C'mon, Pat Quinn
By Mike Haggett
Published November 1, 2005

Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Pat Quinn was fined last week by the league office for comments about the officiating he made after the Leafs shellacked the Atlanta Thrashers on October 14^th. The game was well at hand for the Leafs early in the third period, as they led 6-1 with 15 minutes remaining to go. It certainly was not a good night in Atlanta for the Thrashers and their fans as Leafs threw everything at them but the kitchen sink.

At 9:34 of the third period, down five goals and the relentless attack that the Leafs mustered against them, it was of no surprise that the Thrashers started to take exception of the barrage put at them. Granted, in this day of age in the “New NHL” no lead is safe, but for this game, it was a much different story. The Leafs made the Thrashers look like cardboard cut outs of birds strapped onto pylons. As a result, the first of two line brawls ensued, another following seconds later at 9:57. All in all 117 minutes in penalties were assessed in the third period alone.

If that wasn’t enough, the Leafs would tally three more times before the final buzzer to complete the humiliation of the home town Atlanta club, 9-1. The Maple Leafs out shot the Thrashers 16-3 in the third period, so it isn’t any wonder why Atlanta would start taking exception to the onslaught. If I was a Thrasher coach, player, or even a fan, I would have taken exception to it also. With the game well at hand early and the Thrashers visibly reeling, there was no need to add more gasoline to the fire. Running up the score, especially against an opponent in their own barn, is only going to cause resentment down the road. After all, players and coaches…take notes.

After the game is where this whole situation gets comical. During the post game interview, Quinn was furious over the way referees’ Dan O’Halloran and Dan O’Rourke handled the game. "They obviously didn't know how to handle it," Quinn said of the officials. Quinn called the game a "disgrace" and referred to the Thrashers' "cowardice." He said Atlanta coach Bob Hartley "has a reputation of sending his guys out head hunting."

C’mon, Pat...you can’t be serious here. I would have expected those types of comments from Hartley, whose team your club just pounded into oblivion. There was more paraffin on those boys than what the Yankee Candle Company could manufacture in a week, yet despite the drubbing, it wasn’t good enough. Were the Thrashers supposed to take their beating like champs and just suck it up like bubble gum Slurpees at the corner fountain shop? Last time I checked, Pat, the game is hockey here. This isn’t a hog tie-up at a rodeo. There were 20 players on that other bench that breathe air, sit down at a table to eat food and pay taxes. Human beings with emotions that lace up skates and throw shots on net, much the same your boys do. What ever happened to respect for the opponent, Pat?

With 15 minutes left in the third and a five goal lead, why not parade out the third and fourth line, give Eddie Belfour the rest of the night off  (who you’ll need healthy for the stretch run, by the way IF the Leafs have a remote chance by then), take the two points and catch a plane? No, you had to make an issue out of it, and rightly so, Hartley and company had every right in the world to take serious exception to what you did, regardless if he sent out the head hunters or not. I don’t know of any team on any level that would be willing recipients to a trouncing like that. To blame O’Halloran and O’Rourke for not controlling the game is just boorish. All they did was their jobs, and you violated your job by not giving Hartley and the Thrashers the respect they deserved by telling your guys to back down when it was well apparent the Leafs had the game at hand.  But no, you had to run your mouth on the way out the door to boot, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the Thrashers already have Saturday, November 19^th circled on the calendar for the rematch in Toronto. The game will be prime time on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, and some unresolved issues will be dealt with then.

If just blaming the officials wasn’t enough, you had to go vent about the “New NHL” the same night. "Where it is right now, in spite of everybody saying 'Oh, I love the new game,' I don't love the new game," Quinn said. "I don't think it's hockey. It's special teams situations and we've got gimmicks to decide games. It's totally different. You're not going to see the physical playoff style if everybody is afraid of penalties. So far, we've won our games on special teams and we've lost our games on special teams. Five-on-five is like the dodo bird."

Gee, Pat. One would think you lost that game. The NHL Foundation thanks you for your support, and I would guess that you might make more than one contribution before the season is over. It’s time for your boss GM John Ferguson to give you the players to compete with the new rules, eh? Let’s hope you know how to coach under the new parameters.

The Winter Oscars 

As reported in the “Off the Post” section of last week’s column, there have been more rumblings and grumblings of players taking dives in order to get an advantage. This may just be the largest loophole in the “New NHL”. I can very easily see numerous situations where players could take the temptation. The way 5 on 3’s are so commonplace in the game, one or the other team constantly a man down, or a tight game late sets the stage for an Oscar winning performance. Since the league officials are calling anything and everything that even looks like obstruction, hooking or holding, I suspect this trend will continue to grow unless the league finds a way to crack down on it.

To get a better idea of what is (or isn’t) being called, I sampled a weeks worth of games, 35 to be exact. I went through each box score looking for the number of diving calls during that stretch. The total was two. There were more goaltender interference calls (8) than there were diving calls.

Not to invoke the ire of any Sidney Crosby fans here (which I am one), but I found a quote after the Pittsburgh / Florida game that struck me a little funny. The Penguins lost that game while having a clear 12-7 advantage in power plays, and Crosby himself drew six penalties on his own. When asked about it, Crosby reportedly responded with “That’s part of my job, to create some chances for us. We did everything except win.” Desperate measures for desperate times in the Steel City? For the honor of the game, I sure hope that is not the case.

My thoughts on how to alleviate the problem would to get the linesman more involved in the penalty decision process, beyond high sticking calls. With four sets of eyes watching puck movement as well as action away from the play, I would hope that there would be a meeting of the minds at the scorers table if anything even remotely looked fictitious. Take into consideration that refereeing in the “New NHL” is a pretty tall order, and to have the linesman put their two cents in from time to time certainly wouldn’t hurt. To take it a step further, the league office should scrutinize each game tape very closely to look for the dives that may have escaped the referees and then compile a list of questionable actors and in turn notify the officials of them in order to keep a watchful eye out. If the league can come up with a better idea, then I would be game to hear it. Right now, this is only started to be talked about, and I expect this to turn into a bigger issue as time goes along. This needs to attention sooner rather than later as the integrity of the game for years to come will depend on it.

Former NHLer John Davidson appeared on HNIC’s Satellite Hotstove Saturday evening and suggested that not only 2 minutes be assessed for diving, but an additional two minutes in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty should be tacked on. I could easily subscribe to that thinking, but the important thing at this point is officials and the league office need to start to clamp down and start calling it, first. 

Off the Post

Anyone else out there thinking that Jerome Iginla misses Craig Conroy? The Flames sure are smoldering right now…Goalies on the IR or battling injuries is turning into an issue as of late, names such as Nabokov (SJ), Raycroft (BOS), Brodeur (NJ), Denis (CBJ), Lehtonen (ATL), Dunham (ATL) have all made news this week… Thoughts and prayers go out to the Florida Panthers organization and families affected by Hurricane Wilma. It appears that the earliest the Panthers will play again in Miami on November 9. Until then, they will be road warriors. Fortunately, they will only have to make up two games lost during the stretch… Props to the Carolina Hurricanes front office and coach Peter Laviolette for coming up with creative ways to create team chemistry, which may be the big factor to the franchises’ best start since the move from Hartford. Ideas such as a family night where the players, their wives or girlfriends and children participated, along with a dad’s weekend, where the players brought their fathers on the plane trip from Raleigh to Pittsburgh and roomed with them there, along with a golf outing. The players have taken it upon themselves to organize Monday Night Football parties, also… Thoughts and prayers go out to seventeen year-old Tommy Garrett and family of Peterborough, ONT who is in a hospital in Calgary, battling a virulent form of leukemia and complications because of treatment. Tommy is fighting for his life right now as his own immune system is attacking itself because of a bone marrow transplant. The situation with Tommy has struck chords of interest from Detroit Red Wings forward Steve Yzerman, and former NHLers John Druce and Jim Bedard, who have all pitched in to help raise money to help the family pay for medical costs.  Curtis Joseph has phoned Tommy voicing support, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halliday lent Tommy and his family his luxury box for a baseball game earlier in the summer….Hats off to Stephenville, Newfoundland for being the host city for Hockey Day in Canada upcoming on January 7. The town of 8,000 located on the west coast of Labrador will be the location of the celebration, with HNIC’s hosts Ron MacLean and Don Cherry broadcasting live for 13.5 hours, beginning at noon ET, and other CBC personalities will be scattered across the country commemorating the event. The day also features an NHL all Canadian triple header, beginning at 2 pm ET with Ottawa at Montreal, followed with Toronto at Edmonton at 7 pm ET, rounding out with Calgary at Vancouver at 10 pm ET. Vive le hockey du Canada!

Article contains information used from the CP, AP, CBC and NHL.com