A little over 30 minutes to play the fist period. A wild wild period, incredible pace. Jonathan Toews scored the only goal of the first frame to put Canada up. It’s the first time Team USA has trailed all tournament. Amazingly, the guys calling the game said that the USA players had their flights booked home prior to the start of this game. This is handled by non-team members, but is still funny nevertheless.
On to the second period.
Well, if you can’t leak em join em eh JP. Man, Ken Rosenthal over at Fox Sports must be pissed! I can’t wait to see JP’s first coverage of an Adam Dunn game. The Good news for JP is that when is reporting information he can lie at will. We all know that it isn’t a lie if the teller knows the truth. JP should start baseballbuzz.com. Word from JP on his joining ESPN as a baseball analyst is that it’s part of a 5 year, I mean 6 year, I mean 7 year, ooops 8 year plan.
The good news is that JP hasn’t lost his humble ways:
“I look forward to sharing my perspective of the game, which has many layers and has been built over the years through my various roles,” Ricciardi said in a statement.”
Confirmation that JP’s favorite words remain, I, me and my.
Apparently JP’s best buddy is Matt Millen.
The globe and mail had the story first, at least that I saw and you can see their report here.
Top of the am folks, last day in the office this am for a week as I am headed over seas Sunday night for a week. (if someone can help out with the radio posts please email, LT isn’t always available).
I was able to catch the bulk of the morning show on the Fan 590 this am. What a difference when Elliotte Friedman sits in for Dan Landry! No, really, forget listentable, forget entertaining, the show was GOOD. If I’m the new guy at the fan I would try to get Elliotte back on the fan as much as possible. I know he is at CBC, but in other cities guys hold 2 jobs and he’s better than many of the guys who do it in those places. He makes Stellick so much better too. I don’t care if Friedman had his cell phone off or not- he’s good to listen too.
The real highlight of the am was their interview with Brian Burke. Burke was ON this am. He answered questions directly, had a little fun with the Devils getting Kovalchuk just in time for tonight’s game (“really nice of Lou to pay back his old pupil”).
Interviews like that, and the entire morning show this am are the reason I am a sucker for sports radio. By the way, for those quick to bash Mike Komisarek, give the interview a listen. The guy dolled out more than 75k of his own money to buy tickets for kids with cancer to attend Leaf games. Quite amazing to hear Bruke tell it. Like a proud papa!
Here’s Burke with the revised morning show:
Listen to the Chat here
28 games in, 11 and 17. 11 games from the top, yet only 1 game out of a playoff spot. 9 games from the bottom. 4 and 6 in their last 10. Losers of their past 2. The one thing that we have learned from our ice friends is that teams with new components can take a while to mesh. Michael Grange in the Globe and mail has a good article looking at the Toronto Raptors and the tipping point they are quickly approaching. Grange points out that, “Through 28 games the Raptors have been blown out nine times already. Their average margin of defeat is 16 points. ”
This, as it sits today isn’t a good basketball team. I who know nothing about basketball now that. Grange goes on to talk about the difficult schedule the Raptors have faced and the necessity to give them time to prove themselves- coach included.
Here’s the question I have Raptors fans. They have changed the coach, they have changed most of the parts. The result appears to be the same. Am I wrong? Does Bryan Colangelo get another shot at another coach? Does he get another shot at changing the deck chairs? The guy totally rebuilt the team this past offseason, to the delight of most who cover and root for the team. What are the 2 constants in this every changing franchise? Colangelo and Bosch. Really, what else am I missing? BC said that the best way to keep Bosh was to build a winner around him. So much for that plan, at least so far right? What’s the next option? Should Triano go? Those who cover the team have been very very polite. Those who go to the games have been very very loyal.
So, the season isn’t over yet. There is time to salvage things. What should BC do? What can be done? What does a fan think?
TSM
@yyzsportsmedia
Grange is here
Now listen here kids, right now, ya see, listen here:
Listen to the Chat here
THAT’S A BEAUTY!!!
Here’s my 2 cents, and I am sure I am in the minority. What Dr. Tator said is entirely accurate. Don Cherry’s segments and his rock em sock em hockey has played a role in the number of shots to the head in hockey. Like it or not, Grapes preaches it. He may also preach not hitting from behind and stop signs and other safety things as well, however, having spend too much time in youth arenas listening to parents and coaches talk about the game the night before, 9 times out of 8 they are talking about the fight, or the hit as opposed to the goal or the pass. I hear more references to Grapes with respect to fighting and hitting then anything else, next comes his dislike for most european players.
To be fair, Don Cherry is a sales guy, he is all about selling his side show. No one would give a rats ass about him if he didn’t have a shtick and we all know what his is. So he likes rough and tumble hockey so what- take the good with the bad.
Having said that, I can’t wait to hear Grapes response to this clip telling a reporter to !@#@!#! off and saying he doesn’t give a @!#!@#!@ about a fairly well respected neurosurgeon…All Class that Grapes- In case anyone was the least bit confused about who Don Cherry is, he has shown his true colours with this clip…Nice Canadian boy….
TSM
@yyzsportsmedia
Thanks to the Globe for the clip.
“We wanted to trade Roy and Roy wanted to be traded (in the summer), as he does now. I think there’s no secret that he would like to be traded,”
I don’t care if it’s true or not, but can someone please tell Montgomery. Burns’s boy Smithers to crawl back into this little hole and shut the hell up. If we want to hear from JP Ricciardi, we will let you know.
I have little respect for the guy as a GM and even less for him now that he is out of the game.
You watch the video and it’s hard not to be envious of our neighbors to the east. Say whatever you want about the Montreal Canadiens, but they are one classy organization. No one recognizes their veteran superstars like they do. I watched the pre-game ceremony and re-saw it on TSN about 15 times and was just in awe. To have all their great superstar lace em up, put on the jerseys for a photo was pure gold!
This isn’t a knock on MLSE, rather a plea, to consult the Canadiens play book before the next session where we honor more Maple Leafs. The Habs just flat out do it well.
Interesting reading about the sudden reprieve the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently bought themselves by defeating the Washington Capitals the other day. The moves that were imminent prior to the game vs. the Caps has been put on the back burner by Brian Burke because the buds beat the Caps? Please. I don’t buy it. Whatever Burke plans on doing won’t be the result of any one game, winning or losing. Likewise, he won’t take 2-5 guys out back and shoot them either as a result of the effort.
Instead what Burke must slowly be arriving to is the conclusion that his team has a ways to go before it can be considered one of the elite teams in the league. The evidence is so clear and now you are starting to see both Burke and Wilson confirm it in their words.
Burke the other day was quoted as saying that in his opinion the team had been “trying so hard”. Tonight, after the Leafs lost to the Islanders, despite throwing some 60 shots at the Islanders, Wilson said almost the same thing, “What can you say?” said Ron Wilson. “They hung around long enough and got a break. We made a bad play in our end and we ended up losing the game, but I can’t fault the effort of our players.” (Thanks to Jonas for that…)
So, despite solid efforts, the team just can’t win. What conclusion do you have to arrive at when everyone is trying their best and still not accomplishing the goal? Well, it’s that their best just isn’t good enough. The team that Burke has assembled simply doesn’t have the horses to compete night in and night out. One would have to think that by this stage, Burke knows exactly what he has, and what he is missing. The time is now for him to start adjusting by making moves, especially with injuries to John Mitchell and Vesa Toskala.
I am sure, the MSM will be back in full “change” force tomorrow- I mean the day after the almighty reprieve and the team is back in the loss column, surely another 1-2 scouts were in the audience to watch the Leafs vs. the Isles (some reporters said upwards of 19 scouts were in the house) So- let’s see the great rumors that those in the ACC pressbox result in.
Meanwhile, Stay At Home has one of the more useless blogs here- talk about writing about nothing- seesh
You have to pardon my lack of enthusiasm for the good ship Maple Leafs these days. I have to admit that their on ice performance and more so results has got me a tad bit apathetic. More so, the coverage of the team has done nothing to excite me. I know it seems a little bit odd to say it but I miss the days when the Leafs were getting carved for everything they did…
When those who used to bash them all the time, are telling us that things aren’t as bleak as they appear, well, where the hell is the fun in that? I watched a good part of last night’s game tonight and was left with the conclusion that there are 3 players on the Maple Leafs that are potential difference makers.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, I mean how big an idiot would I be not to mention Phil Kessel? That being said, he is the one guy on the Leafs team who you noticed every time he was on the ice. When little TSM plays, there is always one guy on every team who is eons ahead of the rest of the team. Kessel is that guy on the Leafs. There is no one who compares with his speed of talent- no one close. The hope and I do mean hope is that Kadri resides somewhere in the same zip code.
The second is Gustavsson. He stands tall has a presence and despite only playing in a few games, he has earned the confidence of his teammates. Yes he has made mistakes. What he hasn’t done is let in the crap goal at the most inopportune time as Toskala always seems to manage to do. As Gustavsson’s plays goes, so too will the fate of this team.
Lastly is Kaberle. The guy who I said they had to deal last summer is playing out of his head. He, is eons ahead of the rest of the pack on defence right now. There is no one playing at his level.
The problem is, that the drop off from those three is gigantic. Brian Burke talked about having his skill guys and then his plumbers- a top group and a bottom group. Right now the distance to getting to that point appears to be huge. The fall off from Kaberle to the next defenceman is amazing. What’s more unbelievable is that the next best guy, in my opinion is Ian White! The guy who didn’t dress early next season. Here is a guy who doesn’t have a ton of talent but works his ass off every shift. The drop in forwards is worse. There isn’t one guy right now who can score. After Kessel went 0-10 last night (and I am not knocking him), who is left to score the goals? i have confidence in no one.
A friend emailed me last night that the Maple Leafs are 19 players away. You have to laugh. The alternative is much worse isn’t it? I don’t know why it has happened but the skill level, especially upfront is embarrassing. Grabovsky, Blake, Stajan, Hagman are all, for the most part totally infective. You have to think that at some point relatively soon it will make sense to bring the college kids up and let them go. I mean last year Luke Schenn played well when he was getting tons of minutes. Why not say to Hanson and Bozak (who may or may not have had h1n1 flu) guys, go out there and play as hard as you can and don’t worry about screwing up- I will still throw you out there again. It’s pretty much what Wilson did last year with Schenn. I can tell you this as a fan, I would be much more interested in watching those guys then the aforementioned group now. I watch the current group and I just get angry. At least if they were kids, you would be patient, feel that there is a system in place etc.
So….Burke has a foundation of 3. Kadri, as pathetic as it sounds right now is the great hope to get to 4. It’s no wonder Burke has been so quiet of late, the magnitude of the job ahead has to be incredibly daunting.
You have to love the television business… Sportsnet drew huge numbers for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning game last night. It was in the top 10 most watched events in Sportsnet’s history. So, what does David Akande say? ““This number proves once again that Sportsnet is the destination for hockey that matters. Whether it is for the pre-game show, intermissions
or the game itself, we are the home for the Toronto Maple Leaf fan.”
Classic! Hell, this game could have been on Rogers 10 and it would have drawn the number. I think what Akande meant was thank you Phill and the entire Maple Leafs training and medical staff for getting him back so early as otherwise we would be shitting bricks.
Meanwhile, one has to wonder about the pressures and limitations on writers for the MSM. I say that because when you read Bill Houston’s blog these days, he is a lot more daring than he used to be while writing for the Globe and Mail. Case in point:
” Don’t take it personally, Bruce. Avery trashes everybody. Besides, you are fat. And if Avery motivated you to lose a few pounds, that’s a good thing.”
No, “Bruce” doesn’t refer to the author of “off the post”, rather it is referring to the head coach of the Washington Capitals. Boudreau was apparently taken back by Sean Avery’s comments about Boudreau’s weight.
Am I alone in thinking that now that Houston is out from under the Globe and Mail he is going to be a lot more candid than he was before. For some reason I just can’t see him calling Bruce Boudreau fat while writing his old column. A refreshing change to say the least. I guess he subscribes to the truth hurts philosophy.
Lastly, I am sure i am in the minority here, however i don’t think it’s that big a deal if some professional athletes got their H1N1 shots ahead of the rest of us. To be honest I kind of expected it. Oh, and I think what David Branch did today took enormous balls. I would have preferred it if he had tossed the Erie coach as well. Branch’s rationale was that players lack the respect and that is why the injury took place (combined with the current health of the victim). Well, if a player skates 40-50ft at breakneck speed and pulverizes another player, one has to think that part of that follows the coaching philosophy of the team. I feel for the kid who got suspended- but not nearly as much as I do for the victim or his family.
TSM
@yyzsportsmedia
Houston is here
This dynamic season feature is very cool. It’s especially cool since they talk about the Raptors and Chris Bosh. It has this rewind feature that lets you go back in time and change the results of any game that may have already been played. The dynamic season also has awesome online features. This is the best preview I have seen.
Twitter: yyzsportsmedia
