Articles

[hockeygod]

Stricken by cancer, Paul Henderson flexes in the face of mortality

Patrick White, Globe and Mail, Mar. 18, 2012

Time is a slippery character in the seven-decade pageant of Paul Henderson. It pauses and surges and even spools backward at times.

Every other day, somebody is commemorating the 40-year-old feats of his younger self with a coin or a stamp or a monument. In recent months he’s approved a beverage, a documentary and a few other memorial souvenirs bearing his triumphant image, frozen in 1972.

Today, much of his body – brick stomach, lumberjack forearms, beach-ready biceps – appears stalled in that same era.

But time has definitely passed. Mr. Henderson marked his 37th anniversary as a Christian this week with a call to his spiritual mentor. Later this year, it’s his 50th wedding anniversary. Six months from now, he’ll mark the 40th birthday of his Sept. 28th goal and the Summit Series it capped off in a reunion with former teammates, the youngest of whom is a 60-year-old grandfather.

“We’ve lost four guys now from the original team,” he said last week, thrumming his fingers impatiently on a boardroom table. “In reality, a lot of us are in our late 60s and 70s. Our 40th anniversary, this year, will probably be the last big celebration, because Father Time marches on.”

That may not be true for the other Henderson, the one frozen in time. But for this 69-year-old man – head jostled by six concussions, nose bent by eight breaks, body full of cancer – mortality can no longer be avoided.

“The last checkup wasn’t that good,” he said of his condition, lymphocytic lymphoma chronic leukemia, a slow-moving cancer first diagnosed in November, 2009, that hasn’t needed extensive treatment until now. “They tell me chemo is coming sooner than later, probably in the next month or two. It’ll be six months of chemo and then we’ll see what happens. Cancer is cancer. I’ve got a great life if I can just stay alive.”

The timing is tough. In September, Mr. Henderson hopes to be at the centre of the most elaborate Summit Series celebration yet. Until then, he’s deepening his relationship with cancer charities and, more importantly, his seven grandchildren.

“His attitude is terrific,” said close friend and former linemate Ron Ellis. “He’s got a battle ahead of him, and he knows it. At the same time he’s grateful for life, for his wonderful family and for being able to do something very special in the hockey world.”

This week, Mr. Henderson spoke at the informal launch of a 40th-anniversary T-shirt emblazoned with his face and autograph. Priced at $14.95, the proceeds will go toward Cops for Cancer.

“It was Paul’s idea,” said Peel Regional Police Sergeant Trevor Arnold, who’s leading the Toronto-area force’s fundraising efforts. “With his situation, he wanted to give more back and this was an ideal opportunity. He’s clearly a selfless guy.”

In the coming months, the hockey icon will be launching another cancer campaign and his third book, The Goal of My Life, which promises details of his life beyond the well-documented moment, including the several troubled years before he became a Christian in 1975.

“I didn’t handle fame very well at first,” Mr. Henderson said. “I got a little resentful. The thing that irritated me most is we’d be out for dinner and women who’d had too much to drink would come over, sit down and keep their back to my wife, Eleanor. They’d ignore her. I’d get so ticked off with them. You can say what you want about me, but don’t mess with my wife.”

Friends recalled that period as difficult for him and everyone around him. “With Paul scoring the goal of the century for the team of the century, he couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized,” remembered Mr. Ellis, who played Mr. Henderson’s opposite wing on both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Team Canada. “People expected a repeat performance every night. That was a heavy burden to carry.”

But Mr. Henderson seems bred to bear such a uniquely Canadian trouble. In January, 1943, his mother went into labour during a minus-30 whiteout that blocked all roads to the nearest hospital in Kincardine, Ont. So the family took to Lake Huron by sleigh. She gave birth to the future hockey star part way across the ice. He barely survived the journey.

“I was blue by the time they got me there to the hospital,” he said. “They tell me if it were another three or four minutes, I would have died.”

Such last-minute dramatics have been Mr. Henderson’s forte ever since. He can’t contain it. Today, that reservoir of adrenalin surges at the sight of traffic lights rather than goal lights. Just last week, driving in Mississauga with his eight-year-old granddaughter, he got stuck behind an elderly driver who was dawdling to make a left turn. He waited and waited and then bellowed: “You old fart, would you get moving?”

His granddaughter frowned. “Your daughter needs to have a talk with you because you can’t go around calling people old farts,” she lectured.

“What can I say, that’s the old Paul Henderson,” he explained, recalling the episode. “I’ve still got a thing or two to learn.”

As much as he can control his intensity, he’s channelling it toward cancer. He exercises as if preparing for a Leafs comeback, rattling off 55 pushups at a time, sweating out lengthy bike rides, shredding his core muscles. He’s given up sugar and, to spare his immune system, handshakes. Everyone gets an Obama-esque fist bump now. He’s even pared down a gruelling speaking schedule to the bare essentials.

“I wrote in my journal in January of 2010, ‘Lord, thank you for the cancer,’ because when you get cancer you can differentiate the trivial from the important so much [quicker], your mortality is right there in front of you. I still don’t know if I have three months, six months, 10 years, whatever it is. I’m probably such an idiot I would never experience this clarity without getting cancer.”

Former teammates have noticed the same. “I really admire him,” said ‘72 Team Canada member Marcel Dionne. “You see how much stronger he is right now than so many people, it’s incredible. He’s so strong and so completely at peace.”

The ‘72 team is preparing a series of events this September. Others are waging a campaign to get Mr. Henderson in the Hockey Hall of Fame. His health will likely play a big role in both.

“Because of my closeness to Paul, one goal of mine is to organize anniversary events in a way that makes it easy for him to take part,” said Mr. Ellis, who sits on the ‘72 Team Canada players’ committee. “Once we have a schedule in place, he’ll let us know what he can attend and what he can’t.”

Mr. Henderson isn’t worried. This life on earth is just the warm-up, he said. Plus, there’s that whole alternate time zone of his. Days ago he was playing basement hockey with his six-year-old grandson when the boy pronounced, “I’m Paul Henderson and I’m playing for Team Canada. Who are you going to be, grandpa?”

He couldn’t decide. “Suddenly, Paul Henderson is a six-year-old,” he said later, still a little dumbfounded. “But, when I think of it, I’m 69 and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be in the world. I’m so fortunate, even full of cancer. The Lord expects us to enjoy our lives. He says there will be some brutal times, but we shouldn’t get all bent out of shape about it.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

UNTOLD STORIES FROM RON WILSON

JONAS SIEGEL, TSN.ca, 3/19/2012

The timing was never quite right for telling this story.

One week before he was fired as the 27th head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ron Wilson sat down with TSN.ca for an exclusive, hour-long conversation on a significant milestone that lay just ahead in his coaching career.

In what would ultimately be his final game behind the bench with the Leafs – a 5-4 loss in Chicago opposite former teammate and Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville – Wilson would pass Pat Quinn for 4th on the all-time games coached list with 1401 to his name. Only three men in the history of the game, all legends in their own esteem – Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Dick Irvin – have coached more.

Love him or hate him, his journey to this point is worth at least a tale or two.

—

Ron Wilson has coached in every NHL season since 1993.

It's unclear if and when he'll coach again, but moving beyond a mentor in Quinn was certainly significant and wildly unexpected when the dream took off. "Back then, Pat's probably already coached 700 games," Wilson said last month. "You don't map this out, like where am I going to be when I get 1500 games or 1400 games or 13 and 1200."

His start to coaching life in the NHL began under the big Irishman with Vancouver in 1990.

An assistant coach with the Canucks farm team in Milwaukee the year prior, Wilson had an opportunity to run the bench with the Admirals for six weeks when the team's head coach, Ron Lapointe, relapsed with kidney cancer. Lapointe returned to coach in the playoffs, but the Admirals head coaching job became available the following offseason. "I thought I might be the head coach and I was prepared for that down in the American League," Wilson said, "but Mike Murphy was one of the assistants in Vancouver and he wanted that kind of responsibility."

Murphy won the job in Milwaukee and in an odd twist of fate, Wilson received his former gig, the promotion on Quinn's coaching staff in Vancouver, strongly recommended for the job by then-Director of Hockey Operations, Brian Burke. A wizard of sorts with computers, Wilson arrived in British Columbia stocked with innovative ideas and promise. He took charge of the Canucks video and statistics analysis, integrating computers firmly into the fold from VHS while revamping the organization's system of game preparation, both internally and for upcoming opponents. The idea was to ease the time crunch on the coaching staff.

"It didn't take long for us to figure out he knew what he was doing," Quinn told TSN.ca last month. "What was impressive was his work ethic in terms of the preparation and the number of hours he put in. It used to be coaches didn't put in those kind of hours that they do now. Ronnie had that right from the start in his career."

"My motivation was always to be prepared enough to help the players be the best they could be," Quinn continued, noting a similar trait in Wilson. "That's what gave me the pleasure and that's what gave me the feeling that I was successful in what I was trying to do. You don't get to the number of games he's at without recognizing that and knowing that you need to be prepared. You don't con people at that stage. They know when you're ready and they know when you're doing your work and clearly that record proves that he's been prepared all his career."

—

Technology is ever-present across the NHL today, but at that point in the early 90s, few teams were utilizing computers for their video work and analysis. Wilson had the gift or perhaps the experience. "He had an ability to use computers which many of us older guys didn't have at that time," Quinn said.

It was a chore at first.

As a young boy of 10, maybe 11-years-old, Wilson spent his summers not outdoors on the baseball field or in the street playing road hockey, but in front of a typewriter. His grandfather, a one-time communications employee for the Canadian Pacific Railway who was stricken with polio, made sure of it. "He sat me down, he gave me a typewriter and he said 'you're going to learn to type'," Wilson recalled. He was given a Gregg typing book and a message. "He bought me the book and he said 'every night instead of watching TV or doing what you [kids] are doing, you're going to sit down and teach yourself how to type' so I learned how to type that one summer when I was like 10 or 11 years-old, thinking 'I'll never use this stuff. Now I know how to type, big deal'."

His family moved to the United States shortly thereafter, his father Larry on the hunt for a coaching job following a playing career that stretched over 150 NHL games. A teenager at that point, the younger Wilson typed out letters to the likes of Punch Imlach and Harry Sinden, hoping to help land his father a job. Larry eventually scored a gig with the Dayton Gems of the IHL, but with assistant coaches a wave of the future, he decided it best to put his son to work in the pressbox, tracking shots on goal, scoring chances and other useful stats. "Then he would ask me 'What'd you see up there today?'" the younger Wilson recalled. "Of course I'm at 15 or 16 [years old] I think I'm smarter than my dad like everybody thinks. And I'd be telling him who he should play, who he shouldn't play, who I liked, who I didn't like.

"He would just sit there and listen."

—

After three seasons as an assistant coach with the Canucks, opportunity knocked on Wilson's front door. The expansion Anaheim Mighty Ducks were searching for their first head coach and Wilson's name piqued their interest. A call from the Ducks organization – led by President Tony Tavares and GM Jack Ferreira – was placed to Quinn for permission to speak with his assistant coach. "He didn't think it was a good idea," Wilson recalled, before offering Quinn's reasoning. "The guys who often coach expansion teams, that's the only coaching gig they'll ever get."

"It sounds like something that I might've said," Quinn noted, "but obviously it was a chance for him to step up and he ended up doing a heck of a job there."

"I told Pat, I said, 'once I get permission from you, I'm going after the job," Wilson added. "I'll do what I have to do to get the job in terms of preparation and you know me Pat I'll be prepared.' I was surprised I got the job."

In his first season with the expansion Mighty Ducks, Wilson achieved unexpected success, guiding his band of castoffs to an impressive 19 road wins. Their uniforms were a bold blend of toothpaste green and deep purple, complete with the film-inspired cartoon duck on the front. "I think part of the advantage we had is everybody laughed at us," Wilson grinned. "That was our motivation every town we went into is 'Oh the Mighty Ducks are coming. It's a Mickey Mouse Disney production' and we just said 'Well, let's use that for our motivation to prove everybody wrong' and it worked the first year, for sure."

Wilson's four-year term with the Mighty Ducks would culminate in the club's first ever playoff appearance.

—

Stints with the Capitals, Panthers, and Sharks would follow before Wilson ultimately landed in Toronto. Years of experience not surprisingly produced an evolution, not only in the coach but the person. "You simplify as you get older," he explained. "I think when you're younger you focus more on complicated things, like little details that might have been important to you when you played, but then you realize you've got to simplify. That's the art of coaching is to make something that is complicated that you've spent a lot of time [on] and you've got to simplify, you've got to get right down to the basics."

Wilson agreed that the practice was not so dissimilar to the art of teaching.

"Yeah you break down the equation, but you don't solve the problem," he said when the math analogy was presented. "The players have to go out and solve the problem. But all your students are different. Some don't want your involvement at all and some want a lot of information so that's what you learn over time. You don't flood the guys who don't want information with that information [or] you'll lose them fast. So you make it available somewhere else that they can see the information."

"He's prepared and that's a real important part of it to start with," Quinn said. "That's John Wooden's first rule of coaching is if you're failing to prepare you're preparing to fail. So it takes work and he was willing to put those hours in; all of those traits would lend you to believe that he had a chance to be a good coach and a long-term coach."

Driving information home in new and varied ways over a lengthy period of time is perhaps the greatest challenge of the job. One thousand, four hundred and one games means at least that many conversations with the team, not to mention all the pre-scouting meetings in the morning, incessant chatter and instruction on the bench and a slew of intermission breakdowns. Add in thousands of practices along with team meetings and the talk seems endless. "Plus you're not thinking about the World Cups, the Olympics, the World Championships, just regular season games and you're coming up on fourteen [hundred]," Wilson said. "That's 1400 times you had to talk to the team.

"And you have to be different. You don't say the same thing every time."

—

A lesson from Quinn, Wilson always abstained from speaking with his team in the aftermath of a game. "First of all, when you win, the players don't want to hear the head coach and when you lose they don't really want to hear the head coach either," he explained. "And you're going to end up saying something that you can't take back the next day because you're emotional, those sorts of things."

An eighth round selection in the 1975 Amateur Draft, Wilson played in parts of three seasons with the Leafs, two under the late Roger Neilson. Neilson would spring an impressive umbrella of eventual head coaches, including Wilson, Quenneville, Bruce Boudreau, and John Anderson. "Not that I was ever sitting around thinking that the other guys would be coaches some day, Wilson recalled, "but I knew that there was a possibility that I would."

Asked if passing the milestone in Toronto had any added significance, Wilson offered a response typical of the profession. "This stuff happens so fast you don't really think about that part," he said. "I played for the Leafs and that was a thrill, something I wanted to do that I never thought I would."

Time flies by on a job that is arduous, demanding and frequently unrewarding, but there's a reason men like Wilson and Quinn stick around. "For me I've won lots more than I've lost, I've had more ups than downs, lots of playoff success, so all of those things make it feel like it goes too fast, like you haven't had time to enjoy what is going on around you," Quinn reflected. "You know at the end of the day that you're enjoying it, but you don't think about that when it's happened…It felt like it was fast for me. I wish I was still in it. Time goes by on you."

"What you have to have is passion for the game and a love of the game," Wilson concluded. "That doesn't change. You do get tired at times. That's a lot of games."

—

He was on the phone that day interviewing Corey Hirsch for the goalie coach position in Toronto.

Ron Wilson had recently been hired to coach the Maple Leafs, the team he cheered for as a child and would briefly play with in the NHL. Rooting for the legend of Dave Keon, the opportunity to coach in Toronto is one that he never could have imagined. "You never think you're going to be that character one day on TV, Punch Imlach," Wilson reflected. "You maybe imagine yourself being Davie Keon or Bob Pulford; you don't think you're going to be the coach."

The conversation with Hirsch feels odd from the get-go. "We're talking on the phone…and he's calling me 'Buddy'," Wilson recalled. "And I'm going this doesn't sound right. You don't act so familiar when someone cold-calls you and asks if you're interested in becoming the goalie coach." Delving deeper into the past of his prospective hire, Wilson uncovers a pair of unexpected connections. Eyebrows first raise upon the mention of Dave Prior, whom Hirsch lists as a prominent coaching influence; Prior just happened to be Wilson's goalie coach years back in Washington. Hirsch offers another unsuspecting clue when he declares Olaf Kolzig to be a model in terms of preparation; Kolzig was of course Wilson's starting goalie with those very same Capitals.

Befuddled as he hangs up the phone, Wilson dials up Rob Zettler, his long-time assistant coach. "'I've had the weirdest conversation with Corey Hirsch,'" he tells Zettler, "'and he goes 'What do you mean?' I said 'He's acting like he knows me really well' and he says 'Wils! You coached him!' "I said 'When?!?' He says 'Look it up, he backed up in Washington. Not a lot, but he ended up in Portland and he was like a third goalie in the organization. When somebody got hurt we'd bring up Hirschie'. He says 'You don't remember that?' and I'm like 'No I don't'.

"Then I'm saying 'Oh yeah!'"

"That's when I feel like Pat Quinn," he chuckled. "We used to laugh with Pat when he would forget a guy's name and I'll do the same thing where I'll be 'Uh' and I can't remember like what would be an obvious name."

337 different players have played for Wilson in a career that spans 18 NHL seasons. Forgetting the odd name or two just comes with the territory.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

CBC must decide what to do with Don Cherry

Postmedia News, Mar 19, 2012

As the CBC prepares to negotiate a new contract with the National Hockey League, there are reports that league officials are putting significant pressure on the network to overhaul Hockey Night in Canada and muzzle Don Cherry.

What do you do when your greatest asset is also your biggest liability?

As the CBC prepares to negotiate a new contract with the National Hockey League, there are reports that league officials are putting significant pressure on the network to overhaul Hockey Night in Canada and muzzle Don Cherry.

Frustration from team executives and owners apparently boiled over at some recent meetings between the NHL and the public broadcaster. Apparently it wasn’t just coming from Brian Burke, the Maple Leafs general manager who has engaged in a public feud with Cherry.

The problem for CBC is that Hockey Night in Canada is dominated by Coach’s Corner, the popular intermission segment featuring Cherry and Ron MacLean. Ron and Don are the stars of the show, but they — especially Cherry — are also holding it back, limiting its potential to evolve into a modern sports broadcast.

Coach’s Corner is a strange phenomenon, a bizarre mix of hockey, politics and mythology that clings to an outdated notion of the sport and the nation. We accept it only because we are used to it. Just for fun, imagine yourself trying to convince a foreigner that the spectacle, including Cherry’s wardrobe and idiosyncrasies, is not only serious but almost universally popular.

Rather than address current-day issues in the league, the segment tends to focus on themes that only Cherry cares about. He argues fruitlessly on behalf of his own obsolete philosophy of the game, unloads viciously on his critics, plays clips of himself from previous episodes where he might have made an accurate prediction and then gets misty eyed as he honours fallen Canadian soldiers. It’s all about him, not the sport.

As a result of his unique popularity, the entire broadcast lives in Cherry’s shadow. It’s impossible for anyone else to contradict or eclipse him, so the rest of the show withers.

HNIC overemphasizes the business of hockey rather than engage in compelling storytelling about great moments or interesting players. And it maintains a testy relationship with the league’s head office, clearly demonstrated in the hostile exchanges between MacLean and commissioner Gary Bettman. Imagine such a touchy on-air dynamic between the commissioner of any other sport and its lead broadcaster.

And yet it’s impossible to overstate Cherry’s uniquely widespread appeal in this diverse and sparsely populated land. His name has come up when a new governor general was required. Eight years ago, when CBC viewers were asked to vote for the greatest Canadian, Cherry finished seventh, ahead of Sir John A. Macdonald.

That says as much about this peculiar country as it does of Cherry. Imagine a list of the greatest Americans of all time including Terry Bradshaw or Tim McCarver, let alone seeing one of them place ahead of George Washington.

But this wasn’t just a statement about the country’s passion for hockey, but also the power of television. So important is the Saturday night tradition, Cherry also finished three spots ahead of Wayne Gretzky and 12 places in front of his cherished former charge, Bobby Orr.

You can’t argue with success. For all its faults, Hockey Night in Canada is routinely in the top five highest rated programs in Canada.

Ultimately, with only two seasons left on its current contract, and with Cherry soon to become an octogenarian, something has to give. In the era of government cutbacks, can the CBC continue to use taxpayers’ money to outbid other networks for hockey coverage?

Between now and the next round of negotiations, CBC executives face some tough choices. Do they overhaul the show and start a new era, or back away from hockey altogether? Do they take a tough stand against the league and risk losing the contract, or phase out Cherry to placate the critics?

They’ve shown reluctance to tinker in the past, hanging on to Bob Cole as their lead play-by-play man long past his best-before date. And Cherry, of course, will not go gently into that good Saturday night. If you think he’s preparing for retirement, consider this: he just started tweeting.

And for a private rival, it’s not just as simple as outbidding the CBC for the contract. The league and a new rights holder would have to consider how to match the coverage provided by CBC during the regular season and playoffs. Would CTV, for example, want to turn over its entire broadcast schedule to playoff hockey in April, May and June, forgoing other programs like the season finale of American Idol?

Of course, with the high percentage of households getting cable and satellite signals today, that might not be necessary. Depending on how eager the NHL is to move away from the CBC, it might accept a combined package from CTV and TSN.

One way or another, an era is coming to an end. Even if CBC wins a new contract with the NHL and manages to do so without scrapping Coach’s Corner, Cherry won’t be around forever. CBC executives soon have to start preparing for a new chapter, without Cherry, without HNIC, or perhaps even without both.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Let the Patrick Roy speculation begin

Sean Gordon, Globe and Mail, March 20, 2012

MONTREAL–Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, turns out that Martin Leclerc of Radio-Canada.ca and NHL.com is the first off the mark with news that a deal is done between the Montreal Canadiens and former Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy that will see the fiery Quebec Remparts owner/coach/GM take over the Habs' reins next fall.

Leclerc framed it rather cheekily as an open letter to the Remparts players here, and has said in follow-up interviews that he has at least two reliable sources saying Roy will coach the Habs next year.

There has been the predictable rush to slap down the scoop, and St. Patrick himself took to the airwaves in Quebec City to issue a denial that carefully skirts the meat of Leclerc's assertions: namely that Habs owner Geoff Molson has reached out to Roy, and that a deal is done, at least in principle, to re-join his former team.

Presumably this is a Clintonian moment where everything hinges on what the meaning of "is" and "done" are.

Here's our two cents worth on the subject: Roy ticks all the boxes for the Habs, he's a bilingual Francophone, he's an adored alumnus, he's a living link to the last Cup conquest, he's done good things in junior, with gusts to great. But he's also got maybe the shortest fuse in the history of coaching, and it's debatable that his tempest-in-a-suit-jacket act will translate well to the pros.

It would arguably make more sense to hand Roy the keys to the organization by making him vice-president of hockey operations or general-manager, a role he has thrived in for the Remparts – Roy evidently has a keen eye for talent and the ruthlessness required to bring it on board (and by the way, all this talk can't be seen as anything else than another signal the GM's job in Montreal is about to be vacated by Pierre Gauthier).

And what of all the Curse of the Bambino undertones? The Habs have basically been on an uninterrupted downward slide since Casseau was shipped out of town in 1995; team and former player took the first step toward reconciliation when it came time to retire his No. 33, maybe bringing him back in an official capacity will appease the Forum ghosts further.

Either way, it says here that Roy will probably be employed in one role or another at the Bell Centre this fall, given the paucity of other candidates who fit the same profile.

All that really remains to be determined is the title on the business card.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Leafs fans now chant ‘Fire Burkie'

JEFF BLAIR, Globe and Mail, Mar. 20, 2012

He has no goaltender, his leading scorer is a milquetoast, Tom Thumb guy who shrinks even further in front of the cameras and nobody knows for certain whether his team captain has credibility in the dressing room.

The better part of four years in the bag and who is the face of the franchise in the centre of the hockey universe? Brian Burke. Who does Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment run out to thank season ticket-holders, to spear-head its renewal campaign? The general manager who hasn’t made the playoffs. Him, and Randy Carlyle, the head coach of a month or so who seems to be in charge of a dressing room full of misfit toys. Four years, and the Leafs don’t even have a player worth putting front and centre; they don’t even have the type of modestly-talented plugger that Toronto fans will lavish with praise. Four years, and it’s still Brian Burke they’re selling. Four years, and it’s still Brian Burke in your face. How’s that working for you?

What is clear is that there’s a vacuum at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment right now – a lack of adult supervision that will unfortunately be the new norm until the sale of Teachers' stake in MLSE is finished. Tom Anselmi is more or less the ranking guy under Larry Tanenbaum but there’s no sense that either of them are in a position or have the inclination to relieve Burke of his job, which for most franchises would be the next move given the mess that has become 2011-2012. But, really: what else does this franchise have but Burke? It’s pathetic – but it’s true. No other Canadian team puts it’s G.M. front and centre. Few teams in sports do it. There are times when this franchise – I swear, I believe this – is the Chicago Cubs (minus the lovable nature.) It will never win. Ever. Somehow, some way, they’ll screw it up.

There were ‘Fire Burkie’ chants at the Air Canada Centre Tuesday night, as the Maple Leafs embarrassed themselves yet again in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders in a game that ended with acres of empty seats and nasty, braying remnants. Matt Moulson’s first of two third-period goals, with Matt Frattin in the penalty box serving a delay of game penalty, broke open a 2-2 tie in a game in which the Leafs managed 14 shots, 24 hours after firing just 13 shots on goal in an 8-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. The dressing room was closed for 20 minutes after the game, which gave the Leafs ample time to practice their blank stares and shrugs.

“It was just a heart to heart,” said goaltender James Reimer, who was unable to rescue his team while facing 34 shots. “Some words were said. Let’s keep it that way.”

Carlyle said later that he sat in on the meeting. Normally he talks to the team after every game, but this time he lingered in his words “a little longer.” He heard the chatter. He asked some questions. Carlyle was asked if this team still lacked confidence, something he referred to in his first days on the job.

“Very much so. Very, very much so,” he responded. “Their goals came off of pucks that were easily manageable, and we didn’t manage them properly.”

Burke is going nowhere. Not with negotiations on a new collective agreement coming; a bad time if ever to bring in somebody and expect them to hit the ground running. The only way that changes is if sometime this off-season, Burke gets rid of one of his many assistant general managers. That will be a sign that the game has changed, that somebody in the new ownership group has the ear of somebody else. Much like a head coach being ordered to get rid of an assistant coach, if Burke is told to divest himself of, say, a David Nonis or two it will be a sign that the suits have awakened; that the guys who actually do up their neckties instead of letting them hang on either side of the collar have awakened and want to take back their team.

Truth is, more and more of Burke’s supporters will tell you they do not care whether or not Burke’s back. They’re all talked out; tired of the made-up, personalized trade deadlines and desire to meddle in the affairs of other teams and the league in general. Bored of the broad pronouncements, the sappy attachments to the Colton Orrs of the world; the tiresome tilting at windmills and the flippant “I could have traded for four first-round draft picks,” stuff. ‘Fire Burke,’ they started to chant loudly enough in the third period that the P.A. system at the ACC seemed a little louder than usual during stoppages. Really, at this stage the only response is a shrug and a ‘whatever.’

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Roy denies coaching rumours: Reports say Hall of Famer is set to manage Canadiens

QMI Agency, March 21 2012

Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy denied reports that he has already agreed to coach the Montreal Canadiens next season.

Roy, a former Canadiens great who is the co-owner, general manager and coach of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, says the report by Radio-Canada.ca that he will replace Randy Cunneyworth next season is "ridiculous." The report, using unnamed sources, says Canadiens owner Geoff Molson has contacted Roy and a deal in principle is done.

"It makes me laugh and I'm flattered that my name is circulating, but at the end of the day, it's Mr. Molson, who will make decisions about who is going to be his coach and general manager," Roy told the Journal de Quebec.

Roy fits the bill for what Habs fans want to see in a coach — he's a bilingual Francophone, his exploits with the team are legendary and he's been successful as a coach, albeit in the junior ranks.

Cunneyworth's interim hiring midway through this season after the firing of bilingual Jacques Martin was controversial from the outset. In addition, the Habs haven't improved with him running the bench and will miss the playoffs, leading to speculation that Cunneyworth, and possiblly general manager Pierre Gauthier, will be axed at the end of the season.

Dean
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Burr battles cancer head on

Dave Paul, QMI Agency, March 21 2012

SARNIA, ONT. – “Yyyyyell-o!” the voice, answering the call on the cell phone, shouts.

It’s not what you would expect from someone who is less than 48 hours away from starting chemotherapy treatment.

But it’s what friends and family of Shawn Burr have come to expect.

Burr was admitted to Universtiy of Michigan medical centre this past Sunday to begin chemo for the second time in just under a year.

The leukemia which had gone into remission last spring, has returned.

But, in a conversation, two days before entering the hospital, he was doing what he does best — acting carefree, and even cracking a few self-deprecating jokes.

“I guess, for the most part, it’s just my personality. It’s who I am,” he says, though he admits, in his next breath, “but I’d be lying if I told you that I’m not nervous … that when I’m sitting by myself, I don’t start thinking about it and feeling uneasy.

“I just know it’s not going to make things any better if I’m moping all the time.”

Burr’s most recent diagnosis came just a couple of weeks ago when he started feeling run down and went to get a blood test.

“If I hadn’t been through it before, I might have just thought I was feeling a little off, like I was getting a cold, or something,” said Burr, 45. “But I kind of knew what to expect this time.”

Burr’s blood platelet count was very low. A transfusion was conducted and chemotherapy scheduled.

A bone marrow transplant is also going to be required to ultimately save his life.

All of these developments happened just a few days before Burr was scheduled to host a hockey all-star/Detroit Red Wings alumni game to benefit cancer research.

“Yeah, I’ll do anything to sell tickets — even have a relapse,” jokes Burr, the Sarnia-born, St. Clair Mich. resident, who played for the Red Wings from the mid-1980s until 1995.

In addition to being a cancer fundraiser, that game, which was played in Fraser, Mich. on Saturday, kicked off a bone marrow donor registry program, featuring Burr as its ambassador, in Michigan.

“Maybe this happened to me for a reason,” says Burr. “Maybe if we start adding thousands of names to the registry, we can save a life.”

He adds the Michigan dental association is also on board. They will be launching a campaign this spring to offer to perform the simple mouth swab procedures that are required to be added to the registry.

Lauren Drury, 23, of Sarnia, knows Burr well.

“Shawn Burr is my parents’ (Brad and Kim) best friend,” she says. “He’s been a part of my life since as long as I can remember.”

She approached the Sarnia Sting (a team which was once part-owned by Burr) about setting up a bone marrow donor display at one of their games and the club agreed.

The plans are to have a kiosk on the concourse at the RBC Centre for the team’s playoff opener, this Friday.

“We’re more than pleased to participate in this,” says Sting Director of Marketing and Corporate Sales — and Shawn Burr’s cousin — Greg Burr.

“This is something that could benefit many others, as well as Shawn,” he added.

Drury said the swabs will not be collected at the arena.

“People can sign up at the game and the swabs will be sent to their homes,” she says, adding the “swabbing” is easy to do and painless.

The data becomes part of an international registry, she adds, and there is no commitment for people who do participate.

Shawn Burr adds that donating marrow is not as unpleasant as some people might think.

“Something like 96 per cent of the time, peripheral stem cells are collected and used. It’s slightly more complicated than donating two pints of blood … it’s not getting a big needle in your bone,” says Burr.

If this round of chemotherapy puts his leukemia into remission, the search for a donor will intensify. If one is found, Burr would then undergo more chemotherapy to eliminate all of his existing bone marrow and a transplant would be performed.

But finding matches for bone marrow transplants is not easy. The odds are long and only a small fraction of the population is on the international registry.

Still, Burr remains optimistic.

“I’m approaching this like I would a hockey game,” he says. “It would be silly to go into a game thinking about all the things that can go wrong — like, what if I break my leg, or what if my team takes ten penalties.

“There are things that can go wrong, or they can go right,” he says. “There’s a way to beat this and I know I have great doctors on my side. … All I’m focused on is winning at the end.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

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Lightning goalie Dustin Tokarski shows that size really doesn’t matter
After being passed over in the WHL draft, Dustin Tokarski went on to win a Memorial Cup and world junior gold.

Michael Traikos, National Post, Mar 16, 2012

In the beginning there was Ken Dryden, a goalie so tall that when he stood upright in front of the net he looked like a tourist at Legoland. He showed that size really did matter. And eventually, goalies started to sew extra flaps onto their equipment and began acting like teenaged girls by stuffing themselves with so much padding that they literally filled the net.

It worked, to an extant. More and more hockey games ended in soccer-like results, eventually convincing the league, as it was coming out of a lockout, that it needed to slim down the sumo-sized behemoths. Armed with rulers and a Jenny Craig-like mentality, they put restrictions on how big goalie equipment could be.

Of course, they could not change how big goalies could be.

So now you have 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop, 6-foot-6 Pekka Rinne and a league where, according to NHL goaltending supervisor Kay Whitmore, 76 of the 85 goalies who have appeared in at least one game this season are 6-feet or taller. And yet the net has remained six feet wide and four feet high.

“You can’t teach big,” Whitmore said. “I’ll get a call from a GM saying, ‘Why is this goaltender so big? Is he cheating?’ The fact is he is that big and you can’t do anything about it.

“It’s almost like they’re outgrowing the net.”

So why is it that last year’s Vezina Trophy winner is 5-foot-11 Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins? Why is it that 5-foot-11 Jaroslav Halak of the St. Louis Blues has the second-best save percentage in the NHL? And why is it that the Tampa Bay Lightning are looking at 5-foot-11 Dustin Tokarski to be their goaltender of their future?

Is bigger really better? Hockey is a highly coached and constantly evolving sport. When Jean-Sébastien Giguère led the Anaheim Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007, he did so with a style of goaltending where the object was to take up space and let the puck hit you. But over time, players became smarter and realized that bigger goaltenders were often slower and less mobile when they were forced from post to post.

“With the blocking style, you had to be big to cover the net,” said hockey analyst Greg Millen, a former NHL goaltender who was 5-foot-9 when he played. “But now that the game is quicker with the east-west game now, you have to be quicker to get over and stop the puck.”

“There’s always been talk about my size,” Tokarski said. “But look at a guy like Tim Thomas. He’s good because he’s so agile. A goalie who’s 6-6 can’t move like a goalie who’s 5-11. At the end of the day, it’s all about stopping the puck.”

In theory, that is what it should be about. But like pint-sized goal scorers, scouts tend to overlook smaller goalies.

When Central Scouting released its final rankings last month, three of the top four North American goaltenders were 6-foot-4 or taller, while the top-ranked European was 6-foot-3. Perhaps that is why Thomas spent the first seven years of his career backpacking through Europe before landing NHL work and why Halak was a ninth-round draft pick.

“Look how long it took a guy like Marty St. Louis to get into the league,” Whitmore says. “When Ben Bishop plays the way he has [for Ottawa], it’s going to be hard not to look for those types of goalies. It takes time to evolve, for trends to shift the other way.”

Tokarski, who was called up to the Lightning last week to fill in for the injured Mathieu Garon, is hoping to cause that change. After being passed up in the WHL draft, he went on to win a Memorial Cup with the Spokane Chiefs, where he was named tournament MVP. He also backstopped Canada to a gold medal at the 2009 world junior championship.

Tampa Bay probably could have used him this season, where Garon and Dwayne Roloson turned the Lightning’s net into an all-you-can-score buffet. But the team was careful not to rush Tokarski’s development, knowing that the 22-year-old factors heavily in the future.

He had been 1-1-1 in three games since arriving, compiling a 2.30 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. His development took a small step sideways on Thursday night when he was pulled midway through the second period after falling behind the Maple Leafs 3-0 on just 10 shots.

“The one thing I know is he’s won wherever he’s at,” said head coach Guy Boucher, who also coached Tokarski at the world juniors. “That means he’s strong mentally. So the things that he doesn’t have right now, there’s a big chance he’s going to get them.

“He’s a youngster, so I’m not going to put any pressure on him to save us. We don’t need to be saved. He needs to progress the way that he needs to progress.”

Essentially, he still needs to grow. Just not in the way that we have seen in the past.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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There’s no ‘I’ in Regina coach Pat Conacher’s team

Greg Harder, Regina Leader-Post March 22, 2012

REGINA — At first, Pat Conacher wasn’t sure how to react.

Using words like “surprised” and “honoured,” the Regina Pats’ bench boss graciously accepted his Eastern Conference nomination for WHL coach of the year — despite the fact it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

“It’s a team sport,” insisted Conacher, who’s up against Western nominee Jim Hiller of the Tri-City Americans. “The individual stuff comes and goes but at the end of the day you win as a team. One guy gets picked out. I guess it’s great but it’s still about the team. It’s everybody (contributing to a united cause). One guy shouldn’t be singled out.”

Truth be told, Conacher has been known to utter the word “hate” in association with individual accolades. They simply don’t mesh with his team-based convictions, the same belief system he has worked so hard to instil with the Pats, who will make their first playoff appearance in four years tonight against the host Moose Jaw Warriors.

“Being around long enough and being around teams that win and teams that lose, that’s just the makeup (of a successful club),” said the 52-year-old former NHLer, who won a Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984. “No one is bigger than the team and we do everything for each other. I don’t have many rules but the ones I have I’m pretty strict on. It’s always about respect — respect your teammates, respect your organization, be on time. Those little things make such a difference.”

Jordan Weal found out the hard way on opening night when he was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career after accidentally missing a team meeting. Weal didn’t like it, but he accepted the coach’s decision, which set the tone for the rest of the season.

“He really straddles that line with getting respect from his players but pushing them at the same time when they need a kick in the behind,” noted Weal, who — despite his superstar status — has embraced Conacher’s team-first concept. “That’s one thing Pat said as soon as he came in here, he wanted to change the culture. He didn’t feel it was enough team-oriented. That has worn off on all of us. We’ve really bought into his systems and his beliefs.”

Conacher’s words don’t just carry weight with the players because he’s the boss, but because he has been in their shoes. He also played at a level which they aspire to reach.

“He has been on some of the greatest teams of all time,” said Weal. “He has given us examples and stories about those times. When it comes from a guy who has been through that much and has been around Wayne Gretzky, the best player of all time, you have to listen and take it to heart. You know it’s going to be gold and something you can take with you for a long time. You’re going to become a better person and a better player.”

Although Conacher supplied the philosophical foundation of Regina’s turnaround, he’s quick to credit GM Chad Lang as well as assistants Malcolm Cameron, Josh Dixon and Rob Muntain. As a collective group, they’ve pointed the Pats in the right direction.

“They don’t work under me,” Conacher said of his coaches. “We’re all equals in there. There’s no egos in the room. They don’t just sit there and agree with me. Sure I make the last call because I’m the head coach but I respect those guys so much in their opinions. I trust them totally.”

The Pats made immediate strides under Conacher & Co, but the process wasn’t as easy as it might seem. After being hired in the off-season, he arrived in training camp with a huge task ahead, not the least of which being to foster confidence in a fragile team.

“August seems like 100 years ago,” Conacher said with a laugh. “When we first addressed the team and said, ‘this is my expectation of you guys as individuals and as a team,’ some guys were looking at me like I was from outer space. And then as we went down the line they kind of bought in.

“What I enjoy the most — and the job is far from over — is seeing the guys (improve). They can see the reward of pulling together as a team, working hard each and every day, being open to new things, getting out of their box, accepting new roles and responsibilities. We haven’t even played a playoff game yet but at least we got here. It’s still a work in progress. I’m not going to say we’re a long ways off but there’s still work to be done.”

—–

Good for Pat! I coached one of his son's and taught his brother in a NCCP class many years ago. I stayed in touch with Pat; he was an A/C in Phoenix when I was working there in the late 90's / early 2000's and he always made time to chat. He is a genuinely 'nice' person so it is particularly gratifying to see good things happen to good people. Josh Dixon is a former A/C and roommate of mine. He is working his way up the ladder and will be a great coach in his own right.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Habs great Beliveau released from hospital

Sympatico.ca Sports, 24/03/2012

MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau has been released from hospital after suffering a stroke late last month.

Donald Beauchamp, a spokesman for the NHL team, said Beliveau was released from Montreal General Hospital on Friday. The 80-year-old Hall of Famer was transferred to a rehabilitation centre.

"His condition is improving, it's good news," Beauchamp said Saturday.

Beliveau suffered the stroke on Feb. 27, his second in as many years.

He was also treated for cardiac problems in 1996 and in 2000 was diagnosed with a tumour on his neck. Beliveau underwent surgery last year to treat abdominal aneurysms.

The longtime fan favourite, who won 10 Stanley Cups as a player with the Habs, received an outpouring of support after news of the stroke surfaced.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper even sent him his best wishes.

On Saturday, fans rejoiced after it was revealed their hockey hero was recovering.

"Very happy to see that Jean Beliveau was released from hospital," said one Twitter user who identified himself as Paul Balfour. "No player will ever win 10 Stanley Cups again."

Beliveau's career began with brief stints with the Habs over two seasons before he joined the team for good in 1953-54.

He had been such a coveted prospect that the Canadiens bought an entire league to gain his contractual rights. Even then, he managed to exceed expectations.

Beliveau retired in 1971 after playing his entire NHL career in Montreal.

He recorded 507 goals and 712 assists in 1,125 career games. He also had 176 points (79-97) in the playoffs.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
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"Great education depends on great teaching."

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Answering Montreal’s prayers: St. Patrick ascends to the Habs

ROY MacGREGOR, Globe and Mail, Mar. 23, 2012

The beauty of it is, you can say anything you like about him but thanks to all those Stanley Cup rings, he’ll never hear about it.

He’s too temperamental for the job, too stubborn, too rude and far too full of himself.

He’d also be perfect.

The very idea of Patrick Roy returning to the fold of the Montreal Canadiens, this time as head coach, was floated earlier this week by a Radio-Canada blogger. Naturally, Patrick Roy denied it and claims the time is not right for him to return to the NHL.

At some point, of course, it will be – and likely sooner than later.

According to the denied report, a deal is looming between Roy – owner, general manager and head coach of the Quebec Remparts junior hockey team – and Geoff Molson, main owner of the fabled-now-dysfunctional Montreal Canadiens.

True or not, it fits. And much sooner than later. Molson has promised outraged fans that the team’s next head coach would be bilingual, something that is currently beyond the tongue grasp of interim coach Randy Cunneyworth, who never really asked for the job in the first place.

Cunneyworth ended up behind the bench only after general manager Pierre Gauthier had fired head coach Jacques Martin and was unable to turn to Martin’s far-more-experienced assistant Perry Pearn because, well, Gauthier had months earlier fired him, as well.

Given that the Canadiens, winners of 24 Stanley Cups, won’t even make the playoffs this year, are burdened with bad deals (Scott Gomez, for example, currently scoring at a $3.75-million-a-goal pace) and have few prospects coming along, Gauthier himself may be shown the door at season’s end.

And here’s where the 46-year-old Roy makes most sense: in the media rather than on the ice. The Montreal sports media – far more powerful in its constituency than, say, the Ottawa media in federal politics – have been driven beyond the point of frustration in recent years They have dealt with a GM who doesn’t speak (Gauthier), a coach who never says anything (Martin) and an interim coach who can’t say anything in French.

Roy is hard to shut up in both official languages.

The Hall-of-Fame goaltender can be funny. Responding to a complaint by the Chicago Blackhawks Jeremy Roenick that he deserved a penalty shot during the 1996 playoffs, Roy told the media “I can’t really hear what Jeremy says, because I’ve got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears.” A few weeks later he had a third ring, and a fourth by the time he retired.

He can be engaging: remember his wink at the Los Angeles Kings’ Tomas Sandstrom during the 1993 Stanley Cup finals – which the Montreal Canadiens won only because of Roy’s astonishing success in winning a record 10 successive overtime games.

He has a temper: when he was finally yanked by then coach Mario Tremblay during an 11-1 loss to Detroit on Dec. 2, 1995, Roy raised his arms in triumph, raced to the bench, pushed past Tremblay and went straight to team president Ron Corey to let him know “It’s my last game in Montreal.” And it was. He was soon traded to Colorado Avalanche in a lopsided deal that many now believe was the start of the Canadiens long years of woe. They have not won a Stanley Cup since he left.

He can be infuriating: refusing to join Canada’s 2002 Olympic team in Salt Lake City because he hadn’t been chosen one of the “Original Eight” players in the fall. No matter, Canada won the gold medal without him.

He can be stubborn: just ask Martin Brodeur. Roy had been in goal during Canada’s shocking loss to Dominik Hasek and the Czech Republic in Nagano in 1998. Roy let in one goal during the famous shootout, Hasek none, forcing Canada to meet Finland for the bronze medal. The decent thing to do would have been to stand aside so the backup could have an Olympic experience. Roy insisted on playing, played half-heartedly and Canada returned from Japan without a medal in men’s hockey. Brodeur, who grew up idolizing Roy, would go on to break Roy’s NHL records for wins and shutouts.

He’s bizarre: Roy talked to his goal posts while playing, refused to skate over the red line and bluelines on the ice, kept a photograph of Bobby Orr in a Chicago jersey in his Avalanche locker (surely seeing himself as another all-time great who would later switch teams), would incessantly bounce a puck off the dressing room floor during intermissions.

He comes with a laundry list of personal baggage: arrested for domestic violence while playing in Colorado (case later dismissed), accused of signalling his goaltender son Jonathan to jump an opposing junior goalie, getting in scuffles with opposing fans and even other team executives. …

And yet, he’s a winner.

He won the Calder Cup in his first and only year in the AHL.

He won the Stanley Cup in his first year in the NHL, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy (his first of three) as the MVP of the playoffs and picked up the nickname that sticks with him still: “St. Patrick.”

He won the Memorial Cup – emblematic of the top junior team in the country – in his first year coaching the Remparts.

How can the Canadiens possibly resist?

How, at some point, could he resist?

If only for the sake of the Montreal media.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

Trotz pulls off Music City miracle
Paul Friesen, QMI Agency, March 24 2012

Barry Trotz cut his coaching teeth in Manitoba, and has turned the Nashville Predators into a success story.
WASHINGTON – He's a Manitoba boy, through and through — grew up in Dauphin and cut his hockey teeth in the Manitoba Junior League and at the University of Manitoba.

So you'd think his first game against the new Winnipeg Jets, Saturday in Tennessee, would be pretty special for Nashville Predators head coach, Barry Trotz.

Think again.

"From my standpoint, we need the two points," Trotz told the Sun, Friday. "That's about it."

Welcome to the pressure-cooker of the NHL playoff race, where there's little room for sentiment or nostalgia.

Trotz may have grown up with the Jets top of mind, but it's the Red Wings and Blackhawks on his brain these days, the teams Nashville is clustered with in the four-through-six positions in the Western Conference.

The new-look Predators (1-3-1 in their last five) haven't exactly been lighting up the league since undergoing a makeover at the trade deadline, outscored 11-4 in back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Edmonton.

The Preds make no bones about their new identity. No longer is this the small-market, low-budget outfit that was content simply to make the playoffs.

This is a team built to last, to win, behind a coach trying to become the first Manitoban since Fred Shero in 1975 to guide his team to the Stanley Cup.

"We're all in," Trotz acknowledged. "We probably made the most moves at the trading deadline. We were a decent team at the trading deadline. We've added some pieces, now we've gotta make them fit."

Going to the Music City via trade: rugged forward Paul Gaustad, skilled winger Andre Kostitsyn and big defenceman Hal Gill.

And the big coup: the return of Alexander Radulov from a four-year exile in Russia.

"On paper we look better," Trotz said. "But you know what? It's not necessarily the best teams that win. It's the team that plays the best. And right now we could be playing a lot better."

Trotz's challenge is managing the team chemistry the Preds have always seemed to have in spades.

Because adding players means some who've been around for 60 games get bumped down — or out altogether.

"If you want to win the Cup… you need everybody buying in," the coach said. "And in order to win the Cup you have to have a deep team. We are a deep team, in terms of talent. Now we have to become a good team."

That job falls to the only coach Nashville has ever known, a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's top coach the last two years.

Three more victories and Trotz will join Al Arbour (Islanders), Lindy Ruff (Sabres), Billy Reay (Blackhawks) and Toe Blake (Canadiens) as the only coaches to reach 500 wins with one franchise.

After Saturday, it better be two more victories.

Or he's going to be one grumpy guy.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Hockey World: Yzerman looks for fresh faces for Team Canada

Jim Matheson, edmontonjournal.com, March 24, 2012

Who’s Hot: Raffi Torres has come alive for the Phoenix Coyotes with six goals in his last 12 games.

Who’s Not: Dany Heatley has two goals in his last 17 games for the Minnesota Wild and only has 20 on the year.

Marquee Matchups:

Monday: Battle for eighth in the West with the Colorado Avalanche in the Shark Tank in San Jose

Tuesday: Battle for eighth in the East with the surging Buffalo Sabres in Washington to play the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, who suddenly has 35 goals.

In 2014, when the NHL elite hikes over to Sochi, the Russian resort city on the Black Sea where Stalin once had a summer dacha, you might not see an extreme makeover of Canada’s reigning Olympic hockey gold-medal winners from Vancouver, but there will be definitely be lots of freshly-scrubbed new kids.

Maybe a 50-per-cent turnover?

“I think you’ll see 10 to 12 ­different faces,” said Steve Yzerman, who has a tough act to follow as the team GM.

Steve Stamkos and Claude Giroux (No. 2 and No. 3 in the scoring race) are slam-dunks. John Tavares, Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Milan Lucic, Jordan Staal, Logan Couture, Ryan O’Reilly, Matt Duchene, Alex Pietrangelo, Tyler Myers, Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price are all on Yzerman’s radar, although the cavernous ice surface in Europe will open up the debate on some guys.

The big bodies of the nasty Lucic and the shutdown centre Staal may be more of a weapon on an NHL rink where it’s more bumper cars and a lot more cycling of the puck along the boards to crash the blue paint.

Fleury, who was along for the ride in Vancouver watching Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo in 2010, will be No. 1 or 1a in net in Sochi. Sidney Crosby, as long as he stays healthy, Rick Nash, Shea Weber, Corey Perry and Jonathan Toews are givens to return.

Duncan Keith, even though his game isn’t as rock solid today as it was then, maybe because he has been over-extended, and Brent Seabrook on defence are close because they’re going to need some experienced hands back there.

Ryan Getzlaf, even having a crummy year, works so well with Perry. Jarome Iginla still has lots of game, but he’ll be 36 in the winter of 2014. Luongo, the goalie of record in the gold-medal game in Vancouver, will be 34.

Joe Thornton, Eric Staal, Mike Richards, Patrick Marleau, Patrice Bergeron and Drew Doughty were there in 2010, but are they locks? I don’t think so. Thornton struggled with the pace then. Bergeron is a terrific two-way player in Boston, but was a faceoff specialist in Vancouver who didn’t get a lot of ice time.

Brodeur, Scott Niedermayer (retired), Chris Pronger, Dany Heatley, Brenden Morrow and maybe Dan Boyle, all on the 2010 Olympic squad, could be out for age (Brodeur would be 41, Boyle would be 37), body wearing down (Pronger, who would also be 39 and Morrow) or game going downhill (Heatley).

“Some guys retire, a lot changes in four years, young guys come along,” said Yzerman. “We’re still two years away (from Sochi).Players get hurt, young guys don’t develop as you’d expect and veterans have a resurgence, but there will be some turnover, for sure.”

Stamkos, who’s on his way to his second Rocket Richard trophy, was on the bubble in 2010, in the midst of a 51-goal season. Why didn’t they take him?

“I wouldn’t say every decision we made was the right one, but we won. He was a young player and parts of his game needed to improve. Young guys need to round out their games,” Yzerman said.

Stamkos was bummed about not getting picked for Vancouver, but he also knew he was new to the NHL party. Yzerman was still working for the Red Wings then. He came on board with the Lightning in the spring of 2010.

“When Steve took the job with our team (Tampa Bay) I told him he’d have a harder time explaining it to Marty St. Louis than me. I was 19 at the time. I didn’t expect to get my name called. I was thrilled to be in the mix. It was a good experience to be mentioned in that breath,” said Stamkos, who was watching the gold medal game on TV with a couple of Lightning teammates. He was fan, like the rest of Canada.

He’ll be on the ice in Sochi, if the NHLers are there. They haven’t finalized it yet. “There’s obviously a lot of young guys coming in, prepared to play in this league. You see the results. They’re some of the top players in the league,” he said.

The bigger European surface will force Yzerman and his staff to place more emphasis on footspeed, moreso than in Vancouver. Up front or back though Yzerman, who played in Nagano in 1998 and won a gold medal in 2002 in Salt Lake City with his aching knee full of pain-killer, is a bigger believer in ice savvy too.

“Whether it’s at forward or on defence, intelligence is the most important thing. You’re playing with different players … we put so much importance in that tournament and there’s so little time to prepare. Chris Pronger was a good player for us in the Olympics and he didn’t skate like he did when he was a kid, but he’s so smart and he passes the puck so well. He knows where to go and, as the tournament went on, he got better and better. That said, on a big ice surface, it’s more important that defencemen are mobile,” said Yzerman, who did toss out a caveat. “We had Mike Commodore with us in 2007 in Europe in the world championships and he was smart and knew how to angle people off. He was very effective for us.”

Changing of the guard in goal? Brodeur has had his time, and Luongo will be in his mid-30s.

“Whether Marty’s still playing we don’t know, but Roberto is playing pretty well this year … that poor guy is under the spotlight all the time. I don’t know if age is an issue there,” said Yzerman. “But Fleury was the third goalie in Vancouver and is in the prime of his career. We’ll see about Roberto.”

If it’s not Fleury and Price crowding the issue, I’d be surprised. There aren’t a lot of options for Canada in net, as Yzerman fully acknowledges. Canada isn’t turning out a lot of high-end NHL goalies right now. Jonathan Quick is American. So is Jimmy Howard. Then you’ve Henrik Lundqvist (Swede), Pekka Rinne, Kari Lehtonen, Tuukka Rask (Finns), Jaroslav Halak (Slovak).

“Things go in cycles. I don’t know why we don’t have the up-and-comers (Canada), but at some point we’ll get the next one coming along. Seems like every good goalie is Swedish or Finnish now. Maybe we need to go over there to see what they’re doing to develop their goalies so we get it figured out,” Yzerman said.

What has Yzerman learned from his Olympic playing and managing? It’s not about re-inventing the wheel.

“You need good goaltending, I know that. Look at the Czechs winning in ’98 (Dominik Hasek). There we were humming along in the tournament, but it’s single elimination and we lose in a shootout. In ’02, we got it. In Vancouver, we had great chances in the gold medal game, but Ryan Miller made some great saves (to get it to OT),” he said.

Western Conference:

The Alexander Radulov walking out on the Nashville Predators saga has NHL general managers on alert because they don’t want to be left holding the bag if, say, they take Nail Yakupov No. 1 or Mikhail Grigorenko No. 2 in the June draft and they high-tail it back to Russia for gobs more money than an entry-level NHL contract for a first-rounder.

“You do as much homework as you can on a player, what kind of character he has, what drives him. The general consensus is, say, if they’re here playing junior in North America (Yakupov in Sarnia, Grigorenko in Quebec City and fellow Russian Alex Galchenyuk, also in Sarnia), the player wants to be here. I think the Radulov situation might be a one-off. The top Russian players who’ve made the committment to come over (Malkin) are staying. They do have leverage of going back to Russia which can help with an NHL contract. Yeah, that has to come into consideration, but I look at the kids in this draft, I think if you like them you’ll take them and you’ll sign them.”

**

There’s a body of thought that Predators GM David Poile, who has been a general manager for 2,239 games in Washington and Nashville — second only to Glen Sather (2,480), with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers — might be looking at retiring soon, grooming Paul Fenton to take his job.

Poile is 63 and maybe he has worked so hard to get Radulov back to try and surround his unrestricted free agent (UFA) defenceman Ryan Suter and his restricted free agent captain Shea Weber with the talent to keep them, because he knows the clock is ticking. He dismissed the thought of him being tired and maybe getting away to Florida for the winters. After all, Sather is 68 and still going at it, a cigar in his mouth.

“I just got an (three-year) extension. I haven’t thought of quitting, but now you’re giving me something else to think about today,” Poile said with a laugh after the Radulov returns presser this week. “How long is Glen going to do it? Why is he still doing it? He’s already won something.”

Poile hasn’t. He’s a good man who has built good teams and deserves to hold the Stanley Cup at least once.

This ’n’ that

With all the Detroit Red Wings’ injuries they’ve had to look at more farmhands than normal and the one who’s made the best impression is winger Gustav Nyquist, a little dynamo who had three years at the University of Maine and was a Hobey Baker finalist. He played an excellent game against the Cup threat Rangers in 17 minutes of work this week. “Smart player, makes the right decisions,” said fellow Swede Henrik Zetterberg, who centred for Nyqvist and Valtteri Filppula.

Jordan Eberle likes Steve Stamkos, but has a man crush on Martin St. Louis. “My favourite player. He’s awesome, he’s the leader on their team,” Eberle said. St. Louis played 28 minutes against the Toronto Maple Leafs 10 days ago, in a game that didn’t go to OT. That’s a ton for a forward.

After he missed half the season with a concussion, the St. Louis Blues are getting Alex Steen back by the end of this month. That’s like making a trade. He’s a solid top-six forward who was plus-20 in 36 games (13 goals).

Mikko Koivu is back playing in Minnesota after missing 15 games with a bum shoulder, but the question is why when they could be a lottery team? Is he feeling some pressure to play in the worlds where the Finns are defending champs and the tournament is in Helsinki and Stockholm? The Wild are 8-16-3 without their captain. Matt Cullen had to fill in on defence late in the win over the Calgary Flames when they lost three guys, including Jared Spurgeon to a possible concussion after an Alex Tanguay elbow. Tom Gilbert played 31 minutes in the game. Years back, the Oilers were down to three defencemen for a lot longer than the last five minutes of the third and OT as Cullen was. Gilbert played a ton that night, too.

Congrats to Tony DaCosta, the hard-working Wild equipment manager who just worked his 1,500th game. DaCosta has been with them since their inception in 2000 after starting as a helper with the Winnipeg Jets. He survived the wild equipment truck fire in Kanata, Ont., before an Ottawa Senators game that destroyed the club’s gear.

Eastern Conference:

The MVP race was still in question a week ago even, if Stamkos’ Lightning are a lottery team, not a playoff team, because Stamkos was 11 goals ahead in the Rocket Richard trophy race, had 42 even-strength goals with 10 game-winners, but now Pittsburgh Penguins sniper Evgeni Malkin is only seven back (52-45). Stamkos scored two on Saturday to extend his lead.

“Malkin has been been magnificent,” said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson.

“Malkin? He’s got my MVP vote. I’ve seen him up close,” said Predators coach Barry Trotz after Malkin lit up Nashville.

It’s always been a thorny debate: can a player get the Hart Trophy if his team doesn’t get to the Stanley Cup tournament? The last time it happened was 1988, with Malkin’s boss, Mario Lemieux and the Penguins, but Mario had 169 points and won the scoring title in 1987-88.

“The name of the game is to win, so generally you look at who has the biggest impact on his team, but every now and then a player is so important to his team you have to give him consideration,” Yzerman said.

Stamkos was close then in the scoring race, but no longer.

“Look at what Malkin did when Crosby was out? It’s a good race (with Stamkos), but he keeps getting those four and five-point nights,” said Oilers winger Jordan Eberle.

Malkin has finished second twice to Alex Ovechkin in Hart Trophy voting.

**

The line’s forming to the right for Florida UFA defenceman Jason Garrison, who has 16 goals, second only to Erik Karlsson. The Panthers have offered $2.5 million a year, but he’s barely given the offer the time of day after making $600,000 this year. The feeling is he figures he can get $4 million on the open market. Should the Oilers be in the hunt? Yes, but with reservations. They could use somebody to pound the puck — he’s a shooter not a passer, playing with Brian Campbell which gives him the leeway to fire away — but there are niggling concerns.

“He’s a No. 5 defenceman,” said one NHL team executive. Plus, he’s only lit it up for one year. There’s no body of work here. That said, it’s a very shallow free-agent market for blue-liners, so he’s holding all the cards. Garrison is six-foot-two and 220lbs, but not physical. He’s only 27, from Vancouver. The Oilers are probably on the hunt.

**

Yzerman has wheeled and dealed to get two first-round and four second-round picks in the June draft, all with an eye on going after a young goalie. It’s fair to say goaltending is the No. 1 priority for the Lightning?

“Either we stop more or we score more, one of the two,” Yzerman said. “And if we’re going to score more we better score a lot more.”

Would the player they’re looking at be Schneider?

“Mathieu Schneider?” Yzerman said, winking.

The Lightning and the Blue Jackets are both assembling war chests to go after Luongo’s right-hand man, Cory Schneider, although sources say Yzerman is also keeping a serious eye on Quick’s backup Jonathan Bernier. Why? Because Tampa Bay’s head of amateur scouting, Al Murray, used to work for the Kings and was behind them taking Bernier in Round 1.

This ’n’ that

The Panthers drafted Jonathan Huberdeau, the best Canadian junior player, as a winger, but there’s serious talk of trying him as an NHL centre. Huberdeau (Saint John Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) made the club at camp last fall, but he only weighed 173 pounds and there were concerns players would take runs at him. “I would say everybody’s happy with their picks in the top four last year (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Huberdeau and Adam Larsson),” said Florida GM Dale Tallon.

The little dynamo Tyler Ennis has been outstanding for the Buffalo Sabres in their surge for a playoff spot. He’s got 27 points in 41 games (he missed 34 with a sports hernia) and playing with Mike Foligno’s son Marcus and Drew Stafford, they have 33 points in the last six games. Stafford, after struggling mightily for the first five months, has 12 points in those half-dozen games. Foligno isn’t as tough as the departed Zack Kassian (for Cody Hodgson), but he’s got better hands.

You have to figure Stamkos will have higher-end linemates in Sochi that his wingers against the Oilers Thursday — J.T. Wyman and Trevor Smith — on the injury-riddled Lightning. Wyman sounds like he should be on stage at Tootsie’s in Nashville.

Classy gesture, also an expensive one, by Tampa Bay owner Jeff Vinik whereby he gives $50,000 to the charity of choice for a Hero in the Community initiative. “You’ll see who they’ve picked on the scoreboard early in the first period of every game with their story. It’s really nice,” said Scotty Bowman, who spends his winters in Florida and attends lots of Lightning games. It’s a five-year endeavour. That’s over $10 million out of Vinik’s pocket.

He Said It:

“Yeah, she’s not allowed to drive anymore.”

Devin Setoguchi, who was hit by a car as an 80-year-old paralyzed woman hit go instead of stop on her trigger control and drove through the door of a chiropractor’s office in San Jose while the Wild forward was standing outside minding his own business..

By the numbers:

5 overtime goals since Jan. 1, 2011, by David Jones, most in the NHL.

0 Mike Ribeiro, who had a penalty shot against Vancouver Thursday is 0-for-3 in his career.

3 Cory Schneider has stopped all three of his penalty shots this year, including the one on Ribeiro.

Matty’s Short Shifts:

The longer it goes without the Ducks announcing they’ve signed their draft pick Justin Schultz, by far the best college defenceman this year and maybe the top college player (University of Wisconsin) period, the more it looks like Schultz wants to be a free-agent and play somewhere else. Absolutely the Oilers are looking at him. They can sell him on getting the puck up to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, plus he can play right away, but there’s a stampede of teams wanting him. Schultz can be an UFA, just as Blake Wheeler was, because he would be unsigned four years after being drafted and one of those years played junior A. Schultz played for Westside in Kelowna, B.C., for Edmonton’s Gary Gelinas.

Duncan Keith is a hell of a player, a Norris Trophy winger, but his chicken-wing elbow that felled former scoring champ Daniel Sedin and got him a five-game suspension was a silly brain cramp. To be honest, he’s lucky he only got five. Because he didn’t have a long rap sheet he only had to pay a $150,000 fine. Small change when you’re making $6 million. Keith had 22 penalty minutes last year — that’s Lady Byng material. He has 42 this year.

Gabriel Landeskog is one of those five-tool players — scores, scores in traffic, tough, responsible without the puck and big heart — for the Colorado Avalanche, but I’m not sure why Nugent-Hopkins has fallen into the “he’s going to need a great finish to win the Calder” category. Going into Saturday’s games, Landeskog, Adam Henrique and Nugent-Hopkins all had 47 points. Nugent-Hopkins had played 55 games; Landeskog 76, Henrique 66. It wasn’t Nugent-Hopkins’ fault he missed 20 with two shoulder problems. Landeskog is 20 years old, Henrique is 22, Nugent-Hopkins turns 19 after the season ends. He’s the youngest player in the league. Shouldn’t that count for something?

New Jersey Devils sniper Ilya Kovalchuk already has 400 goals and he’s only 28. No Russian has ever had 500 (Sergei Fedorov is closest at 483). Kovalchuk should easily join the other 19 guys who scored 600 or more, unless he rips up a knee or something. Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin is flashier, but is Kovalchuk a better two-way player?

Jaden Schwartz, who scored in his first two games with the St. Louis Blues after leaving Colorado College — first teenager to do that since Eric Lindros with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992 — roomed with Nugent-Hopkins at last summer’s evaluation camp at Rexall Place in August. “I texted him right away when he got called up (Blues). Everybody thinks he’s older, but he’s only 19. Awesome he can make the jump so fast,” Nugent-Hopkins said.

Is there any possibility Pekka Rinne is running out of gas in Nashville, giving up 12 goals in his last three starts? The Predators say he’s fine, but this is the wrong time to be struggling. They can’t afford to have Rinne weary going into the playoffs. He’s their ace in the hole.

If you didn’t know it already, Dominik Hasek is the Satchel Paige of hockey players. He’s 47 and he’s not ready to put away the tools of ignorance, even though he didn’t play this season after a year with Moscow Spartak. He still feels he’s got some gas in his tank, but not this year. He hasn’t ballooned to Michelin Man size, but if he gets no offers by July 1, he swears that’s it. Hey, Dom. Quit and you’ll be in the Hall of Fame in three years.

There’s a lot of love for New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist as the Vezina Trophy winner because he’s there every night for the Rangers, but if I had a vote (I don’t, the GM’s vote on this award) it would go to Jonathan Quick in L.A. Eight shutouts now and in 15 other games he’s allowed one goal. You’d think he’d have won them all, but he’s 15-4-4 with the offensively challenged Kings. That club is swimming with the fishes without Quick.

Flames coach Brent Sutter has taken major grief for having Blake Comeau and Blair Jones go in a shootout against the Wild, leaving Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay and Curtis Glencross on the bench, but has anybody looked at Iggy’s shootout stats? He’s two for seven this year, Tanguay is one for eight and he was hurt in the Wild loss. Glencross is zero for three. Maybe he could have gone with Olli Jokinen (three for eight), but unless you have automatic scorers like Ilya Kovalchuk (10 for 12) or Malkin (eight for 11), it’s hit or miss, even with big guns. The Sedins never shoot for the Canucks in Vancouver, same with Sharks captain Joe Thornton in San Jose. Comeau has been a huge disappointment in Calgary after they got him on waivers, though (four goals in 51 games). Looks like the Islanders knew what they were doing giving up on him.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Quebec City getting NHL-calibre rink

QMI Agency, March 25 2012

QUEBEC CITY – Quebec City took another major step in its quest to regain an NHL franchise with the announcement Sunday afternoon that a deal has been reached to construct a $400 million, 18,000-seat arena complex scheduled to be ready in 2015.

"The dream has finally become a reality," said Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume at a news conference. Construction is set to begin in September. The arena will be located on the site of the old Quebec City Hippodrome.

The arena will be a public-private partnership between the city and Quebecor Media Inc., owner of QMI Agency and Sun Media.

Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau was at the press conference and said the new building, which he referred to as a multifunctional amphitheatre, will be a "source of pride for all citizens of the Quebec City region and for all Quebecers alike."

The deal was reached Friday night, Labeaume said, adding with a smile that Peladeau was a "hard negotiator."

Earlier in the negotiation process, QMI Agency learned that Quebecor will pay $33 million for naming rights and management of the arena. The value of the agreement rises to $63.5 million if Quebec City lands an NHL franchise.

It was unclear on Sunday if the numbers had changed. Neither Peladeau nor Labeaume mentioned the NHL in their speeches on Sunday — and Labeaume told journalists he would refuse to answer any questions on the subject.

However, it is unlikely the Nordiques were far from their thoughts. The team left Quebec City in 1995 and moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche.

Peladeau has made it clear he would be interested in buying a team.

Quebecor undertook a major expansion of its sports holdings in 2011. It launched TVA Sports, a French-language specialty channel that would be the lead broadcaster for a future NHL property.

Quebecor also bought an interest in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team near Montreal.

The new arena will also include a television studio specifically for Quebecor Media.

Now that the arena deal has been finalized, the next step is finding an NHL team to play in it.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told QMI in early March that he recognized how serious Quebec City's mayor and Peladeau were in bringing back an NHL team to the city.

"I am aware of the new TVA Sports network," Bettman said. "I am aware of the efforts of Pierre Karl Peladeau. I am informed of what is going on in my world. I also know that the economic power of Quebec City is much bigger than it was. The studies that I have read have kept me informed. And I know the mayor of Quebec, Mr. (Regis) Labeaume, and I know that he is certainly a determined and opinionated man."

However, Bettman also said that the NHL is not talking about moving any teams at the moment.

"We aren't talking expansion because we are not planning an expansion," Bettman said. "We are comfortable with 30 teams … We don't like moving teams and, currently, there are no teams available. Maybe one day the circumstances will allow for one but for now, there is nothing available."

The proposed NHL-calibre arena will ensure that if a team does become available, Quebec City will be ready.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Getting To Know: Dave Andreychuk
Dave Andreychuk scored 640 goals in 1,639 career NHL games

Mark Malinowski, The Hockey News, 2012-03-25

Status: NHL left winger from 1982-2006 with Buffalo, Toronto, New Jersey, Boston, Colorado and Tampa Bay.

Ht: 6-feet-4 Wt: 220 pounds

DOB: Sept. 29, 1963 In: Hamilton, Ont.

First Hockey Memory: "Down on the Hamilton Bay. My dad and his uncles, his brothers, we all used to go and skate on Hamilton Bay. That was before I started playing hockey really, it was about going down and spending time with the family on the Bay."

Nicknames: "Andy, basically. And then there was one Andy in Toronto, so then it was Chucky. Pretty much Andy."

Hockey Inspirations: "Lots – obviously my family, my father. And then the Leafs. A lot of the old Leafs, Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler. Those are players that I watched."

Last Book Read: "Probably a Grisham book."

Current Car: "Is a Lincoln Navigator."

First Job: "Worked for a veterinarian."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Quite a few, but probably the '04 Stanley Cup."

Most Painful Moment: "Knocking all my teeth out with slap shot. (By who?) Not sure, I didn't see it coming, so no idea (laughs)."

Favorite Uniforms: "Probably the Leafs. Tradition."

Favorite Arena: "Old Boston Garden. Old, old Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo."

Closest Hockey Friends: "Probably John Tucker. We played together in Buffalo and now we live together here in Tampa."

Funniest Player Encountered: "Mike Foligno. (Why him?) Mike Foligno for sure. Days in Buffalo, then our days in Toronto together. Never a dull moment."

Most Memorable Goal: "Probably the 500th. In New Jersey."

Funny Hockey Memory: "One time, Hartford to Boston in a bus, we stopped. I was supposed to go out, because I was a rookie, and get one of the guys’ bags. And the bus drove away. So I had to chase the bus down for a little bit. I had to walk probably a half-mile to catch up to the bus. (Who got you on that?) Lindy Ruff and Mike Foligno were the ones who started it."

First Famous Hockey Player You Ever Met: "Bobby Hull. Neighbor was Bill Friday, who was a referee. And met him at a dinner when I was seven or eight-ish. He was the first NHL player that I ever met."

Strangest Game: "Probably some of the snow-out games in Buffalo. We played the Rangers one time in the early ‘80s with a thousand people in the stands. Those are the kinds of games you remember."

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "Growing up it was lacrosse. Now I would say I watch a lot of football."

Personality Qualities Most Admired: "That they're honest. That they're friendly."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

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