Richard Peddie continues to insist that John Ferguson's performance as Maple Leafs general manager will be evaluated at the end of the season.
The question is: Why wait that long?
In the wake of Ottawa's signing of Jason Spezza for seven years and $49 million US, it is even more apparent what a mess Ferguson has made of the Leafs' salary situation for this and the coming years.
The Stanley Cup contending Senators, with Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alredsson all under contract for the future, have just more than $41 million in salaries committed to next season.
The non-contending Leafs, playing at a 72-point pace heading into last night, have $42 million already committed -- the highest number in the NHL -- without having Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood, Alexander Steen or Matt Stajan under contract for next season.
If this team isn't anywhere near upper echelon now considering the contract situation, how can anyone not see that they will be worse off a year from now having been strangled by Ferguson's cap counting?
No one knows what the salary cap figure will be for next year, but if the number drops from just over $50 million, the Leafs will have no room for movement or improvement:Making the playoffs shouldn't determine Ferguson's future.
Botching the economics should.
THIS AND THAT
If Ken Hitchcock, Andy Murray and John Stevens were all hired after Paul Maurice, why is it each has had more impact turning around worse situations than Maurice began with in Toronto? ... Today in the NFL: Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. And yet, starting in the very same league: Sage Rosenfels vs. Josh McCown and Alex Smith vs. Joey Harrington ... Martina Hingis did it, got caught and retired. End of story, end of career ... Worth revisiting: Former Winnipeg coach Urban Bowman's view on why CFL expansion to the U.S. would never work: "You can't play on Fridays because of high school. You can't play on Saturdays because of college. You can't play on Sundays because of the NFL. Doesn't leave many days, does it?" ... All these years later, you can't say the Raptors have made it big in Canada. How else do you explain having their season opener on The Score, followed up by a game on the digital channel, Raptors NBA TV?
HEAR AND THERE
A Philadelphia judge got quite personal in his criticism of Eagles coach Andy Reid and his drug-addicted sons. But if he hasn't lived in that house or been exposed to the disturbing powers of heroin addiction up close, he can be as personal as he chooses, but he has no idea what he is talking about ... It won't be easy to feel completely comfortable about the Raptors this season until Chris Bosh is both starting and finishing games ... Kent Austin is adamant on the record that he bears no animosity toward the Argos for firing him, which is nice, but not necessarily the whole truth. Friends of Austin claim he has deep feelings about what happened to him in Toronto but won't express them publicly ... This is why you doubt the future of Phoenix as an NHL city: There was more noise about the reinstatement of Rick Tocchet in Canada than there was in Arizona ... More people watched Steve Molitor fight last Saturday night on TV than the Raptors' season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers ... Is it a shot or a benefit that Curt Schilling left Toronto off his list of places he wants to pitch next season. We know this much: The St. Louis Cardinals have interest.
SCENE AND HEARD
Hiring Joe Torre was fine. Negotiating with Joe Girardi was fine. Not letting manager Grady Little know that any of this was going on was weak on the part of the Los Angeles Dodgers ... Barry Bonds says he will not go to the Hall of Fame if there is any kind of asterisk placed to his home run-record baseball that will be on display. Which should make it simple: Put up the asterisk and keep Bonds out ... An American organization has voted Aaron Hill the best fielding second baseman in baseball, which can only mean they paid a lot of attention to the first half of the Blue Jays season but not so much to the second half ... Girardi will wear No. 27 as manager of the Yankees, the number representing the next World Series championship by the Yanks. Does that mean we can expect John Gibbons to wear No. 3? Considering Gibbons doesn't wear a visible uniform top, did you know he wore No. 5?
AND ANOTHER THING
A story why you must love Jose Calderon: On the Raptors' trip to Europe, Calderon had a microphone pack attached to his uniform for one game. But it wasn't attached properly and wasn't working properly. Most NBA players would have ripped the thing off and thrown it away. Not Calderon. He played with it on, whispering "help" into the microphone on occasion, trying to let the broadcasters know it wasn't set up properly ... There is a fourth Canadian in the NBA: Joel Anthony, a 6-foot-9 centre who went to Dawson Prep in Montreal, made the Miami Heat and joins Steve Nash, Samuel Dalembert and Jamaal (I don't play for Canada) Magloire as the other Canucks in the league ... Expensive free agent Dustin Penner, who must be missing Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on his line, is on pace to score 11 goals for the Edmonton Oilers ... And here's what became of Walt Tkachuk: He owns and operates the River Valley golf course and winter tubing park just outside St. Marys, Ont. ... According to Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli, the Canadian media was partially responsible for the light suspension of Philadelphia's Randy Jones for the hit that injured Patrice Bergeron. Funny, didn't Chris Pronger blame an overzealous Canadian media for his first suspension in last spring's Stanley Cup playoffs? ... And hey, whatever became of Leigh Verstraete?
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