We’ve reached that winter lull in Sports. Those two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, and the few days immediately after the big game where literally nothing is happening.
Well, except for the All-Star Games.
This weekend, the NHL is having their All-Star game in Nashville, and the NFL holds their annual Pro Bowl in Honolulu, as is tradition.
Aren’t you excited? There’s just nothing more thrilling than watching a bunch of millionaires play shinny or touch football!
However, the National Hockey League has had their hands full this year with the whole John Scottcontroversy. A guy who is the personified version of Doug Glatt in ‘Goon’, is the leading vote-getter for the NHL All-Star game, and despite several protests from those in the media, Scott’s still going to Captain the Pacific division’s team this coming weekend.
There has been a lot of uproar surrounding Scott’s association with the event. Many writers and analysts are clamouring for his removal from the game; scolding the fans for voting a glorified face-puncher into a supposedly exclusive game which only the best hockey players in the world are allowed to attend. They believe Scott’s entry is a disgrace to the game and he should be embarrassed for himself and…
…
…
I’m sorry, could someone please enlighten me on when we started calling the All-Star Game a legitimate event and not the carnival that it is?
It certainly wasn’t when the jerseys looked like this.
Or this.
Or this.
It definitely wasn’t when the league changed the format of the game from East vs. West to a Fantasy Draft, which the NFL subsequently copied.
With the exception of the MLB All-Star Game, where the winner gets home-field advantage in the World Series, the other 3 all-star games of the North American big four sports are virtually meaningless. The NHL is trying to drum up some intensity by giving the winning team $1 million. Yeah, making the rich richer is totally going to draw me in, Gary.
Because to tell you the truth, this is what a lot of people think about the All-Star Game:
Haven’t cared for a long time. You probably couldn’t tell me the score of last year’s All-Star game without looking it up.
No, the game is never what actually draws people’s attention to All-Star weekend. It’s the skills competition. It’s ALWAYS the skills competition. For Basketball, it’s the Slam Dunk and 3-point contest. Baseball has the Home Run Derby. Hockey has a number of things, but Hardest Shot is probably the biggest. Football doesn’t really have anything in particular, but it’s football. If Americans, specifically those in the Southern States, get a chance to watch football, they will watch football.
Most of the skills competitions are predominantly just stunts manipulated by the players before-hand so that they can get the biggest reaction from the crowd. At the NHL’s skill competition last night (which was something I watched far more than I should have), you could overhear on the broadcast what the players were going to do. I’m sure it would be quite an experience to be on the ice with the players, most of them seem like great guys. But when you’ve got someone like Glenn Healy harping in your ear the entire evening, professional hockey players screwing around for your viewing pleasure isn’t very enjoyable.
The players don’t even want to be there anymore. If I were to ask you to name the three most well-known players in hockey today, I guarantee I would get a lot of “Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Jonathan Toews.” None of them will participating in this year’s All-Star festivities. How’s that for star-power?
Jaromir Jagr openly pleaded for fans to not vote him in. I could guarantee you a majority of these guys would much rather enjoy a weekend off with their family than to be trotted out and put on display for fans like they’re the latest action figure at a store.
The NFL is no different. In fact, of the 86 players that were originally chosen to play in the NFL’s all-star event, the league has had to scramble to replace 36 of them. Five of the six quarterbacks have withdrawn themselves from the game, as well as five of the six linebackers and all three free safety spots.
At some point, being named to an All-Star event loses its merit, especially when the league picks players based on equal team representation, not talent.
Petr Buzek and Brad Marsh are a few of the phenoms that have been able to grace the ice of an NHL All-Star Game, and Elvis Grbac and Mike Boryla have quarterbacked teams in the Pro Bowl. Be sure to check out their storied careers, I’m sure you’ll be blown away.
John Scott can be placed right alongside them. I’m happy Scott was able to go in the end, especially after how the league threatened him and did everything they could to make sure he couldn’t attend. But let’s be honest, he was not chosen because people love him and he’s a nice guy, which by all accounts he is. No, Scott was voted in as a practical joke on the NHL, as fans tried to do many years earlier with Rory Fitzpatrick. It’s trying to be turned around into a feel-good story, but the truth is, initially, fans weren’t laughing with John Scott; they were laughing at him.
The All-Star Game is a three-ring circus, created purely for the fans, not for so-called “hockey purists”. If the NHL wanted it’s best players at the game, they wouldn’t even allow for fans to vote in starters like they do now. The game should not be taken as seriously as some writers and league officials do, because often times the best athletes couldn’t be bothered to show up in the first place, the ones that do couldn’t care less, and the fans are so uninterested in such a meaningless game that the format has to be revamped every few years.
And if you think it would be different if you saw it live, it’s probably not worth it. I tried getting tickets to this year’s Slam Dunk Contest, since NBA All-Star Weekend is in Toronto. It would’ve cost me $880. Just one ticket. Eight hundred and eighty dollars.
I’d rather go see a Harlem Globetrotters game. Or Disney on Ice.
Want to know how to get an argument going between any two people in the Greater Toronto Area? That’s easy, all you have to do is bring up one person.
Phil Kessel.
TORONTO, CANADA – SEPT 22: Phil Kessel #81 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres on Sept 22, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
The name itself brings up many thoughts; the man can be best described as an enigma. He is a lightning rod for criticism. If you’re going to have a conversation about the Toronto Maple Leafs, you’re going to have a conversation about Phil Kessel.
Recently, there’s been a lot of reports that Phil Kessel’s time as a Leaf is coming to an end, and most of these rumours have been pointing to this Friday’s draft in Sunrise being the day that the Kessel Era comes to a conclusion in Toronto.
Kessel has given the Leafs’ front office his list of 8 teams that he would his waive his no-movement clause for, but some think that Kessel only chose those 8 teams because it would difficult for them to acquire Kessel, due to being pushed up against the salary cap or being a divisional rival with Toronto.
Phil Kessel has essentially been the face of the Leafs Franchise once he donned a blue and white jersey for the first time. That’s not exactly something to be proud of, since the Leafs have missed the playoffs in 5 of Kessel’s 6 seasons in Toronto, and we all know what happened when Toronto actually did make it in 2013. Ever since he landed in TO way back in 2009, he has faced endless scrutiny from the mainstream media, and it all began with the trade that brought him here:
Brian Burke came to Toronto knowing the expectations of the “Hockey Vatican” were on his shoulders, and full well realized that he needed to make a big splash in order to keep his impatient fans appeased. At the time, Toronto had missed the postseason 4 years in a row. Now Toronto’s missed it 9 out of 10 seasons, but us Leaf fans are still going to hold on to that 1st-round playoff exit as long as we can!
Anyway, Burke knew he had to make a splash. He also knew that there was a high-scoring, disgruntled winger that didn’t want to play in Boston for the money the Bruins were willing to give him. Burke called then-Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli, and the two managed to come to an agreement. Toronto would acquire Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins, in exchange for three, count ‘em, THREE draft picks. That included a 1st and 2nd round pick in 2010 AND another 1st in 2011. Almost instantly the trade was panned by hockey analysts, claiming the price the Leafs had paid for Kessel was so high, not even Hockey Forum Boards believed a deal like that would happen. This is saying something, because trust me, people on HFBoards throw out some really freaking stupid ideas.
Then the 2010 season happened, and the deal looked even worse in hindsight as the Leafs finished 2nd last in the NHL, meaning Boston would have the 2nd overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft. This guaranteed the Bruins one of Taylor Hall, or Tyler Seguin, the two prospects who scouts had unanimously pinned as future NHL superstars. Boston would wind up with Seguin, Leaf Fans everywhere shook their head, and the Toronto media once again had a field day doing what they do best, dumping all over the Maple Leafs.
A year later, Seguin would be hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head when the Bruins upset the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final. Again Leaf Fans watched in disappointment, as what should’ve been their franchise’s future, was off winning with the rival Bruins while they were left with this guy.
Canucks fans, in an act of sympathy, felt so bad for us they destroyed their own city. (Just kidding. ‘Nucks fans are just bat-s**t crazy, and nobody in Canada would ever have any sympathy for the city of Toronto.)
The Kessel trade looked like an unmitigated disaster, so much so that NESN went on to pin it as “The Greatest Trade in Boston Sports History”. I know Leaf fans today who still dislike Kessel because of this trade, something which he really couldn’t control.
This always infuriates me, because if you actually think about it, you can make a very strong case the Leafs won this trade.
Phil Kessel – 181 G 213 A 394 P GP 446 PPG 0.88 (playoffs) 4 G 2 A 6 P 7 GP
(Time as a Bruin)
Tyler Seguin – 56 G 65 A 121 P 203 GP 0.60 PPG (playoffs) 6 G 12 A 18 P 42 GP
Dougie Hamilton – 22 G 61 A 83 P 178 GP 0.47 PPG (playoffs) 2 G 8 A 10 P 19 GP
Regular Season Total: 78 G, 126 A, 204 P, 381 GP,0.54 PPG
Total Scoring Numbers (Including Playoff Games)
Phil Kessel – 185 G 215 A 400 P 453 GP 0.88 PPG
Boston’s 3 Picks – 86 G 146 A 232 P 418 GP 0.56 PPG
So when you compare the initial trade that took place on September 18th, 2009, the Leafs have certainly got more offensive output than the Bruins have. Since the trade, Kessel has played 65 more games than the three players the Bruins drafted have played with Boston combined, and has also scored 190 more points than those three.
Despite this, some may cite “Yeah, but the Bruins won the Cup two years later.”
What’s your point? You think Tyler Seguin was the guy that put that team over the top? The guy was a healthy scratch for parts of the season and only played in half of the team’s playoff games. I’m confident Kessel would’ve been huge for the Bruins during that Cup run, and some of those 7 game series would’ve ended much quicker.
Now obviously there are still a couple of decent counters to this argument. The Bruins had to draft and develop these players, while the Leafs got Kessel just before he turned 22 and he was about to enter his prime. Of course he’s going to put up better numbers than 2 (we can pretty much ignore Jared Knight at this point) guys who just came out of junior hockey, one of which is a defenceman, who’s statistical output isn’t comparable in some sense, to that of a forward.
Also, the numbers I compiled only take into account Seguin’s seasons as a Bruin, and not his totals as a Dallas Star. I think this is completely fair since this trade happened between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins, and I’m only going to take into account what those players have done to benefit those respective franchises.
The 2013 trade became Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to Dallas for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow.
So in order to appease all those that would have their panties in a bunch over me not including the point totals of the players Boston acquired, and just for the sake of doing this because why the hell not, here are their numbers.
(Time as a Bruin)
Tyler Seguin – 56 G, 65 A, 121 P GP 203PPG 0.60 (playoffs) 6 G, 12 A, 18 P GP 42
Dougie Hamilton – 22 G, 61 A, 83 P GP 178PPG 0.47 (playoffs) 2 G, 8 A, 10 P GP 19
Jared Knight – 0 G, 0 A, 0 P (BUST)
———————————————— SEGUIN TRADE ——————————————————
Loui Eriksson – 32 G, 52 A, 84 P GP 142(playoffs) 2 G, 3 A, 5 P GP 12
Reilly Smith – 33 G, 58 A, 91 P GP 163(playoffs) 4 G, 1 A, 5 P GP 12
Matt Fraser – 5 G, 0 A, 5 P GP 38 (playoffs)1 G, 1 A, 2 P GP 4
Joe Morrow – 1 G, 0 A, 1 P GP 15 ——————————
Total: 149 G, 236 A, 385 P GP 739 PPG 0.52
Total Scoring Numbers (Including Playoff Games)
Phil Kessel – 185 G 215 A 400 P 453 GP 0.88 PPG
Boston’s 3 Picks + Return for Seguin – 156 G 241A 397 P 767 GP 0.52 PPG
The marquee names in that deal were Seguin and Eriksson, but surprisingly, Reilly Smith has turned into a serviceable 2nd liner. Eriksson was hit with some injury trouble to start his Bruin career, but he’s still managed to play 142 regular season games, so you’ve got to think his decline has started a bit sooner than expected.
But focusing again on Kessel, this is where it gets truly remarkable. If you add up the numbers of all 7 (OK, 6) players, including their playoff totals, Kessel still outscores the combined total of all 6 players by 3 points in 314 less games!!! That is remarkable and just goes to show how valuable a scorer like Kessel is on your team. There are an extremely small number of NHLers who can score at a higher pace than 0.88 points per game, and I can guarantee you that you might have to sell the farm to get one of them the way the Leafs did with Kessel.
Now obviously there’s one more rebuttal to my idea that the Leafs did actually indeed win this much-maligned trade and it’s probably the main one people may have right now.
The Leafs could have drafted Tyler Seguin and developed him into the star that he is today.
Once Seguin got to Dallas, he broke out; finishing 4th in league scoring in 2014, and getting off to a red hot start in 2015 before suffering an unfortunate knee injury on a controversial hit by Panthers defenceman Dmitry Kulikov.
The problem I have with this idea, is that there are so many damn hypotheticals, it truly makes it impossible to tell.
The Leafs could’ve drafted 2nd overall in 2010 and taken Seguin, pinning him to be the face of the franchise for years to come, and hurtling tons of expectations upon an 18 year old kid.
How would Seguin deal with the relentless Toronto media and the passionate fans that would likely be watching his every move 24/7?
It’s clear Kessel and the Toronto Media haven’t gotten along swimmingly over the years, so how would the young and immature Seguin do with cameras following him everywhere. I doubt the Leafs would trade Seguin during this period, but at the same time, it would not be a perfect marriage.
How would Seguin do being thrown into the fire?
That 2010/11 Maple Leafs team wasn’t exactly spectacular, and Seguin would pretty much start out as the team’s first line centre, alongside Kris Versteeg and… Colby Armstrong?
Though that was the year the Leafs had arguably the 2nd best line in hockey, MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, with each putting up around 60 points, the team had zero depth up front. The Leafs went with a pretty much interchangeable bottom 6, with their 3rd line was mostly composed of Armstrong, Tim Brent, and Joey Crabb. YEESH. If it wasn’t for James Reimer coming out of nowhere to pull the team to within a few points of a playoff spot, this team would’ve stunk. In Boston, Seguin, didn’t have immense expectations put on him instantly, the team was already a playoff contender and had a solid top 6. Which brings me to my next hypothetical…
Does Seguin put up the same numbers with lesser line mates?
You really need to also consider the fact that Tyler Seguin has always had a better supporting cast than Phil Kessel. Throughout his career, Seguin’s been able to play with Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton in Boston, as well as Art Ross winner, Jamie Benn, in Dallas. Wessel also had some time with those guys, but he started out his career on the Leafs with Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kris Versteeg. While finally getting some scoring support with Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk, Kessel has been glued to Tyler Bozak in Toronto, who, simply put, IS NOT A FIRST LINE CENTRE. And if Seguin was in Toronto, he either has nobody to help him on the wing, or he gets pushed on to the wing.
And what about Dougie Hamilton?
Hamilton is looking like another future star in the NHL, but how would that change if he was drafted by Toronto. First of all, he probably wouldn’t have had the chance to develop like he has in Boston, and is not going to get as many sheltered minutes in the Offensive zone. In Boston, Hamilton didn’t have to face the toughest match-ups to start his career since the Bruins had Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk. The Leafs had Phaneuf and Gunnarsson on the top pair, and nothing else was certain after that.
Hamilton might have become a stud in Toronto. Or he might have turned into a carbon copy of Jake Gardiner.
At the end of the day, the Dallas trade sort of mucked up this whole narrative. There’s so much to really consider, it’s not even worth thinking about, and I hate how much of my time I’ve given to analyzing this trade which people still won’t shut up about.
Here’s what I can conclude though. In this trade, the Leafs got the best player, and he’s had far more of a positive impact on the Leafs than any of the players that Boston acquired. No player has meant more to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the past 6 seasons than Phil Kessel, and without him, the Leafs would probably be even worse off than they already are. Conversely, with Phil Kessel, the Boston Bruins might have more than just the one Stanley Cup in 2011.
So much for that title of “Greatest Trade in Boston Sports History”, NESN. Safe to say you screwed the pooch on that article, and this is coming from a Red Sox/Patriots fan.
With the Lightning down 3-2 and playing Game 6 on the road in the franchise’s 2nd ever Stanley Cup Final, I flashback to a time when they were in their first Stanley Cup Final, a series where they were also down 3-2, going into Game 6, on the road.
In 2004, a scrappy young hockey team that everyone counted out took the hockey world by storm through their gritty, physical, tenacious play, strong defensive core, and high-scoring first-line.
Their fans packed the Saddledome every single night and would celebrate the team’s wins by parading around the streets, creating the Red Mile.
They were the Calgary Flames, they had upset the President’s Trophy winning Red Wings and looked to be a team of destiny.
They were Canada’s Team.
And I wanted them to lose.
Because to me, there was no team that deserved the Stanley Cup more, than the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning.
All-Time Teams: 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning
In 2004, Tampa Bay dominated the Eastern Conference, grabbing the 1st seed, and finishing only 3 points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the President’s Trophy. The Lightning had shown themselves to be a decent team with some quality scorers, having made the 2nd round the previous year, but not a Stanley Cup Contender just yet, having only registered a mediocre 15-13-6-1 record by the end of 2003. From that point on however, something just clicked, and the Lightning became the most feared team in the NHL. After the turn of the Calendar year, Tampa Bay went 31-9-2-5, including an 11 game unbeaten streak that went from the end of February to Mid-March. Some of these players probably had something to do with that.
Star Power (How Talented Were They?)
7/10
Martin St. Louis
Vincent Lecavalier
Brad Richards
Nikolai Khabibulin
Cory Stillman
Dan Boyle
Pavel Kubina
Fredrik Modin
John Tortorella
The 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning might have had one of the most fearsome first lines of the early 21st century. They were the top scoring line in the NHL that season, and they could beat you three separate ways. NHL defensemen had to pick their poison, between Brad Richards’ slick passes, Big 6”4 centre Vincent Lecavalier and his surprisingly sweet hands, or the NHL’s leading scorer and MVP that season, as chosen by the players and the writers, undrafted winger Martin St. Louis, who had a cannon of a shot for a guy who was only listed at 5”8, 180.
Often overlooked because of his size, St. Louis couldn’t find a way into the NHL, even though he was consistently one of the top scorers in the NCAA and a two-time finalist for the Hobey Baker. The Calgary Flames took a chance on him in 1998, but would buy out his contract only two seasons later when there was a change in management. (BET THAT ONE STINGS DOESN’T IT FLAMES FANS?!) After finally getting a decent opportunity with Tampa Bay, St. Louis proceeded to tear up the NHL.
On top of that, the Bolts still had veteran Cory Stillman, who came over from St. Louis to put up a career-high 80 points, good enough to tie him for 7th in league scoring. Rising defenceman and future Olympic Gold Medallist Dan Boyle had 39 points from the backend, yet despite leading the Bolts D in points it was his Czech partner Pavel Kubina that was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team. The Lightning also had great secondary scoring that they could rely upon, most notably from the likes of Fredrik Modin, who the team acquired in 1999 for Cory Cross and a 7th round pick. Modin was a Lightning hero that postseason, scoring 19 points in 23 games during the 2004 playoffs. Why does nobody in Toronto bring up losing Modin? Because it’s only the 56th worst decision the Leafs have made since 1967.
Tampa Bay’s coach also happened to win the Jack Adams award that season, as best coach in the NHL. The Coach? Everybody’s favourite human being, John Tortorella.
Cinderella Factor (Were They A Big Underdog?)
3/10
The only way you could see the Lightning as a nice come-from-behind story was if you looked at how far the organization had come from a long term perspective. The Tampa Bay Lightning were founded in 1992 and in the 10 Lightning seasons before 2002-03, the Lightning had made the playoffs just once, in the 1995-96 season, where they finished in 8th place in the Eastern Conference and lost in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games. Before 2003, the Lightning had finished no better than 13th in the Eastern Conference, 5 years in a row. Tampa Bay had basically become the NHL’s model franchise for futility.
So what happened in the 2002-03 season then? Well, you could say Lightning finally struck. Tampa Bay’s young stars finally broke out, with Vincent Lecavalier scoring 78 points, Brad Richards scoring 74, and a little undrafted right-winger by the name of Martin St. Louis, came out of nowhere to put up 70. The Bolts had their first ever 90 point season, and won the Southeast division for the first time in franchise history as Russian Goaltender, Nikolai “The Bulin Wall” Khabibulin, stood on his head and made his 4th and final all-star team. Tampa Bay would go onto beat the Washington Capitals in 6 games, before falling to the eventual Cup-champion Devils. Even though it was only a second-round exit, it was the best season in franchise history, and that gave the team a ton of confidence going into 2004.
Bandwagon Potential (Was It Easy To Root For Them?)
4/10
This team was a weird team in terms of bandwagon fans. For one, it was hard to root for the Lightning since they were the favourite coming out of the East that season, as they had pretty clearly shown everyone they were the team to beat. On the other hand, this Tampa team had sucked, and I mean REALLY SUCKED for years and years. The Lightning were a refreshing change for some who had grown sick and tired of seeing the New Jersey Devils represent the East in the Stanley Cup Final, year after year after year.
The Lightning also had possibly one of the Greatest OGWAC of all time. In case you don’t know, an OGWAC is short for Old Guy Without a Cup; an NHL vet who’s been in the league for years, yet has never been on a Stanley-Cup winning team. This narrative was most famously used in 2001, when Hall of Fame Defenceman, Ray Bourque, won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in his final NHL game after 22 seasons, most of which were spent on the Boston Bruins.
Tampa Bay’s OGWAC was their captain; an NHL Veteran of 22 seasons, spent between the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche before finally arriving in Tampa Bay, Dave Andreychuk.
I really sympathized with Andreychuk, not only because he was one of the hardest-working guys in the NHL but was just never lucky enough to be on a championship team, but because he was a former Maple Leaf (who is still loved in Toronto for his part on those early 90s teams that have been Toronto’s best chance at a Cup in the past 50 years) and part-Ukrainian, just like myself! The name, Nolan Cattell, definitely seems about as far from Eastern Europe as possible, but my mother’s side of the family has Ukrainian roots, and her maiden name, Syrydiuk (That’s pronounced SIR-DUCK) is about as Ukrainian as it gets.
Andreychuk signed with the Lightning in 2001, a move which surprised many at the time, who believed he would sign with a Stanley Cup contender as he searched for his elusive Cup. The Hamilton-born winger had come close to a Cup twice before, reaching the Conference Finals twice with the Maple Leafs in ’93 and ’94, and with the Avalanche in 2000, when he came over with Ray Bourque from the Bruins. The following season, Andreychuk re-joined the Sabres, and the Avalanche went onto win the Cup, which must’ve felt like a punch to the gut. What’s worse is that this was the second year in a row this had happened to Andreychuk, who had left the Devils after the ’99 season to join the Bruins.
Instead, Andreychuk opted to join the cellar-dwelling Lightning in 200, a move which surprised many at the time, who believed he would sign with a Stanley Cup. Andreychuk gave the team’s young, developing stars like Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards a mentor to look up to, and a decision that many questioned, turned out to be the best one Andreychuk made in his professional career.
Playoffs/Championship Performance (How Did They Do On The Biggest Stage?)
7/10
The first two rounds were basically a cake-walk for the Lightning, rolling through the New York Islanders and sweeping the Montreal Canadiens in the first two rounds. Tampa Bay had a more difficult time with the Flyers, who took the series full 7.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning went up against the cinderella story Calgary Flames, and came in getting more than they bargained for.
Despite having home-ice advantage for the finals, the Flames came in and defeated the Lightning in Game 1, only having to take 19 shots to put 4 goals past Nikolai Khabibulin for a 4-1 victory. 4-1 would also be the scoreline of Game 2…in favour of Tampa Bay, who evened the series as both teams left sunny Tampa Bay for Cal-town.
Miikka Kiprusoff, the Flames Goaltender who was having a Ken Dryden-like performance in the ’04 playoffs, would slam the door on the Bolts in Game 3 as Calgary won 3-0, but once again, Tampa Bay responded with the Bulin Wall getting a shutout of his own, his fifth of the postseason, as one Brad Richards goal was all Tampa Bay needed to tie the series.
It was in Game 5 however, where the series really started to pick up. Freddy Modin would tie it at 2 with 37 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In OT, Flames Captain Jarome Iginla propelled Calgary to victory, setting up Oleg Saprykin for the winner, after being hooked, held and losing his helmet, in what is simply known in Calgary today, as “The Shift”.
Now onto Game 6,
This is probably the point in my post where every Flames fan is going to want to skip so they don’t deal with PTSD flashbacks.
Calgary had the chance to win their first cup since 1989 in front of their home fans at the Pengrowth Saddledome. The place was hopping, and Cal-town sure seemed lit. Entering the 3rd period, the game was tied at 2. With around 7 minutes left in the 3rd period and Calgary in the Powerplay, Oleg Saprykin flew down the wing and centred a pass for Martin Gelinas. The puck took several bounces, the last being off of Gelinas’ skate, before Khabibulin stuck out his pad to make the save.
The thing is on replay, it didn’t exactly look like the puck stayed out of the net.
From one angle, it looks as if Gelinas has the series winning goal. (I don’t know what it was about Martin Gelinas, but he had a knack for scoring big goals. In 2002, he scored the clinching goal for the Carolina Hurricanes in OT of Game 6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs to earn the ‘Canes a berth in the Cup Final. In 2004, he scored the series-winning goal in OT of Game 7 versus the Canucks in the first round, the OT winner in Game 6 of the second round which eliminated the Detroit Red Wings, as well as the series-winner against San Jose in the Western Conference Final. This got him the nickname “The Eliminator”, and if this goal counted, he would’ve eliminated each of Calgary’s 4 playoff opponents that season. Insane.)
But from other angles, evidence was inconclusive that the puck crossed the line, and replay footage also showed that the puck was several inches off of the ice, making it seem as though there was white ice between the puck and goal line.To this day, Flames fans are still pretty adamant the puck went in, and that their team should have been raising the Cup in Calgary, and honestly, you can’t blame them. Anytime you get that close to the ultimate goal and it comes down to a referee’s decision, you’re going to be a little bitter. Sabres fans can probably relate.
No goals were scored for the remainder of regulation, and for the 2nd game in a row, extra hockey was needed. Just 33 seconds into the 2nd OT, Martin St. Louis, the hero for Tampa Bay all season long, kept his team’s season alive, while simultaneously crushing the hearts of Flames fans far more than they seemed to realize at the time.
For the 3rd time in 4 years, the Stanley Cup Finals would go 7 games. Not many people would think Tampa Bay is a serious hockey market, but the Ice Palace* was rocking that night. (OK the arena’s name at the time was the St. Pete Times Forum, and now it’s Amalie Arena, but neither of those are anywhere close to being as fun as the Ice Palace. Easily one of the best names for a Pro Sporting Venue ever.)
Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals will always be etched in my memory for 2 reasons.
There were tons of options for who the Game 7 hero would be. With the Lightning being the 3rd highest scoring team in the NHL that season, you had a lot of options, like the guys I mentioned above, St. Louis, Lecavalier, Richards, Stillman, Modin, Boyle, Kubina, Khabibulin.
Calgary wasn’t a group of slouches either, led by Superstar Jarome Iginla and a supporting cast that consisted of Gelinas, and Craig Conroy, and uhhhh……
All right well it was really a one-man offensive show in Calgary, nobody besides Iginla scored more than 50 points that season. But you could still reasonably expect Kiprusoff to stand on his head one last time!
Regardless, the Game 7 hero ended up being one of the unlikeliest heroes in Stanley Cup History. Coincidentally, it was the Captain of Ukraine’s National Hockey Team.
Ruslan Fedotenko!
Fedotenko scored both of Tampa Bay’s Game 7 Goals, and that is all the Lightning would need. Tampa Bay would beat Calgary 2-1, clinching their first ,and so far only, Cup in Franchise History.
The Cup had never been further south. Dave Andreychuk would no longer hold the dubious title of “Most NHL Games Played Without Winning a Stanley Cup”, finally hoisting Lord Stanley’s Mug, 22 years after his NHL career began.
The other reason why this game is so memorable, which my 8 year-old self didn’t even realize at the time; it was the last NHL game played for almost a year and a half. The infamous feud between the NHL’s owners and its players would extend into the fall, and completely erase the entire 2004-05 NHL season due to the lockout.
Epilogue
I could probably just link a highlight pack of John Tortorella freaking out at the press to summarize where Torts has been the past 11 years. Yeah I’m gonna do that. Also, here’s his Wikipedia page in case you’re a little lost.
2004 was the peak for Martin St. Louis, as he swept the NHL awards, winning the Art Ross, Hart Memorial, and Lester B. Pearson. That’s not to say his career went downhill soon after though, because it really just stayed at a level marginally below that. After the 2004 season, St. Louis represented Canada at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Canada was victorious at the World Cup, but things didn’t go so well in Italy.He posted a career-high in points with 102 in 2007 and would score at least 80 every season afterward until 2011-12.
In 2014, St. Louis got off to a hot start, but was initially left off Team Canada’s roster for the 2014 Sochi Olympics; he had also been left off of the 2010 Team that won Gold in Vancouver. To say the decision to exclude St. Louis was a puzzling one, would be an understatement. This was not only because St. Louis was one of the league’s top scorers, but because Team Canada’s GM, Steve Yzerman, was his own GM in Tampa Bay. St. Louis would eventually be brought on as an injury-replacement for teammate Steven Stamkos, and he even though he would win an Olympic Gold Medal in Sochi, the damage had already been done. He requested a trade shortly after, and joined the eventual Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers a few months later. St. Louis seems to have finally begun to regress this season, but he will still likely go down as one of the greatest undrafted NHL players of all time.
The face of the Lightning franchise and the 1st overall pick in 1998, Vincent Lecavalier, would join St. Louis on those Canada teams from 2004 and 2006, scoring this huge OT winner in the World Cup semi-final against the Czechs. Lecavalier would register massive point totals of 108 and 92 in 2007 and 2008.
Following the 2008 season, Tampa Bay inked Lecavalier to an 11-year, $85 million extension that secured him as a Bolt through the 2019-2020 season. Fun fact: When you sign someone to a contract longer than 5 seasons, it ends up being a terrible decision 90% of the time. This is not confirmed, but that number is probably very close to accurate. Ginny’s scoring ability would never reach the same level as they did in 2008, only getting to the 70 point mark once in 2010.
In 2013, the Lightning finally deemed that Lecavalier was grossly overpaid and bought out his contract, making their longest tenured player a free agent. Lecavalier would sign with the Philadelphia Flyers for 5 years and $22.5 million dollars, who he still currently plays for, but he is nowhere near the dynamic player he was in Southern Florida.
Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards didn’t have the same career statistical output as his Tampa Bay linemates, but he was still good enough to make, you guessed it, those same 2004 and 2006 Canada teams. Like Lecavalier however, Richards would not be named to another Olympic Team after the disaster that was Torino 2006.
The Lightning would trade Richards to the Stars at the trade deadline in 2008, as Dallas made a push to the Western Conference Finals. Even though 2008 would be the only year Dallas made the playoffs while Richards was in a Stars Uniform, he still averaged over a point a game in the Big D.
This would lead to one of the most over-hyped free agent signings in years, as Richards entered the 2011 Free Agent Frenzy as the premier player on the market, and would end up signing with the New York Rangers for 9 years and $60 million. Obviously it was a huge shock for me when Richards was bought out by the Rangers 3 years later, and by huge shock, I mean I didn’t even flinch.
I’m not saying Richards isn’t a talented player, but he was certainly not worth the contract New York gave him. In the offseason, Chicago got Richards on a flyer, 1-year, $2 million, and now the PEI centre, is one win away from winning his 2nd Stanley Cup… against the team he won the Conn Smythe for when he won is first.
After finally achieving his dream, Dave Andreychuk would play one more professional season following the 2005 lockout with the Lockout. Though Andreychuk did captain the Lightning to another playoff appearance, the team would be knocked out in the first round by the Ottawa Senators in 5 games. Andreychuk finished his career tied for 28th in scoring with Denis Savard with 1338 points. He also ended up having played 1639 NHL games, sixth most all-time. Despite his great totals, Andreychuk is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame, though he is still considered one of the best players ever to not be inducted. Andreychuk scored over 500 goals and 500 assists, but with all the games he played, some feel he should’ve scored a little bit more and that his numbers are inflated based on the era he played in. It’s the prestige that goes with the Hall, you need to be great, not just very good, and Andreychuk was only very good for most of his career.
I firmly believed the Calgary Flames would be back playing for the Cup in the near future, so I didn’t really feel for them when they lost Game 7 after having a 3-2 series lead. They had a solid young core, Kiprusoff was becoming an outstanding goaltender and they still had several more guaranteed years of Jarome Iginla lighting the lamp. The Flames would make the playoffs each of the next four seasons, and be eliminated in the first round each time. The front office finally decided they needed to go in a new direction, and the team entered into a rebuilding phase. Calgary returned to the post-season this year, and won their first series since 2004.
Iginla would be traded to Pittsburgh in 2013 in the hopes of finally winning his first Stanley Cup. He didn’t get it, and now he’s nearing the end with a developing Avalanche team.
The 2005 Lockout was likely the worst thing that could’ve happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the new collective bargaining agreement was implemented, Khabibulin became a free agent and would go to Chicago for more money (before his own career began to fizzle out) forcing the team to put John Grahame between the pipes. Goaltending was the team’s main problem for the next two seasons, as they struggled to make the playoffs, and were easily dispatched in the first round in both 2006 and 2007. The Big 3 of St. Louis, Lecavalier, and Richards consistently performed each season, but a lack of support and virtually non-existent defence, caused the team to descend back into the NHL’s basement, finishing dead last in 2008.
But every cloud has its silver lining. Tampa Bay would draft future NHL Superstar, Captain and 60-goal scorer Steven Stamkos with the 1st Overall pick. They would follow this up by taking stud defenceman Victor Hedman, 2nd Overall in 2009.
With Stamkos and Hedman leading the way, and some help from a line of triplets, and another former Leafs Draft pick the Lightning are back in Stanley Cup Finals. The Bolts are down 3-2 in the series, and about to play Game 6 on the road, just like in 2004. Who knows, maybe another undersized, undrafted player who happens to be leading the team in scoring will be the hero tonight, just like in 2004.
It’s been a pretty interesting weekend in Sports, with the NHL and NBA season’s nearing the end, and the MLB really getting things going. Here’s some of my thoughts on the latest in the world of sports.
NHL
Rangers/Lightning
1. This NHL post-season has truly been the coming out party for Tampa Bay’s “Triplet” Line, their top forward line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat. Though some may have never heard of these guys before this year’s playoffs, this is not a recent trend. Tyler Johnson was the leading scorer for the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, and he played in less games than Captain Steven Stamkos. Nikita Kucherov was the highest scoring forward at the All-Star break to not be invited to the festivities and finished the year with 65 points. Palat also had 63 points, as the 3 combined for the highest scoring line combo in the league, and the main reason as to why Tampa Bay led the league in scoring this year. The Bolts also have 5 of the top 10 scorers in this year’s playoffs thus far, with Johnson, Stamkos, Kucherov, Palat and Alex Killorn. And remember when Stamkos only had 3 assists to show for himself in the Opening round of the playoffs? He’s scored 13 points in his last 10 games and is now one point behind Johnson for the team lead in scoring.
2. Rangers/Lightning has certainly been a refreshing change from what was Rangers/Capitals. By refreshing, I mean the score of the games has not been 2-1. Oddly, the superb goaltending we saw from Holtby and Lundqvist in that epic 7 game series, has been replaced with inconsistent showings from Lundqvist and Ben Bishop, with both goalies giving up 6 and 5 goals in back-to-back games respectively. First it was Lundqvist that was dissected by the media for his uncharacteristic play, and he came back to deny the Bolts a 3-1 series lead as the Rangers took Game 4, 5-1. Then Ben Bishop took on the media onslaught as writers asked Head Coach Jon Cooper if a change in Goal was necessary. Cooper responded by calling the questioning ‘asinine’, and Bishop stonewalled the Rangers at MSG. In short, if any goaltender needs their tires pumped, the media is always there for you.
Ducks/Blackhawks
3. The Chicago Blackhawks are the Marathon Men. Whatever the Ducks game-plan for Game 5 is, they need to remember that they can’t let the game go to Overtime, because that’s where the Chicago Blackhawks take over. The Blackhawks have been involved in 4 Overtime games this postseason. 2 went to Double OT, 2 went to Triple OT, and Chicago has won all of them. That’s more than two full extra games Chicago has had to play. While it may seem physically exhausting, it’s more draining for the other teams who lose these lengthy contests. Game 2 of the West Final lasted 116 minutes and 12 seconds, only 16 other games since 1967 have gone that long, and the winner of those games have gone on to take the series 15 of those times. That’s a 94% success rate.
4. Chicago’s big acquisition at the trade deadline this season was Antoine Vermette, and before Saturday night, he had pretty clearly disappointed. Vermette had only recorded one goal in his 29 game stint in Chicago and ended up being a healthy scratch for Game 3. So with Vermette being unable to catch a break in Chicago, he’d be the last guy you’d pick to become a Hero at the Madhouse on Madison…
5. As huge as Vermette’s heroics were, Stan Bowman is probably regretting dishing out a 1st round pick for him instead of a decent D-Man.After Michal Rozsival’s gruesome injury and with Kimmo Timonen skating like a 58 years old, the Blackhawks have become desperate on the back end. David Rundblad was thrown into the fire and promptly abused by the Ducks in Game 1, forcing Kyle Cumiskey to draw in for Game 2, who hadn’t played an NHL game since February 27th, nearly 3 months ago. Chicago’s top 4 of Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, and Oduya have been relied upon heavily, as each played over 46 minutes in Game 2 against the Ducks which went to Triple OT. Duncan Keith was on the ice for 49 minutes and 51 seconds! It’s truly remarkable Chicago has still been able to play solid Defense with the work these 4 have put in.
6. Before Game 4’s crazy Double OT however, it looked like Chicago had locked up a victory and a series deadlock after Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews had scored 2 quick goals to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead with just under 12 minutes to go. Then this happened…
The Ducks scored 3 goals in 37 seconds! The Second Fastest 3-goal stint in NHL playoff history, behind only the 1979 Toronto Maple Leafs, who scored 3 in 23 seconds. What’s more ironic? Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville was on that Maple Leafs team.
7. Also this photo is spectacular. 90% of that has to do with that guy’s Charlie Conway Jersey. The photo is still all kinds of awesome, but Charlie Conway is the man.
Conn Smythe Race
Tyler Johnson, TBL (12 G, 6 A, 18 P)
Corey Perry, ANA(9G, 8A, 17P)
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (10 W, .929 SV%, 2.06 GAA)
Patrick Kane, CHI (9G, 6A, 15P)
Ryan Getzlaf, ANA (2G, 15A, 17P)
8. With 4 teams left in the playoffs, each team’s leading candidate for Conn Smythe has become pretty clear. Tampa Bay has Tyler Johnson, who in case you didn’t know, went undrafted. The Rangers have stayed alive thanks to the outstanding play of King Henrik Lundqvist. Who knows where Chicago would be if it weren’t for Patrick Kane coming back from injury and returning to top form so quickly? And then there’s the Ducks, with the two-headed monster of Perry and Getzlaf. Nikita Kucherov (17 Points and 2 OT winners) and Frederik Andersen (10 W, .929 SV%, 1.92 GAA) earn my honourable mentions.
NBA
Hawks/Cavaliers
9. It’s been a rough few days for Kyle Korver and the Atlanta Hawks. Earlier this year, I talked about how Kyle Korver couldn’t miss this season. That was the regular season. We’re in the second season now. Korver shot a ridiculous 49% from beyond the arc in then but during the playoffs he could only hit 35%, and 39% from the field, certainly not up to the standards that earned him an All-Star Nod this year. He then got flat-out embarrassed in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, as LeBron James made him look like Courage, the Cowardly Dog, and in Game 2, Matthew Dellavedova crashed into him while chasing down a loose ball. Korver suffered a severe high right ankle sprain, and will not be playing Basketball again this season.
As Korver’s season comes to an end, the Atlanta Hawks’ franchise-record breaking run gets one step closer to its anti-climatic demise. LeBron James did have an incredible 37 point, 18 board and 13 assist performance in game 3, but he also missed his first 10 shots of the game. When a guy like LeBron isn’t making his shots early, you need to capitalize and open up a big lead early, but Atlanta couldn’t do that. Despite everything going wrong for the Hawks, they were still a Jeff Teague 3-pointer away from winning Game 3, but they couldn’t get that either. The magic has run out.
Al Horford’s ejection just before halftime, deserved or not, was the alarm clock ringing to wake up the Hawks from their Dream season.
10. On to the Cavaliers, and how LeBron James is willing Cleveland to a Championship. Even with the Cavs missing Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, they’ve still dominated Atlanta and you can accredit a lot of it to James.He’s not exactly playing with superstars next to him right now like he was in Miami. The Starting 5 that hit the Court yesterday (James, Tristan Thompson, Timofey Mozgov, Matthew Dellavedova, and Iman Shumpert) aren’t much better than the 2007 Cavaliers that got swept by the Spurs in the NBA finals (James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Sasha Pavlovic, and Larry Hughes). Who was the highest paid player on the Cavaliers that season? That’s right, you guessed it….
Larry Hughes!
Ilgauskas, Gooden and even Eric freaking Snow also made more than LeBron that season, and Snow averaged 4.2 PPG!
Back on topic though, James has done it all this postseason. He’s averaged 27.9 PPG (2nd among active players), 10.5 Rebounds (2nd),8.4 Assists (1st), 1.8 Steals (2nd), 1.3 Blocks (5th), 41.6 Minutes (1st) and a 29.2 Offensive Efficiency Rating (1st). LeBron gave everything he had in game 3 in order to give his team the win, and in the process, he’s making his teammates look pretty good while doing it. Not everyone can make Matthew Dellavedova play like Gail Goodrich.
Warriors/Rockets
11. Look for the Warriors to book their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years tonight, as they go for the sweep against the Rockets in Houston. This battle between the NBA’s MVP and the MVP runner-up has been fairly one-sided, highlighted by a Game 3 Bloodbath where Golden State was up 25 before halftime and eventually came out on top 115-80. League MVP Stephen Curry scored 40 points on only 19 shots and also broke the NBA record for most 3-pointers in one postseason. He’s hitting 58% from 3-point range in the West Finals, and is averaging about 36 points a game. You cannot stop Steph Curry, you can only hope to contain him.
But the Warriors wouldn’t be this good with Curry alone. Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut have terrorized Houston down low, with Green recording a Double-Double in 2 of 3 games in the West Final, totalling 9 this post-season. The Veterans are stepping up as well; Shaun Livingston had 18 points off the bench in Game 1, Andre Igoudala had a momentum-changing dunk in Game 2, no matter what someone always comes through when the Warriors need them to.
Also in case you missed it, here’s Stephen Curry’s post-game press conference with his daughter, Riley Curry, because she’s just so damn cute.
12. The Rockets are blasting off again, and not in a good way. The first few games of the Western Conference Final, the Rockets really put up a dogfight and stuck right with the W’s in both games at Oracle Arena, but couldn’t come out on the winning end. Houston probably could’ve taken Game 2, a game where James Harden was lights out with 38 points and was an assist away from a triple-double, but Curry and Klay Thompson clamped down and trapped Harden, allowing Golden State to hold onto the 99-98 win. Despite Harden’s big game, it seems as if that was the moment the Warriors clinched the series. Game 3 had huge implications; Houston desperately needed to win, and instead, they laid a big fat egg on home court and got spanked. Anyone who believed James Harden deserved the MVP over Curry, has likely changed their tune after the recent events. Kevin McHale better have a game-plan to slow down Chef Curry and the Dubs in some way, because if not, him and his Rockets are going to be cooked.
MLB
Here is my All-Star Ballot at this point in the season.
AL
C – Stephen Vogt, OAK
1B – Miguel Cabrera, DET
2B – Jose Altuve, HOU
3B – Josh Donaldson, TOR
SS – Marcus Semien, OAK
OF – Mike Trout, LAA
OF – Adam Jones, BAL
OF – Josh Reddick, OAK
DH – Nelson Cruz, SEA
P – Dallas Keuchel, HOU
13. Vogt has been a back-up catcher for his entire career, but he’s been phenomenal to start the year, so I’ve got to give him the nod over Russell Martin. Miggy, Altuve, Donaldson, and Trout are all pretty much clear-cut choices, as well as Jones, simply because his hitting his sky-high. Nelson Cruz has undoubtedly been the best hitter in baseball. I also went with two more Athletics in Semien and Reddick, and honestly, you could make a solid argument for Sonny Gray as the American League Starting Pitcher, giving the last place Oakland Athletics 4 All-Star Starters. Before you try to check me into a mental institution, let me explain. Josh Reddick is 4th in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and 3rd in wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created) amongst AL Outfielders, while also hitting .309. Cleveland’s Michael Brantley is marginally better in these categories, but Reddick has demonstrated more power and therefore gets my vote for now. Some would have Detroit’s Jose Iglesias and his .333 Batting Average at Short, but he’s had 56 less at bats than the .291 hitting Semien. Oakland’s shortstop also has the most HRs of any AL shortstop and is tied for 2nd in RBIs. The Athletics are 17-30, have the worst record in the American League, and yet could send 4 players to the All-Star Game. Insane.
NL
C – Buster Posey, SF
1B – Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
2B – Dee Gordon, MIA
3B – Matt Carpenter, STL
SS – Brandon Crawford, SF
OF – Bryce Harper, WSH
OF – Joc Pederson, LAD
OF – Justin Upton, SD
P – Max Scherzer, WSH
14. Posey is obvious. I’ll take Goldschmidt, though Adrian Gonzalez will definitely be there as well. Dee Gordon is hitting .379, he’s in. Carpenter over Todd Frazier because he’s just hitting the ball way better than anyone else at his position. I like Crawford over Starlin Castro, he’s quietly had a very strong season. Rookie sensation Joc Pederson also deserves to start, as well as Justin Upton, but both will likely be reserves as bigger names like McCutchen and Stanton earn Starter Nods.
Juan Pablo Montoya stole a victory from Will Power and Scott Dixon, making a move with 4 laps to go when it seemed certain that Power or Dixon were destined for victory after duelling for the lead for what seemed like ages.
Memorial Cup
16. The 2015 Memorial Cup tournament kicked off this weekend in Quebec City, the premier junior ice hockey tournament outside of the U-20 IIHF World Championship, and a big performance here could put a player’s career on the map. The Four Teams this year include the Host Quebec Remparts, the WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets, the QMJHL Champion Rimouski Oceanic, and the OHL Champion Oshawa Generals. Maple Leafs fans have much incentive to watch as former 1st Round Pick Frederik “Freddy the Goat” Gauthier is a key player for the Oceanic, and won the Q’s best defensive forward award this season. As great as that sounds, it’s most notable winner in recent memory is Marc-Andre Cliche, which isn’t great news.
Some other players to watch in this year’s tournament include former 3rd Overall pick, Kelowna’s Leon Draisaitl (Drafted by EDM), Quebec’s Anthony Duclair (ARI), and Oshawa’s Michael Dal Colle (NYI). Check out http://www.insidethepressbox.ca for awesome Memorial Cup coverage.
NLL
17. Although it seems like all of Toronto’s teams are down on their luck yet again, there is still the Toronto Rock. The Rock pulled off the big upset over the defending NLL Champions and their rivals from across Lake Ontario, the Rochester KnightHawks, and are moving on to face the Edmonton Rush in the finals. The Rock have won Championships in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2011, and yet they’re the 6th most popular team in Toronto (Maple Leafs, Blue Jays, Raptors, TFC, Argonauts, are all ahead of the Rock, Marlies are behind) because Lacrosse simply isn’t as popular as other sports, and yet those 5 franchises have won 2 titles for the city in the same time frame, and those were both won by the Argos. Game 1 of the Final is this coming Saturday against the Edmonton Rush.
Do what you can to support Toronto’s only winning franchise.
This post is the first in an ongoing series that I like to call: My All-time Teams. In each post, I will look at a team that has stood out in my eyes. They could have been one of the greatest teams of all time, they could’ve stunk up the joint like the ’08 Lions, it doesn’t matter, I loved cheering for them.
With the Anaheim Ducks recent success, or rather dominance of the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames, I figure now would be as good a time as ever to bring up the 2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Growing up a Maple Leafs fan, I’ve grown accustomed to the fact that the Buds are never playing after the first week of April, so I’ve got to find someone else to cheer for when playoff hockey comes around.
However, before 2003, the Leafs were all that I needed. The earliest memory I have as a Leafs fan dates back to 1999, watching the Chicago Blackhawks close out Maple Leaf Gardens by beating the Maple Leafs 6-2, and the ceremonies which followed. Some people may say “How on earth could you possibly remember that?”, well in case you didn’t know, Leafs fans haven’t exactly had many memorable moments to hang onto since 2004 (Most of them are seeing coaches and GMs get fired). So from what I could remember, here’s how the Leafs did before 2003:
1998-99 – 4th in the Eastern Conference (Playoffs) Beat Philadelphia 4-2 in 1st Round, Defeated Pittsburgh 4-2 in 2nd Round, Lost to Buffalo 4-1 in Eastern Conference Final
1999-00 – 3rd in the Eastern Conference (Playoffs/Northeast Division Champions) Defeated Ottawa 4-2 in 1st Round, Lost to New Jersey 4-2 in 2nd Round
2000-01 – 7th in the Eastern Conference (Playoffs) SWEPT Ottawa 4-0 in 1st Round, Lost to New Jersey 4-3 in 2nd Round
2001-02 – 4th in the Eastern Conference (Playoffs) Defeated New York Islanders 4-3 in 1st Round, Defeated Ottawa Senators 4-3 in 2nd Round, Lost to Carolina 4-2 in Eastern Conference Final
The Maple Leafs won at least one playoff series every year, and got to the conference finals twice in 4 years. That’s pretty darn good (compared to the current team). The next season, the Maple Leafs lost in 7 games to the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round of the 2003 playoffs. Back in the early 2000s when people used MSN Messenger, Amanda Bynes wasn’t on every drug imaginable, and Hoobastank was still relevant, getting knocked out in the first round was viewed as a huge disappointment in Toronto, which demonstrates how bad the state of Toronto Sports has gotten that now we think simply getting into the playoffs is enough cause for a huge celebration.
So I had to find a new team to cheer on for the rest of the NHL post-season. And the good thing was that I didn’t have to look outside of my family to find one.
For two decades, my uncle, who lives in California, worked as the President of Physical Production for Walt Disney Studios and oversaw the production of more than 200 motion pictures including Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, Pearl Harbor, and The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy to name a few. Of course he also had a part in producing TheMighty Ducks film series, which spawned the inception of an NHL Franchise, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
As I became more and more obsessed with the game of hockey, I eventually came across The Mighty Ducks movies and instantly fell in love with them. If you have not seen these movies, you need to stop what you’re doing immediately and watch The Mighty Ducks, D2 and D3. Literally drop everything and watch these movies; this is your #1 priority now. Nothing else matters.
Anyways, Walt Disney obviously owned the franchise at the time, and as soon as my Uncle found out I had been watching the movies religiously, he sent me a Mighty Ducks jersey signed by the entire team in the summer of 2002.
At the time, the Ducks didn’t get a lot of coverage in Toronto because they didn’t come to town often, and frankly, they weren’t a very good hockey team. The only player I knew on the team was Paul Kariya, but I was still thrilled knowing I just got the autograph of a perennial NHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medallist. When I went down to California later that year, I also got to see the Mighty Ducks in action, a game in which they defeated the Nashville Predators 3-0, and it was at that moment I adopted them as my second team.
Kariya was my favourite Duck, he was the Captain, a Canadian hero, and a winger who certainly wasn’t the biggest guy out there, but made up for it with blistering speed and a cannon for a shot. Besides Kariya, The Mighty Ducks still had one of the NHL’s all-time great passers in Adam Oates, the always reliable Keith Carney and Sandis Ozolinsh on Defense and scoring support from former Stanley Cup winner Petr Sykora and Thunder Bay’s very own, Steve Rucchin.
You want to talk about a well-coached team? Look no further than the ’03 Ducks. The head coach of the team, in his first season behind the bench of an NHL team, was Mike Babcock. His assistant just happened to be future Jack Adams winner Paul MacLean, and his 4th line winger was Stanley Cup AND Jack Adams award-winning Coach, Dan Bylsma. This team was just chock full of leadership and character and all sorts of intangibles.
But you can’t bring up this Mighty Ducks team without mentioning their goalie, the man who stole the show and took the NHL by storm in the 2003 playoffs. The last Hartford Whaler to play in the NHL. The first goalie in Maple Leafs History to record shutouts in his first two games in the Blue and White. The one, the only, Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
The Mighty Ducks snuck into the first round of the playoffs that season, earning the 7th seed and a matchup with the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings were dominant and boasted a lineup consisting of 6 Hall of Famers (Hull, Shanahan, Larionov, Chelios, Robitaille, and Yzerman) and 5 more players who are also likely be inducted someday (Fedorov, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Joseph). Absolutely no one gave them a chance; well, no human anyway.
Anaheim stunned Detroit in their own barn, stealing game 1 in overtime and scoring 3 times in the final 10 minutes of game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead back to the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. After J-S Giguere stood on his head in game 3, it was Steve Rucchin who became the Overtime Hero.
When everyone thought the Wings were going to sweep the Ducks, it turned out to be the complete opposite. They became a team to be reckoned with, and though the top-seeded Dallas Stars were heavily favoured to beat the Ducks, it was clear to the rest of the league that Anaheim should not be taken lightly.
The Anaheim-Dallas series became memorable after only one game, because that game went to 5 overtimes, or 80 minutes and 48 seconds beyond regulation, making it the 4th longest game in NHL History. Petr Sykora, one of Anaheim’s big offseason acquisitions, became the hero, and though he didn’t know it yet, he had essentially won the series for Anaheim, because there really is nothing more demoralizing then coming out on the losing end of a game that lasts longer than 7 full periods.
The Ducks would soar past the Stars in six, only to run into another underdog in the Western Conference Final, the Minnesota Wild. Giguere was basically a brick wall in the 2003 playoffs, and the Wild learned this the hard way. Nothing could get by him. Nothing. Against Minnesota, the soft-spoken goalie from Blainville, Quebec shut out in the Wild in the first three games of the series, and it wasn’t until game 4 that Andrew Brunette finally slipped one by Jiggy. Giguere held the Wild to one goal in 4 games. An all-time best-of-seven series low as the Mighty Ducks swept the Wild.
The Mighty Ducks were going to play for the Stanley Cup! But there was still one team left that they had to dispose of if they wanted to be crowned the Champions, those blasted New Jersey Devils. It would be the Ducks’ (Rob) Niedermayer vs. the Devils’ (Scott) Niedermayer for the Stanley Cup, and Sykora, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Jeff Friesen would all be going up against their old teams.
At this point, no one was hoping the Devils would win. They’d already won twice, both in 1995 and 2000 over the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars respectively, and the way the Devils played was literally killing the game of hockey. (I also wasn’t a big fan, seeing as they had eliminated the Leafs from the playoffs the two seasons prior).
New Jersey used a neutral zone trap system, a mind-numbingly boring defensive style of hockey that caused fans to fall asleep midway through the first period. Every game the Devils would sit back and wait for the other team to make a mistake, New Jersey would capitalize, score a goal or two, and then play conservative defensive hockey for the rest of the game. It was boring, frustrating, infuriating, and yet it almost always worked.
The first two games of the series were more dull than watching paint dry, as the Devils cruised to 3-0 wins in both. Games 3 and 4 weren’t much better, but ended in dramatic finish, with the late Ruslan Salei, who passed away in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl airplane disaster, smashing home the winner in Game 3 and Steve “Stumpy” Thomas, the NHL veteran of 19 years in his first Stanley Cup final, evening the series at 2.
After the Devils took game 5 in New Jersey, the series headed back to California. Now to me, Game 6 is what everyone will remember this series for, because of one play.
I don’t know about you, but “Off the Floor, On the Board” ranks as one of the greatest Stanley Cup Final Moments of all time in my books. Scott Stevens absolutely annihilated Kariya in open ice, as he was known to do to players from time to time, just ask Eric Lindros. Kariya was wasted, knocked completely unconscious, and lying motionless on the ice in front of thousands at the game and millions watching at home.
Every single time I’ve re-watched that clip I get chills. Kariya was pretty much dead 10 minutes earlier, and he comes back and lifts the roof off of the Arrowhead Pond, in a town where ice hockey is an afterthought. I still don’t know what’s better about that goal; the perfectly placed shot by Kariya, or the fact that Martin Brodeur, the Vezina winner in 2002-03, has absolutely no clue what just happened.
Sadly, the Ducks season did not have a Hollywood Movie Ending. Unlikely hero Mike Rupp had 2 goals in Game 7, as the Devils won their 3rd Stanley Cup in 9 years, beating the Ducks by a score of, you guessed it, 3 to nothing. Despite the loss, Jean-Sebastian Giguere took home the Conn Smythe, and rightfully so, with a .945 save percentage and a Goals Against average under 2, nobody was better than Jiggy. While I was happy for Jiggy, it still saddened me to see this team of destiny not receive its storybook conclusion, and I’ve never wanted another NHL team to win as badly as I wanted the 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to.
Epilogue:
Watching the Devils win another Cup and their incredibly boring style of play emerge victorious, The NHL decided to implement several rule changes a few years later to try and increase scoring while discouraging.
In the offseason, the Ducks opted not to pick up Kariya’s $10 million option, though it was believed he would re-sign with the team. In despicable fashion, Kariya left the Mighty Ducks to sign with the Colorado Avalanche for a massive one year $11.2 Million contract.
Wait no, I misread that. Kariya actually signed for… $1.2 million! Why would Kariya take an $8.8 Million paycut? He’s one of the best players in the league! He at least deserves better than a below average salary!
His Reason: He wanted to reunite with old teammate Teemu Selanne, and believed Colorado was his best chance at a Cup (even though he was one game away from it in Anaheim). The Avs were stacked that year, but were disappointingly eliminated in the 2nd round, and Kariya had one of his worst seasons as a pro. After the lockout, Kariya would rebound in Nashville but several injuries eventually forced him to retire in 2011.
Despite losing Kariya, the Mighty Ducks scouting department did fairly well at the NHL Draft that year, picking Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. You may have heard of them.
The next season, the Mighty Ducks signed Russian Superstar Sergei Fedorov to replace Kariya but still missed the playoffs altogether.
Mike Babcock ended up leaving for Detroit after the lockout and became the NHL Coach that every single team currently wishes they had, leading the Red Wings to the playoffs every season he’s been in Detroit, and back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and 2009, winning in ’08.
In 2005 Disney sold the franchise to the Samueli family, and the Mighty Ducks hired Brian Burke to be their new General Manager and Randy Carlyle to be their next head coach. Burke signed Scott Niedermayer, Rob’s brother, to be the Mighty Ducks’ new Captain, brought back fan favourite Teemu Selanne and shipped Fedorov to Columbus for Defensemen Francois Beauchemin. Anaheim’s young stars, Getzlaf, Perry and Chris Kunitz took the team to the Western Conference Finals where they fell to the Cinderella story Edmonton Oilers.
The following season, the Ducks traded for star defenseman Chris Pronger to improve their Blue-line depth even further. The franchise also changed its name to simply “The Anaheim Ducks”, and completely redesigned the team’s colour scheme, now using orange, black, gold and white. Every single person still wishes they had never made these changes.
The no-longer ‘Mighty’ Ducks went on to have their mightiest season in Franchise History, going undefeated in regulation for the first 16 games of the season and winning their first Pacific Division title. After rolling through the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Cauncks, they faced a familiar foe, the Detroit Red Wings.
I was lucky enough to be in attendance for Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, the only NHL playoff game I’ve ever been to (THANKS TORONTO). At that point the Red Wings had a 2-1 lead, so it was essentially a must-win game for Anaheim as the series headed back to Detroit for game 5.
The game was an incredible experience, highlighted by Ryan Getzlaf’s game-winner in the 3rd period that got everyone out of their seats. Anaheim went on to win the game 5-3 and take the next two against the Red Wings to head off to the their second Stanley Cup Final.
This time around, the Ducks weren’t the ones suffering the heartbreak, as they defeated the Ottawa Senators in 5, to win their first ever Stanley Cup.
After my 2 week sabbatical where I did nothing but celebrate the Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX Victory over the Seattle Seahawks (which I’ll get into later this month), here’s my wrap up of the past week in Sports.
1. Obviously the biggest news this week was the NHL’s first blockbuster trade of the season, which saw the much scrutinized Evander Kane, finally getting his wish, and being shipped out of Winnipeg. Kane had never really endeared himself to Winnipeg fans and media due to his behaviour off the ice and his inability to perform while on it. Plus, it really just seemed like he didn’t want to play for the Jets. Well, the good news for Evander, he’s out of Winter-peg. The bad news? He’s going to Buffalo. Plus, the Sabres aren’t very good, so double whammy.
Going to the Sabres are Kane and former 3rd overall pick, Zach Bogosian, while the Jets haul in former Calder Trophy winning Defenseman Tyler Myers, along with winger Drew Stafford and prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux.
The Sabres pick up a guy who still has a shot to turn his career around and get back to scoring 30 goals a season, as well as a solid blue-liner in Bogosian. Both haven’t lived up to their potential to this point in their careers, but they’ve got a fresh start on a rebuilding team that’s all but guaranteed to get one of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, especially after trading Jhonas Enroth for Anders Lindback and a Conditional 3rd, giving them 2 goalies with a combined 5 wins on the season. Tim Murray really knows how to tank.
I’m most impressed with what Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets were able to come away with, despite the other 29 NHL Teams knowing Kane was forcing a trade out of Winnipeg. Most people believe that Bogosian and Myers wash each other out (they have posted similar numbers recently and both are 25), but I’d give the slight edge to Myers. The towering D-man has demonstrated his offensive capabilities in the past and now has far more talent surrounding him in Winnipeg. Besides that, Stafford gives the Jets more depth at forward, and the additions of Lemieux and Armia strengthen Winnipeg’s already formidable prospect pool that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Nic Petan, and Eric Comrie.
The jury is still out on who won the trade, and this will surely be one transaction that fans will follow closely for years to come.
2. Of course, another big trade occurred within the past 48 hours, and this one hits a little closer to home for me. Those crazy Toronto Maple Leafs, who seem to have finally accepted that they must start from scratch in order to be successful again, packaged offensive defenseman Cody Franson, and winger Mike Santorelli, to the Nashville Predators for veteran centre Olli Jokinen, prospect Brendan Leipsic, and a 1st round pick in the upcoming draft.
It seems like both teams got what they wanted in this swap. The Predators get a top 4 D-Man to bolster a unit that already has Shea Weber and Roman Josi, as well as a productive 3rd line forward in Santorelli. It should be interesting to see whether Nashville attempts to retain the two at season’s end, as both are pending Unrestricted Free Agents.
Meanwhile, the Leafs make the wise decision of trading their future UFAs, rather than holding onto them for the entire season and then letting them walk for nothing (See MacArthur, Clarke & Kulemin, Nikolai). It was all but certain the Leafs weren’t going to be able to keep either, so to be able to get a high draft pick is a nice change. They just better not draft another Tyler Biggs with the pick. Toronto also gets Brendan Leipsic who led the WHL in scoring with 120 points for the Portland Winterhawks a couple of years ago, and seems poised to become the next Brendan Gallagher. Hilariously, Olli Jokinen is headed to Toronto as well. Yes, THAT Olli Jokinen. He is well past his prime, and has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to play in Toronto. He’s likely to be swapped for a mid to low round draft pick, so it’s OK Olli, we don’t want you here either.
All in all, can’t complain as a Leafs fan. This move is a step in the right direction.
3. Happy Birthday to Jaromir Jagr! The Most Interesting Man in the NHL! Jagr celebrated his 43rd birthday yesterday, and yes, he is the oldest player in the league. Let’s just look back on Jagr’s career a bit
He’s 5th in NHL all-time scoring, that includes missing 2 seasons due to lockouts and choosing to go play in Russia for another 3, just cause he felt like it.
He’s won the Art Ross 5 times (including 4 years in a row from 1998-2001!!!), the Hart once, and the Lester B. Pearson 3 times.
He’s been everywhere. A lot of people know him for his time with the Penguins, but Jagr has gotten around. After Pittsburgh, Washington, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston and now New Jersey
He’s tough as hell and still in better shape than his teammates who are 20 years younger than him
4. Remember Devan Dubnyk? Y’know, the Oilers former ‘Goalie of the Future’, who stunk up the joint, got traded to Nashville for an overpaid 4th liner, and then to Montreal for basically nothing? Whatever happened to that guy? Guess we’ll never know…
I’m only bringing this up because recently, the Minnesota Wild have been on an absolute tear. They looked to be well out of the playoff picture a couple of months ago; Head Coach Mike Yeo freaked out on his team in practice, and most were calling this season a write-off for Minnesota.
A few weeks ago however, they picked up this goalie from Arizona, and since then they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games, 23 of a possible 26 points, and are only 2 points out of a playoff spot. Most of that can be accredited to this new goalie, who’s posted a 10-1-1 record, with a .938 save percentage, 1.60 Goals Against Average and 4 shutouts! That’s incredible!
That mystery goalie? Devan Dubnyk. He never had more than 2 Shutouts in a season in Edmonton and his save percentage before getting traded last season was under .900. Dubnyk’s completely turned around his career, and who knows, maybe the Wild will sneak in after all behind Dubnyk’s resurrection.
5. On a sadder note, Steve Montador was found dead in his Mississauga home yesterday. He had a history of concussion problems and battled depression in the past, which may have contributed to his death. It seemed like Montador got along with everyone he met, and was also a bit of a character. Here’s a light-hearted anecdote on Montador in the wake of his tragic death.
Another NHLer that was taken from us way too soon.
6. This past weekend, the NBA held their annual All-Star festivities in New York/Brooklyn. The highlight of NBA All-Star Weekend every year is of course, the Slam Dunk Contest. Recently however, the Contest has turned into somewhat of joke; the best example being when the competition was entirely fixed in 2011 so that Blake Griffin would win.
This year was different.
Victor Oladipo had a sensational dunk in the first round that would’ve the best slam of the night in past years.
Then it was Zach LaVine’s turn to go.
And he absolutely blew the roof off of the Barclays Center.
LaVine plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently have the worst record in the Western Conference. But with Andrew Wiggins taking MVP of the Rising Stars game and LaVine winning the Dunk Contest, if you want to jump on the Timberwolves bandwagon, you should probably do that, right, about, now.
7. While everyone always talks about the Slam Dunk Contest, this year the 3 point contest was getting just as much hype. The shoot-out contained 4 of the NBA’s top 11 in scoring, including James ‘The Beard’ Harden, Kyrie Irving and the Splash Bros., Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. It also had probably the best all-around shooter in the NBA right now, Kyle Korver.
If you’ve been around me recently, you’ve probably already heard me ramble on about Kyle Korver and how he’s on pace for the NBA’s greatest shooting season of all-time. His True Shooting Percentage, which takes into account Shooting percentage from the field, beyond the arc, and from the free throw line, is 73.1%! Kyle Korver is some type of android; he is as close to automatic as it gets.
But this was just Curry’s night. There’s a reason he got more votes than anyone else. 7th in scoring per game, 5th in assists per game, and the main reason why the Warriors have been so dominant this year.
He hit 13 in a row in the championship round and if he nailed that last 3, I’d have lost my mind. Stephen Curry is unreal, and not a day goes by that I don’t regret not buying a Curry Warriors Jersey in San Francisco.
8. The Celebrity All-Star game was another one of the highlights of the weekend. Kevin Hart looked to go for his 4th straight MVP by drawing as much attention to himself as possible by screaming nonsensically. He got it, unsurprisingly, because we all really just needed to see more of him. Getting a little tired of his schtick.
Team World beat Team USA in the Rising Stars Challenge, and Canadian Boy, scratch that, Toronto boy, Andrew Wiggins, took home MVP honours with a big performance. Alvin Gentry of the Golden State Warriors probably had the best quote about the game, saying “I think it should be North America against the World. Then that way, we get Canada.” There’s no denying the increase of Canadian talent in the NBA, with Wiggins leading the way.
Oh right, and then there was the actual game, the reason why all these events were happening. Kyle Lowry #NBABallot did start, so that ridiculous twitter campaign did mean something in the end, but the East lost to the West by a score of 163-158. Russell Westbrook won MVP and probably could’ve set the All-Star game scoring record if he didn’t get sat late in the game. No one’s more intense than Russell, and that’s one of the main reasons why he’s becoming one of the NBA next big superstars.
I just can’t wait until it all comes to Toronto next year.
9. Richie Incognito is back in the NFL, after signing with the Buffalo Bills to a one year deal worth 2.25 million. Now I get why the Bills would do it, their Offensive Line was one of their biggest weaknesses last season, and Incognito has shown in the past that he can play at a pro-bowl calibre level.
But how many chances are you going to give this guy? His entire career he’s had issues off of the field. When he was playing college ball at the University of Nebraska, he spat in players faces, got into fights at practice, was arrested for assault, and kicked out of the school. On talent alone, he was able to get drafted into the NFL, where he has been voted the dirtiest player in the league. Then of course, there was the Jonathan Martin bullying scandal. The things he said to Martin, who battled depression and contemplated suicide because of Incognito’s actions, were despicable.
This has to be Incognito’s last chance at the NFL, but the fact someone gave him another shot, pisses me right off. Incognito doesn’t seem to have changed one bit since his days at Nebraska, so why anyone would think this time will be different, is beyond me. I hope he’s a huge flop and is out of the NFL by season’s end. Incognito is the type of guy that needs the NFL, but the NFL doesn’t need him.
10. I’ll close by saying this: Pitchers and Catchers report for Spring Training in a couple of days. I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m excited that Baseball is only a few weeks away, because Baseball = warm weather, and let’s get real, NOBODY gets used to “Feels like -41” temperatures. The Boys of summer will be back soon. Go Sox.
In the conclusion of my 5 part series on who may be the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I look at the man who is already considered one of the greatest coaches in NHL history. In case you missed part 4 on Disco Dan Bylsma, click here. Without further ado, a man who just had to be on this list….
John Tortorella
Haha OK, but seriously…
Mike Babcock a.k.a Babs
Previous Experience:
Babcock coached in the Western Hockey League for almost an entire decade. He started off with the Moose Jaw Warriors, before leaving to coach the University of Lethbridge for a year, where he led them to the CIS University Cup. Babcock then came back to the WHL with the Spokane Chiefs, taking them to the WHL finals twice. In 2000, Babcock became the coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s AHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and in the summer of 2002, the Ducks organization decided that Babcock was their guy for the future and moved him up to the big club.
That’s right; Mike Babcock was the head coach of the 2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. I LOVED THIS TEAM. That group is probably my favourite NHL team of all time excluding any Toronto Maple Leafs teams of the past. Steve Rucchin, Petr Sykora, Keith Carney, Bryan Murray as GM, Martin Gerber as the backup, Sandis Ozolinsh, Steve “Stumpy” Thomas, the late Ruslan Salei, Adam Oates on his last legs, PAUL KARIYA, and JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE playing the greatest hockey of his life. But I’m getting off topic here, so I’ll express my love for this team another time.
As a rookie head coach, Babcock led this team within one game of the Stanley Cup. At the end of the 2004 season, Babcock would coach Team Canada to a Gold Medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. Following the tournament, he chose not to renew his contract with the Mighty Ducks, which broke my heart, and signed on to become head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. In his first year in Detroit, the Red Wings won the President’s trophy and in 2007-08, Babcock led the Wings to a Stanley Cup victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Babcock got the Wings back to the final the next season only to lose to those same Penguins in seven.
Shortly after that season, Babcock was named the coach for Team Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a team which achieved “once-in-a-lifetime” Olympic Gold. In doing so, he became the first coach to ever join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold, and IIHF Gold). He would also be bench boss for the 2014 Canadian Olympic Team which captured Gold in Sochi, becoming the first coach to lead a country to consecutive gold medals. I’m not quite sure what song describes Babcock best…
He’s currently still coaching Detroit, but his contract expires at the end of this season and he still hasn’t signed an extension. Thus, the media is running rampant with rumours that Babcock is coming to Toronto.
Accomplishments:
Record: 506-270-19-114
Pts Pct: .629
5 Division Championships
3 Clarence S. Campbell Trophies (Western Conference Champions)
10 Playoff Appearances
2 Presidents’ Trophies
1 Stanley Cup
2 Olympic Gold Medals
1 IIHF World Championship Gold Medal
1 IIHF U-20 World Championship Gold Medal
1 CIS University Cup
Surprisingly, Babcock has never won a Jack Adams award as Coach of the Year! Ironic, since he has tallied over 500 wins in the NHL and is almost unanimously considered the best head coach in the NHL today.
Little-Known Fact:
Mike Babcock really enjoys hunting. He’s also great with the media.
On HBO 24/7 Leafs/Wings, after a loss to the Florida Panthers, towards the crew in the Red Wings dressing room:
“Get out, get out of here, that’s why I shut the door, get the f*ck out of here!”
After winning his second Gold Medal in Sochi:
“Does anybody know who won the scoring race? Does anybody care? Does anyone know who won the gold medal? See you, guys.”
Likelihood:
As of right now, 4/10, but that could change based on his situation. Unlike the other candidates on this list, Babcock currently has a job. He’s got a good thing with Detroit, the team hasn’t missed the playoffs since the 80’s and even when they’re considered to be rebuilding, the Red Wings are still safely in a playoff position (5th in the East right now, 8 points up on the 9th place Leafs). Everything’s coming up Milhouse in Detroit, so there are really only two things that could bring him to Toronto, 1) Money, and 2) A new challenge.
Babcock, as evident from his countless achievements above, has every right to believe that he should be the highest-paid coach in the NHL. Toronto will have no problem throwing a stupid amount of money for him to come to T.O. Detroit will definitely be more stingy, especially since they may have a coach waiting in the wings with Jeff Blashill, the coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Babcock could also have gotten bored in Detroit. The team is pretty much a sure shot to make the playoffs every year, but I can’t see them actually contending for a while, they’re on the downward trend. Toronto, on the other hand, is the center of the hockey universe. The Leafs are the most valuable franchise in the NHL and have the largest fan base of any NHL franchise and it’s not even close. While their fans are loyal, they’ve been suffering for years and are starting to get desperate as seen through local idiots around the GTA throwing waffles and jerseys in recent years. The awful showing from the team is only matched by the around-the-clock coverage from the Toronto media, who always seem to make stories out of nothing, like salutegate, which I hereby banish from this blog. Too many minutes of life have been wasted on something so asinine and it is excruciatingly painful for me to type this very sentence. Do not ever ask me about that again. What I’m trying to say is: the current situation could be best described as a tire fire.
We’ll see how things unfold in Detroit, but if Babcock chooses not to re-sign with the Wings, it’s all but assured he’s on his way to T.O. Now Babcock could still disappoint like so many have in the past, but if ANYONE were to turn the Leafs around, it’s him. He is the Golden Boy. And if Mike Babcock can make the Leafs competitive again, and dare I say it, lead them to a Stanley Cup, then he may go down as the greatest head coach in NHL history.
nolancattell 
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