JIM LANG ON SPORTS

BY: JIM LANG
FOR RODPEDERSEN.COM

THE MAPLE LEAFS

Do you hear that sound? It is the sound of a run-away 18 wheeler heading for a cliff. The 18 wheeler in question is symbolic of the Toronto Maple Leafs late-season slump and the cliff represents the playoffs.

Tuesday night the Leafs allowed a staggering 23 shots in the first period as they went on to lose 5-3 loss to the Blues. There’s no question the Blues are a very good team but that makes it six straight losses for the stumbling Leafs and the Leafs Nation is angry my friends.

As if that wasn’t ugly enough all six losses have come in regulation time. If Randy Carlyle and the Leafs can manage a way to pull themselves out of this late-season nose dive and squeak into the playoffs then maybe, just maybe, Randy Carlyle can save his job.

But if the 18 wheeler continues to careen off of the edge of the cliff and the Leafs end up missing the post-season, then Carlyle will be toast (pardon the pun) in Toronto.

With each loss Leafs fans jam the phones lines of sports talk radio stations in Toronto with angry calls for heads to roll. Fire Carlyle! Phaneuf is a bum! (Phaneuf was gawd awful against the Blues) Buy out Clarkson!

With their next two games against the Flyers and the Red Wings the Leafs losing streak could easily hit eight games by Saturday night.  If you thought it was ugly in Toronto now, just wait to see what happens if the Leafs losing streak hits eight games.

And believe me, this is about as nasty as I have seen Leafs fans in a long time.

To makes matters even worse for the Leafs the two teams they are chasing for the Wild Card in the Eastern Conference, the Blue Jackets and the Red Wings, each have two games in hand.  The thought of the Blue Jackets making the playoffs while the Leafs piss away the season in the mother of all tailspins will be too much for many fans to take.

While all this is going on the Montreal Canadiens just keep winning games and moving closer to locking up a spot in the post-season. TSN’s James Duthie Tweeted something I thought was fascinating on Wednesday; @tsnjamesduthie Last time only 1 Cdn team made playoffs was 1973 (Habs), when there were only 3 Cdn teams in the NHL.

With the Leafs’ season crashing around them there is a very real possibility that the only Canadian team to make the post-season will be the Habs.

It makes you wonder when the next Canadian team will win the Stanley Cup. It also makes you wonder just how ugly it is going to get in Toronto if they keep losing and miss the playoffs.


WAYNE GRETZKY

Tuesday marked the 32nd anniversary of a truly remarkable accomplishment by Wayne Gretzky. It was on March 25th, 1982 that Wayne Gretzky became the first player in the history of the NHL to crack the 200 point barrier in a single season. It is a benchmark in offensive production that will never be matched.

Since 1990 no player has been able to exceed Gretzky’s 1991 total of 163 points.

As someone pointed out to me on Twitter; there once was a time when you drafted players in a hockey pool you could get Gretzky’s goals or his assists, but not both, because that would be just too unfair for everybody else.

There are numerous reasons why no player will ever hit the 200 point barrier. For one, there are more quality goaltenders in the NHL then there were in 1982. Secondly, the equipment goalies wear now is noticeably larger than it was in 1982. Thirdly, teams play a much less wide open style than they did in the early 80’s.

Don’t forget, the New Jersey Devils trap was light years away back then. Breakaways and 2 on 1’s were common place in the early 80’s. This was an era were players would cross the blue line and could still blow a slapshot by an ill-equipped goalie. You rarely see a player beat a goalie with a shot from long distance anymore.

Gretzky was also the perfect player at the perfect time playing for the perfect team. It is highly doubtful we will ever such a perfect confluence of talent, team and league conditions to allow a player to put up those kinds of numbers ever again.

As the years roll by the sick numbers Gretzky posted during the halcyon days of the Oilers seem more and more untouchable.  Unlike today all of the Oilers games back then were not televised. That means many Canadians had to rely on late-night highlights to keep track of Gretzky’s remarkable season.

Can you imagine how out of control fans and media would get if a player posted a 200 point season in 2014?

I miss the days of Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull posting huge offensive numbers every year. This year there will likely be only one player, Sidney Crosby, who cracks the 100 point barrier.
That is just the way it is it the NHL in this era.  As for a 200 point season. Well keep dreaming, because those days are long gone and never will return.


RALPH WILSON AND THE BUFFALO BILLS

Tuesday was a sad day for sports fans in Buffalo and Western New York. Ralph Wilson, the long-time owner of the Bills, passed away Tuesday at the age of 95.

Wilson was the only person to own the franchise and was one of the original owners to form the American Football League.  Wilson invested $25,000 dollars in 1960 to place the Bills in Buffalo and join a group of owners that were dubbed “the foolish club”.

At the time of his passing the Bills have an estimated value of $900 million dollars. That is quite a return on his original investment.  Wilson was not without his faults. But there is no question the only reason the Bills are still in Buffalo is because of Wilson.

With his passing the future of the Bills in Buffalo is now up in the air. Forget for a second about Toronto as a potential landing spot. Los Angeles still doesn’t have a team and the NFL desperately want to get back to the greater Los Angeles area and it 13 million potential fans.

I feel bad for the people of Buffalo and Western New York. They have suffered through some lean years and they are, without a doubt, some of the most dedicated and loyal football fans you will ever see.

But the economic realities of Buffalo and its surroundings simply cannot compete with somewhere like LA. I am sure Roger Goodell will say all the right things and do everything possible to keep the team in Buffalo. But if someone from LA, or Toronto, or London, England can come up with the most money, then they will end up getting the team.

In the meantime Bills fans are hoping a white knight drops out of the sky and ends up buying the team, keeping them in Buffalo and building them a new stadium.  That is a lot to hope for and the likelihood of something like that happening is doubtful.

(Follow Jim on Twitter at @JimLangSports)