NNN: Go Crazy? Don't Mind If I Do.

 
Real Tomas hasn't smiled this much since McCabe Left

Getting in front of the net - Pretty much the reason that we were able to score so many goals. Created traffic in the slot and when pucks got through, hey we could get the rebounds because we're in front of the net. Who woulda thunk? Now they just need to keep doing it. They've been so focused on pretty goals that they haven't been able to get the dirty ones. Hopefully putting 6 on the board because of it gets them camping in front all day. That's how Rhino got his first, and keeping it up made for better chances from the outside too. Fridge was able to get the wrister from the circle in part because of fear of the rebound.

OdinMercer, Five For Howling

The other reason for being able to score so many goals? Questionable goaltending and defence. Seriously, the desert dogs scored 10% of their season's total in one game.

The timing could not have been better for Martin Hanzal.

The Coyotes center wanted to do something special for his parents, who were visiting from the Czech Republic and are leaving the Valley today.

He found the proper going-away present: his first career hat trick to power a 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Jobing.com Arena on Thursday night. It was the first multi-goal game for the second-year player

Jim Gintonio, The Arizona Republic

The Toronto Maple Leafs: There's a first time for everything!

Asked why he made the switch, coach Wayne Gretzky laughed and said, "I don't know. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time.

That's the Great Villian's answer to every question about his coaching. Of course, the big story of the night can be found here:

Hmmm there's something missing there...

First came the scratching of Matt Stajan. Then Vesa Toskala was pulled for a shootout. Then Jason Blake was sent to the press box. Then Pavel Kubina saw his ice time cut to less than 17 minutes per game.

Now Tomas Kaberle has been publicly humiliated, and then verbally bashed for weak play.

Well, at least you can't say Ron Wilson is picking easy targets.

No, the Maple Leaf coach is going after the big boys.

Damien Cox, The Spin

I am not sure where the idea that the goal of a benching is to humiliate. A player may (rightly) feel embarrassed that his level of play has fallen so far that being scratched or benched is an option. However, from the coach's perspective the move is made to let a player know that he is not playing up to scratch. A player can only hear it so many times before something tangible has to be done.

Everyone going on about how this was done to humliate him or make him feel shame should cool their jets. This wasn't Niklas Hagman being benched for a bad shift. This was a move that needed to be made in order to protect the integrity of the changes that Ron Wilson is making to the team.

And is Damien really surprised that Wilson has gone after the big boys? If anything, it's a shock that it's taken so long.

But with Kaberle, it comes with an underlying message. Don't think you're just going to ride out another lousy season and refuse to be traded.

You may soon be begging to be traded.

This is just ridiculous. This goes back to the media's obsession with no-trade clauses and what underhanded tricks they could imagine would be used to force a player to waive that clause. The underlying message is, and I hope Damien is reading, play better. Simple eh?

Given how Wilson has handled these cases before with Stajan, Toskala, Blake and Kubina, you can expect Kaberle to receive a full allotment of ice time tomorrow against Washington.

But the gauntlet has been laid down. And Kaberle, it's clear, is in his final weeks as a Maple Leaf.

This starts right and goes into ridiculous mode pretty quickly. This benching has nothing to do with whether Kaberle is going to be traded soon. Look at the list of guys that Wilson has benched and tell me what they have in common? They are players that were likely to be moved before the next training camp before the season started. Kaberle was already on the block. This move is about getting his head back into the game and getting him to get back to the high level we all know he is capable of displaying...so that we can trade him. Just not for Jeff Carter.