What to do on NHL trade deadline when there aren’t many big fish available? Create buzz on what many thought was a dead issue. Brian Burke has said that he won’t ask Tomas Kaberle to waive his no trade clause. Tomas Kaberle has said he doesn’t want to go anywhere. Seems straight forward enough.

Nick Kypreos and Bruce Garrioch appear on Sportsnet this morning and start the banter. While they didn’t necessarily on where things stand they agreed that they believe that Tomas Kaberle will be dealt. They didn’t believe that the Kaberle camp has submitted a list of yet (one of the two suggested one was coming though).

Gord Stellick said on the fan 590 that he didn’t believe that anything would happen with Kaberle, or anyone else on the Leafs roster for that matter.

the guys at the fourth period have tweeted emphaticly that the Ducks inquired into Kaberle’s availability and were told he won’t wave his NTC.

Bill Watters is the one who brought reason to the scenario. Watters suggested that what could occur is that a list won’t change hands, and that rather Burke will get an offer he can’t refuse and he will take it to Kaberle’s agent. The agent will ask to talk to the team and either an extension will be worked out or no deal will be done. That my friends seems to make the most sense. I ask this rhetoricaly, after seeing this team last night, why Kaberle would want to stick around this season is beyond me given that he is a near certainty to be dealt this summer.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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.

@yyzsportsmedia

When filing a lawsuit it is common, for some attorney’s anyways to not only sue everyone but also to sue for everything. The thinking is that if you throw enough crap at the wall something, anything, is bound to stick.

The same has been said about certain rumor sites. If you mention enough players and enough teams, eventually you will get one right. Throw enough crap against the wall, something is bound to stick.

Then there is Stay At Home Berger. The author of his own fair share of bizarre and misguided columns, he has thrown lots of crap at the proverbial wall…eventually something was bound to stick….

“The Leafs, quite simply, haven’t gotten a big, important save from one of their goalies in the first seven games. Well, maybe one… Vesa Toskala made a difficult pad stop in the waning moments of regulation against Montreal, lengthening the season opener to extra time. Otherwise, it’s been an absolute horror show between the pipes for the Maple Leafs, and there isn’t a team at any level of hockey that can overcome disability at that key position.”

Stay At Home is right on in is most recent column (so perhaps hell has frozen over). Teams simply play differently in front of goaltenders they have confidence in. Players, no matter the age, will play differently when they fear that every mistake will end up in their own net. This confidence can be lost and it can be gained. Right now, the Maple Leafs, with pretty good reason have little to no confidence in any of the Leafs goalies. Vesa has clearly lost it. Joey and Jonas haven’t earned it yet.

“Another option would be for Burke to put in a call to old pal Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has twice appeared for Anaheim this season, but could ultimately find himself rotting on the end of the Ducks’ bench in favor of Jonas Hiller. To accommodate the bulk of Giguere’s $6-million salary – assuming he can work out a deal with Bob Murray, his former assistant – Burke would first have to waive Toskala and, perhaps, underachieving veteran Jason Blake. Both contracts, should they survive the waiver process, could then be transferred to the Marlies of the American Hockey League – paid in full by the Maple Leafs, but no longer a burden to the club’s cap arrangement. After all, such a move – though cold-hearted – was repeatedly threatened by Burke over the summer months.”

Now, I think Stay At Home is right that the problems start in net. I am not sold on Jean-Sebastien Giguere as the savior. It’s not the $6-million salary this year that worries me. It’s the $6-million salary next year that does. I would be more comfortable with a guy who wasn’t going to be such an expensive gamble. LT raised the name Manny Fernndez as a possibility. Somewhere there has to be an experienced goalie who can make that key first save that gives the team a lift. Let’s see if team Burke can find him.

Kevin Paul Dupont seems to agree that without a fill in in net- bad things are ahead for the buds:

“Ugly start for the Leafs, a dead-last 0-5-1 before hosting the red-hot Rangers last night. They desperately need a No. 1 goaltender, and think they might have one in rookie Jonas Gustavsson (sidelined with a groin injury). Without a patch there, it’s a certainty that the Bruins will end up with a top-five pick, if not the No. 1, in the June draft as part of the Phil Kessel swap last month. ”

Speaking of KPD- I love this quote on the mess that is the NHLPA:

“No NHL games on the docket today, a true rarity. Off the ice, though, players have a chance to make a significant impact on the state of their game, and their union, in a players-only conference call that is intended to get to the bottom of the ongoing strife in and around NHL Players Association headquarters in Toronto. A growing chorus of players, displeased with how executive director Paul Kelly was bum-rushed off the job Aug. 31, want a thorough and independent review of how that happened, and in particular want to learn what part, if any, Ian Penny (general counsel and interim executive director), Buzz Hargrove (ombudsman), Ron Pink (adviser), and Eric Lindros (former ombudsman) played. Note to players: The easiest, laziest thing to do now is to shrug shoulders and figure someone else will make the boo-boo go away. Uh-uh, it’s on you. And if you let this opportunity for both review and remedy slip away, don’t complain when you are dumped out of the Zamboni with the rest of the night’s ice shavings.”

So no games on the docket, your union meeting on serious issues, should be a no brainer to get shit done right?

“Yet again, the NHLPA failed to have quorum during Sunday’s conference call, so unless those teams who weren’t able to participate surface, the main objectives of the call will sit idle. Sources say the player representatives voted 19-3 in favor of an official review of the Players Association with NHL veterans Rob Blake, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mark Recchi and Chris Chelios appointed to a committee to spearhead the review.”

That from Darren Dreger. So, it looks like the players have gone the easy,lazy route eh Kevin? I mean, it’s brutal enough that you don’t get all the teams on the call, but to not even get quorum for something as “important” as the call???? Certainly speaks volumes about just how important some players really think this is.

Dregger’s story lead NHL player agnet Allan Walsh to tweet the following:

“How is it that the NHLPA conference call ended less than 2 hours ago and details already leaking out?”

“These PA leaks are coming from agents with their own agendas and has to stop. The players are trying to clean up this mess.”

“These agents will be exposed if they don’t leave the players to fix this…it’s time for everyone to butt out!!”

Hmmmmm. Let’s see, the NHLPA holds a conference call and word is leaked as to what happened??? I mean it’s very suspicious isn’t it????? Nothing they do has ever become public before. How did it happen this time????

The obvious question/conclusion to Walsh’s tweet is this…. If agents with agenda’s are behind the leaks, which agenda list agent is behind the group trying to “clean up the mess”? Behind every good player is an agent with an agenda, I’m just saying. If the shitdisturbers have agents with agenda’s it has to follow that the shitcleaners also have agents with agendas.

On the heals of the Montreal Gazette attack on Brian Burke is this shot from Larry Brooks (speaking of agendas):

“How long before Brian Burke blames Kevin Lowe for the mess in Toronto?”

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Stay at home is here
KPD is here
Dreger is here
Brooks is here