GoDogsGo
10-10-2007, 03:21 PM
Blake, Leafs eager to move on
Constant queries wearing thin on players
Bruce Arthur, National Post
Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jason Blake stood there in the glare, sweat dripping down his face, answering question after question with patience and tact, but you could tell he was ready not to talk about his newly diagnosed leukemia with the media anymore. Still, he kept talking.
Three locker stalls over, Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Alex Steen sat steaming in full uniform after the morning skate, his helmet still on. One reporter offered to move, since the mob was blocking Steen's locker, adjacent to Blake's. Steen shook his head.
"I don't care about my stall," Steen said, his usually cheerful face set in anger. "It's f------Jason [I care about] ... Tell 'em it's enough questions. It's enough questions."
It was the most visible example of a teammate rallying around the 34-year-old Blake, who revealed on Monday that a routine blood test had caught chronic myelogenous leukemia, a rare but exceeding treatable form of cancer. Of all the responses regarding Blake, Steen's was the most human, the most true.
Of course, every Leaf who was asked talked about how Blake's situation provided, even in this overheated hockey cauldron, perspective. It should, too -- there's nothing like leukemia, no matter how treatable, to make you feel silly about debating line combinations.
But this is Toronto, where hockey consumes rational thought like a wildfire consumes prairie grass. For instance, take Blake's news conference on Monday, after he tearfully revealed the diagnosis.
"Look Jason, I know you've been fielding questions about the mini-slump that you're in to start the season, but does this put into perspective what you've been going through?" a Sportsnet reporter asked.
Keep in mind, this was three games into the season, before last night's game against Carolina. At the time, Blake had two assists, no goals, and had just revealed that he had cancer. And he gets asked about his "mini-slump?"
And we in the media wonder why the Maple Leafs would rather be stitched up by a blind man with nervous hands than talk to the media.
Indeed, this year seems heavier than usual on the irrational frenzy, even for Toronto. Every morning skate features laser-like focus on whichever of the two goaltenders leaves the ice first, denoting that evening's starter.
After Vesa Toskala became the first of the two keepers to actually win a game -- and looked rather good doing it -- he was anointed the victor in the goaltending battle, three games in. (House propaganda organ Leafs TV ran a graphic titled "Toskala Taking Over," evidence of which included his dull .895 save percentage over the previous two games.)
After Toronto began the year with two one-goal losses to the Ottawa Senators, a Stanley Cup finalist last season, The Toronto Sun's front page read, "Wait 'Til Next Year."
It should be said that both of those assessments are probably accurate: Toskala certainly seems the odds-on favourite to best Andrew Raycroft for primacy in net, and if you believe this team is a Stanley Cup contender, you should frankly not be allowed to operate heavy machinery.
But, still, we are three games into the season.
Constant queries wearing thin on players
Bruce Arthur, National Post
Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jason Blake stood there in the glare, sweat dripping down his face, answering question after question with patience and tact, but you could tell he was ready not to talk about his newly diagnosed leukemia with the media anymore. Still, he kept talking.
Three locker stalls over, Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Alex Steen sat steaming in full uniform after the morning skate, his helmet still on. One reporter offered to move, since the mob was blocking Steen's locker, adjacent to Blake's. Steen shook his head.
"I don't care about my stall," Steen said, his usually cheerful face set in anger. "It's f------Jason [I care about] ... Tell 'em it's enough questions. It's enough questions."
It was the most visible example of a teammate rallying around the 34-year-old Blake, who revealed on Monday that a routine blood test had caught chronic myelogenous leukemia, a rare but exceeding treatable form of cancer. Of all the responses regarding Blake, Steen's was the most human, the most true.
Of course, every Leaf who was asked talked about how Blake's situation provided, even in this overheated hockey cauldron, perspective. It should, too -- there's nothing like leukemia, no matter how treatable, to make you feel silly about debating line combinations.
But this is Toronto, where hockey consumes rational thought like a wildfire consumes prairie grass. For instance, take Blake's news conference on Monday, after he tearfully revealed the diagnosis.
"Look Jason, I know you've been fielding questions about the mini-slump that you're in to start the season, but does this put into perspective what you've been going through?" a Sportsnet reporter asked.
Keep in mind, this was three games into the season, before last night's game against Carolina. At the time, Blake had two assists, no goals, and had just revealed that he had cancer. And he gets asked about his "mini-slump?"
And we in the media wonder why the Maple Leafs would rather be stitched up by a blind man with nervous hands than talk to the media.
Indeed, this year seems heavier than usual on the irrational frenzy, even for Toronto. Every morning skate features laser-like focus on whichever of the two goaltenders leaves the ice first, denoting that evening's starter.
After Vesa Toskala became the first of the two keepers to actually win a game -- and looked rather good doing it -- he was anointed the victor in the goaltending battle, three games in. (House propaganda organ Leafs TV ran a graphic titled "Toskala Taking Over," evidence of which included his dull .895 save percentage over the previous two games.)
After Toronto began the year with two one-goal losses to the Ottawa Senators, a Stanley Cup finalist last season, The Toronto Sun's front page read, "Wait 'Til Next Year."
It should be said that both of those assessments are probably accurate: Toskala certainly seems the odds-on favourite to best Andrew Raycroft for primacy in net, and if you believe this team is a Stanley Cup contender, you should frankly not be allowed to operate heavy machinery.
But, still, we are three games into the season.