Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Revenue Sharing
I don't always agree with what Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun has to say, but he did write a good article with regards to revenue sharing in the NHL. The top 1/3 of the league pays a portion of their revenues to the bottom 1/3. The Maple Leafs reportedly earned the highest revenue and are paying out nearly $10 million. To qualify as one of the bottom third, 3 factors are taken into consideration: The money the team makes, the money the team spends, and the size of the market. The Blackhawks do not qualify due to the size of their market. One of the problems I have with this revenue sharing structure is, what incentive does it give a team in the lower portion of the league to improve itself? If a team is in contention for the Stanley Cup or close to a playoff spot at the trade deadline, would they add a player (significant or minor) that would put them out of the bottom third with regards to salary. By adding a $1 million player it could cost the team in the long run millions more. Sure they may be able to make money the farther they go in the playoffs, but there is no guarantee. By not adding a player or two, it could guarantee them millions. Teams would never come out and say this, but I wouldn't be surprised if this will happen. Of course GM's would love to be able to add players to improve their team, but decisions like this would definitely come from the owners, who in most cases in my opinion would probably look at the dollar value and not in the win category.
Raycroft Stands on His Head
Andrew Raycroft probably played his best game as a Toronto Maple Leaf last night, turning aside 40 of 41 shots. The Leafs dominated play in the first period, thanks to four consecutive power plays. The Flyers did manage 7 shots in the period, the Leafs countered with 15, but the period ended with the Leafs only up by one goal. The second period was a different story though, the Flyers took control recording 17 shots and scoring 1 goal. Raycroft made several big saves on the Flyers four power plays. It's pretty amazing to see such a turn around from one period to the next, with the Leafs lucky to be hanging on. Nik Antropov scored is first goal of the season on a third period power play to put the Leafs ahead for good. Maurice changed up the lines last night and it appeared to work. Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky were promoted to the first line as Sundin's wingers. Ponikarovsky later added his sixth goal of season on a wrist shot from the circle that Nittymaki should have stopped. I think Nittymaki was already in the butterfly position before Ponikarovsky let the shot go.
Up until Ponikarovsky made it 3-1, I was skeptical that the Leafs would pull out the victory. One bad bounce for the Leafs and it's a different story. Raycroft wasn't going to have any part of that though. He didn't really have any spectacular saves as he was always in good position and limited the rebounds. It kind of reminded me of how Eddie Belfour was almost always (excluding last year) in good position to make the save. It was Raycroft's 4th consecutive win.
Leafs 4 Flyers 1 - Mon. Nov 6
1st Period Summary 14:35 Toronto Goal - Bates Battaglia (4), from Bryan McCabe at 5:25.
Penalties
1:06 Toronto Darcy Tucker - 2 minutes for hooking
7:12 Philadelphia Denis Gauthier - 2 minutes for holding
10:36 Philadelphia Joni Pitkanen - 2 minutes for elbowing
12:57 Philadelphia Frederick Meyer - 2 minutes for hooking
16:47 Philadelphia Ben Eager - 2 minutes for hooking
2nd Period Summary
17:28 Philadelphia Goal - Ben Eager (1), from Eric Meloche and Mike Rathje at 2:32.
Penalties
3:28 Toronto Ian White - 2 minutes for boarding
4:28 Toronto Brendan Bell - 2 minutes for hooking
7:04 Toronto Wade Belak - 2 minutes for roughing
10:51 Toronto Mats Sundin - 2 minutes for elbowing
18:30 Philadelphia Stefan Ruzicka - 2 minutes for elbowing
3rd Period Summary
12:42 Toronto Power-Play Goal - Nik Antropov (1), from Mats Sundin and Alexei Ponikarovsky at 7:18.
3:54 Toronto Goal - Alexei Ponikarovsky (6), unassisted at 16:06.
1:13 Toronto Empty-Net Goal - Tomas Kaberle (6), from Alexander Steen and Matt Stajan at 18:47.
Penalties
6:28 Philadelphia Kyle Calder - 2 minutes for holding
7:43 Toronto Darcy Tucker - 2 minutes for slashing
8:54 Philadelphia Geoff Sanderson - 2 minutes for interference
12:20 Toronto Alexei Ponikarovsky - 2 minutes for holding
Shots on Goal
Philadelphia 7 17 17 - 41
Toronto 15 3 14 - 32
Team Power Play
Philadelphia 0 of 7
Toronto 1 of 7
Posted by Mark in
Box Scores
The Box Scores from Toronto Maple Leaf games Read More | Comments (0) |
Trackbacks (0) • | Permalink •
The Box Scores from Toronto Maple Leaf games Read More | Comments (0) |
Trackbacks (0) • | Permalink •
Page 1 of 1 pages