Leafs demote Kadri and Aulie

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that forward Nazem Kadri and defenceman Keith Aulie have been sent to the American Hockey League affiliate Toronto Marlies in order to make room on the roster as forward Colby Armstrong and defenceman John-Micheal Liles rerturn to the lineup for the second game of a back to back with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last night was one of the best games of the year as Pittsburgh battles hard from a 4-1 deficit to force overtime with Fluery pulled and less than a minute on the clock in a game Toronto should have dominated but a superb effort in the third saw Pittsburgh force overtime and later a shootout.

Kadri was the second shooter for Toronto as he skated out with his team allowing a goal on the previous Penguins attempt. The pressure was on Kadri but he was unable to beat a solid Marc-Andre Fleury and the third shooter Phil Kessel also failed to score going wide of the net with a backhand that sent the Pittsburgh crowd abuzz as they watched their Penguins steal a game that many though was over.

It was an attempt that may well haunt Kadri as he now finds himself demoted to AHL. He played very well and made the most of this opportunity and it's not a stretch to say his next call up will be his last as Nazem has greatly improved his game and is no longer considered a liability because of flashy moves leading to turnovers.

With the trade deadline comes speculation and the wheels are spinning as rumours swirl that Toronto is pursuing big centerman Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks and Columbus' Jeff Carter. Many believe both deals are within grasp but any deal likely sees the Leafs overpaying from a position of strength which is Torontos defense core. Blacker, Komisarek, Aulie and the big fish of the group budding shut down defenceman Luke Schenn.
Whether the Leafs are able to hash out a deal remains to be seen but GM Brian Burke has a love for the flashy move and has shown before he will pull the trigger on a deal if it makes his team better.

Concussion Control: Part 1 Hits

This is a video i recently found on YouTube. There are three parts so if your interested be my guest. I am amazed at how many hits to the head dominate this video. At one point Joe Bowen who now does commentary for the Toronto Maple Leafs says "If you put your head down your gonna get hit" He said this while laughing excitedly.

With everything that has gone on lately in the NHL like concussions, knee on knee slew footing etc. I found this video and my jaw dropped. The video is 22 years old. 1989! I wanted to do a blog on concussions as it relates to the game but after seeing this video no longer am I so touchy on the subject.

There are more career shortening hits in this video than I care to count. With the current status of the game being questioned. Speed, hitting and lack of respect for fellow players is at the forefront of the debate. Looking back on the past paints a more grim picture however. Everyone who is adamant something needs to change need only to look at the type of hits that occured 22 years ago in this video series to see that maybe the players actually do respect one another compared to the intent to injure style of hits from the old days.

Here is a recent hit by Rene Bourque of Calgary on Chicago's Brent Seabrook. This is very much the usual these days when it comes to illegal hits. It's either elbow or shoulder to the head or hitting from behind. I agree their is a clear need to better protect the head but the recent trend of "cheapshots" is that players simply are not aware of where they are and solely focus on the puck/play.

The evidence is here in this blog and the video above(Letang/Burmistrov). The truth is players these days are going skating toward the boards, Focused on the play and not their safety. I see atleast 20 players in every single hockey game I watch who gets control of the puck and looks to see who is coming and where his opposition is before he makes the play. Guys are always told to finish their checks and hitting a player who fails to take notice of your presence should not rest on the hitter. The question should be how HOCKEY SMART the player being hit is.

In short. There are those who protect themselves. Never get injured outside of the odd groin strain and that's because they think of themself first and then the team. When reality is playing a safer game of hockey is thinking about the team (subliminally). It might not be as flashy but there are a lot of players who produce while protecting themself.

Part 2 coming up tomorrow. Fighting in hockey. Make sure you hit "like" on the right.