Now What?

Let me preface this post with a quick statement. This is being written in the car as I refresh twitter and get more and more angry. This is pure emotion in words I'm not all that concerned with grammar, punctuation and all that jazz. I'm concerned with the league that I love, the league that I want to have some sort of career in. The league that is falling apart right before our eyes and for us with smartphones scrolling thumbs. So if you see an error save it but if you're as outraged as I am, and want to find some common ground to rage about please read on.

Carolina, Columbus, Atlanta, Phoenix, Florida, raise your hand if you know what these teams have in common  They all have more than one thing in common so those of you with your hands raised you may have at least one right answer. If you guessed places where you wouldn't expect hockey bingo. If you thought places that are bleeding money and fans right again. Finally if you guessed Bettman's failed expansion teams good for you. 

How have these teams failed? Well one isn't there anymore. One has had ownership problems for the latter part of five years. One has made the playoffs once. And two have made the playoffs went on deep runs and still have minuscule fan numbers. 

Now what does this have to do with the lockout and my anger? Simple this whole deal is based on the fact the NHL feels they pay the players too much. But why do they feel that way? Mainly cause of teams such as the ones I've mentioned and a certain Stanley Cup loser are all hemorrhaging money. The owners have to protect each other and their investments. So even in the face of record revenues the owners feel that as a whole money is being lost. 

Well lets look at what we know is lost right now two months of a season. One AllStar game. One Winter Classic, which happens to be the NHLs biggest money and ratings grabber. A staggering amount of money, and most hockey fans minds. We know for a one hundred percent fact these things have been lost  However its what could be lost is what scares me the most. 

Do we remember where the NHL was after the last lockout? It was a league with no home. It was in relative obscurity. You couldn't find highlights on sports center, and if you actually wanted to watch a game well hopefully you had the outdoor life network. Yup the damn OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK!! Hey watch NHL superstars followed by deer hunting. That's what our sport was reduced to. It took so long for the league to get respect. NBC sports put their faith in the NHL and for the most part it worked.Yet, we're right back to where we were after the last lockout. Sure they NHL when it comes back will have its spot on NBC. 

But if this season is lost who wants to touch it? What average fan is going to invest their hard worked money to this product? What sponsor is going to feel this is where they want their product to be advertised? What lifelong fan is going to say this is the third lockout in under twenty years how can i come back? Those are questions we can't answer. And when the dust settles are we going to like what we find?

I'm not going to get into Fehr vs Bettman. Or Jacobs and the old owners club. Because face it the NHL is coming back; sooner or later, and the Bruins Leafs Canadiens etc will be ok. But honestly after this public debacle we just saw. 

NOW WHAT? 

1967 Forever. The Miserable Maple Leafs

There are four numbers Maple Leafs fans hate, and always in a particular order 1,9,6,7.  Anyone with a moderate grasp for hockey history knows the significance of those numbers. Those numbers would be the last year the Toronto Maple Leafs won Lord Stanley’s Cup. That would also happen to be the least time the Leafs were even in the finals.

While we’re on the subject of numbers lets throw out a few more. 4, that would be the number of conference finals the Leafs reached from 1993 through 2002. 6, that would be how many consecutive post season appearances the Leafs made in the Mid 2000’s. And Finally 0, Zero being the number of times the Leafs have made it to the Playoffs since the lockout.

So where has it all gone wrong for Toronto? How did they go from a sure bet to make the second season, to a sure bet for a lottery pick?

Raise your hand if you know who Tuukka Rask is. (Go ahead seriously raise your hand. You wont feel nearly as stupid as Maple Leafs fans for thinking they’d make the playoffs this year.) Well now that you’ve got your hand raised try to remember the team that drafted him. Yup, that team would be the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now think to who they traded him to, and who they traded him for.

If you can’t remember I’ll fill you in. They Traded Rask to the Boston Bruins were he has put up stellar numbers. Even as a back up you can’t balk at an average save percentage of 926, and a goals against average of 2.20. You must be thinking for a 21^st overall pick goalie with those numbers they had to get something great in return for him.

The return was Andrew Raycroft he was supposed to be the future in nets for years to come. The former Calder Trophy winner, played one full season in Toronto where he let in a league worst 205 goals. The next season he got a total of 17 starts before leaving the Leafs.

The leafs have not had a true number one goalie since Curtis Joseph. Sure they had Ed Belfour but that was towards the end of his career. When he went to the Panthers in 06 that is when the revolving door of average goalies opened.

06-07- Andrew Raycroft- 37 Wins, G.A.A of 2.99- NO PLAYOFFS

07-08- Vesa Toskala- 33 Wins, G.A.A of  2.74-NO PLAYOFFS

08-09- Vesa Toskala- 22 Wins, G.A.A of  3.26- NO PLAYOFFS

09-10- Jonas Gustavsson/ J.S Giguere- 22 Wins. G.A.A 2.68- NO PLAYOFFS

10-11. Reimer, Gigure, Gustavsson-  37 Wins, 2.86 G.A.A NO PLAYOFFS

11-12- Reimer, Gustavsson-  31 wins. No Playoffs

I’m sure we all see the theme there. Terrible. Awful. Goaltending. But with all those bad years there has to be blue chip prospects that are sure to lead this team to future greatness right? Wrong.

Enter the Brian Burke era, this team’s knight in shining armor. Brining his love for truculence and his Stanley cup were sure to turn this team around. Right? *pause*  Wrong. Again.

There are plenty glaring errors with Brian Burkes era with the Leafs. Let’s start with Ron Wilson. Wilson was a great coach for the Sharks. Wilson as a coach for the Leafs not so much, Paul Maruice who he replaced had a better points earned percentage. But that’s another story. 

Wilson had a 4 year tenure with the club. That tenure was one year too long. After 3 seasons with no results you’d have expected the leafs to have a new bench boss at the beginning of the 2011-12 season not the end.

But Burkes relationship with Wilson, and his stubbornness kept that lame duck coach one year too long. It should have been obvious that Wilson wasn’t the coach for this team. They on many occasions showed an ability to play past the level that they’re currently stuck at but they never maintained it. When that continues to happen it’s not the make of the team, but the man behind them.

So Burke finally got it right firing Wilson 16 games ago, but it cost them a season.

And now we arrive at the heart of the issue. What is truly killing this Maple Leafs team, a lack of direction. Burke couldn’t settle himself to believe in a rebuild. He made big money signings like Mike Komisarek because he misread the roster and thought it was better than it truly is. He mortgaged the future on this miscalculation as well.

Dougie Hamilton or Luke Schenn?

There have been thousands for rumors that a Schenn trade would yield a significant return. But Burke considered him a pillar, and let go of his 2011 1^st round pick because of it. Schenn is anything but a pillar a career -22 who at times is overmatched would have been better subtracted from this roster. Hamilton is the best ranked D-man prospect in the Bruins system and the best in the NHL. Want a mulligan on that on Burkie? I felt a golf term was for the best there.

Tyler Seguin, is every bit as good as Phil Kessel.

There I said it. I never wanted to but it’s a fact. Kessel is the worst 80 point scorer in the history of the NHL. Look at the top ten point getters in the NHL. With the exception of Stamkos every other player has their team is in a playoff position. Kessel was benched in Boston for his lack of playoff ability and here hasn’t lead the Leafs to the post season.

The Oilers are setup for the future. The Islanders well they have bigger problems to worry about than hockey games. So lets not include them. But the point is the struggling franchises in the NHL have a clear and concise path of where they want to go. Brian Burke is sitting in neutral. He cant decide if he can get this team to go forwards, or if he should say “forget it” and put it into reverse and start over.

The fact remains is the Leafs fans cant wait for him to find out. He needs to be out the door this summer. And someone that can commit to a rebuild has to come in and take over.

Brandon Hebert- Contributing writer for Game83

The Dynamic Rise Of Steven Stamkos

Few things get the average NHL fans blood pumping like seeing that lamp turn red. The old MLB "Chicks Dig The Long Ball" commercials could be substituted to the NHL with chicks dig a sniper, and in my many years of watch hockey I haven't seen many players snipe like Steven Stamkos. Its incredible to watch, he can score from anywhere on the ice and isn't afraid to get his nose dirty like many other offensive dynamos.
After a relative tame rookie season that saw Stamkos light the lamp 23 times, he has exploded for 154 goals in the three seasons since. As this seasons quest for 60 goals marches on Stammer looks to be the first to reach that milestone since Alex Ovechkin had 65 in 2007-2008. The thing that impresses me the most about Stamkos is his ability to play all hockey situations and lead his team at the young age 21.
As a 20 year old Stamkos lead his team to within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Watching Stamkos play in the playoffs last season was a treat. Scoring just 6 goals and 7 assists in his first 18 NHL playoff games was impressive. Although the numbers were not gaudy, his ability to rise above adversity and play through injury is what has hockey fans like myself genuinely giddy about his future in the league.
Unfortunately we will not have the privilege of watching Steven in the 2012 playoffs. Stamkos' ability to adapt his game is what I've found most impressive. This is what sets him aside from fellow Southeast division sniper Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin made a name for himself by bullying his way to 50+ goal  seasons early on in his NHL career but has fallen off the last two. When Stamkos blew up in his second NHL season it was in large part to his lethal one timer on the powerplay. However in a league driven by adaptation this was quickly taken away from him and Stamkos adjusted accordingly. He now scores many of his goals collecting the "garbage" in front of the net. Not something you see all that often from  the leagues flashy goal scorers. While he is still more than capable of burning your favorite team with his vicious one timer he has added hardnosed play and incredible hockey sense to his arsenal. As teams continue to try and contain the young goal scorer Stamkos will continue to devise other ways to score goals. This coupled with his incredible work ethic are why I believe we have barely scratched the surface with this young superstar.


Conor Higgins

Contributing writer Game-83 Hockey

The Fall Of Alex The Great

The Fall Of Alex The Great

Alex Ovechkin is going through what is his worst season of his 7 year NHL career.  It seemed like not too long ago he was the most dominant player in the league. The question of his goal scoring wasn’t will he hit fifty, it was how many past fifty will he get?

But gradually the once “great 8” is becoming a shell of he once was. The highlight reel plays that became part of his persona are becoming few and far between. To make a long explanation short Alex has simply become way to predictable on the ice.

The days of him coming up the ice on the wing in a flash and ripping a bullet of a shot are gone. Great players in the NHL are always adapting and evolving, Ovechkin is doing neither.

His power is what makes him spectacular he has hands, but not on par with players like Datsyuk or Crosby. Ovechkin has always relied on bullying his way towards the net, and throwing in the occasional amazing deke. But now that is becoming to outdated more and more his shots aren’t getting through to the net. Defenseman now know to get up on him and he’ll just take a shot.

In his defense he hasn’t had Nick Backstrom to play with him this year, but last season he did and only mustered 32 goals. This year his goal production is up a little more but overall point production is dipping. And there isn’t much to show that this is going to change.

Besides his predictability the other factor contributing to his decline is that letter C stitched on his jersey. His decline started right around the time he was named the Capitals captain in January of 2010. Ovechkin while a great player is not a great leader.

Time and time again he has never been able to shine on a big stage. And has on several occasions been outshined by more complete players. We’ve seen it numerous times in the playoffs, and in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.  But the biggest example of him not shining when he should was the 2005 world junior championships.

He was named the best forward in the tournament and a tournament all-star but come the deciding game he was held pointless and to three shots. This is something that has become all too common of him when the game is on the line.

While he will always be threat with his shot, Ovechkin will have to evolve or the 100 points seasons he collected consistently will forever be a thing of the past. Other than evolution of his game the best bet for him to rejuvenate his game would be a departure from the capitals.

He needs a wake up call and a trade from the capitals would do just that. And for Washington with their struggles this season the return that Geroge McPhee could get for him would be staggering. Not only would it set up the capitals for the future, but it would get Ovie back on track.

Adding to Ovie’s demise may be the emergence of Steve Stamkos as the elite sniper in the NHL. Check back tomorrow for Conor Higgins take on Stamkos’ rise to superstardom. 

Weighing In on AHL's Bench Clear

Icehogs vs Admirals

Coming into the "new era" of hockey their were many rules put into place to try and kill the on ice brawls of the 60's, 70's and to some extent the 80's. The second altercation rule, the third man in penalty, the automatic ten game suspension for leaving the bench, and recently the suspension for starting an altercation in the last five minutes have all but eradicated the old school donnybrooks. 

For old school fans, and true purists of the games the watering down of fighting is a bit of a sore spot, we long for the days of the Good Friday Brawl between Montreal and Quebec. Miss the time where every single Montreal Canadiens player and Boston Bruins player wanted to beat the snot out of each other when the time came. These moments come from an era where the was actually hatred in hockey where it meant everything to wear the red white and blue of a ranger jersey and there is no way in the world you would ever be caught wearing the blue white and orange of an islander jersey. 

Today while teams say they "hate" each other its more of humane hate. Sounds weird to say but its true. Players today have no quam playing for a rival team. It doesn't kill your sense of pride it's just a way to further your career. So it's not just the rule changes that make these fights a thing of the past its the players themselves. 

This being said though that is what makes events like the April Fools day brawl something to hold in modern hockey lore. While the brawl itself is an April Fools joke compared to ones of the past, the fact that the benches emptied in the AHL in the 2000's era is something that makes people who enjoy that type of stuff smile. And in all honesty its the rarity of these moments that make them so spectacular now.

If these happened every game, the game would have a worse black eye than people already tend to see it with. But when it happens in fleeting moments such as these it's something that grabs your attention and makes you hold onto it. Because you'll never know if you see one again. While we will never see something like this in the NHL we'll still the Rangers Devils style fight and the Penguins Flyers mess on Sunday. Which also doesn't compare to what it could have been in the past it still makes us think "holy bleep. that was awesome"