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October 10, 2005
Something must be done about Wade Belak
Far be it from me to question Pat Quinn's coaching decisions, but... well, I guess I can't honestly finish that sentence. This past Wednesday night the Leafs iced a defense corps consisting of Aki Berg, Carlo Colaiacovo, Tomas Kaberle, Alex Khavanov, Bryan McCabe and Andy Wozniewski, and got a pretty solid effort out of them. Ken Klee recovered from his bruised heel in time for Saturday night's game against Montreal, which meant, logically, that one of Colaiacovo or Wozniewski (probably the former) would sit out.
Not so. Both promising young players sat against the soft, speedy Canadiens in favour of the single worst hockey player on the Maple Leafs' roster — Wade Belak. Wade Belak was, predictably, god freaking awful, and Aki Berg was awful right along with him — they managed to be -3 in under 14 minutes of ice time on a night when their team scored four goals. (Of course, in typical Toronto fashion, Berg's well-deserved reputation as a solid if somewhat limited (read: slow) 5th or 6th defenceman is instantly overlooked after any bad performance and, by virtue of his EU passport, he absorbs far more water-cooler abuse than does Belak.)
It is often said that Quinn is unreasonably loyal to certain players — you hear it most often in reference to Nik Antropov. In most such cases, however, the people saying it are far more unreasonable. Indeed, it often seems that Leafs fans won't be happy until they have another Steve Sullivan or Fred Modin situation to lament. How many times will they have to see a player blossom elsewhere after his 25th birthday to convince them that some players do, in fact, blossom after their 25th birthdays? It really is infuriating some times following this team.
Anyway, the point is that as much as I've wondered at times at Pat Quinn's lineup choices, in most cases I've been able to understand at some level what he's up to. I have absolutely no idea why Wade Belak is in the National Hockey League. (If I have to hear one more time that he's worth $850,000 because he can play both forward and defense I might just lose it.) And he'll play tonight too, against an Ottawa team that's faster, more skilled and tougher than the Habs — an Ottawa team the Leafs tied with a defense corps Quinn now refuses to use. Said Quinn:
Right now we're trying to build some confidence, so I don't want (Belak and Berg) feeling like they're on a jerky string right off the bat because I'll do more damage to their confidence, which is already kind of shallow right now after a night like that. You know you're bad and the fact that you're sitting there wondering whether the coach is just going to not give you another chance ... they should know they're going to get a chance to do this right.
That would be a fair response if Wade Belak were Toronto's sixth defenceman, but he isn't — Andy Wozniewski is, or should be. What's it doing to his 25-year-old confidence, I wonder, to play 11 solid, even minutes against the consensus Stanley Cup favourite and then get sat down for two straight games in favour of a consensus pylon?
Posted by Chris Selley at October 10, 2005 06:13 PM
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Comments
Ah, you saved me a post. Agreed on all counts: about normally understanding why Quinn doesn't bench someone just cause the talk show nuts are up in arms, about Berg taking more flack because he's European, and most of all about Belak not belonging in the NHL and there being no reason for him to be out there. I almost felt sorry for him on Saturday - if I was a Habs fan, I would have for sure.
Posted by: Declan at October 10, 2005 06:42 PM
Why are you a fan of the Leafs anyway? What do they represent? Failure? Clutch and grab hockey? Futility? Join the Habs bandwagon, we have tradition, a legacy of class, style, it will fulfill your life to follow this tribe rather than the inadequate one you're currently fixated on.
Posted by: likeur at October 14, 2005 12:10 AM
Ya I get that Belak isn't the number one defender on the team but seriously look at Berg...he is by far the worst not only on the team but I would bet that he is one of the worst in the league. Game after game he coughs up the puck and makes idiotic moves. He doesn't seem to play with his head. Belak however tries and often plays alright. It's easy to harp on him because aside from McCabe and Kaberle the defence core is pretty weak. Belak's not going to be a number 1 player but he also cannot be paired with a defence partner that doesn't know what he's doing. I just don't agree that he doesn't belong in the NHL...I think that's a little harsh. Take a look at game stats for both Berg and Belak...I bet Berg is worse on a regular basis. Belak does make mistakes but I guarantee his mistakes are not half as bad as Berg's mistakes. Quinn does favour certain players and I often question this aswell. If you repeatedly screw up then I agree that you should sit for a bit.
Posted by: LB at October 23, 2005 06:18 PM