Here are some thoughts over some of the major subjects that have gone through the wire over the last week.
Nolan Hit
The hit itself doesn’t concern me at all. Not only is hard hitting “part of the game”, it’s part of what makes hockey great. The only other sport with contact similar to hockey is in football. In that, when a big hit like Jordan Nolan’s takes place, it’s glorified, promoted, and used as an example of how the game should be played.
What concerned me about the immediate reaction from Nolan’s hit was that the thought process went straight to “suspension”. No one except for the people at the game had seen the hit and immediately everyone was suggesting Nolan should be suspended. Ever since Matt Cooke’s head shot on Marc Savard and Mike Richards hit on David Booth, this has been the line of thinking.
In my opinion suspensions should be reserved for the worst of offenses. Things like the Bertuzzi incident, or any conduct involving the safety of a fan. I know I’m not going to fully get my way on that but I really hope we can get back to a point where we can appreciate the art of a hard, clean, check instead of panicking about whether it was clean or not.
Leafs and Mason Raymond
I, like most people in the hockey media in Toronto, really believe that Raymond will make this team. If he were not hurt for a good portion of the last couple of years, he would not even be in this situation. As Eklund can attest to, Raymond has been one of the most trade speculative players within the last 5 years. That type of interest doesn’t happen for someone who can’t play.
In Toronto, he would fill a need that was left vacant when Matt Frattin was traded. Someone who can play on both the top 6 and bottom 6 type forward with a ton of speed and penalty kill. In fact, if Raymond can stay healthy, I would imagine him to be a more developed version of Frattin. He fits in on this team.
The problem here is the salary cap. Currently, the Leafs have a little less than $2 million available on the cap. This is with Cody Franson unsigned. Despite anything that you hear to the contrary, I would imagine the Leafs will be working hard to get a contract signed with Franson as he was an important part of the specialty teams last year. Now the issue is, even if the Leafs sign Raymond to a minimum contract, it only leaves them with about $1 million on the salary cap. Franson is not going to allow himself to be signed for that much, he would do just as well playing elsewhere to stay in shape and waiting for the salary cap to go up next year.
On top of that, let’s say Raymond does sign for that little, it leaves the Leafs in a very bad spot in regards to this season. If the Leafs are in contention come trade deadline, they will want to have some wiggle room in order to prepare themselves for the playoffs. If they are directly at the cap ceiling, it handcuffs them into either staying pat, or having to give something away in order to take salary. Nonis may have to put himself in this situation regardless (aka Liles) in order to get the best of all worlds.
It’s a tough call.
More on the Importance of Hockey History
I’m very flattered by the response from my last article. It seemed like it touched a nerve for many and I’m glad people took the time to think about it. I want to point out a couple of things that have happened since.
First of all Leiweke seems to have backed off his stance on taking down the pictures around the Air Canada Centre. He jokes that “I [Leiweke] talked to Johnny [Bower]. He said he was going to kick my butt. Then I looked at him and realized he probably can.” The truth is, he likely wasn’t expecting the backlash that was going to come out of this. The Leafs are to Toronto like the Yankees are to New York, the Red Sox are to Boston, or even the Lakers and Dodgers are to LA. If you want to mess with the history, the fans aren’t going to like it. That’s why the majority of those teams (Leafs excluded), have barely changed anything about their uniform or logo. The brand is so strong that there’s no point.
Secondly, I wanted to make it clear that this type of situation is not only happening in Toronto. In Edmonton, new head coach (former Marlies coach) Dallas Eakins has taken everything out of the Oilers dressing room representing the team’s former glory. I’m surprised at him for this. He coached in this market here with the Marlies, a team that constantly glorified all the former players that went through that system.
He says “I thought it was really important that our team be featured in that room. I’m going to do my best to make sure that there is a picture of every guy on our roster in that room somewhere”. It may be important, it probably is. However, this isn’t about him or the current team, it’s about the organization. In order for a team to be revered like the ones I mentioned earlier, they have to build on the history that they have already created. The organization needs to embrace is in their current ways of doing business. To put the claim out there that it doesn’t matter now, in my mind, is an offense to the people of Edmonton and to the teams that actually accomplished something for that city. When a player puts on any team’s uniform they have to know they are representing the city and those who came before them. I don’t care if you’re a Leaf, Blue Jacket, Oiler, Wild, Canadien, or Panther. That’s just the way it is.
Western Conference Predictions
It’s that time of year where both hockey writers and fan alike make their predictions for the upcoming season. This season is going to be a little odd doing this because of the new alignment. For those who don’t know, the playoffs are now structured in which the top 3 teams in each divisions automatically get in, while the last two spots in each conference are wild cards. It’s a new look that makes divisional play that much more important.
When I made my predictions I looked at each team in 3 different categories: Forwards, Defense, and Goaltending. Based on how I view each team in each of those categories, I made a gut prediction on where I think they will finish. There will most definitely be people who disagree, but that’s the beauty of making the prediction in the first place. Let’s see how we match up.
Pacific Division
1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Phoenix Coyotes
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Calgary Flames
Central Division
1. Chicago Black Hawks
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Dallas Stars
5. Winnipeg Jets
6. Nashville Predators
7. Colorado Avalanche
Playoffs:
1. Chicago
2. Vancouver
3. Los Angeles
4. San Jose
5. St. Louis
6. Minnesota
7. Anaheim
8. Phoenix
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9. Dallas
10. Winnipeg
11. Edmonton
12. Nashville
13. Colorado
14. Calgary
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