Two Minutes for Instigating Hockey Blog

'Two Minutes for Instigating' is an exclusive blog to Sportscity. I am a Toronto Maple Leaf fan and will have plenty to say about them, but I will also be commenting on NHL news and rumors, stats, hockey trivia, and numerous rants on the NHL in general.

Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers, is something up in Duckland?

Written Mark E on November, 17th 2007 | 0 Comments

In a surprising move today, the Anaheim Ducks waived back-up goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov and his $1,373,000 contract. If a team picks him up off of waivers, they will be responsible for the remainder of his contract. If he clears waivers tomorrow, and the Ducks call him up, he can be claimed thru re-entry waivers, and that team will onlyl be responsible for half of his salary. Ducks GM Brian Burke said he tried to trade him, but they didn't reach his asking price. I'd be surprised if he makes it thru waivers, and he definitely won't make thru re-entry waivers. I have a feeling that Burke is up to something else, and this move was done to create some extra cap space. Does it mean a trade is coming? Or maybe Scott Niedermayer is leaning towards coming back?

Other League Musings:
Could you image the abuse and teasing Washington Capital forward Alexander Semin would have faced if he grew up in North America....

Almost all NHLers are using the fragile composite sticks that break after 5 shots, Jiri Tlusty sticks with 'wood'....

I was looking the NHL scoring leaders today, and it still amazes me that Cory Stillman is tied for 9th overall with 24 points, and only in 16 games. Then I looked at potential left wing 2008 NHL unrestricted free agents, I'm no longer as surprised....

Someone should inform Marcus Nasland that he's unrestricted after the year, he's been terrible with only 4 goals and 7 assists....

I wonder if Aki Berg is missing the Maple Leafs? After watching all the Leaf giveaways this season, he would have fit in perfectly with this defensive core. A couple years ago, his lack of defensive play stood out, now he'd be one of the boys. And sticking with good old Aki, lets take another look at the trade that brought him to Toronto from L.A. The Kings sent him to the Leafs for Adam Mair and a 2nd round pick in 2001. Berg for Mair doesn't look like a great deal at this point, but when you toss in the 2nd round pick, it looks awful. The Kings selected Mike Cammalleri...

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Toronto Maple Leaf Halloween Pictures

Written Mark E on November, 9th 2007 | 0 Comments

I was forwarded these Toronto Maple Leaf halloween pictures in an email yesterday, they are pretty funny...And who says drinking kills brain cells, these guys are pretty creative...Look at all the bottles on the wall...

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Are Players ‘Dirtier’ this Year?

Written Mark E on November, 6th 2007 | 0 Comments

So I was at a buddy’s house over the weekend with some of his friends, having a few pops, and watching hockey. The topic of violence in the game came up, ‘dirtier hockey’ to be more specific. Everyone agreed that fighting in the game is up, and no one of had a problem with that, it’s the ‘hits from behind’ and ‘head shots’ that some had a problem with. The Steve Downie and Randy Jones hits were main examples of dirty plays, as both players were suspended. But where they really that dirty?

The Downie hit is questionable, yes he did leave his feet, but the hit looked worse because he was flying through the air after contact was made. He starts to leave his feet a split second before the hit, which you see players leaving their feet to make a hit almost nightly. Randy Jones drove Bergeron from behind into the boards. There have been numerous other players who have been hit from behind but where not injured on the play.

I don’t agree with hits from behind or players flying through air to make a check, but in a lot of these instances, the players who are getting hit should take some of the blame. More and more players are turning away from checks, leaving themselves vulnerable. Before Bergeron was hit, he turned his back to the boards, and lowered his body, opening himself up to be hit from behind. Are they trying to draw penalties?

In McAmond’s case, he turned his head back to admire a pass he just made. Not a smart thing to do when you are coming from behind the net. When it hit first happened, a sports network I was watching, slowed it down and timed from when he made the pass to when he got hit, 0.6 seconds. That’s not a lot of time, not a late hit. You can argue that he was in a defenceless position (I don’t disagree), but it was only 0.6 seconds, and he turned his back to admire the nice pass he made.

There have been several other hits from behind along the boards or players getting their bell rung in front of the net. But in a lot of cases, in my opinion, the players are turning into the hit from behind at the last second, or are lowering their bodies before they are hit, leaving themselves open to get a shoulder/elbow/forearm in the head. The player who does the hitting gets almost all the blame, when in fact they would have made a clean, legal hit, if the other player defended himself better. When you skate in front of the net, your head should be up, everyone knows this. But players continue to impersonate Eric Lindros, and skate with their heads down.

I do believe there is a lack of respect among the players, but not with the majority of players, some take more liberties than others. This started, in my opinion, with instigator rule being brought in. One of the dumbest rules in my opinion, and needs to be eliminated, but that’s a whole other topic that I may get into at another time.

So let’s not jump all over the players who are making the hits, or saying that the game is dirtier than ever before. There are more camera angels, which the networks find the one that makes the play look worse, then it gets jammed down our throats how bad the play was. They need to start looking at the position the player who got hit, rather than just the player giving the hit.

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He Got Corked!

Written Mark E on November, 2nd 2007 | 0 Comments

We venture away from the NHL for a moment for a quick look in to the CHL, that's the Central Hockey League. This a good tilt between 2 guys you've never heard of, and probably will never hear about them again.

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Who is this Guy?

Written Mark E on November, 2nd 2007 | 0 Comments

First off, I apolize for slacking on making entries, busy with other projects bumps this blog backburner sometimes, but I hope to most more often, even if they are shorter pieces.

Who the hell is this guy? That was the first thing I thought when I seen a picture of him earlier today (well really it was the second, behind, Couldn't you do something better with your hair? It's not team picture day would a secret) Not a recognizable face is it? He's come from nowhere this season, putting up some impressive numbers and making some fantasy owners really happy with their 'waiver' pickup.

He's Pascal Leclaire, the top rated goalie so far in the NHL. Leclaire, along with the Columbus Blue Jackets, are one the surprise stories so far this season, as they are second (7-3-1) in the Central Division behind the red hot Detroit Red Wings, and are tied for the 3rd most points (15) in the Western Conference. The Blue Jackets have scored 32 goals in 11 games, which sits them in the middle of the pack when it comes to team goals, but it's their defense and goaltending that has lead to their turn around. They've allowed only 21 goals against, second lowest in the league behind Ottawa, but have played one more game. Leclaire has been the main reason.

Heading in to Thursday night games, Leclaire leads the league in goals against (1.25) and shutouts (4). He's tied for second in wins (6) and save percentage (.957). Leclaire has only allow 10 goals in 8 games, facing 202 shots. It looks like this former first round pick has finally rounded into form. There's no way he'll keep up the is pace, but his numbers and play so far having finally given Columbus fans something to be happy about. Ken Hitchcock has done wonders for this team.

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