Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Two thoughts involving Leafs and Canucks

It's already Tuesday and I only just watched the crazy end to the Montreal/Toronto CFL game this week, so I may as well just do what I do best and draw unsuspecting Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks fans to this blog by having them type their favourite teams into Google and having this post pop up.

In Toronto's case, last week when Tyler Seguin scored against the Leafs in Boston and Phil Kessel was held off the scoresheet, fans started chanting "Thank you Kessel! Thank you Kessel!" Tyler Seguin was, of course, the second overall pick given to Boston in the Kessel trade.

Here's my issue with Boston fans--we won't know the winner of 'the trade' for ten years. I can't stress this next point enough: If Boston make the playoffs, it will not be because of Tyler Seguin's play. If Toronto make the playoffs, it will be on Kessel's back. If Toronto miss, it will not be because they didn't have Tyler Seguin in the lineup.

While it's always a pleasure to beat Toronto, keep 'the trade' out of it, because it's the least of Toronto's worries. Boston choked away a 3-0 series lead last year in the playoffs and probably would have put away the Flyers if they could score with any consistency. The Kessel trade may have cost them a chance at the Stanley Cup. But lo, in the 'EHM era' where online Fantasy hockey games and Pierre McGuire's repeated boners over prospects cause fans to terrifically overrate young players.

Meanwhile, about the Canucks, I channel my inner Bill James over at The Hockey Writers with an argument on why penalty shots are stupid and a graph I've been tinkering with that acts as a reactive 'momentum meter'. Stop by, and be sure to click on the link in my biography over there to send you back to this blog, hence boosting my google ranking.

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