WASHINGTON

When Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn got caught out too late and were cast aside by the Nashville Predators, it had to have stirred bad memories for a group of former Maple Leafs who believe that their 2002 run at the Stanley Cup was sabotaged internally by inappropriate player behaviour.

While many former Leafs refuse to go on the record to talk about the divide of 10 years ago, there are those, including Alexander Mogilny — ironically a Russian considering the current circumstances — who hold teammates responsible for the defeat of the favoured Leafs, costing them what they believe would have been a rare shot at the Stanley Cup.

As the story goes, at least four Leafs chose to go on something of a drunken binge between games — it isn’t known if coach Pat Quinn was aware of the situation — and when the Leafs lost Game 2 in overtime, on a puck that deflected off Shayne Corson, the team was so divided that it had trouble getting back together to perform for the rest of the series. The Leafs ended up losing three overtime games in all, being bounced by the Hurricanes in six games.

As much as it can be told, the story has been kept quiet over the years but it has never stopped players on that team from talking about it among themselves. That season, at the Leafs wrapup party, at least one fist fight between players took place. The damaged feelings have never been repaired.

THIS AND THAT

If the idea was to hire a practical joker and what everybody says is a really nice guy, then the Montreal Canadiens made the right choice in hiring Marc Bergevin as general manager. What we don’t know about Bergevin though: What’s his history scouting players, signing players, making decisions, running an organization? In no other NHL city does being a good guy and speaking French qualify you to be an NHL general manager ... Rumbings persist that Rick Dudley of the Leafs will be joining Bergevin on the Montreal staff. So far, Dudley has not denied he’s leaving ... David Poile and Barry Trotz did the right thing in sitting out Radulov and Kostitsyn for one game for conduct unbecoming. But to sit Radulov and Kostitsyn for a second game, that was overkill. And I said that before they lost and were shut out in Game 4, not after it ... The NHL should mandate that every coach in the league take media training lessons from Harry Neale or Jacques Demers, coaches who understood that when talking to the press they were in fact talking to the team’s fan base. The interview embarrassments that John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette and others around the league have become do nothing to enhance the selling of the game at its most important time. Demers, for one, fully understood how to coach his team and deftly handle and yes, even charm the media in his years in St. Louis, Detroit, Montreal and Tampa. And nobody has ever done it better than Neale.

HEAR AND THERE

The stats geeks continually inform me that batting average means nothing, so take this as a meaningless note. In his past four months, one this year, three last season, Adam Lind is batting .195, .203, .196 and .210. This, they’ll say is more meaningful: In the past four months, Lind’s OPS is .577, .630, .545, and .579. Either way you add it up, you can’t waste first base on a guy who doesn’t produce ... The biggest change in the Blue Jays this season: Starting pitching. The top three starters in the Jays rotation have just about the best numbers in baseball. The good news, Jays have gone from 11th in earned run average to fifth and the same in WHIP. The bad news, they’re still near the bottom in the American League in saves, home runs allowed and batters walked .... Hands up, both of you, who saw Edwin Encarnacion leading the Jays in home runs and RBI ... Now that Mariano Rivera is out for the season, the leading active closer in the saves department happens to be Francisco Cordero ... On the overwrought matter of Russian players: Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin can play for my team any day. Same for Mogilny, Dmitri Yushkevich, the late Igor Korolev, Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov and a whole lot of others. Just not Vladimir Krutov. Not if I plan on keeping donuts around the dressing room.

SCENE AND HEARD

Another NHL mandate: The league should order every club to do a sponsorship deal with the power company, PECO, so every team in the NHL could go on the PEE-CO POWER PLAY. That, and have Lauren Hart and Kate Smith do the national anthem or God Bless America everywhere. Philadelphia does things right ... Every year in the playoffs, you learn about players who are better than you thought they were. My list from this year’s playoffs includes Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dainius Zubrus, Ryan McDonagh, Marcus Johansson and Jay Beagle. And I’m missing about a dozen more ... Inspired by his solid play, we give you our list of our favourite famous Romans: Roman Hamrlik, Roman Gabriel, Roman Turek and Julius Caesar ... There are eight teams left in the playoffs. Four are managed by former players: Glen Sather, Paul Holmgren, Don Maloney and George McPhee. Four are managed by non-players: Lou Lamoriello, David Poile, Dean Lombardi and Dean Armstrong ... You don’t hear this often: In Philadelphia, on a night when the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies were all playing, two of them in the playoffs, the Flyers local television ratings were so strong that more people were watching hockey than basketball and baseball combined.

AND ANOTHER THING

Agreeing with Bill Watters isn’t necessarily good for my health but Wilbur did have it right when he pointed out on Twitter that three of the worst contracts in hockey — the buyout of Chris Drury, the pending buyout of Scott Gomez and the millionaire minor leaguer, Wade Redden, were all signed by the Hall of Famer, Sather ... There’s bad news for the Leafs, even when they’re not playing. Dougie Hamilton, the other first round pick who went to Boston in the Phil Kessel trade, was not only named OHL defenceman of the year this week but scored the double-overtime winner for Niagara in Game 1 of the league finals ... Why is it every time I see a defenceman make a dangerous pass or rush, I instantly think Jim McKenny .... Wasn’t sure I liked Dwane Casey’s anointment of the incoming Raptor, Jonas Valanciunas, saying, “At worst, he’ll be Joakim Noah.” ... My son played football. If I had another son who wanted to play, I’d encourage him to do so. I can’t tell you why Junior Seau killed himself and may never know the answer. But I’ve learned from football and what my son has learned from football — the sport that most closely mirrors the working world — has made it more than a worthwhile endeavour ... Considering the history of Raptor picks, Noah would look just fine on this team ... Sad what’s happened to sports in Toronto — when the post-season lottery night takes on more meaning that the previous regular season ... Bad as the Leafs and Raptors are, Toronto FC is worse ... All that money, all that time, and it already looks like the case against Roger Clemens has been lost again ... One of the last picks in the CFL draft was linebacker Jordan Verdone, selected by the B.C. Lions. Verdone is the first member of the University of Waterloo football team that had its program shut down because of steroid abuse to be drafted. He transferred to the U of Calgary to continue his studies and his football career ... The best Stanley Cup final for stories: Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia; The worst possible matchup: Phoenix vs. New Jersey. Winner and loser are both for sale ... Happy birthday to the Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays (81), Martin Brodeur (40), Chris Paul (27), Tom Cousineau (55), Fredrik Sjostrom (29), and Brian Knobbs (48) ... And hey, whatever became of Calle Johansson?

Stats? Shmats?

How crazy are these Stanley Cup results? This crazy: The lowest scoring team entering the playoffs, the 29th best Los Angeles Kings, are the second highest scoring team per game in the post-season. The Nashville Predators had the best power play all season long, and by far the best power play at home. What’s happened in the playoffs? The Preds are Oh-for-April and May with the man advantage. They are dead last on the power play — zero-for-23 — and could definitely use a goal or two against the Phoenix Coyotes. And the worst road team entering the playoffs? Try the Washington Capitals, who won only 16 games away from the Verizon Center during the regular season. All the Caps did against the Bruins in Round 1 was win Game 5 and 7 in Boston. This round, they’ve already won at Madison Square Garden. So next time you want to try and handicap the playoffs, ignore the regular season. There is no correlation. None.

The Year of the Blue Jays?

The Blue Jays total payroll for 2012 is just over $75 million. The players on the injured list of the Boston Red Sox total just over $77 million in salary for the season. That rather odd twist is just part of the unusual unfolding of the American League East, so much of it seemingly working in the Blue Jays' favour. The Red Sox, for the most part, are playing on fumes. The New York Yankees didn't start the season with Michael Pineda and won’t play any more games with Mariano Rivera, their iconoclastic closer. Tampa Bay is without Evan Longoria. All of which, into May, means the Jays could well have a legitimate shot at one of the two wild-card spots. Now, it they’d only start hitting — tough to have a lineup with half the batting order not producing. But for now, it’s working. And if means meaningful September baseball, count me in favour of it.

Poor rich Albert

They are booing Albert Pujols in Anaheim. In fairness, inside, Pujols is probably booing himself. Things could not be going worse for baseball’s greatest hitter on a new team and in a new league. He can’t hit, his team can’t win, and there are no answers for the most expensive lost cause in the game. It’s sad and a little funny how things in sports work out. In the winter time, the Los Angeles Angels were celebrating the signing of Pujols. They overspent and won the winter game of free agency. And all it’s gotten them is last place in the American League West. In real life, the connection between Pujols, his new team and the fan base, has already eroded. In the fantasy baseball world, you have to wonder: Is it time, if you own Pujols, to sell him and if he’s available, you have to ask yourself: Is it time to buy him? He can’t possibly be this bad for long, can he? Well, can he?