Leafs Beat Canes/Thoughts on Women’s Hockey

 

Bare with me on this article because I have some things I have to say. Of course, first I’ll go over the Leaf game. Last night coming off the All-Star break the Leafs played host to the Carolina Hurricanes and it was a reunion of sorts because it was Freddie Andersen’s first game back since leaving Toronto and Josh Leivo who was recently called up to the Canes roster. Petr Mrazek would get the start for the Leafs giving Campbell the night off. This game was a real test for the Leafs because Carolina is a legitimate contender to win this seasons Stanley Cup. Things didn’t start too positive for Toronto because for the first half of the opening period Toronto were unable to sustain any pressure in the Offensive zone because Carolina did a great job clogging up the neutral zone causing Toronto to turn the puck over.  The Leafs would find themselves trailing when Ian Cole would send a slap pass towards the Leafs goal that would be redirected in by Nino Niederreiter for his 14^th goal of the season. A few minutes later Ondrej Kase would be victim of a knee on knee hit but fortunately Kase would be fine and able to continue. In response to this hit and, in an attempt, to spark his team Wayne Simmonds would drop the gloves with Brayden Smith and after this fight Toronto would begin to find their way back into this contest. The Leafs would begin to spend more time in the Canes zone but any chance the Leafs sent towards goal were easily taken care of by Andersen. After a sluggish first period Toronto would head to the intermission down 1-0.

The Second period would see the Leafs start much better but again Freddie Andersen was simply outstanding in this game because he turned aside quality chances by Nylander who seems to have a breakaway every single game and we all know how dangerous Auston Matthews is when playing with the puck, well Freddie for the first thirty minutes of this game did a great job keeping Auston off the score sheet. Late in the period though the Leafs would head to the powerplay after David Kampf drew a hooking minor. Toronto would have possession in the Canes zone Mitch Marner would send a wrist shot from the point that would lead to a scramble in front and with Nylander and Tavares digging for the lose puck Auston Matthews at the side of the net would poke the puck across the goal line tying the game at ones giving Matthews 30 goals on the season. Minutes later the Leafs would take the lead. Toronto would win the faceoff and we would get a glimpse at some nice passing play as Marner would work a give and go with Morgan Rielly who would make his way along the wing before sending a pass into the slot to Auston Matthews who sends a one timer passed Andersen beating him on the glove side. The Leafs after forty minutes would have a 2-1 lead thanks to Auston’s 31^st goal of the season.

The third period would get off to a bad start when just eight seconds in Carolina would tie the game when Tony DeAngelo would beat Mrazek blocker side for his 8^th goal of the season. I understand that to this point I haven’t talked about Mrazek’s play from last night and honestly, he played great last night and in his three starts prior to last night Petr Mrazek has done what the Leafs needed him to do and that’s give the Leafs a chance when he’s in goal to help manage the workload for Jack Campbell. On this tying goal however Mrazek was a little too aggressive and came out too far giving DeAngelo enough room to find the back of the net. At the midway point of this third period the Leafs would find themselves trailing once again. This goal would come from an awkward bounce as the puck would hit the glass and stay in the Leaf end. Carolina would pull ahead as Derek Stepan would be left alone at the side of the net where he would tap in the lose puck for his 7^th goal of the season. The biggest issue I have on this goal is the play of Justin Holl. When you watch the replay, you see Holl loses the sight of the puck, that part is fine, but he turns and sees Stepan is alone at the side of the net. All Justin Holl had to do was focus on the man instead of focusing on the puck. From the Minor Bantam level all the way up to the professional ranks you are taught to play the man and not the puck. If Justin Holl ties Stepan up this game would have remained tied but because he didn’t pau attention to the situation Toronto has to play catch up once again. Toronto would get right to work trying to level the game once again and did a decent job applying pressure, but Freddie Andersen was great as I mentioned, and it seemed as if the night was going to end with Freddie beating his former team. In the final five minutes of regulation Mitch Marner would continue his goal scoring streak. Carolina would fail to clear the puck from their zone and Ian Cole would knock the puck back to the point where Timothy Liljegren would be waiting. He would quickly send a pass to Marner was all by himself and his wrist shot would find the back of the net for his 15^th goal of the season and extending his scoring streak to eight games. The Leafs would have a moment of concern as Auston Matthews would be knocked down in the Hurricanes zone and another player would end up kneeing Auston in the back of the head. He would then leave the game entering concussion protocol and he will be evaluated today with an update likely coming Wednesday. With Auston Matthews out of this game the Leafs and Hurricanes would finish regulation tied at three meaning overtime was needed to award the bonus point. With two minutes left in the overtime Morgan Rielly would have his backhand shot stopped by Andersen but he would lose the puck in his feet and Mitch Marner would shovel in the lose puck for his second goal of the night and Toronto would come away with a well earned two points.

The Leafs were used to seeing are a team that when the offense is going their way, they are a team that dominates the game with their skill and speed and usually when they play a team that plays a physical style Tampa Bay or Boston are perfect examples of this Toronto would usually fold and end up losing. Last night though Toronto stuck to their plan and managed to break through the Canes defense finding their way to victory.

Update: Sheldon Keefe gave a quick update on Matthews saying that he is feeling good but will be evaluated again tomorrow.

 

Now, if you haven’t been following The Beijing Olympics are currently underway and the Women’s hockey tournament has finished their group play and are about begin the medal round. As expected, Canada and USA had beaten opponents like Russia and Finland in convincing fashion which led to Toronto Star writer Rosie DiManno to write an opinion piece where she said that she feels Women’s hockey doesn’t belong in the Olympics because there are only two contending teams in any international tournament, Canada, and the United States.  I understand that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I strongly disagree with her take. For decades women have fought for equality and inclusion in sport and in life, a quick history lesson for readers there was a time when women weren’t allowed to vote they didn’t have an opinion really but over time women gained more and more rights which they absolutely deserved. Later would come equality in sports. In 1990 the IIHF held the first Women’s World Championship a massive step for the women’s game to find and grow an audience. It wasn’t untill 1998 when Women’s hockey would be part of the Olympic calendar. Now Rosie in her article as I said goes on about how it’s always Canada or USA winning tournaments. What she doesn’t tell you is that Canada puts money into their national programs to develop their team. There was a time where Canada would beat USA year after year but heading into the 1998 games in Nagano the States decided to develop their Women’s hockey programs and in 98 the Americans would win the gold medal. What Rosie doesn’t tell you is that Sweden has Medaled at the 06 Olympics in Italy winning Silver. I understand I am just an average person writing articles for my own blog for free but if Rosie DiManno did actual research like a proper journalist, she should have looked at this specific Olympic tournament she would see that Japan won their group ahead of countries like Sweden and the Czech Republic countries where hockey is popular. Why did Japan improve enough for this tournament? It’s simple because the Japanese Olympic Committee invested money into their hockey programs to improve training facilities which has improved the development in players. Women’s hockey will not change for the better over night, but this is a massive step in the right direction for the Women’s game. You can look at how soccer has been treated in Canada, for years that sport was brushed aside by media and people in this country but thanks too the Tokyo games last year where we saw Canada win the gold medal in women’s soccer names like Christine Sinclair or Janine Beckie are becoming household names in the sport because young girls saw that gold medal win picked up a soccer ball and thought maybe one day they can represent their country at the Olympics. So, this tournament is no different a young girl in Japan or in China likely saw these games and felt the excitement the players felt knowing that they will be playing for a medal and that little girl will want to pick up a hockey stick and want to learn how to play that sport.

I understand Rosie has a job to do and she did it she has gotten a reaction from the article and she was able to get people to click to read her opinion piece but this isn’t the first time she has taken this stance regarding women’s hockey in 1997 when women were preparing to showcase their game on the biggest international stage Rosie Dimanno wrote an article saying that women’s hockey wasn’t ready for prime time. In that article and her latest from the other day she gave an opinion but did not give any real reason why or given any suggestions on how to improve the game. Women have fought for years to be looked upon as equals in hockey as well as other sports but it’s articles like hers that disrespect the efforts of Hayley Wickenheiser who is one of if not the greatest players to ever wear a Canadian jersey, it disrespects the efforts of Cammi Granato who is a legend for USA Hockey. Articles like this are why the CWHL is now defunct because interest wasn’t there. Women’s hockey belongs in the Olympics because every girl who is a fan of the sport deserves the chance to work for the ultimate achievement of playing for their country on the biggest stage. Again, the sport won’t improve by snapping your fingers, but I believe that in time other countries will improve and women’s hockey will become more competitive when more countries invest more time and resources into developing the sport.

 

I hope what I have said makes sense because I am fully supportive in equality in sport and want women’s hockey to achieve its ultimate success and felt as a supporter of women’s hockey I needed to say something thanks as always for reading.