Tanenbaum completes MLSE stake buy
DAVID SHOALTS
Globe and Mail Update
February 19, 2009 at 1:41 PM EST
TORONTO — Larry Tanenbaum is now officially the second-largest shareholder of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
MLSE, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL and the Toronto Raptors of the NBA and the Air Canada Centre, announced on Thursday that Tanenbaum completed his purchase of half of CTVglobemedia Inc.'s stake in the company. The deal was originally announced in December and is thought to have cost Tanenbaum, who is chairman of MLSE, about $90-million for CTVglobemedia Inc.'s shares, which amounted to 7.7 per cent of MLSE.
The sale, which raises Tanenbaum's share of MLSE to 20.5 per cent, became official on Thursday when the NHL, the NBA and the Major League Soccer all approved the transaction. MLSE also owns Toronto FC of the MLS.
"It's the same deal that was announced, it seems like, a lifetime ago," Dale Lastman, Tanenbaum's lawyer and a member of the MLSE board of directors, said. "It will be business as usual."
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board is the largest shareholder of MLSE with 58.4 per cent. Aside from Tanenbaum and CTVglobemedia Inc. (which owns The Globe and Mail), the other shareholder is the Toronto-Dominion Bank, which has 14 per cent.
While Tanenbaum's goal is to gain majority ownership of the company, and the sale gives him strategic access to more shares if the other investors want to sell, there is no indication the Teachers Pension Plan is ready to cash in its shares.
Based on the price of the transaction, the current value of MLSE is about $1.2-billion.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Tanenbaum completes MLSE stake buy
New arena could bring hockey up to full power
New arena could bring hockey up to full power
The Hearn is Toronto's top site for long-awaited four-pad ice complex
February 27, 2009
Mary Ormsby
Sports Reporter
This may be hockey's biggest power play.
The decommissioned Hearn power plant is the city's top site to build a long-overdue, four-pad arena to anchor a planned sports complex on the eastern portlands, Toronto Mayor David Miller said yesterday.
"It's an extraordinary possibility," Miller said. "The Hearn is unused and it's a huge opportunity to put a sports node there to create a real centrepiece. It's massive and it's a way to re-use that really interesting building."
The mayor also said the estimated 10,000 GTA female hockey players, often squeezed out of affordable ice by boys' and men's leagues, will receive priority access to the arena, which could be ready by 2012 if the province agrees to turn the Unwin Ave. property over to the city.
"The whole reason to do this is for women and girls," said Miller, adding that boys and men would be accommodated, too. "There's a huge demand (by hockey players) and not nearly enough ice and that's why this is important to do and worth doing."
The Toronto Rock are one of several potential private partners recruited by the city who are keen to invest in and use a new arena.
"It would be a great thing for lacrosse in the area," said Rock president Brad Watters, whose National Lacrosse League team does not have a local practice facility.
However, before a shovel goes into the ground for a $34 million arena, the city must acquire the property from the province, since it's owned by Ontario Power Generation. OPG has given a long-term lease to Studios of America, so the city must first resolve that deal with the film company. "We've approached the province in a very preliminary way and there are a few challenges," the mayor said. "But I would think we would be able to get over those."
If the Hearn land can't be acquired, a second location is west of the old building and north of the shipping channel south of Lake Shore Blvd. and east of Cherry St. Testing is being done on the shipping site, with the worry that bedrock may be too deep or the area too contaminated by pollutants.
The arena was originally a Waterfront Toronto project which was given $20 million from the federal government in 2002. The city of Toronto will foot the balance. The project was delayed repeatedly, with the last estimated completion date set at 2010 – but it didn't get past the planning stage. The city stepped in last fall and offered to take over the project.
"It was intended, in the end, to be a city recreational facility so it makes sense for us to take the lead on building it,'' Miller said.
GTHL's $520 fee plan draws mixed reviews
GTHL's $520 fee plan draws mixed reviews
February 28, 2009
Lois Kalchman
Special to the Star
The reaction ranged from outrage to acceptance as parents and club executives absorbed the news of the Greater Toronto Hockey League's new annual $520 "player registration fee" that replaces gate fees.
The fee, announced Thursday, requires parents to pay a maximum $520 for each child on rep teams. That would replace the $5 per game that parents, spectators and some 8,000 players are now charged to enter the rinks.
The GTHL says the new fee, to come into effect next season, would help erase a $400,000 deficit.
"It will affect us big-time," said Carmen Cummings, president of the Scarborough Young Bruins AA.
"We have an under-21 AAA team where most of the players drive themselves to the rink," she said. "They pay their $5 and play. These kids go to school, work and most pay their own way with few parents as spectators. Now these same kids will have to come up with $520 at the beginning of the season which could easily be impossible. We'll lose them."
Cummings also expressed concern that the change would mean the GTHL wouldn't need to supply security for games.
"You could now have a hundred high school kids coming to watch rival clubs and who knows what will happen," she said.
Dan Fitzgerald will have three sons playing GTHL hockey next year.
"It's pretty steep," he said. "I will have to re-evaluate. It's hard economic times. People enjoy organized hockey but will have to balance out the needs. I went with my son last year and that was $360, so this will be a significant increase."
Mike James, president of the Mississauga Senators, has mixed feelings.
"It is the up-front sticker price that is scaring everyone," James said. "I feel for the families that have three or four children, but then there were also families who had only one parent go to a game because they couldn't afford it. Now they will all be able to go to the game without paying and to any other game at no cost."
Mississauga Jets general manager Val Neal is extremely upset.
"It's the wrong time for this," Neal said. "They should look inside first and then when they show us that they have saved ... Now they say we should cut back on our budgets."
Ex-NHLer gets ring 55 years after the Cup
Goalie who played three games stunned to get package from Detroit
February 28, 2009
Ross Brewitt
Special to The Star
It's time for one of those feel-good anecdotes, the kind that doesn't come out of the cynical world of professional sport very often. It's about a goaltender named Dave Gatherum and how his mercurial hockey story finally came full circle.
Make no mistake, Dave Gatherum could play some goal. The mainstay of the Fort William Hurricanes in junior, he was the property of Detroit and after training camp went to Sherbrooke (Que.) in the QHL as third on the Wings' depth chart. Ahead of him were Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall. Any budding goalie would have been number three behind those two.
But in October 1953, with an injury to Sawchuk, coach Tommy Ivan called for Gatherum to join the Wings and installed him between the pipes for the next three games.
Gatherum began his NHL career with a 4-0 shutout of the Leafs. In Chicago, he kept the Hawks off the scoreboard until 21 seconds into the third in a game that ended in a 2-2 tie, establishing an NHL mark for scoreless time by a rookie in his debut, 100 minutes, 21 seconds, a 55-year-old record that still stands.
The next night in Detroit he had another shutout going but the Blackhawks scored with just seven seconds left in the third, a 2-1 Red Wing victory. Gatherum's stats for his entire NHL career reads three games, two wins, one tie, and a goals against average of 1.00.
The Wings went on to win the 1953-54 Stanley Cup with Gatherum's name engraved on it for posterity.
Fast forward to this month, and a small parcel is delivered to the Gatherum home in Thunder Bay. Inside is a striking, 64-diamond encrusted 2007-08 Red Wings Stanley Cup ring, the name "Gatherum" in raised gold on one side, the Stanley Cup on the other, and the Wings' logo perched above a large solitaire diamond on top.
The unheralded, unannounced ring puzzled the Gatherums until they read the letter inside.
"We are very pleased to be able to acknowledge your past Stanley Cup Championship by presenting you with a 2008 championship ring. We sincerely thank you for the pride you brought to the team, the city of Detroit, and the State of Michigan, and we congratulate you on your accomplishment.
Mike and Marian."
"It left us speechless," Gatherum admitted of the letter from Wings owner Mike Ilitch and his wife.
Ilitch had decided to give rings to every living Wing that won a Cup prior to their 1997 championship, the team's first title in decades.
All the players in Gatherum's day were without rings. They weren't the sought-after ID of pro sports champions until the mid-60s.
"I was moved," Gatherum said, "I had to say thank you to someone, so I called the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, and going through the switchboard, then a receptionist, I was put through to the executive offices. When I explained who I was, and why I was calling a man said, `Just hang on.' The next voice I heard said, `So, you received the ring?'
``When I asked who I was speaking to he said, `Mike Ilitch.' I could hardly believe it and when I told him I wanted to send a letter of thanks, he said, `Just hearing your voice, and knowing you're happy, Dave, is thanks enough.'"
Now, with a ring he claims is almost too big, and valuable, for everyday wear, Gatherum is still pondering his good fortune.
With that, there was a pause in our conversation. ``All I can tell you is Mike Ilitch didn't have to do this. But turning the ring over one day I noticed there was something engraved on the inside. FAMILY.
"It's one of the nicest things I've ever experienced, and all I know is, this ring will be in the Gatherum family. Forever!"
Ross Brewitt is an author of five sports books and a freelance columnist. In past lives, he worked for Hockey Night in Canada, Maple Leaf Sports Productions and the Buffalo Sabres.
NHLPA takes a cautious look to economics
February 4, 2009
NHLPA takes a cautious look to economics
By Shi Davidi, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Paul Kelly thinks the National Hockey League should look to Canada first if the current economic downturn forces one of the existing 30 franchises to find a new home.
Speaking a day after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke of his league's bright outlook during a speech at the National Club, the head of the players' association took a much more cautious stance in his outlook for the future.
Kelly freely admitted Wednesday that some franchises in "blue-collar areas and the sun-belt areas" are "running into some tough times" and said the union is monitoring the situation in Phoenix, where the league has advanced the Coyotes funds and is helping the troubled ownership find "new investors, possibly new owners."
And while he expects the next NHL season to open with the same 30 teams this one ends with, he says moving teams north is the way to go if that changes.
"I actually believe that Toronto and the greater Southern Ontario area certainly can support a second team and that sooner (rather) than later we ought to have a second team here," Kelly said before attending the Conn Smythe Celebrities Dinner and Auction.
"If we reach the point where one of the existing franchises runs into real difficulties and they can't continue to exist in that location, than I think we need to look here first, to Canada.
"There are other opportunities. ... Most of those names are out there, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Houston, Winnipeg. We hope all 30 survive, but if they don't, I would be at the front of the line pushing for a Canadian franchise."
During the all-star break Kelly said he wouldn't be surprised if more than one team moved in the next five years. He sounded pessimistic about Phoenix's chances of making it.
"We hope they survive but it's a tough market when you're in the desert and most of your populous hasn't grown up on the sport, playing the sport," he said. "It's a really difficult area to make a go of it."
On Tuesday, Bettman said the Coyotes "will be fine."
Bettman also said the NHL's growth is expected to slow from 12 per cent in 2007-08 to five or six per cent this season, a number Kelly agreed with but clarified.
Kelly said that by factoring in the Canadian dollar's decline, actual growth will be just one per cent, a decline of six per cent on the raw dollar number plus five more on the worsened exchange.
He pegged expected overall league revenues somewhere between US$2.6-$2.61 billion, and pointed to concern over the remaining non-guaranteed revenue sources like playoff ticket sales and concessions as the reason for the union's increase in escrow payments from the players.
That is money deducted from players' salaries to ensure the league's total payroll doesn't exceed 56.7 per cent of the NHL's hockey-related revenue. If it does, money is taken from the escrow accounts to make up the difference.
Players are having 22.5 per cent of their paycheques lopped off to escrow.
"We looked at real numbers and we determined how much of the projected revenue is still at risk," said Kelly. "... We came in at 22.5 per cent, which we think is the right number for the players' association. I suspect that if you ask the league, they would probably have come in around 16 or 17 per cent. ...
"The players are building in some protection because if our escrow amount is short of what is necessary, it's very difficult for us to go back to players after the season is over to collect additional funds."
Meanwhile, Kelly also had little to say about Eric Lindros' resignation from the role of ombudsman on Tuesday. There have been persistent reports of friction between the two.
"Eric has decided to go off and do other things, we respect that, we wish him well," said Kelly. "We're in the business of looking forward rather than looking back. As far as we're concerned it's nothing that really requires any detailed comment."
Fighting is on the way out: Former NHL ref.
Fighting is on the way out: Former NHL ref.
By Jim Kernaghan, THE CANADIAN PRESS
LONDON, Ont. - Former NHL referee-in-chief Bryan Lewis says fighting in hockey is on the way out.
Lewis was part of a Violence in Hockey Symposium staged Tuesday by the Middlesex-London Health Unit, a gathering of hockey officials, coaches, media members and a former professional player at the London Convention Centre.
"I believe the screw is finally being turned," Lewis said in an interview.
"I think it's slowly being removed from the game."
The symposium, attended by 98 coaches, trainers and administrators, sought recommendations leading to a decrease in injuries resulting from gratuitous violence on the ice.
Panellist Bernie Pascall, a veteran sportscaster who did play-by-play for the Vancouver Canucks along with 12 world hockey championships and 12 Memorial Cups, conducted a far-reaching report on violence for the British Columbia government in 2000. Among his findings was evidence of parental and crowd influence, inconsistent officiating, and beneath it all, a 'culture' in hockey that celebrates aggressive behaviour as a manly pursuit.
Has he seen changes since his report and recommendations?
"A little, not much," Pascall said. "Young players aren't born to be violent, they're shown to be violent".
Pascall said hundreds of interviews with young hockey players led to frank commentary from the kids. Some dreaded the ride home with their fathers and the vocal criticism en route.
"There are those who embarrass the kids, steal their fun," Pascall said.
One of the B.C. initiatives designed to control parental outbursts at games is a "Parent Contract" which enables arena management to oust overly aggressive parents from games.
Dan Rose, a 33-year coaching veteran at all levels up to Junior B, felt the rules changes were beginning to tighten down instances of fighting.
"There's been a decline," the former St. Thomas Stars coach said, "because players have to show more discipline. You can't be facing power plays too much because they're so good nowadays. You can't just be a fighter, you have to play or I can't afford to put you on the ice."
Lewis said his two fears as a parent were a head check to his son or a check from behind.
He worked more than one thousand NHL games between 1970 and 1986 before becoming supervisor of officials and then director of officiating in 1989. He retired from the NHL in 2001 and currently is a councillor in the town of Halton Hills and director of officiating for the East Coast Hockey League.
He drew a laugh with a suggestion to end fights.
"If the game is scheduled to start at 7:30, the two fighters should come out at 7:15 and fight at centre ice, with the survivor getting to play," he said. "As it is, they get rewarded for fighting when they get sent off late in a 7-2 game. They get the hot water (showers) first while everyone else has to suffer through to the end."
The topic of hits to the head was prominent at the symposium. Ken Bocking, chief of staff at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital, spoke of a son who sustained two concussions via elbows to the head that ended his career. Bocking showed a graphic film clip of a monkey's brain upon impact.
The Ontario Hockey Association got involved but the NHL, Bocking said, "took it under consideration".
"It's immoral to hit another player with a head-check," Bocking said. "I can't fathom how we, as a society, put up with it. The dinosaurs are in charge but they won't always be."
Throughout the symposium, the NHL was fingered as the type of play most in the minors tend to emulate. Yet what one panellist termed "flagrant, wanton acts" went on all the time with scant punishment.
Lack of respect for opponents and officials had led to another problem besetting hockey in Canada, said George Black, president of Sports Officials Canada.
"Retaining officials is a critical issue," he said."Retention rates are startlingly low. It's an issue at all levels of hockey."
Three media members expressed frustration over being unable to express their views on hockey violence widely.
"Nobody wants to talk about problems in the game," said Bruce Dowbiggen of the Calgary Herald.
Organizers will sift through all the views to come up with recommendations. Most agreed with Pascall and Lewis - people are listening and things are changing. Some hope an upcoming NHL general managers' meeting will hear.
NHL agents trying to figure out the economy
February 26, 2009
NHL agents trying to figure out the economy
By Chris Johnston, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Paul Kelly is finding out that there's no precise weather report for an economic storm.
The executive director of the NHL Players' Association still isn't sure exactly how much impact the crumbling economy will have on the league beyond next season.
Kelly presided over an annual meeting with certified player agents on Thursday and spent plenty of time addressing economic issues.
He figures the salary cap will be between $54 million and $57 million next season, but he can't say what will happen in 2010-11.
"It's like predicting the weather - you get about three or four days out and you can't do it reliably," said Kelly.
There seems to be little question that it's going to drop. The answer many in the business are looking for is by how much?
One of the primary roles that agents perform for clients is negotiating their contracts. With overall league revenues expected to decline, the pay cheques for players will decline right along with them.
Understandably, that's a cause for some general concern.
"There was a lot of time spent on where the economy is and how the economy will affect escrow and the (salary) cap," said J.P. Barry of CAA Sports.
"Obviously, it was a cautious message: 'We don't know what's going to happen, but if certain things happen this is where it could go."'
Added Pat Morris of Newport Sports: "You can't help go through a meeting like that (without discussing the economy), it's talked about everywhere in the world in any business."
One thing the union will monitor closely is what mechanisms teams use to stay under the cap. Some might start burying NHL players in the minors; others could elect to buy more guys out.
Even with a poor economy, many agents remain optimistic that they'll be able to get their big clients signed to lucrative deals when the free agency opens on July 1.
"The UFA market and the general economy have never really been in sync," said Barry. "Certain teams need to win.
"I think the real top players in the league will always benefit from unrestricted free agency."
If anyone suffers, it might be the mid-range player.
There's also speculation that many NHL teams will shy away from the long-term deals they were handing out like candy after the lockout. However, Kelly believes there will also be a limit to that.
"What we're hearing is that, yes, there are some teams in particular that are pushing for shorter-term contracts," he said. "Longer-term deals are not going to go away.
"If you've got a star player, if you've got an Alexander Ovechkin, you don't want to sign him to a two-year deal.
"You want him on the roster just as long as you can keep him on the roster."
The NHLPA also took time during the meeting to inform agents of issues relating to internal organization, international play and the collective bargaining agreement.
And, with the trade deadline looming next Wednesday, there was plenty of talk between sessions about what might happen in the coming days.
One player looking to find an NHL home is Sean Avery. He needs to be on a team's roster by March 4 in order to be eligible for the playoffs.
Morris is Avery's agent and believes his client is ready to play at the highest level again.
A key reason for that is the time Avery spent away from the game earlier this year.
"I think an absence tells you what the game means to you," said Morris. "He had to get his personal life straightened out, which I think he's done.
"He's shown going to the American league and playing hard and interacting with teammates, coaches, trainers and fans in a real refreshing way from what he used to do - I think that shows what hockey means to him."
Big league dreams, big league odds
Big league dreams, big league odds
The good, the bad and the ugly about minor hockey in Manitoba
By PAUL FRIESEN, SUN MEDIA
It's easily the most controversial issue on the Winnipeg sports scene.
Ask a parent, coach or ref what's wrong with minor hockey, and you'll get an earful that'll last 30 minutes.
We're stretching it to three full days, with an in-depth look at the grassroots of Canada's game.
Today, we drop the puck and Just Let 'Em Play.
They're all over television every Christmas during the World Junior Hockey Championships, becoming national heroes in the time it takes to score a shootout goal. Or three.
They're winning Stanley Cups, bringing the famous trophy home for day-long parties in Winnipeg, Winkler and St. Andrews.
They're pulling NHL jerseys over faces barely old enough to shave, signing million-dollar contracts, being hailed, even, as the saviour of a storied Original Six franchise.
Has there been a more glorious time for Manitobans in hockey?
From former World Junior shootout hero Jonathan Toews, now captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, to Detroit Red Wings prospect Darren Helm, who wins Stanley Cups as fast as he skates -- it took him just seven regular season games to get his first.
From NHL regulars like Travis Zajac, who's having a devil of a time in New Jersey, to Ranger Nigel Dawes, enjoying a full bite of the Big Apple.
Cam Barker in Chicago, Ian White of the Leafs, Calgary's Dustin Boyd, Andrew Murray in Columbus, Edmonton's Dustin Penner -- all everyday players in the NHL.
Another crop of nine were drafted last summer, led by first-round picks Colin Wilson and Chet Pickard. The next ones, apparently.
To a minor hockey mom and dad on the same trail, attempting to follow the fancy footwork of Toews and Dawes in St. Vital, or Zajac in St. James, it's all so deliciously tantalizing.
And terribly unlikely.
"A real high percentage of parents have unrealistic expectations of their kids," Billy Keane, a longtime local coach and organizer told the Sun. "You better just make sure you're creating good citizens. And don't be overly concerned with your nest egg. 'Cause little Johnny's probably not going to be a pro."
The truth is as cold and hard as an outdoor sheet of ice in January: your boy's odds of making it to the NHL are minuscule. Heck, he doesn't even stand a good chance of reaching major junior (see box).
The numbers don't lie.
Some 9,000 kids are playing minor boys hockey in Winnipeg in any given season. Since the year 2000, an average of four players per year from Winnipeg have been drafted by NHL teams. The numbers from rural Manitoba are similar.
How many of those actually end up playing in The Show?
Of the 31 Manitobans drafted from 2000 to 2003 -- they've had at least five years to make it -- just seven have spent any significant time (50 games or more) in the NHL. A full 15 players, or nearly half of those drafted in that time, still haven't played a single NHL game.
For every Toews, there is an Owen Fussey, an early-round 2001 pick who played four games. For every Barker, a Phil Cole, Geoff Waugh or Lance Monych, all of whom have yet to see a big-league game cheque.
If that's not scientific enough, a study of 30,000 players in Ontario concluded the odds of a Canadian player forging a significant NHL career, complete with a pension, are one in 5,000 -- and that's in a good year.
There are others who beat even longer odds by taking the circuitous route, undrafted players who make it as free agents, like tough guys Riley Cote (Philadelphia) and Colton Orr (Rangers).
But you can count them on one set of knuckles.
Whether you land punches or score goals, players sometimes have to be patient to get noticed here.
"We're a bit off the beaten path," former NHLer Carey Wilson, who operates local skills camps, said. "They don't get the same exposure. It's not that they're not good enough, they're just not always given the same opportunity."
When it comes to the NHL draft, Manitoba is holding its own with Saskatchewan these days (which hasn't always been the case), producing 13 prospects compared to our western neighbour's 14 over the last two years.
The cream of this province's recent crop should only help get people's attention.
"You can't knock the results," Peter Woods, executive director of Hockey Manitoba, said. "Dustin Boyd, Jonathan Toews, Cam Barker, Nigel Dawes, Travis Zajac -- kids that have come through the minor hockey system in the last few years. Those are outstanding numbers, kids that have gone on to become household names in the NHL."
You might say they've won the lottery.
Against similar odds, too.
paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca
---
STUNTED GROWTH
Registration Totals, Hockey Manitoba
2008-09 2007-08 2006-07
Boys 18,130 19,003 18,924
Girls 3,908 3,958 3,842
---
LONG, HARD ROAD TO THE SHOW
WINNIPEG MINOR, 2007-08
- Number of boys: 9,000 (approx.)
- Number of boys at the AAA level: 280
- Number drafted by WHL teams: 22
- Number drafted by NHL teams: six
- Average yearly number drafted by NHL teams, since 2000: four
- Average yearly number to play significant NHL games: one
MANITOBA
- Average yearly number of boys: 19,000 (approx.)
- Average yearly number drafted since 2000: eight
- Most drafted in one year: 11 (2002 & 2003)
- Total drafted since 2000: 72
- Number of those playing regularly in the NHL this season: 11
NHL players raising money for Right To Play
NHL players raising money for Right To Play
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - They're doing it in honour of their parents, deceased friends and former hockey coaches. But above all, NHL players are choosing to give back in support of the international humanitarian organization Right To Play.
February 27, 2009
Alex Ovechkin, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton and Daniel Alfredsson are among a group of 28 NHL players who will make donations to the charity based on the numbers of minutes they play in one of their games this weekend.
Each will make their donation on behalf of a role model.
Chara travelled to Mozambique last summer and saw first-hand some of the work that Right To Play is doing with children in that country.
"I was inspired by their commitment and extremely impressed by the ability of just a few coaches to create such happiness and amazing learning opportunities for literally hundreds of children," he said. "My father was a mentor for me and that is why I am honouring him with my donation.
"I know it is for an outstanding cause."
Chara is one of the organization's biggest supporters. He wore a yellow tuque featuring Right To Play's logo during the skills competition at the all-star game in Montreal and donated money he earned for winning the hardest shot competition.
In all, players from 25 different NHL teams will make donations this weekend. That list includes Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators, Robyn Regehr of the Calgary Flames, Ethan Moreau of the Edmonton Oilers, Mike Komisarek of the Montreal Canadiens, Dominic Moore of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kevin Bieksa of the Vancouver Canucks.
Right To Play runs sport and play programs in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. The organization reaches 600,000 children every week through its various programs.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Random Q & A
Will Ron Wilson's defense-first system work?
Yeah, I think it will, actually. When Paul Maurice came and proclaimed he was going to play the grind-your-ass-off style that worked for him in Carolina, he didn't have the guys to do it (did anybody realistically expect guys like Stajan, Steen, and O'Neill can keep the puck along the boards as Big Beast Chara has his way with the each of them?) But this time around it seems like Fletcher has brought in enough defensively sound (read: offensively challenged) players to help Wilson impose his way upon the team. Even if it means having to endure some ugly hockey this year, I think in the long run this has potential. Build a defensively sound system, then bit by bit add a little offensive flair... provided whoever succeeds Fletcher plays his cards right, of which I am justifiably cynical about.
What's there to look forward to this season? Everybody knows the Leafs aren't going anywhere.
True enough. When even the team's own boss comes out and admits the squad is full of third line ragtags, you know it won't be a season ending in a blaze of glory. But interestingly enough I find this season more intriguing than the last one, when they simply went through the motions, told everyone who was willing to believe that they were trying to contend, and signed Jason Blake-- when any keen-eyed observer knows, even from just a glance at the paper lineups, that they weren't going nowhere. This year, however, there are quite a few things I'm interested to see pan out-- will Steen/Stajan finally rise to the occasion and jump to the top two lines? How will Antropov hold up holding the scoring torch? Will we see the nothing-to-write-home-about Hagman or the really bad Hagman? How many times will the phrase "3.5 million" follow the name "Jeff Finger" in the papers?
See? It ain't all bad. But just in case it is, there's still the new HD screen above centre ice to look forward to. I hear it's snazzy. Here's a suggestion for the marketing department to drum up the hype: Crystal Clear Crappiness!
When will Ron Wilson have his first meltdown?
Ooh, tough one. I guess when he catches sight of my buddy Jermaine F.
Guess the next captain.
If we believe the papers and Wilson ends up with a rotating system, I suppose we won't find out for a long long time. To be honest, I've always liked Kaberle, which isn't always an easy thing to say around these parts. He's got a calm presence on the ice, which is quite hard to find, and besides, as the longest serving Leaf I think he automatically merits consideration. The problem is that, as Merv rightfully pointed out to me when I brought this up, it's a blurry line between "calm presence" and being, pardon our language, a pussy, passive, or worse, indifference. Besides, he might not stick around until the next captain is appointed.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tackling the Training Camp: The Goalies
Alright well lets get right back into it with the Goalies. It seems pretty straight forward what Leaf Management are doing with their goaltenders this season. There are 6 goaltenders in camp with the biggest competition coming in the lower ranks of the organization
At the NHL level I think the story is pretty clear. Vesa Toskala is the guy, he is the Leafs only real impact player and the success they have this year will largely depend on how many games he is able to steal for the Leafs.
Backing up Toskala is the Leafs very own prodigal son, Curtis Joseph. He made a very costly misstep when he left the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002, injury and drama ensued, he was never able to be the player he was in Toronto but it has all come full circle. Joseph is back for the farewell tour, he will be looked upon for leadership on an inexperienced team this year as he sails towards the horizon and a job off ice with the Leafs organization next season.
This is a make or break year for Justin Pogge, it will be his third as a pro and while he was not the best of the Marlie goaltenders last season he had a very respectable year. The Leafs are hoping that he can take it to the next level and step up and be that undisputed number one goalie for the Marlies this season. Unlike last year, Leaf Management expect Pogge will be in a position to be the number one call up for the Leafs in case of injury.
The real competition at the goaltending position is between a trio of goaltenders looking to be the guy to push Justin Pogge in the AHL. The Leafs rookie goaltenders Michael Ouzas and especially former Red Deer Rebel James Reimer will be fighting for a job with the Toronto Marlies. For insurance though the Leafs have invited minor pro veteran Adam Munro to camp to perhaps provide more stability in goal with the Marlies this season. Munro has 17 games NHL experience with the Blackhawks and has played over 100 pro games in the minor leagues. If Munro is able to earn a job with the Marlies it is likely that both Reimer and Ouzas will end up with the Leafs new ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals.
That is it for my Leaf training camp preview, I'll be updating the camp roster regularly on the sidebar and I'll be doing a season preview once the roster seems to be a bit more finalized once the pre-season is in full swing.
Tackling the Training Camp Roster: The Defence
Today I continue my preview of the Leafs training camp with a look at the group of defencemen the Leafs have invited to camp. The Leafs have a significant group of defencemen capable of playing a regular shift in the NHL. The biggest task for the Leafs brass this pre-season is to loosen that log jam on defence.
The Leafs defence core will once again be anchored by Tomas Kaberle. With the departure of Bryan McCabe, Kaberle will likely have fellow Czech Pavel Kubina running shotgun to start the year. Jeff Finger is all but assured a top 4 role given the contract he signed in the off season but the 3 remaining spots on the back end are up for grabs.
In addition to Kubina and Finger, the Leaf defence is saturated with right handed shooters this year, Van Ryn, White, Schenn and Stralman all shoot from the right and will have a shot at making the season opening roster. Those four players along with Carlo Colaiacovo, Jonas Frogren and Staffan Kronwall will be fighting for their NHL lives in camp but ultimately as many as three may miss out on being named to the season opening roster.
The most interesting name on the back end is obviously Luke Schenn, he's a steady, physical stay at home defenceman that started off rookie camp slow but got better with every game. With the depth the Leafs have on defence it is no question will have a hard time making the team out of camp. If he really shines in camp, a likely scenario for Schenn would be to star the season on the Leafs roster, get a few NHL games experience under his belt and then he could be sent back to Kelowna to finish his junior career. It will be nearly impossible for Schenn to make this team out of camp, Cliff Fletcher and Ron Wilson have pretty much said that in order for Schenn to make the team he must be one of the top 4 defencemen on the team. But even if that were to happen I'm not convinced they'd hand him a full time spot anyway. This is for a couple reasons, firstly it is simply a numbers game, the Leafs would lose an asset by keeping Schenn on the NHL squad and secondly, Schenn must be paired with an experienced NHL defenceman capable of taking Schenn under his wing. The Leafs currently don't have a guy like that. Kaberle and Kubina will be too busy eating big minutes and everyone else on the core has question marks floating over their head. It would not be in Schenn's best interest to enter a situation like this. They will send him back to junior, allow him to play in the World Junior Championships where he will likely wear a letter.
With Schenn out of the way for this season, there are likely 4 roster spots waiting to be claimed by the remaining 6 players. If Carlo Colaiacovo can finally put together a healthy season he will likely fit into the Leafs top four defensive roster spots. A Colaiacovo - Finger tandem is one that would hit hard and play a steady defensive game. This is the type of pairing we have not had in a long time and the team will certainly be better with those two playing a strong, physical style of hockey.
You can all but ensure that promising youngster Anton Stralman will make the team as they strive to get younger. With Stralman's inclusion it becomes a competition between Ian White, Mike Van Ryn, Staffan Kronwall and Jonas Frogren for the final 2 spots on the Leafs roster. I believe Van Ryn will be one of the guys to make the team. He is Cliff's reclamation project. We will likely see him moved at the deadline to a team looking to move over the top and until then we can not accurately judge the McCabe deal. Kronwall and White seem to be the two defencemen on the outside looking in. They are both capable of taking a regular shift in the NHL and at times in 07-08 Ian White looked like one of the best defencemen on the roster. Unfortunately the Leafs have plenty of soft offensive defencemen and White could be peddled for a mediocre return in the form of draft picks.
Kronwall has had his chances with the Leafs and he really seemed like he fit in well while he played with the teams. His waiver exemption is probably what kept him out of the NHL more than anything the past few seasons. He was an easy roster move. He could squeak in with a strong camp but I think he'll clear waivers this year and will be off to season by Christmas. A bit of a stretch but why not, I'm in the mood to gamble.
So lets talk about the guy who is left. Jonas Frogren, NHL rookie and Swedish import will likely have an edge on Van Ryn for the final roster spot on opening night. He plays a strong defensive game has an edge for European standards and has familiarity with Anton Stralman. The two played together at the World Championships for Sweden and whatever chemistry they've developed playing together may be enough for Frogren to earn an every day role. The Leafs made an attempt to bring Frogren over, its naive to think that he wouldn't get a chance to make an every day impact.
Guys like Sifers, Oreskovic and recent signings Boumedienne, Langdon and Uotila will all be trying to make an impression on Leafs brass but will likely not be capable of enough to knock out any of the players on the Leaf roster.
So as it stands and from my humble perspective the Leafs defence core is looking likely to end up something like this:
Kaberle --- Kubina
Colaiacovo - Finger
Van Ryn/Frogren - Stralman
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tackling the Training Camp Roster: The Forwards
The Leafs have announced their 2008-09 training camp roster which is set to gather Friday for team medicals. The group will join the Leaf Coaching staff on ice at Ricoh Colliseum on Saturday and Sunday for their only workouts prior to the Coca Cola Zero Fans First Game against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. In the next 3 days I'll be breaking down the Leafs training camp roster by position, providing my very own prognostications (as my friend Billy says) on how camp will break down and what the post-camp Leaf and Marlie rosters will look like. Today we start with the Forwards.
The Leafs have invited thirty-six forwards to camp this year as they try to sort out a lineup that got a major overhaul in the off season. While many of the invitees are along just for the experience, there are still perhaps as many as nineteen forwards at camp with making the big team in mind. The final Leafs forward lineup will likely come from a group that consists of...
Those who are all but assured a spot:
- Antropov, Hagman, Stajan, Blake, Steen, Mayers, Kulemin, Tlusty, Grabovski.
Those fighting for an every day role:
- Ponikarovsky, Bell, Hollweg, Moore, Devereaux.
Those on the fringe likely to end up with the Marlies:
- J.Mitchell, Williams, Earl, Boyce, Newbury, Ondrus
It is no secret, the Leafs are going young this year, this is why you see the likes of Tlusty, Kulemin and Grabovski in the category of guys all but assured a spot come the season opener in Detroit. Training camp is going to take on a whole new meaning for Leaf forwards this year. With Cliff Fletcher's recent admission that Nik Antropov is his team's only legitimate top-six forward, you can be sure that young players like Steen, Stajan, Tlusty, Kulemin and Grabovski all have a chance at earning top 6 roles and being an important part of the Leafs offence. With that one simple statement Cliff has created a competition for spots unlike anything we have seen in recent history with the Leafs. Everyone will be given an honest look and it seems like priority ice time will not just be handed to veterans like Jason Blake or Nik Hagman as it may have been in the past, it will be earned by anyone who is going to work hard enough.
It is a make or break situation for a couple of Leafs forwards, as I see it Alexi Ponikarovsky and Mark Bell will be duking it out for one spot on the Leafs roster this camp. They are middle of the road guys who play a similar up and down game and you can be sure with players with an actual future on this team fighting for roster spots, both these guys won't be on the team. If Bell even just matches the play of Ponikarovsky this pre-season I believe there is a good chance Ponikarovsky will be traded. While Ponikarovsky provides a big body presence he's only ever been able to put up points on Mats Sundin's wing, it would be in the Leafs best interest to trade him now before other teams realize the top 6 potential he showed in the past was just the results of another Mats Sundin charity project. Mark Bell's physicality will be more useful to the Leafs in the 3rd line role that the two will likely be battling for. Ponikarovsky also has trade value while you couldn't pay someone to take Bell. If Cliff is looking to get back some of the picks he's traded away this summer, trading Ponikarovsky would be an efficient place to start.
With an outside chance to make this team I think you'll see John Mitchell and Jeremy Williams slip past the first cut and make it into some exhibition games. You gotta believe this is the last opportunity for Williams who finished the season with the Leafs last season. In staying with the Leafs til the end last year Williams was ineligible to compete in the AHL playoffs indicating the organization believes it is time for Williams to take the next step if he's ever going to do it. If he doesn't make this team it is likely the end of the line for him in Toronto. Mitchell is a guy who finally stepped up last season and in the AHL playoffs. He plays a fairly gritty two way game and will be looking to build on last years success with the Marlies. He has some people on his side within the Leafs organization and will definitely get a look. Ultimately I believe these two guys will fall short of making the team but they should have the opportunity to make the team.
Earl and Boyce are perhaps in the same category as Mitchell and Williams, they are of similar age and both had an opportunity with the Leafs last season but they haven't been around as long as the other two and are perhaps a bit earlier in their development and the pressure to make the team is not as great. They may get a look with the Leafs this season, but I'd consider them longshots to make the team.
I believe the Newbury and Ondrus era has all but come to the close and their names will fall in line with past part-time Leaf grinders like Josh Holden, Aaron Gavey and Bates Battaglia(who you notice I have not listed in any of my categories.)
The final category to look out for is the rookies, 2008 Leaf draftees up front Joel Champagne and Mikhail Stefanovich look to make an impression up front in their first NHL training camp. 2007 Leaf pick Dale Mitchell, looks to gain more experience after signing an entry level contract last spring and competing with the Marlies in the playoffs. Don't expect him to make the team though as a 19 year old. In a similar boat is Chris DiDomenico, another Toronto naitive looking to build off a strong rookie camp and get a taste of pro hockey. Look for him to continue his development in Saint John this season and possibly win some hardware in the Q. Look for guys like Stefano Giliati, Eric Wellwood, Kyle Rogers, and Greg Scott to try and convince the Leaf brass they are legitimate prospects and deserve a further look but they will likely be cut on Sunday or early Monday morning.
Most interesting forward to watch: Nikolai Kulemin- Could have an impact anywhere from line 1-3
Left Wing - Centre ---- Right Wing
Tlusty ------ Antropov --- Blake
Hagman --- Grabovski -- Kulemin
Bell --------- Stajan ------ Steen
Hollweg ---- Moore ------ Mayers
Devereaux
Tomorrow we'll tackle the crowding on defence.
Leaf Rookie Camp
Leaf Rookie Camp Archive
Rookie Tournament:
Sep 13: 06pm: TOR(2) vs PIT(5)
Sep 14: 06pm: TOR(5) vs OTT(7)
Sep 15: 07pm: TOR(4) vs FLA(0
Leaf Rookie Tournament Roster
