The Axeman gives his take on the Spezza deal, Perron rumors and more…
Plenty of Axes to Grind this week so let's get to it.
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"Salute-gate"
Axeman's Grind
Let me start by saying, I think the players skating around after their home game with their sticks in the air "saluting" the fans is one of the most disingenuous things that happen in sports today. I understand why they do it, but after the foolishness put on by the Leafs this past week, I think someone needs to remind the players why they do it. For those who don't know, this whole "salute" started after the lockout ended in 2012/13 as a way to say thanks to the fans for sticking with the teams. We get it, you are thankful for the fans coming back. If you are going to do it, then do it. Don't pick and choose when you want to do it. And for the love of god, don't insult the same people you are trying to say "thanks" to by saying in the press that it was "nothing against the fans". Seriously, how dumb do you think the paying public is? Then again, this is the Leafs fans. These are the same fans who have stuck with this team after decades of futility. The same fans who annually think their team is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Either way, the insult of them saying it wasn't a slight toward their fans or it was just the team’s way of "trying to change up their routine" was a bigger insult then them not saluting in my eyes. Don't insult your fans intelligence, even if they are Leafs fans.
Straight up, this has been blown way out of proportion by the media. I honestly don't think the fans really care one way or the other if they raise their sticks or not. The media wants you to think it, but I doubt anyone who actually pays the big bucks to go to the Leafs games in person really cares about the "salute". What they really want is their money's worth on the ice during the game. Play hard, compete and earn the fans respect and admiration during the game, not after it with your sticks in the air.
The Leafs have shown this week why they are not one of the better teams in the NHL. Their poor leadership on the ice, making dumb choices like "salute-gate" after a win, shows to me that the issues surrounding the Leafs is mainly player driven. Earlier this week the cat calls were out for Randy Carlyle's head, but this choice made by the players only proves to me that the issues with the Leafs are not a coaching issue. The issue with the Leafs is poor leadership in the dressing room from the players. You can change your coach a million times, but until the poor leadership and mentality of the players is changed, the Toronto Maple Leafs have little to no reason to raise their sticks to their fans at all.
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Dallas Stars re-signs Jason Spezza
Axeman's Grind
So the Dallas Stars shored up their second line center for the next four years, inking Jason Spezza to a new long term contract with a modest raise from his current salary. His new deal will pay him 7.5M for the next four years compared to the 7M he is currently making on a deal that was due to expire at the end of this year.
Did the Stars pay a tad too much for a 31 year old center with an injury riddled history? Probably, but let's be honest, if they didn't do it, someone else sure would have. It's hard to find those top four centers that most teams covet and had Spezza hit the open market, he would have found a taker to pay him this much, or even more. His best years are behind him, but seeing as the Stars shelter him behind Seguin, he can still be a productive player for the Stars. He has 18 points in 20 games so far this year so it's hard to argue with his production.
Good signing for both. The Stars keep a key piece of their core and Spezza gets to settle in with the Stars and simply focus on hockey.
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Oilers fire their goalie coach, Frederic Chabot
Axeman's Grind
Well, we knew a change was coming but I think many were expecting the Axe to fall a little higher up the tree. Don't get me wrong, from all I have seen or know Freddy Chabot was not a good goalie coach, but he was a minor sacrificial lamb. When Dubnyk got traded to Nashville, Trotz was quoted as saying:
"We got Devan from Edmonton, and what we realized very quickly was that Devan has a lot of… I'll say bad habits he's picked up this year."
Gee, I wonder whose job it was to fix those in Edmonton.
Really, when you look at all the goalies that have come and gone since Chabot was hired in the summer of 2009, none of them are legit NHL starters today. Be it Bryzgalov, Dubnyk, Labarbera or the Oilers current goalies, Scrivens or Fasth, none are really legit NHL starters. Scrivens or Fasth are technically, by default, an NHL starter today but deep down, we all know they are nothing more than pretty good backups and really shouldn't be relied on to start the amount of games that they are doing today. Now is this a fault of Chabot's, or even Dallas Eakins? Of course it isn't, well maybe some of it falls on Chabot but this issue runs much higher up the food chain then Chabot. They can only work with the tools they are given but I do believe that Dubnyk was a legit NHL starter or at least had the potential to be one and instead of changing the goalie coach that steered him down the wrong hole and forgot to change his "bad habits", the management team decided to ship off their former first round pick. Craig MacTavish is behind the goalie debacle today. It was his choice to ship off Dubnyk and bring in two goalies that had zero experience in starting games in the NHL.
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