My 5 minute major with Marty McSorely

He’s a decade removed from NHL play, after a dubious end to his NHL career, but Marty McSorely is still a drawing card wherever he goes.

I caught up with the two-time Stanley Cup champion last Thursday after the first round of play at Wayne Gretzky’s Celebrity Pro-Am in Thornbury, ON. After battling the extremely high July temperatures, and an aggravated pair of recently replaced hips, the now 47-year-old, former NHL enforcer was kind enough to sit down with me over lunch.

“My body didn’t feel good,” he saidon  what he felt was an off opening round. “The last three or four years have been pretty hard. I had one hip replaced in June (2009) and one in November, and just started playing golf again in March.”

McSorely has even found himself back on the ice playing a bit of hockey, something he has missed over the years, “I loved the competition, but over the last five years (in the NHL) I didn’t like the way I was used".

He found himself on teams that were focused primarily on developing younger teams, which turned out to be a bit of a regret for him. “I told Robby Blake, before he left L.A. and signed with San Jose, to go to a really good team, one that needs to put you on the ice and will let the young guys develop on their own.

“That was probably the mistake I made. I was thinking I was going to a team to help with the young guys, but ended up only playing in my own end.”

I also asked McSorely on his recollections of Blake, as well as Scott Niedermayer and Keith Tkachuk, who all retired at the end of the 2009-10 season.

“Robby Blake was a big athletic man, that really moved very very easily, and hit guys hard because he surprised him,” he said on his former teammate.

“Scott Niedermayer’s area of influence on the ice was greater than any other players’. He had an effect on the game in such a huge area. Keith Tkachuk was a strong winger, a talented package in a big box.”

Of course the passing of Bob Probert, just days before, had to come up in the conversation.

“It was a sad day, not just because he was great player,” McSorely said. “Off the ice, he had a great aura. Whenever he walked in a room, and not just the dressing room, everybody was better for it. He was genuinely a good guy.”

A classic battle between Marty McSorely and the late Bob Probert. “I’ve been asked that a lot the last couple days,” McSorely said when questioned as to how often they matched up over the years. “I don’t know how many times it was.”

After thinking back on his battles as a heavyweight in the NHL (bad hips or not, he’s still in great shape and his 6’1” listing is a bit undersized), I elected not to ask whatever happened to his infamous illegal stick from Game Two of the 1993 Stanley Cup Final.

I do always toss the question to NHLers of naming a player that isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame, that they think should be. “I would have said Dino Ciccarelli up to now,” McSorely said, noting Ciccarelli’s recent 2010 induction announcement. “He was a guy that competed hard and scored a lot of goals.”

Coincidentally, last NHL player to be convicted of assault for an on-ice incident, prior to McSorely’s conviction, was Dino Cicarelli who received a day in jail for hitting a Toronto player over the head with a stick in 1988.

The Cayuga, ON native also gave me a little insight into a hometown project he’s helping to gain support towards building a new arena.

Earlier in the day, some autograph collectors, that were clearly resellers, had inquired about some further signings. “Best thing to do, is contact our organization or the NHL Alumni Association,” he told them. “Send a donation, and I’ll sign anything you want.”

“I have pretty much every card ever made of me, but I was never much of a collector over the years,” McSorley later told me. “Instead of autographs, I always got a picture of me with whoever came down in Los Angeles. Ronald Reagan, Chuck Norris, you name it.”

In light of a rough first day of play, McSorely and his pro partner did manage to make it to the final round. The Anaheim Ducks Corey Perry would end up the celebrity winner for the tournament.

Wayne Gretzky tees off on a variety of topics

Wayne Gretzky is nearly a year removed as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, and seems to be enjoying the experience away from hockey to the fullest.

Talking at his PGA-Nationwide Celebrity Pro-Am in Thornbury ON, a trim and relaxed Gretzky spoke on his former team, the free agent market and his tournament.

The full audio of the media scrum can be found on this podcast link.

“I’m happy doing what I’m doing and getting opportunities to do things I never got to do,” he said when asked how things have been since he left as Coyotes coach, amidst the ownership issues. “I’ve had a really great year.”

Gretzky was also happy to see the Coyotes on-ice performance last season, and commended his successor Dave Tippett on doing a wonderful job with the young group of players,

The 49-year-old NHL legend also discussed the new NHL and how the “dynasty days” appear to be long gone.

“You might not be able to build a dynasty,” he said. “You can’t afford to keep those players over a long period of time.

“You gotta pick your six or seven guys. Detroit sent the benchmark for that and I think Chicago is following that in some sort of fashion.”

Gretzky also spoke on the future of his tournament, now in it’s third year, which gives several upstart Canadians a chance to play at the PGA level. “We’ll sit down next week, after it’s over, and look to restructure it going forward.”

The tournament features several sports and entertainment personalities. One of the most fun to watch is former NBA star Charles Barkley, noted for his hesitant tee shot.

“Why don’t you try and do it,” when I asked him to describe Barkley’s swing in three words or less. “It’s just nerves, but he loves coming back.”

On the topic of free agency, Gretzky said sometimes it comes down to just wanting to win over money.

“With Kovalchuk, he’s coming from a young team in Atlanta, and he wants to win a championship. He’s probably holding out for a chance to win the Stanley Cup.”

Asked if there would ever be a LeBron James type scenario in the NHL, Gretzky jokingly speculated that if it did, it would probably happen in Toronto.

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The Toronto Sun

The Auldacity of it all..

 

Well that was certainly a surprise. Sneaking a peek on my Blackberry to catch up on the “free agent frenzy” during a family outing at the park, I screamed, “What the …?”

I was certainly surprised to see that the Montreal Canadiens had not signed goaltender Dan Ellis to a new contract. Instead, Pierre Gauthier opted to go with a goalie who has been passed around more often than a groupie at a ‘70s KISS concert named Alex Auld.

Right up to the noon hour it seemed like Ellis was a shoe in to be the backup/mentor/1B goalie to Carey Price. I was pretty convinced it was a done deal as well. Even at the eleventh hour, Eillis was on the Team990, giving Habs fans some great hope.

What went wrong, and why Alex Auld?

For Ellis, he was clearly a goalie that wanted to play regularly. In the back of his mind he wanted to be the number one guy between the pipes. He had lost the job in Nashville to Pekka Renne so you know that if the offer to be the number one was tabled by another team, he'd probably take it.

Well that offer came, in the form of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Ellis took it at $1.5 million over two seasons. Clearly it wasn’t a matter of money to Elllis, rather playing time and a two-year deal. Gauthier likely didn’t want to commit to two years, with Price expected to be the “franchise” down the road and still in need of a contract.

So that left the Habs GM with some decent alternate options in the free agent market. But Instead of going out and kicking tires at the likes of Marty Biron, Johan Hedberg, etc., Gauthier went on what seems like an impulse buy and grabbed Auld for a one-year, $1 million deal.

Arpon Basu raised his concerns on Auld in his Friday piece for The Daily Hab-it, noting his questionable statistics.

“Of Auld's 19 starts with a pretty bad Dallas Stars team last season, he gave up three or more goals 13 times. He had what was probably the best season of his career a year prior with Ottawa, when he went 16-18-7 with a 2.47 GAA and .911 save percentage. But just when it looked like Auld was going to be the man in Ottawa, he fell apart.

After starting the season 9-6-3, Auld went 7-12-4 from Dec. 8 to the end of the season. Of course, we all know (or at least we should) that a won-loss record is not a good reflection of a goaltender because it's more of a team stat. So, in compiling that 9-6-3 record, Auld had a stellar 1.98 GAA with a .925 save percentage, but from Dec. 8 on he went to a 2.86 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

The season before that Auld played extremely well for the Bruins, going 9-7-5 with a 2.32 GAA and .919 save percentage. 

But aside from the numbers, this is Auld's eighth team since 2006. That's about two teams a year. Does that fill you with confidence?”

Expanding on Auld’s numbers, I looked into his back-to-back games. Last season he only started on back-to-back nights once, losing both (one in a shootout) and giving up nine goals with a .855 SvPct.

The previous season he went 3-2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and .920 SvPct when called on to go two straight nights, and had a more impressive 2007-08 where he was 2-1-1, 1.48 GAA and a .946 SvPct.

If Carey Price does get the call to be the number one as he is expected to and banks the bulk of the ice time, Auld will be needed from time to time to give him a couple nights off.

He already seems to know what his role with the Canadiens will be, based on Friday’s interview with RDS.

"We didn't talk about a specific number of games, but more about the role I would have with the team," he said. "They want me to help Carey Price get better and that is exactly what I want to do."

That said, If he produces numbers similar to what he has done before in back-to-back nights, and Price does indeed begin to fulfill his expectations under his “mentoring”, Gauthier’s decision would be genius.

Yvon Pedenault pondered this in his column for Le Journal de Quebec, “There is one question we must ask: Will Auld be a safety shield if Price would have a problem? Not really.”

Here’s a concern though; When Jaroslav Halak was traded, Pierre Gauthier noted how Price already had playoff experience for a young goaltender.

But what about Auld, if Price tanks or is injured? He has just four games of playoff experience himself, with his lone win coming being a triple overtime game (thanks goalienut), when he was with Vancouver. His post season SvPct is a less than appealing .892.

Maybe Gauthier sees Auld as the next Michael Leighton, I don’t know. Personally, I’d have saved my money and just taken my chances on either Curtis Sandford or Cedrick Desjardins.

“Koivu’s return” dreams put to rest: The thought of many fans last summer was that maybe, just maybe former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu would return after a season in Anaheim. Well that’s not going to happen as the veteran re-signed for two more years. The Canadiens put the nail in any further hopes by announcing that Scott Gomez will wear his childhood No.11, Koivu’s number in Montreal, this season.

Maybe with Dustin Boyd signed, he’ll take No. 27 and kill off any return hopes of “L’Artiste.”