Thanks to Greg Brady for posting this on Twitter tonight as I wouldn’t have seen it. Irrespective of what you think of Martin Brodeur’s play the other night, I don’t think anyone got overly personal with him. I mean everything I read was pretty respectful, noting what an incredible career he has had, stating that he absolutely had to make the Olympic team etc. This article, which I can only suspect was written by Damien Cox, there is no author attribution is way off side and one can only assume it has too much to do with Damien’s personal relationship with Brodeur. Cox on twitter took a shot at anyone criticizing Brodeur Sunday night stating that they “don’t understand the game”. This article goes beyond:

“Martin Brodeur doesn’t feel like he was lied to. Just blamed unfairly, and undoubtedly disrespected by head coach Mike Babcock.

Not only did Babcock call out Brodeur for his play in a 5-3 loss to the United States on Sunday, he then told Roberto Luongo he would be in goal for the qualification match against Germany a few hours after the game but waited to deliver the news to Brodeur, the winningest goalie in the history of the sport, until before practice on Monday.”

What’s odd about that is that there isn’t a quote from Brodeur in the piece at all!

“So it’s gold or bust with the Vancouver Canucks netminder, a sizeable risk given that outside of some fine work at the world championships the 30-year-old has never defined himself as a winner.

Now’s his chance. The last time Luongo had a chance to step forward an assert himself as Canada’s top netminder he coughed up the bit in the deciding game of last year’s playoffs for the Canucks and surrendered seven goals to the Chicago Blackhawks.”

Ok, Brodeur is your buddy, but really, is he so low that he would want someone taking shots at Luongo? I mean did Luongo do anything wrong here?

‘Babcock better be right on this or he deserves to be roasted on the spit of Canadian hockey opinion for all the unhelpful waffling he’s done on this issue.”

Wow. No, really Wow. Hypothetically speaking, Luongo pitches a shutout tomorrow, Canada doesn’t score and the German’s win 1-0 in a shootout. Should the spit we spinning because of this choice? Come on! These guys are professionals. No, Brodeur didn’t let in any Toskala’s but still, he had to know the possibility of getting replaced was real.

“For reasons he declined to explained, he then gave the opening start against Norway to Luongo.

In the next game, Brodeur’s brilliance saved Canada in the shootout against Switzerland, and Babcock praised the veteran for his play and his leadership. But after the loss to the U.S. on Sunday, Babcock identified Brodeur as the problem, saying “tonight was a night we’d have liked to have been better in that area.”

Wasn’t Babock in the wrong then for pulling Luongo in favour of Brodeur for the Switzerland game? I didn’t hear the entire Babcock session after the game, but I don’t think he threw Brodeur under the bus at all. Did he say that they would have preferred to be better in net? Yes. Isn’t that true? I mean, wouldn’t Brodeur have preferred to have been better in net? Hell Cox’s article in today’s Toronto Star sang the praise out of Ryan Miller. Wouldn’t we have preferred that it was Brodeur’s play we were all yapping about today? Ooops, I mean in the positive not the negative.

“None of this had to happen. Babcock could have announced in Calgary that it was time for the youngsters to take over and anointed Luongo and Fleury as the two goalies, with Brodeur in reserve.

Failing that, he could’ve made it clear once in Vancouver that Luongo would be the starter Again, that would have been an entirely defensible strategy.

Instead, he dithered, and in so doing has made the country’s national goaltender the lightning rod for all criticism about the team.”

Sorry, I’m not buying that. Brodeur earned his spot. Played well, or was “brilliant” in his last game vs. Switzerland. So he didn’t have a great game last night. if Babcock goes back to him and he has another off night then what? Babcock has three good alternatives. One of those guys is a future hall of famer. Babcock has the right to be undecided in net and chose to ride the hot or not goalie. If Brodeur pitched a gem last night, do you think he wouldn’t ride him going forward? How can we be surprised that given the performance last night it be so wrong or so surprising that a change is coming?

“But by making his goaltending choice a game-by-game proposition, Babcock has created great uncertainty where stability was necessary.”

I don’t know, I would rather Babcock rides his guys based upon his gut feeling. Not based on history, not based on bias, but on who he feels should be in net. Babcock needs to choose the guy who he thinks gives him the best shot at winning each game. I sense there is too much bias in this article.

The article is here

After a full week off and the “reset button” pushed, the Leafs look to get win #1 on the road against Roberto Luongo and the Canucks.  Tonight starts the first of 7 games against teams that combined, have a winning percentage of 41%.  Definitely a different level of competition than their first 7 games who combined for a winning percentage of over 60% including the hottest teams in the league.

Tonights Leafs Line-Up

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

Defence
Kaberle Komisarek
Beauchemin White
Exelby Schenn

Goalies
MacDonald
Reimer

LT

Editor’s note: Say hi To Victor, a great new addition to the TSM author list!

Round two of the playoffs started last night with Vancouver battling Chicago or if you buy into the marketing of the series, it’s the wily-veteran Canucks taking on the young-inexperienced Blackhawks.

Before I get into the game itself I was super-pumped to be watching the game on CBC. If there is one thing the government hasn’t screwed up is playoff hockey. The commentators are great, they have the legend Don Cherry (love him or hate him) and Ron MacLean is the best in the business. Playoff hockey without gimmicks. No media between benches. No player or coach interviews during breaks in play.

Early on it looked like the nine-day rest since sweeping the Blues took its toll on the Canucks. They failed to register a single shot on a four-minute man advantage early in the first. Things got rolling in the late stages when some former Maple Leaf content (Mats Sundin and Kyle Wellwood) set up Pavol Demitra for the lone goal in the opening frame. Vancouver went on to score two more in the second and looked to have things wrapped up…right? If you watched any of the Calgary-Chicago series you know the answer to that one.

The Blackhawks stormed out in the third completely taking the air out of GM Place with three straight goals. 20-year old Patrick Kane had two of them. Vancouver looked totally out of it until Blackhawks defenceman Cam Barker opened the door to his own personal doghouse. He turned the puck over in the offensive zone pinning four of his teammates in Vancouver’s end and the Canucks broke out on a four-on-one. You don’t need to re-read the last line you read it correctly. Four-on-one. To top it off there was less then two minutes to play. Sami Salo pocketed a juicy rebound, Ryan Johnson found an empty net and the game is over. Vancouver wins 5-3.

The more I think about it, the more the end of the game looked like a classic rope-a-dope. The wily Canucks tricked the inexperienced Blackhawks into a false sense of confidence and pounced when the time was right. Maybe those guys in marketing are actually on to something.

NOTES:

Oscar worthy quote-of-the-night – “Hockey Scrum Dog Millionaire” – CBC commentator on the vast amount of post-whistle activity
Runner – up – Jeff Marek on Anaheim’s Corey Perry “Ducking Suspension”

Scott Oake is a pro, but I just don’t get his comment at the end of the game. During the post-game wrap up with Marc Crawford he commented on the fact that Chicago didn’t call it a night trailing by three and facing Roberto Luongo. Come on Mr. Oake, no one likes a quitter.

Kyle Wellwood’s night – two assists, 7-0 on the faceoff, 20 minutes of ice-time, two sticks to the face equally eight minutes worth of power play time, one chipped tooth and a pint of blood.

Cam Barker won’t be flying solo in the doghouse. He’ll be joined by fellow defenceman Brain Campbell. With Nikolai Khabibulin pulled for the extra attacker, Campbell left the blue line to go into the corner. Puck jumps over his stick, Vancouver scores and Scotty Bowman is NOT impressed.

This is my first post for Toronto Sports Media. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to reading your comments!

Victor

Mats Sundin Pokerstars

It’s hard to believe how quickly things have gone from hope to bust for Mats Sundin.  There I was watching the Vancouver Canucks late last night take on the Minnesota Wild, the Wild were up by a goal, trying to hold on, when they took a penalty with under 5 minutes to go in the third.  The play went in to the Wild end and the Cancuks had a 6 on 4 advantage.  Where was Mats Sundin?  Centre, nope.  Right Wing?  Nope…Ok, playing D- Nope.  Mats’s ass was stapled to the bench, right next to Kyle Wellwood.  When have you ever seen that?  Could you ever imagine that happening to Sundin? Howie talks about the sadness to Cujo’s season, what do you say about Sundin so far??? I know it’s early.  However, the Vancouver media is just getting warmed up too:

“The curse of Mats Sundin grows more legendary by the day. His signing brought so much hope to the Canucks. But what always follows Vancouver’s hopes? The word dashed. Instead of reaping the benefits of a player with a Hall-of-Fame billing, the Canucks have been visited by the Grim Reaper. Instead of a large scythe, Sundin carries a Swedish accent, broken wheels and an attraction to penalty boxes.”

Those, the words of Jason Botchford, writing for The Vancouver Sun. Mats Sundin a curse????

“Since Sundin signed on Dec. 18, the Canucks have won four of 18 games. They have lost eight in a row overall, and nine in a row at home. They are two away from tying their all-time winless streak record. And believe it or not, they have a good team. Their visitor’s room is now officially the happiest place on earth.”

Does any of this sound familiar. Forget the signing of Sundin part. Have the Canucks become the toronto maple leafs?

Over at the Province things are less kind:

“Sundin doing nothing to earn his keep
Expectations not being met as time and hope are running out. While your eyes would tell you otherwise, and the stats sheet would back it up, the Vancouver Canucks have insisted that Mats Sundin is close; that the big Swede is a ticking-time bomb on the verge of detonation.”

Yes it is early, and he did miss the majority of the season. Patience may be a virtue, but records for futility aren’t anything to be proud of.

“Maybe it was unrealistic to expect him to make an immediate impact. Maybe it was unrealistic to expect him to step in and be the player we last saw in Toronto.
But, by any reasonable standard, he’s been here long enough to acclimatize himself to the NHL grind and bring his conditioning and timing up to an NHL standard. And not only has he failed there, he’s actually hindered the Canucks’ attempts to get on track.”

Those are not complimentary words, to say the least…

“Against the Wild, the final line told you all you needed to know — just over 17 minutes of ice time, minus-one, no points, three shots on goal, none of which resembled a scoring chance, and two more minors to his rapidly increasing PIM total. But what that ledger doesn’t reveal is the number of times he was put in a position to make a difference; to change the momentum of the game or to sustain momentum in the Canucks’ favour. Alain Vigneault gave Sundin every chance to succeed, every chance to leave his imprint on this game. And each time he failed.”

That is what I thought as I watched the game last night. Sundin looked old. O L D. He had chances to be the old Sundin and just couldn’t do it.

“Late in the second period Sundin was sent out immediately after Roberto Luongo had made a five-alarm save off Pierre-Marc Bouchard and took his second penalty.
Earlier in the middle frame — and right after Ryan Kesler had scored the Canucks’ first goal — he had three shifts during a five-minute power play and while he created a bit of a stir on the third, he couldn’t create a goal. By the end of the game, in fact, Sundin was stapled to the bench when Kesler scored the game-tying goal with Luongo out and the Canucks playing six-on-four.”

The penalties are brutal. We aren’t used to seeing Sundin to take the lazy penalties that he is taking in multiples per game. Yes, it’s early. However, the age old question in sports is here too, when does it stop being early and start to be too late?

Read Botchford here
Read the Province here

Should be a great night down at the ACC as, perhaps the greatest Maple Leaf player in my adulthood is honored. Doug Gilmour, as the ad on 640 Toronto says, restored the passion in the Maple Leafs. Until he arrived the buds were mired in a slump that had lasted over a month. I was returning home from the Christmas holidays and thankfully someone had left a day old toronto newspaper on the plane, in one of our seats for us to find when we boarded. I remember reading the news and thinking WOW this is awesome. Awesome it certainly was. Cliff, Doug and Pat. How very cool it was. It was really fun to be a leaf fan again. The guy was everything we ever wanted in a leaf player.

I have tried to immerse Little TSM in as much hockey, especially Maple Leaf nostalgia as possible. We were fortunate enough to run into Doug at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls Ontario a couple of years ago. We first saw him on Friday night. Mrs. TSM and I took Little TSM to see the fireworks over the falls and brought him back to the hotel very late. As we were waiting for the elevator we ran into Gilmour. He could not have been nicer to us, especially Little TSM. He asked him his name, who old he was, if he played hockey etc. He also posed for this photo. The next morning (happened to be NHL draft day) we were in the restaurant eating breakfast watching TSN disect the Roberto Luongo trade to Vancouver. Gilmour and his entourage walked into the restaurant and without missing a beat, he came right over to our table (and the restaurant was full) and said “Little TSM, did you see who got traded this morning?? He gave him a big hug and a high five!” As a parent it was one of the coolest things a guy like Gilmour could have done. Little TSM was all of 4 at that time and had no clue who he was, but we have the photo, one day perhaps we will get it signed for him.

Little TSM and Doug Gilmour

My favorite Gilmour story however involves the wife of a family friend. “Allison” was in her doctor’s office in the height of the Gilmour era. She was at the reception desk and was pretty sure that the guy standing next to her was someone famous. “Allison” kept staring at the guy and smiling, sure that she knew him. The guy smiled at her and nothing was said between the two of them. “Allison” left the office and went to her car. It then hit her. She knew how she knew him! Overcome with excitement, “Allison” ran back into the doctor’s office ran up to the guy and said, ” I know how I know you!” The guy nodded and smiled again and was about to say something when “Allison” screamed, “Your the guy from the Milk commercials, with the cow legs!” The best part of the story was “Allison” recounting the story to her husband, a devoted Maple Leafs fan! Can you imagine what Gilmour thought?

In any event, I only hope that at some time soon, Burke is able to repeat Cliff’s magic and bring Little TSM his Gilmour. With no disrespect to others who have followed Gilmour, there really hasn’t been anyone to come close to filling his skates. The only good thing about his career ending injury after being traded back to Toronto is that he finished off his career a Maple Leaf.

“Ask a National Hockey League general manager to draft any three players from across the league, and it’s not impossible that the three names that come out would be Alexander Ovechkin, Vinny Lecavalier, and Henrik Zetterberg. Sure, Roberto Luongo or Sidney Crosby or Luke Schenn could jump in there – this last possibility is assuming the GM in question only listens to talk radio in Toronto, and then only in the first month of the season – but any GM would be thrilled to sign those first three players to a lot of dollars and for plenty of years.” Bruce Arthur in the National Post

“I’d blow up his defense.” Keith Jones on what he would do if he were the GM of the Ottawa Senators

“Either this group plays better or we have to change the group” Brian Burke

“And for me, it all started with Pat (Burns). I don’t know what it was about him, but he had this way of looking at me, he intimidated me without even saying a word. He’d just stare at me and I knew what he was saying. I had to be better. We just had this thing. He knew how to push. He worked for me. I worked for him.” Doug Gilmour on Pat Burns

I don’t know what happened,” Burns said. “I don’t know why that time was better than any other? We just knew how to work together, had really good communication. People often ask me: “Who’s the player? Who gave you the most of himself?” And the answer’s easy. Without a doubt it’s Doug, you look at his size, his weight, his heart. You couldn’t ask for anything more in a player. “If you ask me, for those two years, he was the best player in hockey.” Pat Burns on Doug Gilmour

Both of those from Steve Simmons. i couldn’t agree with you more. Those two years were the most fun I have ever had being a leaf fan. The old photo of Pat’s garage, the coaches, the players the gardens. I wish I were going to the ACC on Saturday night. I hope the fans really give it up for Doug. Any idea on who from the old squad will be there? How amazing if Burns was there?