One of the better untold stories of this Leaf season was how a group of players was found out planning a helicopter trip from New Jersey into Manhattan for a night of partying the day before a game against the Devils.
Once head coach Ron Wilson got wind of the fun, he called a bed check. Oddly, none of those players are with the Leafs any longer.
about 2 years ago
Down Goes Brown
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Ironic that only a week after we were all told yet again that bloggers can’t compete with the mainstream media because they don’t have that inside access, we get a mainstream writer breaking a mini-story based on his access… without naming names.
I’d really love to know why Cox doesn’t feel like he can name any names here, especially since he’s already narrowed down the field. I mean, if it’s newsworthy enough to mention this at all then isn’t it newsworthy enough to say who was involved?
Good old access…
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 1:57 PM EDT reply actions
It does seem a little ridiculous to go that far and not name names.
If I was one of the players traded who wasn’t involved I’d be suing him for libel (assuming I could prove damages) because refusing to name names smears everyone, not just those involved in the actual incident.
Of course, it could be that no one named names on the management end, and the players refused to talk about it – if I’m giving Cox the benefit of the doubt. Then again, if he couldn’t confirm who it was exactly, why would he write it?
While I’m a believer in reporting and journalism, I think those terms – and the ethics associated with them – have passed sports writers by.
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by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Of course, it could be that no one named names on the management end, and the players refused to talk about it – if I’m giving Cox the benefit of the doubt.
That’s actually a decent point.
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions
So why wouldn’t Cox say that?
Also if management didn’t want to name names they wouldn’t tell the story.
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If we’re making the assumption that no one named names, then it doesn’t matter if Cox points that out or not because the end result is the same.
Also if management didn’t want to name names they wouldn’t tell the story.
That’s pretty presumptuous. I’m sure this was told with a wink to the journalists who, because of their access (which translates into having common knowledge of things we don’t), know exactly who was being talked about – but because the names aren’t confirmed can’t report exactly who it was.
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by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s actually a decent point.
Everybody gets one.
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by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
There’s a case to be made. Maybe not a strong one, and it’d be nearly impossible to prove damages, but there’s nothing to stop them from suing.
The Maple Leaf Outsider - How I Make Unemployment Bearable.
by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Heh, wow. I wish Cox would tell us the rest of the story.
"The only way out is in a body bag. Go Leafs Go." - Blinky
by Karina on Apr 12, 2010 2:13 PM EDT reply actions
Wonder whether there were any surprise helicopter flights to the hot spots in Red Deer or Medicine Hat…
Leaf, the universe and everything.
Leafs played in New Jersey on 1/29 and 2/05.
Going out on 1/30 were Stajan, Hagman, White, Mayers, Blake and Toskala. Poni and Stempniak went at the deadline.
Did I miss anyone? I don’t think anyone got shipped off the team because of this. We’d been looking to move Toskala and Blake because of their contracts and poor play. We moved Stajan, Hagman and White at presumably Calgary’s request. Poni was wanted elsewhere.
Stempniak and Mayers would be the likely candidates since they don’t have much value. Stempniak for a fourth and a seventh?
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Though to be honest it’s unlikely anyone in the Calgary deal was part of that. Too soon.
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Either that or Burke and Sutter were still hammering out details, the Leafs looked like shit on the Saturday, and then this happened, and Burke just said “Fuck it” and pulled the trigger.
Resident Capologist
By declining to name names, Cox is effectively poisoning the well of any guys not involved.
This may be a bit off topic, but since we’re discussing ex-Leafs, final stats (GP, G, A, P):
Stajan: 27-3-13-16
Hagman: 27-5-6-11
White: 27-4-8-12
Mayers: 27-1-5-6
Blake: 26-6-9-15 (5 pts in one game I think)
Poni: 16-2-7-9
Stempniak: 18-14-4-18 (29% shooting—so regress that to 18-7-4-11)
Every single one of these guys other than White is or soon will be playing on a UFA contract. I think White is the only real value asset given up in exchange for Sjostrom, Aulie, Phaneuf and Giguere.
I certainly have my qualms about many of his moves but for Jan 31 alone, praise be to Burke.
by The '67 Sound on Apr 12, 2010 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think anyone got shipped off the team specifically because of this one story, and while the language might imply that I don’t think that’s what Cox is going for either.
It’s just a good anecdote on a buddy-buddy attitude that was probably hurting the club, and aided Burkes decisions to make certain players expendable. The same kind of rumours swirled around Steen and Cola when they left.
I think all evidence points to Martin Skoula.
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 2:24 PM EDT reply actions 7 recs
That’s more access than most uncredited bloggers will ever get.
We’re just hungry for names.
Also Damien Cox. He changed his tune about building through the draft and the “5 year ban” on the Leafs trading draft picks, right around the time Burke pulled off the Kessel deal.
I’m pretty sure he is scared of Burke and moreso, scared of getting the Watters treatment by MLSE.
Wendel Killer Joseph
From the same article
Phoenix is probably the best example that building through the draft isn’t the only way to go. Of their last 15 drafts, the Coyotes only have two first round picks currently on their roster as contributing players. Those players are Martin Hanzal (17th overall, 2005) and Shane Doan (seventh, 1996). The guts of the Phoenix lineup was acquired through trades and free agency, plus, of course, one of the best waiver pickups in recent memory, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
Meanwhile, teams like the Islanders, Lightning, Blue Jackets and Panthers keep picking high and keep going nowhere. The only point, folks, is that there’s more than one way to do it, and smart GMs know that.
Who is this man and what has he done with Damien Cox?
Leaf, the universe and everything.
Kinda sounds to me like Phoenix found a lot of diamonds in the rough. Im not entirely sure that is entirely because of the GM. Like who would have thought Stemp would have put up those numbers. I bet you both Burke and the Phoenix’s GM didn’t think that. Not that Burke cares.
Don't worry
He’s just as bad at math as Damien is:
Think about this statistical comparison. Washington defenceman Jeff Schultz led the NHL this season with a plus-50. Edmonton forward Patrick O’Sullivan was a league-worst minus-35. That means O’Sullivan was on the ice for 85 more even-strength and shorthanded goals than Schultz this season. That’s quite incredible.
What makes it more incredible is that O’Sullivan was only on the ice for 83 goals in TOTAL all season long.
Damien seems to have forgotten that offense also counts towards +/- ratings, and the fact that Schultz was on the ice for 85 goals for might have a lot more to do with it than O’Sullivan’s bad defensive play.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
- Sir Winston Churchill
I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.
by Steve Burtch on Apr 12, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
And look what that access got us: A blind item with no names months after the fact.
In other words: it’s absolutely worthless.
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“it’s about Wilson and his standards for acceptable behaviour.”
The players are less important. It also speaks to Burke’s standards.
Sorry, I don’t think an uncredited blogger could get this type of info, unless by happenstance. I don’t want to offend anyone. I think you’ve enjoyed a press pass before…There’s a lot more access with a press pass, plain and simple. If you do jackshit with it, or bang out 400 words, 200 of which were written before the event, than it’s useless
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 12, 2010 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree. I think a lot of folks around here are hunting too hard for reasons to hate Cox. They’re easy to find – as Steve has pointed out above – but this isn’t one of them.
"Defense! Defense! Common! Do you call that blowing!?"
See James Mirtles article in the Globe and Mail today. He drops a similar tidbit of info, sans name. No one has said boo.
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 13, 2010 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Boo
Happy?
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thats one person down, the rest of the Barilkosphere to go.
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 13, 2010 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
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I don’t have the follow through
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 13, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
I talked to James about it and he explained why he didn’t name names. Feel free to contact him.
As for everyone jumping on him, it’s a matter of track record. If a reporter has a track record of bullshit then you’re less likely to trust his writing.
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You’re completely missing the point. The point isn’t whether an uncredited blogger could get this blind item. It’s whether the magical ‘access’ actually got us anything in this case. It didn’t. It got us nothing but rumours. You hear this crap in Toronto all of the time without any access.
Cox could have used it better if he had provided some actual information instead, because he’s worried about losing his access, he leaves it as a blind item and does nothing but smear 8 players.
It’s similar to how Steve Simmons two years ago made a crack about JFJ’s biggest mistake being the hiring of an attractive female masseuse. Two years later he confirms that it wasn’t a rumour but it was true.
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“Cox could have used it better if he had provided some actual information instead, because he’s worried about losing his access, he leaves it as a blind item and does nothing but smear 8 players.”
You’re right. about the access part. That’s what my initial comment on this post referred to. Cox scared to get the Bill Watters treatment from MLSE.
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 13, 2010 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
the Bill Watters treatment
I feel like there is a band name/sexual position joke there.
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watters boarding?
My Fan Base Can Beat Up Your Fan Base
by JaredFromLondon on Apr 13, 2010 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Getting it thrown to you, without discrimintation, by an eldery fat guy =
The Watters treatment.
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 13, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
Both are awesome.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
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I get that Cox’s point here isn’t about the players, it’s about Wilson and his standards for acceptable behaviour.
Just seems like if it’s worth reporting, it’s worth reporting names. Or at the very least, not narrowing it down to eight guys.
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 2:34 PM EDT reply actions
All 8 of the guys Burke traded this year will be hoping their wives don’t see this story about their “secret helicopter party in NYC trip”
In that case, I’ll be emailing Hagman’s wife shortly!
...Being surrounded by Sens and Habs fans makes me lose faith in humanity...
You need to step it up. Talk to Jared.
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by kidkawartha on Apr 12, 2010 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions
You know what? My guess is Toskala and Blake. Giguere offer on the table for a while, this happens and Burke says “do it”.
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Kind of a smallish “group,” but that could be Damien’s way of spreading the blame to more of the innocent. :)
Leaf, the universe and everything.
I just don’t get what Cox has to gain by hiding the names if it’s those two players…
"The only way out is in a body bag. Go Leafs Go." - Blinky
by Karina on Apr 12, 2010 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
It could be that he doesn’t have names i.e. Wilson told him that story, Wilson is as credible a source as you’ll find ergo he doesn’t necessarily need names to go with it.
Let’s also keep in mind that Damien posted this info in his “blog”.
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by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s a smallish group because no one else would actually want to hang out with those two, let alone party on a helicopter.
by Five Minutes For Fighting on Apr 12, 2010 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions
It was Probably Toskalol. He probably wanted to show off his Mahnpurse and mickey mouse shirt at Jersey Shore and meet the Situation
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by Kevin Sellathamby on Apr 12, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Sources
have conditions, like “no names”
They could be UFA’s and Wilson/Burke don’t want to throw them under the bus for upcoming contract negotiations. If Burke is so concerned with his reputation and ability to attract players, naming names might not help his cause.
Y’all just be hungry for names. Me too.
There are much worse examples of poor journalism in the MSM. This isn’t even fit to print.
Wendel Killer Joseph
*can have conditions, like “no names”
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 12, 2010 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions
My wife is a reporter for a paper affiliated with Torstar.
For her to use a deliberately unnamed source she has to go through so many hoops it makes it almost not worth her while. Among journalists it’s considered a cop out or bad form to do this in all but the most extreme of cases. For Cox, in this case to not names names and to not attribute his information is, in a strictly journalistic sense, bullshit.
The Maple Leaf Outsider - How I Make Unemployment Bearable.
by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions
There’s a giant chasm of accountability and corporate procedure between a legit news reporter and a sports columnist.
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by mf37 on Apr 12, 2010 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Of course there is. But in this case Damien revealed a fact no one knew about i.e. reported it, partially identified the players and implied pretty explicitly that this was, at least in part, the reason why they were traded.
That isn’t opinion. That’s why I call bullshit.
The Maple Leaf Outsider - How I Make Unemployment Bearable.
by Pamplemousse on Apr 12, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
And water is wet.
Sports columnists make their living schlepping BS. How many sports columnists are there in Toronto? How many are must reads? Is there another profession with such lousy odds?
Bitter Leaf Fan: because sometimes there's no option but to be bitter...
1. Too many
2. None
3. Meteorologists?
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein
by Say *plan the parade one more time*... on Apr 12, 2010 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s one thing to want anonymity as a source.
Quite another to tell a writer he can’t even name the people the story is about.
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s bad journalism period. Allowing anonymous sources in matters of literal life and death is fine; these whistleblowers speak their points in private testimony in court cases.
Anonymous sources in sports are ridiculous.
Pension Plan Puppets*
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Y’all just be hungry for names. Me too.
No, that’s really not it.
In my case, I’m just pointing out an example of an ongoing pet peeve — that mainstream journalists claim that their access is a major advantage over bloggers, but they rarely use it. Or in this case, they use it in a half-assed way.
Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.
by Down Goes Brown on Apr 12, 2010 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Or they use a snippet of their “advantage” in their Blog. This isn’t even fit to print. It’s in his Blog. Not in the print edition. We’re talking practice. Not the game.
I can point to just about any Shoalts article as a worse example of journalism.
Also, the ones complaining are the scared ones, who don’t do a good job. When’s the last time Eric Duhatschek took a swipe at bloggers?
Wendel Killer Joseph
by MapleLeafMole on Apr 12, 2010 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
awesomeness
How come no one is commenting on the awesomeness of taking a helicopter from NJ to Manhattan to party? Seriously, that is badass. It has Ian White written all over it. I’m pretty sure (source, unnamed, sorry) that plan B was to use his mustache as a propeller to get them there. Everyone loves mustache rides.
by Leaf in Habland on Apr 12, 2010 4:10 PM EDT reply actions
I also agree that Ian White was probably a big part of this, though I feel the awesomeness is cancelled out by the fact that there was a game the next day… It would be awesomeness if it was a helicopter AFTER the game when the team had a few days off afterwards.
also
dude is married with a kid. no one would go to such lengths to party if they knew at the end of the night they had a 0% chance of scoring. which makes it less awesome if true.
rumours and speculation + 1
Loving the Leafs is like being in love with a drug-addled, gambling addicted prostitute with a heart of gold and a bunch of humanitarian awards from her youth. It’s hard. It hurts. But dammit! I just love them!
by Van Ryn's Neurologist on Apr 12, 2010 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Unless he is an asshole who cheats on his wife all the time when the team is on the road (which a significant percentage of professional athletes most likely do).
yeah, that’s kinda what I meant.
but again, rumours and speculation has never done anyone any good.
Loving the Leafs is like being in love with a drug-addled, gambling addicted prostitute with a heart of gold and a bunch of humanitarian awards from her youth. It’s hard. It hurts. But dammit! I just love them!
by Van Ryn's Neurologist on Apr 12, 2010 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Same planet, different worlds
I read a book last year about the collapse of Bear-Stearns. One of the senior execs (CEO? Chairman?) used to take a helicopter from mid-town Mahattan to NJ to go golfing every Thursday afternoon.
The helicopter flight trip took a few minutes and cost $7K each way.
Bitter Leaf Fan: because sometimes there's no option but to be bitter...
That’s insane, especially considering that over the 20ish weeks of NJ golf weather that would be 140,000k a year, or the yearly salary of about 3 people.
You have to love corporate banking: when they do well they keep all the profits and buy Ferraris, ten million dollar vacation houses and have $10,000 helicopter commutes. When they do poorly they only get their base salary plus retention bonuses in the millions and the taxpayer props up their company.
Taxpayers assume all of the risk and take none of the reward.
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One of the guys in commercial paper had a starting salary of $4M plus bonuses. He didn’t think it was enough and went on to build the hedge fund that led to Bear-Stearns collapse.
He also collected Ferraris.
The guy that was taking the helicopter golfing was earning about $30M/annually. $140K to go golfing is the equivalent of some one earning $100K paying $460 years in taxi fares.
Bitter Leaf Fan: because sometimes there's no option but to be bitter...
Has anyone considered the possiblity
that Damien planned the helicopter trip and it was him that invited along the aforementioned players as a going away present?
He’s HIS OWN SOURCE!!! It almost makes too much sense.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
- Sir Winston Churchill
I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.
I’m starting to think that Burke set this up. The whole thing backfired though, as Jeff Finger and Garnett Exelby gave their spots away to Ian White and Matt Stajan; it wasn’’t worth losing them to get rid of Blake and Toskala, so they decided not have the helicopter ‘disappear’.
Plan B was the Giguere trade and burying Finger.
by Shield on Apr 12, 2010 4:36 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Well, we can safely say Toskala wasn’t one of those involved. Given the way he played, I’m pretty certain he did his drinking on the day of the game, not the night before…
by dbfinch on Apr 12, 2010 6:39 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
Welcome...and rec'd.
Thanks for joining.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Like reading thoughts confined to 140 characters? I'm on Twitter too.
pull a Costanza
Goodnight!
*leaves on a high-note.
Loving the Leafs is like being in love with a drug-addled, gambling addicted prostitute with a heart of gold and a bunch of humanitarian awards from her youth. It’s hard. It hurts. But dammit! I just love them!
by Van Ryn's Neurologist on Apr 12, 2010 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Circumstantial evidence,
I remember that the line of Hagman-Stajan-Ponikarovsky was exceptionally terrible in that first game in New Jersey, despite scoring two goals they were dominated territorially. That could just be a coincidence, though, so I won’t say anymore. I don’t see much reason to believe or not believe this story.
by Slava Duris #24 on Apr 12, 2010 8:14 PM EDT reply actions
UGH AS IF.
What even, this is some gossip bullshit. That is on the level of Perez Hilton.
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by Wrap Around Curl on Apr 12, 2010 8:16 PM EDT reply actions
I read an exceptional amount of blind items and gossip to know when something has truth.
This, I don’t see.
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by Wrap Around Curl on Apr 12, 2010 9:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Burke confirmed it in an interview yesterday.
by Jacques Strap on Apr 15, 2010 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
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