Hi everyone.  Gosh, it sure is a Tuesday out there.

ICYMI

European Prospect Report by Katya Knappe.  Korshkov might be korshkoming to Toronto soon is the rumour.  I know the mention of his name makes a lot of people think sad thoughts about Alex Debrincat, but there are some interesting tools there and I’ll be very curious to see him with the Marlies next year.

Marlies Recap by Hardev Lad.  Dmytro Timashov, like so many prospects before him, has been forgotten as the masses turn their attention to new hotness like Rasmus Sandin.  Nonetheless, his shootout move here is dope.

B2E Hockey Podcast, Episode 54 by Arvind and Acting the Fulemin.  Listen to Arvi and I have takes on other, inferior teams.  Boo other teams!  You suck.

Around The League

Blue Shirt Banter: Buying Out Kevin Shattenkirk Would Be A Huge Mistake  I was pretty gung ho to sign Kevin Shattenkirk when he went to free agency, and it turns out it’s a good thing we didn’t.  Injuries have really damaged him, his shooting percentage has gone to hell, and the Rangers are in a full rebuild.  That said, he still leads their defence in Corsi Rel, so that’s something.

Dellow: Matchup Data For Defencemen From All 31 Teams  Tyler Dellow looks at usage for the whole league to see who plays against top lines a lot, and who doesn’t. Mike Babcock and coaches who were influenced by him seem to love leaning very hard on one pair to take tough matchups; as you probably know, for Toronto that means Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey take the tough matches. Travis Dermott and Igor Ozhiganov, by contrast, play extremely weak comp...although they also spend more time playing with the Leafs’ bottom six forwards.  Hmm.

CBC: Hockey Player’s Father and Brother Charged After Referees Assaulted After Game  Hockey Parents Being Idiots, Vol. MMXIX.  It was a junior B game, for Christ’s sake.

Deadspin: Where Do The Islanders Belong? Probably in therapy, to judge by the Tavares fixation.  But this is a pretty interesting article on the dance between Nassau Coliseum and the Barclays Center.

Here’s a fun tweet:

This song mashup is very dumb and made me laugh very hard.

Have a good day, y’all.

How much do you think quality of competition influences Ron Hainsey’s results?

A lot—he’s doing a very good job considering66
A moderate amount, because I am afraid to have a strong opinion52
Not very much—quality of competition washes out over time22

Good morning everyone, after Fulemin wrote this post, and wisely set his television on fire, there were reports that Morgan Rielly could be heard using a slur that is employed to deride gay people directed to referee Brad Meier. This occurred just after Rielly was stripped of the puck at the opposing blueline and just before Cedric Paquette scored.

I have viewed three versions of the time in question. On the Sportsnet broadcast, the words as reported are easy to hear, but it is not possible to tell who was picked up by the on-ice microphone. Rielly is speaking to the ref at the time, and the commentary tells you he was looking for a hooking call. On the TVA feed, it’s largely the same, and the commentary says something excited in French that I don’t understand. There is no audio of the US feed, but it is clearer that Rielly is talking. No one could ever tell from any amateur lipreading what he is saying.

Those are the sum total of the facts at this time. And this has been the response so far.

I am not willing to make pronouncements in the advance of more facts, and I’m quite happy to wait this out. The Leafs decided last night, in light of illnesses, to take today off, so there will be no practice or media availability.

What I expect, in the way that I expect this of all people, is that the Leafs and Rielly will be proactive in coming forward with an explanation and/or a confession and contrition if that is warranted. The onus is on them to take the lead as people who espouse a set of ethics this behaviour violates.

What I expect from this site is that all discussion of this issue will be done in a way that’s mindful of the community as a whole, and should start with a presumption that this sort of thing upsets some people greatly.

I think all people can take this as an opportunity to examine the words sitting around in their own minds they use to signify anger or upset and check if maybe they are actually enforcing bigotry instead of just expressing emotion. This word that was spoken, whoever spoke it, should not exist. It’s not enough to simply not say it where others can hear it, it should be impossible to think it because there is no need in any language for a word that derides people for the ordinary human state of being gay. It should not be connected to any meaning in your mind other than dismay we ever thought we required a word for this concept.

Katya Knappe

From The Branches