Snow storm a problem for everyone

Storm move into 1st place...for 4 hours

The Storm showed up today with their "A" game with great results. Markham-Stouffville could not even keep it close as the Storm won by a score of 5-0. The Storm controlled the play from start to finish firing 30 shots at the Markham-Stouffville net. Meanwhile Asia had an easy time in the Storm end facing only 3 shots to earn the shutout. The arena was frigid and it was obviously that she was frozen as she tended the net alone for much of the game.

In the first period the Storm took the lead early on a goal by Gabby who took a perfect feed from behind the net from Sheri. In the second period Mari and Amanda scored. Mari's goal was her 33rd point of the season which broke the team record she set last season. In the third period Jackie and Kailee scored. Jackie's goal was the first power play the team has scored in quite a while.

The win puts the Storm in first place though only for 4 hours. Later tonight Mississauga plays Markham-Stouffville which should make for a tough day for the Stars. The win is the team's 10th win of the season which ties a team record with 4 games still remaining. It's been quite a season so far.

MIDGET B Central
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	PTS
North York	16	10	2	4	41	20	95	24
Mississauga	16	10	3	3	34	18	91	23
Scarborough	15	5	5	5	28	27	62	15
North Halton	15	3	5	7	16	18	109	13
Markham-Stouffville	17	3	11	3	20	46	92	9
Etobicoke	13	1	6	6	22	32	64	8

EDIT: Looks like the Storm will be in first place for at least a couple of more days. Mississauga just lost to Markham-Stouffville!

Jason Blake is looking like a hockey player again

I have to admit I was never overly impressed by Jason Blake when he was on Long Island. His successful was in his final year in New York was a by-product of playing with Alexei Yashin. When John Ferguson signed him as a free agent in 2007 I was convinced that the team would over time regret it. I don't get that excited about hat tricks which included empty-net goals but last night Blake showed a lot of grit on goals one and two. Even on the empty-netter Blake drove to the net, was tripped on the way in and crashed into the goal immediately after the puck crossed the line to ice a 6-4 win over Carolina. Blake's first goal was a slick wraparound and his diving shot (pictured above) that beat Cam Ward later in the same period was a beauty. In addition, he did a lot of the leg work on the winning goal by Kaberle to finish with a career high 5 points.

Now one game doesn’t make up for a season plus of mediocre hockey. But even I have to concede that you have to give Blake a mulligan for last season because of health issues. Not only was he a bad hockey player, but he admits he was also a lousy teammate and spouse. But in the past 6 weeks since being paired with Domenic Moore, Blake has played some decent hockey. He has abandoned his harmless 50-foot wrist shots and has begun to drive to the net to create legitimate scoring chances. The numbers back this up. Last year he compiled the 5th highest shot total in the NHL with 332 but only scored 15 goals. His shooting percentage was an embarrassing 4.5%. This year he has increased his shooting percentage to 9.6% which places him tied for 287th in the league but no worse than stars like Henrik Zetterberg, Brad Richards and Alexei Kovalev. Blake has scored 13 goals this season on 136 shots which still places him in the top 25 for shots on net. However, this does not mean that the Leafs are getting value out of this contact or that he is suddenly tradable. Jason Blake still presents Brian Burke with a significant challenge as he attempts to rebuild the Leafs.

Storm move within a point of 1st

The Storm returned to their winning way by defeating Markham-Stouffville 3-1. The victory was the result of a renewed commitment to a fast and aggressive style of play. The first two goals were the result of players crashing the opposition net, something that the team had not been doing for some time.

To their credit, the Stars are an approved team and were very aggressive on the forecheck, forcing numerous turnovers. They out shot the Storm 20-12 but couldn't create the quality scoring chances. Their aggressiveness did pay off when they scored in the first period on a turnover. The Storm continued to drive to the net and it paid off in the first period when Sheri banged in a puck thrown into the goal crease by Mari. Early in the third period Maddy picked up a puck at centre ice, drove down the boards into the goal crease where she was able to bang the puck into the net. The final goal was scored by Amanda who came in from the point and fired the puck off a feed from Alicia under the Star goalie.

A Wade Belak tribute? What's next?

The only thing that could have been more painful than watching the lifeless Maple Leafs fall to Nashville Tuesday night would have been to have watched the first period tribute to Wade Belak. Fortunately, TV audiences were spared and only those at the ACC had to endure it. For those who had lost track of Belak, after being traded to Florida last season he was put on waivers this season and picked up recently by Nashville. Since trading Belak on November 27, the Panthers are 12-5-4.

I can’t imagine a player less deserving of a tribute than Belak – player of limited skill who could not play more than two consecutive shifts without taking a penalty. In his 6 seasons with the Leafs he scored a total of 7 goals and 24 points. He did play 318 games for the Leafs, usually fewer than 5 minutes per game. What stands out most during his tenure with the Leafs was the number of games he sat out - almost 30 games per season. Any video tribute should have included shots of Belak in civvies sitting in the press box.

I can’t wait for the Jonas Hogland tribute.

What did he say?

So which is the back door?

Why is Vesa Toskala so bad this year?

Vesa Toskala is 44th among NHL goalies with a GAA of 3.34 and 47th with a SAV% of .882. There are just horrendous numbers. How could Toskala be so good last season and so bad this season. I had been suspecting for some time that he was playing through an injury. Last season he had gone through a rough period due to a groin injury so I just figured it had returned.

Sure enough, this week I heard Ron Wilson on The Fan more or less confirm that Toskala has been playing through a groin injury. Based on his numbers he has been less than successful. It makes you wonder why he keeps playing in a season that the team has no chance in making the playoffs. Wouldn't this be a good time to provide Justin Pogge with some NHL experience?

NHL needs to rethink All-Star voting

The NHL All-Star game has always been a total bore. The best you can say about it is that it resembles a high calibre shinny game. No hitting, no back checking - just some fancy puck handling and lots of scoring. You just can't fix it. But the voting has become a bit of a joke. The NHL has gone to voting over the Internet which as been nothing but a problem.

Last year fans tried to write in journeyman defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick. Some people suggest he may have actually been voted to the 2008 All-Star game but the NHL fudged the numbers. Although the NHL has tried to prevent fans from writing programs to automate voting but have been less than successful. Montreal fans had obviously beaten the system and within the first few weeks Canadien players had huge leads before the NHL caught on. Pittsburgh fans tried to pump up their players' numbers. In the end 4 Canadiens and 2 Penguins received the highest amounts. A similar result occured in the West with 3 Chicago players and 3 Anageim players selected by the fans. No one was good enough from the Stanley Cup winning Detriot Red Wings.

Now there are always more deserving players who are overlooked but this year it has made the voting look like a farce. The 2 best defencemen in the NHL finished 4th in the West (Lidstrom) and 5th in the East (Charo). The goal scoring lead has been flipping back and forth all season between Ovechkin, Vanek and Carter. The finished 6th, 11th and 23rd in voting for forwards in the East.

You think the league has a problem?

Maple Leaf fans - some more depressing news

Sometimes doesn't it feel like anyone who puts on a Leaf jersey turns into crap? Would Alex Ovechkin be able to score 20 with the Leafs?

So here is the latest. Andrew Raycroft improved to 8-1 on the season by stopping all but one of 44 shots directed his way by Chicago, including several big saves late during a frantic Blackhawks' push for a tying goal that never came. He only won 2 games last year for the Leafs. His GAA is 2.53 and SAV% is .908. Oh, and Kyle Wellwood has more goals than anyone on the Leaf roster.

Storm recover in game 2

The Storm rebounded from a drubbing in game 1 to play a strong competitive game against the the Smith Falls Cubs. The game was quite physical but the Storm held their ground against a larger opponent to walk away with a 1-1 tie. The winning goal actually scored by Maddy but was waived off as a result of a quick whistle. It was unfortunate as she had a very strong game and nearly scored on a number of other opportunities.

The only Storm goal was scored by Genevieve on a one-timer from a feed by Mari. Genevieve was the recipient of a number of Smith Falls fouls as she played an aggressive and strong game. The single point puts the Storm in 4th place in the Pool with no chance of making the playoffs.

Ouch, we was wupped

The first game of the Scarborough tournament was against the Lakeshore Lightning - as good of a Midget B team as you will see. The Lightning out-skated, out-hustled, out-shot and out-scored the Storm to the tune of 6-0. It was incredible clinic on good skating and passing. Unfortunately the Storm did not play one of its strongest games and produced very few good scoring opportunities. In addition, the other games in the pool were one goal games which puts us at the bottom of the pool and in a big hole.

Next game is against the Smith Falls Cubs who beat Scarborough 1-0.

Toronto Maple Leafs: After 40 games

Well the Maple Leafs matched their least successful 10 game stretch earning only 8 points based on 4 wins. They regressed as the result of mounting injuires - something they had been able to avoid during the first 20 games of the season. During the most recent stretch the team was missing first line centre Matt Stajan as well as their most reliable defensemen - rookie Luke Schenn and Mike van Ryn. In addition, Vesa Toskala has sat out some starts as a result of a sore groin.

With Stajan out of the lineup, Antropov once again leads the team in scoring with 31 points. His also tied with Ponikarovsky for the team lead in goals with 13. Scoring is pretty spread out so the team may have as many as 5 20-goal scorers this season. Last season the Leafs only had 2 players that reached the 20 goal mark. Ian White leads the team in +/- (+6) while John Mitchell and John Mayer are tied with the worst rating on the team (-10). Mikhail Grabovski has cooled off considerably and has dropped to 5th place in rookie scoring.

With NHL and Brian Burke's trading embargo now over, there is considerable speculation regarding trades. Burke's first trade was with Anaheim to acquire some toughness with Brad May. Many fans will question this move since the Leafs gave up another draft pick (6th in 2010) for a 37 year old enforcer. The move is clearly to continue the process of changing the team chemistry. The coach and GM want the players to compete every night but the team continues to take some nights off. May has an excellent work ethic and is expected to provide some leadership in the short term. Management recognizes the need to change the team chemistry during the rebuild. Not too many more trades are expected until closer to the trade deadline when offers tend to max out.

The million dollar question

Wouldn't Cody Hodgson look good in a Leaf jersey?

I've got nothing against Luke Schenn. He is an outstanding prospect who has adjusted to the NHL with barely a bump. But the Leafs could have had the captain of the Junior team - Cody Hodgson. Vancouver drafted him with the 10th pick. If you recall the Leafs moved up two spots in the draft in order to land one of the big 4 defensemen (Schenn) in the draft last June. They had to give up a 2nd and 3rd round pick. They could have hung onto those two picks and grabbed Hodgson as well.

The Drive for Five is Done!

The medal count since 1975:

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
Russia/SU/CIS	12	9	7	28
Canada	15	6	4	25
Sweden	1	8	4	13
Finland	2	4	6	12
Czechoslovakia	0	5	6	11
United States	1	1	3	5
Czech Republic	2	0	1	3
Slovakia	0	0	1	1
Switzerland	0	0	1	1

And Pat Quinn will probably be back in the NHL in the next month - maybe Ottawa.

A come from behind win to start the New Year

The Storm looked awfully rusty in the first period but came alive in the third to snatch a win away from the Mississauga Chiefs. It was the Storm's first game in over 3 weeks and it showed early on. Mississauga quickly took a 2-0 lead in the first 8 minutes of the game.

By the second period the Storm players began to get their skating legs and create a few good scoring chances. Late in the period Amanda missed a glorious scoring chance when a rebound bounced onto her stick alone in front of the net but she couldn't flip it by the goalie. Midway through third period the Chiefs took 3 consecutive penalties creating an extended 5 on 3 situation for the Storm. Lauren N finally connected on a slap shot from 30 feet out to get the Storm back in the game. Several minutes later Kailee came flying down the wing on a great pass from Lauren N and rifled a hard wrist shot into a top corner to tie up the game. With just 2 minutes remaining Mari scored the winning goal when she tried to pass the puck to Maddy in front of the net but it went off the goalie into the net. Game over.

The Storm crept within 3 points of Mississauga with 2 games in hand.

I'm sooo mad I could slap you

Alexander Semin has to be the most pathetic fighter in the NHL. I had a good laugh.

Nice goal by Pavel Datsyuk

Some people were calling it a wind assisted game. Sure 7 out of 10 goals were scored by the team with the wind at their backs. But Detroit won despite being against the wind in the first and third. Anyway a beauty by Datsyuk.

Bare Naked Ladies butcher Hockey Theme

Maybe some people like it but it did nothing for me.