Just when you think you've seen all the stupid you need to see, along comes a guy like Argos offensive lineman Rob Murphy.
His imbecilic tweets have landed him in hot water with his team, the Canadian Football League and anyone else who has a brain in their head.
What would possess this idiot to make racially offensive tweets while a member of a professional sports team is something that nobody will ever been able to explain.
In this day and age where mindless social networking has caused pain and suffering for thousands of nitwits, how could such basic common sense escape this guy?
I guess the obvious answer is that he's taken too many shots to the head but that's too easy.
The answer is more like this, he's an asshole.
At this very moment there are people all over the world getting stung and stung hard by hitting a send button without using their heads. There are people losing jobs and friends and family relations because of dumb-ass things they've written on twitter, facebook or web pages.
How did Rob Murphy not clue into this?
How could this guy become a professional athlete with an increased profile and obligation to image of so many others and tweet about "smelly foreigners and Frenchland."
Here are the tweets. Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way ... little known fact."
Another post by Murphy read, "OK ... the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and "Frenchland" has worn out ... get me off this damn thing!!!!"
It is so horrifically stupid you can only deduce that he really believes what he writes.
Some might argue that being a CFL player doesn't qualify has high profile, but it does, and more importantly it makes him a target. How did he not think about this?
There millions of offensive tweets being made as I write this by people who don't matter. They don't have a "name" or a special identity so in essence they get away with it or they're written off as idiots without really paying for it.
By pulling on an Argonaut jersey every week, Murphy has a unique status that changes the rules for him when it comes to stupid, but again, he obviously didn't grasp this.
All it took was one person to grab one tweet because it was coming from an Argonaut and the rest his history.
Murphy has defended himself by saying this - "Obviously my recent tweets have gotten blown out of proportion. I'm sorry if I offended anyone by my recent comments. I was JOKING around"
Sorry jerk off but that doesn't cut it.
You've not only embarrassed yourself, but a team and an entire league.
The Argos play in Montreal this weekend. I wonder if the fans will be able to smell your stupidity.
Let me try and get my head around this. Paul Henderson isn't in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but two women are?
It was with great surprise and disgust that I received the news that Canadian Angela James and American Cammi Granato were given the honour yesterday, which boils down to nothing more than a token gesture towards political correctness.
Neither one of these women have done anything to merit entry into the Hall. They haven't been inducted as builders, they've been inducted as players, and you may have noticed the greatest in women's hockey rank slightly above a male midget house-leaguer.
Sorry, but that's the truth.
The Hockey Hall of Fame doesn't exist to play goofy little games to appease an element of society that can't see straight. It's there to recognize good hockey players regardless of gender, not to appease a hysterical element that demands the unreasonable.
I understand there are a lot of happy women walking around Canada today, pointing towards the justice that has prevailed through the Hockey Hall of Fame, but that's bullshit. By inducting James and Granato the Hall has been immeasurably blemished.
Forget about not being inducted as builders, which I might be able to get my head around; they weren't even given special designation as women, which also would have been reasonable. Their plaques will hang along side Gretzky, Hull and Howe, and that is ridiculous.
Hockey players? Are you kidding me? There are probably more players worthy of this designation playing inter-city in Brampton.
I don't mean to sound like a prick, but come one, the only way a woman should make the Hockey Hall of Fame is through a special section of the Hall designated specifically for women. No other way.
Tell me how you explain yesterday's decision to Henderson?
I'm sure the do-gooders who pushed for Angela James to get it used her contribution to international hockey as an argument, even though the competition Canada's national hockey team faced was almost non-existent.
How can James make it, yet Henderson is still on the outside looking in after scoring the most significant goal in Canadian hockey history?
Up until yesterday, the argument used against Henderson is that he didn't have a good enough NHL career to warrant entry into the Hall, but again, if that's the case, how does James get in? Besides playing for Canada's national team the highest level of hockey she ever played was in a failed ladies professional league that couldn't have competed with a men's old-timers league.
You got to feel bad for Henderson. Talk about being slapped around.
It started with the Hall of Fame inducting Vladislav Tretiak way back in 1989. This guy pops up and plays a few good games against an out of shape Team Canada in 1972 and is celebrated like he's some kind of superman.
In reality, once Team Canada got their legs, they made Tretiak look like an idiot over the final four games of the Summit series scoring 17 goals against him, including six in deciding game eight which included Henderson's winner.
After that, Tretiak came to North America a few times and was slightly above average, but he makes the Hall 21 years ago while Henderson still hasn't.
I'm disgusted by the whole bloody process, and yesterday only makes it worse.
Honestly, I tried to take a more positive attitude towards this World Cup. There are so many things I don't like about soccer that it really is tough for me to suck it up and try to be one of the multi-millions around the world who get caught-up in this event, but I couldn't do it.
And I couldn't do it for the most unexpected of reasons. The vuvuzela.
It's that goddamn horn that everybody's blowin' in the stadiums across South Africa. It provides a constant din while you're watching a game, and I just can't take it anymore.
During the game on Friday I thought it might be an opening day thing that would eventually go away, but here I am on Sunday morning doing my best to watch Ghana and Serbia of all bloody things, and the vuvuzelas are still going strong.
Whose idea was this?
I guess its OK if you're in one of the stadiums and you're caught up in the excitement of the game ( I use excitement loosely), but to watch it on television and be fighting to hear the commentary over a high pitched and extremely aggravating sound is way too much for this hoser.
I'm not going to beat around the bush, I'm not a soccer fan. I find the sport to be horrifically boring and I admit it comes from never taking the time to fully appreciate the game. But I've never taken the time because it's never encouraged me to take the time.
The tie games and the low scores and the tedious nonsense of watching the ball slowly worked down the field only to be booted back to where it just came from is something I'll never appreciate.
The beautiful game they call it. How on earth can they call soccer the beautiful game less than one week after we were all treated to the Stanley Cup final? That my friends is the beautiful game.
And while most people get more excited at World Cup time, the aggravation only increases for me. It becomes a cheap way of promoting your heritage, even though in most cases the people cheering for their homeland have never been to their homeland.
To me, the game isn't the thing; it's what it represents that really matters to most people, a chance to put a Serbian flag on your car and drive around town like you're the President of that country.
And while I'm on that point, let me say this. I don't think the flag of any foreign country should be flown in Canada without the Canadian flag flying next to it. Even it's one of those goofy car flags. It's the respectful thing to do, but here in Canada we don't seem to encourage such behaviour.
Again, I went into this World Cup with the best of intentions. It's being held in South Africa and my wife is South African, she was actually born there.
I thought what the hell, I'll cheer for South Africa as a means of trying to bring some sense of passion to it, but it was all shot to hell very quickly.
Because of those goddamn vuvuzelas.
And spare me the solution of turning down the sound on the television. Soccer is boring enough without having to watch it in silence.
I think I'll go out back and watch some weeds grow.
It would be different if it was Paul Henderson who sold his Team Canada hockey sweater back in 1972, because then I wouldn't even be writing this post.
But Henderson gave it away. In an unbelievable gesture of generosity, as a thank you for all he'd done for Team Canada in the locker room, Henderson gave the sweater to trainer Joe Sgro shortly after historic game eight.
And then, a few years later, in an inexplicable gesture of ignorance, Sgro sold the sweater to a collector and it has ended up on a website called Classic Auctions.
At last view, the highest bid was 211 thousand dollars, and among those interested in this wonderful piece of Canadiana is Canadian Tire. They want to buy the sweater, show it off in their stores across the country, and then lend it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It's hard to argue with that strategy, but really, if anyone deserves to own this sweater it's Henderson himself. Still responsible for the most significant moment in Canadian hockey history, Henderson had no idea way back in 1972.
Sports merchandizing and auctions and paid autograph signings didn't exist to the extent they do today so when he gave the sweater away, he had no idea what he was sacrificing.
And I'm sure he had no idea the recipient would turn around and slap him in the face.
There's talk of the federal government buying the sweater for heritage reasons, but I doubt that's gonna happen. Even though our Prime is a hockey nut, peeling off a quarter million dollars for a hockey sweater wouldn't sit well right now.
I sit here wishing I was Jim Balsillie or someone else of that ilk. I'd love never better than to buy the sweater and then hand deliver to Henderson, who's one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.
For a lot of you reading this blog, you weren't even born in 1972 or you were too young to remember those four crazy weeks in September that made a country stand still.
Henderson by the way scored the winning in the last three games. All must wins for Canada.
The only other way I can think of getting the sweater into Henderson's hands would be to have a national wide thank you drive. Even if donations were restricted to those who actually remember the unforgettable Summit Series, and to just one dollar each, it would be more than enough to establish the winning bid.
Part of Canada's charm is our simple history. We don't beat our chests and we don't always equate heroism to war because we don't have to.
And we don't have to because of people like Paul Henderson.
Political correctness really blows. Like a lot things, it starts with good intentions and then the do-gooders get a hold of it and take it over the moon.
Political correctness practiced by the wrong people has put us where we are today. In some cases you can't even compliment someone without being called a racist, and often the person being protected by the PC professional doesn't even want protection.
Believe me, having written this blog for the past four years, I know all about pushing buttons and getting a reaction, so I would hope that was the intention of Cox's column, but if it wasn't, well then consider him just another wannabe hero.
Without going into a lot of detail, I'm sure you get the drift. Cox thinks the Blackhawks logo which features the head of an Indian warrior is insensitive, racist and extremely out of date.
I'll give Cox this much. To choose such a logo in this day and age would be wrong and generally unacceptable, even if it was meant as a complimentary gesture.
But that's political correctness for you.
The problem here is that Damien Cox thinks the Blackhawks should actually change their logo now. A lot of high schools and universities have backtracked he argues, so why not the NHL team?
Here's why, because the Blackhawks have been around for nearly one hundred years and they were given their name with the best of intentions, but most of all because there has never been a mass of "Indians" lined up demanding that it be changed.
And apparently, according to Cox, they're the ones who should be offended.
The original owner of the Blackhawks chose the name and the logo as a tribute to Chief Black Hawk of the Sioux Nation, who fought on the side of the British in the War of 1812.
It was chosen as recognition of strength and bravery.
With today's twisted thinking that still makes it wrong. In a bizarre way, we've painted ourselves into a PC corner that says you can only receive such a tribute if you're a white guy, which actually makes it even more racist.
Ever thought of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?
My question is this? What exactly is wrong with the Blackhawks logo? Is it something that native people should be ashamed of? I don't think so. It was put there for positive reasons, and although the attitude towards such recognition has changed in recent years, does that mean the history of this logo should be wiped away like it never existed?
When it comes to articles like Cox wrote, I'd really like to see some feedback from the people mostly affected.
For years the PC brigade has been trying to eliminate the nicknames of the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, but its never gotten off the starting blocks because the people who should care the most, don't.
Of course Redskins is an archaic name that would never even be considered today, but it was installed as a tribute just like the name Braves was.
Again, by today's over-reactionary standards it would never happen, even I'm sure, if native people wanted it to. But with the Blackhawks, Redskins, Indians and Braves we're talking about history and definitely not negative history.
If the imaging is questionable, then let's leave it up to those affected to decide whether it should change.
Not someone from the ever-increasing over the top politically correct tribe.
I had a very interesting talk with Neighbour John last night. If you follow this blog you know that I often write about the exploits of Neighbour and his fine family.
Every year during March break, John takes his sons on what I have labeled incredible journeys. You can read about them by searching, Incredible Journey at the top right hand corner.
John and the boys visit NHL arenas and at every stop along the way they pick up souvenirs.
In 2007 they went to Montreal, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Three games in four nights.
But here's the delicious part of the story. At every rink they visit John buys the boys a souvenir hat, and believe me, they have quite the collection.
But what they don't have is a Canadiens hat. When John took the boys to the Bell Centre and offered to buy them caps, they declined.
This is a wonderful story because it goes back to something I wrote about last week.
I was brought up to despise the Habs and I've instilled the same emotion in my son Daniel, and it seems John has done the same for his boys.
As tempting as it was the boys to pick up another hat for the collection, they could not bring themselves to put a Habs cap atop their brainwashed heads. They told their dad to save his money.
We can only hope they hold on to this impressive attribute throughout their lives.
Message to the Montreal Canadians - to win in the National Hockey League, one must score at least one goal per game.
Scoring involves taking the little black disk and depositing it into the net, the net being the red frame at the end of the rink with mesh attached.
One must also realize that you will not be matched in all games against a team with a similar style to yours. Some teams, like the Flyers, actually prefer to play in the middle of the ice, crowd the net and go into the corners.
Matchups can be a very interesting thing in professional sport, for example, the Toronto Maple Leafs would probably matchup better against the Flyers than you do. The Leafs have a little more push than you do.
But that's silly for me to even bring up because unlike you, the Leafs didn't manage to slither into the playoffs on the final day of the season thanks to the NHL's new math.
It's also good practice to appreciate that when the horseshoe falls out of your goaltenders ass it can get ugly. It can be rather disappointing to see the most innocent shots get by him when only a week ago he was stopping things he didn't even see.
Once a god, now a goat.
That just about does it, but I must end with a question. Why isn't Mike Cammalleri playing in this series?
Regards
Frederick R. Patterson
President / CEO
Hab Haters of the Universe
I am so happy you're a Montreal Canadien because it makes things a whole lot easier for me.
You see Maxim, I've never been a big fan of the Philadelphia Flyers so I wasn't entirely thrilled when they knocked off the Boston Bruins in game seven last night.
The Flyers aren't the broad street bullies any more and they haven't won a Stanley Cup in 35 years but they still aggravate me. I grew to dislike them back in the 1970's during a few classic playoff series with the Leafs, and since then, I've actually enjoyed their non-success.
In the series against Boston I wanted the Bruins to win for two reasons. My friend Craig Ramsay is a Bruins assistant coach and the Flyers have that sawed off little creep Dan Carcillo.
Carcillo is a nasty cheap shot artist who has been caught diving on more than one occasion. He makes it tough to pull for the Flyers.
But that's where you come in Maxim. If you didn't play for the Habs, there might be an "extremely far "outside chance that I could actually do it, actually pull for the Habs over the Flyers.
But you've made the decision easy for me.
You're quite the weasel yourself. Your childish taunting of the Caps and Flyers, your unwillingness to drop the gloves and your horrendous diving displays and cheap shots have made it a wash for me.
Although Dan Carcillo is probably a little worse than you are, it's still not enough for me to support the Habs. You Maxim, have made it possible for me to choose a team that has the likes of Dan Carcillo on it.
It won't be easy. I won't like it. I'll probably have to shower after every game, but thanks to you and your "almost" equal status with Dan Carcillo it comes down to a choice of teams for me.
And it's all brotherly love.
Regards
Frederick R. Patterson
President / CEO
Hab Haters of the Universe
Over the past couple of days I've been very disturbed by some of my close friends who've jumped to the other side. They want the Habs to win.
They attempt to qualify it by claiming they still don't like traditional Habs fans, and that they still love their Leafs, but they're so impressed with the Habs mind numbing run in these playoffs, that they just can't help but jump on the bandwagon.
Sorry. I can't do it.
The anti-Hab in me is so ingrained, so established, so strong, short of a family member being drafted by the Habs (shudder) I could never "come over."
When I was a little fella growing up in Scarborough nothing Hab was allowed in our home. No sweaters, no toques, no scarves. Not even a mug or a coaster.
When we played road hockey you were never the Canadiens. Instead you pretended the other team was the Habs so you'd have more incentive.
Just after I got a dog in the mid-60's a relative bought my beloved Barney a dog sweater of all the ridiculous goddamn things, and if that wasn't bad enough, it was a Hab sweater.
We used it to pick up Barney's poop.
When I became a hockey coach in the mid-70's one of the teams in the league was called the Agincourt Canadians. Even though they spelled it with an "a" I still looked forward to playing them more than any other team. Just because of their name.
The same old bullshit keeps coming back to me through this blog. "Come on Freddie, you have to be impressed with what the Habs are doing."
Yes, impressed with the perfect storm of good fortune this team is experiencing, but I don't have to like it. I hate it. I don't want it to happen and I wish it would end. I'm sorry but it comes from my roots, it comes from five decades of despising not only the Montreal Canadiens as a team, but despising their fans even more.
A good example. Both Freeway Frank and Paul Romanuk, two dear broadcasting buddies on mine have questioned my credibility as a hockey prognosticator because I predicted the Habs would finish behind the Leafs this year and not make the playoffs.
How did I know Brian Burke would blow the Leafs up when they were still within reasonable striking distance? And let's not forget the Habs slithered into the playoffs on the last day of the season after losing to the Leafs the night before.
Anyway, Romy wrote sarcastically last night, "have you got any stock tips?"
Yea, like he predicted the Habs were going to do what they're doing right now.
Frank wrote "Fred has NO hockey credibility"
I remember that after game three of the Washington series, Frank totally gave up on the Habs, predicting their imminent demise.
The point is folks, I ain't budging. I don't like the Habs and if it was up to me they wouldn't win another game. I'm sticking with my convictions, unlike some other softies I know who've wimped out.
I talked to another good friend this morning, Jeff Lumby, the ultimate Hab fan. He called to rub it in, and at the same time admitted point blank that if the roles were reversed there's no way he'd pull for the Leafs.
He didn't in '93, '94, '99 or 2002 when the Leafs went to the conference finals. (By the way, this will be the Habs first conference final since '93)
I'm sure Freeway and Romanuk didn't jump on the Leaf ship back then either.
I look at it this way. Would a Yankee fan all of a sudden become "impressed" with Bo-sox and start cheering for them? Would a Browns fan do it for the Steelers or a Celtics fan for the Lakers?
Do you think a Ti-cat fan is ever impressed with the Argos enough to "come over?"
I think you know what the answer is.
At the end of the day, I realize this is only sports, and on the scale of what really matters this doesn't matter at all.
But on the scale of true blue Maple Leaf, and the way I was raised and the convictions I have and the abuse I've taken from Hab fans over the decades, it means a hell of a lot.
Enough that I will not follow in the footsteps of some of my disappointing friends who now want this team to do well. You can be impressed, you can admire from a distance, but to cheer for the Habs is something that is simply not in my genes.
I chuckle at the e-mails I've received from Hab fans today emphatic that last night's riot was just a handful of people and not representative of "all" Hab fans.
Fair enough, but I remember back to the most recent Leaf playoff runs when Leaf fans were ridiculed by Hab fans for honking horns and waving flags on Yonge St. for simply winning a playoff series and not the Stanley Cup.
Even though the vast majority of Leaf fans didn't do it, It was OK for Hab fans to generalize back then but now it seems they want to change the rules.
Just more of what makes Hab fans aggravating.
To tell you truth, I'm surprised there haven't been riots in Toronto, given the hundreds of thousands of Montrealers who've come to Hogtown over the past decade for a better life.
Whilst enjoying a chicken pita from the Pita Pit during my lunch break today I paid a visit to a few websites and found that Toronto Mike and Rick Hodge wrote about the same thing.
Steve Nash.
Steve Nash is the wonderful little fellow who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. By NBA standards he's small at 6' 1", however by heart and soul standards he's a giant. And the best part of it all is that he's Canadian.
By now, if you follow sports you know what an amazing performance he put forth against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. With one eye literally closed shut because of an elbow he from Tim Duncan, Nash put the Suns on his shoulders and closed the door on a four game sweep.
This fella is an amazing specimen, who in a big man's league managed to win the MVP award not once but twice. And that brings me to the subject of this piece.
I wrote about the same thing back in 2007 and my attitude hasn't changed.
As much as I love hockey and enjoy baseball and football, as long as Canada names an athlete of the year, like it does through the Lou Marsh Award, nobody else but Steve Nash should receive it.
I don't care who it is or what they do; nothing they can do can match what Steve Nash does in the NBA.
It defies logic and doesn't make sense from a physical standpoint. His domination of those who should dominate him is something that can't be explained.
I don't even like basketball. It bores the snot out of me, but that doesn't play any part in my assessment of Steve Nash.
He may be the greatest athlete this country has ever produced.
My good friend Darren Wasylyk sent this to Canadian Thinker today, and I find it very disturbing. Another example of how the Montreal Canadiens work in evil ways.
This is a guy I've travelled to Montreal with on many occasions to cheer on our beloved Maple Leafs. We wore Leaf jerseys and walked boldly into the Forum and Bell Centre prepared to spit in the eye of any Hab fan who got in our way.
It looks like we've lost him. I think he needs an intervention. I read and weep!
A Confession
I will never be obnoxious or an asshole.
I will never chant "1967" or sing " Ole Ole Ole".
I will always stand for the national anthem and will refuse to smoke cigarettes or drink Brador.
Although my intense hatred for the Habs was tempered the day The Ottawa Senators were born, I could never wish them anything but misfortune.
Until now.
I must confess that last night, I cheered for them.
Against the powers of law, order and all things right, I think I may have crossed to the other side.
I believe I am becoming a Habs fan.
Go Habs Go.
How many times do I have to say it, the Montreal Canadiens current ride through the playoffs has nothing to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Why is it, just because you're a Leaf fan who wants the Habs to lose, Hab fans keep throwing the plight of the Leafs back in your face?
We get it, the Leafs suck. They missed the playoffs for the fifth year in a row and the Kessell trade doesn't look very good right now, but what does that have to do with whether the Habs dizzying good fortune continues in these playoffs?
Whenever I criticize the Habs or urge them to come back and play at their true level, Hab fans want to talk about the Leafs being on the golf course or not winning the Stanley Cup since 1967.
It's immaterial.
I'm not an idiot; I know what the deal is. The Leafs have a mountain to climb before getting back to NHL respectability but I have reasonable confidence that Brian Burke will get them there. But it's not going to happen now, or this week or this spring.
It's going to take time. Like the time it took the Habs to rebuild a couple of times during the 1993-2003 stretch when the Leafs could wipe the floor with them.
But again, none of that means anything now, just like the pile of Stanley Cup banners that the Habs own mean nothing right now. Its history, it's over and the last one came almost two decades ago. What matters right now is now, and the Habs, despite a surprising uprising in the playoffs are on the verge of elimination.
Throwing the current situation of the Leafs in my face has no point. No more than I should come back and say the Leafs beat the Habs three of the last four times they met this season, the Habs only won a handful more games than the Leafs and they were lucky to make the playoffs on the last day of the season.
None of that matters. Just like whether the Leafs are playing golf right now matters.
What matters to a true Leaf fan is the immediacy of hoping the Habs don't win another game this year. Because we don't like them, and the reason we don't like them is because of most of what I've stated above.
Hab fans are aggravating and anything their team accomplishes is more often than not buried by their big mouths and bizarre attachment to ancient history.
It's to the point now where I don't think I'm going to watch any more games in this series. Why suffer the aggravation of watching a team that doesn't belong in the playoffs let alone in the second round tied with the Stanley Cup champs at two games apiece.
I understand why it's great for Hab fans, but for the rest of us who've been enjoying "real" hockey in the other series, it's simply too tough to watch.
The Habs should have been dead and buried tonight, and I'll be honest, with the way its lining up I can't help but wonder if this is going to be one of those bullshit Hab years like '86 and '93, although at least in those years the Habs actually shared the ice with the other team.
If it was any other team I might get pulled in by the oddity of it all, but Hab fans don't deserve this good fortune and to watch them react the way they do makes me want to upchuck.
They profess to know hockey, but this ain't hockey. It's some new sport featuring a guy who's playing way above his head while getting an extremely heavy dose of horseshoeitis.
It was interesting to hear Guy Lafluer on the Bill Watters Show this afternoon. When asked about the Canadiens rope-a-dope style in these playoffs he replied, "It puts me to sleep."
Well said Guy. I wonder if he still can't get a boner.
I know Freeway Frank has one in Calgary right now.
It should have been 10-0 but we'll take 2-0. Tonight was justice for any genuine hockey fan.
It would be nice to watch a playoff game featuring the Habs where not "all" the action is in their end, and oh yea, the Halak bullshit is about to end.
The question is, will the Habs score another goal in this series?
I knew it wouldn't take long. After Jaroslav Halak's less than stellar performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the excuses have started and right at the top of the list is one I expected. Fatigue.
Already Hab fans have been e-mailing CanadianThinker.com claiming that Halak was tired and it will be different in game two. Please.
I know a lot of you think I write a lot of this stuff just to get a rise out of the most aggravating fans in all of sport ( Hab fans) and although there's some truth to that, when it comes to Halak, I'm dead serious. The guy is over-rated.
The Washington series was an anomaly. The Capitals woeful playoff history and their lack of leadership when the pressure is on made up for half the battle in the last series and to pretend it didn't is just foolish.
You could see it last night. The Penguins bigger, stronger, grittier and more committed than the Caps and they have no problem going straight to the net, unlike the Caps who preferred to play the outside.
And how about the power play? The Montreal PK which appeared to be super-human during the Washington series looked like Swiss cheese last night.
What's the point of all this? Halak wasn't tired last night, he was exposed. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad goaltender but don't tell me a 24 year old kid is fatigued after one seven game playoff series where he didn't even play all the games.
To use fatigue as an excuse is just silly and underwrites what makes Hab fans so tedious.
In my writings last week I exercised caution in my worship of Halak because I wasn't convinced what I was seeing was the real deal. Several glove saves were embellished and even more saves were the result of some extremely fortunate geometry.
The guy was on a roll with lady luck.
I know what's going to happen next. Hab fans are going to react to this by accusing me of exactly what they're guilty of. Premature evaluation.
But that doesn't bother me because in the end I'm completely confident I'll be correct.
Halak is over-rated, the Habs aren't a very good team and they caught the Washington Capitals at precisely the right time.
Against Pittsburgh it will be different. Much different and the Habs Stanley Cup drought will stretch to 18 long years.
The debate can finally be put to bed. We can no longer compare Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin because there is no comparison.
However, while Ovechkin failed to lead his team to victory against an eighth seed and deserves criticism we must keep a little perspective on this. Remove the goaltenders from mix and although Ovechkin and the Capitals didn't play very well, they still dominated the Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal didn't win this series, the Capitals lost it, and Ovechkin, as leader of the team and arguably one of the best players in the world failed to get it done. Just like he failed to get it done last year, and just like he failed to get it done in the Olympics.
Make no mistake about it, what happened to the Ovechkin led Washington Capitals in the first round will not happen to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round because Sidney Crosby will not allow it to happen.
Ovechkin crumbles under pressure, Crosby thrives on it.
In some respects it's extremely unfortunate for the NHL as a whole. Pittsburgh will dominate Montreal like Washington did, but the puck will not be as friendly to the unbelievably lucky Jaroslav Halak when coming off the sticks of the Penguins.
If anyone thinks Halak is really that good, I feel sorry for you.
It will be a pointless series against Pittsburgh and deprive us what probably would have been a great series if the Pens and Caps had eventually met. Not good for the league.
Meanwhile, rejoice Hab fans, you have every right to, but again, let's keep this in perspective, the Habs managed to upset a better team while actually being dominated by them. It's whacky, and I'm sure the vast majority of you never dreamed it would happen.
Even Freeway Frank gave up on the Habs after game three. You can read it on his facebook. But at that point he had no idea that the Caps were poised to give it away.
Yes, enjoy it Hab fans because it almost ranks up there with the Leafs upset of the Islanders in '78, and their upset of Detroit in '93, but not quite because at least those Islander and Wing teams had some backbone.
It's interesting, while I write this posting there is a huge mob in downtown Montreal blowing horns and waving flags, which is rather ironic when you consider Hab fans have criticized Leaf fans for first round celebrations is previous years.
At least they're not rioting. Not yet anyway.
I invite you to listen to an audio version of "Habs Watch" Thursday afternoon with Freeway Frank as my special guest. It should be posted in the late afternoon.
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with this. It's a (typical?) Hab fan calling a phone in show after game four. Again, ironic when you consider how Hab fans criticize Leaf fans for their behaviour.
I apologize for displaying a clean Hab logo. I'm actually breaking policy.
The contract details have been hammered out, and now the event can be confirmed - tomorrow's Habs Watch, hopefully the last one of the season, will be an audio version featuring a debate between yours truly and one of the Montreal Canadiens more passionate fans, Freeway Frank.
You might remember Freeway as the former MIX 99.9 evening announcer who left Toronto for Calgary where he became the morning man at one of those irritating Energy stations that caters to 15 year old girls.
Once there, it didn't take long for him to get his ass fired. Two years. Precisely the same amount of time it took me to get my ass fired at the MIX.
Watch for Habs Watch tomorrow. It may not be posted until later in the day because Frank still lives in Calgary, and the time change, combined with his new unemployed, poker playing lifestyle, means he probably won't drag his butt out of bed until noon, which is two our time.
Here's a picture of Frank. Bad enough he's a Hab Fan, he likes Nickelback too.
I'm sure Hab fans will want to talk about their hapless hockey team's obscenely lucky victory over the Washington Capitals tonight, but that really isn't the story.
Let's forget about the 50 mostly feeble shots that bounced off the chest of Jaroslav Halak and talk about what really matters. How disgusting the Habs and their fans are.
Wasn't that nice the way Hab fans had to be reminded "not" to boo the American anthem tonight. It's been a habit with these low life imbeciles for several years now, but they don't seem to get the message.
During the first two games of the series Hab fans booed the anthem in their usual low-class way, but it was refreshing to hear Cap fans respond by taking the high road an actually cheering the Canadian anthem during game five.
But hey people, we shouldn't be surprised. Hab fans are the most disgusting in all of sports and its obvious it filters through to the players.
How about Maxim Lapierre? Quite the competitor he is. He gets caught twice for "diving", the first performance was not only an insult to the game, it was offensive to anyone who calls himself a man. But again, consider the sweater he was wearing and it all makes sense.
And further to manhood, did you catch those Hab fans towards the end of the game bowing down to the over-rated Jaroslav Halak. Grown men actually bowing down to another man, it actually gave me quivers of creepiness. But again, consider who was doing it.
All in all it was an aggravating night. Aggravating to hear Montreal morons have to be reminded that four players on their team are from the country whose anthem they like to boo. Aggravating to see the Caps shoot countless pucks at Jaroslav Halak's chest. Aggravating to watch Lapierre dive all over the ice like some two-bit soccer player and aggravating to see grown men bow down to a goaltender like subservient weaklings.
But most of all it will be aggravating to listen to Hab fans talk about their team like they actually competed tonight and there is actually something there to be proud of.
One can't help but wonder if the National Hockey League should adopt a rule whereby a series is cancelled prior to being played if one of the teams involved is widely outclassed.
The Montreal Canadiens have now lost 11 of their last 12 playoff games including six in a row at home.
Give them credit for competing for short spurts and actually holding a lead against a bona-fide NHL team, but when their goaltender intentionally shoots a puck at a group of celebrating opponents, you lose what little respect you can muster for such a hapless team.
One can't help but wonder in the National Hockey League might have been better off bending the rules by elevating the Toronto Maple Leafs into the playoffs in place of the Montreal Canadiens. It probably would have made for a better series, after all, the Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens three of the last four times they met this season.
I can only give you the facts.
How many Hab fans does it take to screw in a light bulb? 3001. One to screw in the bulb and three thousand to riot on St. Catherine Street.
Not a lot to say about this one. It seems the respective clubs are finding their level which means the Habs played like the mediocre, too small, too meek, lucky to make the playoffs, marginally better than the Leafs team they are.
Returning to the Bell Centre in front of a sea of aggravating Hab fans was supposed to work in their favour, but instead Le Canadien continued where they left off in Washington on Saturday night.
Hopefully this series will continue to play out the way it should and the Habs will be gone by Friday.
I went to a 60th birthday party for my old CFNY buddy Jim Reid on Saturday night and everything was going great until I ran into a Hab fan.
We enjoyed some great food, some exotic beer, some good laughs and great stories which made for an enjoyable night, until it happened.
A short stout fellow emerged from the basement to blast to the masses that the Habs were leading the Washington Capitals 3-1.
"I love it" he said. "It's beautiful" he exclaimed. "The Habs are all over them, totally dominating them, Ovechkin's doing nothing, we're gonna win the series."
Then he made the mistake of looking at me and noticing the sour look on my face.
"What, you're not a Hab fan" he said.
"Nope"
"Don't tell me" he probed. "You're a Leaf fan."
"Yup"
And then it started. In typical Hab fan fashion he started to roll out the predictable stuff about 1967, no Cups in 40 years, and no playoffs in five years.
At that point I reminded him that the all mighty Habs hadn't won the Cup in close to 17 years, they've been mediocre since Clinton was first elected President and that in reality they were only marginally better than the current Leafs.
He repeated something along the lines of "see you next year" and blurted the Habs were going to surprise everyone. "Just you watch."
Lucky for me, this happenstance coincided with my departure so you can understand how thrilled I was when I arrived at my next destination only to find that Washington had clawed their way back into the game and were trailing 4-3 in the third.
Needless to say it was a roller coaster ride through the final period and my heart was in my throat as the seconds ticked down and the ghastly Habs held a 5-4 lead in the closing moments.
Then something wonderful happened. Caps rookie defenceman John Carlson tied the game with only 1:21 remaing in regulation time and the game was forced to overtime.
And then something even more wonderful happened. Nicklas Backstrom scored his third goal of the game just 31 seconds into the extra period and the series was tied.
But it means more than that. The Caps now have the clear momentum and they seem to have solved the very solvable Jaroslav Halak.
One down and three to go.
"How many Hab fans does it take to change a lightbulb? 10! One to change the bulb, and nine to talk about how great the old one was!!!"
This low... Recent comments to CanadianThinker.com
Fred, you know I love you man, but it seems, based on the level of your invective, that you are consumed not merely by a dislike of the Montreal Canadiens and their fans; but rather, a deeper, more sinister motive. Correct me if I am wrong, Fred, but are you not guided in your venom by a certain degree of anti-French racism? Come clean Fred. - Glenn Pelletier
Fred hates the French.
Vive Le Canada Libre
- Freeway Frank
Very typical of guys of a certain vintage; born in a certain time and place. I don't hold it against him. I get it, having grown up in Scarborough in the sixties and seventies. I grew up with a bunch of first-generation Canadians whose parents were from Scotland and England. They despised the Habs, cuz the old man hated the French and the shit got passed down from generation to generation. Not as bad as dad telling sonny that Jackie Robinson sucked, but the same principle. Very easy to understand, but sad, nonetheless. I'll bet Allan Frew's old man couldn't stand the French. LOL!!!! - Glenn Pelletier
My response
@Freeway and Glenn
Wow, that's a freakin' stretch.
I don't hate the Le Canadien because of the French factor, I hate them because they've always been a arch-rival of my beloved Maple Leafs, but more than anything else, I can't stand the Habs because of Hab fans... and I think you guys have just underlined why.
It's so ridiculous in fact, I will leave your postings up so everybody else can see how low a Hab fan can stoop.
If you've followed this blog for any length of time you'll notice I can't stand the Ottawa Senators and their fans either, so what kind of racism can you twist around that?
There really shouldn't be any great mystery to why there were only ten thousand fans at the last two Blue Jay games, because there are two glaring reasons.
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
There's a story in the Star sports section today quoting former Blue Jay Alex Rios as saying baseball in Toronto is dead, and although some might argue that its sour grapes, his comments are valid.
It's my opinion that Toronto has never really been a baseball town; it was more of a Blue Jay town during the glory years. Once the team plateaued only the "real" baseball fans were left and since then, those numbers have dwindled not grown.
And this brings us back to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. As long as baseball rejects a salary cap, the playoff structure remains the same, and the Yankees and Bo-sox continue to spend way beyond the others, there is virtually no hope for a Blue Jay fan from opening day on.
It's now been 17 years since the Jays won the World Series with a 50 million dollar payroll and to a casual ball fan, the novelty of going to the Skydome and getting screwed on concessions and parking has worn off.
We come from a sports market that is used to more hopeful playoff formats. Sixteen teams make the NHL and NBA playoffs, and although the Toronto teams suck and miss out on that generosity, there's still a lot more hope. Your interest is kept up for most of the season with at least a shot at the post season.
With baseball, it's different. The Yankees and Red Sox spend and spend while the Blue Jays talk about the future which in reality translates into third place... again.
And let's not forget the Jays top player was plucked away by the Philadelphia Phillies, another super rich team.
There's virtually no excitement out of the gate and as each year goes by the effects of this are felt more and more. The Blue Jays started this season with a record of 5 and 1 before playing their home-opener which drew close to 50 thousand.
But the home opener is a novelty game and the fans have seen quick starts before. They weren't impressed and the result was two games with just over 20 thousand fans in total.
I don't know what the answer is beyond winning. There are exceptions to the rule and teams like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will rise up and have an unconscious year from time to time, but those are few and far between and I doubt Blue Jay fans are going to show up at the Skydome in droves hoping for that anomaly. It's just not going to happen.
There's no way baseball is going to expand its playoff format, there's no way Rogers is going to triple the Blue Jay payroll and there's no way they're going to replace the now unpopular Skydome.
And on the subject of the stadium, I think this aspect is way over played. Yes, if we built a new stadium fans would show in big numbers to check it out, just like they did the Skydome back in the 90's, but after awhile the same thing would happen if the club didn't win. Only the real baseball fans would be left and there just aren't enough of them.
The future is bleak and it's completely within reason to see the Blue Jays go the way of the Montreal Expos.
Forget that he screwed around on his wife with hookers and whores, Tiger Woods probably lost more fans on the golf course this weekend.
To put it bluntly, Tiger was a big baby this weekend and the proof was no better displayed than on the 14th hole of the Masters yesterday when a makeable putt for birdie turned into a bogey because he was pissed off.
After missing the birdie, Tiger took a momentary hissy-fit and whacked the next putt carelessly. It missed the hole and not only made himself look silly, it was amplified on the next hole when Tiger eagled.
All golfers, in fact all athletes are entitled to losing their temper a bit from time to time, but for Tiger this was the wrong time to time. He started the week by claiming that he would now approach the game differently. Show it more respect and keep his feelings under control. He would be more mature.
Good strategy from a guy who had more or less ripped his family apart with his dick in full view of the world. Some might argue his behaviour in the hotel rooms of America was rather selfish and immature, so claiming the "new" Tiger would also develop a new demeanor on the golf course was logical.
It didn't happen. The Tiger that used to act somewhat childish on the course by showing over the top emotion, surfaced several times during the weekend and it was capped off by his post tournament interview.
Even Humble Howard, who absolutely adores Tiger admitted such in an e-mail to this reporter.
"I agree. I was disapointed with how he handled himself...not so much on the course but aftter when he was being interviewed. He was sucky and missed a chance at graciousness and I think that ultimately that is how he'll be judged."
All in all it was a fine weekend of golf, and Tiger helped make it that way by competing hard after a five month layoff.
The headline says it all - Habs clinch playoff berth despite OT loss to Toronto - and it highlights one of the many things wrong with Gary Bettman's new NHL.
Forget that the rules committee has been reduced to chasing their tails trying to think up new rules to justify the last new rule, and forget that it probably won't end until the game has the same physical intensity as ringette, to me those things pale in comparison to the overwhelming nonsense of the three point game.
Why the hell do you get a single point for losing? What the hell's wrong with getting nothing for accomplishing nothing?
Baseball doesn't reward you for losing in extra innings, football gives you nothing for forcing overtime, and neither does basketball.
Why does hockey insist on becoming such a "suck" sport.
As the siren sounded to end regulation time last night, Hab fans stood on their feet and loudly applauded their team for making the playoffs even though the game wasn't over.
If this was the pre-overtime NHL, fine. That would have made sense. But in today's NHL, the game wasn't over, so why should any rule make it possible for fans to cheer an outcome before there is an outcome.
I like overtime in the NHL, and I'll also admit to liking the shootout, but I can't stand the single point for losing. It ranks right up there with getting a single point for a missed field goal in the CFL.
Just think of how much more dramatic the game would have been last night if there was no such thing as a three point game. If the Habs loss, their third in the last four against the Leafs by the way, had meant no points at all it would have changed the game heading towards end of regulation time, and made the Habs much more desperate in overtime.
Dion Phaneuf's winning goal at 2:06 of overtime would have been an entirely new dimension on the playoff picture and the final day of the regular season.
Then again, in my perfect NHL world, there never would have been a point awarded for an overtime loss since the inception of overtime so the "entire" picture would be different.
The Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs last night with the lowest point total since the inception of the three point game and they slither into playoffs with one of two mountains to climb. They will meet either the Washington Capitals or New Jersey Devils in the first round.
Why bother. The Habs had enough trouble with the Toronto Maple Leafs all season long to even dream of competing with the big boys, especially in the playoffs.
The Habs are small and meek. They have a decent level of skill, but their size and inconsistency will make them easy pickings for the Caps or Devils. The Habs will be ground into the ice.
For those of you who've conveniently forgotten, the Habs are currently on an eight game playoff losing streak. That should easily stretch to 12.
What was unfolding as a pleasant Saturday morning quickly went south when I flipped on TSN's Sportscentre.
There were back back to back reports that totally bummed me out. The first one dealt with that abhorrent thug Gilbert Arenas (next posting) and the second one dealt with someone who actually contributes to society, former Leaf coach Pat Burns.
I hadn't heard much about Burns lately but then the Sportscentre report kicked me right in the gut. They're naming a community hockey rink after Burns in Stanstead, Quebec and he was there yesterday for the naming ceremony.
The rink hasn't been built yet, in fact I don't think a shovel has hit the ground, but they held the ceremony yesterday because if they waited any longer Burns wouldn't be there.
It's no secret now; he's in the final days of his life after battling three different cancers over the past six years. First it was colon cancer, which he beat, then liver cancer which he beat and now lung cancer which can't be beaten. Burns declined treatment.
I'm sure I speak for most Leaf fans when I say Pat Burns will always have a special place in my hockey heart. The wonderful run he took the Maple Leafs on in the early 90's is something that none of us will ever forget.
He brought hope to a city that had none through most of the 80's, and along with Cliff Fletcher made the words Stanley Cup something more than a fantasy.
Burns was big, brash and bombastic but he was a great leader and a fabulous coach he managed to squeeze absolutely every once of effort out of the best Leaf team since the 60's.
To see Pat Burns on television this morning, gaunt and weak while speaking with a voice I could hardly recognize was terribly upsetting for me, so I can't image what his family is going through.
He's only 58 years old.
"As for my career, I always said to my kids 'you don't cry because it's over, you're happy because it happened.' That's the main thing. I'm very happy that it happened."
Pat Burns, March 25, 2010
It was a sad day for justice in the United States yesterday. Once again it was proved that there is a law for the rich and a law for the poor.
Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards was sentenced to a laughingly lax 30 days in a halfway house for bringing four guns into the Verizon Centre back in December.
It stemmed from a confrontation with a team mate. It was a disgusting act that was an insult to Wizards, their fans and the NBA as a whole. Yesterday's decision was an insult to every citizen of the United States.
The District of Columbia, which has one of the highest crime rates in the US has extremely tough gun laws, and after yesterdays ruling it was the general consensus of most lawyers that if Arenas had been a regular citizen, he definitely would have gone to jail.
Believe me, I'm not about to pretend this kind of thing couldn't happen in Canada, because it could, but after spending several minutes googling "Canada / athlete / gun / locker room" I couldn't come up with a similar case.
I've made it clear before, I'm not a fan of the NBA and a lot of it stems from the creeps and thugs that tend to inhabit the league. Yesterday just makes it worse. A man who makes eleven million dollars a year, a man who can afford the best in defense and man who probably had the league at this back, walked away from something and that you and I would dearly pay for.
On Saturday, March 20 The Toronto Maple Leafs initiated a Montreal Canadiens tailspin that has now reached three games.
Leafs 3 Habs 2 SO
Senators 2 Habs 0
Sabres 3 Habs 2 SO
Montreal is just five points ahead of the ninth place Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Atlanta has a game in hand. I have my fingers crossed.
Leafs 3 Montreal 2. It's not like the Habs are a contender. The victory over Jersey felt better.
I can't wait till the playoffs start and the real contenders start leaning on the midget Habs.
Last spring just before I predicted the Montreal Canadiens would lose four straight games to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, (which happened) I also predicted that the Toronto Maple Leafs would finish ahead of the Habs for the next five seasons.
Obviously, I was wrong. That prediction went down the shitter in early January when Brian Burke decided to do what all Leaf fans have demanded for years, he decided to rip the team apart and start over.
Although the young Leafs have played better lately, they are still just a cut above an AHL team and still have a long way to go.
At this writing, the Habs are 16 points ahead of the Leafs with both clubs having eleven games to play, including tonight's matchup at the ACC.
Yes, at this point my prediction looks absolutely horrible, but there is some satisfaction in all of this. Habs are still as goofy as ever and its fun to listen to their crap regarding the current Montreal squad that in reality is still only slightly better than what we have in Toronto.
Here's the irony. Montreal fans are in the midst of precisely what has ailed the Leafs for so many years. They're mid-pack, with no chance of winning the Cup and it will perpetuate until they too make some drastic changes which doesn't include signing pip-squeak free-agents.
A Hab fan will tell you that they've won six in a row, like that's a good thing, despite having insulted Leaf fans in previous years because our team made late season rallys only to fall short.
The Habs are making the same mistake right now. They're winning a lot of hockey games and lifting themselves in the standings while having virtually no chance of winning a playoff round.
They have a small and meek team with a coach who has a horrendous playoff record.
You look at the standings and the Habs are fried. There's no potential matchup that looks good for them. They could play Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Philadelphia. Sorry Le Habitant, but in the playoffs when things get tough and close and gritty, you don't stand a chance.
The Habs will get ousted the playoffs quickly and quietly without much of fight and they'll find themselves in the same situation they've found themselves in for much of the past two decades... on a road to nowhere. Not that bad, but not that good either.
And please, spare me the Leaf comparisons. It's already been established. The Leafs haven't won the Cup for over 40 years and they've been a mismanaged pile of junk for many of those years. Given.
But look at your own team Hab fans. You're living the same nightmare the Leaf fans have lived for way too long. Mid-pack mediocrity. Mid-pack draft choices.
Don't get too excited about what's happening right now because every so often the Leafs would pop-up with a good squad and make a decent playoff run, but in the end, they never really had the horses to go the distance. That's your current problem Hab fans, and looking beyond the horizon, it doesn't look like its going to change any time soon.
And don't worry about Leaf fans. We'll be fine. We have a couple of things to look forward to. Brian Burke rebuilding Canada's team and the Habs losing in the playoffs.
It'll mark 17 years without a Stanley Cup in Montreal. Imagine that. Shouldn't there be some law against it?
Once the playoffs start, keep coming back to CanadianThinker.com. I'm going to have a feature called, "Habs Watch - Countdown To Disaster."
My oh my, there's quite the battle taking place over at TorontoMike.com. Mike took issue with a couple of white guy Hab fans who showed up at a game the other night with black shoe polish on their faces and afro wigs on their heads.
Seems they were there in support of Hab's rookie PK Subban who was sent back down to the farm club in Hamilton. Oh yea, Subban is black.
To be honest, I don't know if what these guys did was racist or not. I've lost track of what and what isn't racist anymore. The line has become terribly blurred for me. On one hand the most innocent of statements or gestures are blown out of proportion while on the other hand, more often than I'd like to, I hear black people refer to each other as "you know what."
The word racist has been been so battered, bruised and mis-used over the past several years it really has lost a lot of it's meaning.
If anything what's going on over at Mike's blog is a fine example of where politic correctness has gotten us - running around in circles over-reacting to just about everything.
It's obvious the two guys in the stands didn't mean to be racist but that doesn't seem to matter. I imagine if they went to the trouble of blackening their faces, wearing wigs and paying to have "Subbanator" jerseys made up, they weren't there because they don't like the kid.
On the contrary, Subban was a second round draft pick who's risen through the ranks and now is threatening to become a full time Canadien. He played very well during a two game call-up before the Olympics, so I can't imagine the two Mr. Dressups sat at home and thought up ways to insult the developing Hab. If I know Monteal fans the way I think I do, they probably love the guy.
Was it in bad taste? I can't even answer that question any more. Yes, there's a shameful history of minstrel shows and the stereotypes attached, but it's a leap to compare that to this.
It's common place for fanatics to paint themselves up before attending sporting events and I think that was the basis of what happened here, unfortunately for them, the guys involved didn't delve far enough back in history to consider, measure, contemplate and /or sympathize over things that happened decades ago. The silly buggers.
Was it stupid? This is one question I can answer. Yes it was. Given todays PC world, it was a no-winner. They should have thought of that even if they meant no harm.
One of the people who comments on Mike's Blog makes a great point. Isn't it amazing that that Don Cherry can go relatively unchecked for most of the past 25 years insulting European hockey players, yet a couple of guys show up in support of PK Subban at a Habs game and they're immediately labeled racist.
How screwy is that?
I've spent the better part of the past half hour googling the incident and I can't find any reaction from Subban himself. Maybe somebody should ask him. Maybe he liked it.
But to the politically correct, that probably wouldn't matter either. It would get in the way of their agenda.
Meanwhile, check this out. It's the pilot for a new show my son Danny is involved with. He's the fine young fella in the green t-shirt.
Anyway, about 2:20 into the clip, PK Subban makes an appearance, and I'm sure you'll appreciate his sense of humour.
In a posting from yesterday I mentioned the Torch Catastrophe orchestrated by CTV Globemedia.
They arranged for several of their personalities to jump the line and carry the Olympic torch ahead of deserving athletes and citizens who entered a contest in good faith.
I think it was downright shameful and if I'd been given the same advantage I wouldn't have taken it.
Unfortunately, among those CTVers who carried the torch was TSN's James Duthie who I have the utmost respect for. I still do, even though he made the tragic error of carrying that bloody torch.
To me, James Duthie represents the new breed of broadcaster who provides a great balance of knowledge, ability and humour. Yea, humour, it's important. The days of the tired old talking head is over and that was proved somewhat during Sunday's closing ceremonies.
Rather than have Brian Williams host the closing ceremonies, CTV opted for Duthie and it was a refreshing change.
Listen, I like Brian Williams. I've met him, he's a gracious gentleman and I have immense respect for his broadcasting history and what he's accomplished. He makes me look like a third year Humber student.
However by 2010 standards it's time for CTV to switch to somebody like Duthie.
Several times during the Vancouver games I found myself comparing Williams and Duthie and really, there was no comparison. Duthie brings way more to table than Williams.
The days of the authoritative fatherly type walking us through the games are gone. Television is supposed to be fun and entertaining and Duthie's wit, irreverence and easy style trump Williams old fashioned over annunciation every step of the way.
Apparently, part of the reason Williams jumped from CBC to CTV is because the latter won the rights to the 2010 and 2012 games. He wanted to host them.
Oh oh.
If the big brains at CTV are on top of their game they will make the switch sooner than later. Let Duthie host the prime time stuff and give a lesser shift to Williams.
It would seem obvious, but then again, these are the same people that insist on ramming the infuriating Ben Mulroney down our throats.
Make no mistake about it, what Brian Burke has done to the Toronto Maple Leafs is exactly what Leaf fans have been demanding for years.
Gut the team and start over.
Of course I could remind everyone of that old saying, "watch what you ask for it may come true" but I really don't think it applies in this situation. What Burke has done, and is doing to the Toronto Maple Leafs is the only way improve long term.
Yes, the Phil Kessel trade sticks in the craw of most Leaf fans, but hey kiddies, that's old news, water under the bridge and history we cannot change. All we can do is hope that Burke gets creative in the free-agent market over the next couple of years, or turns some of those third and fourth round draft picks into gold.
But here's another spin on the whole scenario. Why not get creative now, with what they've got?
The Leafs have 20 games remaining on the season and if they don't finish last in the over-all standings they'll be very close. They've got nothing to lose at this point, only things to gain.
How about this, for the remainder of the season why not put Tomas Kaberle at centre ice. Take his skating ability, puck handling ability and play making sense and experiment with it.
Burke maintains that the best way to build a hockey team is from the defense out, and admittedly, he's done a pretty good job of building his defensive core, to the point where Kaberle has become expendable and almost became active in yesterday's trade market.
Instead of playing out the season with Kaberle on defense, with the assumption of trading the guy in the summer, why not do some investigative shuffling. Make him Phil Kessel's centre man for rest of the season and see what happens.
There is absolutely nothing to lose. If it works, great, its one less thing to worry about and the pressure comes off to trade the current longest serving Leaf.
I really don't know how to handle this without sounding like a hypocrite, but I guess when you get right down to it, there are a ton of us in this category.
I'm one of those guys who doesn't believe in the Olympics. I think they're a colossal waste of time and money and I've made that point on many occasions. I've said I don't want the Olympics to come to Toronto and besides being a burden on taxpayers, the Olympic movement is rife with corruption and very few at the top can be trusted.
Having said all that, what a great two weeks in Vancouver.
I guess its like anything else, regardless of your position, once the commitment is made the best thing to do is make the most of it and man oh man did Vancouver make the most of it.
All the events were held, all the medals were handed out and most people, other than snobby malcontents, walked away happy, impressed and full of fabulous memories.
That ultimately is part of the satisfaction for me. The British and Russians press were Vancouver's biggest detractors, but in the end they looked absolutely foolish while putting pressure directly on themselves to out-do Canada in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Great moments? There were a ton of them with the capper being Sidney Crosby's overtime goal. It was excruciatingly painful to watch the closing minutes of regulation time, but in retrospect, it couldn't have had a better finish, an overtime goal scored by Canada's latest hockey icon giving this country a record for gold medals at a Winter Olympics.
It was the final event for a wonderful event and it all went our way. With those 14 gold medals we did own the podium make no mistake about it.
I could go on and on about other poignant moments but I won't. They've been talked about and analyzed by everybody and his brother.
All that matters at this point is that the games were a success and hopefully the price tag won't be too staggering and force all of us to keep paying for decades to come. But it's too late to worry about that now.
And not to close on a downer but I have to mention this. If there was one clear-cut blemish to these Olympics it was the decision by CTV Globemedia to bully their way to the front of the line and have their announcers carry the torch.
And it has nothing to do with journalistic integrity, it has everything to do with earning the right. Kerrin Lee Gartner and Donovan Bailey didn't carry the torch, but Ben Mulroney and Michael Landsberg did. Are you kidding me?
Shameful. Shameful for CTV to think it up and even more shameful for those involved to actually do it. I can only deduce that they were forced to do it.
If any of those broadcasters had entered the Torch Lottery like everyone else and won, cool, there's no problem with that. But to do it the way they did was downright wrong.
One of the most surprising aspects of the Olympics to me was how the Prime Minister came out of it relatively unscathed.
He really seemed to enjoy himself while spending a good portion of the two weeks in Vancouver supporting our athletes.
He was everywhere, at hockey games, the speed skating track, the curling rink and the ski slopes. He always had a smile on his face, was dressed in red and white and seemed genuinely involved.
I kept waiting for the shit to the hit fan. I kept waiting for all the Harper Haters to come out of the woodwork looking for reasons why this was a bad thing, but it really didn't happen.
I expected he'd get roasted for being in Vancouver while Parliament was prorogued, and be accused of watching sports rather than running a government.
But what do know, it seems patriotism ran so deep for a couple of weeks that Liberals laid off and gave the guy a break.
Of course now that the party is over, the Toronto Star is back on the attack.
A lot has been said and written over the past couple of weeks regarding Canada's "Own the Podium" program and how it supposedly crapped out.
Not so fast.
When Jasey-Jay Anderson won the Parallel Giant Slalom this afternoon, it gave Canada 12 gold and clinched the over-all gold medal title at the 2010 games.
Germany has ten and the United States only nine.
When Canada won curling gold just before nine o'clock eastern time, it gave us three gold on the day and helped smash the previous record of ten won by a host country.
But there's more. If Team Canada can beat Team USA tomorrow afternoon, 14 gold medals will set the all-time record for a Winter Olympics.
So the obvious question is this, how do you measure success and at what point do you "own" something?
You know what they say, you don't win silver, you lose gold, so using that criteria I'd say Canada has it nailed. I think we've got a pretty good argument for owning the podium and all those detractors who were throwing it into our faces should have another look.
When you're watching an event, at the end, even if it's a Canadian, does a silver or bronze have nearly the impact that a gold does? When all is said and done and the Olympics are over, will we really remember who the silver and bronze medal winners were?
I think you know the answers to those questions.
Gold is where its at baby. They don't play your anthem for placing second or third, and so far in Vancouver, "Oh Canada" has been played way more than any other anthem.
I got his email from a guy named Erik who takes exception with my "Start Fleury" posting from yesterday. He disagrees with my comment that Roberto Luongo hasn't won "the big game" and then he conveniently goes on to display exactly what's wrong with Team Canada.
We reach too far back to make our selections.
Here's the email and my response follows.
"Thank God you're not the head coach, Freddie.
By the way, do you fact check ANYTHING you say? You mentioned that Luongo "has failed to show that he can win the big game." Utter nonsense!
Since this is an INTERNATIONAL tournament I will bring up some of Luongo's accomplishments in INTERNATIONAL play.
After a World U-17 Hockey Challenge and back-to-back appearances at the World Junior Championships, Luongo has played in four World Championships, one World Cup and one Winter Olympics for Team Canada. He has won two gold medals at the World Championships, one silver at the World Junior Championships and a World Cup championship.
In the 2003 World Championships Luongo made 49 saves in the Gold Medal game which Canada WON 3-2 in overtime!
The next year Canada WON the Gold with Luongo in net.
That same year he replaced Broduer in the semi-final of the World Cup of Hockey and won a 4-3 OT game against the Czech Republic.
So don't give me this BS that Luongo has failed to win the big game". Erik
Hey Erik... you're kidding aren't you? Under 17's? World Championships? One victory in a World Cup game against the Czechs and that's supposed to be glittering resume?
The guy hasn't won a big game in the NHL, in fact he's been part of the major disappointment that have been the Vancouver Canucks in "RECENT" years.
The guy is OK. But Fleury has answered the call, performed and delivered a Stanley Cup in the past year.
He went to a game seven the year before as well.. with a very young Pittsburgh team.
Don't capitalize "INTERNATIONAL" to make your point because that's bullshit. This "INTERNATIONAL" tournament on NHL size ice is nothing more than an NHL all-star event and you know it.
Fleury is clearly the best choice for Team Canada, but the same politics that have Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger on the team won't allow it.
Do I check "ANYTHING" I say?
Yea, and believe me, your examples are weak. I was aware of them, but when the pinnacle was a victory in the watered down World Championships six years ago, I chose to overlook it. I think a few things have happened since then.
Your logic is exactly what's wrong with our Olympic strategy. Too much history.
FP
I'm I missing something, or has my love of the Toronto Maple Leafs severely affected my thought process when it comes to hockey?
Why isn't Marc-Andre Fleury starting tonight's game against Germany?
He's young, he's solid and he's already a proven winner. Holy cow, he just won a Stanley Cup in a game seven against the Detroit Red Wings. What more do we want?
To my mind, Fleury should have been named the starting goaltender from day one, and screw not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings.
Martin Brodeur is still a fine goaltender, but he's over the hill, and Roberto Luongo, although one of the best in the business as well, has failed to show that he can win the big game.
Fleury has been there and done that and he still hasn't reached his prime.
From reports I'm reading today, there's a mini goaltending controversy on Team Canada right now. Brodeur is pissed that he was yanked, and apparently, he's not hiding his feelings.
This could have been avoided from the very start. Brodeur could have been given a great big thank you for past service, Luongo could have been named back-up and the Stanley Cup champion could have been given the nod.
I read Chris Zelkovich's column in the Star yesterday and it gave me a chuckle, that's what happens sometimes when newspaper guys write about the electronic media.
Zelkovich has jumped on the anti-cheerleading bandwagon. He doesn't think CTV should be leading the charge for Canadian accomplishment in Vancouver, preferring the old CBC way of playing it more up the middle.
What Zelkovich overlooks is that CTV is in this thing to make money, or at least keep the red as modest as possible. And it seems to be working because ratings are through the roof.
Zelkovich complains about "relentless plugs for upcoming medal ceremonies, reports on the wild-and-crazy pro-Canada crowds and a slew of commercials boosting this nation's hopes."
He wonders at times if he's watching the Olympics or a Tourism Canada infomercial.
I don't see the big problem.
CTV is doing what any private broadcaster has to do. They're playing to their audience to get ratings and I'll repeat, ratings have never been better.
Zelkovich thinks Brian Williams spent too much time on Saturday night telling us about Jon Montgomery's upcoming gold medal presentation and he thinks Jamie Campbell spends too much time talking about Canadian athletes on the ski slopes.
Sorry Chris, but I like it. When I sit down in front of my TV, and I can speak for my wife as well on this point, I want a clear indication of what my Canadian brothers and sisters are up to. I would have been pissed if I had missed Montgomery's medal presentation.
Thanks to Williams, I didn't
During the Olympics, Canadians tend to care about Canadians and I don't know about you, but that seem to be the most asked question from people I'm around when an event is unfolding.
"Is there a Canadian in this?" Or, "how'd the Canadian do?" How dare CTV actually give the people what they want.
But here was the most bizarre comment in Zelkovich's column. "A foreigner watching Saturday night's broadcast on the main CTV network might have wondered, whatever happened to all those self-effacing Canadians who avoid overt displays of patriotism?"
Who gives a flyin' turd what foreigner s think of a Canadian broadcast meant to serve Canadians? It's got to be one of the most ridiculous observations about radio or TV that Zelkovich has ever made, and believe me, there have been a ton of them over the years.
If anyone at CTV designed the broadcast to serve "foreigners" they would have had their ass kicked out the door long before the games started.
Are there flaws in CTV's presentation? Of course, you can't design anything of this magnitude without having some problems, but for the most part, the network has done a solid job and I'll repeat it one more time, if it's so bad in the eyes of Zelkovich, why are people tuning-in in record numbers?
Actually Zelkovich had to eat it a bit today with his latest column.
At the end, newspaper guy says, "call me a dinosaur, but I prefer the old-fashioned quiet Canadian patriotism."
Yea, and given CTV's ratings, you also subscribe to the old fashioned Canadian way of criticising success.
One thing I will give Zelkovich however, is this - following Jon Montgomery's medal presentation on Saturday night, during an interview Michael Landsberg for some ridiculous reason asked Montgomery to sing a few bars of O' Canada.
Montgomery had sung the anthem loud and proud on the podium so Landsberg's request ruined the moment. It was awkward, uncomfortable and stupid.
For no other reason that I have this overwhelming premonition, I predict that Team Canada will not score a goal against Ryan Miller tonight. Team Canada will be shutout by Team USA.
It seems the same old problem persists that has dogged Canada in the past several professional international tournaments.... we ain't got no finish.
I caught a couple of periods of the yesterday's women's Olympic hockey game between China and Switzerland and a frightening analogy came to me.
Is there any other sport in the Olympics besides hockey where a ten year old boy could beat an adult woman? I couldn't think of one.
Skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, speed skating... you name it, and it would take an exceptional and exceedingly unique situation for a ten year old boy to beat an adult woman.
But yesterday's hockey game between the Chinese and Swiss left no doubt in my mind. Virtually any team of Triple A ten year old boys could have beaten either women's team on the ice in Vancouver yesterday, and they aren't necessarily the two worst teams in the tournament.
It was a plodding, excruciating and offensive display of the game with several players continuosly falling down for no other reason than they can't skate very well with hockey equipment on.
This madness has to stop. Hopefully after the Olympics are complete the IOC will do the right thing and remove women's hockey from the program. It was a noble experiment, and it will be devastating for Canada and the United States, but really, enough is enough.
It would have been different if some of the other countries, especially Russia, had taken the sport more seriously in the last 18 years since it was adopted as an Olympic sport, but they haven't and it's turned into a two team tournament that borders on useless if not silly.
After three games, Canada has scored 41 goals and has allowed only three. The United States has scored 31 and allowed only one.
Ridiculous.
I take nothing away from the accomplishments of Teams Canada and the USA because you can only play who's put on the ice against you, but this is going nowhere and it's time to face reality.
Believe me, when the inevitable Canada / USA gold medal game happens next Saturday, I'll be in front of my 52 incher and cheering on the good gals like every other Canadian in the country. But that doesn't make the existence of the game valid.
My heart says continue, but my brain says end it. Women's hockey is clearly a failed experiment at the Winter Olympics.
That performance by Tiger Woods is getting the full gamut of reaction. From those who still think he's a slithering snake, to those who feel there was a good measure of redemption achieved following his overly prepared and awkward speech.
My opinion is this. Beyond not really giving a shit what Tiger does or what happens to him in the months and years ahead, I still think timing was the biggest error.
Tiger should have pulled a David Letterman and addressed the situation as soon as it broke, that way all the speculation, accusations and lost revenue probably would have been avoided.
Yesterday just added to his problems. He filled the room with friends and family, he didn't take questions and he didn't address when he plan on returning to the tour.
All he did really was admit to what we already knew, make himself out to be some kind of a victim of the media and perpetuate the bullshit by running back to an excuse dressed up as sex addiction clinic.
Tiger Woods isn't addicted to sex. This whole scandal comes back to one thing. He got caught. That's it.
Some people are actually applauded Tiger for coming clean and taking responsibility yesterday. What the hell else was he going to do? Blame somebody else for banging bimbos and porn stars on a weekly basis?
Tiger went to Stanford University. That doesn't make him intelligent because under the American system, athletes don't have to be intelligent in order to get degrees, all they have to do is perform on the field, and that's why we shouldn't be surprised by Tiger's intelligence through all of this.
No doubt he's been getting some bad advice. Waiting too long was wrong, hiding too long was wrong and delivering a goofy speech that was too long was wrong.
Every step of the way, this mega-millionaire has been given bargain basement advice but he's been too stupid to realize it. Every day that he remained quiet, was another day for the media, and especially the "new" media to pound this guy into submission.
What a colossal miscalculation, highlighted by coming right off the heels of the Letterman scandal that disappeared almost as quickly as it came simply because Dave jumped on it right away.
That's what you do in the new world of websites and blogging and camera phones but nobody told Tiger and he was too dumb to realize it.
It was interesting to hear Steve Yzerman claim that Russia should be favoured to win gold at the Olympic hockey tournament.
I'd like to say it's nothing more that mind games, but it's not. What he says may serve to take some pressure off Team Canada, but there's no getting around it, the fire power that the Russians have is a major concern. Couple their offence with Canada's traditional struggle to score goals at these tournaments, and there's trouble on the horizon.
Goaltending is another major issue. We can only hope that Martin Brodeur's recent struggles come from lack of concentration as he looks towards the next couple of weeks. If not, we're in big trouble unless Mike Babcock shows some king sized balls and goes to Roberto Luongo sooner than later.
And on the subject of goaltending, Team USA poses a huge threat if Ryan Miller gets into a groove. The rest of the American squad is good enough to pull this off if Miller throws up a brick wall. However, if there's anything that can counter-balance the potential danger of Team USA, it's Ron Wilson. He's not a very good coach. He's proving it with the Maple Leafs, and hopefully he'll screw things up in Vancouver.
Yzerman also stated that it would be a shame if the NHL does not allow its players to participate in 2014 in Russia. I disagree.
As intriguing as it is to have the world's best players in the Olympics, I don't it's fair to other athletes from Canada and other hockey nations like Sweden, Finland and Russia.
In Canada, the Olympics have become a hockey tournament with some other events placed around them and it's really not fair. Talk to anyone about the games in Canada, and it seems all they want to talk about is hockey. I'm sure it's the same in the other countries I mentioned.
And a while back I mentioned that I think Olympic organizers should take a long hard look at women's hockey. It's simply not competitive enough and to some degree its become silly.
Last night's 18-0 victory for Canada over Slovakia highlights it.
There would be nothing wrong with eliminating women's hockey until more than two nations became competitive. It would be the noble thing to do, but of course you know it won't happen. The backlash would be worse than the ski jumping controversy.
In the meantime, we'll all sit around and watch Canada and the USA humiliate everybody else until they inevitably meet in the gold medal game.
"How's Habs watch doing these days? I guess it's tough to write a blog like that when the team you hate the most beats Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Washington with 3 of their main players out -15 points ahead of the Leafs and counting.....Oh my little Freddie poo poo."
Freeway Frank
Yes Frank, it is very difficult. I have witnesses who can attest to my disdain and disgust every time I learn of the Habs latest conquest.
It's quite frustrating when a team that has the creepiest fans in all of sport plays well above its head and does the unexpected.
Yes, I eat crow on this this one. The Leafs will not make the playoffs and they will finish behind the Habs, who probably will make the playoffs.
It's been difficult to write this with one hand while holding my nose.
The Toronto Maple Leafs traded a shit load of players today, and if you care about the Leafs I'm sure you know who they are.
But to my mind, Brian Burke missed the boat by not making the most obvious move. He didn't fire coach Ron Wilson.
It doesn't matter who the Leafs bring to town because it's obvious they won't be coached to the level they need to be.
What ails the Maple Leafs had little to do with Matt Stajan or Ian White, but it had everything to do with a lousy system and bad habits that a coach is responsible for.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the trades because at this point, it can't hurt, but icing on the cake would have been the announcement that Wilson is gone as well.
It's a frustrating situation for Leaf fans, and Burke would never admit it, but Wilson remains with the Leafs exclusively because of his ties to Team USA. It would look bad for Burke, who hired Wilson for both the Leafs and the American National team, to fire the guy just days before the Olympics start.
How weird is that, the Toronto Maple Leafs suffer because of Team USA.
Sunrise, FLA - What can I say; last night was probably the lowest point ever for me as a Leaf fan.
I paid twenty bucks for two tickets for the Leaf game in Florida last night, and it was twenty bucks too much.
Like hundreds of other loser Leaf fans I sort of planned my vacation around a Leaf road game and was somewhat looking forward to it.
We drove up to Sunrise in the afternoon, I endured a couple of hours at the Sawgrass Mall, we had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then we headed across the parking lot to the BankAmerica Center to look for tickets.
I got two twenty dollar seats for ten bucks each, and then we went back to the car and did what you're apparently supposed to do when following your team on the road.
We put on Leaf jerseys.
What a miserable game. The Leafs sucked the big one and sitting there, it made me contemplate that this may be the worst Leaf team I've ever experienced
I know, I know. I lived through the 70's and 80's when the Leafs were horrendous, and it's been pretty slim since they last made a run in 2002, but this current team is sickening and most of the blame has to rest on the shoulders of the coach.
And that's the crazy thing; I still believe this team could be a lot better than it is. They've showed signs of promise a few times during the season, but it seems their coach, a guy whose way too cocky and condescending for someone who has no results to point to, doesn't know what he's doing.
It's fine to watch games on television but sometimes you actually have to be there to appreciate some things and that's what happened to me last night.
Isn't it the coach's job to tell his players to shoot more on the power-play? Isn't the coach's job to do something about the worst penalty kill in the league? Isn't it the coach's job to tell his players to finish their checks? Isn't it the coach's job to instill team discipline that prevents defensive break downs that minor atoms shouldn't make?
Let's go back to the game against Tampa Bay on Thursday night. Shouldn't the coach shoulder some of the blame for the ridiculous melt-down that Alexie Ponikarovsky had?
Where's the team discipline?
Shouldn't the coach be held responsible for a "too many men on the ice" penalty during overtime?
No discipline.
Isolated, these things happen. But with the Leafs they happen way too often and meanwhile the team is showing absolutely no progress. If anything, they're going in the other direction, and to my mind, a lot of it has to do with coaching.
And while we're at it, what about the General Manager? It might be OK if he quietly went about his business, but he too is awfully cocky for a guy who was going to bring chance to the organization and then turned around and traded away two first round draft choices for an average player.
He's got no right to act like he does, like he's smarter than everyone else. Shit, me and six of my best friends would have known not to trade first round draft choices.
Brian Burke has no been reduced to a nervous wreck whose terrifed that Boston may end up with the first pick over-all.
Same with the coach, he talks a big game before and afterwards, but during the game his team looks like a freakin' mess, a disorganized, undisciplined collection of under-achievers.
Again, I realize this team is far from good, but they should be doing better than they are.
The only saving grace in all of this is that Ron Wilson will coach Team USA at the Olympics. We can only hope he maintains the same standard.
It's fascinating. I looked around the arena last night and it was heavily dotted with Leaf jerseys. People like me who worked a game into their vacation. Dedicated Leaf fans who stick with their team through thick and thin, but what do they get in return?
Nothing.
And I know what's happening right now. There are Hab fans reading this and laughing at my prediction that the Leafs would finish ahead Montreal this year. Go ahead and laugh, you deserve it.
But don't get too ahead of yourself. That team of yours ain't so hot either, and there's a collapse coming just like last year.
As for your joy in the mess that is the Toronto Maple Leafs, thank Ron Wilson.
It's no secret that I'm not much of an NBA fan. It doesn't help that I'm not big on the actual game itself, but when you include the boatload of idiots who play in the NBA it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Having said that, I've gotta say I'm immensely impressed with NBA commissioner David Stern and the Washington Wizards.
Stern showed remarkable leadership in suspending Gilbert Arenas indefinitely without pay and the Wizards showed class by supporting it.
In an era when athletes are coddled and protected and allowed to think they answer to a different set of rules than the rest of us, it was great to see the commissioner smack Arenas upside the head with a suspension that has teeth, and even better to see the Wizards react the way they have.
The team has removed nearly all traces of the player from their home arena, including Arenas merchandise with his jersey No. 0 and a huge banner with his photo that used to hang outside.
So far, everything has been done correctly.
But that will probably change. As I said in a posting a couple of weeks ago, I think Arenas should have his contract cancelled and be thrown out of the NBA for life, but that's wishful thinking
In today's world, that would be considered extreme and Stern and the NBA would be criticized for not giving a man a second chance, and from there I'm sure it would become a human rights issue and then it would morph into a racial issue.
By pleading guilty to a felony gun charge yesterday, without a doubt the backroom dealings are already taking place. Arenas pled guilty, which means he'll receive a sentence well below the maximum five years. Once that's determined then the NBA will show compassion and allow him back into the game with several conditions.
Personally, I won't like it. By taking a gun into an NBA locker room, Arenas has blemished professional sport well beyond what it deserves and in this case I don't think there should be room for a second chance.
But hey, as its been point out to me on several occasions in the comment section of this blog, I'm just a bitter old hard ass.
From the Toronto Star: After Tuesday night's loss, the Leafs fell to within four points of the last-place Hurricanes in the East, while remaining a threadbare two points out of second-last overall in the league.
Naturally, skepticism is growing since the Boston Bruins, who acquired the Leafs' first-round picks this year and next for Phil Kessel, stand to reap a top-three pick should the Leafs continue to falter and finish at or near the bottom of the league.
Ultimately, the Leafs continue to fail as a team.
They have outshot opponents 12 times in the last 14 games - including a whopping 40-18 margin against Carolina on Tuesday night - but have won only three times during that span.
Looking forward to last night's hockey game, I decided to seek some atmosphere so I wandered over to Champs Sports Bar in the trendy (for Peterborough) Charlotte Mews area.
I was joined by a couple of Wolf buddies, morning man TJ Connors and production wizard Ryan Lalonde.
We got a decent table not far from the large projection screen, but far enough to be separated by a table that featured a couple of Milfs. (They received this designation from TJ and Ryan)
Anyway, in order to watch the game I had to have this one particular woman in my sight lines and it was interesting to see her sobriety decline as the night went along. At first she appeared to be proper and polite, but as she continued to pound the ales she became louder and more animated with her body movements.
I think it was somewhere around the middle of the second period that she started to wave her arms and let out the odd "wahoo" while doing just about everything but watch the game.
At one point, without the assistance of music, she started to "sit dance". You know, when someone remains seated but dances in their chair from the waist up. I hate it, and I really hated her doing it, but eventually I cut her some slack because it turns out she had a broken foot.
She wore a cast.
At one point during one of her seat dancing sessions she leaned forward and I caught a glimpse of her thong. It wasn't one of those moments that takes your breath away, rather it was one of those moments that takes your virility away.
The thong was one of those really stringy things that rode up very high on her hips, and it was obvious the part that cupped her "va hoo hoo" was also rather slim.
The thong appeared to be old, and yellow in colour with black faces on it. The opposite of smiley faces. I don't know if there's a term for smiley faces with the smile turned upside down, but that's what she sported and I wasn't surprised because I'd have a scowl on my face too if I had to engage that ars.
As the game wore on, she became measurably more aggravating and during overtime, she stood up on her broken foot a couple of times and blocked the screen.
Now I ask you, do you think Freddie P. was happy at this point? Far fuckin' from it, and it didn't help that as she stood up her jeans were extremely low cut and the thong continued to ride high in a crooked and awkward fashion.
I was almost happy when Team USA scored in overtime to end this madness. Team Canada didn't deserve to win and I didn't deserve to be exposed to the sideshow in front of me.
But it got worse. Right after Team USA scored the winner a slender woman from the back of the room ran up to "thong lady" and lifted her shirt, sweater and bra and exposed her perky boobs with rather large areolas. This prompted thong woman to do the same, exposing her "better than I thought they'd be boobs" to the entire bar. And it wasn't a brief glimpse. She stood there and gyrated her hips in classic peeler fashion.
I shook my head in disbelief. A Tuesday night in a local down to earth sports bar, Team Canada had just lost the World Juniors and this was taking place in front of me.
But there's more.
After covering up, the two women in question, not six feet in front of me, started to have a conversation and while slight and perky stood there, thong woman reached out and started to rub her friend's reproductive area.
No kidding. As they talked, hop-along Sue was caressing the inside of the other women's thighs and then deliberately sliding her hand up and rubbing her love patch... and she spent quite a bit of time there.
Needless to say, a good portion of the fellas that were in the area enjoyed what they saw and started hootin' and hollerin' but I was quite different and it was at this point I realized that I must be getting old.
I like lesbo stuff just as much as the next guy, and there was a time that such a show, even with two-bit players would have revved my engine to some degree.
Not this time, I lost my patience, and screamed for them to sit down so I could watch Sportscentre.
It happened again. Last night while watching the game at Champs another person mis-took me for Brampton Battalion coach Stan Butler. Here's a little video I put together a couple of years ago to address the subject.
Check that, in some ways it's judgment day for all of professional sports.
If reports are true, and Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton actually drew guns on each other in the Wizards locker room last month, anything short of a life time ban from the NBA will not be adequate.
Their contracts should be cancelled and they should be banned from the league, not for a game not for a season, but forever.
This is a league that's already full of creeps and thugs but pulling guns in a locker-room takes a huge leap over any line the league could draw.
In October it came to light that several NBA players carried guns on the street, using self-protection as their pitiful excuse and at the time NBA Commissioner David Stern issued a statement requesting that NBA player "not" carry guns because it left the wrong impression and harmed the reputation of the league.
So what now?
The most disturbing part of this latest story is the accusation that the Wizards management actually knew about the locker-room gun slinging, but tried to keep it secret.
Isn't that wonderful?
That's where professional sports have gotten to. So consumed by money, fame and win columns, team owners and management are willing over-look federal law and keep things hush-hush to protect their over-paid, bogus-educated and socially screwed employees.
Needless to say the NBA is worse than any other league when it comes to harbouring imbeciles but this latest event affects all leagues. It's time to crack down on the attitude that professional athletes are somehow above the law or subject to different rules than the rest of us.
If the NBA does not act severely on this latest incident an attitude will prevail that all pro athletes are special, and that these reluctant role models can do pretty much anything they want.
This is serious stuff, especially for a league that appeals to America's most underprivileged and troubled youth.
For many, a broken down basketball court and net-less hoop represent a way out of poverty and a brighter future - to have the Washington locker-room showdown go unchecked will deliver a disturbing message to those kids who already find themselves around too much violence.
Yes, its judgment day for the NBA and Commissioner David Stern has the opportunity to act on behalf of every decent fan, player and citizen of North America.
Allow due process, and then throw both these bastards out of the league.
I've got to admit, I loved watching the Winter Classic from Fenway Park yesterday. It was a fabulous spectacle from beginning to end, and what an end.
An overtime victory by the home team in front of 38 thousand hockey nuts was fantastic.
I really don't know how anyone could be a critic of this game. The NHL has done a fine job in creating and promoting this event, and the fans eat it up.
Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of Gary Bettman, and I don't like the way we seem to be losing our Canadian grip on the game, but the Winter Classic gets huge attention in the United States and puts a unique spotlight on our sport.
It's warm and fuzzy and down to earth and although most of us have played the game outside, to most Americans hockey outside is rather unqiue.
Having said all that, I have an idea. Actually, it was Neighbour John's idea.
While watching the game yesterday we were talking about possible venues in Toronto and we came up empty. The Dome roof can't really be opened in the winter, and BMO Field has no tradition or history - but then John came up with this.
How about Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton?
It 's the perfect configuration, it could hold upwards of 30 thousand, and it would be a fitting gesture to the people of Hamilton who've been kicked in the nuts by the NHL far too many times over the years.
A game between the Leafs and Habs, who are the parent team of Hamilton's AHL team would be a wonderful spectacle for the people of Steeltown.
And I'd go this far. Initially I'd make tickets available "only" to residents of Hamilton, again as a gesture of all the bullshit Hamilton has put up with. If there were any left over after that, then put them on general sale.
Of course there is one large problem with all of this - Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. They wouldn't want to give up a home date at the ACC, so to appease everyone, tickets would probably have to go to season ticket holders first, and the prices would probably be jacked through the roof.
MLSE would probably turn it into something distasteful.
But generally, it's a nice thought don't ya think?
I found Saturday's World Junior hockey game a tad on the embarrassing side. There is no glory in Team Canada pounding an opponent 16-0.
I don't blame our players or coaches for this. If you're going to play a game, you have to play a game, and if the opportunity to score a goal in a tournament that uses goal differential presents itself, you've got to put the biscuit in the basket.
I blame the organizers. I can't help but feel the World Junior Hockey Championship is like the cart before the horse.
They want to hold a tournament but there's no use holding it with less than eight teams, so they go out and recruit teams not because they're competitive or worthy, but simply because it allows them to complete the field and create more games to which they can charge admission.
Latvia does not belong in the tournament, and including them does nothing but make Team Canada look ruthless and expose the depth of hockey world wide.
This tournament is designed for two countries now, Canada and the United States. They've pretty well given up on holding it in Europe because nobody comes, so now Canada hosts it more than it should, and next years tournament will be played in Buffalo which really means Southern Ontario.
The best way to sell tickets is to have Canada play the United States in the final and I think even the Czechs and Russians have caught on because they don't seem to put the same effort into preparing teams as they used to.
It's hard to detect through all our patriotism and pride, but the tournament is slowly becoming a farce.
Which brings me to another point - are you ready for it - Women's hockey should be eliminated from the Olympics. It serves no purpose what so ever.
Don't get me wrong, when Canada inevitably plays the United States in the gold medal game I get as revved up as the next guy, but holding this tournament for two teams is absolutely pointless.
They invite Sweden and Russia and Finland and China to make it look like there's a reason for it all, but there isn't. It's a colossal waste of time that in the end makes the only two competitive combatants look rather silly.
This sport needs several more years of development to make it Olympic worthy.
Needless to say, in many corners I will considered a big turd for saying this, and I'm sure the feminist fringe would yell and scream at such a move, but come on, there's got to be a better use of effort, ice time and talent than a two team hockey tournament.
Of course ending it would never happen. Look at what happened with the world's three or four female ski jumpers a few weeks ago.
They went straight to the Supreme Court of Canada to force their way into the Vancouver Olympics, not because it made sense, but because they're women and they wanted to be there.
Forget that there aren't enough qualified women to make it a competition, or that this sport generally is still in its infancy or that there are IOC standards clearly in place, the women ski jumpers used human rights as their spring board and created quite a stir.
In the end they were logically denied, but it was enough of a shit storm that the very suggestion of eliminating women's hockey would make organizers run for the Rockies.
This is going to be huge. The Roy Halladay trade could prove to the largest most impactful trade in the history of Toronto professional sports.
That may sound a little dramatic, but I truly believe that this trade could mean the end of the Blue Jays in Toronto. It sends the wrong message at the wrong time and the results will be disastrous.
Even with Halladay in the lineup the Jays had trouble drawing fans. What's it going to be like now that Jay fans have been told the franchise really isn't interested in winning for the next few years and they aren't interested in competing for top notch talent while playing in baseball's toughest division?
Toronto doesn't have baseball fans, it never has. Toronto used to have Blue Jay fans but that was back in the glory days of the late 80's and early 90's, when the Skydome was full of people who loved the Blue Jays who just happened to play baseball.
It was a feel good thing back then. The Jays were relatively new and they were competing and beating some of the biggest names in pro sports like the Yankees and Red Sox and Braves and Phillies. Torontonians considered this pretty heady stuff. We were making a statement right across North America and we enjoyed the spotlight.
Then as you know, the light became dim and the teams became timid and people fell out of love with the Blue Jays and therefore stopped watching baseball because they really didn't care for it to begin with.
This coming summer will be ugly. Crowds of ten and eleven thousand that were the exception last year will become the norm this year. There will be absolutely no reason for a Blue Jay fan to pay for tickets, parking and exorbitantly priced food next year.
There will be no upside, there will be no payoff. There will be nothing more than a faceless team playing in an outdated stadium in a city that offers many more attractive things to do and the break point won't be that far down the road.
No fans will mean a small payroll and a small payroll will mean no wins and that will take us back to no fans and with no fans there won't be much use continuing in Toronto.
Yes my friends this trade is huge because the trading one body will ultimately mean the demise of an entire franchise.
Leafs have won four of their last five, and have lost only five of their last 19 games in regulation time.
Habs have lost four in a row.
Any Hab fan will tell you the Leafs are a horrifically bad team, but just for the record, the Leafs now trail Montreal by just three points with a game in hand.
Now, let's go back to a declaration I made last spring.
From CanadianThinker.com - April 23, 2009
"I guarantee for at least the next five years the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish ahead of the Montreal Canadiens in the standings. Do you hear me? Do you comprehend Hab fans, the next five years."
You should never jump to conclusions or accuse without proof, but you've got to believe there's a lot more to the Tiger Woods story.
Leaving his house at 2:25 in the morning and taking out a fire hydrant and a tree in the process raises some big time flags.
There have been stories recently that Tiger has been droppin' his putter into a different bag and his knock-out wife Elin ain't too impressed, so it should be interesting to see how this unfolds over the next few days.
The "other" woman is rumoured to be a New Yorker named Rachel Uchitel, who like Elin is a baby come on, let's be doing it kind of gal.
You've got to wonder what Tiger is thinking given his squeekly clean image. There are a lot of people who'd like to have an affair with Tiger, including Humble Howard, but it's another thing for Tiger to bite.
He's got a lot to lose. Unless he's socked so much money away he has decided to start thinking with his pecker......................
I was the halls of Corus Toronto last week and during a chat with John Derringer he brought it to my attention that former Globe and Mail sports columnist William Houston had launched his own website.
He calls it Truth and Rumours, just like the popular column he wrote for the Globe for many a year.
I've been visiting it daily and I really enjoy it. Especially the way Houston isn't afraid to take shots at his former employer and guys he worked with.
But one thing I really enjoyed this week was a simple line attached to a column in which Houston slammed former colleague David Shoalts.
"Hockey Night in Canada should drop its on-going discussion about the NHL Players' Association. Nobody cares. It's inside baseball, it's incomprehensible and it's boring."
Bingo.
For the past several weeks while watching Hockey Night in Canada both Neighbour John and I have made the same observation.
Who gives a flyin' fuck. Ron Mclean and the rest of the fellas on the second intermission panel seem fascinated by the NHLPA and its troubles, but the average guy could give a shit.
Not even union guys who can't relate to a union that really isn't a union.
I can't believe that the powers that be at HNIC haven't clued in told them to knock it off because as Houston intimates, it's a huge tune out factor.
Holy cow, if in the minds of Montreal fans the Leafs suck, what does that say about the Habs?
There's a big difference between the Habs and Leafs right now, and that's direction.
The Leafs are headed in the right direction, while the Habs are blowin' their load early in the season with a one dimensional team that will definitely run out of gas, guts and goals by mid-season.
Mark my words people, the Toronto Maple Leafs will end up with more points than the Canadiens by the end of the year and the tide will start to turn within the next couple of weeks.
I know what a lot of you are thinking, I must out of my mind, but remember I'm the guy who predicted to the demise of the Habs last season, and this year's team isn't as good as last year's.
Look at Habs results so far this season. They've really only got two victories. One over Buffalo thanks to a fluky overtime goal by Brian Gionta and they beat the Rangers in overtime, other than that, its two desperate victories over the Leafs, one against Atlanta and two against the Islanders.
Of course a Hab fan will counter with this. "What have the Leafs done?" Well actually they've had a much tougher schedule than the Habs, and they've gotten progressively better over the past couple of weeks.
All I can say is, "we'll see." Habs fans are rejoicing tonight, even though they had that nauseating "na na na" song shoved down their throats, but it won't last long. Gomez, Gionta and Cammellari will be reduced to nothing when the dog days arrive, while the Leafs will have found their stride by then.
And let me repeat. I'm not predicting the Leafs will make the playoffs, or even play .500 this season. I predicted before the season started that the Leafs would finish with more points than the Habs and tonight's game, even though it was another "Toskaloss", only reinforces that belief.
And remember something else. This isn't about inflating the Leafs, it's all about giving Hab fans a reality check. It is they who claim the Leafs are awful, and that their pip squeak team is a contender, but that just isn't true.
Then again Hab fans are the most disgusting in all of pro sports.
Over the long stretch it will be proven. The Leafs will be the better team.
I'm writing this before the Leafs game against Colorado tonight. I've got some laundry to do and shirts to iron before heading back to Peterborough tomorrow morning.
I also have a spaghetti sauce to make for tomorrow night. My good friends Dan and Jackie Duran have invited me for dinner for the third time in two weeks so I thought it appropriate for me to bring the grub this time.
Dan and Jackie have bought a beautiful house in the hills of Cavan just east of Peterborough so it gives me a place to go from time to time when I don't feel like being alone.
They make me feel like family.
Anyway, back to the Leafs. I notice several people have started to pollute my inbox with questions.
Questions like - hey Fred I notice you're pretty quiet on the Leafs, are you embarrassed.
And - Hmmm.. intersting that Fred is silent on the whole Leafs issue. What are your thoughts now on the Leafs success this season compared with the Habs?
There are several more but I'm sure you get the idea. The Leafs have been sucking the hind tit so Hab fans are coming out the wood work to rub my nose in it. But that's typical of Hab fans.
To be honest, I really don't have a lot to say about it so far. The only thing I predicted for this season is that the Leafs would finish ahead of the Habs and I'm still pretty comfortable with that.
The Leafs are 0 and 5 while the Habs are 2 and 3. They lead the Leafs by three points with the season hardly out of the snatch. There is still lots of time.
Put it this way, both these clunkers will probably miss the playoffs. Remember on several occasions while predicting the Leafs would finish ahead of the Habs this year I said I wasn't sure if the Leafs would make the playoffs.
It was a great couple of hours in the studios of Corus Peterborough. The great Bobby Orr was in town to promote his association with Chevrolet and their Fair Play program and he stopped by the studios of the Wolf and Kruz.
We thought we'd have him for an hour, but we had him for two.
Bobby Orr is what every pro athlete active or retired should represent, class, compassion and humility.
Needless to say, all human beings should offer these qualities, but let's not kid ourselves, famous people are often held to a higher standard and much too often they fail the grade.
Having said that, as someone who covered a lot of pro sports over the years, it's amazing how Canadian professional hockey players are in a league of their own when it comes to being down to earth, decent nice guys.
Bobby Orr was simply fantastic today. He was great with our morning shows, he was great with the staff and he was wonderful with the people who showed up to catch a glimpse and an autograph.
He talked about the Fair Play program that he initiated and he also took the time to talk all aspects of his hockey and his career. He even showed me the scars on his knees.
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, so I'll let you slide over to Toronto Mike's site for all the tear jerking details.
Mats Sundin retired today. Big Deal.
If you've been reading this website for any length of time you know I've never been a big Mats Sundin fan. I had many an argument with many a Sundin-sucker over the years but I felt totally vindicated when he left Toronto the way he did.
Even though he had a no trade contract, he slapped Toronto fans in the face by not accepting a trade which would allow the Leafs to get something in return. Then he finishes out the season and skips town.
He screwed all the people he claims to love.
Not only that, he was a king-sized miserable failure whenever there money on the line. He was a playoff poof who never took us anywhere.
"I guarantee for at least the next five years the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish ahead of the Montreal Canadiens in the standings. Do you hear me? Do you comprehend Hab fans, the next five years."
No I haven't forgotten and I'm not backing down.
Hab fans are all revved up over the off-season acquisitions of Bob Gainey, but Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta are a couple of under-achievers whose best days are behind them.
They're a little on the small side too, which means as the season drags on they'll slowly disappear much like Alex Kovalev did on many an occasion for the Habs.
However, I must say. Gomez and Gionta have a lot more heart that Kovalev, who fittingly became an Ottawa Senator during the off-season. Talk about the perfect fit.
I will give the Habs credit for one move during the off-season. Mike Cammalleri, although a little on the small side like Gomez and Gionta is a fine hockey player.
Problem is, he aint' too bright. Apparently he could have signed with the Leafs but chose to Montreal instead. I hope he doesn't mind getting pushed around.
Can you imagine? He had the opportunity to join the Leafs and be surrounded by some size, but instead chooses the Habs who are headed in the opposite direction of the Leafs.
I guess he wants to be a big fish in a leaky pond.
And just so it's clear I ain't backin' down, let me say it again.
"I guarantee for at least the next five years the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish ahead of the Montreal Canadiens in the standings. Do you hear me? Do you comprehend Hab fans, the next five years."
And the crazy thing is, I'm not sure the Leafs will make the playoffs this year.
This is a paragraph from Damien Cox's column in the Toronto Star today, and it just about says it all.
"Right now, had the NHL seen the future and cut a deal with Balsillie, the sport would be abuzz over the arrival of a new Hamilton franchise, with all those young players gathered by the Coyotes organization finally having a meaningful place to showcase their talent.
It's so true. Just think if the NHL had done the right thing and allowed a billionaire to buy a trouble franchise and move it to a rich and hungry for hockey market.
A Balisillie take-over of the Coyotes makes so much sense on so many levels the current situation has only done damage to everyone concerned.
The Coyotes, because they're a like a ship without rudder. The league because they look petty and silly and incompetent for rejecting such strong ownership. And to Canadian hockey fans who have been nothing short of insulted by the whole process.
The team belongs in Hamilton, has the building, money and ownership to be Hamilton, but the league says no simply because it is Hamilton.
Damien Cox makes a great point. What if. What if the league had taken the logical route by recognizing the failure in Phoenix and giving the team to the rich Canadian guy who wants to put it in a city that would absolutely adore it.
Gary Bettman could have looked brilliant rather than as Cox puts it - "a man whose lost his mind over this disaster and become nearly delirious, like a man crawling through the desert unable to distinguish reality from mirage. He doesn't seem to know what it's fighting for any more, just that it's fighting against Balsillie."
I think it's wonderful that Jim Balsillie has now set his sights on Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, because you can bet your ass they are the driving force behind keeping Balsillie out of the NHL.
Balsillie has requested a deposition from MLSE President Richard Peddie through the court proceedings in Phoenix. Under oath, he wants Peddie to answer some questions about territorial rights and motives.
Of course Peddie remains deathly quiet and the NHL rejects the request by claiming the Leafs and Peddie have had very little to do with any of this.
Bullshit.
As much of a skunk that Gary Bettman has become, you know the Leafs are the background cheering him on to prevent a team from coming to Hamilton.
And make no mistake about it. This has very little to do with money, and just about everything to do with image from a Leaf standpoint.
A team in Hamilton will not affect the Leafs in any way monetarily. The ACC will still be full and the Leafs will still be the focus Hockey Night in Canada and they'll still sell just as many souvenirs. They will continue to be the area's heritage team and a lavish cash cow.
What the Leafs are most concerned with is this - they don't want a team in Hamilton
because they don't want the team in Hamilton to become better than they are. I'm convinced this is the over-riding factor. Forty two years of incompetence will do that to you.
The last thing the Leafs want is a team 30 miles down the road with a better players and better record than they have. The last thing they need is a team 30 miles down the road making the playoffs while they don't.
In a nutshell, the Leafs don't want a team in Hamilton because Leaf management has no balls.
They don't look at Jim Balsillie as a challenge; they look at him as a threat. They realize Basillie has a history of hiring good people and creating a successful business, and that scares the livin' shit out of them.
The last thing they want is for Jim Balsillie to come into the market and do within a couple of years, what they've failed to do in forty-plus years. It's all about ego.
The Leafs have nothing to worry about from a financial stand-point, five million people in the GTA guarantee enough fans for both teams and to think a team in Hamilton would cause a reduction in Leaf ticket prices is a farfetched fantasy.
The Leafs don't want a team in Hamilton for one reason and one reason only. They don't want a Hamilton team to win more than they do.
According to documents recently revealed surrounding the shit storm in Phoenix, the NHL claims that Argo owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are among the groups who are interested in buying the Coyotes and keeping them in Arizona.
If that's true, I won't go to another Argo game as long as these guys own em'.
Of all the unpatriotic moves a couple of multi-millionaires could make this is it, and its got to cut right to the bone in Hamilton.
After all these years, just when Hamilton can taste an NHL team, it could be a couple of Argo guys who prevent it from happening. How cruel.
Although, to be honest, I've got to believe there's more to this story that meets the eye.
Sokolowski and Cynamon aren't stupid. They've made some brilliant business moves over the past decade that have vaulted them into money heaven, so I can't believe they actually want to buy the Coyotes, who are really a dog, and keep them in a city that doesn't care about them.
I've got the feeling that this might be Gary Bettman working behind scenes, continuing his personal battle with Jim Balsillie.
Maybe Bettman has already come to the conclusion that another team in Southern Ontario is a formality and something he won't be able to prevent, so rather than fight it, he's decided to arrange it, meaning if it's going to happen he at least wants a say in who will own the club.
It seems like the only logical explanation. The Argo guys appear to be way too smart to start throwing money at an NHL team in the desert, so they must have assurances that if they play the NHL's game and pretend they have every intention of keep the team in Phoenix, then eventually Bettman will give them the green light to move north.
Ultimately that may be bad for the Hamilton because word is the Argo guys favour a new arena at Downsview, but it will be great news for long suffering hockey fans who can't afford to get anywhere near the ACC for a Leaf game.
It's just another strange twist in a compelling story that should come to a head on Tuesday when a bankruptcy court in Phoenix decides which way this is going to go.
Personally, I hope Balsillie gets it. I love his style in dealing with the little twerp Bettman who given his own way, would never entertain the idea of another team coming to the GTA. Right now he seems to be cornered like a rat and his only way out is to save face is for him to choose the owner who will inevitably bring another team to Southern Ontario.
It all sucks and it all stinks and that's why I want Balsillie to win this battle and knock Bettman on his tight little ass.
I realize that referring to a billionaire who wants a hockey team as a great Canadian would be a stretch to some, but that's what Jim Balsillie is
He's a great Canadian with great big huge balls.
His aggressive attempt to win another NHL team for Southern Ontario is nothing short of remarkable. His willingness to spit in the eye of the little twerp who's running the league is a thing of beauty.
Make no mistake about it, over the long haul Jim Balsillie is in it for Jim Balsillie because if he's successful he'll realize a life long dream of being part of the NHL, but he's also doing it for all Canadians. He's taking the rest of us along for the ride and so far it's been a gas.
Let's face it, Gary Bettman can say all he wants but he wants no part of another NHL team in Canada and that's the bottom line to all of this.
You know it, I know it but most of all Jim Balsillie knows it so it's become a personal challenge that could eventually benefit us all. Balsillie has the wear withal to jump into the ring with Bettman and he's willing to do it regardless of the cost.
Balsillie knows the only way another hockey team will ever come to Canada is as he put it earlier this week "through the side door", so he's willing to do whatever it takes to conquer Bettman's ridiculous process of placing NHL teams in markets that not only can't support them, but markets that don't even want them.
Balsillie is a Canadian guy who's pissed at the process and after being rejected not once but twice by a league that seems hell bent on self destruction he's figured out a way to force the issue.
And it's that force that I love.
Some people argue that he's going about it the wrong way, but really, there is no other way. Bettman doesn't want Canada under any circumstances so Basillie has found a way to pick the lock and move towards exposing the obvious.
Another NHL team in Canada makes way more sense than going to ANY other market in the United States right now. Basillie knows this team will be a huge success and he knows if succeeds in bringing the Coyotes to Southern Ontario he'll make Bettman look like a bloody idiot.
And that's the flipside to this whole thing.
Bettman can yack about league rules and protocol and a bunch of other shit, but right now I think his biggest concern is ego. He wants to be the guy who made the NHL a big deal in the United States. But it aint' gonna happen, it's obvious, but Bettman won't admit it and the league is slowly sinking because of it.
If or when the Hamilton Whatevers become reality, they'll be such a smash hit the questions will have to fly.
Why did Bettman want to go into places like Kansas City and Portland when there was a huge market to tap in Canada? Why are their teams struggling in Phoenix and Columbus and Miami when there are people in Canada thirsting for NHL hockey?
Jim Basillie may be a radical when it comes to his methods, but in the end he could force the answers to all these questions and expose Bettman for what he is and in the process give Canada its seventh team.
I have always been vehemently opposed to taxpayer money being used to finance professional sport but this situation is different.
Word is that Jim Basillie, who put up a quarter billion dollars of his own money to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, would like the federal and provincial governments to provide the 130 million dollars needed to upgrade Copps Coliseum.
Believe me, if this was Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver I'd be dead against it. I wouldn't like it if it were Edmonton, Calgary or Winnipeg either.
Why should taxpayers pay for what amounts to the factory for a multi-million dollar business - especially a place for grown men to play a kids game at exorbitant amounts of money.
But again, this situation is different. This is Hamilton and if any city in Canada deserves a break, it's Steeltown, a struggling city with fabulous people that's in the midst of an industrial revolution. As the steel industry dies in Hamilton, this feisty little city is scrambling to re-invent itself and re-furbishing Copps to NHL standards is something that would help immensely.
Yes, Jim Balsillie is a billionaire and he could probably afford to re-furbish Copps himself, but he's already done his part by swooping in and grabbing a team in a league that otherwise wouldn't dream of coming to Hamilton.
A re-furbished Copps Coliseum, with at least 41 NHL dates a year would do wonders for downtown Hamilton.
Up until now, Copps has been somewhat of a lame duck because although it was built with the NHL in mind, it got screwed over time and time again and there's never been a consistent bona fide attraction operating out of the building.
An NHL team would be different. It would give the city a new attitude and I'm sure restaurants, bars and condos would be soon to follow.
In a lot of cases, most cases in fact, tax money being thrown at pro sports is a bad deal for the taxpayer, but in Hamilton it would be a clear cut investment. But most of all, it would be a reward for the great people of Hamilton, hard working and proud people who've played second fiddle to Toronto and the surrounding area far too long.
They've been slapped around by the NHL far too many times as well, so if Balsillie manages to pull this off and actually win control of the Coyotes it's the least we could do for the Hammer.
Talk about timing. On a day when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made it perfectly clear, once again, that he doesn't want another NHL franchise in Canada, Neighbour John calls me from Raliegh, North Carolina.
John is on a business trip and he was only an hour away from the site of tonights game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins, so he swung by to see if he could get a ticket.
Of course he could. It's freakin' Raleigh, North Carolina for cryin' out loud. Another Bettman hockey hotbed where the fans could give two shits about the NHL.
Three hours before the game, Neighbour John walked up to the box office where there was no lineup, and he purchased a seat for 60 dollars. It's a decent seat , about half way up the stands, but that's not the point, the point is this - on a game night there was actually a ticket available for game three of a quarter-final series.
Can you imagine if this game was being played in Hamilton, or Kitchener-Waterloo or Vaughn? Do you think there would have been a ticket available three weeks ago let alone three hours ago? Do you think it would cost 60 lousy bucks?
The irony of it all.
On yet another day that Gary Bettman slaps all Canadians in the face with his indignant attitude towards our country, here's another example of how pathetic the imbalance is between Canada and some of the ridiculous markets in the U.S. that Bettman endorses.
Game three of a Stanley Cup quarter-final series in Raleigh, North Carolina will not be sold out tonight.
John says there were lots of tickets available, so even if you hear it was sold out, it will be bullshit - another attempt to make the NHL look healthier than it is.
If this game was being played in the GTA tonight it would be a completey different story. The game would be sold-out and packed with nothing but die-hard fans who love the game, appreciate the game and want the game.
* It's highly recommended to play this audio while reading the following item.
The most surprising thing about this past season for the Montreal Canadiens is that their so-call knowledgeable fans were fooled by it.
I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, but I told you way back last spring after the Habs were eliminated from the playoffs that this team was a dog. As you know I predicted they wouldn't make the playoffs this year, and although I was ultimately wrong, I wasn't too far off and in the end they played a measly four more games than the Maple Leafs this year.
I mention the Leafs because it's important. It's important because as I said from about February on, the Leafs are a better team than the Montreal Canadiens. Maybe not on paper, but definitely on the ice and next year the paper thing will probably change as well.
The Canadiens have very little cap space and ten unrestricted free-agents. That's a big problem and it will be played out this way.
I guarantee for at least the next five years the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish ahead of the Montreal Canadiens in the standings. Do you hear me? Do you comprehend Hab fans, the next five years.
But believe me, that's not saying a lot because the Habs are going to suck the big one.
Bob Gainey went into this 100th anniversary season with a strategy. Use a pile of free-agents who would be hungry as hell to earn new contracts. Often unrestricted free-agents have career years because they're playing for a pot of gold, unfortunately for the Habs, it didn't work out.
Here's why.
Because at the top of that list was Alex Kovalev. I hate to keep saying I told you so, but I did. I said on many occasions if Alex Kovalev is the face of your team, if he's your so-called go-to guy, then you're in huge trouble.
The rest is now history. I'm convinced that during the four game series against Boston Kovalev's main focus was starting his summer as quickly as he could.
As a Leaf fan I'd love the Habs to re-sign this guy, but they probably won't.
We keep hearing that Montreal's off-season focus will be Vincent Lecavalier which is odd when you think about it. With no cap space, to sign Lecavalier the Habs will have to say goodbye to several others, so what's the use of having Lecabalier when you have nothing else?
It's not a pretty situation in Montreal and the fans aren't happy about it, but their discontent will only be heightened next year and at least the next four after that while they're looking up at the Maple Leafs.
But Montreal fans shouldn't be too critical, because as shitty as their team will become, they're just as bad.
Fickle, fair weather and uneducated.
That was played out last night with the way they reacted to their 21 year old goaltender.
Like any Hab hater I was hoping / expecting a four game sweep, but in the back of my mind I thought that maybe the Habs would show up and do something once they returned to the friendly confines of "na na na ville"
But wow, this team is shittier than I thought they were and injuries absolutely cannot be used as an excuse. Injuries are part of the game, and if you listen to most blowhard Hab fans they're so great they could send the 1955 team out there and still win.
Which makes me think about the advertising on the end boards at the dumbBell Centre.
There's a big Viagra on one of the panels. I suggest before the next game they tie Alex Kovalev down and pump him full of the shit. I mean really, where's the passion?
In the third period you saw the real Kovalev. A half assed effort and he gave the puck away on more than one occassion. At this point all Kovalev wants is for the season to be over so he can get the hell out of town.
A swell guy.
And back to the Viagra for a second. They should give Saku Koivu a good dose as well. But based solely on age.
The way he ambles around the ice now I get the feeling his game ain't the only thing that's gone soft.
As I sit here in Peterborough and write this, the game between the Boston Bruins and Les Miserable isn't even over yet.
But that doesn't matter because it's a foregone conclusion after two periods. The Habs are no match for the Bruins on this night and probably won't be for the duration of the series.
It's too bad a playoff position was wasted on the Habs. Maybe the NHL should adopt a rule that says a team that sucks down the stretch can be replaced by another team for the post-season.
I mean really, even the Leafs would have given the Bruins a better fight.
If there's one thing that's positive from a Hab standpoint it's the play of Alex Kovalev. Or should I say the shot of Alex Kovalev. He's been his usual invisible self, but a couple of times he's popped out of his hole to put the biscuit in the basket and Les Skidmark need all the goals they can get.
Too bad Saku Koivu doesn't still play for the Habs........ Oh he does? I guess he went to the Mats Sundin school of playoff hockey.
Anyway, the whole bloody exercise is silly as shit. I wasted the better part of two hours watching a one sided hockey game tonight so finally I did what any true hockey fan would do; I changed the channel so I could watch a real hockey game featuring Canada's team, the Calgary Flames.
Hopefully the Habs will be dead by Wednesday, and if that happens it will be the first time in their history that they've gone a complete decade without winning a Stanley Cup.
There's no doubt about it, I want the Bruins to beat the Habs in the first round of the playoffs mainly because I don't like Les Habiskanks, but there's there's another reason.
As I've pointed out on a few occasions I share part of my summer with Boston Bruins defensive coach Craig Ramsay. Believe it or not, Ramsay also has a tin palace and it's parked in the same park as mine. He frequently visits the Tiki Bar.
There are different levels of trailer parks you know, and I'm proud to say when it comes to trailer trash, Ramsay and I are in the upper end.
Anyway, here's the other reason why I want the Bruins to beat the Habs. I want the Bruins to beat the Habs because ultimately I want them to win the Stanley Cup.
You know what happens when a team wins the Stanley Cup - all members of the team including the coaching staff gets the the Stanley Cup for one day and they can take it where ever they they want.
Believe me, if the Bruins win the Cup there will be immense pressure on Ramsay by me and the other trailerites to bring it to our park.
Imagine that, the Stanley Cup in our trailer park. We'll be able to pose with it, drink from it, maybe even play a bocce ball game for it.
I would touch it, stroke it and kiss it...... and then I'd go back over the Stanley Cup.
With all due respect to the combatants, is there anything more pointless than holding the Women's World Hockey Championship year after year?
And I'm not just saying this now because Canada lost to the United States in the final yesterday, I've made this point on several other occasions when Canada beat the States.
Therein lays the problem. It's always Canada against the United States and no matter how much they try to push this sport ahead, women's hockey at the international level just ain't cutting it.
This past week, very much unknown to the masses, women from seven other nations gathered in Finland so they could get slapped around by Canada and the United States.
It really is an exercise in futility. This was the 12th year of the Championships and absolutely nothing has changed. While Canada and the States take the sport and the event seriously, you get the impression everybody else throws a team together just to say they were there.
In the championship just completed Canada scored 31 goals and had only six scored against, and four of those goals against came against the United States in the final.
The States scored 28 goals and had only three scored against.
Before these tournaments even start everybody knows who's going to be in the final which severely affects interest and perpetuates the ridiculous image of women's hockey.
I understand that to advance the sport there has to be competition, but why invite the likes of Japan and China to an event that will only serve to humiliate and embarrass them?
Even countries like Finland and Sweden, who have strong men's programs, don't come anywhere close to competing with the North American countries. They too get their doors blown off.
So really, what's the point?
Until these other nations advance their sport to the level where a game is a game they should suspend these "official" tournaments and work on development.
And I hate to say it, but this should apply to the Olympics as well.
Meanwhile, Canada and the States should do their own version of a "Harlem Globetrotters Tour" and titillate the few hundred fans that care enough to show up.
I really enjoyed watching the Masters with my father in law Sunday afternoon, but I have to say, I didn't enjoy listening to the Masters and it had nothing to do with the Jim Nantz.
I love Nantz, he's part of what makes the Masters the Masters. What I can't stand anymore is the imbecile fans who scream "in the hole" from ridiculous places on the golf course.
Sorry but its right out of hand and literally puts a knot in my stomach every time I hear it.
It's no big deal if a guy's making a putt from a reasonable distance, but these whack jobs who yell "in the hole" when somebody takes their second shot on a par five rank right down there with Hab fans who sing the "na na na" song.
It really is ridiculous and has got me to the point where I'd rather watch the coverage without sound.
I mean really, what are these people thinking? It's something that started a few years ago but rather than going away like it should have, it's actually gained steamed and become something that makes the sport look silly.
When Tiger made that shot out of the woods on the 17th that hit a tree, I swear I heard somebody scream "in the hole" when the club struck the ball.
In the hole?
More like in "your" hole..... with a rusty coat hanger.
"I WONDER HOW LONG BEFORE FRED WRITES ANOTHER WHINEY BLOG ABOUT HOW THE HABS BARELY GOT IN."
FREEWAY
Not long Frank. Why would I hesistate to respond to the likes of you and other mindless Hab fans.
I find it hilarious that your gutless team didn't qualify for the playoffs until the 81st game of the season, and they did it by losing in overtime.
Say what you want Frank, but you were just one of many tedious Hab fans in the early part of the season who was predicting eastern domination and a birth in the Stanley Cup finals.
It was "I" who predicted even before the season started that the Habs wouldn't make the playoffs. So I was wrong. So I blew it. But all things considered my prediction wasn't too shabby.
At least I have a much better assessment of hockey teams than you and other dilusional Hab fans have.
I almost like it this way because now that the playoffs are about to begin, we'll see the true colours of what is probably one of the most distastful Montreal teams I can remember.
I can't wait for Alexei Kovalev disappear starting in game one and then watch as the rest of this over-rated junk heap collapses around him.
"Les Canadiens Sont La.
Least we made the playoffs.
See ya next year tee dot."
Freeway
Whatever ever Frankie boy, but to be honest I don't think you're going to like next year too much. Twelve over-rated free agents and 350 thousand dollars of cap space.
Coming soon - Habs Countdown - We'll count down every game till they're done. It'll make the playoffs worth watching - for four games anyway.
OK, I admit it. I'm starting to get a little tired of this Habs Watch thing. I really can't wait for the regular season to end this weekend so we can move on.
Having said that, I imagine there are a lot of Hab fans a little concerned this morning.
The Habs, displaying their horrendous lack of depth lost another one last night. They were beaten 3-1 by the Rangers in New York. Of course Hab fans have latched onto the injury excuse, but when your fortunes are tied to a 39 year old journeyman defenseman that you just traded for, it sort of tell you where you're at.
Lucky for the Habs, the Florida Panthers are doing all they can to let the Habs stumble and fall into the playoffs.
The Panthers, with a great opportunity to make a move on Montreal last night, lost 2-1 in Philadelphia, so the numbers game moved in the Habs favour.
They remain three points ahead of the Panthers with both clubs having two games remaining. In order for the Les Miserables to fall out of the playoffs they have to lose both their games while the Panthers have to win both.
Possible, but not even this whack job thinks it's probable.
Don't' get me wrong, I have full confidence that the Habs will lose their remaining two games to Boston and Pittsburgh; I'm just not sure the Panthers can beat both Atlanta and Washington.
So, as distasteful as it is, and as disappointing as it is for me, we might have to get our heads around the idea of having this junk pile make the playoffs.
But before all you Hab Humpers start e-mailing me, criticizing my prediction that the Habs wouldn't make the playoffs, use your big block heads. There are only two games left in the 82 game schedule and my prediction could still come true.
Not too shabby.
Meanwhile, how about those Leafers? They beat the Jersey Devils 4-1, enhancing the obvious. They're a better team than the Habs right now.
I'm sure Hab fans will want to use injuries as an excuse, but there's no getting around it, the Habs shit the bed in Ottawa last night blowing a third period lead and losing 3-2.
This sets up a delicious "what if" scenario.
The ninth place Florida Panthers trail Les Habitaints by three points this morning with both clubs having three games remaining.
However, look at the schedules.
The Habs play in New York against the Rangers tonight and they play in Boston Thursday night before wrapping up the regular season against Pittsburgh at home Saturday night. That's a tough schedule.
Meanwhile, the Panthers play in Philadelphia tonight, in Atlanta Thursday night, and then they're home to Washington on Saturday night.
Here's the "what if"
What if the Habs lose all three of their remaining games and the Panthers win two of their final three?
I'll tell ya "what if". The Habs would miss the playoffs.
But don't worry Hab fans, it wouldn't be completely horrible because you can always use the injuries to Mathew Schneider and Andrei Markov as an excuse. (That's what happens when you run into the mighty Maple Leafs)
Meanwhile, as a Leaf fan I have the ability to show some class and allow that if the Habs win just one of their remaining games and the Panthers lose one, Les Agravate with clinch a playoff spot.
Hab fans will rejoice and spew their sweet nothings but talk about a comedown from early season predictions of winning their division, their conference, the Stanley Cup and the war on terror.
Don't forget, should the Habs slither into the post-season watch for "Habs Countdown" on this website next week.
We'll count down every Habs loss until they're eliminated from the playoffs.
I decided to live blog the hockey game tonight and I'm glad I did because right off the bat I have to say how pissed off I am.
The game starts with the Hockey Night in Canada crew going "ga ga" over the Habs because they've won a couple of games recently. It was sickening.
This weasel team with their weasel players led by Alex Kovalev are a Sacku shit and it was proved in the opening few minutes when Kovalev high sticked Ian White to the face and got away with it.
How the hell can there be two referees on the ice and they miss it.
Then it got worse. Mat Stajan gets called for a penalty that was no where near a penalty. His skates got caught up in the feet of one of the weasel brigade and one of the dumb ass referees calls it tripping.
And wouldn't you know it, that peckerhead Kovalev ends up scoring. Man I hate the Habs.
It just got a bit worse. While Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson were blowing loads over the Habs so called new look of confidence and puck control some pussy with the last name Wearadress made it 2-0 Habiskanks.
Hughson and Simpson are something else. They're salivating over a team that dropped like a rock during the second half of the season because they're made up of gutless softies who hate the tough going.
If the Habs slither into the playoffs they'll get crushed.
This Craig Simpson is something else. What game is he watching? George Larockhead had just thrown a punch while body checking the Leafs Mikhail Grabovski and Simpson calls it a good hit. What a freaking joke.
And speaking of jokes, how about Larockhead, a walking, talking pylon. As long as he's good enough to play for the Habs, believe me they ain't good enough to win anything.
First period over and I feel like throwing a rock through the goddman TV. Simpson and Hughson are pissing me off, but not nearly to the extent Les Habicrap is pissing me off. Talk about having the referees tucked into your back pocket while you're trying to salvage a season you've all but thrown away.
I hope Don Cherry puts me back into a good mood.
No such luck. Cherry opens with an archived prediction he made on March 21st that the creepy Habs would make the playoffs. Big deal.
Then Cherry really scrapes the bucket by showing a picture of Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama. Cherry blurts "we all love the Queen."
No we don't. At least I dont. I can't the monarchy and I especially can't stand this woman who probably played a role in the murder of her daughter in law. Not only that, the old boot is so goddman selfish she won't give her son a shot at the throne.
I'll tell ya right now, if that was my mother, long ago she would have let me take over. Because she loves me.
And while we're on the subject, what's with all this bullshit about not touching or putting your arm around the old bag. Who the hell does she think she is, the Queen of freakin' England?
Things are looking up a bit. I just opened a case of Bud Lite and was pleasantly surprised with their "Vintage NHL T-shirt" promotion. I got a Leaf T-shirt. No kidding.
I was so afraid I'd get a Hab shirt, but then again it turns out that would have been alright because my wife just told me we're out of toilet paper.
Another solid moment. (the game, not my stool) That weirdo guy on the Habs named Wearadress just missed on a penalty shot. Martin Gerber completely outguessed the prick and Gerber is having a horrible night.
Not so good at the moment. Saku suckboy just fed a pass to Alex Tonguejob and he deflected the puck past Gerber.
Let's not forget, the Leafs are using a schoolboy in tonights game as they prepare for next year when they get to use nine million in cap space and a raft of draft choices.
And don't forget, the Habs, who have been reduced to a one line team, will have 12 free-agents and virtually no cap space.
I wonder how far the Habs think they're gonna get in the playoffs with only one line? Of course that's if they make the playoffs. It's still not certain because this jelly fish brigade could fall apart again at any moment.
It would have been nice if the Leafs had used a goaltender tonight. Chris Higgins, who probably couldn't make the Brampton Battalion just beat Gerber with an easy shot from the slot.
The Leafs played in Philadelphia last night, against a real team, and it's starting to show.
What is with this love in between Hughson and Simpson and the Habs? It's bordering on disgusting at this point. I get the feeling that both have their pants around their ankles in the gondola, strumming thier banjos as they think up new ways to compliment the over-rated Les Habiwanks.
Let's see how stiff they get in a couple of weeks when the Habs are wiped out in four games by one of the legitimate teams in the east. Of course that's providing the Habs make the playoffs.
I just had a thought while watching the Hot Stove which features the extremely repulsive Al Strachan, who's the type of guy who makes you feel like you need a shower after you've listened to him for a while. I thought how good he'd look in a Habs sweater. Yea, you wouldn't want Strachan to date your grandmother, but he'd make the perfect Les Habiturd. He'd fit right in with the rest of that crew.
I notice I just got an e-mail from Freeway Frank. He says Habs Watch is officially over.
Big words from a guy who was extremely quiet just couple of weeks ago when the Leafs had his pathetic mafia connected team down 4-0.
Oh Oh Frank. Johnny Mitchell just broke the ice for the Leafs, could your boys be collapsing on national TV? It wouldn't be the first time.
They just showed a graphic pointing out that the Leafs lead the NHL with 350 rookie man games this season. And to think the Leafs have lost only six more games than the Habs in regulation time this season. How do you explain that Hab Humpers?
Geez. I wonder who's got the better future?
Holy cow. It just keeps happening. Just when you think you've taken inventory on all the rodents that make up the Montreal Canadiens, another one pops out of the hole.
Something named Maxim Lapierre just scored on a Les Habaskunk power play thanks to another terrible call by the referees. Jason Blake was going for the puck but was called for tripping or some other make believe call.
I assume a lot of Hab fans are pretty happy at this point, but it will always come back to this. Your entire team looks and acts like it was fathered by Al Strachan. How can you live with yourselves?
Wooo fuckin' hoo. Josh Gorges just scored another power-play goal for the Habs. I guess Freeway is bouncing off the walls in Calgary. It will mean a lot to him if the Habs hold on to win this game. After all, it will even the season series with the Leafs.
Actually, part of me likes this phony resurgence by the Habs, especially against the Leafs who have loaded their team up with kids down the stretch. It will give the Les Habiscats a false sense of security before walking into the real world in a couple of weeks.
Of course that's providing they don't fall apart between now and then.
Way to go Boyd Devereau, nice shorthanded goal after the goddman referees came up with another mindless call.
Mikhail Grabovski delivered a clean check on some dumbass Hab who almost started to cry after he banged his Habby head on the glass. It must be nice to have the referees on your side when you're desperate to make the playoffs. Especially against a team that's loaded down with rookies and is actually playing a schoolboy tonight.
It wasn't surprising to hear Hab fans sing that putrid "na na na" song at the ACC as time wound down. But that's what Hab fans do. When things are going well they're loud and mouthy, but when things are going badly, they run and dive into the closest hole.
Thank goodness MLSE has lots of money so they can bring in a fire hose, hook it up to a big vat of Lysol and hose down all the seats occupied by Hab fans tonight, especially the seat occupied by that big fat bastard we saw at the end wearing the Habs jersey.
He was pounding his chest like he actually had something to do with what happened on the ice. Typical.
Make sure you visit this website once the playoffs start. If the Habs don't fall apart over the next week or so, which could still easily happen, you'll be able to follow "Habs Countdown"
We'll count down every Habs loss until they're eliminated. It will preceed the dismantling of this shit stain in the offseason.
The Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-2 last night, officially eliminating the Senators from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The victory also kept the Panthers within one point of the eighth place Montreal Canadiens who just a year ago finished on top of the Eastern Conference, before firing a coach, sending their supposed best player home for week and dealing with other players ties to organized crime.
Well well well. After having their way with a couple of teams ranked 13th and 14th in the Eastern Conference earlier this week the Montreal Canadiens came crashing back to earth when they ran into a tenth place team in the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo won it 4-3 in a shootout.
Nowadays, a tenth place team is tough goin' for the slumpin' Habs, heck, an eleventh place team is tough for the Habs. All you have to do is look back to last Saturday night when they were smacked pretty good by the Leafers.
This whole Hab thing is a joy to watch. They still might be clinging to eighth place in the east but they're not fooling anyone.
Victories over Atlanta and Tampa Bay may have given the likes of Freeway Frank a stiff one, but any body who knows any thing about the game of hockey knows the Habs are a broken down and gutless waste of time.
And that's being kind.
I've got to be honest with ya, and I know this is going to stun a few of you, but I'm at the point now where I wouldn't mind it if the Habs made the playoffs.
Don't get me wrong, having them miss the playoffs would be sweet loveliness, but having them crushed in the first round wouldn't be bad either.
Habs fans would go ape shit over making the playoffs and start making all kinds of mindless and unrealistic predictions but then they'd have to play a team ranked first or second in the east and it would be a massacre.
Usually you don't associate the word massacre with something nice, but in this case it would be like getting a hummer in the VIP Lounge at Chez Paree.
I can only imagine of course.
Here's the way she stacks up after Saturday's action.
The Florida Panthers beat Dallas 6-3. They remain ninth in the east, but now they're just one point behind Le Habiturds and it sets up a big Tuesday night.
Le Habiskank play the high flyin' Chicago Black Hawks while the Panthers host Montreal's twin brothers, the Ottawa Senators.
With any luck, come Wednesday morning, Le Habistink will finally be on the outside looking "up."
And let's not forget, next Saturday night Le Poo Poo comes into the ACC for what I'm sure will be another humiliating spanking.
There really hasn't been much to report on Habs watch this week because the Habs were dealt and unbelievably easy schedule down the stretch.
Although I must say, it was fascinating how they almost blew last nights game.
Meanwhile, I thought this would be a good time to re-visit some Hab fan history. Hab fans like to poke fun at Leaf fans for street celebrations after opening round playoff victories, they think it's sucky compared to what they do.
Some French tourists visited Quebec and attended their first hockey game ever.
They loved it so much that they purchased a CH sweater and brought it back to France.
Before they left they had the name of the most popular player printed on the back, or at least the name of the player that they heard the most during the game.
I realized I've OD'd on the Habs lately, but the story about their rumoured sale has my mind racing with all kinds of wonderful thoughts.
Not only should be the Habs be sold, they should be moved. Yes moved.
Now is the time for Jim Balsillie to do his thing and buy a team and move it to the GTA, or Kitchener or Hamilton or where the hell ever.
The Habs should be moved because they deserve better fans. They deserve fans that will stick with them through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad.
Not a bunch of fickle fair-weather soccer fan wanabees who come in droves when times are good but turn their backs and run when things turn sour.
What kind of a relationship is that? Can you imagine if a family operated this way, can you imagine if soldiers acted this way? It's disgusting, and that's why the imminent sale of the Habs should be used as an opportunity to get them out of Quebec once and for all.
In Ontario, once they were cleansed of their Habitosis, they would be appreciated and supported by true hockey fans. Not a bunch of turncoats who buy tickets for the sole purpose of singing a cheesy song at the end of "some" games.
No doubt this would be a bold move. No doubt that the fight to keep the team in Montreal would reach into Parliament and a court of law, but once cooler heads prevailed and rational minds won out, it would be obvious the Habs should move.
Because they deserve faithful fans and Southern Ontario is full of them.
For the past couple of weeks leading up to this, it's been fun to write Habs Watch and poke fun at the Montreal Canadiens and their nauseating fans.
But now it's getting out of hand.
I actually feel bit sorry for Hab fans. It must be difficult to be so loud and aggravating and bombastic and then have it all come crumbling down around you. It must feel awkward to say so much and then have your team deliver so little.
Talk about a free fall. Any rational hockey fan knows that last year was a major fluke and the Habs weren't nearly as good as their record indicated, but Hab fans couldn't see it.
They got caught up in the hollow fantasy that Alex Kovalev could actually lead this team and that the Kostitsyn brothers actually give a shit, and that Carey Price could actually stop something smaller than a beach ball.
Putting modesty aside for a second, I wrote on this blog many times over the past several months that the Habs would not make the playoffs, and although they still could, it really doesn't matter at this point because the over-all point has been made.
The Habs aren't very good. In fact they're bad, and I think it's clear beyond any shadow of doubt now that they aren't as good as the Toronto Maple Leafs and next year the gap will become even wider as the Leafs wheel and deal and spend millions in cap space.
Bob Gainey meanwhile, if he still has a job, will have no other choice than to blow-up the Habs and start all over. That's what happens when you have a large collection of strokers and only 350 thousand dollars in cap space.
Yes, the Habs will be different this year but the pressing question is, will their fans be any different?
We can only hope so. Will they come back to reality and show at least a little hockey knowledge?
Will they accept their place in the league as an also ran and adjust to life without a Stanley Cup that will stretch beyond 20 years?
We can only hope so, because as vile as the Habs are as a team, their fans make it even worse.
That's the peculiar twist in all of this.
Hab fans love to laugh and point and ridicule Leaf fans for loving their team, yet the average Leaf fan has way more class than the average Hab fan and that was played out at the Bell Centre last night.
What a perfect opportunity for Leaf fans to twist the knife a little last night by singing that imbecilic and cheesy "na na na" song. There were thousands of Leaf fans at the game, so they could have done it and been heard loud and clear, especially after so many Hab fans had given up on their team with several minutes to play and left the building.
But no, Leaf fans didn't do it. They just stood there and applauded yet another fine performance from their feisty and quickly improving hockey team and then left the building.
The Leafs and Habs have played five times this season and Toronto has now won three times.
As for the standings, the Habs cling to a playoff spot by one point this morning only because the Florida Panthers were beaten by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Today could be the day, and it couldn't have lined up any better.
If the Florida Panthers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal, Les Crapahola will drop out of a playoff spot.
Do the hockey gods love us Leaf fans are what?
It's sweet enough that the Habs could drop to ninth tonight, but to have the Leafers play a part is enough to give any man a warm one.
It's going to make for an exciting night. Leaf fans have been pretty bold on this website lately, including myself who has declared that right now the Leafs are a better team than Les Arsaholis.
I'm sure the likes of Freeway Frank and other aggravating Hab fans who hold on to that Stanley Cup crap, that's pushing 20 years ago, will be on the edge of their seats tonight for a game that will feature the loosy goosy Leafs against the dazed and confused Canadiens.
Funny ain't it? The Habs were supposed to be so wonderful so marvelous so fabulous so beautiful this year, but they've won only seven more games than the sad sack Leafs, and most of those came before the new year.
Point wise, the Leafs are only ten back. Can you say "catchable?"
Make sure you visit this site tomorrow for the all the details, analysis and trash talk.
(on that note, here's a shout out to Freeway - phone me after the game tonight and I'll record then post the conversation on this website!)
If the Habs are going to sink, we need other teams to ascend but the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres just won't co-operate.
The Habs lost another one last night, this time 4-3 to the New York Rangers in a shoot-out.
Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty good because the Habs plunged to seventh place in the east thanks to this loss to the Rangers and a 6-2 win by the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Atlanta Thrashers.
But those damn Panthers were beaten 3-0 by Washington and Buffalo was knocked off 4-2 by Ottawa.
So here's the latest. The Habs sink to seventh, just two points ahead of the eighth place Carolina Hurricanes and just three points up on the Panthers. They're five ahead of the tenth place Sabres.
What a king-sized drag it will be if the Habs continue to crap out but still make the playoffs because other teams are even crapier.
Too bad for Hab humpers that the Leafs and Canadiens couldn't trade teams right now, then maybe the Montrealers could put this thing away.
'Cause don't forget, the Leafs are a better team right now.
The Habs hold on a playoff spot got a little weaker last night which is a wonderful thing, but they still had some horseshoes crammed up their dirt holes.
While the Habs went through the motions in a 3-1 loss to the Jersey Devils, none of their playoff chasin' rivals could manage to win.
While the Habs handed Martin Brodeur his 551st career regular season victory without much of an argument, Pittsburgh, Carolina, the Rangers, Florida and Buffalo all lost in overtime.
Shitty they lost, but at least they all grabbed a point.
So here's the deal. The Habs remain tied with Pittsburgh for fifth place in the east, both have 80 poiints. But the Cans have 79, while the Rangers and Florida have 78.
Buffalo is tenth in the east, but just four insignificant points behind Le Miserable.
It's going to be a fun time down the stretch and the Habs will have no excuses because eight of their last thirteen games are at home and eleven of the 13 games are against teams lower than them in the standings.
But that doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot because several teams below the Habs in the standings, are actually better teams than Montreal right now, and that includes the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Something crazy is going on in Hogtown. The Leafs have traded away three of their best players this season, their defense corp is depleted with injuries and their goaltending is patchwork at best.
But they continue to win more games than they lose lately and Ron Wilson has them playing great as a "team."
That's right Hab humpers, whether you like it or not, the Leafs are actually a better "team" than the Habs right now and I hope to hell they rub it in during their final two meetings of the year.
Prediction - next year the Leafs will finish with more points than the Canadiens. (remember, the Leafs have tons of trade bait and lots of cap space. The Habs meanwhile are crippled with no cap room which means they can't trade-up for better players.)
Laugh all you want, but you might remember that after the Habs were ousted from the playoffs last year I predicted they wouldn't make the post-season this year.
I'm surprised. If there's anything on this earth that we can poke fun at, it's sports.
Sports rivalries are neat and it's fun to slam something without having to worry about being politically correct or hurting someone's feelings.
A little trash talk can be fun. But apparently I've missed the mark with something.
If you've been reading this blog over the past few weeks you've noticed I've included a new feature called Habs Watch.
It answers to all those Hab fans who like to trash the Toronto Maple Leafs. All those Hab fans that were convinced their club was a Stanley Cup contender this year.
As the Habs started to drop in the standings and a playoff spot became precarious, I developed Habs Watch to poke a little fun at the team and fans I so truly despise.
But I've received several complaints over the past few days about Habs Watch with people suggesting I should give it a rest. Put it away. Write about something else.
Even from people who hate the Habs.
Personally I enjoyed it because I only post Habs Watch when the Canadiens lose, so it was fun to watch their games or look for their scores every night wondering whether I would post or not.
I thought it was harmless but in reality, I may actually be harming my readership.
I thought Hab fans would flock here because of that old love/hate thing, but it turns out for every Hab fan that was coming here because they were pissed off at me, I may have been losing Hab haters who really can't be bothered with it all.
Very peculiar.
But hey, I listen to the people so are going to ask all of your straight up, should I continue Habs Watch, or should I dump it before it really began?
It would have been fun to follow it through the next couple of weeks until the Habs fate is known, but I'll leave it up to you the readers.
Oh Oh. The greatest team in the history of sports since the beginning of time (just ask any Hab fan) hit another bump in the road last night.
The were beaten 3-2 in overtime at home by the absolute worst team in the NHL, the New York Islanders.
Not a very good way to prepare for the inevitable Stanley Cup celebration in June. (just ask any Hab fan)
The Habs remain fifth in the East this morning, but only a delicious three points ahead of the ninth place Florida Panthers, and only five points ahead of the tenth place Buffalo Sabres.
With upcoming games against Jersey, the Rangers and Ottawa, with any luck, by this time next week Le Bloog, Blank, Wreck could be sitting on the outside looking in.
The Habs got a little desperate this afternoon. They fired coach Guy Carbonneau.
I've got to tell you people, I think this sucks but it also concerns me.
I actually think Carbonneau deserves credit for what he did with this hockey team. When Alex Kovalev is your captain, your sophomore goalie is full of holes and you lose your top pointer getter in Robert Lang you can't expect miracles.
I've said from the outset, I think this team was an over-rated so give Carbonneau credit for keeping them in lofty position for most of the season. This team didn't really crumble, what it did was come back to earth and find its level.
I really think Carbonneau got a raw deal.
On the other hand, I'm concerned that General Manager Bob Gainey will take over on an interim basis because more often than not, teams tend to respond positively to a coaching change.
For the short team anyway, and the problem is, for a Hab hater that's what the rest of the season is, short team. It will be ugly if the Canadiens get on a roll and grab a playoff spot.
From my perspective, it would have been a lot more fun to watch they drop out of the playoffs and then watch the likes of Freeway Frank throw themselves off the top floor of the Place Ville Marie.
I guess is got to be a bit too much for Gainey on Sunday afternoon when the Canadiens actually dropped to eighth place in the east for a few hours.
Then they go out and beat Dallas 3-1. But it wasn't enough to save Carbonneau.
Anyone in the vicinity of the Phillips Arena in Atlanta last night must have wondered what that horrible stench was.
It must have oozed from the arena and out on the streets of Atlanta forcing Georgians to cover their noses and run for the peach groves.
Atlanta fans are used to their own team stinkin' the place out, 'cause they're one of the weakest teams in the NHL, but what can you say about the opposition last night.
The Mighty Montrealers are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in the eyes of their dorky fans, so yes indeedee they must have stunk like a month old cadaver last night in losing to the lowly Thrashers 2-0.
Are you kidding me?
Habs fans actually think they have a shot at the Cup, but to win the Cup you have to win the odd game on the road and right now God's team doesn't seem to be able to do that.
They've lost twelve of their last fifteen away from the dumbBell Centre.
While Hab fans focus on Leaf fans and fling all sorts of nastys at them, they're missing the real drama to this NHL season. Their team is going down faster than a hog washin' floozy.
Let's review the juicy details. Both Buffalo and Carolina conveniently won last night so here's how the Eastern Conference looks.
If I'm not mistaken, the Habs are only two points out of tenth place.
But not to worry Hab fans. You're team is so awesome it doesn't matter if they finish ninth or tenth, they'll still win the Stanley Cup because they're the most wonderful team in the world.
Here's another reason professional sports sucks and it hits close to home. The Toronto Maple Leafs will raise ticket prices next season to the tune of 3.5 percent.
It doesn't sound like much, but any increase at this time shows that MLSE believes Leaf fans are not only loyal, but extremely stupid as well.
Can you imagine having the audacity to raise ticket prices when it's already been determined that you're not going to make the playoffs for the fourth season in a row?
Not only that, but given the current economic climate you'd think MLSE would show a little more class and hold off. The Leafs make huge profits and they pay their players millions of dollars, things the average sports fan can't relate to.
But that doesn't matter because it's all about gouging and greed.
The official statement from MLSE claims rising costs and inflation has forced them into this. They don't want to do it, but they just have to.
They also claim that over the past four years ticket prices have risen just one percent, but the obvious reply to that, is this. Why would ticket prices rise over the past four years, you've done nothing to justify it. You've delivered nothing but a shitty product.
And there's more.
Next season the NHL salary cap is expected to fall which plays right into the hands of the Maple Leafs. Once again, their revenues will go up while their costs go down, but they fail to mention this as they lay out their plans to increase the price of a ticket.
Listen, at the end of the day it's all up to fans, from the average guy sitting in the purples, to the rich bastards sitting in the platinums. Nothing is going to change until the you stop buying tickets and stop giving in to an organization that takes you for granted and gives you nothing in return.
I still can't believe it. We're in the midst of a super serious economic crisis, where virtually everyone is pulling back and doing without.
I have to laugh at Rosie Dimanno's column in this morning's Toronto Star. Somehow it just doesn't fit.
Rosie likes to the leave the impression she's tough broad who can stand back from any situation and call it for what it is. She's a man's woman so to speak.
Well that sure as hell went out the window in todays's column. Her fawning of Mats Sundin borders on sickening and adds to what nauseates me about professional sports.
For the past week, the city has been gripped with the anticipation of Sundin's return to the ACC and how the crowd would react. It's all that mattered to some people.
Well now we know. It was generally positive as Sundin received an extended standing ovation about six minutes into the game after a short "thank you Mats" video was shown on the scoreboard.
Rosie describes it this way. "Bless that crowd for not holding it against him. For, rather, giving Sundin one of the sweetest tributes in the history of the franchise - a two-minute standing O that did, indeed, bring tears to the big Swede's eyes."
She goes on about a whole bunch of other stuff, including Sundin not measuring up to comparisons of Darryl, Dougie and Wendel and ironically blaming "self absorbed media cranks."
It drips with athlete worship, something, as I've stated on this blog many times, I'm not comfortable with because when you get right down to it, they don't deserve it when compared to so many other contributors to our society.
Granted, it's difficult to give a standing ovation to a brain surgeon who has just saved a child's life because he doesn't get to stand in front of a crowd of 20 thousand people and wave his scalpel.
However, last night something very telling happened at the game that really made it hit home for me.
Thanks to my good friend Darren, I got to attend last night's game following a fine steak diinner at Barbarian's. It started with martini's, and ended with cappuccinos. In between was a fine bottle of wine and a magnificent Caesar salad.
Anyway, the Sundin worship took place about six minutes into the first period and the place went nuts for the guy. A hockey player. A hockey player who last spring, screwed the very fans who were cheering him last night.
Then, a few minutes into the second period another announcement was made.
They call it "Luke's Troops." At every Leaf game from now until the end of the season, Leaf defenseman Luke Schenn hosts a member of the Canadian Armed Forces in choice seats.
Last night they introduced a soldier who had served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and they put his picture up on the big screen just like they did Sundin.
But he didn't receive a standing ovation. He received an ovation, but way more people didn't stand than did stand. I stood for the guy, and so did Darren, but most of the people around us didn't.
No, they reserve their standing ovations for hockey players. Not young men who go overseas and risk their lives for our day to day safety.
That my friends, just like Rosie's column, is misdirected love.
And so is this. When the three stars were announced Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph had decided to make Sundin the first star.
Sorry, prior to scoring that goal in the shootout he was hardly noticeable.
The Montreal Canadiens are shitting the bed so often these days you'd think writing these updates would become tedious.
Nope!
It happened again last night, the Habs lost another road game, this time 5-4 in Pittsburgh.
Sergei Gonchar's first goal of the season, in the eighth minute of the third period, proved to be the winner as the Habs lost their 12th game in the last 15.
Twelve of their last 15, not even the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs can make that claim, and they apparently don't have half the talent the Habs do. (something I might argue)
The Habs have settled to a place where they belong, a rag tag bunch of mediocre strokers battling for a playoff spot that's quickly slipping away.
Get a load of this one.
I'm sooo pissed off.......
I had two Montreal Canadiens tickets sitting in plain view on my car dashboard.
Some bastard broke my window and left two more.
What an asshole!
Actually, this is a Leaf joke making the rounds, but hey, I like it better this way.
Let's review shall we. The Habs conclude a six game road trip with a record of one and five. They managed only three of a possible 12 points. They've lost nine of their last ten road games and seven of their last ten over-all.
The playoff situation is enough to make a big mouth Hab fan soil his jeans from fear.
The Habs remain sixth in the east, just one point up on Buffalo and Florida, but Carolina won last night, so the ninth place Hurricanes trail by only four. The tenth place Penguins are only five points back.
It was sad.. it was sad.. it was sad when the great ship went down..
Tomorrow the Habs host Ottawa as part of Hockey Day in Canada.
It could have been worse; the Habs could have gotten two points.
Instead they continued their horrendous road streak with a 4-3 shootout loss in Washington - this after blowing a 3-2 lead late in the third period.
Tell me I wasn't thrilled when the Caps Dave Steckel scored at 17:21 forcing overtime.
Let's add it all up.
The Canadiens have now lost eight of their last nine road games, four of five on the current road trip, seven of their last ten and eleven of their last fourteen over-all.
Ugly stuff.
The standings. No doubt last night's single point comes in handy.
The Habs have sole possession of sixth place in the east with 67points. One point behind the Rangers, and one point ahead of Buffalo and Florida.
The ninth place Carolina Hurricanes are six points back, and the tenth place Pittsburgh Penguins are seven points back.
I hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so.
If you search "Kovalev" on this website, you'll notice that on more than one occasion I have made the point that as long as Alex Kovalev is the face of the Montreal Canadiens, they aren't going anywhere.
Let me update that a bit. The Habs are going to somewhere this week, they're going to Washington and Pittsburgh - but Kovalev won't be with them.
Yesterday Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey told Kovalev to stay home and take some time away from the club.
Gainey explained it to the media this way. "The team has no need of (Kovalev's) services the way he's currently playing. He's tired and he isn't playing with any emotion."
Well surprise, surprise.
Kovalev is a king-sized stroker who has to have everything going his way and if he doesn't he pouts and puts himself before the team. Just what you don't need when you're sinking like rock in the NHL standings and the playoffs are no longer a sure bet.
You can read about the situation here, but there's no need. It's a simple case of a player reverting back to the reputation that made him an NHL reject before Gainey took him on as a special project prior to 06 / 07.
As long as things were going OK, Kovalev made Gainey look like a genius, but as soon as things got tough, Kovalev went south and it culminated in yesterday's decision by Gainey to tell the guy to stay home.
He's of more use to the team by not playing, and word is, he could be finished in Montreal.
Damien Cox wrote an interesting piece in today's Toronto Star about the return of Mats Sundin on Saturday.
Cox chastises Leaf fans for their treatment of other former players who've returned to Toronto and he thinks there's no place for it when the Vancouver Canucks are at the ACC on Saturday night. The former captain should not be booed.
Why not? What's the big deal?
Even though I'm guilty of it from time to time, hero worship of sports stars is something that bothers me. They just aren't worth it.
Cox argues that Sundin meant far too much to the Leafs and on Saturday night, they shouldn't boo the guy, on the contrary, they should give him a standing ovation.
Why?
Let's wrestle this back to reality and call it for what it is. It's only a hockey game and Mats Sundin is only a hockey player.
If the fans that've paid hundreds of dollars for the privilege of watching the game prefer to forget about he did for the Leafs, and remember what he failed to do at the trading deadline last spring, then fine, boo the big fella.
It's no big deal. It's a man playing a kid's game and the very fact that we flock in huge numbers and pay gigantic bucks to watch it happen says everything.
The Montreal Canadiens got back to their losing ways last night with a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Even though it's the new home of the Mats Sundin, you've got to love the Canucks and the way they dominate the Habs. Vancouver has now gone 11 straight games without losing to Montreal . 10-0-1.
That's right; the streak stretches way back to when the NHL still had ties.
Let's add it all up. The Canadiens have now lost seven of their last eight road games, four of their last five, three of four on the current road trip and seven of their last ten over-all.
As for their plunge out of the playoffs, it's getting so juicy I can't stand it.
The Habs remain fifth in the Eastern Conference, but they're tied with the Rangers, just two points up on Buffalo and Florida. Look at it this way; the Habs are just one loss away from eighth place in the east.
The playoff situation shapes up like this, Carolina sits in ninth place just five back of the Habs, and Pittsburgh is seven back, however, the Penguins did the expected yesterday and fired coach Michel Therrien which means they'll probably surge much like the Ottawa Senators have after firing their coach.
Montreal plays in Pittsburgh on Thursday, but first they'll suffer the embarrassment of losing in Washington on Wednesday.
Ouch, the free-fall continues as the Habs get bombed 7-2 in Edmonton in Montreal's 3000th road game in history.
The rouge, bleu, blanc (and whatever other colours they have on those clown suits) has now lost four games in a row, seven consecutive road games, and eight of their last ten over-all.
Now let's have a look at the standings and how they pertain to this slumping 100 year old mess.
The Habs fall to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Rangers who beat Washington 5-4 in a shootout.
Montreal is just four points out of the eighth and final playoff position, and just five points ahead of Carolina and Pittsburgh who share ninth place.
The Habs play in Colorado tomorrow night, and then in Vancouver Sunday - can you say nine road losses in a row?
Ugly.
Maybe if Bob Gainey gets desperate he'll take Nik Antropov for Chris Higgins at the trade deadline.
This has got to be the case of a slippery lawyer going after a big pot of gold with nothing to lose.
A former girlfriend of Roberto Alomar, a woman named Ilya Dall, is suing the former Blue Jays second baseman because he allegedly insisted that they have unprotected sex for four years even though she suspected he had AIDS.
Pardon?
You suspected he had aids but you continued to have sex with the guy and now that's it's been revealed that he actually might have the disease you want to sue him for 15 million?
Nowhere in the lawsuit does it say Alomar "forced" her to have sex. It says he demanded sex, but that certainly doesn't mean she had to stick around for four years and give in to the guy.
Here's some of the news story.
Dall said the two began dating in spring 2002 and had unprotected sex for the next four years.
She said that on several occasions during that time, Alomar refused to get tested for HIV, despite severe fatigue, sores on his mouth and throat, a constant cough and an infection of the esophagus that is associated with AIDS.
She said Alomar had purple skin, was foaming at the mouth and was too sick to walk, which caused her severe emotional and mental distress and fear she may one day test positive for HIV herself.
She called the conduct of Alomar "outrageous with wanton reckless disregard of the health, safety and her well-being, claiming Alomar tested positive for full blown AIDS in 2006.
Excuse me?
If anyone's conduct was outrageous, it was Dall's who continued to give into the guy even though she was highly suspicious of his condition.
You'd think that maybe, just maybe that when Alomar was foaming at the mouth she might have said, "not tonight Robbie."
Or when the skin beyond his pecker turned purple she might have said, "I have a headache Robbie."
Hey, I don't mean to make light of this because aids isn't funny and I hate to think this woman could end up with a ghastly disease, but if anyone is guilty of anything, she's guilty of "stupid."
If Alomar had sex with other women without telling them of his condition, then fine, nail his ass the wall, but I think they have a word for the lawsuit in question.
From now until the end of the season, CanadianThinker.com will document the descent of the Montreal Canadiens.
After last night's 6-2 pounding in Calgary, the Habs have now lost three games in a row, six consecutive road games, and eight of their ten games over-all.
The Habs are just six point ahead of the Florida Panthers who sit ninth in the east right now, but the Panthers have two delicious games in hand.
Montreal plays in Edmonton tomorrow night.
By the way, the cool little graphic is a toilet flushing - and spare the Leaf shots, we knew they were going to suck.
Last night's hockey game gave me new focus on the NHL season.
Before last night, I had lost interest in the Leafs and therefore hadn't kept a close eye on what was going on.
Don't get me wrong, I still love my Leafers, but it's distasteful to find yourself in the situation where you actually want them to lose.
It's tough to swallow, but given their situation, its better to plunge to the bottom of the standings rather than finish mid-pack every year and not really gain any ground through the draft.
Yes, I want them to lose but when you're in that mind frame its difficult to watch.
However, I will say this. My "wanting them to lose" policy goes out the window whenever the Leafs play Montreal or Ottawa. On these occasions I want my Leafers to kick ass. Much like they did last night.
And this brings me to my new focus for the remainder of the NHL season. I know the Leafs aren't going to make the playoffs, and I'm cool with that, as a matter of fact I want them to free-fall from now till the end and I'm sure that will happen after Brian Burke blows it up completely at the trade deadline.
But of equal importance to me now, is the obvious and delicious crumbling of the Montreal Canadiens. From now till the end of the season, what will keep my interest is the continued fall of the Habs, hopefully out of the playoffs.
It could happen. Montreal is just five points ahead of the Florida Panthers who hold down the final playoff spot in the east, they're just six points ahead of the Carolina Panthers and just seven points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Given the Habs play of late, their wonky goaltending the and the loss of Robert Lang, the Habs could easily drop out of a playoff spot over the next few weeks.
They've lost seven of their last nine games and show all the signs of a soft team that depends far too much on the likes of Alex Kovalev and the Kostitsyn brothers, well accomplished strokers who will definitely fade down the stretch as they put more value on their summer vacation than they do the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It will be a thing of beauty.
Big mouth Hab fans who rejoiced through the first half of the season will be brought back to reality as this crew of part-timers takes their foot off the gas and lets a few other teams pass them by.
Happy centennial!
And next year could be even better. The Habs have some major salary cap issues which means they could be torn apart this summer and quickly find themselves in the position the Leafs are in right now. Rebuilding.
And this leads me to a tandem of predictions.
It's already been documented on this website that I predicted the Canadiens wouldn't make the playoffs this year, and although that prediction looked flimsy up until Christmas, now its well within reason.
Here's my second prediction and I've already shared it with my good friend Freeway Frank who I thoroughly enjoyed working with during two years at the MIX.
Frank is now a very successful morning man at a station in Calgary, but he's also a Hab fan who often e-mails me about how much he loves his team that hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 16 years.
I'll say it again Frank.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will win their next Stanley Cup before the Montreal Canadiens win theirs.
Later today I'll be talking to Neil Morrison on The Fox in Vancouver, and part of the conversation will deal with the dismal failure that Mats Sundin has been with the Canucks so far.
His idea, not mine.
Meanwhile, tomorrow night, the Toronto Maple Leafs will honour arguably the greatest captain in their history - an argument that does not include Sundin.
If you're a Leaf fan, I don't have to tell you what this guy meant to the franchise in the early 90's even before he became captain.
Last night I was over at Neighbour John's watching the NHL Skills Competition and there was still some Bud Lite left in my bottle when it ended.
So we sat there long enough for the beginning of George Stroumboulopoulos' Montreal Canadiens Special, 100 Years, 100 Stars.
Leave it to George, it was fabulous.
I'll be honest, I don't have a lot of time for stuff about the Habs because I've had it stuffed down my throat too much over the past four decades.
I'm well aware of how many stars they've developed and how many Stanley Cups they've won.
Usually when a Hab fan starts to spout off about the Canadiens, I like to leave the room.
But last night was different. Strombo did a great job of mixing history with pop culture and presenting a unique one hour special.
It wasn't your typical sports history show with tons of archived crap they've we've seen a million times before. Instead it was a mixture of interviews with Canadiens past and present and interviews with such stars such as Dan Aykroyd, Sam Roberts and Jason Priestly.
Strombo brought hockey, music, culture and language together in a superb piece of television.
He made the point a few times during the show that even if you were a die hard Hab hater, you still have to respect their history.
I like Pat Burns, I really like Pat Burns. Here's how much I like Pat Burns - I liked Pat Burns when he was coach of the Montreal Canadiens.
I don't like Guy Carbonneau. He's too Habbish.
Pat Burns was a different kind of guy, and when he came to Toronto he gave Leaf fans the ride of their lives.
*note to hab fans who are reading this. I realize your team has won 26 stanley cups, and the thought of leaf fans basking in the glory of a wild ride that didn't result in a Stanley cup makes you laugh and guffaw and roll your eyes at our low standards, but this posting isn't for you, so piss off.
The Pat Burns runs in 1993 and 1994 were something that most Leaf fans will never forget.
Cliff Fletcher pulled the trigger on that big trade with Calgary, and all of a sudden Pat Burns was blessed with the big balls of Dougie Gilmour and the rest was history.
*another note to hab fans. Yes, I realize that history to leaf fans pales in comparison to your history, but I don't really care, because I really don't care about your team that hasn't won a Stanley cup in 16 years.
The Leafs of 93 and 94, under the direction of Burns were wonderful teams that played well above their heads and gave Toronto a sense of pride that we hadn't experienced in decades.
*yet another note to habs fans. Yea, we felt pride in Toronto, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to tens of thousands of hab fans who moved from Montreal to Toronto during the 90's for political reasons.
But there was more to Pat Burns than hockey. He was a cool guy. He carried a confidence and attitude behind the bench that the Leafs hadn't experienced since the days of Punch Imlach and the fans gobbled it up.
Pat Burns was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004 and then developed liver cancer in 2005. Now he has lung cancer.
Another thing I look forward to in 2009 is watching the Toronto Maple Leafs.
(save all the insults and hear me out)
There's no getting around it, this is a fun team to watch and they're actually changing my attitude.
As the season began I vowed to pretty much ignore the Maple Leafs this season.
Prospects were poor. They had a rag tag lineup with a new coach and an interim general manager. The Leafs were out of the playoffs before the season started.
But something crazy happened along the way. This team is far from great, in fact they can't even be classed as good, but what they are is entertaining.
I'm watching them more and more.
What I love about this Leaf team is that they never give up. Even in some of the games where they've gotten their doors blown off, they still skate hard till the bitter end.
It's a weird situation. Any Leaf fans knows that the best thing that could happen to his franchise would be to lose every game, it's really the only way to turn things around over the long term.
But while you're watching this group of pluggers you can't help but let die-hard fan in you emerge and hope they win. It's like a guilty pleasure.
You know its wrong, but it feels oh so good.
And now we find ourselves in a familiar position that's done nothing for Leaf fans in the past.
It's two months before the trade deadline and the Leafs actually have a shot at making the playoffs. But really, what good will that do?
If they make the playoffs they won't last long, and if they "just" miss the playoffs they'll be drafting in the middle of the pack again.
Yes, as hard as it is to accept, the best thing possible for the Toronto Maple Leafs is to stop winning at the pace they are and go totally into the tank, and then at the trade deadline unload as many vets as possible.
Earlier this week in a previous posting I predicted that Mats Sundin would sign with the New York Rangers.
Well he didn't.
Today he signed with the Vancouver Canucks.
I'm convinced he wanted to sign with the Rangers, but their inability to clear cap space left Sundin with only one alternative, a reported two year, twenty million dollar contract with the Canucks.
At this writing, details of the Sundin's Vancouver contract haven't been released, but I have to tell ya, if it's true, (two and twenty) upper management of the Canucks should be immediately admitted to the best psychiatric hospital in British Columbia.
Why anyone would pay this guy that much money is beyond me. If they think this puts them any closer to a Stanley Cup they're sadly mistaken.
I won't go on and on about Sundin because I get the impression many of you are tired of my opinion on the subject.
I will however, say this. Everything I wrote earlier this week still applies, only the team has changed.
And I am ever happy the book has finally been closed on him coming back to the Leafs.
If you read this blog often, you're aware of my declining interest in professional sports.
It's got a little bit to do with everything. I'm tired of the salaries, the attitude and the expense of professional sports, and recent baseball signings make it even less palatable.
I read today that the Philadelphia Phillies signed outfielder Raul Ibanez, (whoever he is) to a three year contract worth 31.5 million dollars.
Given the current economic climate, especially in the United States, I find it almost heartless that pro sports teams offer these contracts let alone hold big news conferences to announce them.
Yes I know, it's the free market system and every man should take what he can get but something still doesn't sit well when someone who catches a stupid baseball is handed 31 million dollars while thousands are losing jobs that barely keep a roof over their heads.
At the very least you'd think that maybe baseball, and other major league sports for that matter would take a more low key approach to announcing their mind boggling if not perverse salary offers.
Last week it was former Blue Jays pitcher AJ Burnett who signed with the Yankees.
He got 83 million dollars over five years, and he's not even that good. He's above average at best, yet his windfall becomes front page news while auto workers wonder if their world will collapse in the next few weeks.
Where's the compassion? Where's the heart?
Of course it all comes back to the fan. These salaries wouldn't be possible if fans didn't continue to support pro sports.
Salaries started to explode in the late 80's and professional teams and athletes have had a pretty good run since then, but you can't help but wonder if this gravy train is about to end as well.
The entertainment dollar is often the first affected when tough times hit, so it would only be fitting, and logical and just if fans stopped paying the freight that allows otherwise simple men to make tens of millions of dollars to play with balls and sticks and pucks.
Imagine if there was just a fifty percent correction. Instead of making 80 million over the next five years, AJ Burnett only made forty million while tickets prices were cut in half along with parking, beer and souvenirs.
It would still be outrageous to my mind but it would be a step in the right direction.
A lot of the economic woes that we're going through right now are blamed on greed, and that greed has made many things crash and burn.
Mats Sundin is apparently close to making a decision about what team he wants to play for this half season.
That's what it is, a half season, which makes me laugh when I think about Sundin's supposed noble stance last spring when he claimed he didn't want to be a "rent a player."
If he was going to win a Stanley Cup he wanted to be a part of the team for the long haul claiming he wasn't trying to screw the Leafs by not lifting his no-trade clause.
He was taking the high road by not becoming a "Johnny come lately" and lifting a Stanley Cup without being an established member of the "team."
Bullshit as far as I'm concerned.
For some reason Sundin had a pickle up his ass over something. Something beyond the fact the Leafs had given him close to 50 million dollars over the past dozen years, made him captain and pretty much handed him the keys to the franchise.
I'd like to know what Sundin's time-line is. A trade in early March is no good, but jumping aboard a top flight club in January is A-OK.
Sundin has taken a rest, taken a look at the landscape, and has apparently decided he'd like to win a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers.
It doesn't matter that he hasn't been part of the plan for the first three months of the season. He's ready to play and he likes the bright lights of New York - that's all that matters.
To be honest, I'm thrilled with his decision. As long as he doesn't end up back with the Leafs I'm happy.
I've said all along it's time to move on from the Sundin era, and that's played out nicely by watching the young Leafs this year who've played with more enthusiasm and arguably more skill than they did during most of the Sundin years.
Even during the so-called successful years when Sundin was part of the Leafs, he didn't play a major role. He didn't.
He always had a way of disappearing down the stretch and during key games in the playoffs. He didn't deliver the goods.
It should be a fun time down the stretch and into the playoffs. I keep having this creepy feeling that the Eastern Conference Final will come down to a matchup between the Habs and Rangers. I wouldn't know who to support.
I can't stand the Habs, but the last thing I'd want to see is Sundin win a Stanley Cup. Without Sundin I'm a Ranger guy all the way. With him, all of a sudden the Habs don't look as distasteful.
Thank goodness the Boston Bruins are so strong this year. It doesn't look like either Rangers or Habs are a match for them. Some might argue that with Sundin, it puts the Rangers over the top, but I beg to differ.
When push comes to shove, when the Rangers really need Sundin he won't be there.
This was sent to me my CanadianThinker.com reader Joe McLean.
Canada was stunned Monday when it was announced that The Stanley Cup will be awarded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, possibly as early as December 6th.
The Cup will be stripped from 2008 playoff champions the Detroit Red Wings and be awarded to the Leafs, who didn't even make the playoffs.
How is this possible, Canadians ask?
Well, the Leafs have formed a coalition with Eastern Conference semi-finalists the Montreal Canadiens, and conference quarter finalists the Ottawa Senators, now outnumbering the Red Wings.
According to current Leaf coach Ron Wilson "the Red Wings have lost the confidence of the league and should hand the Cup over immediately to our coalition".
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is cutting short a European trip to try to resolve the unprecedented hockey crisis that could force a second playoff series, or see the Cup be awarded to Team Coalition.
Laugh, but this makes about as much sense as the bullshit we went through this week.
I've got to admit, I spent most of yesterday bummed out.
On Monday afternoon I watched as my country was being hi-jacked by three despicable men who have nothing but self-interest and undeserved power in mind. And if that wasn't bad enough, I had to read far too many comments on CanadianThinker.com from people who find nothing wrong with the country being sold out to separatists.
How fitting that the one thing that could jolt me out of my state of pissedoffedness was the game of hockey.
I can't express how proud I am of the Gary Bettman and the NHL today. Admittedly, like so many others, I've had my problems with Bettman over the years, but his quick and firm reaction to the Sean Avery situation yesterday was nothing short of beautiful.
Avery is an asshole of the first degree and most of the ridiculous things he has said and done over the past few years have gone without appropriate reaction.
Until yesterday.
Avery's comment about Elisha Cuthbert and her ties to Dion Phaneuf were uncalled for and disgusting. It was a total miscalculation by a dummy who was led to believe he could get away with just about anything. He was so far out of line, so brutally vulgar; it's obvious he must have become confused, thinking he was a member of the NFL or NBA.
That's what I love about Bettman's immediate response. He suspended Avery indefinitely almost on the spot. While the NBA deals with its thugs, and the NFL deals with its criminals the NHL came down hard on a guy for simply using his mouth.
What a contrast - on the day that the New York Giants suspended Plaxico Burris for taking a gun into a nightclub and shooting himself, the NHL suspends Sean Avery for something he said in a dressing room.
This does not excuse what Avery did, but it certainly is refreshing, especially when you consider this - Jabar Gaffney of the New England Patriots says about 90 percent of players in the league carry guns to protect themselves, while an NBA official who wishes to remain anonymous says in the NBA its closer to 100 percent.
In the NHL I'd be willing to bet it's zero percent.
With the arrival of Brian Burke on Saturday you can pretty well set the countdown clock for a Maple Leaf ethnic cleansing.
It's not that Brian Burke doesn't like European hockey players, he just likes North Americans a lot more, especially Canadians, so don't be surprised if he moves that way almost immediately.
Burke isn't stupid, he likes skilled hockey players regardless of where they're from, but if the skill level similar, he'll opt for the Canadian guy every time, like he did in Anaheim.
When the Ducks won the Cup, they had more Canadians on their squad than any other team in the league. Nineteen.
Burke doesn't mind a front line European or two, but when it comes to second, third and fourth round players, he wants a certain type, and judging from his past inclinations that means gritty Canucks.
It also probably means the end of Nik Antropov, Alexei Poikarovsky and several other current Leafs because none of them qualify as front line players. OK, maybe on the Leafs they do, but that serves only to identify the team's main problem, lack of talent.
Needless to say, this could open up a long and bitter debate over right and wrong and whether it's smart hockey management or bigotry.
Problem is, I don't think Brian Burke will give a shit, and I believe it's outside the jurisdiction of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Which is OK, because I think even they'd like to see a Stanley Cup In Toronto.
Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen will be added to an excruciatingly long list of Toronto Maple Leaf draft choices that never panned out, and the crazy thing is, like another excruciatingly long list of Maple Leaf draft picks, they could very well have great careers playing somewhere else.
But having said that, ironically, I would have much preferred the Leafs trade Coaiacovo and Steen for draft choices rather than Lee Stempniak.
Every so often, even the Leafs get lucky in the draft.
Don't ask me to analyze this trade because I have no goddamn idea what to think.
Colaiacova is always injured and Alex Steen plays like the might as well be injured. In order for the Blues to take these two guys off the Leafs hands, there must be major issues with Lee Stempniak.
Why do Owen Nolan and Mark Bell come to mind?
**I remember back to the spring of 2001. The Humble and Fred Show had just made the move to MOJO Radio and Carlo Colaicovo had just been drafted by the Leafs.
Carlo and his dad made the trek to the MOJO studios one morning for a feel good interview about being drafted by the Leafs.
Could that have been the highlight of Carlo's Maple Leaf career?**
I've seen a lot of dirty plays in my day, but I think this one has to rank as the worst.
The slimy creep delivering the cross check to an opponent's mouth is Frederick Roy, son of former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy.
There's not a lot to say about this incident. Just watch it and shake your head.
Patrick Roy must be a piece of work. He's raised a couple of fine fellas. It was Roy's other son Jonathan who was charged with assault after attacking an opposing goaltender last March.
Jonathan, apparently at the urging of his old man, skated the length of the ice and beat the living piss out of another kid who wanted no part of a fight. After pulverizing his victim, Jonathan skated away while giving the crowd the finger.
Friday night it was Frederick Roy who turned into a cowardly maniac, delivering a sucker cross check to the mouth of an opposing player.
What a crew. Jonathan and Frederick play on the Quebec Remparts of the QMHL and daddio is their coach. The family definitely has some issues. Remember back to 2000 when Patrick was arrested for investigation of domestic assault while in Colorado. He and his wife split in 2006.
I hope Jonathan is found guilty of assault and sent to jail. (won't happen), I hope Frederick is thrown out of the "Q" for the remainder of this season and maybe next. (won't happen), and I hope their old man is forced to quit and sell his interest in the Remparts. (won't happen)
And to think the Habs honoured this weirdo on Saturday night.
I'll say it again, wow, this Leaf stuff is getting interesting, if not a little nasty.
But I have to say something in my own defense, I don't hate Mats Sundin. Hate is a strong word, and definitely not appropriate when it comes to giving an opinion on a hockey player.
From what I understand, Mats Sundin is a marvelous person and held in high regard by those who've played with him, but that doesn't change my opinion that he was over-rated as a Leaf captain or my preference that he not return to Toronto.
Little whispers suggest that when Brian Burke becomes the Leafs general manager next week, his first priority will be to get Sundin's name on a contract, and to be honest, if anything could make me become a former Leaf fan, this might be it.
Crazy isn't it. Sundin has this great reputation and apparently has about a dozen teams to choose from if he decides to return and I'm still not big on the guy. I fully endorse Brian Burke as the Leafs next general manager, he wants Sundin back, and still I don't get it.
Mats Sundin was not part of the Leafs playoff runs in the early 90's, and he disappeared during the playoff runs of 99 and 2002. He also disappeared down the stretch in 06 and 07 when the Leafs were desperately trying to make the playoffs.
Last season when it was a lost cause, he wasn't so bad down the stretch.
Mats is a marvelous hockey player, blessed with a wealth of talent but in my eyes he lacked the intangible that doesn't allow him to be compared with the great Leaf captains of all time.
Darryl, Dougie and Wendel didn't have any quit in them. Mats does, or did. He never ever delivered the memorable moments, plays or sacrifices that Darryl, Dougie or Wendel did.
The Leafs always gave the impression that as great as Sundin was, they would be just fine without him, and not only was that proved through a few playoff runs, it's being proved right now. If Sundin returns to the Leafs, it will be a huge step backwards. It will prevent them from entering a new era, and mark my words; they won't play as well as they are right now.
And before all the Irvines of the world start writing back about the Leafs losing record right now, that means nothing. This team has turned a corner and this young team although losing more than they win, is fast, enthusiastic and committed.
Wow, quite the response to the Wendel Clark posting from Thursday. It really doesn't me something about Leaf haters, they're actually more delusional and extreme than Leaf lovers.
It's amazing how people across this country can spit venom at Leaf fans while continuously going back to the same old argument, that being 1967.
Although it's disappointing, embarrassing while bordering on shameful, it really isn't unique in professional sports.
The St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings joined the NHL the season following the Leafs last Stanley Cup and neither has won a championship.
Buffalo and Vancouver joined the league in 1970 and they've never won a Cup. The Chicago Black Hawks, who beat the Leafs last night, haven't won a Cup since 1961.
I'm not going to compile a huge list here because it would be boring. But take the time to look at all the pro leagues and see how long its been since a lot of teams have won a championship. Teams like the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Lions and New York Knicks.
It's amusing how I can write a posting about Wendel Clark, who could have played for any team in the NHL and been their leader, and then see the reaction from Leaf haters who can't control their vitriol.
I often wonder what it is. Is it people out west who are jealous of Toronto, is it people in central Canada who change allegiances like they change their underwear. Is it Ottawa Senator fans who have been subjected to probably the most vile team in the history of NHL. A constant collection of spineless strokers.
Ironically, the probably least hateful fans are those in Quebec who've been treated to an extremely unusual success rate over the decades. They love their team, but they don't seem to hate the Leafs as much as those sickening Hab fans that've never lived in Montreal or Quebec, but due to their flimsy commitment to most things in life have latched onto them only because it makes them feel good.
Not for past 15 years mind you, but their superficial loyalty does not go unnoticed.
As a long time Leaf fan I make no excuses because I don't think I need any.
The Leafs won the Cup in 1967 when I was ten years old. Since then they had a pretty good run in the late 70's, were horrible in the 80's, became one of the best teams in the NHL through the 90's and early 2000's, and then struggled over the past three years.
OK, it could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse. When leagues expand and eventually enjoy some degree of parity, it's much tougher to win championships.
Just ask Hab fans who are now in the midst of the longest Stanley Cup drought in their history. A drought which I'm convinced will last for several years to come because they won't win the Cup this year, and next year they're going to lose several players because of salary cap implications.
When I read the crap from Leaf haters, it's always angled the same way. Leaf fans are stupid for loving their team. Like Leaf fans should all of sudden wake up one morning and decide they don't like the home team, or ignore the history of most sports franchises and pretend we should be different.
That my friends would be the wrong thing to do, because it displays weakness and lack of commitment and Leaf fans aren't like that.
Leaf fans are great fans because they stick with the blue and white through thick and thin, regardless of the situation. That's why when the Leafs visit any city in Canada, there is just as many or more Leaf fans in the stands than fans of the home team.
Anybody with guts wouldn't have it any other way.
And to wrap this up, let's make this clear. There is a lot more to a hockey player than points, and that's why Mats Sundin ranks well below Wendel Clark when it comes to judging the best Leafs of all time.
Sundin would be lucky to make the top ten because whenever the Leafs really needed him, he failed to deliver the goods.
The Montreal Canadiens are going to be a fun team to watch this season. They're the typical flashy team with no balls or guts. The type that die early in the playoffs. Much like the Ottawa Senators.
Now when I say "fun to watch", I mean from a Leaf fan perspective because Hab fans are convinced this collection of weasels actually have a shot at something this year, and they really enjoy the predicament of the re-building Leafs.
Last night revealed quite about about "Le Suckatants". When a team can skate with them, they don't like it. Nothing but high sticks and dirty tricks.
Enjoy your team Montreal.
Penalty Summary
1st Period
07:03 MTL Tom Kostopoulos : Roughing - 2 min
07:03 MTL Tom Kostopoulos served by Georges Laraque : Boarding (maj) - 5 min
07:03 MTL Tom Kostopoulos : Game misconduct
10:18 MTL Robert Lang : Slashing - 2 min
3rd Period
01:01 MTL Andrei Markov : Boarding - 2 min
05:24 MTL Alex Tanguay : Hi-sticking - 2 min
17:01 MTL Sergei Kostitsyn served by Georges Laraque : Charging - 2 min
17:01 MTL Sergei Kostitsyn : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min
It was early in the third period last night, before the Maple Leafs remarkable comeback against the New York Rangers. A thought ran through my mind and then I made it verbal to Neighbour John.
"The Leafs better not bring Mats Sundin back to this team."
Even though the Leafs were losing 2-0 at the time, they were still playing a pretty good game, the type of game that's become standard so far this season, hard work and perseverance.
The Leafs have exceeded expectations to this point, and who knows, within a couple of weeks they could be mired in a horrible slump. But that doesn't matter, because either way they can't lose.
If the Leafs continue to play well, we've been entertained, but if they go into the dumper that's OK too, because it means they'll get a decent draft choice.
But regardless of what unfolds in the next few weeks, one thing is certain, the last thing they need is Mats Sundin.
If the over-rated former captain returned, he would probably have an adverse affect on the team. Like he did on a few playoff series where he was injured and then returned only to have the team play worse.
Good or bad it's a new era for the Leafs. They've dumped some baggage and taken on a new "culture" and whether they make the playoffs this year or finish dead last, it's something they have to do. Go forward and not look back.
They're a new team with a new direction with new leadership. The last thing they need to do is get stupid and think that re-signing Sundin will take them to a new level or make them into something they aren't.
Sundin screwed the team last spring by not accepting a trade, and he's currently screwing around with several teams by not making a decision about a return.
It bothers me that the Leafs haven't named a new captain yet. They're naming monthly captains and right now the title belongs to Nik Antropov. I have the feeling they won't commit to a full time captain because it's in the back of somebody's mind at MLSE that Sundin might return.
Let's hope not. It would be a giant step backwards.
The big sports story yesterday was that nonsense about the NHL board of governors considering another NHL team for Toronto.
It's much ado about nothing.
There's no way MLSE would allow this to happen. At any price.
It all comes down to ego, and there's no way the fellas at MLSE would risk having another team in town that would almost instantly be as good or better than the Maple Leafs.
The story suggests that the "new" team would actually become a tenant of the Air Canada Centre, and that's what would make it attractive to MLSE. They'd make millions off concessions and rent.
But to my mind, that wouldn't be enough. There's no way they'd take the chance of being the second best team in town. It would only underline how incompetent they are.
Yesterday's story suggested this wouldn't necessarily be an expansion team, in fact it would probably be an existing team from a troubled market.
Well have a quick look at the qualifiers, and just about all of them are currently better than the Leafs.
Richard Peddie and Larry Tannenbaum love money, but not that much.
Starting in March, Freddie P. will be increasing his gratuities throughout Southern and Central Ontario.
If there's anything worse than talking in the third person, it would have to be receiving a loonie as change with the Montreal Canadiens logo on it.
There's been a long-standing policy in my house that no Montreal Canadiens paraphernalia is allowed to come through the front doors. I don't care how rare it is, valuable or cool, when it comes to Hab junk I'm not interested.
When my son was a little fella I had strict orders for friends and family. If you were going to buy Danny something "hockey" it couldn't be anything with the Canadiens log on it. That policy would later include the Ottawa Senators.
It was pretty well 100% successful over the years and it's still in place as I sit here and write this.
However, come March it's going to be a little more difficult to avoid the Habs logo.
In March the Canadian mint, to commemorate the Habs 100th anniversary, will issue ten million loonies with the Habs logo on it. Super.
Now unless I keep a close eye on every bit of change I get in the spring, I could end up walking around with the Habs logo in my pants. A dreadful thought.
The logo could end up in my house, and if I don't watch it, it could end up all over my house. In drawers, in jars and down inside the couch never to be removed.
The thought is so upsetting that I've decided to adopt a generous new policy come March.
Before all the messages come pouring in from Hab fans, let's establish this.
If you guys think that team has any chance of winning the Stanley Cup, or surviving beyond one round once the playoffs begin, you're sadly mistaken.
The Montreal Canadiens are nothing but a "mish-mash of regular season flash."
Yea bring it on. I know what's coming.
40 years without a Cup and the Leafs stink, and Habs are great and they have a future while Toronto's is bleak.
I keep hearing it from the same blowhards who were conspicuously quiet from the mid-90's, right up until a couple of years ago when the Leafs consistently iced a better team.
The make-up of the current Canadiens is all wrong.
Have fun Hab fans, enjoy you're goofy little team that will play hard during the regular season, but believe me, once the rigors of the playoffs begin, If they make it, they'll be steamrolled.
The 2008-009 NHL season begins in North America tonight, and the Toronto Maple Leafs kick it off in Detroit.
If playing the best team in the NHL isn't tough enough for the Leafs, it just so happens they're the opposition on the night the Red Wings will raise the Stanley Cup banner to the rafters.
But as new Leaf coach Ron Wilson says, that's probably a good thing. It will let his young and talentless team get a taste of what glory is all about, even if it's on the outside looking in.
Tonight represent a new era for the Leafs and probably the best thing about it is that Mats Sundin has appeared to have moved on. To have Sundin on the ice tonight would make the Leafs marginally better, but it would also mean they were stuck in the same lousy situation that's gotten them nowhere over the past several years.
Sundin would represent the status-quo, the same old same old, the face of a team that loves to be middle of the pack.
Without Sundin, the Leafs give the impression of a team that's turned the corner. A team full of young wankers who can't go anywhere but down. But that's good. We want them to go down.
We want them to bottom out and be the worst they can possibly be, and without Sundin in the lineup they have a much better chance of going that way.
When the Leafs take to the ice in Detroit tonight, having no Sundin in the lineup will be my favourite part of the night. It will represent re-birth to me.
It will represent a new era of "stink" that ironically will take us in a better direction.
The only thing that could make today even better would be to get word that Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky have been traded for three mouth-guards.
When Ron Wilson opened up to reporters yesterday, he had the balls to say what so many others have been afraid to say - Mats Sundin was not a very good leader.
Wilson used a little diplomacy by generalizing, but the message was clear, a lot of what was wrong with the Maple Leafs over the past three of four years can rest on the shoulders of the captain who should have never been captain.
If you read this blog often, you know how I feel about Mats Sundin, in fact you're probably tired of hearing it. But here it goes again.
Mats Sundin is a marvelous hockey player, but he's not a captain, he didn't mean nearly as much to the Leafs as too many give him credit for, and this franchise will take giant leap forward if he decides to retire or play elsewhere.
That's not to say they will make the playoffs, or even have a winning season. It means they'll turn a corner and head in a different direction which they desperately need to do.
The Mats Sundin era should be over, and hopefully, what Ron Wilson said yesterday will put the final nail in the coffin.
The latest to come out of the indecisive world of Mats Sundin is that he's leaning towards the New York Rangers.
It's being denied by Sundin's agent J.P. Barry, but that's predictable, agents are supposed to deny everything before it happens.
But apparently Mats is attracted to the bright lights of Broadway, and lets face it, he proved last spring he doesn't care about winning a Stanley Cup so his choice to go there is not necessarily to win. It's probably more a lifestyle thing.
I hope this story is true. Actually, I hope any story about Sundin going anywhere but the Leafs is true.
I've stated many times before on this site how I feel about Mats Sundin. He's a wonderful hockey player, but he's also over-rated and has been way too much credit for his contribution to the Leafs.
I know, call me crazy but that's the way I feel. He's not nearly the leader he's promoted to be.
Anyway, here's the deal. I just happen to have a whack of "Aeroplan" points, if there's any way I can expedite Sundin's departure out of Toronto and into New York, I'd be willing cough up a few thousand points to get his ass on a plane so he can go cut a deal once and for all.
It may sound crazy, but I know what athletes are like. Even though they make millions, they don't like to pay for anything. They don't expect to pay for anything because everything is handed to them.
So if Mats is sitting somewhere wondering who's going to pay for his plane ticket to New York, and if for some whacked out reason the Rangers won't spread their cheeks, I'll give him some Aeroplan points.
I'm willing to do this for all concerned, but mostly for Maple Leaf fans, who don't realize it, but the Leafs will be much better off without this guy.
Like most people who knew him, or knew of him, I was floored yesterday when I heard about the passing of former CFL player Leif Petterson.
I never got to know Leif personally, but over the years I interviewed several times when he played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1980's, and I talked to him several times over the years while he worked for TSN.
He was also a fellow honourary director with the Pat Marsden Foundation.
A nice guy, but not only a nice guy, a striking man.
Tall, good looking, well spoken and the type of guy who made everyone feel at ease.
It's another one of those head-shakers. When people die of a heart attack at 57 years of age, we expect them to overweight, out of shape and under unbearable stress.
Petterson was obviously in marvelous shape, giving the impression of a man 37 instead of 57, and from all accounts, he did not take life seriously. In other words, to look at the guy you'd rank him extremely low in candidates for a massive coronary.
But you can never tell, and you never know what's around the corner.
On Tuesday, Leif Petterson was a thriving middle aged man with apparently a good portion of his life still ahead of him.
I find the older I get, the less interested I am in the Toronto Maple Leafs. That's because the older I get, the longer I've been around to see how this organization screws with its fans.
The latest pile of bullshit if the so-called free game they announced yesterday.
A September 22nd pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres will be free, totally free. Any fan lucky enough to get a ticket through some kind of a lottery, won’t have to pay.
On the surface, that’s pretty cool because there are a lot of fans in the GTA who don’t have a hope in hell of ever going to an over-priced Leaf game to see a crappy team.
What bothered me about yesterday’s announcement is the way it was presented, like it was a gift from the Leafs to the fans for all their years of undying support.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. All the tickets were purchased by Coca-Cola as part of a promotion, so it won’t cost the Leafs a goddamn nickel. If anything, the Leafs are going to make even more dough off this thing.
This is an “extra” pre-season game, so MLSE has already tucked away all the dough for those games. This “extra” game won’t bring in any ticket revenue, but it won’t cost them anything either thanks to Coca-Cola.
However, you can bet your ass the concession stands will be open that day, and on any given night with a full house the Leafs scoop about 300 thousand dollars out of their faithful fans pockets for ten dollar roast beef sandwiches and 12 dollar beer.
So in reality, this so-called “gift to their fans” is nothing more than an attempt to look good and give back while actually making an extra three hundred grand through the back door.
If the Leafs really wanted to impress somebody, they’d offer to give all concession money to a charity, or slash the price of their expensive substandard food for this game.
Don’t hold your breath.
Even In its purest form this entire exercise is bullshit, because even if the Leafs were actually eating the cost of the tickets, presenting it as a gift to their fans is totally inaccurate.
I notice that Toronto Mike, because of Mats Sundin, has mentioned me on his blog again.
I take a pounding every time I write about Mats Sundin, because I have the audacity to have the opinion that I don’t think he’s the big wonderful hockey package that everyone else does.
The one thing that keeps coming up is the comparison of Sundin against Dougie, Darryl and Wendel.
Granted, at the end of the day I realize that Dougie, Darryl and Wendel didn’t bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto either, but to compare these three great Leafs to Mats Sundin when the money was on the line is insulting.
When Dougie, Darryl and Wendel were on the ice during playoff runs, during those times when we silly Leaf fans actually thought we had a chance, they were dominant players.
They gave their blood and guts.
No, they didn’t take up to the promised land, but when there was even an inkling of glory before them, they performed like Mats Sundin never could.
Sundin never carried the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs. He never delivered in the crunch, it was always somebody else.
Mats Sundin, no doubt, is a great hockey player. But he was far from the greatest Leaf and its time to move on.
And I don’t care what anyone says, twenty million dollars over two years for this guy is complete and utter insanity.
If the Jersey Devils had done it, if the Detroit Red Wings had done it, or even if the Carolina Hurricanes had done it, you might be impressed.
If a team with a history of good, solid management had signed somebody like Jeff Finger to a four-year contract worth over 14 million dollars, you’d assume they’d done their due diligence and the reason for giving such an unknown player so much money would make sense eventually.
But when the Leafs do it, the flags go up and the alarms go off.
Jeff Finger is 28 years old and he’s played less than 100 games in the NHL. Last year in the playoffs he was a healthy scratch in five of the Colorado Avalanche’s ten playoff games.
First of all, you have to wonder how the offer got so high, because it’s hard to image any other team even considering giving him so much money. Who were the Leafs bidding against?
But more pressing is this question. How could anyone, including new head coach Ron Wilson be that impressed with somebody who’s played so little, that they’d give him a 700 percent raise over last year.
Wilson and Cliff Fletcher can say all they want, they can pump this guy up to be the second coming of Bobby Orr, but as Leaf fans we’re reduced to scratching our heads again.
Again, if it were the Red Wings or Devils who made a signing like this, you might actually be impressed.
Because it’s the Leafs, you know its just the beginning of another disaster.
What I can’t understand is the Brian Burke angle. Last week I was convinced he was sitting in the weeds calling the shots for the Leafs, now I’m not so sure.
As crazy as the Finger signing is, there’s something else that could happen in the NHL in the next few days that could be considered even more ridiculous.
The Vancouver Canucks have offered Mats Sundin twenty million dollars over two years.
I’ve got to say, if this happens, from my perspective it will be the biggest waste of money in NHL history.
Ten million dollars a season for a 38 year old player who’s not sure he really wants to play anymore.
Even in his prime, Mats Sundin never really accomplished much in Toronto, so an offer of twenty million dollars over two years, actually makes the Finger signing look better.
It’s become quite obvious, Brian Burke wants the Leafs to clean house before he gets to Toronto within the next year or so.
Having picked Ron Wilson as coach, who has a reputation for working well with young players, Burke has obviously directed Cliff Fletcher to get rid of the baggage and that’s why they tied the can to three players yesterday.
Andrew Raycroft and Kyle Wellwood were put on waivers, while the buy out of Darcy Tucker was initiated.
You can’t change history so there’s no use obsessing over the disastrous moves that were Raycroft and Tucker.
Tucker was signed to a long term deal by John Ferguson Jr. just as it became apparent he could no longer do the things that warranted the contract, and Raycroft came here at a huge price – goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask who went to the Boston Bruins.
The only pressing move remaining for the Leafs now, is to finally cut the ties to Mats Sundin. Apparently if he doesn’t sign elsewhere, there’s a seven million dollar contract waiting for him with the Leafs, but that would be ridiculous.
It’s time to move on from Sundin, even if they don’t get anything in return.
To my mind, the Leafs should forget about Sundin, go into the season with Marlies as fillers, stay way below the salary cap, have a horrible season, another good draft and then start spending some money.
Traditionally it’s not what they do, but this is a good time to do it, and I think on the heels of three bad seasons, Leaf fans are ready for something radical as long as there seems to be a point to it all.
One of the great things about my father was how generous he was with his time. He was the ultimate volunteer, giving his time to the Canadian Legion in a executive position, the Stayner Horticultural Club and the Stayner Food Bank, just to name a few.
He was also heavily involved in minor hockey during the 60’s and 70’s, acting mainly as team manager within the Wexford Hockey Association that was based out of Tam O’Shanter Arena at Sheppard and Kennedy in Scarborough.
He was involved in the top level, which at that time was called the MTHL, it would be what Triple A is now.
Back then, a coaching staff would get a team at a young age and then stick with them for a few years. Changes would be made along the way of course, but the core of the team remained constant.
One of the players may dad managed through most of the 1960’s was former Maple Leaf John Anderson, and he was always one of Dickie’s favourites.
Through the years with Dickie, John Anderson was a good player, a good captain and a good kid, and that’s why my dad was so excited one June night in 1977 when he got the call that John had been drafted by the Leafs.
He and Junie got in the car and drove over to the Anderson’s house and shared in the celebration. Dickie was happy for John and proud as punch that one of “his” kids had made it the NHL, let alone being drafted by the Leafs.
Dickie followed John’s career through the NHL, and for the years following that, would often ask me “what John was up to.”
Well, “what John was up to” was becoming a very successful minor league coach, and it culminated with another Calder Cup victory with the Chicago Wolves this spring. One of their victims was the Marlies.
Anderson won two Calder Cups with the Wolves, and he captured a couple of Turner Cups in the International League.
His teams are always near the top of the standings, and a pressing question has been over the past few years, “why hasn’t John Anderson been given an NHL opportunity?”
He certainly has proved that he deserves it, and there are lots of guys who’ve been given a shot with fewer credentials, but there were never any clear answers…. until yesterday, when the Atlanta Thrashers put an end to all the questions by naming John Anderson as their head coach.
“Andy” is back in the NHL and man oh man, let me tell ya, Dickie would have loved it.
I’m glad I’m not among those who decide who makes it into the Hockey Hall of Fame, because if I was, I’d be part of a group of jerk offs.
This is so typical of today’s politically correct society – even goddamn sportswriters have bought into this bullshit.
Tell me how Igor Larionov could be elected to the Hall, while Dougie Gilmour could be over-looked.
I can’t see it, and I’ll start with the most basic argument. If you were starting a hockey team from scratch, and you had a choice of Doug Gilmour in his prime or Igor Larionov in his prime, who would you choose?
No brainer.
Larionov played the same position as Gilmour, and he joined the league in 1989, the same year that Gilmour was instrumental in helping the Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup.
Granted, Larionov was 29 years old, and had put together a rather impressive career in the Russian league before finally earning his freedom on joining the Vancouver Canucks, but so bloody what. Compared to Doug Gilmour, who is just three years younger, he just doesn’t measure up.
In 88-89 Gilmour won a Cup and recorded 89 points. Larionov was in Russia.
In 89-90 Gilmour had 91 points – Larionov had 44 with Vancouver.
In 90-91 Gilmour had 81 points - Larionov had 34.
In 91-92 Gilmour had 87 points – Larionov had 65.
In 92-93 Gilmour had 127 points and almost won the Stanley Cup while carrying the Toronto Maple Leafs on his back while Larionov had 29 points with Lugano of the Swiss league.
In 93-94 Gilmour had 111 points with the Leafs – Larionov had 56 with San Jose.
In 94-95, the strike year, Gilmour had 33 points in 44 games while Larionov had 24 points in 33 games.
It wasn’t until 95-96 that Larionov actually had more points than Gilmour, but it was just one more, 72 to 73.
After that, Larionov played on a Detroit team that won consecutive Stanley Cups, but Gilmour had 82 points in 96-97 while Larionov, playing on a power-house only had 54 points.
In 1997-98 when Detroit won another Cup, Larionov had 47 points, while Gilmour had 53 with New Jersey.
I’m actually getting tired of listing these stats and to tell you the truth, there’s no use continuing because to finish out their careers, there wasn’t much to choose point wise between Gilmour and Larionov.
The only difference was that Larionov won another Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002, but I ask you, who in their right mind could allow Larionov into the Hall before Gilmour?
Some might argue that Gilmour played six more season in the NHL so that’s why his over-all stats are that much better. But head to head in the NHL there was no comparison.
I'm sure there are some of you out there claiming you don't measure a player by points alone, but who would you rather have protecting a lead, checking the opposing teams best player or standing up for a team mate?
Gilmour scored, he checked, he was a team leader and he was tough as nails. And don’t give me the bullshit that he’ll eventually get his turn, he just has to wait, because that system blows after you read all the stats I’ve just provided.
And forget about Larionov’s accomplishments in the Russian league and World Championships and the Olympics because the Russians had no competition back then.
There’s nothing to the game of hockey that Igor Larionov provided compared to Doug Gilmour. If anything, he contributed significantly less.
And you know what? I'm not necessarily saying that Doug Gilmour belongs in the Hall, but if Larionov does, then Gilmour should have a red carpet placed in front of him.
Those who vote should forget about patting themselves on the back and being progressive for inducting the Russian guy, and be ashamed of themselves for making a farce of the entire of process.
ABT doesn’t spell anything, but it stands for something. Anybody but Tiger.
That’s the new tune here on FreddieP.ca ever since Tiger insulted some fellow athletes by suggesting nobody watches hockey any more during a news conference to promote one of the tournaments that he plays in that features old guys and fat guys.
And lets not forget, the PGA has also allowed women to play in a few of their events.
Take nothing against women golfers, but as I look back, I can’t ever recall Cassie Campbell playing in the NHL.
It’s easy to fluff it off and say Tiger was only kidding, or he was misquoted or he didn’t mean what he said, but that’s bullshit.
Tiger broke an unwritten law. You don’t insult other professionals regardless of the situation. To me, it showed a lack of class, total disregard for another sport and the growing feeling that Tiger actually thinks he’s special because he can hit a little ball with a piece of iron or graphite or what ever the hell he uses.
So that’s it my friends. Not that I was ever a huge fan of Tigers, I’m done with the guy, and I hope he doesn’t win the US Open this weekend.
I might not even watch any of it, which is fine because it pisses me off when he gets mad at somebody for clicking a camera during his swing, or if somebody does something horrible like utter a few words while the master is trying to concentrate.
Just once I’d like to see him suit up, put the blades on and then come over the blue line with his head down with somebody like Scott Stevens waiting for him.
No matter what angle you look at it, CBC botched the “hockey theme” controversy by letting it slip away.
The "theme" will still be around because CTV stepped up and bought it on behalf of TSN which has a wide range of hockey to offer next season.
However, if you’re a Leaf fan, and have always associated the "hockey theme" with your beloved blue and white, the association is over. If you’re the type of hockey fan who tends to watch Leaf games, and few others, then the hockey theme is pretty well out of your life.
The Leafs are seen almost exclusively on the CBC Saturday nights, and for the next six years, on Rogers Sportsnet. Only a handful of Leaf games will show up on TSN next season, and they’ll be mid-week games.
In other words, even though the “hockey theme” has been saved, it won’t mean much to Leaf fans; because you’re hardly gonna hear it.
Hey, I admire CTV for coming in and securing a deal with the rights holders, but once you get beyond the business end of it, it’s still going to take some getting used to.
The “theme” is a Saturday night thing and that’s how Canadians came to love it.
On Saturday nights, the average viewing audience for Hockey Night in Canada is upwards of a million Canadians. Compare that to mid-week games featuring the Leafs and it’s cut in half. Compare that to mid-week games “not” involving the Leafs and you can cut it in half again.
The hockey theme lives on, but not many people are going to hear it.
We all the now the Toronto Maple Leafs are a bad organization, mismanaged from top to bottom, so on first swipe it’s not surprising that they’d hire a head coach before they hired a general manger.
That’s what bad organizations do.
Good organizations wait till they’ve got general manager in place, and then he goes out and hires a coach.
Granted, Cliff Fletcher is the general manager right now, but we all know he’s not the guy who’s going to lead this club out of the wilderness, it’s going to be another guy, and the hiring of Wilson tells us exactly who that other guy will be, Brian Burke.
The Leafs may be one of the worst organizations in the NHL, but in this case I believe we can cut them some slack. As ridiculous as it looks on the surface to hire Ron Wilson as coach before they’ve hired a general manager, Wilson’s hiring tells us that the Burke will be in town sooner than later.
Burke and Wilson have a long history; they were room-mates as players in college and have maintained a life long friendship. Apparently, Wilson was Burke’s choice to coach the Leafs, so it’s just a matter of time before Burke is sprung from his contract in Anaheim.
Figures released by the National Hockey League shouldn't surprise Canadians. Although Canadian teams only make up only 20 percent of the league, the six Canadian teams are generating 31 percent of league revenue through ticket sales.
Regardless, Canada continues to be nothing more than an afterthought for league Commissioner Gary Bettman and this American controlled league.
While franchises belong in cities like Winnipeg and Quebec City, Bettman and the boys continue to push for expansion into hockey hotbeds like Kansas City and Las Vegas.
Bettman talks a big game. Whenever pressed, he goes on and on about the importance of the Canadian franchises, but his almost immediate rejection of Jim Balsillie told Canadians all they needed to know about this position on more Canadian franchises.
Bettman holds onto the dream of the NHL actually becoming a big player in the U.S. but it's not going to happen.
If you’ve been a frequent reader of this blog over the past couple of years, and or if you used to listen to me on the radio, you know I’ve never been a big fan of Mats Sundin’s.
I’ve never bought into his act, which to many is I’m sure is unbelievable, especially when you consider that yesterday in Pittsburgh, Sundin was given the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
I must be missing something.
I’ve never really thought that Sundin was that much of a leader, I’ve never bought into the theory that he’s never been given anyone of skill to play with, and basically, I don’t think he cares as much as people give him credit for.
Even though Sundin was within his right not to waive his no trade clause at the deadline, it’s become quite apparent it was done more to be vindictive than it was to be loyal.
Sundin was well aware of what the Leafs could have received in return for him at the deadline but he refused to move. He realized it could have been a turning point for the franchise, but he ignored it.
Mats Sundin put Mats Sundin first. Ahead of the franchise and especially ahead of the fans who have so blindly worshipped him over the years. All he was asked to do was go to a contender for a few weeks and maybe win a Stanley Cup, but he refused to do it.
Now we hear he wants to continue his playing career and he’ll probably end up with one of the teams he could have played for just a few short weeks ago.
In other words, for the sake of getting a longer summer holiday, he deprived the Leafs and their fans of acquiring a few good young prospects.
Sundin appears ready to rub the Leafs nose in it.
Where the vindictiveness comes from I don’t know. The franchise was has become a bungling joke, but they always looked after Mats Sundin. They always paid him well, and we can’t forget there were a few good years in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, years when the Leafs did well in the playoffs.
Oh but wait, I forgot. During those playoff years Sundin disappeared when the Leafs really needed him, so I guess as he looks back, the great leader doesn’t count those years.
Apparently Cliff Fletcher will meet with Sundin next week and attempt to convince him why staying in Toronto is a good idea. Sundin says he’s got to be sold.
Which brings a fine fantasy to my mind. Sell the bastard to Bitemyclankastan of the Russian League.
Today’s story about the 15 year old Toronto lacrosse player, who died as the result of an injury in a game, is horrifying for all parents.
Obviously, it can’t match the living nightmare that Jamieson Kuhlmann’s parents are going through, but it’s something that constantly plays on the subconscious minds of parents every time they watch their kids walk out the door.
To lose a child under any circumstances has to be the most horrific thing that could happen to a person. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s to disease or an accident.
As the father of two healthy young adults I try not to think about it, but when I see stories like the one about Jamieson Kuhlmann I shudder. I can’t imagine losing one of my kids, and for those who do, I wonder how they go on.
My father died recently, and the pain it cause is bad enough. My dad was 82 years old and lived a long and productive and mostly healthy life.
But if losing him can hurt so much, how do you measure that against losing a child. As the old saying goes, your kids are supposed to bury you, not the other way around.
When I talk to new parents I love to ask this question. Especially of those who swore at one time that they’d probably never have kids.
I ask them, could ever imagine loving something as much as you love your kids, and the answer is always the same. A resounding “no!”
Prior to Monday, I’m sure the parents of Jamieson Kuhlmann had a lot on their minds.
It could have been anything, their jobs, their finances, personal relationships, and before Monday these things may have played a big part in their lives.
Today I’m sure nothing means anything and everything else is a blur.
The Kuhlmann’s have suffered the absolute worst thing that can happen to anyone and I’m sure for the time being, their lives have lost all meaning.
I guess its only fitting that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings are meeting in the Stanley Cup finals.
They were the two best teams in the NHL during the regular season.
Some might argue that the Montreal Canadiens were the best in the east, but that’s to ignore the horrendous fluke that happened down the stretch. The Canadiens proved their true worth during the playoffs and saved us from a lot of Hab fan nonsense over the past few weeks.
Next year will be a lot easier to stomach, because I still maintain Montreal will not make the playoffs.
Anyway, its time for non partisans to pick a side and to tell you the truth, it’s a no brainer for me. I want Pittsburgh to win, and it’s for no other reason than Sidney Crosby and Nicklas Lidstrom.
Sidney is Canadian and Lidstrom is not.
Call me crazy, but I still like the idea that no team with a European captain has ever won the Stanley Cup.
A couple of Americans have captained Stanley Cup winners, but never has a European and although its bound to happen eventually, as a guy who could care less about either the Pittsburgh Penguins or Detroit Red Wings, it gives me a focus for the Stanley Cup final.
On any given night, the Penguins and Red Wings have the same number of Canadians on their squad. About seven or eight. It all depends who dresses for a particular game.
So it comes back to the captaincy thing and I’d love to see the young Canadian guy lift the Cup above his head before the old European guy.
My buddy Darren is a big fan of the Onion Daily Dispatch and every so often he sends me an article that he finds especially amusing. And if he finds it amusing, it means it probably is.
Wayne Gretzky was very diplomatic, but he quickly downplayed rumours that he'd be interested in becoming President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Gretzky is arguably the greatest players in the history of hockey, but that image has been somewhat tarnished as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. It's been a struggle.
Taking on the paramount job of running the Leafs would definitely have an upside, but given the horrific modern day history of this club, Gretzky is not about to take any chances.
Being the latest Leaf management failure could go a long way in clouding his wonderful playing legacy.
I was in the halls of Corus Entertainment Toronto today when word broke of the firing of Paul Maurice sometime around 11 am.
People were scurrying up and down the halls.
Young Steve Dankoff, who hosts Leafs Lunch Weekends was there, News Director Stephanie Smyth was there, and Program Director Gord Harris was there.
When a story like this breaks, and you're the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, decisions have to be made about how you're going to handle the story and it was fun to watch the team go into action.
On air at the time was the marvelous Mike Stafford and no surprisingly, Mike morphed from newsman to sports analyst in a matter of seconds.
Within minutes Mike had Bill Watters on the phone, and the he spent the rest of the hour taking calls from passionate Leaf fans.
I so desperately wanted to bust through the studio doors and sit with Mike and take calls, but it wasn't may place.
It used to be, but not no more.
What do I think of the Maurice firing?
I'm not surprised. As screwed up as the organization is, there were too many nights over the past couple of years that the Leafs appeared "not ready to play."
I realize that motivation for players who make millions of dollars a year shouldn't be an issue, but that's not reality.
If a professional coach has any angle to his job that shouldn't be necessary, it's motivation, but pro athletes are nothing more than big dumb kids and quite often they do need to have a fire lighted under their ass, and Maurice simply didn't deliver on that front.
Will anything change? Probably not.
This organization has a woeful history of plowing through players and coaches and not having much of anything change.
You know the story. Until the top changes, the bottom will be a familiar place.
No doubt it’s nice to have the World Hockey Championships being played in Canada for the first time in its history, but you have wonder about the size of the field and whether it’s necessary.
What is the point of having countries like Latvia, France, Italy and Denmark in the tournament?
They travel thousands of miles to have their doors kicked and it really is pointless.
It’s like the IIHF feels the tournament isn’t legitimate unless there’s a certain number of team in it. Even if it means several games between clubs that don’t stand a chance or teams that nobody cares about.
When you look the schedule, it’s heavily weighted with games that mean nothing compared to games that will actually hold some interest.
Team Canada’s 7-0 exercise against Latvia yesterday was a waste of time and bordered on cruelty, while several other games were lopsided and featured some teams actually backing off to save their opponents embarrassment.
A 16 team field for an International hockey tournament is far too ambitious and takes away from the flavour.
Eight would be enough and grab the interest of fans long before the current format does.
Over the past few days I've been battered and bruised by many because of my stance on the Montreal Canadiens.
I predicted they couldn't beat Philadelphia, mainly because I couldn't see how this "soft" team could win at the Wachovia Centre.
Well, don't look now but the Habs trail the series 3-1 and in order to win they'd have to still find a way to win in Philly while sweeping the other two games at home.
It ain't gonna happen.
And you know what else ain't gonna happen. The Habs ain't gonna make the playoffs next year.
I realize money isn’t everything and money definitely doesn’t guarantee happiness, but as the father of a 25 year old woman, I can’t help but wonder it would be like to have her walk in the door and tell me she was marrying a 37 year old rich guy.
That was it was like for the parents of 25 year old Swede Josephine Johansson who was yesterday officially introduced as 37 year old Mats Sundin’s fiancée.
I’ve got to admit, if my daughter brought at 37 year old guy into the house and I didn’t know his financial situation, I’d probably be pissed.
I’d wonder what this old bastard wanted with my little girl and I’d be concerned for her future. What about having kids and her retirement. The old prick will probably be useless down the road.
However, once it was presented to me that he was worth tens of millions of dollars I wonder how I’d react.
To be honest, I’m sure it would lessen the blow and allow me to get my head around my little darlin’ marrying someone who comes across as a cradle snatcher.
All of a sudden I wouldn’t worry so much about her future knowing that even with a pre-nup she’d be set for life before life had really even begun. I’d realize the burden of child rearing would be made that much easier and who the hell cares about retirement because retirement would start the day she tied the knot.
And I’ve got to admit, it wouldn’t hurt that along with the money came the profile of my daughter marrying a freakin’ Toronto Maple Leaf for cryin’ out loud.
I might even overlook the fact it’s Mats Sundin, although I’m sure at family dinners I’d be all over him for not accepting a trade at the deadline and for keeping company with the likes of Tie Domi.
And get his opinion on why, still to this day, a team has never won a Stanley Cup with a European captain.
"Hey Freddie Boy, found this, wanted to pass it on."
By The Canadian Press
MONTREAL - A new poll suggests the Montreal Canadiens have overtaken the Toronto Maple Leafs as Canada's team.
The Canadian Press Harris/Decima survey found 40 per cent of Canadians identified the Habs as the nation's hockey team of choice, compared with 24 per cent for Leafs.
A similar poll last year had the Leafs on top with 24 per cent and the Canadiens trailing with 22 per cent.
"Ha ha ha, your Maple Laughs suck!"
Guy Lafleur
Not so fast Guy, put down your cigarette and listen to me. This dumb poll was taken after Calgary was eliminated from the playoffs, so really Montreal was the only active team at the time.
Let's see what happens next year when the Habs don't make the playoffs.
I’m sure Hab fans will lament that their team should have won last nights game, but much like game one, all that matters is the final score.
Yes, the Habs put on major pressure in the third period, widely out shooting the Flyers, but hockey ain’t horseshoes and so the Canadiens find themselves firmly behind the eight ball, although hockey ain’t billiards either.
Montreal must win tomorrow night, but let’s hope they don’t.
I don’t know about you, but I could smell a rat through the entire Roger Clemens steroid controversy, so I’m not surprised there are now accusations of him diddling country singer Mindy McCready for over a decade, starting when she was a shocking 15 years old.
Clemens was married at the time and had two kids.
Needless to say, Clemons, through his lawyer, has denied anything inappropriate, but according to the New York Daily News the story carries weight, and rather than supporting Clemons story, McCready’s lawyer issued a “no comment.”
It’s funny, but during his time with the Blue Jays, when I was handling the sports beat at the Edge, I head many a story about the “creep” that was Roger Clemens, but never thought much about it because I found most baseball players to be jerk offs.
None of this comes as a surprise to me and usually, where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Saturday night’s victory over the Montreal Canadiens was extremely refreshing on one hand for Hab haters, but frustrating on the other because the Flyers could have easily won the first game as well.
I realize on not the most proficient analyst when it comes to hockey, but I really can’t see how the Habs will win a game in Philly.
The Flyers are too physical and too willing to go where the Habs won’t and I think this will be magnified in Philadelphia.
Look for the “K Boys” to disappear at the Wachovia Centre and the Flyers to win decisively. Hopefully we can finally put this Montreal fantasy to rest.
By the way, don’t forget, I’ve predicted the Habs won make the playoffs next year.
I read with interest the idea by the TTC to start selling naming rights to large corporations for subway stations.
Instead of getting off at Queen, you'd get off at Home Depot, or McDonalds are whatever.
Personally, I'd have no problem with it because it's become painfully obvious that the current regime at City Hall has no idea how to run a city, so why not generate some revenue for public transit through advertising.
They'd just have to make sure the money didn't up going to general revenue for things like free lunches and trips to China.
I've often though the Canadian Football League should do something similar. Why not have individual players sponsored by corporations based on their worth and positions.
For example, the Argos new quarterback Kerry Joseph wants three hundred thousand dollars a year, why not sell him jersey to a corporation. The corporation pays the three hundred thousand and in exchange they get their name on the jersey of the highest profile player.
It would go down from there. A receiver who makes a hundred grand would be sold to someone else willing to spend within that budget, right down to the lower paid linemen who might be sponsored by individual retail stores.
This way the CFL could use gate revenue for other things, or even top off the salaries to attract better players.
It might put an end to this year to year financial dilemma the CFL finds itself in.
Read these stories about the hockey fans in Montreal who rioted after the Canadiens won nothing more than a quarter-final series. And to think goofy Leaf fans only honk horns.
Rampage /
Ashamed /
Black Eye /
Shame
It didn't take long for the reaction to start coming into FreddieP.ca last night after the Habs beat the Boston Bruins in a game that wasn't really indicative of the score.
Hab fans wanted to rub my nose in it.
As I mentioned yesterday, I was really looking forward to this game and I fully expected the Bruins to play better, but they didn't and the result was another one of those disgusting songfests at the Bell Center, where Hab fans sing that ancient "Na na na na" bullshit song.
And all the while waving cut little while towels. The same crew that booed the American anthem in game five.
Yes, I would have loved to see the Habs fall but it will make it so much more enjoyable when they fall in the next round.
I expect Washington to beat Philadelphia in game seven of that series, which means the Habs will play the New York Rangers. My money and my heart will side with the Rangers.
Honestly, if anybody thinks a team with the profile of the Canadiens, (Koivu, Kovalev, Kostitsyn squared) can win the Stanley Cup, you're sadly mistaken.
The end will come, just a little later than I thought.
A favourite past time of Montreal hockey fans is to mock Leaf fans for street celebrations after winning playoff series.
Oh yea, during that long stretch when the Canadiens were missing the playoffs, Hab fans made a big point of laughing in our faces because Leaf fans filled the streets and honked horns after winning a something as insignificant as a Conference semi-final.
What a joke.
Last night the Canadiens completed a seven game struggle with the eighth seed Boston Bruins and what happens? There are riots in the streets.
A first round victory over a team they were expected to easily beat, and Montreal fans take to the street and among other things, torched five police cars while looting several stores.
Tens of thousands of Montrealers have had to move to Toronto over the past few years for economic, political and cultural reasons - thank goodness we got the civilized ones.
No wonder Montreal is becoming nothing more than a backwoods hick town.
Sweet boy Toronto Mike had a piece on his website Sunday about the Jays acquiring Barry Bonds to replace Frank Thomas.
No way Jose!
Barry Bonds has a bad attitude at the best of times, can you imagine if he was forced to come to the only Canadian team for the league minimum because nobody else wanted to touch the guy.
I can’t help but thing he’d be a cancer in a locker room that’s already going sour with yet another mediocre season on the horizon.
The Jays have played 20 games and they’ve won ten. Typical of what they’ve done for most of the past decade and a half. Simply not good enough.
Already the Jays have settled in their familiar third place standing and they’re three and a half games behind the Red Sox. That might not sound like much of a deficit, but given the Jays win one lose one character, it’s extremely optimistic to think anything is going to change.
Barry Bonds would not help the situation. If anything, he’d become an instant distraction.
It’s been a long time since I’ve looked forward to a hockey game as much as I do this one.
It’s game seven between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre tonight, and we could be on the verge of a huge upset.
Check that. On paper it’s a huge upset, but the fact the eighth seed Bruins are giving the first seed Habs all they can handle doesn’t come as a surprise to me.
The Canadiens, thanks to a wild combination of good fortune and playing in a weak conference finished on top of the standings with no where near the best talent.
Now its coming back to bite them in the ass.
Hab fans were quite confident going into the playoffs, they looked way beyond the Bruins who just managed to slip into the playoffs, but all of a sudden its life and death, and if Boston continues their “stifling” system, the Habs could fall in the first round.
Wouldn’t that be sweet? Oh yes, and it will be even sweeter next year when the Canadiens find their proper level and probably miss the playoffs all together.
Teams that depend on players like Alexie Kovalev don’t win Stanley Cups. End of story.
I really can’t wait for the game tonight, I’m anticipating an Bruins victory, but even if it doesn’t happen, no sweat.
Judging by their performance so far, the Habs will definitely fall in the next round.
I wish it was different. I wish I didn’t feel this way.
I’d like nothing better than to be able to adopt a team from Ottawa as “my” or “Canada’s” team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But I can’t. They’re too creepy.
Prior to the creation of the Ottawa Senators, and for a few years after they entered the league, I had no problem with the city of Ottawa or its people.
It was those damn playoff series in the early part of this century that turned me off like some many others.
Not only was the team creepy, made up of several spineless losers who excelled at the art of choking, but their fans quickly became creepy as well.
Out of nowhere came this hate and disdain for Toronto that was inexplicable in the early going. So anti-Toronto, so anti-Maple Leaf it was shocking. Back in 2000 when it started, there wasn’t enough history to the rivalry to create such vitriol.
Ottawa fans were smug. They thought their team was so much better than Toronto’s they could say or do anything they wanted.
And they did, and it was ugly, and it grew.
As the Leafs systematically knocked off the choking Senators on four occasions, rather than direct their disgust at their own sorry team, they came to hate the Leafs and their fans even more.
Thus, Toronto fans could take no more and they grew to hate not only the gutless Senators, but their weirdo fans as well.
It really would be nice for Leaf fans to be able to support the Senators in the playoffs, it would be so convenient, and if not for the profile of their team, and the behaviour of Ottawa fans, it might have happened.
Instead, we have a situation like last night.
As the clock ticked down in Ottawa, Leaf fans had huge smiles on their faces. For a lot of Toronto fans, the playoffs were made last night. It was our own little spiteful Stanley Cup.
All those weasly Ottawa fans had to watch Team Choke get swept away by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They crumbled again.
During the Ottawa – Pittsburgh game last night, I was reminded of one of my least favourite things about sports.
The Worship Bow.
Just before Antoine Vermette's goal was disallowed late in the second period, the camera panned a euphoric crowd and you could see two Senator fans doing the bow.
I’m sure you’ve seen it. An athlete makes a remarkable play and then fans will start to do a full bow from the hips with their arms straight up.
It’s sickening and I for one would never lower myself to such a level.
What a pathetic statement that anyone would give themselves in such a way to a measly hockey player, or baseball player or any athlete for that matter.
Because a person can swat a puck with a stick or bash a ball with a bat they deserve to be worshipped?
Maybe you think I’m over reacting or reading too much into a simple act, but think about it. What kind of a goober goes out in public and bows down to another man simply because he completed a play of some sort.
How feeble, how insecure, how embarrassing to be seen doing such a thing, and what would motivate anyone to do it. I mean really, what is it saying?
It says you’re a submissive wimp who’s got your priorities way out of whack when it comes to what’s really important in life.
If you want to “worship bow” someone, go down to Sick Kids Hospital and look for a brain surgeon.
The NFL released its 2008 schedule yesterday and it didn’t go over well in Buffalo.
The Bills game in Toronto on December 7th will feature the Miami Dolphins as the opposition and Buffalo fans are pissed.
The Dolphins may be the worst team in the NFL, but they are the Bills number one arch rival and Buffalo fans love to squish the fish. Not only that, but a December 7th game meant the Bills would get a huge weather advantage.
Not now.
For what ever reason, the Bills in conjunction with the NFL decided to put this game in the Skydome which means Buffalo fans have been robbed of arguably their favourite date on the schedule.
Meanwhile, the reaction is completely different in Toronto. Football fans that were looking forward to this game are disappointed that they’ll be forced to pay king sized prices to watch a horrible foo
Just when you think you've seen all the stupid you need to see, along comes a guy like Argos offensive lineman Rob Murphy.
Let me try and get my head around this. Paul Henderson isn't in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but two women are?
No, I can't take it.
It would be different if it was Paul Henderson who sold his Team Canada hockey sweater back in 1972, because then I wouldn't even be writing this post.
Political correctness really blows. Like a lot things, it starts with good intentions and then the do-gooders get a hold of it and take it over the moon.
Hats off to the Montreal Canadiens for giving their fans a fabulous spring.
I have to give the Habs credit, the goals they didn't score today were a lot nicer than the goals they didn't score in games one and two.
I had a very interesting talk with Neighbour John last night. If you follow this blog you know that I often write about the exploits of Neighbour and his fine family. 
Two more goals for the Flyers and they're off to the cup!
Dear Maxim
Over the past couple of days I've been very disturbed by some of my close friends who've jumped to the other side. They want the Habs to win.
I chuckle at the e-mails I've received from Hab fans today emphatic that last night's riot was just a handful of people and not representative of "all" Hab fans.
Whilst enjoying a chicken pita from the Pita Pit during my lunch break today I paid a visit to a few websites and found that 
My good friend Darren Wasylyk sent this to Canadian Thinker today, and I find it very disturbing. Another example of how the Montreal Canadiens work in evil ways.
How many times do I have to say it, the Montreal Canadiens current ride through the playoffs has nothing to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I knew it wouldn't take long. After Jaroslav Halak's less than stellar performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the excuses have started and right at the top of the list is one I expected. Fatigue.
What else? More hockey.
The debate can finally be put to bed. We can no longer compare Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin because there is no comparison.
This low... Recent comments to CanadianThinker.com
There really shouldn't be any great mystery to why there were only ten thousand fans at the last two Blue Jay games, because there are two glaring reasons.
Forget that he screwed around on his wife with hookers and whores, Tiger Woods probably lost more fans on the golf course this weekend.
The headline says it all - Habs clinch playoff berth despite OT loss to Toronto - and it highlights one of the many things wrong with Gary Bettman's new NHL.
What was unfolding as a pleasant Saturday morning quickly went south when I flipped on TSN's Sportscentre.
It was a sad day for justice in the United States yesterday. Once again it was proved that there is a law for the rich and a law for the poor.
Leafs 3 Montreal 2. It's not like the Habs are a contender. The victory over Jersey felt better.
My oh my, there's quite the battle taking place over at 
In a posting from yesterday I mentioned the Torch Catastrophe orchestrated by CTV Globemedia.
Make no mistake about it, what Brian Burke has done to the Toronto Maple Leafs is exactly what Leaf fans have been demanding for years. 
I really don't know how to handle this without sounding like a hypocrite, but I guess when you get right down to it, there are a ton of us in this category.
One of the most surprising aspects of the Olympics to me was how the Prime Minister came out of it relatively unscathed.
A lot has been said and written over the past couple of weeks regarding Canada's "Own the Podium" program and how it supposedly crapped out.
I got his email from a guy named Erik who takes exception with my "
I'm I missing something, or has my love of the Toronto Maple Leafs severely affected my thought process when it comes to hockey?
I read Chris Zelkovich's 
For no other reason that I have this overwhelming premonition, I predict that Team Canada will not score a goal against Ryan Miller tonight. Team Canada will be shutout by Team USA.
I caught a couple of periods of the yesterday's women's Olympic hockey game between China and Switzerland and a frightening analogy came to me.
It was interesting to hear Steve Yzerman
The Toronto Maple Leafs 
From the Toronto Star: After Tuesday night's loss, the Leafs fell to within four points of the last-place Hurricanes in the East, while remaining a threadbare two points out of second-last overall in the league.
Looking forward to last night's hockey game, I decided to seek some atmosphere so I wandered over to Champs Sports Bar in the trendy (for Peterborough) Charlotte Mews area.
Check that, in some ways it's judgment day for all of professional sports.
I've got to admit, I loved watching the Winter Classic from Fenway Park yesterday. It was a fabulous spectacle from beginning to end, and what an end. 
I found Saturday's World Junior hockey game a tad on the embarrassing side. There is no glory in Team Canada pounding an opponent 16-0.
You should never jump to conclusions or accuse without proof, but you've got to believe there's a lot more to the Tiger Woods story.
I was the halls of Corus Toronto last week and during a chat with John Derringer he brought it to my attention that former Globe and Mail sports columnist William Houston had launched his own website.
It was a great couple of hours in the studios of Corus Peterborough. The great Bobby Orr was in town to promote his association with Chevrolet and their Fair Play program and he stopped by the studios of the Wolf and Kruz.
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, so I'll let you slide over to 
This is a paragraph from Damien Cox's column in the Toronto Star 
I think it's wonderful that Jim Balsillie has now set his sights on Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, because you can bet your ass they are the driving force behind keeping Balsillie out of the NHL.
According to documents recently revealed surrounding the shit storm in Phoenix, the NHL claims that Argo owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are among the groups who are interested in buying the Coyotes and keeping them in Arizona.
I realize that referring to a billionaire who wants a hockey team as a great Canadian would be a stretch to some, but that's what Jim Balsillie is
I have always been vehemently opposed to taxpayer money being used to finance professional sport but this situation is different.
There's no doubt about it, I want the Bruins to beat the Habs in the first round of the playoffs mainly because I don't like Les Habiskanks, but there's there's another reason.
I really enjoyed watching the Masters with my father in law Sunday afternoon, but I have to say, I didn't enjoy listening to the Masters and it had nothing to do with the Jim Nantz.
I decided to live blog the hockey game tonight and I'm glad I did because right off the bat I have to say how pissed off I am.
Things are looking up a bit. I just opened a case of Bud Lite and was pleasantly surprised with their "Vintage NHL T-shirt" promotion. I got a Leaf T-shirt. No kidding.
I just had a thought while watching the Hot Stove which features the extremely repulsive Al Strachan, who's the type of guy who makes you feel like you need a shower after you've listened to him for a while. I thought how good he'd look in a Habs sweater. Yea, you wouldn't want Strachan to date your grandmother, but he'd make the perfect Les Habiturd. He'd fit right in with the rest of that crew.
I'm surprised. If there's anything on this earth that we can poke fun at, it's sports.
Here's another reason professional sports sucks and it hits close to home. The Toronto Maple Leafs will raise ticket prices next season to the tune of 3.5 percent.
I have to laugh at Rosie Dimanno's 
I hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so.
Damien Cox wrote an interesting 
This has got to be the case of a slippery lawyer going after a big pot of gold with nothing to lose.
Last night's hockey game gave me new focus on the NHL season.
Superbowl and Michael Phelps.
Last night I was over at Neighbour John's watching the NHL Skills Competition and there was still some Bud Lite left in my bottle when it ended.
What a drag. Now Pat Burns has lung cancer.
When the Ottawa Senators acquired Jarkko Ruutu this past summer I thought it was the perfect fit.
Another thing I look forward to in 2009 is watching the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If you read this blog often, you're aware of my declining interest in professional sports.
Mats Sundin is apparently close to making a decision about what team he wants to play for this half season.
This was sent to me my CanadianThinker.com reader Joe McLean.
I've got to admit, I spent most of yesterday bummed out.
With the arrival of Brian Burke on Saturday you can pretty well set the countdown clock for a Maple Leaf ethnic cleansing. 
Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen will be added to an excruciatingly long list of Toronto Maple Leaf draft choices that never panned out, and the crazy thing is, like another excruciatingly long list of Maple Leaf draft picks, they could very well have great careers playing somewhere else.
I've seen a lot of dirty plays in my day, but I think this one has to rank as the worst.
I'll say it again, wow, this Leaf stuff is getting interesting, if not a little nasty.
I got this note from my buddy Darren today.
Leafs 6 Canadiens 3
The big sports story yesterday was that nonsense about the NHL board of governors considering another NHL team for Toronto.
Starting in March, Freddie P. will be increasing his gratuities throughout Southern and Central Ontario. 
The latest to come out of the indecisive world of Mats Sundin is that he's leaning towards the New York Rangers.
Like most people who knew him, or knew of him, I was floored yesterday when I heard about the passing of former CFL player Leif Petterson.
If the Jersey Devils had done it, if the Detroit Red Wings had done it, or even if the Carolina Hurricanes had done it, you might be impressed.
One of the great things about my father was how generous he was with his time. He was the ultimate volunteer, giving his time to the Canadian Legion in a executive position, the Stayner Horticultural Club and the Stayner Food Bank, just to name a few.
I’m glad I’m not among those who decide who makes it into the Hockey Hall of Fame, because if I was, I’d be part of a group of jerk offs.
No matter what angle you look at it, CBC botched the “hockey theme” controversy by letting it slip away.
If you’ve been a frequent reader of this blog over the past couple of years, and or if you used to listen to me on the radio, you know I’ve never been a big fan of Mats Sundin’s.
Today’s 
Wayne Gretzky was very diplomatic, but he quickly downplayed rumours that he'd be interested in becoming President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I was in the halls of Corus Entertainment Toronto today when word broke of the firing of Paul Maurice sometime around 11 am.
No doubt it’s nice to have the World Hockey Championships being played in Canada for the first time in its history, but you have wonder about the size of the field and whether it’s necessary.
Over the past few days I've been battered and bruised by many because of my stance on the Montreal Canadiens.
I realize money isn’t everything and money definitely doesn’t guarantee happiness, but as the father of a 25 year old woman, I can’t help but wonder it would be like to have her walk in the door and tell me she was marrying a 37 year old rich guy.
I don’t know about you, but I could smell a rat through the entire Roger Clemens steroid controversy, so I’m not surprised there are now accusations of him diddling country singer Mindy McCready for over a decade, starting when she was a shocking 15 years old.
I read with interest the 
It didn't take long for the reaction to start coming into FreddieP.ca last night after the Habs beat the Boston Bruins in a game that wasn't really indicative of the score.
The irony is almost too delicious. 
Sweet boy Toronto Mike had a piece on his 
It’s been a long time since I’ve looked forward to a hockey game as much as I do this one.
I wish it was different. I wish I didn’t feel this way.
During the Ottawa – Pittsburgh game last night, I was reminded of one of my least favourite things about sports.
The NFL released its 2008 schedule yesterday and it didn’t go over well in Buffalo.