Bleacher Report - Articles by Aaron Balsillie

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club, Rebuilding Since 1967

Aaron Balsillie — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:53:00 -0400

Rebuilding is a word only spoken in a soft voice in Toronto, the "Center of the Hockey Universe". Any time it is mentioned that Toronto needs to rebuild, maybe even tank it for a season or two, the voracious Toronto sports media will jump all over saying, "The Leaf Nation will not accept that, they can't just purposely lose for a high draft pick...that is ludicrous!"

And to a degree, they are right. As professionals, I don't think anyone could convince any Toronto Maple Leafs, any NHL player, really, to purposely lose to throw games.

However, as has been made perfectly clear in the last few years, Toronto is just not a very good team, and hasn't been for a long time. The last time the Leafs were even in the Stanley Cup Finals was they last time they won the cup, 1967.

1967 was the last season the Original Six composed the NHL. It required eight wins (two rounds) to win the Cup. The number needed to win is double that now and the gradual increase to 30 teams did nothing but open the field wider and wider.

With the exception of Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Phoenix/Winnipeg, and Toronto, every single team in the National Hockey League has at least been to the Stanley Cup finals since then (the Hartford Whalers made it in the form of the Carolina Hurricanes). All expansion teams, except for Toronto.

I am a loyal Leafs fan, a certifiable citizen of the Leafs Nation. I have suffered through the bad years and enjoyed the good years, but one thing always puzzles me. Whenever a new player (at least Canadian ones) arrives in Toronto, they always go on and on about how proud they are to be a Leaf, that they remember watching the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada on cold Canadian winter Saturday nights during their childhood.

It would seem, and Toronto seems to think, that every player in the NHL would want to play in Toronto. So why aren't players like lining up in droves in the GM's office asking for a trade to the Leafs?

Playing in Toronto is not like playing anywhere else. If you're a Toronto Maple Leaf walking down the street and you sneeze, you will see Sportscentre leading off with a story that you have pneumonia and will be out 2-3 weeks.

Sell a house (and buy a new one) and the sports media tells all who will listen that you are on the block and that a trade is imminent. Playing/living in a town under such scrutiny can't be easy and a lot of players want to focus on playing, not on what the sports page says.

When times are rough, you hear the predictable, "I don't even read the newspaper." Well, if you want to avoid hearing your name, better not turn on the TV, the radio, or log onto the internet. There is a reason putting together a championship team in Toronto is a challenge.

In other hockey markets (think Chicago), consistent poor play results in a drop in attendance. Not in Toronto. The Leafs could be dead last in the league and the Air Canada Centre would still be full night after night.

Leaf fans are sometimes described as sports maschocistics. They know what they'll see is painful, but yet they can't turn away. They have to watch! Coincidently, Chicago is the only team to go cupless longer than Toronto.

In 1967, a long time ago, I would venture to guess most people reading this were not even born yet. I'm 31 and I'm 10 years late!

The 1967 team was one for the ages. They weren't exactly like the Montreal teams of the 1970's and the Leafs didn't exactly have the superstars like Maurice "Rocket" Richard or Jacques Plante, but they had players who were good when they needed to be.

Johnny Bower, Dave Keon, Frank Mahavolich, George Armstrong, Tim Horton, are all heroes in blue who are enshrined in the rafters of the Air Canada Centre. Since then, other bright lights have played for the Leafs and got them close to the Stanley Cup finals.

Darryl Sittler and Borje Salming. Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark came within one goal of the Stanley Cup finals in 1993.

But there has always been something missing, that one player, or group of players to make Toronto championship grade. And the only way to do that is to draft well, develop younger players, and when the current plan isn't working, rebuild.

As much as people deny it, and as much as Toronto has failed at doing it, they've been rebuilding since the last time the Cup was raised in Toronto.

Nashville Predators For Sale: Rich Canadians Need Not Apply

Aaron Balsillie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:38:58 -0400

The Blackberry, one of the most popular “must-have,” techno gadgets of businessman—and slacker alike—has made Jim Balsillie a very wealthy man.

When you have literally millions of disposable cash, you are able to do a lot of things you and I can only dream of—like own an NHL Franchise.

Jim Balsillie by all accounts is a reasonable man and a top-notch businessman as well. So, why is the NHL basically treating his persona non grata? And attempt to buy the cash-strapped, soon to be arena-less Penguins?

A second attempt to buy the Nashville Predators seemed to be a done deal, an ideal seller, and a willing buyer willing to pay well above market price for the team. Nashville was a team on the rise, young, talented, and coached to perfection.

Only one problem, Nashville is known for country music, not hockey, and building a fan base was a problem. Nashville had a buyer and a man who wanted to rescue a team from its own fate and market as well—Moving it to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

It baffled many hockey fans. Why on earth is the league so unilaterally opposed to moving a team back to Canada? Quebec City and Winnipeg lost their teams to the United States.

Gary Bettman and his sun-belt hockey plan took teams out of solid markets, like Minneapolis and Hartford, and moved them to experimental markets, like Dallas and Raleigh respectively.

The move to Carolina was so disastrous, that the team initially offered flight and ticket packages to fans in Hartford to come down and support “their” former Whalers.

On the other hand, Dallas turned out to be a better story, but having a successful team, also, helps.

Colorado had been another question mark, but winning the Stanley Cup the very first season was a major plus for the franchise.

Only minutes from the New York boarder, Hamilton is a huge hockey town, hungering for years of an NHL team of their own. It would be right outside Toronto's "zone of control", a ring around markets to prevent encroachment by other teams—the Buffalo Sabres.

Balsillie knew this, and planned to move the team there. He had an arena lined up, and began advance selling of season tickets. That's when Gary Bettman stepped in. He would not approve the sale of the team if was to be moved to Canada.

There are certainly worse things than moving a team into a booming market where the game was born. It's like saying we're expanding the NFL to Mexico, and we're going to send Patriots and the Cleveland Browns to start, and no more teams will be added to the U.S.

The worse thing is, it started a very uneasy relationship between Jim Balsillie and the league itself—almost like Jim Balsillie is hesitant about showing interest in a team, solely due to the fact he thinks that Bettman will reject it out of hand. Despite Bill Daly's constant assurances that there is no bad blood between Balsillie and Bettman, Bettman himself has not denied it.

Today TSN.CA released a story, that Balsillie's money is “still good.” According to the report, eight ownership groups: Dallas, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay are among them. They are in negotiations according a report from the Canadian newspaper, The National Post.

While it’s still not clear whether or not they are interested in selling a team to Balsillie, they might merely offering him to own a part of the team.

What’s also puzzling is why the NHL finds Balsillie's overtures so offensive? According to Richard Rodier, Balsillie's advisor, "The commissioner made it very clear he does not want Jim in the league under any circumstances, period." However, like stated before, it is Bill Daly who is coming to the commissioner's defense, not the commissioner himself.

While Bettman feels the need to have Bill Daly come to the rescue is unclear. It actually makes Bettman look like a coward. Daly insists it is the owners, not the commissioner who makes this decision: that the sale of a team is dependent upon how the other 29 teams feel about it.

That it is "not something that the commissioner decides." Well, it’s interesting to know, since it is well known that Bettman was involved when it became known that Balsillie was going to take his team back above the 48th Parallel.

Anything that grows the game helps all the teams in the NHL. Balsillie's foray into selling season tickets showed only one thing—he had an overwhelming fan support back home.

This is just another example of Gary Bettman trying to bend the NHL to what he thinks it ought to be. This is not the NBA. The NHL is still wounded by the lockout and does not have nearly close to the public visibility the NBA has.

It has been learned that Gary Bettman owns a Blackberry, I wonder if he'd been having any problems with it recently?

Keith Acton: Bulletproof?

Aaron Balsillie — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:49:58 -0400

For some fairly tenured Toronto Maple Leaf fans, think 1997 to present, there have been many changes: new rink, new coaches, new GMs, new players.

There have been only two constants in that time: Mats Sundin as captain and Keith Acton behind the bench.

When the axe fell on Pat Quinn, he and his entire staff was fired save Keith Acton.

I am not too familiar with Keith Acton. He is the assistant coach whose responsibility is to oversee the offensive side of the bench.

Since the Leafs have not yet embraced the high-tech handheld video-screen, direct connection to the pressbox, and other advanced methods of coaching, the old-school assistant coach in charge of offense or defense still reigns in Toronto.

I have it on good authority the Keith Acton is a smart coach with great knowledge of systems and plays, and is well liked by the players. And it is always a good idea to have a transition guy in place when a new coaching staff is brought in to help accilimate both the new coaches and players.

However, Pat Quinn has come and gone, and now so had Paul Maurice. Yet Keith Acton will remain behind the bench. And Randy Lacocuere also found himself looking at want ads today. Dallas Eakins was offered another position in the organization, but will no longer be in the coaching ranks.

So why is Keith Acton so untouchable?

He has even outlasted two GMs, Pat Quinn and John Ferguson, Jr. Is he that good, or is he around because he's going to be getting promoted? Will the new GM keep Acton around or cast him off?

Just who is Keith Acton, and what does he know that makes him so valuble?

No Tears for Sean Avery

Aaron Balsillie — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:13:14 -0400

While it is hard to imagine Sean Avery being associated with a group of heroes like the members of the US Marine Corps, there is a saying in the Marines that is as familiar as "Semper Fi". It is, "no better friend, no worse enemy." That describes Sean Avery particularly well.

Most players that have played with and against Avery will most likely prefer to be in the "with" column; as opposed to the "against". I personally have a passionate dislike of Avery, bordering closely to hate. Sean Avery can play that game, he can score, he can manufacture plays, he is a good skater. So why does a player blessed with these skills lack the one thing that separates good players from bad ones? Of course I speak here of respect.

Love him or hate him, Sean Avery is paid a lot of money to play a game. As is the case in other professional sports, actually all sports in general, the main goal is to win, otherwise why bother to keep score? The NHL is one of the toughest professional sports, in my honest opinion, it takes more skill, athleticism, and perseverance to play in this league.

The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy is professional sports to win. However, Sean Avery consistently and maddeningly disrespects opposing players and in turn, the game as a whole. Sean Avery is a talented man, being paid million of dollars to play a game.

Sean Avery occupies the auspicious post of "pest" in hockey vernacular. Among his compatriots are players like Darcy Tucker, Jordan Tootoo, Matthew Barnaby, and Mario Lemieux's least favorite player, Darius Kasparitis. These players' role is to agitate and attempt to get high-skilled players to change their focus from playing the game. A lot of people look down on these players as players who don't possess the size or skill to excel in the NHL and are therefore resigned to secondary roles on the team. With the exception of players like Darcy Tucker and Matthew Barnaby, these pests are timid to drop the gloves. Avery will only fight after he has taken the first punch.

Pests have a place in the game, they can be valuable assets at times. Some of them can also chip in offensively. But a lot of what Avery does crosses the line. I'd like to hear what is really said out there by mic'd up players.

Avery has gone on record about giving Martin Brodeur a hard time about the divorce from his wife 5 years ago. Something of a very personal nature almost set things off in the pregame warm up in a game against Toronto this season, where Avery started giving Jason Blake a hard time and Darcy Tucker came to the rescue. Avery goes after the star players, and if he was playing about 10 years ago, he'd be taking a lot of the first punches before the instigator rule was enforced.

Avery also talks about his reputation like it's a badge of honor, sort of like, "I'm a hack and damned proud of it!" Please. Avery is a player in the National Hockey League, and by association, a professional. Also, Avery whether he likes it or not, is a role model. Players may pattern their play after him, after all, he's a New York Ranger, that kind of idiocy must be what the NHL wants, right?

So, hearing that Avery ruptured his spleen in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and will unavailable for the remainder of the Stanley Cup playoffs (which may end Thursday anyway) was did not arouse any sad feelings within me.

While I maintain that I never want to see a player, any player, hurt, (I am not a masochist who likes to see people suffer), I think that maybe Avery is experiencing a little bit of karma. Or, perhaps divine intervention.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs should not be a venue for Avery to display the same behavior that saw teams like Detroit and Los Angeles do whatever it took to ship him off to another team. And now, no matter what happens to New York, it won't matter.

At least Avery fans can take solace in the fact that he will make full recovery in the off season and will be back to his same old antics this fall. At least Martin Brodeur will be able to fend off the tiresome barbs about his divorce with a snappy retort like, "Hey Sean, how's the spleen?"

Fabian Brunnstrom: Deal or No Deal?

Aaron Balsillie — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:33:01 -0400

The hockey world is all agog with the news that Fabian Brunnstrom, player for Farjestads BK of the Swedish Elite League, is available.

Brunnstrom seemed headed for Vancouver, and the paperwork was all in order. Then the Canucks did something wrong. They fired GM Dave Nonis. While firing Nonis may be a good or bad thing, I guess we'll find out this fall.

It took Brunnstrom right out of the Canucks' hands and, reportedly, into the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Caution. This guy will bolt if the leadership changes, and that is guaranteed to happen in Toronto.

Brunnstrom and his agent, the familiar JP Barry, seem to indicate that Toronto is on the short list and hopes to have something in place by the beginning of May.

So Fabian, you better be sure because Cliff Fletcher will sign the contract. He’d better hope the new GM has plans for him.

And speaking of plans, what makes JP Barry and Brunnstrom so sure the Leafs want him?

Brunnstrom wants a deal like Juri Tlusty to enter into the Leafs’ lineup right from day one. He wants the max for a rookie—$875,000 plus bonuses—to boost it up to the range of $2 million annually. All this for a player who thinks he can play at the NHL level immediately.

Also, Brunnstrom is looking for all this with a shockingly average statistics set. In 54 games, Brunnstrom netted nine goals and 28 assists.

Maple Leafs’ "disappointment” Jason Blake has more points at the NHL level. Brunnstrom is being billed as the next Daniel Alfredsson. He better be, to be asking for what he's asking for.

Steve Stamkos and Drew Doughty couldn't expect more than what Brunnstrom is looking for. The best thing going for Brunnstrom is this.

He is big, strong, and has a lot of raw talent. He also comes at a discount and will not cost a draft pick.

That being said, he has a pretty high opinion of himself and he thinks that he can have an impact as an offensive player in the NHL. Nick Kulemin thought the same thing, and was disappointed to be sent down to the Marlies.

He returned to Russia where he has developed nicely and could be in the Leafs’ lineup this fall.

It's just that right now, Brunnstrom is an unknown quantity. He could be great, or he could be another Leaf gamble that blows up.

If I were Cliff Fletcher, I would sign him to a two-way deal with the understanding that time with the big club will be earned and not assumed.