Marlies Marvel Mini Penguins

For the 2008-2009 Toronto Marlies, .500 play has been the norm. The battle of wins followed by losses has been waged quite often. Prior to this week, three of the Marlies' four wins were followed by a loss.


Now, it seems the Marlies have reached a breaking point. After dropping five straight decisions, the Marlies have now said "nough's enough" and responded.


The return of Jim Hughes has clearly sparked the defense. The Marlies have allowed an average of just 1.8 Goals Against per game in the past 5 games(I could do the research and tell you that is the best in the AHL, but for my blackberry's sake, lets just say it could be) which has directly correlated to wins.


Their latest win was a convincing defeat of last year's Calder Cup Finalists, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Justin Pogge was rock solid in net for the Marlies making 33 saves; many of which were of the highlight variety. Pogge is now exuding confidence in the Marlies goal, something that the Maple Leafs brass has been looking for all season.

The game saw a season best 5,306 fans in attendance(and no Bulldogs fans). The action was slow going for the first period but ramped up in the second when Ben Ondrus woke up the physical side of the game and connected with three big hits in one shift. Someone had to make up for Andre Deveaux being out of the game and the Marlies captain always knows when he is needed.

The game also saw Jiri Tlusty score his first goal of the season on a sizzling deflection from a Todd Perry point shot. Tlusty has had trouble adjusting this season, but if you're looking for a sign he's adjusted, this is definitely it.


As far as the Penguins go, a few interesting bright spots were prevalent. Luca Caputi was named second star of the game as this Toronto native put together a great effort for his first game back at home. Penguins star, Janne Pesonen played his first pro hockey game in Canada as well and showed why he lead the Finish league last year in points by tallying an assist.


The Marlies now look to add to their three game winning streak on Wednesday when they take on the Rochester Americans in the season's first School Day Game presented by D.A.R.E. of the Halton region. The game will be played infront of a full house at 11:30 AM at Ricoh Coliseum.

Marlies Improving Greatly

It was an unheralded day for the Marlies on Monday when assistant coach Doug Gilmour announced he would be leaving the team for a head coaching job with the Kingston Frontenacs.

However, making more with less is something the Marlies have accomplished by re-hiring Jim Hughes as assistant coach. Jim was with the KHL to start the season but was fired after guiding his expansion squad, Minsk Dynamo, to a last place standstill. Hughes brings a defensive presence to the coaching staff as it has been the Marlies' weakness all season long.

Since Jim has joined the team, they have fired off two wins in a row and are looking for their 3rd today as the face the Calder Cup finalists from a year ago; the W/B Scranton Penguins.

The Marlies have been bolstered by the return of Jeremy Williams, who is red hot with 4 goals in the last two games. The power play duo of Willy and Kris Newbury accounts for 9 points in those two games. It is a great sign that the PP is back where it should be.

Justin Pogge will get the call in goal today, after Adam Munro backstopped the Marlies last night in Binghampton. Pogge will look to continue is strong play as he has noticeably stepped up his play over his last 3 games.

The entire MLSE organization is celebrating Wendell Clark this weekend just as Patrick Roy is equally honored at the Bell Center in Montreal. I wonder who will get the top story on Sportscenter?

The Marlies are running a blog centric media day today as they invite bloggers to be part of the media entourage for the first time. They are invited to interact with media relations coordinator Trevor Van Knotsenberg and they will be given access to players for the first time.

Also, I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the voice of the Marlies John Bartlett, from all of us here at the Rains Report

Early Movement in the NHL

With the NHL schedule at 20 games played, trades have already been a hot topic of the rumour mill.

So many of these trades that were supposed to happen, have not. Other small but important moves have taken shape.

Marian Gaborik is injured and therefore more tied to Minnesota than Jesse Ventura. Khavibulin is still in Chicago along with his titanic salary hit and Cristobal Huet's inability to stop the puck. And Mats is still in LA talking to poker pros.

Nevertheless some significant moves have been made by organizations. Notably has been the trade of a 2 time Stanley cup winner for a former NHL all-star: Phillipe Boucher for Darryl Sydor. This trade is really one that should benefit both teams as well as both players. The Stars get a calming presence back in big D, which is a must at this stage in their season. The Penguins get a power play presence who can fire a big right handed shot that they are sorely missing right now. And finally cap wise, both players are off the hook at the end of this year. Couldn't have had it any better.

Also in the news is the newest free agent to hit the market in years. The big burly lawyer from Harvard is set to make a huge splash in Ontario's capital. That's what's been predicted for ages. And now as the Silver Fox is expected to make way for Brian Burke in Toronto, the media is loving life with a new talkative GM. This would be the most anticipated move in Leaf nation for the last 6 months and will take the heat off Mats for a few days, well, probably more like a few hours.

Following Burkes eventual signing I think it is reasonable to assume that it is now time for Sundin to step in and run with the buds for a few more months.

Also there is still a certain sniper available in Mr. Shanahan so look for him to be signed over the next week or so, I think he is still a solid player and can do some heavy damage on the power play.

Oh, and what's with the current virus going around of cash-itis? Jason Blake was a healthy scratch against Edmonton and now Dustin Penner has carried forth this gaudy mantra after being ripped by Mctavish for his conditioning. There's another story of a guy who (a la Sergei Samsonov) thought you get paid before you produce.

Well that's all for me today. Still trying to get the computer to agree with my internet card so it will be a few more days of limited blog action.

Also before leaving, the Marlies played great over the weekend in Manitoba even though dropping both decisions. They play in Rochester on Wednesday and then Saturday against the Penguins on what will be Wendell Clark bobble head night. The ACC will also be giving out Wendell moustaches on the same night as his banner is raised to the rafters. Just imagine 18 thousand handle bar moustaches watching a hockey game, too bad it isn't Lanny MacDonald night...

Grabovski: The Cancer?

Last summer saw the Toronto Maple Leafs blow away 60% of their roster in various trades and mostly through buy-outs. The myriad of trades, in the NHL in generall as well as in Toronto, let many of them slide under the radar.

But one of these trades seemed particularly different from the rest. The trade over the summer that saw Mikhail Grabovski head to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a pair of draft picks seemed highly suspicious to me. Why would Montreal move such a talented young centreman with relative ease? Before you say it, yes he is 24 and is old for a prospect, and yes, he could have pulled a Nikulin and demanded a trade out of Hamilton.

He was part of a youth injection last season that saw the rise of the Kostitsyn brothers, Carey Price, Ryan O'Byrne, and Jaroslav Halak (among others). Usually when you creating this type of movement, the players become good friends and are difficult to separate (see late 80s Oilers) without breaking some friendships and certainly, chemistry. But to move part of this and one of your top prospects relatively easily... is, well... wierd.

A few more pieces of them puzzle were unveiled last night in dramatic fashion. For those of you who watched Montreal and Toronto, you would have noticed some Steve Ott and Sean Avery antics from this game. Coming from a surprising source, Grabovski.

Don Cherry kindly pointed out to us that Grabovski actually butt ended Price in the stomach while no one was watching(I think you are underestimating the sneakiness). Why would he do that to one of his former friends/teammates? Sure an advantage in the game but it sure seemed like more than that.

We later saw Saku Koivu personally deliver a message to Mr. Grabovski after a hit in the corner. What that message was seemed to me like a warning that this butt end would not go unnoticed (not so sneaky). You know that when Saku sends that type of message, you better pay attention.

Sergei Kostitsyn sure payed attention to what Koivu said and showed his passion by flooring Grabovski on an illegal hit late in the third period. This kid is a beauty, playing the role of Georges Laraque in the feather weight class is not something you see everyday from a 5'11'' kid from Novoplotsk, Belarus.

One of the more telling points was when Grabovski was asked how many friends he had left in Montreal. This was before the game, and his response was simple "none".

Mark this in the book of hockey as two very different team models. One with strong leadership that is respected and obeyed. And another that is just now forming its path without a leader to guide the way.





I hope this isn't the true colours of Grabovski we are seeing but it seems as though this young star won't be able to hide with the scrutiny that the Toronto media so aptly applies.

ECHL Implications

Well this topic has been bothering me for a while now and I figured now is as good a time as any to write about the East Coast Hockey League.

I love the fact that we(hockey in general) have a resource like a tier 3 hockey league in north America. However I now find myself questioning the validity of the league who has just lost their top 30 skaters.

I say they have lost this because the AHL changed a rule this year allowing teams to carry one extra skater. So you can imagine where most of these skaters come from: the ECHL.

With this change the ECHL takes a big hit. In a league where goalies are already totally dominant with SVPs of .930 being almost normal, scoring has taken even more of a hit. And that is never good for a league that is struggling already.

I hope that this league continues to live on, however, it is becoming more and more difficult. And now considering the economic struggles that the US is enduring it is hard to see this league staying a float. The ever changing NHL affiliations bring a constant flux that also stresses this league.

It will be intersting to see how this league performs fiscally after this rule change. Well, not that I could ever find that kind of information anyways.

I think this league has still been living off residual success from the NHL lockout when it had players like Scott Gomez and other viable NHLers.

In other news, the Toronto Marlies take on the Hamilton Bulldogs today at Ricoh coliseum for what is the second of twelve QEW battles.

5 Minute Major

Or so the equilvalent for the blog world. I am having computer problems (reformating) so the blog will be pretty limited. If I can get the phone up to speed with blogging it should be good.

I hope to have the computer up and running next weekend.