Aren’t the Toronto Maple Leafs such a nice team and how they gift wrapped a victory for the Dallas Stars? And how the Leafs jerk around their fan base by giving the gift to the Stars at the Air Canada Centre in front 19 000 plus fans, and also how the Leafs get their fans’ hopes up, but then play a dud of a game the next night?
The goal challenged Stars got quite the gift from the Leafs, as Toronto played horribly and gave up eight goals, or handed them to Dallas on a silver platter. The Toronto players were in such a gift giving mood, that they decided to let the Dallas players skate around and score easy goals.
Even Vesa Toskala was in a cheery mood, especially in the second period when he let out huge rebounds for the Dallas players to improve their stats.
In exchange for those eight goals, the Dallas players decided to give something back, but not a whole lot, in the form of two goals. The Stars were smart enough to realize that they were playing a hockey game, not in some sort of charity event, even though they were given charity.
This game was ugly right off the bat, as the Leafs surrendered four first period goals.
The first goal pretty much set the tempo of the game, and the Dallas players decided they were going to drive the net, and the Leafs weren’t allowed to defend. That is exactly what happened on the first goal, as the Stars were able to rush the net, and scored off the rebound.
Toronto’s invisible defense was magnified on the play, as Jeremy Williams stood around on the play and allowed goal scorer and hometown player James Neal go to the net.
That goal was the first of three on the night for James Neal, who recorded his first career hat-trick.
On the second Dallas goal, it was Tomas Kaberle who was at fault for the goal. He didn’t clear the puck around the boards properly, only to have it stopped, and let Steve Ott go to the net. Where he accepted a beautiful pass from Mike Ribeiro, and had an easy goal.
It was 2-0 in a matter of time, and the Leafs really had nothing going for them. They showed no speed, no hustle, no determination, no energy, and were just out played badly. Toronto couldn’t even get a decent first pass out of the zone, and if they did, a Dallas player would be waiting in the neutral zone.
Then the game got ugly and quick, and Toronto got burned big time on the third Dallas goal. This one hurt because Fabian Brunnstrom scored the goal, and made it look easy, on a relatively difficult play. Brunnstrom was a player that Toronto actively pursued in the off-season, but lost out.
Steve Ott made a great drop pass to Brunnstrom, and Ott was able to suck in two defencemen towards him, which sprung Brunnstrom free. The play Brunnstrom made was fantastic, as he cut down the wing towards the net, and kicked away Jeff Finger’s stick, got by Toskala’s weak poke check effort, and slid the puck home.
Then to pretty much win the game in the first period, the Stars added a power play goal on a one-timer from the point by Brad Richards. That was shot was perfectly placed, as it was nice and low to the ice through traffic.
From then on, the Stars played a 1-4 system, and Toronto couldn’t do too much to maneuver around it, because they were mentally and physically out of the game. The Leafs players weren’t moving their feet, and it didn’t help either with Toskala letting out huge rebounds.
The Stars added three more goals to their lead to make it 7-0, before Jason Blake scored one for the Leafs.
Toskala was also pulled from the game in favor of Curtis Joseph, who did a good job in relief and allowed only one goal.
Everyone in the building knew the Leafs players wanted the game to end, and just stood around in the defensive zone, and Dallas scored three easy goals.
The first came off a bad rebound let out by Toskala on a bad angle shot, and the next goal was scored on a really sad defensive effort on which the Leafs reaction time was real slow. Oh yeah, that goal was also scored off a rebound. The third goal was just complete domination by the Stars, and Toskala looked real lost in net, and did even try to stop the puck or make it look as if he gave it an effort.
At that point, the Leafs were out shot 27-9, and 37-22 on the game. According to the official scorers of the game, it read the Leafs had only one shot on goal at about the twelve minute mark of the first period.
The third period was just some boring hockey, Dallas had the game all locked up, and the Leafs fans were beyond restless. The two teams did exchange goals in the third, and there was a scrap between Andre Deveaux and Krystopher Barch, which was their second of the game. On the second Toronto goal, Andre Deveaux picked up his first career NHL point with an assist.
With the loss, Toronto had a slim score sheet and Nik Antropov’s four game point scoring streak was snapped. On the other hand, Dallas’ was full and sixteen different players picked up at least a point, which included Marty Turco, and had seven multiple point scorers.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
POGGE SHINES IN NHL DEBUT
Well then, this had to be one of the top items on Brian Burke’s list, which was to see the 22 year old blue chip prospect Justin Pogge get into an NHL game. With a groin injury to starter Vesa Toskala, Pogge was called up and got his chance to show what he is capable of doing in net.
He got to start in Atlanta versus the defensive lacking Thrashers, and put up a great start, to what could be a promising career. Pogge earned his first career NHL win with a 6-2 win, which was high lighted by two spectacular and game saving saves.
His first ever NHL save was a real test, as it was off a one-timer and made a real good stop, with good rebound control.
Both those big saves came at crucial points during the game, where the Leafs were up 2-0 in the second period, and 3-1 in the third period. The first save came on an Atlanta power play, and he made the save with his left leg on a low cross ice pass with about 10 minutes to go in the second period. The second save was probably the best of them all, and literally stopped the shot with his stretched out toe, on what should’ve been a sure goal in the third.
If that save had not been made, the Thrashers would’ve cut the score down to 3-2 with twelve minutes to play in the game.
The Leafs built up on that save and scored a goal on the power play to make the score 4-1. The Thrashers did come back with a second goal, but the Leafs answered and restored their three goal lead, and potted an empty netter to seal the game for a 6-2 victory.
This game was controlled by the Leafs from the get go, and outplayed the Thrashers and exposed them on their week defensive game. This game was reminiscent of the one that was played this past Saturday when the Leafs beat up on the Penguins for a 7-3 win.
A second before the game turned one minute old, the Leafs scored on a broken play as the Thrashers did a horrible job on trying to clear the zone. But, Matt Stajan made a nice play on the line to keep the play on side and fed the puck to Nik Antropov who took a shot towards goal. Alex Ponikarovsky was the goal scorer, as he got one through the legs of Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen for his eleventh goal of the year off the rebound.
On the play, Nik Antropov picked up his first of three assists on the night, and extended his point scoring streak to four games. In that span, he has three goals and six assists.
The line of Stajan, Antropov and Ponikarovsky was on fire and the best line for the Leafs in the game. That line scored nine points, with each player picking up three points each, and Stajan had two goals.
One of the other Marlboro call-ups, Jeremy Williams, has shown he can pretty much score at will, and snapped home his fifth goal of the year, in just six games and improved his shooting percent to 33, making good on 5 of 15 shots so far. Williams also picked up an assist on the fourth Toronto goal.
Williams was playing on another line that has been clicking of late, with Jason Blake and Dominic Moore, which was the second best line for the Leafs. And that line had five points.
At that point Toronto had scored two goals on just seven shots, and out shot the Thrashers 18-6 in the period.
The Thrashers offensively had zero chances and no real threats. If they ever did gain the zone, the Leafs defense played the Thrashers tightly, and got the puck out of the zone quickly.
That kind of play helped out Justin Pogge, and the best part of it all, was the Leafs played smartly and consistently through the game.
In the second period, the Leafs continued their strong play and did not let up as the Leafs scored one of their best goals all year on a great passing play. Who else, but the Stajan, Antropov, and Ponikarovsky line scored that goal as things have just been going good for them as of late. And Stajan was the recipient who received the final pass and had an easy tap in goal.
On that goal, the Thrashers were caught on a bad line change with some tired players on the ice, and Ilya Kovalchuk was in position to make the play a 3-on-3 rush, but was just skating around and let his man go to the net untouched.
That put the Leafs up 3-0, and the goal came right after the Thrashers had their first real good scoring chance of the game which came at the 9.50 mark of the second period. Atlanta also had a power play opportunity, but wasted that chance. And you knew this wasn’t their night when Ilya Kovalchuk fanned on a one timer from the point. That rarely ever happens.
Late in the second, Colby Armstrong raced down the wing and shot a nice high shot short side, which would’ve been a difficult save to make for Pogge.
That late goal by the Thrashers helped them out to start the third period and showed some life, and had the momentum. But the Leafs killed all the energy Atlanta had built up, and made the score 4-1 on a power play.
The Leafs needed just six seconds to execute, as Pavel Kubina shot the puck from the point, and Dominic Moore scored on the rebound.
The Thrashers did get something going after that on solo penalty killing rush by Kovalchuk that hit the post. If he had scored that would’ve been his 500th career point. Later on Todd White did score with about 5.30 left, but again, the Leafs answered back.
Niklas Hagman scored his second goal in as many games since his return from the injured reserve. That play was created off as stupid no look back hand pass through the neutral zone made by the veteran Mathieu Schneider.
John Mitchell intercepted that pass, and made a slick pass across to Hagman for a 5-2 score.
Atlanta did have their moments in the third, but the Leafs thoroughly dominated the Thrashers in a complete team effort.
As for Justin Pogge, he was excellent in the game, was solid with good rebound control and did not show any signs of being nervous, and stopped 19 of 21 shots. The Leafs out shot the Thrashers 38-21, and went 1/5 on the power play.
As for the three game road trip, the Leafs went 2-1 with some impressive victories, outscored the opposition 18-13, and now find themselves three points out of a playoff spot. In their last ten games the Leafs have gone 6-4, and outscored the opposition 36-32.
In the next five games, the Leafs face three teams that are currently out of a playoff spot, and of the two teams that do have a playoff spot, they face the Buffalo Sabres, a team that is three points ahead of the Leafs. Don’t get your hopes up with the streak the Leafs are on. The Leafs have shown that they are consistent in being inconsistent, with the stretches of wins they have put together, which are shortly followed by a series of losses.
Up next is a home date with the Dallas Stars, who currently have some issues to deal with, and Niklas Hagman will most certainly be up for that game.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
He got to start in Atlanta versus the defensive lacking Thrashers, and put up a great start, to what could be a promising career. Pogge earned his first career NHL win with a 6-2 win, which was high lighted by two spectacular and game saving saves.
His first ever NHL save was a real test, as it was off a one-timer and made a real good stop, with good rebound control.
Both those big saves came at crucial points during the game, where the Leafs were up 2-0 in the second period, and 3-1 in the third period. The first save came on an Atlanta power play, and he made the save with his left leg on a low cross ice pass with about 10 minutes to go in the second period. The second save was probably the best of them all, and literally stopped the shot with his stretched out toe, on what should’ve been a sure goal in the third.
If that save had not been made, the Thrashers would’ve cut the score down to 3-2 with twelve minutes to play in the game.
The Leafs built up on that save and scored a goal on the power play to make the score 4-1. The Thrashers did come back with a second goal, but the Leafs answered and restored their three goal lead, and potted an empty netter to seal the game for a 6-2 victory.
This game was controlled by the Leafs from the get go, and outplayed the Thrashers and exposed them on their week defensive game. This game was reminiscent of the one that was played this past Saturday when the Leafs beat up on the Penguins for a 7-3 win.
A second before the game turned one minute old, the Leafs scored on a broken play as the Thrashers did a horrible job on trying to clear the zone. But, Matt Stajan made a nice play on the line to keep the play on side and fed the puck to Nik Antropov who took a shot towards goal. Alex Ponikarovsky was the goal scorer, as he got one through the legs of Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen for his eleventh goal of the year off the rebound.
On the play, Nik Antropov picked up his first of three assists on the night, and extended his point scoring streak to four games. In that span, he has three goals and six assists.
The line of Stajan, Antropov and Ponikarovsky was on fire and the best line for the Leafs in the game. That line scored nine points, with each player picking up three points each, and Stajan had two goals.
One of the other Marlboro call-ups, Jeremy Williams, has shown he can pretty much score at will, and snapped home his fifth goal of the year, in just six games and improved his shooting percent to 33, making good on 5 of 15 shots so far. Williams also picked up an assist on the fourth Toronto goal.
Williams was playing on another line that has been clicking of late, with Jason Blake and Dominic Moore, which was the second best line for the Leafs. And that line had five points.
At that point Toronto had scored two goals on just seven shots, and out shot the Thrashers 18-6 in the period.
The Thrashers offensively had zero chances and no real threats. If they ever did gain the zone, the Leafs defense played the Thrashers tightly, and got the puck out of the zone quickly.
That kind of play helped out Justin Pogge, and the best part of it all, was the Leafs played smartly and consistently through the game.
In the second period, the Leafs continued their strong play and did not let up as the Leafs scored one of their best goals all year on a great passing play. Who else, but the Stajan, Antropov, and Ponikarovsky line scored that goal as things have just been going good for them as of late. And Stajan was the recipient who received the final pass and had an easy tap in goal.
On that goal, the Thrashers were caught on a bad line change with some tired players on the ice, and Ilya Kovalchuk was in position to make the play a 3-on-3 rush, but was just skating around and let his man go to the net untouched.
That put the Leafs up 3-0, and the goal came right after the Thrashers had their first real good scoring chance of the game which came at the 9.50 mark of the second period. Atlanta also had a power play opportunity, but wasted that chance. And you knew this wasn’t their night when Ilya Kovalchuk fanned on a one timer from the point. That rarely ever happens.
Late in the second, Colby Armstrong raced down the wing and shot a nice high shot short side, which would’ve been a difficult save to make for Pogge.
That late goal by the Thrashers helped them out to start the third period and showed some life, and had the momentum. But the Leafs killed all the energy Atlanta had built up, and made the score 4-1 on a power play.
The Leafs needed just six seconds to execute, as Pavel Kubina shot the puck from the point, and Dominic Moore scored on the rebound.
The Thrashers did get something going after that on solo penalty killing rush by Kovalchuk that hit the post. If he had scored that would’ve been his 500th career point. Later on Todd White did score with about 5.30 left, but again, the Leafs answered back.
Niklas Hagman scored his second goal in as many games since his return from the injured reserve. That play was created off as stupid no look back hand pass through the neutral zone made by the veteran Mathieu Schneider.
John Mitchell intercepted that pass, and made a slick pass across to Hagman for a 5-2 score.
Atlanta did have their moments in the third, but the Leafs thoroughly dominated the Thrashers in a complete team effort.
As for Justin Pogge, he was excellent in the game, was solid with good rebound control and did not show any signs of being nervous, and stopped 19 of 21 shots. The Leafs out shot the Thrashers 38-21, and went 1/5 on the power play.
As for the three game road trip, the Leafs went 2-1 with some impressive victories, outscored the opposition 18-13, and now find themselves three points out of a playoff spot. In their last ten games the Leafs have gone 6-4, and outscored the opposition 36-32.
In the next five games, the Leafs face three teams that are currently out of a playoff spot, and of the two teams that do have a playoff spot, they face the Buffalo Sabres, a team that is three points ahead of the Leafs. Don’t get your hopes up with the streak the Leafs are on. The Leafs have shown that they are consistent in being inconsistent, with the stretches of wins they have put together, which are shortly followed by a series of losses.
Up next is a home date with the Dallas Stars, who currently have some issues to deal with, and Niklas Hagman will most certainly be up for that game.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
FINALLY, A WINNING STREAK
The Toronto Maple Leafs finally have a winning streak, which is at three games now after their shootout win over the Martin Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils 3-2 at the Air Canada Centre.
The game was quite a bore, as both teams played a defensive minded game, and the offensive chances for either side were kept to a minimum. You would come to expect something like this anytime any team plays the Devils.
The first period started off slow, mainly for the Leafs and for the seventh time this season gave up the opening goal on the first shot allowed. New Jersey’s Michael Rupp scored 1.49 into the game off a rebound chance that came from a 2-on-1 rush.
The AHL call-up Jamie Sifers, who just played his third game of his career was caught pinching, and the Devils went the other way on a 2-on-1. The initial shot was stopped, but Jeff Finger made a horrible clearing attempt right to Rupp.
The rest of the period looked as if it was in slow motion for the Leafs, as they were just slow skating and slow on rotations. The New Jersey players hounded the Toronto skaters and pressured them smartly to create turnovers. The Leafs with the puck weren’t very good either, and barely had good scoring opportunities.
For the one good scoring chance the Leafs had, Lee Stempniak missed a one-timer off a cross ice pass, and shot the puck low, which was stopped. When Stempniak should’ve shot high as the top half of the net was open. Since the trade, Stempniak has only scored once as a Leaf, which was back on November 29th.
The Leafs were outshot 9-5 in the first period, and Andre Deveaux got into a scrap with Jay Leach, trying to spark the Leafs, but it didn’t work.
In the second period, it looked as if the two teams swapped mindsets, and the Leafs played better, while the Devils were the slower team and were caught flat footed plenty of times.
Off a faceoff win, the puck was cycled down low and Nik Kulemin kept the play alive behind the net. From the point Tomas Kaberle wristed the puck towards goal, and Nik Antropov scored on the rebound to tie the game. From there the Leafs got a spark and played a smart game, which led to their second goal.
Jeremy Williams was the goal scorer who snapped one by Scott Clemmensen as he came off the half boards. The goal was created off of good fore checking and the Leafs just played some simple hockey by going for the puck with a strong pursuit. In his first three games of the year, Jeremy Williams has scored a goal in each game, has four points now, and has a shooting accuracy of 42% on 3/7 shooting. With the changes that are sure to come in the upcoming future, Jeremy Williams looks to be a lock in the Leaf lineup for next season.
On both Toronto goals, Tomas Kaberle got an assist.
With twenty seconds left to go in the second period, New Jersey sniper Zach Parise scored his 17th goal of the season on the power play, and has 8 goals in the 18 games Martin Brodeur has missed. The goal was a bit of a weird one as it deflected off his visor and into the net. Jeff Finger committed the penalty when he tripped up Zach Parise in the Toronto zone.
The third period was evenly matched, but the Leafs did have more opportunities to score. In the end, one time ex-Leaf/Marlboro Scott Clemmensen was pretty much the difference, and has been the difference for the Devils since Brodeur went down with an elbow injury. He played a solid game, and stopped 25 out of 27 shots.
In fact, both teams ended up with 27 shots on goal, and Vesa Toskala also came up big for the Leafs. When that early goal was conceded, it looked as if it was going to be another long night in net, but Toskala made key saves in the game.
Late in the third, the Devils had another 2-on-1 rush, but John Madden shot wide of the net. Then Zach Parise came down the wing and let go a hard slapper that was stopped and juggled by Toskala. The biggest save he made came real late in the third when Travis Zajak got away from the defence and out-skated the speedy Mikhail Grabovski for a breakaway. Vesa Toskala came up big with a toe save right when time expired to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Devils had the best chance to score when Patrick Elias received a nice pass from Zach Parise, but Elias missed a tap in, on which he completely fanned on.
In the shootout, the first two shooters from either side were stopped on their shots. On the third Toronto shot, Jeremy Williams was the shooter and scored high on Clemmensen. While Patrick Elias just got one by Vesa Toskala. The winning shot was just a beauty, as Jason Blake came down with speed, stopped his pace, and did a 360 to score into an open net. Brian Rolston had to score to extend the shootout, but shot wide.
This was also the first home ice shootout win in Vesa Toskala’s career. The Leafs are 2-4 in shootouts this season, with both wins coming against New Jersey.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
The game was quite a bore, as both teams played a defensive minded game, and the offensive chances for either side were kept to a minimum. You would come to expect something like this anytime any team plays the Devils.
The first period started off slow, mainly for the Leafs and for the seventh time this season gave up the opening goal on the first shot allowed. New Jersey’s Michael Rupp scored 1.49 into the game off a rebound chance that came from a 2-on-1 rush.
The AHL call-up Jamie Sifers, who just played his third game of his career was caught pinching, and the Devils went the other way on a 2-on-1. The initial shot was stopped, but Jeff Finger made a horrible clearing attempt right to Rupp.
The rest of the period looked as if it was in slow motion for the Leafs, as they were just slow skating and slow on rotations. The New Jersey players hounded the Toronto skaters and pressured them smartly to create turnovers. The Leafs with the puck weren’t very good either, and barely had good scoring opportunities.
For the one good scoring chance the Leafs had, Lee Stempniak missed a one-timer off a cross ice pass, and shot the puck low, which was stopped. When Stempniak should’ve shot high as the top half of the net was open. Since the trade, Stempniak has only scored once as a Leaf, which was back on November 29th.
The Leafs were outshot 9-5 in the first period, and Andre Deveaux got into a scrap with Jay Leach, trying to spark the Leafs, but it didn’t work.
In the second period, it looked as if the two teams swapped mindsets, and the Leafs played better, while the Devils were the slower team and were caught flat footed plenty of times.
Off a faceoff win, the puck was cycled down low and Nik Kulemin kept the play alive behind the net. From the point Tomas Kaberle wristed the puck towards goal, and Nik Antropov scored on the rebound to tie the game. From there the Leafs got a spark and played a smart game, which led to their second goal.
Jeremy Williams was the goal scorer who snapped one by Scott Clemmensen as he came off the half boards. The goal was created off of good fore checking and the Leafs just played some simple hockey by going for the puck with a strong pursuit. In his first three games of the year, Jeremy Williams has scored a goal in each game, has four points now, and has a shooting accuracy of 42% on 3/7 shooting. With the changes that are sure to come in the upcoming future, Jeremy Williams looks to be a lock in the Leaf lineup for next season.
On both Toronto goals, Tomas Kaberle got an assist.
With twenty seconds left to go in the second period, New Jersey sniper Zach Parise scored his 17th goal of the season on the power play, and has 8 goals in the 18 games Martin Brodeur has missed. The goal was a bit of a weird one as it deflected off his visor and into the net. Jeff Finger committed the penalty when he tripped up Zach Parise in the Toronto zone.
The third period was evenly matched, but the Leafs did have more opportunities to score. In the end, one time ex-Leaf/Marlboro Scott Clemmensen was pretty much the difference, and has been the difference for the Devils since Brodeur went down with an elbow injury. He played a solid game, and stopped 25 out of 27 shots.
In fact, both teams ended up with 27 shots on goal, and Vesa Toskala also came up big for the Leafs. When that early goal was conceded, it looked as if it was going to be another long night in net, but Toskala made key saves in the game.
Late in the third, the Devils had another 2-on-1 rush, but John Madden shot wide of the net. Then Zach Parise came down the wing and let go a hard slapper that was stopped and juggled by Toskala. The biggest save he made came real late in the third when Travis Zajak got away from the defence and out-skated the speedy Mikhail Grabovski for a breakaway. Vesa Toskala came up big with a toe save right when time expired to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Devils had the best chance to score when Patrick Elias received a nice pass from Zach Parise, but Elias missed a tap in, on which he completely fanned on.
In the shootout, the first two shooters from either side were stopped on their shots. On the third Toronto shot, Jeremy Williams was the shooter and scored high on Clemmensen. While Patrick Elias just got one by Vesa Toskala. The winning shot was just a beauty, as Jason Blake came down with speed, stopped his pace, and did a 360 to score into an open net. Brian Rolston had to score to extend the shootout, but shot wide.
This was also the first home ice shootout win in Vesa Toskala’s career. The Leafs are 2-4 in shootouts this season, with both wins coming against New Jersey.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
GUARD PLAY COMES UP BIG; CALDERON OUT-DUELS FORD
It was the night of the point guard’s, and their play, Jose Calderon versus TJ Ford. On this night, Jose Calderon got the best of ex-Raptor TJ Ford, with a better stat line and play, and the Raptors won the game 101-88 over the Indiana Pacers.
Before the game, most of the hype was surrounded around TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic, who were traded for Jermaine O’Neal. All three of these players had much to prove, to their ex-team and current team. Like gentlemen, both Calderon, O’Neal and Ford downplayed the situation of the match-up, but deep down this just wasn’t any game. And all three players knew what the deal was and wanted to play big games.
Both teams started the game off slow shooting at extremely low percentages and taking jumpers instead of driving the ball.
The starting point guards of either side really didn’t get into a steady flow offensively or defensively. Calderon got the better of Ford and his four points, four assist night. While Calderon finished the game with 11 points and 14 assists, with five rebounds. He also re-wrote the Raptors record books, by breaking Chauncey Billups’ old record of 51 consecutive free throws made. Calderon went 4/4 from the line, and has hit 55 straight free throws.
The guard play from the Raptors over matched the Pacers and their disorganized play, and led the Raptors to a big win.
The Raptors did manage to win the first quarter 20-18, and picked up the pace in the second quarter with some strong play on both ends of the floor. Instead of the jumpers both teams fell in love with, the Raptors decided to drive the ball, and it paid off nicely, en route to a 51-45 lead at half time.
Jason Kapono who replaced Anthony Parker in the starting lineup due to an ankle injury had a monster first half with 15 points and 6 rebounds, and finished with 25 and 8.
With the missed game, Anthony Parker had his consecutive games started streak snapped at 103.
Chris Bosh, who has struggled lately, showed signs of his earlier play this season, and ended the night with 21 points and 7 rebounds. His minutes, since Jay Triano took over as head coach, have been cut down from the usual forty minutes he was playing, and Bosh only played 34 minutes. The minutes needed to be cut back, because his slow play of late was due to fatigue and heavy minutes early on.
The play of Jamario Moon was just something else, and something that no one had seen this year. He was doing everything, played with energy, shot the ball at a high percentage and played some solid defense altering plenty of Indiana shots. If he could only play this way every game, the Raptors wouldn’t be in the mess that they are in now. Offensively, he was in a groove and scored a season-high 17 points, which was highlighted by a put back slam off a Jermaine O’Neal missed shot.
Moon replaced Andrea Bargnani in the starting lineup, and Bargnani didn’t do much in the way of proving that he deserves to be a starter with zero points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. His inconsistent play continues.
The ex-all-star Pacer, Jermaine O’Neal really didn’t show up his old team, but did have a relatively solid game with 10 points and 9 rebounds. His minutes were reduced in the first half due to two quick first quarter fouls in the games first two minutes.
On the night, six Raptor players ended up in double figures, which included the starting lineup and Joey Graham off the bench with 12 points.
As for Joey Graham, he put up another solid effort, and has played consistently for the last ten games. This is huge for the Raptors, as they have a strong player to come off the bench and provide good secondary scoring, with athleticism.
The Pacers had stretches where it looked as if they were going to make the game close again, but the Raptors pretty much took control of the game in the third quarter. Toronto won every quarter as well, which is always a great team stat.
Indiana scorers were very quiet, even though they had three players that ended up scoring 20 or more points. Danny Granger the main threat of the Pacers offense put himself in a hole when he kept tossing up bricks in the first quarter and throughout the game. He only scored two points in the first quarter, but ended up with 22 points, but the bulk of those points came in the latter stages of the game, when the game was essentially won by the Raptors. Granger taking stupid shots, and not getting to the basket really hurt the Pacers’ chances of winning or keeping it close.
Lost in the Pacers loss was the game played by Troy Murphy who had 20 points and 20 rebounds. That is a stat line that usually go to the likes of Dwight Howard, and that help a team win games. The Pacers never seemed to get into a comfortably pace or settle down, and made a lot of bad decisions on offense. And defensively, their short lineup was exploited by the Raptor big men, and Toronto shot 50% from the field.
The defense of the Raptors showed up in the game, and consistently, and held the Pacers to 34% shooting. The Raptors’ biggest lead was at 18, but were outscored 34-28 in the paint, and out-rebounded 52-47.
Strong runs by the Raptors in the second and fourth quarters put the team up big, with 11-0 and 9-0 runs. Raptors head coach Jay Triano won his first career game with the new title, and was the first head coaching win by a Canadian born and trained coach. The Raptors snapped a five game losing skid, to somewhat improve their record to 9-12 and their home record to an even 5-5.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Before the game, most of the hype was surrounded around TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic, who were traded for Jermaine O’Neal. All three of these players had much to prove, to their ex-team and current team. Like gentlemen, both Calderon, O’Neal and Ford downplayed the situation of the match-up, but deep down this just wasn’t any game. And all three players knew what the deal was and wanted to play big games.
Both teams started the game off slow shooting at extremely low percentages and taking jumpers instead of driving the ball.
The starting point guards of either side really didn’t get into a steady flow offensively or defensively. Calderon got the better of Ford and his four points, four assist night. While Calderon finished the game with 11 points and 14 assists, with five rebounds. He also re-wrote the Raptors record books, by breaking Chauncey Billups’ old record of 51 consecutive free throws made. Calderon went 4/4 from the line, and has hit 55 straight free throws.
The guard play from the Raptors over matched the Pacers and their disorganized play, and led the Raptors to a big win.
The Raptors did manage to win the first quarter 20-18, and picked up the pace in the second quarter with some strong play on both ends of the floor. Instead of the jumpers both teams fell in love with, the Raptors decided to drive the ball, and it paid off nicely, en route to a 51-45 lead at half time.
Jason Kapono who replaced Anthony Parker in the starting lineup due to an ankle injury had a monster first half with 15 points and 6 rebounds, and finished with 25 and 8.
With the missed game, Anthony Parker had his consecutive games started streak snapped at 103.
Chris Bosh, who has struggled lately, showed signs of his earlier play this season, and ended the night with 21 points and 7 rebounds. His minutes, since Jay Triano took over as head coach, have been cut down from the usual forty minutes he was playing, and Bosh only played 34 minutes. The minutes needed to be cut back, because his slow play of late was due to fatigue and heavy minutes early on.
The play of Jamario Moon was just something else, and something that no one had seen this year. He was doing everything, played with energy, shot the ball at a high percentage and played some solid defense altering plenty of Indiana shots. If he could only play this way every game, the Raptors wouldn’t be in the mess that they are in now. Offensively, he was in a groove and scored a season-high 17 points, which was highlighted by a put back slam off a Jermaine O’Neal missed shot.
Moon replaced Andrea Bargnani in the starting lineup, and Bargnani didn’t do much in the way of proving that he deserves to be a starter with zero points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. His inconsistent play continues.
The ex-all-star Pacer, Jermaine O’Neal really didn’t show up his old team, but did have a relatively solid game with 10 points and 9 rebounds. His minutes were reduced in the first half due to two quick first quarter fouls in the games first two minutes.
On the night, six Raptor players ended up in double figures, which included the starting lineup and Joey Graham off the bench with 12 points.
As for Joey Graham, he put up another solid effort, and has played consistently for the last ten games. This is huge for the Raptors, as they have a strong player to come off the bench and provide good secondary scoring, with athleticism.
The Pacers had stretches where it looked as if they were going to make the game close again, but the Raptors pretty much took control of the game in the third quarter. Toronto won every quarter as well, which is always a great team stat.
Indiana scorers were very quiet, even though they had three players that ended up scoring 20 or more points. Danny Granger the main threat of the Pacers offense put himself in a hole when he kept tossing up bricks in the first quarter and throughout the game. He only scored two points in the first quarter, but ended up with 22 points, but the bulk of those points came in the latter stages of the game, when the game was essentially won by the Raptors. Granger taking stupid shots, and not getting to the basket really hurt the Pacers’ chances of winning or keeping it close.
Lost in the Pacers loss was the game played by Troy Murphy who had 20 points and 20 rebounds. That is a stat line that usually go to the likes of Dwight Howard, and that help a team win games. The Pacers never seemed to get into a comfortably pace or settle down, and made a lot of bad decisions on offense. And defensively, their short lineup was exploited by the Raptor big men, and Toronto shot 50% from the field.
The defense of the Raptors showed up in the game, and consistently, and held the Pacers to 34% shooting. The Raptors’ biggest lead was at 18, but were outscored 34-28 in the paint, and out-rebounded 52-47.
Strong runs by the Raptors in the second and fourth quarters put the team up big, with 11-0 and 9-0 runs. Raptors head coach Jay Triano won his first career game with the new title, and was the first head coaching win by a Canadian born and trained coach. The Raptors snapped a five game losing skid, to somewhat improve their record to 9-12 and their home record to an even 5-5.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
RAPTORS REPORT
SAM MITCHELL FIRED, (DETAILS CONTINUED BELOW. WHILE WRITING THIS ARTICLE THE NEWS WAS BROKEN)
Any time a team from the East crosses over to the West, they have trouble adjusting to the time zone, and the team. And the same deal applies for a Western team coming to the East.
Especially now, and the way the West has performed the past couple of years, it’s no walk in the park. The Toronto Raptors are a prime example of a team from the East that struggles mightily when facing a Western opponent.
Currently, the Raptors have completed two thirds of a three game Western road trip, which saw them play in Los Angeles versus the Lakers, and the Denver Nuggets. Up next, will be a national US telecast on ESPN versus the Utah Jazz.
In the first two games of the trip, the Raptors lost badly to the Lakers and Nuggets. The final scores in each of those games were 112-99, and 132-93.
*SIDE NOTE: The latest loss against Denver probably did it for Sam Mitchell, and other tight games lost earlier in the year. Two games that sting were the two losses versus the Boston Celtics in Boston, when the Raptors had double digit leads numerous times. The game versus New Jersey in Toronto against the Nets was game where Toronto held an 18 point lead and lost in overtime.
The positive, the Raptors scored an average of 95 points. The negative, they gave up an average of 120 points. That right there is a 25 point loss, on average. History will show you that the Raptors have struggled to play in the West, just look at last season.
Versus Western conference opponents, the Raptors went 10-19, and 7-7 at home. The major low of the season was a five game western road trip, where the Raptors went 0/5.
Already this season, the Raptors versus Western opponent are 1-2, and just barely squeaked out a win versus the Golden State Warriors in Toronto, in overtime.
Overall, the start to this season has been a huge disappointment. After a 3-0 start to the season, things looked good in Raptorland, and the acquisition of Jermaine O’Neal was paying dividends. Since the 3-0 start, the Raptors have gone 5-9, including an uneasy 4-4 start to the home schedule at the Air Canada Centre.
Last year after 17 game into the season, the Raptors had a record of 9-8, which really isn’t all that different from this year’s mark of 8-9.
The records may not be so different, but the performances of the players are.
Chris Bosh this season continues to grow as a player, and is putting up numbers and playing like an MVP. Without Bosh on the Raptors roster, which is scary to think about, the team could easily be 3-14. Currently, he is averaging 27 points a game, which is good enough to be in the top three of scoring. Bosh is in some elite company, sandwiched in between LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.
Andrea Bargnani has drastically improved his game, most notably on the defensive end.
The Jermaine O’Neal project started off good, and was on the verge of being great. But, knee and ankle injuries have slowed the centre’s progress.
Jose Calderon as a starter was something all Raptors fans had been waiting for. So far it looks good, but the extra minutes on Jose’s body have also slowed him down at times this season.
Anthony Parkers scoring touch has dwindled, but defensively he remains strong.
Jamario Moon has been a bust so far this season, in what was thought to be a diamond in the ruff type of find. After playing solid defence in his rookie year, which earned him 75 starts, Moon has been lazy at best this season. And for a player, who is in his contract year, sure isn’t playing as if he wants a new contract, and would rather adventure through the minor leagues, again.
Jason Kapono looks as if he scores and plays whenever he feels like it, because he is getting paid six million a year and sitting on his contract. Defensively, the guy is a pylon, all he needs is a nice orange tan, and he should know where to go, since he is from California.
As for the rest of the team, the Raptors have three D-Leaguers, including two back up point guards. Kris Humphries is always solid when playing. Joey Graham has put together a nice string of games, but still isn’t very reliable.
With that, it looks like only two players on the Raptors roster have improved their game, while three players have dropped off.
That most certainly is not the way to go, especially with the upcoming schedule the Raptors have. Between now (December 3) and until the turn of the New Year (December 31), the Raptors will have played 15 games in 29 games. Or, if you want to start from Friday December 5, when the Raptors face the Jazz, you can make that 15 games in 27 days.
Of those 15 games, the Raptors will face 11 Western opponents and will only play 6 home games. So that’s 9 road games, and 7 of those games will be in the West, including a 6 game Western road trip. For the 6 games to be played at home, the Raptors will host 4 Western teams.
That is quite the hectic schedule and the good thing is the 2008 calendar half of the season was the toughest, and will be over with. Once the 2008 potion of the season is over, the Raptors will have played 32 games, and 18 road games. For 2009, that leaves a nice ratio of 27 home games to 23 road games. The Raptors will also have a five game home stand during crunch time late in March.
As for the upcoming 15 games, and if history repeats itself, here is how things could look for the Raptors. This projection is solely based on first and second time meetings from last season.
1. @ Utah Jazz (Raptors lost first meeting 92-88)
2. vs. Portland Trail Blazers (lost first meeting 101-96)
3. @ Cleveland Cavaliers (lost first meeting 111-108
4. vs. Indiana Pacers (won first meeting 110-101)
5. @ New Jersey Nets (won second meeting 109-91)
6. vs. New Orleans Hornets (won first meeting 97-92)
7. vs. New Jersey Nets (lost third meeting 99-90)
8. vs. Dallas Mavericks (lost first meeting 105-99)
9. @ Oklahoma City Thunder (lost first meeting 123-115)
10. @ San Antonio Spurs (won first meeting 83-73)
11. @ Los Angeles Clippers (won first meeting 80-77)
12. @ Sacramento Kings (won first meeting 116-91)
13. @ Portland Trail Blazers (won second meeting 116-109)
14. @ Golden State Warriors (lost second meeting 117-106)
15. vs. Denver Nuggets (lost second meeting 109-100)
With those results right there, the Raptors are projected to go 7-8, which will bring their overall record to 15-17. After 32 games into last season, those Raptors stood at a mark of 17-15. So the projection looks like a fair assessment.
Here is another scenario that can play out and will see the Raptors in deep trouble.
Against Utah, that’s a tough match-up and Jerry Sloan runs a disciplined team, 0-1.
The Raptors will then head home to face a tough Portland team that features Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. The Raptors will have to re-adjust to the Eastern time zone, and so will Portland, but still Toronto had trouble putting away the Blazers last season at home in a double overtime win, 0-2.
Then after a day off, the Raptors will head to Cleveland and face LeBron James and the Cavs that have a strong 14-3 record, 0-3.
The Raptors will then head back home to face old teammates TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic. The Raptors will want to show that they are better off without them, and Jermaine O’Neal would like to show up his old team as well, 1-3.
Then the Raptors are back on the road again for a rematch against Vince Carter and the Nets in New Jersey. The Raptors will have revenge on their minds after Vince Carter stole a win from the Raptors in Toronto, 2-3.
Finally, the Raptors will get a three game home stand and face New Orleans, New Jersey, and Dallas. The Hornets and Chris Paul are a tough task, 2-4. After that loss at home versus the Nets, the Raptors will get their full revenge and take of two of three from New Jersey in five weeks, 3-4. Toronto always seems to play well against the Mavericks, whether it is on the road or at home, 4-4.
Then the six game road trip kicks in. No doubt, the Raptors are better than Oklahoma City, 5-4. San Antonio is just too good and at home, 5-5. The Raptors had a tough time versus the Clippers last season, 5-6. The Raptors split the two meetings last season with the Sacramento Kings, but lost in Sacramento, 5-7. Toronto will face Portland again, and will put up a fight. The Blazers have too much power, 5-8. Golden State gave Toronto fits last season, and this season as well, 5-9.
The Raptors will then return home on New Years Eve to face the Denver Nuggets and with Chauncey Billups in the lineup the Nuggets have been rolling, 5-10.
There’s the outcome of the second scenario, 5-10, which makes their overall record 13-19.
The Raptors no doubt will be in tough, but they can change their fortunes. It’s all about the attitude the team brings into each game. Most importantly, the Raptors have got to stop looking at the other name on the teams’ jersey, and the players. The Raptors just need to think about themselves and how they will play. At this point, the Raptors team is heading into each game expecting the worst. That’s the worst possible mindset.
These two projections could have a different outcome, due to the firing of Sam Mitchell. This decision just had to happen, because it looked like the Raptors gave up on Mitchell, and pretty much lost the team. This season, the body language of Sam Mitchell suggested he was fed up with the team, and just wanted better players. The style of coaching Mitchell had implemented was for veterans, and the Raptors just aren’t there yet. If Sam Mitchell was a good coach, he would’ve adjusted by now and coached to the style of players he has and not the players he doesn’t. Sam Mitchell no doubt had the player talent this year to be one of the top teams in the East. Considering the team Sam Mitchell had in 2007 season, this year’s team was virtually better, because the players had grown together.
After the Raptors came off a 47 win season in 2007, Sam Mitchell won the Coach of the Year Award, and in the summer was given a 4 year contract worth 16 million dollars (US). This was the second year of the contract. Sam Mitchell was hired by Rob Babcock as a rookie head coach back in 2004.
In his first season the Raptors went 33-49, and under his guidance the Raptors finished above .500 once. The team won the Atlantic Division in 2007 with a 47-35 record, and the Raptors have made the playoffs twice. In the two playoff appearances, the Raptors never advanced to the second round, and went 3-8 combined. Overall, Sam Mitchell’s coaching record stands at 151-184, in 335 games.
Now it’s up to the players to change their games and just play better, because they have been bailed out by the firing. We’ll find out in the upcoming stretch games as to what kind of players the Raptors have. Let’s face it; Chris Bosh was the only player who had game going into each match. The players know that they let Sam down too, and if they don’t improve their games, Bryan Collangelo will have no choice but to make some moves in the off-season.
General Manager Bryan Collangelo was expected to do something and finally did. A trade of any sort was out of the question due to cap issues and a slim market. So far, in his three years with Toronto, he has a built a team good enough to contest for a .500 record and the playoffs. Collangelo still has an opportunity to do something here, but time is ticking, and after this season is over, he will have two years left on his contract.
For now, assistant coach Jay Triano will takeover on an interim basis, but as Bryan Collangelo said in his conference call, this could be for the whole year. What an opportunity this is for Jay Triano to make his mark after being an assistant coach for 7 years with the Raptors. Triano will be the first ever Canadian born and trained in the history of the NBA. He also did make his coaching debut last year for one game when Sam Mitchell had to attend to personal matters back home. The style of coaching that Jay Triano will most likely go with will be a free flow style, letting the players play. At this point it wouldn’t hurt because the Raptors team needs something new and fresh, and this could be the shot in the arm the team needs to get going. In his conference call, Jay Triano stated he is going to make gradual changes, nothing sudden. As for Jay Triano’s coaching debut, it will come under a heavy Canadian and American microscope. The game will be broadcasted nationally across Canada on TSN, and nationally in America on ESPN. The Raptors will also being facing the tough Utah Jazz, who are hard to beat at home. The pressure will be on from the get go for Triano.
With this coaching change, what affect will this have on all-star Chris Bosh? If this doesn’t get him thinking about his future in Toronto, then what will? If the Raptors want to keep their franchise player for long number of years, they should hear what he has to say about all this and potentially a new head coach for next season.
Speaking as a Raptors fan, the numbers and projections look scary, and the change that was needed was finally made, and will hopefully turn this team around whoever the new coach may be. As for the record, I will still go into every game expecting a victory and keeping the faith.
LET’S GO RAPTORS!
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Any time a team from the East crosses over to the West, they have trouble adjusting to the time zone, and the team. And the same deal applies for a Western team coming to the East.
Especially now, and the way the West has performed the past couple of years, it’s no walk in the park. The Toronto Raptors are a prime example of a team from the East that struggles mightily when facing a Western opponent.
Currently, the Raptors have completed two thirds of a three game Western road trip, which saw them play in Los Angeles versus the Lakers, and the Denver Nuggets. Up next, will be a national US telecast on ESPN versus the Utah Jazz.
In the first two games of the trip, the Raptors lost badly to the Lakers and Nuggets. The final scores in each of those games were 112-99, and 132-93.
*SIDE NOTE: The latest loss against Denver probably did it for Sam Mitchell, and other tight games lost earlier in the year. Two games that sting were the two losses versus the Boston Celtics in Boston, when the Raptors had double digit leads numerous times. The game versus New Jersey in Toronto against the Nets was game where Toronto held an 18 point lead and lost in overtime.
The positive, the Raptors scored an average of 95 points. The negative, they gave up an average of 120 points. That right there is a 25 point loss, on average. History will show you that the Raptors have struggled to play in the West, just look at last season.
Versus Western conference opponents, the Raptors went 10-19, and 7-7 at home. The major low of the season was a five game western road trip, where the Raptors went 0/5.
Already this season, the Raptors versus Western opponent are 1-2, and just barely squeaked out a win versus the Golden State Warriors in Toronto, in overtime.
Overall, the start to this season has been a huge disappointment. After a 3-0 start to the season, things looked good in Raptorland, and the acquisition of Jermaine O’Neal was paying dividends. Since the 3-0 start, the Raptors have gone 5-9, including an uneasy 4-4 start to the home schedule at the Air Canada Centre.
Last year after 17 game into the season, the Raptors had a record of 9-8, which really isn’t all that different from this year’s mark of 8-9.
The records may not be so different, but the performances of the players are.
Chris Bosh this season continues to grow as a player, and is putting up numbers and playing like an MVP. Without Bosh on the Raptors roster, which is scary to think about, the team could easily be 3-14. Currently, he is averaging 27 points a game, which is good enough to be in the top three of scoring. Bosh is in some elite company, sandwiched in between LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.
Andrea Bargnani has drastically improved his game, most notably on the defensive end.
The Jermaine O’Neal project started off good, and was on the verge of being great. But, knee and ankle injuries have slowed the centre’s progress.
Jose Calderon as a starter was something all Raptors fans had been waiting for. So far it looks good, but the extra minutes on Jose’s body have also slowed him down at times this season.
Anthony Parkers scoring touch has dwindled, but defensively he remains strong.
Jamario Moon has been a bust so far this season, in what was thought to be a diamond in the ruff type of find. After playing solid defence in his rookie year, which earned him 75 starts, Moon has been lazy at best this season. And for a player, who is in his contract year, sure isn’t playing as if he wants a new contract, and would rather adventure through the minor leagues, again.
Jason Kapono looks as if he scores and plays whenever he feels like it, because he is getting paid six million a year and sitting on his contract. Defensively, the guy is a pylon, all he needs is a nice orange tan, and he should know where to go, since he is from California.
As for the rest of the team, the Raptors have three D-Leaguers, including two back up point guards. Kris Humphries is always solid when playing. Joey Graham has put together a nice string of games, but still isn’t very reliable.
With that, it looks like only two players on the Raptors roster have improved their game, while three players have dropped off.
That most certainly is not the way to go, especially with the upcoming schedule the Raptors have. Between now (December 3) and until the turn of the New Year (December 31), the Raptors will have played 15 games in 29 games. Or, if you want to start from Friday December 5, when the Raptors face the Jazz, you can make that 15 games in 27 days.
Of those 15 games, the Raptors will face 11 Western opponents and will only play 6 home games. So that’s 9 road games, and 7 of those games will be in the West, including a 6 game Western road trip. For the 6 games to be played at home, the Raptors will host 4 Western teams.
That is quite the hectic schedule and the good thing is the 2008 calendar half of the season was the toughest, and will be over with. Once the 2008 potion of the season is over, the Raptors will have played 32 games, and 18 road games. For 2009, that leaves a nice ratio of 27 home games to 23 road games. The Raptors will also have a five game home stand during crunch time late in March.
As for the upcoming 15 games, and if history repeats itself, here is how things could look for the Raptors. This projection is solely based on first and second time meetings from last season.
1. @ Utah Jazz (Raptors lost first meeting 92-88)
2. vs. Portland Trail Blazers (lost first meeting 101-96)
3. @ Cleveland Cavaliers (lost first meeting 111-108
4. vs. Indiana Pacers (won first meeting 110-101)
5. @ New Jersey Nets (won second meeting 109-91)
6. vs. New Orleans Hornets (won first meeting 97-92)
7. vs. New Jersey Nets (lost third meeting 99-90)
8. vs. Dallas Mavericks (lost first meeting 105-99)
9. @ Oklahoma City Thunder (lost first meeting 123-115)
10. @ San Antonio Spurs (won first meeting 83-73)
11. @ Los Angeles Clippers (won first meeting 80-77)
12. @ Sacramento Kings (won first meeting 116-91)
13. @ Portland Trail Blazers (won second meeting 116-109)
14. @ Golden State Warriors (lost second meeting 117-106)
15. vs. Denver Nuggets (lost second meeting 109-100)
With those results right there, the Raptors are projected to go 7-8, which will bring their overall record to 15-17. After 32 games into last season, those Raptors stood at a mark of 17-15. So the projection looks like a fair assessment.
Here is another scenario that can play out and will see the Raptors in deep trouble.
Against Utah, that’s a tough match-up and Jerry Sloan runs a disciplined team, 0-1.
The Raptors will then head home to face a tough Portland team that features Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. The Raptors will have to re-adjust to the Eastern time zone, and so will Portland, but still Toronto had trouble putting away the Blazers last season at home in a double overtime win, 0-2.
Then after a day off, the Raptors will head to Cleveland and face LeBron James and the Cavs that have a strong 14-3 record, 0-3.
The Raptors will then head back home to face old teammates TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic. The Raptors will want to show that they are better off without them, and Jermaine O’Neal would like to show up his old team as well, 1-3.
Then the Raptors are back on the road again for a rematch against Vince Carter and the Nets in New Jersey. The Raptors will have revenge on their minds after Vince Carter stole a win from the Raptors in Toronto, 2-3.
Finally, the Raptors will get a three game home stand and face New Orleans, New Jersey, and Dallas. The Hornets and Chris Paul are a tough task, 2-4. After that loss at home versus the Nets, the Raptors will get their full revenge and take of two of three from New Jersey in five weeks, 3-4. Toronto always seems to play well against the Mavericks, whether it is on the road or at home, 4-4.
Then the six game road trip kicks in. No doubt, the Raptors are better than Oklahoma City, 5-4. San Antonio is just too good and at home, 5-5. The Raptors had a tough time versus the Clippers last season, 5-6. The Raptors split the two meetings last season with the Sacramento Kings, but lost in Sacramento, 5-7. Toronto will face Portland again, and will put up a fight. The Blazers have too much power, 5-8. Golden State gave Toronto fits last season, and this season as well, 5-9.
The Raptors will then return home on New Years Eve to face the Denver Nuggets and with Chauncey Billups in the lineup the Nuggets have been rolling, 5-10.
There’s the outcome of the second scenario, 5-10, which makes their overall record 13-19.
The Raptors no doubt will be in tough, but they can change their fortunes. It’s all about the attitude the team brings into each game. Most importantly, the Raptors have got to stop looking at the other name on the teams’ jersey, and the players. The Raptors just need to think about themselves and how they will play. At this point, the Raptors team is heading into each game expecting the worst. That’s the worst possible mindset.
These two projections could have a different outcome, due to the firing of Sam Mitchell. This decision just had to happen, because it looked like the Raptors gave up on Mitchell, and pretty much lost the team. This season, the body language of Sam Mitchell suggested he was fed up with the team, and just wanted better players. The style of coaching Mitchell had implemented was for veterans, and the Raptors just aren’t there yet. If Sam Mitchell was a good coach, he would’ve adjusted by now and coached to the style of players he has and not the players he doesn’t. Sam Mitchell no doubt had the player talent this year to be one of the top teams in the East. Considering the team Sam Mitchell had in 2007 season, this year’s team was virtually better, because the players had grown together.
After the Raptors came off a 47 win season in 2007, Sam Mitchell won the Coach of the Year Award, and in the summer was given a 4 year contract worth 16 million dollars (US). This was the second year of the contract. Sam Mitchell was hired by Rob Babcock as a rookie head coach back in 2004.
In his first season the Raptors went 33-49, and under his guidance the Raptors finished above .500 once. The team won the Atlantic Division in 2007 with a 47-35 record, and the Raptors have made the playoffs twice. In the two playoff appearances, the Raptors never advanced to the second round, and went 3-8 combined. Overall, Sam Mitchell’s coaching record stands at 151-184, in 335 games.
Now it’s up to the players to change their games and just play better, because they have been bailed out by the firing. We’ll find out in the upcoming stretch games as to what kind of players the Raptors have. Let’s face it; Chris Bosh was the only player who had game going into each match. The players know that they let Sam down too, and if they don’t improve their games, Bryan Collangelo will have no choice but to make some moves in the off-season.
General Manager Bryan Collangelo was expected to do something and finally did. A trade of any sort was out of the question due to cap issues and a slim market. So far, in his three years with Toronto, he has a built a team good enough to contest for a .500 record and the playoffs. Collangelo still has an opportunity to do something here, but time is ticking, and after this season is over, he will have two years left on his contract.
For now, assistant coach Jay Triano will takeover on an interim basis, but as Bryan Collangelo said in his conference call, this could be for the whole year. What an opportunity this is for Jay Triano to make his mark after being an assistant coach for 7 years with the Raptors. Triano will be the first ever Canadian born and trained in the history of the NBA. He also did make his coaching debut last year for one game when Sam Mitchell had to attend to personal matters back home. The style of coaching that Jay Triano will most likely go with will be a free flow style, letting the players play. At this point it wouldn’t hurt because the Raptors team needs something new and fresh, and this could be the shot in the arm the team needs to get going. In his conference call, Jay Triano stated he is going to make gradual changes, nothing sudden. As for Jay Triano’s coaching debut, it will come under a heavy Canadian and American microscope. The game will be broadcasted nationally across Canada on TSN, and nationally in America on ESPN. The Raptors will also being facing the tough Utah Jazz, who are hard to beat at home. The pressure will be on from the get go for Triano.
With this coaching change, what affect will this have on all-star Chris Bosh? If this doesn’t get him thinking about his future in Toronto, then what will? If the Raptors want to keep their franchise player for long number of years, they should hear what he has to say about all this and potentially a new head coach for next season.
Speaking as a Raptors fan, the numbers and projections look scary, and the change that was needed was finally made, and will hopefully turn this team around whoever the new coach may be. As for the record, I will still go into every game expecting a victory and keeping the faith.
LET’S GO RAPTORS!
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Monday, December 1, 2008
HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA
First off, I would just like to say that HNIC has scored, and in big ways, for broadcasting their Saturday night double-headers in Punjabi.
As a Canadian born Indian this is really a treat.
When I first heard of HNIC Punjabi, I expected the worst. After hearing the first broadcast, the two commentators Parminder Singh and Hunarayan Singh did a fantastic job of calling the game. They were on queue with the play and provided so much detail that a first time Indian viewer of an NHL game could understand exactly what was happening and follow the game.
The elderly Indian market is untapped, and HNIC is winning more and more viewers.
It looks like hockey has added a new voice.
As for the HNIC broadcasts, I believe they haven’t been that good this season, so far.
One of the main things that need to be fixed is the starting. The new theme song isn’t good, and the video is horrible. I think HNIC should’ve used Nikelback’s rendition of the Hockey Tonight theme song, which is really energetic, has a good beat, great video, and gets the viewer’s pumped.
When the video starts off, they show the NHL’s two historic teams, the Leafs and the Canadiens. After that, it begins to suck, because the whole video is choppy, blurry and blocky and you could hardly see any of the players’ faces properly. The Gretzky versus Crosby face-off during the video is so lame. And at the end of the video, Niklas Lidstrom’s face is so damn blurry.
One thing I don’t get is why is there a helicopter in the background which flies into an arena? How the hell does a helicopter relate to hockey?
The pre-game show Hockey Tonight, used to be good, now it’s just plain and boring. Why the hell did they change the name from Saturday Night to Scotiabank Hockey Tonight? The CBC is already loaded, how much more money do they need from naming rights and sponsorship deals?
The in game broadcasts are still good, as they provide good commentating, nice picture and sound. The CBC has the best in game coverage in Canada.
Coach’s Corner with Don Cherry is the same thing over and over. Can Cherry talk about something other than North American players over Euros, and his package of weekly fights? I feel sorry for MacLean who has to hear the same shit week in and week out.
The Satellite Hotstove is still good and provides great insights into the game, and the latest news from the league. It’s always fun too see Al Strachan and Mike Milbury get into it with each other.
One guy who needs some serious help is PJ Stock. It is really sad to see this guy struggle to speak and stutter on air when updating the viewers about the other games. At the same, you cannot help but laugh at the guy. I don’t know how Ron and the others keep it inside.
Overall, HNIC has lost something and don’t provide the complete broadcast like they used too. They have some strong points, but the other points are just a complete bore.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
As a Canadian born Indian this is really a treat.
When I first heard of HNIC Punjabi, I expected the worst. After hearing the first broadcast, the two commentators Parminder Singh and Hunarayan Singh did a fantastic job of calling the game. They were on queue with the play and provided so much detail that a first time Indian viewer of an NHL game could understand exactly what was happening and follow the game.
The elderly Indian market is untapped, and HNIC is winning more and more viewers.
It looks like hockey has added a new voice.
As for the HNIC broadcasts, I believe they haven’t been that good this season, so far.
One of the main things that need to be fixed is the starting. The new theme song isn’t good, and the video is horrible. I think HNIC should’ve used Nikelback’s rendition of the Hockey Tonight theme song, which is really energetic, has a good beat, great video, and gets the viewer’s pumped.
When the video starts off, they show the NHL’s two historic teams, the Leafs and the Canadiens. After that, it begins to suck, because the whole video is choppy, blurry and blocky and you could hardly see any of the players’ faces properly. The Gretzky versus Crosby face-off during the video is so lame. And at the end of the video, Niklas Lidstrom’s face is so damn blurry.
One thing I don’t get is why is there a helicopter in the background which flies into an arena? How the hell does a helicopter relate to hockey?
The pre-game show Hockey Tonight, used to be good, now it’s just plain and boring. Why the hell did they change the name from Saturday Night to Scotiabank Hockey Tonight? The CBC is already loaded, how much more money do they need from naming rights and sponsorship deals?
The in game broadcasts are still good, as they provide good commentating, nice picture and sound. The CBC has the best in game coverage in Canada.
Coach’s Corner with Don Cherry is the same thing over and over. Can Cherry talk about something other than North American players over Euros, and his package of weekly fights? I feel sorry for MacLean who has to hear the same shit week in and week out.
The Satellite Hotstove is still good and provides great insights into the game, and the latest news from the league. It’s always fun too see Al Strachan and Mike Milbury get into it with each other.
One guy who needs some serious help is PJ Stock. It is really sad to see this guy struggle to speak and stutter on air when updating the viewers about the other games. At the same, you cannot help but laugh at the guy. I don’t know how Ron and the others keep it inside.
Overall, HNIC has lost something and don’t provide the complete broadcast like they used too. They have some strong points, but the other points are just a complete bore.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Friday, November 28, 2008
A SOLID VICTORY
The Raptors went into tonight’s game versus the Atlanta Hawks at the ACC with a better defensive game in mind, than the one they produced when beat by the Hawks earlier this November.
That’s exactly how the Raptors played, except for a moment or two in the second quarter, but won the game 93-88. This was the second straight game in which the Raptors have held their opponents to less than 90 points.
Before the game even began, the Raptors were given a scare, as Chris Bosh got stuck in the elevator shaft on his way to the game. He made it to the ACC at around an hour before the seven o’clock tip off.
He wasn’t able to participate in the warm up drills or shoot around, and it showed. Bosh was taking a lot of jumpers that looked awful, and was hardly driving the ball to the basket.
The Raptors did receive scoring help, early in the game too, from Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono and Joey Graham. Since Bosh wasn’t scoring, he turned into a playmaker and had five assists in the first quarter to makeup for his shaky start.
That lifted the Raptors to a 24-21 lead after the first quarter.
They continued to play strong basketball with limited turnovers and excellent defence. During the second quarter the Raptors held a 12 point lead, which vanished, but regained it for a 10 point lead. That too, was erased and for the rest of the half. The Hawks rolled to a 50-46 lead at the break.
The play of Mike Bibby and his perimeter shooting was killing the Raptors as he had 15 points in the first half. The defence did contain Joe Johnson to just five points, and thanks in large part to Anthony Parker who was active defensively.
Chris Bosh had ten points at the half and was working on a triple-double with seven assists and five rebounds.
Like the game versus the Bobcats, the Raptors bench gave the team a huge boost to start the second half. Joey Graham was big again with his performance, and so was Jason Kapono.
Andrea Bargnani had a slow night and finished with just 7 points and 4 rebounds due to foul trouble, and had 4 fouls to start the third quarter.
The Raptors kept pushing for the tie and the lead, but the Hawks always seemed to answer. Toronto did get the lead back, and for good, on a Chris Bosh jumper to make the score 67-65 with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
CB4 once again carried the team, with a 15 point third quarter and ended the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and finished just three assists shy for his first career triple-double. With his 15 points, Chris Bosh matched the total output by the Hawks and their 15 points in the third quarter. The Raptors won the quarter 23-15.
To start the fourth quarter, the Raptors went on an 8-0 run, and within the first 4 minutes, Joey Graham electrified the crowd with two dunks, and the Raptors defence did the rest.
Joey Graham finished the night with 11 points and 5 rebounds. It is good to see Graham put up back to back solid games, and hopefully this will continue.
Jason Kapono finally hit a three pointer, was 2/4, and finished the night with 16 points, including a sweet no look pass to Bosh for an easy lay-up. That was part of the strong fourth quarter run by the Raptors.
After some weak games, Anthony Parker stepped up on defence and held Joe Johnson to 18 points. Mike Bibby was put on lock with just 9 second half points.
Jose Calderon just wasn’t himself in this game and had just 6 points, and missed some good looks he usually makes. He went 0/4 from three point range, including two wide open looks. His passing game wasn’t affected and dished out 11 assists. During play, he picked up a rebound, but while landing he rolled his left ankle, and his stomach fell onto the ball.
The Hawks did have balanced scoring throughout their lineup, as 4 of 5 starters were in double figures and had five for the game. The Raptors had 4 of their own in double figures. Zaza Pachulia had a monster night on the boards, collecting 17.
The Raptors defence was too much for Atlanta though, and held them to 42% shooting. After allowing the Hawks to hit 6 three pointers in the first half, the Raptors only allowed two in the second half.
For the game, the Raptors protected the ball and committed just nine turnovers, while Atlanta had 15. The Raptors outscored the Hawks 34-24 in the paint. The rebounding edge barely went to Atlanta 44-41, but the Raptors dominated in the second half.
Jermaine O’Neal missed his third straight game with knee and ankle injuries, and is listed as day-to-day. Josh Smith was probable for the game, took part in the warm-up but didn’t dress due to a high ankle sprain.
The Raptors are an even 4-4 at home, and up their overall record to 8-7.
Up next for the Raptors is a three game Western road trip beginning on Sunday November 30th, where they will make stops in Los Angeles to visit the Lakers. Then will head to Denver and face Utah on a national televised game in America (ESPN) and this trip will last six days. The Raptors this season are 4-3 on the road.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
That’s exactly how the Raptors played, except for a moment or two in the second quarter, but won the game 93-88. This was the second straight game in which the Raptors have held their opponents to less than 90 points.
Before the game even began, the Raptors were given a scare, as Chris Bosh got stuck in the elevator shaft on his way to the game. He made it to the ACC at around an hour before the seven o’clock tip off.
He wasn’t able to participate in the warm up drills or shoot around, and it showed. Bosh was taking a lot of jumpers that looked awful, and was hardly driving the ball to the basket.
The Raptors did receive scoring help, early in the game too, from Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono and Joey Graham. Since Bosh wasn’t scoring, he turned into a playmaker and had five assists in the first quarter to makeup for his shaky start.
That lifted the Raptors to a 24-21 lead after the first quarter.
They continued to play strong basketball with limited turnovers and excellent defence. During the second quarter the Raptors held a 12 point lead, which vanished, but regained it for a 10 point lead. That too, was erased and for the rest of the half. The Hawks rolled to a 50-46 lead at the break.
The play of Mike Bibby and his perimeter shooting was killing the Raptors as he had 15 points in the first half. The defence did contain Joe Johnson to just five points, and thanks in large part to Anthony Parker who was active defensively.
Chris Bosh had ten points at the half and was working on a triple-double with seven assists and five rebounds.
Like the game versus the Bobcats, the Raptors bench gave the team a huge boost to start the second half. Joey Graham was big again with his performance, and so was Jason Kapono.
Andrea Bargnani had a slow night and finished with just 7 points and 4 rebounds due to foul trouble, and had 4 fouls to start the third quarter.
The Raptors kept pushing for the tie and the lead, but the Hawks always seemed to answer. Toronto did get the lead back, and for good, on a Chris Bosh jumper to make the score 67-65 with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
CB4 once again carried the team, with a 15 point third quarter and ended the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and finished just three assists shy for his first career triple-double. With his 15 points, Chris Bosh matched the total output by the Hawks and their 15 points in the third quarter. The Raptors won the quarter 23-15.
To start the fourth quarter, the Raptors went on an 8-0 run, and within the first 4 minutes, Joey Graham electrified the crowd with two dunks, and the Raptors defence did the rest.
Joey Graham finished the night with 11 points and 5 rebounds. It is good to see Graham put up back to back solid games, and hopefully this will continue.
Jason Kapono finally hit a three pointer, was 2/4, and finished the night with 16 points, including a sweet no look pass to Bosh for an easy lay-up. That was part of the strong fourth quarter run by the Raptors.
After some weak games, Anthony Parker stepped up on defence and held Joe Johnson to 18 points. Mike Bibby was put on lock with just 9 second half points.
Jose Calderon just wasn’t himself in this game and had just 6 points, and missed some good looks he usually makes. He went 0/4 from three point range, including two wide open looks. His passing game wasn’t affected and dished out 11 assists. During play, he picked up a rebound, but while landing he rolled his left ankle, and his stomach fell onto the ball.
The Hawks did have balanced scoring throughout their lineup, as 4 of 5 starters were in double figures and had five for the game. The Raptors had 4 of their own in double figures. Zaza Pachulia had a monster night on the boards, collecting 17.
The Raptors defence was too much for Atlanta though, and held them to 42% shooting. After allowing the Hawks to hit 6 three pointers in the first half, the Raptors only allowed two in the second half.
For the game, the Raptors protected the ball and committed just nine turnovers, while Atlanta had 15. The Raptors outscored the Hawks 34-24 in the paint. The rebounding edge barely went to Atlanta 44-41, but the Raptors dominated in the second half.
Jermaine O’Neal missed his third straight game with knee and ankle injuries, and is listed as day-to-day. Josh Smith was probable for the game, took part in the warm-up but didn’t dress due to a high ankle sprain.
The Raptors are an even 4-4 at home, and up their overall record to 8-7.
Up next for the Raptors is a three game Western road trip beginning on Sunday November 30th, where they will make stops in Los Angeles to visit the Lakers. Then will head to Denver and face Utah on a national televised game in America (ESPN) and this trip will last six days. The Raptors this season are 4-3 on the road.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
CAN BRIAN BURKE DO THE JOB?
Well then, it’s pretty much official now. Brian burke will be the next President and General Manager of our Toronto Maple Leafs. All that is left is Burke’s signature on the contract.
Is this signing of Burke going to lead the Maple Leafs out of their current failures within his six years, or will things continue to be the same going forward?
Burke has been around in the NHL at various levels of employment and has done a decent job and at the same time left a few negatives.
With the state the Leafs are currently in, they were desperate for a GM and only wanted one man. Before it got to Burke, others topped the list, such as Ken Holland, Lou Lamoriello, Jim Rutherford and Scotty Bowman.
All four gentlemen declined, didn’t want to leave their current jobs, or they didn’t want to get involved in the mess that MLSE has created. It would’ve taken a lot for Ken Holland to leave his post as President and GM of the Detroit Red Wings. The team he has built took a while, but has paid off with four Cups, and probably more to come.
Why would Lou Lamoriello want to leave his job with the New Jersey Devils? It’s in a low key hockey market, he is one of the highest paid hockey executives, and is just coasting along fine. A lot of that coasting should be credited to Martin Brodeur though, because without him there would be no Stanley Cup banners hanging in New Jersey. Once he leaves, Lou will have some work to do, but again, in a low key hockey market where he’ll be getting PAID.
Then there was the possibility of Jim Rutherford coming to Toronto, who was born and raised in Southern Ontario. That would’ve been some kind of match up. He too, is in a low key hockey market and has a good job.
Scotty Bowman was down for the job, but wasn’t promised to be ‘the guy’ because he still had to answer to the idiot Richard Peddie and his bonehead board of executives.
That reason right there, is basically why and probably the reason, why Holland, Lamoriello and Rutherford didn’t want to come to Toronto.
Now, why was Burke so eager to get the hell out of Anaheim, where he was offered a nice contract, which he could’ve lived off of and retired. The Ducks also have two young superstars in Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
We all know family was one of his main reasons why he left the Ducks. But again, why Toronto, there were other teams interested in him and in the region Burke wanted a job in.
Chicago, Boston and Ottawa were all said to be interested in Burke. I doubt he would’ve gone to Ottawa, because well, who would go to Ottawa?
Chicago or Boston would’ve been great fits for Burke. Both teams have good young teams on the rise, and both teams have a young nucleus in place. The Bruins have Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel, and Milan Lucic and have Zdeno Chara locked up. The Blackhawks have Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell, Brent Seabrook and Cristobel Huet. Both cities are desirable and good places to live.
There were rumblings that Chicago owner Rocky Wirtz was going to go after Burke aggressively.
Still, Burke wanted Toronto, and the Leafs wanted Burke.
There are so many things wrong with the Leafs right now. MLSE is just stupid, bad ownership right there. There really is only one true building block in Luke Schenn. There are trade possibilities to bring in some youth. But no trade clauses stand in the way of that. The Leafs only have five draft picks each, upcoming in this seasons draft and the next.
With all this and more, why did Burke still want Toronto?
Here are a few reason why: 1) to get a rich contract, which he did at six years worth three million dollars (US) a year. 2) family reasons. 3) to have the most high profile job in the NHL. 4) to add to his already large ego.
Excluding his family reasons, Burke coming to Toronto was for himself to add to his career resume and make his name bigger.
The only reason the Leafs wanted him, was this year was the final year in his contract with the Ducks. Burke was the only one who responded well at the prospect of being the GM of the Leafs. And other high profile executives turned them down.
It looks like these two sides hooked up for all the wrong reasons.
There is some upside to this deal as well. Burke’s interest in coming to Toronto could also mean he wants to win and change the direction of the Leafs. It also has been reported that Burke will have autonomy, and whatever he says goes. Finally, no more answering to the monkey’s upstairs.
Here is Burke’s history with his past teams, what he did, what the team did, and in what state he left the team.
He began his career with the Hartford Whalers, and was the GM who drafted Chris Pronger second overall, after some trading was done. He was fired one year later.
Burke really made a name for himself when he was hired as the Vancouver Canucks’ Gm back in 1998, and turned the franchise around. First he brought in Marc Crawford, and made a smart trade by dealing away Paval Bure to the New York Islanders for Ed Jovanoski. In his first draft with the Canucks, he drafted the Sedin twins second and third overall. He also gave up a lot of draft picks to draft back-to-back. He traded away Alex Mogilny to the Devils for Brendan Morrison, which made up one of the most dominant lines in hockey with Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi.
In those 7 years as GM, Burke’s Canucks finished above .500 five out of the seven seasons. Won one division title, made four straight playoff appearances (2001-2004), but only won one playoff round out of five.
Before he left, he wasn’t able to re-sign Ed Jovanoski or trade, and Jovanoski signed on with Phoenix. Burke in his 7 years was never able to find a good goaltender and never saw the Sedin’s fully develop which they have done now.
The Canucks really don’t have a solid foundation, and expected a lot out of the Sedin’s, something that never happened.
Overall, Burke had an opportunity to make some real noise with Vancouver, but when it counted most his teams were never built to do any damage.
This brings us to his stay in Anaheim, as the Vice-President and GM, for whom he took over from Brian Murray. His reign as GM lasted from 2005-2008. In those four years Burke won a Stanley Cup in 2007, but he had inherited a team that Brian Murray had built. Burke did improve the roster by adding head coach Randy Carlyle. He dumped aging veterans Sergei Fedorov and Petr Sykora. He took a gamble with Teemu Selanne which paid off big time, and signed marquee free agent Scott Niedermayer. Brought in Chris Pronger through a trade, where he paid a hefty price giving up Ladislav Smid, Joffrey Lupul, and a first and second round draft pick in 2008.
In three season with the Ducks, Burke won a Stanley Cup, a division title, won 6 of 8 playoff rounds and the team finished above .500 three times.
After winning the Cup, Niedermayer and Selanne sat out half of next season and Burke signed Mathieu Schneider, and took a chance on Todd Bertuzzi by giving him a two year contract worth 8 million dollars (US). Bertuzzi failed miserably, and was bought out. When Burke left, he left the team with salary cap issues, and has five players signed to five lengthy deals, worth an excess of over 5 million dollars (US). The Ducks now are hardly competitive due to cap issues and level of talent.
Overall, Burke has seen the highs and lows. Has put franchises in good fortunes, but only to see them vanish, and leave the team in trouble.
Another problem that has risen with the signing of Burke is the organization has two people with big egos. One is Burke, and the other is head coach Ron Wilson. These two really have to check themselves and put the team first.
It will be interesting to see how Dave Nonis will do his job, because he did a fair job in Vancouver. He has one real accomplishment to his name, when he traded for Roberto Luongo, and gave up next to nothing.
Burke will have a huge job in front of him now and better make some smart moves because he is in one of the most demanding sports markets in North America and that’s what he wanted. His only option is to tear this team apart and start fresh. I just hope he doesn’t take any short cuts and plan on making the playoffs within a year or two. Looking back at his days with the Canucks, he turned that franchise around in three years and had them competing. Over the years Burke has shown he is aggressive and is willing to take risks.
For sure things will get shaken up and the culture will change, which is needed. We’ll just see if Burke came to help the Leafs or came for himself, only time will tell. And within that time something major will be done or close to it. And that ‘something major’ could either be bad or good.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Is this signing of Burke going to lead the Maple Leafs out of their current failures within his six years, or will things continue to be the same going forward?
Burke has been around in the NHL at various levels of employment and has done a decent job and at the same time left a few negatives.
With the state the Leafs are currently in, they were desperate for a GM and only wanted one man. Before it got to Burke, others topped the list, such as Ken Holland, Lou Lamoriello, Jim Rutherford and Scotty Bowman.
All four gentlemen declined, didn’t want to leave their current jobs, or they didn’t want to get involved in the mess that MLSE has created. It would’ve taken a lot for Ken Holland to leave his post as President and GM of the Detroit Red Wings. The team he has built took a while, but has paid off with four Cups, and probably more to come.
Why would Lou Lamoriello want to leave his job with the New Jersey Devils? It’s in a low key hockey market, he is one of the highest paid hockey executives, and is just coasting along fine. A lot of that coasting should be credited to Martin Brodeur though, because without him there would be no Stanley Cup banners hanging in New Jersey. Once he leaves, Lou will have some work to do, but again, in a low key hockey market where he’ll be getting PAID.
Then there was the possibility of Jim Rutherford coming to Toronto, who was born and raised in Southern Ontario. That would’ve been some kind of match up. He too, is in a low key hockey market and has a good job.
Scotty Bowman was down for the job, but wasn’t promised to be ‘the guy’ because he still had to answer to the idiot Richard Peddie and his bonehead board of executives.
That reason right there, is basically why and probably the reason, why Holland, Lamoriello and Rutherford didn’t want to come to Toronto.
Now, why was Burke so eager to get the hell out of Anaheim, where he was offered a nice contract, which he could’ve lived off of and retired. The Ducks also have two young superstars in Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
We all know family was one of his main reasons why he left the Ducks. But again, why Toronto, there were other teams interested in him and in the region Burke wanted a job in.
Chicago, Boston and Ottawa were all said to be interested in Burke. I doubt he would’ve gone to Ottawa, because well, who would go to Ottawa?
Chicago or Boston would’ve been great fits for Burke. Both teams have good young teams on the rise, and both teams have a young nucleus in place. The Bruins have Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel, and Milan Lucic and have Zdeno Chara locked up. The Blackhawks have Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell, Brent Seabrook and Cristobel Huet. Both cities are desirable and good places to live.
There were rumblings that Chicago owner Rocky Wirtz was going to go after Burke aggressively.
Still, Burke wanted Toronto, and the Leafs wanted Burke.
There are so many things wrong with the Leafs right now. MLSE is just stupid, bad ownership right there. There really is only one true building block in Luke Schenn. There are trade possibilities to bring in some youth. But no trade clauses stand in the way of that. The Leafs only have five draft picks each, upcoming in this seasons draft and the next.
With all this and more, why did Burke still want Toronto?
Here are a few reason why: 1) to get a rich contract, which he did at six years worth three million dollars (US) a year. 2) family reasons. 3) to have the most high profile job in the NHL. 4) to add to his already large ego.
Excluding his family reasons, Burke coming to Toronto was for himself to add to his career resume and make his name bigger.
The only reason the Leafs wanted him, was this year was the final year in his contract with the Ducks. Burke was the only one who responded well at the prospect of being the GM of the Leafs. And other high profile executives turned them down.
It looks like these two sides hooked up for all the wrong reasons.
There is some upside to this deal as well. Burke’s interest in coming to Toronto could also mean he wants to win and change the direction of the Leafs. It also has been reported that Burke will have autonomy, and whatever he says goes. Finally, no more answering to the monkey’s upstairs.
Here is Burke’s history with his past teams, what he did, what the team did, and in what state he left the team.
He began his career with the Hartford Whalers, and was the GM who drafted Chris Pronger second overall, after some trading was done. He was fired one year later.
Burke really made a name for himself when he was hired as the Vancouver Canucks’ Gm back in 1998, and turned the franchise around. First he brought in Marc Crawford, and made a smart trade by dealing away Paval Bure to the New York Islanders for Ed Jovanoski. In his first draft with the Canucks, he drafted the Sedin twins second and third overall. He also gave up a lot of draft picks to draft back-to-back. He traded away Alex Mogilny to the Devils for Brendan Morrison, which made up one of the most dominant lines in hockey with Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi.
In those 7 years as GM, Burke’s Canucks finished above .500 five out of the seven seasons. Won one division title, made four straight playoff appearances (2001-2004), but only won one playoff round out of five.
Before he left, he wasn’t able to re-sign Ed Jovanoski or trade, and Jovanoski signed on with Phoenix. Burke in his 7 years was never able to find a good goaltender and never saw the Sedin’s fully develop which they have done now.
The Canucks really don’t have a solid foundation, and expected a lot out of the Sedin’s, something that never happened.
Overall, Burke had an opportunity to make some real noise with Vancouver, but when it counted most his teams were never built to do any damage.
This brings us to his stay in Anaheim, as the Vice-President and GM, for whom he took over from Brian Murray. His reign as GM lasted from 2005-2008. In those four years Burke won a Stanley Cup in 2007, but he had inherited a team that Brian Murray had built. Burke did improve the roster by adding head coach Randy Carlyle. He dumped aging veterans Sergei Fedorov and Petr Sykora. He took a gamble with Teemu Selanne which paid off big time, and signed marquee free agent Scott Niedermayer. Brought in Chris Pronger through a trade, where he paid a hefty price giving up Ladislav Smid, Joffrey Lupul, and a first and second round draft pick in 2008.
In three season with the Ducks, Burke won a Stanley Cup, a division title, won 6 of 8 playoff rounds and the team finished above .500 three times.
After winning the Cup, Niedermayer and Selanne sat out half of next season and Burke signed Mathieu Schneider, and took a chance on Todd Bertuzzi by giving him a two year contract worth 8 million dollars (US). Bertuzzi failed miserably, and was bought out. When Burke left, he left the team with salary cap issues, and has five players signed to five lengthy deals, worth an excess of over 5 million dollars (US). The Ducks now are hardly competitive due to cap issues and level of talent.
Overall, Burke has seen the highs and lows. Has put franchises in good fortunes, but only to see them vanish, and leave the team in trouble.
Another problem that has risen with the signing of Burke is the organization has two people with big egos. One is Burke, and the other is head coach Ron Wilson. These two really have to check themselves and put the team first.
It will be interesting to see how Dave Nonis will do his job, because he did a fair job in Vancouver. He has one real accomplishment to his name, when he traded for Roberto Luongo, and gave up next to nothing.
Burke will have a huge job in front of him now and better make some smart moves because he is in one of the most demanding sports markets in North America and that’s what he wanted. His only option is to tear this team apart and start fresh. I just hope he doesn’t take any short cuts and plan on making the playoffs within a year or two. Looking back at his days with the Canucks, he turned that franchise around in three years and had them competing. Over the years Burke has shown he is aggressive and is willing to take risks.
For sure things will get shaken up and the culture will change, which is needed. We’ll just see if Burke came to help the Leafs or came for himself, only time will tell. And within that time something major will be done or close to it. And that ‘something major’ could either be bad or good.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
TOO CLOSE FOR THE RAPTORS
This wasn’t the most thrilling game, or Raptors style of basketball that was played. In the end, the Raptors did win 93-86 over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Lately, the way the Raptors have been playing, they shouldn’t take any opponent lightly, and it looked as if the Raptors were about to.
Coming into the game, the Bobcats were ranked dead last in league scoring, averaging just about 90 points a game. In the game, the Raptors offense was there, but the defence wasn’t. The Raptors got caught playing into the Bobcats’ style of play, and in their pace.
Even though the Raptors won by seven points, they just edged out this victory.
Up eight points early in the first quarter, the Raptors gave up the lead and lost the first quarter 25-24.
There were some bright spots, as Andrea Bargnani had six points and five rebounds. Chris Bosh had eleven points and was perfect from the field.
The Raptors did show some bite in the second d quarter, as Roko Ukic provide a spark off the bench, as well as the invisible Joey Graham. Toronto headed into the break up 51-46.
There were plenty of problems with that score.
Charlotte scored 46 points, which put them on pace for a 92 point night, which wasn’t what the Raptors needed.
Chris Bosh was the only one scoring for the Raptors, as he had 24 points at the break.
The interior defence shown by the Raptors was very slow on rotations and was just bad. Gerald Wallace led the Bobcats in driving to the bucket, and also made smart passes when double teamed, and was just a huge problem all night for the Raptors.
And he himself showed he couldn’t shoot from the field, but the Raptors couldn’t handle him and keep him on the outside. Wallace ended the night with a team high 23 points.
The second half was focused mainly on defence, and both teams showed that, and the Raptors won the battle holding Charlotte to only 40 second half points.
The Raptors offence picked up to, and instead of Bosh doing all the scoring, he got some help, but still carried the team on his back, with his 39 point, 11 rebound performance.
Andrea Bargnani didn’t have the most explosive night offensively, but still managed 11 points. Defensively, that was his story and played big with his 9 rebounds and three blocked shots. Now only if he could do this on a consistent level.
Bargnani has taken major strides, and has shown he is a different player and didn’t sulk if he wasn’t scoring, something he did plenty of last year.
After a good first half, Joey Graham ended the game strongly with a season high 17 points, and at times was a tad to aggressive, and his five fouls were evidence of that. Those 17 points were huge and went a long way, because of the knee and ankle injury to Jermaine O’Neal, which forced him to miss his second straight game.
The play of Jason Kapono, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon over the last six to seven games has been sub par, and I’m being generous there.
Kapono hasn’t scored a three pointer in his last three games, and scored just four points tonight.
Parker scored just five points, and Moon had three, which came in the first half on a three pointer. Their defensive game has slowed down as well, and they both did a bad job trying to guard Gerald Wallace, and he was able to blow by them at any time.
The guard play from both of these teams was won by the Raptors’ Jose Calderon, even though he hasn’t been playing like his usual self since pulling his hamstring. Once again, he quietly scored 10 points and added 9 assists.
While the two starting point guards of DJ Agustin and Raymond Felton combined to score just 17 points and 11 assists. But, DJ Agustin did give the Raptors trouble as well; he put his quickness to work and had 13 points.
Overall, this game was to close for the Raptors liking, and should look at their defence first. Especially their interior defence, as they allowed Charlotte to score 42 points in the paint, and the Raptors only scored 22. The Bobcats also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds, compared to the Raptors’ 7. Those two stats played a huge factor for the Bobcats to stay alive, because even they proved why the are the league’s lowest scoring team.
This game was the first win in three games for Toronto, and only their third home win in seven games at the ACC. Toronto is now 7-7 on the season, and faces the Atlanta Hawks this November Friday 28th, and the last time these two teams played, the Raptors were blown out 110-92.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Lately, the way the Raptors have been playing, they shouldn’t take any opponent lightly, and it looked as if the Raptors were about to.
Coming into the game, the Bobcats were ranked dead last in league scoring, averaging just about 90 points a game. In the game, the Raptors offense was there, but the defence wasn’t. The Raptors got caught playing into the Bobcats’ style of play, and in their pace.
Even though the Raptors won by seven points, they just edged out this victory.
Up eight points early in the first quarter, the Raptors gave up the lead and lost the first quarter 25-24.
There were some bright spots, as Andrea Bargnani had six points and five rebounds. Chris Bosh had eleven points and was perfect from the field.
The Raptors did show some bite in the second d quarter, as Roko Ukic provide a spark off the bench, as well as the invisible Joey Graham. Toronto headed into the break up 51-46.
There were plenty of problems with that score.
Charlotte scored 46 points, which put them on pace for a 92 point night, which wasn’t what the Raptors needed.
Chris Bosh was the only one scoring for the Raptors, as he had 24 points at the break.
The interior defence shown by the Raptors was very slow on rotations and was just bad. Gerald Wallace led the Bobcats in driving to the bucket, and also made smart passes when double teamed, and was just a huge problem all night for the Raptors.
And he himself showed he couldn’t shoot from the field, but the Raptors couldn’t handle him and keep him on the outside. Wallace ended the night with a team high 23 points.
The second half was focused mainly on defence, and both teams showed that, and the Raptors won the battle holding Charlotte to only 40 second half points.
The Raptors offence picked up to, and instead of Bosh doing all the scoring, he got some help, but still carried the team on his back, with his 39 point, 11 rebound performance.
Andrea Bargnani didn’t have the most explosive night offensively, but still managed 11 points. Defensively, that was his story and played big with his 9 rebounds and three blocked shots. Now only if he could do this on a consistent level.
Bargnani has taken major strides, and has shown he is a different player and didn’t sulk if he wasn’t scoring, something he did plenty of last year.
After a good first half, Joey Graham ended the game strongly with a season high 17 points, and at times was a tad to aggressive, and his five fouls were evidence of that. Those 17 points were huge and went a long way, because of the knee and ankle injury to Jermaine O’Neal, which forced him to miss his second straight game.
The play of Jason Kapono, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon over the last six to seven games has been sub par, and I’m being generous there.
Kapono hasn’t scored a three pointer in his last three games, and scored just four points tonight.
Parker scored just five points, and Moon had three, which came in the first half on a three pointer. Their defensive game has slowed down as well, and they both did a bad job trying to guard Gerald Wallace, and he was able to blow by them at any time.
The guard play from both of these teams was won by the Raptors’ Jose Calderon, even though he hasn’t been playing like his usual self since pulling his hamstring. Once again, he quietly scored 10 points and added 9 assists.
While the two starting point guards of DJ Agustin and Raymond Felton combined to score just 17 points and 11 assists. But, DJ Agustin did give the Raptors trouble as well; he put his quickness to work and had 13 points.
Overall, this game was to close for the Raptors liking, and should look at their defence first. Especially their interior defence, as they allowed Charlotte to score 42 points in the paint, and the Raptors only scored 22. The Bobcats also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds, compared to the Raptors’ 7. Those two stats played a huge factor for the Bobcats to stay alive, because even they proved why the are the league’s lowest scoring team.
This game was the first win in three games for Toronto, and only their third home win in seven games at the ACC. Toronto is now 7-7 on the season, and faces the Atlanta Hawks this November Friday 28th, and the last time these two teams played, the Raptors were blown out 110-92.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
WHAT A SAD GAME
Put another one in the loss column.
The Leafs came out flat and played that way throughout. The Leafs pretty much lost to a team worse than them, the Atlanta Thrashers to a final score of 6-3. Both of these teams came into the game on three game losing streaks.
Bad goaltending, mixed in with bad team play spelt disaster for Toronto. They were outplayed in the first period and the game, and had way too many turnovers. Atlanta cashed in on one of those turnovers.
Tomas Kaberle was the one who got caught at Atlanta’s blue line as he missed the puck trying to dump it in.
Colby Armstrong took it the other way on a 1 on 1 rush, got Curtis Joseph to bite on a fake and froze him for a second, before beating him high over the shoulder.
On that goal Joseph’s rust showed, as this was his first start since November 2nd. The play of Jeff Finger on that play was week, and he had similar plays like that one on Saturday versus Chicago where he got burned twice.
The difference in the first period was the play of the two goaltenders. Joseph had his moments making some strong saves to keep the Leafs in it, but didn’t keep it up. Whereas his counterpart Johan Hedberg was the reason his team won.
Hedberg had a great save that should be the save of the year so far on a Leafs 2-on-1 rush. Toronto had some good crisp passes going before Grabovski hesitated slightly and was robbed, on what should have been an easy empty net goal.
The second period was where Atlanta won the game, outscoring the Leafs 3-1.
The rookie Luke Schenn got confused by the Thrashers’ good down low play, and left his man open in front of the net. Todd White had an easy tap in goal right on the doorstep.
About three minutes later, Atlanta score again to make it 3-0. That goal came after the Thrashers’ hard work along the boards and crashed the net. What looked like a goalie interference call, but wasn’t. Atlanta had Joseph down and out of position, and Chris Thoburn had an empty netter. And he was the player that knocked down CuJo.
The Leafs did show some life after Nik Antropov skated down the wing and had his pass deflect off an Atlanta player to go in the net. The goal came 27 seconds after Atlanta had scored, and the momentum seemed to shift in the Leafs’ favor.
After a penalty to Antropov, Atlanta scored a second after the penalty expired. It was Ilya Kovalchuk who controlled the puck on the power play.
His first shot attempt went wide of the net, but after another shot from the point, the puck bounced right to Kovalchuk. He then chipped the puck by John Mitchell to himself, and snapped one over Joseph. That goal was very well orchestrated and the finish was just as good.
Kovalchuk just wasn’t scoring as he and Ian White got into it during the period. The two starting talking after White had hit him into the boards. First Kovalchuk charged White and then sucker punched him. Kovalchuk got a double minor penalty, and as soon as he left the box, he spotted White and the two fought.
All in all, there was some good hitting in the game, and the intensity level was up there.
With the score 4-1, Kovalchuk’s goal did it for Toronto.
Toronto did have chances to score, most notably on the power play late in the second. Antropov had the puck in the slot and shot wide of the net.
Six minutes into the third, Jeff Finger scored his first goal as a Leaf, but Atlanta was quick to answer and Mathieu Schneider scored a soft one that went through the five hole of Joseph. That shot was on a 2-on-1 basically from the point with no obstructed view.
To top off the night, Atlanta scored their sixth goal of the game, and Todd White got his second. It was a pass from behind the net that went off of Luke Schenn, then off of Joseph’s pad.
Niklas Hagman added a late power play goal, but that really didn’t matter.
Both Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski got hammered with some big hits. Blake got nailed for admiring his drop pass. Grabovski with all the stick handling he has done with his head down this season got clocked. It was only a matter of time before that was going to happen.
Toronto’s home ice woe’s continue, and they have only won three out of eleven games this season at the ACC. This game was the eighth time the Leafs have given up five or more goals in a game. And newcomer Lee Stempniak recorded a point in his Leafs debut with an assist on the first Toronto goal. Overall, he had a good first showing, as he showed off his speed. Both teams went 1/5 on the power play, and Toronto was out-shot 35-30.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
The Leafs came out flat and played that way throughout. The Leafs pretty much lost to a team worse than them, the Atlanta Thrashers to a final score of 6-3. Both of these teams came into the game on three game losing streaks.
Bad goaltending, mixed in with bad team play spelt disaster for Toronto. They were outplayed in the first period and the game, and had way too many turnovers. Atlanta cashed in on one of those turnovers.
Tomas Kaberle was the one who got caught at Atlanta’s blue line as he missed the puck trying to dump it in.
Colby Armstrong took it the other way on a 1 on 1 rush, got Curtis Joseph to bite on a fake and froze him for a second, before beating him high over the shoulder.
On that goal Joseph’s rust showed, as this was his first start since November 2nd. The play of Jeff Finger on that play was week, and he had similar plays like that one on Saturday versus Chicago where he got burned twice.
The difference in the first period was the play of the two goaltenders. Joseph had his moments making some strong saves to keep the Leafs in it, but didn’t keep it up. Whereas his counterpart Johan Hedberg was the reason his team won.
Hedberg had a great save that should be the save of the year so far on a Leafs 2-on-1 rush. Toronto had some good crisp passes going before Grabovski hesitated slightly and was robbed, on what should have been an easy empty net goal.
The second period was where Atlanta won the game, outscoring the Leafs 3-1.
The rookie Luke Schenn got confused by the Thrashers’ good down low play, and left his man open in front of the net. Todd White had an easy tap in goal right on the doorstep.
About three minutes later, Atlanta score again to make it 3-0. That goal came after the Thrashers’ hard work along the boards and crashed the net. What looked like a goalie interference call, but wasn’t. Atlanta had Joseph down and out of position, and Chris Thoburn had an empty netter. And he was the player that knocked down CuJo.
The Leafs did show some life after Nik Antropov skated down the wing and had his pass deflect off an Atlanta player to go in the net. The goal came 27 seconds after Atlanta had scored, and the momentum seemed to shift in the Leafs’ favor.
After a penalty to Antropov, Atlanta scored a second after the penalty expired. It was Ilya Kovalchuk who controlled the puck on the power play.
His first shot attempt went wide of the net, but after another shot from the point, the puck bounced right to Kovalchuk. He then chipped the puck by John Mitchell to himself, and snapped one over Joseph. That goal was very well orchestrated and the finish was just as good.
Kovalchuk just wasn’t scoring as he and Ian White got into it during the period. The two starting talking after White had hit him into the boards. First Kovalchuk charged White and then sucker punched him. Kovalchuk got a double minor penalty, and as soon as he left the box, he spotted White and the two fought.
All in all, there was some good hitting in the game, and the intensity level was up there.
With the score 4-1, Kovalchuk’s goal did it for Toronto.
Toronto did have chances to score, most notably on the power play late in the second. Antropov had the puck in the slot and shot wide of the net.
Six minutes into the third, Jeff Finger scored his first goal as a Leaf, but Atlanta was quick to answer and Mathieu Schneider scored a soft one that went through the five hole of Joseph. That shot was on a 2-on-1 basically from the point with no obstructed view.
To top off the night, Atlanta scored their sixth goal of the game, and Todd White got his second. It was a pass from behind the net that went off of Luke Schenn, then off of Joseph’s pad.
Niklas Hagman added a late power play goal, but that really didn’t matter.
Both Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski got hammered with some big hits. Blake got nailed for admiring his drop pass. Grabovski with all the stick handling he has done with his head down this season got clocked. It was only a matter of time before that was going to happen.
Toronto’s home ice woe’s continue, and they have only won three out of eleven games this season at the ACC. This game was the eighth time the Leafs have given up five or more goals in a game. And newcomer Lee Stempniak recorded a point in his Leafs debut with an assist on the first Toronto goal. Overall, he had a good first showing, as he showed off his speed. Both teams went 1/5 on the power play, and Toronto was out-shot 35-30.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A SPECIAL NIGHT RUINED
On back to back evenings the two Air Canada Centre tenants played excellent matches, but the results favored the guests.
First it was the Raptors who lost to the Nets after an 18 point lead.
Now, it was the Maple Leafs who lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4, squandering 3-0 and 4-2 leads.
The Leafs played a good solid game and beat the Hawks for two periods. In so many games this season, the Leafs have rarely played a full 60 minute game.
The first and second periods were all Leafs, and the Hawks showed some life late in the second period.
Toronto out shot (11-6) and out hustled Chicago in the first period to take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Pavel Kubina. And a failed penalty shot attempt by Matt Stajan was a missed opportunity to up the lead.
The second period was action packed as both teams traded shots and goals.
Toronto continued their strong play into the second and scored on a power play. Matt Stajan made up for his penalty shot, and the Leafs really worked the puck around and had men in motion. That is something they have lacked on most power plays this season.
Before that goal was scored, Toronto had a five on three advantage and didn’t score, and continue to struggle on five on three’s.
With a strong rush, Toronto managed to put another one behind Nik Khabibulin. Dominic Moore scored that goal to make it 3-0 on a backhand shot just a few feet off the goal line at the side of the net.
Chicago did edge closer on two straight Patrick Sharp goals. One was off a deflection on a power play and the other was off a sick deque, which left Jeff Finger hanging at the blue line. Sharp was in on a two on one, decided to keep the puck, and made a perfect shot that beat Vesa Toskala high blocker side.
Toskala was noticeably better in this game than his previous four or five, where he was letting in soft goals and didn’t look ready to play. The four day layoff helped him and the Leafs team to play a better game.
With the Leafs up 3-2, the Hawks looked determined to tie the game, but 67 seconds after Chicago had scored, Alex Ponikarovsky scored on a soft shot that fooled Khabibulin.
That goal looked to be the final blow, but the Leafs probably forgot that there was still another period to play.
The Blackhawks took full advantage of the lazy play by Toronto, and out shot the Leafs 15-9, and scored two goals to tie the game.
For the most part, the Leafs defence did a good job of shutting down Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews, but they struck in the third.
Early in the period, Patrick Kane scored on a quick snapshot from a pass behind the net only 55 seconds in, and made the score 4-3 Toronto.
Off of strong fore checking and complete control of the puck, the Hawks tied the game on another play from behind the net. Ben Eager was the goal scorer, whom should’ve been tossed from the game due to his actions in the first period.
It was another hit from behind, this time on Mikhail Grabovski, and Alex Ponikarovsky came into help his teammate and tackled Eager to the ice. Finally, someone other than Luke Schenn stuck up for his teammate.
On the play, and for some strange reason, Eager wasn’t given any discipline at all, while Ponikarovsky was given a two minute roughing penalty.
With the game tied at four, the game headed into overtime, and the Hawks won quickly, scoring only 49 seconds into the extra frame. The goal came off another slick pass, which was a slap pass from the point that confused the Leafs. David Bolland with some soft hands stopped the puck; stick handled around one defencemen and easily beat Toskala.
Once again the Leafs out shot their opponent, this time 38-36 and both teams went 1/3 on the power play.
Jonas Frogren got to play, due to a foot/leg injury to Carlo Colaiacovo, which was sustained during practice.
Rookie John Mitchell was back in the lineup after missing five games with a shoulder injury and recorded an assist on the fourth Toronto goal.
Of course before the game was played, former captain Wendel Clark was honored as his number 17 was raised to the rafters of the ACC. For some reason, MLSE can’t get a ceremony done right. If you timed this ceremony to the one Tie Domi got for his thousandth game, Domi’s was longer.
First of all, Domi shouldn’t have been given such a ceremony. He really hadn’t done anything great in his career. And so what if he was a fan favourite, and if that’s the case, every Leaf player that was favored by the fans should be given a ceremony. How about giving one to Wade Belak, and he was just placed on waivers, so lets bring him back.
Anyways, back to the Clark ceremony. It was too short, and nobody was brought in to make a speech about him or anything like that. Compare that to Patrick Roy’s ceremony, where three former coaches were brought in.
When Clark finished his speech, they immediately raised his banner, they didn’t even let him get a few pictures in or even touch it.
What happened to the passion that we Leafs have? Barely anyone was wearing the moustache.
Lastly, this ‘honoring’ bullshit has got to stop. It is time to retire numbers. Here is some cold hard evidence of this. Shayne Corson was allowed to wear number 27, and know way was he able to match the legacy of Frank Mahovlich or Darryl Sittler. Currently, Matt Stajan, who wears number 14, which was once worn by Dave Keon, will, and I doubt it, ever match Keon’s legacy.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
First it was the Raptors who lost to the Nets after an 18 point lead.
Now, it was the Maple Leafs who lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4, squandering 3-0 and 4-2 leads.
The Leafs played a good solid game and beat the Hawks for two periods. In so many games this season, the Leafs have rarely played a full 60 minute game.
The first and second periods were all Leafs, and the Hawks showed some life late in the second period.
Toronto out shot (11-6) and out hustled Chicago in the first period to take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Pavel Kubina. And a failed penalty shot attempt by Matt Stajan was a missed opportunity to up the lead.
The second period was action packed as both teams traded shots and goals.
Toronto continued their strong play into the second and scored on a power play. Matt Stajan made up for his penalty shot, and the Leafs really worked the puck around and had men in motion. That is something they have lacked on most power plays this season.
Before that goal was scored, Toronto had a five on three advantage and didn’t score, and continue to struggle on five on three’s.
With a strong rush, Toronto managed to put another one behind Nik Khabibulin. Dominic Moore scored that goal to make it 3-0 on a backhand shot just a few feet off the goal line at the side of the net.
Chicago did edge closer on two straight Patrick Sharp goals. One was off a deflection on a power play and the other was off a sick deque, which left Jeff Finger hanging at the blue line. Sharp was in on a two on one, decided to keep the puck, and made a perfect shot that beat Vesa Toskala high blocker side.
Toskala was noticeably better in this game than his previous four or five, where he was letting in soft goals and didn’t look ready to play. The four day layoff helped him and the Leafs team to play a better game.
With the Leafs up 3-2, the Hawks looked determined to tie the game, but 67 seconds after Chicago had scored, Alex Ponikarovsky scored on a soft shot that fooled Khabibulin.
That goal looked to be the final blow, but the Leafs probably forgot that there was still another period to play.
The Blackhawks took full advantage of the lazy play by Toronto, and out shot the Leafs 15-9, and scored two goals to tie the game.
For the most part, the Leafs defence did a good job of shutting down Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews, but they struck in the third.
Early in the period, Patrick Kane scored on a quick snapshot from a pass behind the net only 55 seconds in, and made the score 4-3 Toronto.
Off of strong fore checking and complete control of the puck, the Hawks tied the game on another play from behind the net. Ben Eager was the goal scorer, whom should’ve been tossed from the game due to his actions in the first period.
It was another hit from behind, this time on Mikhail Grabovski, and Alex Ponikarovsky came into help his teammate and tackled Eager to the ice. Finally, someone other than Luke Schenn stuck up for his teammate.
On the play, and for some strange reason, Eager wasn’t given any discipline at all, while Ponikarovsky was given a two minute roughing penalty.
With the game tied at four, the game headed into overtime, and the Hawks won quickly, scoring only 49 seconds into the extra frame. The goal came off another slick pass, which was a slap pass from the point that confused the Leafs. David Bolland with some soft hands stopped the puck; stick handled around one defencemen and easily beat Toskala.
Once again the Leafs out shot their opponent, this time 38-36 and both teams went 1/3 on the power play.
Jonas Frogren got to play, due to a foot/leg injury to Carlo Colaiacovo, which was sustained during practice.
Rookie John Mitchell was back in the lineup after missing five games with a shoulder injury and recorded an assist on the fourth Toronto goal.
Of course before the game was played, former captain Wendel Clark was honored as his number 17 was raised to the rafters of the ACC. For some reason, MLSE can’t get a ceremony done right. If you timed this ceremony to the one Tie Domi got for his thousandth game, Domi’s was longer.
First of all, Domi shouldn’t have been given such a ceremony. He really hadn’t done anything great in his career. And so what if he was a fan favourite, and if that’s the case, every Leaf player that was favored by the fans should be given a ceremony. How about giving one to Wade Belak, and he was just placed on waivers, so lets bring him back.
Anyways, back to the Clark ceremony. It was too short, and nobody was brought in to make a speech about him or anything like that. Compare that to Patrick Roy’s ceremony, where three former coaches were brought in.
When Clark finished his speech, they immediately raised his banner, they didn’t even let him get a few pictures in or even touch it.
What happened to the passion that we Leafs have? Barely anyone was wearing the moustache.
Lastly, this ‘honoring’ bullshit has got to stop. It is time to retire numbers. Here is some cold hard evidence of this. Shayne Corson was allowed to wear number 27, and know way was he able to match the legacy of Frank Mahovlich or Darryl Sittler. Currently, Matt Stajan, who wears number 14, which was once worn by Dave Keon, will, and I doubt it, ever match Keon’s legacy.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Friday, November 21, 2008
VINCE STEALS THE SHOW
What a game it was on a Friday night in Toronto. The hometown Raptors were up against cry baby Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets. Whoever says the hate towards Vince Carter has died should think again, and should look at the solid evidence that was presented by the 19 800 Raptor fans at the Air Canada Centre.
The crowd was hyped up and ready to go, and so were the Raptors. And they got off to a blistering start outscoring the Nets 32-22, which was highlighted by Chris Bosh taking all of his defenders to school. With that, Yi Jianlian and Sean Williams both got two quick fouls and quick hooks.
Things continued to look good for the Raptors, especially when they only committed 6 first half turnovers. One player that was thought to give the Raptors fits was Devin Harris. That never developed in the first half. It was Jose Calderon exposing Harris with his passing and scoring touch.
The Raptors dominated the game with ease, and went into the second half with a strong 14 point, 61-47 lead.
The game at the start of the third quarter looked to be all locked all up and sealed with an 18 point lead with 8 minutes to play in the quarter. That didn’t materialize, and the Nets showed signs of life led by Vince Carter and his crowd quieting 39 points.
Just like the many Raptor losses this young season, they laid back with a double digit lead, their bench failed once again and quite miserably, and the turnovers piled up. In the end, 14 were given up, and at extremely crucial moments of the game.
The fourth was huge as the Nets trounced the Raps 35-26, and tied the game up to send it to overtime tied at 111. The two teams traded 14 point advantaged halves.
How the game got to that point was just a devastating blow.
First Jose Calderon hit a clutch three that put the Raps up by five. That looked to be the exclamation point, because Jose said so.
The Nets came right back, giving everything and more, and pulled to within two points with just seconds left to play. Vince Carter and Devin Harris (30 points) were providing all the huge shots.
With the Nets fouling, and what appeared to be an advantage for the Raptors, failed on them. Give the goat horns to Anthony Parker and his ever dwindling play, as he was sent to the line, with the Raps up by two. Parker split the shots, and the Raps lead was down to one possession with four seconds left to play at 111-108.
On the Nets possession, everyone knew Vince Carter was going to get the ball. Well he did, made some room for himself, and knocked down a huge three from way downtown. Just like he did when he first appeared in Toronto after the trade, and hit a buzzer beating three in regulation. The Raptors only 0.5 seconds to do something, but didn’t get anything out of it.
The shot Vince knocked down took the wind right out of the Raptors. Oh yeah, the guy that was covering Vince on that shot was Anthony Parker. His futile defense stunk, and why the Raptors didn’t foul on that possession is beyond me.
Overtime was an eventful five minutes, where the two teams were like boxers that traded huge knocks. When one team had the opportunity to deliver the knockout punch, they just couldn’t get it.
The Raptors ended up being down by five with seconds to go, and a desperation three from Chris Bosh was good, that cut the lead to two points. On the other side the Raptors got the foul shot miss they were looking for, and were only down by three. This time, they answered with another three, and from, guess who, Anthony Parker, but he still remained the goat.
Why, you may ask. Well, with 2 seconds still left on the clock, he didn’t guard Vince Carter tightly, and Vince was able to retrieve an inbound alley-oop reverse dunk to essentially win the game with only 0.5 seconds left, again.
This loss by the Raptors is just a killer, and they’ll have to rebound quick and put it behind them, because they face the defending champion Celtics next.
To add insult to injury, Jermaine O’Neal went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter, which happened when he went up for a rebound. And was fouled hard by Sean Williams, as he grabbed the back of his jersey and pulled O’Neal down by the shoulder. He was able to get up and walk around, and things looked good. But something just wasn’t right, as he missed two free throws, and was out from there.
Once again, Chris Bosh had a solid night scoring 42 points, and has now scored 40 or more points in two of the last three games. For some reason the Raptors are 0-2 when Bosh scores forty points in a game.
This time around, the Raptors did get scoring help, from Andrea Bargnani who had a career high 29 points and added ten rebounds. Jose Calderon quietly put up 26 points and had 15 assists. And still, the Raptors managed to lose this game, which is just sad.
In this game you could point to the third quarter where the bench for the Raptors was on the court and let the Nets back in the game with bad offense and defense.
The Raptors bench only scored 15 points from 4 players. You can exclude Kris Humphries because he was the only player that worked hard, driving the ball at every chance he got and was able to score 9 of the 15 in only 20 minutes of work. If you compare that to what Anthony Parker did in his 42 minutes, it is night and day. Only 8 point came from Parker.
The Nets bench was way better, as one player pretty much outscored the Raptor bench. Jarvis Hayes had 14 points, and in total the Nets’ bench scored 31 points over 6 players.
The play of rookie centre Brook Lopez was very impressive as he scored 14 points with six rebounds.
The Raptors at home this season are now 2-3, and 6-6 overall.
What looked to be a laugher for the Raptors, turned into insane hysterical laughter.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
The crowd was hyped up and ready to go, and so were the Raptors. And they got off to a blistering start outscoring the Nets 32-22, which was highlighted by Chris Bosh taking all of his defenders to school. With that, Yi Jianlian and Sean Williams both got two quick fouls and quick hooks.
Things continued to look good for the Raptors, especially when they only committed 6 first half turnovers. One player that was thought to give the Raptors fits was Devin Harris. That never developed in the first half. It was Jose Calderon exposing Harris with his passing and scoring touch.
The Raptors dominated the game with ease, and went into the second half with a strong 14 point, 61-47 lead.
The game at the start of the third quarter looked to be all locked all up and sealed with an 18 point lead with 8 minutes to play in the quarter. That didn’t materialize, and the Nets showed signs of life led by Vince Carter and his crowd quieting 39 points.
Just like the many Raptor losses this young season, they laid back with a double digit lead, their bench failed once again and quite miserably, and the turnovers piled up. In the end, 14 were given up, and at extremely crucial moments of the game.
The fourth was huge as the Nets trounced the Raps 35-26, and tied the game up to send it to overtime tied at 111. The two teams traded 14 point advantaged halves.
How the game got to that point was just a devastating blow.
First Jose Calderon hit a clutch three that put the Raps up by five. That looked to be the exclamation point, because Jose said so.
The Nets came right back, giving everything and more, and pulled to within two points with just seconds left to play. Vince Carter and Devin Harris (30 points) were providing all the huge shots.
With the Nets fouling, and what appeared to be an advantage for the Raptors, failed on them. Give the goat horns to Anthony Parker and his ever dwindling play, as he was sent to the line, with the Raps up by two. Parker split the shots, and the Raps lead was down to one possession with four seconds left to play at 111-108.
On the Nets possession, everyone knew Vince Carter was going to get the ball. Well he did, made some room for himself, and knocked down a huge three from way downtown. Just like he did when he first appeared in Toronto after the trade, and hit a buzzer beating three in regulation. The Raptors only 0.5 seconds to do something, but didn’t get anything out of it.
The shot Vince knocked down took the wind right out of the Raptors. Oh yeah, the guy that was covering Vince on that shot was Anthony Parker. His futile defense stunk, and why the Raptors didn’t foul on that possession is beyond me.
Overtime was an eventful five minutes, where the two teams were like boxers that traded huge knocks. When one team had the opportunity to deliver the knockout punch, they just couldn’t get it.
The Raptors ended up being down by five with seconds to go, and a desperation three from Chris Bosh was good, that cut the lead to two points. On the other side the Raptors got the foul shot miss they were looking for, and were only down by three. This time, they answered with another three, and from, guess who, Anthony Parker, but he still remained the goat.
Why, you may ask. Well, with 2 seconds still left on the clock, he didn’t guard Vince Carter tightly, and Vince was able to retrieve an inbound alley-oop reverse dunk to essentially win the game with only 0.5 seconds left, again.
This loss by the Raptors is just a killer, and they’ll have to rebound quick and put it behind them, because they face the defending champion Celtics next.
To add insult to injury, Jermaine O’Neal went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter, which happened when he went up for a rebound. And was fouled hard by Sean Williams, as he grabbed the back of his jersey and pulled O’Neal down by the shoulder. He was able to get up and walk around, and things looked good. But something just wasn’t right, as he missed two free throws, and was out from there.
Once again, Chris Bosh had a solid night scoring 42 points, and has now scored 40 or more points in two of the last three games. For some reason the Raptors are 0-2 when Bosh scores forty points in a game.
This time around, the Raptors did get scoring help, from Andrea Bargnani who had a career high 29 points and added ten rebounds. Jose Calderon quietly put up 26 points and had 15 assists. And still, the Raptors managed to lose this game, which is just sad.
In this game you could point to the third quarter where the bench for the Raptors was on the court and let the Nets back in the game with bad offense and defense.
The Raptors bench only scored 15 points from 4 players. You can exclude Kris Humphries because he was the only player that worked hard, driving the ball at every chance he got and was able to score 9 of the 15 in only 20 minutes of work. If you compare that to what Anthony Parker did in his 42 minutes, it is night and day. Only 8 point came from Parker.
The Nets bench was way better, as one player pretty much outscored the Raptor bench. Jarvis Hayes had 14 points, and in total the Nets’ bench scored 31 points over 6 players.
The play of rookie centre Brook Lopez was very impressive as he scored 14 points with six rebounds.
The Raptors at home this season are now 2-3, and 6-6 overall.
What looked to be a laugher for the Raptors, turned into insane hysterical laughter.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
SLOPPY BASKETBALL HURTS TORONTO
Exacting revenge wasn’t in the cards, as the Toronto Raptors were downed by the Orlando Magic 103-90, at Amway Arena.
After being ousted in five games last year in the first round of the playoffs, you’d think the Raptors would’ve wanted some sort of payback. And for a moment it looked it was going to happen.
The first quarter was played smartly by the Raptors, except for a few turnovers. The presence of Jermaine O’Neal really helped the Raptors on defence and he did a good job of containing the freak of nature Dwight Howard. Who on the season so far is averaging 21 points and 14 rebounds, and finished the night with only 18 points and 9 rebounds.
In return, both O’Neal and Chris Bosh were able to work down low and the Raptors came out of the first with the lead, 26-21.
So, at this point you may be thinking to yourself, how did the Raptors let this one get away?
Well then, it all started with not protecting the ball and turning the ball over, and that’s where things began to fall apart. All tolled, the Raptors had 24 turnovers on the night, and the bulk of those came from the point guard play of Will Solomon and Roko Ukic. Solomon had nine and Ukic had two.
That just shows you how important and how much the Raptors miss Jose Calderon, who is out with a hamstring injury. So far, the two point guards have done a horrible job in filling in for Calderon.
Overall, the two point guards put up horrible numbers, combining only to score 16 points and had just five measly assists. To put that in perspective, Chris Bosh had four assists.
The Raptors really caught a break on the final score, because they should have been blown out with the amount of turnovers they had. Luckily for them, Orlando did a bad job on converting those turnovers into points.
Defensively, O’Neal had Dwight Howard covered nicely, but foul trouble was O’Neal’s demise, and eventually was fouled out. The first quarter was played clean, but in the second he picked up two, and in the third he got an early foul. The fourth foul was the worst, as he fouled Rashard Lewis on a three point attempt that missed. Give some credit to Lewis for some excellent acting skills, because that was a soft call by the officials.
With O’Neal out, Dwight Howard was able to do what he wanted, because no else on the Raptors was able to match him physically.
The third reason why the Raptors lost was they got no scoring help from other players.
Chris Bosh was his usual self posting another double-double, with a monster night of 40 points and 18 rebounds. And J.O. chipped in with 16 points and 10 rebounds in limited minutes (26) because of foul trouble. Those two had 56 of the 90 Raptor points.
The other three starters, Andrea Bargnani (5 points), Will Solomon (10 points) and Anthony Parker (4 points) had 19 points and 9 rebounds combined. Defensively they were no better because the Orlando starting five all were in double figures.
The bench play from the Raptors was even worse, as they only got 15 points from 6 different players.
As for the Orlando starters, three out of the five had 22 points. Which were Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson, and they also had 7, 1 and 5 assists respectively. Their shooting numbers were outstanding, as those three shot 50% on 24/48 shooting.
Even with Dwight Howard having had a sub par night according to his standards, the Raptors still couldn’t gain an advantage. They were badly exposed on the dribble-drive penetration and kick-out by the Magic players. The Toronto defence was slow to switch and box out players. With that, the Raptors were scorched on three-point shooting, as Orlando shot 48% (11/23). While the Raptors only shot 14% (2/13) from three point range. Both those made three’s came in the fourth quarter.
Here are two stats that should get you thinking. Rebounding, the Raptors won there, 44-37, but still managed to lose. Here’s the killer, Dwight Howard went 8/11 on free throw shooting.
If Howard had shot according to his season’s free throw percentage (.521) and the Raptors had capitalized on the Magic’s 17 turnovers, the game could’ve had a different outcome.
Both teams played very sloppy basketball and the team that won, was the team that was able to hit the most three’s. The Magic had 9 more made three’s than the Raptors. They only made two more field goals than the Raptors, 37-35.
With the loss, the Raptors are in an ugly slide having lost 5 of their last seven games and are 5-5 on the season. Meanwhile, the Magic have won four straight and are 8-3 on the season.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
After being ousted in five games last year in the first round of the playoffs, you’d think the Raptors would’ve wanted some sort of payback. And for a moment it looked it was going to happen.
The first quarter was played smartly by the Raptors, except for a few turnovers. The presence of Jermaine O’Neal really helped the Raptors on defence and he did a good job of containing the freak of nature Dwight Howard. Who on the season so far is averaging 21 points and 14 rebounds, and finished the night with only 18 points and 9 rebounds.
In return, both O’Neal and Chris Bosh were able to work down low and the Raptors came out of the first with the lead, 26-21.
So, at this point you may be thinking to yourself, how did the Raptors let this one get away?
Well then, it all started with not protecting the ball and turning the ball over, and that’s where things began to fall apart. All tolled, the Raptors had 24 turnovers on the night, and the bulk of those came from the point guard play of Will Solomon and Roko Ukic. Solomon had nine and Ukic had two.
That just shows you how important and how much the Raptors miss Jose Calderon, who is out with a hamstring injury. So far, the two point guards have done a horrible job in filling in for Calderon.
Overall, the two point guards put up horrible numbers, combining only to score 16 points and had just five measly assists. To put that in perspective, Chris Bosh had four assists.
The Raptors really caught a break on the final score, because they should have been blown out with the amount of turnovers they had. Luckily for them, Orlando did a bad job on converting those turnovers into points.
Defensively, O’Neal had Dwight Howard covered nicely, but foul trouble was O’Neal’s demise, and eventually was fouled out. The first quarter was played clean, but in the second he picked up two, and in the third he got an early foul. The fourth foul was the worst, as he fouled Rashard Lewis on a three point attempt that missed. Give some credit to Lewis for some excellent acting skills, because that was a soft call by the officials.
With O’Neal out, Dwight Howard was able to do what he wanted, because no else on the Raptors was able to match him physically.
The third reason why the Raptors lost was they got no scoring help from other players.
Chris Bosh was his usual self posting another double-double, with a monster night of 40 points and 18 rebounds. And J.O. chipped in with 16 points and 10 rebounds in limited minutes (26) because of foul trouble. Those two had 56 of the 90 Raptor points.
The other three starters, Andrea Bargnani (5 points), Will Solomon (10 points) and Anthony Parker (4 points) had 19 points and 9 rebounds combined. Defensively they were no better because the Orlando starting five all were in double figures.
The bench play from the Raptors was even worse, as they only got 15 points from 6 different players.
As for the Orlando starters, three out of the five had 22 points. Which were Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson, and they also had 7, 1 and 5 assists respectively. Their shooting numbers were outstanding, as those three shot 50% on 24/48 shooting.
Even with Dwight Howard having had a sub par night according to his standards, the Raptors still couldn’t gain an advantage. They were badly exposed on the dribble-drive penetration and kick-out by the Magic players. The Toronto defence was slow to switch and box out players. With that, the Raptors were scorched on three-point shooting, as Orlando shot 48% (11/23). While the Raptors only shot 14% (2/13) from three point range. Both those made three’s came in the fourth quarter.
Here are two stats that should get you thinking. Rebounding, the Raptors won there, 44-37, but still managed to lose. Here’s the killer, Dwight Howard went 8/11 on free throw shooting.
If Howard had shot according to his season’s free throw percentage (.521) and the Raptors had capitalized on the Magic’s 17 turnovers, the game could’ve had a different outcome.
Both teams played very sloppy basketball and the team that won, was the team that was able to hit the most three’s. The Magic had 9 more made three’s than the Raptors. They only made two more field goals than the Raptors, 37-35.
With the loss, the Raptors are in an ugly slide having lost 5 of their last seven games and are 5-5 on the season. Meanwhile, the Magic have won four straight and are 8-3 on the season.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
THE LEAFS PLAYED TEN GOOD MINUTES
After four years, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally played a game in Calgary versus the Flames. This was just the first leg of a three game Western Canada Odyssey.
The Leafs opened the scoring and ended it. Unfortunately, they didn’t ended for the good, but tried for another two goal deficit comeback that fell short. Ultimately, Toronto lost the game 4-3.
In the first period the Leafs had a great start, out hustling the Flames and breaking down their defence. For their efforts, Toronto was awarded with a power play, and made good use of it, after squandering an earlier opportunity. Alex Ponikarovsky was the goal scorer, after the Leafs made good crisp passes and got Miikka Kiprusoff moving side to side. Ponikarovsky shot a quick one-timer high short side at 9.20 into the period.
After that, Calgary locked down defensively and rarely gave an inch to Toronto to maneuver. Ten minutes of good hockey was all the Leafs played.
Offensively, the Flames tied things up on a Dustin Boyd goal, which was created off a bad bounce. The rookie Luke Schenn was caught flat footed as the buck bounced on him, in his own zone, and Todd Bertuzzi flew by and made a nice pass to Boyd.
With Mike Cammalleri out, due to the flu, Boyd was given a chance to play on the top line with Jarome Iginla, and scored two goals.
Then the sloppiness kicked in for the Leafs, and got caught on a bad line change, which caused them to take a penalty. Jamal Mayers was booked for interference.
After good puck movement, and a tired effort clearing from Jeff Finger along the boards, the Flames scored to take the lead.
With the puck not cleared, Dion Phaneuf got the puck at the point, and let go a quick wrister from the point, that made a through a crowd towards Vesa Toskala. There was a big rebound available and the Calgary captain, Jarome Iginla had an easy tap in for his tenth goal of the year.
The defensive lock down from Calgary was solid, and were hard to beat. Also, the Leafs made things easy for them too, by skating the puck about 70 feet, and held up their own players. With that, there was no speed being generated and no momentum.
If the Leads did crack the Calgary defence, well then, they had to deal with Kiprusoff, and he isn’t such a bad goalie. On the night, he stopped 29 out of 32 shots.
The Leafs defensively were okay, and didn’t take stupid penalties. In fact, they only took one, and allowed a goal. Overall, the Flames were getting good looks at goal, and were able to get some good cycle games going.
There cycle game showed in the final minute and a half of the second period, as the Leafs were just standing around, and allowed a back breaking goal with 28 seconds left. It was Dion Phaneuf, from a bad angle, through traffic, who stepped into a wicked slap shot. That shot was dirty, because it hit the far post, and he too most likely had an obstructed view of the goal, and even with a bad eye. Phaneuf had a good night offensively with a goal and two assists.
Those late goals are always tough to give up, especially when you’re facing a tough defensive team down 3-1 going into the third period.
The Leafs had a tough time getting things going, and gave up another goal to make it 4-1. And Dustin Boyd scored off a rebound, from a Mark Giordano slap shot.
Toronto did get two goals back, one from Nik Antropov, his sixth of the year, who tipped in an Ian White point shot with 5.07 left in the game. The third Toronto goal came from Matt Stajan, one that you could put into the ‘fluky category’. It was off a face-off, and Craig Conroy won it so cleanly, that he beat his own goaltender. That goal came with 54 seconds left in the game.
To think, after so many attempts to score off of good fore checking, Kiprusoff lets in a softie. What are the odd of that?
With Calgary smartly clearing the puck, and the Leafs not hitting the net, this game was done.
Jason Blake was a healthy scratch for the second time this season, and Ryan Hollweg replaced him in the lineup. Six different Toronto players each recorded a point, and Matt Stajan had game high with two. The Leafs now, for the thirteenth game in a row, had 30 plus shots on goal. Both teams ended the night with 32 shots each. Nik Kulemin is in a serious goal scoring funk, and hasn’t scored in 13 games. Mikhail Grabovski picked up an assist to continue his hot streak.
Just a thought to add. Isn’t weird how the Leaf haters across Canada could talk so much shit about the Leafs, and yet get excited about them coming to town. In the telecast, they stated that the Leafs/Flames game was the hottest ticket in town. I mean, do these haters actually hate the Leafs, or do they no want to show their true feelings? To me, I think those fans are jealous that their team can’t create a buzz like the Leafs and get everyone talking. Down here in Toronto, I don’t think there is a lot of hate toward the Western Canadian teams. Just to the other two Eastern Canadian teams.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
The Leafs opened the scoring and ended it. Unfortunately, they didn’t ended for the good, but tried for another two goal deficit comeback that fell short. Ultimately, Toronto lost the game 4-3.
In the first period the Leafs had a great start, out hustling the Flames and breaking down their defence. For their efforts, Toronto was awarded with a power play, and made good use of it, after squandering an earlier opportunity. Alex Ponikarovsky was the goal scorer, after the Leafs made good crisp passes and got Miikka Kiprusoff moving side to side. Ponikarovsky shot a quick one-timer high short side at 9.20 into the period.
After that, Calgary locked down defensively and rarely gave an inch to Toronto to maneuver. Ten minutes of good hockey was all the Leafs played.
Offensively, the Flames tied things up on a Dustin Boyd goal, which was created off a bad bounce. The rookie Luke Schenn was caught flat footed as the buck bounced on him, in his own zone, and Todd Bertuzzi flew by and made a nice pass to Boyd.
With Mike Cammalleri out, due to the flu, Boyd was given a chance to play on the top line with Jarome Iginla, and scored two goals.
Then the sloppiness kicked in for the Leafs, and got caught on a bad line change, which caused them to take a penalty. Jamal Mayers was booked for interference.
After good puck movement, and a tired effort clearing from Jeff Finger along the boards, the Flames scored to take the lead.
With the puck not cleared, Dion Phaneuf got the puck at the point, and let go a quick wrister from the point, that made a through a crowd towards Vesa Toskala. There was a big rebound available and the Calgary captain, Jarome Iginla had an easy tap in for his tenth goal of the year.
The defensive lock down from Calgary was solid, and were hard to beat. Also, the Leafs made things easy for them too, by skating the puck about 70 feet, and held up their own players. With that, there was no speed being generated and no momentum.
If the Leads did crack the Calgary defence, well then, they had to deal with Kiprusoff, and he isn’t such a bad goalie. On the night, he stopped 29 out of 32 shots.
The Leafs defensively were okay, and didn’t take stupid penalties. In fact, they only took one, and allowed a goal. Overall, the Flames were getting good looks at goal, and were able to get some good cycle games going.
There cycle game showed in the final minute and a half of the second period, as the Leafs were just standing around, and allowed a back breaking goal with 28 seconds left. It was Dion Phaneuf, from a bad angle, through traffic, who stepped into a wicked slap shot. That shot was dirty, because it hit the far post, and he too most likely had an obstructed view of the goal, and even with a bad eye. Phaneuf had a good night offensively with a goal and two assists.
Those late goals are always tough to give up, especially when you’re facing a tough defensive team down 3-1 going into the third period.
The Leafs had a tough time getting things going, and gave up another goal to make it 4-1. And Dustin Boyd scored off a rebound, from a Mark Giordano slap shot.
Toronto did get two goals back, one from Nik Antropov, his sixth of the year, who tipped in an Ian White point shot with 5.07 left in the game. The third Toronto goal came from Matt Stajan, one that you could put into the ‘fluky category’. It was off a face-off, and Craig Conroy won it so cleanly, that he beat his own goaltender. That goal came with 54 seconds left in the game.
To think, after so many attempts to score off of good fore checking, Kiprusoff lets in a softie. What are the odd of that?
With Calgary smartly clearing the puck, and the Leafs not hitting the net, this game was done.
Jason Blake was a healthy scratch for the second time this season, and Ryan Hollweg replaced him in the lineup. Six different Toronto players each recorded a point, and Matt Stajan had game high with two. The Leafs now, for the thirteenth game in a row, had 30 plus shots on goal. Both teams ended the night with 32 shots each. Nik Kulemin is in a serious goal scoring funk, and hasn’t scored in 13 games. Mikhail Grabovski picked up an assist to continue his hot streak.
Just a thought to add. Isn’t weird how the Leaf haters across Canada could talk so much shit about the Leafs, and yet get excited about them coming to town. In the telecast, they stated that the Leafs/Flames game was the hottest ticket in town. I mean, do these haters actually hate the Leafs, or do they no want to show their true feelings? To me, I think those fans are jealous that their team can’t create a buzz like the Leafs and get everyone talking. Down here in Toronto, I don’t think there is a lot of hate toward the Western Canadian teams. Just to the other two Eastern Canadian teams.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Monday, November 10, 2008
RAPTORS GAVE IT AWAY
For the second time in four games the Raptors were stymied by an elite team in the Eastern Conference. First it was the Detroit Pistons, and now the Boston Celtics, to whom the Raptors lost 94-87 at the TD Bank North Garden.
This game is going to burn for a while, because the Raptors at one point in the game had the defending NBA Champs on the ropes. They were up by 16 points and the Celtics wouldn’t allow the Raps to deliver the knockout punch.
It was an entertaining ball game with a playoff like atmosphere where both teams traded big shot for big shot. But this was one the Raptors should have had.
They did everything right in the first half, their shooting was good, their ball handling was excellent, and the passing was superb. The Raptors only allowed the Celtics to score 36 points in the first half, which is a season low for Boston.
For the Raptors’ Jermaine O’Neal, he finally had a break out game, and collected his first double-double with Toronto. He had 19 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, and 10 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Chris Bosh had a slow night offensively with only 9 points, a season low. The Raptors finally got the scoring help they needed from other players, which propelled them to a lead at the break
In the second half, O’Neal and Kendrick Perkins went nose to nose with each other, as Perkins tried to get to O’Neal, because he knows he cannot guard him. For their pushes and exchange of words, they each got technical fouls, and Perkins picked up an extra personal foul as he started the shoving.
That altercation may have gotten to O’Neal, because he only scored 4 points in the second half, with zero in the third.
The bench scoring was led by Jason Kapono with 14 points, and chipped in with 6 assists. Joey Graham had a good game too with 8 points in 18 minutes. The inconsistent Andrea Bargnani had 2 points, compared to when he came up big for the Raps off the bench versus Charlotte on Sunday afternoon with 18 points. For the game, the Raptors bench outscored the Celtics 28-12.
The Big 3 was contained, and the key was to stop Paul Pierce, as he is the focal point of that offence and drives it. The Raptors did do a good job, and held Pierce to score the bulk of his first half points at the free throw line. The first half score was 48-36 for the Raptors.
To contain the Big 3 of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Pierce, you have to play 4 defensive quarters, and the Raptors only played two.
In the second half, the Big 3 let loose, led by Pierce with 36 points, getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Nobody on the Raptors was able to stop him, because his moves were so decisive, that as a defender you didn’t know if he was going to drive the ball or pull up with a shot.
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, each had 21 and 19 points respectively, and Garnett had ten rebounds for the double-double. In total, the Big 3 combined to score 76 of Boston’s 94 points, which came out to a percent of 80.
The Raptors for the most part did a good job of keeping the crowd quiet and out of the game. The defensive intensity of Garnet and the offensive flare by Pierce hyped up the crowd and began the rally.
Garnett’s defensive antics got to the Raptors, as he kept challenging them to do something and come his way. Then he got into the face of Jose Calderon, and barked at him all the way up the court. The 6’2 Spaniard wasn’t afraid of him, and got into it with the 6’11 Garnett.
The Boston defence, in the end, was just too much for the Raptors. The Celtics didn’t let Toronto get back into its offensive groove and held them to 43% shooting. The Celtics challenged every shot and pass and didn’t allow the Raptors to drive the lane. With that, they held the Raptors to only 39 second half points.
The Raptors had their chances in this game when they were up and could’ve added to the lead, but didn’t take advantage of Boston misses and turnovers.
On the flip side, after a doing such a great job of clogging up the lane, the Raptors broke down defensively and the Celtics were able to drive easily to the bucket. The Celtics outscored the Raptors 58-39 in the second half, which was headed by a huge 35 point fourth quarter. And Paul Pierce had 22 of those points.
Both teams tied for rebounds at 39 a piece, and the Raptors had the advantage in the assist department with 25, compared to Boston’s 17. In the game, there were seven lead changes and seven ties.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
This game is going to burn for a while, because the Raptors at one point in the game had the defending NBA Champs on the ropes. They were up by 16 points and the Celtics wouldn’t allow the Raps to deliver the knockout punch.
It was an entertaining ball game with a playoff like atmosphere where both teams traded big shot for big shot. But this was one the Raptors should have had.
They did everything right in the first half, their shooting was good, their ball handling was excellent, and the passing was superb. The Raptors only allowed the Celtics to score 36 points in the first half, which is a season low for Boston.
For the Raptors’ Jermaine O’Neal, he finally had a break out game, and collected his first double-double with Toronto. He had 19 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, and 10 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Chris Bosh had a slow night offensively with only 9 points, a season low. The Raptors finally got the scoring help they needed from other players, which propelled them to a lead at the break
In the second half, O’Neal and Kendrick Perkins went nose to nose with each other, as Perkins tried to get to O’Neal, because he knows he cannot guard him. For their pushes and exchange of words, they each got technical fouls, and Perkins picked up an extra personal foul as he started the shoving.
That altercation may have gotten to O’Neal, because he only scored 4 points in the second half, with zero in the third.
The bench scoring was led by Jason Kapono with 14 points, and chipped in with 6 assists. Joey Graham had a good game too with 8 points in 18 minutes. The inconsistent Andrea Bargnani had 2 points, compared to when he came up big for the Raps off the bench versus Charlotte on Sunday afternoon with 18 points. For the game, the Raptors bench outscored the Celtics 28-12.
The Big 3 was contained, and the key was to stop Paul Pierce, as he is the focal point of that offence and drives it. The Raptors did do a good job, and held Pierce to score the bulk of his first half points at the free throw line. The first half score was 48-36 for the Raptors.
To contain the Big 3 of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Pierce, you have to play 4 defensive quarters, and the Raptors only played two.
In the second half, the Big 3 let loose, led by Pierce with 36 points, getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Nobody on the Raptors was able to stop him, because his moves were so decisive, that as a defender you didn’t know if he was going to drive the ball or pull up with a shot.
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, each had 21 and 19 points respectively, and Garnett had ten rebounds for the double-double. In total, the Big 3 combined to score 76 of Boston’s 94 points, which came out to a percent of 80.
The Raptors for the most part did a good job of keeping the crowd quiet and out of the game. The defensive intensity of Garnet and the offensive flare by Pierce hyped up the crowd and began the rally.
Garnett’s defensive antics got to the Raptors, as he kept challenging them to do something and come his way. Then he got into the face of Jose Calderon, and barked at him all the way up the court. The 6’2 Spaniard wasn’t afraid of him, and got into it with the 6’11 Garnett.
The Boston defence, in the end, was just too much for the Raptors. The Celtics didn’t let Toronto get back into its offensive groove and held them to 43% shooting. The Celtics challenged every shot and pass and didn’t allow the Raptors to drive the lane. With that, they held the Raptors to only 39 second half points.
The Raptors had their chances in this game when they were up and could’ve added to the lead, but didn’t take advantage of Boston misses and turnovers.
On the flip side, after a doing such a great job of clogging up the lane, the Raptors broke down defensively and the Celtics were able to drive easily to the bucket. The Celtics outscored the Raptors 58-39 in the second half, which was headed by a huge 35 point fourth quarter. And Paul Pierce had 22 of those points.
Both teams tied for rebounds at 39 a piece, and the Raptors had the advantage in the assist department with 25, compared to Boston’s 17. In the game, there were seven lead changes and seven ties.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
LEAFS WIN BIG
That was quite the game played between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens at the Air Canada Centre on Hall of Fame weekend.
Unlike the first meeting between these two teams earlier in the season when the Leafs got beat 6-1. They were actually in this game and outplayed the Canadiens to win 6-3.
If you think the heat in this rivalry was down, well then, it went up a couple of notches after tonight. This game started out chippy and ended that way. This game was truly a throwback to the days when the Hall of Fame inductees played.
In the first period, the Leafs started out skating and beat the Canadiens to a lot of pucks. Just for that a bonehead play was made by Tom Kostopoulos of the Canadiens as he ran Mike Van Ryn into the boards, face first. And he knew he was in trouble and got some licks in from Carlo Colaiacovo. After the scrum, Mike Van Ryn was lost for the game, to what appeared to be a broken nose. Kostopoulos got a ten minute misconduct penalty, five minute major for boarding and a two minute roughing penalty.
Ian White filled in for Van Ryn on defence for the remainder of the game.
On the five minute power play the Leafs opened the scoring on a smooth rush through the neutral zone and around a Montreal defender by Mikhail Grabovski. Who continued his hot streak and dished off a saucer pass to Niklas Hagman who scored.
The Leafs had plenty of time left on the power play too, and then were given a 5-on-3 advantage. Nothing was made of the opportunity, due to good shot blocking by the Montreal penalty kill, and an errant pass by Nik Antropov.
Things were set up nicely, and Antropov made a hard cross ice pass that was banked off the boards and out of the zone.
An early goal in the second by Grabovski put the Leafs up 2-0, but it appeared the Leafs slacked off for a bit. They got burned, as Montreal scored two quick goals to tie the game.
First it was Robert Lang off a rebound, who was left all alone in front of the net on the power play. Then Tomas Plekanec scored, also on the power play.
It was a shootout in the second period, as both teams scored three goals each, and the Leafs were up 4-3 going into the third.
The Leafs’ Niklas Hagman scored on the power play, which made the score 3-2 Leafs. Then Saku Koivu came back to tie the game, as he walked out of the corner all alone and scored one high, glove side. The Leafs answered back and it was Nik Antropov who scored off a mad scramble in the crease for the lead.
You just knew the third period was going to have a frantic finish, and it did. The Leafs added some insurance goals to put the game out of reach for Montreal.
This time it was Pavel Kubina who scored on another power play to make the score 5-3, and Alex Ponikarovsky added another to seal the game. It was a great goal too, as he worked hard in the defensive zone, and eluded his man to create a 2-on-1 rush with Antropov. Nik made the pass, and Ponikarovsky did the rest with a nice forehand fake, and scored on the backhand.
Montreal had a goal waived off due to a high stick making contact with the puck. If that goal had counted, or was scored legally, the score would’ve been 5-4 Leafs at a crucial point in the game.
With the game all but over, some of the Canadiens players got testy. Most notably Andrei Kostitsyn, as he received a ten minute misconduct. He was acting like a total jackass towards Grabovski, whom he charged earlier on in the play to create the shouting match. And those Belarusian’s went at each other nicely, and if it weren’t for the referee’s holding them back, everyone would’ve been treated to a nice scrap.
Even Saku Koivu, the so called ‘classy guy’ that he is, acted like an asshole towards Grabovski as well, and started talking shit to him for no apparent reason at the time.
Overall, the Leafs played a good game both offensively and defensively, and out shot the Canadiens 41-20. In the past 11 out of 12 games, the Leafs have out shot their opponents and have had at least thirty shots in those games. Montreal only had three shots in the first, twelve in the second and five in the third period. The three goals that were scored, were tough ones to stop, and would’ve been goals no matter what, except for the Koivu goal.
This time around the Leafs power play was much better, going 3/8, while Montreal went 2/6.
Once again the line of Hagman, Grabovski, and Kulemin was the best on the ice from either side. The line combined to score five points, with two goals coming from Hagman, a goal and assist from Grabovski and an assist from Kulemin. Nik Antropov the slumping forward who had only one goal and assist in his last four games had a goal and two assists on the night.
Look for the hate created in this game to spill over in the next match up between these two teams.
To note, the Montreal game misconducts taken, were complete cheap shots and classless. They were done by stupid players, and one of which is now somewhat of a tough guy after tonight’s game, and he knew exactly what he was doing while in the motion of running Mike Van Ryn into the boards. Andrei Kostitsyn is a punk who can’t fight and tried to act all tough while hitting Grabovski.
If anyone says the Canadiens are a strong team or have gotten stronger, well they aren’t. They are cowards. They all give hits and cheap ones too, their captain talks a lot of shit and no one looks forward to the consequences. They’ve been getting away with too much and will get their just desserts soon time. The signing of Georges Laracque to add toughness was a bust. Where was he in all this, because he was brought in to defend his teammates? He did none of that, and Montreal is too small and with no grit whatsoever.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Unlike the first meeting between these two teams earlier in the season when the Leafs got beat 6-1. They were actually in this game and outplayed the Canadiens to win 6-3.
If you think the heat in this rivalry was down, well then, it went up a couple of notches after tonight. This game started out chippy and ended that way. This game was truly a throwback to the days when the Hall of Fame inductees played.
In the first period, the Leafs started out skating and beat the Canadiens to a lot of pucks. Just for that a bonehead play was made by Tom Kostopoulos of the Canadiens as he ran Mike Van Ryn into the boards, face first. And he knew he was in trouble and got some licks in from Carlo Colaiacovo. After the scrum, Mike Van Ryn was lost for the game, to what appeared to be a broken nose. Kostopoulos got a ten minute misconduct penalty, five minute major for boarding and a two minute roughing penalty.
Ian White filled in for Van Ryn on defence for the remainder of the game.
On the five minute power play the Leafs opened the scoring on a smooth rush through the neutral zone and around a Montreal defender by Mikhail Grabovski. Who continued his hot streak and dished off a saucer pass to Niklas Hagman who scored.
The Leafs had plenty of time left on the power play too, and then were given a 5-on-3 advantage. Nothing was made of the opportunity, due to good shot blocking by the Montreal penalty kill, and an errant pass by Nik Antropov.
Things were set up nicely, and Antropov made a hard cross ice pass that was banked off the boards and out of the zone.
An early goal in the second by Grabovski put the Leafs up 2-0, but it appeared the Leafs slacked off for a bit. They got burned, as Montreal scored two quick goals to tie the game.
First it was Robert Lang off a rebound, who was left all alone in front of the net on the power play. Then Tomas Plekanec scored, also on the power play.
It was a shootout in the second period, as both teams scored three goals each, and the Leafs were up 4-3 going into the third.
The Leafs’ Niklas Hagman scored on the power play, which made the score 3-2 Leafs. Then Saku Koivu came back to tie the game, as he walked out of the corner all alone and scored one high, glove side. The Leafs answered back and it was Nik Antropov who scored off a mad scramble in the crease for the lead.
You just knew the third period was going to have a frantic finish, and it did. The Leafs added some insurance goals to put the game out of reach for Montreal.
This time it was Pavel Kubina who scored on another power play to make the score 5-3, and Alex Ponikarovsky added another to seal the game. It was a great goal too, as he worked hard in the defensive zone, and eluded his man to create a 2-on-1 rush with Antropov. Nik made the pass, and Ponikarovsky did the rest with a nice forehand fake, and scored on the backhand.
Montreal had a goal waived off due to a high stick making contact with the puck. If that goal had counted, or was scored legally, the score would’ve been 5-4 Leafs at a crucial point in the game.
With the game all but over, some of the Canadiens players got testy. Most notably Andrei Kostitsyn, as he received a ten minute misconduct. He was acting like a total jackass towards Grabovski, whom he charged earlier on in the play to create the shouting match. And those Belarusian’s went at each other nicely, and if it weren’t for the referee’s holding them back, everyone would’ve been treated to a nice scrap.
Even Saku Koivu, the so called ‘classy guy’ that he is, acted like an asshole towards Grabovski as well, and started talking shit to him for no apparent reason at the time.
Overall, the Leafs played a good game both offensively and defensively, and out shot the Canadiens 41-20. In the past 11 out of 12 games, the Leafs have out shot their opponents and have had at least thirty shots in those games. Montreal only had three shots in the first, twelve in the second and five in the third period. The three goals that were scored, were tough ones to stop, and would’ve been goals no matter what, except for the Koivu goal.
This time around the Leafs power play was much better, going 3/8, while Montreal went 2/6.
Once again the line of Hagman, Grabovski, and Kulemin was the best on the ice from either side. The line combined to score five points, with two goals coming from Hagman, a goal and assist from Grabovski and an assist from Kulemin. Nik Antropov the slumping forward who had only one goal and assist in his last four games had a goal and two assists on the night.
Look for the hate created in this game to spill over in the next match up between these two teams.
To note, the Montreal game misconducts taken, were complete cheap shots and classless. They were done by stupid players, and one of which is now somewhat of a tough guy after tonight’s game, and he knew exactly what he was doing while in the motion of running Mike Van Ryn into the boards. Andrei Kostitsyn is a punk who can’t fight and tried to act all tough while hitting Grabovski.
If anyone says the Canadiens are a strong team or have gotten stronger, well they aren’t. They are cowards. They all give hits and cheap ones too, their captain talks a lot of shit and no one looks forward to the consequences. They’ve been getting away with too much and will get their just desserts soon time. The signing of Georges Laracque to add toughness was a bust. Where was he in all this, because he was brought in to defend his teammates? He did none of that, and Montreal is too small and with no grit whatsoever.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)