely caught everyone by surprise. The NHL has had numerous franchise moves but has never requested a fee. However, Judge Baum was likely aware that other sports team do collect a relocation fee. When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, there was a $45 million relocation fee. The Judge understands that if an agreement can be reached on a relocation fee then that might go a long way to resolving this dispute.

There are suggestions that the fee might be as high as $300 million which would include indemnification for Toronto and Buffalo. That price would be highway robbery and would create quite the precedent. My research suggests that the six recent relocations did not include a relocation fee. However, when the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey in 1986 they did pay an indemnification fee of $35 million. That stands as the highest amount paid by an NHL franchise. In 1972 the expansion Islanders paid an indemnification fee of $4 million. In 1993, the Ducks refused to pay Los Angeles an indemnification fee but Gary Bettman was so desperate to have Disney as an owner that he game half of the $50 million dollar franchise fee to the Kings. The highest expansion fee collected by the NHL has been $80 million.

So the NHL may very well be using a form of extortion in order to get its blessing for a move to Hamilton. Of course, Gary Balsillie can always walk but most people doubt he will.

YEAR	TEAMS	FEES
1967	California Seal Los Angeles Kings Minnesota North Stars Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins St. Louis Blues	$2 million (Ex)
1970	Buffalo Sabres Vancouver Canucks	$6 million (Ex)
1972	Atlanta Flames New York Islanders	$6 million (Ex) + $4 million (Ind – NY only)
1974	Kansas City Scouts Washington Capitals	$6 million (Ex)
1976	Kansas City Scouts became Colorado Rockies	None
1976	Oakland Golden Seals became Cleveland Barons	None
1979	Edmonton Oilers Hartford Whalers Quebec Nordiques Winnipeg Jets	$6 million (Ex)
1980	Atlanta Flames became Calgary Flames	None
1982	Colorado Rockies became New Jersey Devils	$35 million (Ind)
1991	San Jose Sharks	$50 million (Ex)
1992	Ottawa Senators Tampa Bay Lightning	$50 million (Ex)
1993	Minnesota North Stars became Dallas Stars	None
1993	Florida Panthers Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	$50 million (Ex)
1995	Quebec Nordiques became Colorado Avalanche	None
1996	Winnipeg Jets became Phoenix Coyotes	None
1997	Hartford Whalers became Carolina Hurricanes	None
1998	Nashville Predators	$80 million (Ex)
1999	Atlanta Thrashers	$80 million (Ex)
2000	Columbus Blue Jackets Minnesota Wilds	$80 million (Ex)

MakeItFive.ca

You've heard about Jim Balsillie's website MakeItSeven.ca which is intended to bring together grassroots support for an NHL team in Hamilton. Well someone has cleverly developed a tongue-in-cheek parody called MakeItFive.ca. The website is supposed to be created by Roger Jolie, the French-Canadian billionaire and CEO of Swashbucks Entertainment Group, Inc., who wants to purchase the Toronto Maple Leafs, and relocate the organization to the AHL, lowering the number of NHL teams in Canada to five.

Balsillie is making progress

I have to admit I like the way Judge Redfield Baum operates. He has this huge dispute dropped in his lap that really has nothing to do with Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is an anti-trust dispute and he knows it. So Judge Baum has carefully avoided making any decisions. He hasn't even ruled on whether the Jerry Moyes or the NHL own the Coyotes.

His strategy has been to attack each sides position on issues to create uncertainty as to whether they can win the dispute. For example, when the Balsillie claims the NHL won't allow the Coyotes to relocate, Baum points out that no application was ever filed. He jumps on the NHL for not following its own constitution when Quebec was moved to Colorado. Baum shrugged off Bettman's claim of 4 or 5 parties interested in keeping the Coyotes on Phoenix.

As I've stated from the start, no bankruptcy court wants to wade into the issues being presented in this case. That is why I have been pessimistic about Balsillie's chances here. But I did not take into consideration the craftiness of the Judge. Baum is pushing back at the lawyers before him in an effort to get the parties to reach an agreement outside of the courtroom. That gets him off the hook. He obviously want to avoid setting any precedents in this case.

So yesterday when the discussion of relocation comes up, Judge Baum quickly acknowledged that of course Balsillie would have to pay a relocation fee. The judge has put Bettman in a box. He’s going to have to attach a price to the legitimate NHL interest in the Ontario market. Instead of arguing about whether Balsillie has the right to buy and relocate the team, they will be arguing about how much Balsillie has to pay to acquire a right the NHL doesn’t want to sell. And what if Balsillie agrees to the price? That is why his lawyer quickly declared that Balsillie would walk if the price was $100 million. But if the league says the price is $150 million and Balsillie decides to accept then Bettman is stuck. Though I believe Bettman will wiggle out of this one too. He has already suggested that the league doesn't come up with a price before it approves a franchise relocation. Somehow I don't think Judge Baum will buy that one.

I for one am intrigued.

NHL coaches have no job security

Today Joe Nieuwendyk, in his fifth day in the job fired coach Dave Tippett. That makes it 13 coaches who have been fired or resigned during the current season. That's a turnover of 43% per season. Add to that the 6 coaches who have only been with the current team for one complete season and you have 19 or 63% of coaches have been with their current team for 82 or fewer games. These guys don't last as long as a minority government in Ottawa.

There are only 2 coaches (Lindy Ruff and Barry Trotz) who have been with the current team for 5 complete seasons. No job security here.

So how does this compare to the experience in the NBA? Well it's similar. There are 16 coaches (53%) who have been with their team for one full season or less. And 3 coaches have stuck with their current team for 5 full seasons.

Maple Leaf goalie situation

Brian Burke has thanked Curtis Joseph for his years of service as he shoved Cujo out the front door. Now word is spreading that Burke will not retain the services of restricted free agent Justin Pogge. So much for the goalie of the future. It obviously didn't come soon enough.

This means that the Leafs will likely pursue a free agent to back up Vesa Toskala. It could be Martin Gerber who played decent though not great in his short run with the Leafs. Clearly Gerber is not Plan A. Burke has stated that Swedish free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson is who he is after. Gustavsson is planning to visit a few NHL cities including Toronto this month to determine who he signs with.

It appears that the Leafs still have faith in Vesa Toskala but coming off two injury plagued seasons and a $4 million contract, what choice do they have? Probably the biggest news on the goaltending front was the signing of François Allaire as goaltending consultant from Anaheim. He will not take over from Corey Hirsh as their goalie coach. He is considered one of the best in the business and is credited with developing Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Jonas Hiller in Anaheim and Patrick Roy in Montreal.

Allaire may be used to convince Gustavsson to sign with Toronto. But there are rumblings that Burke may be interested in picking up Giguere who lost his job to Hiller this past season and perhaps the Allaire signing is connected. Giguere has two years left on his contract for a total of $13 million which is a lot for a backup. For this to work the Ducks would have to take back Toskala. He could be their backup and provide a signficant savings for the Ducks who have cap problems. Toskala and Giguere are the same age but Giguere is clearly the better goalie at this stage of their careers.

Should be interesting.

Another Game 7!!

Pittsburgh is preparing for the Red Wings

If you have Michigan ID it might be tough buying live octopus on Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Hopefully no new group announces plans to bring another hockey franchise to Toronto on the same day Game 6 is to be played. Bad enough the Coyotes bankruptcy proceedings continue in Phoenix on Tuesday. Which will get bigger headlines?

Meanwhile the NHL continues to shoot itself in the foot. Red Wing fans have just learned that there will be no broadcast of Tuesday night's game inside Joe Louis Arena because NBC would not rescind its exclusive rights to the telecast. And what does the NBC pay for those exclusive broadcast rights? $0!!!

Some reasons why the NHL should be considering Hamilton

With all the talk about the Phoenix Coyotes relocating to Hamilton, I thought it would be helpful to pass on some interesting facts in support of Hamilton. I've been to both Hamilton and Phoenix and you will never confuse the two.

1. Hamilton already has a professional sport team


The Hamilton Tiger-Cats football club has played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) since 1950 and have won eight Grey Cup championships. The Tiger-Cats play out of lovely Ivor Wynne Stadium. The CFL Hall of Fame is located in Hamilton.



The most famous Tiger-Cat player was Angelo "King Kong" Mosca who went on to have a very successful wrestling career.


2. Hamilton has an international airport

The John D. Munro Hamilton International Airport is situation on a former Royal Canadian Air Force base. It is named after one of Hamilton's illustrious politicians Johm Munro. Munro and his associates were investigated under the Criminal Code and faced 37 charges alleging illegal kickbacks to his 1984 leadership campaign and other irregularies bu those charges were thrown out. Flights from Hamilton will take you to Edmonton, Halifax, Moncton, Orlando [seasonal], Winnipeg which will helpful in getting you to many other NHL destinations.



3. Hamilton has a variety of fine dining

Hamilton has some excellent restaurants but most Hamiltonian pass on them. The food of choice in Hamilton is the sausage which can be purchased from licensed carts throughout the city. Some are pretty sophisticated operations and will even take reservations.


4. Canada's steel industry is based in Hamilton

Sixty percent of Canada's steel is produced by Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton. These economic giants have pumped millions into the Hamilton economy and provided the city with a lovely skyline.


5. Hamilton is the home of the African Lion Safari

One of the biggest attractions in Hamilton is the African Lion Safari which is a private-owned, world class exhibit of animals in as close as possible their natural habitat. The manner of exhibiting animals is completely different from the traditional approach; that is, the visitor is caged in the car, and the animals roam in 2 to 20 hectare (5 to 50 acre) reserves.


6. Hamilton already has professional hockey

Hamilton failed in 1990 to gain an NHL expansion franchise and the city selected was Ottawa. But Hamilton has been the home of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL and they play in Copps Coliseum which could be used by an NHL team. The Bulldogs won the Calder Cup championship in 2007.


7. Hamilton's downtown has much potential



The recession has hit Hamilton hard but it has the potential to have a thriving downtown core. Most Tim Hortons shops have continued to thrive and are enthusiatically supported by the 700,000 residents of Hamilton. Hamilton has one donut shop her 300 residents.

Goaltenders for the Olympic team

Well Storm Nation has selected their choice for goalies to play on next year's Olympic team:

Roberto Luongo - 77%
Cam Ward - 50%
Marc-Andre Fleury - 45%
Martin Brodeur - 40%
Steve Mason - 22%
Marty Turko - 9%
Carey Price - 4%

I would have to agree with the first choice. There is no dominant goalie in the NHL at the moment. Certainly not in the way Hasek, Roy and Brodeur once dominated. However, at this moment Luongo is likely the top goalie in the NHL and certainly the top Canadian goalie. From there it gets messy. Ward and Fleury are two young goalies that reached the Stanley Cup finals and in Wards case won a Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe. He is likely going to be in Vancouver next February. Steve Mason may yet develop into the next dominant NHL goalie if he can continue to build on his spectacular rookie season. But he hasn't got the experience to be selected. As a third choice I just don't see Fleury making it. I think the Olympic team will be younger than in the past and for that reason I expect that Martin Brodeur will be called on to provide some leadership. And in the event of a must win game, I would still put my faith in Brodeur. Though one consideration is that the GM of the Olympic team is Steve Yzerman and the head coach will likely be Mike Babcock. So don't count out Chris Osgood. He too has a few Stanley Cup rings.

The most vile food on the planet has been discovered

.it's cheeseburger in a can. My only question is why? It's sound and looks vile and someone actually tested it. The conclusion it even taste worse than it looks.

Spectacular Penguin goal in game 4

Toronto Legacy or umm the Toronto Make Beleafs

ATTENTION: All those who are after a Toronto hockey franchise please take a number for quicker service.
There was a press conference today where a band of venture capitalists calling themselves The Toronto Legacy Group announced their intention to acquire a second NHL franchise in Toronto for the 2012-2012 season. Just like that.

The team, to be called the Toronto Legacy, plans to build an arena (price unknown) at Downsview Park, with no help from the public purse. The arena who hold 30,000, 50 percent of which would be sold for $50 or less. Another notable part of the plan is the group's charitable priorities, which say that 25 percent of the team's annual profits would go to a selected group of international charities. Never mind that the largest NHL arena holds 21,000 and an 30,000-seat arena would likely have terrible sight lines.

Yup everyone wants a hockey franchise in Toronto. So soon we have a hockey team in Hamilton, Vaughan, and North York. What's next, Scarborough, Leaside, Barrie or maybe Pickering. Afterall this is the centre of the hockey universe. We can support 6 NHL teams. Maybe the NHL can create a GTA division.

So the geniuses behind this plan - have they had discussions with the NHL? No. Have they spoken to the federal government regarding Downsview Park? No. Do they have an arena design? No. How about the capital to make this project work? No. Do they have any big names to front their expansion bid? No. Well what have they developed so far? A name and logo.

Good Luck with that.

Brian Burke blows up on the Bill Watters Show

Burke was on the Bill Watters show at the beginning of the week and he must have had a bad day as well. Steve Simmons had a column in which he had the following quote from Burke :
” ‘The overwhelming commentary I get (around Toronto) is, do it right,’ he said. ‘If that means we have another tough year, that’s fine. People are sick of the Band-Aids, so we’re going to do it right.’ ”

Watters and Brady asked Burke about the quote. They read the quote as implying that perhaps making the playoffs wasn’t necessarily the endgame for Burke for this season which would have been in contrast to what Burke has said in the past.

Burke got pretty nasty. He said that he don’t know what they were talking about- Doesn’t know what Steve wrote- and that is not all that he said- Burke told Simmons and is saying now that he intends to make the playoffs- but as long as making the playoffs is consistent with the long term plan. Burke said that he could have traded Schenn and made the playoffs this year. However, everyone would know that would be another bandaid and we aren’t going to do that…but our goal is to make the playoffs.

After he blew up there was silence for almost 10 seconds. Radio hates dead air. Watters thought he had hung up but he was still on the line.

They tried changing the subject. Burke was asked if he was still trying to move up in the draft- he was clearly pissed and answered with:

“yes, nothing to report”

He was then asked if there was anything on Gustavsson. Again, he was very short with his answers.

“nothing to report”

Before the interview ended they once again tried to clear the air, Burke sternly said, “There was no misunderstanding, you guys got it wrong-and you should say so after I am gone. He told them to read it again and then said “We done”

This is a classic folks, well worth listening to, you can hear it here.
Simmons’ article is here

A dark day in Maple Leaf history

Just 16 years ago last week was the infamous non-call by Kerry Fraser. In game 6 of the playoff series between Toronto and Los Angeles, Wayne Gretzky high-sticks Doug Gilmour. The rulebook says it's an automatic five and a game, Fraser and his linesmen huddle up and then decide that nobody saw anything, and Gretzky scores the OT winner seconds later. Years later, Fraser finally came clean to the Toronto Sun and admitted that he blew the call. He claims he was blocked out on the play but the video below shows that he did have a clear view.

The Leafs were leading the series 3-2, and were a win away from meeting the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final. Wendel Clark was a dominant force in the series. In that 6th game he had a hat trick including the tying goal in the 3rd period with the goalie pulled.



Then came the infamous non-call. The Leafs might have very well beaten the Canadiens but for Kerry Fraser. It may very well have been the only Maple Leaf Stanley Cup win I would have witnessed as an adult. I was just a kid when the Leafs won in the 1960s. I have the sick feeling that the Leafs will not get to a Cup final in my remaining life. I still feel robbed to this very day.

HNIC at its worst

The playoffs have been great this year but the CBC shouldn't bother with bits like this:

Latest Maple Leaf rumours

Although Brian Burke tends to do a lot of talking, he isn't foolish enough to get hit with a tampering charge so there is no way of knowing which free agents he will go after. His recent announcement that he plans to spend to the cap suggests he won't be going after fringe players.

A lot of rumours floating around have the Leafs chasing after the Sedin twins. I continue to skeptical. It has been suggested that the Canucks have offered the two Swedes 10-year contracts at $5 million per year. That's a lot of money to spend on 28 year olds that are pretty soft and do not ormally finish in the top 20 scorers (sounds like copies of Mats Sundin). You might have to offer $120 million or more to sign them both. That would require the Leafs shedding some big salaries if they are to fill the other 4 or 5 holes in their roster. Some poor unfornate Leafs could be suiting up for the Marlies this fall to free up cap dollars.

I'm still convinced Burke's number one target is Jay Bouwmeester. He will be the best free agent available. Also I can see him going after Toronto boy, Mike Cammalleri. I also see the Leafs moving Pavel Kubina despite the fact that Burke likes the way he plays. Not sure there will be enough ice time for Bouwmeester, Kubina and Kaberle. Then there is Samuel Pahlsson who is currently with Chicago but played for Burke in Anaheim. Pahlsson is an excellent shot down centre, something the Leafs need badly. Then poor Dominic Moore may return from exile in Buffalo.

The goaltending situation is still up in the air. Jonas Gustavsson is not talking to teams at the moment as his mother died recently. But he may not be ready for the NHL. But there could be some good veteran goalies available including J.S. Giguere.

The Islanders appear to be leaning towards using their first pick to grab Victor Hedman. That means that Tampa Bay could be persuaded to deal away their second pick overall (John Tavares) and Brian Burke is certainly eager to deal. But don't expect it to happen until draft day if it happens at all. There is a lot of talk about the Leafs drafting Luke Schenn's brother Brayden if they remain with the 7th pick in the draft. I think Burke would be happy with Brayden Schenn put it appears he may not around by the time Burke steps to the mike. His stock has continued to rise.

Stanley Cup ratings fall in the U.S.

What a surprise. After the NHL bends over backwards to accommodate NBC who doesn't even pay the league to broadcast games we find out that U.S. television ratings for Game 1 of the Red Wings-Penguins Stanley Cup final rematch were down from last year's levels.

The NBC telecast drew a 2.6 rating and a 5 share. That's compared with a four-game NBC average of a 3.2 rating and a 6 share one year ago. That means that less than 3 million households in the U.S. were watching the game which is likely just barely above the CBC's numbers. So obviously the NHL's strategy to build their U.S. base is...ummm..well needs some work.

Speaking of the NHL strategy. How about the league office overriding Malkin's automatic suspension last night? Or as I like to describe it, the NHL suspended the instigator penalty so no suspension applied which means Malkin wasn't an instigator. Do you follow? Meanwhile Sean Avery gets a suspension if anyone falls within 10 feet of where he is skating. And you wonder why the NHL has problems ...and no viewers.

Florida State beats Ohio State 37-6

No college football hasn't started early this year. That was the score of a baseball in a regional tournament no less.

Well if you wanted to know how lopsided this game was here are some of the ridiculous stat lines that came out of the game:

• Florida State shortstop Stephen Cardullo went 7-for-9 with 5 RBIs
• The Seminoles went 38-for-65 as a team (.585), with seven walks
• The Seminoles led 32-0 at one point in the fifth inning; FSU scored 11 runs in the fifth
• Ohio State’s starting pitcher Jared Strayer had a game ERA of ∞ after allowing seven earned runs before being pulled without recording a single out (oh, and he only faced seven batters)