Ten Things I was thinking about...

...while the game was on (man the Bruins are a boring club).

10. Is there an easier punch line in Canadian sports media than the very tired, “plan the parade” that gets thrown around whenever the Leafs win a game? I know there’s a writer’s strike but can Mike Toth and and the brainless minions that fill my screen each night come up with something new. Please.

9. A.J. Liebling called it "‘on the other hand’ journalism" - that rare ability to sit on the fence or find fault with all courses of action. I think Damien Cox might be the true master of this school of thought. If the Leafs ever win the Cup and the series goes seven, half of this town’s media will file ledes about how the Leafs should have won it in five.

8. What are the odds that someone can write an article or a column about the Leafs without dropping 1967 or “40 years”. Seriously. We get it. It's been a loooooonnnnnngggggggg time.

7. Speaking of dry spells, the Leafs are hardly alone (not that this excuses any incompetence at MLSE) but here are some other clubs that are similar territory, look for these team names to be included alongside 1967 to provide some balance/context:

35+ Years Without a Cup
Buffalo Sabres
Boston Bruins
Chicago Blackhawks
Los Angeles Kings
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
Washington Capitals

Soon to be in the 35+ Years club
Philadelphia (33 years and counting...)

20+ Years
New York Islanders
Winnipeg/Phoenix

15+ Years
Calgary
Edmonton
Montreal
Ottawa
Pittsburgh
San Jose

6. Think back to last February/March when the Leafs were in the final stretch battling for a final playoff spot. At that time, the Leafs said they were approaching those end of season games as though it were the playoffs. They then went on to play .500 hockey, putting up stinkers against Washington, the Islanders and others (well done boys!). Well, it may be a few months early, but that same metaphor has been yanked out by the club yet again. Here's my question: if the Leafs lose four out of seven will they be eliminated from the regular season?

5. Does it really take death to engineer a change at the top for the Leafs? First Ballard, then Stavro...does anyone know how old Peddie is? How’s his cholesterol? Is he in good health?

4. Did you know that Leaf fans are in charge of programming down at the CBC? It’s true. Every year, 26 members of Leafs nation are chosen in a secret ceremony on Mutual Street and each one is given the responsibility to program a single 7:30 Saturday night game for Hockey Night in Canada. It’s funny, you’d think national programming decisions would have to do with ratings and market size - Toronto is the fifth largest media market in North America after all and the Leafs are a wildly popular team - but you’d be wrong. We members of Leaf nation get to pick what all Canadian viewers have to watch on Saturday nights. Our fellow Canadians cannot turn away, they cannot seek programming elsewhere and they must complain to me about it because I’m a Leafs fan…this is how things work. We must not stop and think about it nor question it. It just is.

3. Do people really believe that Leafs Nation is a monoculture? Can a fan base this large, every single mouth-breathing one of us, all believe the exact same thing: the Leafs are going to win the Cup each and every year. Look, the only trait Leaf fans all share is delusion – (we do cheer for the Leafs after all), but we’re not all optimists, we’re not all incapable of holding down the shift-key when we’re pounding out exclamation marks (Leafs are gonna win the cup, baby!!!!!!!1), very few of us want the Leafs to turn things around this year, yet the media sure would have you believe we’re all of one voice and of one mind (and a rather damaged/limited mind at that).

2. For those of you who think boycotting the Leafs will solve everything. Sure it will. Now please put down your petition, while I walk away slowly.

1. As much as I want the Leafs to have a top 3 pick at the 2008 draft, I find it very hard to cheer against the Blue and White. I was (unexpectedly) thrilled when Steen potted the winner tonight against the Bruins (although if MLSE thinks this makes the team buyers at the deadline, I will seriously circulate a petition and call for a boycott on all Leafs goods).

On the IR

Posting may get a bit more sparse around here and the typos might become even more prevalent as I suffered an undisclosed upper body injury last night.

Or in more simple terms: I busted my clavicle.

Caught a rut near the crease on the forecheck and kissed the end boards hard. I knew something was busted as soon as I got up and headed for the bench...the right side of my chest felt like an accordion, swinging and swaying as I skated off the ice. Six to eight weeks in a sling (that's 2 months of typing one-handed) and bi-weekly visits to the fracture clinic.



Raycrot's Record
A big topic in Leaf Land is Raycroft's chance to break the single season wins record, currently held by Ed "billion dollar" Belfour.

Eddie posted 37 wins in 62 matches back in 2002-03, breaking Cujo's mark of 36 wins in 63 games set in 1999-00. The Star, Sun and CP have all filed on this in the past few days.

I really hope Raycroft smashes the record as the Leafs need every win they can get (seems like this team has been in a must-win situation since Christmas). That said, I find it very interesting that my first reaction to this news is to dismiss it by looking at the math.

If Raycroft sets a new Leaf record, and given how erratic his play has been this season it's by no means a certainty, the number of games he's played certainly needs to be factored in. With 12 games left to go, I imagine Raycroft will break Eddie's record around the 68 or 69 game mark. That's nearly 10% more hockey than Eddie needed to set the record.

Also to be considered: three (or four?) of Raycroft's wins have come in the shoot-out, which didn't exist when Cujo and Belfour set their respective records.

So, Raycroft may set the record, but he'll do it with a poorer winning percentage and the added assistance of the shoot-out...

Sundin and Sittler

With his next goal, Sundin will match Darryl Sittler's record of 388 goals as a Leaf. I think this is just fantastic news and I really hope the mighty Swede breaks the record in Montreal on Saturday night. Nothing like bagging the historic goal in a big game between such storied rivals in such a great hockey town.

Compare and Contrast

Unlike Raycroft's record, my first reaction to Sundin's news wasn't to question the math (Sittler played 844 games for the Leafs, by Saturday night Sundin will have played 850). Nor did I immediately think about how the introduction of regular season overtime in 1983-84, two years after Sittler left the Leafs, might have affected Sundin's stats.

Why the different reactions?

I think first and foremost it's because Raycrofts other stats, which I would argue are more indicative of a goalie's play, are terrible: his save percentage and goals against are among the worst in the league. Sundin, meanwhile, has been one of the most consistent players in the NHL during his career.

Secondly, there's a stink of PR desperation to the media coverage surrounding Raycroft and the potential record - especially the piece by Jody Vance. Ugh.

And finally, and perhaps not fairly, I can't help but wonder where this team might be had they received a higher calibre of goaltending. They certainly wouldn't be in 9th place, having to play desperate hockey each and every night. Raycroft has been nothing if inconsistent this year, which has really hurt the club, so it's rather ironic that such inconsistent play may result with his name in the record books.

Or as A.J. Liebling so eloquently said, "I think it's immoral for a man without talent to get too far."

Sim?

You learn something new everyday...today, thanks to this craptastic article, I found out five new things:

1. Over the summer my mother-in-law (who likes Mike Gartner or Phil Esposito to win the Maurice Richard Trophy this season) studied computer programming and started a softward company in Finland
2. If I want to drink on the job, being an assignment editor in the sports department of Canadian Press looks like a solid choice
3. The Globe desperately needed to find 590 words for today's paper
4. AJ Leibling was 100% correct when he said, "People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news."
5. Risto Remes is one "r" short of being an anagram for "it error mess"