Bold words I know, but it’s a fair question to consider. In the last decade the Maple Leafs have employed a series of truly horrible defensive players. Some of them went on to play well elsewhere, some of them were past their prime, and some of them just sucked out loud. I’m thinking of players like Jyrkke Lumme, Phil Housley (who combined with Lumme to briefly form the worst defensive pairing in the history of hockey), Anders Ericksson, Andy Wozniewsky, Aki Berg, Nathan Dempsey, etc.
The time has finally come to add Bryan McCabe to the list. In the past I’ve been willing to excuse his defensive deficiencies to a degree (has trouble reading the play, handles the puck poorly, takes bad penalties) because he provided all-star offensive production, he genuinely gives his best effort, and he was not overpaid. That being said, now that he is being dramatically overpayed his performance quite simply has to improve, especially given the appalling depth at Defense for the Leafs (a defense which is costing over $20 million/year.)
As evinced by last night’s game, that is not likely to happen. To put it simple terms (in case the man himself is reading this), McCabe plays like a 19 year old rookie. Want proof? Look at his tremendously boneheaded cross-ice pass that cost the team the game last night and his post-game comments. He is on record as saying that he was trying the cross-ice touch-pass to set up a one-timer.
There was plenty of open ice and plenty of time. “I just tried to one-tap it to Nik and make the play,” McCabe said.
There are three major problems with that statement: First, a good defenseman NEVER tries a touch-pass without looking up to see if the passing lane is occupied. Second, a good defenseman NEVER tries a touch-pass across the blue line when the receiving player is stationary and preparing to shoot. Third, a good defenseman NEVER tries a touch-pass on a short-handed, or reduced (even) manpower situation. In any of those three situations the touch pass becomes incredibly dangerous; if it’s intercepted the other team is almost guaranteed a breakaway. Experienced defensemen know this… there are ocassional slipups naturally, and sometimes a good player (or a bad one) will break the rule; but they know it is a mistake. To Bryan McCabe, it was just a play that didn’t work, and for someone that’s been in the league for over a decade, that thinking demonstrates an alarming lack of maturity and hockey intelligence.
It also demonstrates why the Leafs need DESPERATELY to trade him, regardless of the short-term fallout for the team’s defensive efforts.
Oh, another question. How on earth does a butterfly goalie allow a five-hole goal in overtime against a defenseman who has trouble shooting the puck?