TORONTO (May 25) – It is time once again to gaze into the National Hockey League abyss; to meander in and around the teams and players that have performed so splendidly in the Stanley Cup tournament this spring; to search even beyond the vast expanse of non-playoff qualifiers… into the deepest repository of hockey nothingness at this time of year, and find… your Toronto Maple Leafs.
Remember them? The perennial Monsters of March? The guys in the blue and white pajamas? Surely you haven’t forgotten the NHL’s 29th-best team, even without a sighting in the past six weeks and three nights. Imagine… 45 whole wake-ups since the overtime victory at Montreal on the final Saturday of the regular season. And, only 16 ½ weeks until that magical time of year in Leaf-land: Training camp, with all its renewed [false?] hope. I’m sure untold thousands of you are promptly X-ing the days off your wall calendars.
What have we learned about the Maple Leafs as we’ve watched the first three rounds of the playoffs? For one, we’ve seen that young, unheralded goalies can rise up when it matters most and out-perform the glitziest of colleagues. Many dollars could have been won at any point beyond the past month had we wagered that Michael Leighton and Antti Niemi would be staring, rink-length, at one another in the Stanley Cup final, with Martin Brodeur, Ryan Miller, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury and other such multi-millionaires as spectators. This has to warm the cockles of Brian Burke’s heart, given the promise shown in a turbulent rookie season by Jonas Gustavsson.
Though hockey is reputed to be a “big man’s” game [just ask Burke], we have seen that small, skilled players can thrive deep into the post-season… ala Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane, Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux and Joe Pavelski – all of whom stand less than six feet. Certainly, we can close our eyes and imagine Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri performing similarly at some point in the future.
In contrast to the Leafs’ stratagem, we have again been shown that true championship-caliber teams are built chiefly through the draft, and abetted via trade and free agency. The Blackhawks provide a glaring example, with Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Byfuglien, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Adam Burish and Niklas Hjalmarsson all selected by Chicago in the annual June lottery; Niemi, John Madden, Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell adding brilliant substructure as free agents; Patrick Sharp, Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg acquired in trade.
Philadelphia isn’t far behind, with superb draft choices Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, James van Riemsdyk and Giroux. Chris Pronger, the best player on earth the past decade, was acquired in a deal with Anaheim last summer; other key trade acquisitions being Brian Boucher, Dan Carcillo, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Ville Leino and Leighton. Briere, Aaron Asham and Ian Laperriere were added in free agency.
But, again, it all begins at the draft table with the Cup finalists in 2010.
The point frequently emphasized by wishful followers of the Maple Leafs that Philly and Chicago required varying grades of ineptitude to marshal their draft picks is accurate, but without relevance. The Leafs, more than most, have richly dabbled in the process of bottoming out for more than half-a-decade with not nearly as much to show for it. There’s an art to stinking on a regular basis that’s been foreign to the Blue & White – thus the record playoff famine and the plummet through the Eastern standings this past season.
We have also learned that you can no more teach a player to effectively stand in front of the opposition net than you can show a player how to score goals. It requires something innate to do either… and a tremendous gift to do both. Byfuglien is a classic example of the latter this spring, joining such others through the years as Gary Dornhoefer, Dino Ciccarelli and Tomas Holmstrom. The Leafs’ desperate, late-season choice to plant stone-handed Colton Orr in the danger area provided a stark contrast.
Finally, we have learned – again – there is no substitute in the game of hockey for pure, unadulterated speed. It remains a prime killer, in any circumstance. And, it provides legitimate hope to fans of the Blue & White.
NOTES: Though the appointment of Steve Yzerman as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning has been met with predictable [and deserving] accolades, it cannot be long before an NHL team hands its reigns to Pierre McGuire. Hockey’s most recognizable, energetic and knowledgeable TV analyst has every attribute necessary to manage a big-league club, and to do it effectively. His predecessor in the “best-known” category – John Davidson – has done a superb job making the St. Louis Blues relevant once again. McGuire deserves the same opportunity… Terming McGuire the “most knowledgeable” color man on TV takes nothing away from the likes of Ed Olczyk, Craig Simpson, Garry Galley, Greg Millen and Joe Michelletti – all of whom are wonderful in their national roles… I’m still pondering, a year later, why Jim Hughson – one of the best hockey commentators Canada has ever produced – insists on referring to the Blackhawks’ No. 88 as “Pat Kane”? Every play-by-play man I’ve heard calls him “Patrick Kane”, and Hughson does not shorten the name of any other player. I’ve said it before: Hughson doesn’t have to be “cute” to be effective… Only a small segment of Montreallers are thugs that choose to infiltrate otherwise peaceful hockey celebrations. The overwhelming majority of Canadiens’ fans are a delight to observe – in the Bell Centre and surrounding area. The city should be proud of its team and enormous following… Alex Steen and Tomas Kaberle for Pronger! It still reverberates with a nauseating din around this city. How could John Ferguson have possibly said no to that deal in 2006?
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