HockeyRoy's regal return, Lecavalier's struggles and 30 thoughts

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Earlier this week, the Molson family gave Bob Gainey a vote of confidence as it officially took control of the team. (Gainey received mild boos when showed on the video screen before the yahoos were drowned out.) But, when the time comes to make a change – as it inevitably will – the pressure to choose Roy as his successor will be enormous.

The Hall of Famer could have taken the Avalanche job during the summer, but chose not to. There is some belief that if Pierre Karl Peladeau had bought the Canadiens, Roy would be running them now. Despite the controversy that’s followed him and his family in the past two years, he’s NHL-ready. And, Montreal fans are so rabid for success it’s unlikely those issues would even matter.

The biggest issue: How much control does he want? Roy doesn’t always play well in the sandbox. During his NHL career, he chose which games he wanted to play. In the QMJHL, he runs his show. Would Roy want to be coach and GM? That’s a bad idea; those jobs are big enough on their own. Will he coach, but have personnel authority through a GM he chooses? Those are important questions to answer, because the wrong structure would be fatal.

What’s obvious, however, is that Roy is The People’s Choice. If the Canadiens continue to struggle, his presence will loom larger and larger over the franchise. It’s not hard to see a scenario where he’s running the organization – eventually.

HEADED FOR DIVORCE?

Hotstover Pierre LeBrun’s weekly ESPN blatherings included more rumblings that Vincent Lecavalier is unhappy in Tampa. I have no doubt Pierre is correct. Lecavalier simply does not trust Lightning management/ownership after everything that happened last year. No matter what anyone connected with that franchise says - number four was available for trade.

That said, someone he trusts must tell him to get over his funk. He’s playing himself off the Canadian Olympic team. He’s hurting his reputation around the league. Rick Tocchet raised eyebrows by giving him less than four minutes in the first period in Philly on Nov. 2, but if you check his ice time since then, it’s been consistently around the 20-minute mark.

The Lightning outraged its fan base last winter as it turned L’Affaire Lecavalier into a fiasco. I never thought I’d write or say this, but I think it’s best for both the franchise and the player to sit down and figure out how to give everyone a fresh start.

Fans in Tampa might not like the thought of a Lecavalier-less Lightning, but, if you really look at it, the team has two terrific building blocks for the future. Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman are going to be big stars in this league. High-quality people like Martin St. Louis, Mattias Ohlund and Ryan Malone are mentoring them. This might come as a huge surprise, but Tampa doesn’t need Lecavalier like it used to.

He might not like hearing that (although I think he’s got better things to do than read this blog), but Lecavalier, too, needs a fresh start. His career needs rejuvenation. Plus, his no-trade means he controls his future. He can pick the spot. Would he really like to go to Montreal? Los Angeles would definitely be interested. Would the Rangers eat contracts to put him next to Marian Gaborik and re-unite him with John Tortorella?

With his veto power, Lecavalier can find out.

The Lightning would have to be realistic about this. In return, it would probably have to take a bad contract of shorter length and accept that it probably wouldn’t receive high-end prospects or picks. It will save them $7.7 million in cap room, helping take care of Stamkos and Hedman when it’s time.

Finally, there is the ownership factor. There are a lot of rumours about the franchise’s future, and it’s hard to know what to believe. In actual cash, Lecavalier is owed $70 million US in the first seven years of his contract (which started this season). Unlike many other Sun Belt franchises, the Lightning is a pretty good buy. But, the team might be even more attractive without that contract.

By the way, don’t look for the Davidson family to re-take control. Bill Davidson - who owned the team when it won the Cup in 2004 - died last year. His widow, Karen, wants no part of it even though the family estate is responsible if Len Barrie and Oren Koules are unable to fund the franchise.

Final question: If circumstances force a Davidson return, would Jay Feaster be back as GM? Brian Lawton’s contract is up after this year, while Feaster must be paid through 2010-11. Feaster earns more than Lawton, and the family is obviously comfortable with the GM who won it a Stanley Cup.

LIKE A HIGH-SCHOOL BREAKUP

Phil Kessel said he expected Boston boos on Saturday night, but there’s no doubt the ferocity fazed him. He played - by far - his worst game as a Maple Leaf as the Bruins scored a converted touchdown in the blowout of Toronto.

While some Bostonians - Marc Savard and Blake Wheeler - hold no grudge, others in the organization absolutely do. No matter what Kessel says about his departure, it’s their belief that he, agent Wade Arnott and Brian Burke steered the player to Toronto. Peter Chiarelli would have gladly traded him there for Tomas Kaberle and a first-rounder, but wasn’t as thrilled about doing it for just the picks.

There’s no doubt he preferred the idea of sending Kessel to Nashville, but the Leafs’ offer was $750,000 more per year. Seeing their old teammate clearly inspired the Bruins, who scored five in a game for just the third time this season. The Bruins haven’t replaced him yet, but those extra draft picks will come in handy come trade deadline.

As for Kessel, he’s a better player than I thought. Former teammates are impressed at his improvement in controlling the puck, since he used to be a turnover machine. If I was the Leafs, though, I would have one concern.

He told one Bruin that he loves it in Toronto because he does whatever he wants, and Ron Wilson confirmed that with his quotes on Friday. That’s OK when your team isn’t very good, but it doesn’t fly when the stakes get higher. That’s why Kessel didn’t get along with Claude Julien. I’m curious to see where that leads in the future.

NON-HOCKEY THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

Can’t go without mentioning an unbelievable move by Greg Oden. Oden, the NBA’s number one draft pick in 2007, has played only 82 games in three years due to injuries. Saturday night, his 2009-10 season came to a premature end because of a fractured kneecap.

But, as a devastated Oden was being stretchered off the court, he high-fived a young fan who’d reached out to him. That’s just incredible.

30 THOUGHTS

1. When Ken Dryden told Ron MacLean that it was time for Montreal fans to allow the current team to create its own history – he was stating what players have wanted to say for years. Problem is, they are afraid to.

2. Dryden also says that the checking line of Gainey, Doug Jarvis and Jimmy Roberts doesn’t get enough credit for how great it was. In 1975-76, the three combined to score 33 goals and went plus 44. In 1976-77, they scored just 35 and went plus 83. (Roberts only played 45 games that year.) Individually, they didn’t have the monster plus/minus of others (such as Larry Robinson’s obscene plus-120), but, as Dryden points out, “They played against the best every game. Dionne, Esposito, Perreault, Ratelle - Scotty (Bowman) threw that line against them.” Jarvis/Gainey/Roberts didn’t score much, but still dominated.

3. Carey Price said Roy told him: “I won two Stanley Cups here, and they still booed me. You can’t let it get to you.”

4. The huge ovation for Guy Carbonneau really meant a lot to him.

5. Peter Laviolette is an interesting hire in Philadelphia, because his identity doesn’t really fit with the Flyers’. In Carolina, he refused to carry a fighter on his roster, even when the Hurricanes won the Cup in 2006. During one of the Final games, Georges Laraque started head-hunting. Laviolette told his players to ignore it and win the game. Can that philosophy work in this organization?

6. For that reason, can’t see him too upset at Daniel Carcillo’s four-game suspension. Even if Paul Holmgren doesn’t like it.

7. Educated guess: The Flyers really miss Mike Knuble, especially in the dressing room.

8. Hope John Stevens gets another shot. One of the real decent people in the game. Ask Rob Blake and Dwayne Roloson, guys from his area of Ontario. As they got closer to the NHL, Stevens called them out of nowhere to give them advice on training properly for the elite level. A workout machine, Stevens was known as “Rambo.”

9. With Stevens’ firing, Dan Bylsma has the second-most seniority of any coach in the Atantic Division. He’s been on the job 10 months. (Scott Gordon is first.)

10. Jim Rutherford’s biggest trade chip? Probably Ray Whitney. Whitney has a no-move, giving him power over any destination, but is an unrestricted free agent after the season. Don’t think the GM would have too much trouble finding takers.

11. Too bad Sidney Crosby couldn’t go against the Blackhawks. He said last year they were the team he likes watching the most, because of the way they play.

12. No surprise Peter Chiarelli and Marc Savard worked out a deal. Chiarelli’s known Savard since he was 14, as the GM formerly worked as an agent with Larry Kelly, who still represents number 91.

13. Savard admitted he asked teammates in Calgary why they disliked him. One said the label on Savard used to be, “He’s the most selfish guy off the ice, but the most unselfish on it.” This player, however, had no issue because the centre has “a sarcastic sense of humour and I love that.”

14. One final Savard note: Idolized Wayne Gretzky. When in New York, he painted Nike swooshes on his stick – just like the Great One’s. Only difference: Gretzky had an actual sponsorship.

15. The NHL is not pleased with the Bruins for this contract. (First four years, $25.5 million US. Last three: $2.55 million.) But, where’s the violation? That’s what GMs and capologists are supposed to do - find the loopholes.

16. Interesting piece on why the players should be more annoyed than the league with these front-loaded deals.

17. Bill McCreary apologized to Ian White for missing Blake Wheeler’s push from behind that sent White hard into boards. White said after the game, “I was lucky.” Obviously, you’d love McCreary to see it and call it live, but good on him for manning up.

18. That push to the back - into the boards - is another thing the NHL needs to eliminate.

19. Not surprised the NHL is considering re-naming the trophies. An executive said the league wanted a way to gauge reaction to the idea, which is why I blogged about it last year. (It wasn’t positive.) As for my list matching Glenn Healy’s, that’s just a fluke.

20. Healy is bang-on right about one thing: Trading Tuukka Rask looks worse and worse on an hourly basis for Toronto.

21. Other notes from the Inside Hockey piece on agents, number I: They despise one another. Some of the stories about client-stealing are mind-blowing.

22. Number II: The most respected agent is probably Don Baizley. He’s based in Winnipeg. Biggest clients include: Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.

23. Number III: The agent who did the best job for a client last season? Pat Morris, getting Sean Avery back to New York - with the same four year, $15.5 million contract he signed in Dallas.

24. GMs who used to be agents: Brian Burke, Chiarelli, Chuck Fletcher, Mike Gillis, Dean Lombardi, Ray Shero. George McPhee lasted about six weeks before he went into management.

25. That’s ironic because a couple of agents say McPhee and Lou Lamoriello are the ones who dislike them the most.

26. I’ve never seen a player less excited to score his first NHL goal than Johnny Boychuk.

27. In case you missed it, Duncan Keith is going to be the league’s highest-paid defenceman next season, at $8 million. (His cap hit is $6.5 million.)

28. The Blackhawks biggest concern: There have to be players looking around and saying, “Well, this guy’s making a lot, that guy’s making a lot, the guy next to me is making a lot, too. Is there room for me?” This team will be besieged by trade rumours for the rest of the season and into the summer. On a young – albeit mature – team, will that cause a problem?

29. Evgeni Nabokov backtracked after criticizing Marc-Eduard Vlasic following a 3-2 loss to St. Louis on Thursday night. (Nabokov said Vlasic should have blocked Carlo Colaiacovo’s tying goal in the dying seconds of regulation.) Sharks players have grumbled before that Nabokov does this too often.

30. Did you know that Brendan Shanahan once pulverized Rick Vaive because the former Leafs captain refused an autograph request?

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