Canada’s Debate

When I look for quality food on a cold winter’s night (even if it is still technically fall), I almost always seek out “home cooking” style food. Now, any cuisine can feature home-cooking dishes and styles: a Japanese udon bowl, a simple Italian pasta dish, a hearty “jewish” chicken soup, an english-style breakfast, etc…

When most people think Portugese dining they think Churasqueiria- barbequed or rotisseried chicken. While I love a good chicken as much as the next carnivore, it is really only the window dressing of a much broader (and more inviting) cuisine. Last night I visited “The Market Grille” with a craving for this sort of simple-yet-elegant cooking, and as usual I left satisfied. (Continue reading…)

So the other week I wrote about the Leafs and their collective woes. Specifically I wrote about their offensive inconsistency, sloppy defense, unreliable goaltending, and staggeringly poor management. Much to my chagrin, the Leafs played a game tuesday night which demonstrated all of the team’s failings, and specifically the problems that I identified last week, in a clear and concise fashion to confirm my misgivings. (Continue reading…)

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?

Continued from yesterday.

The defense has struggled horribly, and the offense[[[link]]] has played at precisely the level you would expect. The goalies are inconsistent and overpriced, and neither is capable of either playing as a backup, or taking a starting job… I guess that just leaves me with management and coaching. It’s tough to fairly assess a coach in the NHL; in the end the players are required to perform on the ice and the final responsibility falls on them. At the same time, a coach is responsible for making sure that their players are ready, and maximizing performance. Based on these criteria, how can we evaluate Paul Maurice?

More than anything, the fact that most of the Leafs players are performing at exactly the level people expected them to certainly suggests that the coach is not the person responsible for their early ineptitude. Raycroft is playing to the exact same level that he “achieved” last year and Toskala is inconsistent and often hung out to dry. The [[[LINK]]]offense is inconsistent and suffers as a result of not having any really dynamic players, and the [[[link]]]defense is crippled by bad decision making.

All that being said, the Leafs are clearly not practicing what Maurice is preaching. They seem to “get it” for a a couple of periods, or even a couple of games at a time, and then all of a sudden it’s like someone stuck lead weights their skates. When the Leafs are playing smart positional hockey (what Maurice was brought in to emphasize) they are an effective forechecking team and reliable defensively, and a promising road-trip last week suggests that Maurice has a strong system in place. At this point the players have just failed to stick to the game plan with any kind of consistency, and it may have already cost them a playoff spot.

Wither John Ferguson Jr? This man is a case-study in bad asset management. So far he is responsible for paying Ed Belfour $11 million dollars to not play a single game of hockey, making Bryan McCabe the highest paid road-pylon in North America and throwing in a no-movement clause just for good measure, and trading 4 draft picks and a goaltending prospect for two backup goaltenders… although in all fairness, for those picks he did also get a suspended alcoholic who will miss the start of NEXT season because he’ll be in jail and is a lock to score 10-15 goals this season.

The truth is that John Ferguson has been a disaster as a GM. At first I was cautiously optimistic, he was young and had no baggage with the franchise; could be precisely what the team needed… Then he displayed an appalling lack of foresight, first by signing Belfour just in time to ensure that he gets paid during the lockout (even though EVERYONE else knew it was coming.) Ok, so he needs a mulligan. Then he signs Tie Domi to a 1.2 million (per year) dollar contract that he eventually has to buy out. Trying to spend his way out of spending problems, he has carried on the timeless traditions of bring in veteran Leafs and washed up greybeards late in the season to help not improve the team, and squander the sort of mid/late round picks which produce the sort of depth players that the Leafs increasingly bring in through free agency and trades. In the last two years the Leafs have actually wasted draft picks on Yannic Perrault, Luke Richardson and even Tyson Nash… not only have these players failed to guide the Leafs to the playoffs, Richardson’s addition didn’t even improve the team’s overall performance, Perrault ended up being benched several times and Nash was immediately sent to the AHL.

When you balance it out, the team has over the last 3 years lost a slew of draft picks and several prospects, and in the process signed long-term deals with players far above their market value, crippling their ability to bring in impact players. Ferguson presumably felt that the market for defensemen was about to tighten, and by signing long-term contracts at high dollar value, he was capitalizing early. Unfortunately his predictions (which nobody else matched) turned out disastrously wrong.

Bad scouting/drafting and management of draft picks is bad enough; when you add overspending on non-impact players and poor salary-cap management you have the current Toronto Maple Leafs. A team that needs to go all out to stay mediocre, with no help on the immediate horizon.

Continued from yesterday.

The defense has struggled mightily, but the offense at first glance seems to have stabilized, right? Despite being near the top of the goals-scored ledger, Toronto’s offense is still a question mark. Beyond the lofty output of Sundin (anyone who thinks he is unaffected by the team’s struggles need only look at his scoring totals) and Antropov (who is finally rewarding me for my continued campaign of solitary loyalty and support) nobody on the team is producing consistently.

Most alarmingly, the team is struggling horrendously on the power play. Powerplay goals on Saturday and Tuesday are an encouraging sign, but hardly a trend… While some would argue that the Leafs powerplay is broken, anyone who has watched this team over the last few years knows exactly what the problem is: Toronto’s two best PP goalscorers are one-dimensional shooters who are unable to create offense. Put simply, Toronto’s two goalscoring options on the PP are Bryan McCabe and Darcy Tucker, and both rely on a single play for their goals. Teams know this, expect it, and can quite easily modify their PK to respond to it. Neither player can reliably play the puck and create scoring chances for others, so using them on the power-play is a make-or-break dilemma. (Continue reading…)

I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a gourmet… I say bit because I’m just a touch off in the kitchen (just ask my sister), and you can’t be a real gourmet without appreciating wine- and I hate the stuff.

My dream job (I mean that literally and figuratively) is food/restaurant critic. Unfortunately, given my lack of linguistic studies and experience, my prospects in that field are extremely limited. Barring some newspaper/magazine/website editor coming across this post and throwing buckets of money at me to ply the trade, my future as a professional food critic is apparently non-existent. That is of course no reason to keep my feelings on food and dining to myself, so consider this the first of what I hope is numerous posts on the Gourmet perspective.

Ironically, I begin with a review on a restaurant which no longer exists… hence the title of this post. My family learned this week that Omi, a sushi restaurant located near Church and Wellesley in Toronto, has been sold. I can only speculate on how and why this transaction came to pass (and will not do so here), but the restaurant itself, and it’s proprietor John Lee will be missed both by myself and the dining community.

Omi was the personification of relaxed fine dining. Ingredients and preparation were top notch while the decor screamed “kick back and enjoy.” Others may not have approved of the Miles Davis posters and jazzy music selection, but in reality it synced perfectly with the style and quality of the meal. I never once ordered off the menu, and feel that I missed nothing. Omakase under John Lee is the way to appreciate Japanese cuisine. Sushi was always varied and perfectly fresh (of note was always the butterfish and B.C. Tuna), and rather than serve as the meal, it provided the accents and foundations for a selection of creative and flavourful entrees (more on the sushi later.) Over the years several servings stood out: Oyster shooters, deep fried sweet-shrimp in a yam nest, baked whitefish in a butter sauce, and a selection of unique and satisfying salads. There was always home-made soy sauce available (outstanding) and a careful selection of hard-to-find (and hard-to-match) sakes. Roasted garlic-oil spread across a soft piece of B.C. tuna could serve as an appetizer, entree or dessert (and for my family, often served as all three.)

What made these meals really special was the rapport that we had with John, who never really seemed to be working if he wasn’t engaged in conversation or revelry. In the end his attachment to some of his customers may have done more harm than good, but it was without a doubt a part of what made Omi great. I will miss being able to share a sake with John at the end of a long and intensely satisfying meal, and look forward to the day I once again find him toiling away behind the counter at a fine Japanese restaurant; hopefully next time you will all be able to join me.

It’s been a tough month for me as a Maple Leafs fan. Anyone who knows me well knows that as much as I root for them and follow them, I hold no illusions as to the quality of the team or the operations of its management… I root for the Leafs because they’re the team I grew up with. I’ve got some writing time so I’m posting a short series of articles detailing the Maple Leafs struggles to date.

I suppose then it is only fitting that they are team that I will grow bald and bitter with. Toronto has been abysmal to start the season and there is little reason to believe that they will even be able to match last year’s performance; which earned them an early summer. This comes as a surprise to me to be honest. Last year they missed the playoffs by a single point and this season they added a power forward/drinker and a potentially reliable starting goaltender without losing anything worth missing (Tyson Nash, Yannic Perault)… although the draft picks used to acquire them could have come in handy. (Continue reading…)

Can someone explain to me what the journalistic raison d’etre is for this story, currently splashed across the front of the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail web pages? I don’t have a long post planned, because the ridiculousness of it all speaks for itself; just a few thoughts…

First, what does a reader learn from it? That radiation is bad… already knew that. That certain devices which 99.99% of readers don’t know or have never seen/used could be used for a dirty bomb? Again, I’ve always assumed that radioactive devices could be used to build radiation bombs. That fallout is dangerous and expensive to cleanup? No revelation there… That governments are planning for the worst? That’s what governments do. Now, I suppose if I were to ask a journalist what the point is of making this front page news, they would go on about “the people have the right to know,” yadda yadda yadda. This logic has always irked me. The public has the right to know; but that does not translate into “we have an obligation to regularly vomit out-of-context information.”

I guess the “insight” here is supposed to be that dirty bombs could cause panic… but I’ve got a trick knee that gets sore whenever I encounter irony, and it is aching severely at the moment.