In the Box with John Kreiser

In the Box with John Kreiser
No End in Sight For Falling Leafs
By John Kreiser, Featured Columnist

In comparison to a year ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs are younger, faster, and earn a lot less. Of course, they win a lot less, too.
A year ago, the Leafs had been constructed to make a big playoff push. GM Cliff Fletcher had loaded up his roster with high-salaried veterans who "knew how to win." Unfortunately for Fletcher, the St. Louis Blues had gotten their own big-bucks expert on winning--some guy named Gretzky--and the Leafs didn't make it past the first round.
Fast forward to late March 1997. Fletcher has shorn the Leafs of many of their big money-makers, ensuring that owner Steve Stavro's bottom line will still look healthy despite the lack of playoff gates. Of course, there's not a lot of talent on the team, either: While summer salary dumps like Dave Gagner and Mike Gartner prosper and winter departures like Doug Gilmour and Kirk Muller prepare for a long spring's journey, the Leafs are blowing around in the NHL's underclass of non-playoff teams. Aside from Mats Sundin up front, Felix Potvin in goal and (injured) defenseman Mathieu Schneider, they'd have trouble beating a good IHL team on most nights.
While most of the rest of the NHL either prepares for the playoffs or battles for one of the remaining berths, the Leafs have already begun next season's training camp. Judging by last Saturday's 3-0 home loss to Phoenix, the outlook may not be too bright--and barring some more trades (not an impossibility), what Leaf fans see now is just about what they'll get next fall. The Leafs have no shot at the No. 1 overall pick in June because Fletcher dealt Toronto's first-round pick to the Islanders in a deal last year that brought them Schneider and over-the-hill left wing Wendel Clark.
Clark's popularity earned him the right to stay in Toronto last week while Muller, another Fletcher acquisition, was peddled to Florida for unproven 21-year-old Jason Podollan. Considering that the Panthers, if healthy, are a legitimate threat to get back to the Stanley Cup finals, Fletcher didn't do Clark any favors by keeping him. Then again, Clark--a shell of his former self--isn't doing Fletcher any favors on the ice most nights, either. His shot is still potent, but his ability to dominate a game physically is like the full moon--it shows up about once a month.
The Leafs are a classic example of the team that couldn't quite get to the top of the hill, and then found that its time ran out. Fletcher rebuilt the Leafs in one masterstroke when he fleeced the Flames in the Gilmour trade five years ago. Gilmour got the Leafs within a few minutes of the 1993 finals, but they couldn't find a way to beat Gretzky, then with Los Angeles, when it mattered most. A year later, Vancouver rolled them out of the conference finals in five games. The last two years, they never got past the first round. Now, they've hit bottom--and getting back up won't be easy.
FAMILY AFFAIRS: Toronto has been a popular stopping-off point for GMs of national teams preparing for the World Championships, which will be played in Finland late next month. But family considerations may keep a few Leafs from playing for their countries. Potvin would be a likely choice as Canada's goaltender, but his wife is due to give birth to their second child around the time the tournament starts. Defenseman Craig Wolanin, whose wife gave birth not long before he was shuttled to Toronto from Tampa Bay, might skip playing for Team USA for family reasons. Russian defenseman Dimitri Yushkevich, whose wife is expecting triplets, is also expected to pass up the trip to Finland.
MONEY CAN'T BUY HAPPINESS: The NHL's recent building boom may pay off on the bottom line, but it's no guarantee that a team will put up big numbers in the win column.
Three of the Original Six teams that moved into new digs last season are below .500 at home this season. Boston, which posted a winning record at the Boston Garden for 29 straight seasons, is 12-18-7 in its second season at the Fleet Center, a prime reason that the Bruins will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1967. Chicago is 13-19-4 at the United Center, assuring itself of its first losing home record since 1957-58.
But the biggest dropoff is in Montreal, where the ghosts who were said to inhabit the Forum obviously didn't make the move to the new Molson Centre. The Canadiens, who haven't had a losing record at home since 1939-40 (they were at .500 in 1983-84), but are just 15-16-6 with four home games left this season.
St. Louis has the new-home blues, too. The Blues must have had a good working agreement with the cockroaches at the old St. Louis Arena--they didn't have a losing record there since the WHA expansion in 1979. But they were 15-17-9 last season, their first full campaign at the new Kiel Center, and are 13-19-3 this season. Vancouver crept back over the .500 mark at GM Place on Saturday by beating Tampa Bay after a woeful 2-1 loss to San Jose two nights earlier.
There are exceptions to the rule: Buffalo is 23-8-6 in the Marine Midland Arena and the Flyers are 21-11-5 at the CoreStates Center. But both clubs lead their divisions, meaning that they're solid no matter where they play. For the most part, though, the new arenas are much better at generating money than intimidating opponents.
66 IS 86'D: Watching what was likely Mario Lemieux's final meeting with Wayne Gretzky was sad. Lemieux, perhaps the greatest one-on-one player ever, and Gretzky, hockey's greatest passer, looked more like spectators than participants for most of the New York Rangers' 3-0 victory on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. With most of Pittsburgh's offense on the injured list, Lemieux often looked lost--either he's hiding some physical problems or he's started his retirement a few weeks early. Gretzky, who says a healthy Lemieux is the one player who could have threatened his records, still can't find anyone to play with on a consistent basis. He scored an empty-net goal, but otherwise wasn't much of a threat offensively.
Assuming that Lemieux follows through on his intention to retire, the final stats in their head-to-head meetings:
W-L Record: Gretzky 17-7-1
Points: Gretzky 59-38
Stanley Cups: Gretzky 4, Lemieux 2
Memorable Moments: Too many to count

STAT SHOTS: Luckily for the Maple Leafs, Felix Potvin has regained his form--otherwise, they'd be a total joke. The Leafs entered the week having surrendered 40 or more shots in their last six games. They're 0-4-2, having been outshot 257-172. ...
How bad is the scoring drought? Mario Lemieux is on pace to win the scoring title with the lowest full-season figure in more than a quarter-century. Bobby Orr won the Art Ross Trophy with 120 points in 1969-70. Lemieux has 105 points, making him the only 100-point man with less than three weeks to play. ...
Something for the Colorado Avalanche to think about: Patrick Roy is 1-12-8 lifetime against the Flyers after Sunday's 2-0 loss in Philadelphia. He hasn't beaten the Flyers since joining the Avalanche from Montreal last season. ....
Teemu Selanne has 21 goals in 25 career games against Edmonton--something for the Oilers to consider if the teams meet in the opening round of the playoffs.