The next time any of you over-worked married men out there find yourselves with a few precious minutes of transition time, check out this awesome blast from the past I stumbled upon while surfing YouTube. It’s a tribute to Jim Dorey and his stellar WHA career.
And now, onto this week’s questions
Name: Shane
Comment: The Leafs traded their first and second round pick in next year’s draft and the first in 2011 for Phil Kessel. Say the Leafs finish last in the league this year and end up with first overall pick, does that mean the pick belongs to the Bruins?
Answer: Hi Shane. Much to Brian Burke’s chagrin, you are 100 per cent right. If the Leafs finish dead last in the standings, the Bruins will receive their draft pick. Now, the Bruins will be part of the draft lottery. But if they have the No. 1 pick overall, they will have the best chance of winning the lottery and quite possibly selecting Windsor stud Taylor Hall with the pick. The entire Leafs Nation weeps at the mere thought of a future star like Hall going to the Bruins.
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Name: Steve
Comment: Hello Jim, I’d like your thoughts on Leafs defencemen Luke Schenn, he’s a good stand-up kid, there is no doubt about it, but when it comes to hockey I’m not quite sure if he’s the next leader of this franchise or of the defence crew for that matter. He finished last year with a minus-12 rating and only 14 points which isn’t all bad considering his role on the team. My question is do you feel the Leafs made a mistake picking a stay-at-home defenceman fifth overall when they could’ve picked the likes of, Nikita Filatov, Josh Bailey, Cody Hodgson or Tyler Myers who will all at one point of their careers be point-getting forwards (with the exception of Myers). I’ll leave it to you to decide. Thank you Jim, stay safe.
Answer: Hi Steve, good timing on your question. First off, Luke Schenn just turned 20-years old, so he’s still a baby as far as NHL defenceman go. If I was Brian Burke, I would reach out to ex-Leaf Gary Roberts in the off-season and ask him to do for Schenn what he did for Steven Stamkos. One of the big reasons Stamkos is having such a good season is that he spent the previous summer working out with Roberts. Schenn needs to do the same thing next off-season. Gary Roberts will teach Schenn a lot more than just working out and nutrition; he will also teach him about what it really takes to be a pro in the NHL. It’s too early to say drafting Schenn was a mistake. With proper guidance and coaching, Schenn might turn out to be one of the best defensive defenceman in the NHL.
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Name: Stacey
Comment: Hi Jim. It is no question that the Leafs haven’t named a captain yet, and why not? It’s been almost a season and a half, and they are telling us that we don’t have any players with leadership qualities? This is the time where a team is supposed to rally behind their captain. Can this be attributed to why the Leaf have had such a bad start?
Answer: Stacey, what do you think? Do you really feel that there is anyone on the current Leafs roster that you could honestly see being a captain? Because I sure don’t! Not having a captain has nothing to do with the Leafs’ poor start; they just don’t have enough good players. Phil Kessel is a great talent, but he needs somebody to work with.
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Name: Coach Reg Dunlop
Comment: Hey Jimmy, quick question about what is currently driving me nuts. Where do you think all the disrespect that follows any online article about one team winning or losing comes from? I used to like reading the comments of other people, good insightful, thought-provoking comments, but now all I read is “your team sucks,” “you don’t stand a chance” or “my team is going to the Cup” after the first game. Is there anyway of deleting the mindless comments before they make it to a web page, or is that too big brother?
Answer: Hey Coach, Dave’s a killer. To be honest, I am not really sure where it all started. For years, sports fans had no real way to voice their opinions when reading or seeing something that they didn’t agree with. The internet and sports web sites have changed all of that. I do admit that the comments by readers on various web sites do get a little petty sometimes. Having said that, I like the fact that someone reading a blog I’ve written has the right to voice their opinion. The reality of working in sports is that not everyone is going to like, or agree with, everything you’ve said or written. If they feel like telling me “you suck,” well power to the people. At the end of the day, I work for them. As far as big brother, the only time they delete comments is when someone uses foul language or badmouths Heidi Klum.
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Name: Nate
Comment: Hey Jim! I just wanted to know. You talk to a lot of bosses and they say they hate “ass kissers” but you look around the office, and those seem to be the ones who get favoured! So my question is this: What is the ass-kissing rule? How much of it do you do before it gets to be too much, and you start loosing respect for yourself? How much ass-kissing did you do to get to where you’re at?
Answer: Hi Nate, thanks for the question. In my mind, the office “ass kisser” ranks right up there with the violation of Man Law No. 3:
“Man Law No. 3: Any man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his buddies.”
I can’t stand “ass kissers.” I am OK with being friendly and cordial to your bosses and co-workers. But “ass kissing” is strictly verboten as far I am concerned. I am far from perfect and I am well aware that I have my faults, but I am proud to say I have never “ass kissed” in my career.
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Name: Drew
Comment: If Kovalchuk does not sign in Atlanta, then they have to close shop. You can’t have everybody playing in New York or Toronto.
Answer: Drew, Kovalchuk or no Kovalchuk, hockey is deader than Julius Caesar in Atlanta. It’s time to do the right thing and move that dying franchise out of Atlanta and into a Canadian city that actually cares about hockey.
With the Riders taking on the Als in the Grey Cup, every bar, pub and restaurant in Calgary better stock up on extra beer and rye this week. The Grey Cup is a huge party at the best of times, but with the Rider Nation coming to town, there might be world records set for booze consumption.