By Rob Ficiur

On Wednesday the NHL handed out the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Black Hawks.  Today, we announce the first annual Rob’s NHL Playoff Awards.
Giant Killer:  Jaroslav Halak.  The Montreal Canadiens goalie started the year as a second string goalie.  In the playoffs he almost single handedly eliminated the Washington Capitals (first overall) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (defending Stanley Cup champions).  Defeating two elite teams in one season puts a goalie to the level of an elite goalie.  What will he do next year?
What Next?:  Calgary Flames. Like all 30 NHL teams the Flames need to figure out what to do different next year.  While fans have called for firing of all coaches and managers, the real questions is how good will the Flames be this year?  The Flames missed the playoffs, but before we trade every player, remember the Flames finished with 90 points.  The Philadelphia Flyers, came within two games of winning the Stanley Cup had two points less than the Flames.  Are the Flames a good team who had a bad year or a bad team?  (The Vancouver Canucks, who were eliminated in round two for the second year in a row earned honorable mention for this award).
Humiliation: The Boston Bruins.  The B’s are only the third team in NHL history to loose a playoff series after leading three games to none.  Not since 1975 has an NHL team blown such a playoff lead.  Not until the Bruins make the final four will the stigma of this loss leave this team.
Come Back Team (again and again):  Philadelphia Flyers.  In December the Flyers were second last in the NHL.  Their play improved over the last few months of the season, but it took a shootout win in the final game of the season to claim a playoff spot.  After eliminating the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers fell behind 3-0 to the Boston Bruins.  The Flyers are the first team since the 1975 New York Islanders to win a series after being down 3-0.  In the final they fell behind 2-0 to Chicago before winning two in Philadelphia.  When Chicago was only 2 minutes away from winning the Stanley Cup, the Flyers who looked worn out from so many comebacks, tied Game #6.  Had they won that game in overtime, they could have set an all time record for most comebacks in a season by a down and out team.
A Star Is Born:  Michael Leighton of the Flyers.  After parts of six NHL seasons, Leighton’s career appeared like it was going no where with his record of 18 wins and 35 losses.  As December 2009 began, the 28 year old Leighton was put on waivers by the lowly Carolina Hurricanes.  With a career going no where, the Flyers picked up Leighton and suddenly a star was born.  Leighton was 16-5-2 for the Flyers helping lead them on an amazing playoff run…until he was injured March 17.  In the second round of the playoffs, when back up Brian Boucher was injured, Leighton took over the nets for the Flyers.  He set a team record with three shutouts in the Montreal series.   Leighton played well enough to take the Flyers to Game #6 of the finals.  Big question is which Michael Leighton will show up next year the star or the dud?  It will take big dollars for an NHL team to find out as Leighton is a free agent this summer.
Invisible : Alexander Ovechkin. Alexander the Great has more talent than any NHL player.  However, hockey is a team game.  In the Olympics, his Russian team failed to get a medal.  Somehow the first place overall Capitals lost in the first round of the playoffs to Montreal.  A loss can never be blamed on one player – but for the Capitals to become an elite team, something has to change.  (For once maybe all the media, who said the Captials didn’t have a playoff goalie, was right.)
Best Season Ever:  Jonathan Toews.  This season the 22 year old won an Olympic Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup.  Only three other people have done that in one season (Ken Morrow, Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shannahan).  However, Toews was selected as the Best Forward in the Olympic tournament and most outstanding player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.   We have never before seen a player honored as Toews was.
Greatest Hockey Predictor: Uncle Ernie (name has not been changed… I hope he doesn’t sue me).  He accurately predicted that the Chicago Black Hawks would win the Stanley Cup.  The prediction was first made by Uncle Ernie back in 1971.  When Ernie explained all about hockey to me, he told me the Black Hawks had the best team and they were going to win the Stanley Cup.  Because Ernie was so wise for his years (he was 12 or so at the time) I believed him.  When the Hawks lost the 1971 final in Game #7, my hockey fan career began with the deepest of disappointments.  However, if Uncle Ernie had explained that he meant the Hawks were going to win in 2010 (39 years in the future), I would have not felt so bad back in 1971 when the Black Hawks blew a 2-0 lead in Game #7 and lost to Ken Dryden’s Canadiens.
Stay Tuned:  Only 52 more weeks until the Rob’s 2011 NHL Playoff Awards.

By Rob Ficiur

On Sunday May 30, 2010 former Blue Jay ace pitched his first no-hitter.  It wasn’t just a no-hitter – it was a perfect game.  Halladay put out all 27 batters he faced.  In the history of major league baseball the Doc’s performance was only the 20th perfect game.
Two days later the news moved on looking for more stories.  On Thursday the 21st perfect game in Major League history was thrown.  However, unlike the Halladay game, this Imperfect Perfect Game is something fans will remember for a while.
Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga had got 26 batters in a row out.  With two outs in the ninth inning, Armando was one out away from a perfect game.  A routine ground ball was grabbed by the short stop…tossed to first base he was … safe?  Umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe…
Perfect games and no hitters are often lost on that last out.  Roy Halladay had seen it happen to him before.  While it would be easy to say ‘them’s the breaks’ the problem was that instant replay showed that the runner was clearly out. Umpire Joyce had blown the call.
The next day umpire Jim Joyce did something rare. He apologized to the Tigers and Galarrrago for the missed call.  At the time he thought he got the call right, however like the rest of the planet, Joyce could see on the replay he was wrong.  A tearful Jim Joyce also spoke to the media about his blown call.
Joyce could have remained quiet on the subject.  Umpires are not required to do daily interviews with the media.  Umpires have made wrong calls before and off hand I can’t remember a referee of any type apologizing for his error.
Both the pitcher and the ump have received their share of media attention.  NBC's Matt Lauer told Joyce he was going to use the umpire's willingness to admit to his mistake and apologize for it, as an example for his kids.
This apology could be an example to kids (old and young) for three reasons:
First, Joyce made no excuse for his error.  As a veteran umpire it was his job to get the call right.  Apologies are often followed by a qualifier such as “I am sorry, but it wasn’t my fault because…”  Everything after the 'because' negates the apology.  In this case Joyce went directly to Galarraga an apologized.
Second, the Tigers and Galarraga accepted the apology.  They could have belittled the umpire or smeered his name for his error.  Instead the Tigers accepted that a human error had been made.  Accepting apologies when a once in a lifetime opportunity has been lost is hard which shows the character of Galarraga.
Third, the real cause of the problem is the Dinosaur Mentality that runs major league baseball.  The CFL, which many consider to be a second class league, allows each team to call for one video review per game.  Last year Major League baseball changed the rule half way through the season to allow video review of home runs.  Obviously we don’t want every pitch reviewed…but how many minutes more would a baseball game be if there were two video reviews?
The simple answer is we will find out.  Within the next year the Almost Perfect Game will be the catalyst to bring baseball into the 21st century with video replays.  Getting the call right is more important than preserving baseball tradition.

By Rob Ficiur

Last week Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed David Braley to the Canadian Senate.  Currently Mr. Braley has the distinction of owning two of the CFL’s eight teams.  In past years Mr. Braley has given / loaned money to other CFL teams who were in dire straights.  It seems like a conflict of interest to own two teams in the same league.  Do you stock up all your best players on one team?
At least in the Canadian Senate Mr. Barley won’t have to worry about a conflict of interest because all our 105 appointed Senators have all been appointed by the Prime Minister of the day without any election or rationale.  Reports have stated that Mr. Braley gave close to $100,000 to help our Mr. Harper in his bid for the leadership of the Conservative party, but we ALL know that these political donations are not why he was chosen for the Senate.
Will there ever come a day when a person of integrity looks at the patronage appointment by the Prime Minister and says “I don’t want that $100,000 a year job until I turn 75?”  I know I only have to show up for work at least twice a year…but out of honor I won’t take the appointment.”   I have never heard of anyone having the integrity to say no to such a job.
On the other hand, you and I could be the next ones appointed to the Senate.  The qualifications are simple.  You have to be 30 years old and own at least $4,000 worth of property.  Rather than complain about the recent appointments maybe we should be glad that any of us could get one of those 105 fancy chairs.
[Son, keep faxing those letters to the Prime Minister’s Office…Yes, the ones that suggest I would be a good Senator].
There are other sports personalities currently serving in the Canadian Senate.  These include:  Nancy Green Raine who won the Gold Medal in the 1968 winter Olympics; Frank Mahovolich who played 1,183 NHL games and Jacques Demers, the two-time NHL coach of the year.
[Son, just sign a different name to each letter you are faxing to the Prime Minister’s office.  Go ahead and sign for your great-great-grandfather I am sure he would think I'll make a good senator.]
One good thing about appointing sports celebrities to the senate is at least most of them have been across the country once or twice so they have an idea of what the citizens they represent need.  They don’t have to worry about being reelected because they have the job until they are 75 unless they do something criminal.
Since our current Prime Minister has appointed three sports personalities to the Senate, it seems like only a matter of time before I (a sports writer) will get that phone call asking me to represent my people in Canada’s House of Sober Second Thought.
If my call to the Senate comes this week, I will try to get out another sports column before I take my new job…but with all the packing and stuff, I might accidently miss the printing deadline…sorry if I do.
As far as that integrity thing I wrote about earlier; if (when) I am chosen for the Senate, I will maintain my integrity.  When I take your tax dollars (no wrong word; use your tax dollars) to do Senator type things I won’t forget the people of rural Alberta for whom I will be elected (no appointed) to represent.

By Rob Ficiur

To the surprise of the hockey world the Montreal Canadiens are in the NHL semi finals.  How can a team that made the playoffs on the last weekend of the season defeat the top team in the regular season (Washington Capitals) and the defending Stanley Cup champions (Pittsburgh Penguins)?  What can the other five Canadian teams learn from the Habs?
1.  Play the Coach’s System -   On paper, Montreal has less talent than Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.   Repeatedly the Calgary Flames were criticized by the fans, media and coaching for not playing the coach’s system.  The Canadiens beat teams with more talent because they played within a structure that allowed them to win.  In November the Calgary Flames were the best team in the NHL.  Once they got thinking they were pretty good the players went away from the coaches’ system; which lead to their early playoff exit….no wait!  The Flames missed the playoffs because the players wanted to play their way.
Through two rounds of the playoffs the Montreal Canadiens lead the NHL with 320 blocked shots.  The Penguins, who they just beat, were fifth of playoff teams with 181 blocked shots.  Blocked shots eliminate scoring chances.  Blocked shots show that a team has the desire to win at all costs.
2.  Draft Day – A team that drafts well wins.  The sun will rise in the east tomorrow.  We have known both facts for as years.  On the flamesnation.ca website – an ambitious fan took the current roster of NHL teams and determined which club originally drafted them. He then calculated the number of NHL career games played by the draft picks of each team.   If the Leafs drafted a player and traded him away, that players numbers were still counted as a Leafs draft pick.
The 30 NHL teams average 1,562 games played by their draft picks.  The top three drafting teams were Pittsburgh 2,330, San Jose 2,241 and Montreal 2,225.  The lowest four teams were Toronto and Tampa Bay both with 912, Calgary with 906 and Detroit with 792.   The trend was overwhelming that the higher ranked teams had more games played by their draft picks.  Calgary and Toronto, both at the bottom of the list, are good examples of dismal drafting.  Both teams have already traded away their top pick in 2010.   The Flames won’t draft until round #3 this year; Toronto has traded away their first round pick in 2011 as well.  Experienced fans know that the draft is an inexact science.  However, why do some teams consistently draft NHL players and other teams consistently draft prospects that didn’t make it?
It can take years to build a championship team.  Trading away draft picks for veterans so you can make a cup run this year rarely works.   Though the Oilers finished last in the league, they have an impressive crop of prospects; which Edmonton fans hope will pay off in a few years.
3.  Goaltending – Without a doubt Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak is the reason the Canadiens won the first two rounds of the playoffs.  He leads the playoffs with .933 save percentage.  When he made unbelievable saves against Washington, we doubted he could do it again versus Pittsburgh.  Now the question is can he do it for two more rounds?
Montreal didn’t win just because they have a hot goalie.  Canadiens back up goalie Carey Price has played in three games putting in over 104 minutes of play.  When Halak’s play was weak in the Washington series, the Canadiens turned to Price.  When Halak got his chance to start again he made the most of it.
Whether it be injury or poor play a team needs two goalies that can carry the team.   Human nature being what it is; if a goalie gets complacent, he is not as sharp.  A solid backup pushes the starter to be a better player.  The Stanley Cup tournament is a two month marathon.
There is no perfect formula which will guarantee a championship.  However, as the Montreal Canadiens play on, 26 other teams have to decide how they can fine tune their team so they can still be playing hockey a year form now in the 2011 semi finals.