Robinson, Tiger, Gregory and Me

In response to the recent post looking at Leaf GMs, habsfan10 posted an interesting comment about the Leafs-Habs series in 1979. The Leafs were swept by the Habs in that series, but I think game 3 went to double OT and game four was won in OT on a "controversial" call against Dave "Tiger" Williams.

I started typing up a a reply and in doing so came across a video of the goal that eliminated the Leafs that year, it's a fantastic clip and I really wanted to share it.

As you watch the video there are a few things to note: when was the last time the ACC sounded as loud as this crowd down at MLG? I can't recall the last time I heard Leaf fans chant like that. What was Paul Harrison doing in nets for the Leafs? I wonder why Palmateer didn't get the start (until I saw this vid, I had always presumed #29 was between the pipes that night). And even though he's announcing a Habs win, do I ever miss the voice of Paul Morris...

As you'll see in the video, after Robinson eliminates the Leafs, Tiger Williams comes out of the box to go after the ref and it's absolute mayhem on the ice. I can't imagine the headlines or the suspensions that would result from such activities today.

At about the 4:40 mark Robinson comes over and talks some sense into Williams. It's an unbelievable moment. I don't know that I've ever seen anything quite like it.



I know the Leafs weren't in the same class as those late 70s Habs (who was?) but Jim Gregory sure had that team on the right track. And then it was all gutted by Imlach and Ballard and it would be 12 years before the team hit .500 again.

Sens Obit

As some of you may know, Greg Wyshnyski, formerly Deadspin's Hockey Closer, is now heading things up over at Yahoo's hockey blog. Greg was kind enough to ask me to write an obituary for the Ottawa Senators season and I was only too happy to do so.

The obit is now up and can be read here.

I can't wait to read the one for the Montreal Canadiens (and the sooner, the better).

The big payback

As much as I like Toskala, I always thought JFJ gave up way too much in that trade. The tipping point for me was the inclusion of Mark Bell. His price-to-performance ratio coupled with his off-ice troubles (and a surprise 15 game suspension to start the season) made it seem that JFJ had been taken once again*.

But if you break that deal down into its component parts, Toskala is proving to be worth a 1st and 2nd round pick and I'm pretty sure most Leaf fans would gladly give up a 4th round pick for this:



As for the game itself, it really couldn't have gone better.

Yeah I know, the Leafs might have been destroyed 8-2 giving up three short-handed goals in the process (that's some damn fine special teams work by Coach Maurice) but Leafs Nation needs to think about the big picture: losing improves the odds of a better draft pick; crapping the bed in their final home game confirms the need to completely change the composition of this club; and the softest team in the NHLTM may have sent a few Sens to the IR.

All in all, I'd call that a very successful night.

*The shame of the Toskala, Bell deal isn't the cost of Toskala and Bell, it's the price paid for Raycroft just one year earlier. I guess I can try to console myself by reading about sunk cost fallacies (or more likely, getting some rugelach from Harbord bakery).

Battle of Who Could Care Less

Is the Battle of Ontario currently the worst named rivalry in hockey?

It’s gone from a sea of heat and hatred to a whole pile of meh.

With the Leafs currently residing in the where-are-they-now-file, a Leafs Sens game has all the tension and energy of going to the old age home to play your crazy old aunt at Candy Land. Sure, it's hard to get up for a game like that and every once in a while you stop paying attention, the crazy aunt has a moment of lucidity, maybe some luck with the dice and you end up on the losing end of thing, but even though your aunt may have won a game it's not like she's on pace to crack the remaining unsolved list of Hilbert's problems.

I'm happy the Leafs won (and Ray Emery played nets like a little old lady) but I can't help but wonder how long it will be before these games actually mean something again.

Sunday of the Resurrection?

Before I blather on, Mike Robinson has a great post over at budblog, I couldn't agree more with him...

I'm feeling rather pessimistic a few hours away from the big game. Have the Leafs met a must-win game this year they couldn't lose?

I’m doing Easter Weekend at the in-laws and am heading out to the 905 shortly (my father in-law is a Sabers fan from Calgary -I have no idea how that works…). While I’m sure the game will end up on the telly, I’m not so sure that internet access is going to happen, so depending on the outcome this may be my last post during the Leafs regular season.

I will be doing playoff predictions roundtable some time next week with four or five guest bloggers, so stay tuned…

As for game 82, I have no prediction, but I would not be surprised if the Habs eliminate the Leafs when the Leafs take a penalty in the final minutes of the game. Carbonneau will pull Huet/Halak and the dreaded Habs will pot one with just enough time on the clock for the Leafs to theoretically come back. Just enough time to have my hopes crushed twice in the same game when the Leafs come up empty.

The Leafs’ inability to hold a lead, Raycroft’s inability to generate a key save when it’s needed most, the club’s lack of discipline and poor PK all coming together in the perfect storm to end a rather middling year. (I guess I do have a prediction after all.) The tie pushes the Habs through, and the Leafs are done.

I've put together a little drinking game to help make tonight’s match somewhat more bearable (these type of games give me grey hair and ulcers), so chill the beer and cheer on the Leafs...

Habs shoot high glove on Raycroft – Drink
Habs score high glove on Raycroft – Drink half a beer
Harry Neale says Raycroft “didn’t have a chance” – Drain glass

Tucker gets dumped/ tripped/ hauled down in offensive zone with no penalty – Drink
Tucker yaps at ref while play goes back up ice – Drink
Habs go up ice and score – Drain glass

Cole can’t remember a Canadien’s name (e.g. “habs player”) – Drink
Neale/Cole says the next goal is important – Drink
Neale/Cole says one of the teams is going to try to tie up the score – Drink
Neale gives the distance from which a shot was taken (“That was a nineteen footer…”) - Drink

HNIC shows JFJ up in the gondola – Drink
JFJ is drinking a Tim Horton’s Coffee - Drink half a beer
JFJ is caught on screen rolling up the rim – Drain glass

Sundin scores to tie Sittler’s record – Drain glass
Sundin scores again, breaking Sittler’s record – Drink half a beer

Leafs win - drink to celebrate
Leafs lose - drink to dull pain


Go Leafs Go!

Rivalries

I'm glad the Leafs won G2 in Ottawa and not for the simple reason that I'm a leaf fan - the reason I'm glad the Leafs won goes a little deeper than that.

You see, I don't think the Leafs and Sens have much of a rivalry - despite what the media files to sell industrial fasteners.

With all this talk of the Leafs Sens "rivalry" and with the Habs coming to town on Saturday night, my brain served up an age old quote from Ken Dryden's seminal book The Game.

Over 28 pages in the middle of the book, Dryden beautifully describes a road trip to Toronto to play the Leafs near the end of the 1979 season.

He concludes:

There is no Leafs-Canadiens rivalry. It's dead: the Leafs killed it.

I remember being shocked as a 12 year old hockey nut when I read it and I’ve never forgotten those two simple sentences.

Not to put words in his mouth (he certainly has enough of his own) Dryden’s take on rivalry is that you need to have legitimate competition between rivals or else it dies.

The rise and fall of the Leafs in the late 70s is well known: management's failure to find adequate support for the promising core of Palmateer, Salming, MacDonald and Sittler; their inability to draft and develop talent coupled with a bad string of short-sighted trades, led to the decline of what could have been a very good team.

This decline in the Leafs came at a time when the Habs were losing about 12 games a season and racking up Cup after Cup. To Dryden’s point: not much competition in that – not much of a rivalry.

It’s not much different from the Leafs and Sens (not to say the Sens are anywhere near the level of that Habs dynasty, despite what Muckler might want us to believe). The Leafs may own the Sens in the post-season, but they’ve had their asses handed to them by the Sens in the regular season for years. Having your club go 1-7 in the regular season makes it hard to get up for a mid-February match against the skaters from the 613.

But never mind the media or my yapping, what about the perspective of Leafs Nation?

Offer a Leaf fan a choice of any games to attend at the ACC and hands down the Habs would be number one. Leafs tickets are hard enough to come by at the best of times, but just try to get a ticket to a Saturday night Habs match-up in this town.

I'd wager the Wings come in at #2 – partly because of the history between these two clubs and partly because they play so few games against each other these days. The third ticket goes to the Flyers. The fourth ticket? I think the average fan is going to chose to see Crosby or Ovechkin. That puts the Sens no higher than 5th on the hit list and they might just be neck and neck with the Sabres.

Think about that for a minute. Our great rival is a fifth or sixth choice ticket? This is what great rivalries are made of? Would a Red Sox fan pick four teams ahead of a chance to see the Yankees? Oilers and Flames fans pass each other by? I don’t think so…

Then there’s the history or rather, the lack of it.

The Habs and Leafs have been going at it for more than 75 years, never mind the whole French Canada/ English Canada divide.

The Leafs and Wings have been throwing elbows and lighting the lamp longer than Kanata's had paved roads.

The Leafs and Flyers had the crazy battles of the 70s and the Flyers have pulled the plug on the Leafs last few post-season plans.

The Sens have been around for what, 14 years? For the first five of those the Leafs were facing off against guys like Sylvain Turgeon, Peter Sidorkiweicz and Randy Cunneyworth. Throw in a year of labour stoppage, a year of role reversal with Jason Alison cast as your choice of Laurie Boschman, Gary Dineen or Dave Archibald and you've got maybe seven years of competitive hockey between these two clubs. Maybe.

Sorry, it's just not enough.

What about geography? Please. Ottawa as a town isn't even on the average Torontonian's radar. The Town-That-Fun-Forgot is further away than both Buffalo and Detroit and is only about 80 clicks closer than Montreal. To give it a bit more perspective Pittsburgh is just a shade further away than Ottawa. Steel-Town is likely a lot more fun too.

So we share the same Premier, big deal.

Reciprocity? Might be nice if both sides got as worked up about this. Ottawa fans may froth at the mouth over Toronto, but it's a one-way gig and it will likely be lessened now that the cap has eliminated the Leafs economic advantage.

Sure, the Leafs may have knocked the Sens out of the post-season 4 times, but Buffalo has now delivered the death blow three times, so it's not like the Leafs are unique in this regard.

One team has dominated the regular season series and the other the post-season match-ups. There’s not much fun in that.

A chance that these two-teams might actually give each other a run for the money? Now, that’s got some potential…