Hockey Odds and Ends

Some time ago I wondered if we can now dispense with the Marianne "The Passenger" Hossa myth. It seems the answer would be, sort of. Detroit didn't like him enough to piss 7+ mil away to keep him, in the hope of dragging him to a cup. So, he went to Chicago, where he took a 2 1/4 mil paycut. Sure, that was almost 30%, which means he's still overpaid by about 3 mil.

Yes, I've got a hair up my ass about this guy. Yes, I've had it since he hacked Bryan Berard's eye out of his head, protesting that it was just the follow through. Hey, asshole, you're responsible for your stick. Your stick took out a man's eye. Thus, you took out a man's eye. No, the fawning over him hasn't helped. No, being in the unfortunate position of being a Leafs fan also doesn't help, but I think I laid out my case against him pretty well in my last post on the subject.

At any rate, if you're paying north of 5 million a year for a forward, he'd better be the type of guy you can build a team around. Whatever Hossa may be, he ain't that.

Which brings me to Dany Heatly, another, whiny, overpaid prima donna. Yeah, Dany boy, you have a helluva one timer. So did Brett "The Golden Pissant" Hull. They tried to build the St. Louis offense around him. How'd that work out? It wasn't until he was just a cog in the machine, and not expected to be the driveshaft, that he (most unfortunately) won a cup. Heatly is making too much money for what he brings, and, like Hossa, his act is wearing thin.

Oh, yeah, back to Hossa. Seems the ownership of Chicago is really pleased with his acquisition. How long did it take them to fire Dale Tallon after he signed Hossa? I mean, yes sports is a game of "what have you done for me lately?" but, Tallon took the biggest joke in the league (next to the Leafs) from worst to the conference final in what, 3 seasons? But what did he do lately? Signed Marion "The Anchor" Hossa to a 5 year contract. And got fired. Harsh.

Now, the Leafs.

Shit.

(1) They have a backup goalie to challenge Vesa "The Sieve" Toskela.

(2) They've brought in decent blue liners so that the kid Schenn (a) doesn't have to try to do everything, and (b) learns his craft properly. With 9 on the roster they've even got trade bait.

(3) They brought in a legitimate heavy weight so that, again, Schenn doesn't have to try to do everything.

(4) They haven't pissed the draft picks away on short term fixes.

Judas Priest on a pogo stick. It's almost as if the management has a fucking clue how to run a hockey team. A nice change from John "Doofus" Ferguson "I'm proud of what I've accomplished" Jr.

Now, they finished 12th in the East, meaning to make the playoffs they hafta get ahead of 4 teams. Ahead of them were; Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Montreal. The only one close to a gimme is Florida. Ottawas still has a poison in the dressing room, and I don't think Montreal improved this off season. Buffalo? I don't know. How many can they move up? 1 to 3 spots, leaving them on the outside.

Who was there? The top spots aren't changing Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington and New Jersey are Likely going to be the top 4. Philly, Carolina and the Rangers round out the playoff teams. Are two of them going to fall 4 to 6 places? Carolina pretty much stood pat, Philly improved, and New York got chewed up by free agency. Maybe Carolina slips and the Rangers fall, but 4 - 6 places for both? I dunno. If the stars align just so, maybe they sneak into 8th.

Look at it another way, Toronto was 13 points out of 8th. Do the new defensemen, and the fire Burke lit under Toskela's ass equate to 7 more wins? Look at goals for/goals against. Toronto was tied for 5th in goals for, and dead last in goals against. In bolstering the defense, Burke is working the goals against. They cut out 50 goals against, they're in 8th place. That's a goal every other game. Can they do it with a brand new defense? Maybe.

So, do the Leafs have a shot at the playoffs? Yes. A good one? As it stands, not really. Is trading 2 of the superfluous defensemen for a proper shut down line in the cards? Shit I hope so. Goal scoring isn't the problem, it's shutting down the other team. I guess we'll be standing by.