My goodness. Nos Canadiens took it on the chin tonight, a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Lightning, who seemed to score at will. On the powerplay that is, but to bring up that distinction only raises more uncomfortable issues for Nos Glorieux.
I appreciated the improved effort by the refs to try to weed out some of the scrumming and nonsense after the whistle, and to do it early, when they got Matthew Carle for a crosscheck against Brendan Gallagher that stood out like a sore thumb, being so late, a couple beats after the whistle had gone.
Only problem is that we were bit more often, getting penalized more, and then actually giving up powerplay goals. And these weren't scrummy bounce-off-someone's-equipment goals, they were born of tape-to-tape passes, tic-tac-toe goals, beautiful goals, heartrending goals. The kind of goals our team used to score, against the Bruins, to temper the nastiness of their assaults.
We can argue about this or that instance, like how Brandon Prust got two minors on the Lightning's first powerplay, while Braydon Coburn's Milan Lucic-approved pitchfork to his inseam got overlooked, but really, that's a detail that misses the main point: we can't beat Tampa on the scoreboard, and not really in the alley either.
I worried about how we'd let Ben Bishop off the hook for his shaky performance on Friday, how he kept muffing plays, losing the puck, letting some by that would hit the posts. How he took one off the noggin, but he hadn't hamburglared it and ducked out of its way, he somehow saved that David Desharnais slapper too. I thought that we should have put that in the win column, that we can't give the Lightning too many mulligans like that, in what should be at best an evenly-matched series. Chances are a few games will be very close and determined by a lucky bounce I thought, so those we clearly dominate we should put away.
Now sure enough, they go home up 2-0, with momentum and confidence and chemistry and a rhythm and whatever other cliché you can come up with.
Meanwhile, it's not even like Carey Price was good or bad, he never had a chance on most of those goals. While we're crying out in frustration when our passes go through the slot or even the crease but fail to connect, Carey's up against pinpoint passes that are cradled by their snipers and passed off or shot again, usually into a deserted net. As football coaches say, there's no defence against execution. A perfect pass is a perfect pass.
And now we get to wait until Wednesday for Game 3. Great.
Sometimes I wonder if those criminals on death row who launch appeal after appeal really benefit from all that reprieve, delaying the inevitable. I wonder if they wouldn't be better off to just get it over with.
Sunday, 3 May 2015
Friday, 1 May 2015
'15 Playoffs Round 2, Game 1: Canadiens 1, Lightning 2 (OT)
A disappointing 2-1 overtime loss for the Canadiens, who did everything but score tonight. Or at least, score enough. We worried about the tepid offence against the Sens, but the team was creative and dangerous tonight. It's just a pity that it didn't show up on the scoreboard, with multiple chances missed, pucks skittering through the crease or not quite over the line, and with multiple posts hit.
Tonight was the night to capitalize on a tired team, to benefit from the fact that we dominated play, in a series that is promising to be difficult. In such a close matchup, you can't fumble opportunities. You want to win the games you're better in, because chances are there are games the other team will get the jump on you.
I watched the game on TVA rather than CBC, thinking I didn't want to be subjected to countless shots of Steve Yzerman. I realized later that maybe Jim Hughson's team is assigned to our series, so maybe I'll check them out next time, since TVA still have basic technical issues.
For example, after a hit post by Max Pacioretty, they showed the wrong highlight, rather showing Brandon Prust and Lars Eller cycling the puck, while Patrick Lalime glibly described Max's close call. They then paused for a commercial, and when they came back failed to show the hit post then, or why Brian Boyle had just been called for a penalty.
Despite TVA's extended growing pains, and their insipid between-periods commentary, which is tolerable only because of the fast-forward function on my PVR, I did enjoy watching the game. Which is welcome news.
During the Senators series, I couldn't manage to sit through an entire game. Sometimes I was revolted by the mucking and goonery and anti-hockey, and if that wasn't the case I was just plain bored. I would fast-forward through the games.
I worried about this crisis of faith, whether I even liked hockey any more. Maybe I've overdone it I thought, maybe I need to take a break. Take up Aussie Rules football or something like that as my new spectator sport of choice.
But this morning, I was treated to a World Hockey Championships game between Canada and Latvia, a 6-1 win by the good guys. The game was much more open than your routine NHL game, with the players making use of the wider ice surface. Slashing, hooking, interference, all that was kept to a minimum.
At one point, Sidney Crosby had the puck in the corner, protecting it, and nobody tried to crosscheck him in the neck or piledrive him head-first into the boards. Rather, one Latvian tried to body him off the puck, to take it away from him, and Sid's famous lower body strength prevented that, he managed to win that battle and break for the net. Which is preferable to the viewer than seeing him brandondubinskyed.
Tonight's game was more in that vein, two skating teams who competed hard, took a minute once in a while to kypreos around the net after the whistle, but generally kept their noses clean and stuck to hockey. The action was back and forth, with skating and passing and skill in evidence.
I'm often taken to task for criticizing the NHL product, the way the league dumbs down the game, the way it tilts the balance towards the checkers and the grinders. I'm often told "Don't watch then." I'm also accused of hating intense, defensive hockey, that I prefer the kind of hockey on offer during All-Star games, the 15-13 atrocities we've seen lately.
And of course this is balderdash. To the first retort, that if I'm not happy I should just choose not to watch, I have to object that to criticize the NHL and to like and want to watch hockey are not mutually exclusive. If anything, the NHL, as the league that purports to be the best, the highest expression of the sport of hockey, is an easy, wide-open target for criticism. It should be held to account for the way it damages the sport, like FIFA should be.
To the second assertion, that to remove the slashing and the thuggery from the game will reduce it to the level of hockey seen at the All-Star Game, I say that when there's something at stake, when the players care, there is intensity and competitiveness, naturally. As seen in the Olympics, or today at the World Championships, you don't need elbows to the temporal lobe, you don't need patella-on-patella contact, you don't need shaft-shattering crosschecks for the games to be competitive.
Let's hope that both teams in this series continue playing the clean, uptempo game seen tonight, rather than the drudgery inflicted on us by the Senators and the Flames lately.
And let's hope that Alex Galchenyuk doesn't end up leading the league in playoff PIM's by the end of the series. Poor kid had a tough game, taking three minors, which the Lightning didn't cash in, fortunately. I'll say this, each of these penalties were kind of unlucky. One puck flipped over the glass, one errant high-stick that bounced up off a stick and in the opponents' faceshield when he's trying to stickcheck him, and a tripping penalty that seemed to have been wind-aided, if not dramatically enhanced by the Lightning forward.
So yeah, disappointing loss, it would have been nice to topple over an unsteady Ben Bishop when we had the chance. He can now breathe out a sigh of relief, wipe the slate clean mentally with this win in the bank, and re-focus for the next game.
Hopefully the fans and the situation get to him again on Sunday and we can chip away at the giant's clay feet.
Tonight was the night to capitalize on a tired team, to benefit from the fact that we dominated play, in a series that is promising to be difficult. In such a close matchup, you can't fumble opportunities. You want to win the games you're better in, because chances are there are games the other team will get the jump on you.
I watched the game on TVA rather than CBC, thinking I didn't want to be subjected to countless shots of Steve Yzerman. I realized later that maybe Jim Hughson's team is assigned to our series, so maybe I'll check them out next time, since TVA still have basic technical issues.
For example, after a hit post by Max Pacioretty, they showed the wrong highlight, rather showing Brandon Prust and Lars Eller cycling the puck, while Patrick Lalime glibly described Max's close call. They then paused for a commercial, and when they came back failed to show the hit post then, or why Brian Boyle had just been called for a penalty.
Despite TVA's extended growing pains, and their insipid between-periods commentary, which is tolerable only because of the fast-forward function on my PVR, I did enjoy watching the game. Which is welcome news.
During the Senators series, I couldn't manage to sit through an entire game. Sometimes I was revolted by the mucking and goonery and anti-hockey, and if that wasn't the case I was just plain bored. I would fast-forward through the games.
I worried about this crisis of faith, whether I even liked hockey any more. Maybe I've overdone it I thought, maybe I need to take a break. Take up Aussie Rules football or something like that as my new spectator sport of choice.
But this morning, I was treated to a World Hockey Championships game between Canada and Latvia, a 6-1 win by the good guys. The game was much more open than your routine NHL game, with the players making use of the wider ice surface. Slashing, hooking, interference, all that was kept to a minimum.
At one point, Sidney Crosby had the puck in the corner, protecting it, and nobody tried to crosscheck him in the neck or piledrive him head-first into the boards. Rather, one Latvian tried to body him off the puck, to take it away from him, and Sid's famous lower body strength prevented that, he managed to win that battle and break for the net. Which is preferable to the viewer than seeing him brandondubinskyed.
Tonight's game was more in that vein, two skating teams who competed hard, took a minute once in a while to kypreos around the net after the whistle, but generally kept their noses clean and stuck to hockey. The action was back and forth, with skating and passing and skill in evidence.
I'm often taken to task for criticizing the NHL product, the way the league dumbs down the game, the way it tilts the balance towards the checkers and the grinders. I'm often told "Don't watch then." I'm also accused of hating intense, defensive hockey, that I prefer the kind of hockey on offer during All-Star games, the 15-13 atrocities we've seen lately.
And of course this is balderdash. To the first retort, that if I'm not happy I should just choose not to watch, I have to object that to criticize the NHL and to like and want to watch hockey are not mutually exclusive. If anything, the NHL, as the league that purports to be the best, the highest expression of the sport of hockey, is an easy, wide-open target for criticism. It should be held to account for the way it damages the sport, like FIFA should be.
To the second assertion, that to remove the slashing and the thuggery from the game will reduce it to the level of hockey seen at the All-Star Game, I say that when there's something at stake, when the players care, there is intensity and competitiveness, naturally. As seen in the Olympics, or today at the World Championships, you don't need elbows to the temporal lobe, you don't need patella-on-patella contact, you don't need shaft-shattering crosschecks for the games to be competitive.
Let's hope that both teams in this series continue playing the clean, uptempo game seen tonight, rather than the drudgery inflicted on us by the Senators and the Flames lately.
And let's hope that Alex Galchenyuk doesn't end up leading the league in playoff PIM's by the end of the series. Poor kid had a tough game, taking three minors, which the Lightning didn't cash in, fortunately. I'll say this, each of these penalties were kind of unlucky. One puck flipped over the glass, one errant high-stick that bounced up off a stick and in the opponents' faceshield when he's trying to stickcheck him, and a tripping penalty that seemed to have been wind-aided, if not dramatically enhanced by the Lightning forward.
So yeah, disappointing loss, it would have been nice to topple over an unsteady Ben Bishop when we had the chance. He can now breathe out a sigh of relief, wipe the slate clean mentally with this win in the bank, and re-focus for the next game.
Hopefully the fans and the situation get to him again on Sunday and we can chip away at the giant's clay feet.
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Marc Bergevin thinks blows to the head are the cost of doing business in the NHL.
From HockeyInsideOut, Stu Cowan quoting Marc Bergevin at a press conference:
This segment of the press conference was arresting. A NHL GM explains that during every play, after every play, during every scrum, a player gets hit in the head, whether it's an elbow or crosscheck or punch. Because of that, it's impossible to send a player to the quiet room every time there's a blow to the head, since, as he continued, "you'd have ten guys in that room for each team."
His conclusion, after giving assurances that he has full confidence in his medical team, and that if the league decides to go to an independent observer he's comfortable with that too, was still that the protocol only kicks in when a player has symptoms of concussion.
For Marc Bergevin, a player gets checked out by a doctor when he has been knocked out or staggered or took a blow to the head that made him woozy. Not if he takes a blow to the head, but was "fine".
I have nothing but respect and affection for the current Canadien GM, but this mindset is a few years behind the current research and best practices. According to concussion care and prevention guidelines you can find online easily, from reputable sources.
If there is "a sign that a player has a concussion", that means there is a symptom, which means that there has indeed been a concussion, which means that the player should be taken out of the game. Period. And not come back. And not return to action or to the bench like Dale Weise last season after the hit by John Moore. Or like Nathan, possibly, after the hit by Erik Karlsson.
The 'quiet room', the evaluation by doctors, that process doesn't overrule the initial symptoms that the player displayed. If Dale Weise can't stand up, to the point that P.K. has to grab him and hold him upright so he doesn't fall down, if Dale has Bambi legs, he has suffered a concussion. No matter how clear-headed he feels afterwards when examined by doctors, no matter how much he pleads that he's okay and wants to go back in.
He can't be okay after showing these symptoms, and the fact that a concussion occurred can't be ruled out. The sign is the symptom, which is the evidence that the concussion occurred. Where there's smoke there's fire. Where there's a sign there's a concussion.
And the best care in these cases is to immediately cease activity, and avoid exposure to noise or bright lights. Not to sit on a player bench as a decoy to the other team.
But even beyond that huge problem, that shows to me that either the NHL concussion protocol doesn't follow the best practices I can find online from the Center for Disease Control or the Mayo Clinic or American Academy of Neurology, or that the Canadiens medical team or its General Manager and coaches don't understand it, is the primary cause described in the first quote.
The NHL fully accepts that guys will receive blows to the head in scrums, punches to the "side and to the back of the head", and there's really nothing they can or will do about it. It's the cost of doing business. Standard operating procedure. Even though the rules as written in its own rulebook could easily deal with all these 'unavoidable', routine blows to the head.
When a player rabbit punches Sidney Crosby in the head, when a Marc Méthot jabs a recently-concussed Max Pacioretty in the head, that's an act of God. It's impossible to prevent. Skate blades are sharp, players will sometimes get cut. And players have fists and have used them in the past and will use them in the future.
The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, there's nothing we can do about it, or even understand why, according to Bill O'Reilly.
What madness is this?
If I'm a lawyer and am about to represent Sidney Crosby and Max Pacioretty and David Perron and countless others in Round 3 of the concussion class action lawsuit against the NHL, and the league argues that the players knew the risks, I'm going to counter with this quote from Marc Bergevin. This will be the smoking gun, that the league knew its players were getting bashed in the head routinely, and did nothing about it. Even though its own rulebook, which should be a big part of its health and safety protocol, specifically proscribe all these blows, and the manner in which they're delivered.
Monsieur Bergevin, I give you big props for the work you've done, the energy and attitude you've injected into the team, the brain trust you've surrounded yourself with, the kind of team and organization you've built and continue to build.
But on this topic, you're a fullblown dunderhead. You don't get it, you don't understand the concussion protocol, or the need to radically improve it. Which means you haven't put in the effort, because you're not a dummy.
Further, this means that you're a part of the problem, part of the old guard, as much as Brian Burke or Jeremy Jacobs and Don Cherry and P.J. Stock.
So things aren't about to change. I better understand that now.
And why when a Zdeno Chara punches a Sidney Crosby in the mouth the first game after the latter removes his faceshield to protect his recently fractured jaw, after play ends, during a scrum, that the offender gets away with it.
Marc Bergevin, unfortunately, is one of the proverbial frogs swimming in the pot of water being slowly brought to a boil. He can't feel the temperature rising, immersed as he is in his environment.
• On head injuries and potentially revising the NHL’s concussion protocol: “There’s a protocol, but if we have to sideline a player every time there’s a hit to the head — and you’ve seen what happens in the playoffs — there’d be 10 guys in the quiet room on each team. Punches after the whistle, you see those left and right, hits to the head happen on every play. It’s just that if there’s a sign that a guy has a concussion, if there’s a sign that he’s shaken up, we’ll take him out.”
This segment of the press conference was arresting. A NHL GM explains that during every play, after every play, during every scrum, a player gets hit in the head, whether it's an elbow or crosscheck or punch. Because of that, it's impossible to send a player to the quiet room every time there's a blow to the head, since, as he continued, "you'd have ten guys in that room for each team."
His conclusion, after giving assurances that he has full confidence in his medical team, and that if the league decides to go to an independent observer he's comfortable with that too, was still that the protocol only kicks in when a player has symptoms of concussion.
For Marc Bergevin, a player gets checked out by a doctor when he has been knocked out or staggered or took a blow to the head that made him woozy. Not if he takes a blow to the head, but was "fine".
I have nothing but respect and affection for the current Canadien GM, but this mindset is a few years behind the current research and best practices. According to concussion care and prevention guidelines you can find online easily, from reputable sources.
If there is "a sign that a player has a concussion", that means there is a symptom, which means that there has indeed been a concussion, which means that the player should be taken out of the game. Period. And not come back. And not return to action or to the bench like Dale Weise last season after the hit by John Moore. Or like Nathan, possibly, after the hit by Erik Karlsson.
The 'quiet room', the evaluation by doctors, that process doesn't overrule the initial symptoms that the player displayed. If Dale Weise can't stand up, to the point that P.K. has to grab him and hold him upright so he doesn't fall down, if Dale has Bambi legs, he has suffered a concussion. No matter how clear-headed he feels afterwards when examined by doctors, no matter how much he pleads that he's okay and wants to go back in.
He can't be okay after showing these symptoms, and the fact that a concussion occurred can't be ruled out. The sign is the symptom, which is the evidence that the concussion occurred. Where there's smoke there's fire. Where there's a sign there's a concussion.
And the best care in these cases is to immediately cease activity, and avoid exposure to noise or bright lights. Not to sit on a player bench as a decoy to the other team.
But even beyond that huge problem, that shows to me that either the NHL concussion protocol doesn't follow the best practices I can find online from the Center for Disease Control or the Mayo Clinic or American Academy of Neurology, or that the Canadiens medical team or its General Manager and coaches don't understand it, is the primary cause described in the first quote.
The NHL fully accepts that guys will receive blows to the head in scrums, punches to the "side and to the back of the head", and there's really nothing they can or will do about it. It's the cost of doing business. Standard operating procedure. Even though the rules as written in its own rulebook could easily deal with all these 'unavoidable', routine blows to the head.
When a player rabbit punches Sidney Crosby in the head, when a Marc Méthot jabs a recently-concussed Max Pacioretty in the head, that's an act of God. It's impossible to prevent. Skate blades are sharp, players will sometimes get cut. And players have fists and have used them in the past and will use them in the future.
The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, there's nothing we can do about it, or even understand why, according to Bill O'Reilly.
What madness is this?
If I'm a lawyer and am about to represent Sidney Crosby and Max Pacioretty and David Perron and countless others in Round 3 of the concussion class action lawsuit against the NHL, and the league argues that the players knew the risks, I'm going to counter with this quote from Marc Bergevin. This will be the smoking gun, that the league knew its players were getting bashed in the head routinely, and did nothing about it. Even though its own rulebook, which should be a big part of its health and safety protocol, specifically proscribe all these blows, and the manner in which they're delivered.
Monsieur Bergevin, I give you big props for the work you've done, the energy and attitude you've injected into the team, the brain trust you've surrounded yourself with, the kind of team and organization you've built and continue to build.
But on this topic, you're a fullblown dunderhead. You don't get it, you don't understand the concussion protocol, or the need to radically improve it. Which means you haven't put in the effort, because you're not a dummy.
Further, this means that you're a part of the problem, part of the old guard, as much as Brian Burke or Jeremy Jacobs and Don Cherry and P.J. Stock.
So things aren't about to change. I better understand that now.
And why when a Zdeno Chara punches a Sidney Crosby in the mouth the first game after the latter removes his faceshield to protect his recently fractured jaw, after play ends, during a scrum, that the offender gets away with it.
Marc Bergevin, unfortunately, is one of the proverbial frogs swimming in the pot of water being slowly brought to a boil. He can't feel the temperature rising, immersed as he is in his environment.
Saturday, 25 April 2015
'15 Playoffs Round 1, Game 5: Canadiens 1, Senators 4
The Canadiens, looking a little feeble offensively, failed to bounce the Senators out of these playoffs, losing 4-1 and setting up a sixth game in Ottawa.
I don't want to get off my rant here, my sensibilities are hair-trigger, uh, sensitive, but the game started out decently, as far as the 'physicality', 'la robustesse' was concerned. If anything, the Canadiens were a little more insistent on finishing their checks than the Senators, but overall, it was played relatively cleanly. Even after whistles, with an opponent standing in front of a goalie, no tiresome, low-level-concussion generating scrums erupted, with all the jabbing and cross-checking and ref blindness that results. Aside from Erik Karlsson putting Lars Eller in a headlock, and a Senator knee-on-kneeing Jeff Petry, it was downright gentlemanly out there sometimes.
I fast-forwarded through Don Cherry's Sclerotic Brain Spasm Hour, but I bet he revoked a few 'good Canadian kids' licences. I think Andrei Markov might have actually apologized for falling into Craig Anderson on one of his sneaky rushes in the first, but the ole' Bruin would have been ready for something like that coming from a Commie.
The Sens had jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the third and there was little life left in the Canadiens it seemed, until Tom Gilbert threaded a shot in on Craig Anderson, who was ably screened by Dale Weise.
There was a bizarre but all too normal sequence in the middle of the third period, an infuriating one for Canadiens fans listening in to Paul Romaniuk, Mike Johnson and Glenn Healy. First, we saw Brendan Gallagher try a sharp angle shot from a distance which was stopped. The whistle blew. A scrum ensued behind the net, with neanderthals Eric Gryba and Mike Borowiecki taking evident pleasure in jabbing at Tomas Plekanec's and Max Pacioretty's head. Brendan, of course, joined the fray, but the good guys were outmanned, since by rule their defencemen had to stay at the blue line, or see the subsequent faceoff be moved out of the offensive zone.
I want to take the time to emphasize how the Senator twosome reveled in this situation, wallowed in this mire, like the proverbial pigs in shit. The rictus on Eric Gryba was telltale, as he had a grip on Tomas Plekanec's jersey and kept jerking and jabbing at his head. Two linesmen were trying to intercede, and literally having a conversation with him, probably telling him to stop, but he debated the issue and kept throwing jabs. The camera didn't show as clearly what was going on with Max, but I feared for him too, due to his recent concussion.
The powerlessness, the toothlessness, the lack of seriousness of NHL officiating was again, unsurprisingly, but still exasperatingly in evidence by this sequence.
A couple of seasons ago, after a Competition Committee or other such body had met, the word came out that any blow to the head of any player would be proscribed, and met with a penalty when it happened. This was a progressive, forward-thinking move, with all the concussion research coming out that shows that it's not just an accumulation of diagnosed concussions that causes CTE, but also a lot of blows to the head that fall below what would trigger a concussion but still adds up.
Anecdotally, there are a lot of boxers out there who claim to never have been 'knocked out', but still end up 'punch drunk' later on. Also, a lot of football linemen would say the same, that they might have seen stars once in a while, but had never suffered a concussion, but still later in life showed signs of CTE. So the NHL was on the right track in limiting willful, avoidable blows to the head.
And while it seemed like it might be an impossible change to manage in the game, the NFL had actually had robust success in doing so with its quarterbacks, training teams and players and refs that any contact with the head, neck, or helmet of a quarterback, however minor, while he is in the pocket is an automatic 15-yard penalty, and ejection from the game for flagrant offences. While there was a lot of gnashing of teeth from the football versions of Don Cherry, the game endures, and thrives, and fans get to see the star quarterbacks on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, and players are marginally less susceptible to brain trauma.
Unfortunately for hockey fans and players, someone got cold feet and this change was never enacted as reported in the NHL, and we're where we are, with anti-hockey perpetrators like Messrs. Gryba and Borowiecki, who can do nothing to actually contribute hockey-wise, leaping into these scrums with both feet and trying to do what they can to 'help their team win'.
So after the smiling and sneering Eric Gryba was cajoled and convinced to let go and be on his way, the HNIC hacks took over, showing replays, and their bias was on display. Again.
After explaining that the three Montréal Canadiens in the scrum couldn't dare take a penalty, since they were essential to their team, and Max and Tomas were able penalty killers, Glenn Healy intoned "Of course it all instigated by our favourite player, (chuckles) Brendan Gallagher."
Which is completely wrong. Gally had been away from the action, had heard the whistle, had stopped playing. He was one of the three Canadiens not daring to take a penalty while being swarmed by thugs and watched by lickspittle zebras, but he hadn't been anything close to the instigator.
Minutes earlier in the broadcast, when Paul Romanuk was chiding him on a prediction that didn't pan out, Healy had responded "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story". In this case, Mr. Healy was not letting the facts get in the way of his biases, and was too lazy and hidebound to change his set narrative. Brendan Gallagher is an instigator. The Sens play 'physical'. So it will come to pass.
Mike Johnson: "Pack mentality takes over. Everybody in there." Well no Mike, it was 5-on-3, the Canadiens defencemen were pinned at their blue line.
More Johnson laughing, approvingly: "Borowiecki and Brendan Gallagher have had it going on since Game 1."
As if that is laudable, or appropriate. You have a small talented hockey player being mugged by a 6'2", 205 lbs player, who scored 12 goals in three seasons of college hockey, and has 2 in a little over 80 games played in the NHL. The Senator goon went right at Gally's head, poked him in the eye under the visor in the process.
Later, he chortled about it on the bench, and the on-air hacks praised his "Bobby Clarke smile."
Hockey is a great game, but it's so easy to hate the NHL.
I don't want to get off my rant here, my sensibilities are hair-trigger, uh, sensitive, but the game started out decently, as far as the 'physicality', 'la robustesse' was concerned. If anything, the Canadiens were a little more insistent on finishing their checks than the Senators, but overall, it was played relatively cleanly. Even after whistles, with an opponent standing in front of a goalie, no tiresome, low-level-concussion generating scrums erupted, with all the jabbing and cross-checking and ref blindness that results. Aside from Erik Karlsson putting Lars Eller in a headlock, and a Senator knee-on-kneeing Jeff Petry, it was downright gentlemanly out there sometimes.
I fast-forwarded through Don Cherry's Sclerotic Brain Spasm Hour, but I bet he revoked a few 'good Canadian kids' licences. I think Andrei Markov might have actually apologized for falling into Craig Anderson on one of his sneaky rushes in the first, but the ole' Bruin would have been ready for something like that coming from a Commie.
The Sens had jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the third and there was little life left in the Canadiens it seemed, until Tom Gilbert threaded a shot in on Craig Anderson, who was ably screened by Dale Weise.
There was a bizarre but all too normal sequence in the middle of the third period, an infuriating one for Canadiens fans listening in to Paul Romaniuk, Mike Johnson and Glenn Healy. First, we saw Brendan Gallagher try a sharp angle shot from a distance which was stopped. The whistle blew. A scrum ensued behind the net, with neanderthals Eric Gryba and Mike Borowiecki taking evident pleasure in jabbing at Tomas Plekanec's and Max Pacioretty's head. Brendan, of course, joined the fray, but the good guys were outmanned, since by rule their defencemen had to stay at the blue line, or see the subsequent faceoff be moved out of the offensive zone.
I want to take the time to emphasize how the Senator twosome reveled in this situation, wallowed in this mire, like the proverbial pigs in shit. The rictus on Eric Gryba was telltale, as he had a grip on Tomas Plekanec's jersey and kept jerking and jabbing at his head. Two linesmen were trying to intercede, and literally having a conversation with him, probably telling him to stop, but he debated the issue and kept throwing jabs. The camera didn't show as clearly what was going on with Max, but I feared for him too, due to his recent concussion.
The powerlessness, the toothlessness, the lack of seriousness of NHL officiating was again, unsurprisingly, but still exasperatingly in evidence by this sequence.
A couple of seasons ago, after a Competition Committee or other such body had met, the word came out that any blow to the head of any player would be proscribed, and met with a penalty when it happened. This was a progressive, forward-thinking move, with all the concussion research coming out that shows that it's not just an accumulation of diagnosed concussions that causes CTE, but also a lot of blows to the head that fall below what would trigger a concussion but still adds up.
Anecdotally, there are a lot of boxers out there who claim to never have been 'knocked out', but still end up 'punch drunk' later on. Also, a lot of football linemen would say the same, that they might have seen stars once in a while, but had never suffered a concussion, but still later in life showed signs of CTE. So the NHL was on the right track in limiting willful, avoidable blows to the head.
And while it seemed like it might be an impossible change to manage in the game, the NFL had actually had robust success in doing so with its quarterbacks, training teams and players and refs that any contact with the head, neck, or helmet of a quarterback, however minor, while he is in the pocket is an automatic 15-yard penalty, and ejection from the game for flagrant offences. While there was a lot of gnashing of teeth from the football versions of Don Cherry, the game endures, and thrives, and fans get to see the star quarterbacks on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, and players are marginally less susceptible to brain trauma.
Unfortunately for hockey fans and players, someone got cold feet and this change was never enacted as reported in the NHL, and we're where we are, with anti-hockey perpetrators like Messrs. Gryba and Borowiecki, who can do nothing to actually contribute hockey-wise, leaping into these scrums with both feet and trying to do what they can to 'help their team win'.
So after the smiling and sneering Eric Gryba was cajoled and convinced to let go and be on his way, the HNIC hacks took over, showing replays, and their bias was on display. Again.
After explaining that the three Montréal Canadiens in the scrum couldn't dare take a penalty, since they were essential to their team, and Max and Tomas were able penalty killers, Glenn Healy intoned "Of course it all instigated by our favourite player, (chuckles) Brendan Gallagher."
Which is completely wrong. Gally had been away from the action, had heard the whistle, had stopped playing. He was one of the three Canadiens not daring to take a penalty while being swarmed by thugs and watched by lickspittle zebras, but he hadn't been anything close to the instigator.
Minutes earlier in the broadcast, when Paul Romanuk was chiding him on a prediction that didn't pan out, Healy had responded "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story". In this case, Mr. Healy was not letting the facts get in the way of his biases, and was too lazy and hidebound to change his set narrative. Brendan Gallagher is an instigator. The Sens play 'physical'. So it will come to pass.
Mike Johnson: "Pack mentality takes over. Everybody in there." Well no Mike, it was 5-on-3, the Canadiens defencemen were pinned at their blue line.
More Johnson laughing, approvingly: "Borowiecki and Brendan Gallagher have had it going on since Game 1."
As if that is laudable, or appropriate. You have a small talented hockey player being mugged by a 6'2", 205 lbs player, who scored 12 goals in three seasons of college hockey, and has 2 in a little over 80 games played in the NHL. The Senator goon went right at Gally's head, poked him in the eye under the visor in the process.
Later, he chortled about it on the bench, and the on-air hacks praised his "Bobby Clarke smile."
Hockey is a great game, but it's so easy to hate the NHL.
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
'15 Playoffs Round 1, Game 4: Canadiens 0, Senators 1
The Senators stave off elimination by winning 1-0 against the Canadiens. Nuts.
I decided, to change it up, to watch the game on TVA rather than CBC. If Jim Hughson had called the game I'd have stayed with CBC, but since he's assigned to the Canucks series, and I'm lukewarm to Paul Romanuk, I thought I'd give Félix Séguin and Marc Lalime another shot.
Generally, I don't mind those two, they're not quite as good as Pierre Houde and Marc Denis, a little more 'joual', and the technical team at TVA isn't as polished as RDS', but not enough to dissuade from watching completely.
Immediately in the first period, we saw some errant camera work, with the cameramen losing track of the puck and Eric Condra breaking in on Carey Price out of frame, but we can hope that their technical proficiency increases and eventually matches RDS' proficiency, seeing as they have a decade ahead of them with this new TV deal. Sigh.
We also saw some errant refereeing, with the Senators' Mark Borowiecki earning an interference penalty on Jeff Petry. The Senators figured that gave them free rein to goon it up, that the refs would be unwilling to award an additional penalty, and they were correct. Clarke MacArthur and a couple of other Sens took some punches and vigourous shoves at Brendan Gallagher after the whistle, they were the clear instigators, with no provocation, yet this was allowed to go unpunished. Score another one for NHL justice. In the negative column.
Many unpenalized minor incidents in the first, nothing that approached an opponent's vivisection necessary for a penalty in the NHL's 'justice system', but noteworthy were the couple of jabs by Marc Méthot, administered at Max Pacioretty's head, with the puck nowhere near, and the Sens' defenceman well-aware of the Canadien's recent concussion I don't doubt.
'Let them play', indeed. How to interpret this bromide in incidents like these?
The second period was back and forth, and Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise tried to inject some 'robustesse' in the Canadiens' game, throwing a few hits, pushing back against the physical Sens. Neither team was able to capitalize on the powerplay, and Brandon Prust almost scored on a short-handed breakaway.
One area which was routinely penalized earlier this season, but is now covered by the generous laissez-faire blanket used by the league and its refs nowadays, was the practice of obstructing an attacking forward who is chasing a puck deposited behind their opposition defencemen. Before, anything more than standing in the path of an attacking forward, any reaching out with a stick or hand, any move to block the path of the rushing forward, was met with an obstruction penalty.
Now, and specifically in this game, this practice is looked on with benign neglect by the refs. Many times, Dale Weise or Brandon Prust would try to dump the puck behind a lumbering behemoth, and would find their path blocked, a clear case of obstruction.
A painful goal opened the scoring, tallied by Mike Hoffman, after a giveaway by Tom Gilbert. The Canadiens defenceman has been a little skittish this season, although he's grown better as the season progressed. Tonight however, he reverted to previous habits, and tried to clear his zone quickly by ringing the puck around the boards, in advance of getting stamped in the corner by a Sens forward. Unfortunately, it was intercepted by Cody Ceci, and Mike Hoffman got a clear shot at goal and beat Carey Price.
That was the only scoring of the game, so the Sens stave off elimination, live to fight another day.
Hope the Habs can wrap it up on Friday, evince the pesky Sens.
I decided, to change it up, to watch the game on TVA rather than CBC. If Jim Hughson had called the game I'd have stayed with CBC, but since he's assigned to the Canucks series, and I'm lukewarm to Paul Romanuk, I thought I'd give Félix Séguin and Marc Lalime another shot.
Generally, I don't mind those two, they're not quite as good as Pierre Houde and Marc Denis, a little more 'joual', and the technical team at TVA isn't as polished as RDS', but not enough to dissuade from watching completely.
Immediately in the first period, we saw some errant camera work, with the cameramen losing track of the puck and Eric Condra breaking in on Carey Price out of frame, but we can hope that their technical proficiency increases and eventually matches RDS' proficiency, seeing as they have a decade ahead of them with this new TV deal. Sigh.
We also saw some errant refereeing, with the Senators' Mark Borowiecki earning an interference penalty on Jeff Petry. The Senators figured that gave them free rein to goon it up, that the refs would be unwilling to award an additional penalty, and they were correct. Clarke MacArthur and a couple of other Sens took some punches and vigourous shoves at Brendan Gallagher after the whistle, they were the clear instigators, with no provocation, yet this was allowed to go unpunished. Score another one for NHL justice. In the negative column.
Many unpenalized minor incidents in the first, nothing that approached an opponent's vivisection necessary for a penalty in the NHL's 'justice system', but noteworthy were the couple of jabs by Marc Méthot, administered at Max Pacioretty's head, with the puck nowhere near, and the Sens' defenceman well-aware of the Canadien's recent concussion I don't doubt.
'Let them play', indeed. How to interpret this bromide in incidents like these?
The second period was back and forth, and Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise tried to inject some 'robustesse' in the Canadiens' game, throwing a few hits, pushing back against the physical Sens. Neither team was able to capitalize on the powerplay, and Brandon Prust almost scored on a short-handed breakaway.
One area which was routinely penalized earlier this season, but is now covered by the generous laissez-faire blanket used by the league and its refs nowadays, was the practice of obstructing an attacking forward who is chasing a puck deposited behind their opposition defencemen. Before, anything more than standing in the path of an attacking forward, any reaching out with a stick or hand, any move to block the path of the rushing forward, was met with an obstruction penalty.
Now, and specifically in this game, this practice is looked on with benign neglect by the refs. Many times, Dale Weise or Brandon Prust would try to dump the puck behind a lumbering behemoth, and would find their path blocked, a clear case of obstruction.
A painful goal opened the scoring, tallied by Mike Hoffman, after a giveaway by Tom Gilbert. The Canadiens defenceman has been a little skittish this season, although he's grown better as the season progressed. Tonight however, he reverted to previous habits, and tried to clear his zone quickly by ringing the puck around the boards, in advance of getting stamped in the corner by a Sens forward. Unfortunately, it was intercepted by Cody Ceci, and Mike Hoffman got a clear shot at goal and beat Carey Price.
That was the only scoring of the game, so the Sens stave off elimination, live to fight another day.
Hope the Habs can wrap it up on Friday, evince the pesky Sens.
Time to replace Sylvain Lefebvre as coach of the Canadiens' AHL team?
Okay, I’ll come out and say it, if only to prove to those who accuse me of being a sunny-side-up cheerleader for the Habs, that I can cast a critical eye and find areas that can be improved:
Is it time to replace Sylvain Lefebvre as Head Coach of the Bulldogs? Three seasons now that he’s been in charge, and he’s missed the playoffs every time.
Marc Bergevin and Martin Lapointe have in the past defended him, saying he was charged with developing players, not winning AHL championships, and Michel Therrien has lauded the preparation of some of the youngsters who come up from Hamilton, but it’s still a results-based business. I know the Bulldogs are a development team, their prime reason is to groom players for the Canadiens, not necessarily to win games, but at some point, being competitive and getting playoff experience for the farmhands is part of that equation, no?
With a move to St-John’s next season, and a probable further move to Laval after that, is the time right to consider a change?
How about Guy Boucher, who’s coaching in Europe now? He could see it as a move backwards, to return to the Canadiens farm team, but financial compensation can overcome that stigma, and he’d be bench strength, for whenever the Michel Therrien touch grows stale. We know how much it can be a headache to have a pool of French-speaking candidates to choose from for the Head Coach job, how about having one parked in the AHL as a spare tire, ready to be pulled out of the trunk at a moment’s notice?
Or does that de-stabilize the hierarchy? Does that make Michel Therrien more of a lame-duck?
I gave Sylvain Lefebvre a mulligan twice now for missing the playoffs, but I’m growing impatient. Part of the experience for the farmhands should be some playoff battles. We remember how the Voyageurs and the Sherbrooke Canadiens would win championships or battle to the end, and the next season send a flock of young players who were battle-hardened, ready to fold into the Canadiens lineup. Missing out on AHL playoff experience is a detriment to our prospects’ development.
Is it time to replace Sylvain Lefebvre as Head Coach of the Bulldogs? Three seasons now that he’s been in charge, and he’s missed the playoffs every time.
Marc Bergevin and Martin Lapointe have in the past defended him, saying he was charged with developing players, not winning AHL championships, and Michel Therrien has lauded the preparation of some of the youngsters who come up from Hamilton, but it’s still a results-based business. I know the Bulldogs are a development team, their prime reason is to groom players for the Canadiens, not necessarily to win games, but at some point, being competitive and getting playoff experience for the farmhands is part of that equation, no?
With a move to St-John’s next season, and a probable further move to Laval after that, is the time right to consider a change?
How about Guy Boucher, who’s coaching in Europe now? He could see it as a move backwards, to return to the Canadiens farm team, but financial compensation can overcome that stigma, and he’d be bench strength, for whenever the Michel Therrien touch grows stale. We know how much it can be a headache to have a pool of French-speaking candidates to choose from for the Head Coach job, how about having one parked in the AHL as a spare tire, ready to be pulled out of the trunk at a moment’s notice?
Or does that de-stabilize the hierarchy? Does that make Michel Therrien more of a lame-duck?
I gave Sylvain Lefebvre a mulligan twice now for missing the playoffs, but I’m growing impatient. Part of the experience for the farmhands should be some playoff battles. We remember how the Voyageurs and the Sherbrooke Canadiens would win championships or battle to the end, and the next season send a flock of young players who were battle-hardened, ready to fold into the Canadiens lineup. Missing out on AHL playoff experience is a detriment to our prospects’ development.
Michael Ferland having an outsized effect on the Canucks-Flames series.
The Vancouver Canucks have had their problems dealing with physical or gritty players in recent history, especially during the playoffs, when the referees let most every infraction slide, and teams that try to intimidate can be more effective using that style, because of that additional leeway.
Offhand, I can think of Ben Eager, Mike Bolland, Dustin Byfuglien, and Brad Marchand, if not the the whole Bruins roster really, as players who've been bugaboos for the Canucks.
We can now add Michael Ferland's name to the list of players who will reside in Canucks' fans nightmares for the foreseeable future. He's been playing low minutes for Bob Hartley's Flames, but having an impact far greater in proportion to his icetime. He's big and strong and tough, and has been treading the line between finishing his checks and charging effectively, at least in the eyes of the refs.
And he's in the heads of the Canucks. After Game 2, Kevin Bieksa was quoted as calling him "Ferklund, or whatever his name is", and stating he was "irrelevant". Sure enough, the next game, Kevin Bieksa got into a furious fistfight with the Flames rookie, deciding enough was enough, despite his irrelevance.
We first became aware of Michael Ferland while watching Sportsnet's "Road to the Memorial Cup" series during the 2012-13 season. Head Coach Lorne Molleken acted as the GM, and could be seen making some phone calls to other GM's to bolster his roster for their Memorial Cup appearance, one that was guaranteed since they were playing host to the tournament. The Blades hemmed and hawed at the steep cost to acquire the 20-year-old, but finally gave in, thinking his combo of size and scoring was too good to pass up.
In the end, while Mr. Ferland was effective, he couldn't be the difference-maker, and the Blades were swept out of the tournament. As a Habs fan though, I couldn't help but wonder how much a better fit he might have been in our prospect pool than Patrick Holland was after the Mike Cammalleri trade, or how he might be a good throw-in to seek in any Danny Kristo trade, as was rumoured for a while.
It transpired in time that Michael Ferland had some issues of his own to deal. Warning flags such as starting out his 20-year-old season in the AHL, then being sent back to the WHL, then being traded to another team. He was involved in a fight outside a bar in 2012, for which he was charged with assault but eventually found not guilty, and then sued civilly.
While playing with the Abbottsford Heat, there were some rumours in the Vancouver area of him partying way too hard, and it seemingly affected his play and production. He suffered a knee injury, then spent the end of the 2014 season in alcohol rehab.
Now clean and sober, having turned his career around, he's a one-man wrecking crew, emboldened by the indulgence of the referees, and repeatedly compared to Milan Lucic by the HNIC crew. No Canucks can match up to his 6'2", 220 lbs size, and his abrasiveness is forcing them to change their game, proving to be the proverbial distraction.
Still as a Canadiens fan, I now wonder, after having written off the youngster when he struggled in Abbotsford, how he'd fold into the Canadiens roster, whether he'd help against intimidation campaigns by the Senators, and the Bruins. His skating is still suspect, he might be accused as Devante Smith-Pelly currently is of being "too slow", unable to contribute in the Canadiens' system.
But it would be such a relief, a pleasant change in these thuggish playoffs being prosecuted this spring, to have on our team a player that other teams struggle to contain, one who's the hammer, for once, instead of being another resilient, fleet-of-foot nail.
Offhand, I can think of Ben Eager, Mike Bolland, Dustin Byfuglien, and Brad Marchand, if not the the whole Bruins roster really, as players who've been bugaboos for the Canucks.
We can now add Michael Ferland's name to the list of players who will reside in Canucks' fans nightmares for the foreseeable future. He's been playing low minutes for Bob Hartley's Flames, but having an impact far greater in proportion to his icetime. He's big and strong and tough, and has been treading the line between finishing his checks and charging effectively, at least in the eyes of the refs.
And he's in the heads of the Canucks. After Game 2, Kevin Bieksa was quoted as calling him "Ferklund, or whatever his name is", and stating he was "irrelevant". Sure enough, the next game, Kevin Bieksa got into a furious fistfight with the Flames rookie, deciding enough was enough, despite his irrelevance.
We first became aware of Michael Ferland while watching Sportsnet's "Road to the Memorial Cup" series during the 2012-13 season. Head Coach Lorne Molleken acted as the GM, and could be seen making some phone calls to other GM's to bolster his roster for their Memorial Cup appearance, one that was guaranteed since they were playing host to the tournament. The Blades hemmed and hawed at the steep cost to acquire the 20-year-old, but finally gave in, thinking his combo of size and scoring was too good to pass up.
In the end, while Mr. Ferland was effective, he couldn't be the difference-maker, and the Blades were swept out of the tournament. As a Habs fan though, I couldn't help but wonder how much a better fit he might have been in our prospect pool than Patrick Holland was after the Mike Cammalleri trade, or how he might be a good throw-in to seek in any Danny Kristo trade, as was rumoured for a while.
It transpired in time that Michael Ferland had some issues of his own to deal. Warning flags such as starting out his 20-year-old season in the AHL, then being sent back to the WHL, then being traded to another team. He was involved in a fight outside a bar in 2012, for which he was charged with assault but eventually found not guilty, and then sued civilly.
While playing with the Abbottsford Heat, there were some rumours in the Vancouver area of him partying way too hard, and it seemingly affected his play and production. He suffered a knee injury, then spent the end of the 2014 season in alcohol rehab.
Now clean and sober, having turned his career around, he's a one-man wrecking crew, emboldened by the indulgence of the referees, and repeatedly compared to Milan Lucic by the HNIC crew. No Canucks can match up to his 6'2", 220 lbs size, and his abrasiveness is forcing them to change their game, proving to be the proverbial distraction.
Still as a Canadiens fan, I now wonder, after having written off the youngster when he struggled in Abbotsford, how he'd fold into the Canadiens roster, whether he'd help against intimidation campaigns by the Senators, and the Bruins. His skating is still suspect, he might be accused as Devante Smith-Pelly currently is of being "too slow", unable to contribute in the Canadiens' system.
But it would be such a relief, a pleasant change in these thuggish playoffs being prosecuted this spring, to have on our team a player that other teams struggle to contain, one who's the hammer, for once, instead of being another resilient, fleet-of-foot nail.
Canadiens to take part in rookie tournament in London next fall.
Marc Bergevin continues to put his stamp on things, and transforming his team. The latest indication is the announcement that the Canadiens will take part in the '2015 NHL Rookie Tournament', along with the Maple Leafs, Senators and Penguins.
These camps are common in the NHL, and features young prospects, recent draft picks and camp tryouts in games against other teams' prospects. There is the Traverse City tournament hosted by the Red Wings that this year will include the Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and St. Louis Blues.
The Canucks every year host the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, B.C., featuring the youngsters of the Flames, Oilers and Jets.
For the last few years, the Canadiens have avoided taking part in such rookie tournaments. The Gainey-Gauthier admin preferred a ‘teaching’ camp, not a prospects tournament. They'd hold an individual rookie camp, then a main camp with some of the luminaries from the previous camp to flesh out two full teams for scrimmage purposes. This entailed inviting a lot of players to try out, to ensure having enough bodies for full lineups, and to account for dings and injuries.
One advantage of this approach is the 'leave no stones unturned' aspect, that you get a closer look at a lot of players and may find a diamond in the rough, a player who for some reason(s) slipped through the cracks of the draft or was let go by the team which held his rights. This screening process was largely aimed at LHJMQ products, in the hope that more local players could be found and developed.
Another reason that the Canadiens in the recent past decided not to take part is that when in the past they did participate, their prospects were getting gooned, assaulted by those of other teams. I wasn’t on social media back then, but the vets say that while the Canadiens would show up with 'true' prospects, other teams would stock up on young professionals, players in their early twenties who had been let go by other teams, and who were desperately trying to catch on with a new team, by any means, and being 'physical' against teenagers was one way they were trying to catch a GM's eye.
Mix in some natural rivalry between divisional opponents, and the games reportedly degenerated into slugging matches, nasty affairs replete with stickwork, fights, etc. It got so bad that the Canadiens management team decided they could get more done by running their own camp, there was no benefit to being in these rookie tournaments.
I think it was last summer that Marc Bergevin was asked about the value of a prospect camp, and he said there were advantages and disadvantages for both options, but that they’d held a tournament in Chicago and he’d thought that it was valuable for their rookies. He said at the time that he was happy following the current practice for now, and he’d study the matter further.
So I guess our GM has decided to have a more competitive, baptism-by-fire experience for the young ‘uns, even at the cost of a greater likelihood of mayhem and/or injury.
One important distinction is that Marc Bergevin is given a lot of credit in league circles for his people skills. He has strong relationships with a multitude of executives and coaches on other teams, and is famously adept at cultivating and maintaining these, whereas the previous régime was more idiosyncratic, more wonky than anything else.
We can hope that the current braintrust can establish some ground rules with the other teams, about who is eligible for inclusion on these teams, how the games will proceed, how they'll be refereed, so there are no nasty surprises. The last thing we want is for our kids to act as punching bags for opponents vying for a grinder/enforcer role.
So get ready for a new camp routine, one with fewer Sahir Gills and Stefano Momessos, but one where players like Mike McCarron, Connor Crisp, Brett Lernout, even the odd Bokondji Imama is better able to showcase their particular set of skills, to use their size and strength with more abandon, as opposed to the restraint they had to show when facing their own teammates in controlled scrimmages.
These camps are common in the NHL, and features young prospects, recent draft picks and camp tryouts in games against other teams' prospects. There is the Traverse City tournament hosted by the Red Wings that this year will include the Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and St. Louis Blues.
The Canucks every year host the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, B.C., featuring the youngsters of the Flames, Oilers and Jets.
For the last few years, the Canadiens have avoided taking part in such rookie tournaments. The Gainey-Gauthier admin preferred a ‘teaching’ camp, not a prospects tournament. They'd hold an individual rookie camp, then a main camp with some of the luminaries from the previous camp to flesh out two full teams for scrimmage purposes. This entailed inviting a lot of players to try out, to ensure having enough bodies for full lineups, and to account for dings and injuries.
One advantage of this approach is the 'leave no stones unturned' aspect, that you get a closer look at a lot of players and may find a diamond in the rough, a player who for some reason(s) slipped through the cracks of the draft or was let go by the team which held his rights. This screening process was largely aimed at LHJMQ products, in the hope that more local players could be found and developed.
Another reason that the Canadiens in the recent past decided not to take part is that when in the past they did participate, their prospects were getting gooned, assaulted by those of other teams. I wasn’t on social media back then, but the vets say that while the Canadiens would show up with 'true' prospects, other teams would stock up on young professionals, players in their early twenties who had been let go by other teams, and who were desperately trying to catch on with a new team, by any means, and being 'physical' against teenagers was one way they were trying to catch a GM's eye.
Mix in some natural rivalry between divisional opponents, and the games reportedly degenerated into slugging matches, nasty affairs replete with stickwork, fights, etc. It got so bad that the Canadiens management team decided they could get more done by running their own camp, there was no benefit to being in these rookie tournaments.
I think it was last summer that Marc Bergevin was asked about the value of a prospect camp, and he said there were advantages and disadvantages for both options, but that they’d held a tournament in Chicago and he’d thought that it was valuable for their rookies. He said at the time that he was happy following the current practice for now, and he’d study the matter further.
So I guess our GM has decided to have a more competitive, baptism-by-fire experience for the young ‘uns, even at the cost of a greater likelihood of mayhem and/or injury.
One important distinction is that Marc Bergevin is given a lot of credit in league circles for his people skills. He has strong relationships with a multitude of executives and coaches on other teams, and is famously adept at cultivating and maintaining these, whereas the previous régime was more idiosyncratic, more wonky than anything else.
We can hope that the current braintrust can establish some ground rules with the other teams, about who is eligible for inclusion on these teams, how the games will proceed, how they'll be refereed, so there are no nasty surprises. The last thing we want is for our kids to act as punching bags for opponents vying for a grinder/enforcer role.
So get ready for a new camp routine, one with fewer Sahir Gills and Stefano Momessos, but one where players like Mike McCarron, Connor Crisp, Brett Lernout, even the odd Bokondji Imama is better able to showcase their particular set of skills, to use their size and strength with more abandon, as opposed to the restraint they had to show when facing their own teammates in controlled scrimmages.
Monday, 20 April 2015
Connor McDavid is apparently not overjoyed at being an Edmonton Oiler.
Connor McDavid's muted joy when the Oilers won the NHL Draft lottery was a good indication of the malaise going on in Edmonton, how that organization is viewed by the rest of the hockey world. Clearly, despite being chipper and upbeat prior to the draft, and indicating that he'd not "be that guy" who balks at being drafted by specific teams and demands a trade, he had a mental, unpublicized wish list, and in that ranking Edmonton was at or very near the bottom.
Sure, the city itself is not all that appealing, relatively. It's not that Edmonton is without charm, or not a good 'hockey town', but if you're a teenager blessed with boundless hockey talent and opportunities, it's easier to envision maximizing these, and benefiting from them, in other areas, like New York or L.A., and yes even Toronto.
Still, Edmonton isn't condemned to be the NHL's Siberia by its small size and northern locale with attendant cold-weather drawbacks. Calgary has much the same geographic and climatic issues, but isn't seen as negatively as Edmonton or Winnipeg. In the NFL, many (Southern-born) players dread being drafted by Green Bay or Minnesota, and then quickly learn to love it there, playing for a great organization and passionate fans.
We also saw how Bobby Ryan, after many rumours of he not being happy at being traded out of balmy So-Cal, and his girlfriend fretfully asking when the news broke whether Ottawa was "north of Detroit", choosing to sign an extension to stay in that environment. The dénouement remains to be seen, whether Mr. Ryan will play out the full contract term with the Sens, but it's not hopeless for smaller Canadian markets to attract and retain quality players.
Heck, we actually saw, no more than a couple years ago, college free agent Justin Schultz decide to sign a contract with the Edmonton Oilers, rather than any other team, rather than his hometown Canucks, based on the youthful talented squad amassed by Kevin Lowe, and a chance to play on a winning team. Obviously that hasn't panned out yet, but this instance shows that hockey players may overlook unfavourable details like weather if they're offered a chance to be on a strong organization, on a talented team that can win a Stanley Cup.
So Connor McDavid lands in Edmonton, and struggles to contain a bitter, devastated pout while sitting across from Strombo. Some have tried to explain the moue away. Horrid Sportsnet's abysmal Nick Kypreos downplayed the reaction, saying it was due to "emotion". Well, yeah, genius, no one's arguing the opposite, the whole entire issue is that he was emotional at the news, and not in the good way. If you discount the emotion, then there's no story, but again, you're missing the point.
Michael Farber made the observation that of all the destinations he was slated for, Edmonton was the worst in terms of hockey, in terms of the attendant pressure, since the comparisons to Wayne Gretzky will be unavoidable. Whether a teenager who never saw Wayne play will feel that pressure is arguable, it won't be self-generated probably, but it may come from all the fans who remember the days of glory from back in the eighties.
Aaron Ward made a different point, that the Oilers aren't a great 'fit' in terms of what he brings, contrary to what an Aaron Ekblad would have for example, or a Seth Jones. There is already a good centre there in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, one who is viewed as a #1 centre, if somewhat more slender than your prototypical Joe Thornton or Ryan Getzlaf. The Oilers also drafted centre Leon Draisaitl third overall last June, so they weren't necessarily crying out for another centre.
Now, any team will gladly take on Connor McDavid no matter who they already have on their rolls, they'll make any adjustments necessary, but the natural fit isn't quite there, as it would have been in Toronto or Arizona, for example, teams with a great big chasm in the middle of their top line.
Maybe that's what Connor reacted to, not just the bitter January cold, but the fact that he spent the last few months envisioning wearing Leaf blue and playing in his hometown, or in sunny Arizona playing next to Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, but couldn't picture himself in the Oilers lineup.
In any case, I was quite ready to pile on the NHL and come up with a conspiracy theory of how the lottery was ginned up Patrick Ewing-style to gift the generational talent to a major media market, or a struggling franchise. Instead, Gary Bettman perfidiously fixed it so that I couldn't attack his credibility and honesty any further.
Which is a really crooked way to operate Gary.
[Further reading: http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/35713/oilers-rewarded-for-years-of-ineptitude-with-another-no-1-pick
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/mad-men-power-rankings-episode-710-the-forecast/]
Sure, the city itself is not all that appealing, relatively. It's not that Edmonton is without charm, or not a good 'hockey town', but if you're a teenager blessed with boundless hockey talent and opportunities, it's easier to envision maximizing these, and benefiting from them, in other areas, like New York or L.A., and yes even Toronto.
Still, Edmonton isn't condemned to be the NHL's Siberia by its small size and northern locale with attendant cold-weather drawbacks. Calgary has much the same geographic and climatic issues, but isn't seen as negatively as Edmonton or Winnipeg. In the NFL, many (Southern-born) players dread being drafted by Green Bay or Minnesota, and then quickly learn to love it there, playing for a great organization and passionate fans.
We also saw how Bobby Ryan, after many rumours of he not being happy at being traded out of balmy So-Cal, and his girlfriend fretfully asking when the news broke whether Ottawa was "north of Detroit", choosing to sign an extension to stay in that environment. The dénouement remains to be seen, whether Mr. Ryan will play out the full contract term with the Sens, but it's not hopeless for smaller Canadian markets to attract and retain quality players.
Heck, we actually saw, no more than a couple years ago, college free agent Justin Schultz decide to sign a contract with the Edmonton Oilers, rather than any other team, rather than his hometown Canucks, based on the youthful talented squad amassed by Kevin Lowe, and a chance to play on a winning team. Obviously that hasn't panned out yet, but this instance shows that hockey players may overlook unfavourable details like weather if they're offered a chance to be on a strong organization, on a talented team that can win a Stanley Cup.
So Connor McDavid lands in Edmonton, and struggles to contain a bitter, devastated pout while sitting across from Strombo. Some have tried to explain the moue away. Horrid Sportsnet's abysmal Nick Kypreos downplayed the reaction, saying it was due to "emotion". Well, yeah, genius, no one's arguing the opposite, the whole entire issue is that he was emotional at the news, and not in the good way. If you discount the emotion, then there's no story, but again, you're missing the point.
Michael Farber made the observation that of all the destinations he was slated for, Edmonton was the worst in terms of hockey, in terms of the attendant pressure, since the comparisons to Wayne Gretzky will be unavoidable. Whether a teenager who never saw Wayne play will feel that pressure is arguable, it won't be self-generated probably, but it may come from all the fans who remember the days of glory from back in the eighties.
Aaron Ward made a different point, that the Oilers aren't a great 'fit' in terms of what he brings, contrary to what an Aaron Ekblad would have for example, or a Seth Jones. There is already a good centre there in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, one who is viewed as a #1 centre, if somewhat more slender than your prototypical Joe Thornton or Ryan Getzlaf. The Oilers also drafted centre Leon Draisaitl third overall last June, so they weren't necessarily crying out for another centre.
Now, any team will gladly take on Connor McDavid no matter who they already have on their rolls, they'll make any adjustments necessary, but the natural fit isn't quite there, as it would have been in Toronto or Arizona, for example, teams with a great big chasm in the middle of their top line.
Maybe that's what Connor reacted to, not just the bitter January cold, but the fact that he spent the last few months envisioning wearing Leaf blue and playing in his hometown, or in sunny Arizona playing next to Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, but couldn't picture himself in the Oilers lineup.
In any case, I was quite ready to pile on the NHL and come up with a conspiracy theory of how the lottery was ginned up Patrick Ewing-style to gift the generational talent to a major media market, or a struggling franchise. Instead, Gary Bettman perfidiously fixed it so that I couldn't attack his credibility and honesty any further.
Which is a really crooked way to operate Gary.
[Further reading: http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/35713/oilers-rewarded-for-years-of-ineptitude-with-another-no-1-pick
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/mad-men-power-rankings-episode-710-the-forecast/]
'15 Playoffs Round 1, Game 3: Canadiens 3, Senators 2 (OT)
Okay, I’ll say it: this 2-1 OT win by the Canadiens over the Senators was an unwatchable mess. I seethed the entire first ten minutes of the game, about the anti-hockey that was being played, the slashing and the gooning and the more slashing. It was more pinball, more foosball than hockey. Just reef on the puck and hope it bounces somewhere good.
So I fast-forwarded through pretty much the entire rest of the game. I couldn’t take another minute of Paul Romanyuk hyping this sludgefest as “competitive” and “intense”. If I saw another Senator crosscheck P.K. blatantly in the ear, I was going to call the police and ask that they launch an investigation. Obviously the on-ice officials are congenital idiots, and can’t handle this.
Thank you Gary Bettman.
And maybe all these Sens fans with upraised fingers at the end of the game can tell us Montréal fans about decency and comportment while at the arena, I’m eager to hear their do’s and don’ts.
So I fast-forwarded through pretty much the entire rest of the game. I couldn’t take another minute of Paul Romanyuk hyping this sludgefest as “competitive” and “intense”. If I saw another Senator crosscheck P.K. blatantly in the ear, I was going to call the police and ask that they launch an investigation. Obviously the on-ice officials are congenital idiots, and can’t handle this.
Thank you Gary Bettman.
And maybe all these Sens fans with upraised fingers at the end of the game can tell us Montréal fans about decency and comportment while at the arena, I’m eager to hear their do’s and don’ts.
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