Toronto's McScapegoat
by James Mirtle @ 1:51 PM
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A sports desk staffer at The Globe and Mail, James is a regular contributor to the newspaper and Globe on Hockey. James has also written about hockey for The Hockey News, McKeen's Hockey and the National Post. A graduate of TRU and Ryerson, he is originally from Kamloops, B.C. — one of Canada's great hockey cities.
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12 Comments:
We shouldn't be surprised, after all, this is the same media that proclaimed the Leafs rallying cry was "Wait 'til next year" barely one week into this season.
McCabe hasn't earned the huge contract he signed with Toronto last year, but it's not fair to single him out. There's plenty of blame to go around.
Agreed with Lyle. There are many reasons why McCabe is overpaid and overrated, but one own goal? Sheesh, as if he doesn't feel bad enough as it is. This is typical of the Toronto mediots and a big reason why many free agents are reluctant to play there.
Oh wow Golbez, my irony meter just exploded. When's the last time you had anything good to say about anyone? I'm going to suggest that the guy who isn't above taking pot shots at Chris Pronger's kids shouldn't be commenting on the negativity in the Toronto media.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
Judging from the logo on the boards behind McCabe, it appears the Leafs have sent him back to "hockey school".
Anything written by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun should be used to line the bottom of your bird cage (or rat cage might be better). I challenge anyone to try to find a single thing he has written in the past 5 years that is positive about the Leafs. He is a garbage hockey writer with little or no hockey knowledge.
Why Steve Simmons cares one iota whether McCabe makes $7 million or $70 million is beyond me. The only number that matters (with respect to salary) is $5.75 which is his salary cap hit. The rest of it only matters to the ownership group which is making so much money it doesn't really matter much to them either. But Simmons tosses around the $7 million number because it makes him feel better. Most of the rest of humanity uses the more important $5.75 number but Simmons has yet to clue in.
Steve Simmons is an angry man when it comes to hockey matters and I wish everyone would put an end to giving him any credibility and simply ignore the uninformed mediot.
I think "McBench Him" is still my favourite though. I don't really expect any better from a publication that thinks Sundin's new girlfriend is front page news though.
That being said, combine the market and the contract and that's what you get. It's not McCabe's fault he has a nice salary, who would say no to that after all? I agree with Lyle, there's plenty of blame to go around.
It's a shame, but once he fell over his own net, I started to pity the guy. He just needs to start skating hard and he'll come out of it. And having Carlo paired with him really settled him down last year.
Sadly Simmon's article today on Maurice, despite the omnipresent hyperbole, is close to the mark. The fact about facing back-up tenders is the real kicker: Thibault, Sabourin, Dubie. That's a slap in the face, especially for a divisional game.
David, what has happened to the trumpeted Leafs' ability to keep shots against down?
And "McKlutz" is so amateurish.
What's that on Page 7, anyways?
I watched the "own goal" game, if there's any whippings to be handed out, the whole team should be bending over to receive the lashes too, not just McCabe.
As for the media onslaught, being a fervent member of Leaf Nation, I still got up the next day, kissed my wife and went to work - LIFE GOES ON. So they should cut him a little slack instead of jumping down his throat - and besides, what kind of a headline did you expect from The Sun anyway?
This is a perfect example of the reason that the Maple Leafs must overpay players to entice them suit up for the blue Leaf.
Whether players are aquired by trade or signed as free agents their is a price to pay, call it a surcharge, that exists for the players and their families to live life in the white hot spotlight.
Most of the young talent you, Leaf, have drafted and developed have wilted under the heat and moved on to better lives and careers elsewhere.
.. and to the fan..
"Hey you, true Leaf fan. Boo all the hometown players you want, this individual act causes the saleries of your team to rise, and the depth of your team to suffer. You look foolish, if not passionate, while your team loses interest in you."
Golfing again in April
So now it's the fans fault for booing? Last I checked players get booed in every sport in every country. Hell, David Beckham was burned in effigy at soccer stadiums around England after the '98 World Cup.
Did he take the McCabe "gosh, I try that's all I can do" approach? No, he got down to work, improved his game, and played a massive role in getting England to the World Cup in 2002.
Real men like freaking Antropov and Beckham man up and get to work. Hopefully McCabe does the same and if he does we'll all be there cheering him on.
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