Not sure if you caught this, but Alexander Ovechkin welcomed Jagr back to hockey, North American style today. Enjoy.

I hope everyone had a great weekend…Just a few comments before signing off for the night.

Let’s start with the Leafs

What a performance against the Senators. While Giguere certainly played a great game (getting his second straight shutout), the team limited the Sens to very few quality chances. I didn’t recognize #2…he was actually skating with the puck – not treating it like a hot potato. And then he started shooting it! Unreal…2 goals. Is it possible that Phaneuf has already had an influence on him? It’s probably too early to suggest this but, is it possible that Dion is team captain material?  Wilson keeps talking about how vocal he is and how different the dressing room is now.  I really like “b side” to the Leafs – Flames deal….Sjostrom is fast and smart. Paired with Kulemin and the team has a legit / quality shutdown unit.  BTW, I know Bozak may not appear to be lighting it up but, 10 points in 14 games is pretty damn good for the rookie. Kessel is really showing his stuff again. Do you think the Bruins would like him back about now?

BTW, the Leafs should be 3-0 after the Flames and Ducks deals…I’m with TSM, Wilson missed calling a time out to settle his team down in Jersey.

Brendan Burke Tributes

A lot of writers and bloggers had some great articles/posts over the weekend re: Brendan Burke – most did a great job (McGran not included). If you are only going to read 1 post, read Kevin Allen…He sheds some insight into how important family is to Brian and tells a great story about Brian reaching out to him during a tough time. You can read Allen here.

I also liked Ron Wilson’s post game comments. You really get a sense for how close he and Brian are. According to Wilson, Brian exchanged texts with Dave Nonis during the game. The boys gave him one less thing to think/worry about...Maybe even a smile. The next couple of days are going to be real tough for Brian – the funeral is on Tuesday. Thank goodness the schedule worked out and the entire team can join their leader. Wilson’s presser below.

wilson

If you want to read the official obituary and get details re: donations, you can find it here.

Super Bowl

Queen Latifah: thumbs down.

Carrie Underwood: I’m not a fan but she outperformed Latifah.

Halftime: I may have been in the minority but, I thought The Who was good. The drummer (Ringo Star’s son) looked just like Keith Moon!

So what did you think of the game? The score and the stats all point to a great game… but….for some reason; it seemed to go by quick and for me and not very exciting. It’s a good thing the Saints won because their coach almost blew it for them. Sean Payton will probably be written up in the papers as a genius but in my opinion both “gutsy” calls were dumb. Drew Brees deserves to be talked about amongst the greats….what a season, what a game. TSN starts their headline article with “Peyton Manning made his first major mistake of Super Bowl XLIV in the final minutes of the fourth quarter “… I need to watch the replay again but; my first reaction was that the received screwed up…his job was to come back to the ball on that play.

Congrats to the Saints and the people of New Orleans…you needed something to smile about.

Ov v. Crosby

Last comment….Ovechkin may have won today’s game – and he may win the cup.  I’m okay with all of that as long as Sidney brings home gold!

Happy Sunday night everyone.

LT

Mike Zeisberger has an interesting post today on the Maple Leafs. If nothing else it certainly causes pause for thought.

“Forget the playoffs. Unlikely to happen. From here on in, the focus should be squarely on the kids, the ones who have the potential to form the nucleus of this franchise for years to come. Wilson did not name names, but let’s face it: Many of the veterans the coach referred to will not be with the Leafs next year. The Alexei Ponikarovskys of the team have served their time in blue-and-white but it’s time for the young guns to take over.”

What, do you think Wilson/Burke are thinking the rest of the way here. Are the coaching/managing to try to make the playoffs or is the goal the bigger picture? How exactly does Zeisberger suggest that youth be served? Is the idea that only the kids should be played? Is the goal not to ice the most competitive squad every night?

“No more back-to-back games for Vesa Toskala. It’s nice to reward Toskala for his shutout against the Flyers by giving him the call the next night against Alexander Ovechkin but, as a pending unrestricted free agent, he will not be back anyway. So why start him?”

Wouldn’t the answer be two-fold, one he is an asset to certain degree and with the deadline approaching, he is an expiring contract so you never know what other teams are thinking. Would it be worth it to trade him for a 3rd or 4th round pick? I say so. Well, the only way you get ANYTHING for the guy is if he plays. Odds of him garnering any return is slim, but if he isn’t playing it’s nill. As for starting him again, I am pretty sure I read somewhere that he had a fairly decent record against the caps and more importantly he was damn good vs. Philly.

“If Wilson chose to go on a youth kick, he could actually ice a unit in which no player is older than 25 — Gustavsson (25), Schenn (20), Gunnarsson (23), Kessel (22), Bozak (23) and Kulemin (23), with White (25) waiting in the wings. No one is attempting to claim you’ll be ticking off these names on an all-star ballot one day. Given the franchise’s history of prospects who come up short, there is more than enough reason to be cynical about the future of this particular crop. But it’s time to find that out firsthand. How else do you get to see a glimpse of brilliance like Bozak’s between-the-defenceman’s-legs goal against the Flyers? There will be nights where Bozak looks out of place. It’s part of learning. But moves like that, while they shouldn’t send expectations skyrocketing, can not be taught. It’s pure skill.”

The one line of youth thing is interesting. Isn’t the issue for Wilson and Burke when does learning end and bad lessons begin. If kids aren’t ready, can more harm be done by over playing them? Last year Wilson’s approach with Schenn was that Schenn could do no wrong. Every mistake was viewed as a learning experience and Luke was sent right back out there. He consistently lead the team in minutes played. Why not take the same approach with these kids?

“Kulemin has been a pleasant surprise. Those of us who have been critical of his moribund play in the past must acknowledge his somewhat surprising work ethic has turned him into a solid two-way player. As for you Luke Schenn bashers out there, he has a plus-minus of zero. On this team, that’s not bad. And neither is the collection of kids”

Solid two-way player, isn’t that just a tad premature? I am not trying to be negative, but let’s not get overly excited here. He could turn into that and I think he has played very well of late. The bigger more pleasant surprise has to be Ian White.

Meanwhile, it looks like Happy Howie is starting to repeat what many of his fellow journalists are saying these days:

“So, to summarize: Burke is happy with his coaching staff. He will not consider offers for his only marketable player, even though it could help him to land assets that augment Kessel’s performance down the line. He has traded the Leafs’ first-round pick in the next two NHL drafts. The free agents he signed last summer [Michael Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Colton Orr and Jonas Gustavsson] have had a negligable impact on the hockey club to this point.

Where, then, does one of the highest-salaried GMs in the league turn to begin moving the Leafs in the proper direction?

Your guess is as good as mine.”

Compare that with Simmons’ piece from last Sunday:

” A quick Brian Burke report card. His team stinks. His friend, the coach, can’t get the Maple Leafs to kill penalties or play anything resembling team defence. His big acquisition, Phil Kessel, has gone soft and sour. He won’t be drafting Taylor Hall in June or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the year after. And his college free-agent signings are nowhere to be found while David McNab, who signed Andy McDonald and Dustin Penner for Anaheim, has come up with another good one for his former team in Dan Sexton. Outside of goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who has had two heart procedures and a groin injury in his rookie season, little has gone right in Burke’s world and, knowing him, that has to driving him to absolute frustration”

Totally identical? No. Same thoughts and tone, for sure. Berger’s blog post on the 14th suggests that Brian Burke is blowing it by publicly starting his Tomas Kaberle position. It’s kind of an odd position for Berger. He who bashed the Leafs for thier alleged intentions with Bryan McCabe. This is the same guy who was the most relentless about the culture and reputation of the Maple Leafs had to change. No one wants to play here etc. I wonder how much this is about the fact that with Tomas Kaberle not in play, how little there will be for Berger to report on up and until the deadline. Who, pres tell would listen to him if he had no Maple Leaf scoops. With Kaberle not being asked to wave his no trade clause, the clammer of info on the Poni and Stajan talk just isn’t going to be that juicy is it? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Over at the Toronto Star, Kevin McGran has an interesting quote from Ron Wilson:

“Coach Ron Wilson acknowledges he’s got a young team, but won’t use it as an excuse. “The guys who are making the big mistakes aren’t our rookies and second-year players, they were veterans,” said Wilson. “Shame on them for not quite being ready. It’s simple little things, like defencemen backing off.”

Doesn’t that beg the questions, WHY ARE THE PLAYING THEN??? and Who’s job is it for a player to be ready?????

The first should be pretty easy. Wilson shouldn’t be playing guys who are making “big” mistakes. What am I missing here?

With regards to the second, part of the responsibility has to be the players. I get that. However, a big part has to fall on the coaching staff. Their job is to ensure that their players are prepared. That started last season when they sent them away for the summer. For the new guys, it was the coaches job to get them on the right page before training camp and then the entire group during it. The duty carries forward as the season progresses. One thing Wilson can’t complain about is a revolving door of personnel. His GM hasn’t really made too many changes.

Did you catch this gem from Bill Houston? Houston writes how Berger went off the other day how surprised he was that Leafs fans were “bitter” with respect to how the season has unfolded:

” We would suggest not. This has everything to do with a sense of hopelessness — that the future, at least for the next two seasons, has been squandered. It’s all about Burke, after one mediocre season, rejecting the idea of building the team the sensible way, through the draft, and instead opting to give away two first round draft choices and a second to Boston for Phil Kessel, a player who’s streaky but talented, but certainly not a franchise player. For the fan, it’s not so much what Kessel is or isn’t. It’s about the fact there’s nothing to look forward to. There’s no lottery pick waiting for the team at the end of the season. The rebuilding is over, but the house is a wreck. Now, as Bill Watters said on AM640 in Toronto today, it’s all about Burke trying to renovate as best he can.”

It’s hard for me to disagree with the take, except for the Wilbur part. Wilbur’s anti- Leaf bias is legendary.

So, who’s excited for the Blue Jays season? Bought any tickets???? Ohhh, how bout them Argonauts??? Ohhhh and hey, what ever happened to Craig Daniels?

Zeisberger is here
Berger is here
Simmons is here
McGran is here
Houston is here

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET

The storyline is simple – It’s The Monster’s coming out party as Wilson has elected to go with the kid.  I was of the opinion that Wilson might go with Toskala to counter the media / fan backlash and to try to squash the “goalie controversy”….I’m glad he didn’t.  I’m looking forward to going to tonights game and seeing what this kid can do.  Is tonight going to be reminiscent of the night Felix The Cat started over Grant Fuhr?  Or when Palmateer came to the rescue when Wayne Thomas faltered?  We’ll see…it should be fun at the ACC tonight.

Projected Lines vs. Sens

The line-up below was provided by TSN – Ice Chips…mapleleafs.com did not post anything.  Neither Finger nor Mayers are listed as injured but do not appear to be in the line-up.  Kulemin is up and in for Primeau.

Forwards:

Stalberg – Stajan – Blake
Ponikarovsky – Grabovski – Hagman
Kulemin – Wallin – Stempniak
Rosehill – Mitchell – Orr

Defencemen:

Kaberle – Komisarek
Beauchemin – Schenn
White – Exelby

Goaltenders:
Gustavsson
Toskala

LT

The Leafs look to bounce back from their opening night OT loss to the Canadiens.  They’ll need a similar offensive effort but some improvement on the back-end – especially with the offensive skill the Caps bring beyond Ovechkin.

Two line-up changes that should help tighten up the D….Mayers is in for Rosehill and Finger is back in replacing Exelby.

Projected Lines vs. Capitals

Forwards:
Stalberg – Stajan – Blake
Grabovski – Ponikarovsky – Hagman
Stempniak – Mitchell – Wallin
Mayers – Primeau – Orr

Defencemen:

Kaberle – Komisarek
Beauchemin – Schenn
White – Finger

Goaltenders:
Toskala
Gustavsson

LT

Interesting place we are at this juncture of time. The Toronto Maple Leafs are just about to conclude their first off-season under new GM Brian Burke. So we are really about to start the first season under the new regime. This, unlike last year is the first season of building the Toronto Maple Leafs. So of course I have lots of questions for you….

What do you want this coming season? What are the expectations, what will you be happy with? None of us, not even an overly homeristic blogger expects the Leafs to compete for the Stanley Cup this season. What then are realistic goals? Does it include the playoffs? Does it have to include the playoffs? Here is my take, I want a season where we don’t get embarrassed at home. I want a season where they show up 9/10 nights. I want a season where the kids play a lot and they are afforded the opportunity to make mistakes as Schenn was last year. Most of all I want a season where they are fun to watch. The outcomes of the games to me is secondary. I don’t care if they make the playoffs. I want ever young kid to get their chance and to grow as a player.

On a more specific point, which Maple Leaf do you want to really break out, have an incredible season, won where you can say, he is a true Maple Leaf? I am not sure which player specifically it is as I don’t’ know much about them, but I am rooting really hard for the US college players. I have so much respect for the guys who go that route. I have a lot of time and respect for guys who are bright enough to get educations in case things don’t work out for them on the ice. I am not so naive as to think they are all rocket scientists, but there is something admirable about having a college degree in your back pocket in case things don’t pan out. I would love to see more and more players go that route. I firmly believe that if the NHL is sincere in it’s hope to grow the game south of the border than it has to fully endorse and help grow the college game. Hockey isn’t basketball or football, but if they could get 1/100th of the focus on college hockey that they do nationally for football and basketball then the game would grow.

Now, I am also curious, if you aren’t cheering for the Maple Leafs, who is your team? Which teams do you want to have break out years, which do you want to see fall back? Me, I am a huge Capitals fan. I love their coach and I think Alex Ovechkin is a rockstar on skates. I really want to see them continue their climb upwards in the standings. Same goes with the Blackhawks. I am a little less enthused with them after they turfed Dale Tallon, but I love the young guns on that team, they are fun to watch and I think they play the game the right way. Of course, my two favorite teams are the Maple Leafs and whomever the Senators are playing on any given night, so as a die hard Leaf fan I really hope the Sens improve just enough to not make the playoffs but high enough to not have a good draft position.

From a media perspective, I hope that Jonas Siegel grows as a reporter, that someone new emerges as the voice of reason in covering the Maple Leafs. Jeff Blair was a fresh voice last season, Steve Simmons has grown by leaps and bounds in my books and Damien seems to luke warm on the Maple Leafs prospects as well. Finally, I hope that the Howie rants are greeted as warmly by Ron Wilson and Brian Burke as they are by each of us. How about you, what are your wishes from our beloved beat writers and broadcasters for the 2009-2010 Maple Leafs season.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

So, little TSM said to me tonight, “I want to cheer for the Maple Leafs AND the Penguins this year”. Woo Hoo I said. “But who is their Crosby?” he asked. Shit. How the hell do I answer that one???? “Well”, I said…………………. “Did you hear about Erin Andrews?” just kidding. I didn’t know what the hell to say. I don’t know who our Sidney Crosby is. You know where this is going right? When little TSM was born, one of his uncle’s bought him his first Leaf jersey. It had his birth year on the back and on one arm his birth month and the other his birth date. That same brother of mine bought the same jersey for the littlest TSM. She walked in the room, hearing the discussion and of course said, “I want to chear for the Maple Leafs too, plus the Capitals.” The littlest TSM is a big Ovechkin fan, while little TSM is a Crosby fan. None of that bodes well for either myself (who would take Ovechkin over Crosby any day) or Mrs. TSM who is a Red Wing fan.

So as I thought long and hard about the question, who is our Crosby, or Ovechkin, little TSM said to me “If you want me to cheer for the Leafs, you have to get me a Maple Leaf shirt with their Crosby’s name on it!” Smart kid that little TSM. Hearing that, the littlest TSM of course said, “”If you want me to cheer for the Leafs, you have to get me a Maple Leaf shirt with their Ovechkin’s name on it!”

Now, what the hell is a father to do????? I feel a little bit like the Seinfeld episode where the Yankee has to hit 2 grandslams for the sick kid in the hospital. Getting the Leaf Jersey’s is going to be hard enough. Coming up with who’s name and numbers to put on the back, that’s impossible. So, TSM readers, I turn the question over to you, Who’s name goes on the back of my kids jersey’s??? Points of course for originality.

TSM

follow us on twitter @yyzsportsmedia

“People kept throwing hats,” Sidney Crosby said tonight. “I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop. I mean, the first wave came and then I think they were all pretty much picked up, and then more started coming. So for us, we just wanted to make sure we kept kind of moving and kept the game going, wanted to try to get back in it. So wasn’t complaining about anything.”

Crosby has a reputation as being a tad bit of a whiner. He certainly lives up to it with that comment doesn’t he? It’s playoff game and a the most popular player on that team scores a hat trick and the other complains about the fans throwing hats???? Are you kidding me????? I am not sure whether or not I hope that Crosby did this on his own. For his sake, I really hope someone like the coach told him to go talk to the referees. For those on the team, the vets and coaches I hope Crosby acted alone. How totally bizarre. I really can’t believe they went to the referrees to bitch about fans throwing hats on the ice after a hat trick.

This series is living up to the billing. Crosby and Ovechkin went head to head tonight. Each scored 3 goals. The Caps are up by 2 games. Totally insurmountable? Absolutely not. Dynamite hockey? For sure. So While Howard Berger may not believe the hype. Those watching have gotten their money’s worth. Every penny.

read more of Crosby post game here

Great story folks. Nice to see the Alexander Ovechkin’s rise to stardom outside the small hockey world is starting to evolve. Lebron James today went out of his way to send AO an autographed Lebron James jersey! How great is that?

“”To Alexander The Great. Keep Up The Good Work. King James,” it said, scrawled across the jersey’s white numbers in James’s personal handwriting.”

I think that is fantastic. Good for Lebron, and awesome for Ovechkin. Go Caps Go!

Yup, you read that correctly. Tony Kornheiser, one my favourite journalist is included in the group. This is a wise investment of a few short minutes of your day: