Have you ever played a really shitty round of golf. You know, you lose a ball a hole at least, can’t drive, chip or putt. Until the last hole you drive the shit out of the ball- longest drive of your life- straight down the fairway. You then chip the ball on to the green only to be followed by the greatest putt ever. To the point that as you walk off the course, you say to yourself, hey, I’m not so bad, next time I will kick ass.

Now, consider our beloved Maple Leafs. Every time the sky seems to be falling, you know they can’t win a game, let alone kill a penalty, the are free falling in the standings, everyone including the press is writing them off and what do they do???? They go on a mini streak. Pucks start going in when they shouldn’t, goalies are making saves they have no business making and guys like Colton Orr actually win a fight or two.

Don’t get me wrong, they don’t rise meteorically to playoff levels, no, they win enough games to be considered back into the hunt, do well enough to draw us back in and then, they will return to their mediocrity that we know so well. They will lose like they are losing now….and all will appear almost lost again.

So that is where we are today. The Toronto Sun has an article which basically says Ron Wilson is starting to realize that he doesn’t have the troops to win the battle. The Toronto Star has one that says kids are so bored with the Maple Leafs they are playing video games as opposed to watching Leafs games. The Globe and Mail has one questioning whether Ron Wilson actually deserves the reputation of being a good penalty killing coach.

Every blog around (this one especially) has written this team and players off as crap. The stage is set. Get ready to be teased as we get every year. Its about to happen again. Yes Maple Leaf fans, this is the time when the Leafs are supposed to complete the swan song and nose dive right to the bottom. But no, instead I am certain they will do exactly what they have done in the past, they will pull it together just enough to get our hopes back up. You know, they will hit that tea shot, chip and putt to get us all thinking maybe they aren’t that bad after all…

Unfortunately, for us, like the beginning of Major League, when all the locals comment on just how shitty the Indians actually are, we too know the truth. This team is devoid of real talent. The wholes are big and numerous.

When Mats Sundin arrived, after the Gilmour era, every problem the Leafs revolved around the fact that the Maple Leafs were one dimensional. Every single forward of any name or value that was brought in was done to play with Mats. Only one problem. None could play with Mats. None were as good as Mats. Now, the pressure is on Burke to find someone to play with Kessel. Kessel won’t be a superstar here unless he has someone of equal value to play with. None of the role players will be able to play roles as long as we don’t have depth. It’s really that simple.

You know it’s coming when Damien’s latest article talks about the reason why the Leafs won’t tank this year. The Leafs never tank. They tease. This is the time they do it, at our darkest day, when all looks lost, they will become our short term oasis. Enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t get sucked in….it’s not real, and let’s hope our own talent evaluators know better.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

You have to pardon my lack of enthusiasm for the good ship Maple Leafs these days. I have to admit that their on ice performance and more so results has got me a tad bit apathetic. More so, the coverage of the team has done nothing to excite me. I know it seems a little bit odd to say it but I miss the days when the Leafs were getting carved for everything they did…

When those who used to bash them all the time, are telling us that things aren’t as bleak as they appear, well, where the hell is the fun in that? I watched a good part of last night’s game tonight and was left with the conclusion that there are 3 players on the Maple Leafs that are potential difference makers.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, I mean how big an idiot would I be not to mention Phil Kessel? That being said, he is the one guy on the Leafs team who you noticed every time he was on the ice. When little TSM plays, there is always one guy on every team who is eons ahead of the rest of the team. Kessel is that guy on the Leafs. There is no one who compares with his speed of talent- no one close. The hope and I do mean hope is that Kadri resides somewhere in the same zip code.

The second is Gustavsson. He stands tall has a presence and despite only playing in a few games, he has earned the confidence of his teammates. Yes he has made mistakes. What he hasn’t done is let in the crap goal at the most inopportune time as Toskala always seems to manage to do. As Gustavsson’s plays goes, so too will the fate of this team.

Lastly is Kaberle. The guy who I said they had to deal last summer is playing out of his head. He, is eons ahead of the rest of the pack on defence right now. There is no one playing at his level.

The problem is, that the drop off from those three is gigantic. Brian Burke talked about having his skill guys and then his plumbers- a top group and a bottom group. Right now the distance to getting to that point appears to be huge. The fall off from Kaberle to the next defenceman is amazing. What’s more unbelievable is that the next best guy, in my opinion is Ian White! The guy who didn’t dress early next season. Here is a guy who doesn’t have a ton of talent but works his ass off every shift. The drop in forwards is worse. There isn’t one guy right now who can score. After Kessel went 0-10 last night (and I am not knocking him), who is left to score the goals? i have confidence in no one.

A friend emailed me last night that the Maple Leafs are 19 players away. You have to laugh. The alternative is much worse isn’t it? I don’t know why it has happened but the skill level, especially upfront is embarrassing. Grabovsky, Blake, Stajan, Hagman are all, for the most part totally infective. You have to think that at some point relatively soon it will make sense to bring the college kids up and let them go. I mean last year Luke Schenn played well when he was getting tons of minutes. Why not say to Hanson and Bozak (who may or may not have had h1n1 flu) guys, go out there and play as hard as you can and don’t worry about screwing up- I will still throw you out there again. It’s pretty much what Wilson did last year with Schenn. I can tell you this as a fan, I would be much more interested in watching those guys then the aforementioned group now. I watch the current group and I just get angry. At least if they were kids, you would be patient, feel that there is a system in place etc.

So….Burke has a foundation of 3. Kadri, as pathetic as it sounds right now is the great hope to get to 4. It’s no wonder Burke has been so quiet of late, the magnitude of the job ahead has to be incredibly daunting.

You have to love the television business… Sportsnet drew huge numbers for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning game last night. It was in the top 10 most watched events in Sportsnet’s history. So, what does David Akande say? ““This number proves once again that Sportsnet is the destination for hockey that matters. Whether it is for the pre-game show, intermissions
or the game itself, we are the home for the Toronto Maple Leaf fan.”

Classic! Hell, this game could have been on Rogers 10 and it would have drawn the number. I think what Akande meant was thank you Phill and the entire Maple Leafs training and medical staff for getting him back so early as otherwise we would be shitting bricks.

Meanwhile, one has to wonder about the pressures and limitations on writers for the MSM. I say that because when you read Bill Houston’s blog these days, he is a lot more daring than he used to be while writing for the Globe and Mail. Case in point:

” Don’t take it personally, Bruce. Avery trashes everybody. Besides, you are fat. And if Avery motivated you to lose a few pounds, that’s a good thing.”

No, “Bruce” doesn’t refer to the author of “off the post”, rather it is referring to the head coach of the Washington Capitals. Boudreau was apparently taken back by Sean Avery’s comments about Boudreau’s weight.

Am I alone in thinking that now that Houston is out from under the Globe and Mail he is going to be a lot more candid than he was before. For some reason I just can’t see him calling Bruce Boudreau fat while writing his old column. A refreshing change to say the least. I guess he subscribes to the truth hurts philosophy.

Lastly, I am sure i am in the minority here, however i don’t think it’s that big a deal if some professional athletes got their H1N1 shots ahead of the rest of us. To be honest I kind of expected it. Oh, and I think what David Branch did today took enormous balls. I would have preferred it if he had tossed the Erie coach as well. Branch’s rationale was that players lack the respect and that is why the injury took place (combined with the current health of the victim). Well, if a player skates 40-50ft at breakneck speed and pulverizes another player, one has to think that part of that follows the coaching philosophy of the team. I feel for the kid who got suspended- but not nearly as much as I do for the victim or his family.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Houston is here

“We’ve been in trade discussion with Toronto before the deadline to try to get this guy,” Williams explained of how the whole thing came together. “And the way the waiver claim was made was to A: hopefully resurrect talks. B: in the event someone else claimed him, we didn’t want him going elsewhere because we targeted him not only as a guy who not only would help us in our quest for the division but future seasons as well.”

Fascinating revelation by Chicago White Sox GM Ken Williams. So the two teams talked trade before the deadline and couldn’t work out a deal and so JP figured nothing was better than whatever they had been offered. I understand the logic. Better to unload the whole salary for nothing as opposed to taking crap back that you don’t want and have to pay for. Still, how does one weak season kill a guys marketability so quickly? Whatever the White Sox offered had to be total crap for nothing to be a better package. Jays had better hope that Rios stays on his current path and never materialize or they will join the Leafs in giving away guys before their time to shine and having nothing to show for it. Not cool if that happens.

TSM

you can read more on the Chicago White Sox acquisition of Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios here.

“99% of the time I report on simply what is being discussed.”

That, is funny shit.

I mean, how many “people” out there either online or otherwise can really say they are reporting on what is being discussed? 1? 2? 5? 10??? How much misinformation is out there in this age of the internet? First, if you want to know how many people really know what is being discussed, count the number of GM’s there are. Those are probably the only guys who know what is being discussed. From there you can add the odd scout, agent and maybe player. From those groups there are big mouths, misdirectors and plants. Big mouths, people who know something, maybe not all, but something and can’t keep their traps shut. Then there are the misdirectors, folks who may or may not know shit, but who talk, but not about what is really going on, rather they offer up the wrong information as a distraction. Then of course there are the plants. People who may or may not something who speak for the intent of getting things going.

Then there is the press. Those whose job it is to try to make sense out of this crap. The good ones know who is legit, who is spreading shit and when something is really going on. There are very few in this class. There are others, especially in the blogosphere who are mathematicians. That is, they can put two and two together to get 4. Team a has a glut of goalies, team b’s goalie is hurt, therefore they are talking. I do also believe there are those who simply make shit up to sell papers, or clicks. I am a big fan of the website hfboards.com I love the trade rumour section. The best posts (and I say that entirely with tongue in cheek) is the proposal posts. I mean, what’s the difference between those posts and the brains who call talk shows with these trades that they dream up in between classes and recess???

So, for someone to come up with a rumour rating system and to say “99% of the time I report on simply what is being discussed.” is pretty fucking funny. I mean, Tomas Kaberle is tradeable for until what, August 15th? How hard is it to deduce that if he is going to be traded that Burke would be talking about him??? How hard is it to come up with a list of teams who would be looking for a player like Kaberle??? Hankey site is brilliant for one thing, entertainment. He started during the lockout and is the pre-eminent example of how information crazy hockey fans are. It’s:

“However, and e5 is nothing like an E1, E2, E3, or E4….An E5 is supposed to be a done deal. For the most part, save a very few instances in the last four years, e5s have been you can “take it to the bank” deals. Over 80 e5s have been reported with 4 false positives. But remember, I can only report what I am told”

E N T E R T A I N M E N T

Then there is the sad and pathetic:

“Once again, sports fans in Toronto — a.k.a. Loserville — must look to a change of weather for a small glimmer of hope.”

Raise your hand if you think, anyone person cries harder into a pillow each time a Toronto team loses than Howard Berger. I love his Toronto sucks posts. Why? Cause it kills Toronto’s number one fan more than anyone when our teams fail.

“No wonder the Kool-Aid is in fully supply for the Leafs. Fans are convinced the addition of defensemen Michael Komisarek, Garnet Exelby and Francois Beauchemin will enable the club to make up 13 points in the standings and qualify for the playoffs. Of course, that’s assuming every other team in the East stands still. Promises from the Blue & White have been a dime a dozen in recent decades; accomplishment has been sporadic, or non-existent. But, hope always runs rampant in the warm months. As for the Raptors… well, talk about promises!”

Who the fuck is convinced that the Leafs as they are today are playoff bound? I haven’t heard one fan gurantee that? Everyone seems to be inline with the small steps. What promises have the Blue and White made other than that the playoffs are the goal? Isn’t this the same clown who hadn’t heard about nor believed in “tank”ing in the before??? I mean in Berger’s world, team play to win every night right?? I have no problem with the theory that guys like Wilson and Burke wanting to win every night. I have no problem with the same theory about players. We fans, don’t have to give up or fandom to realize that perhaps the best thing short term is in not making the playoffs. I will say this again. If Leaf fans were head over heals in love with their team, runts like Berger wouldn’t have a job. There would be no reason to send the Miami Dolphin wearing reporter on every roadtrip if Leaf fans were, ummmmmmm Jays fans. Seriously, consider this, How many roadtrips does Wilner go on? He is the closest thing the Fan has to Berger for the Jays right? I know the jobs are different, Wilner does pre and post games on the fan, but he certainly appears to be just as knowledgeable on basbeall as the guy who doesn’t watch any non-leaf games is.

Why Berger dumps on Toronto as much as he does is remarkable. One day it will eventually lead to his downfall. The worst part is, it’s a total fraud. He is the biggest closet fan out there.

Have a good night

TSM