TORONTO (Mar. 3) — It’s an annual rite of passage for hockey in this city; largely forgotten by the ensuing year.

First, the general manager–of–the–day calls media together so he can set the trade–deadline bar as shallow as possible. Check. Brad Treliving did this on Sunday. Then, the media takes the cue and follows along, precisely as the hockey club had planned for. Check. There are no critical follow–ups in today’s edition of the Toronto Sun. And, though Kevin McGran did post an involved piece in the Toronto Star, he ensured to keep the bar at street level. “The Leafs are said to be interested in St. Louis center Brayden Schenn and his two–time ex–Leaf brother Luke in Nashville, as well as New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson, Flyers centre Scott Laughton and maybe Leaf Chris Tanev’s brother Brandon, in Seattle,” Kevin wrote. Lots of bunt–singles in that group. Not one swing for the power alleys. Thirdly, a Leafs reporter invokes the overused and silly term “all in” while anticipating the club’s trade–deadline moves. Check. McGran did it today. We live in an extraordinarily predictable hockey market.

Which has yielded, as every year, not a feather’s weight of onus or urgency on the team. Even veteran hockey observers are convinced the current Leafs can win the Stanley Cup with a “tweak” here or there. If that tweak involves a Norris Trophy candidate, I might agree. Or, a couple of hard, hulking forwards that can wear down the opposition through four playoff series. The Maple Leafs have neither. And, aren’t likely to obtain such components before the National Hockey League trade embargo of 3 p.m. Eastern on Friday. Certainly not if pursuing “tweaks”.

Yes, it’s true: the Stanley Cup isn’t traditionally captured via a bold deadline swap. Also true is that a team remaining so–stubbornly pat with demonstrated playoff incompetence cannot reverse itself with a “tweak” or two. It hasn’t occurred in the previous eight years with the Core–4 Leafs; neither will it this spring. If a third truism involves an uncontrived inner–belief from management that the current team is (sigh) “different” from the others, shame on Treliving for pursuing “tweaks”. Should that be his strategy. For, it’s hardly difficult to envision a less–gifted Toronto club, beginning next season. Having to fill the canyon created by Mitch Marner’s exodus and the reliability of aging John Tavares (which most in the local media are convinced can be accomplished only by retaining Tavares; as if there’s no alternative). I guess what I’m saying is: “Hey, Brad, you may never have a better opportunity to take a healthy cut while at the plate. If the bases aren’t loaded for you this year, honestly, when might they be again?”

WHAT IS LEAFS GM BRAD TRELIVING PONDERING BEFORE FRIDAY’S NHL TRADE DEADLINE?

Already, we’ve seen the defending champions make a significant add–on. Seth Jones, the veteran defenseman, may not be as dynamic as during his years with Columbus, but he’s as good as anything the Leafs have. Perhaps Jones is awaiting a chance to ply his trade with a winning club. As did, for example, Evander Kane with Edmonton last spring. So, good move by Florida. Roman Josi is on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) in Nashville. And, therefore, no–longer a deadline target. Same with Adam Fox in New York. But, Erik Karlsson, averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time with the plummeting Penguins, is likely available. And, as with Kane, could easily thrive once more on a deeper club. Sure, the Leafs will have to part with a coveted prospect. But, if adding a first–ballot Hall of Fame defenseman can help lift the current group into uncharted playoff territory, wouldn’t it be worth the expenditure? Or, is it typically (and safely) still about “the future” that hasn’t arrived in nearly six decades?

Karlsson, with a full no–move, would need to consent to the trade. But, at 34, why wouldn’t he?

With such promising signs in goal — and a coach (Craig Berube) that seems to have the attention of his veteran players — now is the time to go for the jugular. Unless winning one playoff round is still Toronto’s Stanley Cup.

That a veteran Leafs scribe would actually invoke a third revival of Luke Schenn tells you most of what to expect from Treliving before Friday. For many years, this has been a big–time hockey market in no manner beyond tradition. GM Brad has a golden chance to alter that pattern. But, likely, with not a push from anyone that counts.

FROM MY FEB. 21 BLOG: Statistically, however, the Lightning bears watching. Tampa Bay sports a plus–44 differential in goals scored and goals permitted (197–153). The Maple Leafs are only plus–13 (169–156). Given those figures, that the Lightning has remained in back of Toronto all season defies logic. Don’t look now, but the twice–champions appear to be getting that sniff. Along with a return–to–form by stopper Andrei Vasilevskiy. After winning nine straight, T–Bay is now a plus–55, second in the East only to Washington. What a finish it’s going to be among the Leafs, Panthers and Lightning in the Atlantic Division. In my view, the team that least empties the tank to finish first will ultimately prevail. Way too much energy is expended each year on the largely irrelevant regular schedule. Winning (or challenging for) the Stanley Cup requires a club to peak at the right moment… and to exponentially improve with each round. The Panthers and Lightning have proven successful. The Leafs have not.

Oh yeah, if the playoffs started tonight? Toronto vs. Tampa Bay.

TRADE DEADLINE MEMORY: END OF AN ERA FOR NO. 7

On this day, 55 years ago, the Maple Leafs were resting in Oakland, coming off arguably the most–humiliating defeat in franchise history. Forty–eight hours earlier (Mar. 1, 1970), in a Sunday matinee televised nationally in the United States by CBS, the Leafs had been destroyed, 8–0, by the Minnesota North Stars. The home fans at the Metropolitan Sports Center were treated to victory for the first time in 46 days; their club ending, rather spectacularly, a 20–game winless streak (0–15–5), one fewer than the existing NHL record, shared by the 1943–44 New York Rangers and the 1950–51 Chicago Black Hawks. The North Stars entered the match with a lopsided mark of 10–30–18 after 58 games; the Leafs, having tied Los Angeles at home the previous night, were 24–24–11 in 59 starts. The game featured an epic tantrum by second–year Leafs defenseman Jim Dorey. Minnesota led, 6–0, midway through the final period when Dorey crosschecked Claude Larose of the North Stars to the ice. In the ensuing melee, Dorey slugged linesman Pat Shetler, which earned him a laughable, six–game suspension.

Sadly, the Met Center debacle turned out to be last of 1,184 regular–season games in a Toronto jersey for Hall–of–Fame defenseman (and donut–shop magnate) Tim Horton. While the Leafs prepared for the Seals, GM Jim Gregory traded Horton to New York for forwards Guy Trottier (via the 1970 intra–league waiver draft) and Denis Dupere. Arguably the greatest defenseman in Leafs history — a stalwart on the four Stanley Cup teams of the 60’s — was exchanged for a pair of journeymen that scored 57 goals in 305 combined matches with Toronto.

  
While it’s true the 1969–70 Maple Leafs, with Horton, were going nowhere, it was rather distasteful that one of the great Toronto hockey careers would end with such a meager transaction. The five–man defense corps for the Leafs — Rick Ley, Mike Pelyk, Dorey (not–yet suspended), Jim McKenny and Brian Glennie — held up against the lowly Seals later that night (Mar. 3, 1970) in a 4–1 victory. Interestingly; gallingly, the North Stars would again dismantle the Leafs the following Saturday (Mar. 7), breezing to an 8–3 triumph at Maple Leaf Gardens.

An enduring and intriguing radio fact: Foster Hewitt, the inventor of hockey broadcasting, had called Leafs games since the club’s inception in 1926. By 1970, he had all–but stopped traveling to concentrate on running his radio station, CKFH–1430 (“FH” his initials). Foster’s son, Bill Hewitt, the television voice of the Maple Leafs on Saturday and Wednesday nights, would often call road games on radio. Bill came down with an illness and could not make the trip to Oakland. As such, CKFH arranged for Vancouver broadcaster Jim Robson to fly south and handle the Leafs–Seals match. Robson, by then, had been named voice of the Vancouver Canucks, to begin play as an expansion team the following October. The Toronto at Oakland game was his first NHL assignment.

Robson, now 90, retired after the 1998–99 season (he was replaced, on radio, by Jim Hughson).

The broadcast booth at Rogers Arena is named in his honor.

  
JERSEYS WORN 55 YEARS AGO TONIGHT, IN OAKLAND. LEAFS ROAD–WHITE; SEALS HOME–GREEN.
COURTESY NHLUNIFORMS.COM

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