Blowout Special: Sending a message ("I'm stupid" or, possibly, "Kick me!")

At St Mike's last night

http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=12914

Oshawa blew the doors of the Majors, who can thank Michael Haley for sending a message. Here it is:

1 - TOR Haley, 0:37 - Instigator , 2 min (PP)
1 - TOR Haley, 0:37 - Fighting , 5 min (3 PP)
1 - TOR Haley, 0:37 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 0 min

It only looks like it took Haley half a minute to act out. Fact is, Haley didn't wait for the opening faceoff. He tried to pick a fight with Gens winger Cal Clutterbuck (what a name!) as soon as the anthem finished. Clutterbuck shooed him away but could do nothing at the first stoppage in play when Haley jumped him from behind, tackled him and started to punch him in the back of the helmet. So there you go, Gens buzz the net and by the time Haley gets out of the box the rout is on: By the time he got out of the box it was 6-2 Oshawa. It would be good if an experienced player on the St Mike's roster could have a word with him -- except that Haley is the Majors' captain.

The game was thoroughly not worth watching by then -- the Majors just had nothing and Oshawa is rolling, as good a bet as any to come outta the Eastern Conference. Tavares was good, not quite great. MacLean, discussed here before, likewise. I can see what the Del Zotto kid will bring though in next year's draft. Very sound (fresh off Ontario's win at the Canada Winter Games). Good size. Probably will show a lot more offensively as he goes.

The fine print ... Ihink I mentioned at some pt that Del Zotto's family are the big developing clan--no, dad works at IBM (don't know if family is related). Majors have Mike Pelech (son of national basketball guy Bo Pelech, late of York U, brother of Matt, who was a first-rounder of Calgary and will sign shortly). The "ch" in Pelech is pronounced "k" ... so Mike Pelech = Mike Pelyk (phonetically).

Cheechoo: Background on the ESPN The Mag story

Went up to Moose Factory before Christmas to do a story on Cheechoo. While it would seem like an interesting place to visit for a hunting or fishing trip in season (if you can give up having a beer for the duration), let me talk you out of the notion of heading up there in late December. No place to eat ... the hotel dining room was closed because I was the only guest they had booked for the month, the one greasy spoon in town was shut down for stretches. Saw an ad on local cable for a sale at a Radio Shack in Moosonee so I took a snowmobile ride across the (mostly-frozen) Moose River to Moosonee figuring I'd go to the mall where the store was -- and found that it was an outlet in the back of the town's gas station. Dire isn't the word for my time. That said, the people were very welcoming, got the daughter a pair of moose-skin gloves (that still reek).

Cheechoo is a fascinating case. I remember him very well from junior. Back in '99 I saw him going head to head with the 67's. He had a lot going for him as a prospect--except his skating, which was maybe not even average. Did anyone then ever think he'd lead the NHL in scoring? You could have found a lot of guys who thought he wouldn't be an NHLer. A credit to his work ethic and John Ferguson Sr for seeing something that others missed. Interesting draft year.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1998e.html

Poor old Mathieu Chouinard, with the two career minutes he played for the Kings. Jeff Heerema we barely knew you. Michael Heinrich, later. Ten players from the O go ahead of him. Two dubious-character guys, Rico Fata and Mark Bell, went way ahead of him. David Legwand skated a lot better than most NHLers as an 18-year-old -- but,it turned out that everything else was a problem. Hard to imagine now that a few liked Legwand over Lecavalier (believe it, they did).

Granted, Cheechoo really took off after his draft year. But if you talked to Cheechoo, then or now, you'd bet he'd figure it out. San Jose drew laughs when Cheechoo was picked -- but then again Tampa Bay and Don Murdoch drew laughs when they took Lecavalier's team-mate in Rimouski in the third round.