Toronto to Ottawa: You're Next Ladies

The Leafs finished off January with a 2-1 victory over the Rangers to end the month 8-4. The Rangers opened the scoring with a questionable goal by Brendan Shanahan, his re-direction had a bit of a kicking motion as he hit the puck but it was not soccer-like so it stood. Then Aaron Ward delivered a late headshot to Ponikarovsky but karma had the last laugh as Pony banked a shot in off Ward's skate on a powerplay to level the score going into the third.

It was then that Leafs Captain and future Hall of Famer Mats 'GWG' Sundin was sent in alone by Ian White as he ripped a wicked wrist shot into the top corner of the net over Lundqvist's glove hand to give the good guys a lead that they would not relinquish. That gave Mats the Leafs' club record for 20-goal seasons with 12 and his career streak of 16 puts him at third longest in NHL history.

Hal Gill did a great job of shutting down Jagr [apparently he now has 2 goals in 13 games against the Northeast] and Andrew Raycroft held the opposition to one goal again as he continues his renaissance in 2007.

The Leafs will look to get February off to a good start as they travel to Kanata to take on the senators in the 6th installment of the BoO. The last game on December 30th was a tight, hard-fought game that evil won in OT on a Chris Phillips change-up. I will be in attendance helping to boo Alfie and hoping that Chris Neil gathers up the testicular fortitude to fight someone.

Prediction:
Leafs 3
sens 1
No fighting on the ice but lots of drinking in the stands so look for those rowdy sens fans to start a fight around the 50th time that I mention the playoffs.

Just look at these guys

While I've accepted that Saturday's game will determine who is Razor, it's a shame that the name was ever given to Andy Raycroft.
Look at a couple of the famous people that carried this nickname with them, and then look at Emery and Raycroft.

Razor Ramone

Razor Ruddock

Ray 'Razor' Emery

Andrew 'Razor' Raycroft?

Great Success! Ni-ice Win

Behind the third period exploits of Nikolai Antropov and the stellar goaltending of Andrew 'The Real Razor' Raycroft the Leafs upped their January record to 7-4 and gave their 40 year old coach a second consecutive win in Carolina. Antro used his reach and quick hands to score two third period goals to break a 1-1 deadlock. There was a scary moment early in the game when Greg Adams ran Carlo Colaiacovo into the boards from behind and seemed to hurt his knee. However, he returned to the game and showed no ill effects as he lay a pretty good hit on Brind'Amour.

Tomorrow night the Leafs look to take their revamped, simple style of play into Madison Square Garden as they face one of their principle competitors for a playoff spot, the New York Rangers.

A special thank you to the ottawa senators for beating the Washington Capitals 3-2 and helping to open up a five point gap. That ends the Washington portion of the season for the sens but they still play:

Boston - Home, Away
Carolina - Away, Home
Pittsburgh - Home, Away, Home
Rangers - Home
Islanders - Home, Away
Lightning - Away

So the gals in black, red, and gold will have a say in whether the Leafs' second half push leads to a playoff berth or more late heartbreak. The list does not even include the three games against the Canadiens who are slowly falling back towards the pack. So as you are cheering on the sens keep in mind that you are helping out the Leafs. I hope that takes all of the joy out of any victories.

Happy Birthday Paul!

The Leafs' young coach enters his 5th decade tonight as his team returns to his old stomping grounds. Last time around the Leafs pulled out a 4-3 win on an Alex Steen winner. A repeat would be sweet. Defenceman Ian White will return to the lineup after separating his shoulder the last time these two teams met in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Ottawa is the recipient of good and bad news. The good news first, one of the only palatable players on the sens, Mike Fisher, returns to the lineup. But Gerber gets the start so it's really a mixed bag for sens fans.

Predictions:
Leafs 5
Canes 2

Capitals 5-8 (depending on when Gerber gets the hook for the goalie formerly known as Razor)
sens 2

What Makes You So Special?

Tonight, we will see yet another test of the Habs Special Teams Myth. In the January 30th Hockey News (not yet online), Al Strachan claims that the Habs are going to be tough to beat in the playoffs with the combination of special teams and all-star goaltending. Leafs and Sens fans have reason to be skeptical. They're coming off a 1-7 PP, three power play goals allowed performance against the Leafs on Saturday. In the last meeting with the Sens, they went 1-6 on the PP and gave up another three PPGs.

While there's no doubt that special teams and goaltending can take you deep into the playoffs, a smooth transition from regular season dominance to playoff dominance is elusive. Consider the table below, which summarizes Strachan's combined PP+PK metric for the last two seasons. Of the last four finalists, only one (EDM) had a combined top ten special teams rank by the end of the season. The top five had a decidedly mixed record, with only one per season making it to the third round. Rewind further and you'll see the Ducks and Devils had poor/mediocre regular season power plays (although they both topped the league in PK). Jersey's combined ranking that year was 15th. Deadline acquisitions, along with the X factor that gets teams to overcome in clutch situations have more of a positive impact on performance than regular season special teams record. If I could identify and bottle this X factor, I'd sell it on Ebay, leak it into the Kanata water supply or maybe bet the farm on the next Carolina-Edmonton or Calgary-Tampa Stanley Cup final.


(click to enlarge)

Note for tonight's game

They are retiring Dryden's number tonight. If they let him speak don't expect the game to start until 8:30 or so.

Speaking of Dryden, when he came out onto the ice one time as Leaf prez during a season opener, my brother heard a Leaf fan yell; "Hey Dryden - go read a book!" An insult from Leaf Nation.

It's official

Copy of mail sent to the Team1200 in Ottawa and AM640 Home of the Leafs:

It has come to this.

This Saturday's Battle of Ontario tilt has more on the line than provincial honour and 2 points in the standings.
The winning netminder gets to use the 'Razor' nickname in public while the other can not.

We, the fans, have decided that it is no longer acceptable to have both goalies in Ontario with 'Razor' nicknames.

We have gone through the arguments on who should be allowed the nickname: Raycroft's seniority in the league, Emery's pugilist past, etc. There is only on way to settle it; on the ice.

May the best Razor win,
Don from the Battle of Ontario
http://battleofontario.blogspot.com/

But Is Your # 1 Tender a Hockey Hunk?

Our number one goalie may not be some thuggish python lover (no double entendre there) but according to ET Canada he does make the game of hockey a little easier on the female fans' eyes (not to be confused with puck bunnies, although they like him too). Cheryl Hickey throws herself at Razor as he explains, among other things, how clever teammates gave him the nickname, how he prepares for the game, and how he is preparing for his wedding.

You read that correctly. My apologies to Sherry and the rest of the HLOGgers, regardless of what Deadspin wants you to do, but Razor is taken. He is engaged to Erin something or other so all of the women that find this site or mine with searches like 'Raycroft Fiancee' or 'Raycroft girlfriend' or 'Raycroft wife' (more than you would think) can cool their heels and move on to searching for 'Mats Sundin wife' which you won't find because he is single. Have at it ladies!

Can Your #1 Tender Do This?

Emery tunes Josh Gratton on YouTube. Check out Volchenkov, Kelly and Pothier giving him props afterwards (for further consideration: Emery, Gratton fight cards).

It's on this weekend: Emery vs. Raycroft for the right to call themselves Razor.

[helmet tap to Sherry at Hockey's Ladies of Greatness for the link]

It's Saturday Night...

Pizza, beer and a triple-header - the tradition continues.

Sens beat the Bruins in game 1, improving their atrocious record in one goal games (now 6-12) but still can't seem shrink the four game differential with the B's. Are these guys done for yet? I think Ottawa's well out of their reach, but the Buds, Rangers, Islanders, Pens and Bolts need to keep on their toes.

Open thread for a Habs-Leafs classic, assuming you aren't all at the bar yet.

Rory and Me

I was deep in Canucklehead territory Friday night. It was quite the tilt, with lots of pressure back and forth, along with the intensity created by ex-Nucks on the opposing bench. That Kopitar kid is something else and my pool pick Frolov had a pair. It appears young Bieksa will wear the goat horns after a giveway led to a goal on his second shift and what looked like a missed assignment on the overtime winner.

I hung out with number 18 most of the night:








I tried to leave my Sens bias at home and just take in the atmosphere, so I decided to throw on my Team Canada jersey (there's nothing worse than people who wear their team's gear to games they're not even playing in, right Leaf fans?).

I've been at ice level before, behind the goalie. Being next to the bench is similar in that you have to look up at the scoreboard when the play goes in the other end (and the players are standing up and changing). I'd have to say the Canuckleheads are a generally rowdier bunch than the suburban Scotiabank crowd. This observation is backed up only by multiple trips to Lions games, but on Friday at least one beer throwing scuffle erupted in the upper level and several minor fisticuffs broke out on the plaza level. Weird, but there were actually plenty of Kings jerseys in attendance. Seriously, who's still a Kings fan outside of L.A.? Gretzky-era holdovers? Film and television industry workers poached from So-Cal by Hollywood north? I think the last serious Kings fan I saw was Sue from Swingers ("they're a finesse team").

Despite the restricted view, it's well worth the price to get up that close to the action and complement your whole GM Place experience. Details like Rick Bowness losing his shit after a risky defensive pinch, the tape dumbell at the end of Loungo's stick, the aforementioned Bieksa sulking on the way back to the bench, Canuck Fan yelling at Linden and Burrows to SIT DOWN after the play goes up ice, Canuck Fan talking about how awesome picking up Forsberg would be (dude, him and Nazzie are like, best friends, they hang out together and shit), and last but not least, the sweet whiff of B.C. bud in the air on the way to Skytrain after the stadium empties out. Good times.

Back at it

For Ottawa residents, the canal is open for skating as of today. It's $%&! cold but you'll be able to go out for a bit tomorrow and then come home and watch your Sens play Boston and then the good old Habs-Leafs rivalry.

CBC's schedule for the next two Saturday's:

Saturday, Jan. 27
BOS vs OTT 3 pm
MON vs TOR 7 pm
LA vs EDM 10 pm

Saturday, Feb. 3
EDM vs COL 3 pm
TOR vs OTT 7 pm
VAN vs CAL 10 pm

Very nice.

Past and Future Battlers

The BoO has had its fair share of physical combatants over the years - Domi, Belak, Brown, Neil, McGrattan - and while we await hockey's return on Saturday night why not take a look at the fine work that these guys have done within and outside of the battle.

Tie Domi v. Rob Ray

Tie Domi v. Bob Probert (9 fight compilation)

Wade Belak v. Donald Brashear

Wade Belak v. Andrew Peters

Chris Neil v. Chris Dingman

Brad Brown v. Brian McGrattan

The Future of the BoO

100 Games a Season, a blog by Gare Joyce, is a new blog that I found through Mirtle. Joyce is the author of When The Lights Went Out about the 1987 WJHC in Piestany, Czechoslovakia. He mentions the progress of a couple of the BoO's most highly touted prospects and it is not what fans will wnat to hear.

On Brian Lee:

On the flipside, UND defenceman Brian Lee, the Senators' first-rounder (9th overall) in 2005, did little to impress with the US team and, by a lot of scouts' reckoning, played scared against Canada in the semi-final. Hard to see how he cracks Ottawa's line-up anytime soon.

On Damien Cox's article about Justin Pogge:

It should be a cold shower to the phone-in fans who badger talk-radio hosts with demands that Pogge be raced to the big club.

He mentions the list of Canadian goalies that have been superstars at the WJHC and won the top goaltender award but have failed to live up to the hype in the NHL: Jimmy Waite, Mathieu Garon, Stephane Fiset, and Jamie Storr. And that is without even delving into the international goalies that have not panned out which is one of the reasons that some Leaf fans (the ones that do not hysterically call into the Fan590) were not too broken up to see Rask go. Goalies take longer to adjust to the quicker paced game and a two week tournament is not as good a measure of potential success as their entire junior careers as well as the improvements and adjustments that they make once they reach the professional ranks.

The light at the end of the tunnel can be found in Pogge's desire to make the NHL:

At the same time, his willingness to work ferociously remains his greatest quality. "I don't want to sound cocky, but (the NHL) is where I want to be," he says. "That's my goal, and I like to accomplish my goals."

Both propects play positions that take notoriously long to develop fully so it is no time to panic but it is nice to hear some updates on their progress and hear that they are moving their way towards the big team.

Thrust, parry, riposte

Eric asked, Tom answered, and Eric replied.

Points Per Million, Mid-Season

Time once again for a quick check on who's getting the most bang for their cap bucks.

I've sorted the top 30 forwards and goalies, along with our BoO favourites (click to enlarge).

My infallible plan for hockey domination: draft Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin, then acquire Mike Peca at the trade deadline.

Cap Talk and Smack Talk

Matt Fenwick over at the BoA wrote a pretty good piece on the impact of the CBA on innovation at the club level, market growth, and how the CBA is a disincentive to both.

As a counter to such depressing thoughts, I found this hilarious video of the Penguins and Stars in what I assume is the 1991 Stanley Cup Final. The language is NSFW so plug in the headphones (it's probably offensive) but it is funny to hear Bryan Trottier and Kevin Stevens pile on poor Brian Bellows.

Corvo rumour

From Bruce 'The Rumour' Garrioch:

While sources say it's only a "slim" possibility, there's talk here the Oilers have shown a mild interest in Corvo, who would fill the role of a much-needed, puck-moving defenceman.

Strike Three

After two previous discussions about changing the schedule and the accompanying votes came up short one vote a third and final vote by the NHL failed to garner enough support to make an intelligent move. The decision to maintain the scheduling status quo means the end of Hockey Day in Canada and is another blow against the league's Department of Common Sense which clearly sports a vacant position. Next season the Northeast and Northwest will not meet meaning that the only all-Canadian games will be within each division.

Once again, the league has allowed a topic that should have been settled earlier (and with a better schedule) to steal the limelight from the selling of the league. No doubt the television broadcasts that care will spend an inordinate amount of time trying to sell Brian Burke's ridiculous claims that the current schedule is great since it saves for travel wear and tear (read: it saves owners money). Players travel by charters and stay in luxury hotels and PLAY A GAME FOR A LIVING! I think that they can handle two extra cross-continent flights.

In its current state it is very simple to sum-up the schedule: It sucks. I hate seeing the same teams over and over and apparently all the empty seats throughout the league agree. The Leafs played the Bruins 7 times in 5 weeks. That is ridiculous. The playoffs go until June. Somewhere there is a way to solve both problems with one brilliant move. Unfortunately, that solution is not to be found in the head of anyone associated with the NHL. Many proposals were brought up the last time this issue was discussed but so many are non-starters because they involved more travel or fewer games. God forbid that owners that fought for and received cost certainty on salaries use some of those savings to give fans what they want. How about this proposal from David Johnson of HockeyAnalysis.com (an idea I agreed with so much that my subconsious tricked me into believing that I had thought it up. Damn you Jiminy Cricket! Note: I know that he was a conscience but in my head he has multiple roles.):

• 4 games against each team in your conference (since you are fighting each team in your conference for a playoff spot, not those in your division, it is fair that you play each the same amount of times) which results in 56 games.
  
  
• Play each team in the other conference once (alternating home and away) for 15 games (total: 71)
  
  
• Leaving 11 games to be scheduled at each team's discretion (much like college sports) that will serve to accentuate or maintain rivalries. Rules could be put in place to regulate that not everyone plays the same teams every year but the possibilities for these games would be immense. They could serve to add a couple of regular season matchups between last year's Stanley Cup participants or to rehash an exciting playoff series or to schedule the Habs and Leafs in Western Canada or any of a myriad of scenarios.

That gives us 82 games (since we would not be able to pry any money out of the cold, dead hands of owners or players) in a season and cuts down immensely on the issues with the current schedule that bother a lot of fans. All fans want is a little creativity in resolving the scheduling issue but greedy and stupid NHL owners, GMs, and officials are hell-bent on letting this atrocious system finish it's ill-conceived three-year cycle. RIP HDiC, you will be sorely missed.

Update: Looks like the Penguins' potential nomad existence played a part in keeping the schedule the same. Unbelievably, enough teams voted for change but couldn't agree on what change so there will be NO change. Isn't Bettman's job to mediate these issues?

And Wellwood is out for 8 weeks. Cancel the season.

Represent

Anybody going to watch the Young Guns tonight? The skills competition?

Toronto is represented by Steen at the YoungStars and Kaberle in the All-Star game. Ottawa has Meszaros and Eaves in the Tim Bits game and Heatley at the grownups table.

Any predictions for fastest skater (Gagne), hardest shot (Rolston), accuracy (Sakic), etc? Rosters here.

Last time there was an All-Star game the winners were:

Skater: Neidermayer

Shot: Souray and Aucoin

Accuracy: Roenick

Goalie: Luongo

UPDATE: From the NHL All-Star blog...

Dany Heatley of Ottawa has taken #16, as his usual #15 goes to Toronto’s Tomas Kaberle. Both are playing their second All-Star Game

Think they flipped for it?

A Little Rest And Relaxation...

The comments have taken a turn for the worse (Circles v. Triangles) and it has become clear that like our hockey heroes we, the commenters and posters at the BoO, need to take some time off to rejuvenate ourselves for the stretch run. Since most of us will not be taking a tropical vacation I would suggest that everyone uses the picture above to help visualize themselves enjoying an island paradise in order to ensure that everyone is in peak form as both clubs streak to the playoffs.

We will reconvene Saturday, January 27, 2007 for a couple of important Northeast Division tilts as the sens hot the Bruins (please win again) and the Leafs host the Habs (and the Leafs will return the favour). Until then, take care!