|
TORONTO -- A day after being demoted to the American Hockey League, T. Antonio Gates Camo Jersey .J. Brennan gave the Toronto Maple Leafs another reason to call him back up. The 24-year-old scored three goals and added an assist to lead the Toronto Marlies to a 6-3 win over the St. Johns IceCaps in AHL action Saturday afternoon. Brennan opened the season by being named AHL player-of-the-week and was summoned by the Maple Leafs Wednesday. While he didnt see any game action in his brief stint, he says he got enough of a taste while practicing with the big club to keep hopeful for another re-call. "You see the level and the pace up there and you try and reflect your game off that speed," said Brennan. "Im just trying to do the things that elevate my game. Thats where I want to be." The hat trick was Brennans second of the season and he now leads the AHL in scoring with seven goals and 10 points in three contests. Wade MacLeod, John-Michael Liles and Stefan Legein had the other goals for Toronto (3-0-0) while Spencer Abbott and Trevor Smith chipped in with two assists apiece. Andrew Gordon, Jerome Samson and Will ONeill scored for St. Johns (1-2-1). Drew MacIntyre made 21 saves for the win as Jussi Olkinuora turned aside 27 shots in defeat. MacIntyre, who played with Brennan two seasons ago with the Rochester Americans, is familiar with how Brennan plays an offensive minded game. But hes most impressed with the way the 24-year-old has come along protecting his own net. "He could play forward easily, but hes good defensivly too," said MacIntyre. "Hes worked hard at that." Brennan scored two goals in the first 2:43 of the opening period to put the Marlies ahead. However, Toronto picked up three straight penalties, including a double minor to Sam Carrick for roughing, and the IceCaps scored three times to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission. Gordon put St. Johns on the board at 6:11 while ONeill and Samson added power-play goals. Marlies head coach Steve Spott was not pleased with his clubs lack of discipline in the opening 20 minutes, and questioned the double minor handed to Carrick. "Im really not sure what happened on that play," said Spott. "I didnt get an explanation so Im not sure what he did." Liles tied the game with a power-play goal at 15:28 of the second period and MacLeod put Toronto ahead in the final minute of the period. Legein added to the Marlies lead midway through the third period and Brennan capped the game with a goal into an empty net. "Sometimes the best defence is a good offence," said Brennan. Both clubs went 2 for 7 on the power play. Corey Liuget Blue Jersey . -- Michael Phelps has competed in the second event of his comeback and failed to advance to the 50-meter freestyle final. Antonio Gates Youth Jersey . McCann was hurt in the third inning Friday night against Cleveland but remained in the game until he was pinch hit for in the sixth. Manager Joe Girardi said McCann was feeling cloudy.My uncle Rolly would say "a tie is like kissing your sister" and though I did not have a sister, and kissing anyone was a wholly unappetizing prospect, I got his drift. Nobody is happy with the outcome. To its credit, in the late 1990s, the spry brain-trust at the National Hockey League recognized this fundamental drag on its product and vowed to improve a flawed system. Various solutions and quirky quick-fixes were considered in the ensuing years, and the League - largely during semi-regular work stoppages - decided on a blended approach. (Unbeknownst to me, despite the coming changes coinciding with league expansion and record revenues, this new approach would trigger the erosion of my interest, until I eventually stopped watching entirely.) Change Number One: Four Skaters and a Goalie The number of skaters were decreased to four-a-side during the overtime period, thereby opening up offensive manoeuvrability and theoretically ending more games with game-winning tallies rather than endless dump-and-chase neutrality. Verdict: Wow. This was a major move, altering the five-on-five structure basic to the sport, and it was a winner. Instead of labouring through increased late game conservatism, skilled players (without the luxury of the Olympic-sized ice rinks) could find themselves able to deke and shimmy and strut their capabilities, particularly in the games most crucial moments. It also encouraged the reversing of a trend which had taken hold across the league, one where teams were playing for a tie point and overtime periods were getting increasingly dump-and-chase, ho-hum. Overtime would be meaningful again! Sha-la-la-la! Success. Change Number Two: If At First You Dont Succeed, Shoot Again The NHL introduced the controversial, internationally-tested shootout as a means of concluding deadlocked matches. Already in use at NHL All-Star Games, the League took a baby step, opting for three shooters per side, rather than the five shooters per side standard in international play. Considering a whopping one in seven games had ended in a tie in 2003-2004, this was going to have a major impact. Verdict: Surprisingly decent move. Fans get a thrill and hopelessly tied games get a victor. Two for two. But the NHL is not in the leave-well-enough-alone business. In classic League fashion, a third branch of tinkering was offered up, one in which the very worth of winning and losing would be altered. It is this final alteration that persists to today, defining the current system, and for this hanging-by-a-thread fan, produces a result which is laughable and has firmly pushed me to the periphery of support. Change Number Three: The Three Point Game Shudder. In the former system, a win was worth two points for the victor, zero points for the vanquished. A tie doled out a point to each side. Two points per game to be won, lost or split. In the current system, two points continue to be the victors spoils, but depending upon how the loser loses, the losing team may be awarded one or zero points. The pertinent extrapolation - particularly in a conference-based playoff system - is to recognize that some games are then worth three points and other games worth two. A black eye on the game which needs immediate attention. The rule change emerged from what some termed the "Dead Puck Era" or "The Decade Hockey Turned to Crap". Overtime periods had become interminable with each side playing for the tie rather than chance going home pointless. So the NHL made tie games at the end of regulation worth one point to both sides to encourage vigorous overtime play for one additional point. The risk-averse playing just starts earlier. Now the second half of the third period is the play-it-safe spot. (For those following at home, the second half of the third period was traditionally also known as the end of the game.) So now this "end of the game" segment is like a Benjamin Moore product demonstration. Not coincidentally, since the current system launched in 2005-06, there has been a major weakening in the "Mike Gallay-watching" to "hockey-on-television" corollary. Whatever, it All Shakes out in the End. Iff the very nature of consolation points doesnt enrage you, consider this: not only should the Los Angeles Kings not have won the Stanley Cup in 2012, they should not have even been in the playoffs. Malcom Floyd Youth Jersey. In 2011-12, the Kings finished the regular season in the eighth seed of the Western Conference. Their record of 40-27-15 really meant they really finished 40-42. In 10th place languished the Dallas Stars (42-40) and in 11th, the Colorado Rockies* (41-41). In any season prior to the three-point game initiative, the Kings would not have been in the post-season. (*I am an indefatigable purist in some regards. I realize if that was truly the case I should refer to them as the Quebec Nordiques.) This is not a one-off situation. It happened to Vancouver and Los Angeles in 2005-2006. To Colorado and Montreal in 2006-2007. To Carolina in 2007-2008. Dozens of teams have received unmerited seedings over the years, all because of the preposterous three-point game. Et tu, Baseball? Whats that gang? You all are expanding to 30 or more teams? ... Hey, we can too! ... Sure weve heard of Atlanta. ... They say theyve never heard of us? Remind them we were totally pals years ago! The NHL has long been a follow-the-leader organization which makes the three-point game more puzzling. It has no precedent in major professional North American team sports. MLB does not allow games to finish in ties and, especially due to its non-contact, non-cardiovascular setup, can play endlessly into the night. Hell, theyll just keep playing tomorrow if necessary. Quite reasonably, the NHLPA would not approve potentially endless overtime periods because it could encourage injury and would foster competitive imbalance (ie. when a rested team plays a team which last night played seven periods). In the NBA, there are no ties and overtime periods are rare and captivating. Naturally, hardwood scoring is far more plentiful than hockey scoring, so the likelihood of limitless overtime periods is slight. In the NFL (AKA "the league that gets things right") surprisingly there is allowance for ties, but league-wide there have been only two in the past five years. The anomaly of the football tie makes it bizarre and accepted as it functions more as a novelty than a drag on competitive balance. If every team averaged even just one tie per season, oh yes, the NFL would have torched it long ago. Dumping & Chasing Dreams I try to get excited for hockey. I remember my youth, endless slapshots against a laundry room wall. I check out the standings to see who is jostling for—nope, cant do it. Right now, RIGHT NOW, of the 30 teams only 8 have losing records. Last year, by seasons end only 7 had losing records. Stop this madness. Its humiliating when grown men playing a grown mans game require the systemic-equivalent of an orange slice and a plastic participant trophy. Are savvy Hockeytown fans sincerely fooled their beloved Red Wings 19-14-10 record doesnt mean their team is a 19-24 loser? The players headed to the locker room showers pissed off 24 times this year. Fact. Deep breath. I have heard all the reasons, some logical, some inebriated, on how to remedy this situation. The League and the PA and the broadcasters all have a say. But the solution is barely a tweak on what exists and would solve everything. Ten minute overtimes with four skaters a-side and a best-of-five shootout. Winner gets two points. Loser gets a Tim Hortons special. Fans get a better reason to spend hundreds of dollars to attend. If you cannot win a game after seventy minutes then you earned the uncertainty of a shootout. The shootout, exciting as it is, might as well be five shooters a-side to give it more weight and the fans more thrills. The League only introduced regular season overtime in 1983-1984. Crucial, fundamental changes like this happen frequently. When the three-point game was introduced it was to be rid of ties, to be rid of the indecision of such an outcome, but we wound up with a greater ingrained indecisiveness. This can be fixed. This should be fixed. This will improve the game. It might even make me forgive what those morons did to the conferences. wholesale nfl jerseys ' ' ' |
