Goalers in a dangerous time; Mike Toth's minority report

There was always a racial element to how Ray Emery was treated in the court of public opinion that the media was reluctant to even acknowledge. It sucked that those with a larger platform didn't think to correct, say, callers to The Team 1200 or letter writers would go on about his "bling," his tattoos or the ex-Sens goalie being "a rap singer on blades."

The situation was begging for a reasoned response by someone who brings a certain sensitivity to such matters. Mike Toth is not that guy, but at least he tried:

"...it should be pointed out that Emery definitely could have handled certain situations better and has, in fact, admitted making some mistakes. But there are lots of NHL'ers guilty of errors in judgement that had much more dire outcomes. Mark Bell, Todd Bertuzzi and Dany Heatley are just some of the players who have found themselves in various forms of hot water. However, they were all afforded a second chance in the blink of an eye and the last time I checked, none of them were receiving their mail in Moscow."

For anyone who needs a reminder:

• Bertuzzi: Broke Steve Moore's neck in a game on March 8, 2004, was criminally charged. Now on his fifth NHL team since the end of the lockout. A civil suit is still tied up in legal wrangling.
• Bell: The Leafs traded for him last summer knowing he was facing two felony counts in a connection with a drunken hit-and-run crash. He's now serving jail time.
• Heatley: Actually a poor example. He was repentant and sorrowful over the 2003 crash which killed his Atlanta Thrashers teammate Dan Snyder.

Emery, of course, had a poor season. Andrew Raycroft, though, has had three poor seasons in a row and he still got a NHL contract, even though he hasn't played in the post-season since 2004 (and wasn't any great shakes when he did -- his Boston Bruins team coughed up a 3-1 series lead).

With Toth, it's seldom clear if he really believes it or he's just playing devil's advocate. That's often tiresome -- it's as if having an argument 1% of the audience will agree with trumps actually having a good argument. This time, though, going with the old Lloyd Dobler, "I know that I don't I know," is pretty smart. Toth just put out there and let the sportsnet.ca crowd kind of prove his point by dragging out the "race card" catchphrase in about every second comment.

The mere fact that sentient people believe that race, for someone who's a visible minority, is just something you whip out of your wallet like a Platinum Visa or a card that gives you 10% off at Chapters, shows that racism does exist in Canada. That can't possibly describe the experience of being brown or black, or speaking with a foreign accent. It just can't -- and this is coming from a white male, a basically commoner-than-cowshit rural Canadian who will never know what that's like.

It's entirely possible that if Emery was white, there wouldn't be any ifs, ands and buts about his fall from grace landing him in Russia. Plenty of players wash out of the NHL each year and are forgotten quicker than a runner-up on Canadian Idol. It's possible that with Bertuzzi-Moore, people would have forgotten quicker if it was, say, Darcy Tucker or Jarkko Ruutu instead of a clean-cut, well-spoken Harvard graduate.

That's unknown. What is known is that no other player's lifestyles and taste got brought into this conversation quicker than Emery's. (You didn't hear any Senators fans wonder if Jason Spezza's playoff performances were linked to him listening to Coldplay.) Sean Avery can come right out and say that hockey isn't his main interest and people are like, "Oh, cool."

NHL executives aren't racist, but there is a double standard here that made it easier for the media and the public to buy why Emery is going away for a while. Good on Toth for kicking at the darkness, in his way.

For much better read on how something is framed differently with black athletes vs. white athletes, read this from Sports On My Mind. It's not like this in Canada, but just you wait.

Related:
Ray, Russia and Racism (Mike Toth, sportsnet.ca)
ESPN: Don't Hate the Journalist, Hate the Machine (Sports On My Mind)

Professional Appreciator: Jaromir Jagr

Talk among yourselves about how Jaromir Jagr will be remembered now that he's headed to the Russian Superleague for $35 million across the next three seasons. (How's he going to fit that money belt under his hockey pants?)

Jagr might go down as hockey answer's to Bob McAdoo, the superb talent who dominated the league when it was at its worst. His peak seasons came in an era when the NHL was so bogged down by trapping and overexpansion that you could win the scoring title with 102 points, as he did one season. That's a stopper when it comes to having fond memories of him, to say nothing of the mullet. Throw in the mercenary attitude that he projected, some good old-fashioned xenophobia and the puckheads' general reluctant to give full value to what players do outside the NHL, unless it's for Team Canada (it still boggles the mind that anyone would question putting Igor Larionov in the Hockey Hall of Fame when he was one of the best forwards in the game for a decade), and Jagr probably won't be remembered too well.

He was great, though, when he felt like it. Puck Daddy has a Jagr post up already, by the way. 

At some point we will start having polls on Out of Left Field. It wasn't viable before since the low voter turnout would have just been embarrassing (hey, it hasn't stopped Dalton McGuinty). since polls should be used to decide everything. What's right is always popular, no matter what a sympathetic adult figure might have said back in high school.

(Bob McAdoo? Two Buffalo Braves references in one week?)

The Russians talk a big game

Read Mirtle's post on the KHL, the expanded Russian Superleague, or else you'll be traded to Amur Khabarovsk.

That last line makes more sense if you look at the Google Map that James also provided. And you thought the teams in the WHL made long road trips!

UP AT 6... MAGNAMITY IS AN OUTMODED CONCEPT

What you might have missed while you daydreamed and signed your name, "Mr. Brynn Cameron" over and over.

• Don't be bitter about one of our own from Canada, Éric Gagné, pitching for the the enemy by joining the Boston Red Sox. The proper emotion isn't bitterness, it's pity. They would have to go out and do that, wouldn't they? Poor little rich Boston is so paranoid over blowing an eight-game lead over the Yankees that it went out and guaranteed $3.5 million in bonuses for a good reliever who's also a member of the Tommy John Surgery club twice over.
  
  The Massholes already have a lights-out closer in Jonathan Papelbon and two setup men, Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima, who are each holding batters to below a .200 average, but they just had to be sure.
  
  Anyway, try this one out on all the traitors in your social circle who magically went from cheering for the Jays back in the day to liking the Red Sox: "This is easily a bigger deal than Larry Andersen for Jeff Bagwell."
• Ray Emery shares his dream golf foursome with Cabbie. What is Rihanna's handicap, aside from being overproduced?
• Little something for the PO'd Premiership lovers: Globesports.com reports that Setanta Sports says it will have a digital channel (about $15/month) up and running in Canada by the time the season kicks off Aug. 11, just 10 days away.
  
  Will Houston reports Rogers Sportsnet will have a Saturday game, but it won't be the best of the bunch. Hope you like watching Birmingham City!
• Daunte Culpepper joins the Oakland Raiders: It fits.
• It's not for nothing that a both halves of an early '90s Kingston Frontenacs netminding tandem, Tyler Moss and Marc Lamothe, are each playing in the Russian Superleague. Any time one of their teammates gets their first look at a rundown Soviet-era arena, they can say, "Hey, compared to the Kingston Memorial Centre, this is nothing."
• cishoops.ca noted yesterday that Philadelphia 76ers big Samuel Dalembert still doesn't have confirmation that he can play for Canada in the Olympic qualifying tournament that begins in just three weeks.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.

FRONTS STAR GETS TEAM CANADA CALL

Kingston Frontenacs star scorer Cory Emmerton is getting another shot at those rascally Russkies in the Canada-Russia Super Series later this summer. Remember, Emmerton showed some offensive flash last fall when he played for the Ontario Hockey League squad in the Canada-Russia junior challenge last fall. If memory serves, right after that that he suffered a serious ankle injury.

Emmerton did put up 66 points in 40 games for a rate of 1.65 per game, which is probably right up there among all the returning snipers in the OHL. The scoring title is still going to be either John Tavares' or Patrick Kane's to lose (if he's back with the London Knights next year).

Also representing The 613 on this Team Canada is Ottawa's Claude Giroux, a forward for the Gatineau Olympiques and Soo Greyhounds defenceman Josh Godfrey of Kingston.

HOCKEY LAST NIGHT: GOING FROM THE BIG APPLE TO HOLLYWOOD IS SO CLICHE

The New York Rangers are back to what they do best -- being the team that exists to provoke a knee-jerk reaction from the armchair GMs.

The Rangers traded with the L.A. Kings yesterday to get possibly only three months of bad boy Sean Avery, a free agent to be. In exchange for Avery bringing his (clown) act to Broadway, the Rangers parted with the rights to Canadian World Junior team member Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek, a 27-year-old putting up big numbers in the Russian Superleague.

Playing in the World Juniors is no guarantee of a long NHL career, but suppose Cliche starts contributing for the Kings come 2008-09 and Marek become one of the late 20-somethings who comes over and fits right into a NHL lineup. How much would the Rangers be reminded of this deal, especially if Avery signs elsewhere as a free agent (please, don't let it be Toronto) this summer?

Kings deal Avery to Rangers (TSN.ca)

Red Wings 4 Rangers 3: One of the Leafs' rivals in the playoff race dropped a game on a night when Dominik Hasek looked every bit of his 42 years, and that same team traded for Sean Avery? Say it ain't so.

Headlines: George Gillett and Tom Hicks are set to become owners of Liverpool; The East is least, says Tyler Dellow; rogue agent David Frost back in court in Napanee today; original St. Louis Blues owner dies at 88; it's a Boston University-Boston College final at the Beanpot;

Today's better games: Sabres-Thrashers, 7; 'Canes-Habs, 7:30; Predators-Penguins, 7:30; Canucks-Oilers, 9; Ducks-Sharks, 10:30.

HOMETOWN BREAKDOWN

Just another day in whole durned human comedy that is the Kingston Frontenacs: On the same day the team applied to host the 2008 Memorial Cup, the OHL handed down suspensions for that gong show in Belleville. Bobby Bolt, the Anaheim draft choice and defenceman Justin Wallingford can return on Sunday at home vs the Barrie Colts. Defenceman Peter Stevens is out till Feb. 17, and fourth-line forward Kyle Bochek can't return until the 22nd. Coach Bruce Cassidy got three games.

Naturally, the terminal do-gooders who lined up against building the new arena (they had their points, but it would be nice to see something get done in Kingston between now and the year 2050) are gleelful over this.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.

HOCKEY'S HERE: WASHINGTON CAPITALS

It's time to air out your gear, sharpen your skates and tape your stick -- it’s hockey season. Sure, your team flat-out ached last season, but there's hope, unless you're an Islanders fan. In that spirit, Out of Left Field offers looks at all 30 NHL teams. Presenting: The Washington Capitals.

Last season: 70 points, last in Southeast Division; missed playoffs
Coach: Glen Hanlon (3rd season)
Young gun not named Alex Ovechkin: Alexander Semin
Store this name away: Eric Fehr
Hey, get a load of the new guys: Brian Pothier, Richard Zednik (second stint in Washington)
Blogs (including but not limited to): D.C. Sports Chick, Bleatings from a Caps Nut, Japers' Rink, Off Wing Opinion
Pop culture moment: Hmmm.... did the Murphy Brown gang ever mention the Capitals specifically? Can't remember.

Hey, see that Ovechkin kid hit a hole-in-one on his first day of playing golf? It doesn't take a great wit to say, "Normally, the Capitals don't hit the golf course until April."

There's a soft spot for the Capitals here, since their owner, Ted Leonsis, is very cool with the blogging thing (hat tip to D.C. Sports Chick), and they were my franchise on NHL 96 for Super Nintendo. (Why them, and not the Leafs? Because you could put a bunch of superstars on the Capitals -- like a high-scoring left wing named "Neate Sager" -- without fundamentally aletering the complexion of the team. But I digress.)

The Caps have the letter "O" taken care of -- as in Ovechkin and the ageless Olie the Goalie, Olaf Kolzig -- but it's the rest of the alphabet, specifically the letter "D," that's proving the bane of their existence. Try 300 goals against last season. At least Hanlon can relate to what his goalies are going through, since he played for some pretty stinky teams in his days as a journeyman goalie back in the '80s.

For Washington this year, it's all about whether or not there is genuine rebuilding taking place in the second full season since a management-dictated salary purge in 2003-04. Their AHL affiliate in Hershey went to the league final last season, so there is some developing talent in the organization beyond the two Russian Alexes.

Just like Sidney Crosby's Penguins, the Capitals will probably be fun to watch since they'll play a lot of 6-4 and 6-5 games, with Ovechkin pulling off some sick move on every second or third shift. But a playoff spot? Absolutely out of the question.

Also in Southeast Division: Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning

Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca

CALL INTERPOL: OUR STAR PLAYER'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY PENGUINS

The Evgeni Malkin saga is now officially a full-blown international incident.

Malkin, the 20-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick whose play has drawn some comparisons to his his future boss, Mario Lemieux, went AWOL yesterday from his Russian Superleague team, Metallarg Magnitorsk, while at training camp in Finland, taking his passport and belongings, apparently en route to North America, the NHL and all the Playboy-esque pulchritude that's conjured up when you hear the words, "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."*

As you might expect, the Russians are being, well, fairly Russian about it. Metallurg's head honcho, Gennady Velichkin, told Reuters: "They all like to talk about democracy, the American way and then they shamelessly steal our best players. This is pure sports terrorism."

Or: "In soccer, a fee for a player of Malkin's calibre would be into tens of millions of dollars. He is a franchise player and we won't be satisfied with anything less."

He has a point, but with Russia's refusal to sign the year-old transfer deal between the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation because it wants more money to let its players go, the NHL has to resort to some dirty pool to get what it wants. With the Penguins up for sale and a possible relocation, it wants Malkin skating alongside Sidney Crosby as soon as possible.

In a sense, this is great fun. This kind of James Bond international intrigue has a retro appeal, since most hockey fans probably assumed no one would have to resort to smuggling players to North America after the USSR went belly-up 15 years ago.

Of course, that was before some very wealthy people there got the idea that they could keep their best players in Mother Russia and build a league to rival the NHL. (Better you don't ask where some of that wealth came from.**)

Anyway, just to help it along, here's a solution: As compensation, Metallurg and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation can have whatever Sidney Crosby makes from his next commercial. It's only fair.

By the way, it's not necessarily the Penguins' doing. Maybe some rogue Winnipeggers with ties to the Return Of The Jets Campaign were vacationing in Finland, conned Malkin into flying back with them and are refusing to let him go until a NHL team is placed in the Manitoba capital. This has no basis in fact, of course, but considering how desperately some 'Peggers want the NHL back, it's actually not that far-fetched.

(* OK, so Pittsburgh, Pa., isn't exactly known for gorgeous women, but at least Malkin won't be making road trips there.)

(** Oil-and-gas exploration. What did you think I was referring to?)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.