Long-term contracts for UFA make no sense

Do you want to know the real reason why NHL teams will regret almost all long-term contracts they sign with unrestricted free agents?  Well because they are committing to players who in most cases have already reached their peak.  That's correct, it is likely that at 28 Ilya Kovalcuk has already had his most productive years. 

I looked at 25 NHL star players who have either recently retired or at the end of their careers and determined what their best season was.  It worked out that this sample of 25 players peaked on average at the age of 25.5.  In fact, 13 out of the 25 players peaked between the ages of 23 and 25.  The youngest were Mats Sundin and Paul Kariya who had their most productive season at 21.  The oldest was Daniel Alfredsson at 33.

 So Jonathan Toews, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are just hitting their best years.  However, Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovakchuk and Martin Havlat have likely seen their best years.

Here is how the 25 players broke down:

Paul Kariya - 21
Mats Sundin - 21
Teemu Selanne - 22
Steve Yzerman - 23
Mike Modano - 23
Rod Brindamour - 23
Jeremy Roenick - 23
Keith Tkachuk - 23
Jaromir Jagr - 23
Joe Nieuwendyk - 23
Mark Recchi - 24
Patrick Elias - 24
Sergei Federov - 24
Peter Forsberg - 25
Doug Weight - 25
Brendan Shanahan - 25
Joe Sakic - 26
Brett Hull - 26
Pavel Demitra - 28
Markus Naslund - 29
Bil Guerin - 30
Jerome Iginla - 30\
Martin St. Louis - 31
Ron Francis - 32
Daniel Alfredsson - 33

Brian Burke hasn't exactly blown people away with his free agent signings

Days before the July 1st free agent market opened up, Toronto GM Brian Burke was quoted as stating “We will be active.  I expect plenty of activity despite a shrinking talent pool.”  That kind of talk can create high expectations.  So here who has been signed so far:

July 1 - Colby Armstrong - 3 yrs/$9M
July 7 - Brett Lebda - 2 yrs/$2.9M

WOW!

OK.  I was forgetting about yesterday's signings of free-agent forwards Mike Zigomanis and Joey Crabb, and defenceman Danny Richmond.  Oh and on Wednesday Burke signed forward Marcel Mueller from the Cologne Sharks.  That's Cologne not San Jose. So Mueller sits about 6th or 7th on their depth chart on left wing. Zigomanis is about 6th or 7th at centre. Same with Crabb on the right side. As for Richmond, he is sitting at about 12th on the depth chart defense.

So what happened to the big free agency splash? Well the reason no offer was made for Ilya Kovalchuk is that Burke has no cap space. He has 21 out of 23 spots filled and $3.8M in cap space remaining.  The Leafs are already committed to some big contracts including Dion Phaneuf ($6.5M), J-S Giguere ($6.0M), Phil Kessel ($5.4M), Mike Komisarek ($4.5M), Tomas Kaberle ($4.25M), Francois Beauchemin ($3.8M) and Jeff Finger ($3.5M).  The Leafs are committed to $27.775M in defense which is almost half their payroll.  The NHL average for defense is $16.5M.  No wonder they have such a crappy offense.

So when Brian Burke talks about how he will keep Tomas Kaberle if he doesn't get a good enough offer, well that's just a negotiation tactic to get better offers.  He has to move Kaberle and at least one more defenseman.  And he needs two more decent forwards or the Leafs will be spending another post-season watching the NHL playoffs instead of playing in them.

Scouting Report: Marcel Mueller

Despite the belief that Brian Burke is anti-European, he once again signed a European free agent, this time forward Marcel Mueller from the Cologne Sharks of the German Elite League.  Though his bias in the Entry Draft is North American players, he will signed European free agents.

Mueller is 22 years old and 6'3", 220 lbs.   He appeared in 53 games with the Cologne Sharks of the German Elite League in 2009-10, registering the team-lead in game-winning goals (6), power-play goals (8), assists (32) and penalty minutes (122), while finishing second in goals (24), shorthanded goals (4) and points (56). In 198 games in the German Elite League with the Sharks and Berlin Polar Bears from 2005-06 to 2009-10, the winger recorded 43 goals and 61 assists for 104 points with 316 penalty minutes.

Mueller, a native of Berlin, represented his country at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver where he played four games and registered two assists and 12 penalty minutes. He also participated in the 2010 World Championships in Cologne, collecting one goal and one assist for two points

Mueller will begin the season with the Marlies but may jump quickly to the big team.  He has developed quite rapidly in the past 2 years which attracted a significant number of scouts. 

43 Years of Maple Leaf Frustration: 1991-92 Season

Cliff Fletcher was hired by the Maple Leaf owners to replace Floyd Smith during the offseason. Cliff Fletcher was unlike any of the previous general managers of the Leafs in the 1980’s in that he had previous success in building a winner. Fletcher started his hockey career in the Montreal organization and then built an expansion team in Atlanta from scratch, improving each year to an eventual Stanley Cup with Calgary in the 1988-89 season. Having reached that pinnacle, he was looking for new challenges and was hired to rebuild the Toronto Maple Leafs. 
 
One of Fletcher’s first moves was to make a huge seven player trade with the Edmonton Oilers that would bring a proven goalie in Grant Fuhr and high scoring winger Glen Anderson to the Leafs. Going the other was was the team's leading score Vince Damphouse.  It was obvious that Fletcher looked for players who had won before and would bring their winning attitude to the Maple Leafs dressing room. Fletcher’s next major transaction was a bombshell. He traded former 50-goal scorer Gary Leeman to the Calgary Flames in a gigantic 10-player trade that would prove to be one of the steals of all time. The big name coming back was Doug Gilmour who would be the face of the Leafs for the next few years. In order to strengthen the defence, Fletcher was somehow also able to extract veteran Jamie Macoun from the Flames as well. None of the five players that the Leafs sent to Calgary had any great impact. This was a novelty for Leaf fans as they were used to coming out second best in the trades of the 1980’s. 

Fletcher made 15 trades in the first 12 months on the job which essentially was a total remake of the team.   in those deals he traded away 17 players and 4 draft picks and in return received back17 players and 5 draft picks.

The Gilmour trade was made shortly after New Years 1992.   It was too late to salvage the season as the Leafs finished last in the Norris Division and 19th overall. Gilmour scored 49 points for the Leafs in just 40 games and was ready to carry the team. 

Even though the Leafs missed the playoffs, but there was new spirit in the dressing room and fans could see that progress was being made.  Fletcher’s next move was to hire a well-respected coach who also had proven successful. In the summer of 1992, former Montreal coach Pat Burns was hired with great fanfare to coach the Leafs.

Chicago Blackhawks have more salary cap problems

The Chicago Blackhawks aren't letting restricted free agent defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson get away, as the club announced on Monday that they will match the a US$14-million, four-year offer sheet he signed with the San Jose Sharks last week.

The Blackhawks had seven days to match the offer, which was done on Friday. If they didn't match, they would have received San Jose's first- and third-round picks in next year's NHL draft as compensation.

Hjalmarsson, 23, helped Chicago sweep the Sharks in the Western Conference final last season and then beat Philadelphia to win the Stanley Cup. He had a goal and seven assists in the post-season, including two assists against the Sharks.  He would have been the 8th player from the Cup winning lineup to leave either through free agency or a trade.  Hawk GM Stan Bowman considers Hjalmarsson to part of the team's core and therefore the team had to match the Sharks' offer.

The problem is that Chicago doesn't really have the cap space to sign Hjalmarsson which means another round of salary dumping. Chicago now has 16 players under contract for a total cap hit of $59.307 million.  They have only $158,000 in cap space remaining but have to sign 7 more players including goalie Antti Niemi.
I'm sure Neimi is looking for about $3 million per season.  Bowman can bury Cristobal Huet's $5.635 million contract in the minors but that still won't be enough to sign Neimi and 7 more players.

Bowman needs to unload Brian Campbell's contract but so far no takers.  There are 8 more years on that contract at over $7 million per season.  Even if you were to throw in a first round draft pick, most GMs would pass on that deal. Will that mean that Bowman may finally have to more one of his core players, Patrick Sharp.  Brian Burke has been keeping his eye on this development since March.

Which brings me back to the Kovalchuk hostage crisis.  Pay him and his agent $100 million or else.... umm well or else!  GMs around the league don't want to be holding the next Brian Campbell, sucking cap dollars out of your lineup.

NHL's legal fees were almost $4 million in 2008-09

The NHL’s legal costs climbed 48.6 percent during the 2008-09 season, according to its most recent tax filing.
The filing shows the NHL’s legal fees climbed to $3.9 million that season. There is no breakdown in the tax filing but we do know that NHL concluded a lawsuit with Madison Square Garden over the New York Rangers’ digital rights and begin the bankruptcy trial over the Phoenix Coyotes.

The question is whether this was an abnormal year or will the league be involved in more litigation in the future.

The league totaled $75.7 million in expenses during the period. The largest expenditures included executive compensation ($9.9 million), employee salaries ($20.4 million), travel ($7.3 million), officiating costs ($5.1 million), legal fees ($3.9 million), team-related expenses ($3.9 million) and other employee benefits ($3.8 million).

Speaking of executive compensation, most of the $9.9 million went to one person.  Yes, none other than Commissioner Gary Bettman who collected $7.2 million in compensation.  For many hockey fans in Canada that would be approximately $7.2 million too much.  Now getting rid of him is even more expensive as it is suggested that there are some expensive severance requirements in his contract if he is terminated.

source

Ilya Kovalchuk: the unwanted star

It is now day 10 into free agency and Ilya Kovalchuk is sitting at home spinning his wheels.  Unlike past seasons when the top free agents were snapped up minutes after midnight on July 1, the stud pick for 2010 remains unsigned. Has he overpriced himself? Are there other issues at work here?  Afterall what NHL team couldn't use a guaranteed 40-50 goal scorer in their lineup?

To date his best offers have come from the Atlanta Thrashers (before his trade to New Jersey) and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.  And the Atlanta offer is no longer available.  Kovalchuk doesn't seem to want to go to the KHL and the only two NHL bidders, New Jersey and Los Angeles, don't want to meet his price which is likely $100 million over 10 years.

Another factor contributing to his indecision is that he has two agents.  Because Kovalchuk has an American agent, Jay Grossman, and a Russian agent, Yuriy Nikolaev. Grossman is pushing him to sign with an NHL team while Nikolaev wants him to sign with the KHL.  The Kings will pay him $84 million over 13 years which is far less than the $102 million over 12 years that he left on the table in Atlanta.

It's not that NHL teams don't have cap space for him, it's just that they are concerned what a large contract like this will do to their lineup in the future.  Look at what happened to Chicago.  For three straight season they spent money on free agents - Brian Campbell, Marian Hossa and Cristobal Huet.  Because of those contracts, the Hawks have had to shed players this summer to accomodate their young stars - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith.  Those contracts cannot be moved.  Chicago has tried. So tying up $10 million a year in Kovalchuk will make it difficult for a team to retain its young stars.

The other issue is whether anyone considers Kovalchuk to be a franchise player.  He is a gifted scorer but he has yet to carry a team into the playoffs or to win a playoff series or two.  Does he make the other players around him better?  Not really. This is not Alex Ovechkin who can hit, play defense and set up linemates. He may be $7-$8 million player at best. So if his goal is make the most money then he better ship off to Russia.  The free agency money may soon disappear so if it's about winning then he should sign real quick.

Who is Brett Lebda?

Brett Lebda is not very well known despite having played 326 games in the NHL. This is partly due to the limited ice time he got in Detroit. He is small for a defenseman, only 5'9" and 195 lbs and is not the least bit physical. But he moves the puck well so he appears to be a cheap and inferior replacement for Tomas Kaberle. His best season was only good for 18 points.  However, playing behind Lindstrom and Rafalski has cut into a lot of prime ice time so it is believed that Lebeda has some untapped offensive potential.  Yet the Leaf defense is fairly deep so how much more time he can get in Toronto is debatable.

Scouting Report: Keith Aulie

Keith Aulie is another hulking defense prospect picked up by Brian Burke.  The kid is 6'5" and 208 lbs. This past season he played in the AHL finishing the season with the Marlies after coming over from Calgary in the Dion Phaneuf trade.

His Junior career was with the Brandon Wheat Kings and in 2009 he was a WHL all-star and won a gold medal at the World Junior Championship while playing for Canada.  On Team Canada he played with Tyler Myers and the two defensemen were an intimating pair on the ice.

This kid has an incredible frame and tons of physical upside, since he's expected to eventually fill out.Supposedly he needs to improve his coordination, game-to-game consistency and defensive-zone coverage in order to make an impact in the pros.  You aren't going to see much offensive out this guy. He scored 33 points in his most productive season on Brandon.
He will likely be the Leafs top defense prospect on the Marlies which means he might actually get some playing time on the big team this season.

Bob Probert was more than just a fighter

Unlike many fighters over the years, Bob Probert was a decent hockey player who was good with his fists.  Afterall he scored 162 goals in the NHL and in 1987-88, scored 29 for the Red Wings. The only NHL players with higher career goal totals and over 3,000 penalty minutes were Dale Hunter and Tiger Williams.

He was the last player to score a goal in Maple Leaf Gardens in the 3rd period on February 13, 19999.  I happened to have been at the game.



Still he will always be best known for his fights and this Tie Domi fight was a classic battle. Domi was with the Rangers at the time.



Probably the bravest thing he did on ice was figure skate with Kristina Lenko in the Battle of the Blades reality TV show. He wasn't very good at it but he gave it his best. I think the show revealed to hockey fans the real Bob Probert.

10 absolute worst trades in Toronto Maple Leaf history

Although the Phil Kessel trade might someday get on this list, it is currently too early to judge that trade. Kessel might have a great career with the Leafs and we have no way of knowing what will come out of those draft picks.

10. Tuukka Rask to Boston for Andrew Raycroft (2006)

The moment heard about this trade I hated. At the World Juniors earlier that year Rask had been named the top goalie at the tournament. Raycroft was coming off a season where his save percentage was a dismal .879 and just eight wins in 30 starts. What was there to like? And there have been quite a few goalies who after great rookie season have had their careers crash and burn. The classic example was Jim Carey. And of course my worst fears came true. This past season Rask has become one of the top goalies in the league and pushed the previous season's Vezina Trophy winner to the bench as a back up. As for Raycroft, he is will finish his career as a backup too.

9. Fredrick Modin to Tampa Bay for Corey Cross (2001)

Modin developed into a solid winger for Tampa Bay and is still playing in the NHL. The Leafs lacked that big winger to play with Sundin until they signed Gary Roberts as a free agent. Cross was one of the largest soft players ever to play in the NHL. He was a frequent healthy scratch with the Leafs and booed by the fans.

8. Larry Murphy to Detroit for future considerations (1997)

Larry Murphy had a stellar career stretching 21 seasons. He was on 4 Stanley Cup teams and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1995 after being named to the second-team All-Stars Murphy was traded to his hometown Leafs from the Penguins for Dmitri Mironov and a second round pick. Leafs fans booed Murphy, the highest paid player on the Leafs, mercilessly as a scapegoat for the lack of success the team was having. So they literally gave him away and paid one-third of his salary too. Fortunately for Murphy he was able to win 2 more Cups with Detroit.

7. Kenny Jonsson, Sean Haggerty, Darby Hendrickson and a 1st Round Pick in 1997 (Roberto Luongo) to the New York Islanders for Wendel Clark, Mathieu Schneider and D.J. Smith (1996)

I should tell you that I ignored the fact that the draft pick sent to the Islanders turned out to be Luongo. There is no guarantee that the Leafs would have picked him. Had the Leafs actually traded to Luongo to New York, then this trade would be much higher on the list. After trading Wendel Clark when his market value was at its peak (how often have the Leafs done that) they bring back the broken down winger two years later. The trade was only to appease the fans who fell in love with the hard working Clark. Leaf fans have always favoured rugged players over skilled players which is why Clark was so much more popular than Sundin. Meanwhile, while Haggerty was a bust and Hendrickson was back in Toronto the next season, Kenny Jonsson was a fixture in New York for a decade. He played 597 games for New York, recording 232 points, many of them in a time where quality Leafs blueliners were few and far between. Mathieu Schneider is the only reason this trade wasn't higher on this list. But he couldn't make up for the mediocre play of Clark.

6. Lanny McDonald and Joel Quenville to the Colorado Rockies for Pat Hickey and Wilf Paiement (1979)

This was a trade that began the franchise’s descent into the hell that was the 80s, a decade in which the Leafs had a record of 301-481-98 between 79-80 and 89-90 (a win percentage of .398, during a time in which surrendered 660 more goals than they scored). It is also widely reported that the deal by Punch Imlach was intended to hurt Leafs captain Darryl Sittler and make him waive his no trade contract. Only in Toronto would a personal vendetta come before the success of the club. At first glance, the stars in this trade worked out well. Toronto got 187 games and 203 points out of Paiement, while Colorado got 142 games and 141 points from McDonald. Paiement even recorded a 40 goals and 97 points in his first full season in Toronto. But when he dropped to 18 goals and 58 points the following seasons, the Leafs traded him to Quebec for Miroslav Frycer and a 7th rounder. Yes, that’s right; Miroslav Frycer was all the Leafs had to show for dealing heart-and-soul Lanny McDonald. This trade might have moved up a notch or two on this list if the Rockies had gotten more out of McDonald. But he moved on to Calgary where he scored 66 goals one season and a Stanley Cup.

5. Darryl Sittler to the Philadelphia for Rich Costello, a 2nd Round Pick in 1982 (Peter Ihnacak) and Future Considerations (Ken Strong) (1981)

I'm still angry about this deal. The Leafs traded their captain, their best player since Dave Keon, and a man just 84 points away from becoming the first Toronto player ever to record 1,000 points in a Maple Leaf uniform. They got garbage in return.

4. Russ Courtnall to the Montreal for John Kordic and a 6th Round Pick in 1989 (Mike Doers) (1989)

Thank you Mr. Stellick! The Leafs needed a goon, and the Habs were interested in Russ Courtnall. Since Leaf Head Coach John Brophy didn't think much of the smooth skating Courtnall the deal was made. Kordid got 446 penalty minutes and 16 points in 104 games as a Leaf, while Courtnall gradually improved over parts of four seasons with the Habs. He ended up with 82 goals and 195 points in 250 games for Montreal. Meanwhile, the Habs turned Russ Courtnall into Brian Bellows, who won a Stanley Cup with the Habs. And Courtnall kept on being a decent offensive player in the NHL. Kordic wasn't really a hockey player. To add insult to injury he wore #27 with the Leafs - the number worn by Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler. On August 8, 1992, after overdosing on drugs and being involved in a struggle with police at his hotel, Kordic died.

3. Bernie Parent and a 2nd Round Pick in 1973 (Larry Goodenough) to the Philadelphia for a 1st Round Pick in 1973 (Bob Neely) and Future Considerations (Doug Favell) (1973)

It's not every day you get to trade away a Hall of Fame goalie. Bernie Parent was a a young Toronto goalie that left the club to play in the World Hockey Association, which instantly made him an outcast in the eyes of Leafs management and ownership. Having played previously in Philadelphia with the NHL’s Flyers and the WHA’s Blazers, he requested a trade to Philadelphia. His request was granted… and in his first two seasons with the Flyers, Bernie Parent won two Stanley Cups, two Conn Smythe trophies as the MVP of the playoffs, and two Vezina trophies. So he was the best goaltender in the league, and the most valuable player on the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Doug Favell meanwhile was a complete bust. The Leafs didn't get much value out of the draft pick. Bob Neely posted decent numbers as a defenseman, but after four seasons and change he was gone.

2. Randy Carlyle and George Ferguson to the Pittsburgh for Dave Burrows (1978)

Jim Gregory was a very good GM for the Leafs but this trade was a stinker. He was of a mind that Burrows was the missing piece needed to carry the Leafs to the Stanley Cup. Dave Burrows did absolutely nothing for Toronto. In just over 2 seasons, he recorded 32 points in 151 games, and then he was gone. But Randy Carlyle was the true gem of this deal. He played 397 games as a Penguin, recording 323 points. He won the Norris trophy recording 83 points in 1980-81. Oh so how did the Leafs do in the playoffs with Burrows in their lineup? Over two seasons they were 2-7. And no Stanley Cups.

1. 1st Round Pick in 1991 to the New Jersey Devils for Tom Kurvers (1989)

The mother of bad trades thanks to GM Floyd Smith. Once again the GM was convinced that journeyman defenseman Tom Kurvers was all the Leafs needed to compete for a Cup. Although earlier in the list I ignored a draft pick that turned out to be Roberto Luongo, this trade was a straight exchange for first round pick so it is hard to ignore. Similar to the Kessel trade, Smith did not anticipate when he made the trade that the team would collapse the following season. But they did. In fact the Leafs were pretty competitive during the 1989-90 season with a potent offense led by Gary Leeman's 51 goals. The Leafs were bad in 1990-91… so bad that they were on pace to finish last in the NHL behind the Quebec Nordiques. And Toronto was feeling the sting of Kurvers not working out as expected. So the Leafs traded prospect Scott Pearson and a pair of 2nd Round picks to Quebec for Aaron Broten, Lucien Deblois and Michel Petit. The trade was solely so they wouldn't finish last overall and giving the Devils the right to draft Eric Lindros. So New Jersey ends up picking third and has to settle for Scott Niedermayer. Niedermayer was only one of the best defenseman to play the game. He's the only player in hockey history to have won a Stanley Cup (4 to exact), Olympic gold medal (2), World Championship, World Cup, Memorial Cup and World Junior title. He won the Norris Trophy in 2004 and the Conn Smythe in 2007.

Hottest Maple Leaf rumours

The Leaf's offseason moves are not yet complete but may not go as far as some fans would like.  Certainly there isn't enough offensive in the current roster to make people forget about last season's pathetic scoring.

I think what we can count on is that Tomas Kaberle will be traded for a top 6 forward and Jeff Finger's salary will be buried in the minors.  That leaves an opening on defense so I expect Brian Burke to sign a lower tier free agent defenseman, perhaps Shane Hnidy or Paul Mara.  I could see Burke signing Willie Mitchell for the right price.

The biggest move might be an attempt by Burke to pick up another top 6 forward from a team that needs to trim payroll.  There are a number of teams in this category.  Of course who ever sign Ilya Kovalchuk will need to dump some salary.  The most persistent rumours besides the Marc Savard deal are Jeff Carter in Philadelphia, Mike Robeiro in Dallas, and Bobby Ryan in Anaheim. However, the Leafs have very little to give up for these players and there will other suitors if these price for one or more of these players is low. Burke cannot continue to mortgage the future to fill the centre hole in the first line.

43 Years of Maple Leaf Frustration: 1990-91 Season

The wheels came off the bus in the 19990-91 season as the Leafs fell to last place in the Norris Division and 20th overall.  Only the pathetic Quebec Nordiques had a worse record.  What made the situation worse was that the Leafs first pick in the draft was owned the New Jersey Devils in exchange for journeyman defenseman Tom Kurvers (below).  In comparison, this deal made the Phil Kessel trade look like a steal.

Before the start of the season cantankerous owner, Harold Ballard passed away which left the franchise in disarray.  Even before his death, there had been battles between his children, Bill Ballard, Harold Ballard Jr., and Mary Elizabeth Flynn, and his longtime companion, Yolanda Ballard (though she and Harold never married, she had her name legally changed; she claimed to have been with Ballard for eight years at the time of his death).

In 1989, Bill Ballard was convicted of assaulting Yolanda and fined $500. Yolanda was not invited to Ballard's funeral, nor to the reading of his will. She fought with Ballard's family and partners over Ballard's estate following his death. In his will, Ballard had left Yolanda $50,000 a year for the rest of her life, but she considered this inadequate and sued for $192,600 and later $381,000 a year. The court awarded her $91,000.

According to Ballard's lawyer, his estate was worth less than $50 million. Most of the money was left to a charitable foundation. Ballard left his personal belongings to his children and grandchildren. Ballard's three children had all previously received shares in Maple Leaf Gardens that they sold for more than $15 million each.

The executors of Ballard's will were Steve Stavro, Don Giffin and Don Crump. In 1991, Stavro paid off a $20 million loan that had been made to Ballard in 1980 by Molson. In return, he was given an option to buy Maple Leaf Gardens shares from Ballard's estate. Molson also agreed to sell its stake in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to Stavro. That deal closed in 1994, and shortly after Stavro bought Ballard's shares from the estate for $34 a share or $75 million. The purchase was the subject of a securities commission review and a lawsuit from Ballard's son Bill, but the deal stood and Stavro and his partners in MLG Ventures became the new owner of the Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens.

The operation of the team during the 1990-91 season remained in the hands of Floyd Smith who was fired at the end of the season.  He became the 6th GM fired in the 24 years since the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup.  The team began the season with Doug Carpenter as coach but the Leafs had such a horrible start that he was fired after 11 games with a record of 1-9-1.  He was succeeded by his assistant Tom Watts who became the 14th Head Coach in the 24 years of Stanley Cup drought.

The new Leaf offensive leader was Vince Damphouse who scored 26 goals and 73 points that season.  Only one other player scored over 20 goals (Daniel Marois) and no one else even has 40 points. Gary Leeman who in the previous season has scored 51 goals and 95 points played only 52 games in 1990-91 and his offensive numbers dropped to only 17 goals and 29 assists. He would only score another 30 goals in the rest of his NHL season as his career burnt out quickly.

The NHL will no longer have repeat Stanley Cup Champions

It must be heartbreaking for Blackhawk fans to watch their Stanley Cup winning team get dismantled just weeks after winning their first Cup in 49 years.  The Hawks have now traded Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel, Andrew Ladd, Colin Fraser and Kris Versteeg. In addition, a number of free agents will not be resigned including John Madden. You can't take a hit like that in personnel and expect to be back in the finals next season.

The Blackhawks experience is not unique. The season before the Pittsburgh Penguins shed a number of key players after winning the Stanley Cup including Hal Gill, Mathieu Garon, Rob Scuderi, Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan.  The year before that Detroit Red Wings were fortunate and only lost Hasek to retirement after winning the Cup.  That allowed them to get back to the Cup final only losing in 7 games to the Penguins.

It will be a challenge for teams to repeat as Champions especially if they are built around young players.  That's because the younger players have more leverage with years of services and quickly become expensive players.  The Red Wings were able to build around older players and it allowed them to get back to the finals.  However the following season if finally caught up to them when they lost Marian Hossa,  Mikael Samuelsson, Ty Conklin and Tomas Kopecky through free agency.

The salary cap has created a barrier to dynasty building.  As soon as a GM builds a winner he is forced to tear it down and has figure out how to hang onto the core and build another winner. Often teams come up short and still have to rebuild - examples are Ottawa, San Jose, Nashville and it might happen to Washington and Philadelphia.  No one really knew how the salary cap would effect the NHL.  It was believed that it would close the economic gap between large and small market teams.  The small market teams still lose money and the large market teams make even more money because the cap prevents them from overspending on salaries.  But it did close the talent gap between small and large market teams.  The large market teams can no longer horde all the good players so there is more parity.

So the Islander or Oiler dynasties of the the 1980s will never happen again as long as the existing cap prevails. 

What the Maple Leafs look like on Day 3 of free agency

Although Brian Burke is far from done, this is what the Toronto Maple Leaf situation looks like as Burke takes the weekend off to celebrate July 4th.  He has 18 players on contract for a total of $54.5 million.  Which means there is about $5 left in cap space for 5 more players.  However, he continues to dangle Tomas Kaberle on the trade market and conventional wisdom is the Jeff Finger will be a Marlie next season.  That means that Burke potentially has $12.75 million for 7 more players. There are certainly many Leaf fans who would like to see Ilya Kovalchuk in Toronto and there are certainly the dollars there but I suspect Burke feels the amount of money and the length of his contract demands would burden the team.  He is not Alex Ovechkin.

So today the Leaf lineup with looks like this:

Kessel - Kadri - Kulemin
Caputi - Grabovski - Versteeg
Hanson - Bozak - Armstrong
Brown - Mitchell - Orr

Kaberle - Phaneuf
Beauchemin - Komisarek
Gunnarsson - Schenn


Giguere - Gustavsson

It is not yet clear who will be the extra forwards or defensemen.  Right now we may be looking at Keith Aulie on defense and Fredrik Sjostrom up front. This lineup would still have difficulty scoring and contending for a playoff spot. Add a Marc Savard or someone else of that calibre as well as another forward for Kaberle and the lineup will look more complete.

This what Colby Armstrong brings to the table

Kris Versteeg is more talented then you think

Once again ESPN rates the Maple Leafs as the NHL's worst value for fans

Each year ESPN The Magazine releases its Ultimate Standings; and once again the Toronto Maple Leafs are ranked 121st out 122 professional sports teams.  Only the LA Clippers finished below the Leafs.  The Ultimate Standings, driven by research and fan feedback, looks at MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises’ affordability, bang for the buck, coaching, fan relations, ownership, players, stadium experience and title track to establish a ranking of all 122. The Toronto Raptors were ranked 113th which should come as no surprise considering MLSE owns both the Leafs and Raptors.

The Leafs were ranked 122nd in the Affordability category (price of tickets, parking and concessions) and Bang for the Buck category (wins over the past two seasons per dollar contributed directed by fans). Again this would not come as a surprise to fans in Toronto.  Despite what MLSE tells us, we know we aren't getting value for our money.

Is Canada losing its dominance in hockey?

It was a very good year for hockey in the U.S.  Their Junior team took gold and the Junior World Championships and at the Olympics it took an overtime goal by Sidney Crosby to wrestle the gold away from the Americans.  Then this past weekend 59 Americans were selected in the NHL Entry Draft. 

What is happening here?  Are the Americans closing the gap on us?  The answer may very well be yes. Afterall the United States is 10 times the size of Canada in terms of population and hockey is slowly catching on with American kids. The draft numbers indicate that at the very least, at the elite level Americans are catching up to us.

But part of the story is that the NHL is turning into primarily a North American league and Europeans are staying at home. Only the elite Europeans seem to be making it to the NHL and the bottom half of NHL rosters are made up of Canadians and Americans.  In the chart below it shows that 75% of draft selections were North Americans. Go back to the 2001 draft and you would find that the picks were split 50:50 between North America and Europe.  The proportion of Canadians selected has grown by 11% but the proportion of Americans selected has grown by 14%. In 2001 there were 38 Russians selected and that has shrunken to just 8.  Finland has gone from 23 to 7.  The Czechs have gone from 31 to 5.  Slovakia from 15 to just 2.

It's not just Brian Burke who is building around North Americans, so are the other GMs.  The European-dominated Detroit Red Wings are no longer the model that is being followed.  Chicago and Philadelphia both have rosters loaded with Canadians and Americans.

Country	Picks	Percent
Canada	99	47.1%
United States	59	28.1%
Sweden	20	9.5%
Russia	8	3.8%
Finland	7	3.3%
Czech Republic	5	2.4%
Germany	5	2.4%
Slovakia	2	1.0%
Switzerland	2	1.0%
Denmark	1	0.5%
Latvia	1	0.5%
Norway	1	0.5%

Free agent market is rather thin this year

Leaf fans expecting the team to make a big splash in the free agent market on July 1 may be underwhelmed.  It won't be from lack of trying but rather from a lack of talent.  The marketplace has changed considerably since the lockout year.  Before the lockout many players reached free agency beyond their prime years but without a cap it didn't matter to big market teams.  They overpaid aging stars and didn't worry about value for money.

Players now reach free agency at much younger ages and GMs are not about to lose stars during their most productive years.  Over the last few years teams have locked up franchise players at young ages for what amounts to their prime years.  Leaf fans who expected to see a Rick Nash or Mike Richards in Toronto as free agents were disappointed to see them sign career contracts with their respective teams.  In fact, former Leaf GM, John Ferguson, had designed his contracts to allow for plenty of cap space for when these players became available for free agency.

So the Maple Leafs again enter a new season without a real franchise player, but plenty of cap space and not much to choose from. The Leafs desperately need a #1 centre but none are available. The only big star is Ilya Kovalchuk and only because he rejected a long-term contract from Atlanta.  The Leafs already have a #1 left winger who will be paid almost half of what Kovlachuk wants and is 6 years younger.

The top ten free agent forwards include Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak which tells you how thin this group is. The free agent defensemen on the market look more promising.  Unless there is a last minute signing today those available tomorrow include Sergei Gonchar, Paul Martin, Dan Hamhuis, and Anton Volchenkov.  The market for goalies is incredible considering only 3 teams are shopping for a starting goalie - Tampa Bay, San Jose and Philadelphia.  Some decent goalies will be looking at backup roles and then try to outplay the incumbent starter to get more ice time.

So what will Brian Burke do?  My guess is he will grab at least one centre for his 2nd or 3rd line and to provide more depth. He could take a chance with Ollie Jokinen but I think Burke would not be happy with an underachiever as his top centre after purging his team of most of its deadwood.  Instead he will sign a big name defenseman and use his excess defensemen to trade for a #1 centre.  Can he do it?  Well if you can pick up Dion Phaneuf for spare parts then there must be a decent centre out there that is available for a top 4 defenseman. It likely won't be Marc Savard.  Although the $4 million cap hit is not too bad, the length of his contract, his no-trade clause, and his concussion history makes Savard pretty tough to move.  Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli panicked earlier in the year when he made the contract offer to Savard.  The Bruins were struggling offensively and he was viewed as their top offensive threat. In hindsight he appears to be regretting the signing.

Nonetheless Burke intends on making some noise this weekend.  Remove the salaries of Tomas Kaberle and Jeff Finger and the Leafs have $20 million to work with.  That means that despite Burke's denials, Kovalchuk is a possibility.  He is the only true gem in the marketplace this summer.

Parents suing hockey league and coaches for cutting sons

If you've  played sports then you likely have been cut from a team at some point. Sometimes it's a numbers game. Sometimes we're just not good enough. Sometimes its just politics.

In the end, we just suck it up, come to the realization that it wasn't meant to be and either move on to something else or work harder to make the team next time.

Well the Toronto Star reports that in the Greater Tornoto Hockey League (GTHL),  two parents found it very difficult to swallow when there kids were cut from the local hockey team.

Parents of two GTHL players are each suing the league, one of its clubs and four coaches for $25,000 because their sons were cut from a midget junior A team in April. They claim the conduct of all defendants destroyed the dignity of their sons, whom in good conscience gave the team nothing but their best efforts.  The league's defense is the obvious one in regards to a tryout: Over 70 players attempted to make the 17-man roster.Not everyone can make the team.  I've been there.  It's no fun. 

By the way both boys will be playing on another team this fall.  Something they either forgot to tell the newspaper or perhaps the reporter didn't think was important enough to go into the article.

Yes these parents are idiots and hockey is full of these types of parents.  They scream at players, officials and coaches. And there loads of awful coaches.  Two of these coaches had been serving suspensions for tampering (recruiting players before tryouts begin).  Tryouts are often a farce because all the spots on the team have been promised to players already.  Many coaches are abusive to kids and officials and get away with it.  And then there is the GTHL which condones much of this.  I've seen it all.  Adults are destroying kids hockey.

Scouting Report: Brad Ross

Although Brian Burke had indicated that he wasn't interested in regaining a 1st round pick, indications are that he was trying but the asking price was Tomas Kaberle.  Burke is interested in more than a draft pick for Kaberle.  He eventually landed a 2nd round pick. With Chicago having five of them, Burke was able to pull a deal that sent unsigned prospect Jimmy Hayes (60th overall in 2008) to the Hawks (who had just drafted Jimmy's brother Kevin) for the 43rd overall pick.

With the 43rd overall, the Leafs took agitator Brad Ross who played 71 games for Portland Winterhawks scoring 27 goals, 41 assists and 68 points. But what interested Burke was the 203 penalty minutes which was tops in the WHL. The 6'1, 167 lbs left winger played along side of 1st round draft picks Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen for Portland and is considered one of the most hated players in the WHL.

You may have heard that he is being compared to Darcy Tucker who at the same age had 31 goals and 89 points for Kamloops Blazers. But Ross is not just a player who mouths off to opponents and gets into fights. He is not Dan Carcillo or Steve Ott or Matt Cooke.  Ross plays the game in both ends of the rink and works hard in every game. The plus side about Ross is that not only is he expected to get into the other team's heads, he also carries an offensive upside that deserves more credit than he gets. He is a few years away from wearing a Maple Leaf.

The man who owns Paul Henderson's iconic jersey

Meet Mitchell Goldhar. He owns SmartCentres, a private real-estate development company in the city of Vaughan, and is part owner of Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres owns more than 160 shopping centres across Canada. Goldhar, who helped bring Wal-Mart to Canada in 1994, also sits on the boards at Indigo Books & Music Inc. and the SickKids Foundation in Toronto. In 2008, Canadian Business listed Goldhar as the 50th richest person in the country, worth an estimated $1.06 billion.

Goldhar has some rich childhood memories of the 1972 Summit Series. He remembers sitting in the gymnasium at his Toronto elementary school, crouched around a small TV set with his schoolmates and teachers. The building was silent and eyes were glued to the final game. He was 11 years old at the time. Now he own the ultimate collector's item for just $1.2 million.

The sweater was put up for auction by an anonymous American owner a month ago, setting off a wave of nationalism as companies such as Canadian Tires, the Forzani Group Ltd., Molson and the Jim Pattison Group lobbied to have it returned to Canada.The bidding started at $10,000, and seemed to sputter out around $200,000 late last week. The deadline was 9 p.m. Tuesday, but would-be buyers were allowed to keep bidding by phone and Internet until all action had stopped for 10 minutes. Mr. Goldhar said he didn’t put in his first bid of about $350,000 until three minutes before the 9 p.m. deadline.
Mr. Goldhar put in his final bid at about 1 a.m., then fell asleep. He didn’t find out he’d won until he was awakened by a media telephone call at 6:30 a.m., having slept through the official notification that came by e-mail at 5:33 a.m.

So what will he do with the jersey now? Goldhar promises he'll take it on a national tour and loan it to different institutions — including the sports hall.
He dreams of people getting the chance to visit Henderson, posing with the sweater, at gathering points across the country.
He says he'd never charge anyone to see it, nor does he intend to sell it for profit.
I'm glad it's back in Canada.

Let's just hope he does the righ thing with it.

Breaking News: Toronto Maple Leafs introduce their 1st round draft pick

Yup here he is our first round draft pick for 2010, Phil Kessel. Come to think of it he is also the 2011 first round pick. And the 2010 second round pick. How would you like to be carrying that much baggage around the centre of the hockey universe?

The problem with Hockey Hall of Fame elections

There certainly are problems with the way that people are elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF).  But the process is very poorly understood.  So here is the process in a nutshell.

The HHOF board of directors appoints 18 individuals to a selection committee.  According the HHOF by-laws, those individuals must be knowledgeable of the game of hockey and its past and present players, builders, referees and linesmen.  So you have to be familiar with the different eras of hockey as well as international and amateur hockey.  Not too many fans meet this qualification.

There are 4 categories of a maximum number that can be elected each year from each category:  male players (4), female players (2), builders (1), referee or linesman (1). Builders include coaches, managers and executives. Players and officials must be retired for 3 years to be eligible (exceptions can be made for health reasons).  In the builders category they may be active or inactive.  You can have 2 builders elected if there is no referee/linesman elected and you can have 2 referees/linesmen elected if there is no builder elected.

The attributes to be considered are playing (or coaching, officiating, etc) ability, sportsmanship, character and their contribution to the team or teams (or organizations) and to the game of hockey in general.  Very general criteria and open to individual interpretation. There is no minimum standard for edibility so just about anyone involved in hockey is eligible.  The only limitation is the number of individuals that can be elected into the HHOF in a given year.

Each member of the selection committee can nominate 1 player, 1 builder and 1 referee/linesman. So, for example, the committee can only choose from a maximum of 18 players (assuming no 2 members nominate the same player). They each get to vote for 4 male players, 2 female players and 2 builders/referees/linesmen.   A candidate needs 14 votes to get elected into the Hall. There can be more than one round of balloting but those who do not receive at least  9 votes cannot stay on the ballot. It is a secret ballot so even the committee members don't know who voted for whom although there is supposedly considerable discussion to members could likely guess where votes were going. The section committee is required to keep the proceedings confidential.

So when fans complain how Daryl Seaman could have been picked over Doug Gilmour - well he wasn't.  Seaman is under the builder category and does not compete for votes with the players.  For me the problem is that over the years the bar has been set too low by the selection committee. Dino Ciccarelli was a very good hockey player who scored 608 goals which is good for 16th place on the list of career goal scorers.  But he was not an impact player. He scored over 50 goals twice in his career but in 1981-82 not only did he score 50 but so did 9 other players.  In comparison, in the 5 years since the lockout during a period when scoring was on an upswing, there have only been 14 50-goal scorers. Ciccarelli's numbers are inflated.  He was a good scorer but not a great player.  He never won an NHL trophy or the Stanley Cup.  When you consider his era, I can't understand how he got through.  But you could say that for many of the past selections.  There was 2008 when Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis and Ron Francis were inducted. But Mike Gartner (2001) and Joe Mullen (2000) were just good players with great stats.

The other issue for me is the selection process.  Although the selection committee is a great group of hockey people, I don't believe that a committee of 18 provides enough diversity.  As well, there is such a terrible lack of transparency.  Obviously the hockey hasn't got the emotional intelligence of sports like baseball to withstand public scrutiny. Yet it is just an allusion because each year the list of inductees are critiqued up to the yingyang despite not know who voted for whom.  In baseball, the voters proudly declare who they voted for and defend their votes.  In hockey you run and hide.

Predicting hockey deals is a fool's paradise

Trade rumours are generally the product of sports columnist with nothing to write about.  Once in a while a reporter will actually get a hot lead when an executive lets it slip that something is in the works but that is rare.  However, fans eat up the stuff and it becomes watercooler talk (are there still watercoolers in workplaces?) for days and weeks.

Take Damien Cox.  Last Friday he writes a column about 3 players that the Maple Leafs will be after - Nashville defenceman Dan Hamhuis, Florida winger Nathan Horton and Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp. Now he never says these moves will happen must suggests that they are players would love to acquire.  Now there are hundreds of players that the Leafs would happily put into a Toronto jersey so what Cox is really saying that these are targeted players.

The very next day the Philadelphia Flyers strike with Nashvillie sending defenceman Ryan Parent to the Preds for the rights to Hamhuis.  No doubt he will be signed to a long-term contract before July 1.  Then today Horton was traded to the Bruins for a 1st round pick, a 3rd round pick and Dennis Wideman. Anyone want to bet Sharp will be in a Leaf jersey next season?

Though I found the Horton deal fascinating.  He essentially replaces the offense of Phil Kessel although Kessel is 2 years younger and has two 30-goal seasons to Horton's one.  Also Horton is paid $1.4 million less than Kessel but coming off just a 20-goal season. With all the angst in Toronto over the Kessel trade, the Bruins paid almost as much for Horton who has yet to prove that he can be a consistent scorer in the NHL.

Scott Niedermayer retires

Niedermayer was one of the best defenseman to play the game.  He's the only player in hockey history to have won a Stanley Cup (4 to exact), Olympic gold medal (2), World Championship, World Cup, Memorial Cup and World Junior title.  He won the Norris Trophy in 2004 and the Conn Smythe in 2007.  One of his most memorable goals was this one in Game 2 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals.

Pat Quinn survives in Edmonton because of relationships not accomplishments

Oilers GM Steve Tambellini, pushing the timeframe by a year, has eased Pat Quinn into a senior advisory role and installed Tom Renney as head coach a year earlier than planned.  You don't fire friends, you just find them a new job.

Hockey is like a lot of other business, you find employment through your network. And Tambellini and Quinn go back quite a bit.

In 1988, the Canuck GM was Pat Quinn and he hired Tambellini (who had just ended his playing career with Vancouver) as the Director of Public and Media Relations. Tambellini rose through the Canuck organization until he jumped to Edmonton to take on the GM post there.  So essentially Tambellini's career as a hockey executive was kick-started by Quinn.  So obviously there is some level on indebtedness.  

Fast forward to 2006 and Pat Quinn had been dumped as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After a three-year Quinn was unable to find another NHL coaching job although he did coach Team Canada's Spengler Cup, under-18 and junior teams.  So old his old pal Steve Tambellini comes to the rescue and names Quinn  the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on May 26, 2009, replacing Craig MacTavish.  However, sensing that the game may have passed by his former mentor, Tambellini also hires Tom Renney as an Associate Coach.  The plan was to slowly transition to Renney and allow Quinn to leave the game with some dignity.  Not unlike the Blue Jays' handling of Cito Gaston. 

Reports after the season said that Quinn lost control of the locker room mid-season, and that Renney and Quinn had different approaches to each game and were not on the same page. Renney, however, is the right guy for this team. He is a players' coach and was able to establish himself as a respected person in the Oilers locker room.  Tambellini was left with little choice but to give the coaching job officially to Renney and find something else to keep Quinn busy.  Of course, Quinn was allowed to resign and save face.

I just hope by network of work associates takes care of me when I'm out there looking for some work.

Should Doug Gilmour be in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Yes but not because of his play with the Leafs.  Afterall he wasn't a Leafs for very long,  You have to look at his entire career.

He played 20 NHL seasons, so the longevity is there. 450 goals is acceptable for the Hall of Fame, while his near 1000 assists and over 1400 points are outstanding. That places him 17th all time, and that has to mean the Hall of Fame is a certainty.

He was an important player on the 1989 Stanley Cup championship in Calgary. He carried Toronto to two consecutive final four appearances in the 1990s, as well as two more in St. Louis several years before that. He is seventh all time in Stanley Cup playoffs scoring, 5th in terms of assists. His points per game production actually increased in the playoffs.

Not sure why he isn't in already.  Although 2007 and 2009 were deep years, 2006 and 2008 were not. I would guess those ugly  off-ice issues in St. Louis may be in the back of the minds of some voters.  I'm sure his time will come.

Goalie glut this summer

We are going to see a glut of goalies on the free agent market this summer which might mean some pretty good buys. Not a lot of teams are looking for starting goalies and no one spends much on backup which is why Andrew Raycroft may continue to find employment in the NHL.  Here is the class of 2010 for free agent (unrestricted) goalies:

Dan Ellis, Chris Mason, Ray Emery, Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco, Vesa Toskala, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft, Johan Hedberg, Patrick Lalime, Michael Leighton, Manny Legace, Wade Dubielewicz, and Joey MacDonald.

There is a fair amount the choose from.  Below are the tentative #1 goalies for all 30 NHL teams. Keep in mind that the RFAs but are expected to resign with their respective teams. Certainly I expect that both San Jose and Philadelphia will likely upgrade through free agency and there is lots to choose from. Many of the goalies above would love to be a starting goalie but they will have to come in with reasonable salary demands to get their wish. Not only that but I can also see Tim Thomas put on the trade market just one season after winning a Vezina.

Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: Jonas Hiller
Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen
Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Quick/Jonathan Bernier
Phoenix Coyotes: Ilya Bryzgalov
San Jose Sharks: Thomas Greiss

Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks: Antti Niemi (RFA)
Columbus Blue Jackets: Steve Mason
Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Howard/Chris Osgood
Nashville Predators: Pekke Rinne
St. Louis Blues: Jaroslav Halak (RFA)

Northwest Division
Calgary Flames: Miikka Kiprusoff
Colorado Avalanche: Craig Anderson
Edmonton Oilers: Nikolai Khabibulin
Minnesota Wild: Niklas Backstrom
Vancouver Canucks: Roberto Luongo

Atlantic Division
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
New York Islanders: Dwayne Roloson/Rick Dipietro
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur
Philadelphia Flyers: Brian Boucher
Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury

Northeast Division
Boston Bruins: Tukka Rask/Tim Thomas
Buffalo Sabres: Ryan Miller
Montreal Canadiens: Carey Price (RFA)
Ottawa Senators: Brian Elliott
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jean-Sebastian Giguere

Southeast Division
Atlanta Thrashers: Ondrej Pavelec (RFA)
Carolina Hurricanes: Cam Ward
Florida Panthers: Tomas Vokoun
Tampa Bay Lightning: Mike Smith
Washington Capitals: Semyon Varlamov

Would you hire Dion Phaneuf?

After Dion Phaneuf was named the 18th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, the Toronto Star asked readers what they would ask the team’s new leader if they had the chance.  The top 10 question were provided to Phaneuf who graciously did his best to answer them.  It was an opportunity to do some reflection but he did his best to try to stick with a particular message - the Leafs will make the playoffs and I'm not going to change the way I play the game. I was a little underwhelmed.

As I looked over the questions I thought that in some respects they were very similar to questions you might get in a job interview.  So I decided to tweak some of the questions to make them sound like interview questions for a foreman or team leader position in a business and tried to make his responses fit.  This is what I came up with:

Q: Previous supervisors in this department brought to the table many favourable attributes, yet they could not meets its perfomance targets. What do you bring that’s different that would help this department to achieve its goals?


A: I’m not going to change the way that I work or the way that I lead. I'm a guy who is going to lead by example. I want to be known as a guy who works hard day-in, day-out. I think I have that characteristic and I don’t want to change that. I think that’s probably the main way I’m going to lead, by example.

Q: How many years will it take for the department to return to be a top preformer?


A: To be honest with you, our goal from the start of next year is to meet our performance targets and that’s all we’re focusing on right now. Everyone is excited. Our goal next year is to be a perform at a high level.

Q: What will be your biggest challenge in motivating this team to achieving their goals?

A: I don’t think there’s going to be much of a challenge at all for us to be motivated to achieving our goals. Every guy in our departmentwants to meet our goals and that’s the bottom line.

Q: If you were to be the successful candidate for this position, what’s the one aspect of your own performance you think you need to change or improve?


A: Like I said, I’m not going to change the way that I work so I’m definitely not going to change anything in my approach. I’m going to get better and continue to learn. Every day I want to improve.

Q: As you know, the 5 years have been less than ideal for this company, and especially our customers. How would you, as a supervisor, plan to get this department out of the gutter and turn it into a high performing group in the next year or two? Customers love us, but are growing impatient.


A: The company has phenomenal customers. I want to do everything in my power to provider high quality service and, like I said, that’s our goal right away.

Q: Let's just say the department falls behind in achieving its goals; the effort has not been there and you need the pick things up. How would you get your group going?

A: You’re in that situation sometimes. You don’t want to be but you’re not going to be up at the end of every day or week. That’s the way business works. You’re not going to be perfect game every day but the important thing is to keep working, don’t change your approachand do what your goup does best. You don’t want to change your game plan, just keep going. Whether you’re down or whether you’re up, you want to work the same way.

Q: How annoying is it to have to deal with senior management? Do you not wish they would act rationally and ask poignant and intelligent questions for once?

A: It’s not difficult at all, to be completely honest with you. When you’re asked a question, all you can do is answer it and give the best answer you can.

Thank you very much Dion for coming in to meet with us.  We will get  back to you on our decision by the end of the week.  Good luck.

It's Justin Pogge all over again

As I predicted in April, the Montreal Canadiens have decided to keep Carey Price and have traded Jaroslav Halak. As I mentioned the Canadiens are fully committed to Price and unwilling to give up on a goalie that is considered by some to become a franchise player.

The risks are high because Halak has proven that he can play with the best but Price has not. If he turns out to be a bust then in the minds of Canadien fans, this will be their version of trading Tuukka Rask and keeping Justin Pogge. That sting will hurt for quite a long time.  However, at least the Canadiens will not see much of Halak in the Western Conference unlike Rask who plays for a divisional rival.

It doesn't help that the players coming back form the St Louis Blues (Lars Eller and Ian Schultz) are totally unknown to Montreal fans.