Here’s a recap of Round 2
One thing is clear from the abundance of thuggery in this year’s NHL playoffs. The application of supplemental discipline is as inconsistent as it has ever been.
Shortly after Carl Hagelin was given a three-game suspension for his head shot that knocked Senators captain out of Game 2 of the series, the Rangers issued a statement saying they were ‘thoroughly perplexed’ by VP of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan’s ruling.
The confusion isn’t limited to the Big Apple.
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(Makes debut tonight in Montreal vs. Habs)
The result wasn’t as surprising as perhaps the timing.
On Friday night, Toronto president and general manager Brian Burke fired his long-time friend Ron Wilson as head coach of the Maple Leafs.
“It became obvious to me in the last week that we needed to make a coaching change if we wanted to salvage the season,” said Burke addressing the media on Saturday morning at Bell Centre prior to the team’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. At the same news conference, Randy Carlyle was introduced as the 28th coach in the Leafs’ history.
Burke and Wilson have known each other since 1973 when they were roommates at Providence College in Rhode Island and teammates on the school’s hockey team the Friars. Even as the Leafs current losing streak reached six games with a frustrating defeat in Chicago on Wednesday, there appeared to be little indication that a change behind the bench was imminent. As early as the morning of Wilson’s firing, the Leafs players were put through a high tempo practice under their now former coach’s watchful eye.
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| When Sundin scored his 500th goal his countryman Alex Steen was displayed on the game ticket. |
In my capacity as a writer, I have the opportunity to cover several Leafs games from the press box. But I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve watched a game from the seats at Air Canada Centre as a fan.
The most recent time was over 5 years ago. I remember the outing for a couple of reasons. It was my first opportunity to take my then-10-year-old nephew to a game.
Also, it was the night that Mats Sundin put on a clinic against the Calgary Flames.
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(Kessel joins Lupul and Phaneuf on Chara’s team)
Phil Kessel insists that he doesn’t care, but the Leafs winger has to be ecstatic at having shaken the label of the last NHL All-Star draft pick that he involuntarily inherited a year ago.
Based on his play this season, combined with having an ally in Toronto teammate and Team Chara assistant captain Joffrey Lupul , there was virtually no chance that he’d regain the title, which was passed to Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
This is only the second All-Star game that has used the draft format. But suppose the pond hockey-like format had always been used to establish both teams’ rosters. Which Leafs would have suffered the ignominy of being the last pick?
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