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06/15/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the first time in two seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a captain and his name is Dion Phaneuf.
The former Calgary Flames defenseman was bestowed the captaincy of the historic franchise at a media conference yesterday, one that doubled as a debut for new uniforms the players will be sporting when the puck drops next season.
With the honor, Phaneuf became the 18th player in history to wear the "C" for the blue and white, and the first since Mats Sundin gave up his 11-year grasp on the title in 2008.
The 25-year-old Phaneuf spoke with pride while sharing the stage with Leaf royalty, as former captains George Armstrong, Darryl Sittler and Wendel Clark watched on.
"With this new responsibility, my plan is to be myself," said Phaneuf, reading from a prepared statement. "I want to lead on and off the ice. Above all else the team and winning hockey games will be front and center. We have a lot of work to do, but we will work hard together, everyone is ready to work hard and get better as a team. I am confident and welcome my role in seeing that happen."
General Manager Brian Burke, who received much criticism over the past two seasons for not naming a captain, believes it was worth the wait.
"We never felt that we needed a captain, we felt that we needed to wait until we had the right person to come in and fulfill that role," said Burke. "This is one of the greatest franchises in the history of professional sports on this planet and we wanted to make sure today that we put the "C" on someone that would live up to that."
Burke stressed that the decision was always in the hands of head coach Ron Wilson, but said Phaneuf was the player he had in mind for the role when trading for the former Norris Trophy finalist earlier in the year.
"If I had been asked, this is the player that I would have begged Ronnie to name as the next Captain," said Burke.
While Phaneuf was a natural choice for Wilson as well, he pointed to his coaching days in San Jose as a determining factor that helped him come to his final decision.
"I had the pleasure of coaching against Dion when I was with San Jose and we thought right off the bat that he was a remarkable talent and getting better every year," said Wilson. "He's someone who plays with passion, comes to the rink every day and works harder than anybody."
Critics of the move will point to the rumored relationship issues between Phaneuf and some of his old Flames teammates as reasons for worry, but as Burke sees it, it was a case of there being too many alpha dogs in one room.
With veterans like Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr leading the team in Calgary, there wasn't room for another strong-willed individual to take charge.
In the Leafs dressing room no such challenge existed and last year Phaneuf took full advantage.
"The atmosphere changed to where Dion started challenging people the day he got here, we need loud music, we need to call for passes in practice. He started changing the culture within seconds after he got into the dressing the room," Burke said.
"The young players that talked to me about it said this is a guy who saw a leadership vacuum and leaped into it and filled it."
With the Leafs being such a young team, Phaneuf's role in setting the tone for youngsters like Tyler Bozak, Nazim Kadri, and Luke Schenn will be an important one.
If one player benefited immediately from the trade last year it was fellow blue liner Schenn, who saw the pressure to perform in his sophomore season lifted when Phaneuf came in.
When asked if there were parts of Phaneuf's game he could learn from, Schenn said there was a lot to look up too.
"He's good in all areas of the ice, you can learn a lot from him," the defenseman said. "His physicality, how he makes the forwards on the other team pay the price when he's on the ice and also his ability to shoot the puck, and also his intensity."
It's that intensity the organization hopes will filter down through a team that has been described in previous years as being entitled, a condition that Burke has publicly described as "blue and white disease."
It's a sickness he's been fighting since he arrived in the city.
If there is one thing that Leaf fans can be sure of, it's that the team will look like winners when they take the ice in the fall.
The boys in blue and white will sport a different look this year with a jersey that's a throwback to 1993. With horizontal stripes at the bottom of the sweater and a shoulder patch depicting an older version of the Leaf logo, it is a sweater that Burke said "Marks a return to our roots."
Hopefully, for the sake of Leafs' Nation, a return to their winning roots is in the cards as well.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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