Category: Ian Palmer

Defenceman Nikita Zaitsev has one season to prove himself with Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t really had a legitimate all-star defenceman since Borje Salming back in the 1970s and 80s, even though Tomas Kaberle came close to it just over a decade later. The future looks a bit brighter though with American Jake Gardiner and Canadian Morgan Rielly in the lineup, but the best prospect could be 24-year-old Nikita Zaitsev of Moscow, Russia. Zaitsev ended months of rumours and speculation earlier this year when he signed a one-year contract with the Maple Leafs after deciding to leave CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
The 6-foot-2-inch, 195-lb. right-handed shooting defenceman has been playing top minutes for Russia in the current World Cup of Hockey and impressing those who matter. Zaitsev’s big-league career began in 2008/09 when he played for the second-division Soviet Wings men’s team when he was just 17 and also earned a spot on his homeland’s squad at the Under-18 World Junior Championship in 2009. He racked up 18 points on six goals and 12 assists for the Wings that season in 31 games and served 24 minutes in penalties while going minus-4. He also chipped in with a goal and four assists at the World Junior Championships and was a plus-7 in seven contests.
The youngster was so impressive he was selected fourth overall by Sibir Novosibirsk in the KHL Draft. He made his debut for the team in 2009/10 and skated with the Russian Under-20 team at the World Junior Championship.  Zaitsev took a while to learn the ropes and scored just seven points in his first three seasons with Sibir. However, he was named to the squad that won a gold medal World Junior Championship in 2011. Zaitsev ended up being ranked 43rd overall among international players by the Central Scouting Bureau in 2011, but was somehow overlooked in the NHL Draft.
His breakthrough season came in 2012/13 when debuting for the Russian national team and scoring seven goals and 11 assists for Sibir while playing an average of 24 minutes per game. He signed with CSKA Moscow the next season as a free agent and averaged 23 minutes of ice time per game. He then contributed 32 points in 57 games the next season and was a plus-27 and added eight points in 16 playoff outings. Zaitsev was named an alternative captain last next season and scored 26 points in 46 games and was a plus-21 while adding 13 points in 20 postseason encounters.

There’s no doubt that Zaitsev has improved each season and at the age of 24 has plenty of potential as well as seven years of top-level experience under his belt. He’s a fine positional player who has the talent to move the puck out of his own zone and contribute in both ends of the ice. He’s rarely caught out of position, but will need to adapt to the smaller ice surface in the NHL. If he lives up to his potential, Zaitsev may be one of the finds of the 2016/17 NHL season and could very well end up on the Leaf’s first defensive pairing with Rielly. Zaitsev is more or less fluent in the English language and should adapt to the North American game quite quickly. However, he needs to prove his worth right away since he’s got just one season to earn a contract extension. 

Phil Kessel’s iron man streak in jeopardy

Many Maple Leafs’ supporters believe Phil Kessel was more or less run out of Toronto by the media and a pocket of fellow fans as he was made the scapegoat for the club’s ineptness. After spending six seasons in Canada’s biggest city, the right-winger had the last laugh though as he helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in his very first season with the team. Kessel hit the 30-goal mark four times in Toronto and scored at least 20 goals in his other two campaigns there and missed just 12 contests in his half dozen seasons.
Every hockey fans knows the speedy Kessel is a fine goalscorer, an underrated playmaker, and possesses a lightning-quick shot, but many of them don’t realize just how durable and dependable he is. The native of Madison, Wisconsin, who beat testicular cancer earlier in his career, missed a dozen games due to injury during his first season in Toronto back in 2009/10. In fact, they were the first 12 contests of the campaign and he hasn’t missed an NHL game since. Kessel has now played 528 consecutive regular-season games, which ranks as the 17th-best iron man streak in league history. Former Montreal Canadien Doug Jarvis is the all-time NHL iron man with 964 straight games under his belt.
Kessel’s feat is quite an achievement and his 528 games is currently the fourth-longest active streak. Andrew Cogliano of the Anaheim Ducks leads in that department at the moment by playing in 704 consecutive outings. Playing in 500 consecutive games isn’t easy to do as just 23 players in NHL history have managed to do it. Former New York Ranger Murray Murdoch was the first to reach the milestone back in the 1936/37 season and he retired without ever missing a game during his NHL career. Glenn Hall played in 502 straight games and could very well be the only goaltender ever to hit the magic 500 number.
Kessel is just one of four active players who currently have iron man streaks of 500 games or more. He joins Cogliano, Keith Yandle of the Florida Panthers (551 games) and Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks (542 games) in the fantastic four. Unfortunately for Kessel, he may not be able to extend his streak in the upcoming 2016/17 campaign as there’s a chance he’ll miss the start of it due to recent hand surgery in the offseason. The 28-year-old has played six consecutive seasons without missing a game, but a hand injury bothered him last year.
Kessel still managed to score 26 goals and 33 assists last year and then led the Penguins in the playoffs with 10 goals and 22 assists in 24 encounters. His playoff performance arguably deserved to be rewarded by the Conn Smythe Trophy, but his captain Sidney Crosby took it home as the postseason  MVP. Kessel enjoyed a productive season, but for some reason he was overlooked by the USA when the country named its squad for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey tournament. Perhaps they knew about his hand injury.

Either way, Kessel likely wouldn’t have been able to represent his homeland anyway since his hand hasn’t fully healed yet. Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford is obviously hoping Kessel will be in the lineup on opening night, but said he’s still not sure. However, he added that if Kessel isn’t ready for the start of the new season he shouldn’t be out for too long. Kessel took a bit of time to gel with his Penguin teammates as he had just 21 points in his first 37 appearances, but then racked up 15 goals and 23 assists in the final 45 games. With Kessel’s 528-game iron man streak on the line, the majority of fans are hoping the right-winger will be able to suit up on October 13th when the Penguins host the Washington Capitals in their season opener.

Pavel Datsyuk quickly adapting to life in the KHL

Russian hockey star Pavel Datsyuk thrilled Detroit Red Wings’ fans for 15 years from 2001 to 2016 when he deeply disappointed them by announcing he’d be heading back to his homeland to finish out his pro career. The 38-year-old centre still had a year to run on his multi-million dollar, long-term contract in Motown, but felt the time was right to return to Russia because of family reasons. Most fans were upset that they’d miss Datsyuk’s hair-raising skills, but some felt he betrayed the Red Wings franchise because it still had to carry his $7.5 million 2016/17 paycheque against the league salary cap. Luckily for the Wings, they were able to unload Datsyuk’s salary on the Arizona Coyotes via a draft-day trade.

With the sour taste of the contract situation being rectified, Red Wings and NHL fans in general will now be saddened at Datsyuk’s departure based on his hockey talent alone. He’s now skating for SKA St. Petersburg in the European-based Kontinental Hockey League and adapting to the new on-ice surroundings very quickly. After six games for St. Petersburg, Datsyuk has been in fine form with four goals and three assists. He’s on pace for at least a point per game this season after struggling somewhat in the NHL last campaign with 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 points in 66 outings.

Datsyuk has had injury problems to deal with over the past few years though and played in just 164 regular-season games for Detroit over the past three seasons. He’s no stranger to the KHL though as he racked up 36 points in 31 games in 2012/13 when the NHL campaign was shortened due to labour problems. St. Petersburg will have to do without Datsyuk’s services for the next few weeks though as he will be playing for Russia at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey tournament in Toronto. Russian fans shouldn’t be surprised that Datsyuk has adapted so quickly to the KHL game as he’d be an effective player in any league in the world.

The 5-foot-11-inch centre fell just short of the 1,000 game milestone in the NHL due to his recent injuries as he suited up for 953 regular-season contests and contributed 918 points on 314 goals and 604 assists. He also chipped in with 113 points in 157 playoff encounters and helped the Red Wings win Stanley Cups in 2001/02 and 2007/08. Datsyuk kicked off his pro career by playing five seasons in the Russian Hockey Super League (RSL) from 1996 to 2001. The youngster scored 102 points in 168 games in the RSL and the Red Wings obviously felt he had something to offer. However, they didn’t select him until they took a chance with the 171st overall pick in the 1998 NHL Draft.

Since making his NHL debut in 2001, Datsyuk has proven to be one of the most consistent, sportsmanlike, and exciting hockey players on the planet. He played in four Olympic Games and captained his teammates in 2014 when they were held in Sochi, Russia. He took home the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times as the top defensive forward in the NHL and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy four straight years for sportsmanship and performance and sportsmanship. Datsyuk’s dazzling offensive game never suffered while he took care of duties in his own end of the ice and was seen as a complete 200-foot player.

Datsyuk also played in several International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and won numerous individual NHL awards and honours during his career in North America. While Datsyuk has just left Detroit and the NHL, fans should take the opportunity to appreciate his skills during the World Cup of Hockey event while they can. This could be the very last time he plays in competitive games on North American soil before retiring.   

NHL 2016 offseason recap

Some interesting NHL activity has taken place since the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup back in June and in case you’ve been away on summer holidays here’s a recap of some of the more notable events and developments.

Out in Colorado, head coach and vice president of hockey operations Patrick Roy resigned from the club as he didn’t see eye to eye with his boss and former Hall of Fame teammate Joe Sakic. The Avalanche then hired 44-year-old Jared Bednar to replace Roy as head coach even though he has no prior NHL experience. Bednar played junior hockey with the Prince Albert Raiders and was the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters last season, who just happened to win the Calder Cup. Also out west, the Winnipeg Jets named Blake Wheeler as their new captain and the Los Angeles Kings took the C off of Dustin Brown’s sweater and handed it to Anze Kopitar.

In New York, the Rangers received some good news when coveted free agent Jimmy Vesey chose to sign with the club after being courted by several teams throughout the summer. The 23-year-old Vesey, who played college hockey at Harvard in the U.S., was sought by his hometown Boston Bruins as well as the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks. Vesey won the 2016 Hobey Baker Award as the top American college player last year. 

Many fans believed he would end up in Toronto as the Leafs already have his brother Nolan in the organization and his father Jim also works for the club as a scout. Vesey was originally drafted 66thoverall by the Nashville Predators in 2012, but couldn’t agree on a contract with the club. The Buffalo Sabres then traded for his negotiating rights earlier this year, but also failed to sign him.
In other free agent news, the most sought-after player this offseason was definitely Tampa Bay forward and captain Steven Stamkos. He was also linked to several teams, but ended up disappointing them all by re-signing a long-term deal with the Florida franchise. The next big-name player to hit the unrestricted free-agent market will be New York Islanders’ centre and captain John Tavares. 

However, the 25-year-old has already told the press that he wants to stay with the Islanders and hopes to sign a contract extension before his current deal runs out in two year’s time. Tavares said there’s no reason to leave and he believes his team has the talent to win a Stanley Cup in the near future.
There were a couple of high profile trades during the offseason with the Edmonton Oilers dealing 24-year-old forward Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for 23-year-old defenceman Adam Larsson. Hall, a former first-overall draft pick by Edmonton in 2010, said he will be changing his sweater number with the Devils to nine from four since number four has been retired by the franchise. In case you’re wondering, Hall of Fame defenceman Scott Stevens used to wear number four with New Jersey. Hall racked up 328 points in 381 games with the Oilers before being shipped out of town. Larsson was the fourth-overall pick by the Devils in the 2011 draft and had 69 points in 274 contests with the team.

The biggest deal though took place between the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville when the Habs sent possible future Hall of Fame defenceman P.K. Subban to the Predators for another possible Hall of Fame blueliner in Shea Weber. The 27-year-old Subban is a former James Norris Trophy winner and had 278 points in 434 games in Montreal while the 31-year-old Weber had 443 points in 763 outings in Nashville. Weber has also reached the 20-goal barrier three times in his career, including a pair of 23-goal campaigns.

The Ottawa Senators announced they will be honouring former captain Daniel Alfredsson in a pre-game ceremony on December 29th. Over in Calgary, the club signed their top restricted free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and also hired former Arizona Coyotes general manager Don Maloney as a pro scout. Also in case you missed it, American centre Auston Matthews went first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft to Toronto while Finnish winger Patrik Laine went second to the Winnipeg Jets and Canadian winger Pierre-Luc Dubois was taken third by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Most experts had forward Jesse Puljujärvi of Finland ranked ahead of Dubois and he was snapped up by Edmonton with the fourth pick.

The NHL is celebrating its 100thseason in 2016/17 and it faces off about a week later than usual this year as the first puck will be dropped on October 12th. However, fans will be able to enjoy the eight-team World Cup of Hockey tournament from September 17th to October 1st.  

NHL’s expansion plans should be made clear later in June

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently spoke with the media concerning re-alignment and expansion within the league. The league currently sits at 30 franchises with 16 of them being the Eastern Conference with eight teams per division and 14 teams in the Western Conference with seven clubs per division. Bettman said if the league does expand, which would be the first time since 2000, he wouldn’t really want to move any of the existing clubs from the East to the West or vice versa. Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings relocated to the Eastern Conference from the West before the 2013/14 campaign and he believes they should now stay there.

Bettman stated there isn’t anything new concerning expansion right now, but that could change later in June when the league’s board of governors meet in Las Vegas, Nevada for the annual NHL Awards show. The board is set to discuss expansion bids from both Quebec City and Las Vegas. The commissioner said the executive committee may recommend no expansion; one team, two teams, or deferred expansion and they’ll make this recommendation before the board of governors gets together. He mentioned that Kansas City isn’t in the running for an expansion franchise and nobody from Seattle, Washington has ever filed an application as the city is still trying to work out details on a new arena.

This basically leaves Quebec City and Las Vegas as serious locations for new franchises and both cities have brand new arenas to ice an NHL team. Of course, Quebec City had a franchise in the past when the Quebec Nordiques played in the league started out in the old World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1979. The franchise then joined the NHL when several WHA clubs merged into the league and the Nordiques played in the NHL from 1979 to 1995. The franchise still exists technically though as it moved to Denver due to financial difficulties and became the Colorado Avalanche. Along with Winnipeg, Quebec would be one of the smallest markets in the NHL and the city itself believes it will be awarded a franchise sooner or later.

Placing a team in Las Vegas may be a bit of a risk since the city has never had a professional franchise in any of the major North American sports. However, the new arena has already opened and is hoping to use it for an expansion team. The city is typically filled with visitors from all over North America each week and there seems to be enough interest to host a franchise. Las Vegas advertises itself as the world’s entertainment capital and it held a season-ticket campaign back in 2014 to gauge interest in a franchise. It seemed to be successful enough as 13,000 season tickets were snapped up.
Many Canadian fans would likely head to the Las Vegas heat on weekend getaways during the cold northern winters and it’s believed they’d be interested in buying hockey packages. A franchise in Sin City may also do brisk walk-up sales on game days as well. Other possible expansion cities in the future could include Seattle as well as Houston, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Hamilton Ontario. However, it’s not likely that Toronto would be given one as the simple fact is the city might not have the fan support.

The Maple Leafs currently rely on corporate ticket sales to survive and have had problems selling out the Air Canada during the club’s last two woeful seasons. The owners, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) have taken to emailing members of Leaf Nation on game days to try and sell off unsold tickets. If Leafs can’t sell out their home games then things wouldn’t bode too well for a new franchise. In addition, many fans in the Greater Toronto Area now decide to make a 90-minute trip to Buffalo, New York to see the Sabres and pay more reasonable prices for tickets. At the moment though, it seems Quebec City and Las Vegas are the only serious bidders for expansion. If the NHL does decide to add two more teams to make it 32 franchises then it would be common sense to have 16 teams in the East and 16 in the West. This means two clubs would need to be added to the Western Conference.

That wouldn’t be a problem for Las Vegas, but Quebec City doesn’t make sense in the West. This means a current Eastern Conference team may need to be persuaded to join the West. As Bettman said, he isn’t a fan of asking clubs to move and he definitely wouldn’t ask Columbus or Detroit to head back to the Western Conference. The commissioner may need to offer some sort of financial compensation or other types of perks to find a volunteer form the Eastern Conference to switch divisions. 

Why is fighting rare in the NHL playoffs?

Fighting may technically be illegal in the NHL, but let’s face it, while the league may not actively promote the behaviour it definitely tolerates it. While those who engage in fisticuffs in other leagues and sports are thrown out of the game and often suspended, NHL players simply sit for five minutes in the sin bin. There are many hockey fans who believe fighting should be banned totally from the world’s best hockey league while others still believe it’s a part of the game. However, it’s hard to understand how staged fights between two fourth-line players can affect the outcome of a contest.

We often see WWE-type fights between a pair of players who may see the ice a total of five minutes between them per night. Some of these premeditated bouts take place before the puck has even been dropped while they’re playing on their first shifts of the game. Those who want to see fighting banned don’t understand how there can be any animosity built up between the two combatants at this stage. However, they do understand spur-of-the-moment rage when somebody is speared or slashed and they settle their differences by dropping the gloves.

The fact is, hockey fights rarely affect a the outcome because the majority of them take place late in a game when one team has a considerable lead and the game has more or less already been decided. At this point, players who may have a grudge against an opponent feel they can even the score by trying to pound the daylights out of them. They believe it’s the perfect time to let their fists fly since the game is out of hand and they won’t be placing their team in jeopardy. When you see two players from non-playoff bound teams going at it in a mid-December match with the score 7-1, there doesn’t seem much point to the exercise.

If we fast forward to the playoffs though, things are certainly different. There’s definitely something on the line here, namely the Stanley Cup. If there was ever a time for fighting in the NHL this is definitely it. For those who believe a fight can spark a team and wake them out of their doldrums, there’s no better time to start swinging than in the postseason. If you’re facing a do-or-die, elimination game and find yourself trailing 3-0 on the scoreboard this could be the perfect time. If nothing else seems to be working and you’re going home if you don’t win, then why not try to jumpstart your team at this point with an energizing fight?

But for some reason, that isn’t how things work in the NHL. Pro-fighting fans have forever stated that a fight can lift a team and bring it together, but we rarely see one take place when it means the most. There is an occasional fight during the playoffs, but fans are mostly “entertained” by players face-washing each other in scrums after each and every whistle. It’s no wonder an average 60-minute playoff contest takes about three hours to play. But if these players are willing to risk putting their team a man short for two or four minutes in scrums, why aren’t they willing to drop their gloves ?   


The logical answer here is because there’s no need for fighting at all in the league since it doesn’t help decide the outcome of a game. If the NHL banned fighting altogether and two players were riled up enough with to ignore the consequences, then perhaps fans would see a legitimate fight between two angry players, not the staged versions they’re treated to today. As long as fighting is tolerated by the NHL, players are wasting their energy on regular-season bouts when the playoffs mean so much more.

Phil Kessel proving he wasn’t the problem in Toronto

The much-maligned Phil Kessel of Madison, Wisconsin, is proving his many critics wrong by showing that he’s truly an elite NHL player during the current postseason. Kessel, who was more or less run out of Toronto by “Leafs Nation,” could potentially be a Conn Smythe candidate this season if he and the Pittsburgh Penguins can keep it up. After 16 playoff games this season he had eight goals and nine assists for 17 points, was a plus-5, and sat at number three in the scoring race just two points behind the leader. That’s nothing new for the speedy right-winger though as he now has 21 goals and 17 assists in 38 career postseason outings.

Kessel had a good, but not great season in 2015/16 with his 26 goals and 33 assists, but that could have been expected as he spent the first half of the campaign getting used to a new set of teammates and coaches. However, he did his part by helping the Penguins to a solid record of 48-28-8 and was a plus-9.  Once all parties became used to each other, both Kessel and the Penguins finished the year on a high note as being one of the hottest players and teams in the league. The only Penguins who produced more than Kessel’s 59 points this year were Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The 29-year-old, who started his career with the Boston Bruins in 2006/07 after being drafted fifth overall, was eventually acquired by Toronto in 2009 because of his goal scoring talent. He didn’t let anybody down as he was the club’s best player and leading scorer for the next six seasons. He also shone in his one playoff performance by leading the squad with six points in four postseason games. But in typical Leafs fashion they blew a 4-1 lead over Boston in game seven of their first-round series with just 10 minutes to go and lost 5-4 in overtime.

As Toronto fans often do, they looked for a scapegoat and somehow Kessel fit the bill. He was brought in to score goals and score goals he did. But as an added bonus, he also showed what a fine playmaker he is. For some reason, Kessel was labeled as being lazy and blamed for five decades of Maple Leafs’ ineptness. The man isn’t a leader, has never proclaimed himself to be, and probably never will be, but the fans’ anger for Toronto’s half-century Stanley Cup drought fell directly into his lap. All he did in Toronto was his job, and he did it well while shying away from the spotlight whenever possible. He was also the team’s iron man as he didn’t miss a game for in his final five years in Toronto.

Most Leafs’ fans didn’t appreciate Kessel, but they’re now looking to replace him with a goal scorer to solve their problems and are hoping Steve Stamkos will be the answer. They already had one of the league’s best scorers and playmakers in Kessel though and didn’t have a clue how to treat him. There’s no doubt the shy testicular-cancer survivor Kessel prefers to let his on-ice play do his talking while others bask in the spotlight since he’s generally not comfortable with the media. That has worked out well for him in Pittsburgh as he can go about his job while others such as Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang handle the press and post-game interviews.

Kessel also seems to play his best when there isn’t a lot of expectations heaped on him. While he didn’t set the league on fire by skating alongside Crosby or Malkin he fits like a glove with Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino and the trio has become one of the league’s best lines. The Leafs had no elite players to play with Kessel and arguably that was for the best. But he’s proven to be a driving force on a good Pittsburgh team when used properly. Leafs’ fans may now wonder who will play on Auston Matthews’ wing next season if they take the young American first overall in the NHL Draft and may regret that it won’t be Kessel. These fans need to realize Kessel didn’t suddenly become a top player overnight. He was a legitimate star in Toronto and only 11 NHL players have scored more goals than him since he broke into the league a decade ago.

Also, from 2011 to 2014, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers was the one and only player to rack up more points than Kessel. While with the Leafs, Kessel was the fifth-top goal scorer in the league. The winger also has 38 points in 38 career playoff games for a pace of a point point-per game. Granted, he’s played just 38 postseason contests up to now, but his point-producing average in the playoffs is better than players such as Patrick Kane, Paul Coffey, Alexander Ovechkin, Stan Mikita, Rocket Richard, Jaromir Jagr and dozens of other stars.  

Kessel wasn’t good enough for the Leafs and the majority of their fans though and it shows just how incompetent this franchise is. If they couldn’t build a team around a true NHL star such as Kessel what makes them think things will be different if they’re lucky enough to land Stamkos? Of course, the Leafs’ newest savior will now have somebody to play with since the club has a few legitimate prospects after tanking for the last two years. To rub salt into the wounds, the Leafs arguably didn’t get near enough back in value for Kessel and they’re also paying part of his salary.

Trading Kessel may help Toronto in the long run, but he was unfairly blamed for the team’s problems while tearing up the league with the Leafs. Another ex-Leaf, Hall of Fame defenceman Larry Murphy, knows exactly what Kessel is going through. Murphy was also the whipping boy of Leafs’ fans while in Toronto from 1995 to 1997. Even though he scored 100 points in 151 games for the Leafs and had already won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh, the experts in the stands deemed he wasn’t good enough for the hapless Leafs. Murphy was also run out of town and then went on to win two more Stanley Cups with Detroit. There’s still a long way to go in these playoffs, but it’s possible Kessel could follow Murphy’s example. 

Is there a playoff curse on the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy winners?

It didn’t come as a surprise to many NHL fans when the Washington Capitals were knocked out of the current playoffs in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to some, the Capitals were unfortunate enough to have been crowned the Presidents’ Trophy winners this year for having the best regular-season record in the league. There are fans out there who believe this trophy comes with a curse attached to it and the Capitals early exit was just par for the course. Looking back through the annual statistics and postseason results, these curse believers may have a bit of a point.

The Presidents’ Trophy was first handed out to the NHL’s top club in the 1985/86 campaign. It’s nice to win it, but the ultimate goal for everybody in the league is the Stanley Cup. The Presidents’ Trophy winners are always one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup once the postseason begins since they have home-ice advantage throughout, but so far they haven’t really been that successful. Of the 30 Presidents’ Trophy winners, just eight of them have gone on to hoist Lord Stanley’s mug at the end of the playoffs.

This means 22 of the Presidents’ Trophy winners haven’t been able to achieve their postseason goals. In fact, six of them have been eliminated from the playoffs in the very first round and another six were sent packing after the second round, including the Capitals this year. On three occasions, the Presidents’ Trophy winners failed to even make the playoffs the year after winning the award. But on the other side of the coin, the top point-getting team in the NHL reached the Stanley Cup Finals 45 per cent of the time between 1982 and 2009.

The eight teams that managed to top the league in the regular season and capture the Stanley Cup were the Edmonton Oilers (1986/87), the Calgary Flames (1988/89), the New York Rangers (1993/94), the Dallas Stars (1998/99), the Colorado Avalanche (2000/01), the Detroit Red Wings (2001/02 and 2007/08), and the Chicago Blackhawks (2012/13). These eight represent 26 percent of Presidents’ Trophy winners. Three of the winners went on to lose the Stanley Cup Finals, and these were the Boston Bruins (1989/90), the Detroit Red Wings (1994/95) and the Vancouver Canucks (2010/11).

Therefore, 11 of the 30 Presidents’ Trophy winners made it as far as the Stanley Cup Finals, which represents 37 per cent of them. Things have even been worse lately though as just four of the league’s top teams have won the Stanley Cup since 2000 and Chicago has been the only one to do it in the past eight seasons. For interest sake, let’s compare the top regular-season NHL clubs to the top teams in the MLB, the NBA, and the NFL.

The last National League baseball team to win the World Series after topping the MLB standings in the regular season was the New York Mets back in 1986. The past six top National League clubs haven’t even made it to the World Series. The last National League squad to finish with the best overall record in baseball and reach the World Series was the St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 105-57 and they lost the final in four straight games to the Boston Red Sox. Over in the American League, three of the past eight clubs that boasted MLB’s best record have won the World Series. The top two baseball teams in the American and National League have met each other just once in the Fall Classic since 2000. The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in six games when this occurred in 2013.

Things are a bit better for the top NBA teams though as the Golden State Warriors could be the fourth consecutive top team to win the championship if they can pull it off this year. Golden State won the title last season after finishing with the best overall regular-season record as did the San Antonio Spurs in 2013/14 and the Miami Heat in 2012/2013. However overall, just six NBA teams have won the championship and the topped the league standings since the 1999/2000 campaign. When it comes to the NFL, the top NFC and NFL teams have met only three times in the Super bowl since 2000.

Being the top NHL club over a grueling 82-game season is something to be proud of, but being knocked out of the playoffs could be due to reasons other than a curse. Some teams simply run out of gas, suffer from injuries or run into a hot goaltender. In addition, the NHL schedule is unbalanced and the Presidents’ Trophy winner could have had the fortune of playing in a weaker division and/or conference. However, the possibility of a curse isn’t necessarily out of the question either.       

How to get consistent refereeing in the NHL playoffs

Once the puck drops for the NHL playoffs, the league’s officiating teams are highly scrutinized. It’s quite common for players, coaches and fans to complain about inconsistent refereeing during the postseason as an infraction that’s called for a penalty one night is completely ignored the next game. The simplest way to solve the problem of inconsistency during the drive to the Stanley Cup is to use the same set of on-ice officials for an entire playoff series. This means the teams will get the same referees and linesmen for each and every contest of a seven-game series.

The way the league currently operates, a different group of officials works each game and the clubs may be lucky to see the same faces twice during a seven-game showdown. Since officials are human it’s just natural that each of them has his own unique style even though the NHL preaches for consistency. Some referees are more lenient than others and this can lead to frustration and confusion from game to game. If the same set of officials worked each game of a series the players, coaches and spectators would know exactly what to expect and what constitutes a penalty.

If the same officials were assigned an entire series they would know what has taken place in each previous game. They would know who has caused trouble, who has been diving in an attempt to have a penalty called, who has been delivering cheap-shots and who has been involved in instigating post-whistle scrums etc. It would be so much easier for the players and coaches since they know where the line will be drawn. The fans would also benefit with less pushing and shoving after each and every whistle.

Since different officials are now employed from game to game we see marginal infractions interpreted differently by them from night to night. Game seven is never called in the same manner as game one and this often leads to a team taking a late-game or overtime penalty which can in turn lead to elimination from the playoffs. If a specific team of officials is more lenient, players will naturally try to take advantage of the situation. And even though they may not be called for a penalty during the game, fans have already seen several players suspended during this year’s postseason for dangerous and dirty plays after the fact due to the league reviewing video replays.

Some playoff games suffer from “under-officiating” one night and “over-officiating” the next. The NHL could do everybody a favour by assigning the same officials to an entire series. They would get a feel for the games and the series and it would lead to more consistency and less frustration. Major League baseball typically uses the same team of umpires for a series so players and managers can basically adapt to the way they interpret the strike zone and the rules in general. NHL players and coaches can be seen to be visibly upset during the playoffs when one pair of referees calls a game completely different than another pair during the same series. The solution is right before their eyes, but so far the NHL hasn’t explored the benefits of it.    

The NHL Draft Lottery means the Toronto Maple Leafs finally win something

At last, Toronto Maple Leafs fans have something to celebrate as the NHL club has finally won something of note since it last hoisted the Stanley Cup way back in 1967. The Leafs lucked out on April 30th by winning the NHL Draft Lottery in Toronto and will now select first overall at this June’s ceremony in Buffalo. This isn’t the first time the franchise has been awarded the top pick, but they received it by default in 1985 when they selected Wendel Clark number one overall. The Leafs finished dead last in the 1983/84 campaign just like they did this season, but there was no complicated lottery system in place three decades ago. This means the team actually had to win something this year to receive their reward, even if it was just a lottery.

Maple Leafs’ fans shouldn’t get carried away though. If there’s any NHL team out there that could end up blowing the top draft pick it’s surely Toronto. This is a very creative club when it comes to finding new ways of disappointing their fans. It wouldn’t surprise diehard Leafs’ supporters if the youngster they choose first overall doesn’t end up being the best player of the draft a few years down the road. As it stands, it appears Toronto will likely select 18-year-old centre Auston Matthews of the U.S.  with their pick. Matthews played just a 36-game season this year and racked up 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points while skating in the Swiss League with Zurich. He posted just three assists in four playoff games though.

The Leafs still have a lot of work to do before heading up to the podium though since there are at least two other players who could be worthy of the number one pick. These are wingers Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujärvi, both of Finland. In fact, Laine was just recently named the MVP of the Finnish Elite League’s playoffs after leading his team Tappara to the championship. The Leafs will be able to do some more homework and scouting on Matthews and the left-winger Laine as they’ll both be playing for their respective countries at the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championships in Russia. If Laine is a standout at the tournament and Matthews is simply average then the Leafs will really have their work cut out for them when deciding who to choose.

There are several other excellent prospects in this year’s draft following the Arizona-born Matthews and the two Finnish stars. These defenceman Olli Juolevi (London Knights), also of Finland, as well as forwards Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads), Tyson Jost (Penticton Vees), Matthew Tkachuk, (London Knights) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles). This means the eventual best player in the draft could actually be drafted anywhere from first to eighth. The Leafs have been looking for a big first-line centre since Mats Sundin left the team though and that’s why they’ll likely take Matthews.

There were a couple of other big winners in the lottery as the Winnipeg Jets had a 7.5 per cent to draft first overall and the Columbus Blue Jackets had a 9.5 percent chance. The Jets jumped from sixth place to second overall while Columbus moved from fourth to third. But with the talent available even the Edmonton Oilers who dropped from second to fourth, the Vancouver Canucks who dropped from third to fifth and Calgary Flames who slipped from fifth to sixth, could still end up with the eventual best player.

Regardless of who they take in the draft, the Leafs are bound to get an elite prospect and it could have a big impact on their roster decisions during the offseason. However, the team’s fans have another thing coming if they think that an 18-year-old youngster playing about 17 minutes per game is going to turn the franchise around. Still, they have reason to feel optimistic at least until June 24th and hopefully for a few years beyond that.