the 4th star

The year was 1992, the day — January 2nd. Otherwise known as the first day of the rest of Bob Cole’s and Don Cherry’s life. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames, two teams looking for a shake-up, decide to deal. Toronto wins the trade hands-down, as they go on to years of almost being good enough to win. The Flames fall back into mediocrity, but no one really notices. As a spin-off of the blockbuster, though, Canadian hockey fans were subjected to almost a full decade of Cole and Cherry over-selling the skill set of a smallish centre with jet-black hair. It was the end of hockey.

To the Maple Leafs:
Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Kent Manderville and Rick Wamsley

To the Flames:
Gary Leeman, Alexander Godynyuk, Jeff Reese, Michel Petit and Craig Berube

This morning, the same two clubs — both reeling this current NHL season — decide to pull off another trade of significance. The TSN Twitter was buzzing this morning, as the insiders put together the pieces of the *blockbuster* deal. This trade wasn’t the same 10-player monstrosity that occurred 18 years ago, but it still has some weight to it.

To the Maple Leafs:
Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and Keith Aulie

To the Flames:
Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White

On the surface, it looks like the Flames have won this deal running away. That’s right, you heard me. The Flames. Hagman and Stajan aren’t stars, but they give the Flames some much-needed depth up front. And Ian White — the Steinbach-native who was arguably the Leafs best player this season — will be a solid replacement for Phaneuf’s turnover style and poor defensive positioning. Flames fans won’t even notice the difference.

On the flip side, both Flames GM Darryl Sutter and Toronto GM Brian Burke are clearly in desperation mode, despite what some are saying about the Leafs’ boss. Duhatschek undermines his own take by trying to put some lipstick on the pig that is Phaneuf’s game::

As anyone who’s watched him play this year realizes, Phaneuf remains a decided work in progress. Prone to the same mistakes that he made in his rookie year, when he was a Calder Trophy candidate, Phaneuf’s offence has fallen off considerably this year after scoring 20, 17 and 17 goals in each of his first three seasons. A succession of coaches has tried to play Phaneuf with a succession of partners, with limited success. Roman Hamrlik, now with Montreal, was probably the best fit. Still, the operative point about Phaneuf is that he was a Calder trophy contender; was a Norris trophy contender and theoretically could be that again. Who, among the players coming Calgary’s way, fits that bill?

Ah yes, the allure of promise. I’d agree with ED if Phaneuf’s play hadn’t noticeably declined since his rookie year. He’s no longer a trusted player — if he was do you think the Flames would move him? Let’s call it what it is: He played his way off the Calgary roster. Cornerstones of franchises — even potential ones — do not do that.

UPDATE: There’s more! From TSN…

To the Maple Leafs:
Jean-Sebastien Giguere

To the Anaheim Ducks:
Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala

Oh my God what have I done This is going to be a disaster The second I said that I was retiring I knew it was a mistake And now I can’t turn back I’m not like that Favre asshole I’m so screwed now Look at this there are five kids her Count ‘em five I could have sworn I only had four but then again those concussions are nasty business sometimes Is this really what I want to do Get up and take the kids to school and then hang around with Brenda all day going shopping and working around the house I bet the honey-do list is a mile long right now Hopefully I can get Leinart to take some of them off my hands He can clean the pool and hot tub Maybe I shouldn’t call it a career yet Is it too late It is isn’t it What’s that Picture of the family Sure thing honey Can do

(Mona Lisa Warner looks dead centre as the family looks left)

I’ve made a huge mistake I hate my life Really need to call an audible here

Image: Getty

You know ticket sales aren’t going well when you get offered freebies on Tuesday. And again on Wednesday. And then Thursday night, with the half-promise of “I can probably get as many as we need.” AND THEN, when floating out the free ticket possibilities to your friends, you have one of them tell you that he already turned down a pair and has more interest in dinner plans. And so it goes for Motley Crue, the once proud hair-metal band who used to be one of the hottest live shows out there. Now, coming off dates in Edmonton and Calgary — two stops where free passes were plentiful, as well — they can’t give their shit away. Friday Wrap Jam is less than enthusiastic about tonight. It was a toss up between Too Fast For Love and Rattlesnake Shake. Tough to know what the right choice is. On second thought, maybe we don’t want to go to this…

Report: Bad Players Want Out of Awful Team

Report: CFL Out of Ideas

Report: Golf Still Exists

Report: Ba-jillionaires Go Through Couch Cushions

Report: City Unfamiliar with Process

Report: Best Week Ever Gets Better

Report: Bomber GM: ‘I’m Up To Speed’

Report: Four Teams Interested in Disappointment

Report: Stupid Flanders

Report: People Like the Olympics

Report: Canucks Base Operations in Vancouver

Report: Phaneuf No Longer Worst

Hold everything! We have a winner. Don’t know what the contest was — can’t seem to recall even announcing a contest or game or raffle or anything like that — but here I am, happily handing over some imaginary prize to some site called Zambonic Youth for their brilliant post. The best part? It just happens to be a re-hash of an exchange they had before the NHL draft back in 1991. Don’t know if it’s genuine or not — don’t really care. Enjoy the outstanding material. And I’m not talking about the pic of Damien Cox. I am so jealous right now. Wysh hit it bang on — I can’t believe I didn’t come up with this, either.

Here’s the link. Don’t thank me, thank them.

H/T to Puck Daddy (via the Twitter)

It’s Wednesday. When does this start to get old?

I love the team, but as a long, longtime fan of the Vancouver Canucks, I have to say that the way they’re acting regarding this CBC this is pretty ridiculous. The network and the club are going to meet before Saturday’s game in Toronto, to clear the air on the injustice that took place against Alex Burrows last week. Apparently they showed some clips of him diving. Alex Burrows. Diving? Who knew?

The Canucks have solidly backed Burrows and refused CBC interview requests during Saturday night’s 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks as a form of protest.

His victim act — both on and off the ice — is getting a little tired. Frankly, I’m getting tired of this story. Period. Player gets skewered by the CBC, the CBC gets the cold shoulder from the Canucks. Let’s move the fuck on already.

Seriously. The Canucks are the only one keeping this story afloat. Imagine if the club was this upset about the original allegations of referee bias…

I understand why painting National Hockey League players with the same brush as all the other Maple Leaf athletes at the Winter Olympics is important to the Canadian national team. If we’re going to do that, though, then have the NHL guys scramble for sponsorship funding each year, figure out how to train and work at the same time, and do it all with little to no public attention or admiration.

This story surfaced last night. It seems the Own the Podium payouts — a system that gives athletes a monetary incentive to finish in the top three — will also include the Canadian men’s hockey team. If they win gold, each member of the 23-man squad will get $20,000 for their efforts. A sliver will fetch $15,000 and a bronze pulls in $10,000. If Canada finishes second or third (or worse) in the tournament, the players might not have to worry about the money — they’ll be lucky to get out of Vancouver alive.

According to the story, three players on the team earn less than US$3.5-million and the combined salary of the team reaches over US$120-million for this season.

Considering how every other athlete participating at the games survives through modest means and have no national funding to speak of (the story says that Sidney Crosby’s US$9-million salary this year is “more than three times what the OTP program spent on biathlon IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS”), one has to wonder why we’re going to pretend that professional hockey players are on the same level as amateur athletes. Wouldn’t the OTP program be better served to take that hockey money and divide it up into bigger pools for the athletes who really need it? Most would say yes.

Not Bob Nicholson, though.

The president of Hockey Canada, an organization that pulls in millions each year for selling hockey to a hockey-crazy country, says he lobbied for the players to get paid. His reasons are mind-blowing:

“We certainly understand how much money NHL players get, but they’re going to spend a heck of a lot of money on getting their families and that there to watch them. More importantly, they play at world juniors and men’s worlds and we don’t pay them any money for that.”

First off, Bob. NHL players can afford to set their families up in Vancouver over the duration of the hockey tournament. This isn’t the Glenlee community club pee wee team trying to raise funds for a trip to Saskatchewan — these are multi-millionaires you’re talking about. That comment is an insult to the other athletes on the Canadian team — the ones whose families have to scrape together enough dough just to be there for a day or two. That ‘heck of a lot of money’ you casually throw out there? Yeah, that would be roughly $20,000 for the figure skater who has to practice at the crappy, local rink at six in the morning each day, not for some NHL player who needs to drop $20,000 to set his family up in Yale Town for a week.

Players who play for Canada at world championships and the highly lucrative world juniors do not get paid to be there — even if they win gold. When you think about the machine that is Hockey Canada, it almost boggles the mind that they don’t provide some payment to the players. They get a trip to Austria, or wherever it is the games are being held. Hockey Canada does not get off their wallet to offer any financial incentive to play for this country but the instant another national program (like the OTP) pulls out the credit card to order another round and help fund athletes participating at the Olympics, Nicholson wants his charges to jump on that tab.

Nicholson said the players will have the option to take the money, not take the money, or give it to charity if they wind up with a medal. That’s a very good thing. But why even give them the choice in the first place? The charitable angle is important, I guess. The fact that they are being granted the option underlines why they are different than the other Canadian athletes in Vancouver.

It took seventeen games, but we were right. We knew No. 4 had it in him, no matter how many jumped on the bandwagon. That kind of makes it a little sweeter, doesn’t it? I mean, this is what sports is all about — picking teams and then rooting for your side to win. And if things really work out in your favour, the opposition will crash and burn something spectacular. Some thoughts on the game last night, that wonderful contest which saw Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson demonstrate just what kind of big game players they are. And let’s not forget about Brad Childress. He should have been fired right after the game.

1. The NFC Championship
Good game? Sure. Exciting? You bet. A great game. Not even close. Great games involve great players making great plays. All I remember is the ball bouncing around on the carpet. It’s the biggest game of the year. Play like you mean it.

2. The Audio
This clip is making the rounds today. The disappointment in Paul Allen’s voice warms me during this almost-blizzard we’re having today.

3. The Satisfaction
Driving around looking for Maginot Arena after the game (turns out it’s not in St. Boniface), I thought of the Green Bay Packers fan. As good as the anti-Favre establishment in Winnipeg feels, multiply it by four million and you’ll get close to the smile on the Packers fan’s face. Is it karma? Favra? Who knows. The justice for Green Bay, watching that drama queen cough up the game for the rival Minnesota Vikings, is pretty sweet, though.

4. The Truth
Florio nails it when he hammers Favre for saying that he’s going out on top. Add yesterday’s EPIC collapse to the overtime pick to Corey Webster in the NFC championship game two years ago (giving the Giants the win), and Favre is making it very difficult for fans to defend his game. Yes, I know. Those games in October are very important! Here’s a great line from the post:

Last night’s outcome isn’t the top.  It’s the bottom.  It’s as low as it gets, for a player, a team, a franchise, and its fan base.  Though Lions fans might say they’d trade decades of irrelevance for a shot at failing on a much bigger stage, failure is still failure.

Agreed. One hundred per cent.

5. The Legend
Does Favre’s pick come close to this slice of NFL lore?

6. The Vikings Fan
Talk about being confused today. Where do you put the blame? Do you blame Peterson for his untimely Tiki Barber impersonation? Do you blame Favre for making one of the worst decisions in professional sporting history? Or do you blame Childress for trying to gain a competitive advantage by putting 12 guys on the field before THE BIGGEST DOWN ON THE SEASON? Interesting reading in some of the comments following the stories today. Minnesota fans are mad at everyone, but Farve seems to be getting a free pass. Clearly, Vikings fans are idiotic.

6a. The Vikings Fan: Part II
Save your breath about the overtime format, too. Remember when Farve and Childress ran up the score on the Giants and the Cowboys, prompting Dallas LB Keith Brooking to complain during and after the game? Remember what ‘Chilly’ said: “It’s our job to score points and it’s their job to stop us from scoring points.”

7. The Favre Fan
Quote from the guy wearing purple at the bar last night, moments after he made the throw that even rookie quarterbacks don’t make anymore: I would still bet on Favre! He actually shouted it to the patron population. Really? How much more do you need to see? I hope you kept that receipt for that jersey, too. Here are some numbers: In 24 post season games, Favre is 13-11, throwing for 43 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Two games over .500 in the post season. Way to go.

8. The Officiating
From poor spots to missed calls, the men in stripes were lucky to get out of the game without serious controversy. And give everyone a break, Vikings fan. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason for the ball appearing uncatchable was because the Vikings defender was holding Thomas down the sideline? If the pass interference flag on Porter (against Berrian) gets thrown, that coverage deserves some nylon, too.

9. The Coach
You know you’re not doing a very good job with the headset when a stump like Peter King comments on it (not with any conviction, mind you). Playing for a long field goal is essentially playing for overtime, which is straight out of the Clock Mismanagement chapter in the Bad Coaching Handbook. A couple Vikings fans sitting behind me were wondering what their team was doing at the end. They weren’t angry about — it was more a confusion or disbelief. Why aren’t they trying to move the ball down the field? Why aren’t they calling a time-out? Brad Childress is a terrible coach, that’s why. Oh, there’s a flag. Five yards back.

10. The End
Favre’s middle name is Lorenzo. Listen to that clip again. How great is that?

I’m starting a new job next week. After nearly eight years of full and part-time employment at the Winnipeg Sun, I am packing my Bloc de Journaliste with my terribly out of date CP Stylebook and moving on over to the Winnipeg Free Press, where I will be playing a part similar to that of a rover in softball. The newspaper equivalent of a free safety. Helping out the coverage in different areas of the field. Offering run support. Filling the gaps. Etc.

What this means for this crazy little thing called blog remains to be seen. The new gig will take up most, if not all, of my attention as I get acclimatised to the new surroundings, so the post frequency I’ve tried to maintain over the last 13 months could slow considerably during that time. Who knows? Maybe things will remain the same. Maybe things will go dark. Maybe this thing-a-ma-blog will find a new direction (or maybe a new location). Oh, the suspense! We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge! Bottom line: Come the first of February, things are officially up in the air over here. I’ll keep you posted.

Funny.