Hi everyone well the leafs were back to their old ways last night at the ACC. They played a very lethargic game and seemed totally disinterested in taking two points from the New York Islanders. They started the game one point behind New York and needed the win to move ahead of one team in the pack. With the loss Toronto is now dead last in the east, which could be good for the lottery on the Steve Stamkos, who by the way has always dreamed of playing for the ‘Blue and White”. He is a home grown product (Unionville) and as far as I am concerned is something the leafs lack which is more Canadian talent. The two teams that played for the prize last year, namely Anaheim and Ottawa had one thing in common, a very high percentage of Canadian’s who know how to play in the tuff sledding, something a lot of Europeans just don’t understand. The Stanley Cup playoffs are the toughest grind in professional sport, so you better have game every second night if you want to go anywhere.
This is the leafs biggest problem, they have no team toughness and although they have one of the biggest teams in the league, they play like a bunch of figure skaters with an egg in each pocket that they don’t want to break. Look at the likes of Alexi Ponickerofski (sp). Here is a guy who is six feet 4 inches and over 200 pounds but plays like he is 5’ 4” and 130lb soaking wet. Get rid of the guy as you will never win anything with the likes of that patrolling your wing. He sure does not instill any fear into opposing defensemen that are clearing the puck. Last night was a prime example of him doing his invisible man routine. Hell if I played on Mats Sundin’s wing I could score 20 goals a year. Just a note here, guys like Sundin, Forsberg, and Lidstrom are great players in any league and do play with a Canadian take no prisoners attitude.
Anyway enough for now and these are purely my opinions
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Toronto Maple Leafs- Feb 10 2008
Feb 10 2008
Who would have thought it, the leafs actually playing to good games in a row, (be still my beating heart). I have to give the boy’s in blue and white credit; they played a very disciplined game against the number one team in the league last night with Vessa (their goalie) leading the way. He was great and the two goals Detroit did score were both deflections that he had no chance on. The leafs never quit and scored a come from behind 3-2 win.
So let’s recap, they beat the #1 team in the east (Ottawa), then loose 8-0 to Florida who is in the same position they are, then go into Montreal and beat the 2nd place team in the east. Then to top it off beat Detroit on home ice which is the best team statistically in the league. So they have proved they can play some really good hockey at times. That in a nut shell is the problem. The league is so competitive with the most parity of any of the professional sports teams that you can never take a night off or even for that matter a couple of shifts off. The leafs know this all to well as they have likely let 15 points get away from them this year just by having a brain fart for 1-2 minutes during a game. We would not be talking about any playoffs if they had held onto leads they have generated over the season schedule. Even now with all the bad games they have played they are only 6 points out of the last playoff spot. The trouble is there are about 5 teams they would have to leap frog in order to get in which is very doubtful. A math professor at the university of Waterloo who’s name escapes me at the moment did a probability study on the leafs playoff hopes. His findings were ugly and painted the picture of the leafs playoff hopes at a measly 3%. That has likely gone up a bit after the two resent wins. Anyway hold onto your hats as the last 20 games or so could be a bit of a wild ride. My heart says I would like to see them make it in no matter how lean those hopes appear to be but my brain is saying for the long term good of the franchise they should go into the toilet and get a very good lottery position this year. The draft year this year is quite strong with the top five players all worthy of being a player of which you could build a franchise around in the future, Stamkos or Tavares would look really good in a leaf uniform.
Well that’s it for today and these opinions are purely my own
Sincerely Walter Webb.
Who would have thought it, the leafs actually playing to good games in a row, (be still my beating heart). I have to give the boy’s in blue and white credit; they played a very disciplined game against the number one team in the league last night with Vessa (their goalie) leading the way. He was great and the two goals Detroit did score were both deflections that he had no chance on. The leafs never quit and scored a come from behind 3-2 win.
So let’s recap, they beat the #1 team in the east (Ottawa), then loose 8-0 to Florida who is in the same position they are, then go into Montreal and beat the 2nd place team in the east. Then to top it off beat Detroit on home ice which is the best team statistically in the league. So they have proved they can play some really good hockey at times. That in a nut shell is the problem. The league is so competitive with the most parity of any of the professional sports teams that you can never take a night off or even for that matter a couple of shifts off. The leafs know this all to well as they have likely let 15 points get away from them this year just by having a brain fart for 1-2 minutes during a game. We would not be talking about any playoffs if they had held onto leads they have generated over the season schedule. Even now with all the bad games they have played they are only 6 points out of the last playoff spot. The trouble is there are about 5 teams they would have to leap frog in order to get in which is very doubtful. A math professor at the university of Waterloo who’s name escapes me at the moment did a probability study on the leafs playoff hopes. His findings were ugly and painted the picture of the leafs playoff hopes at a measly 3%. That has likely gone up a bit after the two resent wins. Anyway hold onto your hats as the last 20 games or so could be a bit of a wild ride. My heart says I would like to see them make it in no matter how lean those hopes appear to be but my brain is saying for the long term good of the franchise they should go into the toilet and get a very good lottery position this year. The draft year this year is quite strong with the top five players all worthy of being a player of which you could build a franchise around in the future, Stamkos or Tavares would look really good in a leaf uniform.
Well that’s it for today and these opinions are purely my own
Sincerely Walter Webb.
Friday, February 8, 2008
The Toronto Maple Leafs
Hi Everyone, well I was going to write something on Mr. Betman today but my frustrations on my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs ( I know hold the snickers, you can’t say I ‘m a band wagon jumper) have put a burr in my saddle so to speak. You talk about a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hide as far team play is concerned. Last Saturday they play the 1st place Ottawa Senators at home and take the game 4-2, then just a mire 48 hours later they come out and get their butts kicked by the lowly Florida Panthers to the tune of 8-0. Last night again 48 hours later they go into Montreal where the Canadians have been playing great lately and right on Ottawa’s back for 1st place in the East and hand them a 4-2 loss on home ice. Who would have thought that would happen. These guys have more ups and downs than the “Top Gun “ride at Canada’s wonderland. I feel sorry for Paul Maurice, the guy must be beside himself and I am surprised he still has his hair and has not pulled it all out. The leafs have the Detroit Red Wings (the best team record wise in the league) in Toronto on Saturday. It will be interesting to see which team shows up. Based on their up and down play all season long, the red wings will hand them their butt’s in a basket. The leafs have shown flashes of being a very good team but in the end a couple of bone head mistakes that a midget hockey player would get benched for happen and the game is lost. They are the epitome of what happens when you play 55 minutes of hockey when the game is 60 minutes long.
Toronto’s problems go much deeper than the on ice product. John Ferguson Jr. had no idea how to manage the salary cap for one and signed guys that were ok players but not worth near what he paid them (are you listening Pavel Kabina). So he had no cap room to improve the team and could not bring in anyone even if he wanted too. The board hired Ferguson because he came cheap and would be a yes man for Petty. Then when things get dicey, Petty jumps ship and stabs him in the back, saying maybe he should not have hired him. Wow what a stand up guy you are Richard. No real hockey man will work under Petty without total autonomy on all hockey decisions. That won’t happen with Petty as the CEO. Hopefully Cliff Fletcher can sort things out but here again he does not have much wiggle room. The front office is a mess; you have a board of directors headed by Richard Petty that think they are hockey men. I have news for you guys, just stick to being a fan and let the real hockey guy’s like Cliff Fletcher run the hockey end of things. The first thing petty talks about when asked is what a great job he has done for the share holders (read the teachers union) well big deal there Rick anyone could make money with the leafs, it is right up there with taxes as a sure thing. It would be nice if the teachers union got out of the sports business because their #1 objective is to make the pension money, putting a product on the ice is secondary.
The bottom line here is that Cliff needs to clean house even if it means that he has to pay part of some of the player’s salaries to play somewhere else.
Well that’s enough venting for now and the opinion’s expressed here are just my own.
Walter Webb
http://sportingnews.ning.com/
Toronto’s problems go much deeper than the on ice product. John Ferguson Jr. had no idea how to manage the salary cap for one and signed guys that were ok players but not worth near what he paid them (are you listening Pavel Kabina). So he had no cap room to improve the team and could not bring in anyone even if he wanted too. The board hired Ferguson because he came cheap and would be a yes man for Petty. Then when things get dicey, Petty jumps ship and stabs him in the back, saying maybe he should not have hired him. Wow what a stand up guy you are Richard. No real hockey man will work under Petty without total autonomy on all hockey decisions. That won’t happen with Petty as the CEO. Hopefully Cliff Fletcher can sort things out but here again he does not have much wiggle room. The front office is a mess; you have a board of directors headed by Richard Petty that think they are hockey men. I have news for you guys, just stick to being a fan and let the real hockey guy’s like Cliff Fletcher run the hockey end of things. The first thing petty talks about when asked is what a great job he has done for the share holders (read the teachers union) well big deal there Rick anyone could make money with the leafs, it is right up there with taxes as a sure thing. It would be nice if the teachers union got out of the sports business because their #1 objective is to make the pension money, putting a product on the ice is secondary.
The bottom line here is that Cliff needs to clean house even if it means that he has to pay part of some of the player’s salaries to play somewhere else.
Well that’s enough venting for now and the opinion’s expressed here are just my own.
Walter Webb
http://sportingnews.ning.com/
Monday, February 4, 2008
Super Bowl 42 (aftermath)
Feb 4 2008
Well everyone I blew the call, lol, not even close in the score of the game. Who would have thought that the game would have been such a defencive struggle for 3 quarters of the game. The only consolation I have is that the giants pretty well did what I said they had to do to keep the game close. They did that and actually won the game 17-14.
The game was Eli Manning’s coming out party for sure because he played one hell of a game and was totally deserving of MVP honors. Dad and big brother were there for him and he sure didn’t disappoint. He did have two turnovers but they were not his fault, he got the ball into his receiver and running backs hands but they could not hold onto it. The giants defence gets full marks for shutting down the high powdered New England offence, and the two turnovers for New York did not come back to bite them in the behind. If someone would have bet in Vegas that the giants would have held the patriots to 14 points they would be a wealth person today. I kind of feel sorry for Tom Brady though, it was to bad he pick the biggest game of the year to become mortal and he and his whole offence played rather ordinary. Honerable mention should go to Wes Welker WR, who I thought was the best player for the patiots.
On a side note you speaking of Vegas, where you can bet on anything to do with the game. There was an over under bet of 6 as to how many times Peyton Manning’s face would appear on camera. I think the camera man and the producer bet the over because I counted about 10 times that his mug was on the screen.
So there you have it, my prediction was way off and I think everone was surprised by the out come. But hey that’s why they have to actually play the game. So the New England Patriots, the best team ever to not have won the super bowl. That’s it for now.
Walter Webb
P.S. Next up will be hockey and maybe something on Garry Betman, is he doing a good job or not? Give me your opinions
Well everyone I blew the call, lol, not even close in the score of the game. Who would have thought that the game would have been such a defencive struggle for 3 quarters of the game. The only consolation I have is that the giants pretty well did what I said they had to do to keep the game close. They did that and actually won the game 17-14.
The game was Eli Manning’s coming out party for sure because he played one hell of a game and was totally deserving of MVP honors. Dad and big brother were there for him and he sure didn’t disappoint. He did have two turnovers but they were not his fault, he got the ball into his receiver and running backs hands but they could not hold onto it. The giants defence gets full marks for shutting down the high powdered New England offence, and the two turnovers for New York did not come back to bite them in the behind. If someone would have bet in Vegas that the giants would have held the patriots to 14 points they would be a wealth person today. I kind of feel sorry for Tom Brady though, it was to bad he pick the biggest game of the year to become mortal and he and his whole offence played rather ordinary. Honerable mention should go to Wes Welker WR, who I thought was the best player for the patiots.
On a side note you speaking of Vegas, where you can bet on anything to do with the game. There was an over under bet of 6 as to how many times Peyton Manning’s face would appear on camera. I think the camera man and the producer bet the over because I counted about 10 times that his mug was on the screen.
So there you have it, my prediction was way off and I think everone was surprised by the out come. But hey that’s why they have to actually play the game. So the New England Patriots, the best team ever to not have won the super bowl. That’s it for now.
Walter Webb
P.S. Next up will be hockey and maybe something on Garry Betman, is he doing a good job or not? Give me your opinions
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Super Bowl 42
Super Bowl 42
Hello everyone, well today is the day of the big game, can New England become the greatest team in the history of the NFL. For my money I would say yes they will and then they can finally shut up the old men in Miami from the 72 dolphins.
New England will win the game but won't cover the spread. The giants will keep it close and for that to happen they have to do a few things.
First they have to get some pressure on Tom Brady, if not he will pick them apart, the guy is just a machine out there and you never see him get flustered or throw the ball away in desperation. Secondly the giants have to have a good ground game with good clock management, keeping Brady and his offence on the bench as much as possible. And finally Eli has to manage the ball very well on his end and not turn the ball over, this he has done very well throughout the playoffs so far and it is the main reason why the giants are the NFC representative.
In closing I think it will be a very entertaining game with the giants maybe leading at the half. Then New England’s coaching staff will analyze what the giants have been throwing at them and find a way to counter it in the second half just like they have done all year.
My pick on the final score
New England 34 New York 27
and the patriots become the greatest time in history. That’s my take on it
Sincerely Walter Webb
Hello everyone, well today is the day of the big game, can New England become the greatest team in the history of the NFL. For my money I would say yes they will and then they can finally shut up the old men in Miami from the 72 dolphins.
New England will win the game but won't cover the spread. The giants will keep it close and for that to happen they have to do a few things.
First they have to get some pressure on Tom Brady, if not he will pick them apart, the guy is just a machine out there and you never see him get flustered or throw the ball away in desperation. Secondly the giants have to have a good ground game with good clock management, keeping Brady and his offence on the bench as much as possible. And finally Eli has to manage the ball very well on his end and not turn the ball over, this he has done very well throughout the playoffs so far and it is the main reason why the giants are the NFC representative.
In closing I think it will be a very entertaining game with the giants maybe leading at the half. Then New England’s coaching staff will analyze what the giants have been throwing at them and find a way to counter it in the second half just like they have done all year.
My pick on the final score
New England 34 New York 27
and the patriots become the greatest time in history. That’s my take on it
Sincerely Walter Webb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)