You know, I spent a long time trying to find something to write about this evening. The sky is falling only works so often you know. The good news is that the good folks over at the Globe and Mail were able to speak to some Maple Leaf players today and well, that’s all it took.

“As players, we’ve got to believe in ourselves and prove all the doubters wrong.” Matt “Stayon” Stajan

WOW

WOW

WOW

Matt Stajan can’t really be this stupid can he?

Oh, I get it, he’s joking right- he’s a regular John Candy

Doubters?????????

Doubters?????????

Matt- your team stinks.

Look in the standings, look in the papers, look in your dressing room. It doesn’t take a Harvard education to figure out what you got…

“I’m frustrated that I can’t do more,” said Leafs coach Ron Wilson, adding that losing his job is “the last thing” he’s concerned about. “I’m just going to do the best job I can – if I’m not good enough, someone will come down and tell me that.”

Now, on the other side of the island, reality has set in for Mr. Wilson. He can’t do more because his lineup is so devoid of talent there isn’t any coach alive or dead could do with this squad of losers.

“What’s hard to believe about this Leafs team, however, is just how unchanged its lineup has been all year. All of the 21 skaters who played or were scratched in Toronto’s season-opening loss to the Montreal Canadiens are still part of the team, with the only newcomers consisting of minor-league call-ups Tyler Bozak and Carl Gunnarsson.”

Damn straight. I was thinking the other day how our GM- and maybe the others around the league should only work from say March to October. They don’t appear to do ANYTHING the rest of the year. ( I know the f’n cap the owners wanted- killed everything)

“And despite the fact the Leafs sit dead last in team save percentage for the second season in a row, their situation in goal also remains the same – aside from the fact rookie Jonas Gustavsson has wrested the No. 1 role away from Vesa Toskala.”

Hey, even, the oldest, fattest, slowest cat still wants to eat a mouse from time to time. Stealing the number one spot from Toskala is no feat.

“Burke, in other words, cast his lot in the summer, spending up to the cap to add sniper Phil Kessel, a pair of defencemen and Gustavsson in goal, additions that have led Toronto to a worse record (15-23-9) than they had at this point last season (17-22-8) when they finished 24th overall.”

Now that gives us something to really look forward to on draft day- I mean UFA day.

“The Leaf GM’s only cards left to play will involve tearing down this roster after the Olympic break, selling off whichever of his eight unrestricted free agents who prove to have some marginal value and perhaps dealing defenceman Tomas Kaberle to bring in a late first-round pick from a contending team.”

Ah yes the dog days of spring.. I am really waiting for the first interviewer to ask Burke is he ever dreamed/imagined that his team – the one he built this year could finish below his team from last year. Hell, he was PISSED they made the playoffs then….What’s he going to be like this year when they are worse off????????

Awesome piece Mirtle….

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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

@yyzsportsmedia

The good folks at the Fan 590 summed this one up pretty good today, with respect to the Maple Leafs, there’s nothing left to say. 20 games in and we all know the score. We all know where they stand. We all know what they face ahead. The reality is, this team with 62 games to go are in SALVATION MODE. Yes, it has already come to that. The season is now about small moral victories and good god, positive signs. It’s still only November!!!

Not sure if you heard Barry Melrose on the Fan this morning, but the most recent coaching success of your, Tampa Bay Lightning, forecasted a long, hard, cold winter in Leafs land. He talked about how hard it is to manage and coach teams in February when they are out of the hunt that early…STOP LAUGHING! He basically said that Wilson and Burke are going to want to off themselves.

Meanwhile, Damien checks in with his own commentary on the newless Leafs:

“Two things seem abundantly clear this morning.

One, this notion that sending big-money Leafs to the minors — Jason Blake is the most obvious target — will somehow fix what ails the club is just wrong. Blake may not be much use this season, but unless he is clearly a detrimental figure in the dressing room, just getting rid of him is essentially pointless and probably just symbolic.

Unless you have a replacement, dumping a player isn’t much of an answer.

Two, whatever is wrong with this team, Ron Wilson seems powerless to fix it.

The Leafs were the worst defensive team in the NHL last season and the worst penalty killing team. Today, they are the NHL’s worst defensive team and worst penalty killing team.

Faces have changed. Bodies have left town, others have been brought in. The blueline was rebuilt.”

Them’s fighting words, but true nonetheless. Now, in fairness, new faces doesn’t necessarily mean better faces does it. I mean look at the guys brought it. None have exactly been, ummm, effective save for Phil Kessel. Maybe the problem is Wilson’s assistants. I can think of one for example who has been around along time, and never seen a winning moment as an assistant coach…

“The off-season is when important change is made. Not November.

So Leaf fans can scream all they want, and they have good reason to scream.

But that won’t change much. In terms of the playing roster, the options are almost non-existent.”

Well, in that case, let’s go cancel our subscription to the Toronto Star. If the season’s as over as he alludes to, and there is nothing left to do until the off-season, then why bother reading the paper?

While on the topic of not reading or buying, check out this load of utter crap that Berger has, in all places, the National Post. No really, it’s the Seinfeld sports column, the one about nothing! As Steve Martin says to John Candy in Planes Trains and Automobiles, next time you tell a story, here’s an idea- HAVE A POINT! It makes it so much more interesting for the listener. What they hell kind of crap is this? Hell, it’s more readable when you call Leafs fans morons for listening to the Fan 590 and supporting their advertisers. This isn’t even fluff, it’s total and utter crap. Here’s what the guys at the post don’t get, for every great Bruce Arthur piece, there is utter crap from one Stay At Home Berger.

What a night, 2 paper subscriptions canceled. We are a Gary Loewen column away from a weekend of big savings. If I lower my Rogers bill to the point where I don’t have to get Leafs TV I may be able to afford Directv and get some good old US television. As a recent road warrior, I have to tell you that the US verison of the History Channel kicks the Canadian’s ass.

Tomorrow (today now) is the littlest TSM’s 5th birthday. Hard to believe but 5 years ago my little one was born in Royal Oak Michigan and my family was complete. Almost more amazing is the fact that it has been a little less than 5 years since I relocated the clan to Toronto.

Time flies….

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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