Every Leaf-Bruin match up reminds me of the greatest hickey game I ever watched. That had to be the game Darryl Sittler scored 6 goals and recorded 4 assists for incredible 10 points.
In the excitement of that game what was lost was how bad the Bruin goalie was. It was Dave Reece's last game in the NHL.
As the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, 1976, the Leafs had only won once in the previous seven games. The Bruins, coached by Don Cherry, were hot. They had won their last seven games and lost only once in their last 17 games.
You have to laugh at this faux pas. Gourmet grocery store, Balducci's, in Greenwich Village in New York has become the butt of the Jewish holiday by advertising its boneless hams as "Delicious for Chanukkah".
A customer spotted it in the store and took a picture for her blog. No one form the store will comment but there is a notice on their website:
"We apologize for this unfortunate error and oversight. It was never our intention to offend anyone, especially during this holiday. We will be reviewing our employee training policy."
A modest 4 game winning streak is quite effective in calming the media wolves and over-engaged fans that follow the Toronto Maple Leafs. This means that both John Ferguson and Paul Maurice will still be employed over Christmas. So why are the Leafs winning? And will they continue to win and contend for a playoff spot?
Three things are contributing to the current win streak. They are finally getting good goaltending. No one wins in the NHL without it. When Lundquist, Luongo and Brodeur play poorly, their respective team lose.
The Leafs are playing better in their own end. Defensive coverage is better but not great but combined with better goaltending means they have a chance to win every game. It also means they can hold a lead. There have no 3rd period collapses lately. Keeping the number of shots down on their own goalies has certainly paid off. And playing better defense does not necessarily hurt your offense. There was too much focus on Tucker and Blake not scoring although the team was near the top of the league in scoring.
Finally, JFJ's excuse about injuries have some validity. It's not that Tucker, Wellwood and Bell have played well or can carry the team. Rather, it's the players they have pushed out of the lineup that makes the difference. The minor leaguers or marginal players who fill in have not played very well. So by taking Battaglia, Newbury, Stahlman, and Gamache out of the lineup and reducing the ice time of Wozniewski, Pohl and Kilger, you improve your team. At one point, Chad Kilger was the number two centre.
The Leafs' success will last as long as they continue to get good goaltending, play team defense and avoid injuries. The Leaf defense is still porous and error-prone Bryan McCabe plays almost half the game. They will have to battle to the final weekend for a playoff spot because they will need a minimum of 92 to 94 points to make the playoffs which means a winning percentage of 59-60% for the rest of the season.
For the second time this season, the Storm battled the undefeated Barrie Sharks to a 1-1 tie. The Storm continue to feature a strong attack and are likely one of the best skating team in the division. Aggressive forechecking is beginning create turnovers and some scoring chances. Where they are currently lacking is a scoring touch in front of the net. The lone goal was scored by Kailee although Mari and Jackie both had a number of excellent scoring chances. Kendra made some excellent saves to preserve the tie.
The Storm again finished the game without a penalty and continues to be the least penalized team in Midget B tier. In fact, they are one of the least penalized in the entire league. The lack of penalties is not a reflection of a lack of aggressive or physical play but the speed of the team. Most fouls occur when players can't keep up with their opponents but this team doesn't have that problem.
So the next game is Sunday against another top team, North Simcoe who have only lost one game this season.
For the 5th time this season, a Flyer player was suspended for a shot to the head. Riley Cote got a three-game suspension for a vicious elbow on Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars late in a 4-1 loss Saturday night. Cote got a match penalty on the play.
This guy is a goon, nothing more. He has played in 18 games averaging less than 4 minutes per game. So in 70 minutes of ice time, he has managed 61 penalty minutes. Oh yes, I forgot. He also has 1 assist.
Still Flyers coach John Stevens keeps playing these guys. I'm just not impressed. The Flyers have receiving a suspension for every 5 games played. At this rate they will have accumulated 16 suspensions by the end of the season.
For all this mayhem the five suspensions only add up to 52 games. Hardly a deterrence. The NHL keeps saying they want to eliminate head shots but do they really?
The Flyers' other suspensions: – Hartnell got two games for checking Bruins defenceman Andrew Alberts in the head in a game last Monday. – Jones was given a two-game suspension after he sent Boston's Patrice Bergeron face-first into the boards on Oct. 27. Bergeron hasn't returned to action since he broke his nose and sustained a concussion as a result of the hit. – Boulerice was handed a 25-game suspension for his cross-check to the face of Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in an Oct. 10 game. – Downie got 20 games after flying down the ice, jumping through the air and delivering a hit to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond during a pre-season game.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and league disciplinarian Colin Campbell held a conference call with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren on Monday. They read him the riot act. I bet he is shaking in his boots.
It's the holiday season when people tend to over eat. That made me think about the generous portions you can get in some restaurants. Several years ago while in New York we had lunch a Carnegie Deli, the city's most famous deli.
The sandwiches are huge and that's just the regular ones. They have a list of oversized sandwiches. The heartiest sandwich is definitely Number 13—or "Jeff's Tatalah." This thing has three pounds of turkey, corned beef and Swiss and served on pumpernickel with cole slaw and Russian dressing. You can't get it in your mouth. Of course it comes with a big price too - $21.95.
The Storm continue to struggle to score goals although much of the division has a similar problem. Last night the team put in another strong effort but still lost 2-0 to the second place Aurora Panthers. The Storm has only scored 7 goals in 7 league games. In fact, Aurora has only scored 13 goals in 13 games but has only given up 8 goals.
Best scoring chance in the game was by Genevieve who floated a shot on net during a powerplay that the Aurora goalie had some problems handling. The close call led to a turnover and a short handed goal which pretty much turned the game around. The Panthers later added another goal and held on for the shutout win.
After last night's annihilation of the Thrashers, the NHL should seriously consider breaking up the Leafs.
Seriously, with all the fuss about the Leafs, has anyone outside of Ottawa noticed how bad the Senators are playing right now. They had started the season on fire with I think 11 straight wins but now have lost 5 straight.
Although the Senators are first overall in the East and 10 points ahead of the Leafs, compare their records over the last 10 games. Of course no one is hitting the panic button since they are still in first place.
It seems Harold Ballard may be dead but his spirit lives on...within Maple Leaf president Richard Peddie's brain. What else could explain his continual humiliation of Toronto Maple Leaf GM John Ferguson. He has promised Ferguson contract extensions and then withdrawn the promise. He spent the summer looking for a mentor for a GM who was in the job for 4 years. On the Fan 590 yesterday Scotty Bowman, one of the candidates said he was interviewed twice by Peddie who seemed to show no interest in Bowman. Is he nuts?
More recently, he is running around telling the media Ferguson was unqualified for the job and it was a mistake to hire him. This is coming from a Ferguson supporter. Yeah who needs friends like this. Harold Ballard also enjoyed humiliating his employees and one that bother me the most was his treatment of Roger Neilson, one of the best coaches in the last 30 years.
In 1978 a reporter approach Ballard following a loss regarding his thoughts on the coach, Neilson. Ballard just blurted out that he was fired. Which is how Neilson found out, through the media. This was Thursday evening and the Leafs had a game on the Saturday. The Leafs had no assistant coach so there was no one who could even step in on an interim basis. GM Jim Gregory approached a few people but was turned down, including his assistant GM and previous Leaf coach Johny McLellan. McLellan had stepped down as coach in 1973 because of health reasons and wouldn't step back behind the bench.
Meanwhile, Neilson was still running practices. The coach was extremely popular with the players and Leaf captain Darryl Sittler approached Ballard about reconsidering. He agreed on the one condition that Neilson start the game on the Saturday with a paper bag over his head. Neilson refused and went to speak to Ballard. They reached a compromise and Neilson didn't step behind the bench until after the national anthem was sung. He received an extended standing ovation and Ballard go to play out his little drama.
Back to the present. Richard Peddie is likely the biggest liability right now within the MLSE organization. Replacing the GM and coach is pointless unless responsibility for the hockey team is taken away from Peddie.
If you're good at climbing chimmneys then you might want to consider the Santa Games. Prospective Santas battled it out in five sports: chimney climbing, reindeer racing, kick sled racing, porridge eating and Santa's Christmas Eve.
Portland Winter Hawks ice hockey fans threw what was reportedly a world record 20,372 stuffed animals on the ice after what they thought was their team scored first goal of the season. Only thing is the goal was disallowed. The event was planned and the bears donated to charity.
I'm moving!
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I've decided to incoporate by Maple Leafs blog with my other blog - Canada,
eh?
Since the Curse of Frank Mahovlich lives on I feel compelled to contin...
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