Should The Toronto Maple Leafs Get In On The Jeff Carter Talks?

By Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter… There are plenty of rumors surfacing in NHL circles that the Philadelphia Flyers are looking to make a major move. Most of these rumors seem to start and stop with struggling centre Jeff Carter.

It’s no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs have long coveted Carter and his scoring prowess; question is, with Carter marred in one of the worst scoring slumps of his career, would Leafs general manager Brian Burke still be willing to explore the possibility of adding the 24 year old to the fold?

Carter scored 29 goals in 2007-08, 46 goals in 2008-09 and is on pace to score between 25 and 30 goals this season. Thirty goal scorers do not grow on trees, so Carter still has some legitimate value on the trade market, regardless of his struggles this season.

Recent reports suggest the Flyers have approached the Atlanta Thrashers about the possibility of landing Ilya Kovalchuk. Needless to say, it will take a lot more than just Carter to bring Kovalchuk to Philly, but the Flyers are more than capable of putting together a package of roster players, prospects and draft picks for Kovalchuk, adding some validity to the rumors.

To be fair, the Thrashers are in good shape this season. Free agent acquisitions Maxim Afinogenov has registered 31 points in 35 games, including 12 goals and former Maple Leaf Nik Antropov has 31 points in 35 games, including nine goals.

Averaging 3.20 goals per game, Kovalchuk, Antropov and Afinogenov are the main reasons the Thrashers are ranked third overall in NHL scoring. Clearly, subtracting Kovalchuk from the Thrashers would be a difficult decision, but with rumors that Kovalchuk is looking for a ten year deal in the neighborhood of $11 million per season, he may have out priced himself for the financially struggling Thrashers.

If the Thrashers were to entertain moving Kovalchuk I suspect they would be looking for a first line forward with scoring abilities, a characteristic that, in the right situation, Carter could bring to the Thrashers. That said, there is no guarantee that Carter would mesh with Afinogenov or Antropov (who has played plenty of wing in the past), which is a huge risk for the Thrashers, who are on the cusp of their first playoff since 2006-07.

In the end, one has to believe that the Thrashers will do everything in their power to keep Kovalchuk in Atlanta, and ultimately you have to think they will find a way to keep him. With that in mind, perhaps it’s time that Burke picked up the phone to inquire about landing Carter from the Flyers?

The Leafs gave up two first round draft pick’s (2010 and 2011) to the Boston Bruins in order to acquire Phil Kessel, so any trade involving Carter would likely involve a number of roster players and perhaps a prospect.

The Flyers have inquired about Tomas Kaberle in the past, but the Czech defenseman has thus far balked at the idea of playing in Philadelphia, refusing to waive his no-trade clause, which has put the kibosh on any previous trade speculation.

If Kaberle was willing to waive his no-trade clause, I suspect a deal could be worked out. Having said that, Burke has stated on countless occasions that he likes the skill set Kaberle brings to the Leafs and, considering Kaberle’s low cap hit ($4.250 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11), Burke feels Kaberle is underpaid and thus brings great value to the Blue and White.

If Kaberle once again refused to move to the Flyers, there are other players the Leafs could consider moving. Defenseman Luke Schenn has had a tough sophomore season, but nobody doubts his overall skill set and upside. Once thought to be the next captain of the Leafs, could Burke now entertain moving Schenn in a package to acquire Carter?

Matt Stajan (11 goals, 28 points through 36 games) is a decent playmaker and penalty killer and may be a decent addition for the Flyers. At $3 million per season through 2011-12 Niklas Hagman (15 goals, 25 points through 36 games), has played well in stretches this season and may very well be attractive to the Flyers.

Would a package of Schenn, Stajan and Hagman get a deal done? Probably not, but it does offer a good starting point for these two teams and, in my mind, is not far off what the Flyers would be looking for.

Clearly, Carter has tremendous trade value, so you have to suspect that numerous NHL teams would be willing to make an offer on him.

If Burke could sell Flyers GM Paul Holmgren on the idea that adding three players to the roster for the price of one could turn around the fortunes of his team, we may have the makings of a deal. That said, it’s still a long shot and, in all likelihood, unless the Leafs can find a way to get Kaberle to move his no-trade, all bets are probably off.

In the end, something has to give for the Flyers. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. One thing is for sure, there will be plenty of rumors where the Leafs and Flyers are concerned, Carter to the Leafs is just one of them.

Until next time,

Peace!

Colin Doyle Named Toronto Rock Captain

by Laura Bridgman… The Toronto Rock Lacrosse Club has announced Colin Doyle as captain for the 2010 season.

“I’m taking this very seriously,” said Doyle. “Since I’m re-joining a team that has accumulated so many good leaders it is an absolute honour that the coaching staff chose me to lead all they want to accomplish this season.

“This is a big deal for me; before I left Toronto three years ago this was something I had always hoped would happen.”

For the past two seasons Doyle captained the San Jose Stealth, now the Washington Stealth based out of Everett, Washington.

“He is one of the best leaders we have been involved with,” said Terry Sanderson, general manager of the Toronto Rock of Doyle. “He just carries an air of confidence about himself and how he handles his teammates.”

Doyle will be the third person to ever wear the Rock ‘C’ in the franchise’s 12 year history.

“This team has only ever had two captains in Jim Veltman and Chris Driscoll, which makes the honour that much more special,” said Doyle. “They led their way, but I’m inheriting a different team and I will be a different leader.”

“With Colin it isn’t always about what he says,” said Toronto Rock head coach Troy Cordingley. “He lets his actions speak in the dressing room as well as his words.”

With a roster so full of veteran talent the Rock has named four assistant captains for 2010 with Phil Sanderson and Sandy Chapman will get the ‘A’ at home in Toronto, while Blaine Manning and Pat McCready will have the assistant duties on the road.

“These four guys lead by example,” said Cordingley. “They are character guys who are great in the dressing room. They are guys that will do anything for the team to succeed and the biggest thing for me is that for each of them the team comes first.”

Manning, P. Sanderson, and Chapman have all left their mark in Toronto in years past, and though he’s only in his first season with the Rock, veteran defender Pat McCready is ready to step up with his new team.

“Looking around the dressing room anyone could have taken one of those A’s,” said McCready of the accolade. “It’s a really great honour but to be given it doesn’t really change anything about the way I’ll play; I just go out there, work hard and am a representative of the team as a whole.”

“The four are experienced team players and great supportive teammates,” adds Sanderson. “We had a couple guys tell us that they didn’t need a letter, but they’ve shown over the years of playing in this League they have all the capabilities that warrant one. They have earned the respect of the coaching staff and people need to know how highly their teammates and coaches think of them.”

Doyle and the rest of the Toronto Rock open the 2010 NLL season on Saturday, January 9 in Boston as they take on the Blazers and begin their home schedule of eight games on Friday, January 15 at the Air Canada Centre in the second half of a home-and-home series with Boston.

The 10 Most Surprising NHL Players of 2009

By Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter… Every season we see a number of players that were virtual unknowns turn into household names. For some, the accent to star status is nothing more than a blip in their otherwise very average hockey careers, but for others, a great season serves as the beginning of their super-star status and, in most cases, a change in their teams fortunes.

Let’s take a look at 10 players that have come out from under the radar to be recognized as having what it takes to be a future NHL star.

Jonathan Quick, Goaltender, Los Angeles Kings

Toronto Raptors on Track for a 47-Win Season

by Stephen Brotherston… If you believe that Bryan Colangelo has been trying to recreate the 2006-07 version of the Toronto Raptors, then you will have noticed just how closely the 2009-10 Raptors have resembled that earlier version.

In 2006, Bryan Colangelo started the season with only six returning players and in 2009, he did it again.  And with only four returning players destined to see much time in their team’s rotation, both of these reconstructed Raptors teams went through a very rough learning curve.

Players who didn’t know how to play together and coaches who didn’t know who to put on the floor conspired to produced a less than encouraging seven win, 13 loss start to the season each time.

But in 2006, the Raptors went 40-22 to finish out the season tying the Raptors record for wins in a season.  Those 2006 Raptors “gelled” as a team and closed out the season winning 2/3rds of their games.

In reality, “gelling” in 2006 really meant Sam Mitchell figured out that playing Garbajosa at small forward turned a collection of players into a team.  Sure there were other factors, but to “gel” requires coaches to figure things out at least as much as players “getting to know one another.”

This season the new small forward that the Raptors have tied their fortunes to is Hedo Turkoglu.  And like Jorge Garbajosa, Turkoglu does not rely on his superior athleticism at either end of the floor but rather on sound positional play and basketball IQ.

Where Garbajosa is considered to be the more effective defender (although it was almost impossible to figure out how he managed to do it), Turkoglu is a vastly superior offensive player.  And most people would consider Hedo a significant upgrade talent-wise from Garbajosa.

And anyone who has watched Turkoglu over the past few seasons or can even just remember how he played against LeBron, Pierce, and Bryant in last year’s playoffs, will realize Turkoglu can be as good as anybody against the elite wings in the NBA (and no, he isn’t winning any defensive awards).

Just check out the Orlando Magic’s top 10 plays from last season on  NBA video (2008-09, Magic videos).

Of course the measure of how well Turkoglu is “gelling” with his Raptors teammates may be counted in his assist totals more than anything on the defensive end.  And in the last five games, Turkoglu has been averaging 7 assists per game.

This season the Raptors have relied on rookie Head Coach Jay Triano whereas in 2006, the Raptors had the more experienced Sam Mitchell.

And Triano has shown his inexperience.  Sticking with lineups that weren’t working and having to be “saved” by his GM and a players meeting after a five-game losing slide and the embarrassment in Atlanta.

This year’s Raptors should be considered as more talented than the 2006 version and may have actually won games despite some questionable coaching moves earlier this season (reverse also likely to be true).

But Jay Triano has the respect of some of the NBA’s top executives and Bryan Colangelo’s patience with his coach is likely to be rewarded (it would be nice if Triano could figure things out a little faster though).

However, finishing any season winning 65 percent of your games over even a modest stretch is no easy task and likely to be greeted with a measure of disbelief. And some people will look at the Raptors 15-17 record and not be convinced this team can do it.

But this season, the Raptors have gone 8-4 since that 7-13 start and are precisely on track to repeat that remarkable performance.

And with 10 teams in the East at under .500,  the non-elite teams in the East are weak this year.  The  Raptors are currently in sixth place in the East with that 15-17 record.

Plus the 16-12 fiveth place Miami Heat have faced a soft opening schedule with 18 home games and just 10 road dates.  Maybe the Raptors season split with the Magic is reflective of just how close these two teams really are?

There should be little doubt that Raptors opportunity for a strong finish to the 2009-10 season is there for the taking.  And another 47 win season is still within grasp.

Like in 2006-07, Bryan Colangelo is likely to be looking at trades, different players will step up or not, and injury risk is out there!

It will not be a boring 2010 in Raptorland.

Toronto Toros Comical Logo!