NEWS OF MAPLE LEAFS
Last Update:
Friday May 7, 1999 3:21PM EST
Friday May 7, 1999 Domi quiet on Barnaby battle
There was a time Tie Domi never met a microphone or TV camera he didn't like.
But there was the Maple Leafs enforcer yesterday, fresh off the worst experience of his life, somewhat media-shy about answering questions regarding a possible showdown with the Penguins' Matthew Barnaby in the Eastern Conference semi-final.
"I don't want to comment on Barnaby," Domi said. "Barnaby is Barnaby. I don't want to give him the satisfaction."
Domi was in the "no comment" mood as a result of his experience in Game 3 of the Leafs-Flyers quarter-final when Philly tough guy Sandy McCarthy allegedly spit in the Leafs winger's face and then accused him of a racial slur.
Two days later, Domi told The Toronto Sun he wouldn't fight McCarthy again because he no longer respects him.
But will Domi fight Barnaby? He wasn't commenting.
Regardless, Barnaby has the game's loosest lips.
He already has gone on the record to say he has a few ideas up his sleeve to get Domi off his game.
"I don't give a crap," Domi said. "He can talk all he wants, he won't get anything out of it."
During the Devils-Penguins quarter-final series, Barnaby called New Jersey defenceman Lyle Odelein "Cornelius" because, Barnaby said, Odelein looked like the character from the Planet of the Apes movies.
Odelein responded by insulting the looks of Barnaby's wife.
Leafs coach Pat Quinn was asked how his club would handle Barnaby's mouth.
"It depends on who he is taunting," Quinn said. "He is a guy who has offended his own teammates.
"He believes that is a weapon he has."
Thursday May 6, 1999 Sundin looking to contribute more offensively
Mats Sundin is caught in a mental contradiction.
After scoring only one goal and assisting on only one in the six-game elimination of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Toronto Maple Leafs' captain and first-line centre admits he must contribute more offence against the Pittsburgh Penguins beginning with Game 1 of the second-round NHL playoff series tomorrow tonight (7 p.m EDT, CBC).
"Two points in six games obviously is nothing I'm satisfied with," he said after practice Thursday. "Our line can be more productive, and should be more productive in this series coming up.
"As a whole team, we had a really good series (against Philadelphia), especially defensively. We got the job done. But myself and the top line have to be more productive in this series."
Yet, in Sundin's mind, defence is the key that will unlock advancement to the conference final.
"I think that the team that plays the best defence is going to win this series," he said. "Both teams have a lot of offensive power, and I think it's going to come down to whoever is the most disciplined and playing the best in their own end.
"The team that takes care of the defensive part of the game best is the one that will come out of this series."
He wants to score more goals. He knows he has to continue to be diligent defensively. Can he do both? The Penguins hope not.
As far as the Penguins are concerned though, Sundin is not their main worry. Goaltender Curtis Joseph is the man they view as the biggest stumbling block. But after having dispatched New Jersey and its premier goaltender, Martin Brodeur, they're optimistic.
"Sundin, everybody knows that he can score goals," Penguins centre Martin Straka said before his team's flight from Pittsburgh on Thursday. "(Sergei) Berezin, (Bryan) Berard, so many great players on that team.
"The big thing is Joseph. He's going to be the guy, but we feel pretty good after beating New Jersey."
The guy the Leafs are most worried about is NHL scoring champion Jaromir Jagr, who gave his strained groin a rest during his team's two days off.
"His injury definitely isn't 100 per cent and as competitive as he is he's going to want to play," said Pens coach Kevin Constantine. "But if the injury is getting worse, you can't play him and lose him for the entire playoffs."
The Leafs expect to see him tonight.
"You know they're going to have somebody on Mats and we're going to try and contain Jagr to the best of our abilities," said Steve Thomas, Sundin's left-winger.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tom Barrasso left practice early Thursday.
"He caught a shot," Constantine explained. "He's played a lot and he really doesn't need practice that much right now.
"He just caught a shot so he went off the ice."
Meanwhile, Tie Domi threw cold water on suggestions a Domi-Matthew Barnaby clash is inevitable. Domi, touchy after exchanging insults with Philadelphia's Sandy McCarthy during the first round, would not talk about the Pittsburgh pest.
"I don't want to get caught up in any of that," he said. "I had enough problems last series. I don't need this (expletive) starting now.
"It's a hockey series not a sideshow."
In Pittsburgh, Barnaby was asked about Domi.
"I don't know how often we'll play against each other but we're fought a couple of times," Barnaby said. "He's a tough character.
"He plays a role and plays it well. I'm sure he'll have some words out there but this is playoff hockey and the two points are the most important thing."
Said Leafs coach Pat Quinn: "(Barnaby) is a guy who has offended his own teammates so he might be worse on their team than ours."
Notes: The Penguins have never played in the Air Canada Centre, which opened in February. Constantine: "None of us have been there so that'll be fun. And I'm sure all of Canada will be rooting for Toronto now, being the only Canadian team left. The more attention on a sporting event, the more likely there'll be some great performances." . . . Quinn said he'd re-insert right-winger Fred Modin into the lineup after sitting him out in the finale against Philadelphia . . . Quinn said there is "a high percentage" that both slightly injured defencemen Daniil Markov and Alexander Karpovtsev will play tonight.
Thursday May 6, 1999 Hardware in store for Leafs?: Quinn, Joseph up for NHL awards
Curtis Joseph got tired of renting a tuxedo and bought one this year, figuring he would need it for the Maple Leafs' many social functions during the season.
But he'll get one more night's use out of it on June 24 when he joins coach Pat Quinn as a finalist at the National Hockey League's awards dinner at the Air Canada Centre.
Joseph has made the cut for the Vezina Trophy as the league's outstanding goaltender, along with Dominik Hasek of Buffalo and Byron Dafoe of the Bruins. The Leafs haven't had a Vezina winner since the tandem of Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk in 1965, in the days when the award went automatically to the team with the lowest goals-against average.
In 1993, Doug Gilmour won the Frank Selke Trophy as top defensive forward and Pat Burns was coach of the year, providing the Leafs with their most recent major hardware.
"It's an honour," Joseph said of his second Vezina nomination. "It's good the league recognizes the best average isn't necessarily the best goaltender. I think I'm better than I was (when he was nominated in St. Louis), because of age and experience."
Joseph, 32, won a club record 35 games this season, faced the second most shots in the league (1,903) and played the third-most minutes (4,001). Though he inspired the Leafs to be the No. 1 offensive team in the league, their scoring feats likely obscured his chances of capturing enough support to make the Hart Trophy MVP balloting.
But he figured that two-time winner Hasek would be back in line for the Hart, along with league-leading scorer Jaromir Jagr, and Joseph had no qualms with Ottawa's Alexei Yashin earning the third nomination.
"You could make a case (for Cujo and the Hart)," Quinn said. "But those (finalists) are pretty good people. You don't squeak into that group."
VEZINA, ADAMS
Hasek, injured part of this season, has won the Vezina four of the past five years, while Dafoe's 10 shutouts and 1.99 goals-against average made him a first-time nominee.
Quinn will be attempting to equal Burns' record of three Adams trophies with three different teams, having won in Philadelphia and Vancouver.
The league's 27 general managers vote on the Vezina, while all other player awards -- Hart, Selke, Norris (top defenceman), Calder (rookie of the year) and Lady Byng (good conduct)-- are chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.League broadcasters pick the Adams.
Thursday May 6, 1999 Berezin's agent gets 'No' respect
The agent for Sergei Berezin was stunned last week when he received the Maple Leafs' response to his inquiry about the possibility of restructuring his client's performance bonuses.
Hollywood-based player agent Serge Levin recently wrote his intentions in a letter addressed to Leafs president Ken Dryden.
Levin felt that with the NHL undergoing a change to more defensive hockey and better goaltending, Berezin's goal-scoring bonuses should be revisited.
The National Hockey League didn't have a 50-goal scorer this season for the first time since 1969-70.
Dryden turned the matter over to associate general manager Mike Smith.
To paraphrase Smith's short response to Levin: In reference to the request to renegotiate Sergei Berezin's performance bonuses, "No."
"I couldn't believe it," said Levin, who attended yesterday's Leafs practice at the Gardens. "I couldn't believe he at least didn't write me an explanation."
Smith, who was sitting a couple sections over and several rows up from Levin during the practice, provided an explanation.
"It's not a set team policy, but every contract that has been done since Mats Sundin's deal (in September 1997) includes a team bonus plan," Smith said.
"If (Levin) wants to redo the bonuses, he could accept the team bonus plan. But he won't do that."
The Leafs' team bonuses are for such results as shutout wins, one-goal wins, goals-against average and reaching different point totals during segments in the schedule.
Berezin led the Leafs with 37 goals this season. Unfortunately for him, his goal-scoring bonuses didn't click in unless he hit the 40-goal mark. He would have received a $50,000 bonus had he scored three more goals.
Berezin signed a new contract during the summer of 1997, a five-year deal worth $9 million US. That contract was negotiated by Levin and then Leafs interim general manager Bill Watters.
In some circles, Watters was criticized for overpaying Berezin. But this past season, the Russian finished tied for 13th in the goal-scoring race.
Thursday May 6, 1999 Winning Leafs give CBC a boost
It was only the first round, but the Leafs delivered Stanley Cup final-like numbers to CBC's Hockey Night In Canada. The Leafs' 1-0 win Sunday in Game 6, clinching the series against Philadelphia, drew 2.39 million viewers, a million more than CBC's average for all other first-round games.
The game raised the six-game average for the Flyers-Leafs series to 1.81 million.
Hockey Night In Canada will stick with its lead crew of Bob Cole and Harry Neale for the Leafs-Penguins series starting tomorrow night at the Air Canada Centre.
Southern Ontario viewers with expanded satellite or cable packages will be able to see all the action from the Buffalo-Boston series. Boston's WSBK will show the series opener tonight plus Game 3 (May 12), Game 4 (May 14), Game 6 (May 18), and Game 7 (May 20). Games 2 and 5 are on Sunday afternoons and will be shown on Buffalo's Fox 29.
Those hoping to see the Detroit Red Wings fans aren't so lucky. The only games scheduled are CBC telecasts of Sunday afternoon games this week and again on May 16.
Hockey Night begins its second-round coverage tonight with St. Louis at Dallas at 8 p.m. Chris Cuthbert and John Davidson call the action. Cuthbert will team with Brian Hayward for Game 2 of the series Sunday with Davidson returning for Game 3 on Monday.
Besides carrying all Leafs-Pens games on the radio, AM640 will pick up select broadcasts from NHL radio, starting with tonight's St. Louis-Dallas opener at 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday May 5, 1999 Bring on the Pens!
:Leafs happy to be playing Pittsburgh after punishing Round 1
The Maple Leafs' remarkable season took another strange twist last night when they emerged from the first playoff round as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Leafs, who were slotted fourth entering the post-season, will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a best-of-seven conference semi-final starting Friday at the Air Canada Centre.
The eighth-place Penguins upset the conference-champion New Jersey Devils 4-2 last night to squeeze into the second round, winning the series in seven games.
The truth be told, most Leafs were excited about the prospect of playing Pittsburgh, a free-wheeling team like themselves -- especially, after facing such a physically punishing team as the Flyers in Round 1.
"That was by far the toughest series I've ever played in," Leafs winger Derek King said. "They didn't give us room to breathe or anything.
"It was exhausting. This year we were so used to creating things, and getting scoring chances. The best thing I can say about that series is, 'Thank God it's over.' I'm sure a lot of guys would agree with that."
The Leafs haven't faced the Penguins in the playoffs since 1977 when Toronto defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 in a best-of-three preliminary round.
The clubs split their four-game series this season, with each team winning twice.
The Leafs will begin preparing in earnest for the Penguins this morning after yesterday's light workout at the Air Canada Centre.
"We want to re-establish where we are, who we are and what we want to accomplished in the second round," coach Pat Quinn said.
While encouraged by his club's defensive work against the Flyers, Quinn is hoping for a better effort from the forwards.
Yanic Perreault, King, Mike Johnson and Fred Modin struggled at times against Philadelphia.
"I think we're still a little green behind the ears," said Leafs centre Steve Sullivan, who's competing in his first playoffs.
"But I don't think we'll be as nervous as we were in the first game (against Philly)."
The Leafs should be a little more confident, too.
"I think in the last series we beat a heckuva hockey team, regardless of the fact Eric (Lindros) wasn't in their lineup," winger Steve Thomas said.
"They played great defensive hockey and we had to change our game around. It has given us a little bit more confidence, knowing we got by Philly.
"I think all the guys made huge sacrifices to win. We all played the body. We played a game we didn't play all season. I was really impressed by the courage the guys showed out there."
Monday May 3, 1999 Berezin finishes off Flyers with last-minute power-play goal
On anniversary of 1967 win, The Maple Leafs' power play switched on and off like a refrigerator light all season.
Well, the Leafs picked a good time to get hungry.
They captured their Eastern Conference quarter-final series against the Flyers last night with a Sergei Berezin power-play goal with 59.2 seconds remaining in the third period.
Berezin's goal, before 19,706 fans at the First Union Center, gave the Leafs a 1-0 win as they took the best-of-seven series 4-2.
Berezin, a fitting hero because of his 37-goal breakthrough season, was the beneficiary of a Bryan Berard shot that rebounded to him off the leg of Flyers defenceman Adam Burt.
"I didn't think, I just shot," Berezin said. "I was looking for loose pucks all night."
This loose puck enabled Toronto to advance to the second round for the first time since 1994.
But the Leafs will have to wait for the conclusion of the Devils-Penguins series to find out their second-round opponent. A Devils win in Game 7 tomorrow means the Leafs will clash with the Bruins. A Penguins win would pit Pittsburgh against Toronto. The Leafs would have home-ice advantage against either opponent.
Remarkably, after opening the series 0-for-14 on the power play, five of the final six goals scored by the Leafs in the series came with a man advantage.
"We may have struggled at times on the power play, but I guess you could say we get timely goals on the power play," Mike Johnson said.
It was the back of Johnson's head that absorbed John LeClair's elbow, a play referee Terry Gregson deemed worth a two-minute penalty at 17:06 of the third period, leading to Berezin's goal.
"I wasn't thinking it's a penalty, but I still wasn't surprised they called it," Johnson said.
The Flyers were livid about the call. But the Flyers had their power-play chances, too. With 9:43 left in the game, Johnson was called for tripping -- the fifth consecutive power play of the game for Philadelphia.
The Leafs became the first team to win an NHL playoff series without scoring more than two goals in a game.
Berezin's goal was just the Leafs' ninth of the series, breaking a 59-year-old club record for fewest goals in a six-game series. The old mark was 11 in a Stanley Cup final loss to the New York Rangers in 1940.
Berezin called it his biggest NHL goal. But he has fonder memories of the German League championship-clinching goal he scored for Cologne in 1995.
Next to Berezin, Leafs executive Bill Watters probably was the happiest man in the joint. When he signed Berezin to a five-year, $9-million US contract two summers ago, he was criticized by a broadsheet columnist.
Moments before he went on the ice to score the game winner, Berezin stepped on an opponent's stick and "bent" the blade of his right skate.
"I thought, this is no time to get it fixed," he said.
To allow for Berezin's heroics, goaltender Curtis Joseph again was brilliant for the Leafs. He earned his eighth career playoff shutout, and stopped 190 of the 199 shots he faced in the series.
He made three stellar stops on Mark Recchi and another one on Dan McGillis in the first period. Both players also hit the post.
Joseph had a scary moment early in the second period when he fell behind the net trying to poke the puck to defenceman Dimitri Yushkevich.
Rod Brind'Amour stole the puck and fed Mikael Andersson in the slot, only to have his shot stopped by Bryan Berard's skates.
"It was fresh ice and the puck was spinning away," Joseph said. "It was a sinking feeling."
Although the series finale featured checking tighter than Pat Quinn's collar, the Leafs coach was proud his club, which had played a high-flying style during the season, found a way to win.
"Hopefully, we learned a little bit about ourselves in this series," Quinn said, referring to the Leafs' four one-goal victories, all in defence-oriented contests.
Monday May 3, 1999 A preference for the Pens?
When Mats Sundin was asked which team the Maple Leafs prefer to meet in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he just smiled and shook his head.
Athletes in Sundin's position always are asked those types of questions, and they never can answer bluntly for fear of a printed comment winding up tacked to some opponent's dressing-room wall.
But Sundin did acknowledge how different the Leafs' two potential opponents are. The situation is this:
If New Jersey defeats Pittsburgh tomorrow night in Game 7, the Leafs will meet former coach Pat Burns and his tight-checking Boston Bruins.
If Pittsburgh upsets New Jersey, the Leafs will become the No. 1 seed in the East and face the offensive-minded Penguins.
"People thought we were unfortunate to get Philly in the first round, but you have to beat whoever you play," Sundin said. "It really doesn't matter who we play now. "We have depth on this team and we get a contribution from all four lines," he said. "I think we have proven this season, and especially against Philly, that we can play any type of game." Maybe so, but the look in Sundin's eyes revealed that a high-flying style of game is more fun than a clutch-fest for a player of his calibre. He acknowledged the Bruins would try to check him to death, while the Penguins might be apt to match power against power, setting up some head-to-head battles with the explosive Jaromir Jagr. "Usually, it is better for me when I get to play the other team's top scoring line, because I think you wind up with more chances that way," Sundin said. The Leafs were 1-3-1 against the Bruins in the regular season, losing both games in Boston. They were 2-2 against Pittsburgh, with each team winning once in the other team's building.
Monday May 3, 1999 Cujo (again) saves the day
He was born three days before the Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup, which was exactly 32 years ago last night, by the way. It remains to be seen whether the Leafs have what it takes to even seriously contemplate winning another this spring, but at least they have a chance. And the guy most responsible for that is Curtis Joseph. "Had he been normal," Philadelphia Flyers coach Roger Neilson lamented earlier in the series, "we win in four."
Instead, they lose in six. It was Joseph who gave the Leafs a chance to win again last night. Good and lucky in the early going, he was rock solid the rest of the night until the Leafs finally scored with a minute left in regulation time to beat the Flyers 1-0 and win their first playoff series in five years. "Not only does he stop the puck, he gives the whole team confidence," Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "You play entirely differently when Curtis Joseph is your goalie." And in the case of the Flyers, you play entirely differently when Joseph isn't your goalie. All Joseph did in this series was take the team with the worst defensive numbers of any post-season participant and lead them to one-goal victories an improbable four times. All Joseph did was shut out the Flyers for the final 129 minutes and 59 seconds of the series and stop the final 59 shots he faced. Like the team in front of him, which suddenly learned what it meant to pay the price and win without letting the firewagons out of the garage every night, it wasn't always pretty, but Joseph got the job done. So, yeah, maybe Flyers general manager Bob Clarke finally is having second thoughts about his choice of free-agent goaltenders last summer. For the longest time, of course, the vote was split in this series as to which goaltender had been the Leafs' most valuable -- Joseph or John Vanbiesbrouck. But after last night, there is no doubt. As much as Vanbiesbrouck allowed three soft goals that breathed new life into the Leafs earlier in the series, it still was Joseph who put his team in a position for those softies to matter. In the first period last night, Joseph made some spectacular saves and had a couple of shots ring off the posts. But none went in. Hell, he was so hot that, in the second period, when Joseph mishandled the puck behind his goal, then stumbled and fell, the Flyers still couldn't beat him. The loose puck wound up on the stick of Flyers forward Mikael Andersson, but defenceman Bryan Berard made a Joseph-like save. "He made a kick save and a beauty," Joseph said. As for his own heroics, Joseph typically was humble. In the end, he allowed just nine goals in the series, with two others scored into an empty net. "I don't know, tempo of play picks up in the playoffs and everyone plays team defence and goalies benefit from that," said Joseph, whose recent playoff history includes big series wins over the likes of Dallas and Colorado and now, even though they didn't have Eric Lindros, the Flyers. You can rest assured, however, that had it not been for the goaltending Joseph provided the Leafs, who are new to this business of playing tight defence, they would not have been able to win the series by scoring just nine goals in six games. Some will suggest, of course, the Leafs were lucky in this series and they were. No one is denying that. You don't win with a two-goal rally in the final two minutes of the game, like they did in Game 2; or by giving up 41 shots but just one goal, as they did in Game 4; or in overtime; or with a shutout, without a break or two. But mostly, you don't do it without Joseph. But then, that was the essence of this series, of what Joseph allowed the Leafs to do, which mostly included learning how to change their style of play against a team that is very good defensively, of learning how to put all the breaks and soft goals to good use. "A lot of people doubted whether this club could get the job done," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "We didn't play that free-flow offensive style ... We played their game and we still came through it. But you just don't win on luck." Throughout the series, the Leafs never relinquished a lead and last night was the first time they opened the scoring. The Leafs also didn't allow the Flyers to establish their punishing forechecking game and kept John LeClair under wraps for the final two games. So there was more to it than luck and Joseph, but he gave them the time to learn and adapt. "Are we good enough to win it (the Stanley Cup)? I don't know," Quinn said. "But we're good enough to come out of our side. Once we're there, who knows?" And with a goaltender like Joseph, who knows?
Saturday May 1, 1999 Yanic stops the panic
The Maple Leafs' high-flying offence hasn't carried into the playoffs, but their overtime magic sure has. The Leafs, a splendid 6-1-7 during the regular season in overtime, last night won their first foray into post-season extra time. Yanic Perreault provided the heroics when he gathered in a Garry Valk pass then slipped a backhander past Flyers goalkeeper John Vanbiesbrouck with 8:09 remaining in the first overtime period. The 2-1 victory, before 18,800 rally-rag-waving fans at the Air Canada Centre, gave the Leafs a 3-2 series lead heading into Philadelphia for Game 6 tomorrow (7:30 p.m., CBC).
"We knew in every game it has been tight-checking, so every goal is important," said Perreault, who scored his first goal of the 1999 playoffs and first since his four-goal performance 10 games ago against the Ottawa Senators on April 7. Incredibly, Perreault's backhand was just his second shot on goal in the series. The first came 10 days ago in Game 1.
"No, I wasn't frustrated," Perreault said. "I have Sergei Berezin on my line and my job is to set him up. "This was good for my confidence. Even if you don't get any goals, you still have a lot of work out there." Four out of the eight goals Vanbiesbrouck has allowed in this series have come on backhands. "I wasn't thinking of that," Perreault said. "I was just trying to go short side. I kept the puck on my backhand because I was using my (left) leg to protect the puck." Perreault called the goal, just the second of his career in the playoffs, the biggest he has scored since clinching a shootout win for Canada over Russia in the semi-finals at the 1996 world hockey championship. Perreault's heroics were made possible by another brilliant stop by Curtis Joseph four minutes earlier. Joseph stoned his old junior Tier II teammate Rod Brind'Amour on a deke, 7:30 into overtime. The two played at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., in 1987-88. "He looked like he was going to make a move, so I stretched out and the puck rolled over me," Joseph said. Joseph was asked whether that was a move Brind'Amour tried on him back at Notre Dame. He couldn't remember. "That was a long time ago," Joseph said. It took a long time but the Flyers finally allowed the Leafs to play open hockey, especially in overtime. Leafs captain Mats Sundin hit the crossbar behind Vanbiesbrouck from the high slot earlier in overtime, and Todd Warriner missed a glorious chance with Vanbiesbrouck down and out. Still, the Leafs are in danger of breaking a 59-year-old club record for fewest goals scored in a six-game series. The Leafs have scored only eight times in five games, despite scoring a league-leading 268 goals during the regular season. In the six-game 1940 Stanley Cup final, the Leafs scored just 11 goals against the New York Rangers. Both teams fired 34 shots on goal last night, which gives Philly a 165-126 advantage through five games. In regulation time, Flyers agitator Keith Jones and Leafs defenceman Dimitri Yushkevich traded first-period goals. Jones' goal came on a wrap-around. "I thought I had my skate there," Joseph said. Yushkevich's tying goal on the power play was the Leafs' third power-play goal of the past two games. There was an eight-minute delay at start of the game because the switch for the television lights was accidentally turned off. As a result, the lights took several minutes to warm up.