Well Worth The Wait for Gambler Smith
Good things come to those who wait. Patience is a virtue. Feel
free to insert any other cliche here.
After more than six months since speculation began on where Felix
Potvin would be dealt, he was finally traded. General Manger, or
whatever his title is, Mike Smith, finally moved the Leafs AWOL
former number one goalie to the equivalent of NHL purgatory, the
New York Islanders in exchange for Bryan Berard. The teams also
exchanged 6th round draft picks in the upcoming draft, a major
coup for the Maple Leafs.
While 10 out of 10 GMs would make this deal from the Leaf
perspective, it is not as some say a home run crushed out of the
park. However, given the negativity about the entire situation
and the negative press Smith et al took for waiting so long,
well, let's just say it was an inside the park home run!
Here's the gamble. Berard is a 21-year-old defenseman who, in
both junior and in his rookie season, turned heads. However,
ever since then his numbers have declined considerably. Last
year alone he was a league leading -32 in the dreaded plus-minus
category. To be fair he has been playing for a pitiful excuse of
a hockey team, and to add insult to injury, he was being misused
by the Isles to boot. Much the way the Leafs used and abused
Larry Murphy, the Isles dealt with Berard. It is unlikely that
he will ever be noted for his defensive prowess yet the Isles put
a tight leash on him and his play suffered.
The risk is that the potential will never materialize. Yet at
just 21, it sure appears that the Isles gave up on him too soon.
Defensemen are a lot like baseball pitchers in that it takes them
a long time to develop. There are numerous examples of kids not
coming into their own until their mid to late 20s. With the Leafs
playing much better this year, perhaps they can afford to be more
patient than the Isles. Berard will not have to be the leader or
the best defenseman on the ice every shift and that should make
things much easier too.
It also appears that for the first time in a long while Berard
will have a coach who can really teach him. Milbury has yet to
be successful at any level of coaching and it is likely that once
the ownership mess in NY is solved he too will be shown the door.
What do the Isles get? They are getting a former number one
goalie who is admittedly haunted by past failure. Specifically
one goal in which Al MacInnis beat him from just past center ice.
In a recent interview with the Toronto Star, the former number
one goalie admitted that the floater still is on his mind even
when he currently plays.
In his early years, Potvin certainly lead the Leafs to the Final
Four two years in a row. There were games when he literally
stood on his head. Then the Leafs made a trade that would
eventually lead to Potvin's demise. They dealt Wendel Clark to
Quebec for Mats Sundin. Also thrown in that deal was a player
that bailed the former number one goalie out on many occasions,
Sylvain Lefebvre. Later that summer, Leaf management decided it
could not, or would not, match an offer to Bob Rouse, who
shuffled down the 401 west to Detroit. The blue line corps
suffered immeasurably. As a result, the former number one goalie
saw more shots than ever before and let in more goals than
before. Lefebvre and Rouse both went on to win Stanley Cups with
Colorado and Detroit, respectively. In retrospect, the former
number one goalie never recovered.
So as the Leafs enter a long road trip that will take them on a
journey through the Eastern Conference, we should learn just how
good this team really is. Many of the nay sayers are expecting
the team to finally falter as has been predicted so many times
this season. As yet the team has refused to capitulate.
However, in recent games against the East, certain flaws and
holes have been exposed. Namely, the Leafs are a soft team that
lacks size. The bigger Eastern teams seem to manhandle the
smaller Leafs with ease. There are rumblings that Smith will try
to deal a defenseman in exchange for a power forward with some
playoff experience. Immediately after the Berard deal,
speculation ran rampant that Mike Smith was shopping Jason Smith.
However, Management Smith claims that he wants to assess his team
once everyone is healthy especially Berard who is out until
Saturday with an injured groin.
In a few weeks we should all know just where the Leafs stand,
hopefully by the time deadline time looms Smith will have done
his evaluation. While the success has been really fun to watch,
he had better not lose sight of the long term goal and return to
the ways of old Leaf management and make a short term
improvement and mortgage the future. Time will tell, so far the
often criticized Smith has done very well, much to the chagrin of
the Toronto press, especially Al Strachan. Yes even though big
Al will not admit it, none of Smith's moves to date have been bad
ones. Let's hope that trend continues.
The Maple Leafs will leave Maple Leaf Gardens February 13th and
head for the Air Canada Center. Please send in any of your
thoughts on the move out of hockey's last shrine to the email
address listed above, some of the best will be included in an
upcoming feature.
