Saturday saw the Vancouver Canucks turn down all interview requests with the CBC, demonstrating that their feud with HNIC host Ron MacLean may not be all that ready to wind up.

The Canucks were, rightly in my opinion, upset over MacLean’s hit piece on the Alex Burrows-Stephane Auger piece that ran on January 16. In a rambling rant, MacLean managed to piss off Canucks GM Mike Gillis and Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault so much that they remembered it a week later.

The team snubbed the CBC in a form of protest, refusing even the slightest interview after their one-sided demolition of the Chicago Blackhawks. All three game “stars” were comprised of the ‘Nucks, but not a one made a post-game appearance to speak with the Silver Fox Scott Oake.

“It was an organization’s decision,” said Vigneault. “Any time we feel that one of our players has not been treated fairly, as an organization we have to take a stand and we did that last night and we’re moving forward.”

As much as it may go against the hockey gods in Toronto, I have to say that I’m proud of this decision by the Canucks. In showing a sense of team solidarity, they are backing up their player at all costs and are demonstrating that the media is not above the code of hockey ethics.

The Canucks will lace up next week to play the beloved Maple Leafs and time will tell if they’ll be back on “speaking terms” with the CBC or if they’ll once again snub the broadcasting team. All Gillis would offer on the matter was a terse “We’ll see.”

I would like to see more shows of solidarity from teams in the National Hockey League. There ought to be a sense of pride in the game and teams should stand up for each other. The MacLean piece was one-sided and unfair, demonstrating a refusal of the broadcaster to elevate integrity. Instead, he chose to stand beside his referee tradition and back his own sense of loyalty before advocating responsible journalism.

While they would certainly like to believe otherwise, the CBC is not the NHL and they are not the only broadcasters of the sport. If they won’t elevate values of fairness in their broadcasting, I think teams that have been misrepresented or treated properly should be free to head to other media pastures where fairness and integrity are still honoured traits.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

If you want to amaze your friends or at least amaze those friends of yours who are dreadfully out of touch with reality and current events, tell them Alexander Ovechkin will win the Hart Trophy on June 12 and see what happens.

NHL.com featured the pictured shirt today for a few moments, showing fans that they had the jump on things. The league’s website quickly went into damage mode, however, and tried to deny the notion that the Russian superstar would snag the Hart, downplaying it as a possibility.

A spokesman for the NHL, some clown named Frank Brown, released the following statement:

“In an effort to offer our fans the merchandise they want in a timely manner following an event such as the NHL Awards, our licensees prepare product for all possible outcomes. In this situation, the link for one of the possible products became live early through an error by our e-commerce provider. We regret the error and have since taken steps to amend.”

Um, yeah. Right. And what does the NHL do with the Jarome Iginla or Evgeni Malkin shirts when the obvious is revealed and Ovechkin wins the Hart at the awards ceremony? Alex the Great led the NHL with 65 goals and 112 points. Should be a lock, even without the T-shirt.

One can only hope that NHL.com will release a shirt bearing the Stanley Cup winners for next season. If that happens, I’m going to Vegas!

The following is an opinion piece and likely doesn’t represent the opinions of anyone else, save for the writer.

Same old song and dance in Toronto, folks.

The Toronto Maple Leafs amped up and ended a five-game losing streak Tuesday by beating Carolina 5-4 at Air Canada Centre, but Toronto fans have continued to press their ire at everything Leaf. Fueled by speculation about the future of the franchise, Leafs fans are sounding off on everything under the sun in terms of the beleaguered Toronto club.

The Leafs are currently 14th in the Eastern Conference. They hold a 17-21-8 record, with 42 points. Toronto currently sits seven points out of the last playoff spot, six points back from Boston and Carolina, two points back from Buffalo and Florida, and one point behind the Washington Capitals. The Leafs are 2-7-1 in their last ten games.

With the most ruthless media in the entire NHL universe and some of the most fickle and delusional fans in the world of hockey, the future of GM John Ferguson continues to be pressed, as does the future of coach Paul Maurice. Toronto fans seem ready to see heads on platters out in Ontario, which is nothing new for a city filled with rabid fans that cry foul after each loss. When Toronto loses, something must have gone wrong. It can’t be that there are better teams in the league than the beloved Maple Leafs, can it?

Of course, it would be an oversight to ignore the idea that the Leafs have been experiencing some trouble as of late. But is this anything new for the franchise with among the highest hopes in Canada’s history? Often dubbed “Canada’s team” by the morons over at CBC, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been crammed down the throats of Westerners and Easterners alike since the inception of “Hockey Night in Canada” and their awful announcers.

The reason for this is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the most valuable team in the NHL, right behind the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings. The Leafs, as of 2007, were valued at around $413 million. They have won 11 Stanley Cups as the Leafs, one Stanley Cup as the Toronto St. Patricks, and one as the Toronto Arenas.

When the NHL expanded by six teams in 1967, the Leafs stopped winning championships. Yet as this lack of playoff success continued in Toronto, the value and spending of the franchise sailed through the roof. Leafs management, no matter who they were and no matter which decade they were in, continued to top the league - or close to it - in spending. It’s the sign of a true Leafs franchise, really, to have a whole lot of top-heavy spending and not too much to show for it. Sure, the Leafs have had 55 players inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is more than any other franchise, but what does that say for a team that can trumpet loads of individual success without any team success?

And what does that say for a fanbase that continues to think that any sort of success for the Leafs has actually existed in the first place in the expanded incarnation of the NHL?

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue and will continue to be a team that drafts poorly, ices a poor team that is top-heavy with clunky and large players or older players aiming for retirement, and that experiences minimal playoff success. And Toronto-area fans and media have, by repute, had minimal to no patience in terms of actually building a team. Toronto fans and media want a winner on the ice and they want a winner on the ice now, damn it!

Couple that with the idea that the Leafs are probably still the “Most Hated Team in Hockey,” as it was in 2002 with the Michael Farber article in Sports Illustrated, and fans around the league really shouldn’t ever be surprised at what’s happening in Toronto and why the rest of the league’s fans truly don’t care. It’s this sense of entitlement and arrogance, that Toronto should be winning all of their games and should be icing a team that should win the Stanley Cup because the Stanley Cup somehow belongs in Toronto, that really does the franchise in as a whole.

There are roots in Toronto hockey that permeate and grow through the media and through the fanbase, called Leafs Nation, that have a graduated impact on what happens in the Toronto franchise. That’s why the team stumbles and slips consistently and tries to fill holes with patch-up solutions. Eric Lindros, anyone? Sure, other teams have taken gambles on broken-down has-beens before. Mark Messier and the Canucks, anyone? But no other team has spent money so poorly and so consistently than the Leafs. Even the New York Rangers have had some success in a post-expansion NHL, for crying out loud.

In this writer’s view, the situation in Toronto simply needs to air out. Sure, a shuffle in management might unearth a new top-heavy spending team and a less competent coach. There’s really nothing wrong with Paul Maurice and the players on the ice now are fresh and exciting. The last thing the Toronto Maple Leafs need to do at this point is shuffle the deck from some of their young players. If anything, more of a spotlight needs to be on youth in Toronto and the old guard idea needs to be flushed. Quickly, too.

Looking at the Toronto franchise with objectivity, it’s a good looking team. Players like Kyle Wellwood, Nik Antropov (who is finally actually scoring!), Alexei Ponikarovsky, Alex Steen, and Matt Stajan give the forwards some hope and some talent in the gaps. Tomas Kaberle is a skilled defenseman with experience, same with Pavel Kubina. And with a little patience, the Leafs actually have a solid team of goaltenders in Raycroft and Toskala. With All-Star forward Mats Sundin leading the way, the Leafs look pretty decent on paper. But now the talk in the city is to move Sundin out and grab some quickies again to try to take advantage of the falling star in Toronto. Yeah, right, more typical Toronto talk.

Same old song and dance in Toronto, folks.

As always, the Canadian Press loves to speculate and hand out accolades to the hockey players they think have reached a certain level of play as the season reaches its quarter mark. Looking at the potential winners for the NHL Awards at this point in the season may seem pointless in terms of who wins the actual award when the dust settles from the year in hockey, but it’s always fun to speculate as to who could pick up the trophy.

As always, I’ll add my own predictions to the mix for that extra bit of goodness!

Hart Trophy: As for the Hart Trophy, the Canadian Press is shining some light on a number of possible candidates. Sidney Crosby is obviously a favourite, as he’s off to a good start with 30 points thus far. Vincent Lecavalier, who was featured yesterday here, is also a rational choice for the Hart at this point. Other considerations include Toronto’s Mats Sundin (okay, so that’s my suggestion), Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton (14th overall in points), and Henrik Zetterberg from the Red Wings. Absent from the Canadian Press list of potential candidates is Sundin, Ilya Kovalchuk (29 points in 20 games, leads the league in goals), and Rick Nash (15th overall in points).

Vezina Trophy: The Canadian Press likes Pascal Leclaire of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Henrik Lundqvist from the Rangers, Evgeni Nabokov from San Jose, Martin Gerber from the Sens, and of course Cam Ward of the Hurricanes. Absent from the list are the obvious potential candidates like Brodeur (who recently reached 500 career wins but isn’t having a very good year) and Roberto Luongo (who is just now coming into form in Vancouver). I wouldn’t be so hasty to leave those two goaltenders off of the candidates list at this point. Also worthy of potential candidacy at the moment is St. Louis Blues goalie Manny Legace. With a 2.22 GAA, 15 games played, .918 save percentage, and 9 wins, Legace is a big key to any success that the Blues have had thus far.

Norris Trophy: For defensemen, the Canadian Press once again stacks the deck. Chris Phillips from the Ottawa Senators is a leading candidate. Sergei Zubov out of Dallas, Nicklas Lidstrom from the Red Wings, Chris Pronger from the Ducks, Brian Rafalski from the Red Wings, and Andrei Markov from the Montreal Canadiens are all included by the Canadian Press as potential Norris winners. At this point, I would also add Filip Kuba from the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose 8 points in 20 games and +14 rating is impressive. Other early candidates for the Norris include Tampa’s Paul Ranger and New Jersey’s Karel Rachunek.

Calder Trophy: Finally, we’ll take a look at the Calder Trophy. According to the Canadian Press, early selections for the Calder will likely wear a Chicago Blackhawks sweater. Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews are both heavy favourites for the rookie award. Also in the mix are two boys from the Oilers, Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano, and Carey Price of the Habs. Tobias Enstrom from the Thrashers, Martin Hanzal from Phoenix, Devin Setoguchi out of San Jose, and David Perron from the Blues are all also mentioned by the Canadian Press as potential candidates for the Calder. To that list, I would also mention Nicklas Backstrom from the Washington Capitals (7th in rookie scoring) and Peter Mueller out of Phoenix.

The following is an editorial and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of HockeyDraft.ca.

We Westerners have long been aware of the idea that Toronto Maple Leaf “fans” hold themselves to another standard, by and large. Sure, there are large pockets of hockey fans in T-Dot that may well represent the ordinary views of hockey fans in general. But, conversely, there are also large pockets of hockey fans and media types that hail from the city that can reflect a “less than sane” perspective when it comes to their hockey franchise.

This season so far has been a glimmering example of bad luck on the ice for the Leafs, a whirlwind of controversy off the ice, and a swirling spitfire of a storm somewhere in between. Of course, being right smack dab in the middle of Canada’s largest media market will add a little bit more attention to any calamities that should befall a hockey team often referred to erroneously as “Canada’s team.”

I think many people from all sorts of places across Canada like the Toronto Maple Leafs. I really do. But I’m not sure that as many people like the Leafs media or the Leafs fans. And with good reason, especially this year.

A few events to highlight the context of this relationship include:

1. Newly-acquired goalie Vesa Toskala is repeatedly and loudly booed during pre-season games for his less than admirable performances. Seriously guys, who boos during pre-season games?

2. The Leafs lose the first two games of the regular season to the Ottawa Senators and the front page of a certain Toronto newspaper declares: “Leafs: Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

3. Bryan McCabe re-directs a puck into his own net in overtime to hand the Buffalo Sabres a victory. A certain Toronto newspaper headline reads: “Bryan McKlutz.”

4. New York Rangers pest Sean Avery and Leafs Darcy Tucker engage in a pre-game “altercation” last Saturday night. The significantly overhyped fallout in the Toronto media is highlighted by a certain radio report that claims Avery spouted cancer-related taunts to Blake. Avery subsequently declares legal action against the certain radio station.

5. During a 7-1 home loss to the Washington Capitals, some fans at the Air Canada Centre take a break from booing and berating the Leafs to chant, “Let’s Go Raptors.”

6. Finally, the Leafs franchise is in significant damage control after naked pictures of Jiri Tlusty, the Leafs 13th pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, surface online. The media, naturally, explodes into a frenzy of hormones and schoolboy curiosity.

All this (and more) just six weeks into the 2007-2008 NHL season.

Of course, if one were to contrast the amount of coverage given to, say, Mats Sundin’s incredible start to the season with the amount of media coverage given to Bryan McKlutz, one would likely be hard-pressed to find coverage about Sundin’s explosive start that puts him currently sixth overall in league scoring. Reporting an actual hockey story seems to be secondary for the media in T-Dot.

“I think this team should be located in L.A. with the stars, with the gossip magazines,” said Leafs defenseman Wade Belak, who, to my knowledge, does not have any nude photos circulating on the internet. “I guess it’s part of playing in Toronto,” he added. “I think it’s just getting worse every year. I’ve been here six and half years and probably aged 30 years.”

Of course, all of the Canadian cities get a lot of hockey coverage. Vancouver, where I’m from, is notorious for chasing goalies and we’re all praying we don’t piss of Luongo (we came close in the game against Nashville in which “fans” cheered the other team). But still.

Toronto has the largest media contingent, without a doubt. All three of the all-sports networks in Canada are based out of T-Dot. There are four daily newspapers. An endless array of hockey bloggers. Tons of other media types. It’s no small sight to see anywhere from twenty to fifty or more hockey media folks at the ACC on a regular basis. It’s a zoo.

Is it possible that Toronto’s loopy obsessive media, whose mind appears to be collectively on all things Leaf and nothing hockey related, is doing the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club a disservice? You bet. But most of the players in Canada’s craziest market know how to cope or, at the very least, are learning how to cope.

Playing in the T-Dot is certainly a lot more interesting than playing for the average NHL team, I’d imagine. Still, for some players, like Leafs veteran Darcy Tucker, life goes on.

“I’ve seen a lot during my career in Toronto, let’s put it that way,” said Tucker. “But I think when you’re younger it bothers you a bit more. As you get older, you realize what’s today’s news is tomorrow’s waste-paper basket. You just deal with it day to day. Every day the sun comes up.”