Skip the analytics gobbledegook. Put three two-fisted sluggers out there and you'll scare the beehozis out of the opposition. That's what Conn Smythe's Leafs did with Wild Bill Ezinicki, Bashin' Bill Barilko and Iron Vic Lynn. All they did was win three straight (1947, 48, 49) Stanley Cups.
Skip the analytics gobbledegook. Put three two-fisted sluggers out there and you'll scare the beehozis out of the opposition. That's what Conn Smythe's Leafs did with Wild Bill Ezinicki, Bashin' Bill Barilko and Iron Vic Lynn. All they did was win three straight (1947, 48, 49) Stanley Cups.
Don't look now but the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to punch -- yeah, punch -- their way to The Stanley Cup.
This is no joke and it won't be for any of Sheldon Keefe's foes.
Before his team has played its first regular season game, new GM Brad Treliving figured out what his predecessor, Kyle Dubas, did not.
That Original Leafs patriarch Conn Smythe was right when he said, "If you can't beat 'em in the alley, you can't beat 'em on the ice."
Treliving's three nasty additions -- Ryan Reaves, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi -- not only can beat 'em on ice and in alleys but on top of Toronto's CN Tower as well.
Skip the analytics gobbledegook. Put three two-fisted sluggers out there and you'll scare the beehozis out of the opposition. That's what Smythe's Leafs did with Wild Bill Ezinicki, Bashin' Bill Barilko and Iron Vic Lynn. All they did was win three straight (1947, 48, 49) Stanley Cups.
With the absolute protection of Reaves' Rustlers, the Marners, Matthews, Nylanders -- maybe even Tavares, if he's in the mood -- will score goals like never before. I mean who's gonna dare lay a stick on Matthews knowing that there will be an instant Destruction By Domi? Plus pals.
It's not that the new Sluggos On Lake Ontario have just invented the
hit-first-ask-questions-last formula. Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider studied the Smythe Formula, stirred twice and out came Hammer Dave Schultz and the Broad Street Bullies.
"I saw our little guys get beat up in our early years in the league," Snider told me, "and I said,
'Never Again!' And you saw what happened."
Yeah, two Cups and a trip to the 1976 Final Round.
For some reason, the genius Dubas and his Ice Follies stars lacked an edge in physicality. Vegas had it last spring and they drank Champagne 'til the cows came home.
You wait and see; when the going gets tough against the Leafs, coach Sheldon Keefe will dispatch his Pinball Pair Plus Reaves and the games's momentum will change like when legendary cowboy Wyatt Earp entered the OK Corral.
The Maven predicts here and now, Toronto will win the Cup thanks to that Terrible Trio and their Tumult!
I'M JUST SAYIN'
* Andrei Vasilevskiy's sabbatical isn't the end of the world for the Lightning. But it will result in the end of their elite NHL status.
* Virtually attached at the hip since the opening of camp, Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat are wondering who'll be on the wing once the serious stuff starts. How about Pierre Engvall?
* Advice to William Nylander: "Willie, don't you -- or your rep -- get stupid and push GM Brad Treliving too far with your 7-figure demands. Be smart; be part of the Cup year."
* Some in the Red Wings camp figure that seven more wins than last season will catapult them into a playoff berth. And I'll buy that.
* I see where Connor McDavid is coming from when he says he's gotta win a Cup to establish a "legacy."
* Nonsense! Hall of Fame defenseman Bill Gadsby played 20 NHL years and never won a Cup. Still, Gadsby, the Honest Blocker established a "legacy," as one of the all-time best blue liners.
* Jaro Halak is hanging out -- working out -- in Boston waiting for a major goalie opening. Why not Tampa Bay with Andrei Vasilevskiy out until December?
* Jim Devellano helped Bill Torrey build a 4-Cup Dynasty on Long Island. Now the Wings Exec V.P. tells me, "Long term dynasties are a thing of the past. We'll have more Cup winners on an annual basis."
* Guess which NHL team has "The Most Underrated, Forgotten Goalie Tandem:" I go with the * Coyotes' Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram.
* The late baseball great Brooks Robinson inspired the Laich hockey family. Brooks Laich later met Robinson at a memorabilia show and told the Diamond Hall of Famer how he got his name.
* Laich: "Robinson turned out to be the most humble, genuine, nicest guy. It was a life-changing moment for me."
* The beauty part of training camp is seeing the obscure becoming the cure. On the Islanders it's former NHL yo-yo Julien Gauthier who's looking like a serviceable depth piece for Lane Lambert.
* Legendary female hockey star Chelsey Goldberg has combined with the LA Kings for another "Jewish Heritage Night," Oct. 24 vs. Arizona. Chels tells The Maven that prominent Jewish figures from the sports-entertainment world will participate in a pre-game Q&A panel. "It was such a success last year," enthuses Goldberg, "that the Kings decided to do it again."
* Maven's Choice for rookie of the year: Arizona's center Logan Cooley, the Hobey Baker finalist from Minnesota.
* Am I dreaming or is it true that since The McDavid Era began, there have been more "Connors" in the NHL since the league was born 106 years ago?
* We all know that Connor McDavid is the world's best (non-goalie) hockey player. But who'll match or surpass him in three years? My money is on Connor Bedard.
* I love John Tortorella a lot. I don't like his Flyers -- to make the playoffs -- a lot. But if Torts gets them to the postseason, he's coach of the year.!
* Sportsnet poses a good question: "How Will Karlsson Fit With Letang on the Pitt Defense?" Maven says, like fingers in a glove. Both will be in the other team's end while goalie Tristan Jarry screams: "WHERE'S MY DEFENSE?"
* The very admirable Cory Schneider retired. He had one of the toughest jobs in NHL history.
Schneider followed Marty Brodeur as Devils goalie. It was a no-win situation in which Cory won.
* Bears Watching Department: Jon Cooper and Jim Montgomery -- two of the NHL's best coaches must compensate for huge losses. Coop loses his goalie ace and Monty no longer has Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
* Biggest goalie gamble will take place in Buffalo if the Sabres believe that inexperienced Devon Levi can handle the marathon.
TIDBITS YOU WON'T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE:
Grit guy Marty Pavelich, Gordie Howe's teammate on the dynastic 1950's Red Wings, holds the record for shortest shift in NHL history.
And in his first NHL game, no less. Here's how it happened:
Pavelich was on the bench when coach Tommy Ivan called for a change of lines while play was on, and signaled for Marty to go on. Pavelich climbed over the boards to replace a skater coming off and as Pav hit the ice, a linesman detected a player offside and blew his whistle to stop the play. During the pause Ivan decided to send out a different line.
Marty returned to the bench, where he remained for the rest of the game. He estimates that he "played" a half-second that evening. (In his second game, Pavelich scored his first NHL goal only five seconds after stepping on the ice!)
MIKE JOHNSTON AND THE 500 CLUB
Few coaches or general managers are more closely associated with their city than Mike Johnston and Portland, Oregon.
Starting with his first game behind the Western Hockey League's Winterhawks bench in 2008, Johnston now is approaching his 500th -- count 'em, 500 -- victory. And that could happen as soon as Friday night when his Hawks host Everett.
Mike's dossier reads like ten men instead of one man dedicated developer of champions and future National Hockey League stars. Johnston, 66, had coached virtually everywhere including the NHL Penguins. Over a two-year span he compiled an admirable 58-37-15. But that was small potatoes relative to his work on the international stage, where he won six Gold Medals.
But it's the Western Hockey League where the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native has established an enviable presence. Graduates of the Winterhawks never stop talking about Mike the mentor. "I owe him a lot," said New Jersey Devils associate coach Travis Green, who learned under Johnston as Mike's Winterhawks aide.
"He taught me so many coaching 'intangibles.' Actually, too many to list because there are so many great things to say about Mike. I'll leave it at this; The best thing about him is that -- as great a coach and manager he is -- he's an even better person."
Ironically, Johnston learned the coaching game by accident in Australia. He had expected to go to Austria -- plans got mixed up -- and he wound up playing and coaching Down Under.
"I wouldn't have been prepared if I hadn't had Australia," Mike allowed. "It was there that I first got excited about the potential of becoming a coach."
This eventually led to an assortment of gigs and eventually ten seasons in the NHL including coaching in Vancouver and Los Angeles as well as Pittsburgh.
His work with the Winterhawks has established Johnston as Portland's Mister Hockey. The Game's bible, The Hockey News, rated the Winterhawks, "The Number One Development Program in the Western Hockey League. It's lopsided how Portland rules the West. and it's thanks to Mike Johnston."
(NEXT WEEK: Exclusive -- Mike Johnston explains his keys to winning hockey, building champions and his favorite graduates now in the NHL.)