We interrupt this column for a breaking news story:
Leafs skate! Leafs skate! Leafs skate!
Let's go live to our reporter at the suburban arena where the Toronto Maple Leafs are staging an informal practice one month before the official opening of NHL training camps.
Reporter: "I am here at the Lakeshore Lions Arena, where the Toronto Maple Leafs are staging an informal practice."
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TV anchor: "Is it true training camps don't open for another month?"
Reporter: "Yes, it's true, but the Maple Leafs are practising so they can get a leg up on their rivals and win the Stanley Cup."
TV anchor: "Go Leafs."
It's not often that a summer skate gets the big news treatment in any city, let alone a Canadian one. But coverage of the Maple Leafs' informal practices is being cranked up because: (a.) there's precious little else going on; (b.) the Leafs are practising, which means they're not losing; (c.) media types know that just scribbling the words Maple and Leafs generates all kinds of readership and heated e-mails.
This is bizarre on many levels and even more so if you consider how many hundreds of NHL players are skating in arenas throughout North America; NHLers such as Jarome Iginla and Andrew Ference, who have been on the blades for two months now in Kelowna, B.C. They've since added Dany Heatley, Wade Redden and others to their informal practices held before the official opening of training camp.
But do they get any media attention?
Did Iginla and Ference make the front of Kelowna's Daily Courier yesterday? No, they did not.
Of course, the Maple Leafs are different because they are a phenomenon unto themselves just like Zsa Zsa Gabor, who is famous for no reason we can think of, and Lindsay Lohan, who is extremely popular for being bad.
That said, the Maple Leafs could make real news today by doing what they often do best, which is nothing.
Unrestricted free-agent centre Mike Peca will continue talks with the New York Rangers and could sign a deal that would give the Rangers another useable forward, this one with strong defensive skills and leadership. Peca broke a leg last season with the Maple Leafs and played in only 35 games. Toronto management wasn't quite sure what to do with Peca so it let him hang for a while until he decided to look elsewhere.
The Maple Leafs have taken the same approach with Peter Forsberg, another unrestricted free agent who is collecting his thoughts in Sweden on where he wants to play this season. Already, the Ottawa Senators have let it be known they covet Forsberg. The Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings are equally interested.
Have the Maple Leafs asked captain Mats Sundin to visit Forsberg and talk him up on the merits of their organization? The word is no. Then again, maybe Mats is too busy skating to even make a phone call.
Maple Leafs management hasn't covered itself in glory, either. General manager John Ferguson Jr. was supposed to get a mentor, someone he could learn from, consult with. John Muckler and Scotty Bowman were interviewed, but neither has come aboard.
Recently, Richard Peddie, the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, acknowledged there was no adviser headed Ferguson's way. Peddie then added the GM's future would be based on performance. Translation: a poor start by the players means Ferguson could be gone before Christmas.
And there are players who would like to see Ferguson gone. Why? For many reasons, but this one stands out: The GM has made the players sit in assigned seats on flights. He won't let them pick their seatmates, which is shocking and another big news story for August. Right next to Leafs score in practice; no one injured.
Even stranger than doing nothing is the fact the Maple Leafs can be so vulnerable to criticism when they actually do something. Mind you, when you sign goalie Vesa Toskala to a two-year contract extension worth $8-million (all currency U.S.), then ink Jason Blake to a five-year, $20-million contract, you deserve to be jabbed. Both players got more than they should have based on what they've accomplished.
Come to think of it, that makes them a fine fit for a team that hasn't accomplished much but still gets all kinds of attention, month in and month out.
Reporter: "The Maple Leafs are practising and sources close to the team say the Leafs will practise again tomorrow."
An entire nation quivers in anticipation.
Go Leafs. Go out there and skate.
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