What's Wrong with the Ottawa Senators?

As a Leafs fan, there's nothing I love seeing more than the Ottawa Senators losing (except maybe the Habs losing). But sometimes at TSN, I am assigned to write stories about the Sens. This forces me to look at the team from an objective angle, and over my 3 years at TSN, there has not been a Canadian team as confounding as the Senators.

They're a team that's easily forgotten, smack dab in the middle between 2 century old franchises in the Leafs and Habs. They've usually had a solid team, but in the early 2000s just could not figure out the Leafs in the playoffs. It's easy to forget this was a team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. But since then, they have only made it out of the 1st round once. The team has gone through a seemingly revolving door of head coaches. So, what is wrong with the Ottawa Senators?

Too many shortsided decisions, let's start with the owner: Eugene Melnyk. The Ottawa Senators are a prime example of what happens when an owner is too involved. First, let's start with the this article. After a tough season, where the Sens miss the playoffs, Melnyk says "no one is safe." He goes on to throw Cameron under the bus by criticizing his decision to start a rookie goaltender on opening day by calling the decision "stupid."  There's no doubt Melnyk is a Senators fan, it's a good trait of an owner, and after the season Ottawa had, you can't blame him for being disappointed. After that miraculous run last year, expectations had to have been higher.

Let's go back to that run. In 24 games, Andrew Hammond went an incredible 20-1-2 to help the Senators squeak into the playoffs. The Senators would then trade then-backup goaltender Robin Lehner to the Sabres to make room for Hammond on the big club.this season Hammond went 7-11-4. No one thought Hammond was as good as he played during his hot streak last season, but his numbers outside the NHL should be an indicator about his capabilities. In 2 full seasons in the AHL, Hammond never posted a GAA below 2.50 or a sv% above .910. The Senators extended Hammond's contract, but admittedly, the Sens did not give him a terrible deal. It's a 3-year contract with an AAV of $1.35 million.

Let's bring it back a couple more seasons. Remember Cory Conacher? During the lockout shortened 2012-2013 Conacher had a very productive season with the Lightning: 24 points in 35 games. The Senators traded Ben Bishop for Conacher (along with a 4th Round Pick). He failed to produce with Ottawa, getting just 25 points over 72 games. The Sens places him on waivers, where the Sabres claimed him. He now plays for Bern in the Swiss-A league. Bishop, meanwhile, went on a run to the Stanley Cup Final with the Lightning. The Senators essentially gave up Ben Bishop for a 4th Round Pick.

Since their run to the Cup final in 2007, they've gone through 6 head coaches: John Paddock, Bryan Murray (who took over after firing Maddock), Craig Hartsburg, Cory Clouston, Paul MacLean, and most recently fired, Dave Cameron. Whenever the Sens do make the playoffs, all is well, but when they miss, the coaches take the fall. Again, I go back to last season when the Sens had their miraculous run. It was obvious that Hammond's streak was not sustainable, but the team did very little in the offseason. When it looked more and more like they would misse the playoffs, Ottawa's answer was to trade for Dion Phaneuf and sign Scott Gomez.

It's understandable why Melnyk gets so antsy when the team misses the playoffs, since owning the team, the Senators have averaged losses of $10 million per year. The Ottawa Senators, almost literally, need the playoffs to survive Melnyk even said it himself. That's what's wrong with the Ottawa Senators.

Shame on you LA Kings

Back in June, the Los Angeles Kings terminated the contract of Mike Richards, this came after Canadian border guards found "some pills in a single bottle" during a routine check while he was crossing the border; Richards was arrested by the RCMP. According to (ugh) TMZ, the pills in question were Oxycodone. The CBA states a team may terminate a player's contract if: "a player shall at any time: fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club’s rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC." 

This move frees up a lot of cap space for the Kings, Richards cap hit was just north of $4 million. The Kings had a chance to buy out the contract with a compliance buyout, but curiously, opted not to. Last season saw Richards' production drop completely, to the point where the Kings placed him on waivers; he cleared and played with their AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs. With Richards' numbers dwindling, no team willing to pick up his contract (even on waivers), and the chance to use a compliance buyout on him gone, the Kings licked their lips at this opportunity to terminate his contract. Fair enough, given that Richards broke the law right?

Well, the LA Kings also currently have Slava Voynov under contract. Back in October, Voynov was arrested on domestic violence charges, a month later he was charged with one felony count of corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury. Following the arrest, Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and is currently still suspended. Even though he only played 6 games last season, Voynov was still paid his salary during the league's (still ongoing) investigation. In fact, despite the suspension by the league, the Kings allowed Voynov to skate with the team during a practice, the league fined them $100,000 for that. In June, the Kings suspended Voynov because he was injured "outside of normal hockey training," again, freeing up more cap room, but he is still under contract to the team. 

So, to recap: Richards was caught with a bottle of pills at the border, has his contract immediately terminated before being formerly charged. Voynov, on the other hand, is arrested for domestic violence, suspended (with pay) by the NHL, eventually suspended by the Kings, conveniently before Free Agent Frenzy, for suffering an injury, but is still under contract to the team. 

I'm not defending what Richards did, at the end of the day, he broke the law. But the Kings are setting a precedent here, if you're a versatile player and break the law, they'll have your back, otherwise, don't let the door hit you on the way out. I don't know what's going on in Richards' personal life, I don't know if he's addicted to these pills, or legitimately needs them. Either way, the Kings are turning their back on a man who needs help because they don't want to pay him that much money anymore. Shame on you LA Kings.

The 2nd Annual All Bad Contracts Team

Welcome to the 2nd Annual All-Bad Contracts team. This is a post where I make a team only with players with bad contracts. If you want to see how it turned out last year, click here. There are a few repeats from the previous year, and also a few newcomers, but first the rules:

1.) It has to be contracts that are active for this upcoming (2015-2016) NHL season.
2.) The numbers are based on cap hit, not total salary (length is taken into consideration).
3.) Figures are based on Spotrac.

Let's get started:

LW- Ryane Clowe (New Jersey Devils)

Contract: 5 years/$24.25 million

Cap Hit: $4.85 million

Last Year's "Winner": Benoit Pouliot (Edmonton Oilers)

My Reasoing:

I remember fighting over this one in my head last year, but Pouliot just edged out Clowe for top (bottom) spot. In the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, Clowe put up just 19 points in 40 games (only 3 goals). New Jersey then curiously gave Clowe (then 30) the deal he has today. Since then, Clowe has dealt with numerous injury troubles playing in just 43 games in 2013-2014 and 13 games in 2014-2015. Clowe, will be 33 heading into this next season, out of his prime. His best season came in 2010-2011 when he put up 62 points in 75 games, but he hasn't been close since. Clowe will be 34 when this contract expires. The Devils will be paying a player in his mid-30s, whose effectiveness is rapidly declining and who's unreliable to stay healthy just shy of $5 million. It was a bad signing at the beginning, it'll be a worse signing at the end. 

Signed Until: 2017-2018

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Matt Moulson, Mikhail Grabovski, Marian Gaborik, Scott Hartnell, Clarke MacArthur, Max Pacioretty, Teddy Purcell, Brad Marchand

C- Dave Bolland (Florida Panthers)

Contract: 5-Years/$27.5 million

Cap hit: $5.5 million

Last Year's "Winner": Dave Bolland

My Reasoning:

Congratulations to Dave Bolland for being our first repeat winner. My reasoning is pretty well the same from last year: Bolland has never had a 50-point season, has never cracked the 20 goal plateau, and is an inconsistent player. After playing just 23 games for the Leafs in 2013-2014 due to injury, Bolland had another slew of injuries and was limited to just 53 games the following season. In his last full season (2011-2012), Bolland has just 19 goals, not enough to justify a cap hit of $5.5 million to begin with, but over the last 3 seasons combined, Bolland has just 21. 

Bolland just turned 29 so he's right in the middle of his prime. If he stays healthy he could hit the 20 goal mark at some point. But hoping for a player getting paid more than $5 million to score 20+ goals is unacceptable. Unless he manages to turn things around, I expect Bolland to be back on this list next year.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Brandon Dubinsky, Travis Zajac, Tyler Seguin, Patrik Elias, John Tavares

RW- David Clarkson (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Contract: 7 years/$36.75 million

Cap Hit: $5.25 million

Last Year's "Winner": David Clarkson

My Reasoning:

Yet another repeat, only this time he's on a different team from last year. That's because the Leafs did the seemingly impossible task of trading away Clarkson. Arguably the best trade of Nonis' tenure with the Leafs was trading away Clarkson for a player that will probably never play again (Nathan Horton). Like I mentioned last year, Clarkson has never hit the 50 point plateau, hitting 46 in 2011-2012. Clarkson played just 3 games with the Blue Jackets last season, getting injured during a scrum in his 2nd game. 

Signed Until: 2019-2020

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Marian Hossa, Joffrey Lupul, Michael Cammalleri, Radim Vrbata, James Neal

D- Jeff Petry (Montreal Canadiens)

Contract: 6 Years/$33 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Brooks Orpik

My Reasoning:

I'll be honest, I originally had Brooks Orpik back on this list but the more I looked at things, the less I could justify it. I looked at other defensemen with similar cap hits, and although Orpik is definitely overpaid in my opinion, Jeff Petry's contract just can't be justified. Now, Petry had more points last season than Orpik and he actually scored (Orpik had 19 assists, no goals). Orpik also has a Stanley Cup and two trips to the Final. Petry played in the playoffs for the first time this season and only because he was traded to Montreal from Edmonton. It's certainly not Petry's fault the Oilers have been abysmal during his tenure, but he is a career -68. Say what you will about the +/- stat, but at the end of the day, Petry has been on the ice for 68 more even strength goals against than for. If you're into fancy stats, Petry's Fenwick dropped from 49.2 with the Oilers to 43.2 with the Habs.

One of my criticisms of Orpik last year was that he was never in the running for a Norris nor named an all-star. Petry has never been considered at all for the Norris nor named an all-star (Orpik finished 18th in Norris voting in the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season). All these things considered is why Petry made this list. However, he has only played 19 games with the Habs, so maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.

Signed Until: 2020-2021

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Andrej Sekera, Matt Carle, Nick Leddy, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Tyler Myers, Brooks Orpik, Dan Girardi 

D- Dion Phaneuf (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Contract: 7 Years/$49 Million

Cap Hit: $7 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Tyler Myers

A lot has been written about Dion Phaneuf and his tenure with the Maple Leafs, some fairly, some unfairly. But this article isn't to question Dion Phaneuf as captain, it's to point out the terrible contracts in the league. No one will argue that since coming from Calgary, Phaneuf has lost a step, and that may have to do with an injury suffered in 2010 that saw Phaneuf's leg get cut by a skate. After putting up 40+ points in every season with the Flames (except the one he was traded to Toronto), Phaneuf has done so only once during the 2011-2012 season.

In Calgary, Phaneuf was always in the Norris conversation, he never won it (but did finish 2nd in 2008), it hasn't been the same in Toronto, yet Nonis felt the need to sign him to a $49 million contract. Sure, Phaenuf is the captain, sure, you want your captain locked up long term, but there has been nothing in his play since coming to Toronto to justify such a huge contract. Need more proof? Phaneuf's cap hit is the same as Drew Doughty's (and Doughty has 2 Cups to his name).

Signed Until: 2021-2022

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Kris Letang, Brian Campbell. Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Alex Pietrangelo, Erik Karlsson

G- Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)

Contract: 6 Years/$37.8 Million

Cap Hit: $6.3 Million

Last Year's "Winner": Cam Ward

For the second straight year Cam Ward makes this list. And the reasons for that are all similar from last year. Since leading the Canes to a Cup back in 2006 (while sporting a solid .920 sv% in the playoffs), his team has only made the postseason once. Now, while that's not entirely Cam Ward's fault, his career .910 sv% and 2.73 GAA do very little to justify a $6.3 million cap hit. The following goaltenders have a better sv% and make less: Steve Mason (.9102, $4.1 Mil), Marc-Andre Fleury (.9114, $5.75 Mil), Mike Smith (.9121, $5.66 Mil), etc.

There are only 5 netminders in the league with a bigger cap hit than Ward: Lundqvist, Rinne, Bobrovsky, Rask, and Price. And although only 1 of those goalies has a Cup to his name, when you think of "elite" those are the names that come up (maybe not for Bobrovsky...), Ward's does not. The only plus side of this contract is that it expires at the end of this season; I'm not expecting Ward to be back on this list next year.


Signed Until: 2015-2016

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Cory Schneider, Corey Crawford, Ryan Miller

How Much Should the Leafs Pay Jonathan Bernier?

On Wednesday both the Maple Leafs and Jonathan Bernier submitted their offers to an arbitrator. In a rare move, the Leafs elected to go to arbitration to negotiate a new contract with their number 1 goaltender. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs are offering $2.89 million and Bernier is asking $5.1 million. Last season, Bernier had a salary of $3.4 million but a cap hit of just $2.9 million.

Arbitration takes into account comparables let's take a look at some comparibles and see where we can expect the salary to be. Remember, since the Leafs elected to go to arbitration, once the arbitrator makes his ruling, the Leafs have to take it.

Over his 2 seasons in Toronto, Bernier is 47-47-14 in 104 starts with a 2.78 GAA and a .920 sv%. The most important goaltending stat for me is save percentage. The Leafs gave up an egregious amount of shots over Bernier's tenure, so the fact that he's at .920 is pretty good. There were 2 goalies that had a .920 sv% last season (that played more than 10 games): Ondrej Pavelec and Marc-Andre Fleury. Next season, Pavelec will have a salary of $4.25 million with a cap hit of $3.9 million, whereas Fleury has a salary and cap hit of $5.75 million.

I'm more inclined to compare Bernier to Pavelec because their numbers are closer. Over the last 2 seasons, Pavelec is 44-42-15 in 107 starts with a 2.67 GAA and a .910 sv%. As you can see, Bernier's numbers (except GAA) are slightly better than Pavelec's, but they are relatively close. With that being said, I would expect Bernier to get a slightly higher contract than Pavelec, somewhere around $4.5 million.

Apparently the word is Bernier is looking for a longer term contract, and the Leafs want a similar contract as they gave Kadri. They want Bernier to prove his worth. Obviously, the Leafs are thinking long term here. Bernier will be 27 heading into this season, by the time the Leafs are competitive again Bernier could be 31 or 32. The Leafs don't want to handcuff themselves with long term deals like they did with Kessel, Clarkson, Lupul, and Phaneuf. There is some risk here, after next season, Bernier becomes a UFA, if the Leafs choose to lock up Bernier on a short-term contract, they risk him leaving for nothing, however, if they give him a long-term deal, it could handcuff them in the future.

If I'm Lamoriello, I'm giving Bernier a 3-year deal. Three years isn't a long contract, but it's not a short one either. If Bernier doesn't work out, that's fine, the Leafs are rebuilding and will not be good anyways, if he works out, great, by then the Leafs should be competing for a playoff spot and Bernier can help the Leafs moving forward. The two parties meet with the arbitrator on Friday, we should know the decision by the weekend.

Lou Lamoriello Named Leafs GM: My Take

The Toronto Maple Leafs named 73-year-old Lou Lamoriello, the long time GM of the Devils, as General Manager. Lamoriello was General Manager of the New Jersey Devils from 1987-2015, at the end of this past season, he stepped down as GM to make way for Ray Shero; Lamoriello remained as President. In his first year with the Devils, he helped build the team to its first winning record in its then-14 year history (including the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies). In his 26 seasons with the Devils, they made the Stanley Cup playoffs 21 times, made the Stanley Cup Final 5 times, and won 3 Cups.

However, since the lockout, the Devils haven't been the powerhouse they were in the 90s and early 2000s. After making the playoffs 6 of the first 7 years since the lockout (including making the final in 2012), the Devils have gone 3 straight seasons missing the playoffs. This is due to an ageing core and a lack of prospects coming up through the pipeline.

This is a move that came out of left field for just about everyone except Brendan Shanahan and Lamoriello. It seemed like most of Leafs Nation believed Shanny would resume most of the responsibilities as GM along with Kyle Dubas. However, the experience in an NHL front office for most of the Leafs front office doesn't extend beyond their time with the Leafs. Lamoriello brings some much needed experience not just in terms being a GM, but in terms of knowing what a team needs to win.

Lamoriello is a GM that wins by building from the net out (it helped that he had Martin Brodeur for years). The Leafs ranked 27th in Goals Against last year (262), and were among the worst in term of puck possession. The Devils have famously played and won using the dreaded trap game under Lamoriello.

The signing, although unexpected, makes sense. As I said above, Lamoriello brings a wealth of experience to a very inexperienced Leafs front office. There are some risks however, Lamoriello was at his most successful in a pre-cap era. The Leafs have a clear plan ahead that they're looking to rebuild, which means they will be awful for at least a couple of years, everyone from Shanahan to Babcock and even the board above Shanny is supposedly on board with this plan. Lamoriello seemed to understand this was the direction the Leafs were taking, but he also apparently has full autonomy. If his famous impatience comes into play, can he derail the Leafs plans? (Cliff Fletcher 2.0 immediately comes to mind).

All that being said, having a mind like Lamoriello in the mix giving his two cents isn't a bad thing. Kyle Dubas now has the opportunity (for the next 3 years, at least) to watch one of the greatest hockey minds at work and learn from him. If they had an all-star team for front office staff, most of the team would be made up from the Leafs' front office. There are so many great minds at work here, if they stay the course and stick with the plan of a rebuild, the Leafs may finally, one day, be a competitive team with a shot to win the Cup.

How the (Original) Phil Kessel Trade Looks Today

Back in 2009 the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2010 1st and 2nd round draft pick, and their 1st round draft pick in 2011. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they finished the 2009-2010 season in 29th and that 1st round pick became the 2nd overall pick. The Bruins selected Tyler Seguin 2nd overall and Jared Knight 32nd overall. In 2011, the Bruins selected Dougie Hamilton 9th overall.

For the first few years of Kessel's tenure in Toronto, the trade was debated. The 2nd overall pick was a high price to pay, but Phil Kessel was/is an elite talent that most teams would dream of having.

With the trade of Phil Kessel on July 1st, all 4 pieces of the original trade are no longer on Boston or Toronto's roster. Let's break down what the trade looks like today:

Tyler Seguin

Following Boston's loss in the Stanley Cup Final of the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season, Boston shipped Tyler Seguin along with Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser. 

Eriksson and Morrow are still with the team, but Rielly Smith was traded to Florida for Jimmy Hayes (originally a Leafs draft pick) and the Bruins lost Matt Fraser to Edmonton via waivers.

Dougie Hamilton

The morning of this year's NHL Entry Draft, the Bruins traded Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for their 2015 1st round pick (15th overall), their 2nd round pick (45th overall), and Washington's 2nd round pick (52nd overall). They used the three picks to select Zachary Senyshyn, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, and Jeremy Lauzon respectively.

Jared Knight

The Bruins traded Jared Knight to the Wild for Zach Phillips.

The Original trade now looks something like this:

To Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen
Scott Harrington
Nick Spaling
Conditional 2016 1st Round Pick
Conditional 2016 3rd Round Pick


To Boston:

Loui Eriksson
Joe Morrow
Jimmy Hayes
Zachary Senyshyn
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson
Jeremy Lauzon
Zach Phillips

Did the Leafs get enough for Kessel?

This is a question I've seen answered on many blogs and news stories, here's my take:

The Leafs could have gotten more for Kessel, no doubt. But given where the Leafs and Penguins are, the trade made sense. The Leafs needed to get rid of Kessel for many reasons. For one, the Leafs are in a rebuild, you don't need a 30+ (borderline 40) goal scorer in your lineup if you want to rebuild. Secondly, it was fair to Kessel, an elite talent like him deserves a legitimate shot at trying for the Cup. Thirdly, the Leafs needed to dismantle their core, Kessel was a huge part of that, trading him changes the core completely.

I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed we won't get to see Kessel under Babcock, but it was time to move on. The most unfortunate thing is the Leafs wasted the "Kessel Era," instead of surrounding him with talent, they surrounded him with Tyler Bozak. With Crosby, there is very little doubt in my mind that Kessel will hit 40 goals next season. I wish Kessel nothing but the best in PIttsburgh.

Like the original Kessel trade, we won't know who the clear winner is for a few years. At best, the Leafs broke even with the original trade, in reality, they lost it (imagine how good Seguin, a 1st line centre, and Dougie Hamilton, a top 2 defenseman, would look in a Leafs jersey right now). For the first time in over a decade, the Leafs have a clear path they want to follow, and for now at least, they look like they're sticking to it, with a priority on getting younger and developing prospects to create a new core. I might revisit this one again next year to see where the trade is at following the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Who Should Captain the NHL's Captainless Teams?

The NHL pre-season has come and gone. Fans got to see some of the talent their teams have in their feeder systems. Going into the pre-season, 7 teams were without captains but Ottawa named Erik Karlsson captain and Florida named Willie Mitchell their captain.

No team has ever won a Cup without a Captain (although the New York Rangers came close last season, which led to an interesting situation when they were awarded Prince of Wales trophy. Five teams are still without Captains this season: Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal, New York Rangers, and San Jose, let's take a look at the 2 or 3 best candidates for each team.

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are undergoing a rebuild right now and there's a very small chance of them even making the playoffs. Some are even saying the Sabres are purposely tanking to have a chance at drafting Connor McDavid. However, for the purposes of this blog, let's take a look at potential Sabres Captains:

Drew Stafford

Stafford is the longest tenured member of the Sabres, he was drafted by the team 13th overall in 2004 and has only played in the Sabres organisation. Because of this, Stafford actually has some playoff experience: 20 games. Stafford was on this team when they were more successful and knows what it takes to win. With over 500 NHL games under his belt, Stafford would be a great mentor to a team that is filled with players 26 and younger.

Brian Gionta

After Montreal didn't extend Gionta's contract, he signed a three-year deal with the Sabres. Now, I know teams don't often name players they just signed captain (although Edmonton did it last year), but Gionta is coming off being captain with the Montreal Canadiens. Even though he's 35 years old, he can still be dependable to get you 40-50 points in a season, if he stays healthy.

Tyler Myers

Tyler Myers won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in 2010, but he hasn't been able to live up to the hype, It's tough to tell whether Myers will never live up to that hype, or if it's just because of the Sabres have been getting worse. That being said, once the Sabres are a competitive team again, look for Myers to be in the thick of things. At 24, he's a little young, but that means he hasn't reached his prime yet. If he can get back to his Calder form, he would be a solid leader for this club.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets have been without a captain since they traded Rick Nash to the New York Rangers in 2012 after going 29-46-7 in 2011-2012. However, two seasons after the trade, the Jackets made the playoffs for only the 2nd time in franchise history and won their first ever playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Things look bright for the Blue Jackets' future and maybe it's time they had a captain leading the way.

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the LA Kings in 2012 for Jeff Carter. That season, the Kings went on to win their first Cup. After Nash was traded, Johnson was considered to be one of the leaders on the team, he wore the 'A' that season, and continues to do so. Out of any players on the Blue Jackets, Johnson probably has the best shot at being Nash's successor.

Nick Foligno 

Nick Foligno was traded to Columbus from the Ottawa Senators for Mike Methot. Foligno was an RFA at the time of being acquired by Columbus. They signed him to a three-year extension. Foligno has previous playoff experience with the Ottawa Senators, which would make him a good leader for this club. He also scored the overtime winner in Game 4 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Penguins to give the Blue Jackets their 1st home playoff win. However, barring some chance Johnson doesn't get named captain, it's unlikely Foligno will be given the 'C'.

Montreal Canadiens

After Montreal didn't re-sign Brian Gionta, they found themselves without a captain. Fans had it narrowed down to 4 candidates. Evidently, so did the Habs, they just couldn't decide which one to name captain, so they named all 4 alternate captains: Andrei Markov, P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, and Tomas Plekanec. As much as I'm a Leafs fan, I applaud the Habs for this move. A team as historic as Montreal shouldn't just name a Captain for the sake of naming one. Go one year without one, and see who steps up as a leader. Before we see who steps up. let's take a look at these four and see who would make the best Captain.

Andrei Markov

Markov is entering his 14th season with the bleu, blanc, et rouge. He has spent his whole career in Montreal. That longevity alone makes him a great candidate for Captain. He's not the most gifted goal scorer, he's never reached the 20-goal plateau, but with 344 career assists, he definitely helps out on goals. He has been with Montreal for both of their runs to the conference finals since they last won the Cup. He has 71 career playoff games under his belt, he knows what it takes for success.

P.K. Subban

Subban is the type of defenseman you hate to play against. He can deliver big hits and he can score, he's deadly on the powerplay from the point. Subban won the Norris trophy in 2013, becoming the 1st Hab to win the award since Chris Chelios did in 1989, the same year Subban was born. Subban hasn't even reached his prime yet. Although his defensive play can sometimes be a little suspect, he can let his emotions get the better of him, he is maturing and it is clear that Subban will be a defensive force in this league for many years to come. It's not a matter of will Subban be captain, it's a matter of when.

Max Pacioretty

Pacioretty has been an offensive force for the Habs in the past couple of seasons. He was 4th in goal scoring last season with 39 and he's done it quietly. He leads by example on the team. However, goal scoring alone isn't enough to wear the 'C' in my opinion. If I had a say, I would pick Subban or Markov as Captain ahead of Pacioretty. That's not a knock on him by any means, he's a skilled player, he can lead his team in other ways, he doesn't need the 'C'.

Tomas Plekanec

Plekanec is another longtime Hab. He's only ever played for Montreal making his NHL debut during the 2003-2004 NHL season (he played 2 games). Plekanec has played over 600 games for Montreal collecting 439 points along the way. Unlike Markov, Plekanec has hit the 20-goal plateau, and has done so regularly with 7 career 20+ goal seasons. He also has 69 career playoff games where he has 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists). His longevity with the club and his experience in the post-season makes him a good candidate to be the next Habs Captain.

New York Rangers

After sending Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Martin St. Louis, the Rangers found themselves without a captain. However, that didn't stop them from surprising everyone by making it to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers have a lot of skilled guys on their team, and a lot of them are great candidates for captain, that might be why the team hasn't named a captain yet. Let's see who could become the Rangers' next captain.

Martin St. Louis

The story of how St. Louis ended up on the Rangers is a messy one. St. Louis demanded a trade out of Tampa, because Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, who was also GM of Canada's national team for the 2014 Olympics, left him off the roster (he was later added as an injury replacement for Steven Stamkos). St. Louis had a no trade clause and would only waive it for a trade to the Rangers. St. Louis would make a good captain because, he's a veteran, and at 39 years old, he's still putting up 60+ points and is just 19 shy of 1,000 career points. He has also won a Stanley Cup, where he was instrumental for the Lightning (potting 25 points in 24 games). Even though he hasn't been on this team for a full season yet, there's no doubt of his leadership abilities. 

Dan Girardi

 If you don't feel comfortable giving the 'C' to a guy who is new to them team, then Girardi is a good pick.He has been with the Rangers since 2006. Girardi originally signed with the Rangers AHL affiliate Hartford, as an undrafted free agent. He has played 569 games, as well as 89 career playoff games all with the Rangers. During the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, the Rangers named Girardi one of the Alternate Captains. It's clear the team sees him as a leader already.

Henrik Lundqvist

Okay, hear me out. I know technically goalies aren't allowed to wear the 'C,' however they are allowed to be named captain in name, the Vancouver Canucks did it with Roberto Luongo. Most people don't think of goalies as a leader because...well...they can be insane. But Lundqvist is a different breed of goaltender. He's not insane, he's just go to be one of the coolest people ever. Why not add captain of an original six franchise to his resume? And his 2.26 career GAA can't hurt either. Seriously, New York, make this happen!

San Jose Sharks

After the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, there was the feeling that something was going to happen in San Jose. They stripped Joe Thornton of his captaincy and took the 'As' off as well. The team wanted to head into training camp giving everyone a fresh slate and making anyone who wants to wear the letters earn it. So I'm going to restrict myself here: I'm going to see who would make the best captain on the team that isn't Joe Thornton (that would be too easy).

Logan Couture

Literally the first name I thought of when I think of non-Joe Thornton players on the Sharks (yes, even more so than Patrick Marleau. Spoiler alert: Marleau doesn't make this list). He's still young at 25, but he hasn't hit his prime yet, and is reliable for 50+ points a season. At only 25, he already has 56 career playoff games under his belt (18 goals, 18 assists). If the Sharks are looking to head in a different direction, Couture would be the logical choice for captain. He's the face of the next generation of talent on the Sharks.

Brent Burns

Burns is entering his 4th season with the Sharks. He plays defense and occasionally the wing. A guy who can be so versatile that he can play both defense and forward if needed would make a good leader. Not to mention his majestic beard. Last season he set a career high in points with 48 (22 goals, 26 assists). At 29, he's in his prime and the Sharks should take advantage of that, now would be a good time to hand him the 'C'. Plus, he has a majestic beard. Did I mention I like his beard?

Joe Pavelski

Pavelski has been with the Sharks for the past 8 seasons. In 561 career games with the Sharks he has 415 points. Along with his NHL experience, he has an Olympic silver medal from the 2010 Winter Games. He also had a career high 41 goals last season! He's at the tail end of his prime, but his experience would do wonders for the next wave of Sharks talent. I would not be shocked to see Pavelski wear the 'C' in the near future.

Why I was Reluctant to Accept "Fancy Stats"

This offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs made headlines by hiring Kyle Dubas, former GM of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and he's only 28! This hiring made the blogosphere happy because Dubas is into the so called "Fancy Stats" and used them with the Greyhounds.

So what are Fancy Stats? For an in-depth look at Corsi and Fenwick, you should go here. The TL;DR version is that Corsi is "the plus/minus of shots directed at the net for (blocked shots, shots high and wide, shots that hit, shots that get tipped, etc.)." If you have a positive Corsi, you are on the ice for more shots for and therefore the team possesses the puck more when you're on the ice. Fenwick is the same thing, except it doesn't take into consideration blocked shots (Fenwick sees blocked shots as a skill, not a random event).

Before this season, Corsi and Fenwick were mostly used by bloggers, and since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, bloggers were calling for the Leafs to drop off the face of the earth because of their poor possession numbers. In 2013, we saw the Leafs monumental collapse to the Bruins (I'm not even linking to the video, too many bad memories), and in 2014 we saw the Leafs...fall off the face of the Earth. As a result, you could hear the collective "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" from the bloggers.

So why did I resist? The idea Corsi and Fenwick make sense: the more you control the puck, the better chance you have to score. But my problem was not with the stats themselves. My problem was with the keyboard hero bloggers out there who would gang up on anyone who would even dare to question them. The conversation was never "hey guys, look at these new stats, they might be useful." The conversation was "these are new stats and if you don't think they have any merit, you're an idiot and no nothing about hockey!"

Why would anyone want to agree with people who react that way? When the Leafs finally did hire an analytics team, proponent of Fancy Stats Down Goes Brown had this humble blog post.The TL;DR version: we were right, you were wrong, you're all stupid. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Down Goes Brown, I've been a fan of his work for about 4 or 5 years now, I was just thoroughly unimpressed with how even he acted through all of this.

Now I was never berated on Twitter for disparaging Fancy Stats, I kept quiet about it and just observed from the outside. 

So what was the point of this blog post? I just wanted to voice my opinions before the upcoming NHL season now that the "Great Stats War" is over. I'm happy the Leafs have stepped in a new direction and are looking at Corsi and Fenwick. It's a huge step for an old team reluctant to change. I'm just not happy with how we got here.

NHL Announces New Rules for 2014-2015

Last Thursday, the NHL announced rule changes for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. Among the changes, the biggest ones are:

• The trapezoid area will be expanded.
• The Spin-O-Rama is no longer allowed in penalty shots or the shootout.
• Slight expansion to video review.
• Fines for Diving/Embellishment.
• Overtime changes.

The Trapezoid

Since the NHL decided to put it in after the 2004-2005 lockout, I have hated it. I know the NHL thinks it's adding offence, but if anything, it slows the game down. The "new" trapezoid will be expanded by 2 feet from the posts. This might be the first step of the NHL eventually phasing it out.

No More Spin-O-Rama

I loved seeing the Spin-O-Rama in the shootout (and for penalty shots as well). I found that whenever a team complained about the move, it was because they lost. However, because of all the griping I'm glad this move has been taking out. There are a couple of reasons for the NHL removing the Spin-O-Rama. First of all, it's nearly impossible to tell if there is forward motion. Secondly, refs couldn't tell whether or not a player was interfering with a goaltender during the move, whether that meant sending a bunch of snow in their face or by physically bumping them. S

The end of the spin-o-rama also means the end of the debates about whether the spin-o-rama should be legal or not. That is a big win for everyone.

Video Review

As per the NHL:

Rule 38.4 (viii) has been modified to allow broader discretion to Hockey Operations to assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g., to ensure they are “good hockey goals”).  The revised Rule will allow Hockey Operations to correct a broader array of situations where video review clearly establishes that a “goal” or “no
goal” call on the ice has been made in error.   The new expanded rule will
also allow Hockey Operations to provide guidance to referees on goal and potential goal plays where the referee has blown his whistle (or intended to blow his whistle) after having lost sight of the puck.

Essentially, the goal the Devils scored on the Kings last season would be reviewable. From what I understand, NHL hockey ops would call the refs from Toronto and declare the goal no good. According to Pierre LeBrun, other controversial goals, such as offsides, and goalie interferences will be made note of by the NHL. The league will then make a report to bring to the GMs in March. I'm not sure if that means if this goal would still count.

Fines for Diving

This is my favourite one. The NHL will now fine people who are penalised for diving. The fines are as followed:

        1       Warning 
        2       $2,000
        3       $3,000
        4       $4,000
        5       $5,000
        6       $5,000
        7       $5,000
        8       $5,000  

According to Darren Dreger, the NHL will release a weekly press release with all the diving fines on it. Players are also able to appeal the fines. All of the appeals will be dealt with by Gary Bettman. I have a feeling Ryan Kesler's wallet might be a little lighter this year...

Changes to Overtime

Starting this season, the teams will have to switch sides for overtime, therefore providing a longer change for the teams. The ice will also undergo a dry scrape prior to the start of overtime. Coaches will also no longer need to submit a list of their first 3 shooters in the shootout. 

To me, this sounds like the beginning of the end of the shootout. I've already talked about how to make the shootout less relevant by revamping the point system. This is a good start for the NHL, it will be interesting to see if this will actually make a difference (future blog idea?). The best part about make teams switch sides on the ice is that it doesn't really change the game, yet it still has the potential to make a big difference. 

The AHL has adopted a change to overtime that will see 3-on-3 overtime after the first whistle after 4 minutes of play. The NHL has used the AHL to experiment with rule changes in the past. Maybe next year this will be implemented in the NHL as well. 

The Revolving Door of Coaches

Toronto FC announced last Sunday that they were relieving head coach Ryan Nelsen of his duties, and naming Greg Vanney as his replacement. Vanney will be the soccer club's 9th coach in 8 seasons. That's not a good record. but has a professional sports franchise in Toronto ever had this much instability at the position prior to TFC? I decided to look at the history of coaches for the Blue Jays, Leafs, Argos, and Raptors and see which decade had the most coaches:

Toronto St. Patricks/Toronto Maple Leafs

Decade with Most Coaches: 1920s

Number of Coaches: 9

Coaches: Frank Heffernan (1919-1920), Harvey Sproule (1920), Frank Carroll (1920-1921), George O'Donoghue (1921-1923), Charles Querrie (1923-1924, 1926-1927), and Eddie Powers (1926-1927), Mike Rodden (1927), Alex Romeril (1927), Conn Smythe (1927-1930).

What Happened?

Heffernan resigned as coach, he is credited as coaching for 12 games. 

Sproule replaced Heffernan as coach, but was co-owner of the St. Pats franchise. He resigned at the end of the season, and became a referee in the OHA.

Carroll coached the St. Pats to their first berth in the finals, but I was unable to find out why he left the team. He sadly committed suicide in 1938.

O'Donoghue coached the St. Pats to the Stanley Cup, the only Stanley Cup the St. Pats would win. He was fired after 5 games during the 1922-1923 season. 

Querrie had 2 stints as coach of the St. Pats. In his 1st stint he finished with a total record of 21-21-1. In 1926-1927 he coached for 29 games. After finishing 5th in the Canadian division, he resigned.

Powers would bring the St. pats to the finals once again. But after his 2nd season, he would leave the team to coach the Boston Tigers of the CAHL where he won a championship in 1929.

Rodden was fired after only 2 games, he went 0-2-0. 

Romeril coached for 1 season before becoming an NHL referee.

All of the above coaches only coached for the St. Pats/Maple Leafs franchise in the NHL.

Smythe coached the Leafs for 4 seasons before resigning as coach in 1930. He coached on an interim basis for 1 game in 1931. 

Toronto Argonauts

Decade with Most Coaches: 1990s

Number of Coaches: 8

Now we can give CFL teams a little bit of a break, the league isn't nearly as prosperous as any of the "Big 4" leagues and obviously the teams struggle a little more financially. 

The 90s began with "The Don" Don Matthews as head coach. That would be the first of two stints as Argos coach during the 90s (he would of a 3rd sting in the 2000s). He lead the Argonauts to a 10-8 record, and he brought them to the East final where they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In 1991 the Argos were purchased by Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy. Adam Rita made his CFL coaching debut with the Argos that year. He won his one and only Grey Cup that year.The following season however, the Argos started 3-8 and he was fired and replaced with Dennis Meyer in 1992.

Meyer finished out the remaining 7 games with a 3-4 record. But after a 1-9 start in 1993 he was also fired. Then GM Bob O'Billovich (who previously coached the Argos from 1982-1989) took over as coach to close out the season.

The next season, O'Billovich hired Mike Faragalli. Faragalli lasted only 9 games before his contract was terminated by O'Billovich, partly due to the Argonauts struggling financially; they were on the verge of folding. O'Billovich took over coaching duties for the rest of the season.

O'Billovich re-hired Don Matthews. In his first 3 seasons he won 2 Grey Cups with the Argos. His third Grey Cup in a row he won 1 Grey Cup coaching the only American team to ever win it: the Baltimore Stallions. Matthew remained as Argos coach until 1998.

Jim Barker replaced Matthews as head coach in 1999, he became the youngest coach in CFL history. The Argos lost in the conference quarter-finals to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Following the season, Barker went on to become the Offensive Co-ordinator for the XFL's only championship team: The Los Angeles Xtreme.

Toronto Blue Jays

Decade with the Most Coaches Managers: 2000s

Number of Coaches Managers: 7

The Blue Jays have actually done alright in terms of head coaches. In their nearly 40 year history, they've only had 20 total managers, and 15 different ones. The 2000s were a decade of mediocrity. While the 80s held 2 playoff berths, and the 90s held 2 World Series victories, the 2000s contained a team hovering around the .500 mark.

The 2000s started with Jim Fregosi in his 2nd year as manager, but after a 3rd place finish in the AL East for the 2nd consecutive year, the Jays did not renew his contract.

In 2001, the Blue Jays hired former team catcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez in as manager. Martinez managed for 159 games in 2001, unfortunately Martinez's mother-in-law passed away and Martinez was absent for the seasons final 3 games and replaced on an interim basis with Cookie Rojas.

Martinez returned during the 2002 season, but was fired after 53 games after the Jays went 20-33. Carlos Tosca was then hired to replace Martinez. Under Tosca, the Jays went 58-51 the rest of the way and finished 3rd in the AL East for a 5th consecutive year. The Blue Jays finished 10 games above .500 in 2003 with an 86-76 record but for the 6th consecutive year, the Blue Jays finished 3rd in the AL East. That would all change in 2004.

The Blue Jays had a horrendous start to 2004, only winning 47 of their first 111 games. As a result, Tosca was fired and replaced with John Gibbons. The Blue Jays finished 2004 with a 67-94 record (.416), they're worst winning percentage since 1981. The Jays had above .500 records under Gibby from 2006-2008. 2006 was their best year with Gibbons, after acquiring a number of stars, the Blue Jays finished 2nd in the AL East but 10 games back of the Yankees and 8 games back of the Tigers for the Wild Card spot. After a tough slump in 2008, Gibbons was fired and replaced with former manager Cito Gaston.

Gaston is the only manager in Jays history to being them to a World Series. After replacing Gibbons, the Jays closed out 2008 with a 51-37 record. Gaston retired after the 2010 season but he still remains with the team.

Toronto Raptors

Well, the Raptors haven't even been around for 20 years yet. So we won't count them. They've only had 8 head coaches in their history.

What can we Conclude?

The only Toronto teams that come close to matching that sad number of TFC's head coaches within a decade are the Leafs and Argos who were going through financial difficulties during the time. As far as I know, TFC isn't going through any financial troubles, they're just bad. If you want an example of a team that doesn't know what it's doing, look no further than TFC.

Steve Moore Settles

Former Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore has announced that he has settled his decade-long lawsuit with then-Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi. Back in 2004, Steve Moore was the victim of an on-ice attack from Bertuzzi. The incident ended Moore's NHL career, he was seeking damages and lost wages, Moore's lawyers said he was seeking $68 million.

This settlement ends an ugly chapter for the NHL. The case was scheduled to go to trial next Friday, if it were to go to trial, it would have brought forth a lot of the unknowns that goes on inside a team's locker room. How many times have we heard players say "it stays in the locker room." Moore argued that Bertuzzi's actions were caused in part from direction of then-Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

The whole incident stemmed from Moore injuring then-Canucks captain David Naslund in a previous meeting. Interviews with Canucks players leading up to the next game shows that they were seeking repercussions.

“There’s no way that punk will be in their lineup in March,” Bertuzzi told reporters in 2004.

Bertuzzi's teammate Brad May put it more bluntly: "There’s definitely a bounty on his head. . . . It’s going to be fun when we get him."

Following the incident, Bertuzzi was suspended for the remainder of the season and playoffs (13 regular season games, 7 playoff games). The following season was the 2004-2005 lockout season. Bertuzzi, along with most other players, elected to play in Europe. However, the IIHF extended the NHL's suspension to preclude him from playing there.

During the lockout, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman held a re-instatement hearing for Bertuzzi and announced on August 8th, 2005 that Bertuzzi had been reinstated and would be playing in the 2005-2006 season. However, during that season, Bertuzzi was heckled whenever the team was on the road. The Canucks missed the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. Then GM Dave Nonis sent Bertuzzi to Florida as part of a package deal that sent Roberto Luongo to Vancouver.

There is absolutely no room for this kind of garbage in the NHL, and it's great to see that the case has been settled. No dollar amount has been announced, and we may never find out what it is. In my opinion, the only silver lining of Todd Bertuzzi still being in the NHL is that he's banking enough money to afford paying Moore.


Moore has set up a foundation, the Steve Moore Foundation. From the website: "The Steve Moore Foundation focuses on the prevention and treatment of concussion and similar serious head and neck injuries in sport." If anyone is interested in donating they can donate here.

Sidney Crosby in Jail?: Getting it out There Before Getting it Right

On Wednesday, QMI Agency reported that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was arrested in Ottawa on driving-related charges. From the original story:

“Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby was arrested by Ottawa Police late Tuesday while driving a rented Porsche, sources have told QMI Agency. Reasons of his arrest were unknown, but appear to be driving related."

 Unfortunately for QMI, none of this actually happened. In fact, Crosby was not even in Canada! Both the Ottawa police and the Pittsburgh Penguins released statements confirming that Sid had no dealings with the police and that he was in Vail, Colorado preparing for training camp.

Vail? Say, that rhymes with jail! Yes, it is completely possible that this person heard "Sidney Crosby is in jail" instead of "Vail." Now, if I was in a position to possibly break the biggest hockey story of the year, I would probably want to clarify what I just heard:

"Jail!? In prison?"

"No, you must have misheard me, I said Vail. He's in Colorado, training."

One of my biggest pet peeves as a journalist is not getting the story right. Now I understand that sometimes things happen, and things could be reported falsely, especially with social media. But there are ways to confirm something you hear. This story should never have made it out, and it doesn't just stop at the reporter.

All news agencies want to be the first to break a news story, it shows your viewers/readers that you can be reliable. Twitter has made breaking news almost instantaneous, but even more importantly than being first, you have got to be correct. Especially with a story like this.

There's no doubt that if this story was true, this would be the biggest hockey story of the last couple years, maybe even the last decade or couple of decades. For all you aspiring journalists out there, if you ever get a huge, potentially career changing story like this, make sure you quadruple-check your facts!



This story also caused some hilarious reactions on Twitter. You can check them out here.

Where are they Now?- Simon Gamache

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 

Simon Gamache was drafted 290th overall in 2000 by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was named CHL player of the year in 2001. After spending 3 seasons with the Val d'Or Foreurs of the QMJHL, Gamache moved up to pro during the 2001-2002 season with the Chicago Wolbes. He made his NHL debut with the Thrashers during the 2002-2003 NHL season where he played 2 games and notched 2 penalty minutes.

During the 2003-2004 season, the Thrashers traded Gamache along with Kirill Safranov to the Nashville Predators for Tomas Kloucek and Ben Simon.With the Predators, he played 18 games over 3 seasons. He scored his first career NHL goal during the 2003-2004 season, that was his only point with the Predators.

The Predators placed Gamache on waivers in November of 2005 where he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues. He played 15 career games with St. Louis registering 3 Goals and 4 Assists. Then, a couple months later in January of 2006, the Blues placed Gamache on waivers where he was re-claimed by the Predators.

In 2007, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Gamache as a free agent. With the Leafs, Gamache had 2 Goals and 2 Assists in 11 games. In November 2007, the Leafs placed Gamache on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the Marlies. After clearing waivers, he referred to it as a "sad day" as he thought he had established himself as an NHL regular. In January 2008, the Leafs released Gamache from his contract so that he could play in Europe.

Gamache went on to play with Bern in the Swiss-A league, where he won the Swiss championship in his first season there. He currently plays for the Mannheim Eagles of the DEL in Germany.

Where are They Now? - Aleksander Suglobov

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 

Aleksander Suglobov was drafted 56th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2000. He got his first taste of North American professional hockey action during the 2003-2004 season with the Albany River Rats and made his NHL debut that season as well.

On March 8th, 2006, Suglobov was traded to Toronto for defenseman Ken Klee. Suglobov played 16 games for Toronto registering 4 penalty minutes and was a combined -7. After being unable to crack an NHL lineup, Suglobov went to play in the KHL.

Since the 2007-2008 season, Suglobov has played for CSKA Moscow, Moscow Spartak, Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, Novosibirsk Sibir, and Chelyabinsk Traktor. Suglobov did not appear to play during the 2013-2014 season, but I have not been able to find anything saying he has officially retired. In total, Suglobov scored 1 goal in 18 career NHL games.

Ted Kennedy to be First Immortalized in "Legends Row"

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Thursday that Ted "Teeder" Kennedy will be the first of 3 Leafs legends inducted into the team's new "Legend's Row." The statue will be unveiled on September 6th as part of the Leafs' Fan Fest.

Legends row is a 30 foot granite bench outside Gate 5 of the Air Canada Centre that will feature statues of the biggest names in Leafs history. The team will unveil new inductees leading into the 2017 centennial season. Two more inductees will be named during Fan Fest in September. The next wave of inductees will be names in 2015.

Ted Kennedy spent his entire 15 year career with the Blue and White, 8 of those seasons he was captain. He won 5 Stanley Cups and the Hart Trophy in 1955.

Making the NHL's Loser Point Work

The NHL is a unique league. Of the "Big 4" sports leagues, the NHL is the only one that awards teams for losing in overtime by giving the losing team 1 point while the winner gets 2. A simple search on Google for "loser point NHL" turns up with numerous articles urging the NHL to get rid of the loser point (or the "Bettman Point"). But, I like the loser point, and I might be the only one. My rationale behind it is that if you're trailing and you manage to come back and force overtime, you deserve something for it. Likewise, if you're winning and you blow your lead, you deserve to lose a point. The system isn't perfect, but I think there's a way we can tweak it.

What is the loser point?

The loser point was introduced during the 1999-2000 NHL season. Prior to that, teams got 0 points for an overtime loss, but ties were still a thing in the NHL back then. If your team tied, you and your opponent would each get 1 point. The problem was teams didn't want to risk ending the game with 0 points, so they settled for a tie. The addition of the loser point allowed for teams to take a risk in OT by going for the win, but without risking coming away with nothing.

During the 1998-1999 season, the year before they introduced the loser point, teams averaged 12 ties. During the 1999-2000 season, after the addition of the loser point, that average dropped to just over 10 ties.

What's wrong with it?

A problem that many people have with it now is the addition of the shootout. Since the 2005-2006 season, teams would go into a 3-man shootout if there was no decision by the end of overtime, eliminating ties. However, teams started to hold back during OT to take their chances during the shootout, which is, in essence, a crapshoot. 

The NHL tried to combat this by introducing a new tiebreaking rule. If a team is tied in points, the tiebreaker will go to the team that has won the most regulation and overtime games (wins minus shootout wins). This created a new section in the standings known as "ROW" (Regulation and Overtime Wins), making the shootout less relevant.

How can we make the loser point work?

As I mentioned above, most of the criticism of the loser point is because of the addition of the shootout. I propose we make the shootout even less relevant. Here's how:

Regulation/Overtime win= 2 points

Overtime Loss/Shootout Win= 1 Point

Regulation/Shootout Loss= 0 points

If we take away the loser point for shootout losses and make a shootout win only 1 point, it eliminates teams trying to hold off until the shootout. Imagine the playoff races in April!

Now you can argue that the team that really needs the 2 points can just pull their goalie for an extra attacker in overtime and if they get scored on, they still get one point anyways. You would be wrong. As per Rule 84.2:

" A team shall be 
allowed to pull its goalkeeper in favour of an additional skater in the 
overtime period. However, should that team lose the game during the 
time in which the goalkeeper has been removed, it would forfeit the 
automatic point gained in the tie at the end of regulation play, except if 
the goalkeeper has been removed at the call of a delayed penalty 
against the other team."

This is a rule already in place in the NHL so it would eliminate stupid plays like that from being commonplace.

Would the proposed changes really make that much of a difference?

Let's find out:

These were the standings of the 2013-2014 season:

Atlantic:

P-1. Boston 54-19-9 117P Shootout: 3-6
X-2. Tampa Bay 46-27-9 101P Shootout: 8-6
X-3. Montreal 46-28-8 100P Shootout: 6-3
X-4. Detroit 39-28-15 93P Shootout: 5-9
5. Ottawa 37-31-14 88P Shootout: 7-7
6. Toronto 38-36-8 88P Shootout: 9-4
7. Florida 29-45-8 Shootout: 8-6
8. Buffalo 21-51-10 52P Shootout: 7-5

Metropolitan:

Y-1. Pittsburgh 51-24-7 109P Shootout: 7-3
X-2. New York Rangers 45-31-6 96P Shootout: 4-3
X-3. Philadelphia 42-30-10 94P Shootout: 3-8
X-4. Columbus 43-32-7 93P Shootout: 5-2
5. Washington 38-30-14 90P Shootout: 10-11
6. New Jersey 35-29-18 88P Shootout: 0-13
7. Carolina 36-35-11 83P Shootout: 2-4
8. New York Islanders 34-37-11 79P Shootout: 9-6

Central:

Y-1. Colorado 52-22-8 112P Shootout: 5-4
X-2. St. Louis 52-23-7 111P Shootout: 9-3
X-3. Chicago 46-21-15 107P Shootout: 6-8
X-4. Minnesota 40-31-11 91P Shootout: 4-5
X-5. Dallas 40-31-11 91P Shootout: 4-5
6. Nashville 38-32-12 88P Shootout: 2-9
7. Winnipeg 37-35-10 84P Shootout: 8-6

Pacific:

Z-1. Anaheim 54-20-8 116P Shootout: 3-6
X-2. San Jose 51-22-9 111P Shootout: 10-7
X-3. Los Angeles 46-28-8 100P Shootout: 8-6
4. Phoenix (Arizona) 37-30-15 89P Shootout: 6-7
5. Vancouver 36-35-11 83P Shootout: 5-7
6. Calgary 35-40-7 77P Shootout: 7-3
7. Edmonton 29-44-9 67P Shootout: 4-3

So as you can see there were a lot of shootouts last season, teams averaged about 12 shootouts last season so my suggested changes will have an impact on the standings. Below are the results under my new point system. I have moved shootout wins to the OTL column and shootout losses to the regulation losses column:

Atlantic:

P-1. Boston 51-25-6 108P
X-2. Montreal 40-31-11 91P (+1)
X-3. Tampa Bay 38-33-11 87P (-1)
X-4. Detroit 34-37-11 79P
5. Ottawa 30-38-14 74P
6. Toronto 29-40-13 71P
7. Florida 21-51-10 52P
8. Buffalo 14-56-12 40P

Metropolitan:

Y-1. Pittsburgh 44-27-11 99P
X-2. New York Rangers 41-34-7 89P
X-3. Columbus 38-34-10 86P (+1)
X-4. Philadelphia 39-38-5 86P (-1)
5. Carolina 34-39-9 77P (+2)
6. New Jersey 35-42-5 75P
7. Washington 28-41-13 69P (-2)
8. New York Islanders 25-43-14 64P

Central:

Y-1. Colorado 47-26-9 103P
X-2. St. Louis 43-26-13 99P
X-3. Chicago 40-29-13 93P
X-4. Dallas 36-36-10 82P (+1)
X-5. Minnesota 35-35-12 82P (-1)
6. Nashville 36-41-5 77P
7. Winnipeg 29-41-12 70P

Pacific:

Y-1. Anaheim 51-26-5 107P
X-2. San Jose 41-29-12 94P
X-3. Los Angeles 38-34-10 86P
4. Phoenix (Arizona) 31-37-14 76P
5. Vancouver 31-42-9 71P
6. Calgary 28-43-11 67P
7. Edmonton 25-47-10 60P

As you can see, the proposed new system does not punish teams that are good. No team dropped out of the playoff picture because of the system, but there were a couple of position changes. Most notably, Carolina jumping from 7th in the Metro to 5th, while the Capitals dropped from 7th to 5th.

Carolina only had 6 games decided by shootout while Washington had a league high 21! Carolina went from a team well out of the wild card picture to just missing it by 2 points.

The biggest thing I like about this system is the fact that it eliminates the false parity that the current system has. It also promotes winning the game earlier. As you can see, the top teams in the league were not affected much (other than a drop in overall points). As with the tie once the loser point was introduced, you could expect to see the overall number of shootouts drop if this system came into fruition.

The NHL should not eliminate the loser point, but instead work towards making the shootout less relevant.

RIP Robin Williams