Freddie P's Blog

And that brings me to this.

Mike Boon is an internet/website wiz who helped me create freddiep.ca as it is today.

He's a man of many interests including hockey which is right near the top of his love list.

Mike Boon is so typical of millions of hockey fans in Canada, the type that of guy who'd probably buy season tickets if a team came to Hamilton. But he can't because the NHL won't let him.

Mike Boon is the type of fan that Gary Bettman continually pisses on, not for a second appreciating the passion.

I'm going to forward this page from Boon's blog to the NHL offices in New York. I know Bettman will never see it or probably wouldn't care if he did.

But it's the kind of devotion to the game that Canadians get no credit for.

Category: Sports

Jason Barr of the Edge morning show is writing a book and he needs your help.

Jason has two boys and he's heavily involved in minor hockey on both the parenting and coaching levels.

Over the past few years he's been witness to some unbelievable situations involving hockey mons and dads that would make your head spin, and now he'd like to put it all in a book.

But he wants more stories and he'd love you to contribute. For more information, go here.

Category: Friends | Radio | Sports

I really hope Vesa Toskala is half as good as the Maple Leafs think he is.

I sit hear rubbing my head wondering what this guy has done to warrant a long term contract through 2010 that's worth double what the San Jose Sharks paid him.

The San Jose Sharks, a well run organization with a recent history of building solid teams while showing fiscal responsibility paid him 1.37 million dollars a year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, who represent just about everything the Sharks aren't, have decided to more than double Toskala's salary after next year.

Doesn't that seem a bit odd?

Excuse me for being a bit of a skeptic when it comes to the Maple Leafs but what has Toskala accomplished that would warrant such treatment?

He was a backup goaltender for a solid team with a good defensive system. He hasn't played one minute of one game under the Leaf system but he's instantly worth twice as much.

You think they would have learned from the Andrew Raycroft experience. They threw two million a year at him before he played a single game and we all know where that put them.

It put them in the market for another goaltender.

Category: Sports

I read about the NHL free-agent signings with great interest this morning.

Hey, what the hell, Jason Blake isn't a bad signing but as a cynical Leaf fan you just have to wonder what will go wrong with the guy.

Will he survive the pressure in Toronto? Will he play on the right line? Will he break his leg this summer is some freak accident?

I must say however, that the most profound thing I've heard this season came from the mouth of Leaf coach Paul Maurice.

He doesn't understand all the doom and gloom around Toronto.

He points out that the Leafs had 91 points off 40 victories this season. Ottawa and Anaheim, the two teams that went to the Stanley Cup final had only 48 victories each.

From October till April, on only eight occasions did the Leafs lose when the Stanley Cup finalists won.

They're not that far off.

Category: Sports

If there was any doubt that a conspiracy existed within the NHL to keep teams out of Canada, it's been totally eliminated now.

How else do you explain the latest happenings in the Nashville Predators saga.

Predators owner Craig Leipold has told Jim Balsillie that he is no longer interested in doing business. Instead of accepting $238 million dollars from Balsillie, Leipold has apparently agreed to terms with California businessman William DelBiaggio who wants to move the team to Kansas City.

Selling price - 190 million dollars and the deal could be announced as early as today.

Do the math and it doesn't add up, and that leads to only one conclusion. Somewhere along the line the 48 million dollar difference has been made up by somebody.

It all makes sense now. There's no way Leipold would accept 48 million dollars less than Balsillie was offering. But if the league promised to make it up, with a little help from say the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, then Leipold could have been convinced to dump the Balsillie offer.

It's obvious this thing was going to court, so rather than spend millions upon millions fighting Balsillie in court, and testing and exposing the NHL's territorial policies, the league probably decided to spend its money elsewhere.

Give it to Leipold in exchange for him doing business with an American rather than some guy who wants to move the franchise to Canada.

The league avoids the courts, the Leafs and Sabres kick in some dough to protect their territory and Gary Bettman gets his franchise in Kansas City.

Goddamn Kansas City, a franchise destined for failure before it even plays its first game.

All Canadians should be mighty pissed off today.

Category: Sports

According to Steve Simmons in this morning's Toronto Sun, Scotty Bowman has turned down a three year, six million dollar offer to basically run the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The position would have been called "senior hockey advisor" but as it turns out, according to Simmons, Scotty turned it down because he didn't think he could work with MLSE President Richard Peddie.

From what we can gather, MLSE had no problem giving full reign of their basketball team to Bryan Colangelo, but when it comes to hockey, Peddie still thinks he has something to offer and that was too scary a prospect for Bowman - why finish your career in frustration and failure?

I find the whole situation rather sad. First of all, because Bowman found the situation so bizarre he turned down two million a year, and secondly because the Leafs feel they have to turn to a man in his 70's to run their hockey organization.

There is no arguing that Scotty Bowman is a great hockey man, and may even go down as the greatest in NHL history, but come on, he's in his 75th year for cryin' out loud.

If the Leafs need anything, they need the hockey version of Colangelo. A bright young executive who's totally in tune with today's game.

I pains me to insult Scotty Bowman this way but I honestly don't think he's the answer at this point - the Leafs need a Brian Burke or a David Poile or a Bob Gainey running the show.

But expecting the Leafs to do the right thing is a little too much to ask I guess. To me it's odd they would ask Bowman and then frightening that he would turn it down.

Of course this will open the door for the next mistake and they're staring right at it in John Muckler. Apparently he's next on the list and being unemployed probably makes him willing to do anything.

But again, he's 73 and his time has passed. He's not what the Leafs need at this point.

Category: Sports

I wouldn't be too discouraged by this weekend's news about Jim Balsillie and the Nashville Predators.

It's not dead yet. As a matter of fact I think this latest move may have been orchestrated by Balsillie.

Jim Balsillie has been criticized for being too pushy and rubbing the NHL the wrong way by going public about Hamilton and even selling season tickets before he even owned the bloody hockey team. But to my mind, that's smart.

Balsillie is testing the waters. Before he cuts a check for close to a quarter billion dollars he wants a read on the NHL. He wants to see how they react before he hands over the dough, and right now he's getting a pretty good idea.

Why on earth would he pay the money only to find out afterwards that he couldn't move the franchise?

And that's why I think the move over the weekend was rather shrewd.

Predators owner Craig Leipold issued a statement saying the NHL should not do any further due diligence on the sale to Balsillie until there's a binding agreement.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Balsillie's idea. It probably sent a shock wave through the NHL with the vast majority of owners terrified the deal could fall through.

Most of them want the sale to happen. Ballsillie has offered roughly 40 million dollars more than the Preds are worth and they can only help but boost the average price of all franchises.

I really think it's just another calculated move along the way. A way of pushing Gary Bettman further into a corner, making him look even more foolish for rejecting a fabulous deal that will only serve to strengthen the league.

Don't give up on Hamilton yet.

Category: Sports

Yesterday's trade for Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell may turn out to be the best transaction in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs (not really) but it sure didn't make a life long Leaf fan feel any better while watching the 2007 Entry Draft last night.

TSN did a fine job of the production and it was fun to watch the strategy of it all, and especially interesting to watch the faces of the young men whose lives instantly changed when their names were called out.

What was tough to take was another year without involvement by the Maple Leafs, and it became especially uncomfortable when the likes of Alexei Chereponov and Angelo Esposito were still available long after the Leafs original pick which they traded, number 13 over-all, came and went.

As a Leaf fan I'd feel much better this morning if one of these two kids was in the fold rather than a goalie that still hasn't proved he can be number one, and a five year veteran who's never developed into the player people thought he'd be.

But that's the way of the world for a Maple Leaf fan.

All the good teams in the NHL keep their draft picks and build their teams with a constant eye towards the future. Not the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Everything is done with eye towards ticket sales. To justify their horrendous ticket prices the Leafs feel they have to ice a team that "at least" makes the playoffs. There's no patience for long term plans. Just finish in the middle of the pack and then trade your middle of the pack draft picks for players who've proved nothing with other teams.

Edmonton had three picks in the first round last night. Montreal two. Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa also made picks. But not the Leafs and they won't make a pick in today's second round either.

Over the next few days we're going to hear a lot of propaganda from the Leafs about a strong goaltending tandem and the untapped potential of Mark Bell, but it doesn't mean anything because we've seen and heard it all before.

The writing was on the wall when the Leafs re-signed Mats Sundin. It was a great opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, clear some cap space, tear down the mess and start all over again.

But nope. The Leafs are shooting for eighth place next season. That's all. Eighth place and piss on the fans.

Category: Sports

As for the draft, which begins tonight, the Leafs have the 13th pick over-all in a draft year that's considered pretty slim.

It's so weak, that many believe there could be some wild wheeling and dealing at the draft tables tonight.

There's no clear cut number one, and the there's little to choose between the top ten or so. It all depends on what's there at the time you pick and how it fits into your plans.

If it doesn't fit, then you might trade down for something in a better draft year.

As for the Leafs in particular? Who knows? Their drafting history over the past 40 years isn't something to be proud of, and given some of the questionable moves by John Ferguson Jr. over the past couple of years, how can you be optimistic?

Several players will be considered when number 13 comes up, the key will be to pick the right guy.

Over-all, I can't get excited about anything to do with the Leafs right now. Their signings of been predictable, and nothing in this draft will make a dent in their for future unless they get extremely lucky.

Category: Sports

It happened again yesterday. As soon as I heard that Tiger Woods had become a father I tried to picture him screwin' - but I couldn't.

I've tried to do this many times since Tiger first hooked up with the luscious Elin Nordegren but it's impossible.

There's something about Tigers teenage looks and his boyish connection to his dad and mentor Earl Woods that won't allow me to picture him doin' the dirty with anyone.

Tiger's like the kid next door, and even though he's been on the PGA tour for over ten years, I still look upon the guy as a kid - a kid who hasn't slid the slider yet.

I can picture other young athletes pumpin' away like maniacs - Lebron James, Chris Bosh, even Sydney Crosby and every one of the Stall boys - but for some crazy reason, not Tiger.

I can't picture Tiger Woods layin' the lumber.

Why is that?

Category: Sports