Dominic Moore, who had to have had the worst summer of anyone I know, has apparently found a home. Brian McCabe and the Florida Panthers have signed Dom. Details of the deal haven’t even been rumored yet. Let’s see just how much Dom and his agent Larry Kelly blew it by not taking Burke’s last offer pre-deadline last year…. Good luck Dom- make sure Caber introduces you to the host at Joe’s Stone Crab, waiting in line there can be a bitch.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

So the Buds take on Darcy Tucker and his Avalanche. Everyone is talking to Darcy and Raycroft, trying to get a meaningful quote. So far the masses have been unsuccessful. Darcy hasn’t taken the bait, at least not as of yet. There really is no pressure to, the game is out west, not here in Toronto. However, one would think that certain things would start to get to #16. Jeff Blair hits the nail right on the head with this assessment:

“And that was it. No invective. No apparent bitterness. Nada. It seems to bother Tucker naught that, more than lack of performance, he was turfed out of town because of a realization the Leafs could not change the culture of their dressing room without getting rid of a guy whose whiny, yappy, on-ice demeanour worked when the club was having success but had become a carnival sideshow as the team’s fortunes plummeted. So it’s likely that Smyth wasn’t lying when he lauded Tucker as a player who “has brought energy to our lineup” and who “says something when it needs to be said.”

The question is, why were things so toxic in the Leafs locker-room? Why did the likes of McCabe, Tucker, Raycroft and Sundin(maybe) have to go to change the atmosphere? What the hell was going on. Once again we have to look between the answers to see the truth. It is not what is being said, it is what is not being said. Brady asked Tucker for a comment on the name Muskoka Five. Tucker’s only comment was that he knew who created that name. The undertone there is that the name should be taken with a grain of salt because of who created the name. The who, in this case is as interesting as the name itself. Sources have told TSM for a long time that the person who first used the term to describe those maple leafs who were refusing to waive their no trade clauses was none other then ex-maple leaf Tie Domi. How strange. How intriguing. Another fan favorite allegedly coins a pretty damn derogatory term to a bunch of guys who used to be his teammates. Why, would Domi do that to Tucker, McCabe, Sundin, Kaberle and Kubina?????? What was going on back in the day?

The tone in Tucker’s voice with respect to the “creator” of the term was so negative, you could feel the hatred. Wilbur was laughing uncontrollably when Darcy said it. The old boys network at play again..The evidence in this case is so clear, the question is why, as in why did this happen and why didn’t management put an end to it years ago? The stories around about the divided room years ago, the toxic state of it, with Corson, Roberts, Domi, Travis Green, Tucker all taking sides in the factions. What was Quinn doing? What started it? The rumored stories of the hatred between Tucker and Domi are the stuff of legends. It’s too bad Domi isn’t on TSN anymore. It’s too bad the game isn’t in Toronto. I would love to hear what Tie would have to say about Darcy’s return. It seems to me that the dressing room back in the day was about as mature as my 4 year old daughter’s kindergarten room. The good news for Joe Public is that as time goes on, more people talk and more stories get told. From what is swirling now, it would be legendary to see the likes of Domi and Tucker under the same roof.

I didn’t see much of this one. I missed the first and most of the second. Unfortunately, I did see the 3rd. One word ouch! Not sure if you caught it, but I can bet you will be hearing lots of it tomorrow, but man did Ron Wilson rip Thomas Kaberle after the game. Kaberle sat the entire first period tonight. Yes you read the right. Despite being dressed, Thomas Kaberle rode the pine for the ENTIRE first period. TK’s first shift of the game was the first of the second period and he got beat. The third period was brutal. To say Ron Wilson was pissed would be putting it mildly.

The LeafsTv announcer asked Wilson afte the game if “he was sending Thomas a message by sitting him in the first?” Wilson replied “ah, yeah and he replied by going -4.” Ummm, me thinks that TK may be willing to waive that NTC any minute now. In fairness to the guy, it is a pretty unorthodox benching. Usually you bench a guy later in a game. Had he had a bad first I could see him sitting the second. To leave the guy on the bench the entire first is flat out embarrassing and I am not surprised he struggled the rest of the way. However, TK is a pro and he has to be able to respond better then he did.

The line of the night goes to LT who quipped “It’s time to reunite Kaberle with McCabe.” LT wondered if we could get Jay Bouwmeester for Kaberle? The short answer is no, but I have to wonder if senior Burke has seen enough of TK to start asking around. A couple of things to remember about Kaberle is he is young and affordable. Those are 2 very attractive features in a puck moving defenceman. To say that his confidence is shot is probably putting it mildly. While I thought Blake would be the first to go, I am starting to think TK could take the lead….

As for the rest of the players, Jeff Finger led all leafs in ice time with an ode to Todd Gill and Mike Palmateer(23:29). He was followed by Luke Schenn who went Todd Gill and John Anderson (23:10). Dominic Moore and Alexei Ponikarovsky lead the Leafs in the plus/minus category each being +1. Kaberle led the way in the negative department (-3) sorry coach…

Well, the buds return home from the road trip licking their chops a little bit after being lit up by both the sharks and the coyotes. Saturday night they are home to gulp, the Washington Capitals and Don Cherry’s favorite player Alexander Ovechkin. Should be a good game.

Shame to see Paul Maurice loose his first game back behind the bench as the Pens beat the Canes 5-2, just like old times eh Moe…..

I admit, there is something to admire about Howard Berger. I mean, the guy gets to cover the leafs. He goes to most (if not all) practices, travels with the team and goes to most (if not all) games. He has had his gig for quite awhile and he seems to have some credible sources. Unlike many of his competitors, I do believe underneath it all ‘Howie’ is a leaf fan and that sometimes makes him a little less credible, but at the same time a little more likable.

To be honest, when he was really just the day to day beat guy, when there weren’t dozens of them and his real time to shine was rumor season he was always entertaining. I think he gets in to trouble when he tries to compete with those in the market who do nothing but bash the local teams. It is in these instances where he sounds whiny and becomes unlistenable (now unreadable) and as a result unreliable. Who can forget that one trade deadline day when, I think it was Pat Quinn, then the GM, didn’t come out to address the media after the deadline had passed? I am sure those of you die hards (like me) remember Howard ranting and raving about the atrocity done by the GM at that time as if, the failure of the manager to show up really mattered.

His latest blog is a prime example of where he should have just left things alone. I have no problem with negative stories about the leafs (or any Toronto team for that matter) when warranted. This story is just not news. Right now, as Cliff has said, there is no story. Brian McCabe has a no trade clause and he has expressed his desire to remain a leaf. Cliff has said that in time the issue will get resolved. Howard for the simple reason of looking to create news, called on Healy, the new brains in the NHLPA to stir the pot. The result was a real shocker; Healy, the new union man backed the player…WOW- Stop the presses! I could never have seen this coming. Just so we are clear, that is what the PA does. It stands up for its constituents. (Hey, when Bertuzzi tried to kill Steve Moore, the PA backed Bertuzzi) Howard I assume is smart enough to know this. He probably could have written the story before he picked up the phone.

Here is the one thing that is in the story that is of importance : “I think this situation can be resolved amicably, and there is plenty of time for that to happen”
Everything else is a useless attempt to create buzz. The free agent frenzy has passed and Howard is fishing for news. Healy said exactly what anyone with a brain would expect him to.

Please Howie, don’t report for the sake of reporting. Just like the great line from the classic scene in the Naked Gun…”Move along, there is nothing to see here!”

Edit- as I write this, news breaks that the Leafs signed Mikhail Grabovski to a one-year contract.

Dan Boyle has, according to many sources agreed to waive his no trade clause this morning. Make no mistake about it, this has ramifications on both the leafs and the league in general. Lots of pundits have opined that there would be tremendous pressure on McCabe not to waive his no trade clause. Clearly, with Boyle going first the road has been paved for others like McCabe to follow.

All along this was about money. McCabe and his agent thought they could strong arm the buds into buying him out. That wasn’t going to happen. In the end, McCabe like Boyle will come to his senses and realize that the best decision for him and his family will be to get out of dodge. The leafs, like the lightning are not the evil empire for asking their respective defencemen to waive their no trade clauses.

McCabe is a victim of the contract he signed. He got big bucks and with that came big expectations. In this market every mistake (which usually ended up in his own net) was magnified. It has become untenable. It simply doesn’t make sense to the leafs or the player for him to continue here. Players who were in similar situations have seen their careers flourish elsewhere, Larry Murphy went on to win Cups with the Red Wings and Jason Smith has had a very nice career in Edmonton.

Attached is this mornings interview with Cliff Fletcher on the Fan 590. I attach it in that I think you can hear in Cliff the reasonableness that was so missing in the last regime. I think if you listen carefully enough you will also here the same thought process with respect to McCabe.

Lastly, I find it odd that he says in the interview that Mats Sundin claimed to have told Cliff that last season was one of his (Sundin’s) most enjoyable. From a career perspective I can see how putting up great numbers would bring satisfaction to him, however form the standpoint of this is a team game and the lack of success the team did not experience makes is a puzzling comment. I would think that with everything that went on, and the finality of 3 years without a playoff birth Sundin would have hated what went on, or maybe hoped that a team leader would.

Cliff Fletcher on the Fan 590 morning show

Listen to the Chat here