More of This Feature • Part 2: More Hockey Malcontents Lawsuits and deluded minor leaguers.

Join the Discussion "Who are the early candidates for NHL's Overpaid Stiff of the Year?" Make Your Nomination!

Related Resources • NHL Media Links • Follow the Atlanta Thrashers • Follow the Toronto Maple Leafs

Like most elite athletes, hockey players aren't used to being benched, cut, or hearing the word "no." So they can get a little cranky when things don't go their way. But the players are mild-mannered wallflowers compared to the game's true belligerents: minor hockey moms and dads. This has been a particularly cranky week for all generations, as indicated by following examples.

The Toronto sports pages are always more fun when the Leafs are losing, so it was no surprise to see another Blue and White soap opera erupt this week.

It began with a squabble on the Leafs' bench during last weekend's decisive loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Apparently, Shayne Corson made a noisy request for more ice time and several team mates took a moment to thank him for his input.

The intrigue deepened in the days following, with media reports that Corson and Darcy Tucker are the leaders of a locker room clique, causing division in the ranks. Tucker and Corson are brothers-in-law and popular players, with a rowdy, regular-guy image cultivated by obliging sports reporters. They even have a cutesy-tough nickname, Bruise Brothers, now inscribed on a new line of sports clothing.

Neither has done much bruising lately. Tucker is minus-9, though he has chipped in a few points. Corson's numbers are terrible: Four points and a minus-7 rating after 14 games. Not a convincing argument for more ice time.

Team captain Mats Sundin issued the obligatory denial of any discord among the players. But the Leafs are stuck with Corson in any case. He has a no trade clause, and even if he agreed to waive it, who else will pay him $2.4 million? If any NHL team wants to add an aging player with a lousy plus/minus who does nothing offensively, they can find one a lot cheaper than that.

The Leafs' lineup is littered with overpaid underachievers, from Ed Belfour ($6.8 million) to Robert Reichel ($2.75 million) to Jonus Hoglund ($1.5 million). No one will trade for any of them unless Toronto agrees to keep paying them. Like the Rangers, the Leafs have spent themselves into a corner and all they can do is hope the current group of uninspired fat cats can turn it around.

Just in case you thought the Leafs were the exclusive focus of Toronto's hockey madness, consider the following: A sorry trio of minor hockey parents ended up in a Toronto courtroom this week, arguing over the details of a screaming match that erupted after a kid's game last summer. The story goes like this: During a postgame handshake, little Johnny apparently sucker punches an opponent in the stomach. The understandably outraged father of the punchee flies into a rage at Johnny's parents, allegedly threatening to take out a bounty on their boy's head.

As it turns out, it's all a misunderstanding. Johnny is innocent. Some other kid delivered the not-very-sporting blow. But it ends up in court anyway, with Johnny's mom and dad seeking to cash in on the tantrum to the tune of $10,000, claiming that Johnny suffered mental anguish, etc. Johnny is called to testify and admits that he is only in court because his dad made him come and that he doesn't know what a "bounty" is.

After a couple of embarrassing days, the judge rolls her eyes and dismisses the entire business, effectively indicating that it's not her job to legislate the bickering of small-minded adults who turn children's games into a battlefield for their unresolved grievances and resentments. That's what minor hockey associations are for.

Next page > More Hockey Malcontents > Page 1, 2