Way to kick a Wilson when he's down.

You've got to feel for Ron Wilson -- I mean seriously feel for the guy. Is there anyone that actually wants the job of being the coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Every day you come to work and about 300 reporters ask you why you haven't won a Stanley Cup. Nevermind the fact that stringing a few wins together is a near miracle.

It's a thankless job.

And so you'd think when the poor bugger had a bright spot... like... oh .... i don't know... getting his 600th win as a coach. The NHL would just let him have it.

If you haven't seen the story, the NHL has fined the Toronto Maple Leafs for a salary cap infraction after Wilson posted $600 on the dressing room bulletin board for whoever potted the winning goal.

The NHL is acting as if Ron Wilson stacked $6 million into a brief case and hung it from the front of the room. It was $600. For the NHL it's pocket change. This is a league where guys make millions a year and still get handed $91.56 a day for meals on the road.

If you think about it, if an NHL player really wanted $600, all he'd have to do was hoard his meal money for a week.


I like laughing at the Leafs just as much as the next non-Leafs fan, but does the NHL really have to make such a big deal out of absolutely nothing? Don't you have bigger problems, like, oh, i dunno... ridiculously low attendance in a quarter of your rinks?

It was Carl Gunnarsson that won the 600 smackeroos in case you were wondering.

Jennifer Casey was born and raised in Halifax. She loves all sports but tries to stick to writing about hockey for sanity purposes. You can follow her on twitter @jenncaseyhfx or find her on her blog National Passtime

It's like i've woken up in some sort of alter-world.

Quebec.

So the mayor of Quebec met Regis Labeaume, and former Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut met with Gary Bettman to discuss "hockey".

If I where Quebec I would run... fast. Because when you finally do attempt to get a team, there's good reason to believe you'll have a long and expensive court battle.

In all seriousness, it does appear that Quebec, amidst a strong Canadian dollar, and failing teams in the United States is putting it's hat in the three ring circus that is hockey North of the Border.

They need a rink. The aging Le Colisée was one of the reasons the the Nordiques left in the first place. There has been talk about a new 18,000 seat arena, which is promising.

I still believe that southern Ontario is the destination of a new team. At this point it appears this little meeting has usurped Quebec over Winnipeg as the #2 choice for a team in Canada. I guess.

Why are we surprised?

Can someone please tell me why you're all surprised that the Leafs are 0-5-1? Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize, that's a surprise. The Chicago Blackhawks coming back from 5-0 to win 6-5, that's a surprise. Finding out that robots can play piano, that's a surprise (see: stephen harper). The L.A. Kings sitting atop the Pacific division, yup that's a surprise.

Getting my point.

It's the Leafs. They aren't very good. And just one Phil Kessel is not going to make you good. You probably need a whole line of Phil Kessels... and some actual defense.... and a goaltender who can at least stop a beach ball.

Stop being surprised. Stop asking the coach what is wrong with the team. There's nothing wrong. This is how they are supposed to be.

Globe and Mail "journalism".

I saw the commercial for this and immediately filled with rage.

It's called the Great Canadian Journalism Dream. The Globe and Mail is giving out prizes to a photographer and writer to cover the Olympics.

Are you kidding me.

So coming out of school, the market for jobs in this profession was pretty dire. I don't know why I said "was"... "is" is more appropriate. Most of my classmates are still not working. Many Canadian news outlets are replacing real jobs with free interns. Others have laid off hundreds (The CBC laid off 800 jobs nation-wide earlier this year).

I understand money is tight. Especially in the newspaper world. But LITERALLY taking people off the street to cover the Olympics makes people who have paid good money to learn how to do this job, and can't find a job, really really sad.

Why not make the competition for Journalism students? At least it would have slight credibility.

But to make it this competition that says the to general public, "hey you can do this with no school!", further de-values the trade. Something we don't need help with when entire news outlets are being run by free interns.

Dear Ottawa Senators,

I feel like I've been writing to you a lot lately. But you just don't seem to be listening. Is it me? What can I do? I'll change, I swear. Please, just hear me out...

I know your coach is saying "at this time of year it's real easy to throw in the towel, but you're not going to do that... blah blah blah, useless to win, but we're stupid like the leafs and are going to keep winning because we hate ourselves, our fans and most of all victor hedman.... "

But....

Do that.

Maybe you're confused about how to do it, having leaf-itis can do that to you. Let me help, it's simple:

1. Take towel.
2. Throw it in.
3. Please.

Cheers,
Jenn (and Canadiens fans, who realize the Habs need all the help they can get staying in a playoff spot).


Oh and...

Anytime a reporter can use "snazzy" in an article... well it's pretty much the best.

From Canadian Press:

"Carbonneau wore a snazzy grey suit and a big smile as he entered the room and joked that he was 'almost starting to miss you (reporters).'"

Keep on truckin' Ottawa.

Ottawa is awesome.

Wait. Before you question whether I've truly lost my mind, hear me out.

I know that the Senators lost yet again last night, (now to be fair, it was 4-1 to the Devils who have won 6 in a row now.) But moving on... yes, I did notice that Ottawa re-assigned Martin Gerber to the minors. And Yes I absolutely noticed that the Senators are jockeying for the bottom spot in the Eastern Conference.


But that's exactly why Ottawa is awesome. They are great... at sucking.

They're losing. There's no real turning the season around now. So just keep losing. This is something that the Toronto Maple Leafs have failed to do for about three years now.

Continually they get this late-season glimmer of useless hope and win a bunch of games down the stretch, only to finish 10th. Good draft picks are available in the middle of the first round. But great draft picks are first.

Last three years: Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson (but I would argue Teranna woulda taken Jordan Staal).

Instead of sort of throwing your season. Why not go out in a fiery blaze of glory. Suck... like no other team has sucked before. KA-BOOM!

Mr. Victor Hedman, Welcome to the Ottawa Senators, you're in for a ride.

Merry Christmas

For anyone who thinks this is hilarious.

Saga #1 and Saga #2 collide.

I was just watching That's Hockey on TSN. And both sagas were mentioned in one Perfect Saga Storm.

#1:

It appears Mats Sundin is thinking about a mid-December return.

"Mats is currently training daily with the intention to return," Sundin's agent, J.P. Barry said. "He may still decide not to play, however, if his training regimen doesn't produce the results he expects."

So he might think about making a mid-December return.

#2

The Toronto Maple Leafs' ownership group is expected to officially initiate contract negotiations with Brian Burke very soon.

I think this is a bad call for Toronto. I just don't know why yet.


Sometimes even if you think it's a good idea, you shouldn't do it.

Did this just happen? Is it real? Can I touch it?

My god. Someone lost their mind when they thought this would be a good idea. And my theory that every idea goes through at least seven people before it makes it to the general public is definitely in play here. What seven people were like, Slapshot 3? Great idea.

I mean, slapshot 2 was sacrilegious enough. But to make a third one.... I can't even talk about it. Next Question.


Democracy.

pfft. who needs it when you have electronic ballot stuffers...

"Forwards Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay, defencemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek and goalie Carey Price are not merely leading every other player in their Eastern Conference categories. They are ahead by ridiculous margins, their monstrous numbers fuelled by computer-vote programs written to carpet-bomb, around the clock, for all six at once.

As of Sunday early afternoon, four days into balloting, Kovalev, Koivu and Tanguay had vote totals in the 190,000 range. The next closest forward, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, was approaching 84,000"

That does explain it. I was extremely surprised to see the margins. I wouldn't say many of the Canadiens have had allstar-worthy performances thus far. But then again... Sidney Crosby has six goals in 18 games and he's behind the Montreal forwards...

Magic Mittens.

Kyle Wellwood just scored the nicest goal i've seen in a while. I believe that Gord Miller just said he had "magic mittens". Remember when Toronto put him on waivers? good call guys. as usual.

Also, when checking Wellwood's wikipedia entry, i found this gem: "As of November 2008, Wellwood is currently on a 121 game streak without taking a penalty, which is by far the longest active clean-streak. His last penalty was taken on April 10, 2006."



"How do you spell intimidation? L - U - O - N - G - O." - Pierre McGuire.

Where do I start?

Guys I'm so rusty. I didn't realize how rusty I was. There are too many games to deal with!!!

Two of my favourite people. (Ron MacLean and Peter Mansbridge.)

Destruction.

Ok, starting with the Montreal-Toronto game. Montreal dominated, (understatement), the final was 6-1. There was one point when the game was close, I think it was the first five minutes of the game. Toronto had a couple good chances but Jaroslav Halak shut them down.

I was perplexed about Carbonneau's decision to start Halák instead of Price (mostly because it would've been a guaranteed win, and I have Price in my pool). But I figured they probably wanted to rest price after playing last night where the game went the full legnth to the shootout and Price handled 36 shots. A friend also pointed out that Montreal needs to "showcase their trade bait."

False Hopes.

I haven't spoken to any Leafs fans yet tonight. Most of them are huddled in their dark basements quietly sobbing, i'm sure. Anyway, judging by the reaction that is usually garnered by the result of the first game of the season, I can't help but think that Toronto fans were excited after the big win against Detroit. Oh well.

Tanguay.

Gave all proof in the world that the difference between a good player and a bad player can be the playing style of the team they're on. Tanguay looks like he's been playing in Montreal for five years — he fit right in. 4 points (a goal and three assists) says it all.

Cherry.

Geez Don. I was on your side when you called Sean Avery a jerk. But i'm not on your side with this one. Cherry complained after the game that Montreal had their "top powerplay line on the ice with a couple minutes left and the game was out of hand". Well Don, it's the beginning of the season and Carbonneau is going to take the in-game practice for the line when he can. Second, if you don't want to play against the top power play line. Stop taking penalties.

Palin.
The Alaska legislative panel released their report into Sarah Palin's abuse of power allegations yesterday. So in classic Palin style, she did something hockey mom related to brush it off. Sooooo she dropped the puck at the Philadelphia Flyers home opener accompanied by the winner of some ridiculous "ultimate hockey mom" contest. On top of it all they gave out lipstick to the hockey moms in attendance.

Oh there was something else I was suppose to mention... umm... what was it... Oh yes, Flyers owner Ed Snider gave donations to the Republican campaign. That's good. Using your NHL team as a political pawn.

Kippers self-destruction.

Calgary was leading 3-1. At home. Home opener. Lost 5-4 in overtime. Todd Bertuzzi was a disaster on skates, hitting from behind and elbowing in the head... I think the fans in Calgary probably wished they were in Toronto. (now that's really sad.)

Coffee?

It's 5:30 in the morning and i'm watching the sun rise from my desk at work. Backshift is the best. And in this overtired state, what better time to stop in and say "hey!" from my long blogging hiatus. Sorry guys, it's the first summer in a while that the bright shiny orb in the sky actually came out and warmed the sodden souls of Nova Scotia. I also moved shortly before the Canada Day Debacle Holiday and destroyed my liver in Newfoundland.

Speaking of the Canada Day Debacle Holiday... July 1 has come and gone and Mr Sundin is still unsigned. I clearly remember (and there are few things that are clear from that day) busting the laptop out on the party patio to check signings and more importantly, to track The Sundin. It was looking pretty good for the Habs there for a bit after Bobbers Gainey took a hop across the pond to visit Sundin in native Sweden, but I believe he enjoys feeling wanted, so he's going to hold off on signing to hold on to that warm fuzzy feeling that he's never gotten from Toronto.

The Canadiens lost Ryder to the Bruins... and the way he was playing last season, good riddance. Although i'm sure he'll come back to haunt the Habs in some terrible, awful, ironic way. Also one of my favs, Mark Streit was lost to free agency. But they were able to sign Kostitsyn so I guess i'll live.

And the Lightening continue their whack management skillz by inking Vincent Lecavalier to an 11 year, $85 million contract. They also went on a signing spree on July 1... 11 more years of bad cap management, here were come!

And one of the most amusing stories i've seen actually has come from Futball (Soccer). Apparently Mr Christiano Ronaldo thinks himself likened to a "slave". Poor little bugger, i'm sure it's a fairly hard go when you're making £120,000 a week.

No longer orphans.

Three teams have been removed from the orphan list this week as they found head coaches.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Ron Wilson, the former head boss for the San Jose Sharks, the Leafs brass apparently wanted someone who was well accustomed to dealing with underachieving. (ummm?) However, unlike former coach Paul Maurice, Wilson is not promising that the team will make the playoffs (probably a safe assumption), and noted that this will certainly be a rebuilding period (what was the last 5 years?).

Anyway I can't help but note the opportunity missed here, I've said this before but I want to repeat these two things again: John Tortorella and Toronto Media. Why, oh, why was this opportunity missed? John Tortorella has always been at odds with the media, and he also loves calling out his own players to them. Can you imagine what it would've been like in a city where the press probably follows the head coach home at night and stakes out the house like paparazzi I am absolutely certain that if they had have hired him, it would've ended in a giant press conference clearing brawl.

Okay, I'm done with the Tortorella dream. Back to the orphan teams, San Jose picked up Todd McLellan (former assistant with the Detroit Red Wings). This is McLellan's first head coaching position, we'll see how that shitwagon rolls when the season starts.

Finally, and possibly the most intriguing. The Ottawa Senators picked up Craig Hartsburg as their new head coach. This will definitely be an interesting ride, he has won taken Canada's World Junior hockey team to back-to-back golds... But, it's Ottawa, the team is a little... off. If Dany Heatley plays the way he did at the World Championships this year then maybe they'll be in business. But if Jason Spezza plays like he did at the World Championships, maybe not. It also really depends on a ton of off season stuff... July 1 will really be huge for the Senators. So Hartsburg definitely inherits a team that has their share of issues. God speed, Hartsy... at least it's not the Leafs job?

The week that wouldn't end.

Gary Roberts sat out game three with pneumonia. Gary Roberts doesn't have pneumonia, they just don't want him to kill any flyers.

Isn't that cute... the Flyers think they're gonna win a game.

The Detroit Red Wings failed to sweep the Western Conference finals last night as they lost to the Dallas Stars, pushing off the inevitable for one more night.

Dave Nonis has been in interviews for the General Manager position with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three days now. Three days? They've got to be going steady by now.

Canada beat Norway 8-2 to move onto the Semi-Finals against Sweden, to be held in Quebec City. (I will rant about this later).

Maurice fired.

Paul maurice was fired as head coach by the Maple Leafs today.

Did I just type that? Yes I did. seriously?! Ok I just checked again, there's a picture, it must be true. Ok, I know the team underachieved (which is ironically an understatement). But it's not exactly like this is a new thing. The leafs do that. They underachieve, it's what they do. They enjoy being mediocre, what else would Michael Landsberg talk about if they weren't mediocre? It's not Maurice's fault they're too busy out there taking naked pictures of themselves. (Sorry, I know that was low... but I just cannot help it.)

On a (semi) serious note, I'm not sure if firing Maurice was the best call. Maurice cannot help that his team can never be rebuilt due to the fact that any player of value is locked into a no-trade clause (there is apparently a high rate of dementia among the Toronto players). And he managed to handle the Toronto media without looking like John Tortorella. And really, the Toronto media is a bit more...(pesky, annoying, obnoxious? choose one.)...than the Tampa Bay media. Speaking of John Tortorella, why does he have a job? The 2007-08 Tampa Bay Lightening was probably the biggest underachiever since Alexandre Daigle, and yet not only does he have a job, he is the head coach of the USA hockey team at the World Championships. My final question is, how do you get fired by an interim general manager? It's so mind-boggling. Listen folks I have the solution. It's pretty simple. It'll solve all of the problems. Make Mats Sundin the General Manager, send all the rest of the Leafs down to the AHL. Bring up the Marlies in their entirety. Dig up Bill Barilko. Simple.

In summary,
- Maurice firing bad idea
- Tortorella having job is shocking
- not as shocking as a naked Jiri Tlusty
- real hockey resumes tonight (Dallas and Detroit)
- **edit** hockey does NOT resume tonight. Today is Wednesday. only wednesday. dear lord it's only wednesday.

So much hockey.

So a tournament that has completely slipped under my radar is the World Under 18 tournament being held in Russia. I guess there are just too many distractions, including playoffs in NHL, and CHL, and the World Hockey Championships that will grace the Halifax Metro Centre in just a few weeks.

Anyway, unsurprisingly (is that a word?) Canada is off to the playoff round of the tournament after winning their final round robin game against Slovakia 6-0. Also something I didn't know, Pat Quinn is the head coach for Canada. *insert joke about how much easier this must be than when he coached the Toronto Maple Leafs*

If you are a morning person, are really hardcore about under-18 hockey, or you still haven't gone to bed after your bender on Saturday night you can catch the quarterfinal game on TSN at 6 a.m. (5 a.m. EST).

QMJHL PLAYOFFS! Round 2 Game 2.

It was game 2 of the Battle of Nova Scotia, and it didn't disappoint. The Halifax Mooseheads pulled out the win 5-3 over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and the two teams traded goals throughout the game until the Moose finally pulled ahead. The game was fast paced, and as usual a mix of both teams' fans. Unfortunately the officiating played a big part in the game. There was rarely a few moments strung together without a call, and most of the goals came from special teams (in fact, all of the Eagles goals were power play). A particularly brutal series of events occurred near the end of the second period, and I was sitting in the front row on the goal line so this was quite clear to me...

A Mooseheads forward went in on the goaltender on a quasi-breakaway, and was pushed from behind by a Cape Breton forward, as the Mooseheads player went full force into the goaltender he threw the puck behind him to another forward who threw it in the net. Not only did the ref call the goal back. But he also issued a penalty to the Moosehead forward who was pushed in to the goalie. Needless to say, of COURSE Cape Breton tied it up 3-3 with another power play goal.

Overall, I think the Moose played well, but if they're going to go on in the playoffs, they're going to need to play a bit better on the penalty kill and just better defensively overall. The team many times found itself scrambling in their own zone, icing the puck to get out of trouble, defensive zone turnovers and general confusion.


Games 3, 4, and 5 will be held in Sydney Centre 200, but the two teams have 3 DAYS off. I'm sure it's because that 5 hour drive between Halifax and Sydney is outright unbearable.



P.S.HABS beat the Leafs, and to clinch first place overall they need Pittsburgh to lose. An overtime loss would suffice. Tomorrow is the final day of NHL regular season play.

Also Canada (Team Martin of Alberta) got it's first win at the World Men's Curling Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota against Denmark, winning huge 9-3.

And check out this news release from the Canadiens. It is their logo for the 2009 All-star game, being held in Montreal to commemorate the team's 100th anniversary.

Martin who?

ok, maybe that's too far. In fact I love Martin Brodeur, he's one of the greatest goalies ever. But he did just get 4 goals scored on him, and Montreal Canadiens rookie Carey Price just got his second NHL shutout.
Now I'm not sure if Brodeur is really to blame in all of this. All four goals were absolutely beautiful, thread-the-needle passing plays by the fast Montreal forwards, that left the big, slow New Jersey defenseman with their heads spinning.

The Canadiens have the most 40 point-plus players in the league, meaning that they are very effective at pulling goals from all lines. Yes. Even Micheal Ryder got a goal. Ryder seems to be one of those streaky players — perhaps that is what is happening right now... right into the playoffs?

Before this game the Canadiens were 1 point back of the Devils and this win went a long way to help the Canadiens secure at least first in their division, and possibly the conference (although the Devils do have a game at hand).

Also worth a notable note, the Montreal fans have been absolutely fantastic, and it was especially noticed by the Versus commentators tonight. They were loud and energetic all night and gave the Habs a loud standing ovation for pretty much the last two minutes of the game.


And from the good to the absolutely terrible, the Toronto Maple Leafs. So of course the media managed to create this glimmer of hope for this deplorable team that they could possibly, maybe make the playoffs. As of today, they were in control of their own destiny. They only had the small task of winning the next 11 of 12 games. EASY! (most of which are against division rivals or other teams on the brink of the playoffs as well.) *insert snicker here*

Tonight they played the Philadelphia Flyers, and somehow they managed to pull out a 4-3 win, even though they were down 3-0 at the beginning of the third. Now it was a 4-3 win in overtime, they still get their two points, but Philadelphia got a point too. And last time I checked the Flyers were ahead of the Leafs... yup, they still are.

I'm not sure what this OT win means now. I am almost certain I heard they needed to win both of the home and home with the Flyers in regulation. I think we're pretty safe in saying the Leafs aren't making the playoffs. Actually I'm pretty sure that was safe to say roughly around Christmastime.

I spilled coffee all over my keyboard...

That is literally what happened when i saw the Huet trade pop up on the TSN realtime trade tracker. Yesterday was spent in an aura of disbelief. I had wanted my first ever post to my brand new blog to be reaction to TRADE DEADLINE 2008, but i couldn't bring myself to do it. I needed to sleep on it, mostly to make sure that this was really happening. Now i could be wrong. Perhaps Carey Price will rise to the occasion like a young Ken Dryden, or Patrick Roy... or maybe not. Considering Huet is for the most part the goaltender that has gotten the Canadiens into a position where they are challenging for first place in the Eastern Conference, trading him away for a simple second round pick just doesn't add up. The one redeeming thing is that the habs managed a 5-1 drubbing over the Hossa-less Atlanta Thrashers last night... mildly brightening my mood. Let's just hope that the Price we get for the playoffs is the Price that we saw for the World Juniors in 2007.

Speaking of Hossa! Can you believe how much the Penguins gave away for him? un-bel-iev-able. I'm certain it could most certainly pay off huge... My only concern is the departure of Colby Armstrong. Armstrong is a character player who had a lot of chemistry... not only on the team, but most importantly... SIDNEY CROSBY! I hope this works out for the best for them... and let's hope Hossa doesn't go packing to Free Agency at the end of the season.

And for the first time since the beginning of time a Toronto Maple Leafs game looks interesting. They are in Fort Lauderdale tonight to play the Panthers, where they will suit up against a couple former teammates, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak... fingers crossed that Belak drops the gloves.