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Your Berger Fix

October 18, 2005, 8:21 PM ET
Howard Berger
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
BY HOWARD BERGER



The Fan-590 Radio, Toronto



It didn't take long for Al Strachan to rebut the column I wrote here
last Friday that endorsed the CBC's decision to remove him from Hockey
Night In Canada. Strachan offered his views to former Globe & Mail
colleague Bill Houston, which is fine. I had my say, and Strachan is
equally entitled to his. The fact his comments appeared in Houston's
column came as no surprise to me. As mentioned, Strachan and Houston
are contemporaries, and Houston has made it clear on numerous occasions
that he is no fan of anything that I do. That, too, is fine.



I respect Houston's right to an opinion as much as anyone else's. For
me, it's a bit of a personal disappointment because I admired, and
almost idolized Bill for the no-nonsense manner in which he covered the
Leafs back in the 1980s, when I was starting out in the business. In
fact, I tried to pattern a lot of my own approach after what he did.
So, I certainly wish that his opinion was different, but I learned long
ago that you can't choose your friends or your supporters.



Bill interpreted my column as a resumption of the hostility or "feud"
that Strachan and I have carried on in recent years. I don't know if
I'd take it that far, though the column clearly was a reaction to
something that happened to a person with whom I do not get along. As
such, it wasn't difficult to write (ask Strachan about pieces he's
written on Brian Burke, Gary Bettman and others). As for the so-called
feud, I get asked about it quite often, almost always by people who are
friends with Strachan. They tell me he's obsessed with the whole thing.
"What is it with you and Al?" they wonder. And my answer is always the
same: "I don't know... ask him."



While it's true that we've exchanged nasty words in print and over the
airwaves, I have no clue as to the genesis of our animosity. It seemed
to start in the middle somewhere and spiral out of control. I do not
have a similar-type relationship with anyone else, in or out of the
business, and I'd prefer not to have it with him. Strachan, however,
puts great effort into the conflict, as he does in his axe-grinding
with numerous others. So, I've come to realize that attempting to
reconcile with him is a waste of time.



Though I'm outspoken in my work profile, it has never been my nature to
carry on a feud with another person, or to harbor a grudge. For several
years after he joined the Leafs, I had a terrible relationship with Pat
Quinn that admittedly clouded my admiration for him as a coach. I
wasn't proud of that relationship, but Quinn arrived in town with a
vehement distaste for the media that festered during his years as GM
and coach of the Vancouver Canucks. It led to a series of clashes with
me and others who cover the team and it got out of hand on a few
occasions.



In the spring and summer of 2002, however, perspective sadly entered
Quinn's life when he got sick with an irregular heart beat, then
suffered the death of his father. I felt badly for him, and saw it as
an opportunity to try and end our antipathy. During a pre-season game
that September in Hamilton's Copps Coliseum, I approached him with an
offer to start anew, and he quickly accepted. We shook hands and have
had a professional acquaintance ever since.



It would be my preference to do the same with Strachan. During the
World Hockey Championships last spring in Innsbruck and Vienna, I
mentioned this to someone who knows both of us � veteran play-by-play
broadcaster Peter Maher, long-time voice of the Calgary Flames. Peter
felt it was a good idea, but I was quickly dissuaded by Strachan,
himself, who ran around the media mixed zone trying to get me in
trouble with the people from the International Ice Hockey Federation.
How did I know this? Well, Strachan's media "friends" at the tournament
kept me apprised, all the while rolling their eyes at his antics.



Strachan told Houston that I resent him because he's exposed some of my
"foibles", including what he contends is a major blow-up I had with a
security officer at the Meadowlands after a Leafs-New Jersey Devils
game in early-2003. It involved my son, Shane, who was with me on the
trip. Here was the big "blow-up": I bought a couple of tickets for that
game and sat in the seats with Shane. When the game ended, I made my
way down to the area between the players' benches that leads to the
dressing room corridor. A security man stopped me, saying there was no
way I could bring my son into that area, while offering no other
suggestion. For about five seconds, we did exchange words and a few
"F-You's", mainly because I was feeling pressured to get to the
dressing room before the Leaf players fled to the airport for their
charter flight home.



As quickly as it happened, however, the situation cooled, and the man
suggested I take Shane to an area behind the end glass that held
members of the players' families, and was supervised by another guard.
I apologized to him; he did the same to me; we shook hands, and it was
over.



Strachan, the hall of fame columnist, chose to write about this
"incident" in his weekly hockey notes in the Toronto Sun (name me a
reputable colleague that would bother to do the same), and I responded
by exposing some of his "foibles" on the radio the following day.
Strachan's contention, among others, is that a working press area is no
place for a family member or friend. What he fails to mention is the
number of occasions his long-time companion, Lucy, has accompanied him
to press boxes, including Vancouver's GM Place two seasons ago. Lucy's
name, to my knowledge, does not appear anywhere in the official NHL
Media Directory.



The sad part about this is that Strachan is a guy who should garner
more respect in the industry. He should have been smart enough to
remain a fixture on Hockey Night In Canada � the most prestigious
television offering in the game. As a hockey writer and sports editor
in Montreal, he had the privilege of covering the great Canadiens teams
of the late-'70s � the clubs of Scotty Bowman, Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden,
Larry Robinson, etc. When he lived in Calgary and worked for the Globe
& Mail a decade later, I was producing the early years of PRIME
TIME SPORTS, the supper-hour radio show that began locally in Toronto,
and is now heard and seen (on Rogers Sportsnet) from coast-to-coast in
Canada. I always enjoyed Al's opinions on a variety of sports (he
covered a lot of baseball back then) and would frequently invite him to
appear on the program as a guest.



Fast-forwarding to the present � and to perhaps prove that my animosity
towards him doesn't even approach his towards me � I'm not at all
hesitant to mention that Strachan has a pretty good book on the market
right now. Published by Doubleday Canada, it is called GO TO THE NET:
EIGHT GOALS THAT CHANGED THE GAME. It recounts famous moments like
Mario Lemieux's goal against the Soviets that won the 1987 Canada Cup,
and Guy Lafleur's "too-many-men-on-the-ice" marker against Boston in
the 1979 Stanley Cup semifinals that led to the Bruins' demise, and
ultimately cost Don Cherry his job as coach of the team � events that
Strachan witnessed. It's a good read, by a guy who's seen a lot in the
game.



Unfortunately, none of this will mean a thing to Al. For whatever
reason, he's become embittered over the years, and I'm near the top of
the list of his adversaries. Such is life.



* *
* * *



Canadian Hockey League commissioner Dave Branch proved again this week
why he's one of the most respected administrators in all of sports.
Reacting strongly to an incident of "hazing" by members of the Windsor
Spitfires, Branch levied a stiff punishment to Moe Mantha, GM and coach
of the Ontario Hockey League team. Mantha was suspended for the
remainder of the current season from his managerial duties, and for 40
games as coach. Hazing � a brutal and barbaric practice � is
universally frowned upon by hockey people at all levels, and Mantha
must bare responsibility for the actions of his players.



This is not to suggest that Mantha is a bad person. I've known Moe for
many years, dating to his tenure as a decent offensive defenseman with
the mid-1980s Winnipeg Jets. His younger brother, Bobby, was a member
of the North York Rangers provincial junior A squad that won the 1983
Centennial Cup as Canadian champions (I worked for that club), and his
father, Moe Sr., was an American Hockey League legend with Cleveland in
the early 1960s, and a teammate of John Ferguson Sr. � father of the
current Leafs' GM. Moe and Bobby are both great guys, whose company I
always enjoyed. Unfortunately, Moe is in a position of responsibility
that he either neglected, or mistakenly overlooked. Dave Branch reacted
by making the right call.



* * * * *



The Maple Leafs are off to a roller-coaster start to the 2005-06
season. They played poorly in their first three games then rebounded
with character and poise in their next three. Emotions are similarly
all over the place in Toronto when discussing the team. Those who
predicted a long season for the club are now being asked to recant.
Others who suggested the club might succeed are being hailed for their
genius. What we all should do is take a deep breath, hold it, and let
it out sometime in mid-to-late December, when the true nature of this
team is bound to take form. As well as Jason Allison, Eric Lindros,
Darcy Tucker, Jeff O'Neill and others have played in the past week �
and as ineffectively as the club performed in the first three games �
six outings does not make a season. Time, and injuries, will ultimately
determine the Leafs' fate.
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