SB Nation - Andre Deveaux

At The Ricoh: Toronto Marlies 3 v. Hamilton Bulldogs 2 (SO)

PPP — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:00:25 -0000

Maybe I should have sent a photographer too...

After a trip across the Atlantic to Scotland to play the Hamilton Bulldogs the Toronto Marlies kicked off their season on Sunday (yay timely recaps!) and did so in conjunction with an outreach initiative aimed at local minority groups:

Burke was joined by Marlies coach Dallas Eakins and several players, as well as Parminder Singh – the Punjabi voice behind CBC's hockey coverage – to help the Leafs deliver their message.

The group – which also featured Leaf rookie Viktor Stalberg, and the Marlies' Andre Deveaux and Joey MacDonald – participated in a question and answer forum after the Marlies win.

Fans were also shown the basic points and rules of the game – something aimed at newcomers who might not be familiar with hockey.

- Toronto Star

They also extended a welcome to local hockey bloggers. Luckily, I met both criteria. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it but I sent two envoys in my stead, making sure that they were both minorities - Greek and Belarussian - to keep with the theme of the day. Obviously, the latter doesn't count as new to hockey but if you saw him play you wouldn't believe that he's played before. Anyway, this is the first Marlies recap and hopefully I'll be able to get out to a few more games so that I can keep a close eye on the farm.

This also marks a first because it's literally the first time that someone I went to school with has written a post for this website. Only took three years. So a recap of the game is after the jump:

A special thanks to my my Greek friend who sent in the following:

Marlies look youthful and gritty in a classic rivalry matchup
3 Marlies - 2 Bulldogs (SO)

If you enjoy good old gritty hockey you would have enjoyed the game against Hamilton this past weekend. And any true blue Leafs fan would be highly advised to travel down to the Ricoh Coliseum to check out the talent of the future. The Marlies earned their first at home win of the season with a come from behind victory over Hamilton in the shootout.

The first was the by far the best period. Brennan Evans made a dazzling goal line save to stop what seem to be the first Hamilton goal. J.T. Wyman put the first goal of the game in for Hamilton but Toronto quickly answered back with a nice goal from Kyle Rogers, and assisted by Alex Berry, and Darryl Boyce. Boyce is one player to watch on the Marlies because of his ability to apply pressure both offensively and defensively.

Hey! This is almost clear

The first was also graced with two fights, or maybe one great fight and a dance between Toronto's Ben Ondrus and Hamilton's Glumac. The great fight was between Richard Greenop and Neilson which as you can see was a good tilt.

The two went at it for a good 2 and a half minutes, both landing solid shots, which ended with a friendly pat on the head and both players still standing . Greenop looks like he could be a great enforcer for the Marlies this season and should keep the fans fired up with his efforts.

Brock Trotter put the Bulldogs ahead in the late in second but it was a mostly uneventful period.

The third was a spirited battle between the two rivals with good hits and opportunities. Ondrus, making up for a pitiful fight in the first, put a goal past Curtis Stanford to tie the game in the twelfth minute.

The game ended in a fan pleasing shootout. Toronto's MacDonald looked good compared to Hamilton's Stanford who lost the shootout Marlies 3 - Bulldogs 2. Jiri Tlusty, Tyler Bozak, and Alex Foster scored for the Marlies in the shootout.

Some players to watch in the upcoming games:

Carl Gunnarsson: Looked a bit shaky and you can see why the leafs sent him to develop at an professional level. Despite the rough start on the farm he will develop in to a classy offensive defensemen once he finds his hands at the pro level.

Christian Hanson: Was by far the best player on the ice. He is a classic example of the saying ‘men playing with boys'. He hit harder, skated quicker and didn't back down from any player. Marlies Fans don't get use to seeing Hanson in the coliseum because he matches Burkie's gritty player mold and should be called up to the leafs.

B's set to take on Leafs in preseason tilt

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:59:17 -0000

More photos » by Chris Young - AP

Browse more photos »

The Bruins are in Toronto tonight to take on the Maple Leafs (7:00, NHL Network). Most of the players that sat out last night's game will play tonight, plus Blake Wheeler, Matt Hunwick, Adam McQuaid, Vladimir Sobotka, Byron Bitz, Brad Marchand, Jamie Arniel and Tuukka Rask will also dress. Steve Begin, Patrice Bergeron, Drew Larmen, Andy Wozniewski, Mark Stuart, Dennis Wideman, Shawn Thornton, Derek Morris, Michael Ryder, Jeff LoVecchio, Guillaume Lefebvre, and Dany Sabourin round out tonight's lineup. Sabourin will get the nod in the Boston cage tonight.

Vesa Toskala and former Bruin Joey MacDonald will split time in goal for the Leafs tonight. The Leafs are dressing 1st round draft pick Nazem Kadri and offseason addition Garret Exelby. Expect to see a few dust-ups tonight, as the Leafs have decided to dress tough guys Colton Orr, Andre Deveaux, Phil Oreskovic, and Jay Rosehill. Christian Hanson (son of Slap Shot's Dave Hanson) and former Bruin Jason Allison are also expected to dress tonight for the Leafs.

Every ticket to tonight's game was given away for free by the Maple Leafs and Coca-Cola (there's a promotion you will never see in Boston). The game will air on NHL Network tonight at 7:00. I figured since we can actually watch this game on TV, we would do an open thread. Feel free to stop by here for the Public Skate (open thread) starting an hour before puck drop. For more on the Leafs, check out Pension Plan Puppets.

Toronto Maple Leafs Announce 2009 Training Camp Roster (2X Updated)

PPP — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:23:05 -0000

Update September 21 10:11PM - Ice Chips has notes on the Leafs' latest cuts and it looks like Blacker is back in Windsor.

Update: I've updated the training camp roster after Burke's first round of cuts. You can find the full list of cuts here.

Thanks to Jared for posting a FanShot with news that the Toronto Maple Leafs have released their 2009 training camp roster. Here's the complete list and I'll update it as cuts are made.

Forwards		Defence		Goaltenders
Jason Allison	~~Dale Mitchell~~	Francois Beauchemin	~~Juraj Mikus~~	~~Andrew Engelage~~
~~Alex Berry~~	John Mitchell	~~Jesse Blacker~~	~~Phil Oreskovic~~	Beau Erickson
Jason Blake	~~Ben Ondrus~~	~~Josh Engel~~	~~Todd Perry~~	Jonas Gustavsson
~~Darryl Boyce~~	Colton Orr	Garnet Exelby	Andy Rogers	Joey MacDonald
Tyler Bozak	Alexei Ponikarovsky	Jeff Finger	~~Joe Ryan~~	~~James Reimer~~
Tim Brent	Wayne Primeau	Jonas Frogren	Luke Schenn	Vesa Toskala
~~Joel Champagne~~	~~Kyle Rogers~~	Carl Gunnarson	Barron Smith
Jamie Devane	Jay Rosehill	Tomas Kaberle	~~Juha Uotila~~
~~Andre Deveaux~~	Gr~~eg Scott~~	Mike Komisarek	Mike Van Ryn
~~Alex Foster~~	~~Robert Slaney~~	~~Brandon Manning~~	Ian White
~~Stefano Giliati~~	Viktor Stalberg
Mikhail Grabovski	Matt Stajan
~~Richard Greenop~~	~~Mikhail Stefanovich~~
Niklas Hagman	Lee Stempniak
~~Ryan Hamilton~~	Jiri Tlusty
Christian Hanson	Rickard Wallin
Nazem Kadri	John Kurtz
Nikolai Kulemin	Jamal Mayers

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Robert L — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:41 -0000

This is a listing of NHL teams by order of remaining cap space as of July 4. The Islanders top the list with approximately $23M left to spend. The Sharks have just under $2M remaining. The list is helpful in determining which team are closest to filling out their 2009-10 lineup. As one can see, there is much work to be done at both ends of the spectrum. The numbers figures are based on totals given by NHL Numbers.com.

1 - New York Islanders: $23.265 (18)

UFA: Andy Hilbert C 28, Dean McAmmond C 36, Mike Sillinger C 38, Thomas Pock D 27, Yann Danis G 28, Joey MacDonald G 29.

RFA: Nate Thompson C 24, Jeremy Colliton C 24, Jamie Fraser D 23, Jack Hillen D 23.

2 - Phoenix Coyotes: $21.972 (18)

UFA: Brian McGrattan R 27, Dmitri Kalinin D 29, Ken Klee D 38.

RFA: Nigel Dawes L 24, Joakim Lindstrom C 25, Enver Lisin R 23, Scottie Upshall R 25, Daniel Winnik C 24, Keith Yandle D 22.

3 - Atlanta Thrashers: $19.599 (15)

RFA: Eric Perrin C 33.

UFA: Kari Lehtonen G 25, Colby Armstrong R 26, Jim Slater C 26, Boris Valabik D 23.

4 - Nashville Predators: $17.913 (16)

UFA: Radek Bonk C 33, Scott Nichol C 34, Greg de Vries D 36.

RFA: Ryan Jones R 25, Antti Pihlstrom L 24,.

5 - New York Rangers: $16.436 (13)

UFA: Blair Betts C 29, Mark Bell L 28, Patrick Rissmiller C 30, Paul Mara D 29, Derek Morris D 30.

RFA: Christopher Higgins R 26, Ryan Callahan R 24, Brandon Dubinsky C 23, Lauri Korpikoski L 22, Nikolai Zherdev L 24, Corey Potter D 25.

6 - Anaheim Ducks: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Rob Niedermayer F 34, Todd Marchant C 33, Francois Beauchemin D 29, Bret Hedican D 38.

RFA: James Wisniewski D 25.

7 - Tampa Bay Lightning: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Matt Pettinger L 28, Wade Brookbank L 31, Jason Ward R 30, Marek Malik D 34, Josef Melichar D 30, Cory Murphy D 31, Noah Welch D 26.

RFA: Martins Karsums R 23, Radek Smolenak L 22, Matt Lashoff D 22, Matt Smaby D 24, Mike Lundin D 24, Karri Ramo G 22, Mike McKenna G 26.

8 - Columbus Blue Jackets: $13.313 (20)

UFA: Chris Gratton C 33, Manny Malhotra C 29, Michael Peca C 35, Jason Williams C 28, Christian Backman D 29.

RFA: Jiri Novotny C 25, Marc Methot D 24, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen D 25.

9 - Dallas Stars: $13.193 (19)

UFA: Sergei Zubov D 38, Brendan Morrison C 33, Joel Lundqvist C 27, Mark Parrish R 32, Landon Wilson R 34, Tobias Stephan G 25, Darryl Sydor D 37.

RFA: Mark Fistric D 23.

10 - St. Louis Blues: $12.295 (22)

UFA: Trent Whitfield C 32, Dan Hinote R 32, Jay McKee D 31, Manny Legace G 36.

RFA: Brandon Crombeen R 23, Chris Porter C 25, Steve Regier L 24, Roman Polak D 23, Jeff Woywitka D 25, Marek Schwarz G 23.

11 - New Jersey Devils: $12.129

UFA: Brendan Shanahan L 40, Kevin Weekes G 34, Niclas Havelid D NJ.

RFA: Travis Zajac C 24.

12 - Toronto Maple Leafs: $12.022 (20)

UFA: Brad May L 37, Bates Battaglia L 33, Andre Deveaux C 25, Boyd Devereaux C 31, Jeff Hamilton C 31, Kris Newbury C 27, Ben Ondrus R 27, Jay Harrison D 26, Jamie Heward D 38, Martin Gerber G 34, Olaf Kolzig G 39, Curtis Joseph G 42.

RFA: Jeremy Williams R 25, Justin Pogge G 23, Jaime Sifers D 26, Ryan Hollweg C 26.

13 - Chicago Blackhawks: $11.797

UFA: Aaron Johnson D 26.

RFA: Cam Barker D 23, Troy Brouwer R 23, Ben Eager L 25, Colin Fraser C 24, Kris Versteeg R 23.

14 - Colorado Avalanche: $11.654 (15)

UFA: Joe Sakic F 39, Ben Guite R 30, Brian Willsie R 31, Andrew Raycroft G 29.

RFA: Kyle Cumiskey D 22, David Jones R 24, Cody McCormick C 26.

15 - Montreal Canadiens: $10.454 (16)

UFA: Alexei Kovalev F 36, Saku Koivu C 34, Alex Tanguay L 29, Robert Lang C 38, Mathieu Schneider D 40, Tom Kostopoulos R 30, Mathieu Dandenault D 33, Patrice Brisebois D 38, Francis Bouillon D 33, Marc Denis G 31.

RFA: Tomas Plekanec C 26, Matt D'Agostini R 22, Guillaume Latendresse R 22, Kyle Chipchura C 23, Gregory Stewart L 23.

16 - Los Angeles Kings: $10.285 (21)

UFA: Derek Armstrong F 36, Denis Gauthier D 32, Kyle Calder L 30.

RFA: Jack Johnson D 22, Teddy Purcell R 23.

17 - Washington Capitals: $9.720 (15)

UFA: Viktor Kozlov C 34, Alexandre Giroux C 28, Bryan Helmer D 26, Brent Johnson G 32.

RFA: Jeff Schultz D 23, Shaone Morrisonn D 26, Milan Jurcina D 26, Eric Fehr R 23, Boyd Gordon R 25.

18 - Buffalo Sabres: $8.976 (16)

UFA: Matt Ellis L 24, Dominic Moore C 28, Andrew Peters L 29, Teppo Numminen D 40, Maxim Afinogeno F 29,

RFA: Andrej Sekera D 23, Drew Stafford R 23, Clarke MacArthur L 24, Patrick Kaleta R 23.

19 - Florida Panthers: $8.405 (18)

UFA: Ville Peltonen L 36, Richard Zednik L 33, Jassen Cullimore D 36, Nick Boynton D 30.

RFA: Anthony Stewart C 24, Steve Eminger D 25, Tanner Glass L 25.

20 - Carolina Hurricanes: $8.083 (18)

UFA: Ryan Bayda L 28, Dennis Seidenberg D 27.

RFA: Tuomo Ruutu C 26, Anton Babchuk D 25.

21 - Vancouver Canucks: $7.282 (18)

UFA: Mats Sundin C 38, Jason Krog C 33, Rob Davison D 29, Ossi Vaananen D 28, Curtis Sanford G 29, Michel Ouellet R 27.

RFA: Shane O' Brien D 25. Kyle Wellwood C 26, Jannik Hansen R 23.

22 - Minnesota Wild: $6.296 (20)

UFA: Stephane Veilleux L 27, Krys Kolanos C 27, Marc-Andre Bergeron D 28, Kurtis Foster D 27, Martin Skoula D 29.

RFA: Dan Fritsche C 23, Benoit Pouliot L 22, Kyle Brodziak C 25, Josh Harding G 25.

23 - Edmonton Oilers: $6.404 (20)

UFA: Ales Kotalik R 30, Dany Sabourin G 28.

RFA: Liam Reddox L 23, Gilbert Brule C 22, Ryan Potulny C 24, Rob Schremp C 22, Denis Grebeshkov D 25, Ladislav Smid D 23.

24 - Detroit Red Wings: $5.554 (16)

UFA: Darren McCarty R 37, Aaron Downey R 34, Chris Chelios D 47.

RFA: Jiri Hudler C 25, Ville Leino L 25.

25 - Boston Bruins: $5.340 (18)

UFA: Stephane Yelle F 35, P.J. Axelsson L 34, Manny Fernandez G 34.

RFA: Phil Kessel F 21, Matt Hunwick D 24.

26 - Ottawa Senators: $4.649 (22)

UFA: Mike Comrie C 28.

RFA: Brendan Bell D 26, Brian Elliott G 24.

27 - Pittsburgh Penguins: $3.137 (19)

UFA: Mike Zigomanis C 28, James Connor L 26, Miroslav Satan L 34, Petr Sykora R 32, Janne Pesonen L 27, Philippe Boucher D 36.

RFA: Paul Bissonnette R 24, Tim Wallace R 24, Ben Lovejoy D 25, John Curry G 25.

28 - Calgary Flames: $3.053 (19)

UFA: Todd Bertuzzi R 34, Andre Roy R 34, Rhett Warrener D 33.

RFA: Dustin Boyd C 22.

29 - Philadelphia Flyers: $2.125 (20)

UFA: Josh Gratton L 26, Boyd Kane L 31, Andrew Alberts D 28, Lasse Kukkonen D 27, Martin Biron G 31, Antero Niittymaki G 29.

RFA: Jared Ross C 26, Danny Syvret D 24.

30 - San Jose Sharks: $1.774 (16)

UFA: Claude Lemieux R 43, Jeremy Roenick C 39, Tom Cavanagh R 27, Alexei Semenov D 28, Mike Grier R 34, Marcel Goc C 25, Tomas Plihal L 26, Lukas Kaspar L 23.

RFA: Torrey Mitchell C 24, Thomas Greiss G 23, Brad Staubitz R 24.

2009 NHL Free Agency: What The Toronto Maple Leafs Might Do

PPP — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:45:08 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

Mike Cammalleri turns his back on the Flames for the last time. Will he walk all of the way to Toronto?

Browse more photos »

Someday I'll have to shake the hand of the guy that decided that it made sense to schedule the draft three days before the start of free agency. It's not like this day is so important that it's a national holiday in Canada. As a conversation starter because I still have a tonne of draft stuff to come I have a short cheat sheet to help us with a starting point.

Pending UFAs: Martin Gerber, Brad May, Bates Battaglia, Andre Deveaux, Boyd Devereaux, Jeff Hamilton, Kris Newbury, Ben Ondrus, Jay Harrison, Erik Reitz, Jamie Heward, Curtis Joseph, Olaf Kolzig, Jaime Sifers (Thanks Mirtle!)

Calling this a list of notable free agents would have been insulting to players like Eric Christensen. From that list I could see Boyd "SchennBlocker" Devereaux, Brad May, and one of Kris Newbury or Ben Ondrus getting re-signed. The first two would be great veteran influences on the younger players and the latter two could fill up roster space while kids learn on the farm.

Pending RFAs: Mikhail Grabovski, ~~Jaime Sifers~~ ~~(NHL Numbers has him as an RFA and Hockey Buzz as a UFA. I am looking into this)~~, Phil Oreskovic, Tim Stapleton, Jeremy Williams, Ryan Hollweg

Justin Poggegot qualified today so he's not on this list. I am actually pretty surprised that guys like Sifers and Oreskovic have not been qualified. Hollweg is gone and we'll never know what that fifth rounder could have brought. Other than knowing it wasn't going to be a European. Williams seems to not be a Wilson favourite, he's not good enough to play on the top two lines when the team is good again and he's past the stage where he should have established himself. We'll always have the 82 goals/season projections!

Based on my inability to find any news thus far I don't think any of the other guys have been qualified. Grabovski is likely going to arbitration which I think will mark the end of his time in Toronto. I get the sense that Burke will move him if he goes that route.

Salary cap space (courtesy NHL Numbers): $13-million

Now, if you look at NHL Numbers the Leafs have some ridiculous cap relief coming online after next season. They only have $18M committed. On the flip side, they only have five guys signed but one of them is Luke Schenn so I think that means that only need to sign a goalie. Either way, there are a couple of ways that Burke can approach this free agency period.

Scenario One

He can fill out the roster with the myriad of RFAs that are getting axed left and right or the lower end of the free agency pool. Burke would then keep any of the kids that cannot play in their proper role on the team with the Marlies. This would be akin to the Red Wings' policy of developing kids in Grand Rapids but with our NHL team stocked with scrubs and waiver-tied prospects instead of Hall of Famers. This one is tough because the idea would be to have UFAs on one year deals so that the cap space is still available next year.

Scenario Two

This is the one Burke has said that he wants to pursue but he also wanted to trade for more first rounders at the deadline and for Tavares and Schenn at the draft. So far he's 0-for-2 (and I'll have a post about why that's not entirely his fault) so even then there's no guarantee that this will work. This strategy can work long-term if he makes the right decisions. Mike Komisarek at $4m-$5M is a bad move. The Sedins at $5.25M is a great move. We'll see how much he has to overpay to get players to come to Toronto.

Projected budget: $56.8-million less $1. Whether he spends to it will be a function of the UFAs' receptiveness to his deal.

Key needs: Everything is the short answer. The longer one is that the Leafs' most pressing need is their goaltending situation. James Reimer and Justin Pogge will hold down the fort with the Marlies but Vesa Toskala is coming off of three major surgeries. If Burke really thinks that this team can make the playoffs he needs a competent backup.

In terms of defence, the Leafs have two years of Kaberle, one of Kubina and Van Ryn, and then 20 of Luke Schenn. After that, they'll need to look at how to replace Kubina and Kaberle. If they can do it this summer then they can cash in those assets. If all of the king's men and all of the king's horses put Van Ryn together again properly over the weekend even he might get something for the Leafs. Or he could be part of the team going forward. Burke, however, is really loathe to let Kaberle go. I am hoping that by the deadline Burke gets his doors blown off by a deal.

Looking at the forwards, there is obviously a dearth of skill forwards that are NHL-calibre. There are guys that have the potential to fill that role at some point but no one is a sure bet. I hear that there are a couple of interesting ginger twins available...

Potential targets: It might be easier to list who isn't a target. Take one part cap space, add a dollop (actually, more like a cup) of Burkian hubris, a pound of media speculation, mix well, and you get every big-ticket player being linked to the Leafs. Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin are getting their retirement plan from the Leafs. Francois Beauchemin, Travis Meon, and Samuel Pahlssonare being re-united with their former GM. Jonas Gustavsson is coming over to be the next Henrink Lundqvist while Mike Cammalleri is going to live up to the expectations that come with a 40% raise. I look forward to watching him score 60 goals a year for five years.

As I noted above, there are two scenarios and it sure looks like Burke is going through door number two. I think that the Sedins are going to be his main target. I've heard The Monster is ready to be unveiled July 1 and I would imagine that Burke looks at Beauchemin. The rumours of Komisarek and Chris Neil sicken me so I will pretend that I've never heard of them.

What our rivals want:

Colorado Avalanche: A real starting goalie and defence that can keep the puck out of the net. Also, a new medical staff to keep their players in one piece.
LA Kings: A sniper to play with their young forwards and a defensive defenceman.
Atlanta Thrashers: Defence and goaltending. The only year they made the playoffs was the one year that they weren't in the bottom 4 or 5 of the league in goals against.
NY Islanders: I'll tell you what they don't need: a franchise scorer (sigh). Other than that, they could use a goalie on a 15 year contract that actually plays hockey, and defencemen.
Phoenix Coyotes: A new owner. Zing! Actually, as Godd Till noted in a private e-mail, they need to get a new coach in order to escape from the mad clutches of the Friends of Gretzky. Did you know that the best man from his wedding, Eddie Mio, is the Director of Player Development and his brother Keith is the Head Scout. Failing that they could use some veteran leadership since the average age of that team is about 12.

SBN has once again put together a massive hub to coordinate the writing from 30ish blogs. You can find it by clicking on this button.

a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/freeagency">

Scouting the Enemy: Toronto Maple Leafs

FrankD — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:00:09 -0000

Record: 18-23-8

Leading scorers: Nik Antropov (14G, 22A), Jason Blake (16G, 19A)

Blogs: Pension Plan Puppets | Maple Leaf Hot Stove

December 20. Remember that date? Yeah me either. That wasn't the day the Maple Leafs beat the Pens 7-3. That wasn't the day Ruslan Fedotenko went after Andre Deveaux after he backed down from an Eric Godard challenge. December 20? That date isn't even on my calendar.

But I do recall one other date. Yes, it's all very clear to me. October 18, Pens win 4-1 and Sid scores his 100th goal.

Mark my words - Sid will score his 200th tonight.

Yup.

All right, let's get serious. There's a good chance we will see Mathieu Garon in net tonight. Is this good, is this bad? Who knows. But chances are the Pens will start their new backup since 1) This is the second game in a back-to-back run and 2) It's not a division game. Of course that doesn't mean Michel Therrien hasn't surprised us before, but something tells me this is Garon's Pittsburgh debut.

Andre Deveau. If Matt Cooke were in the lineup this would be his sort of matchup. Unfortunately he's still suspended. Godard may be well out of his weight class, but perhaps God will try to pick a fight anyways. He tried last time. If the fight against Colton Orr during the Rangers game from earlier this week proves anything, it's that Godard never forgets. Deveau backed down from a few challenges last time. This could get interesting.

Tales of the Tape: Toronto Maple Leaves 12-20-08, Ruslan Fedotenko vs. Andre Deveaux

JDunman — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:05:09 -0000

The Maple Leafs game was not pretty, that's for sure. If you're looking for any kind of closure, this fight is not the place to find it...but let's take a look anyway.

When Fedotenko instigated the fight, Deveaux seemed actually surprised, as Fedotenko had already cracked him in the face twice before he got to it. Of, course, from there it wasn't pretty, as Deveaux got some wicked shots off on his opponent. Fedotenko actually got back in it a bit before Deveaux resumed his beating and took Fedotenko down to the ice. I'm notching it as a loss for Fedotenko.

Of course, you may notice that Fedotenko's not a player you see dropping the gloves very often. This is actually his fourth NHL fight, and the first since October 13, 2001. For his first fight in seven years, Fedotenko didn't too that bad, especially against a guy who has had, going into this one, 9 fights this year alone (3 in the NHL, 6 in the AHL) and 49 since Fedotenko's last one. Got to give it to Ruslan for courage.

Poll

Who won the fight?

Ruslan Fedotenko

7 votes

Andre Deveaux

9 votes

Draw

9 votes

25 votes | Poll has closed

NNN: Coattailers Have No Guts

PPP — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:00:08 -0000

It's the 14th time in 21 regular-season games the Senators have been held to two goals or less. It's no coincidence the club has a 3-11 record in those games.

Bruce Garrioch, Ottawa Sun

Hey, remember a few years ago when Leafs fans would tell sens fans that their team's terrible record in one goal games meant that they had no heart or clutch players. Remember how we were right? Well, senators fans, do you know what that stat means? You still have no secondary scoring and the top line is playing hide-and-seek in November rather than waiting for April and early May. That's bad.

The Leafs deserve credit. What they lack in talent, they make up for in hard work and when they did give up chances, Toskala stood tall.

The senators deserve credit. What they lack in talent, they sometimes make up for in hard work and when they did give up chances last night, Auld stood tall which is frustrating because he normally stinks.

Burke and Wilson, good pals and former hockey teammates at Providence College, colourful USA Hockey cowboys running the most famous hockey organization in English Canada. Just picture these two media hounds tossing gasoline on the embers of a once-great rivalry like Ottawa and Toronto.

The possibilities are enormous.

Wayne Scanlan, Ottawa Citizen

What a surprise. People in Ottawa are hoping to ride the Leafs' rebuild back to relevance. Dear Ottawa, no one cares about you.

It was a moment to sum up much of the Senators' first weeks of the season. In the second period, Heatley took a pass from Spezza and ripped a one-timer at Vesa Toskala. When he saw the Leafs goaltender make the save, Heatley swung his stick at the boards in frustration, a full two-hander, then finished off the stick at the bench.

That was the biggest hissy fit since the last time Naomi Campbell went through airport security. Normally when Heatley is splitting something in half the price tag is in six figures.

Holy crap that sucked. Holy crap that was sweet. Live blogging is hard. Brian Burke is now officially second guessing himself. And who's the bag of dicks who told Toskala he's a real goalie?!?!

Senators Lost Cojones, Five For Smiting

It should have been a mostly sucky game for the sens as they struggled to beat a team that is in complete teardown mode while they are supposedly retooling for a run at the Cup. Unless that run is going to end at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto they might as well put away the jogging shorts.

The Sens have found success since they started growing mustaches.

The Senate Committee

The only success that the senators have found is in most resembling pedophiles. If Nick Foligno had to go to a community event with the glued on pubes that he calls a moustache someone would call the police. My fake Wendel moustache looked better than Chris Kelly's Rosie O'Donnell-like upper lip shadow.

No eruptions last night, but there were quakes of things to come. Ruutu decided that 6’4 Andre Deveaux, a brute recalled from the AHL to make his NHL debut last night, needed to be properly welcomed, tugging at him while sitting on the bench when Deveaux skated by, and pestering him on the ice, though he did not drop the gloves when Deveaux beckoned him.

SENShobo

It's tough for any eruptions to happen when the sens only fighters were a kid from the AHL that apparently was unaware of his duties and a player so detestable and spineless that even Sean Avery thinks that he's a huge douchebag. Dear Jarkko, if you are going to yap and stick your ugly mug in the face of the Leafs' fighters please have the testicular fortitue to drop the gloves and man up or admit that you are scared. Either way, shut your fucking trap before it gets wired shut.

The glove dropping was left to Dominic Moore, who took exception to Smith’s high hands on a hit behind the Leafs’ net, though Smith could have destroyed Moore with what ended up as little more than a nuisance hit. Smith, never one to back down, followed Moore in dropping his gloves, but only let him attempt a few jabs before hulking him to the ice to have a chat with the youngster.

Good on Moore for not taking any shit from Jason Smith. Also, good on Jason Smith for not killing Moore. That's leftover class from his time in Toronto and Edmonton because it's not rubbing off on him by being a senator.

Preview: Battle of Ontario Round 2

PPP — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:15:06 -0000

Pre-Game: 7:00 p.m., Leafs TV
Broadcast: 7:30 p.m., Sportsnet, Leafs TV Interactive, AM640
Post-Game: 10:00 p.m. Leafs TV
Post Video: mapleleafs.com

Mmmmmm, Feisty!

Previous Meetings

Final - 10.25.2008	1	2	3	Total
Ottawa Senators	0	1	1	2
Toronto Maple Leafs	1	1	1	3

Complete Coverage >

Did you know?

"I have to play smart, I have to take care of my own end first," said Deveaux, who was a teammate in junior with centre Matt Stajan with the Belleville Bulls in the Ontario Hockey League.

Oh Godd no! Another Belleville Bull! Don't forget to choose another number rook.

REMEMBER YOUR SPG PICKS

I hope that the sens wear their new jerseys tonight!

So, how many is that now, Roy? Eight? Nine? I'm pretty sure it's nine. We've been in the League for 16 years, and we've had nine different jerseys. Look, I understand how you want to milk us for everything we have...after all, "fan" is short for "fanatic" and those skull waxes ain't going to pay for themselves. But could you at least pretend you're putting a little effort into it? Your latest bit of marketing "genius", following hard on the footsteps of our friend Spartacus and (blech) "A Force United!" looks like it was cobbled together by very enthusiastic yet slightly delayed preschoolers.

Poor Eugene. Lost his company, under investigation, and trying to revive the team with new jerseys.

James Gordon, of the actually quite good newspaper blog Hockey Capital in the Ottawa Citizen, picks up on one of the more obscure potential digs about the new jersey...err uniform system:

Say you're a Florida Panthers fan who got some free tickets to a game for being alive. You might go to the game, see "Sens," and wonder: "What exactly is a Sen?" You might even go home and Google "definition of Sen." If you did that, you would get sites that provide definitions like:

- "The term 'Special Educational Needs', or SEN, has a legal definition." - BBC

That is both hilarious and quite fitting. Not to belittle those that work with those with special needs but maybe an educational campaign aimed at rectifying the defect that is senators fandom could be launched to help those poor unfortunate sould. Things in ottawa are so bad that even "national affairs" writers can pick the club apart:

You could look long and hard but you will not find a more frank or critical piece written on the Ottawa Senators and their recent history than the sledgehammer that Jeffrey Simpson brought down today in the Globe and Mail.

Perhaps it takes the perspective of the outsider which might be the reason that no local beat writer has taken on the task of penning such a thought out and all-encompassing take on the Senators precipitous drop of the last two seasons.

Jeremy Milks tries valiantly to respond to the criticism in a balanced way (he succeeds while Graeme Nichols flails about like a scorned woman) but the conclusion is a painful one:

There are worse places to be.

Like Tampa.

At least the Senators don't have their nickname on the front of their...errr.. nevermind.

Painful for them of course, not for us. While we still can, let's take a look at something else that must be painful for senators fans:

Northeast Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Boston	22	14	4	4	32
Montreal	21	12	5	4	28
Buffalo	21	10	8	3	23
Toronto	21	7	9	5	19
Ottawa	20	7	9	4	18

(updated 11.27.2008 at 8:01 AM EST)

SENShobo has a comprehensive preview for the game tonight and brings up a hopeful thought:

If there was a night for a smoldering rivalry to burst into flames again, it’s hard to imagine a better one than at home against the Leafs.

Just please, Andre, Leafs, don’t look to make an impression on Leafs fans, part II, with White’s and Fletcher’s advice on how you should play.

In case you were wondering how best to make a great first impression Andre:

If you are a quick typer, tonight Scarlett Ice will be hosting a Battle of Ontario liveblog using Cover It Live. I'll be by in the intermissions (here too of course) to rub salt in the sens fans' wounds as the Leafs open the gap over their provincial rivals.