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Category: Toronto-Maple-Leafs

It’s Over For The Leafs

by Paul on 03/27/12 at 09:51 PM ET
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from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,

It came earlier than last season, and it was hardly a surprise.

But the Toronto Maple Leafs are now officially, mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after another dismal outing in a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

The defeat caps an epic collapse by a Leafs team that had been sitting in sixth in the Eastern Conference as late as Feb. 6 – a date since which they’ve broken a franchise record with a 10-game home losing streak and gone 5-16-3 overall.

That collapse leaves Toronto playoff-less for a seventh consecutive season, tying them for the sixth longest drought in NHL history.

And of all the low points in the Leafs recent loss-filled run, this stinker ranked right up there.

continued

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Burke Is The Story In Toronto

by Paul on 03/26/12 at 09:15 AM ET
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from Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star,

As this city prepares to enter another spring of NHL playoff discontent, we are about to be hit by season-end features and more what-went-wrong analysis during this train wreck of a Leaf campaign. With two weeks and six games left, this was a strange year on and off the ice.

In the eye of the storm sits Leafs GM Brian Burke, who for good or ill is clearly the face of the franchise. Even though he has effectively been put on notice by some vocal fans and columnists, most acknowledge that he’s not going anywhere with two years remaining on his contract. He also benefits from the fact that Rogers and Bell, the new owners set to take possession of their new toy, MLSE, still have much to deal with before they get the keys to the franchise.

Burke’s use and treatment of the media is fascinating: he’s a loquacious and interesting interview one day, a snarling, press-hating attack dog the next. His adversarial style is intended to deflect criticism from his players and coaches, and really, that is what he has been most effective at this year. Of course, it’s also a fault, as in a more stable ownership situation, he would likely be on the firing line.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Brian+Burke,

Bad Branding In Toronto

by Paul on 03/22/12 at 10:11 AM ET
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from Michael Woods of the Toronto Star,

With another playoff-less season drawing to a close, some business experts say the extra scrutiny of general manager Brian Burke is justified: A senior manager in his place at most other corporations would be on the hot seat, too.

“I’d say he’s on the cusp,” said Glenn Rowe, director of the executive MBA program at Western University’s Richard Ivey School of Business. “My sense is that in most businesses, when you’re at the CEO or COO level, you get about three or four years to prove your worth.”...

“If your organization performs well . . . you’re probably going to last longer. But if you put yourself out there like that, the risk is when things don’t go so well you’re not going to last,” he said. “Everyone blames you, and they have no one else to blame, really, because you’ve taken it upon yourself.”

Ken Wong, a business professor at Queen’s University, said: “We would certainly not tolerate what we’re seeing from Burke in the business world. He would certainly be asked a lot more questions in a much more adversarial way than the media has asked him. In financial circles, they’d be on him like a flock of buzzards.”

The Leafs’ situation is similar to that of Blackberry maker Research in Motion, Wong said. RIM’s co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis resigned in January.

“RIM keeps promising a breakthrough product and it doesn’t appear,” Wong said. “You don’t have fans, but you have a whole bunch of pretty angry shareholders. The question becomes what do you do in that situation, and how do you turn it around.”

Burke’s status as seemingly the face of the franchise also represents a branding problem, Wong said.

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Leafs Hold A “Heart-To-Heart Talk” After Losing To the Islanders

by Paul on 03/20/12 at 10:59 PM ET
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from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun,

The boos finally began at the 13:56 of the third period, when Mississauga’s Matt Moulson put the New York Islanders ahead 3-2.

A few seconds later, a sporadic chant of “Fire Burkie” began.

And when Andy Frost announced: “Last minute of play in the game”, a cheer broke among the few fans left inside the Air Canada Centre.

And all this time we thought it was Ron Wilson’s fault.

The Leafs have three wins in 10 games since Randy Carlyle was hired on March 2 and some of the games have been ugly, their past two perhaps the worst of all — an 8-0 beating in Boston on Monday and a brutal performance against the mediocre New York Islanders on Tuesday, which saw the Leafs manage only 14 shots in a 5-2 loss (while giving up 34).

After the game, which ended at 9:26 p.m., the Leafs had — in goalie James Reimer’s words — a “heart-to-heart talk” inside the dressing room, before the media was finally allowed in.

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Leafs Blasted By Bruins

by Paul on 03/19/12 at 10:44 PM ET
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from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,

The score, 8-0, actually flattered the poor Leafs, if such a thing is possible. This was the complete humiliation of a young team without a shred of confidence by a tough, skilled, far superior opponent. The Bruins took control of the puck from the opening faceoff and toyed with the helpless Leafs.

“We played in our boots, they played in their skates,” Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle said.

Three minutes in, the Bruins had the Leafs’ lunch money. A little while after that, up 4-0, they had the visitors’ Care Bears backpacks as well.

“It was embarrassing,” said defenceman Mike Komisarek, one of the few Leafs to show any backbone. He tangled with Bruins bruiser Milan Lucic in a rematch of a brutal beating issued by Lucic four years ago when Komisarek played for the Montreal Canadiens. This time he survived, although his team did not.

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Video- Milan Lucic Takes On Mike Komisarek

by Paul on 03/19/12 at 08:37 PM ET
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Jack Edwards in his “mode” with the call.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Mike+Komisarek, Milan+Lucic,

Video- Bad Goal Of The Night

by Paul on 03/17/12 at 10:35 PM ET
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Erik Karlsson banks a pass off of the leg of Ben Bishop, the next thing you know, the puck is in Ottawa’s net.

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Time Is Right To Move Kessel

by Paul on 03/14/12 at 10:31 PM ET
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from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

Well, with the club having fallen into a deep crevice that already threatens to affect next year, as new coach Randy Carlyle is already finding his record stained by this troop of players, Burke has now fallen upon decision time for his signature player.

Fish or cut bait time. And cutting bait makes the most sense.

For starters, Kessel isn’t a Carlyle player and he’s not going to be. In this spectacular 18-game crash that began after that impressive Saturday night victory in Ottawa, Kessel has continued to produce numbers — seven goals and 11 assists — but hasn’t asserted himself in any way as a player who can carry or lead a struggling team.

He’s not to blame for the shocking state of this hockey club. No single player is. If there weren’t terms on contracts and a salary cap in place, the Leafs could just carry on with him indefinitely.

But the money matters complicate things. Kessel has two more seasons left on his current contract, after which he becomes an unrestricted free agent. So the clock is already ticking on the next commitment that will have to be made to him if he’s to remain a Leaf beyond his 26th birthday.

more

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 Tags: Phil+Kessel,

When Does Conflict Of Interest Become A Problem?

by Paul on 03/14/12 at 03:48 PM ET
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from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,

The subject of Cherry had also been raised at a board of governors’ meeting at the NHL all-star game when several teams complained about Cherry; about the Toronto-centric nature of Hockey Night in Canada’s coverage; and the journalistic standards adhered to by Cherry and his sidekick Ron MacLean.

The Vancouver Canucks, just so you know, have huge issues with Hockey Night. The difference is the Canucks are not owned by Rogers and Bell, the Leafs’ owners who also own, respectively, Sportsnet and TSN.

I mean, this is more complicated than Mother’s Day at Shawn Kemp’s house. It’s also disturbing and more than a little outrageous, but it also seems the viewing audience has lost its capacity to be outraged by the incestuous relationship between the media in Canada and the teams they cover.

Why is this? Wish I had an answer. The lines have always been blurry between the press and the Canadian NHL teams, and agenda reporting isn’t exactly a new concept. We all talk to people in the game. We protect their anonymity in exchange for information. Consciously or unconsciously, we slant the coverage in their favour. The good ones are subtle about it. Others, not so much. But there was never the sense that the coverage was an extension of the team.

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, NHL Talk, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Panthers Continue To Own The Leafs

by Paul on 03/14/12 at 12:04 AM ET
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from George Richards of On Frozen Pond,

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a new coach since the Panthers last saw them, yet not much has changed.

Not only are the Leafs still losing at a remarkable clip, but the offensively-challenged Panthers continue to score a lot of goals on them.

And if the Panthers make the playoffs for the first time since Bill Clinton was in office, they probably Citrusshould send a nice gift – a selection of locally grown citrus perhaps? – to the Leafs.

The Panthers beat Toronto for the fourth time in as many tries on Tuesday, running away with a 5-2 win at BankAtlantic Center. Florida, which averages 2.4 goals per game, has scored five goals in each of the four wins against the now hapless Leafs….

Toronto, which replaced Ron Wilson with Randy Carlyle not long after Florida’s 5-3 win in Toronto on Feb. 28, has lost 15 of its past 17 games and five straight. The Panthers, meanwhile, moved two points closer to ending their NHL-record 11 year – and 10 season – postseason drought.

Florida and Toronto are the only teams to miss the playoffs in the post-lockout era (the 2004-05 season was lost).

more on the game…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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