For better or for worse, and whether Torontonians like the comparison or not, their Maple Leafs are the New York Yankees of hockey.
No matter what they do – even when it’s nothing – the Leafs are worth at least three stories a day. It’s the nature of being the hockey kings of Canada’s Queen City – if not the entire country of Canada.
Like the Yankees, the Leafs matter, even in Portage La Prairie, Prince Albert, Cole Harbor and all points east and west.
As a matter of fact, the only difference between the American League Yanks and the Leafs is that the Bombers win a World Series every decade or so.
Never mind decades, Toronto has not hailed a Stanley Cup in more than a half-century, since 1967 if you’re counting. That’s so far back that Conn Smythe still wore spats over his shoes.
But give the Leafs’ faithful credit for their infinite patience. Long ago, they borrowed – from baseball’s long-gone Brooklyn Dodgers – the best mantra of all 32 NHL teams. “Wait ’til next year.”
But wait a minute, this is next year, and I have on the highest authority that a Leafs’ Cup is finally a real possibility. None other than His Eminence Barry Trotz is talking up Toronto. The man who appears to be waiting for the New York Americans to come back before he accepts another coaching gig is lovin’ the Leafs.
When Trotz recently spoke with The Athletic’s Sean Gentile, the NHL’s coach-in-waiting and normally prudent Manitoban told us to be aware – as in beware – of the Maple Leafs. Of course, while no one can be quite sure where is “where” with Sheldon Keefe’s combatants, Trotz does give us some tasty hints.
“No one gives Toronto any credit for how good defensively they’ve been,” Trotz told The Athletic. “We’re starting to recognize it, but I saw it last year. The thing I saw with them last year is the commitment level in the playoffs. Their stars were blocking shots.”
He also praised Mitch Marner’s game.
“He’s first on the forecheck, first on the backcheck. When your stars are doing it, you’re going to have a chance to have success.”
See, see, Barry thinks he sees a Cup on his Yonge Street Ouija board. But on second look, Trotz returns to earth with this: “I don’t know if it’ll happen this year, but it’ll happen.”
Yeah, there remain perennial problems at Scotiabank Arena – and neither Ryan O’Reilly, Patrick Kane or Timo Meier will make them go away. As always, the migraine-makers are in the crease.
How can Stanley happen this year with those big “ifs” – no, not stiffs – in goal? If Ilya Samsonov isn’t hurt, then it’s Matt Murray down.
Yeah, the Leaf defense has held up admirably, if not heroically, but what will it be like at April attrition time? As my clear-eyed Toronto buddy, Rob DeMundo, put it, 39-year-old dependable Mark Giordano “will be running on fumes in April.”
But far be it for The Maven to put a damper on Toronto’s eternal dream. I only wish that the sage Trotz had been more positive.
But telling us, “I don’t know if it’ll happen this year,” is milquetoast. Why not come out and say, “Yes, they’ll do it.”
Ah, I know why, because “Wait ‘ti next year” is more like it.
I’M JUST SAYIN’
* My favorite goal so far this season was Mitch Marner making the entire Rangers team look invisible with his OT score last Wednesday.
* Nothing personal, Super McDavid, but Jack Hughes is moving in on your highlight reels.
* Jumpin’ Jack won an OT game the other night with an unreal radar pass while down on his knees and a checker all over him.
* Next game against Dallas, he personally scored the OT-winner on a speed-produced semi-breakaway, followed by a fastest-gun-in-the-west wrister.
* Every coach in captivity would buy a book by Jim Montgomery if it was titled, This Is How I Did It.
* On any morning, any week, I wake up and read of yet another goalie injury. But Fred Anderson, again? Matt Murray, again?
* If it isn’t their crazy devotion to the injury-inducing “Butterfly” causing the mishaps, please tell me what it is?
* My vote for the least visible GM in history – Patrik (He’s In Vancouver) Allvin.
* Speaking of the Canucks, the franchise’s mishandling of Bruce Boudreau will hurt the club’s re-signing of key players and certainly won’t help attract free agents.
* Definition of “What’s The Rush?” The season is already more than half over, and the Players’ Association still hasn’t found a successor to Don Fehr.
* ESPN’s gurus insist that the Blues are forcing GM Doug Armstrong to trade his top pending UFA players.
* That wonderful, eventual Devil defenseman Luke Hughes had a four-goal night for Michigan against Penn State.
* The Michigan Daily called it “One of the greatest performances in college history.” That explains the grin on Tom Fitzgerald’s mug.
SINGING SWEETLY FOR NEW JERSEY’S UNSUNG HEROES
The Devils continue climbing the NHL’s Mount Elite.
More than halfway through the season, their ascent can no longer be called an accident. This team is for real, and most of the reasons are obvious. And a few are not.
Beyond the Jack Hughes-Nico Hischier-Dougie Hamilton-Vitek Vanecek core, there’s a solid trio of unsung heroes. The best of the “unknowns” is Swiss blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler, the defenseman’s defenseman.
“He’s as steady as they come,” said MSG Networks’ Leo Scaglione, Jr., “and almost invisible on most nights. And that’s a compliment. Jonas has helped Dougie Hamilton reach his highest heights since signing with New Jersey.”
Up front, right wings Nathan Bastian and Tomas Tatar – along with center Mike McLeod – have provided useful depth. McLeod is the face-off specialist, Bastian delivers grit while Tatar offers offense and essential leadership for the young team.
Their current record (32-13-4) is at least partly due to the unsung heroes.
SPOTLIGHT ON SEATTLE AND VANCOUVER
Thanks to our Northwest correspondent Glenn Dreyfuss for this.
NHL hockey in the Pacific Northwest is represented these days by the iconic theatre masks – one joyful, one miserable.
In Seattle, the Kraken’s .643 winning percentage is best in the Pacific Division.
“We don’t care what the outside world thinks or believes,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. The Kraken’s January ledger: 11-3-1.
“The number of miles we’ve travelled, the competitive games we’ve been in, this has been a hell of a month,” he said.
Shrewd additions by GM Ron Francis took center stage in Seattle’s 3-1 win over Columbus, completing a 3-1-1 homestand entering the break. One goal each came from Alex Wennberg, a free-agent acquisition, and Eeli Tolvanen, plucked off waivers. Both are former first-round draft picks.
“In Nashville, I didn’t play for a month,” said Tolvanen, who’s scored eight goals in 15 games with the Kraken. “Getting trust from the coaches means a lot.”
Added Wennberg, who reached his 600th NHL game: “We’ve put ourselves in a great situation. We’re scoring goals, we’re working on the special teams to be better, and the goaltending has been unreal.”
The Canucks, meanwhile, have been making news for all the wrong reasons. Rob Simpson of vancouverhockeyinsider.com says not to be distracted by the recent botched coaching change.
“Weigh it however you want – salary cap, management, coaching – to me, it’s on the players,” said Simpson.
Rob says of the Canucks roster, “There’s some overpaid athletes, there’s some bad chemistry, there’s questions regarding commitment.” Vancouver has lost eight of their last 11. “It’s been ugly. The PK stinks, the D-zone stinks, there’s a lot of fixing to do.”
Speaking with me on Hockey Time Machine, Simpson predicted between now and the trade deadline, “(Canucks president) Jim Rutherford and (GM) Patrik Allvin are entering a very busy season.”
BIG QUESTION: Are the Bruins peaking too soon?
BIG ANSWER: Yes, and it’s beginning to happen.
Courtesy of George Falkowski
YAYS AND BOOS:
YAY TO JAROSLAV HALAK AND SEMYON VARLAMOV, the vet Rangers and Islanders backup goalies, whose last two games were pure gold.
BOO TO THE ‘TANK’ TALKING MEDIA TYPES who can’t stop promoting a myth that teams will dump to get Connor Bedard.
(See below.)
A SENSIBLE ANSWER TO THE ‘TANKING’ TALK
There’s been too much reckless talk among supposedly prudent journalists about the tanking-to-get Connor Bedard issue. I prefer commissioner Gary Bettman’s answer, candidly delivered when he recently met the media in Montreal. It bears repeating, so here goes:
“Nobody tanks because we have a weighted lottery,” Bettman asserted. “You’re not going to lose games to increase your odds by a couple of percentage points. That’s silly. And, frankly, suggesting tanking I believe is inconsistent with the professionalism that our players and coaches have.
“Nobody tanks. Our players and our coaches do their best to win. And, again, just because you may finish with the worst record in the league, you’ve got something like a 75-percent chance that you’re not going to get the first pick.”
News Summary:
- Fischler Report: Maple Leafs Are the New York Yankees of Hockey
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