Mike Komisarek

The man gets nothing but hate from every corner of Leafs Nation and pretty much every fan base who likes to rag on Leafs Nation.

But how bad is he? Here we have an exploration in comparison.

Post jump, I will compare the blonde bomber to other, similar stay-at-home defensemen.

Let's get it on!

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Round yon'd interwebs there is much dissent among Leaf fans. Not so much here at PPP, but other Leaf and/or hockey centric  webbed scopes.  The case of our long haired pineapple stabber seems to run hot and cold. Some love him, many hate him. I seem to find many call him over paid with a boat anchor of a contract. This got me wondering. Just what does 2.9 Million a year get you?

Rules of engagement. Forwards who, last season made within 500k of Grabbo who arn't on ELCs.

This is strictly a PPG comparison, as evaluating all the "intangibles" would take about a zillion pages.

Let's get it on: 

Mikhail Grabovski – 2.9$ 59G 35Pts 0.59PPG

Todd White – 2.375$ 65G 26Pts .40PPG

Marco Sturm - 3.5$ 76G 37PTS .48PPG

Blake Wheeler - 2.85$ 82G 38PTS .46PPG

Ales Kotalik - 3$ 71G 27PTS .38PPG

Nik Hagman - 3$ 82G 44PTS .53PPG

Erik Cole - 2.9$ 40G 16PTS .40PPG

Sergei Samsonov - 2.53$ 72G 29PTS .40PPG

Kris Versteeg - 3$ 79G 44PTS .55PPG

Dustin Byfuglien - 3$ 82G 34PTS .41PPG

Dave Bolland - 3.375$ 39G 16PTS .41PPG

Milan Hejduk – 3$ 56 G44PTS .78PPG

Samuel Pahlsson - 2.65$ 79G 16PTS .20PPG

Chris Clark - 2.63$ 74G 20PTS .27PPG

Valtteri Filppula – 3$ 55G 35PTS .63PPG

Dan Cleary - 2.8$ 64G 34PTS .53PPG

Patrick O’Sullivan - 2.9$ 73G 34PTS  .46PPG

Rostislav Olesz - 3.1$ 78 29PTS .37PPG

Stephen Weiss - 3.1 80G 60PTS .75PPG

Justin Williams - 3.175$ 49G 29PTS .59PPG

Dustin Brown - 3.1$ 82G 56PTS .59PPG

Mikko Koivu - 3.25$ 80G71PTS .88PPG

Andrei Kostitsyn - 3.25$ 59G 33PTS .56PPG

Zach Parise - 3.1$ 81G 82PTS 1.01PPG

Dainius Zubrus - 3.4$ 51G 27PTS .53PPG

Jamie Langenbrunner - 2.8$ 81G 61PTS .75PPG

Jay Pandolfo - 2.5$ 51G 9 PTS .17PPG

Jonathan Cheechoo - 3$.0 61G 14PTS .23PPG

Radim Vrbata – 3$ 62G 43PTS .69PPG

David Backes – 2.5$ 79G 48PTS .61PPG

Mikael Samuelsson – 2.5$ 74G 53PTS .72PPG

Mike Knuble - 2.8$ 69 G53PTS .77PPG

So at the one end you have players that are ridiculously good value in Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu and then you have the Jay Pandolfos and the Chris Clarks.

Only 10 out of the 32 forwards within 500k of Grabbo had a higher PPG rate than him, two had identical PPGs (WIlliams and Brown) and 20 were lower.

Discuss. 

5 - The Zamboni

Does any other sport have a purpose built vehicle to do its bidding? Not any I can think of. The Zamboni is a wonderful, hypnotizing and classic piece of the game of hockey. Ever time I go to a rink I am always transfixed when the Zamboni does its thing, I have been since I was knee high to a duck, standing on tip toes or getting my dad to hold me up so I could watch my favourite part, when the Zamboni did the edges with the spinny brush.

4- Playing in the dark

As a kid I played a ton of puck on out door rinks, especially up in Thunder Bay, which had a crazy awesome rink to person ratio. As I got older, and me and the crew got our drivers licenses we started going to rinks after dark, when they were empty as could be. Sure we had to clean it ourselves. but we had the ice to ourselves against the back drop of a crisp winter night. There was an incredible combination of the peace and quiet of the surrounding wilderness (most of these rinks were in public parks surrounded by trees) combined with the intensity of our games. That and a six pack cooling in the snow beside the rink.

3 - The Music

Hockey and music go together like bacon and my stomach.  Hockey purposed music like the original hockey night in Canada song which makes me smile like an idiot every time I hear it, or the New Free To Be Anthem that has grown on me like some sort of catchy fungus. Hockey themed music like the Stompin' Tom classic or even 50 mission cap.And then there is the in game music, How pumped do you get when the Leafs come out to Welcome to the Jungle? Or when Zombie nation plays after a goal?  It makes the experience all the more.

2- Hatred

Hatred is a huge part of every major sport. We all hate the other guy. As Leaf fans (most of) you know all about hatred. Pretty much everyone hates us and our team for one reason or another, It brings fan bases together and keeps rivalry alive. Where would the NHL have been without the blood feuds of the Wings Avs playoff tussles of a decade ago, or the original Battle of Ontario? Some of it is stupid and irrational, some of it is sane and warranted. I hate a lot of hockey related stuff, mainly Ottawa Senator based (because fuck those guys) and it keeps games exciting when they shouldn't be, adds more emotion and weight to games that do. It is always nice to say after a season like this one "sure we didn't make the playoffs but we won the season series against those dick bag Senators"

1- Don Cherry

The man of controversy himself. As a child of the 90's I grew up with Grapes and his Rock em Sock em videos and the golden era of coaches corner. Yes, he is losing his mind, and his definition of politically correct is older than the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the man loves hockey. His passion for the game rivals any fan out there and he really does know his stuff, if you have a Don Cherry to normal person translator he makes good points on a regular basis.

My love for this man even goes past hockey, his tributes to our fallen troops are heartfelt, humbling and most of all well meaning and legitimate. He isnt doing it for ratings, or to make a point, he just wants to honour our heros and make sure that we don't forget about what those brave people are doing what they have to keep us safe.

Love him or hate him, Don Cherry is a big part of the hockey experiences for my generation, sure he might be getting past his due date, but to me, the man represents the passion, and love for the game of hockey that I have to a T.