It’s hard to believe but so early in the season that was suppposed to be ao different the articles this morning about the Toronto Maple Leafs are full of accolades in which the team lost for the 11th time on 12 outings this season.

Reading that the powerplay was sizzling at 2/7 and that Vesa Toskala had a great game are just a couple of the gems that I have seen ao far.

The good news for me anyways is that Ron Wilson isn’t buying it:

““I could throw out all the cliches, but we still have to find a way to win,” said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. “Which cliche do you want? We never say die, blah, blah blah? We still need to win.”

He’s right, the only stat that says anything right now is 1-11. This team is deadlast. Hell Tank Nation would. Have been happier than hell if this were last year!

Yes they are playing better, but isn’t that more of a result of how badly they were at the very start? I think it is. A loss is a loss is a loss.

Brian Burke said that many players would be shipped out before he made a coaching change. He spoke of delivering a product and a responsibility to fans and sponsors. That, I am sure had nothing to do with moral victories.

The team comes home and their is way more work to be done by the dream team. They have to find a way to get more effective players in the lineup everynight. It’s that simple. Moral victories don’t count.

Bob Elliott reports in today’s Toronto Sun that the Chicago Cubs and Toronto blue jays are talking turkey with Vernon Wells and Milton Bradley swapping uniforms. This would be a huge cost savings for the jays as bradley’s contract is up after the next season (not this coming one)

More later

Leafs lost in OT- another decent effort and now we are counting moral victories. Toskaka tomorrow? Can’t be good.

Raptors lost after being up late. Showing signs tonight of last year. Right now we can say it’s early.

Blue jays announced Cito will be managing again, and that can’t be good for recruitment purposes.

The Fan apparently has decided to retain it’s weakest link Goober Mike Toth, the guy who adds no value at all when he is on air.

All in all a bad day

Here’s to tomorrow

What’s the difference between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Argonauts?

I’m sorry, that’s a pretty tough one for the end of the work week, but there is one small distinction: the Leafs are getting decent production from their most important position. Kerry Joseph was 14 of 23 for 242 yards last week, though 95 of those yards came on a 95 pass to Jason Carter.

Once again, the Argos’ opponent has more to play for. Edmonton is tied with Winnipeg and Hamilton at 6-9 for the second and third playoff spots in the East division. The problem for Richie Hall & Co. is that they must finish with a better record than either team in order to claim a spot through the cross-over process. If the Eskies lose tonight, and both the Bombers and Tiger-Cats beat the Alouettes and Roughriders respectively, Edmonton will be watching the playoffs on TV.

Joseph knows that though the game doesn’t mean anything in the standings, pride is on the line for his team.

“It would be easy to pack it in, but we don’t have the guys on this team who are going to do that,” he told TSN. “The situation we’re in, it is what it is. We just have to finish the season on a good note.”

Head coach Bart Andrus agrees, knowing what late wins could do for the team next year.

“It would mean we stayed competitive in the late stages of the season,” Andrus said. “We’ve been close over the last couple of weeks. Getting another win helps us as we move forward with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

That seems like a fair assessment, considering the Boatmen lost their last nine games last season. With six straight loses to their name this year, they’re treading a slippery slope if they want to have any optimism for 2010.

-Marc Tessier

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Gord Kirke
- James Deacon

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Ron Wilson, head coach of the Leafs
- Bob “The Bear” Cowan with his NFL picks
- hockey insiders Darren Dreger & Scott Morrison at 6:10

Various reports are abound that the NHLPA has closed it’s doors (albeit temporarily). Apparently Ian Penny, the interim leader of the day is out either via resignation or termination (or both). The same fate is apparently is shared by Buzz CAW Hargrove. Their is of course a scramble amongst the MSM to get the story right. Kypreos broke this one, which is odd in that Dreger has owned he PA story. McKenzie is on it too though.

TSM will keep you up to date as we can.

Updated- not broke just bent betty- stay tuned- it’s not closed just Penny is gone. Nice work Kyper

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

There was a time when a game between the Raptors and Grizzlies was an all-Canadian affair. In 2001 the Grizzlies dumped their citizenship, picked up a green card and migrated from Vancouver to Memphis. Although the team has switched homes one thing has stayed the same – the Grizzlies know how to lose. Since joining the NBA in the 1996 season the Grizzlies have a 364-752 record. In fourteen seasons they’ve been over the .500 mark three times. In their first game of the season the Griz got blown out 96-74 by the Detroit Pistons. The team does have some good young talent. OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay are talented ballers, but the duo have only been in the league for a combined four seasons. Rookie Hasheem Thabeet is a raw talent who will provide the team with a defensive presence in the paint. Over the off season the team signed guard Allen Iverson to a one year contract and traded for centre Zach Randolph. Both players lack the skills needed to lead this team (and we’re not talking basketball skills). Does anyone think Iverson will be a positive role model for this teams young talent? Especially in practice? Remember, we’re talking about practice…

The Raptors one the other hand are coming of a huge opening night win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh combined for 49 points and the Raps got some great production out of their new acquisitions. Hedo Turkoglu had 12 points, Marco Belinelli had ten and first round draft pick DeMar DeRozan contributed with eight points and five boards. The Raptors added nine new players to the team over the off season and how quickly they all get on the same page will determine who far this team goes. If opening night was any indication this could be the best season yet for the Raptors.

We’re entering Week Eight in the National Football League, and already there have been seven teams that have sent more than one quarterback under centre. Buffalo, Miami, Philadelphia, Detroit, and St. Louis have needed to make changes due to injury. In Miami, the shoulder injury suffered by Chad Pennington just brought the Chad Henne era to a start sooner than anticipated. Philadelphia, and St. Louis have gone back to their original starters, while Detroit will send Matt Stafford back out as soon as possible. Buffalo has an interesting decision to make with Trent Edwards when he recovers from a concussion, seeing as Ryan Fitzpatrick is 2-0. But it’s more interesting to look at the teams that have changed starters in hopes to turn their seasons around.

In Cleveland, Brady Quinn was given only two weeks by head coach Eric Mangini before he was pulled in favour of Derek Anderson. Anderson’s been far from capable of handling the job – two touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 43.8 completion percentage. How is he still the starter? Well, I’ve been critical of Eric Mangini in the past, and I see no other person to blame for this move. There’s the conspiracy theory that owner Randy Lerner doesn’t want to pay the $11 million bonus due to Quinn if he plays 70% of the snaps, but winning has to take prescendence in the NFL. Quinn should be the starter, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be given another chance in Cleveland.

The Tennessee Titans announced today that Vince Young will take over for Kerry Collins, giving him a second tenure as a starting quarterback. With the Titans’ season pretty much over at 0-6, why not see if Young has anything left in the tank? Plus, it gives owner Bud Adams an opportunity to watch Young and find out whether or not he can lead this team in the future. His rookie contract carries a $7.5 million base salary in 2010, so if Young’s not the guy, then you can expect him to be given his walking papers next year.

And then there’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the 2008 draft, they drafted Josh Johnson in the fifth round as a developmental quarterback. Onto the 2009 draft, and the Bucs decided to take Kansas State’s Josh Freeman with the 17th pick. And then they signed Byron Leftwich in the offseason to compete with Luke McCown as starting quarterback. McCown was released, Leftwich was benched after three games for Johnson, and now he’s been given the hook for Freeman. Normally, I’m all for teams seeing what they have in first round quarterbacks, but in this case, it’s way too early. Johnson is only 23 himself, and by allowing him to start for the rest of the season they could have increased his trade value, or opened up a competition between he and Freeman next offseason. Freeman is going to struggle on this terrible team, and his confidence will take a huge beating with the complete lack of offensive weapons in Tampa. Johnson was the way to go for the remainder of the year in Tampa, and rookie coach Raheem Morris is making a big mistake by giving up on a 23 year old quarterback already.

Of course there’s still the teams that should make a switch but haven’t (hello Oakland and Carolina), but that just opens up an entirely different can of worms.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- the Chicago Bears owe a big thanks to the people who made their schedule. There’s no better remedy for a struggling defence than facing the Cleveland Browns (well, maybe facing JaMarcus Russell)

- Rex Ryan stopped the Wildcat last season when he was with Baltimore, but good luck to him stopping it this weekend. The Jets are currently the league’s 22nd rush defence, and are without their best run player in nose tackle in Kris Jenkins. Recipe for disaster

Ok, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’ talk about Phil Kessel, whom the MSM is ready to appoint on our behalf as the man who is going to deliver us to the promise land. Forget for a second that the Buds have actually won a game. Before the savior arrives, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have played games against Buffalo and Montreal. So the best the Buds cold be is 3-7-2 when Kessel is rumored to appear. At worst, 1-9-2. Either way, Kessel is, at least the last time I checked mortal. The expectations by the MSM on this guy (allegedly on our behalf) is going to be insane. Can you imagine the horror if he doesn’t score a goal in his first game? Sheer panic if that extends to 2 and god help us if it goes even further.

Sportnet has the Kessel Returning? (returning? what is he returning from? He has never appeared!) story on the cover of their website as we speak. Other outlets will, if they already haven’t follow.

Now, to be clear I am not bashing the guy in any sense. We have to be realistic though. In 3 NHL seasons (yes he is that young) Kessel has never scored at a goal per clip rate. Last year was his best where he averaged .5 a goal per game (again, I am not saying that isn’t alot or an accomplishment). In those same 3 years he has never scored at a point per game clip . Last year he came close, .85 pts per game, preeeeeeeeeety damn good. Ironicaly enough if Kessel comes back when he is rumored to do so he will be able to play in just as many games as he played last year, 70. In those 70 games he scored 36 goals for 60 points.

Where would that 60 points fit in to this club? Well, I think we have to assume that Tomas Kaberle isn’t going to stay at his current pace, which would take him to just under 90 points. Hagman is on a pace to score around points. Stajan is next at around 60.

So, I don’t think there is anything wrong with hoping for the best. Hell I hope he breaks every record out there. We do have to be realistic. He is one guy on a what has all the makings of a mediocre team at best right now. Hopefully he shows up and he has the Gretzky effect; making everyone around him that much better (and no I am NOT comparing him to Gretzky). I just think we need to all cheer the guy on like crazy, but realize that he is one guy. He alone isn’t going to but this team on his back (and I never mentioned his injury) and carry them by himself. The onus will be on the rest of the team to over perform. The onus will be on the coaching staff to over perform and perhaps more importantly, the onus will be on Brian Burke to deliver the best supporting cast to this stud. Kessel isn’t the Messiah the MSM is going to make him out to be. He also isn’t going to be the goat they will make him out to be should be stumble.

I love this quote by the way in tomorrow’s Globe and Mail:

“You’ve got to have confidence in all your teammates, especially your goaltender,” Leafs defenceman Ian White said. “If you bobble a puck, you know he’ll be there to make a save for us.”

That is precisely what you have been reading here. No matter what he does short term, Vesa has lost that confidence from his teammates. They are so sure that every “bobble” is going to end up in their net that they are “bobbling” way more than normal. Gustavsson, despite his age and inexperience has earned that confidence. That tells me a ton about the psyche of the players in the lockeroom but that’s a different discussion. The truth is, this team, at least right now plays with a ton more confidence in front of Jonas then the did at any point with Toskala last season or this. That, for Brian Burke and Ron Wilson is a HUGE problem.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Ian White’s quote is from this article in the Globe and Mail

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
5:25 Marcel Bellefeuille, Ti-Cats Head Coach
5:45 Doug Gilmour, Kingston Frontenacs Head Coach
6:05 Don Banks, Sports Illustrated
6:30 Keith Law, ESPN
6:45 Brahm Resnik, 12 News in Phoenix

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Darcy Regier, general manager of the Sabres
- Dave Naylor of the Globe & Mail on football
- hockey insider Pierre McGuire at 6:10