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

This Weeks Three Stars

Second year centre Paul Stastny was the NHL's first star this week after collecting four goals and four assists in the first three games.

Mike Comrie of the New York Islanders was the second star after recording four goals and two assists.

Nashville Predators goalie Chris Mason was the third star after putting up great numbers including two wins with a G.A.A of 0.50, one shutout and a .984 save percentage.

Other News and Notes...

The Ottawa Senators sold out the Scotiabank Place for the 22nd straight time, including last years playoffs.

Sean Avery is out of action for close to four weeks with a left shoulder injury and Johan Franzen is also going to be out close to four weeks with a right knee sprained.

A pair of defenceman were signed today with the New York Islanders signing Bryan Berard to a one year deal and the Flyers locked up Rory Fitzpatrick with a one year deal, Fitzpatrick has played for five other NHL teams including Montreal, St. Louis, Nashville, Buffalo and Vancouver. The greatest player of all time

Wayne Gretzky is selling off some of his personal items to benefit two local schools

Blake's Battle Off The Ice

Hockey was put on the back burner this morning when the hockey world found out that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake has been diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. This is a form of blood cancer which is a slow growing cancer of white blood cells. Almost 500 of these cases are diagnosed each year in Canada. Jason Blake signed a five- year deal worth $20 million dollars on July 1st, He ranked 10th in the NHL last year scoring 40 goals for the New York Islanders and finished the season with 69 points.

Jason is currently taking a pill on a daily basis that has been proven to controlling the cancer and will continue to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year, Blake has two points in the first three games for the year for the Leafs.

Salary Cap, What's That?

Here is the list of all players in the NHL that are making over $4.5 Million this season. Why did we have a lock out again?

Forwards

Thomas Vanek, Buffalo, $10 million
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia, $10 million
Scott Gomez, N.Y. Rangers, $10 million
Jaromir Jagr, N.Y. Rangers, $8.36 million
Brad Richards, Tampa Bay, $7.8 million
Patrik Elias, New Jersey, $7.5 million
Ryan Smyth, Colorado, $7.5 million
Chris Drury, N.Y. Rangers, $7.1 million
Jarome Iginla, Calgary, $7.0 million
Marian Hossa, Atlanta, $7.0 million

Defencemen

Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia, $8.0 million
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit, $7.6 million
Zdeno Chara, Boston, $7.5 million
Bryan McCabe, Toronto, $7.15 million
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix, $7.0 million
Wade Redden, Ottawa, $6.5 million
Chris Pronger, Anaheim, $6.25 million
Sheldon Souray, Edmonton, $6.25 million
Rob Blake, Los Angeles, $6.0 million
Brian Rafalski, Detroit, $6.0 million

Goaltenders

Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago, $6.75 million
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver, $6.5 million
Jose Theodore, Colorado, $6.0 million
Marty Turco, Dallas, $5.7 million
J.S. Giguere, Anaheim, $5.5 million
Olaf Kolzig, Washington, $5.45 million
Thomas Vokoun, Florida, $5.3 million
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey, $5.2 million
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose, $5.0 million
Rick DiPietro, N.Y. Islanders, $4.5 million
Manny Fernandez, Boston, $4.5 million

More 2007/08 Predictions

Individual and Player Predictions

Biggest surprise teams: Flyers and Kings
Worst teams: Coyotes and Islanders
Best record overall: Ottawa
Worst record overall: Coyotes
Rookies to look out for: Devin Setoguchi and Jonathan Toews
Sophomore jinks: Jordan Staal and Anze Kopitar
Biggest free agent bust: Scott Gomez
Biggest come back year: Mark Bell
Who will win the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes: Flyers, Avalanche or Sharks
First coach fired: Guy Carbonneau or Ron Wilson
First GM fired: Don Waddell

Award Predictions

Presidents Trophy – Ottawa
Prince of Wales Trophy – Ottawa
Clarence S. Campbell – San Jose
Art Ross – Sidney Crosby
Calder Trophy – Jonathan Toews
Conn Smythe – Patrick Marleau
Selke Trophy – Rod Brind’Amour
Norris trophy – Nicklas Lindstrom
Lady Bing – Pavel Datsuyk
Lester B Pearson – Sidney Crosby
Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy – Alexander Ovechkin
Vezina Trophy – Roberto Luongo
Jack Adams – Brent Sutter

My NHL 2007/08 Predictions

Standings – Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks

2. Calgary Flames

3. Detroit Red Wings

4. Anaheim Ducks

5. Minnesota Wild

6. Colorado Avalanche

7. Vancouver Canucks

8. Dallas Stars

9. St. Louis Blues

10. Los Angeles Kings

11. Nashville Predators

12. Chicago Blackhawks

13. Columbus Blue Jackets

14. Edmonton Oilers

15. Phoenix Coyotes

Standings – Eastern Conference

1. Ottawa Senators

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

3. Carolina Hurricanes

4. New York Rangers

5. Buffalo Sabres

6. New Jersey Devils

7. Toronto Maple Leafs

8 . Philadelphia Flyers

9 . Atlanta Thrashers

10. Boston Bruins

11. Tampa Bay

12 . Florida Panthers

13 . Washington Capitals

14 . Montreal Canadians

15. New York Islanders

More to come tomorrow...

Expansion to Europe

The defending Stanley Cup champs and the Los Angles Kings started the 2007/08 season in England and the biggest surprise was the Kings owning the Ducks right from the drop of the puck but now on to the real topic….can the NHL expand into Europe in a few years? Simple answer no, not going to happen and here is why….Florida, Nashville, St. Louis, Long Island, these are just a few of markets you have to fix in North America first! Next problem with expansion to Europe is the traveling, it’s way to far to go for a game or two, second what if a European team had the first pick and drafted the “next one” and move him to Europe on his own, most likely it would destroy the kid being away from home and in another country…Do I like the idea, absolutely but it just isn’t realistic….now if the NHL opened the season in Europe every year or other year that would be great from the game…what about a game in Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic or Switzerland and last but not least what about a game between the NHL champs and the European champs? This idea I do like.

Raycroft or Toskala?

The biggest question in Toronto these days is who's going to be in between the pipes for the start of the regular season. Last night Toskala look just brutal letting in 7 goals on 36 shots and has not one a game yet in a Leafs uniform, while on the other hand Andrew Raycroft has won one and lost one so far but has also allowed his share of weak goals. Raycroft was the escape goat last year even know he won a club record 37 games with a 2.99 GAA but had a save percentage under .900…playing last season in San Jose, Vesa Toskala post stellar numbers winning 26 games and only losing 10, he posted a GAA of 2.35 and a save percentage of .904...Now last season when The Hockey News came out with the top 30 goalies in the league, Vesa Toskala was ranked 9th while Raycroft sat at 19th....but was this is a case of Toskala playing with a great team playing in front of him, a team that could post five 20 goal scores in the blink of an eye...While the leafs posted three last year and Raycroft was coming off his worst season's only winning 8 games and was tossed into the hockey hot bed of Toronto...Now John Ferguson Jr has signed Toskala to a two-year, $8 million extension which would make you think he's head coach Paul Maurice's number one guy but not so fast, Maurice stated that he would play whoever has the hot hand...and would the Leafs really want to give up on Raycroft after trading away top goalie prospect Tukka Rask? Judging by the pre-season, Raycroft has had a stronger camp just based on the fact that he didn't get blown out in either of his games and has won one of them...finally Paul Maurice plans on icing his opening day roster tomorrow night against the Detroit Red Wing, so whoever starts tomorrow you would have to think will be in net when the Leafs open up the season in Toronto against the Ottawa Senators.

What was he thinking?

Now if you haven’t seen this video yet you should really take a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWtcGrjyS1k&watch_response

so my question is what was Steve Downie thinking? He seriously couldn’t have thought that this would help him make the opening day roster? This is the same Steve Downie that got into a fight with a teammate because of hazing while playing in the Ontario Hockey League. Now if you saw the game live on television you would notice that Downie started charging towards a helpless Dean McAmmond and lunged at him with his elbow. So how long should he be suspended for? Well you would have to think at least 25 games, after all last year Chris Simon got 25 games for his stick to the face of New York Rangers winger Ryan Hollweg...What is worse a stick to the face or someone coming charging at you with a plastic elbow pad, I would have to say the Downie hit was much worse the Simon stick to the face just based on the fact that Downie came out of know where and McAmmond was in a vulnerable position and now has a concussion and when Hollweg got hit in the face he got right up and played the very next game for the Rangers…don't be surprised if Downie gets between 35 to 40 games because of this stupid act. Even worse news for the Philadelphia Flyers is that newly acquired winger Joffrey Lupul and Scottie Upshall both broke there wrist's in this game and forward R.J. Umberger broke a finger on his left hand, so Downie had a good shot to make this Flyers team coming out of camp until he decided to try and behead Dean McAmmond.