Sundin Vs. Leafs, Feb. 21st or 22nd?

The National Post, the CBC, and the Globe and Mail are all reporting tonight that Mats Sundin has narrowed his list of teams down to just 2: the Vancouver Canucks and the NYRangers. Since neither Sundin nor J.P. Barry would comment directly, this was the only quote I could find to confirm or deny the story:

"I think if you want to be part of the team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup or a team that is going far in the playoffs, my opinion has always been that you want to be there from training camp or the start of the season to be part of the group."

-Mats Sundin, doesn't believe in being a rental player, February 24/2008

Whoops... hold on. 

"I think if you want to be part of the team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup or a team that is going far in the playoffs, then forget about hockey altogether and go ice-fishing until the end of August. Spend most of the Fall in Scandinavia. Don't talk to anybody! Announce an online poker endorsement deal! Go to California in December to "work out" while you're agent conducts an unprecedented bidding war, my new opinion is you want to be there no later then about mid-season to be part of the group."

-Mats Sundin, absolutely committed to being a rental player, December 15/2008

Fixed.

If it's true that Sundin is headed to either the Rangers or Vancouver, one thing is now certain: Leafs fans will get a chance to see the former Captain and express their feelings in person. Whichever way you feel, and whichever team he goes to, circle the third weekend of February, 2009 on your calendar. By sheer coincidence (maybe), the Leafs play Vancouver at home on Saturday, February the 21st, and then play the first of back-to-back games with the NYRangers on Sunday, the 22nd in New York. The back end of the home-and-home with the Rangers is in Toronto on the 25th.

There's lots more that could be said on this subject; - like how Mats is throwing away a legacy; how Cliff Fletcher made all the right moves rebuilding the team while trying to keep Sundin; that Burke and Wilson did the right thing by letting Sundin know that he was welcome but not particularly wanted; or that Vancouver and the Rangers are cheap, plastic imitations of true hockey cities like Detroit, Montreal, and, oh yes, Toronto. I could say all those things. I could also mention that it's going to be really sad when Mats Sundin doesn't win a Stanley Cup, and skates off the ice for perhaps the last time in the NHL, wearing the uniform of a team he's only been on for a few months, to the empty applause of fans with no appreciation for his distinguished career. I could say all that, but he's not a Maple Leaf now, so who really cares? Maybe by mid-February though, we'll feel a lot less apathetic. Could be a good week to have Leaf tickets.

Live From Leaf Nation, It's Saturday Night!

For the first time ever, a simultaneous posting! As if there's anybody who reads this blog that doesn't read PPP, but just so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle over there, and to pad my post total for the month over here, a double presentation of the exact same post!

This is going to feel like a long weekend, but not in a good way. I'm very happy with the way the Leafs played last night in Buffalo, and while I don't normally want them to play on back-to-back nights with travel, there's an aching desire to see them play tonight that won't be fulfilled. Except that it's not an aching desire, it's the natural order of things and the unpleasantness that I'm feeling is that order being disrupted. A Saturday night in December without the Maple Leafs is like Christmas without Santa. Like Halloween without candy. Like Wheel of Fortune without Vanna. It's like, what's the point? I waited all week for this. I had plans! I was going to watch hockey. And not just any hockey - not 2 boring conference rivals with marquee players battling for playoff positions - heck no, I was going to watch the Leafs! That's what I do every Saturday night in the winter. Those are my plans and I can't change them now.

This is a hot topic for me that I've touched on once before. Being "poor" means that I don't pay for cable, and that CBC is the only TV station I can watch that shows hockey, and Saturday nights are usually my only opportunity to see the Leafs play on "the big screen" (my TV) and not on my wife's Mac. This month alone, there are two Saturday nights, tomorrow and the 27th, that are devoid of Leaf hockey. December is a cold, and cruel month where the days keep getting shorter and darker. Enduring two Saturdays without the Leafs is unfair at this time of year and something need to be done to ease the suffering.

I think whatever the Leafs are doing Saturday night, the CBC should be covering it. As a Canadian taxpayer, I have a right to demand that CBC program what I want to watch, and on Saturday nights I want to watch the Leafs, even if they're not playing. Screw the NHL! And screw the Habs and the Senators as well. Whatever the Leafs are doing Saturday night, I wanna be there. It's not even about hockey. It's about me and the Leafs and Saturday nights.

So then I got to imagining what the Leafs might be doing. I doubt they'll all be hangin' out together, but it would be cool if they were. The CBC should do a show like that with all of them just hangin' out on a Saturday night in a big house, watching TV, watching hockey, talking about stuff... maybe not. An even better idea would be some sort of American Gladiators/Battle of the Network Stars/Extreme Elimination Challenge show, with all of the Leafs competing in hilarious obstacle course competitions. Man, that's like the best idea I've had in ages.

So what are the Leafs going to be doing Saturday while we're all not watching them? Here's a look at how they might take advantage of this rare Saturday Night Privacy (Hopefully this will inspire future fan-fic material from LD and Archimedes.):

Wilson: Would like to have a nice relaxing dinner and maybe go see a funny movie, and if you approach him and want to talk about hockey he will disintegrate you with his death stare.

White and Hollweg: Are gonna watch some old Kung-Fu movies, drink a few beers, and trade 'stache-grooming secrets.

Antropov and Ponikarovsky: A camera will be set up on a tripod. One will sit on one side of the room eating cheeseburgers and the other will sit on the other side of the room, also eating cheeseburgers. Then a conversation will take place, very slowly and deliberately, analyzing which cheeseburger was the most satisfying. Then they will realize that the lens cap was still on the camera and they'll have to do it all over again. Later, Ponikarovsky will vomit in the bathroom while Antropov watches motorcycle racing on satellite TV. The video, meanwhile, will be labeled "Antro/Poni/CheeseburgerDiscussion/Vol.459" and put in a vault with the others.

Moore and Mayers: Will be signing autographs, making public appearances, visiting children in hospitals and orphanages, also the mall, and generally letting people know who they are and reminding them that they play for the Maple Leafs.

Stajan: Will be at home smoking dope and reading comic books by himself. X-Men is his favorite, but he also likes Fantastic Four. Kaberle will try to call him around 10:30pm, but Stajan never picks up the phone after 9pm.

Kaberle and Kubina: Have plans to rent a movie and hang out but an honest misunderstanding with a hooker and her pimp prevents Kubina from ever making it to the video store. Around 10:30pm Kaberle gets tired of waiting for Kubina and calls Matt Stajan but there's no answer. Dejected, he goes home and decides to ride his exercise bicycle while counting backwards from 5000 to 1 and then goes to bed. The next morning, Kubina wakes up in his car, not sure what he's doing on a side street in Pickering, or why there's an extra 200 dollars in his wallet.

Blake: Will spend the night playing with his very own custom created Jason Blake Action Figure Doll with Fist-Pump Action-Arm, reminiscing about his greatest goals, and especially about the time that he would've punched a small child wearing a Leafs jersey in the face except for the glass that got in the way.

Hagman and Grabovski: Plan on making various mixed drinks using whatever exotic fruits they can manage to cut open. Grabovski is really the creative genius here while Hagman documents his art with still photography that he publishes on the internet.

Schenn: Will spend the night in meditation, cultivating the mystical and cosmic energies of the universe into one all-powerful force within him, ready to be unleashed at the appropriate time in the first round of the playoffs.

Frogren: Will host a great feast for his people, welcoming the various tribes of his clan with songs of glory and honour, and entertaining them with tales of conquest and debauchery.

Van Ryn, Mitchell, Kulemin, Toskala, Stralman, Sifers, Williams, Finger, and Cujo: Are going to get together for a game of open-air shinny, over at Withrow Park, which is right near my house. That's where I'll be too, playing alongside them in the cool night air, laughing joyously at the freedom of playing our own game, for ourselves, for fun. No refs, no score, no pressure, just the sounds of skates cutting through ice and pucks bangin' off boards echoing through the neighboorhood as we lose track of time and who we are, and play on and on until the lights go out at 11pm. Afterwards, our faces flush and glowing from the cold and the exercise, we'll all walk back to my house together. where, as I say goodnight, Van Ryn, Mitchell, Kulemin, Toskala, Stralman, Sifers, Williams, Finger, and Cujo will wave goodbye together, and break into a spontaneous chorus of He's A Jolly Good Fellow. As they turn and continue their merry way down the street, skates slung over sticks, resting comfortably on their shoulders, I notice Van Ryn extend a warm smile to Kulemin and say, "Don't you wish every Saturday could be like this?"

Into the night, go Leafs, go.

Antro-Positive

At the beginning of the month, the Leafs stood tied for 10th, 4 points out of a playoff spot and 4 points out of dead last. 10 days into December, after Wedneday's games, the Leafs' situation is even murkier; sole possession of 11th, 5 points out of the playoffs, and 6 points out of dead last. As playoff hopes and quality draft positions slowly, and simultaneously, drift out of reach, the Leafs, meanwhile, in the centre of their own expanding universe,  seem to be going nowhere.

For this upcoming game against the Sabres, there's a few things I'll be watching for: 1)Williams. How well will he play in his second game? I'd like to see him paired up with Mitchell because I think they might find some chemistry there with Blake - but who knows. 2)Van Ryn. Can't get back to the line-up fast enough as far as I'm concerned. Not a knock on Jamie Sifers, who played admirably in the win against the NYIslanders (17:26, +1, 3 shots), but with Luke Schenn gone from the line-up, the Leafs need a defenceman who was above Frogren, Stralman, and Colaiacovo on the depth chart when the season began. Hopefully Van Ryn is in the line-up Friday and continues his level of point production and solid play from where he left off. 3)Antropov. (Here comes the "body" of this post.) Really needs to pick up his game. The Lanky Kazakh has not had a good month so far, and if he doesn't turn it around soon, it will be a disaster. Since December began, in 5 games, Antropov has 1 goal, 1 assist, with 11 shots on goal, and is a minus 6.

It's the minus that really bothers me. At the end of November, Antro, our team's second leading scorer, was a plus 3. In just 5 games this month, he's seen that number become a negative 3. Monday's victory over the Islanders was the only game so far in December where Antropov was not a minus, coming out even, while leading all forwards in ice-time. That's better, but still not enough.

It's interesting that Ponikarovsky, who also was a minus 3 against San Jose and got demoted off the top line, has rebounded with a couple of plus games and is just minus 2 for the month now, and still a plus 3 overall for the year. You may think the list of Leafs on the plus side is getting short, but actually it just got a little longer: Ian White(+3), Hagman(+3), Van Ryn(+1), Stralman(+1), and now Williams(+2), and Sifers(+1). Antropov was once at the top of the list, back on Nov. 14th, as a plus 7.

There are players on the Leafs that have worse plus/minus then Antropov: Stajan is a minus 4. Frogren was a minus 5 after just 10 games. Schenn is minus 6. Hollweg(-7), Kubina(-8), and Kaberle(-9) are all much worse, and Mitchell and Mayers(-10 each) have struggled with plus/minus the most. But Antropov's dramatic swing from the positive to the negative bothers me a lot. As our only heralded top-six forward, he needs to be a leader, and not a liability.

The Leafs also need Antropov to be an offensive threat, ideally, on every shift. Coach Wilson, and, well, everybody, knows that Stajan can't do it all on his own. Antro needs to find his mojo and get excited and aggressive. His game is played best down low, controlling the puck, and taking it to the net. Oppostion players should be more concerned with Antropov's size and what he's going to do with it next, then they are about scoring goals. When you're 197 feet from the net, it's usually impossible to score. Antropov's defensive contribution should come when he's being defended. Obviously, the more points he puts up, the better his plus/minus will be, but even if he's in a slump and doesn't score, the more he's on the attack, the more the other team is focused on preventing goals rather then scoring their own.

Antropov is usually a very streaky player. It's hard to imagine the Leafs having any kind of a winning streak without Antropov getting hot. The Lanky Kazakh might not be our only top-six forward (hello, Grabbo!), but he may be our only hope if the Leafs are going to make a run before Christmas at getting back into contention. Unlikely as it sounds, I believe he can do it, as long as he plays hard and stays positive.

10 Points For Tomas

Like a lot of Leaf fans, I'm very concerned about Tomas Kaberle. I found Thursday night's loss to be very painful and sad. After a day of solemn reflection, here are my thoughts:

1 - I agree with eyebleaf - Kaberle should have been in the press box if Wilson wanted to send a message. Or, let him play 2 periods, and then bench him for the third if he isn't playing well. It came across like a personal attack to have him benched in the first and then to be thrown to the lions cold.

2 - I agree with DGB - Kaberle's trade value will not go down - much. He's not playing well right now, but he's not playing his game at the moment either. A team that has the right pieces will make better use of Kaberle. Which leads to my next point -

3 - Kaberle misses Sundin more then anybody. Like Jari Kurri missing Wayne Gretzky, or Brett Hull missing Adam Oates. He has struggled all year long to find his groove. Perhaps, like some of us, he was hoping in the back of his mind that Sundin would return and that he would have someone else on the team to play with who sees the ice as well as he does. Suddenly, Burke says that pursuing Sundin doesn't make sense. How does that effect Kaberle, knowing that management has no immediate intentions of improving the team with superstar talent? 

4 - Kaberle is an elite-level hockey player. He needs to play with other elite-level hockey players. It's depressing to be in a working environment with people who are not your professional equals. Seriously. If we're not going to sign Sundin we should trade Kaberle, 'cause he doesn't offer us a skill set we can use, and we don't offer him the tools he needs to succeed.

5 - It's next to impossible to play your best when you have to play with players that are so far below your skill level. You can literally see Kaberle trying to figure out how Jason Blake or Matt Stajan think. With Sundin and McCabe, it came naturally. He knew where they were, what they were going to do, and where they were going to go, and he could anticipate them making a great play - then he would make a great play - then they would make a great play again, and then we'd score. On this team, if Kaberle attempts to make a great play (which, by definition should be: a high-risk move, not easily anticipated), but his own teammates don't anticipate it or react fast enough, it becomes a high-risk blunder.

6 - Keep in mind that Kaberle is the greatest Leaf defenceman in more then a generation, since Salming and Turnbull. He is our Lidstrom, or Niedemayer, or Stevens. We will not replace him easily or soon. Luke Schenn will not replace Kaberle - they are totally different players. Tomas Kaberle only comes around once every so often and once he's gone, there won't be another.

7 - It wasn't all Kabby's fault in Phoenix or in San Jose. Antropov, Ponikarovsky, and Stajan all got killed against the Sharks. Poni got demoted to the third line, but Kabby gets benched for the whole first period of the following game. Then, on Kaberle's first shift, Antro's weak coverage at the point (reaching between his legs to catch the puck, I mean seriously WTF was that?) led to the odd-man rush, not Kaberle being out of position. On the 5th goal, Kaberle attempted to do what he's supposed to do, block a shot. He got his skate on the puck and it went right to a Phoenix player who slammed it into the empty net. Hardly a blunder, just unfortunate. The 6th goal was a turnover off a hard pass from Kaberle that hit Stajan in the skate. Now perhaps Tomas' pass is expected to be tape-to-tape, but where was Stajan's reaction? It's his responsibility, even if he can't control the puck, to deflect it, chip it - kick it if he has to - to get that puck out of the zone. Just letting it hit you while you continue to skate in the opposite direction, away from the play, is not the right reaction in that situation.

8 - It was unfair of Wilson, who sabotaged Kaberle's readiness and preparation by benching him through the first period, to then suggest that Kaberle's poor performance afterwards was an intentional response. "He apparently sent a message back by being minus-3". That's not fair. Kaberle was clearly trying, probably too much. And instead of just being able to think about the play, his head is filled with questions and doubts and silly mind games from the coach. And he doesn't trust or have confidence in his teammates, but instead looks very alone, because he's being singled out and made an example of.

9 - Finally, there's a defensive, protective, tribal instinct in me that wants to scream "LEAVE TOMAS KABERLE ALONE!!!" This couldn't be happening to a nicer guy. Tomas is one of the good-guys. He's the anti-Avery. He is anything but a McCabe-type clown. He is thoughtful, respectful, quiet, considerate, charming, and a true gentleman. What he lacks in passion, he makes up for with class. He is a QUALITY HUMAN BEING, who happens to be struggling to find his way right now on the Leafs. But don't you dare turn against this man. He has always been under-appreciated, under-rated, under-valued, and under-paid. Yet he has also been an absolute privilege to watch in the Blue and White for most of his 10 seasons with the Maple Leafs, and he has never said a bad word once about anyone, ever. Tomas isn't going to sulk and suck and bitch. Not even close.

"It starts with me. I have to be hard on myself. I never had problems with any coach. And I don't want any problems... Obviously, it was hard," Kaberle said. "I take it seriously. That's the way it is. I have to keep my head up and get my ice time back."

10 - Tomas doesn't need critics right now, he needs our support. He knows he hasn't played well. Everyone knows he can play better. What he definitely doesn't deserve, is to hear it from the Leaf fans at home. I really hope that tonight, not only does Tomas bounce back with a solid game, but that the ACC crowd really gets behind him and backs him up as well. I hope that the first time Kaberle touches the puck the audience reacts with cheers of encouragement and shouts of support, and not with cowardly, cold-hearted and mean-spirited booing. Kaberle doesn't deserve that. As I said before, he's not an Avery-Monkey or a McCabe-Clown. He's one of the good-guys. In fact, he's one of the best. He's not the family member you're ashamed of, he's the family member you're proud of. Right now he's having a tough time, but that means that we have to do the right thing, and show him our love and support.

C'mon, Tomas! Go Leafs Go!

Game Six Remembered

Don't ever forget. Ever. What was done by this man was something that was unforgivable. If ever there was a player for whom Leafs fans should express their utter disdain and desire for vengeance upon, it is this man. The NHL has had wonderful heroes, and even a few classic villains, but there's only ever been one man who was The Great One: The Greatest Villain Of All-Time, Walter's least favorite son.

Tonight the Leafs take to the ice in Phoenix against the Coyotes, and while I bear no malice toward either the city nor the team, the man behind their bench is an evil man and I will not let it go unprotested. I touched on this subject once before, in fact, it's probably the highlight of my very first post. See under GAME SIX: Special Feature "The Greatest Screw Job Ever In The History Of Sports". Here's a recap, which I've re-written for the occasion:

Final Four, 1993, Game Six. Overtime. The Leafs are killing a penalty thanks to Creepy Glenn Anderson. Gilmour has possession of the puck and before he can clear the zone and kill off the penalty, Gretzky, in clear view of referee Kerry Fraser, stabs Dougie in the chin. Our beloved 'Killer drops to the ice and Fraser blows his whistle. When Gilmour stands up again, blood is clearly gushing from a hockey-blade-sized wound below his mouth. The arena suddenly goes quiet for a moment. Everyone turns to look at number 99, and he knows... the moment has come!

The doors to the penalty box never open. No arms are ever raised and there are no discussions with the linesman over who saw what. "5-and-a-game?" and "what about Dave Andreychuk?" are meaningless whispers from a confused and disoriented audience. While the linesman attempt to organize a face-off in the Leafs zone, The Great One contemplates his destiny........ and then!

With the blood of his opponent still wet on his stick, Gretzky ends the game, laughing wildly at the sheer treachery of it all.

Dougie's blood was on that puck. Dougie's blood was in the back of the net.

And the Great One laughed like a loony mad scientist about to blow up the earth. He was now "the Greatest Villain of All Time". It was "the Greatest Screw Job Ever in the History of Sports".

Never forget. Ever. What he did was unforgivable.

He is Evil.