Mark Spector goes coast to coast and reminds Leaf fans that the sun will come out tomorrow in the week's On Spec.
Happy Monday.
See, Leafs fans. The sun rose this morning after all.
Whine and dine
When Canada has a bad Olympics, we go overboard trying to figure out what is wrong with us and our Canadian hockey system. National forums, symposiums with Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman - frankly it got a little ridiculous there for a while.
When a Quebec author researches some numbers which point out that Quebecers are not stocking the National Hockey League with as many players as folks in that province see fit, do they look inward at the minor hockey system in Quebec?
Of course not. Clearly there is an "anti-francophone virus" at work, concludes author and former NHL winger Bob Sirois.
Published in French and titled Le Québec mis en échec (Quebec Bodychecked), the book apparently goes into great detail about Quebecers not having their share of NHL opportunity/success, proportionate to Quebec's share of the population.
Their rightful spots have not been reserved for them in the NHL, it seems.
But of course, it is not because those players can't win the jobs or get drafted simply by outperforming their Anglophone competition. "Myths, prejudices, stereotypes and favoritism make up an integral part of every draft session in the National Hockey League," he writes.
Sirois says while roughly 10 percent of all NHL players were undrafted yet still managed to break into the league, the rate among players from Quebec is 19% - almost twice as high. "In light of these figures, don't even ask whether it's true that Quebecers are under-estimated by NHL scouts," he writes.
In light of this book, don't even ask if they have mirrors in Quebec.
Quick - everybody reach into your pocket, take out a fifty, and mail it to Hockey Quebec. Poor, poor souls.
West coasters
Speaking of mirrors, the one dressing room where the Vancouver Canucks have to be able to look themselves in the mirror after the game is the visitor's dressing room inside the Pengrowth Saddledome. When it comes to playing the kind of hockey that has so often eluded the Canucks, the Flames are Vancouver's barometer.
On Friday night, Vancouver fell behind 5-0 in Calgary. Yes, they have some injuries. But right now the Canucks are playing like a team that went on a prolonged Stanley Cup run last season.
The trouble is, Vancouver went two rounds. They have no laurels to rest on.
"We've got to start grinding it out and playing with a little edge," centre Ryan Kesler said. "We have a good line-up and a skillful line-up, and it's like we played too defensive in the first 40 minutes. We almost played scared. We can't be doing that."
If you're easy to play against, the Flames will eat you alive. Ask the Edmonton Oilers over the past few seasons.
Yes, Vancouver beat Minnesota 2-1 the next night, but everyone is beating the Wild these days. Vancouver, right now, is far too easy to play against.
If they don't find some sandpaper, Edmonton will give them trouble tonight.
Make belief
Toronto had exactly one game on their schedule in 11 days, and of course, lost to the Rangers 4-1 Saturday night. It's hard to know whether the Leafs should be playing more games to try to get out of this historic slide, or if the practice time is even more valuable.
You can bet however, with five straight road games on tap, we won't see any dodge ball or Red Rover at practice this week. At least publically, people around the Leafs are saying they're outplaying the opposition and simply making poor decisions and getting bad breaks.
Privately however, reality must be setting in.
"I thought we played well for the first two periods and definitely outplayed them, and we still find ourselves down 3-1," Matt Stajan said after Saturday's loss. "Every little mistake seems to end up in our net right now. It's tough to put a finger on it."
Hockey people tend to be able to "put their finger on it" when it becomes clear that their players simply aren't as good as everyone else's. As long as Joey MacDonald is standing in between the Maple Leafs' pipes, this team will have sub-zero confidence.
"We know we haven't played the way we can," Stajan said. "We know that in this room."
"We've hit rock bottom," Lee Stempniak said. "There's nowhere lower to go."
Two hopeful statements from two players who, privately, must be dreading the long, long season that lies ahead for Toronto.
Final thoughts
The NFL is a better place when the Raiders are worth watching … Watched the Argonauts lose to the Eskimos Friday. Maybe the Argos rub off on their opponents, but that looked very much like two real bad football teams going at it … Rob Schremp: Five games with the Islanders, one assists, minus-2. A shootout specialist on a team that usually loses in regulation time … Is there a better name for a football stadium in the entire country than the Gordie Howe Bowl in Saskatoon?
