Rematch with Scarborough ends in a tie

A weary Storm team returned to Scarborough on Saturday for the second in back to back games with the Sharks. This was the Storms 8th game in just 9 days and fatigue was starting to show, As a result, everyone should happy with a tie and 3 out of 4 points for the weekend series.

The Sharks scored first after some sustained pressure in the Storm end late in the first period. Asia had made several consecutive stops but a shot was finally lifted over her while she was on the ice. The Storm finally struck back early in the third period on a powerplay. Genevieve banged in a feed from Kailee and Mari for her first goal of the season. The game remained tied although the Storm did manage some good pressure throughout the final period.

The game marked the halfway mark of the season with the Storm record at 6-2-2 and just a point out of first, In contrast, last season the team was just 1-5-4 in last place. An incredible turn around. The offense has been much better with 24 goals compared to just 9 at this point last season. The goaltending has also been better with only 13 goals allowed compared to 19 last season.

During the first half the Storm earned a gold and silver at tournaments to match the great regular season record. Lets hoping it gets even better in the second half!

Brian Burke has landed

Here is the entire news conference.

I think we'll be seeing more or Andre Deveaux

Defenseman gets pocket picked

Have you noticed how many NHL goalies are hurt?

Through the first seven weeks of this season, injuries have hit no fewer than 17 NHL goalies, including 12 starters. The most serious injury was to Brodeur, followed by Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, who is sidelined week to week after straining his left groin on a routine save at Pittsburgh recently.

It's not hard to figure out why. So many goalies are playing 70 games a season. Add in playoffs and that could be 90 games. Their bodies are just not getting a chance to recover.

And then there is the salary cap. Ten of the NHL's 30 teams are paying their No. 1 goalie $5 million or more this season, which likely increases the pressure on the respective coaches to play them as much as possible, no matter the injury risk. As well, the post-lockout period has brought more parity which means that there are no real bad teams anymore. So it's harder to match a backup goalie against a weaker opponent.

So when Brodeur comes back will he get a lighter workload? Don't count on it. With so many teams battling into the final few games for a playoff spot, it will be the same familiar sweater between the pipes.

Storm move into first place

The Storm took control early in the first of back to back games against Scarborough. Two goals in the first 4 minutes provided enough of a cushion as the Storm won by only a 3-2 margin. The game shouldn't have been as close but two pucks that went into the net were not picked up by the referees. The first was a blistering wrist shot by Allie that went under the crossbar and out again. The second was in a goalmouth scramble where the referees had lost sight of the puck.

The first goal was created by Amanda who powered past the Shark defense and rifled the puck at the net. The goalie made the save but Mari was there to bang in the rebound. Two minutes later Alicia fired a puck past the goalie in a scramble in front of the net. The Sharks fought back for a goal in the 2nd period. But just a minute later Lauren F jumped in from the point to fire a loose puck into the net. The Sharks pulled their goalie and narrowed the score to 3-2 before the clock ran out.

The win was the 6th of the season in just 9 games which equals the number of wins for all of last season. It pulls the Storm into a 3 way tie for first place with Mississauga and Scarborough.

Nothing less will be acceptable Brian

Looking back at Toronto Maple Leaf GMs

Well Brian Burke is set to become the 10th General Manager since the Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup. So who do you think was the best GM and the worst GM during that period?

Jim Gregory 1969 - 1979
Record: 334 - 324 -130 (.508)
Highlights: One of the first GMs to bring over Europeans (Borje Salming, Inge Hammerstrom). Built a core of Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Errol Thompson, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, Mike Palmateer. Leafs upset the New York Islanders in the quarter-finals of the 1978 playoffs.
Lowlights: Had to deal with Harold Ballard and shoestring budgets. Firing and rehiring of Roger Neilson. Let Dave Keon go to WHA.

Punch Imlach 1979 - 1981
Record: 63-77-20 (.450)
Highlights: Acquired Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler.
Lowlights: Started the dismantling of Leafs by trading Lanny McDonald. Drafted Craig Muni, Bob McGill, Jim Benning. Brought a fat Carl Brewer out of retirement. Lost job while recuperating from a heart attack.

Gerry McNamara 1981 - 1988
Record: 166 - 302 - 67 (.355)
Highlights: As a scout discovered Borje Salming. Drafted Wendel Clark.
Lowlights: Traded Darryl Sittler for Rich Costello, Ken Strong and 2nd round pick. Claimed to have brain damage in a law suit from a car accident while managing Leafs. GM during Gardens pedophile era.

Gord Stellick 1988 - 1989
Record: 28 - 46 - 6 (.378)
Highlights: Quit because of too much interference from Harold Ballard.
Lowlights: Russ Courtnall for John Kordic trade.

Floyd Smith 1989 - 1991
Record: 61 - 84 - 5 (.421)
Highlights: Harold Ballard passed away. Drafted Felix Potvin. Traded for Peter Zezel and Bob Rouse for Al Iafrate.
Lowlights: Frank Bonello offered GM job but Ballard made lowball offer which was turned down and then offered to Floyd Smith. Tom Kurvers acquired for a first round pick (Scott Niedermayer).

Cliff Fletcher 1991 - 1997
Record: 226 - 219 - 58 - 8O (.508)
Highlights: Doug Gilmour trade. Also picked up Grant Fuhr and Dave Andreychuck. Leafs make to semi finalsin 1993. Trades Wendel Clark for Mats Sundin.
Lowlights: Forced to dismantle team because Steve Stavros was having money troubles.

Ken Dryden 1997 - 1999
Record: 75 -73-16 (.507)
Highlights: Signs Cutis Joseph as free agent. Leafs make semi finals in 1999.
Lowlights: Lost power struggle to Pat Quinn. Put fans to sleep during interviews,

Pat Quinn 1999 - 2003
Record: 169 -109 - 35 -15 (.608)
Highlights: His most notable acquisitions include Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Alexander Mogilny and Eddie Belfour. Leafs make semi finals in 2002.
Lowlights: Trades Alyn McAuley, Brad Boyce and 1st round pick for Own Nolan. Returns to just coaching but blocks hiring of strong GM and instead job goes to John Ferguson.

John Ferguson 2003 - 2008
Record: 145 -110 -10 -30O (.569)
Highlights: Umm, Leafs made the playoffs in 2003-04.
Lowlights: Raycroft trade. Gives Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker and Pavel Kubina no-trade contracts. Signs free agent Jason Blake for 5 years. Unprepared for post-lockout era.

Video of the finish to the Ottawa game

100 faces in 2 minutes

100 Faces in Two Minutes @ Yahoo! Video

Bryan McCabe Shoot Yourself in the Foot Award

...goes to Ryan O'Byrne.

Storm returns home to winning ways

Tonight the Storm resumed the regular season against the winless Markham-Stouffville Stars with a 5-0 win. Although the Storm was sloppy at times, they dominated the opponents and 3 shots off posts and crossbars kept the score down.

The Storm actually put the game away in the dying seconds of the first period with two quick goals with 8.5 and 2.6 seconds remaining. The first period goals were scored by Sherri and then Gabby right of the faceoff at centre ice. There was no additional scoring until the third period when Amanda rifled a shot by the Stars goalie. Later in the period Gabby scored her second goal of the game while shorthanded. The scoring was capped by a powerplay goal by Kailee with just over a minute remaining in the game. Gabby finished the game with 2 goals and 1 assist, Sheri had 1 goal and 1 assist while Mari earned 2 assists. The shutout went to Asia. This marks the 11th shutout this season in just 20 games.

The big challenge comes this weekend with a double header against the first place Sharks.

Toronto Maple Leafs: After 20 games

After an encouraging first 10 games, the Maple Leafs have perhaps come back down to Earth. In the first 10 games the Leafs earned 11 points but the past 1o games there were just 3-5-0-2. At that time it didn't look like the Leafs would be a lottery pick team and might even compete for a playoff spot. However, they are now just 4 points ahead of the last place team in the league.

They continue to be a scrappy and entertaining team but they have begun to fall short in coming back in games. In addition, they have begun to give up leads late in games just as they did last season. The weak offense and strong defense has disappeared. Ten games ago they were 23rd in scoring averaging 2.5o points per game. Now they are 7th in scoring averaging 3.1o goals per game. Where their goals against ranked a respectable 14th at 3.00 goals per game, now they have dropped to 28th at 3.45. So new personnel but the same results as last season. As for specialty team, the Leafs are similar to where they were last season, Their powerplay last season was 15th and now is rated 4th overall. Their penalty killing was horrible last year at 29th overall and dropped to 30th. Obviously, Coach Wilson is having difficulty in teaching his new team how to play defense.

The controversy over the last 10 games was coming from the grumbling from players sitting out. However, injuries and the recent trade with St. Louis will reduce much of the discontent in the ranks. Looking forward, the start of the Burke era will certain keep the media wags busy.

In the early going only Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky were offensive threats. That has changed and surprisingly the Leafs have two offensive lines. Matt Stajan leads in assists (13) and points (19). I don't think anyone expected this from him. He is tied for 28th in NHL scoring. Grabovski leads the team in goals (9) while Ponikarovsky leads in plus/minus (+5). Tomas Kaberle had a slow start but is now 8th in scoring for defensemen with 13 points. Grabovski is 3rd in rooking scoring with 14 points. However, Toskala has been terrible and rated 39th among NHL goalies in goals against average and 42nd in save percentage.

Cliff Fletcher has finally unloaded some extra bodies. Some fans may be shocked at seeing two first round picks (Steen and Colaiacovo) traded away but both have been disappointments. Colaiacovo has had so many injuries that you have to wonder whether he will ever but together a decent season. It took Antropov 10 seasons and frankly it's just not worth waiting that long. Steen has shown some promise but very little. I have never been impressed and the team has given him so many opportunities to shine. Lee Stempniak has most upside between the 3 players traded. In my books the team that gets the best player wins a trade no matter how many bodies are moved.

Storm fall short in final

The Storm came up short in the final game of the tournament but never gave up, losing 1-0. The goal was scored in a scramble with on 36 seconds remaining in the 2nd period. The play was quite even and the Storm had the advantage in shots 16-13. Quite a feat considering the Storm were assessed 7 minor penalties - some real and others imagined. With the goalie pulled in the dying minutes the Storm just couldn't tie it up. The loss actually ended Bianca's streak of 4 2/3 periods of scoreless hockey in tournament games.

The finalist trophy was well deserved as the Storm once again showed that they are one of the fastest and hard working Midget B teams in the province. The next tournament is in Scarborough where they may have the opportunity to exact revenge on Kanata.

Congratulations Storm!

Storm get revenge and another trip to the finals

The Kemptville Storm were the semi final which provided the North York version of the Storm with a second chance for a win. The players were determined to play a full 3 periods and not let up until the final buzzer. North York did come out hard and controlled the play in the first period, taking an early lead on a goal by Sheri. The momentum shifted in the second period as Kemptville began to press forcing Asia to make some difficult saves. They finally tied the score late in the period . The third period was quite the battle and the play went up and down the ice. It certainly looked like the game might go into overtime when Maddy fired a shot passed the goalie with just 3:16 remaining in the game. North York shut Kemptville down the rest of the way and didn't yield a shot on net even when the opponents pulled their goalie.

The finals were later in the afternoon against the host team Kanata.

Wendel Clark was a good player but not a great one

It was quite a contrast tonight. In Montreal the Canadiens were raising Patrick Roy's number 33 to the rafter while in Toronto, they were raising Wendel Clark's number 17. Roy was one of the game's great goalies. The winner of 3 Conn Smythe trophies, 3 Vezina trophies, 5 Jennings trophies, 3 Stanley Cups and inducted in the Hall of Fame. Clark never an all star, no trophies, no Stanley Cups, no Hall of Fame, no Team Canada, no NHL records. He was just a tough guy who could score. But he played with a lot of heart, had an awesome shot and threwing bone crunching hits until his body couldn't take it anymore.

There are few heros that have worn Leaf uniforms over the past 40 years and Wendel Clark's night at the ACC reflects how poorly the franchise has done. It was more a night to be sad than to celebrate.

Ottawa gets iced

The Storm came out flying this afternoon in their quarterfinal game against the Ottawa Ice to stay alive at the Kanata tournament. Although the game was a real nail-biter, statistically the Storm dominated including a shot advantage of 22-5 and a faceoff advantage of 16-11.

The penalty killing was outstanding as Mari, Maddy, Alicia and Kailee kept the Ottawa team trapped in their own end and produced some good scoring chances. However the game was scoreless until 2:20 remaining in the 3rd period when Mari fired a slapshot past the Ice goalie on a feed from Kailee. Yet the play of the game was made by Bianca who despite having very little action, made the play of the season. In the last minute with the Ottawa goalie on the bench for an extra skater, the Bianca was down on her stomach after having made a save in a goalcrease scramble. The puck rebound came out to an Ottawa player who fired it at the open net. Bianca dove accross the crease to block the shot and preserve the win.

With Kemptville defeating Peterborough 2-1, the North York Storm again face the Kemptville Storm in the semi finals

Storm win...but wrong Storm team

Well the North York Storm and the Kemptville Storm played in the second game of the Kanata tournament. The game seemed even more odd because Kemptville was wearing the old North York colours (did they pick up the jerseys second hand)?

North York started off much like they did in the earlier game. But things went bad about half way through the game. By the third period Kemptville had a 1-0 lead. They dominated that period and held a 16-1 advantage on shots. The collapse occurred in the last 3 minutes as Kemptville scored 3 more goals. Poor Asia had to have been shell shocked.

The good news is North York still finished 4th 3rd in the round robin portion and play Peterborough Ottawa on Saturday in the quarter finals.

The standings are:

1. Kemptville
2. Kanata
3. Georgina North York
4. North York Georgina
5. Peterborough
6. Ottawa
7. Burlington
8. Central York
9. North Halton

Storm Blows into Kanata

It was a sunny and chilly afternoon when the Storm blew into Kanata and opened up the tournament with a close 2-0 win over Georgina. Once again the Storm opened up the scoring when Mari took a low hard shot at the Georgina goalie in the middle of the first period. Alicia was there for the rebound. Later in the period Georgina took two penalties just 15 seconds apart and the Storm had an opportunity to blow the game open. On the powerplay they moved the puck around well but had few shots on net and were unable to score. From then on it was a very close game until late in the game Kailee came down the right wing and wired a hard wrist shot in top corner from the face off circle. From then on the Storm played a defensive game to preserve the shutout for Bianca. It was the 5th shutout in 6 tournament games this season.

Next game is against Kemptville Storm.

LIFE magazine has their photo library online

Here is a sample of some hockey oldies.

Allan Stanley

Bobby Hull when he was still wearing #16

Terry Sawchuck - pretty frightening

Jacques Plante - the first goalie to wear a mask