JFJ Can't Get A Break

At this point in the season you have to feel for Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr, the guy has done everything that fans want yet they are still calling for his head. First off all fans wanted was to beef up the back end and Ferguson went out and picked up Kubina and Gill but he did over pay. Secondly after last year fans wants goals, goals, goals so he went out and picked up 40 goal scorer Jason Blake and that hasn't worked out to good since Blake has only scored 2 goals season and it on pace for 8 all year. The bottom line is that he did what fans wanted and what the team needed and the pick ups just haven't worked out.

Poor JFJ must just be sitting in his office wondering what's going to happen next. Last night the Leafs badly out played the Montreal Canadians only to lose in overtime on another Bryan McCabe blunder. If that wasn't bad enough the news came out about top prospect Jiri Tlusty nude photos popping up on Internet sites, the pictures were taken last year while Tlusty was playing for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.

It's too bad because given the right place with the right players and no interference from the upper brass at MLSE and not having to worry everyday if he's going to be fired or not JFJ would make one hell of a General Manager.

One Month In..

So the NHL 2007/08 season has been going for a month strong (in Canada at least) and here is a list of the biggest surprises and disappointments.

Biggest surprise start...

This one was a close call but I'm giving the edge in this category to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Jackets have gotten off to a great start going 7-3-1 in the first 11 games with stellar goal tending coming from Pascal Leclaire who is 6-2 this season with 4 shutouts and a G.A.A of only 1.25. Head Coach Ken Hitchcock also has superstar Rick Nash playing defence, that's right Nash playing defence who was a career minus 59 before coming into this season and now he is a plus 3 and scoring highlight reel goals night after night. The big question is can they keep up with this hard checking trap hockey set in place by the coaching staff and will disgruntled winger Nikolai Zherdev finally get traded for some help or at least some more support on the back end.

Biggest team bust so far...

Most people would say ATLANTA because of the team's record and the fact they fired their coach so early in the season but my biggest disappointment has to be the play of my hometown beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. Let just look at the facts, they brought in 40 goal scorer Jason Blake and he only has 2 goals and of course the Leafs brought in goaltender Vesa Toskala at the trade deadline and has looked average at best, he's allowed 31 goals in only 9 games, owns a record of 4-4-1 and a save percentage under .900 and of course the play of the seven million dollar man Bryan McCabe and i don't really think we need to go over his play again. All of these reason's have contributed to the Leafs bad start but what was worst was the Leafs opened the season with 9 games at home before heading out on the road and they didn't take advantage of home town cooking going 5-5-3 for 13 points to open the season.

A Couple of quick ones...

Best Rookie: Patrick Kane and Jonathan Taves

Best Player: Hendrick Zetterberg

Best Coach: Ken Hitchcock

Best Goalie: Pascal Leclaire

Best Team: Detroit Red Wings

Worst Team: New York Rangers

Biggest Surprise: Mats Sundin

Biggest Bust: Scott Gomez & Chris Drury

Can't Stop The Bleeding

I really like this picture because out the guy in the background holding up the sign CBS (can’t, beat, sabers) and how true it is, early in the week the Leafs had a two goal lead going into the third period and ended up losing in overtime and if it wasn’t for Andrew Raycroft the game wouldn’t have gotten to OT.

Defensive woes continue to hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs, for the second time in a week the Leafs had a two goal lead going into the third period and ended up losing. Last night they had the Blackhawks beat and then they gave up and allowed Chicago to climb back into the game and eventually winning.

Maurice needs to shake up his defensive units and fast, now if I were in his shoe’s here is what I would do…

Unit 1
Kaberle and McCabe

Until 2
Kaberle and Kronwall

Until 3
Gill and Walser or Stralman

Goodbye to Ian White and Andy Wozniewski, only in the short term because they’re both really fighting the puck right now.

Bob Hartley Fired

Well it only took six games to have the first coach fired in the NHL this year. Atlanta Thrashers bench boss was let go after the team had another pathetic effort losing to the Flyers last night 4-0. The Thrashers are still the only team not to register a point this season going 0-6 and the writing was on the wall for Hartley, now with Hartley gone GM Don Wadell will take over behind the bench on an interim basis as he tries to save his job. Since coming into the league in the 1999-2000 season, the Thrashers have made only one playoff appearance and one division title and both were last year.

Nice Goal McCabe...

Hey McCabe the net is at the other end! What a crazy game leafs nation got so see that night, the Leafs were up 2-0 going into the third period and then it was a sea saw battle the rest of the night. Now Toronto had the lead in the game four different times in game so one would think that if you have a lead four times in the final period you should be able to win the game but we are talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs here who right now probably have one of the worst defence units around.

Here is how much the Leafs top six are making:

$7,150,000.00 - McCabe
4,250,000.00 - Kaberle
5,000,000.00 - Kubina
$2,075,000.00 - Gill
$500,000.00 - Wozniewski
$750,000.00 - White

But the player last night that stuck out most and for good reason was Toronto's whipping boy Bryan McCabe, McCabe almost scored on his own net in the third period clearing a shot away from the net and then we all know what happened in overtime as he rifled the puck past Andrew Raycroft with 3.7 seconds left in overtime. Since McCabe signed that signed a five-year, $29 million, no-trade, no-movement contract in late June of 2006 McCabe has been just brutal. McCabe is also one of the top paid defenseman in the league just making over 7.1 million and by far the highest paid on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Congrats Mats!

A big congratulations to the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin, Sundin set two team records against the New York Islanders on Thursday night. Sundin now holds the team record for most goals with 390 and points with 917 both records were held by Darryl Sittler.

Sundin’s record setting goal was not a pretty one but it counted as Sundin attempted a pass to Jason Blake but the puck bounced off the skate of Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt and past Wade Dubielewicz at 9:54 of the third period.

The crowd of 19,319 and Sundin’s teammates stood, cheered and banged the board with their sticks. An interesting fact about Sundin is that over the past 10 seasons he ranks fourth among all NHL players with 334 goals and 787 points

Another Cheap Shot

GM Place in Vancouver has become the home in the NHL for cheap shots. First was Marty Mcsorley hitting Donald Brashear in the back of the head with his stick, Mcsorley got a total of 23 games (including playoffs) In October of 2000, a jury found McSorley guilty of assault with a weapon and was sentenced of 18 months probation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-sSoF40e30

The second incident and probably the most famous one was Todd Bertuzzi and his punch that knocked out Steve Moore, Big Bert got the remaining of the season which was 13 games and the playoffs which was 7 more games and like all players missed the following season because of the NHL lockout. In 2004 Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to assault after arranging a plea bargain. He was given one year’s probation and a conditional discharge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz9RE9RGrVY

Last night was the latest incident involving Ryan Kesler and Flyers enforcer Jesse Boulerice. With the game out of reach and some tough physical play Boullerice took things way to far skating into the flyers zone and trying to knock all of Kesler’s teeth out. This is what Kesler had to say after the game "I didn't see him coming and he just took my head off," Kesler is looking for a long suspension just like the 30 games Steve Downie got (20 NHL and 10 AHL)

The 29 year-old Jesse Boulerice has ran into legal trouble in the past while playing in the OHL, it was charged with assault to do great bodily harm after hitting Guelph Storm forward Andrew Long in 1998.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Y3x0mr_Ik