jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (12/18/84)
Carlo Sgro (..!utzoo!oscvax!carlo) and I have been carrying on a lengthy
discussion by mail these days, which we've now decided to post. I've sorted
our mail into three of the topics we've discussed, and posted each one
separately. The discussion centres around the Maple Leafs, since
their problems are what got our discussion started, and the Canadiens are
mentioned too, but most of what follows should interest all hockey fans.
Besides, we'd like to get other opinions on this too.
***** JEFF: *****
The Maple Leafs have a lot of excellent young
prospects who could be future stars, but I don't think they'll amount to
anything unless management does something soon. You can't throw a bunch
of young defensemen onto a last place team and expect them to do everything
themselves and come out of it without ruining their confidence completely.
They need one or two good, experienced two-way defensemen to help bring
them along. Salming fits the bill except that I don't think he's much of
a leader and he seems to get injured an awful lot, and I don't think he'll
last much longer, especially on such a terrible team, but you can tell how
much the rest of the guys need his experience because they fall completely
apart whenever he's injured.
***** CARLO: *****
True, for the most part. However, there are notable exceptions. I think
that the Leafs' own Jim Benning is a good homegrown one. He probably
would have developed faster given a stint in the minors but the need of
the team in the short run came first. To cite a more glaring example,
how about Barry Beck with Colorado (was he around in the days of Kansas
City?). We must remember, though, that the Leafs have been doing this
ever since the days of Punch Imlach's second coming. Remember when they
had Benning, Boimistruck, and McGill (among others) in the 'Kiddie Corps'
defense. Boimistruck had the potential to be a solid defenseman. However,
the Leafs were looking for excuses for their disintegration so they cited
'rebuilding' and cast their future to the kids. That season was a disaster
(although nothing compared to this one) and Boimistruck was soon in the
minors. I think that I heard a while ago about his retirement. You know
my opinion on Bob McGill. I think that Iafrate is a little more like
Beck than Boimistruck, however. On the other hand, Gary Leeman was an
example of a tremendously talented kid (I saw him when he played in the
juniors; he was fantastic!) who has been wasted by the Leafs.
In summary: Yes, the Leafs have been taking the wrong approach
in developing their defense. However, it can work if managed correctly and
if you don't mind wasting two out of every three players that you have.
Salming isn't a leader. However, I do admit that I didn't remember the Leafs'
terrible record without him last year when I made my statements. However,
I do think that he is expendable IF THEY CAN GET RESPECTABLE PLAYERS FOR HIM.
Salming is too good for the Leafs to have.
***** JEFF: *****
I agree that Benning has certainly turned out as good as could be expected,
but he and Beck are the exceptions to the rule. Benning seems to be the
only one who wasn't ruined by the Leafs' questionable development program.
I thought they would have learned their lesson with Boimistruck and McGill
(I can't believe that Leaf management thinks McGill has turned out well.),
but Nylund and Leeman seem to be on the road to ruin too, and I think Nylund
was the one with the most potential of them all (he was the undisputed leader
of the team that won the world junior championships a few years ago). Sure,
he's had injury problems, but after missing the first 60 games of his rookie
season with a serious injury, I wouldn't have thrust him into an NHL playoff
drive right away, especially when he was still eligible for junior hockey.
I don't by any means think that Salming should be given away or traded for
just a couple of kids with potential. Because of
his importance to the team, they can only trade him if they can get a
proven defenseman or two. I was hoping he could be part of a deal that
would bring Dave Maloney to Toronto, until he got traded to Buffalo.
[We discussed the Dave Maloney trade a little, and I've posted that separately.]
***** CARLO: *****
I agree with you about Nylund. He was supposed to be the 'saviour' of the
Leafs' defense but the injury in his rookie season was too much for his
ego to handle. I can just imagine the frustration that he went through.
I think that Nylund is currently a Beck-type defenseman, although not
anywhere near the quality of Beck. He's a hitter, although he's not
nearly as well-rounded as he should be. I think that the Leafs should
have decided to send him back to the juniors AS SOON AS THEY COULD SEE
THAT HE WOULD BE OUT FOR 3/4 OF THE SEASON! That way, he wouldn't
have to worry about getting back into condition in the last 20 games
of the season (i.e. right before the end of the season) and he wouldn't
have the memory of 'rookie mistakes' plaguing him throughout the off-season.
I think that this would have been superior to keeping him up (for obvious
reasons) and sending him back after he was ready to come back (since he
wouldn't be let down). As it was, they let him hang there in a
'rookie fugue' (if you will) and let him have TWO rookie seasons. That's
unfair to any player, let alone someone who came to Toronto with the
pressure that Nylund came with.
***** JEFF: *****
The interesting thing about
Montreal is that they have a lot in common with the Leafs. They're also
going with young defensemen, but they are successful because of a few key
differences: two of their three rookie defensemen, Chelios and Kurvers,
are coming into the NHL at age 23 (plus or minus a year; I'm not sure) with
extensive experience in U.S. College hockey. (I'm tired of all the postings
too, but it is a good training ground, especially for defensemen because a
defenseman is not usually ready for NHL service at age 18-21, but staying
in junior may not help and being sent to the minors has become an embarrasment
and possible confidence breaker, since the minors are now filled mostly with
old has-beens and never-wases.) and their experienced defenseman, Larry
Robinson, is more reliable and a better leader than Salming.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff