So when did Dana White start managing the Maple Leafs?
Whether these Leafs want to admit it or not, the culture around this team is clear: either fight or be banished to the American Hockey League.
Why else would Lee Stempniak of all people be sent to the sin bin in Saturday’s rematch against the Flyers for fighting professional pest Daniel Carcillo?
Stempniak was one of the better Leafs on the ice in their first tilt against Philadelphia in London last Thursday evening, scoring the first goal of the game.
“We’re trying to build an identity where we’re going to stick together and no one’s going to be left behind,” Stempniak said after the game at the John Labatt Centre. “Everyone is sticking up for each other and I think that the fighting is just a natural course when you are trying to be a tougher team. The fighting is really just a byproduct.”
So playing for Brian Burke has nothing to do with it?
“I think [playing for Burke] is part of it,” Stempniak said when asked about his new boss. “We have to be finishing our checks, working hard and being relentless on loose pucks. If you play that way the fighting majors are going to come.”
Let me be the first to call malarkey on the excuses for the adamant goonery displayed by this team in its first four pre-season games. At least in the days when Tiger Williams and Tie Domi were terrorizing opponents, they didn’t bother making excuses for their hostility.
Surely the Leafs aren’t the only team in the league battling in the corners and finishing their checks. The 29 other National Hockey League teams aren’t exactly sitting around letting their opposition take every loose puck.
So then why are the Leafs first in the league in fighting majors this pre-season with 14 after just four games?
“You don’t go around looking for a fight, but there are times when it comes up,” Leaf defenceman Luke Schenn said. “Sometimes you [fight] for a change in momentum and sometimes you do it to stick up for a teammate. If the time is there, you have to step in and do it.”
So when the Saskatoon native was clipped by Carcillo’s high stick in the corner on Thursday night, Schenn wasn’t looking for a fight? It sure seemed like he was after he face-washed Carcillo and taunted him into a scrap.
Let’s be frank. What the Leafs have displayed over the beginning of the season is thuggery – nothing less. And the most delighted man in the building every night has been Burke.
Burke is highly regarded as one of the best executives in the game. However, after 11 years with four different teams, he has but one Stanley Cup to his record, and that team featured more than just goons.
That 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks squad had Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. I challenge you to find a single player on the Leafs roster who can hold a candle to those six.
Even with the addition of Phil Kessel — whose 36 goals last year were mostly a byproduct of playing with set-up man Marc Savard — the Leafs are four, maybe five marquee players away from contending.
Every hockey purist knows fighting is an important part of the game, and any good team will have an enforcer or two. But it takes more than toughness to win in this league, and that is where the Burke philosophy is derailed.
Just remember – they award the Stanley Cup to the best hockey team, not the best fighters.