Just end it

Anyone else ready for the NHL season to end?

Since the Leafs have had forks stuck in them in shocking then pathetic fashion, there's really not much of a reason to watch any more. Unless you're rubbing necking? In which case I wouldn't exactly blame you. We all do it.

Witnessing this nonsense doesn't hurt. We're numb to it. But man, enough is enough.

Sure, I'll tune in during the playoffs, quietly hoping a certain team other than the Leafs goes all the way. But like the team I've followed so closely for so long, I've been zapped of interest. Sadly, horribly, it's become a Spring tradition.

The math:

The Leafs are 3 points better than a 3rd selection at the upcoming draft. Forget pride. A high pick is the only true solace in enduring this new low. We know it. The organization knows it. If only they could concede it. It would save time, the team's little effort, and the mountain of embarrassment it's causing all of us.

OHL

If you're an OHL fan I'm sure you're pumped for an Attack-Sting first round match-up?! Depending on what Mike Halmo gets for his super body check on Nail Yakupov, expect something nasty... if they hook up. Owen Sound is defending a title. Sarnia thinks it should be considered a favourite to win the next one. Plus these two will have just battled it out for 4th in the Western Conference. Should be good.

On the TV end of the things, we'll be up in Sarnia on Thursday to get reaction from Alex Galchenyuk on his season debut. Plus we'll dig a bit to get an update on Yakupov's condition. We only care because they could be future Leafs, right?

OHL Preview

Norm with Patrick King by TheHook

Latest: /A\ Sports & The Hook

Chris Horodecki, Casino Rama Fight

From the latest radio show:

We're nuts. We've got the Jays to win 92 games in 2011 when the rest of the world has'em to finish 5th in the AL bEast. Why the Jays will surprise the baseball world with my bud from /A\ News, Brent Lale. Plus local baseball coach, Jeff Flesher in studio. Trevor Letowski of the Sarnia Sting, and MMA guru, Shawn Tompkins also drop in to chat. Fun stuff. Local stuff. Straight up.

Click to Listen: April 1st Radio Show on AM980

On the show, Leafs super prospect Greg McKegg. We talk about how his life has changed since being drafted by the embattled NHL club, plus find out why Greg could be off to the Memorial Cup this Spring with a ton of goals in his back pocket. Darren Thompson of the @owntheleafs checks in with details on how YOU can actually own the Leafs. He needs like thousands and thousands of people to get involved. He's certainly dreamin', but trying to make that dream come true. As well Alex Gasson of Adrenaline Training Centre with great news from the gym these days. All of his boys will be reppin' on the big stage.

Click to listen: March 25th Radio show on AM980

Me and Mark Hominick on UFC 129

More radio:

Joining me and co-host Craig Needles on the latest show, Patrick King of sportsnet.ca. Patrick gave us his take on the OHL playoffs and the Spitfires legacy as it winds down. Plus Jim McKellar of the London Knights on the late Luke Williams. Clayton Hansler of the Toronto Marlies checked in with details on what the AHL club is doing to attract new fans. Besides winning, of course.

Click to listen: March 18th Radio show on AM980

We know Montreal's outrage is self serving, but behind the bullshit there is a force worth respecting. My take, plus the legend, Bob Elliott on the Jays' chances in 2011. They're better than you've been thinking. Or told to think. Soon-to-be dad, Marc Kennedy (Alberta second) also drops in for some Brier conversation.

Click to listen: March 11th Radio show on AM980


Radio Show Opener


Leafbuzz on The Hook (w/Mike Augello)


Yates Cup cast - November 10


Brier story - March 11


From The Brier - March 11


Stangs Volleyball - March 11


Russians in the O - January 11


Troy Passingham - January 11


Brett Weir - February 11


Jeff Schiller - September 10

Russians in the O

It's a new wave in the league. A new breed of Russian player.

Troy Passingham

He's the 3rd OHL goalie to earn /A\ News Athlete of the Week Honours. He's the 3rd from the Border, and 3rd now, to formerly play there. But our AOTW is still playing in the league, with a new attitude, and out to erase past demons.

New captain? Not likely

Not this season anyway.

While the Knights say they don't know what they're going to do, it's believed the organization will refrain from anointing a successor to Michael D'Orazio until next Fall. My money is on Scott Harrington getting the nod. It'll be his 3rd season. He'll be better, wiser, and hopefully more apt to want to stand up and say his piece.

D'Orazio didn't even make it through one season with the "C". However his brief tenure as team leader is far from being the shortest. Both John Tavares and Rick Nash wore the Captain's Crest for one game on what you could call an emergency basis.

Danny Bois is the longest serving captain. Too bad his run with the "C" ended in the press box, serving a suspension.

Dawn of the new Knights

The Key word at John Labatt Centre these days: Transition. It's a movement forward that will truly launch itself through the next OHL draft. Whether they make the picks or use them to attract assets in trade, the Knights are prime position to redefine a franchise in need of a fresh look. It's all because of the influx of draft selections coming back to London before the trade deadline. 9 were acquired on Monday, 12 if you count the 3 involved in the Daniel Erlich deal with Guelph.

Many compare what the Hunter's are doing right now with what they did 10 years ago. Back then they sell good parts for the potential of new, even better ones without stripping the cupboard completely bare. That results of that attempt are legendary. As for this time around? Well, let's find out. But don't bet against another impressive era from taking shape. And sooner rather than later.

MacQueen's business

Following the Troy Passingham deal, the Sarnia Sting were content to watch the rest OHL Trade frenzy go down from the sidelines. Sting GM and Head Coach, Dave MacQueen told me that he's seriously anticipating making those 7 picks over the first 5 rounds of the next OHL Priority draft. MacQueen believes his team can make a serious push for a championship by 2013, but only if Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov are still a part of the equation. I think they can get into the top 8 as early as this season. They brought in OA Passingham to give them some experience and jump. So far he's done just that. 2 wins are better than 2 losses, right? And with 29 games to play and just a few points out, there's still plenty of time for Troy to lead Sarnia's Siege into the playoffs.

Galchenyuk story:

Spott on

Current number two in the Western Conference, Kitchener has as good a chance as any to come out of this region later in the year. According to GM and Head Coach, Steve Spott, the Rangers sat idle on deadline day because they did the bulk of their spending/dealing earlier in the season. It was a patch up job, really. Blind-sided, Spott and company had to replace the gaping losses of Jeff Skinner and Jeremy Morin, both of whom were prematurely poached by the NHL. Another reason Kitchener stood pat, Spott's lack of interest in dealing away too many more picks. He says he's a true believer in building a team through the draft, even going as far as to suggest the current trend of swapping picks like poker chips has become a become a problem in the OHL. 33 selections exchanged hands between Saturday and Monday's trade deadline. 24 players picked up, packed up and left for new digs.

Paced by NHL draft favourite, Gabriel Landeskog who Spott compares to Mike Richards, and motivated by the memory of last Spring's playoff collapse to Windsor, the Rangers are back for another legitimate run at a Wayne Gretzky trophy. If they get that hardware, it'll most likely come with an invite to Mississauga. Because let's be honest. Based on what the Majors are doing in the East, the probability is high a berth in the Ontario final also means a place in the National Final. It's an enticing, mouth-watering possibility not lost on the contenders in the West.

Hockey Heaven

Isn't it liberating to watch hockey, playoff hockey, intense, nail biting, holy-shit-this-is-killin-me kind of hockey unattached? It's a Spring tradition for Leafs supporters so it has to be rationalized somehow. Plus it gets easier as it becomes more often. I care to watch. I just don't care who wins. As for who loses? I'm not that vindictive...

Still 6?

If there's a team that can overcome a ridiculous deficit to win a series it's the Windsor Spitfires. On paper, minus it's goaltending, it's one of the nastiest Junior hockey line-ups ever. The scary thing, it's getting better. The Spits owned game 5 at WFCU. From the 2nd period on, it was lopsided. Now I'm wondering: was Thursday's win a discovery of "that other gear", or simply a last gasp before relinquishing the title Friday night back in K-Town?

Look out

I know Steve Spott is a concerned head coach right now. As hockey writer, Garrett Bauman pointed out to me earlier this week, Spott's Rangers allowed a sleeping giant to awake from it's slumber when they couldn't sweep the set Tuesday in Kitchener. Despite the looming danger of a full fledged Spitfires' comeback I'm still going with the Rangers to win the series in 6. Am I totally confident it's going to happen? About as confident as the Rangers must be that they can put it away.

*Kitchener has failed to close out a pair of series on home ice in these playoffs. A 3rd strike infront of their faithful, at least in a hockey sense, could finally prove fatal.

Not enough

The Rangers will still beat the Spitfires. It'll take 6 games. They do it, finally, on home ice.

Why?

Windsor's game 4 win, just barely, wasn't nearly emphatic enough. Nothing about it said, "look the fuck out." The goaltending, like London's before it, is failing. The defence isn't much better. Both are having trouble withstanding Kitchener's impressive onslaught, and it's highly doubtful either will be able to hold it down for the full life of the series.

Suppose the important thing for Boughner's boyz is that there's another game to be played? Another day to be enjoyed? Another crack at keeping the title? Yeah, right.

Unfortunately for the Champs, their reign is winding down. What appears to have become a matter of hockey life and death for the Windsor Spitfires is really only a matter of time.

Never enough

It isn't surprising the Knights are finished. While quick and talented something just didn't feel right about this group. It never really oozed championship. Championship calibre, yes. Good enough to go all the way? Never really seemed so. This team was too streaky. Not confident enough. Lacking dominance, even with John Tavares at his best. Perhaps forcing a team as exceptional as the Spitfires to a record 5 straight overtime games should be accomplishment enough? I doubt they feel that way in the London locker room, but when the Western champs finish accomplishing what many of us believe they can and will, the guys on the losing end may finally accept what happened to them Wednesday night.

Yeah, Tavares didn't play like his usual self in this Windsor series.

I don't even think he looked like himself. Either hurt, tired, maybe upset, frustrated? It's too bad it ended like this for him. Still the young man who WILL go number one at the NHL draft deserves an applause for his accomplishments and most importantly his efforts. The guy gave it everything he had. Everything. All the time. Any suggestion otherwise is mean spirited and foolish.

Congrats to the Spitfires.

I believe they've got much more to give. And good luck to the Knights. Should be an interesting off-season of remodelling. They gave much to get this shot at another title. The gamble ultimately failed, on the ice of course. Like always, the Hunters did win at the box office, but even financial success is no guarantee going forward. These are supposed to be tough times after all. Add in a recession along with the loss of graduates plus fewer assets to barter with and its hard to imagine another championship run for the Knights in 2010. And without promise, the chance for fan apathy looms. It all points to a probable lose-lose situation for an organization that is used to winning in some way every year.

5 Alive

Mr. T > Mr. Lee


Courtesy: Janice Mills

The OHL's greatest scorer-to-be needs 5 snipes to officially secure the all-time title. One-time Ottawa 67's great, Peter Lee holds (for now) the league record of 213 career goals.

Who's Peter Lee? A pretty serious sniper in his day. A 1st round pick of the Yabs, a 2-time 30 goal man for the Pens before his addiction to schnitzel became too much. He'd have no choice but to leave for Deutschland and despite his delicious habits became one of that country's greatest. Ein prosit!

Lee's numbers: http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid%5B%5D=3069

Here's what's left for Tavares and the Knights:

vs Kitchener - Thursday
at Kitchener - Friday
at Windsor - Sunday
vs Saginaw - March 13
at Sault Ste. Marie (ouch) - March 14

* So, how about 7 goals over that period? 216 for his OHL career? Sounds about right for the future Islander. Now excuse me while I go puke.

John Tavares interview

Just sat down for a chat with the boy wonder.

I'm not the only one who thinks he'd look good in blue and white.

Check the interview: