Blue and White Beat: Kessel trade was still worth it

Kessel trade was still worth it

The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson ends with a public stoning.

Meanwhile, the result of Tuesday night’s NHL Entry Draft lottery ensured that Brian Burke would not have to fight off an angry mob directed at him.

For if the Boston Bruins had beaten the 18.8% odds of landing the first overall pick – using the first of two first-round picks they acquired from Toronto in the deal that brought Phil Kessel to the Leafs – the backlash would have been monumental.

In fact, with Toronto plummeting to the depths of the NHL regular season standings, finishing ahead of only the dismal Edmonton Oilers, Burke has already absorbed much criticism for the September deal.

Members of Leaf Nation should extinguish their torches and destroy their homemade effigies. Not merely because the lottery result prevented the Bruins from picking first on June 25; rather the swarm of rioters-to-be should have disbanded a long time ago.

Yes, the Leafs paid an enormous price in relinquishing the chance to draft either Windsor’s Taylor Hall or Plymouth’s Tyler Seguin, plus the prospects that will be available in early in this year’s second round, and in the initial stages of next year’s first round.

That doesn’t change the fact that the Leafs in Kessel have landed a cornerstone of their forward unit around which they can build their franchise.

We’re talking about an Olympian; a two-time 30 goal-scorer who is well on pace to reach 100 career goals before his 23rd birthday.

We’re not taking about a journeyman like Tom Kurvers, whom 1989 Leafs GM Floyd Smith felt the need to obtain for a first-round pick that turned out to be Scott Niedermayer. (Kurvers played two seasons in a Leaf uniform before being dealt for Brian Bradley. The line to jump off the cliff forms to the right).

Make no mistake, Kessel has many strides to make before evolving into the franchise player that he is capable of becoming. He needs to overcome the Boston jinx that saw him finish in second place among ex-Bruins playing for the Leafs in six head-to-head games versus the B’s this year (no goals; first place went to Colton Orr, with one). Kessel also needs to learn that ‘defensive indifference’ is actually a baseball statistical ruling that refers to the catcher purposely allowing the runner to take an extra base; it’s not an acceptable part of hockey strategy, or one’s development as a player.

The upside is that, at only 22 years of age, Kessel has loads of time to complete his all-around game. Furthermore, should centreman Tyler Bozak achieve the potential that he has shown playing alongside Kessel, the pair could form a lethal duo that was unseen even when Mats Sundin played in Toronto – always in search of that complementary winger who never seemed to surface.

“Obviously when you trade a first round pick, let alone two, there’s risk, “ said Burke on the day after the trade was consummated. “We’re betting on Phil and we’re taking a chance.”

Regardless of whether the Bruins take Hall or Seguin, Kessel has already established himself as top-line forward, with the potential to become an elite superstar.

Leafs fans should focus not on what “the guys they could have had – Hall or Seguin –might become”.

How about pondering what the guys they already have – Kessel and Bozak – might become.

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Playoff Predictions

The NHL’s post-season gets underway on four fronts this evening. Anyone is free to present my picks, plus a subway token, to a transit collector in exchange for a ride. But, here they are anyway:

Western Confernce:
San Jose over Colorado in 7 games
Chicago over Nashville in 5 games
Los Angeles over Vancouver in 7 games
Detroit over Phoenix in 6 games

Eastern Conference:
Washington over Montreal in 5 games
New Jersey over Philadelphia in 6 games
Buffalo over Boston in 6 games

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6 games

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Several Canadian Olympians, including three members of the women’s hockey team – Meghan Agosta, Jayna Hefford and Cherie Piper – were on hand Tuesday night for the Toronto Blue Jays’ home opener at Rogers Centre.

Hefford was among the participants in the Clarkson cup two weekends ago along with American Olympian Jenny Potter.

Potter is the mother of two children, including a 9-year-old daughter Madison.

With women’s hockey having been instituted as an Olympic sport since 1998, young girls that are Madison’s age have aspirations of competing in their endeavor at the world’s highest level.

To extinguish those dreams would be an injustice.

However, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge raised more than a few eyebrows on the day that Canada defeated the U.S.A. to win the gold medal in Vancouver by hinting that the sport may be removed from the Games.

“We cannot continue without improvement,” stated Rogge following the decisive final game in which the two elite North American finalists earned the right to participate by outscoring their opponents 86-4 over eight games played between them.

Hockey fans should be grateful that Rogge’s hysteria wasn’t shared by his predecessors of the 1920′s when Canada dominated the men’s game at a level that was both overwhelming and embarrassing. With Canada winning Olympic games by such lopsided scores as 33-0 (over Switzerland in 1924), urban legend suggested that goaltender Jack Cameron would flirt with young women in the crowd during games to maintain his interest; a story that the netminder denied to his dying day.

Despite the early disproportionate scores, the game remained an Olympic sport while other nations evolved their programs. With the first gold medal win by the Soviet Union in 1956, followed by the original “Miracle On ice” created by the host Americans in Squaw Valley in 1960, the podium results were no longer predictable.

Why shouldn’t the same consideration be given to the women’s game?

“I think the biggest thing that we’re asking for is for people to have patience with our game, and hoping that the European countries get their grassroots programs going.” said Team Canada member Gillian Apps. Her
sentiment is shared by Fairfield, CT native Julie Chu, Apps’ adversary on both the national and club team level, but an ally in support of their sport. “We have to find ways to help the Europeans and people abroad to help be able to grow the game as well,” said the 2010 U.S.A. silver medalist shortly after her Western Women’s Hockey League team the Minnesota Whitecaps defeated Apps’ Brampton (Ontario) Thunder in the final of the Clarkson Cup.

“I hope (Rogge’s statement) gives an incentive to some other countries step up,” added Chu’s teammate Potter, a veteran of four Olympic medal-winning teams.

There’s no denying that the unbalanced level of play between the North American and European teams have resulted in matchups that have been unentertaining due to their askew scores. However the call to remove the sport from the Olympics outright based solely on a present-day disparate level of talent defies logic. Austria has won more alpine skiing medals all-time (105) than their next two competitors combined (Switzerland 56, France 43). The United States has medaled in every Olympic basketball tournament in which they have participated since 1936, with all but three of those medals coloured gold.

Yet somehow these sports are immune to Rogge’s criticism.

A more viable alternative to complete abandonment of women’s hockey as an Olympic event is to grant ample time for the development of all participating countries’ levels of play. “We do need those other countries to start funding their programs better, ” challenged three-time gold medal winner Hefford. “Absolutely we want them to get better and we want them to put more emphasis on their women’s hockey program.”

The IOC would be wise to exercise patience; for fans for the women’s game, and for girls like Madison Potter.

***

Speaking of Tuesday’s Blue Jays home opener, I can’t help but notice that White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks,
who got the save in Chicago’s win, is a dead ringer for Leafs/Marlies defenceman Jonas Frogren.

What does everyone else think?

Jenks:

Frogren:
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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

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