Yardbarker: Mark Bell

Digging Woes from Management

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:41:04 -0500

This blog is specified between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins -- two teams that have felt the cold and unfair hand of management stamp down on decisions, exiling the General Managers. It is a process which can end a GM's tenure quite easily. The management sees an opportunity, exploits it whether or not the GM sees fit, and the repercussions always fall squarely on the GM regardless.

In JFJ's case, for example, is a man who was pulled down to the muck because of MLSE, despite his flaws in decision making. A few years ago -- when things were becoming amuck for the Blue and White faithful -- JFJ proposed a rebuilding plan to the upper management in hopes to ice a competitive team in the near future. His idea was shot down, thus forcing him to acquire players like Jason Blake, Mark Bell, Eric Lindros, Jason Allison, and Andrew Raycroft just to name a few. As you know, this type of thing does not project a team forward but rather guides them on a linear path, whatever their goal might be. In the Maple Leafs case, that goal was mediocrity, and boy oh boy did they nail it! In the past two seasons, the Leafs have missed the playoffs, landing in 9^th place both times. This season appears to hold the same fate for the Buds, but I suppose anything can happen in the NHL.

The point is, JFJ lost his job because MLSE felt that the team was going nowhere and needed a seasoned veteran like current Leafs-GM Cliff Fletcher to blow it up. There is something terribly wrong here. If MLSE would of followed through with JFJ's initial plan, I wonder what the discussion would be involving the Leafs now days? Maybe speaking of the latest prospects that are tearing it up in the minors, or perhaps discussing the potential of a core a youngster on the Leafs. Instead, we have rants from some of Leafs Nation claiming that Mats Sundin has "let this team down" by not waiving his no-trade clause. It's funny how that works, considering Sundin was hailed a hero 6 months ago.

Don't blame JFJ entirely for the abundance of no-trade clauses on this team either. Sure it was partly his fault, but we must remember that he did not plan such a questionable stance for the Leafs to begin with. He worked with what he had, and was forced to propel them to the post-season, or just making 8^th place, whichever you prefer. Because of the ignorance of MLSE, JFJ lost his job.

A similar situation could reside with Pittsburgh Penguins-GM Ray Shero. Coming into the NHL Trade Deadline, Shero had plans to buff up his club heading into the playoffs. What he did not have plans for, however, is unloading a core of youth for superstar winger Marian Hossa. An all or nothing deal if you think about it. I fail to understand how the Pens will be able to lock-up all key players in the summer without going over the Cap. Especially considering Evgeni Malkin is finishing off a monster season. Regardless, Pens manager Mario Lemieux thought it would be a great addition to their club, so he enforced it upon Shero. And you can full well expect the repercussions to land on the GM should the deal be deemed a failure.

So with that in mind, it would appear there is a good chance that Shero's job may be teetering from the result of this trade. This is no ordinary trade either, it's huge. Fans of the Penguins will be calling for blood if the likes of Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong and 1^st round pick are all unloaded for nothing. Guess who takes the blame?

When the position of General Manager is awarded to an individual, it should ensure full autonomy. The decisions enforced by management should be changed to suggestions, thus implementing fair game for the GM. This would lay both the praise and blame on the individual, and like life teaches us, we learn from our mistakes and from our accomplishments – isn't this how every job should be?

The Mark Bell Hit: Was it Clean?

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:41:01 -0500

The Senators may be in trouble even though they managed the squeak into the playoffs. No, it's not their goaltending woes (which are non-existent), it's their loss of both their Captain Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher to injuries. Both of the injuries occurred Thursday night in their 8-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and both came at the hands of Leafs forward Mark Bell. A recent TSN.ca poll has revealed 82% of viewers think that the Sens can't win in the playoffs without their captain. The injury to Fisher is not really arguable since it was only a small collision, which you cannot blame Bell for. His injury was a fluke. The hit that injured Alfredsson, on the other hand, has been quite the hot topic.

I believe it was clean. I'm probably one of the biggest Leaf "jokers" ("haters" is just too strong) around, so this determination is not biased whatsoever. I think that if Alfredsson got up uninjured, this hit would just be on the highlight reel of every sports station and not ripped apart like it has been. Of course the reason people say he got hurt was because of the way Bell hit him.

The way Mark Bell hit Daniel Alfredsson caused him to get injured.

That is absolutely correct.

Was the hit illegal in any way? Not at all. Bell caught Alfredsson in a vulnerable position and punished him the way any good NHL checker does. If that's dirty then so be it, hockey is a dirty sport by their standards.

We should be worried much more about REAL head shots (and the people who go around looking for them), hits from behind, and protecting the goaltenders. Hits like these can stay in my NHL.

**You can vote on whether it was a clean hit or not on the top right hand corner of this site**

Mark Bell avoids jail, well kind of

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:08:38 -0500

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mark Bell was a lucky man, and avoided an overnight stay in jail for a hit and run, and drunk driving traffic incident. The incident took place in September of 2006, and the California court system just got around to finishing up this case. Bell plead no contest to the charges and was sentenced to a California prison from June 2nd to August 15th. Wait, you're going didn't you just say he avoided an overnight stay in jail? Yes, I did. We can all thank the over crowded California prison system for this.

The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch: Fair and balanced

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:55:35 -0500

Ottawa sportswriter Bruce Garrioch was adamantly critical of the hit by Mark Bell that injured Daniel Alfredsson. But how did Bruce feel the same about the near-identical hit that the Senators' Chris Neil but on Chris Drury last year? Let's check the video evidence...

Hockey Around The Horn -- Gm/Exec Edition

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:38:52 -0500

The long awaited GM/Exec edition has arrived...this was some episode to say the least.

Week 6 Waiver Watch

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:55:34 -0500

One of FIO's weekly fantasy hockey columns, staff writer Rob Edwards clues you in on some possible fantasy free agents to lookout for in Week 6 - check to see if any of these guys are on your league's waiver wire.

Rest Easy Leaf Fans...

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:25:04 -0500

Another hot button article from the LS....detailing how Leaf fans should take it easy every so often.

Toskala: From Teal To Toronto

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 23:40:56 -0500

We knew this was coming...before Draft Day, Sharks had 2 starting goalies, ya only need one: they kept Nabby, parted ways with Vesa Toskala as well as Mark "you can ring my" Bell. Sharks got a conditional first round pick (San Jose's option for 2007 or 2008), and some other things. We're keeping Rivet, who didn't contribute much in my opinion. Perhaps something grand is in SJ's future: Drury?

The Anti-All Star Team

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:33:25 -0500

Your 2006 anti-all star team. Complete with the Valeri Kamenski, Petr Nedved, and Richard Pilon's of today's game. Cloutier has already stepped his game to playoff level already this season. Sad to see Aucoin & Foote on this list, these guys used to be some of the most respected horses in the league. Any glaring omissions aside from Henrik Lundqvist?