Leafs Embarrasing, Jays Will Surprise and more...

 Tyler Seguin Scored the 8th goal of the game but didn't seem too happy about it...

It took me all of about 7 minutes into the Leafs-Bruins game tonight to see just how far the Leafs really are from being an actual Stanley Cup contender, or even a team that thinks they will have a shot at even MAKING the NHL Playoffs in the foreseeable future. The guys out on the ice wearing blue and white are supposed to be NHL players. They looked like a bunch of beer league players out there, running around trying to put out fire after fire, with no game plan, no leadership, nothing.

For the life of me, I do NOT understand why Carlyle (and Wilson before him) keeps insisting on playing 22 year old turnover machine, Luke Schenn over 23 year old offensively minded Cody Franson. Something was mentioned last week about Franson not practicing as hard as he should. Are you f-ing kidding me? Not to sound like anyone you may have heard of (Re: Iverson, Allen) PRACTICE???!!?!  We are talking about Practice....not the game, not the way you play in the game, but PRACTICE?!?!?! After tonight's performance, I think Carlyle needs to re-think who he plays on that defence because Schenn and Komisarek (despite valiantly putting up a fight against Milan Lucic, and getting his ass handed to him) are clearly just not good enough to be in the NHL.

It's just like the Leafs to fall completely out of the race when they were (apparently) locked in a playoff spot, fire their sarcastic, caustic and know-it-all coach, hire a Cup winner in his place, continue the freefall down the standings, do a quick turnaround and look as if they may finally be coming out of it, only to fall completely back on their backs and getting their butts whopped by their arch nemesis once again. Six games against the Bruins this year and 6 losses later, the team looks just as dysfunctional as ever. Four of the six games that the Leafs played against the Bruins resulted in games where the Bruins scored at least 6 goals.

The Bruins averaged 6 goals a a game against the Leafs this year. Read that sentence again.6...Goals...Per GAME!!! The average team gives up around 3 goals a game. This incarnation of the Leafs is twice as bad as the AVERAGE NHL team defensively. Most of this was covered up early in the season by an offense that was really clicking with Kessel and Lupol on fire but once teams started keying on them and being (illegally) physical with the Grabo line (coupled with Nik Kulemin continuing to have a nightmare season both personally and on the ice), the spiral into the abyss was almost pre-determined by the League office. Think about this: When have you ever heard of a team, like the Leafs, going through an entire month, playing 13 games and only having 16 penalties called on them? You just don't unless something is amiss, something foul is and has been afoot with regards to the officiating in this league.

 "So how many penalties are we supposed to miss tonight?"

"I was told we can't call more then 6, everything else, we let go...got it?"

 
Young, highly skilled and fast teams, the ones that were built to take advantage of the supposed new rules in the NHL, have begun to wonder aloud about what exactly is going on with the way that games are being called in the league since the start of 2012. The new year has seen a retro version of the rules return to the game as can be seen by a stat that the CBC's Eliot Friedman brought up only 2 weeks ago; Prior to January 1st this year, the average game had 12.3 penalties that resulted in power plays. Since January 1st, that number is down to 7.4 per game.

What does that say? To me, it reeks of a league that is doing it's best to bring down scoring right before a new Labour deal is ironed out. They are (for whatever reason) trying to lower revenues subtly by pushing both the Leafs and Habs (both small, skill teams) out of the Playoffs, therefore lowering the potential for revenue generation by the CBC by lowering their ratings. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but think about it.This new system that was brought in after the league was out of action for an entire year was supposed to keep salaries low and team costs low as well as generate more parody throughout the league. On the 2nd point, parody, the salary caps system has worked in a great manor but in terms of keeping costs lower, it has been a failure.

 "Now if you were to go to Toronto, we can really mess with this league...BIG TIME!!!"

 

The original cap started at around $40 million per team. After this season, it was already projected to reach into the $69 million range with the floor already over the top end of the original cap limit from 7 years ago. What exactly did the league lose an entire year over, if players are still making such massive amounts of money? And, more to the point, why is the cap going higher and higher each season? The Canadian Dollar.

The rise of the value of the Canadian Dollar has been a boon to both the Canadian Franchises and the NHL as they collect over 40% of their TOTAL revenue from Canada and its Canadian teams. Before this year, that meant that 6 our of 30 teams (or 20% of its franchises) brought in 40% of the leagues revenue. Now with another franchise in Winnipeg, that total is probably going to exceed 45%. What if Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal made the Playoffs this season? Could you imagine the amount of extra revenue that the league would be making (and then have to divide with the players in their new collective bargaining agreement?). Is it any wonder that Gary Bettman's former right hand man is in charge of the Leafs and they, the one team that generates the MOST revenue for the league, are the only team in the cap era not to make the Playoffs? Hmmmmm.

Enough ranting and raving about the ills of the NHL, it's time to focus on spring and with the weather getting so much better lately, the Blue Jays are preparing for what will be their best season in almost a decade. Mark my words, as I write this every other team in the American League is very wary of the team that Alex Anthopolous has put together. They currently are 13-4-1 in the Grapefruit league pre-season but more then that, they just seem to finally have all the pieces in place to be mentioned as a bonafide playoff contender for the first time since 1993.

The Man with the Plan is all the talk of the MLB right now

I know I mentioned it before but along with the 2-time Hank Aaron Award Winner and 2-time defending Home Run King in Jose Bautista, this looks more and more like a really dangerous team from just about every spot in the lineup. Offensively speaking, along with Bautista (who will hit another 50 this season), Brett Lawrie has been every bit of what he was last season and more so far as he is hitting for power, average and production so far as he leads the pre-season with an average of .609, has 3 homers and 9 RBI's along with stealing bases and hitting for doubles and triples (he is probably running too much, hence his slightly strained groin he picked up Friday night.

Edwin Encarnacion is hitting the ball well as are Yunel Escobar, Travis Snider and Eric Thames (both of which are fighting tooth and nail to win the job as the everyday Left Fielder). The biggest difference is in the bullpen where everyone is enthralled with the improvement that the team has made in just that one area. With the additions of Sergio Santos, Francisco Cordero and Darren Oliver, the new bullpen is the envy of many a team in the league. Last year, the Jays led the league in one very dubious category: Blown saves (25). They finished the year with 81 wins. Had they only blown 12 saves last year (the average for the league), they would have finished with 94 wins, 1 more then the Wild Card winning Tampa Bay Rays won last season. Santos saved 35 games for a crappy White Sox team, Cordero had 38 for the Cincinnati Reds and Oliver has been to back to back World Series as a situational lefty for the Texas Rangers over the last 2 seasons. Needless to say, all three are a vast improvement over Jon Rauch, Frankie Francisco and Shawn Camp from last season.

 A strong Spring bodes well for the Jays this year....Do I smell Playoffs?!?!

As I have said before, I can see the Jays making it back to a playoff spot this season. I foresee them winning the first ever 5th Playoff spot and going into a winner take all game which could be all it is or the start of something really special for a Blue Jays franchise that seems to be very slowly rising out of the ashes of the mess they were in for the last 20 years.

I was lucky enough to be a the Toronto FC game 2 weeks ago at SkyDome, where 47,000 fans packed the place to witness a great first half (before the game was basically stolen away by poor officiating in the 2nd half). TFC did the unthinkable this past week when they were able to upset LA in LA, by winning 2-1 and advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League Semi-Final. This means another home game for TFC in this particular tournament and a chance to actually win a trophy of some significance (for once). Unfortunately, this home game (scheduled for March 28th) will be played at BMO instead of Skydome because of the fact that the 'dome is now being prepared for the Blue Jays Home Opener.

 The atmosphere, the crowd....things you will NEVER see at a Leaf game....

I already have bought a pair of tickets to this game (I actually have access to 3 in a row if anyone is interested...Section 114, row 16, seats 22-24....anyone wants them, let me know). This could be a massive party if the team comes out and plays like it has been so far this season. They look like a vastly improved outfit so far and, if they come out as strong next Wednesday as they did in their 2 games against the LA Galaxy, we could very well be seeing them in (GULP!) a Cup Final (now there is something a Toronto Team hasn't been in for quite some time).

With the return of spring weather, we are starting to enter into the Blockbuster movie season as well. Disney tried to force feed us on the dumbest movie name ever with their colossal money losing flop "John Carter". Last I read, it has already surpassed Water World as the biggest flop in movie history. 21 Jump Street is the #1 movie in the nation, proving that you can take a serious crime show from 80's and turn it into a caricature of itself for comedic purposes now.....wait, What?  I get that Jonah Hill is a really good comedic actor and Channing Tatum is considered to be a movie hunk but when this was attempted with bigger names and an even more serious old 70's TV show, it failed miserably (Starsky and Hutch anyone?). I guess there must be something to this movie but count it as a TMN view for me.

Ok Really? This is the #1 Movie right now?

After being convinced to read The Hunger Games (and enjoying it) I can honestly say I am looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out. It looks like they held true to the narrative of the book with their sets and costumes, even the actors that they cast seemed to fit very well into their characters (from what I have seen in the previews so far at least). Either way,  I can definitely see this movie becoming and staying as the top earning movie for quite some time as it has cross over appeal with both young and old as well as men and women. The only other serious contenders for top movie this summer will be The Avengers (which looks like the movie all the fans had hoped it would be since it was first announced 5 years ago) and The Dark Knight Rises (which could very well be the best Batman movie ever.

 If you havent read the book yet, you really should....

 I, along with many others, have been patiently waiting for this movie....lets hope it doesn't suck

 Like all other Christopher Nolan movies in the last 10 years, this one looks amazing

Another movie that should make some noise this summer looks to be Battleship. I know I know......how can a movie based on a board game we all played as kids be any good. Well, go watch the trailer and then you will see that maybe, just maybe there is a story there that will make it more then people think. I've seen the trailer for it and it looks a lot better of a movie then what I thought they could make of it when I first heard that they were seriously going to try to make one about a kids board game. I think my exact reaction was that the next movie they should try to make should be a rip off of Monopoly but they already did that when they made Wall Street. Either way, Battleship looks like it may be worth a shot.

 For some reason, the trailer really intrigues me for this movie

One other movie I wanted to mention, which really caught my attention, is Snow White and the Huntsman. Staring Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Kristen Stewart as Snow White (kind of fitting since she is so dammed pale and always in Vampire movies!), this movie seems to be a different take on the old fairy tale but with a much more sinister streak than any previous movie about the fairy tale. Take a look and you will see that this movie has the making of being something really special.

 This could be a massive hit movie, in spite of Kristin Stewart and her inability to act....

I hope I have entertained today with my words and I leave you with one last thought. With regards to the whole Toronto Subway/LRT fight still raging on. The Prime Minister has sided with the Mayor and his steadfast belief in subway extensions over Light Rail Transit and he pointed to one LRT already in the city, which has been a massive failure: The St. Clair LRT. Dedicated lines all along St. Clair have taken nearly 7 years to build, caused massive gridlock to be created and forced many shop owners along St. Clair to go out of business since they no longer have any parking spaces in front of their shops. 

This has also resulted in a huge lawsuit being filed by all of the shop owners who went out of business against the City of Toronto as they allege that they were lied to by the city when it came to time frame and traffic issues that would be caused by this construction. The St. Clair LRT has been a bust and gone so incredibly over budget that it has proven to be huge waste of public funds.

Think about that the next time you think that the LRT is a better idea then subway extensions.

Look for a new blog in 2 days time on Dexter Season 7, Spartacus:Vengeance, Californication and my fight to lower my Cholesterol....

Until Next Time....