There’s a lot going on right now – Hockey season’s in full swing, with basketball just around the corner. Meanwhile, we’re starting to get a clearer look at the NFL picture, while just two teams remain in Major League Baseball. Locally, things aren’t pretty, but there’s plenty to talk about.

• Are the Toronto Maple Leafs awful, unlucky, or both? It’s a little confusing when you watch them play, but that third period on Saturday night summed up their season nicely. Even when the effort is there, and it was, there simply aren’t enough finishers up front. Sure, Ron Wilson, blame Luongo’s stellar play… Have you noticed that most goalies seem to be on their “A” game against Toronto? Reminds me of Raptors fans justifying the outside shooting of an opponent – “Come on, Shane Battier will never go 7/8 from three-point land again”… If something happens enough, it’s time to look in the mirror.
• That being said, Phil Kessel will help. The cynic will say there’s nobody to get him the puck, but the guy can score. Toronto had plenty of chances to even the score on Saturday, but lack a sniper to get the job done. Speaking of Kessel, let’s talk about the No. 1 pick fiasco. The trade looks horrible right now, but is it? Yes, the Leafs may end up with the first pick in next year’s draft, but it’s still quite possible to move up. In any case, there’s absolutely no guarantee Burke lands a young player with as much potential as Kessel. And really, that’s all the draft is. That first round pick is an imaginary player – If Burke still had the pick and used it on this year’s Phil Kessel, what’s the difference? He’s young, great, and locked up. The GM was certainly banking on a better season from his team, but it’s still possible to view the trade with the glass half full.
• Who wins first – The Leafs or the Raptors? I’ll say the Raps win on Friday in Memphis, so it’ll be tight.
• Speaking of the Toronto Raptors, their first month could be pretty miserable. Games against Cleveland, Orlando, Detroit, New Orleans, San Antonio, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver and Utah would be tough for anybody, and especially a team that still hasn’t gelled whatsoever. I’m not saying it’s time to panic – Quite the contrary, actually… But reasonable fans should expect to get killed in at least a few of the early contests. Toronto showed very few signs of improvement throughout the preseason, and going 5-10 out of the gate shouldn’t surprise anyone. The playoffs are still attainable, but the start will be rough. If the team improves, there will be plenty of time to right the ship.
• Despite Frank Zicarelli’s objection, it’s the right call to start DeMar DeRozan. I really think Frank has it completely wrong on this one – He talks about hiding rookies, but the second unit is no place for this. The Raptors backups are having enough trouble scoring and it makes no sense to give DeRozan that responsibility. Instead, let the kid do what he’s been doing – filling the lane, cutting to the hoop, and getting to the line. The starting unit is filled with scoring, meaning DeRozan will get his without having plays run for him. It’s the perfect spot to get him minutes, and it’s not like anybody else has earned them. Antoine Wright? Please, you don’t earn minutes by sitting on the bench, especially when you’ve accomplished next to nothing in this league.
• More important than the starting lineup is the finishing lineup. Right now, I’d say the Raps end games with a lineup of Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani. Obviously, it’s somewhat dependant on the situation.
• Vince Carter is going to have a huge year for the Orlando Magic. Huge.
• What happened to the Miami Dolphins yesterday? As well as New Orleans played in the second half, it was perplexing to watch Miami abandon their game plan. This team is built on running, but insisted on throwing with a huge lead. It made absolutely no sense, and ended in disaster. On the other side of the ball, the Saints continued to prove they are among football’s elite.
• On the other hand, the New York Giants had every opportunity to beat Arizona, but insisted on handing the game to the Cardinals. Last week, it was the defense. This week, it was the offense. Tom Coughlin has to get them ready for a tough Eagles squad before the wheels completely fall off.
• I hate the Dallas Cowboys, but Tony Romo is a very good quarterback. It’s ridiculous what people say about him, despite the way he carries that offense. Nobody is a “winner” until they win. Peyton couldn’t win in the playoffs, until he did. Same goes for Eli. One of these years, a whole lot of people will be eating crow with regards to Romo.
• Troy Polamalu completely changes the Steelers defense. They were average in his absence, and beastly in his return.
• How depressing is this world series matchup for Cleveland Indians fans? The starting pitchers for Game 1 – CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee – both played for the Indians last season. At least they still have LeBron James… for now.
• As for Philadelphia vs New York, it’s too close to call. Two powerful lineups, two good pitching staffs. The series goes six or seven.
• My “wows” for the week go to Anze Kopitar, Vernon Davis, Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard.

-DL

Pierre McGuire was on the Fan this am, the fan doesn’t post too many of their insiders clips on the net so it’s hard to get clips for you. However, I got a good chunk of it. McGuire was saying how far back the Muskoka Five set the Leafs franchise. “If they hadn’t refused to waive there no movement/no trade clauses the team wouldn’t be in this 3-5 year rebuilding program., I guarantee it.”

Well, a couple of things come to mind…

1. If the queen had balls, she would be king
2. the following scene from an absolute classic:
“Tommy: Let’s think about this for a sec, Ted, why do they put a guarantee on a box? Hmm, very interesting.
Ted: I’m listening.
Tommy: Here’s how I see it. A guy puts a guarantee on the box ’cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside.
Ted: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: ‘Course it does. Ya think if you leave that box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter.
Ted: What’s your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the Guarantee Fairy isn’t a crazy glue sniffer? “Building model airplanes” says the little fairy, but we’re not buying it. Next thing you know, there’s money missing off the dresser and your daughter’s knocked up, I seen it a hundred times.
Ted: But why do they put a guarantee on the box then?
Tommy: Because they know all they solda ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That’s all it is. Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for right now, for your sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality item from me.
Ted: Hmm. Okay, I’ll buy from you.
Tommy: Well I… What?

So, the guarantee isn’t that important. We all know the truth. The question is what put us in the mess? If you listen to Wilbur, the pressure to succeed was so great on JFJ he couldn’t do the things he wanted to do. I scream bullshit. Look where failure got him. FIRED. I also don’t buy that he acted differently because he didn’t have job security. There are lots of GM’s out there on 1 year deals who don’t mortgage everything on nothing. This guy was a complete baphoon. He will never be a GM again in the NHL. As one exec told me, he will be a GM again, but only of a Walmart! These deals that he made were so brutal. Every single one of them. I don’t blame any of the players for not waiving their clauses. The jerk on the other side was willing to give it and hey they each earned it. Who was JFJ bidding against when he signed any of the guys he gave the NTC’s too? NO ONE. Did he have to up the anti on Tucker because someone else was going to go higher? NO. Did someone threaten to overpay McCabe? Nope…He was bidding against himself in almost every case. Oh no, he wouldn’t have gotten Kubina…alone, and no offense to Kubina, but what the hell was this one guy going to add to this franchise???

I just love the argument that ownership screwed this up. I don’t buy 1 cent of it. You don’t get to the GM level by being a yes man. All of the sudden you are an order taker? Give me a break. If that is true, then JFJ is more spineless then I originally thought. The guy was making big bucks. He knows only hockey. He had to know that his reputation was on the line with every move he made. The question is was he just to stubborn to listen to those around him? Did he really act totally alone on these moves? Forget the board. The board wasn’t telling him to go sign Pavel Kubina. Was the board out there trying to replace him? Sure, that may be the case. Was the board in disagreement over his status. Sure. Did that undermine him? Absolutely. Did that force him to make stupid moves? Hell no. I don’t buy it for one second. He was apparently turned down one time by the board, and that was to blow things up entirely. I know that may sound hypocritical. Wait though, before you pounce. Ask yourself this? Do you want that tool doing the rebuilding. We got nothing for Sundin. We got Van Ryn for McCabe. The damage Cliff did in blowing up was pretty minimal. The guys he got back have been OK. Not great. OK. They haven’t been complete disasters (save for the village idiot who for some reason Wilson seems to like). I didn’t want it then and I re-enforce it today, JFJ was not the man ever to do the re-tooling.

We see it in every day life all the time. People who excel in one area aspire to do something else. Not everyone is a good manager. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good at something. I have run into this countless times. Leading sales people aspire to be sales managers. When they become sales managers they hate it, they are miserable. Why? Simple, they aren’t selling anymore, they are bogged down in red tape and process. So they have the title and yet they are miserable. JFJ sounded like he was good at contracts (stop laughing). Maybe he was good at negotiating them when he was provided with limitations. I would like to say he was a good talent evaluator but we all know that just can’t be true. Who knows, I am sure he has a home in hockey. Right now he is a scout (stop laughing). I don’t think he has the makeup to be a GM in this league. It’s really quite simple. I get asked a lot, whether I think Burke was the right guy for the leafs. The answer is absolutely. Why, because he is the one guy who can handle the board and the media. As much as I love Doug Wilson and think he would have been a better GM choice, he would have gotten killed here. He is too quite, too thoughtful. If Richard Peddie walks in to Burke’s office and says ya know, this guy on Columbus looks pretty good, we all know where Burke is going to put Peddie. There will be no discussion, no second thought. If McCown wants to rip Burke on the air, Burke isn’t going to run from the Bobcat. That is the type of person the Buds need at this point.

So I agree with you Pierre. We may not agree on the why or the who is to blame but the Muskoka 5 really hurt this team. It says here the blame falls squarely on JFJ. He may not have started the country club atmosphere, he allowed it to remain, he installed the coach who did nothing about it. He signed the players, it all falls on him. When history looks back no one will say, oh yeah that guy from the Ontatio Teachers Pension fund really screwed the leafs up, they will say JFJ did.

I had to take the little TSM’s to school this am and with work and of course the weather I got bogged down. I didn’t see this article until just now when I sat down to read the Post. This whole Maple Leaf thing is really not that complicated. It seems that the Toronto Media (print especially) is LOST (sorry, I am so psyched for next week’s premiere). The season is playing out (results wise) as many of us had hoped. The team is playing well and losing lots. With the exception of a few games the effort has not been the problem, it has been the lack of talent. Unlike in years past when the talent appeared to be there but the attitude and effort weren’t. So, why, after everyone, and I mean everyone called for the blowing up of the team, is the concept so hard to grasp. The same guru’s who said it wasn’t going to be easy, who said it was going to be ugly, are now crying because it is painful. As I have said all along. The fans have no problem buying in. We have sucked for so long, what’s another season or 3. At least this time we are being told the truth! To quote PPP, we don’t boo the losing, we boo the lack of effort. Really, it’s just not that hard.

One guy who finally seems to be getting it is Bruce Arthur at the National Post. So while Gary Lowen is off….ummmm, well I am not sure what he is doing, maybe watching old re-runs of the Golden Girls or something,Bruce is paying attention:

“So you move into a new house, and it needs some work. The previous occupants had pretty much trashed the place – scraped up the floors, disconnected the plumbing, sunk the foundations, blew off the roof. It’s all painted blue and white, and it’s a mess. To be fair, there are some saleable items left. A Kaberle-brand dishwasher, an Antropov barbecue, a Kubina TV, a Ponikarovsky rug. But they’re only really useful if you can sell them off to pay for the real reconstruction, and that’s what you would like to do.”

Wow, now that is actually worth chuckling over- better then that moronic Gilligan’s Island cast story…..

“Because they are part of this franchise fixer-upper, the media only half-heartedly grills various Toronto Maple Leafs players about the spate of slow starts, or quizzes Nik Antropov about his 10-game goalless streak, or corners Tomas Kaberle in the locker room. It all feels like we’re killing time, on temporary duty, waiting to be reassigned to a different team entirely.”

WAIT a minute. the media only what?? Sorry Bruce, perhaps you haven’t been paying attention to this group. This “grilling” is as good as it gets! You weren’t expecting in-depth analysis where you? The hardest question asked by a beat reporter last year was are you going to waive your no trade clause? That is no joke…

“If there’s a temporary feeling, there’s a reason,” Leafs general manager Brian Burke says over the phone from Boston, on his way to the Providence-Boston College hockey game last night. “A team with our number of points, with our record, it should feel temporary.”

It is, what it is…It is what we were told it would be……

“It’s guys throwing anchors at people,” Burke says. “And they’re not even embarrassed. People figure if you’re struggling, you’re desperate. And we’re struggling. It’s not even offensive to me.”

This suggests two things to me. The current cap system is going to change so that the logjam blocking the transaction section of my newspapers will once again flow properly. Secondly, NHL GM’s should be seeing a ton more of junior’s and pro players then they used to be. There is no real reason to stay home. I mean cellphones keep you in touch anyway, but if there is no chance of a deal now, may as well be on the road looking at players, right?

“Struggling team or not, Burke is less than two months into a five-year contract, so he is not desperate. So he waits. He has truly taken inventory, now. He would like to replace some of the draft picks that were missing when he arrived, and he needs young players. It may not be in Burke’s DNA to lose games, but it is in his interest. “It’s not just a DNA question,” Burke says. “This is the tightrope you walk as the general manager of a team that’s struggling. There’s a difference between tanking and putting a young lineup on the ice that’s going to have some trouble. I think people can accept [the latter] and support that.”

It’s like the old SCTV skits, 3D house or horrors- where John Candy would move an object in and out of the camera… How does someone who is “trained” to win, resist the urge to do all he can to win. Burke isn’t used to standing by and watching his team’s season going down the pike. That, is for guys like Bryan Murray (sorry, couldn’t help myself). Burke knows what we have suffered through here and knows what has to be done. Anyone who suggests a quick fix solution to make the playoffs this year is a moron.

“Every Toronto Maple Leafs game is by definition a big game to somebody out there, but right now, what’s the point in getting exercised over stuff like scoring slumps or the penalty kill? The floors may be scratched up, but they’re going to be replaced.That – and the four-year contract – may be why coach Ron Wilson doesn’t have to sugarcoat his public assessments of his team. Yesterday alone he uttered the following sentences: 1. “We are what we are.” 2. “We know what we are as a team. We’re not a team that’s built [to], or that should be, scoring five or six goals a night, plain and simple.” 3. “I personally think we’re not surprising anybody any more, and that’s the realistic version of it.” 4. “It’s a rebuilding year, period.”

That’s right. Lay the foundation this year. It’s too cold to build yet. Pour the foundation, set the tone, start to change bad habits. Eradicate the pests and vermin. Then as winter starts to thaw in say 50 days (god shoot me if it stays cold that long) we can start the building…

“Burke says he loves some things about this team: The work ethic, the way they don’t get discouraged when they fall behind, their general adherence to the structure Wilson has put in place. Add talent, and they might have something. “I think people in Toronto have witnessed since 1967 that anything but a long-term approach is doomed,” Burke says. “I think people get it.” And so we wait. It’s probably for the best.”

It is definitely for the best. Even if we don’t win the cup as a result. There are no harm in doing what we are doing. It won’t be worse then what we had, that is for sure.

You can read Arthur here…

Mike Ulmer, writing on the Leafs website does a nice job predicting what the Buds may look like at the start of the 2011 season. Here are a couple of highlights:

“Going into tonight’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens, the Maple Leafs are 16-18-6, 10 points out of the basement, 25 points away from first.”

Always good to have some perspective don’t you think?

“The Leafs desperately need to get younger. To that end, I have limited the top two lines and top two defensive pairings to players 25 years or younger on opening night. Keep in mind, there will always be room for productive older players. Nik Hagman will be nearly 32, but it’s hard to think his game would not be welcome somewhere on the roster. ”

God I hope he is right about the age thing….

“On defence: Luke Schenn. He’s a sure bet. A little below Schenn, put Jeff Finger in the depth chart. Anton Stralman has the talent to be a top four defenceman but it’s impossible to accurately predict whether he will make the jump. I like Jonas Frogren’s mean for the third pairing and based on his ever improving play, Ian White might be considered in the mix. ”

So we are 1/4 right now. I love that Finger is still here if to only shut up a lot pundits.

“At forward: Well, Mikhail Grabovsky is the one sure bet. Nikolai Kulemin is in the minors right now, but he remains a good prospect for second or third-line status. Veteran Nik Antropov would be welcome, but he was a free agent back in 2009 and who knows where he is in 2010.

Ummm I think he is putting that at 1/4 (maybe 2 if you count Nikolai), which is 1 more then anyone would have said at the beginning of the season. No one expected to Grabovsky to be as good or at least to look like he has the upside that he has shown thus far.

In net, Ulmer correctly has a question mark.

“Realistically, the Leafs need nine players who can play on the top two lines and three more defencemen who can man the first two pairings.”

That is going to be a tall order. These players, according to Ulmer have to be under 25. Finding that many players under 25 isn’t going to be easy. I hope the pundits remember this as they grade Mr. Burke. Think about it. You don’t draft players in their young 20’s. Schenn is the exception, not the rule. I am sure the good folks over at PPP can tell us the percentage of players drafted in the first or second round play meaningful games in there first 2 years. I am willing to be it isn’t that high.

“That means the Leafs must depend on a steady flow of players from the development end, the Marlies. They must gamble draft choices for ready for prime time players (hard to find someone who begrudges the second-rounder Cliff Fletcher gave up to land Grabovsky) or trade.”

All this means that Mr. Burke is going to be very busy between now and the start of next season.

You can read Ulmer here

If you want to know why McCown is number one in this market, listen to his interview of Bryan Burke last night. It is just stuff you don’t get anywhere else. I give a ton of credit to Bob and Stephen Brunt for this one. It was an excellent interview, they asked all the right questions at all the right times. Kudos to Burke too. Here is a sloppily written account, but I highly suggest you listen to it yourself.

Q So are you comfortable that you have a sense what this team is and what it needs?

A Yes, from the start i said that we are too small and that has proven to be our biggest need. The second thing is consistency. If you said to me how is your goaltending? On some nights its adequate, it’s been terrific and on other’s it’s not. Our defensive play, on some nights we are a unit we play hard, the next we don’t. We need a consistent approach

Q Is this a time now where you are still looking at how the teams play or are you asking yourself are the players you have, are these guys good enough?

A The latter-I inherited Ron Wilson, i respect Ron, our coaching is sound, its a good system, it’s entertaining we aren’t trapping- i like the coaching- The question now is do we have the right people to execute that system.

Q You have a long term project here. How much of your brain in focused on the short term like the brad may deal which is obviously is a short term thing and how much is like a chess game where it is three or four moves away and will pay dividends next year and into the future?

A This franchise has suffered from, and that’s a great question and a fair one… This franchise has suffered from a series of short term fixes and patch work approaches, patches on tires, I am going long term here and our goal is to win a championship. That being said, I do have a responsibility to season ticket holders and sponsors to play the hardest and to win the most games we can. With Brad May it’s not just the toughness element which he does bring, but more importantly the leadership he brings to the locker room where the younger guys can see a guy who prepares properly and approaches the game properly and has the leadership skills.

Q You like him, it’s the 3rd time you got him – he is 37 – leadership can be tricky sometimes can he bring those things to a new group mid stride?

A That is the hardest part of being a leader, is coming into a new group mid term and trying to be a leader- But i have seen Brad operate before and the one guy on our staff, Keith Acton pushed harder for this then anyone else…This isn’t a Brian Burke project, I love him as a player but he brings other things, he is very positive and that is very important to a young team, he never comes in a pouty, or in a bad mood. Every day is a great day to Brad May. I want a positive influence for those kids, a guy who pays a terrible price to win on the ice, a guy who practices hard. He is not a great hockey player, but he does a lot of things well and i think our team needs to see those things, how to prepare and act like a professional hockey player.

Q I spent a lot of time talking about the value of draft choices the direction this franchise is going and i don’t want to get into a fight about what cliff did, because I endorse most of what he did, but he did give up a lot of draft choices and well this probably isn’t much, it’s a 6th round draft pick, but I want to ask you, not you specifically, but what value do you put on draft choices as you try and build and get the buidling blocks in place, which is more important draft picks or free agents, what is your philosophy?

A My philosophy has always been that draft picks are very important. This changes as you get close. When we were close in anaheim I traded everything I could to get Chris Pronger because I was close. Ken Holland and Doug Wilson will deal draft choices because they are close. IDifferent weights you place on things depending on where you are. Right now they are the lifeblood of our team. You are right, there is no point on arguing with what Cliff did. He did some good things. He is a wonderful guy and a friend of mine. I have always tired to avoid throwing rocks at any of the guys who went before me. That is very important. People say that Cliff traded some picks and yes he did, but you will never here me complain about it. First because I don’t like guys who complain, nobody out there listening wants to listen to Bryan Burke complain and second he did what he did to make the team better. We have to do what we can to replace those picks. They are absolutely vital in a cap system. Teams that are successful have kept their picks and drafted wisely. Especially now, after the Edmonton offer sheet everyone locks them up after their entry contract so you are never going to get an elite young young kid..

Q Do you have any sense or confidence that you can start that process of reclaiming these picks before the deadline or is it going to take longer ?

A Yes we have one guy that any team would love to draft in any position in Schenn. Grabovsky is a good pick too, no one is going to quarrel that move either. But I am confident we can move some assets and start to replenish these picks, yeah sure.

Q As you approach that time- and you mention the inconsistency, what do you really like-what do you say, there is something we can hold on to there?

A if you asked me at the 7 minute mark of the first period of last night’s game when the shots were 10-0 I would have not said many names. I don’t call my team out very often. You know that, I try to be very loyal to my team. I was very sour last night and I would have made any player who was on the ice available with the exception of Luke Schenn.

I know what people are saying, why are you dealing the lifeblood of the franchise away for a guy like May? Well he told you why. He obviously has a plan, and he obviously knows exactly what is missing in the room right now. I think it is a huge indictment on Mayers and other veterans in the room. He couldn’t be more clear that there is no one in the room who is doing the little things right. I think we owe it to the guy to sit back and lets things unfold for a bit.

You can listen to the interview here.