Tag Archives: canadian olympic team

No Better Player Than Jonathan Toews

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

So what’s a kid do for an encore?

Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Patrick Kane scored a weak goal in overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final. It turned out to be the final game of the championship round of the NHL’s post-season and Chicago will now get to go home and have a parade.

Kane had a tremendous championship series, but not nearly as good a Stanley Cup playoff as Winnipeg’s own Jonathan Toews.

Toews was absolutely remarkable from the start of the playoffs right up to the last goal in Wednesday’s finale. He finished second in scoring in the post-season with 29 points (the Winnipeg Jets final draft pick, Daniel Briere won the scoring title with three points to Toews one in the final game to finish with 30 points). He was a leader in every respect and after the Hawks celebrated their victory, Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

What a sensational year for Toews. Last fall there were people in the Eastern part of our nation who didn’t think Toews should be on Canada’s Olympic team. Not only did he make the team, he scored a big goal in the gold medal game, led Canada to a magnificent victory and was named the Olympic tournament’s top forward.

Wednesday night, Toews picked up an assist and played nearly 24 minutes (the most of any Blackhawks forward) as he led the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup since 1961. He was also the most valuable player at the most important time of the year.

And he’s only 22.

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What Happens If….?

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The decade of the 2000s or “The Aughts,” as they’ve been called, come to an end in about four days.

With that end, comes more questions than answers.

In fact, here are five questions, all starting with What Happens If….?

A brave new world awaits, old media panics, new media has a field day and if there is one thing we know, it’s this: Sports will change dramatically in the decade of the “Tens.”

So what happens if…

1) The Canadian Olympic Team doesn’t “win the podium” in Vancouver this February? With all the national, television-generated pre-Olympic hype, how badly will the traditional media treat our athletes if they don’t win every medal in every event. “I Believe,” it will get ugly.

2) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Tickets are now virtually free, the teams aren’t winning, there is limited interest, newspapers have stopped covering many of the teams on the road, Versus isn’t ESPN and there are often more empty seats than seats with butts in them. The NHL will look differently in five years if Bush’s recession doesn’t end.

3) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Will the NHL return to Winnipeg?

4) The CFL doesn’t get some new stadiums soon? Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg is a dump, Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton is worse, Ottawa doesn’t have a stadium, Toronto doesn’t have a place to play and the east coast still doesn’t have a suitable stadium for CFL expansion. The biggest problem in the CFL is not fan-support or media-support, it’s government support. And without new stadiums, the league could be on its last legs.

5) The Indianapolis Colts never get it back? After having the gall to actually charge people money for that debacle on Sunday afternoon, Colts chicken-livered head coach Jim Caldwell (coaching scared is the worst thing a coach can ever do) doesn’t deserve to win another game. If you look around the NFL, buildings are seldom full anymore. I’ve been in Jacksonville and Tampa this season when there have been 25,000-30,000 empty seats. The NFL can claim record numbers of sellouts if it likes (I think “tickets distributed” is the term), but only the best teams truly sell out anymore. Indy was a team that sold out, but if I was a fan, I would be a lot more hesitant about buying tickets in the future. When coaches throw games in order to rest the stars — because they are afraid of injury — the premise of professional football goes out the window. What happened Sunday in Indianapolis was unprofessional. In a recession that appears as if it’s going to last for decades not months, that kind of unprofessional approach to the game could come back and bite a franchise in the ass.

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Toews Shows How Good He Is.

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

I have to admit, I was thrilled watching Winnipeg’s own Jonathan Toews and Cam Barker play so well against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

 

Toews dominated the ice on almost every shift and Barker showed that he’s a force on defence, perhaps even a future all-star.

 

Both players were appearing in their first Stanley Cup playoff games against a very good — and an extremely gritty — Calgary Flames team that quite honestly played an almost perfect road playoff game on Thursday night.

 

In the end, Toews played more than 17 minutes, had an assist and was a plus-one in a 3-2 Chicago win in overtime. In fact, it was Toews who set up Barker’s first-period goal. Barker, by the way, had a goal AND an assist and was also a plus-one.

 

In fact, the NHL’s own panel of experts selected a Barker shift midway through the third period as the game’s “best shift of the night.” The Hawks’ No. 1 draft pick in 2004, did have a terrific shift midway through the final period when he freed himself up for two great scoring chances.

 

Still, as outstanding as Barker was on Thursday, Toews was even better.

 

And frankly, it made me laugh. After reading all these so-called media experts — the ones who claim to know more than the coaches — continue to leave Toews off their personal selections for Canada’s 2010 Olympic team, I have to wonder how some of these clowns get credentials for the games.

 

If the Canadian team doesn’t have a leader like the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Jonathan Toews anchoring its third line, it will fail to win gold again. On Thursday, he not only had an assist and was plus-one, but he had three hits and won 10 of 14 faceoffs. He is one of the best players in the world and he shouldn’t have to prove it anymore.

 

It’s amazing to think the young man is not yet 21. 

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Posted in 2009 NHL Playoffs

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