Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.16

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Thirty seven games in the books before the brief Christmas break and the Maple Leafs used them to play to a 500 record, good enough for 11th place in the Eastern Conference. By the time the hangovers are shaken off for a date with the all too familiar Boston Bruins on New Year’s Day, the Maple Leafs will have exhausted half their regular season schedule. Going into the season, many experts predicted the Leafs to be a 500 team at year’s end fighting for a playoff position all season long. So far that prediction has held true. Strange as it may be to say but the next four games will be pivotal for the Maple Leafs as it will dictate the kind of position they are in once they kick off the second half of their season.

Play 500 or better in the next four games and the Leafs start their final 41 games even or slightly better. Lose three or four of their next four and the Leafs start the second half having to dig out of a hole to climb back to 500. Starting the second half with games against Boston, Buffalo, Carolina and Buffalo again, three or four games under 500 could quickly snowball to six or seven under. If that were to happen you can be sure the Maple Leafs wouldn’t have to worry about any conflicts were they to book vacations during the month of April.

That being said, it will not be easy over the next week. The Leafs play over the Christmas holidays has traditionally left people wanting. They will also have to find a way to overcome injuries to key players and bunch some wins together. No help is on the way. Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina have to be better. Matt Stajan and Alex Steen must rediscover their success from the end of last season. Andrew Raycroft has to make like Ebenezer Scrooge and stop giving up gift goals. Alex Suglobov will be given more minutes. He will have to pass the puck. If the Leafs can’t accomplish all this, the new calendar year might mark the end of the Maple Leafs hockey year. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.15

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Since the NHL returned from the lockout 14 months ago, clearly the emphasis regarding the style of play has been on speed and skill. Naturally because of the change in the style of play, we have begun to see the erosion of some of the former talents in the National Hockey League. In addition, over the last season and a half, hockey fans have been treated to the next generation of young superstars. Never before has there been such a dominant crop of young players having such an immediate impact on the game. Crosby, Ovechkin, Phaneuf, Stastny, Malkin, among so many others young stars, all go to players on their respective teams.

When Sidney Crosby passed Jaromir Jagr in the NHL points race this past Wednesday, it quite possibly was an event far more symbolic than just a simple change in the leadership of that particular statistical category. After the departure of Wayne Gretzky and the decline of an older Mario Lemieux, Jagr was generally acknowledged as the most dominant player in the league. When he wanted to play, there was little anyone could do to stop him. Though Jagr is still a strong player in today’s game, it is seems quite likely someone may have come along who is just that much better. Sidney Crosby unlike so many highly touted phenoms is living up to his expectations and then surpassing them. He shows you a new trick on an almost nightly basis. It’s almost impossible to fathom that this is a guy still eligible to play for Team Canada in the World Juniors. At the rate he is scoring in the NHL, he would likely make a mockery of the World Junior Tournament.

In a week that saw John LeClair cut loose by the Penguins, Petr Nedved waived by the Flyers and JR get himself in more trouble in Phoenix, it’s never been more clear that the NHL is in a full fledged youth movement. It’s the young stars dominating the highlights on a nightly basis. Oh ya and not too much interest in Brian Leetch or Jason Allison. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.14

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Over the past week, their have been a couple of occurrences around the National Hockey League that have brought back that age old argument: Do star players get treated differently than everybody else when it comes to enforcing the rules. We, who associate ourselves with the sport of hockey, like to think our sport is cleaner, fairer, purer, the benchmark for which other professional sports should measure themselves. In some cases, yes this is true. It’s hard to argue hockey players, away from their roles as athletes, are among the finest people to make up the athlete body of any major professional sport. However when it comes to laying down the law, I’m starting to think hockey is no further ahead than any other sport.

Dwayne Roloson’s vicious upslash to the groin of a crease crasher was a suspendable offense regardless of the abuse he was taking in the crease prior to his outburst. It was indisputably an attempt to injure, and just like hitting from behind has no place in the game, neither do vicious upslashes to groins.

That brings us to Alexander Ovechkin. Nobody can question his passion for the game but last week when he shoved Daniel Briere head first into the side boards narrowly missing the bench door, his passion crossed the line. It was a move that should have cost him five games but just as Roloson escaped without suspension, so too did Ovechkin.

I hate pointing these instances out because both Roloson and Ovechkin are excellent ambassadors for the game of hockey. But I hate to think their role as ambassadors or more accurately as star players played an impact in the NHL’s decision to avoid suspending them. Suspend Ovechkin for 5 games and fans in Atlanta and Philadelphia who had tickets to Washington’s next two road game become very upset. Suspend Roloson and that could cost Edmonton some serious ground in the standings. You can be sure that if it was Jakub Klepis or Jussi Markkanen, suspensions who have been handed out. The NHL continues to turn a blind eye to the misdoings of its stars and that has got to stop. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.13

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Are the Maple Leafs getting enough out of their defense? It’s a question that has been on my mind since the first few games of the season and now with the Maple Leafs mired in their first prolonged slump of the season, it is one that has been brought to the forefront of discussion. With the Leafs having lost six of their last eight games, now seems like as good a time as any to take a stab at answering this puppy.

In my opinion, the answer quite simply is no. The Maple Leafs have a total of about $20 million tied up in seven players on defense this season. At forward, $20 million is spoken for among thirteen players. General manager John Ferguson Jr. decided to dole out big dollars on defense and hoped to supplement his forwards by going with youth from within the organization. That’s fine as long as your defense becomes one of your strengths as a team. So far in this young season, it has been offense that has been the strength of Maple Leafs, not defense. The Leafs sit sixth overall in league scoring, twenty seventh in goals against. Not near good enough for a team paying their defensemen as handsomely as the Leafs do.

Despite his offensive contributions, Bryan McCabe, at a salary of $7 million, makes about a mistake per dollar in his own end. He is not at the level of Pronger, Niedermayer, Lidstrom or Chara, players who share similar salaries. At that money, McCabe needs to be as dependable in his own end as he is in the other team’s end.

Pavel Kubina makes $5 million per season but so far has not been used like a $5 million defenseman with Kaberle, McCabe and Gill seeming to get the call before he does. At this point it is hard to know whether he is worth that kind of money because he really hasn’t been given an opportunity to strut his stuff.

Youngsters White and Bell have been impressive and are much cheaper options. Soon Colaiacovo and Kronwall will be ready for Leaf action too. Now the question is would the Leafs have been better off to give more of the kids a shot and use Kubina and McCabe’s money to end the roundabouts on Mats Sundin’s wings? But hey, all that was just rigamarole.