Who’s Rocking and Who’s Bombing: EASTERN CONFERENCE

ROCKING: Toronto Maple Leafs (5-2-1)

            The Toronto Maple Leafs should be noted as an early threat in the National Hockey League, and should NOT be underestimated by their opponents. They haven’t taken part in the post-season since 2004, where Jeremy Roenick snapped an overtime goal past the “then” Leaf’s goaltender Eddie Belfour, silencing the Air Canada Centre.  Ever since the days of John Ferguson Jr.’s firing, Brian Burke was brought in by Richard Pettie (CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) to rebuild the Toronto Maple Leafs core, after already building the Vancouver Canucks, and leading the Anaheim Ducks to a Stanley Cup win in 2007. Clearly, the man has a great portfolio. He started focusing on signing players who were:

• Tough Enforcers
• Big Bodied Defensemen
• Medium-sized forwards with agility and goal-scoring abilities

In 2009, Burke shipped 1^st and 2^nd round draft picks in 2010 (eventually being Tyler Seguin and Jared Knight), and a 2011 1^st round pick (eventually being Dougie Hamilton) to the Boston Bruins for Phil Kessel. This immediately showed the competitive edge that Brian Burke possesses. 55 points in 2009. 64 points in 2010. Sure, his points showed a slight increase, BUT this doesn’t ignore the fact that he had a 10-game scoring slump in 2010 where Leaf fans were extremely critical of the 24-year-old star. Did he change something about his game from the 2010 season to the 2011 season? He must’ve, simply because Andy Frost has never announced Phil Kessel’s name so often in his broadcasting career. Leading the NHL goal scorers and point leaders with 9 goals and 6 assists in 8 games, as well as having a +/- average of 5, “Phil the Thrill” is playing the best hockey of his career. He had a 3-year career with the Boston Bruins from 2006-2009, with Savard centering him on the top line; this was a very scary dynamic duo. “Skating down the neutral zone, Savard is storming in, Kessel crashes the net, Savard sauces the puck over the defenseman’s stick to Kessel, Kessel shoots, HE SCORES!” The chemistry that these two players had was mind-blowing. Many spectators would claim that Kessel was slumping in 2010, due to the fact that he would strive off the playmaking abilities of Savard. That is surely not the case this season. He makes everyone around him look better. He’s transformed from a goal-scorer into a goal-scoring playmaker. He makes his opponents look silly. He’s been a big reason for the Leafs early success this season. Some people will take the approach and state, “But wait, Seguin won a Stanley Cup at the age of 19, he’s SO much better. The Bruins definitely won the trade”. These arrogant remarks have got to come to an end. People have to stop comparing Kessel to Seguin. The trade is over; it was done 2 years ago. Do these 2 young stars have to be compared EVERY SINGLE TIME the Bruins and the Leafs square off against each other? No, it’s very unnecessary. The fact that Tyler Seguin has won a Stanley Cup does not mean that he contributes more to his team than Kessel contributes to the Leafs. Just let them do their thing, and move on.

Bombing: Montreal Canadiens (2-5-2)

The Leafs and the Canadiens seemed to have swapped their situational positions in the Eastern Conference this year! Where to start:

• They went 2-6-0 in preseason.
• They are not doing any better in the regular season.
• Their star players cannot seem to find the chemistry they desperately need.
• They are full of injuries.
• Jacques Martin and Pierre Gauthier are both on the hot seat.
• 4-for-37 (approximately 11%) on power play attempts
• They are off to their worst start in 70 years.
• They are 1-3-2 at home this season, worst starting home record in 102 years for the franchise.
• Fired Perry Pearn.

Can things get any worse? Well sure, there are 2 paths that they can go by. Either, they find out what the problem is, and climb out of their deep-dug hole, OR they can keep playing the way they are and only get worse. Tomas Plekanec can be recently quoted as saying that, "It's not like we're doing everything bad." Sorry to burst your bubble Tomas, but you’re also not doing anything good either. They have talent on the team, but they have not been consistent. There are many problems with the way they are currently playing, but the major problem with the team is that they lack the depth of bigger, competent forwards. Due to their smaller-sized player structure, they are struggling to win the physical battles on most nights. The more they continue to struggle, the more they are going to have to face the media… in TWO different languages.

            This is a bold statement, and it will cause controversy, but with all due respect: the Montreal Canadiens cannot have their management’s organizational structure solely based on francophones. Do French politics really have to get in the way of the strategy of the Habs? Seriously? A note to the Canadiens: stop limiting yourself to French-speaking coaches and general managers. Keep all of your doors open, and do NOT make a biased decision based on origin. Hire the best possible person to take charge of the team, the person with the best portfolio, the best profile. You’ll see that it’ll make a significant difference in the performance of your hockey club. Also, for future reference, NEVER fire a coach 2 hours prior to game time. In addition to this, NEVER fire a coach 2 hours prior to game time, that the players had a ton of respect for, possibly more than their head coach. Even though they ended up beating the Flyers 5-1 on the day of the firing, with Carey Price earning his 100^th win in the league, it was a risky move on Gauthier’s part. Firing Pearn was a terrible decision. He should not be blamed for the Canadiens’ poor start to the season. Did Carey Price’s pink pads curse his goaltending abilities? It’s always possible! He didn’t wear them against the Flyers, and they finally got their first win in 2 weeks. A note to Carey: don’t wear those pads again (for good luck).

            Why fire Pearn? He’s the man who actually vocalized his thoughts to the players on the bench during games. Jacques Martin is a mime on the bench. He is also the least innovative coach in the National Hockey League. He never seems to panic, never motivates his players, and never seems to care about his team’s development. Does the firing relate to the fact that Perry Pearn is not a French Canadian? I would sure hope not. After this one move, my thoughts about the Canadiens’ current situation have changed. Gauthier must get fired before Martin, end of story. Let’s look at some of the reasons why I think the way I do:

• Erik Cole: 4 year, 18 million dollar contract ($6 million in 2011)

o   Hired by the Canadiens to be the power forward that they’ve needed for over a decade.

o   Supposed to be a leader, but resembles a rookie: still has to prove himself to gain more ice time.

• Scott Gomez: 7 year, 51.5 million dollar contract ($7.5 million in 2011)

o   Hasn’t scored a goal since February of last season.

o   Most overpaid player in the NHL? Yeah.

• Andrei Markov: 3 year, $17.25 million dollar contract ($5.75 million in 2011)

o   Played 45 games in 2009-2010 before tearing his ACL.

o   Played 7 games in 2010-2011 before tearing his ACL… for the second time.

o   One of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL… WHEN HEALTHY.

o   Hasn’t been healthy for a long time, he’s well overpaid.

• Jeff Halpern leaves the team and signs with the Capitals for $800,000.

o   Won 57% of face-offs in 2010-2011.

o   26 points in 2010-2011.

o   He was a great fit for the team. Was his $600,000 salary with the team too expensive for Gauthier to afford? Oh, please.

• Letting go of James Wisniewski – was he not worth it?

o   Was brought in to replace Andrei Markov.

o   30 points in 2010-2011.

o   Led the team in power play scoring.

o   At 27 years old, he was in his prime.

o   Intimidating figure on the ice. Great defenseman and is never scared to get physical.

o   Traded to Columbus for a conditional draft pick in 2012. Montreal got robbed.

It is very easy to see that most of the trades and acquisitions that Gauthier have made were to patch up injuries, and very few were made to improve the team. If Martin does get fired, these statistics should be enough to show that Pierre Gauthier should not have the privilege to hire a new coach, due to his appalling decision-making skills. He should NOT be given a second chance to hire a new coach to lead the team out of a major slump. Gauthier was a major part of the problem when he was the “right-hand man” in the Bob Gainey days, and he’s maintained the negative reputation ever since he became Montreal’s General Manager. This team has a lot to work on. The franchise desperately needs a fresh start, not only with their coaching, but with their management as well. The longer Pierre Gauthier keeps Jacques Martin around, the more vulnerable he is to getting fired. The smartest decision he’d ever make would be to fire Martin, simply to save himself. Where is Kirk Muller to coach the team when you need him the most? Why did the organization not promote the former Hamilton Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher from the AHL club to the NHL club? Geoff Molson – I think the decision is easy. If Molson doesn’t think wisely about this devastating dilemma, the Canadiens could be facing more years of congruent nature to this season. To sum it all up: If Jacques Martin gets fired, so does Pierre Gauthier.