Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.32

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The Stanley Cup playoffs began with unparalleled parity across the board in both conferences. Three games into each series and everything was about as clear as mud. The Pittsburgh Penguins advanced as expected at the hands of the Ottawa Senators but quite surprisingly, the Philadelphia Flyers – a team that required a victory on the final day of the regular season just to punch a ticket to the dance – upset the New Jersey Devils, giving them three straight years of first round failures. Another upset could be forthcoming if the Boston Bruins can knock off the Buffalo Sabres in game six.

In the Western Conference though, order has been restored to a state that one might have expected coming into the post season. Top seeds San Jose, Chicago and Vancouver all trailed two games to one in their respective series but each pumped out two straight wins to go up three games to two. Moreover, in doing so, not only did they win the games but they seemed to find a gear that had been missing earlier. For the first time in games four and five in all three series, a disparity between the higher and lower seeded teams was noticeable. The Sharks ultimately advanced to the second round, putting to rest for the time being their playoff jinx.

While the Phoenix Coyotes are technically the favourite over the Detroit Red Wings by virtue of holding the fourth seed, this is a unique situation where any smart money would have to be on the lower seeded Red Wings. However, after Detroit too got out to a rough start going down two games to one, they finally wielded their playoff muscle with a pair of convincing victories, outscoring the Coyotes by a combined 7-1 margin in games four and five.

As the top Western Conference teams are all poised to move onto the second round, what this does mean is that the road to the Stanley Cup Finals might be that much more difficult west. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.31

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Well if it was parity that the NHL was looking for in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, parity is exactly what they’ve got. As of the recording of this show, seven of the eight series are tied at one game apiece with the potential for that number to grow to all eight should the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Nashville Predators later on Sunday.

Not only though has there been parity between each series but there has been parity within each series. Two of the series – the Montreal Canadiens against the Washington Capitals and the LA Kings against the Vancouver Canucks – have seen both games go into overtime. The one versus eight seed series in both conferences saw the underdogs – the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche – both pull off upsets in game one before the top seeded teams – the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks – scored with under two minutes remaining in the third period to tie game two before ultimately winning in overtime.

Moreover, excluding empty net goals, through the first fifteen games played in round one, fourteen of them have been one goal games. The only game decided by more than one goal that wasn’t scored into an empty net was game two of the Red Wings against Coyotes series – a game won by Detroit by a whopping two goal margin.

One third of the first fifteen games have gone into overtime. Really, it’s been an exhibition of remarkable competition and anybody who feels they can accurately predict the outcomes now after the early part of the first round quite simply is full of it. Hey, I went on about how I would be really surprised to see any upsets at all in the first round and we now see how well that’s panned out. But then again, if you don’t want something to happen, get me to predict that it will, and it won’t, but hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.30

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See now I’m confused. Never, not once, during the entire regular season did I see Christian Hanson do anything that left me impressed. I never thought, “oh, good play” or “hey, this guy could turn into a player down the road” when watching him. In fact, I had actually grown comfortable with the idea that perhaps Hanson just wasn’t quite going to pan out the way the Maple Leafs had expected and you know what, that was alright. Sometimes you gamble and win, Tyler Bozak, other times you gamble and lose and even if the Leafs were going to lose on Hanson, it’s not like they were going to lose that much.

Hanson never showed any speed, any aggression, any desire to go to the net with authority, any desire to play a physical style of game that one would think his 6’3”, 203 lbs frame would allow him to. Until, that is, on Saturday night in Montreal in the Leafs final regular season game. There Hanson looked like the player everybody was told he could be when the Leafs signed him out of the University of Notre Dame just over a year ago. He was throwing his body around, he went to the net, he showed a bit of a scoring touch, in short, he just looked interested.

The frustrating part of that is why now? Why did that style of play take him until his thirty first game of the season in the last regular season contest? Was he just cruising through the rest of the season? Where was that kind of play when it still mattered because hey, if he’d played like that the whole season, there’s a good chance that he could turn himself into a downright effective player.

That he has finally shown some potential is encouraging but perhaps it’s the mental aspect of his game that is lacking. Brian Burke ought to sit him down and warn him that unless he enjoys long bus rides in the AHL, the style of play he showed against Montreal is what he will need to show more often than not next season. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.29

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Tomas Kaberle is something of an anomaly in the world of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A homegrown prospect – not even a high draft pick but one picked all the way back in the eighth round – that has been developed from within before eventually going on to become one of the best at his craft in the NHL. The Leafs, for those just crawling out from under a rock for the first time in two decades, can’t cite too many other examples of just such an occurrence.

While there is no denying Kaberle’s ability to control the play, get out of trouble in his own zone and distribute the puck effectively, at thirty two years of age, what you see now is what you get. He has been a wonderful player for the Maple Leafs for the past ten years but as hard as it is to say, it is time for Kaberle to move along.

As the Leafs will miss the playoffs once again this season, Kaberle’s no-trade clause is rendered null and void this off season. Brian Burke must take advantage now and salvage some kind of a return on an asset like Kaberle. His value will never be any higher. At this point in his career, the potential for the greatest return will only start to diminish as more miles are logged. In two or three years when the Leafs hope to be a regularly competitive team, how much will Kaberle’s skills have eroded by then? Enough to warrant a trade now.

Nothing at all against Kaberle, but the Leafs can ill afford to let yet another tangible asset as they did with Sundin, Tucker et al. to move along with no return. Most concerning with Kaberle has been the fact that after arguably one of his best starts this season, his play has regressed in the second half of the season to the point where he is too often making critical errors that lead to goals. You don’t put up a -16 by accident. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.