World of Codecraft

As a hockey player, Peter Zezel was expert at taking what was given him and making the best of it. He did the same thing later in his life when he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder.

Zezel died in a Toronto hospital after being admitted last week when his condition, hemolytic anemia, flared up. He was 44.

Zezel was a defensive stalwart of the Maple Leafs 1993 and 1994 final four teams. An offensive player when he reached Toronto in 1991, (Zezel once scored 33 goals with the Philadelphia Flyers) he immediately adapted to Pat Burns’ demand that he put most of his energy into the defensive part of the game.

Powerfully built with a low sense of gravity, Zezel became an esteemed checker and, thanks to a background in soccer, a force in the face-off circle.

Zezel scored 50-regular season goals as a Leaf but it was his ability to adapt to the defensive game that kept him in the league for 15 years.

“When you look at guys who make the NHL, it’s often about that little extra,” said former Leaf Steve Thomas who played with Zezel when the two were 17-year-old members of the Toronto Marlies. “Peter was one of those guys who was never satisfied with the way he was playing. He always wanted to be a little better.”

Zezel would end up playing on seven teams. A Toronto native, he retired to the city in 1999 and ran a series of hockey and sports camps.

He almost died of his blood condition in 2001 and the medication that kept him alive made him gain a tremendous amount of weight.

Thomas said the physical effects of the medication bothered Zezel. “As a professional athlete, he was aware of what people saw. I think Peter was self-conscious about it and I know a lot of times I told people that the weight was a side-effect of the drugs.”

What Thomas remembers is a kind-hearted competitor.

“I know he told his Mom that he was satisfied with his life, that he had no regrets. He was just a great, great guy. Everyone will miss not having him around.”

A friend calls it the Ross and Rachel Factor, this phenomenon that drags otherwise rational people back to the source of their greatest pleasure and their greatest pain.

The allusion is from the television show Friends but in the sports world you don’t have to look a long way to find potent examples. Wendel Clark returned to Toronto as if guided by divine destiny.

Michael Curry was returned to the Detroit Pistons bench after postings elsewhere. A longtime White Sox, Ozzie Guillen returned to the South Side to manage with great success.

And then, of course, there is the case of Paul Maurice, late of the Maple Leafs and the current architect of the Carolina Hurricanes’ appearance in the third round of the playoffs.

They are no fluke. The Hurricanes entered the playoffs playing better than anyone in the East and ousted teams with far superior records, the New Jersey Devils and then the Boston Bruins.

Paul Maurice enjoyed scant success with the Maple Leafs. His teams finished outside the playoffs both seasons and, as Maurice once said, coaching the Maple Leafs brings its own, agonizing loneliness.

“When you make all the right moves, everyone wants to stand beside you and pat you on the back,” he said. “When things don’t workout, you’re by yourself.”

He has plenty of company this year as the Hurricanes have written an intriguing sidebar to the playoffs.

As usual, Maurice is filling reporters’ notebooks and making the oldest credos sound fresh. A Paul Maurice press conference is and always be a revelation. Some guys paint houses. Other guys paint pictures.

“We usually feel if thing go bad, there are mistakes that are correctible,” he was telling reporters in advance of Thursday’s Game 2 of the Conference Finals against Pittsburgh.

“We also don’t expect our team to play a perfect game every night. That way, we can be positive about some of the good things we can do.”

Clearly, this is the coach the Leafs thought they were getting when they offered Maurice a three-year-deal, the first of which was spent babysitting the building during the lockout. He inherited some formidable weapons, a fading but still potent Mats Sundin, lots of playoff experience and expectations to match.

But Andrew Raycroft’s 37-win season would prove illusionary and when the tests came in and showed brand new free agent Jason Blake had leukemia, the season went haywire.

Maurice, along with GM John Ferguson, paid the price but it was damned lonely in the end.

Glad to see he has so much company on the bandwagon. They couldn’t have handed a better man the reins.

An Open Letter to Jonas Gustavsson from Mike Ulmer, head keyboard wizard, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

May I call you Gus?

Great. Gus, busy as you are with the World Hockey Championships, you probably haven’t had much time to consider your many offers of employment.

Now that Sweden has been eliminated, it’s time to look towards North America.

From what I understand, the Leafs have wooed you most fervently followed by, if you believe the papers, Dallas and a bunch of others.

I also understand this isn’t a bidding war. As a 24-year-old NHL rookie, you will get the rookie scale wherever you play.

Just for your education, I have put together 10 reasons why Toronto would be your best choice and while I am unquestionably biased I am also undeniably right.
 

+ Click for larger photo

1. Toronto is the most Swedish-friendly city in the NHL. From Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom to the Big Swede, Mats Sundin, we have welcomed your countrymen, particularly the ones who weren’t lousy.

2. Viktor Stalberg adds to a Swedish contingent that already includes Jonas Frogren and Anton Stralman. You would be the third Swede with only two Finns, Nik Hagman and Vesa Toskala. Yes, we know how the Swedes feel about the Finns (shortest book in history: Finnish War Heroes). That’s why you have my pledge, and all that goes with it, that the Leafs will always have more Swedes than Finns.

3. The Leafs goalie coach Corey Hirsch is famous as the netminder Peter Forsberg beat in a shootout to win gold at the 1994 Olympics. You kind of owe the guy.

4. Toronto is one of the most enlightened cities on earth. If Dallas is still in the running, I’m betting you haven’t been there.

5. Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk, Bernie Parent, Johnny Bower, Curtis Joseph, Ed Belfour. If it’s good enough for them…

6. An Ikea right off the 401. Can’t miss it.

7. There are 5,000 Swedes in Toronto (again, think of Dallas) and the main Toronto reference library on Yonge Street is drunk with Swedish reading material. I’m not making that up, it’s on the Internet and everything.

8. No sissy winters. Snow, sleet and unrelenting darkness pretty well from November to April. You’ll love it.

9. Direct flights for girlfriends, parents and friends from Stockholm. Try getting that in Ottawa, Nashville or Calgary.

10. In the 1972 Summit Series, Frank Mahovlich is said to have invited Soviet star Valery Kharlamov to come home. “Come to Canada and I’ll make you a millionaire,” said the Big M. “Come to Russia,” said Kharlamov, and I will make you a king.”

That’s what playing for Toronto is about. You are paid as a millionaire but treated like a king. You will never have any trouble remembering what you said or wore the day before. Just check the paper. Being a Leaf means having home games in other people’s rinks. It takes a special man to play here and Gus, I think you’ve got the right stuff.

Video: Sneak Peak At Burke Interview

Brian Burke still believes in John Tavares.

Dragged down by a supposedly poor playoff performance, Tavares’ stock has slipped in the eyes of some NHL talent evaluators. Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman and even Brampton Battalion centreman Matt Duchene may be ahead of him on some team’s draft lists.

But 10 goals and 21 playoff points in 14 playoff games, Tavares’ harvest over three OHL playoff rounds, isn’t exactly chicken scratch. And Burke, the Leafs’ president and general manager is hardly deterred.

“A couple of teams might have dropped him, certainly we haven’t,” Burke said. “I don’t think an 18-year-old kid who doesn’t live up to certain expectations in one series should see that affect his draft status. We are hopeful that has affected his draft status with other organizations.”

Burke raised eyebrows when he spoke publicly of his intention to try to trade up to grab the 18-year-old Tavares.

The New York Islanders own the first overall choice with Tampa Bay and Colorado choosing second and third. The Leafs own the seventh choice.

Burke insists he is undeterred.

“We would not have said we wanted to do this if there wasn’t a good chance that we could do it,” he said. “Obviously it wasn’t a bold prediction as much as a pledge to our fans that we are going to continue to try and advance our pick.”

The Leafs remain in negotiations with Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson, but so far have not been able to land him. That will have a bearing on whether or not the team qualifies Marlies goalie Justin Pogge.

“Whether we qualify Justin Pogge depends on what happens between now and when the qualifying offers go out,” he said. “We are talking about options, Jonas Gustavsson and some other options and whether we qualify Justin or not remains to be seen.”

Burke is optimistic about Viktor Stalberg, a Swedish left winger who finished his third year at the University of Vermont before playing two playoff games with the Marlies.

“He leaps out at you on a hockey rink because he’s got size and beautiful footspeed,” Burke said. “When you’ve got a guy that big with that much speed, it gets your attention. I think he’s got a chance to be a good player.”

The Leafs landed Stalberg with a fifth-round choice in the 2006 draft.

Burke said former American collegians Christian Hanson and Tyler Bozak will be training in Toronto over the summer to better acclimatize themselves to playing here in the fall.

“Christian got a number of games in the NHL and I think that will be invaluable to him. With Tyler, his knee wasn’t 100 per cent, but if I look at the development of Tyler Bozak over the last couple of years, I’m not worried about him making the next step. I think he’s ready to do that now.”

Hanson played five games with the Leafs this season. He had a goal and an assist and a minus-2.

“I’d be surprised if they are both not a factor in the organization by the midpoint of the season,” Burke said.

Maple Leafs defenceman Ian White sustained a neck injury while playing for Canada at the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship. The injury has led to concussion-like symptoms and White will return to Toronto where he will be examined by the Maple Leafs’ medical staff. His last appearance in the tournament came against Norway on May 3.

White recorded one goal (game-winning goal against Slovakia on April 28) and two assists while posting a plus 4 mark in five games for Canada at the tournament which is being held in Switzerland.