Morning Musings

There will not be a preamble today because I am running a little late. The usual format will return tomorrow morning.

On to the morning papers:

• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail looks at the ups and downs of the Chicago Blackhawks franchise under the ownership of Bill Wirtz.
• Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail has a very interesting piece on the aftermath of the Steve Downie hit on Dean McAmmond.
• As Dave Shoalts explains, if the Leafs do not receive hall of fame type goaltending they will have difficulty succeeding in 2007/08.
• Damien Cox wonders when the NHL will finally take preventative action against headshots in this morning's Toronto Star.
• Vesa Toskala was not impressive in the Leafs' 7-2 loss to the Sabres on Wednesday night writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.
• Neil Stevens of the the Canadian Press examines the Leafs' roster and the expectations the team is putting on itself this season.
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette tells us Kyle Chipchura's take on Steve Downie the hockey player. Meanwhile at Habs' camp, coach Guy Carbonneau has some tough decisions to make regarding who will make his starting defense.
• In Calgary, Stephane Yelle has changed his number to 7 in deference to Owen Nolan.
• The Flames have some lingering injury problems, however, the team believes everyone will be ready to suit up for the first regular season game against Philadelphia next week.
• Improved puck-moving skills from the Oilers' defensive corps should lead to a much improved transition game in Edmonton this season.
• Craig MacTavish may be Sean Horcoff's biggest fan, and as Dan Barnes writes, the gritty center has returned to his spot on the Oilers' number one line.
• Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal explains why the Oilers demoted 2004 first round selection Robbie Schremp.
• Dustin Penner better get used to taking Sheldon Souray's shots off his feet if he plans to park himself in front of the opposition's net every night.
• Andrew Cogliano has impressed at Oilers' camp and the Toronto native is a good bet to be centering one the four lines in Edmonton this season; Derer Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun has the story.
• As Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes, Dean McAmmond has been released from the hospital, but there is a very long road to recovery ahead of him. McAmmond's agent Steve Bartlett is not sure "when or if" his client will play again and warns that if the NHL doesn't put a stop to these types of head-shots, some player will get hit and not be able to get up.
• Today could be d-day in the Senators' negotiations with Dany Heatley writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
• The Canucks were defeated by the Sharks 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night; Gordon McIntyre has the recap in this morning's Vancouver Province.
• Mike Green looks much improved in all aspects of the game writes Tarik El-Bashir in this morning's Washington Post.
• Karri Ramo's performance at Bolts' camp is giving John Tortorella something to think about when he makes his final roster cuts later this week.
• Coming off an injury that ended his 2006/07 season, Dan Hinote is looking forward to returning to the lineup and giving Blues' fans something to cheer about this season.
• Devon Setoguchi continued his terrific pre-season last night with two goals in the Sharks' 4-3 shootout victory over the Canucks.
• Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives readers an inside look at the Penguins' three-day stint at West Point.
• Coach Wayne Gretzky is trying to get his two rookies, Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal, as much experience as he can before the regular season begins next week.
• Injuries are rampant at Flyers' camp as Scottie Upshall will be out of the Flyers' lineup for 4-6 weeks, Joffrey Lupul will be out at least two weeks and R.J. Umberger will miss the next 7-10 days.
• Greg Logan previews who the Islanders' starting six defensemen will be in this morning's New York Newsday.
• As Brett Cyrgalis reports, Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez have been split up at Rangers' camp. Jagr skated yesterday on a line with Martin Straka and Chris Drury.
• The Devils defeated the Islanders 6-1 on Wedesday night.
• Coach Brent Sutter is impressed with Dainius Zubrus's commitment thus far at Devils' camp.
• The Predators still have just under 3,000 tickets available for their home opener next week. (Writer's note: Hockey in Nashville, gotta love it!)
• Off the ice the Predators may be struggling, but on the ice, the team has more forward depth than many realize. John Glennon of the Tennessean examines the possible forward lines for the Preds heading into the season.
• As Michael Russo of the Star Tribune writes, the team's second line of Belanger-Rolston-Bouchard has demonstrated great chemistry for the Wild this pre-season. Meanwhile, concern about the team's powerplay seems to have dissipated as the Wild have scored 11 powerplay goals this pre-season.
• The Kings defeated Swedish champions Farjestad BK 4-3 on Wednesday and, once again, Anze Kopitar was the hero. The sophomore scored the game-winner with only 46 seconds remaining.
• Coach Jacques Martin has grown sick of the Panthers' lazy penalties writes Steve Gorton of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
• Kirk Maltby wants to contribute in more aspects of the game than he has the past few seasons writes George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. The Free Press also conducted an interview with Wings' defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.
• Stars' forward Stu Barnes is expected to dress for his first pre-season game tonight versus the Coyotes. Barnes had been out of action because of a shoulder injury.
• Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is trying to dispel the notion that Norway is the most peaceful nation on earth writes Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch.
• Terry Frei of the Denver Post has the story of veteran Jaroslav Hlinka ,who appears to be on the cusp of securing a roster spot with the Avalanche.
• Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune chronicles the life of Bill Wirtz.
• It appears that Wirtz's son will take over ownership of the team writes Chris Kuc in this morning's Tribune.
• The Hurricanes have been very impressed with the play of youngsters Brett Carson and Carey Borer at camp thus far writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer.
• The amount of injuries at Sabres' camp concerns coach Lindy Ruff writes Tim Graham of the Buffalo News.
• Bryan Little scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday night and is opening eyes at Thrashers' camp writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Newest Duck Mark Mowers had quite an adventure getting overseas after getting traded on Monday afternoon.
• Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe explains the purpose behind the Bruins' hiring of Craig Ramsay this off-season.
• Matt Lashoff, the Bruins' first round pick from 2005, was disappointed to be sent down to Providence on Tuesday.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Cold Hard Rants--Bonus Edition

NB: This is a bonus rant, in light of last night’s hit on Dean McAmmond by the coward Steve Downie. For your regularly scheduled Cold Hard Rant, this week dealing with the coverage of exhibition hockey, please scroll down a little.

In baseball, when you throw at a batter in retaliation, the player’s unwritten code of conduct says you aim for a fleshy part of the body. You don’t throw at someone’s head. You bruise, you don’t maim. In football, it’s considered uncouth to take out someone at the knees when they are unsuspecting. Hit a guy in the face, where they can see it coming as opposed to blowing out a knee that can end someone’s career. Even though I know next to nothing about basketball, I presume there is a code of conduct in that one player’s posse doesn’t shoot at another’s posse—or at least they don’t shoot to kill, only wound.

Last night in front of a capacity crowd posing as row after row after row of empty seats, the NHL player code of conduct was violated by a nobody who brutally, illegally, and heinously injuring a fellow NHL player. I am of course speaking of Steve Downie’s hit on Dean McAmmond. Now, before you go accusing me as a sissy-boy who doesn’t understand hockey and who needed the FoxTrax to follow the puck, know that I do understand hockey (even if I dislike the NHL) and additionally there is very little in sports that gets me infuriated anymore. More often than not, I simply make a snide and insincere remark and move on. Prior to yesterday, the only other issue that got me infuriated in hockey was Todd Bertuzzi’s assault on Steve Moore (more on that in next week’s Cold Hard Rants.) That changed when Downie took his run, left his feet, and delivered an elbow to McAmmond’s head with a vicious disregard for the damage he was inflicting. If it was a clean hit performed within the rules, I would applaud him, and not be writing this, but it wasn’t, and it was done solely because Downie was embarrassed that he had gotten hit a moment before.

The television talking heads like to refer to Downie as an energy player who always plays on the edge. Bull, I say. Downie is a cheap player, a dirty player, and one who cannot succeed on his skill set alone (for a basketball comparison please see Bowen, Bruce.) Downie was embarrassed that his lack of skill was exposed for all to see by another player on the ice, and rather than proving the people wrong by performing a hockey activity that demonstrates that indeed he does have an ample skill set, he did the only thing he knew how to do well, and that is cheat. With no regard for the unwritten code of conduct that this was a meaningless exhibition game and that Dean McAmmond is a veteran player simply trying to get his game legs underneath him for the start of the regular season and MEANINGFUL games, Downie decided he needed to do whatever it took, consequences to Dean McAmmond be damned, to get his name in the spotlight.

Much like Bruce Bowen in San Antonio kneeing players, and deliberately sticking his feet under jump shooters, Downie is doing whatever it takes to stay in the NHL by making a name for himself irregardless of what context that name is held. For whatever reason there will always be room in any league for a dirty player like Steve Downie and he has realized early on in his career that he cannot succeed and sustain a career for himself in the NHL by playing the game within the rules. Much like Bruce Bowen realized this about his potential for a career in the NBA, Steve Downie has made a conscious decision that in order to succeed he must do so by any means necessary. Even if those means end up putting an unsuspecting veteran in the hospital.

All I can say to Steve Downie is that when your medicine is handed out to you by Brian McGrattan, and whomever else on the Senators is able to get their hands on you, I hope you stand there and take it. Based on the cowardly actions you have engaged in thus far in your career, I suspect you won’t, and at the end of the day that’s the worst part of a cowardly player; they are cowards through and through, and refuse to answer for their actions.

For Illegal Curve, I am Andrew M.

About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.

Was that really necessary?

In a previous post, I noted that the NHL was looking into addressing the issue of head shots. This week, the NHL will have their chance to prove that they are, in fact, serious about removing this unnecessary part from the game.

Tonight, Dean McAmmond suffered a concussion while on the receiving end of a Steve Downie check. Downie, who is known as an "energy" player, delivered an overly dirty hit as he left his feet, launching his body like a missile, and hitting McAmmond's head square on with his shoulder. The Senators' forward was knocked out instantly and laid motionless on the ice as teammates came to the rescue. McAmmond, coming off a concussion from the Stanley Cup Finals, had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher.

Is a hit like this really necessary, especially in an exhibition game? This is a recurring problem in sports and it seems to be particularly an issue during exhibition games when players are doing anything to get noticed while trying to secure a roster-spot. Downie is a young player fighting to make the team and there is pressure for him to perform at a high level and show that he belongs on the Flyers. For McAmmond, he is already an established veteran trying to get ready for the season. It is a theme that will continue as long as exhibition games are around.

The NHL has suspended Downie indefinitely. If/When he returns to play for the Flyers this season he will be expected to face the wrath of Brian McGrattan, who, in Bertuzzi-like fashion, vowed to get his revenge on Downie.

"A guy can't defend himself and you take a 40-foot run and jump and hit him. Hopefully the league takes a look at it. Those are the hits we don't want in our game. He'll get what's coming to him. He'll get what's coming to him next time we play him, that's for sure."

Yesterday, I came across an article posted by Eric McElrain at the AOL Fanhouse that is definitely worth a read, titled "Is the NHL Ignoring a Concussion Problem". They definitely will not be ignoring the severity of this hit. McAmmond is likely to be out for a while and, with his history of concussions, could miss the entire season. In fact, at the age of 34, this serious concussion could force him into early retirement.

We can only speculate how many games Downie will receive. Cam Janssen recieved only three games for his hit on Thomas Kaberle. If Collin Campbell and the NHL are as serious as they claim about getting rid of these cheap head shots, then this is the time to prove it. Downie must receive at least a 15 game suspension. A clear message must be sent to the players.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Michael Remis