Dealing with Crooks is Gary Bettmans' Fatal Blunder!

Well, it appears the perfect image from melroserocks blog has been eaten by the internet. What a shame, thankfully here's an equally compromising shot. ---------->

It's tough to fire people for being stupid, because doing so implies the error was that of the hiring agent and not the discarded individual themselves. However, firing someone for being dishonest and subverted is contrarily fun and easy. Assholes that are ignorant (or arrogant) enough to lie and deceive others deserve the guillotine when they get burned for their covert practices. Why the tirade in light of my ongoing pursuit of positivity?

Bad judgement is like a disease, I believe this axiomatic. That Bettman has failed in numerous respects as a commissioner of the NHL is unto itself lacking the fatal qualities of his most recently publicized decisions. Because Gary Bettman, the lawyer, ex-NBA official, rat-lookalike, general douche bag and current NHL commissioner has finally made a critical error inspiring the venom spewed above. Others have taken him to task for his part in the back-door non-sense that awarded yet another unfit investor an NHL franchise, but I feel responsible for ensuring this is his last mistake.

Perhaps the firing squad has finished their inexhaustible supply of cigarettes and liquor. Perhaps now they can draw up their guns and inoculate the NHL of its most crippling and virulent problem: its leadership. Gary has made but 30 friends during his tenure in the league: The 30 owners who have reaped windfall profits while the fans have suffered bad TV deals, poor coverage on major networks, rising ticket prices (associated with non-NHL-related cost of living increases) and a slue of inconveniences analogous to being given the short-end of the stick (or taking a fisting for those under 35). Enraged, but powerless the fans have persevered while the owners remain gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor.

I am hopeful this incident will incite action among those of sound morality and adequate influence. I am hopeful change will fix the NHL. I am realistic and disheartened by its unlikelihood. "I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repeled by the inexhaustible variety of life."

Cheers and thanks for reading. Come back soon. Subscribing helps... Check out the radio show tomorrow night (Tues 6-9pm, 101.5FM or live online).

How to Fix the Maple Leafs: Player-by-Player

So the task is obvious: rebuild. The methodology is – in stark contrast – very much up in the air. Until a permanent GM is in Toronto this raging debate about how to rebuild will incessantly be overheard. So in a light piece, enjoy how to repair the Maple Leafs one player at a time.

Going out from the net:

Starting Goaltender: Vesa Toskala (27-21-6, 3SO, .909SV%, 2.59GAA)
Has proven himself as a viable #1 on a poor defensive team. One of few Leafs that has played to their potential this year. The main issue with Toskala will be his tolerance for playing on a losing team next year, as goaltenders are not immune to flaking when presented with the opportunity.

Backup: Andrew Raycroft (2-8-4, 1SO, .868SV%, 4.07GAA)
Had one good year, continues to disappoint and has all but officially been cut. He needs to earn some starts in the AHL in order to become a tradeable commodity, otherwise he'll get cut, or bought out (or both just to make a point!).

Defensemen:

Tomas Kaberle (7g, 39p, -6)
Lose 15-pounds bag-skating. Force yourself to uphold a two-shot-per-period quota and welcome to elite status.

Brian McCabe (5g, 21p, +1)
Drop your no trade and take your shattered stock to Long Island.

Carlo Colaiacovo (2g, 4p, -3)
Say healthy. Really, just stay healthy and you'll be a solid defender on any 2^nd pairing in the NHL.

Pavel Kubina (6g, 28p, +2)
Drop 10lbs bag-skating with your Czech brother, Tomas. At NHLPA meeting kick Dion Phaneuf in the onions and remember the intensity with which he responds so you can incorporate it into you game.

Ian White (3g, 19p, -3)
As a puck mover, he is solid. Otherwise, his game leaves too much to be desired. In order to stay in the NHL White needs to get his +/- near the top of the team and be among team leaders in helpers, both sadly unforeseeable events.

Anton Stralman (4p, -11)
Unlike most of the Maple Leafs squad, the upside is that he actually has an upside. The Leafs are hoping he matures a little more Kaberle-ian and less Kubina-ian, which at 21 is not outside the realm of possibility.

Forwards:

Mats Sundin (31g, 75p, +14)
By far this years MVP. How to fix Mats? Magically make him 28 again.

Nik Antropov (26g, 52p, +8)
Is playing the best hockey he is capable of and might be enjoying the peak of his career. Keep it up, but watch his value drop if/when Mats retires.

Jason Blake (13g, 43p, -1)
Re-negotiate his contract or trade him. Skill players who don't produce are like wooden sticks – when something better comes along they are easily replaced.

Darcy Tucker (15g, 26p, -5)
Make him the key to the powerplay again to inflate his stats and justify his ludicrous contract. Since that won't happen, begrudgingly buy him out and sign a bigger, younger and faster grinder who can play the role the way it should be played.

Kyle Wellwood (6g, 16p, -10)
To be an undersized dangler, he needs to bolster his dangling. The size if fine, but hes no Scott Gomez or Danny Boyle. Get in the gym – it might be news to Wellwood, but weight training has been shown to help athletes perform better!

Matt Stajan (14g, 30p, -5)
Get the trainer to fit you with a flac jacket and learn how to play like Tomas Holmstrom, but with more speed through the middle.

Alexei Ponikarovsky (15g, 26p, +2)
Compete with Stajan to become the Leafs version of Tomas Holmstrom. The loser goes home and opens a car dealership.

Alex Steen (13g, 34p, +3)
What to do with a smart player who offers average hands and size? Steen is a prime example of a player being reward for his position in the draft. He is an interchangeable part of this team that could play on the first line and thrive, or kill penalties for the Marlies. His role needs to be defined and he needs to start making a difference, even if it means by giving up his roster spot.

Dominic Moore (4g, 12p, -5)
Confident puck-handler with good speed and hockey sense. Moore will likely be a good fit centering the 2^nd line with a capable scoring winger (see below).

Jiri Tlusty (5g, 10p, -10)
Drag Moore to the rink daily in the off-season and start watching tape of Datsuk and Zetterberg in Detriot. This is how undersized skill players produce points, so take notes and learn how to win battles and anticipate the play. As a 19yo he has time to mature into a valuable offensive contributor, lest he become another ineffectual Alex Steen.

These are the players worthy of an appearance on this list as the remaining players on the roster are notably less significant. As the course of the season plays out it will be interesting who will demonstrate their willingness to compete for a job, because once the the curtain falls the axe from the GM's office won't be far behind. Expect as many as half of these players to be purged from this horrendously average roster and hope, pray – whatever – that the Leafs can get lucky in the draft for years to come.

Weekly Wednesday All-NHL Podcast.

This weeks Wednesday Podcast in association with The Hockey Herald takes a look at rumors surrounding Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs GM job followed by an explanation of why the NHL needs more player blogs. The podcast closes with the influence Brian Murray has on the Ottawa Senators down the stretch, and lastly a debate on which conference is superior: East or West? Enjoy and Thanks for listening. - Derek.

8 Radical Rule Changes to Revolutionize the NHL.

Hockey purest continue to deny changes are necessary, but reality dictates otherwise. The NHL needs needs to stop looking in the wrong places to improve (see: enlarged nets) and listen to these recommendations.

1. Bigger Ice Surface. It doesn't require much analysis to decipher why this would make the NHL game better. As the sun has shrank over the last few decades so has the relative size of the NHL ice surface with the increasingly larger men playing the game. Opening up the rink even fractionally will increase the defensive players' ability to move the puck up to the forwards (the most critical transition pass in hockey), in addition to providing skill players more room to negotiate down low, in the offensive corners. Expanding the rink hurts only the owners who must forfeit the revenue currently generated from the first few rows of pricey seating -- fortunately, most can afford it when adjusted for the greater good.

2. Balance the Schedule. Yet another shortsighted rule that has limited fan interest in the post-lockout era. The unbalanced schedule designed to create inter-divisional rivalries, in spite of those inter-conference, has depriving NHL fans of formerly more passionate and historical match-ups. At a time when the whole planet is expanding and embracing globalism, the NHL is foolishly isolating and disconnecting from it's fan base. To rectify, evenly distribute inter-conference contests amongst all 16 clubs and ensure each team in the NHL meets one another at least once per season.

3. Determine playoff seedings by raw point total within your conference. No more of this horrendous divisional non-sense. Once the schedule is balanced as per above, this initiative should be promptly inked into the rule book since teams are (now) playing inter-conference games in equal abundance, thus eliminating the any rationale in allowing divisional winners to steal the top three conference seeds. This will avoid mis-matches throughout the playoffs which often spoils some of the more competitive series prematurely.

4. Stop awarding points for LOSING. Why does the NHL insist on being the only professional sports league to award the loser points – it's like a participation ribbon: lame and ineffective? It skews the standings by inflating the points awarded to average teams who are good in specialized situations, like OT and the shootout. This was an unfortunate consequence of the New NHL which can instantly be repaired by rewarding three points for wins (while keeping all other things equal). Increasing the incentive to win will award aggressiveness at the games' conclusion rather than the passivity the league endorses presently. In turn, the fans are treated with clearly enhanced entertainment value.

5. Make like International Hockey. Replace the Conference Finals with League-wide semifinals by mandating a crossover when only four teams remain. The Top Western team plays the low-seed Eastern team and vice versa. Doing so will ensure the utmost competition in the final stages of the Stanley Cup Finals – utopia given the talent disparity between conferences (a phenomena that spoiled the NBA championships this year past). The League-wide Semi Finals could see season-long rivals, or traditional match-ups (like original 6 teams) that cannot manifest under the current playoffs structure.

6. Allow GM's to compensate trades with CASH. The salary cap has created an era with restrictive and often unfeasible constraints when negotiating moves in player personnel. In other words, trades are now very difficult to execute, which has decreased the ability for fringe teams to acquire star power or depth for a playoff push Were teams allowed to share a portion of Player X's contract following a transaction, the GM's would have more than enough freedom to be active and improve their respective team. Creating this degree of freedom will also help reduce the frequency of these well-extended, often front-loaded contracts that have become emerged as a byproduct of this CBA.

7. Drop the Instigator Rule. With powerplay proficiency a make or break characteristic in the New NHL, we mustn't penalize enforcers who protect the (often entertaining) skill players. Removing the Instigator Rule will likely reduce the cheap-shots and poor conduct observed in recent memory, while ultimately creating fewer serious injuries. Not only are these changes in the interest of players and their safety, but they also benefit the fans. Say what you will about violence in sport, and I'll say this so you don't forget it: fighting is good for hockey. This rule is much like the stringent regulation on celebration in the NFL -- they penalize players for performing an act in which 90%+ of the fans actually WANT to see! Why diminish the entertainment value of sport in need of exactly that?

8. Contraction. The excess of teams in the NHL has diluted the talent pool initiating a decline in the quality. By contracting the league and reducing the number of teams in the NHL to 26, the NHL can effectively concentrate talent and improve the overall quality of the game. Think of the impact that 12 top-liners would have on leagues remaining clubs by imagining what it would be like to add Eric Stall up front. (Yes, hint: Carolina, Tampa, Atlanta, Florida should get axed.)

BREAKING: Maple Leafs make Tavares an offer.

Very interesting reporting from Dave Shoalts of the Globe and Mail has revealed that the Leafs are up to some trickery – or at least up to something other than underachieving. A very unique set of circumstances surrounding the OHL's top goal scoring talent have prompted the Leafs to offer John Tavares an equally unique employment opportunity.

Much has been made about Tavares domination in the OHL and his failure to receive an exception for the next NHL draft – for which he is 5 days too young for eligibility. Tragic as it may be given the success of young talents like Toews, Kane, Cogliano, Gagner, and Price in the equally young season, the NHL has chosen to remain stringent on its draft eligibility policy.

Rather than play another season in the OHL, Tavares and his agent have some decisions to make. They have shopped around for interest in Europe, and now are considering an offer which would see Tavares opt out of the draft and play for the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

The 18yo age restriction holds in the AHL as it does in the NHL, making Tavares ineligible to play in either league until 2009-'10. The Marlies deal offers the comfort of familiarity and the opportunity to play very close to home. Aside from the geographical benefits, the prospect of joining the Maple Leafs as soon as he meets the NHL age requirements will provide a strong influence. But, there are a few key hurdles that require jumping before Tavares could ever play for the Leafs.

Unless Toronto can grease the skids prior to draft day, the likely #1 pick will command a hefty sum, and thus force the Maple Leafs to swap club assets for his rights – or worse – require Tavares to hold out and stay in the AHL for two additional seasons. This is due to restrictions whereby a given player must be two years removed from the original draft selection in order to sign with another NHL team.

Should the Leafs be unable to deal for Tavares rights, he would essentially have to forfeit any chance of playing in the NHL (for a team other than Toronto) in order to void any obligation to the organization with his draft rights until 2011, where he can then sign as an unrestricted free agent. While some will justifiably point out Tavares' reluctance to wait until he is 20yo before playing in the NHL, this scenario with the Maple Leafs allows him to sign as an UN-restricted free agent and thus fetch far more money than he would under current entry-level salary restrictions.

It is slightly complicated, and perhaps not the path of least resistance, but it's a proactive initiative by a GM hanging onto his job by a single of his slickly-combed hairs. Any attempt to acquire goal scoring for a team that has failed miserably in the talent development department gets a pat on the back at this point. Bringing in Tavares will create a vastly improved atmosphere at the Ricoh Colosseum, and will foster a winning attitude in the Marlies dressing room -- something that will hopefully carry over with the players that graduate to the big dance and lace 'em up for the Leafs.

If Tavares has the patience to play two full seasons in the AHL prior to becoming a Maple Leaf, he will be a hero on a Toronto club in dire need of a pure goal scorer. But we know he wants a crack at the NHL badly, making this scenario about as likely as John Ferguson Jr. holding onto his job at the conclusion of this NHL season.

Why Leafs' Coach Paul Maurice is a GENIOUS!

Game Theory 101: Professor Paul Maurice

Without officially announcing anything, the Toronto media deduced the starter for tonights Leafs v. Sens season opener: incumbent Andrew Raycroft. To many peoples surprise, the Leafs big off-season prize, Vesa Toskala, will be riding the pine. Inherent to this sticky situation is the 'controversy' that will brew for the next several months. Additionally, the brilliant declaration by Coach Paul Maurice, who claimed he will not announce his starting goaltender for the duration of the season, is a glowing indication for his plans this season. He is telling us, without telling us, that he is going with a goaltending-by-committee system. I love it. If this isn't reason to shower Coach Maurice with the praise, then you just don't get it.

The pre-season in Leaf Land was a venerable disaster (from a goaltending perspective) as neither Raycroft or Toskala could effective grab the bull by the horns and win the starting position. Rather than reduce his hairline further, the cunning and courageous Paul Maurice turned it into an opportunity to seize and exploit in an effort to improve his club. A top notch game theory lesson worthy of the Jack Adams Trophy (of course, only if it pays off).

Maurice may have come to realize that the best option for the Leafs is a tandem 'tender system. If you can't rely on one of them, make them compete – scratch and claw each others eyes out – for that starters role. This competition, among men nearing the prime of their career, will bring out the best in both of them just as it did for Jacques Lemaire in Minnesota when Roloson and Fernandez played their finest hockey to date. By the way, this move helped Lemaire take home the Jack Adams in 2002-03, for those wondering the potential dividends of move of this nature can have on the success of the team.

This move makes so much sense when you consider the following. Firstly, nothing in the hockey world aside from a trade will abolish the goaltending controversy talk in TO, so get used to it. Given the current Leafs lineup, there are only three logical hypothetical scenarios whereby the Leafs make the playoffs. We can dream that either Raycroft or Toskala will post Luongo & Brodeur-type numbers, but if you know enough, you'll know better. The most probable scenario that sees the Leafs playing meaningful games in the Spring features both Raycroft and Toskala playing well. I'm talking well in the neighborhood of .905-.920 SV%, 2.66-2.88 GAA, and +20 wins (each), something that is both realistic and necessary for the Leafs to compete.

Furthermore, Toskala is a veteran of the tandem system, splitting time with Nabokov in San Jose for the past two seasons. This setup -- not surprisingly -- featured Toskala as the back-up, in other words in the same scenario he finds himself on opening night. Do you think Paul Maurice considered this when he gave Raycroft the nod for the season opener? If Raycrofts' poor season last year is any indication, it is safe to assume that the money and the pressure that accompanies a starting keeper in Toronto is crippling. Placing Toskala in a scenario that he is very familiar with will only expedite comfort in the chaos that is playing the most scrutinized position, in the most scrutinized event in all of Canada. Well done, Mr. Maurice.

The END.

[PS -- Another indication that this is the right play in Toronto is the fact that perennial foghorn Mike Milbury hasn't gotten anything right in a decade, exemplified by his deplorable track record as a GM on Long Island. He thinks this is a terrible play by Maurice – thanks for the support Mad Mike, you'll be proved wrong again at seasons end.]

Sports on Cloud Nine: Why the Toronto Maple Leafs can't win.

In all major sports there is an ebb and flow among their player personnel that is characterized by a combination of free agent signings, and player development – both internally among existing players and externally from players in the AHL, and junior.

The teams least favored to win, who will look to improve anyway they can, typically hold onto their cards and trust their blossoming talents will continue to develop and improve. It's best we don't burden ourselves with the equivalent of un-sinking the Titanic by trying to dissect their woes, so we'll move on to consider contenders (and pretenders).

At this point in the season it is fun to put on the General Managers' hat and think about what can be done to improve hockey clubs. For the likes of Ottawa, Pittsburgh, San Jose and Vancouver – all teams expected to be the at the pinnacle of their conference – it is most likely that free agent acquisitions, rather than development, will improve their chances of winning the Stanley Cup. They are granted this luxurious position largely to consistent success in player development. Their rosters feature a high relative percentage of mature young players that now CONTRIBUTE in their line up on a day to day basis. Think Spezza, Crosby, Cheechoo, and Bieksa. Listed from their respective teams above, they are exemplary models of what good player development can do for an organization.

Since we are playing GM, we can't overlook another huge reason player development is vital to success in the NHL: it is cheap! Free agents are always costly and ubiquitously overpaid, whereas nursing and nurturing talent from within allows you to sign them at a discount. This is why the Detroit Red Wings dominate annually with a roster full of skaters you've never heard of. They scout, draft and develop better than any team in the league over the past decade. Their soft division aside, the savings on their developed talent award them a little more freedom come the trade deadline when a costly acquisition might bolster their chances of making it to the dance.

Presented as a polar opposite from Detroit are their Original Six rivals down the 401 in Toronto. The Maple Leafs' model in the pre-salary cap era poo-pooed on talent development in favor of real time success. They would errantly discard prospects and draft picks for the good of that season and to the detriment of future campaigns. They were the NHL's New York Yankees as they unsustainably bought wins (but not Cups – Ouch)! However, in todays NHL where the ~$50 million salary cap handcuffs the big spendings in a futile effort to achieve parity, player development is the be-all, end-all when it comes to the success of your franchise. Thats right, I said it. Player development and the ultimate contributions they make towards improving your franchise will determine where the final resting place in the standings.

The Leafs represent the utmost incompetence when it comes to strengthening your organization from within. On their current roster players like Wellwood, Stajan, Steen (24th overall), Coliacavo (17th Overall), Antropov (10th Overall) continue to disappoint. I could continue, but I won't dare bore you with their mediocre numbers, personalities and contributions overall to the success of the Maple Leafs. Instead, I'll submit to you what I think is the most overlooked factor in the careers and lives of these young men playing in Toronto; a team whose surfeit of hacks and underachievers that can't seem to break out and make a name for themselves. But, why?

Toronto is the center of the hockey universe. The locker room is jammed with media personalities from the drop of the puck at the first practice of the pre-season. To think that it only picks up after that is just mind-numbing. Young Maple Leafs get the rock star treatment from day one and their celebrity status is instantaneous. They get recognized sooner, they get hot woman easier, they get more attention from everyone starting almost as prematurely as Leafs coverage on TSN. This is a phenomena almost unique to TO.

As a stark contrast to the Great White North, Americans largely don't give a rats' you-know-what about the NHL. In a big US city, the top 2-3 faces in the dressing room MIGHT be able to get into VIP at the hot local club, while the rest of the guys are waiting in line with the plumber from Boston, and the secretary from Washington. These small-market players are infused with a blue-collar type attitude that demands performance BEFORE recognition – something TO has entirely backwards.

As a result, Toronto players are bred with a poisonous heir of entitlement at a young age. This attitude, on both the conscious and subconscious levels is disastrous not just in sport, but many aspects of life. We can positively attribute their lack of development and subsequent mediocrity to this mental factor. Compare have and have-nots in any scenario in life and sport: the motivation to get out of the gutter is much greater when you don't have a pot to pee in (or a window to throw it out of). In cities where your not getting the time of day unless you're a top line player, the motivation for the young guys on 2nd and 3rd lines trying to make a name for themselves is immensely greater than that in Toronto. We can't underestimate the intrinsic fury generated by being ignored or overlooked – especially among young, testosterone/ego fueled professional athletes. Having to perform and excel in order to get to get your name in the paper, causes one to work harder in the gym and on the ice. Up and coming players in small markets have more success early because they need to succeed in order to get a piece of face time on Sportscenter, or to jack up their market value in the eyes of general managers around the league. The drive to succeed when you have been overlooked is MUCH greater than that of an individual who feels they have little to prove in lieu of their perceived success.

Lets tackle the other side of the coin in the media infested Toronto locker room, since I know the most common argument regarding the medias' affect on TO players is the added pressure. 'So what about the intensified criticism they are subjected to as a result of their prolific status', as many suggest? It doesn't matter. Most young cocksure athletes are sufficiently full of themselves to overcome the degree of scrutiny and criticism they face. I'd argue it is much easier to get by in Toronto, where even the godly Mats Sundin can't make it a week without his value being questioned. Once again, getting ripped is better than not getting noticed. Steen gets a pat on the back via a picture on Page One if he pops a game winner in TO. But, score 30+ goals in Colorado or Florida and you'll still just the guy listed in the Box Scores near the back. The Broncos and the football-crazed state of Florida couldn't care less about you, and more often then not I'd argue this defines the career of young up-and-comers in the NHL.

Just contrast the success rate for draft picks coming out of small markets and compare it to those from big market teams who echo TO's struggle to develop players. The New York Rangers have been victimized by a parallel course of action, but they are finally staged to make a run this year on the shoulders of their stud Goaltender, and 7th round draft pick, Hendrik Lundqvist. Think the Leafs will right the ship?