Hoakey or not, you know at some point today, someone or someones in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization suggested that the Maple Leafs put it all together for their President and GM who, well, one can’t really imagine what he is going through right now. His troops did exactly what he would want, pummel the crap out of hated Ottawa Senators, a team who came in riding a 12 game winning streak. To smoke them 5-0 was certainly a nice cherry on the sunday! It was, by far the best game the Toronto Maple Leafs played all year.

The highlight of the night, and perhaps the Maple Leafs season was Colton Orr dropping Matt Carkner like a sack of potatoes in the rubber match of their most recent fights.

As for how the players heard about Brendan Burke:

“We were on the bus and normally the guys just jump off and head right onto the plane, but we all kind of sat there for a few extra minutes, just thinking about what we were told,” Rosehill said. “It was a sad feeling for everybody.” You can read more about the Maple Leafs today and last night here

The game tonight was great to watch and something Leafs fans deserved. It was like a re-coming out party for Luke Schenn who appears to have been reborn since the arrival of Dion Phaneuf. Phill Kessel looked like the player Brian Burke traded for and well, JSG had us wishing they had given up on Toskala late last year!

If you take out Ron Wilson’s brain cramp from last night it’s been a pretty good 3 game start post trade for the Maple Leafs. They played well for 57 minutes last night and dominated games one and then tonight. Tonight was our playoff game. The buds take on the San Jose Sharks for a rare tilt with Ron Wilson’s old team Monday night and then are off until Friday night and a tilt with the St. Louis Blues on Friday night, to close out February. It’s almost too bad given how well, or how different they have been playing since the deals.

Well, it all started last Sunday. What a crazy week it’s been. Let’s see what tomorrow will bring. I am not a betting man, but with the Olympic freeze kicking in Friday here’s betting Dave Nonis get’s little sleep this week.

TSM

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I am not well enough versed in NBA to tell you the how or the why or to wax eloquently about the nuances of the game. I can tell you this, I sat and watched the entire Toronto Raptors/ LA Lakers tilt and for the first time in a LONG time I can say that those who spent their bucks on tickets at the ACC got every pennies worth. What a game!

I am pretty sure the Raptors didn’t lead until late in the 4th quarter and then Kobe had the final shot at the buzzer to win it all. What more do you want? Is it a title game? No. Is it a championship? No. It’s not even a playoff round win. What it is, I hope is the start of some mainstream coverage and perhaps, a little more attention.

Let’s allow swallow hard and realize there isn’t anything remotely interesting about the Maple Leafs right now. The game in Florida, like the one in Tampa and Atlanta were painful. Baring a major shift, there will be no intrigue until the deadline. Sure Brian Burke may wish someone would deal with him now or before the Olympics, but let’s get real. Would you pull the trigger to get any of these guys early? I certainly doubt there are too many GM’s out there saying if we only had a Poni on our team…..

The day after the deadline in Toronto will likely be the last time before the end of the season there is much to talk about of any real significance. I mean they may play a good game here or there, maybe there will be a new face from time to time to talk about. Why don’t we all get behind a team that could be on the verge of something. No gurantees, but hell I like their odds better than the Leafs especially when it comes to providing value for the hard earned cash we’ve all been wasting on the buds.

No one game doesn’t mean a whole lot. This team is exciting to watch, and for the most part they are at least in most games they play with a good shot at winning. Something we haven’t been able to say about the other teams in this town for a LONG time. Way to go Raps!

TSM

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I guess it would be one thing if nobody did say there would be days like these. Problem is, Ron Wilson warned us. Way back when, Ron Wilson said that there would be dark says ahead. I wonder if he envisioned them being this dark. One has to wonder if he thought his would be so bad to continue to have the worst penalty kill in the league with an eye on becoming the worst ever.

It’s funny, (we Toronto Maple Leafs have to laugh), that many pundits picked the buds to finish dead last, last year when they never really threatened to capture that title despite the wishes of many fans. This year, when several of the same Nostradamuses predicted a playoff birth for team Burke, the squad is playing as if it as an anchor tied around it’s neck night in and night out.

Irrespective of what Wilson told 640 today about blowing his stack, the truth is the pressure on Wilson has to be getting rather immense. Face it, his steam stinks. He is about to head off to Vancouver to coach the Olympics, where many people already are snickering at his selection. Coming in with Wilson’s track record won’t help his cause in the US team’s dressing room. So it’s clear that Wilson’s gasket blowing is well understandable.

As I have said in this space many times, as Alex Tran wrote this evening as well, the problem with the Maple Leafs is really quite simple. They are totally devoid of talent. Yes the team has mustered together a win here or a couple, but hey on any given sunday. For the Maple Leafs to actually be successful every single thing must go there way. They quite simply don’t have the horses to compete. The drop off in talent upfront after Phil Kessel is about as wide as the grand canyon. The same can be said after Kaberle on the back end. In net, neither guy has established themselves as a true number one.

So, what we see is what we get. It’s really not all the surprising after all.

I loved the question Brian Burke got during the pre game tonight about his playoff comment in the pre-season. You know it’s really not that complicated an issue. Most fans got it, most media heard enough to try and twist it. For those who don’t get it, here again it is…

Burke, perhaps trying to be a tad too cute said that his goal was to make the playoffs.

What he meant was, you show up every season, every day, every game to win. You don’t prepare to lose. Losing isn’t acceptable. If you set the tone by saying you aren’t trying to make the playoffs then losing become acceptable. How would Burke or Wilson look at their team from day one, or any other day for that matter if they didn’t believe they could win?

That, my friends is totally different as how this has been spun. We expect to compete for a playoff spot suddenly became we will make the playoffs. Semantics ? Perhaps. Maybe Burke should have spelled it out clearer. I suspect that he assumed we were smarter than that. Instead what he said was that he doesn’t want one player on his roster who doesn’t come to win every night, any player who isn’t prepared to fight for a playoff spot should see him and Burke will try to trade him.

It’s really not that hard to decipher, however it has been misplayed over and over.

It’s going to be fun reading and watching as the clock crawls towards March 3. The problem with this team is simple. There just not very good.

TSM

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Now this is funny. According to the good folks at the Torontoist, the Buds “illegally” spray painted their logo on Toronto Streets. A couple of times this has resulted in some artistic edits to the logos/slogan on the streets. Here is the latest:

Thanks to designwallah and Flickr for the photo

Now you see that wasn’t so hard was it. All it took to get this team rolling, just a little bit was the proverbial write off by Damien Cox. Since Damien Cox wrote the this team is really bad and that’s good because at least there is no hiding it anymore, the Buds have played respectable hockey. Now, Jolly Jonas mentioned the “P” word on the radio tonight and well that’s just plain silly. Let’s see this team play 500 the rest of the way and well, that would be one hell of an improvement from the start of the season.

We can’t get ahead of ourselves a small string of games with W’s or hard efforts is meaningless in the grand scheme of things if they are sustained and carried on long term. It would have been so much easier if Cox predicted horrible things for this team right from the get go no? I have to believe his playoff prediction jinxed the team don’t you?

TSM

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Interesting reading about the sudden reprieve the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently bought themselves by defeating the Washington Capitals the other day. The moves that were imminent prior to the game vs. the Caps has been put on the back burner by Brian Burke because the buds beat the Caps? Please. I don’t buy it. Whatever Burke plans on doing won’t be the result of any one game, winning or losing. Likewise, he won’t take 2-5 guys out back and shoot them either as a result of the effort.

Instead what Burke must slowly be arriving to is the conclusion that his team has a ways to go before it can be considered one of the elite teams in the league. The evidence is so clear and now you are starting to see both Burke and Wilson confirm it in their words.

Burke the other day was quoted as saying that in his opinion the team had been “trying so hard”. Tonight, after the Leafs lost to the Islanders, despite throwing some 60 shots at the Islanders, Wilson said almost the same thing, “What can you say?” said Ron Wilson. “They hung around long enough and got a break. We made a bad play in our end and we ended up losing the game, but I can’t fault the effort of our players.” (Thanks to Jonas for that…)

So, despite solid efforts, the team just can’t win. What conclusion do you have to arrive at when everyone is trying their best and still not accomplishing the goal? Well, it’s that their best just isn’t good enough. The team that Burke has assembled simply doesn’t have the horses to compete night in and night out. One would have to think that by this stage, Burke knows exactly what he has, and what he is missing. The time is now for him to start adjusting by making moves, especially with injuries to John Mitchell and Vesa Toskala.

I am sure, the MSM will be back in full “change” force tomorrow- I mean the day after the almighty reprieve and the team is back in the loss column, surely another 1-2 scouts were in the audience to watch the Leafs vs. the Isles (some reporters said upwards of 19 scouts were in the house) So- let’s see the great rumors that those in the ACC pressbox result in.

Meanwhile, Stay At Home has one of the more useless blogs here- talk about writing about nothing- seesh

Irrespective of the record, a win tonight was a must. The Toronto Maple Leafs have to find ways to beat the Ottawa Senators. Losing to them is unacceptable. So you can imagine my disapointment when I got into my Orlando hotel to learn that the buds had lost to the sens.

Is anyone else finding it hard to stay focused on the good ship maple leafs these days? I read the papers every day, I listen to the radio shows and watch the highlight shows, but for whatever reason (the mounting loses perhaps) apathy has set in. There is nothing much to read, listen to or watch with this team. Have we finally reached the saturation point in coverage or is it just that things are so bad there is nothing really to write about. For years it was management and ownership. With Burke in place it seems that the MSM can’t go there anymore so…….what do they do? By the looks of things lately- not much. It’s as if everyone is waiting for Master Burke to act, the other shoe to drop so to speak. I guess we all know it is coming- it’s just a matter of when right?

Let’s hope for my own sanity it is soon.

TSM

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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

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

Last night’s game with the Ducks was a breakout for many Maple Leaf players. Hagman and Kaberle come to mind as obvious choices. Clearly the monster allowed the Buds to relax a little enroute to 11 power plays. It is not going to be easy if they have to rely on 11 powerplays every night to win a game. I am pretty sure that the Maple Leafs out of the first period were just under 10 minutes in time with the man advantage.

So with a few guys appearing, at least for night to get their game on, there is one guy who just clearly is out of it. His play, for lack of a better word, sucks. That would be none other than whipping boy Jason Blake. Forget for a small second the amount of cash he is earning. Forget the number of years he is playing and just look at the stats through the first several games. Through 9 games he has 1 goal, 2 assists, he is a -7 with 6 penalty minutes and 31 shots on net. At this pace he should be thanking everyone alive if he gets close to 20 goals this year let alone the 25 he had last year. It has become more and more apparent that the guy simply can’t play. He looked totally lost and disinterested throughout the entire game last night. Talk about a guy destined to play for the Marlies right now. I can’t for the life of me understand why Burke hasn’t followed through on his promise to bury guys who aren’t performing irrespective of their contract. Here is a guy who makes big bucks for no, not little, no bang. There has to be someone down on the farm who can produce as well as he can with a small percentage of the salary cap hit.

As demoralizing as it can be for a team to have a goalie let in easy shot after easy shot, it has to be equally as troubling to see a guy as untalented as Blake is get 12-16 minutes per game. Hell Luke Schenn has seen his ice time rocked back under 10 minutes and this clown is nearly averaging 15? Schenn’s a rookie. Enough is enough Brian, swallow hard, bite the bullet and bury JFJ’s wonder boy. Perhaps, not likely you can do something with him on re-entry waivers. Blake is totally ineffective offensively. He is a liability defensively. And to top it off he makes a lot of money.

All of those things to me scream of demotion. So far, in this respect Burke has yet to walk the walk. He has said he would do it. We are just waiting for him to do it. Let’s hope that Blake is the first to go, setting an example of the others who are out there floating.

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Don’t know if it’s a poorly kept secret or perhaps an after thought but Brian Burke is set to announce Dallas Eakins as the new Head Coach of your Toronto Marlies tomorrow. This story has been bubbling for several weeks, but it seems to have taken a lot longer to get done. One has to wonder why. Eakins has been part of the organization for some time. It’s not like they had to get permission or anything like that. Eakins retired and became a part of the Marlies coaching staff with Paul Maurice and then moved up with Maurice to the Leafs. So he has never had head coaching experience as far as I can see.

Eakins has been the Director Of Player Development for the Buds for a year after being an assistant coach. Mike Ulmer did a season ending interview with him about some of the younger leafs:

What type of player was Eakins? Take a look and listen here as Jeff Rimer and Dennis Potvin talk about him:

Guess he fits the Burke mold. Here’s hoping he gets an experienced guy behind the bench with him to help out.

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TSM