Here are the lineups for the shows at noon:

On Hockey Central:
Millard and Kypreos host
1225 Bryan Murray

On Leafs Lunch:

Doug Wilson

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

If you thought that Sunday wasn’t enough to satisfy your NFL fix, there are not one, but two Monday night games to look forward to. The early game features the return of Tom Brady as the New England Patriots welcome the Buffalo Bills to Foxboro Stadium. Brady missed all of last season with a opening game injury and hopes his return will also return the Patriots’ offence back to its ‘07 version, when they flirted with perfection and scored at will. The Pats should roll tonight as they face a Bills team that is a little bit of turmoil. Just over a week before the start of the season Buffalo coach Dick Jauron fired his offensive coordinator and last week off-season distraction Terrell Owens came out with less then encouraging words about Bills no-huddle attack.

The late game is in Oakland as the Raiders battle their division foes, the San Diego Chargers. The Bolts come into this one primed to take the next step into the AFC elite. Ladainian Tomlinson is healthy, quarterback Phillip Rivers is happy with a new contract and linebacker Shawne ‘Lights Out’ Merriman is ready to focus on football again rather then a certain reality show misfit. The Raiders on the other hand are a team with many questions. Is QB JaMarcus Russell ready to lead this team? How do they get running back Darren McFadden more involved in the offence? Will newly acquired defensive end Richard Seymour show up to one practice? Who’s the next person coach Tom Cable will punch in the face?

The Chargers and Patriots should cruise to victory tonight, but the great thing about the NFL is that on any given Sunday (or in this case Monday) anyone can win.

Our man LT likes to check in a few times a week with the same question, “Did Burke land Marleau yet?” Clearly, LT wants Marleau. The news that the San Jose Sharks have stripped Marleau of his captaincy has lead to rampant speculation that Marleau will be dealt by the Sharks. So the question is twofold, one, do we want him? and two, do we have the assets to get him.

The answers are as intriguing as the questions themselves. Burke seems to be after high character guys. Does the fact that he is losing his captaincy mean he is not a high character guy? Does losing his captaincy make him less desirable? There are lots of high character guys who aren’t captain material. Hell, I wrote yesterday that Tomas Kaberle is, by all accounts a high character guy but by no accounts is he captain material. In my opinion, the only reason we want him is if Ron Wilson wants him. It’s one thing to be a GM in the league and covet or admire a player on another team. It’s different to have coached a guy. If Ron Wilson wants him, than that is good enough for me too. He puts up good numbers and is only 30.

Now, more interesting is do the Maple Leafs have the assets to get him. The obvious answer is yes they do. They coud pile up enough of (or all of) their young talent and throw in draft picks (Tom Kurvers trade ring a bell) to trade for him. The real question is, how marketable is a guy who has just been stripped of his captaincy? I mean how does Doug Wilson sell high on a guy who he in essence has just humiliated? Whether or not the move is justified or not, stripping a player of this honour can’t be viewed positively on the part of the player. I don’t care how it is sold, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it’s still stripping the player of one of the highest honors in the game. So what is the price for a guy like this right now?

All intriguing questions as we inch closer to training camp.

I have to admit, the more I have thought about it today the more I have really started to believe that Burke should find room for Chelios in this franchise. I think it would be a move of pure genius to land him. One way, two way, what ever way. Bring him here to be a role model and a mentor. I hear Ken Holland interviewed today, and as brutal an interview as it was, he said that the one thing that makes the Red Wings special is that when kids finally make the roster (they are so deep they don’t have to rush their prospects) they sit in the locker room in stalls next to guys like Steve Yzerman and Chris Chelios and learn how to be professional hockey players. They learn how to prepare, how to workout, the work ethic, how to eat etc. This is exactly why Burke should offer Chelios something unique to come in and teach these young kids how to be pros.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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.

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.

You all sitting down, the San Jose Sharks hired JFJ today. As a pro scout. He did such a great job evaluating talent for the leafs that he got himself a gig as a pro scout…. Seriously, this isn’t a joke.. Two words come to mind, Raycroft and Blake….. I had Sharks GM, Doug Wilson on my short list of potential Leaf GM candidates until I heard this. Speaking of my list, Darcy Reiger is now off the list as he signed an extension with the Sabres today.

Hey, how about them Argos, they are on a tear since Wilbur’s kid came on board…..

more in the am..