Bleacher Report - Articles by Joseph Cosentino

The Bay Street Bullies Are Back: Burke Sticks to His Word

Joseph Cosentino — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:47:01 -0400

The last couple weeks have been a tumultuous ride for Leaf fans. Could it be the excitement is coming back in Leaf land?

June 23, NHL entry draft, The Leafs draft Nazem Kadri seventh overall.

The 18-year-old had 53 assists and 78 points for London Knights of the OHL in 2008–2009 playing alongside John Tavares. He was signed to a three-year entry level contract yesterday, but it’s most likely he will be spending another year in the Ontario Hockey League.

The 18-year-old adds tenacity and flair to his game, something that Burke looks for in the kid.

July 1 was a busy day for Burke. He signed big rugged forward Colton Orr to a four-year contract at $1.1 million per season.

At 6'3'' and 220 pounds, Orr provides much needed size and toughness to an already undersized forward unit. The big splash came later on that day when he acquired blueliner Mike Komisarek from the Montreal Canadiens and was able to unload defenseman Pavel Kubina to Atlanta for bruising defenseman Garnett Exelby and prospect Colin Stuart.

At 6'4'' and 240 pounds, Komisarek adds front-line experience to an already crowded blue line. This is well complemented by the addition of Garnett Exelby and his 6'1'', 217 pound frame.

July 6, the Leafs Acquired defenseman Francois Beauchemin from Anaheim.

In Beauchemin, the Leafs get a player that averaged over 20 minutes a game and provided steady defense, but could also chip in offensively when needed. With the addition of Beauchemin the Leafs now have over 10 players of NHL calibre on defense.

The odd D men out, possibly Finger or Kaberle through a trade. Nonetheless, Come September, training camp will promise to be fierce and competitive at the blue line.

July 7, the Leafs acquire the Swedish Monster, Jonas Gustavsson.

The 24-year-old Swedish goalie appeared in 42 games last year with Farjestads of the Swedish Elite League and posted a 1.96 GAA and .932 save percentage. In the playoffs he allowed 14 goals in 13 games, posting a .961 save percentage and 6 shutouts.

The addition of Gustavsson is sure to put pressure on No. 1 goalie Vesa Toskala. History has proven that Toskala performs better when under pressure from his backup, as was evident when he had those goaltending battles with Evgeni Nabakov of San Jose.

While still in need of a top six forward and a huge middle in defense, Burke has so far kept his word of doing what it takes to make this team hard to play against. It's not a certainty that these moves will elevate the Leafs to a playoff position but the 2009-2010 season is bound to be an interesting one in Leaf Land.

OVECHKIN AND THE NO FUN LEAGUE

Joseph Cosentino — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:19:29 -0400

I really don’t understand what the big deal is with Alexander Ovechkin’s latest goal celebration. He is basically showing passion for the game that he grew up playing in Russia. He’s brought some of this excitement to the NHL, which is in need of a boost both economically and in terms of TV ratings in the United States.

For those of you that missed it, Ovechkin came bursting down the wing and beat three skaters in his path, and then unloaded a high wrist shot into the top left corner of the net. He then proceeded to put his stick down on the ice behind the net and pretended to be warming up his hands as if his stick was “on fire”.

You can bet this will be a hot topic and will be talked about all across Canada, and maybe in some parts of the U.S.

Nick Kypreos, analyst for Sportsnet Hockey Central, was so furious at the celebration it looked as though he was ready to come out of your TV set and attack you. I can’t wait to see what Don Cherry has to say about this on the next Coaches Corner.

If you remember the last time Cherry talked about goal celebrations in the NHL, he made various references to Ovechkin’s goal celebrations and compared them to some of the ridiculous goal celebrations in soccer.

I wouldn’t be comparing Ovechkin’s “hot stove” celebration to a Spanish soccer player biting his teammate’s lower body part.

As much as I respect both Cherry and Kypreos, I don’t think much should be made about Ovechkin’s overzealous goal celebrations.

He’s a player that is passionate about the game. He’s got the ferocity of Scott Stevens when it comes to hitting opponents and the finesse and skill of Wayne Gretzky when it comes to scoring and play making.

He’s scored over 200 goals in his short career thus far and he isn’t going to stop.

In the NFL, the so called "No Fun League", we’ve witnessed outlandish touchdown celebrations of the likes of the Chad Johnson river dance, the Terrell Owens pomp pomp celebration, and who could forget the Sharpie?

The NFL loves to crack down on these celebrations and any player that celebrates with any form of shenanigans is subject to a fine. This is why critics dub the NFL as the NO FUN LEAGUE.

The one difference between the NFL and the NHL is that the NFL doesn’t need to find creative ways to market the game in the United States. With strong television contracts, a firm grip on labor costs, the highest revenues of the four major sports and the fact that there has not been a work stoppage since 1987 is why this is the case.

Ever since the NHL lost its television contract with ESPN in 2004, they have been without a national carrier for its games, and therefore, hockey highlights have been demoted to the end of the ESPN Sports Center broadcasts.

The average annual salary has grown about 16 percent since 1990 and there have been three work stoppages since 1987. Not to mention there are teams in the South East and the Phoenix Coyotes that have lost tens of millions of dollars since the lockout.

If people want to cry about Ovechkin’s antics, maybe they should consider the owners of those teams bleeding money every year because fans just don’t care.

There is hope that Ovechkin and his wild goal celebrations will spark interest, and hopefully people like Cherry and Kypreos will get used to this, as there is plenty more of Ovechkin to come.

Team Canada 2010: Pre Olympic Roster

Joseph Cosentino — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:36:12 -0500

It is exactly one year until Team Canada begins playing their first game in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Tournament. While it's still 365 days away, it's not too early to begin predicting who will grace the Team Canada jersey and make the roster.

Goaltenders: This was an easy selection. It's hard to say that Luongo will not be named the starting goaltender for Team Canada come November/December 2009, but he will be there in front of his home fans and Vancouver faithful.

1. Roberto Luongo

2. Martin Brodeur

3. Marty Turco

Defensemen: The old guard of Scott Niedermeyer and Chris Pronger must make way for the up and coming elite such as Dion Phaneuf, Dan Boyle, and Jay Boumeester. Younger and faster skilled defensemen are required for a short Olympic tournament where the tempo and intensity is far greater than any NHL game I have witnessed.

1 Dion Phaneuf

2. Jay Boumeester

3. Dan Boyle

4. Brian Campbell

5. Shea Weber

6. Mike Green

7. Chris Pronger

8. Scott Niedermeyer

Forwards: Vincent Lecavalier, Jerome Iginla, Joe Thornton, and Shane Doan all provide veteran leadership and have been involved in Team Canada Olympic teams in the past. They will need to share this experience with newcomers Sydney Crosby, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Jonathan Toews. Not to mention, those four veterans are having excellent seasons with their respective teams. Eric Staal and Jason Spezza were left off the 2006 Olympic team, but if they start off the 2009-2010 season on a hot streak they should be included on this roster.

1. Vincent Lecavalier

2. Jerome Iginla

3. Sydney Crosby

4. Eric Staal

5. Joe Thornton

6. Jonathan Toews

7. Shane Doan

8. Rick Nash

9. Dany Heatley

10. Jeff Carter

11. Mike Richards

12. Ryan Getzlaf

Alternates: Corey Perry, Jason Spezza

Coach: Mike Babcock

It's still a year away, but the pressure is on. From the selection process until the time they hit the ice on Feb 16th 2010 versus Switzerland. The lucky players that get chosen to represent their country will feel the pressure, but the glory of winning the Gold medal on their home ice will certainly be worth it.

Why Brett Favre? Why? Athletes Hanging By a Thread

Joseph Cosentino — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:29:28 -0400

Is it for the love of the game? Is it for the love of money? Is it for the fact that an athlete has nothing better to do once they retire, so therefore they have to unretire to satisfy their boredom.

I see nothing wrong with an athlete wanting to come back, if it’s their inner drive to win a championship after coming so close many times previously.

For this reason, I would understand why Brett Favre would want to come back and play pro football again. However, looking at past accomplishments and the amount of money he’s made, it doesn’t make sense why he would ever even consider a comeback.

He’s already won a Super Bowl title. He’s won three MVP awards, has surpassed the record for most touchdown passes at 442, most completions at 5,377, and consecutive games started by a quarterback at 253.

He’s been the most respected professional in the NFL, but this latest saga has people like me questioning that notion.

Favre announced his retirement on Mar. 4, 2007, and in his press conference a few days later, he announced that, “I've given everything I possibly can give to this organization, to the game of football, and I don't think I've got anything left to give."

Weeks later, he stated he wasn’t ready to retire and wanted to comeback, and this whole saga followed.

I don’t blame Packers' GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy one bit. Once Brett Favre announced his retirement, the Packers were ready to move on. Two-year backup Aaron Rodgers was given the starting job and an opportunity to see what he can do for them this season.

The way I see it, the Packers are in a lose–lose situation.

If Favre does comeback to the Packers, even in a non-starting role, it allows for a huge dark cloud to hang over the team. Not only does Aaron Rodgers have pressure to perform, as he will be watching his back on a weekly basis, but the whole team will be involved in this controversy, which will, for all purposes, lead to uncharacteristic losses and a chance lost at claiming the division title.

If Favre doesn’t comeback, and let’s just say he goes to a division contender, like Minnesota, then Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and the Packers' whole upper-management will be looked at by the fans as the bad guys.

Not only that, but having Favre play in the same division allows him a chance to beat his former team twice.

The real loser is Brett Favre.

Whether he comes back to the Packers or not, it taints his legacy of retiring as a player that was perhaps on top of his game and it takes away some of the respect that he earned amongst his peers as a classy professional.

This also raises the issue of how set in stone is it when a professional retires?

A few "retired" athletes that are still kicking it in the game today:

Gary Roberts

The oldest forward in the NHL, he missed most of the 2007–2008 season with a broken leg and high-ankle sprain. At 42, he still managed to play 49 games for the Penguins, and he added five goals and 14 assists while playing on the fourth line for most of the year.

He says he still feels healthy, but at his age, it’s time for him to call it quits, as he’s already won a Stanley cup and enjoyed most of his success with Calgary and Toronto.

Chris Chelios

If Gary Roberts is the oldest forward in the NHL, then Chris Chelios is the oldest player in the NHL. At age 46, he’s won three Stanley cups with Montreal (once) and Detroit (twice).

He’s won the Norris trophy three times, ranks eighth all-time amongst defensemen in assists (754), and he’s the only NHLer to play 400 games for three different teams, Montreal, Chicago, and Detroit.

With Nick Lidstrom being the iron horse and captain of the team, the emergence of Brian Rafalski as the No. 2 defenseman, as well as youngsters such as Niklas Kronwall, Brett Lebda, and Andreas Lilja, is there any reason for him to continue on? Give the younger guys a chance to accomplish more playing time.

Sam Cassel

The 39-year-old point guard for the Boston Celtics won two NBA championships in his first two years in the league with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995. He’s been an integral part of whichever team he has landed on.

He was part of the “Big Three”, along with Ray Allen and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson on the 2001 Milwaukee Bucks team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2004, he helped then-MVP Kevin Garnett take the Minnesota Timberwolves to the 2004 Western Conference finals.

This year, he signed on with the Celtics on waivers and rode the bench most of the year, but when he did come off the bench, he provided the support for Paul Pierce, Ray Allan, and Kevin Garnett to help Boston win their first NBA championship in 22 years.

I think he’s done enough for his career to warrant a retirement.

Julio Franco

Is he still playing? Last time I checked, he was hitting baseballs in his 50s.

Mats Sundin Contradicting Himself?

Joseph Cosentino — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30:09 -0400

Mats Sundin has given everything he’s had to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s captained the team the last 10 years and never complained once about having a legitimate line-mate to play with.

However, I am starting to hear news that sounds a bit contradictory to me.

As we all know by now, Sundin’s negotiating rights have been dealt to Montreal. I think most of us expected Sundin to have signed with the Habs by this point.

It looks like he’s going to weigh out his options and test the free agent market. But even further than that, it’s been noted that he’s going to take his time and may wait until after the season has begun to decide where he wants to play.

If this does happen, it seems a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? The Leafs tried to deal him away at the trade deadline, but he wouldn’t move his no-trade clause because he wanted to join a contender at the beginning of training camp and play out the whole season with that team.

If he joins a contending team by the middle of the season, say in November, how different is that from joining a team in February? That just wouldn’t make sense to me, and he’s pretty much had six months to think about his future.

Sundin doesn’t owe anything to the Leafs. He’s been paid a handsome amount of money by the club over the years and he’s contributed greatly to the club.

However, a little common courtesy would have been nice. If he wants to go to a contender, he should let the Leafs know his intentions so that the clubs are able to make plans accordingly. If he wants to stay and be part of the rebuilding process, then he should re-sign with the team.

If he wants to retire, then he should retire.

It just seems like his lack of communication is killing the Leafs' rebuilding plan at this point. I love the transactions that Cliff Fletcher has made up until this point. His promise last March that the Leafs would be a completely different team heading into training camp looks like it’s coming to fruition.

He’s bought out Tucker and placed Wellwood and Raycroft on waivers. It looks as though he’s going to tell McCabe to stay at home and force his hand at being dealt to another club. And the drafting of Luke Schenn as their number five pick overall looks to be spearheading the beginning of the rebuilding phase for Toronto.

He may be in his 70s, but he still knows what he’s doing as GM.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Playoff Tease Is Over...Put Andrew Raycroft Back In!

Joseph Cosentino — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:35:36 -0400

It was a good run while it lasted. The Leafs went 10–6–1 since February 2. However, now that their so called “Teaser Run” is over, it’s now time for the team to set their focus on a high draft pick.

For those of you that don’t know what a “Teaser Run” is, NHL Insider Bill Clement put it best. Basically, a team that looks to be down and out of the playoff race, makes a late push, getting all fans hopes up, only to finish ninth and a few points out of a playoff spot, bringing down the hopes of fans.

This is a scenario quite similar to that of the Leafs' situation the past few years. In 2006, the Leafs were all but left for dead in the playoff race, only to go on a late 9-0-2 run to finish the season. They finished with 90 points, just two points out of the playoff race. Last year, the Leafs went 10-6 down the stretch, only to finish one point out of a playoff spot.

Most fans feel that these past two results pretty much delayed the rebuilding of the franchise, because Toronto finished just high enough to be kicked out of the top ten drafting order.

These are the same fans that believe that the “Frozen Five” of Kaberle, McCabe, Kubina, Sundin, and Tucker should have waived their no-trade clauses at the trade deadline so that they could have been traded to other contenders in return for a stockpile of high draft picks and young players. That didn’t happen as well, with Kubina changing his mind on a potential trade, just hours before the deadline.

As it stands now, the Leafs are eight points out of the last playoff spot with only 12 games left. Mathematically they are still alive, but realistically, they are officially out of the race.

Now is the time to focus on a top-five draft pick and lose the remainder of their games the legitimate way. Start backup Andrew Raycroft for the majority of these 12 remaining games and perhaps call up some players from the minors, audition them for next year.

It’s time for this team to stop getting our hopes up, because the past two years have shown us that it’s been all for nothing—a waste of time.

Draft Schmaft: Who Says Fletcher Can't Rebuild?

Joseph Cosentino — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:50:00 -0500

He has done it before. Even after he echoed the famous words “DRAFT SCHMAFT “ in 1996, Fletcher orchestrated a trade at the deadline in 1997 that would set the team up for success from 1999–2002.

The date was February 25^th, 1997 and the Leafs were playing through a disappointing season and were on the verge of missing the playoffs. He pulled off the unthinkable; He traded away Doug Gilmour, who was the Captain and took the team on his back during those 1993 and 1994 Stanley Cup semi final runs, and defensemen Dave Ellett to New Jersey for Alyn McCauley, Steve Sullivan and hard nosed stay at home defensemen Jason Smith. The deal turned out to be a success.

Alyn McCauley didn’t have the greatest stats with Toronto, but he turned out to be a good shutdown winger and helped carry the load during the 2002 run to the Stanley Cup semi finals when star players such as Mats Sundin and Alex Mogilny were out due to injuries. He scored 15 points in 20 playoff games that year. He was traded away in 2003 in the infamous Owen Nolan deal.

Steve Sullivan scored 20 goals for the Leafs in 1998-99 and helped them claim the fourth overall spot in the Eastern Conference and a birth in the Eastern Conference final. The Leafs put him on waivers after the 1999 season, and he enjoyed the majority of his success in Chicago and now Nashville, despite being put on injury reserve for the year. He scored 73 and 75 points with Chicago and Nashville in 2001 and 2004 and was coming off a 60 point season before being shelved due to injury.

Jason Smith was solid for Toronto from 1997–1999. Unfortunately he was traded away in 1999 to the Oilers, where he enjoyed the bulk of his success and also became the captain. He is currently the Flyers Captain and one of the reasons why they are fighting for a division crown in the Atlantic division.

The point I’m trying to make is that, even though these players no longer exist on the Leafs, Fletcher made some moves back then that would eventually set the team up for success in the coming years.

They missed the playoffs in 1997 and 1998, but the Gilmour and Ellett trade paved the way for success between 1999–2002, which included two Conference Finals appearances and a Northeast division crown in 2000.

In my previous article, I mentioned how much of a mess Fletcher has to deal with in terms of the contracts of Tucker, McCabe, Blake, Raycroft and the Mats Sundin trade rumors. If someone can clean this mess up and set the team up for rebuilding, it’s Cliff Fletcher, and one just needs to look at the 1997 trade deadline deal involving Gilmour and Ellett as further proof that it can be done.

Maple Leafs: Looking Ahead to the Cliff Fletcher Era

Joseph Cosentino — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:19:20 -0500

It just seems fitting.

With the Leafs needing important wins down the stretch before the All-Star break, the Leafs got a big one tonight.

The game winner was scored by none other than Mats Sundin, the subject matter of Cliff Fletcher’s first task at hand in turning around this organization. With the trade rumors of Sundin’s inevitable departure heating up, how fitting is it that he scores the game winner?

“Within two weeks, we should be prepared to, philosophically at least, know what direction we’ve chosen to go in," Fletcher said on Tuesday.

If they want to go in the direction of winning and compete for the playoffs, they must keep winning important games down the stretch, and tonight was a great start.

Toskala was his usual solid self, making 30 saves. Chad Kilger and Alex Steen scored the other goals for Toronto, while Ovechkin and Semin scored for Washington.

The Leafs have won four of their last five games, and are only five points behind the final playoff spot in the East. They are 1-0 under the Cliff Fletcher regime.

Fletcher, who took over the interim GM’s duties on Tuesday, has inherited a mess of a lineup. The key assets that he would view as trade-able are currently locked up to contracts that have multiple years remaining.

McCabe has three years left on a deal that pays him 5.75 million. Darcy Tucker has 3 years left on his deal with a cap hit of 3 million. Jason Blake has 3 years left on his contract of 4 million a yea,r and Kaberle has two years remaining on his 4.35 million contract.

In short, Fletcher is going to find it extremely tough to trade away these players unless there is a team that can bear the brunt of these salaries, which leaves us to Mats Sundin.

He’s in the last year of his contract with a cap hit of 5.5 million and is by far the easiest and most attractive asset for other teams to take on. The problem is , Sundin is unwilling to go anywhere and has stated many times how he likes Toronto and wants to end his career here. If Fletch wants to pull the trigger and trade him, he’s going to have to go to Sundin himself and do some heavy selling and convincing.

The only other alternative is to go with the guns that they have at present and keep stringing together victories in hopes of capturing that last playoff spot. However, there is a better chance of the Leafs trading away Sundin than that happening.

With a man as old and senile as Cliff Fletcher, I wouldn’t bet against it.

NFL Championship Sunday: Final Thoughts

Joseph Cosentino — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:01:08 -0500

After over 6 hours of viewing and eating junk food, I thought I would add some tidbits of this past Sunday's championship games...

New England vs. San Diego

This game failed to live up to its hype. No LT and a banged up Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates could barely muster any sort of offense on the field.

Given how great the San Diego defense played, all they had to do was convert two of their red zone drives into touchdowns.

Just check out the stats. Brady throws for 3 interceptions, and Randy Moss has only one catch on the day. One only has to look at those key numbers and think that New England lost the game.

Unfortunately, since I hate the Patriots, they have too many weapons that can beat you. Maroney and Faulk had 122 yards rushing and 86 yards receiving, respectively, and, along with Wes Welker and his touchdown catch, dominated the game for the Pats.

As for LaDainian Tomlinson, all I can say is thank goodness fantasy football season is over. If my fantasy title hopes rested on him, in a game of this magnitude, I would have been fairly disappointed.

I don't get it. Philip Rivers plays the whole game on a torn ligament and played okay given the circumstances. However, Tomlinson, in the biggest game of his pro football career, quit after two carries.

He said he wanted vengeance from last year. He wanted to rip Ellis Hobbs' head off after the "Merriman Shocker" dance in midfield after the playoff loss from a year ago. He said he was probable and good to go for the game on Sunday.

All I saw was a picture of a motionless statue of Tomlinson hiding behind that Darth Vader like helmet of his on the bench.

On another note, the game was as exciting as watching drying paint.

Green Bay vs New York Giants

The NFC Championship Game was the game of the day/night. There were lead changes, interceptions, missed field goals and three beautiful girls in bikini tops braving the minus twenty-two degree weather.

The Giants deserved to win this game, and they did just that, winning their tenth straight road game. Tiki Barber must be chewing on some crow from his NBC set at this moment.

Eli Manning showed everyone, including Barber, that the kid from Ole Miss can lead this team to a Super Bowl. He managed the game brilliantly from start to finish. Given he did have an interception, he was able to engineer the winning drive in overtime, ensuring that for the second straight year there will be a Manning in the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, his thirty-eight year old counterpart had two picks, including the one in overtime that led to the Giants' winning field goal. Clearly, it's the sign of the times for Brett Favre, a sign that he must call it a career, which is definitely Hall of Fame worthy. However, he's most likely going to come back for another year, as he doesn't want his legacy to be tarnished from that interception.

As for the coverage on Fox, I have to say, it was a little too gimmicky for me. It was nice to see a recap of someone's first grade science experiment demonstrated by none other than Jimmy Johnson. It was funny seeing Tom Coughlin's face getting redder by the hour, as well as seeing the white patches of frost bite underneath his eyes.

Here's to hoping that this year's Super Bowl will be much more exciting than last.

Myth or Fact: Dissecting the Cowboys' Loss

Joseph Cosentino — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:12:36 -0500

The Giants upset the Cowboys 21-17 in the Divisional round of the NFC playoffs on Sunday Night. All of a sudden the questions are being asked:

1. Did YOKO ROMO scandal affect Romo’s performance?

People will point to his affairs with Jessica Simpson, including his Mexico trip with her and her family as a reason why they lost. Is it possible that during every play, all he could think of in his head was Jessica Simpson in a bikini? The fact of the matter is that Tony Romo was missing his targets , over throwing and under throwing to several of his receivers in the second half and the offense almost completely abandoned the run after Marion Barber had 101 yards rushing in the first half. In addition, his receivers were dropping key passes that would have led to big offensive gains in the second half, including the important missed reception by Patrick Crayton that would have led to a big gain and possibly a touchdown in the third quarter. Shortly after, the Giants had their winning touchdown drive.

2. Did Jerry Jones provide bulletin board material for the Giants?

There is speculation that Owner Jerry Jones sent two tickets for the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP game in an envelope to each Cowboy player earlier this week as motivation for advancement in the playoff tournament. It turns out they will be using those tickets to go to Green Bay, where they will be watching from the stands. The fact is that the Cowboys took all kinds of penalties that killed a lot of their drives, 11 penalties for 84 yards to be exact. More facts, the Cowboys had sloppy tackling on special teams and defense and the team was averaging just 15 points a game and a record of 2-2 in their last 4 regular season games heading into this one.

The Cowboys are the first number one seeded team to lose in the NFC divisional round since the inception of the Wild Card round in 1990. They also haven’t won a playoff game since 1996. The team is headed into a very rough off season with the possibility of losing staff members in Offensive coordinator Jason Garret and Offensive Line coach Tony Sparano . Head Coach Wade Phillips job security shouldn’t be considered safe either. Despite the 13-3 record, his team failed to capitalize on their No. 1 seeding and he’s now 0-4 in the playoffs.

Whether you are a fan or not, one can’t help but feel sorry for Romo. Last year he had to deal with questions surrounding his botched snap in the Wild Card game against Seattle and this year, numerous questions surrounding his Los Cabos trip (OK, probably not that sorry, since he’s dating Jessica Simpson). However, he will rally around this and have a better season next year, not necessarily in the stats department but he will grow as a quarterback and learn how to win in the playoffs. Just look at the success that Eli Manning is having so far in the playoffs. The last two playoff years before this, including earlier on in the regular season, he played like a second string quarterback who was a starter because his last name is Manning and now he’s one game away from going to the Super Bowl. The maturing of Terrell Owens is already beginning with this team. He’s accepted the “team” mentality within him and his post game conference interested me because he came to the defense of his quarterback. “You can point the finger at him, you can talk about his vacation (with Simpson), and if you do that, it’s really unfair. That’s my teammate….we lost as a team.” Said an emotional Owens, crying behind dark sunglasses.

Toronto Maple Leafs Midseason Report Card: What Should Ferguson and Maurice Do?

Joseph Cosentino — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:48:30 -0500

The Toronto Maple Leafs have played 42 games up until this point with just 40 points to show for. That projects to about 80 points, a total that is not good enough to make the playoffs, given that the standard the past two years has been 92 points. Here is the midseason report card:

The Defense: Let’s start with Brian McCabe’s injury. The first two months of the season before his injury, they gave up the most goals in the NHL. One month before his injury, he started to play better in his own end, and the team defense started to improve. He gets injured, and the team starts to collapse again in their own end, hanging the goalies out to dry. Only 4 teams have given up more goals than this unit, and that is only because of the brilliant goaltending of Vesa Toskala.

Carlo Coliacovo: I think I can count with my right hand how many games he has played this season. He’s a solid defensemen if he could ever play a full season.

Tomas Kaberle: He’s still a great puck moving defensemen and makes crisp passes from end to end. However, he’s too soft in his own end and always get caught pinching up ice, giving up the long breakaway pass.

Hal Gill, Ian White, Pavel Kubina, Andy Wozniewski: For the amount of money being paid to Kubina, the most economical would be Hal Gill, since he logs valuable minutes and blocks a lot of shots. Kubina makes about 5 million a year, Gill makes about 2.5 million. Ian White and Andy Wozniewski just don’t get it at this point.

Grade: D+

The Goaltending: With Toskala starting in goal, his 13-11-4 record and 2.62 Goals Against Average makes the defense look just a bit better. That being said, he averages about 27 shots against a game.

Raycroft, Clemmensen: Combined 3 wins, 7 losses 4 ties and 3.84 Goals Against Average. To their credit, their defensemen don’t bail them out but Raycroft has the ability to give up that “bad” goal, which sets the tone for the rest of the game. His confidence is also shot at this point.

Grade : B+ with Toskala, D- without Toskala

Forwards: Sundin, Antropov and Ponikarovsky: Sundin has been the rock of this organization for 14 years. He has been the model of consistency year in and year out, given the lack of talented forwards given to him by Management. At 37, he is putting up solid numbers once again, 20 goals, 28 assists for 48 points in just 42 games. More on him later. Antropov was having a career year until he hit a scoring slump, and has not scored in 8 games. Ponikarovsky was a force to deal with along with Sundin and Antropov making up a big and talented line that opposition found tough to deal with. However, he too has disappeared.

Blake, Tucker, Wellwood: Blake is making 4 million a year, he has 8 goals. Tucker is also making about the same amount and has 4 goals. Wellwood still has not recovered from his groin injury of last year, and this has set him back quite a bit, with a few stops on the bench. BUST ! BUST ! DAMAGED GOODS!

Stajan, Steen and the rest of the forwards: They play some solid games, but they are what they are, third line players. Stajan and Steen might be second line players on any other teaam.

Grade : D-

Special Teams:

Power play: Abysmal! they give up as many goals on the power play as much as other teams give up on the penalty kill.

Penalty Kill: Only 4 teams have a worse penalty kill than this unit. Horrible!

Grade: F

So the question remains, Will Ferguson and Maurice right this ship and keep their jobs for next year? Recent history suggests that they will do just enough for this team to make a late run at a playoff spot, only to finish a few points out of the 8th and final spot in the Eastern Conference. This is not good enough. Ferguson has to start the rebuilding process NOW!!! Blow this team up and start from scratch. Trade Sundin now, before he becomes an unrestricted free agent and is let go for nothing. I don’t know who at MLSE is brainwashing Sundin, but he has said all the right things, including stating many times how much he loves playing in Toronto and wants to finish his career here. The problem is, he’s not thinking for himself, he needs to go out and finish his career with a Stanley cup ring. Trade him to Pittsburgh, trade him to Anaheim, heck, they can even trade him to Ottawa. The fact of the matter is, Ferguson is going to get fired whether he trades Sundin or not, so he might as well go for broke and trade him to a team that will give him the best deal possible. Pittsburgh has a wealth of young talent, including Jordan Staal and draft picks, and they could be a Sundin away from going deep into the playoffs. Anaheim would definitely be a candidate to repeat as cup champions with Sundin centering the first line between Bertuzzi and Getzlaf and the Leafs can benefit from this by acquiring Anaheim’s pick from Edmonton and a few good prospects. The fact of the matter is, Ferguson better act fast, because the clock is ticking before his exile as GM. Paul Maurice is doing what he can, but he will become a lame duck coach by next year, if the eventual, newly acquired GM prefers to keep him that long.

Formula for the Cure: Five Things the Toronto Maple Leafs Can Do to Save Their Franchise

Joseph Cosentino — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:01:38 -0500

The Leafs lost another embarrassing one last night, 6-2 to the high-flying Pittsburgh Penguins.

Toronto has fallen to 13th place in the Eastern Conference.

From the Leafs management's point of view, 13th place is positive, because they are only three points from eighth spot in the East, close enough to tread water before they are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in April.

In order to become a consistent contender for years to come, I have come up with five things the Leafs should do in order to clean up the mess they are in right now:

1. Fire GM John Ferguson

Ever since he joined the organization in 2003, Ferguson has set this team many years back from where they should be.

Bad trades, guaranteed contracts, overpaying defencemen who are average at best—it seems like whatever moves Ferguson makes, the team becomes worse:

The long-term signing of erratic defender Brian McCabe to a contract worth over six million dollars yearly. The acquisition of Andrew Raycroft, which cost the organization Tukka Rask—the same Tukka Rask that beat the Leafs earlier in the season, 4-2, as Rayzor was sitting on the bench.

The Leafs have spent the most money of any NHL team on defencemen, and yet are worst in the league in goals allowed. The aging Darcy Tucker has just been signed to a four-year contract, with a no-trade clause, of course. Do I need to say more?

2. Accountability for MLSE management

Someone has to be held accountable for turning a once-proud organization into the laughingstock of the league. Is it Richard Peddie? Leafs Chairman and CEO Larry Tanenbaum? The Teachers Pension Fund? When it comes to turning up profits and making money they all seem to stop and take credit, but who is gonna take credit for the losing?

Although Glen Grunwald is no longer GM of the Raptors, he did the right thing after the '97 season—stepping onto the middle of the court at Maple Leaf Gardens and promising fans a better team the next year. Within a couple years, the Raptors became a playoff team.

3. Trade for draft picks and younger talent

With smart drafting and trading, this organization could turn itself around in a year or two. As an example, take the Philadelphia Flyers.

Last year, the Flyers finished close to last in the league, but made some key trades before the deadline and in the offseason, which paved the way for their early success this year: They dumped an aging and injury depleted Peter Forsberg for a first and third round pick in the '07 draft, as well as Scotty Upshall. They also acquired goalie Biron from Buffalo.

In the offseason, Philly also picked up solid defencemen Jason Smith, Kimmo Timmonen and centre Daniel Briere.

4. Leaf fans need to stage a boycott

One just needs to use the example of the New York Knicks to see what frustrated fans can do. A few weeks ago, boycotting fans were seen outside Madison Square Garden with "Fire Isiah" signs—they simply had enough. The Knicks are another example of a world-class organization that hasn't won for a long time.

Although it's easier said than done, loyal fans need to stop going to Leafs games until they see a decent product on the ice.

5. Hire Brian Colangelo

If there is a guy that knows how to turn around a team's fortunes, it would be this man. Unfortunately, I don't know how much hockey knowledge he possesses, but it's sure to be more than John Ferguson Jr.

Just look at how Colangelo turned the Raptors around in short period of time—from 18 wins in '06 to 47 wins in '07 and an Atlantic Division Championship. He disposed of a "useless" Rafael Arujo for Kris Humphries. Humphries has been getting a lot of minutes lately, due to the injuries to Bosh and the struggles of Bargnani, and has filled in quite admirably.

In closing, the easiest way to right this ship is simply WIN. However, I can't possibly see this happening in a consistent way until these five issues are addressed, and it all starts with the firing of John Ferguson Jr.

Toronto Maple Leafs Finally Win a Shootout

Joseph Cosentino — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:11:51 -0500

In the spirit of the New Year, it looks as though the Leafs have made a resolution of their own.

They won a game in a shootout—2-1, against the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning. The final score was 4-3 for the Leafs.

Let's just hope they don't keep their other old habits of 2007, such as giving the game away in the third period, as they almost did last night.

Karlsson opened the scoring for Tampa midway through the first period, before Jason Blake tied it up, with only his sixth goal of the year. Sundin and Hal Gill had the other goals for the Leafs in regulation, while St. Louis and Paul Ranger, who scored with less than a minute left in the third, had the goals for Tampa.

Scott Clemmensen was in goal for New Jersey on the final day of the regular season last year—when the Islanders beat the Devils in a shootout, which allowed them to jump past the Leafs for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Leaf fans were cheering for him then, when he was wearing the Devils' jersey, and they were cheering for him last night in the Blue and White. He made amends this time, stopping Richards and St Louis in the shootout. Toronto got the winner from Mats Sundin.

With Toskela out until atleast Saturday versus Philadelphia, the question remains: Does the struggling Raycroft start versus Pittsburgh on Thursday? Or should Toronto go with Clemmensen, who had a solid outing with 30 saves, giving the Leafs the victory.

Toronto is now a measly 3-8 losses in OT and shootout combined, with a record of 1-3 in the shootout alone. If the Leafs are trying to start the New Year off right, an improvement in extra time is exactly what they need.

Winter Classic: A Dull and Boring Affair

Joseph Cosentino — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:14:17 -0500

The 2007 Winter Classic was as dull and boring as the Ralph Wilson Stadium ice surface.

The game lasted more than three and half hours, which brought me back to the days when all games lasted that long. There was stoppage of play every five minutes, as the Zamboni ice cleaning crew smoothed over the ice. I don't know about you, but I found this annoying and boring.

The game started out fast for the Penguins, with Colby Armstrong netting one past Ryan Miller for the opening goal. After this came what for me was a grueling and painful viewing of Zamboni stoppages. As the snow kept falling, the game kept stopping.

Once things started flowing again, and I woke up from my New Year's hangover nap (or perhaps because of the lack of flow to the game), Brian Campbell responded for the Sabres early in the second period to tie the game.

After Campbell knotted the score at one, we knew what was to come: More painful stoppages of play. This time it was because the teams had to switch ends midway through the third because of the way the wind was blowing.

What was next? Another encore performance by Sam Roberts just before the start of overtime? Do half the people who attended the game in Buffalo know who Sam Roberts is?

After overtime ended and the game was still unsettled, Sydney Crosby scored the winner in the shootout. Pittsburgh wins 2-1.

Thank goodness, the game was over.