“We wanted to trade Roy and Roy wanted to be traded (in the summer), as he does now. I think there’s no secret that he would like to be traded,”

I don’t care if it’s true or not, but can someone please tell Montgomery. Burns’s boy Smithers to crawl back into this little hole and shut the hell up. If we want to hear from JP Ricciardi, we will let you know.

I have little respect for the guy as a GM and even less for him now that he is out of the game.

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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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

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Houston is here

Go Jonas Gustavsson is hurt. Joey McDonald is up and well, Vesa Toskala is The Man again… at least for now. I heard, I believe it was Mike Brophy, say today that he thinks the Maple Leafs fans actually are hoping that Toskala fails. If my ears didn’t deceive me that had to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Why would we want Toskala to fail? Right now, Toskala is the best we got. Gustavsson has never played at this level before. At least with Vesa we have a portion of his career where he played as an NHL starting goalie. Hell, if he played half as well last year as he did the year before the Maple Leafs may have made the playoffs last year. So while I think many of us are intrigued by what Jonas may be able to do, I think we are going to need him to stand on his head if we are going to be anywhere near a playoff team. The only way I see that changing is if either McDonald is the next coming of Johnny Bower or if Brian Burke pulls the rabbit out of the hat. The facts remain, Toskala is going to make 4m this year. This is the last year in his deal. So if Brian Burke can deal Toskala right now, save the 4m and have a competent goalie in McDonald or someone else…then why not try to get something for Toskala… The question is what if anything Burke could get for Toskala? I mean does it matter what Ferguson gave up for him????? Should what we are willing to take back be affected by what 2 GM’s ago paid for him??? I think not. As others have said, Burke didn’t bring McDonald in to play in the minors. He is here to spell Jonas.

It will be interesting to see how Toskala plays against the high flying Penguins on Saturday night. It is not totally incomprehensible that the Leafs could lose both of their next games. I am glad I am going to be away in the event that happens. 0-4 and 1 (which may as well be 0-5) could be enough to really set panic in. I will be in New York on Monday, curious to see where and how the Leafs do there.

TSM

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We couldn’t make this up- it’s just so pathetic:

How many people do you think are there? More importantly why the HELL is anyone sitting upstairs??????? What’s the old addage about what do to when there are more people on the stage then in the audience????? The NHL has to be proud of this….

Thanks to @bmswpg for pointing this out

Mike Wilner had a pre-pre game show tonight on which he asked the best question of his listeners (me) that he has asked all year:

“Have you given up on the Blue Jays? If so, what do they have to do to get you back?”

Now I have to admit, when I heard Wilner ask the question, I laughed uncontrollably. Seriosuly, I chocked. Is he kidding, I asked myself. There is only 1 lone blogger out there who hasn’t given up on the Blue Jays. The rest of the world is mired in apathy towards Canada’s baseball team. The season started with a manager telling us to wait until next season and it’s ending with us wanting to put a gun to our heads. Have we given up???? Who the hell hasn’t????? I am not sure there is a player on the team who hasn’t given up, and for once I am not sure anyone blames them. Wilner admitted that the previous night it was “very difficult” to get people to call into the post game show. Hell, I didn’t even know they were playing a doubleheader that’s how apathetic I am about them right now.

The funny thing about the Blue Jays team is that the apathy is not based upon the fact that they suck this year or that they are way out of it. This one is squarely on ownership. It’s one thing when you cut payroll or blow things up to start again, but to do so in complete silence without ANY announced plan?????? If you can’t be bothered to sell it, I certainly am not gong to be dumb enough to buy it. So, to answer your 2nd question Mike, here is what Roger’s needs to do:

1. Fire JP
2. Announce that either Beeston is staying or going as of ____ date
a. If Beeston isn’t staying on as President, hire a new one
3. Announce team payroll for next season/intentions for the team
4. Show that you care in the team and the fans

All of those go together in one word- COMMUNICATE. Funny, the mother ship’s corporate name is Roger’s Communications, or at least it used to be. Yet ownership does a real shitty job at communicating. Do you know what the most powerful thing on earth is and the most dangerous? The most powerful thing on earth is HOPE, the most dangerous thing is apathy. Because ownership is sitting on their hands with their collective mouths shut, I don’t know a single person who would think of buying a ticket to a single game the rest of this season or next. By saying nothing, they have created a completely apathetic fan base. Not only don’t we care that they are losing, we have no interest!

Roger’s needs to send someone, hell it can Beeston to get in front of a microphone and announce that JP is gone, that he Beeston is staying on, that he will announce a new GM asap, and that Rogers has promised to give him the payroll he needs to compete. If that were to happen, I would take my kids to a game or two this month (something I haven’t done all year). Hell, I would buy a couple of pairs to give away on this blog. Why? Because I would have some degree of hope that maybe, one day this team will be exciting again. When ownership doesn’t care enough to speak, I don’t care enough to support. Give me hope, and I will participate.

So, Mike there you have it. Have I quit on the Jays? Hell yes, the same way ownership did. Can they get me back? Yessir, it’s pretty easy. Make a plan, announce a plan and sell it. otherwise, good luck with your 2010 budget projections. Next year will be uglier than this, I guarantee it.

TSM

Do you remember when Howard Berger predicted that the Maple Leafs would finish dead last just prior to last season? Well, we all know how well that prediction turned out. The bad news is that Nostradamus Berger is at it again. In his latest blog, I don’t want watch hockey on tv Berger opines that the Maple Leafs have legitimate “hope”.

Insert expletives here.

If NostraBerger says there is hope, we are screwed. We may as well not even watch. Seriously, I may stop paying any attention right now. Berger is a curse. It says here that the Leafs won’t anything until he admits that he still sleeps with a Maple Leaf duvet, he has a photo of Daryl Sittler in his bedroom and his wife sometimes wakes him in the middle of the night because he is chanting go leafs go in his sleep.

His arguments in his blog are all about the legitimacy of Burke and that scares the hell out of me. I mean that is why I believe in the Leafs again. If Berger is saying it’s okay to believe in them because of Burke, well then it has to be wrong. I mean, he still wears argyle sweaters, even Ned Flanders has given those up.

I am so depressed after reading his blog….

TSM

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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

So Brian Burke isn’t ready to annoint anyone as the 21st captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think it’s hilarious that people thought that Burke held on to Tomas Kaberle for that specific reason. Kaberle is a very good puck moving defencemen. By all accounts he has the personality of a shoe. Does that make him a bad teammeate? No. Does that make him a bad person? No. But in Burke’s world the captain is going to be a person with a BIG presence. Tomas Kaberle is not that. The reality is, there is no one close on the Maple Leafs roster by the Burke standards. The question is, how the hell is he going to get the right person. I suspect that many are going to start screaming Luke Schenn. I know Burke says it all the time, but man, he’s just a kid. Talk about unfair expectations? More than that, Schenn didn’t have a a captain this year. The closest thing he had was Brad May. Schenn isn’t going to have a captain this year either. So, how the hell is Luke Schenn going to learn how to be a captain without learning from one. I know it isn’t rocket science, but given the enormously high standards Burke is setting for this captain, how the hell can you give it to a kid who has yet to play in the league with a captain?

In the grand scheme of things I am not entirely sure it matters right now. Burke’s captain happens to wear a suit and tie for every game. There is no question that when the game starts Ron Wilson is the boss. While Kaberle may wear the A, he certainly isn’t the voice of the room. Blake? I don’t think so. One of the new guys? Certainly a possibility. Wayne Primeau could fit the bill as could Beauchemin. Komisarek certainly has leadership reputation as well. On the Maple Leafs website, Tomas Kaberle is the only player listed as an “A”. Does that mean the rest of the vets are vying for the honor? (that was a rhetorical question).

It sounds like training camp is going to be very interesting this year. Lots of question marks and lots of positions up for grabs. Not just roster spots but pecking order too.

Of course it does beg the obvious question, who is the most famous captain of all time:

Captain Kirk
Captain Cook
Cap’n'Crunch
Captain Caveman
Captain Nemo
Captain Scarlet
Captain Ahab
Captain Hook
Captain Bligh
Captain America
Captain Bartholomew Roberts
captain and Tennille

Feel free to add your own

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