Bleacher Report - Articles by Michael Forbes

15 Great Sports Books for the Holidays

Michael Forbes — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:44:13 -0500

My Christmas tree went up on Sunday. I'm sure that breaks all sorts of seasonal protocols that will result in my sweeping up roughly 16 pounds of pine needles over the next four weeks and having a brown, skeletal tree by Boxing Day.

One of my favourite parts of Christmas day is finding a good book under the tree, retreating to a quiet spot, and disappearing into a great read.

With that in mind and with just 23 days until Christmas (and 20 until Hanukkah), I thought I'd assemble a list of 15 of my favourite sports related books that you can either pick up for the sports fan in your life or put on your own gift list...

13. Offside: The Battle for Control of Maple Leafs Gardens- Theresa Tedesco

Not to fixate on the Toronto Maple Leafs' ugly past, but this is the quintessential book for understanding the mess that was the late '80s, early '90s Leafs and the seeds for what would become MLSE.

Financial Post reporter Tedesco wrote this illuminating book about the ugliness that emerged after Ballard's death and the financial fight for the Leafs that followed.

There's a heavy emphasis here on accounting, law and the sports business side of things, but there's just enough good stuff to give anyone who reads it more reason to question what might have been had Stavro not stood in Fletcher's way (like Gretzky playing for the Leafs for instance).

Check availability here.

12. Fantasyland - Sam Walker

Like sports? Do you participate in fantasy drafts? Ever wonder what would happen if you took a year off your job just to manage your fantasy sports team? Maybe take your wife on holidays to catch a little winter ball down in the Dominican.

How about a set of media credentials that gave you full access to the athletes you drafted and the coaches who actually manage them? And to top it off, why not hire a NASA scientist to crunch your stats for you and build predictive models.

If you think this sounds good, Sam Walker's Fantasyland is for you—a very fun read by a Wall Street Journal sports reporter who did all of that and more as part of Tout Wars, a baseball pool just for sports analysts and sports writers.

Check for availability here.

11.Great Hockey Masks and The Art of the Hockey Mask - Michael Cutler

These two books are a bit unfair as I don't own either and I have been on the lookout for them for years.

Each thin (16 to 22 pages) book offers a series of beautiful, simple, four colour plates of the goalie masks of the late '70s and early '80s. This book was on near permanent loan from my grade school library, and I spent hours (maybe days, weeks and months) tracing these masks and colouring them in or coming up with my own designs. Just getting lost in the basic, paper-cut painting style.

I can only presume the publisher (Tundra) did very small print runs as these often retail for $60 to $100+ a copy and it's next to impossible to find scans or even images from these books on-line.

If ever a book needs to be re-published, this is the one. If you know anyone with a fascination for goalie masks, especially if they were born in the late '60s/early '70s this book would be an awesome addition under the tree.

Check for availability (good luck with that) here.

10. When the Lights Went Out / Future Greats - Gare Joyce

Future Greats and Heartbreaks is the type of book I wish was written every year, a detailed look at the NHL draft class and the execs who will draft them.

In part one, Joyce gets to sit in on meetings with the Columbus Blue Jackets scouts and team management, including taking part in prospect interviews, the player combine, and is privy to the official team draft list for the 2006 draft.

Part two features detailed game-by-game notes from junior games and tournaments around the world, as Joyce moves through the world of scouting.

Part three tracks the actual draft and many of the players who Joyce has met, interviewed and followed on the ice are chosen by NHL teams.

Had this been published a year or two earlier, no one would have been scratching their heads as Esposito fell through the rankings like a stone down a well.

Joyce's When the Lights Went Out is the story of the punch-up in Piestany at the 1987 World Junior Championships.

It offers a really fascinating look at the boys who made up that club, the conditions that led to the brawl and the strange fallout that followed. Treated horribly by Hockey Canada in the aftermath of the fight, the team found unlikely support from Harold Ballard.

Several of the Canadians interviewed in the book admit to never knowing the names of the Russians they fought—many of whom would go on to be their teammates in the NHL.

The comments about Pierre Turgeon in the epilogue (some of the most scathing and insulting quotes I've ever read) are well worth tracking this book down for.

Future Greats can be found here and When the Lights Went Out can be found here.

9. Ball Four- Jim Bouton

The famous tell-all diary from Bouton's 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros. The only sports book to make the New York Public Library's Best Books of the 21st Century list, Bouton was black balled from baseball for writing this book (want to know about your favourite New York Yankee's voyeurism habits? Pick up a copy).

Prime reading for anyone who wants an up close look at the inner life of professional athletes. Bull Durham, one of my favourite movies, owes a big debt to this book.

Great stuff from the man that also brought us Big League Chew.

Check availability here.

8. Sittler- Darryl Sittler

Published in 1991, this book came out before the Leafs began to restore the team, the brand and the franchise's relationship with its alumni.

It's a shocking look at just how badly Harold Ballard ran the team and how badly Leaf players were treated. The amazing thing, and a testament to Sittler's character, is how unaffected he seems by this.

Clearly, he's longing for the Leafs to recognize his contributions and for the organization to treat him the way that the Flyers do (when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Flyers send gifts; no reps from the Leafs bother to attend, even though the ceremony takes place just three subway stops from Maple Leafs Garden) but he's not embittered.

The book offers a very candid look at Sittler's relationships with former Leafs Lanny MacDonald, Roger Neilson, Harold Ballard, Jim Gregory and Punch Imlach.

It's an enlightening read—especially for fans who might be too young to remember just how bad things once were. Here's Sittler describing an incident in 1974 when he tried to confirm if his contract included a no-trade clause:

We moved the conversation across the hall to Harold Ballard's office where The Boss was sitting behind his desk.
"What's wrong?" he growled. Ballard always anticipated the "best case" scenario.
I spoke up. "I thought I had a no-trade contract, I believe I do, and Jim Gregory is telling me I don't."
"Whattayamean a no-trade contract," he boomed. "Dontcha have any confidence in your own ability?"
"I've got all the confidence in the world in my own abilities Harold. But if the Boston Bruins offered Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito for me, I'm sure you'd make the deal."
He wasn't going to be mollified by common sense, and you could almost see the delicious thoughts of Orr and Esposito in blue and white scrolling across his forehead, like the electronic newsboards they have outside buildings to bring the latest news bulletins to passerby. Those thoughts danced right out, exit stage left, when he had an agonizing thought of what he might have to pay these guys. Harold was nothing if he wasn't practical. He turned back to me.
"Ya might think I'm whistling Dixie here, but it would take both of those guys to move you outta here."
"Yeah, you're right," I countered.
"I know," he smiled.
"I do think you're whistling Dixie."
His face changed for a second or two, the look of a kid with cookie jar right up to the elbow. Figuring quite rightly that I didn't mean too much disrespect, and not anxious to have a blow-up in his office over the issue, he got up and came around the desk. Harold put one arm around my shoulder. Buddy to buddy. Blood brothers who share the same uniform. Together forever.
"Brian, we wouldn't trade you for love or money."
He thought I was Spinner Spencer.
Jim Gregory, always quick on his feet, jumped right in to rescue The Boss. "Harold, it's Darryl!"

Check availability here

7. Tropic of Hockey - Dave Bidini

A travelog of sorts with Bidini going around the world to play hockey with the locals and get a better understanding of how various nations and cultures have adopted and adapted hockey.

From northern China to a shopping mall in Hong Kong; from Israel and Dubai to the Czech Republic, it's fascinating to see how unifying the game of hockey can be (and how cheap stickwork can be found in the game no matter where or when you play it).

Check availability here.

6. The Rocket, the Flower, the Hammer and Me - Doug Beardsley (editor)

A long out of print collection of some great hockey writing from Paul Quarrington, W.P. Kinsella, Morley Callaghan, Hugh Maclennan, and others. This is the book Wendel Clark was reading in that late '80s literacy commercial so you know it has to be good...

Check availability here.

5. The Last Season- Roy MacGregor

While I'm not a regular reader of MacGregor's reportage or columns, I have to say this is a damn fine novel.

The story of Felix Batterinksi, a rural kid of Polish heritage from Northern Ontario, it tracks his time from junior through to his ascendancy playing for the cup as a goon with Shero's Broad Street Bullies of the '70s and his eventual decline that finds him playing out the string as a player-coach in Finland.

The material on Batterinksi's junior days and early coaches has stayed with me some 15 years after first reading the book.

I'm glad to see it was picked up and re-published by Penguin as it really deserves an audience. Here's a quote...

I looked up, startled by the accent. He was so clearly a Canadian sportswriter that he could have formed the mould: thick glasses over nervous eyes, balding, a too-eager-to-please smile, cheap clothes in need of a press and coordination, the kind of body that should say nothing but goes on forever about jogging and tennis and all those other bullshit words they invent to replace ability. The body of true athlete speaks for itself. When a true athlete says "tennis", he means the same thing as if he'd used the word "beer"- something social rather than beneficial.

Check The Last Season's availability here.

4. America's Game -Michael MacCambridge

This is one of the best, if not the best book I've read on the marriage of business, marketing, and sports.

Following the NFL from it's pre-war days through to the modern era, the bulk of the book emphasizes the innovations that Pete Rozelle brought to the game which are legion.

From creating consistent logos, to licensing just about every product; from the creation of NFL films to the way the media were wined and dined, this book shows how the NFL has really set, and continually raised, the bar compared to the other professional sports leagues.

Even if you're not a football fan (I'm a casual one at best) there are so many amazing factoids in here that it will provide you with near endless cocktail party chatter for the holiday season.

Check availability here.

3. Moneyball - Michael Lewis

A fantastic look at finding efficiencies and value in any system, in this case Major League Baseball. Even though it's a baseball book, there is much to consider here, especially as the Leafs attempt to re-tool under Brian Burke.

(Full disclosure: I am a total Michael Lewis fan-boy and would gladly read the phone book if he wrote it. Other great magazine pieces by Lewis include his defense of Moneyball in Sports Illustrated; an interesting piece on coaching innovations in college football; an amazing piece on Hurricane Katrina; and a stunning bit on the recent economic meltdown.)

Check availability here.

2. Salvage King, Ya- Mark Anthony Jarman

How this book isn't the epicentre of a Canada-reads debate every year is beyond me. Seriously. This is the book our nation should be reading (instead the debate will be between a short novel centering on a 1950s divorcee in small town Ontario wrestling with her families infidelities and a coming of age story set on the prairies of the '30s).

The story of a marginal defenceman at the end of his career, sliding between the A and the NHL. His former agent has embezzled most of his money, he's divorced, newly engaged and having an affair with a waitress. There is a kineticism and depth to Jarman's writing that has brought me back to it time and time again.

It's laced with fantastic pop culture references and seeded with tiny perfectly crafted anecdotes featuring the likes of Messier, Chris Nilan, Gretzky, like this one:

Upstairs I knock on the hotel door and Normie Ullman answers naked. He's still in good shape, but I don't really care to see Normie Ullman naked. Normie also played for the old WHA Oilers. Curly is after puck bunnies and Dino is chasing anything. Yvan Cournoyer is tanned and grinning and chasing anything. No wonder they call him the Roadrunner. Maybe he's cashing his cheque from that big Zellers ad we did. They're fighting with fire extinguishers. Their ex-model wives are thousands of miles to the east. There are days it seems that all hockey men are pervs or nuts or stickmen. I'm sure several are normal but there's not a lot of evidence. You're away from home a lot, in decent shape, and for a brief while you possess money and youth. You try to rid yourself of both.

This may not be for those who like conventional story telling as the story is not chronological—it's really just a fragmented series of anecdotes, only one character has a proper first name, and there are big portions that take place far from the rink, but for my money this may be the greatest hockey novel ever written.

When I lay stunned and stunted in her old fashioned bed, the fingers of my hand unwrapping from the iron rail (the pail ceilings of post-sex, and her art, terrifying Inuit prints on her walls), when I saw manic Waitress X placing a long slip or soft bra on her cinnamon skin, when I saw her distracted at her dresser, readying her public self for the late afternoon tables of businessmen, for the glum screaming oilmen seeking attitude adjustment, well I confess I desired thing to stop at that stage -- not nude and not dressed, on the cusp, the edge, the two of us with tons of time and no particular place to go.

If only Jarman had a blog.

Check Salvage King, Ya availability here.

1. The Game - Ken Dryden

I would argue that this is the single greatest book ever written about hockey and is a must read for all hockey fans. When I pulled out my 1983 paperback edition (Totem press?) to write up this little blurb, I ended up spending an hour or so re-reading the book. Totally engrossed by the locker room banter, most of my morning dissolved away.

Following Dryden through the 1979 season, the book goes way beyond a simple year-in-the-life of a player format, providing substantial insights into the game, the men he played with, the demands of professional sport and the life of a professional athlete.

One of the things I love about this book, and the thing that brings me back time and time again, is the remarkable job Dryden has done in capturing the camaraderie and humour amongst the players.

Here's Dryden at the end of the book, his final Cup won, contemplating what it might mean to retire:

A few years ago, I called Dickie Moore to arrange an interview for a friend. Moore had been a fine player for the Canadiens in the 1950s, and after retiring with knee injuries (later, he returned briefly with the Leafs and Blues), had built a successful equipment rental company in Montreal. It happened that I called on the first anniversary of his son's death in a car accident. It had been a tough day was all Moore said. More for me than for him, he changed the subject. He asked me how I was, how the team was doing; then he turned reflective. He spoke of "the game." Sometimes excitedly, sometimes with longing, but always it was "the game." Not a game of his time, or mine, something he knew we shared. It sounded almost spell-like the way he put it. I had always thought of it as a phrase interchangeable with "hockey," "baseball," or any sport. But when Moore said it, I knew it wasn't. "The game" was different, something that belongs only to those who play it, a code, a phrase that anyone who has played a sport, any sport, understands. It's a common heritage of parents and backyayrds, teammates, friends, winning, losing, dressing rooms, road trips, coaches, fans, money, celebrity - a life, so long as you live it. Now as I sit here, slouched back, mellow, when I hear others talk of "the game" I know what Moore meant. It is hockey that I'm leaving behind. It's "the game" that I'll miss.

Check availability here.

The $5.75 Million Dollar Question: Trading Bryan McCabe

Michael Forbes — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:05:21 -0400

With 10 potential NHL ready players on the blue line, and only prospect Luke Schenn being waiver exempt, it’s clear that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to make a few moves to get down to the seven D-men they plan on carrying during the regular season.

If top prospect Schenn gets the standard nine game look and is returned to his junior team, the Leafs would be down to nine D-men.

Given the Leafs recent move towards players with more size and grit, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ian White moved, which would put the team at eight defensemen.

That leaves defencemen Pavel Kubina and/or Bryan McCabe as prime trade bait for the re-building Leafs.

Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher and Coach Ron Wilson have both openly stated that McCabe is not in the team’s plans for the upcoming season, making McCabe, despite his no movement clause (NMC), the more likely of the two D-men to be moved.

Timing

If it’s Kubina on the trading block, the Leafs have a small window of opportunity to close the deal. Kubina’s contract permits the Leafs to trade him between the NHL Entry Draft and August 15. After that, Kubina’s no trade clause kicks in, effectively pulling Kubina out of the trade market.

McCabe is due to receive a $2M bonus in September (his salary for this season is $4.15M+$2M bonus for $6.15 while his cap hit is $5.75M). It's likely safe to presume that most teams would be far more inclined to deal for McCabe once that bonus has been paid by the Leafs.

Cap Hits, Chemistry and Conferences

If trying to trade McCabe with his NMC wasn’t challenging enough, a look at the cap situation across the NHL quickly reduces the number of possible trading partners.

Several teams are either right at the cap max or so close to it they likely can’t take on McCabe’s $5.75 M cap hit.

Cap issues pretty much rule out: Anaheim, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Montreal, New Jersey, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay.

Nashville, Phoenix and St. Louis have the extra cap space but are likely too constrained by internal team budgets to take on McCabe’s $4.15M salary.

Sure, the Leafs could take back a hefty salary in return, but it would have to pretty much be a dollar-for-dollar trade with any of these clubs, and given the log jam on D that precipitated this deal it would have to be a big-money forward.

It’s difficult enough to find a trade partner never mind trying to balance out the salaries going each way, so I don’t think trades with any of these teams are going to happen (but I could be way way off on this one).

McCabe’s rather free-wheeling style probably eliminates Minnesota and Florida outright too.

That’s 17 teams out of contention. (Of course, having said that on the record, the Leafs will definitely trade McCabe to one of these teams).

Then there’s the whole issue of location.

McCabe has some personal/home life issues that have led many to conclude that he would only accept a trade to a team in the Northeastern United States.

Teams with cap space, but a west coast bias, include Colorado (still need to re-sign Sakic), Columbus, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver.

Colorado already has seven pretty solid NHL D-men under contract.

Columbus just acquired Mike Commodore, Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backstrom and, despite signing Kristian Huselius, still need help upfront.

The Sharks have plenty of cap room, but having picked up UFA Rob Blake, the club now has 10 D signed to NHL contracts so there’s not much room for an additional blue liner there.

Similarly, with Lubomir Visnovsky and Sheldon Souray under contract in Edmonton there’s little to no chance a deal for McCabe is going to happen with the Oil.

That takes 21 teams off the table.

So What’s Left?

Given McCabe’s alleged preference is to play close to home that leaves just six teams in the east as potential trading partners, two of which are division rivals.

East

Atlanta

With just five D-men under contract, the Thrashers need to acquire some defensive depth. They have lots of cap space and could really use the PP help that McCabe would bring. The challenge will be finding the right return for McCabe as the Thrashers are rather thin upfront and don’t have the greatest prospect pool. It’s also not clear that McCabe would accept a move that far south.

Buffalo

The Sabres have just six D-men under contract for 2008-09 (having traded Brian Campbell at the deadline and losing Dimitri Kalinin as a UFA to the Rangers). Rumour has it that Sabres GM Darcy Regier has contacted 40 year old former Sabres D-man Teppo Numminen about a possible return (yikes) so there might just be an opening for McCabe (who has a knack for scoring last second game winning goals for the Sabres).

While the Sabres do have lots of young players to possibly complete a deal with the Leafs, they may have budget issues that are too large to take on McCabe’s cap hit. The Sabres have already committed $42M in salaries and they still have to qualify Steve Bernier and Daniel Paille.

Furthermore, McCabe’s multi-year deal might also interfere with the Sabres’ ability to sign a slew of key players who are slated to become UFAs and RFAs in 2009-2010.

Carolina

The Canes do have about $9M in existing cap space. Unfortunately, they already have eight D-men under contract including PP guys Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen.

The Hurricanes and Leafs do have a history as trading partners, but I have a hard time seeing McCabe squeezing into the Canes blueline or under their budget.

Islanders

The fish sticks have just six D-men under contract, but more importantly, the club has only nine forwards signed. There may be lots of cap space in Nassau County but most of it is going to be directed to finding another handful of forwards.

There is no doubt the Isles could use some help on their moribund PP; however, GM Garth Snow is on the record as saying he wants a pick from the Leafs in return for taking on McCabe’s contract. If that’s the opening bargaining position, I’m not sure where or how you even start to build a counter offer (how about a lower draft pick?)

Ottawa

With Wade Redden signing in the Big Apple and Commodore heading out west, there is a roster spot or two open on D in the city that fun forgot (or to be more precise, in the suburbs of the city that fun forgot).

The Sens do have cap room, but rumours of Dan Boyle being moved to the Sens might preclude a McCabe deal. I don’t see this one happening, but then again Raycroft got an NHL contract so anything is possible…

Washington

The Capitals have about $8M in cap space, but I have no idea if their budget permits them to hit the cap max. They also need to sign four RFAs to new deals and already have seven defensemen under contract.

The Caps do have a number of young forwards and prospects that the Leafs could ask for in return for McCabe and Washington isn’t too far from the McCabe’s Long Island HQ. I wonder if Fletcher and McPhee have much of a history together…

West

Out west there appear to be just two options…

Los Angeles Kings

The team has just four D-men under contract and a whopping $28M in available cap space. Their PP quarterback Rob Blake was just signed by San Jose so there is an opening for a guy like McCabe.

As previously noted, the Kings are likely 4,000 km too far west for McCabe. The Kings are also without a coach at the moment (can you imagine the sh*tstorm in the Toronto media if the Leafs didn’t have a coach during free agency season?) which might make it a tad more difficult to talk McCabe and his agent Pulver into agreeing to a deal here. Still, it is an option.

Vancouver

The Canucks have the cap space and the desperate need for offence that makes them a pretty good potential trade partner for the Leafs. They also need to add at least one more D-man to their roster, so they do have a vacancy on the blueline.

Having lost Markus Naslund and being such an offensively challenged club, I’m not sure they have the depth at forward to swing a deal with the Leafs. Moreover, as noted with the LA Kings, you can’t get much further away from Long Island and Toronto than Vancouver…

Life of Bryan

It’s hard to believe, but McCabe is just one season removed from being one of the top offensive defencemen in the league and two seasons removed from being an Olympian who actually got Norris trophy consideration.

Injury troubles certainly got the best of him last year and it can’t be a picnic being the whipping boy of the Toronto media (has any other athlete been called out as much by the press in this city? Has any paper ever demanded a player be traded on the front page of their paper?) but McCabe has handled all of this pressure with class.

Recent statements from Fletcher and Wilson have left little room for doubt that it’s time for McCabe to move on.

The $5.75 million dollar question is: where?

Toronto Maple Leafs Media: Often Wrong, Never in Doubt

Michael Forbes — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:18:14 -0400

There is nothing wrong with being hopeful.

There is no shame in being an optimist or leaving oneself open to the possibility of miracles.

Hope is why sports fans return season after season.

Hope is why we watch the games, even when we know the coach should be fired and the team has a three percent chance of making the postseason.

Hope is what fans do.

Hope is pretty much all Leaf fans have.

Over 2500 years ago (when the Leafs cup drought was but a few days old) the Stoic philosopher Epictetus summarized it best: When Thales was asked what is most universal, he answered, hope—for hope stays with those who have nothing else.

Hope may indeed be universal. It is altogether another thing for the men who run our favorite teams to predicate their plans or strategies on little more than hope or the remote likelihood of something positive happening.

And for far too long down at MLSE, it has seemed that hope was the cornerstone of this franchise: sign the high-risk UFA and hope for the best; trade for the goalie in decline and hope for a return to form.

Trade away draft pick after draft pick and hope to spackle over the lack of homegrown talent in the pipeline and ultimately, hope to make the post-season where anything can happen but seldom does...

With JFJ and Paul Maurice running the show, there didn't seem to be any discussion, consideration, or event recognition of the underlying principles that are required to transform a team from also-ran to elite status.

At MLSE, there didn't seem to be much transparency, understanding, or commitment to the cultural and institutional requirements of building a team that could eventually challenge for the Cup.

I'd like to think that changed this week with the ongoing house cleaning be carried out down at the ACC. Consider:

John Ferguson Junior - arguably one of the worst GMs in Leafs history: Fired
Paul Maurice - qualified for the post-season three years out of 11: Fired
Randy Ladoceur - assistant coach and special teams failure: Fired
Steve McKichan - Raycroft's goalie coach: Fired
Dallas Eakins - assistant coach: Demoted
Demoted Steve Penny - assistant GM: Demoted

And the reaction from the media to the return of accountability?

Given that no coverage of the Leafs can be filed without mentioning 1967, MLSE's greed and the need for qualified hockey men to run the team, one would think the media would react positively to the arrival of decisive leadership.

And you'd be wrong.

Of course, the media's reaction has nothing to do with currying favor and maintaining access.

It has nothing to do with trying to secure future book deals and inside sources.

It has nothing to do with the fact that for the first time in a long time the Leafs are controlling the message and limiting leaks.

Apparently, the media's current round of disdain for all things Leaf has everything to do with the quality of the men who were fired.

You know, the same fine men that have managed to make the Leafs one of just seven teams that hasn't qualified for the post-season since the lockout.

The same fine men that traded away the majority of their first round picks and coached the Leafs into 24th spot in the NHL with a 29th ranked penalty kill.

It is the same fine men that have steered the ship during the last four or five years of foundering.

The same fine men that have ensured that I will not be able to open a sports page nor turn on any TV sports coverage without being reminded of 1967, and my favorite team's failings for years and years to come.

I for one am happy that these allegedly fine men are no longer around to make a mess of my favorite team.

I am filled with hope that this marks the return of executive accountability and a turning point for the franchise.

But my real take-away is this: for every silver lining with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the media will find the black cloud.

All that's left to figure out is how Leaf fans are to blame for this one too.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Nine Tips for the Media

Michael Forbes — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:53:00 -0400

With upwards of 30 reporters covering the Leafs, I think we can all agree that there certainly couldn't be much more coverage. To put that in perspective, the entire media contingent covering Queen's Park (the Province of Ontario's legislature) totals out at 31 reporters.

In addition to having their own TV channel, the Leafs are the lead item on each and every TSN and Sportsnet broadcast. Each paper has columnists and staff reporters covering the team. There are lunchtime radio broadcasts devoted to all things blue and white.

Then there are the comments at the Globe and Mail, filled by people who seem to spend more time complaining about the amount of Leaf coverage than they do cheering for their own teams.

The quantity is unarguably there, but the quality side seems to be a bit lacking. How hard is it for a reporter or editorial staff to use a search function to scan the NHL CBA? How many times are reporters going to miss that both Tucker and McCabe have NMCs?

If the media are unsure about a no-movement clause, why not phone the NHLPA or ask the agent or player? Isn't that one of the benefits of being a trained professional with full access to sources?

That said, I do feel some sympathy for the media who cover the Leafs. There's so much competition in this town (and with this team) that I can't imagine the pressure they're under from their editors and producers to cultivate sources and land big scoops.

Still, given the pressures and competition, it's hard to believe the amount of misinformation, poor fact checking, and general lack of imagination that permeates so much of the Leafs media coverage.

I'd like to think with their access, the reporters who file day in day out on all things Leaf might be able to come up with something more compelling than who's wearing the red jersey at practice, fake trade rumors, or faux panic over the lack of formal job interviews conducted by MLSE.

Rather than just bitch and moan about the state of Leaf coverage, here are nine ideas off the top of my head that I'd love to see followed-up by those who cover hockey and/or the Leafs.

1. More first person source reporting.

One of my favorite articles last year was a Brian Burke first-person diary during the trade deadline. Could we get something similar from anyone at MLSE? Please?

If not, I'd settle for any first-person insight at the GM level.

2. Use your access to really take readers behind the scenes.

The consensus is that the Leafs need to hold on to their draft choices and draft wisely. Can fans maybe get a profile (or two or three) of the Leaf scouts who will be helping make the decisions on draft day? What gems have they discovered? What do their peers on other clubs think of them? What's the hierarchy in the scouting department, and how do draft day decisions get made?

Maybe a day in the life of a Leaf scout...or a day in the life of a top OHL prospect.

Gare Joyce's work on this was great stuff and surely demonstrated there's an audience for it. Wouldn't it be nice to get a bit more on these kids than Don Cherry and four or five of the top ranked 18 year olds passing around a microphone during a 45 second spot on HNIC?

3. Stop telling us what Leaf fans think.

Leafs Nation is not a homogeneous entity. Fans do not think with one mind. Even if Leaf fans did all agree, would anyone care? Moreover, it's a lazy literary device at best and completely misleading at worst.

4. Help the fans get insight from coaches.

The Leafs have the worst PK in the league, and it's killing them. When was the last time anyone saw an interview with the special teams coach, or even with Maurice, where the Leafs approach to the PK was analyzed? What's working, what's not?

Compare and contrast the Leafs' approach by interviewing special team coaches on more successful clubs. It doesn't have to be just the PK. There are issues of zone v. man-to-man defense, team toughness/ use of enforcers, the shoot-out, power play, adapting to opponents, etc.

5. Less of the trade rumor BS.

Before the trade deadline there were, what, maybe four trades in the NHL? Yet every columnist weighs in with trade rumor after trade rumor, none of which come true and none of which advance a story of any relevance.

And can someone fine Dreger every time he uses the questionable at best "Sources are saying..." approach? If he had to put a twoonie in a jar for every time he used it he could make a hefty-donation to a worthy cause.

6. More long form player profiles please.

Joe O'Connor has being doing this masterfully with retired players over at the National Post. Why not do it with the current or retired Leafs? (Or how about an update on Boyd Devereaux's record label?)

7. Help demystify the CBA.

This is one of the best posts I've seen on the matter. It's by a blogger, and it's more than a year old. Why can't newsrooms create similar content? How about top 10 CBA myths (e.g. players with NMC can't be bought out, injured players don't count against the cap, etc.).

Since the signing of the CBA, has the frequency of offer sheets to RFAs increased? What steps can clubs take to protect their RFAs (e.g. team initiated arbitration)? With Wellwood and Stajan as the Leafs main RFAs, what odds do agents and other insiders give that another club will tender them a contract? How does the fact that the Leafs traded their second round pick to Phoenix for (gulp!) Perreault, limit their ability to tender RFA offer sheets?

8. More on the Big Picture.

Where does Leafs management sit on the Moneyball vs. "Intangibles" spectrum? I've read great stuff about the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets innovative use of statistics. What are the Leafs up to? What do they make of this?

On another topic: How does player development work, why is Buffalo so amazing at it, and what are the Marlies doing to help develop Leaf prospects?

9. More on the Business of Sport.

What has the impact of moving the farm club to Toronto been? What do players who played both in St. John's and at the Ricoh think of the move?

Crunch the numbers. What has it meant for the salary cap being able to send guys across the street? Has it had any impact on the Leafs ability to recruit and retain management? With precedents in Chicago and Philadelphia is this a model we should expect to see more of? How does the Leafs system compare with clubs that don't have their own AHL affiliate?

On-glass advertising—are the Leafs for or against? Same goes with advertising on jerseys, where does MLSE stand?

As Leaf/hockey fans, I'd love to know what stories fans think they're missing out on and what type of reporting fans would like to see more of.

If you were the editor/producer for a day what would you tell your reporters to work on? Is there any reporter stand-out, who's a must-read for you?

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Search: Why the Media Panic?

Michael Forbes — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:00:00 -0400

The Leafs haven’t interviewed a single candidate for the President/GM job, despite having fired JFJ back on January 22.

This comes as no surprise to me.

While I'm no expert on the inner workings of NHL level executive recruitment, I would guess that the vast majority of candidates for the Leafs post are currently under contract with other NHL clubs.

Not only does their contractual status preclude them from being interviewed by MLSE, any reasonable person would also realize that these prospective candidates are a little more focused on their respective team's cup run than interviewing with Peddie and Kirke.

That little bit of logic appears to be of very little interest to Damien Cox, who vomits up 632 words on the fact that the Leafs haven’t conducted any formal interviews for the President/GM post.

According to Cox,

What was a surprise, however, was that Peddie made it clear that he, and the team, don't believe time is of the essence when it comes to hiring a new hockey czar…and the Leafs seem content with the possibility that the "hunt" could linger into July or August.

Can you believe the gumption of MLSE? They’re actually willing to let a month, maybe two, pass between the awarding of the Stanley Cup and the hiring of their next President and GM.

I don’t know about Damien, but if I were looking to make the most important hire my organization has ever faced, I’d certainly want to rush things. I certainly would want to be beholden to false deadlines.

Cox continues:

In two months, no candidates have been interviewed – wouldn't now be a good time to chat with unemployed types like Doug Armstrong or Neil Smith, highly regarded individuals like Hockey Canada's Bob Nicholson or even NHL executive Colin Campbell?

Hmm. It seems to me Cox was front and centre at a certain press conference when MLSE identified the criteria of their next GM. Peddie clearly said (or maybe he just moved his lips and someone else said it) all GM candidates must have prior experience running an NHL club (so long Campbell, no dice Nicholson) and ideally should have won at the NHL level (so much for Armstong).

That leaves Neil Smith.

The man who claims he invented fantasy hockey.

A man who hasn’t had a GM job for a decade (unless you count his 3 weeks on Long Island).

Can you imagine the indignation Cox would muster up for his column if Neil Smith were ever mentioned as a front runner for the Leafs? Oy gevalt.

Back to Cox:

It would have made far more sense for Peddie to declare that an aggressive hunt is on, every possibility is being examined and a new executive saviour will definitely be in place by the entry draft to begin charting a more productive future.

Let’s do some math on this one.

The playoffs will likely wrap up the first week in June.

The entry draft is June 21.

If Peddie were to do what Cox recommends, the Leafs would have, at most, two weeks to interview, negotiate with and ultimately sign their new President/GM. Never mind the time required to get the appropriate permissions to interview and dealing with any other contractual issues.

Does anyone, other than Cox, think this is remotely realistic?

Maybe Leaf fans could chip in a couple of bucks and order up Damien some remedial help so that he can learn to pick-up the phone and call an actual source. I'd love to know what any executive recruiting firm worth it's salt would have to say about procuring a top executive and having them signed sealed and delivered in 10 business days or less.

Yet, that's not only what Cox thinks MLSE should be doing, he's openly castigating them in print for their failure to do so.

What would it take to satisfy this guy?

I also love this aside in Cox's column:

It's worth noting here that the three stars of last night's game were Anton Stralman, Jiri Tlusty and Nik Antropov. Stralman and Tlusty were drafted under Ferguson's leadership, while the contracts of Antropov ($2 million U.S.), goalie Vesa Toskala ($3 million) and defenceman Tomas Kaberle ($4.25 million) were all negotiated by JFJ and are the most salary cap-effective deals the team has.

Funny how Cox fails to mention the other half of that equation. How the NTC5 and the mediocre play of Blake, Raycroft, Wozniewski – all with contracts negotiated by JFJ - were the least salary-cap effective deals the team has and a big reason why JFJ no longer has a job.

Cox concludes:

So while Peddie was ostensibly doing damage control, all it really did was make it abundantly clear that the dazed and confused Leafs are pursuing the future with continued maximum dysfunction as their guide.

Uh, sure Damien. Whatever you say buddy.

Far be it from me to defend MLSE (I'm going to need a shower after typing this) but taking an additional month to hire the one person that this entire organization and fan base will be putting their faith in is the wrong thing to do?

The right thing to do is to commit to a ten day window to find their saviour?

If that’s how Cox defines "dysfunctional" I wonder what's the apt adjective to describe the Toronto Star’s newsroom and Cox’s ability to churn this stuff out for nearly 20 years?

###

For those of you interested in the “PR efforts” Cox refers to, there’s an excellent six minute, 40 second clip of Elliot Friedman interviewing Richard Peddie from Saturday’s CBC game. To view it, surf over to here, click on the “search” option, type in Peddie and Inside Hockey,March 29 should be your top option. (Hopefully, your video feed won’t buffer as badly as mine. And if you do watch, put yourself in Peddie's shoes when he's asked about the Habs marketing efforts with Grade 5 students - I hate that f*cker Peddie with a passion, but he gets full marks for not falling off his seat and laughing at Friedman over that line of questioning.)