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My Picks for the 2008/09 NHL Award Winners

2009-04-01T15:00:00.004-04:00

Here are my early selections for this years NHL Awards - we'll see how they stand up when the time comes.

James Norris Trophy Best Defenseman 1953
Awarded to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position.
My Pick: Mike Green - Washington Capitals
Closing in on the end of the season, Mike Green is leading all defensemen in points, along with potentially potting a 30 goal season. He's also good at his position, being in the top 10 for defenseman in both plus/minus and time on ice. His solid play this season had also put him onto my list of 2010 Olympic picks back in December and being the Norris Trophy winner going into an Olympic year is a great way to make sure you get yourself on the team.

Vezina Trophy Best Goaltender 1926
Awarded to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position. Until the 1981-82 season this trophy was awarded to the goalkeeper(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season.
My Pick: Tim Thomas - Boston Bruins
Yes I know Kipper will once again lead the league in wins; and in second place will be Nabokov with 40ish himself, but Thomas' league best 2.13 GAA and .931% save percentage while playing for the 50 win Bruins is pretty darn good too. And who, at the start of the seaon, would have even thought of Tim Thomas for the the Vezina ? Steve Mason needs to prove himself more before getting more attention.

William M. Jennings Trophy Best Goaltender (statistical) 1981
Awarded to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it.
MyPick: Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez - Boston Bruins
Unless they get blown out in the last few games of the season this trohopy is theirs for the taking.

Jack Adams Award Coach of the Year 1973
Awarded to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success, by the NHL Broadcasters' Association.
My Pick - Claude Juilen - Boston Bruins
Seriously, how many times could Juilen have one the Jack Adams anyway? 3 or 4? I think this year, with the surprising Bruins, Juilen should be considered the front runner for Coach of the Year. How many times has he taken a bad or mediocre team and mold then into a contender. Even though I don't believe the Bruins will win the cup this year, I hope Boston keeps him Julien around for a couple more years because with the core group they have, and Clever Claude at the helm, Lord Stanley may not be too far away for the Bruins.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy Leading Goal Scorer 1998
Awarded to the player finishing the regular season as the league's leading goal scorer.
My Pick: Alexander Ovechkin - Washington Capitals
I'm not really going out on a limb and think that Zach Parise can overtake Ovechkin this late in the season. Actually, even if it was the first day of the season I wouldn't go out on that limb.

Art Ross Trophy Leading Scorer 1947
Awarded to the player who leads the league in scoring points at the end of the regular season.
My Pick: Evegni Malkin - Pittsburgh Penguins
Hold on Evegni... hold on!!!

Lester B. Pearson Trophy Player Choice MVP 1970
Awarded to the NHL's outstanding player as selected by the members of the NHL Player's Association.
My Pick: Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins
Just a hunch. (if not Sid, than Evegni)

Frank J. Selke Trophy Best Defensive Forward 1977
Awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.
My Pic: Pavel Datsyuk - Detroit Red Wings
Last year's winner will have some competition from Zach Parise since they've got identical stats at this point, but i think most people consider Datsyuk to be the most defensively responsible of the two, leaving Parise probably to win the Lady Byng.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Most Gentlemanly Player 1924
Awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.
My Pick: Zach Parise - New Jersey Devils
Why? Because he's not winning the Selke.

Hart Memorial Trophy Most Valuable Player 1923
Awarded to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.
My Pick: Alexander Ovechkin - Washington Captials
As much as Malkin is a good/great player, Ovechkin raises the Capitals up by himself. Ovechkin makes the players around him better, and the good players on his team great (see Mike Green and his shiny new Norris Trophy)

Conn Smythe Trophy Playoff MVP 1964
Awarded to the most valuable player for his team in the playoffs
My Pick: Martin Brodeur - New Jersey Devils
This is tough because I have to make a solid determination (guess) on which team will ultimately win the Stanley Cup and then figure out who their best player would have been on the road to the Stanley Cup. I chose Brodeur because a) I like him b) if New Jersey makes it through the East they'll need solid goaltending c) if NJ do win the Cup, it would be a nice piece of hardware Brodeur has never won and cap off his record-breaking season.

Calder Memorial Trophy Rookie of the Year 1933
Awarded to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.
My Pick: Steve Mason - Columbus Blue Jackets
One heck of a first impression. This should almost be a lock over Bobby Ryan (a.k.a. the guy who got picked 2nd Overall in the 2005 after Sidney Crosby). When you think of it, it just goes to show how good Sidney Crosby is. Sid is almost 400 points into his NHL career (currently 391pts in 284GP) and his fellow draft year selections are just finishing off their first full seasons although Mason was picked in the 2006. And it's not like Bobby Ryan has been floating around in the minors or anything. Jack Johnson, who did play "early" last year was supposed to have his first season of responsibility with the Blues this year; and Carey Price was Montreal's A1 goalie for most of this season for the first time. Steve Mason wasn't even supposed to be with the team this year until Pascal Leclaire got injured. Needless to say, Mason's good play between the pipes cost Leclaire his job and Columbus was able to acquire a pretty solid forward in Vermette to fill out the team further. By the way - Columbus, 6th overall in the West right now despite being in the same division as, and frequently playing, Detroit and Chicago.

We'll see how these picks hold up come June!

2010 Olympics Team Canada (updated)

2008-12-01T11:21:00.002-05:00

So a while back I posted a list of players I thought would be selected to the 2010 edition of Team Canada for the Vancouver Olympics. We're still over a year away, but I though this would be a good time to re-visit and provide my suggestions for a gold medal winning team.

Nash - Crosby (C) - Heatley
Gagner - Thornton (A) - Iginla
Lecalvalier - Richards - Getzlaf
Staal - Staal - Doan

Pronger (A) - Phaneuf
Green - Campbell
Weber - Stuart

Luongo
Price
Fleury

Overall - it looks pretty good to me. A talented team able to put the puck in the net, but filled with guys who don't give up on the puck either. I love a potential line of Crosby with Nash and Heatley. Explosive speed, touch and play making will probably make that line the most exciting to watch since Gretzky, Lemieux and Hawerchuck during the '87 Canada Cup. The second most exciting line at the Olympics could be the Thornton unit with Gagner and Iggy. Those two played along side Mario in 2002, and looking at their performances since, they aren't slowing down. That being said, I don't think anyone could make an argument that Joe Thornton isn't the best best passer in the NHL and his abilities to set up opportunities on Canada's second line will make this unit better than most countries top lines. A third line comprising of Brad Richards, Vinny and Ryan Getzlaf will have the chance to put up huge numbers as opposing teams will have to deal with Canada's #1&2 lines. The fourth line of pairs up Shane Doan with Eric and Jordan Staal. While any one of these three players can put the puck in the net, they'll be required to shut down the opponents big gun's (namely Alex and Evegni who I imagine the Russians would put on the same line along with Semin).

A solid defensive core who can move the puck up ice and make sure opposition players don't get their way either. Although the pairings can change with these core six players you can put any two of them together and not have to worry about a thing. Canadian goaltending (historically our strongest asset) is in good shape as well. Although I've left Martin Brodeur off the list we're going to be just fine. Luongo will certainly start all if not most games in the Olympic tournament, but I'm always a fan of having a couple youngsters around to gain experience. Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury will be able to learn and pick up tricks in order to lead the way in 2014 and perhaps even 2018.

Election update

2008-10-03T17:15:00.002-04:00

I'll put this as simply as I can. In uncertain economic times, only one party can put forth a plan to guide Canada through the rough waters ahead. The Liberals.

Critics call changes in Liberal party direction "flip-flopping", but I call it "just being prudent". That's the advantage of being a centrist party. One day you can present a left-ist leaning socio-economic policy, and the next day, modify it to be more conservative. Or the other way around.

The latest polls are showing the Liberals just 4 points ahead of the NDP and a staggering 15 points behind the mean, sweater wearing Tories. I like Stephane Dion. I like his vision. I will be voting for my party on October 14th - there's no doubt about it. From a public perspective though, the party though needs a low level format.

Green Shift - great idea. Maybe though, the Liberals could have just called it "environmental tax shifting" so that when people google it they find the proven results from it's usage elsewhere in the world. As it stands right now, the "Green Shift" is an unproven idea from an unproven leader. We know it's not though.

Anyway - the substance is there with the Liberals this year, even if the packaging isn't. The Liberals are all steak without that much sizzle. Isn't that what everybody asked for?

what could have been

2008-09-04T15:42:00.003-04:00

think about this for a minute if you would...

Canadian Prime Minister Frank McKenna & US President Al Gore

that would have been 4 to 8 years of good times.

Do we really need another fall election... or rather Paul Martin where art thou ?

2008-08-27T13:14:00.018-04:00

As has been reported through various media outles, it could be entirely possible that we're heading towards a fall election. Elections are usually my favourite time of year, but I'm not so sure how I will be looking at what will be Canada's 40th General Election. You see, there are a number of issues at hand with this election, the who's, the why's, and the WTF's and most of them are not even based in policy.

First of all, each election costs taxpayers somewhere in the neighbourhood of $300 million. That's a lot of money to throw around. Or at the very least, that's a lot of money that can be better spent. Now everyone (everyone being myself and the intelligent political reporters) seems to believe that the potential result of the 40th General Election will be another Conservative minority government. Other possibilites include a Liberal minority government, with the Tories as official opposition and the last of the "likely" scenarios is a Conservative majority. Nowhere does anyone think that the Liberals will win a majority. That seems to be just about as unlikely as the NDP winning. So this just means we're spending money for no apparent reason - sounds very Canadian to me.

But then, I've said this all before. In 2004 the Liberals were elected with a minority with Paul Martin a the helm (even with the whole Gomery thing going on in the background). The Opposition then defeated the Martin government in the House forcing us to spend $300 million to elect a new government in 2006. It's now 2008 and Harper wants us to do it all over again bringing the running total to close $1 BILLION in 4 years, give or take a couple bucks here and there. Honestly, we were better off with Paul Martin, an intelligent experienced worldly politician, who faced the initial brunt of blame in the Gomery commission head-on; an over-zealous media looking for stories of corruption, backroom deals and off-shore finances; and the Tories who wanted to get him out of office at all costs before he could get his dirty little Liberal hands all over the Canadian government, its finances and its objectives and maybe make things work out positively for a change. Oh and it turns out evidence linking my ol' buddy Chretien to some malicious scheme was false too.... but I'm not bitter.

So there's the extreme costs of elections which could concievably put us right back to where we were in 2004 or 2006. If the Liberals do win it however, it isn't back to 2004 necessarily. It's Stephane Dion this time around and not Paul Martin who's leading the party. It's a guy who is a terrible communicator in both official languages. Seriously, I'm pretty much bilingual and his french sounds very Parisian proper to me - not the rough and touble Shawinigan, or the Montreal and Baie-Comeau accents of recent Prime Ministers. I can't see Dion hanging out with the likes of Gordon Brown, Obama/McCain, or Medvedev and he'd probably stutter his words and shy away like an inexperience teenage boy when trying to speak with Angela Merkel. Good thing for Dion that Hillary can't be President or he wouldn't be able to get anything done with two hot babes at a G8 Summit. He'll try and become buddy-buddy with Sarkozy, but seriously do you think Nicolas would want to hang with Stephane? He's married to Carla Bruni for pete's sake. It would be like high school all over again for these guys with Sarkozy as the captain of the football team, and Dion the captain of the chess team. They may both be captains but that doesn't mean they'll be friends.

Dion just doesn't seem like the strong and confident leader one would expect as Prime Minister. Maybe it's the way the media (read: Rick Mercer) has influenced me, but if Canada were to enter into a military conflict under Dion, I think he would be more concerned with not crushing any flowers with our tanks while driving into enemy territory instead of the well-being of our Canadian soldiers or the overall success of the mission.

Additionally, Dion just doesn't seem to have a grasp of economics - or at least not in the boring, steadfast way you'd expect. What he does have is a passion for the environment and Canada's environment in particular. Dion feels that Canada should be, and can be a leader, in a global effort for improving our environment. I can't say I disagree with him. Anyone in there right mind can see this is important and necessary, but the environment isn't the be-all-end-all of politics. It adds a dimension to policy and desicion making which must be accounted for when passing law, but aside from the very first bills, not all law needs to be about the environment. The environment needs to guide policy, not be policy. [just to be 100% clear - for that to work, there does need to some laws created for environmental protection which would make the environment "policy", but I'm thinking long-term, after things like that are done. how does one govern after the environmental reforms are complete?]

Then there's Harper and the Conservatives. The Tories can't seem to wrap their collective heads around the fact that the market won't solve environmental issues. At least not without outrageous consumer demand, and that consumer demand needs to be led by government. I completely understand the conservative strategy of laissez-faire on these issues, but it needs a damn kick-in-the-ass from the Federal level to start the ball of environmental change rolling. If the Tories feel obliged to re-create or re-vamp a Food Inspection Agency in the wake of poor Maple Leaf's woes, then I don't see why they should back away on Environmental policies.

Harper hasn't even accomplished what Tories generally do best - manage finances. Everyone saw the "credit crunch" coming and the concerns with the US economy make headlines almost every night. Jim Flaherty has even blasted Ontario's Liberal government for not being competitive enough to attract investment, and did so at the most vulnerable time to the Province when large auto makers were cutting back. The only good financial news nationwide since the Tories were elected has been the oil rich resources in Alberta and now Newfoundland. There's nothing Ontario can do about not having any oil, but the Feds can't seem to get Alberta off their minds. Compare apples to apples would ya boys. Flaherty was leading Ontario's economy during a time of relatively inexpensive gas prices and nobody gave a rat's ass about Alberta. Now that there's competition for Ottawa's attention and affection amongst provinces, Alberta is currently the favoured-son. Thanks anyway for the nice Federally paid for roads in Whitby though Jimmy (there are obvious benefits of having high-ranking cabinet members representing your riding!).

My idea has always been to throw a billion dollars at GM and have them re-vamp the Oshawa plants to create fuel efficient vehicles for sale in the European and Asian markets. The automaker, and large employer, keeps its plants open, workers paid and the Canadian government makes back the intial investment in five years from duties charged on exports and the normal income taxes from the regional workers. Plus there are long term benefits if Canada is seen as the perferred manufacturing area for environmentally friendly products. Imagine if all of a sudden there's a world-wide demand for products with consiencious manufacturing techniques and disposal of waste policies. Ontario, and Canada would be the leader initially producing environmentally friendly goods and then migrating to a the service sector again once the manufacturing techniques are stolen by China - sorry, I meant sold to developing countries.

As much as Harper liked to say that thousands of workers from GM/Ford/Chrysler who got laid off earlier this year have found new jobs and are contributing in a new economy, there's a huge loss in tax revenue from someone who was making $30/hr on the line in GM's Oshawa Plant #2 to $18/hr doing construction, repairs or line work in a non-union-heavy factory. Where would I find a billion dollars to throw at GM you ask? From the same place the government is able to find money for three $300 Million (give or a take a few million) elections in four years of course.

So how do I see this all working out? One of two ways:
1. Tories win an election and then the Liberals go searching for a new leader under the premise that "Dion, you had your chance". In comes Michael Ignatieff or another "White Knight" in a non-polarizing fashion to take over the leadership and guide the Liberals to a majority victory in 2010 (or maybe 2011 if it's polite to wait until after the Olympics).
2. Liberals win a minority government and by joining forces with the NDP and Bloc pass legislation that actually makes the government work for whole five years. Stephane Dion would then have the chance at winning a majority in 2013 but probably wouldn't.

Other things that would happen if the Liberals win a minority gov't:

The Tories would go through a leadership change, maybe even two and may even split up for a while and then come back together. Hopefully by 2013 Peter McKay hasn't screwed things up tremendously and can be a legitamate candidate for his party's leadership.
The NDP may or may not stick with Layton, it really doesn't matter. They aren't going to win. And they won't have more than the 30 seats they have now. Ok, maybe a couple here and there but they won't become the official opposition.
The Bloc are on cruise control already and will probably keep the 50-55 seat total they've currently enjoyed for the past 15 years. That number may drop into the high 40's with a continued Conservative push into Quebec - but if there are two things Quebecers don't like it's wasting taxpayer money and wasting lives in Afghanistan, both of which the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper just doesn't seem to understand.

2008 Entry Draft and Mats Sundin

2008-06-21T11:33:00.003-04:00

Let's start this off with an interesting question. Is this the last of Mats Sundin with the Maple Leafs?

While I personally don't hope so, it seems Leaf brass are content in getting rid of our captain at any cost. I understand the team needs to rebuild and re-define itself in the league but why would giving away our best (and favourite) player be considered a positive move? Yes Mats is 37, and can't play another 10 years, so then why don't the Leafs offer a similar deal to the one he signed last year (and the year before). Mats has earned the right to take each season as it comes, and Mats has always expressed interest in finishing his career as a Maple Leaf. I fail to see how having a dependable player, one who is a positive influence on our younger players and one who has proven his committment to the Maple Leafs, as a negative. I fail to see having a point-a-game player on your NHL roster at $5mil and change as a negative.

Mats value in the open market, and as a younger player signing a long-term deal would easily be in the $7-$8mil range and although no team will probably offer that kind of money, I don't necessarily think that Mats is interested in that kind of offer either. The Leafs seem intent on shedding some payroll and opening up roster spots to younger players, but by not offering Mats an extension or new one year deal is insulting and doesn't show the kind of committment the organization has to the players who've done so many things for the team in the past. Why would the talented young players commit themselves to a team who doesn't commit itself to them?

For the future of the Leaf's re-building efforts and acquistion of new talent, along with the appearance of just a little bit of class, I surely hope Mats will be back with Leafs.

The second interesting question is, who is Luke Schenn? Toronto traded up in the draft and picked up a defensive defenseman instead of Russian Nikita Filatov. TSN's Pierre McGuire calls Schenn a Franchise Player for the Maple Leafs and someone you can build a team around. I'm not convinced that Schenn will be the Adam Foote type player that he's compared to and will most likely end up being another Luke Richardson for Toronto. You have to remember that the tough stay at home defensemen are only stars on teams that have some scoring punch (unless you're the New Jersey Devil's of the late 1990's). Otherwise they're good players on not-so-good teams.

We'll see how all this plays out. Maybe without Mats and with a whole bunch of youngsters Toronto is making a move to tank for the 2008-09 season and wind up with a shot of grabbing Tavares next year. Who knows.

Thank you Trevor Linden!

2008-04-06T08:17:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note here really, after 19 seasons Trevor Linden as more than likely played his last game. A tough competitor who was the heart and soul of the Vancouver Canucks, Linden I'm sure will be missed by his team meats and fans alike. I know there's some people who think that Trevor Linden was the best Canuck ever, and for all I know he could be although I think I'm partial to Stan Smyl or Tony Tanti! Anyway, getting on with things here, Linden's career totals aren't that impressive, but he just knocked Eric Lindros out of the top 100 point getters in NHL history with 867.

Early Olympic Picks

2008-03-23T13:14:00.004-04:00

While the Leafers are making a futile late run at the playoffs (if only the season was 90 games instead of 82) it's time to turn our eyes to the upcomming 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Since I'm still waiting for my phone call from Hockey Canada to help with the team, I thought that I would submit my short list of players for Team Canada.

Forwards
Jarome Iginla - Sidney Crosby(A) - Eric Stall
Jason Spezza - Joe Thornton - Dany Heatley
Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St. Louis - Brad Richards
Rick Nash - Joe Sakic(C) - Daniel Briere

Defensemen
Dion Phaneuf - Brian Campbell
Ed Jovonoski - Chris Pronger(A)
Wade Redden - Jason Bouwmeester

Goalies
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo

Picking a team for Canada is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Some could argue cases for one or two others to make the team instead of who I chose (i.e. Marc Savard instead of Brad Richards, Mike Riebeiro in place of Sakic) but I like the team I've put together. Having Sakic as captain adds experience and depth to the hockey team and provides shelter for heir-apparent Crosby to just do his job. I think the line of Spezza, Thornton and Heatley would dominate at just about every level with thier size, speed and creativity with the puck. The defence pairings are just thrown out there since they're all top two D-men and leaders on their respective teams. Brodeur and Luongo are locks. While Martin will most likely get the first look as starting goalie, we all know Roberto is very capable himself and deserves a spot. I didn't even bother putting down a third goalie for the team. Whether you bring in Cam Ward, Marty Turco, Martin Biron, or even a young Carey Price just to gain experience they aren't going to see any playing time behind Brodeur and Luongo. If you wanted to bring in a third goalie just for the players to shoot pucks at during practise then Kelly Hrudey can do double duty with the CBC and at least make the rest of the team feel good about themselves by scoring a lot before the main games!

Foppa's Back !!

2008-03-01T17:54:00.004-05:00

Aside from Mats staying with the Leafs, the best news near the NHL trade deadline was Peter Forsberg returning to the Nordiques... oops I'm sorry the Colorado Avalanche. I've always liked Forsberg - ever since his junior days in Sweden and winning and Olympic Gold medal in 1994. Lindros was all the craze during the 1991 draft, but I kept my eye on Peter (and another kid, Yannick Perreault - but that's a different blog post).

When the Nordiques picked up Lindros and subsquently traded him for Forsberg among others [Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, 1st round selection in 1993, 1st round selection in 1994 plus cash] in was the move of the century. Sure Lindros was good but he's no Forsberg (see Goodbye Eric blog post).

But what's not to like about Peter Forsberg. He's got soft hands and can put the puck in the net; he's one of the best set-up men in the past 20 years (just ask Milan Hejduk); he fights hard for the puck; doesn't mind getting his nose dirty and gives his 110% on each and every shift. I'm sure it won't be the Forsberg of old (1.25 pts per game average), but it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up with 12 points in Colorado's last 15 games - he's just that kind of guy. Having Forsberg in the line-up should ensure that the Avalanche will at least hold onto their playoff spot, and perhaps even move up a spot or two to fifth or sixth place, which at the very least would mean avoiding Detroit or Dallas in the first round. Fifth place might not be where you'd want to be either, meaning at current NHL Standings you'd have to face a strong Anaheim team, but anyway... the Avs got stronger by picking up Peter and have increased their chances to go far int he playoffs.

One other quick point about Peter - his choice to return to Colorado. Forsberg declined a $15million 3-yr deal from the Blackhawks, said no thanks to Ottawa, Detroit among others and opted to go play with his good buddy Joe. He's just an all around good guy that Peter Forsberg.

Sundin Stay a Leaf

2008-02-25T13:35:00.004-05:00

Mats Sundin has decided NOT to waive his no trade clause and stay with the Maple Leafs. Let's just hope he re-signs next year to another one (or two) year deal so that Toronto fans can still benefit from his ability and leadership as the team re-builds.

I'm sure there's a lot of fans doing the AM call-in shows saying that Mats is being selfish, and perhaps even suggesting that if he was truly loyal to the blue and white that he should have waived the clause and went somewhere for a couple of prospects or picks. Well I'm not so sure if I agree with that. The hockey world is a small world. Any time GMs talk, there is inevitable some information which passes down to the masses. Fletcher, asked Mats if he would waive his no-trade clause and asked Mats for a list of teams he would agree on being traded to (standard fare in these cases). It could be that the teams Mats short listed were not the teams contacting Fletcher; It could be that Mats evaluated a potential deal on the table and thought it wasn't right (or maybe Fletcher did); It could be a lot of things, but one thing it most certainly is, is Mats actually likes it here in Toronto!!

The Leafs have had a horrid track record in drafting players anyway over the past 20 to 30 years maybe even longer. On average we've been drafting 1 player per year who has had an OK NHL career, and we'd have to go back to the 1996 draft year when a young Tomas Kaberle was picked 204th overall to find an exceptional player drafted by Toronto. Funny thing is though, even scouts and agents agree that finding a diamond in the rough that low in the draft is more about luck than anything else. It could be that scouts never even went to see Kaberle play in the Czech Republic and simply picked him based the CS notes. Anyway, the point of all that is simply would two or three prospects and picks in the hands of Maple Leafs scouts be worthwhile for having Sundin leave the team? I think not.

Now, people will compare what Atlanta gets for Hossa or TB gets for Richards as comparible to what Toronto would have received for Mats - well guess what, that's not necessarily true. In fact there's certain economic law which would suggest otherwise. A little Adam Smith diddy called "Supply and Demand". The supply of talented 'rental' players has now decreased significantly, therefore the prices paid by teams for the remaining players will also increase significantly. Very simple, with Mats off the market it's not saturated with players. Had Hossa been traded and Mats was still on the market perhaps the asking price for Mats would have increased, but that would have eliminated one of the Sundin suitors negating a pro-longed bidding war and could have in fact decreased the value paid for Sundin by eliminating some demand for the product. So, if any team were to get a raw deal when moving a star player it sure would be the Leafs.

In this case, we wouldn't have gotten enough for him had he waived his no trade clause (certainly not what Mats is worth) and even if we did get picks they probably wouldn't pan out anyway (because we can't draft). At the very least, we still have Mats and there's nothing wrong with that.

blowing the leaves away

2008-01-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

Bowman. Scotty Bowman.

Arguably the best coach, GM and advisor in hockey history and the Leaf's with their stumbling bumbling ways could not snag him.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=227215&hubname=

Whether or not Bowman would have been successful in bringing the Stanley Cup back to Toronto after 40 years is one thing, but at least - in this fan's mind - we would've been one step closer.

Bullshit.

Mitchell Report

2007-12-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

Wow.

Now this one just hurts - I don't really like Bonds or half the other athletes involved in Balco or any other steroid scandal but Roger Clemons has always been a favourite of mine, back from since when I was a kid. I've seen him pitch a dozen times and he's never lost when I was there. I've seen him pitch as a Red Sox in Toronto, and as a Blue Jay on several occasions. I've been to Boston to see him pitch as a Yankee at Fenway and I was at Yankee stadium when Roger got his 300th win and 4000th strike out during an inter-league game against the Cardinals (the first time they had played at Yankee Stadium since the 1964 World Series).

It was supposed to be Roger's training and conditioning - along with gift from God - which propelled him into baseball history and not steroids and/or human growth hormones (HGH).

What does this say to the young kids that looked up to Roger. If you tried your best, and worked your ass off you were supposed to be able to make it. If you trained and practised harder than anyone else then you'd be ready for the big games. If you studied your opponents and built an arsenal of options you would be able to defeat them.

So now you have the best hitter in baseball history, and the best pitcher in baseball history effected by steroids. What about the others then? What about Greg Maddux? The only guys ahead of Clemons and Maddux on the all-time win list weren't even the modern era of baseball. The old guys were starting 45 games in a 128 game season. No five day rest for them. Seasonal numbers for them would be 28 W and 17 L. Not like Rocket going 20-6 in just 33 starts, or Maddux going 19-2 in 28 starts. That's what makes (made) Roger special. He was supposed to be using his 5 days rest to build up his body and getting ready for the next victim - Rocket wasn't supposed to cheat. I'm not ready to throw baseball out the window just yet, but if Greg Maddux gets wrapped up in steroid talk, that's the end of it for me.

Keeping up with the Jones'

2007-12-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

The IOC has officially stripped Marion Jones of her medals and has effectively wiped her from the athletic record books. Good for them. The results from the 2000 Sydney Olympics will now read:

Women's 100m Final - (Jones finished in 10.75secs)
1 E Thanou (Gre) 11.12
2 T Lawrence (Jam) 11.18
3 M Ottey (Jam) 11.19

Women's 200m Final - (Jones finished in 21.84secs)
1. P Davis-Thompson (Bah) 22.27
2. S Jayasinghe (Sri) 22.28
3. B McDonald (Jam) 22.35

Jones finished third in the long jump, and event which wasn't her "specialty" and was part of the American sprint team which won the 4X400m relay and placed 3rd in the 4X100m relay. My feelings are such that the entire US team should be diaqualified and metals taken back as an example to everyone.

It was obvious from day one that she was on something. The whole Balco thing wasn't known at the time, but having someone absolutely destroy the rest of a world class field doesn't happen without a little bit of help. In just the two events above Jones won easily by .37secs and .43secs respectively. To give you a sense on how far ahead she was, the current first place holder was only .07secs ahead of the current 3rd place finisher in the 100m and .09secs ahead in the 200m. And there's still the second place finisher between them !! We're talking about world class athletes, the kind who wake up and 4AM and train well into the evening, participating in government funded programs. Maybe not in programs as well funded as the US programs, but still funded enough so that these athletes can focus on their sport and their attempt to bring home a gold medal on the world's largest stage.

Jones' boyfriend, Tim Montgomery - also a disgraced US sprinter who used steroids, won medals but then got caught and had his medals stripped - watched Jones' use steroids and even administered it to her. - birds of a feather...

While I'm sure that everyone agrees that using steroids (especially the products like 'the cream' and 'the clear') is cheating, is taking these products criminal ? In the whacky world which surrounds Barry Bonds does taking steroids, or being tested positively for steroids, really constitute a federal investigation or prison time? We are still talking about sports here. Taking steroids and beating a record is completely different than one professional golfer assaulting an opponent with a three iron. Apparently the only criminality involved is that these products (Tetrahydrogestrinone; a.k.a. THG, the clear) are banned by the FDA. A Federal investigation insues over the issues and Barry Bonds, Jones et al. purger themselves before a grand jury [smart move guys because now that's a problem]. If only MLB would operate like the IOC then the US Government wouldn't have to get involved. At the end of his career - perhaps just a day or two after retirement - MLB announces that Barry Bonds' accomplishments will be stripped from the records of MLB; Hank Aaron will still be home run champ; and erase everything to the point where if someone looked up Bonds' stats on Wiki or Baseball Reference there wouldn't be anything there. No recognition, no hall of fame, and maybe a lawsuit or two from sponsors and teams. Perhaps only baseball card collectors would benefit financially and it could start a resurgence at O-Pee-Chee. Barry Who ?

Neely vs. Lindros

2007-11-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

Ever since my last post regarding my feelings on the now retired Eric Lindros and more specifically whether or not he's HHOF material, I've heard a few people chirping about another key power forward from the early '90s who has already entered into the hall of fame despite his "low" career point total (which was one of my arguments with Lindros). First off, let me say this - anyone saying anything bad about Cam Neely, well... that's pretty much sacrilege.

The unknowledgeable and inexperienced may see comparable 'power forwards' with comparable career point totals, but what they miss is the Essence of Neely. Cam Neely was a scoring power forward. Although his style of play and opposing teams focused on shutting him down (since he was always a scoring threat) caused his career to shortened by injuries, Neely is still looked about as one of the game's elite goal scorers in his time. And we're talking playing in the time of Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull etc. The Golden Age of Hockey (in my books).

But Neely didn't score a lot of goals you say? Although Neely never achieved the 500 goal plateau he did have 395 career goals – in just 726 games played!!! What does that mean? It means that Neely scored .57 goals per game. Gretz potted .60gpg; Hull - .58gpg. Dionne - .54gpg. Essentially, Neely ranks up there with the greatest goal scorers of all time. Where is Lindros on this list you might ask, well his 372 career goals in 865 games give him a .43gpg.

Throw in Neely’s fierceness; competitive drive (two Cup finals, losses to Edmonton both times); and Bill Masterson trophy for coming back from shaky knees and still scoring 50 goals in 49 games during the 1992-1993 season and you start to understand the “Essence of Neely”. That tally, according to the nice people over at the HHOF, is the third fastest ever.

And by the way, Neely’s 55 post-season goals is also a Boston franchise record.

Goodbye Eric, let me know how the gas prices go

2007-11-08T15:53:00.000-05:00

Eric Lindros could have been, would have been and perhaps should have been a 'hall of famer' had he played a little longer and put up a little more in the way of NHL points.

By the end of this season, he'll likely be out of the NHL's Top 100 point leaders, passed by the likes of Alex Kovalev and Markus Naslund. Lindros didn't reach the 500 goal plateau; he didn't get 1000 points; nor did he play in 1000 NHL games. He only netted 100 points once in his career, although 70 points during a lock-out shortened 1994-1995 season wasn't too shabby.

Although Lindros was the “first” in the long line gritty but talented power forward types who got drafted in the early '90s it doesn't make him the best - see Peter Forsberg. Oddly enough Lindros and Forsberg will forever be linked together. From being drafted in the same year and subsequently traded for each other, to retiring in the same year (pending Forsberg's wonky ankle). Even further still, by way of Lindros' holding out and forcing the Nordiques to deal him to the Flyers, it loaded up a Quebec/Colorado franchise with Forsberg and friends allowing Peter to have his name engraved on the beautiful trophy that Eric was never able to win - The Stanley Cup.

Lindros certainly had the talent to put up NHL points and make it into the all the fame however, it was his style of play and believing he was physically indestructible which let to his down fall, with injuries limiting his career and playing time. Lindros' potential went unfulfilled in the NHL and although it's unfortunate, it’s how it is.

Directions to the festivities

2007-09-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone get there safe and sound, and to also have a fun weekend !

Tim
-------
Directions to the Hotel Auberge Montagnard
439 Boul, Sir-Wilfred-Laurier (route 116)
Mont-Saint-Hillaire, J3H 3P2
450 467 0201

Take the 401 East to Quebec and it becomes Hwy 20 East.
Follow Hwy 20 for about 28km and it naturally turns north (left) into Hwy 540.
Follow Hwy 540 for about 4km and then merge into Hwy 40 East [towards Montreal]
Continue on Hwy 40 for about 40km, across the top of Montreal, until you come to the turn-off for Hwy 25.
Take Hwy 25 south (right) for about 4km and it will go under the L.H.Lafontaine Tunnel.
[Once you come out of the tunnel you are magically back on Hwy 20.]
Continue on Hwy 20 for about 20km and Exit at Mont-Saint Hillaire, Chemin Des Patriots (Route 133), or just simply 'Exit 113'.
At the lights, turn left (south) and continue for about 1-2km.
Directly after the bridge that you'll see, there will be another set of lights and you'll need to turn left for "Rue de Rouville".
Rue de Rouville will quickly merge with Boulevard Sir-Wilfred-Laurier.
Follow the Boul. Sir-Wilfred-Laurier through Mont-Saint-Hillaire and the Hotel will be on your left.
I believe there is a median that runs down the street, so you'll probably need to make a U-Turn at Rue Massif. Don't worry, U-turns are common in Quebec, just wait for the Green Left Turn light.

View Larger Map

Baseball's been berry berry good to me...

2006-07-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

If the season were to end right now, a case could be made to have the AL MVP and AL Cy Young winners both coming the Blue Jays.

We all know about Roy (Doc) Halladay. Doc has posted the numbers this season - and being a former winner never hurts your chances either. He's currently leading the league in wins, complete games and has a pretty darn good ERA to date. It will have to take a great effort from the other pitchers in the second half of the season to pull a 2nd Cy Young away from Halladay.

We've witnessed some great pitching here in Toronto over the last couple of years. Halladay had phenominal start to 2005 and would have easily won the Cy Young had he not been injured. So let's take a quick look back.

Blue Jays Cy Young Winners
Roy Halladay - 2006 ???
Roy Halladay - 2003
Roger Clemens - 1998
Roger Clemens - 1997
Pat Hentgen - 1996

But what about the MVP I mentioned. First and foremost - and having watched the Jays quite a bit - Halladay could (or maybe that's "should") be the AL MVP as well. He is the Jays' most valuable player, coming in the tough stretches, picking the team up and putting them on his shoulders. But pitchers rarely win the MVP and that's why there's the Cy Young award. The Jays may finally had their potential MVP caliber player blossom this year. Yes indeed Vernon Wells is the real deal. It's taken a while but he's made it. Although he's not leading league in every category he's posted very decent power numbers, as well as stolen bases, a high batting average and some very good defense in the outfield. I'm sure there will be people backing David Ortiz and his 30+ HR's at the break but Wells has been a more effective all-around player this year. Aside from the stats - he's a team leader even to the point of publicly defending his team mates to some the GM's comments [and which Riccardi later retracted]. His heart is in the game, in Toronto, in the Jays and he's playing some great ball in 2006. To me, that's what makes an MVP.

Time for a couple of major awards to come back to Toronto... and hopefully that nice World Series trophy too. [a guy can dream, can't he?!?]

... after the debate

2006-01-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

There's only a few things which I don't like in our country today. First and foremost Sun/Quebecor Media. Not necessarily the company or employees themselves but more specifically their executive and/or editorial boards. The boys in the back room who decided long ago to smear one political candidate and prop up another, and all without the balanced, fair news reporting they are supposed to adhere to. It's turning into the FoxNews of Canada, slagging the Dems and believing Bush.

Too bad these decision making editors and journalists have never taken any kind of oath of office like doctors or lawyers. Maybe that's how anyone can end up writing for the Toronto Sun while most of their good reporters just leave. Even their sports reporters aren't any good. I said years ago that Al Strachan was 'the worst hockey journalist in the business' and it seems people are finally starting to listen to me about that. What I find even more odd, is that the readership for Sun newspapers are the general working class folk who normally follow the NDP. Sun readership is not comprised of the $100K + annual income families who actually benefit by a Tory government, but the $15/hr tradesmen who have traditionally been the target of Tory forces and policy. And it's not just the TorontoSUN but TVA in Quebec too (another SunMedia/Quebecor company). The Liberals could announce a cure for cancer and they'd be thrown to the wayside.

I understand that people in our country are pissed off by the Liberal government and the whole AdScam thing. Spending $288 million on sponsorships was not a 'bad idea', nor was the Option Canada either (especially since the Parti Quebecois did the exact same thing). How the money got distributed was the problem. One thing which gets overlooked is that it wasn't the Tories, Bloc or NDP who found out or broke the story on AdScam. It was the Auditor General (i.e. the Liberals). They found out about the mismanagement of funds in their own house and resolved the issue. I really doubt the Conservatives or Bloc would do that. How come no one writes about that? Oh I know, they're a self serving sensationalist media company who needs to sell newspapers by using outlandish headlines instead of real substance.

Oh - and if you're looking for cheap daycare, stay away from the Tories. The Liberals have a nationalized daycare system which benefits parents the most. It models the system used in Quebec where parents spend $5 - $7 a day. Compare that to $55/day in Ontario. Harper's plan will save you a dollar a day, the Liberals will save you $50. The plan makes sense too: Control the daycare on a national level - in bulk - allowing parents to actually go back to work. Therefore, it's paid out in the back end by way of income taxes collected. The Tories seem to be content on letting parents stay at home with the kids because it's too expensive for them to pay for daycare. They feel a GST cut would be better and will balance out the needs of stay at home parents. But they don't seem to understand that the GST is a consumption tax and needs to be spent in order to be saved. I have to ask, if you're a stay at home parent with no real income coming in, how much money do you have to consume with ?? Harper doesn't have a plan for that now does he.

stated

2005-12-12T20:30:00.000-05:00

I've been busy over the last couple of days, so my apologies to the daily reader(s) who must be craving for some guiding light in these dark dreary days of winter. At least the gas prices have been up to date.

First and foremost I'd like to thank my colleagues at work, especially the daily reader(s), to make our contribution to Sick Kids a substantial one. There's nothing more important in this world than children and we must to our most to make sure they are taken care of. It's a sad comment on the state of our state, that I must state we be stately and give generously, because the state of our state's finances are not quite in the right state to provide enough funds for the sick children of our state.

no post ?? No dice.....

2005-11-28T22:52:00.000-05:00

I missed the Friday post... sorry for that regular reader(s).

So Lunch was away today, leaving me and Work to discuss. Grey Cup and Lumberjacks the topics of the day. My body is still sore, and believe me I wasn't playing football on the weekend.

Figuring there would be a lot more going on, I checked a previous coolest site of the day - Nodice Elections. Still lovin' that site. Even joined their forum and made a couple of quick posts. A few people replied in a civil discussion-like manner, and that is great to see (even though I notice there are a few 'rowdy' people on the site). My only concern is that in my profile, I listed my blogue. Although a few more people visiting the site wouldn't hurt I just hope things don't get crazy. That being said - this is my site, I make jokes here that you won't get. It's a 'had to be there' kind of thing. So, for any Nodice readers who happen to venture here, my apologies ahead of time.

Harping about Harper

2005-11-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

so today's the day that Steve-O Harper is putting forth his motion of non-confidence in parliament. Or as CNN now puts it "Canada's Government of verge of collapse" - sounds scary doesn't it. Well truthfully it is scary. Scary on how much money will be spent on this election over the next four to six weeks by the government and major political parties. That money should have been ear marked for distraught native Canadians who went through a physically tough and culturally warping residential school system. Oh wait - we're already giving them a couple bucks [if the government makes it through the day]. Maybe the money should have been spent on distraught native Newfoundlanders who's economy has plunged since they joined confederation in 1949 - my guess is they're the next group who'll rightly deserve couple bucks. Maybe the government should proactively buy them off ahead of time. Or maybe the government should give ME the money. At least I'd do something smart with it, like donate it to Sick Kids or start an advertising and sponsorship program in Quebec to promote federalism at figure skating events. I just hope that $4 Billion Martin has promised comes through.

So why is Steve-O pushing for an election right away? We already know that Martin promised to call an election 30 days after the final Gomery report is due in February, which means an election just before the playoffs - like usual. Even Ralph Klein is predicting another Liberal minority. The only benefit I see in Harper pushing for a mid-January election is a low turnout. Steve-O's playing a numbers game, and truthfully its the only way he'd ever get close to being Prime Minister.

Let me paint this dreary picture for you:
January 23, 2006. 5:15PM. It's dark and -12 outside ... and it's a Monday.

You've just worked all day and now your scraping the ice and snow off your car. Thankfully your car starts, but barely. You shiver inside your 5 year old car for the mandatory 45 seconds before you can go anywhere. If you put the car in drive, the transmission will fall apart from the bitter cold. You wait for the sub-arctic temperatures inside your car to slowly increase, hopefully to the point where your feet will finally start to thaw out.

You dread this drive home, through a snowy, slushy and icy congested traffic nightmare, known as hell. Your car is not moving beyond 40km/h for the first 20 minutes of the second half of your daily commute, and the vehicle not fully warmed up until you're about 5 minutes from home. But you enjoy that well deserved temperate oasis because you know you're going to have to start shoveling your driveway in just under 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

Parking the car on the street and not in the driveway (as to not pack down the snow making shoveling quite difficult, if not impossible) you begin the less-loved of all winter chores. It's well after 6PM, and you haven't even thought about dinner - but now the hunger is eating you from the inside. As you quickly prepare your dinner for one, you turn on the TV to realize you were supposed to go out and vote today. You won't be finished dinner until at least 7:30PM, the polls close at 8PM, and you can't seem to find that little orange piece of paper given to you by Elections Canada 6 weeks earlier. "There's no point rushing around" you say to yourself, not really wanting to venture outside into that bitter, wind-chilled cold anyway, "The Liberals will just win another minority government - Ralph Klein said so himself back in November".

Around 11PM you bunker down and begin to watch the election results - not wanting to fully miss out on your only true civic duty. Lloyd Robertson and Mike Duffy are saying the story for Election 2006 is the low-turnout nation wide. You look outside your window into the crisp cold darkness saying "I can believe it!".

Only 35% of Canadian voters come out to the polls, and suddenly you feel a little uneasy. Maybe you should have put the extra effort in going out to vote. The news gets worse and worse... A neck and neck race at first and then the Conservatives move ahead with a slight 3% lead. You quickly realize you've been tricked!!! The same way you were tricked back when you were a child. Your older brother pointing to something behind you, stealing a french fry as you naively look to see what he was interested in. You bought in to his trick then, and you bought into the Tory's trick now. " Damn You, Steven Harper !! Damn you, Ralph Klein !! "

"Have an Election in January, so no middle-of-the-road, working class Canadian or new immigrant will want to go vote" is what Steve-O is thinking. "It'll be too cold to vote. Make it seem like they're going to win anyway, just to give those same middle-of-the-road Canadians no reason to have they're voice heard."

Only the extremists, like Harper, would want to go vote. Only the pissed off, like Duceppe, would want to go vote. Only the power hungry, like Layton - wanting to have his social democratic voice heard - would want to go vote. Laid back centrist Canadians, the true 'Majority', would rather relax, be apathetic and not vote - and not because they don't have confidence in the Liberals, but because they don't have confidence in any of the other options either. Those real Canadians are sick of parliamentarians playing political games.

Like it or not we're destined for another minority government. Whether it's something which will function for more than 17 months is all we're deciding. The Liberals and the NDP will be able to knock down any Tory government, the separatists from Alberta and Quebec will be able to over throw the Grits. I guess the only other option would have the Liberals and the NDP incorporated into a cojoined party in order to lock up the slightly right of centre; the centre; and the english left of centre votes.

It wouldn't be such a bad idea would it - social democracy with fiscal responsibility ??

another pre-lunch blog (with post-game thoughts)

2005-11-22T13:15:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I'd like to thank a certain co-woker for visiting the site on regular basis. Lunchblog really should have given you a different name instead of Movie Mama. Maybe we'll come up with one today? Anyway, as a single source for news, hockey, gas prices, political commentary and capybara's who wouldn't want to visit the site on daily [or even hourly] basis!! Leave a comment if you want. Speaking of comments why don't they ever show up - blasted blogger.

So, while surfing some Wiki's with Work I came across Mozilla's new product. SeaMonkey. Honestly, I'm still not sure what it will do.

Poor Packers - losing at the end of the game to quarterbackless Minnesota team. Speaking of football, I guess the Argo's won't be repeating as Grey Cup champs. That's quite alright, Vancouver is a little too far to drive too just for the game. I guess Work nailed it saying their butterfingers were caused by the popcorn the team was passing around after their 2nd touchdown. After that, the Argo's weren't able to hold onto the ball.

On a personal note, I'd just like to say that my girlfriend is awesome. She was busy defibrilating people this morning. How cool is that ??

Castor or Capybara ?

2005-11-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

Bell Canada recently launched a new adverstising campaign in Quebec using beavers Jules et Bertrand as their spokesanimals. I wonder if the Brazilian Telco uses capybara ?

Movie here

News flash... maybe's its because I don't actually watch enough TV while at home, but Bell has the same beavers in English. Frank and Gordon !! Gordie... how much more Canadian get you get ??

You can't imagine how much I wanted to find pictures of our Gordie and Frank from a work Christmas party to post. !

a quick little political entry

2005-11-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

The pre-lunch entry I suppose.

I caught the end of some radio show in which the host and two guests were talking about Biographies. I'm not sure why, but they were. Apparently there's a famous Quebec author who's written Biographies on pretty much every political figure since the Trudeau era. Anyway, the host of the show posed the following question "Who will (Author's Name's) next biography be about and what will it be called?"

While the first guest piped up and said if it was a biography on himself it would be rather short - the second guest said the biography will be written about Andre Boisclair with a title being borrowed from another Trudeau bio.... A long walk in the snow.

Thin Lizzy....

2005-11-16T23:57:00.000-05:00

back to the blog.. or blogue as it's written in french. Lunchblog has pretty much given an accurate description of the lunch activites today so there's not much of a need to repeat that. But it's nice to hear things are more interesting when I'm around. At least lunch is - the office seems more interesting when I'm away. Work is somewhere around the office - but unfortunately I haven't seen him too much since his change of desks.

Flight back from SD was... interesting.

The Rolling Stones were in town and, although I didn't go to the concert (albeit for no lack of trying) I felt they served me better by being a backdrop for my Friday night. So downtown San Diego it was. By the way - finding a parking spot is really difficult when Mick, Keith, and the Boys are in town.

My buddy would like to thank Lunchblog for that computer tune up... and guess I'll see you in the morning !