So, should Burke or shouldn’t Burke? Zherdev is a UFA. Should Burke take a shot at him? What do you think Leaf Nation?

for more on Zherdev :

Im sorry, but last year when outlets had sources in Sweden close to Mats Sundin, I thought we learned our lesson about just how dumb that sounded…. I mean, come on…..

Leave it to Howard to kick of this years rumor season with his own sources in Sweden, at this stage I may need to launch SwedenSportsMedia.com to keep up on all the hockey rumors….

“One of my trusted bird-dogs from Sweden has spoken with the people representing Jonas Gustavsson, and he is convinced the Maple Leafs stand an excellent chance of landing the free agent goalie.”

I know he is using the bird dog thing in jest…

The good news, is that for the most part Howard doesn’t usually report dead wrong rumors. If someone is chirping in his ear and he is reporting it he has a fairly decent track record. His problem is, in my opinion that he just doesn’t break any scoops anymore….Guess it’s only a problem if you think that’s a key part of the job….

““Originally, it was thought that Jonas would take his time making a decision, but it sounds like he was really blown away by the Leafs,” the source insisted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he chooses Toronto rather quickly. The sense I get is that Brian Burke put together a plan that did an excellent job of convincing Jonas about the opportunity with the Maple Leafs. Apparently, he really liked the city as well. So, I think the Leafs are right at the front of the line among teams pursuing him, though he hasn’t yet indicated which way he’ll turn.”

Funny thing is then, that not much has changed since the reality tour. Most handicappers were saying that this was for the Leafs to blow and if Howie is right they haven’t so far.

The best part to me anyway is that the Monster seemed to have been more impressed with the substance of hockey as opposed to the other stuff he was shown elsewhere:

“the Leafs’ pitch was more hockey-centric than those from other clubs, particularly Dallas, which apparently did everything except allow Gustavsson to fire rubber bullets from the sixth floor of the old Texas Schoolbook Depository Building. “The Stars really went all out for Jonas, and he likes the people in their organization, especially [new GM] Joe Nieuwendyk,” I was told. “They took him to many different events and you probably heard that he was introduced to (former U.S. president) George W. Bush. But, the Leafs were a bit more focussed in their presentation. They stuck to hockey, and the potential future for him to be the No. 1 goalie on an improving team.”

That’s a very good sign if he ends up here. At least we know he is here for the right reasons.

We shall see if Howies track record stays intact or goes down…50-50 on this one..

TSM

You can read howie here

First it was Elliot Friedman’s scoop on this matter this am, and now Sportsnet has countered:

“Leafs general manager Brian Burke has confirmed to Sportsnet via e-mail that the Lightning have asked for Toronto defencemen Tomas Kaberle and Luke Schenn along with the team’s No. 7 pick in exchange for Tampa’s No. 2 selection. Burke also said in his e-mail to Sportsnet that Schenn is not going anywhere.”

More banter, with lots of time before the draft… It’s going to be a lot of hot air before the draft, that is for sure!

read sportsnet here

Compare if you will:

“August 5, 2008, 3:16 PM ET
According to a source Matthew Barnaby may be announced soon as the replacement for Barry Melrose at ESPN, and Pierre Lebrun will be joining ESPN.com as a hockey writer as well.

A source has gotten back to me to inform me that the Leafs GM job may be “filled by someone currently outside the organization” by next Friday, the 15th of August.”

Vs.

August 10, 2008, 4:44 PM ET
“Cliff Fletcher….a source told me today that it looks less and less likely that Fletcher isn’t the GM of the Leafs for a “a few more seasons.”

That to me is staggering and while I hate to trigger panic in Toronto, coming from this source….this was disturbing to me. And I am NOT a Leafs fan.”

There is an old strategy in the litigation that I am pretty sure Ek subscribes to. It says that if you throw enough charges at the wall, one of them will be sure to stick. With Ek, if he throws enough names, teams, rumors out there, from time to time he will get one right. I have been tracking Ek for some time and am scoring him for a later report. While at first (and for awhile) this will prove successful for EK, over time the fable of the little boy who cried wolf will come to fruition and people will stop listening.

So while it is entirely possible that over a 5 day span the guy did hear 2 totally different views on the Leafs GM, it just doesn’t seem likely. More so, once again there is no story here. The Leafs have said Cliff is here for the foreseeable future; until such a time as the right candidate is hired. Lets suppose, and you need to give me some leeway here, but, lets suppose the Leafs have a successful campaign. The leeway is needed in that I am not quite sure what will qualify as a successful season but will soon have to come up with some goals etc. Anyway, assuming we all can kind of agree on some criteria for the 08-09 Buds to achieve in order to call the campaign a success.(YES I know anything short of a stanley cup shouldn’t be considered a success….but, i digress). Lets say for example, the young players play well. The Leafs fail to make the playoffs but play hard, they compete and they don’t get blown out ugly at home all year.

If that is a success, would it be the worst thing in the world if Cliff did stay on? I am not arguing for it, nor am I preaching for it. All I am saying is that the logic in Ek’s article is flawed. I don’t think leaf fans are clamoring for Cliff to be gone. We are desperate for a foundation to be laid upon which a successful franchise will ensue for years to come. IF, and I repeat IF Cliff starts that, then who cares? Assume for one tiny second that one of these 2 stories written less then 5 days apart is valid , I won’t be panicking, will you? Does he not remember what we just went through with JFJ? Remember one thing Leaf fans. MLSE has lots of cash. Boatloads of it to be exact. So if they have to pay off an executive from time to time, so be it. This won’t effect the team one bit. If they announced a long term deal for Cliff tomorrow (and I am not suggesting they will), I argue that it is nothing more then optics, and has no bearing on their ability or inability to land another candidate down the road. Why? To get rid of Fletcher, or anyone else for that matter it will only cost them cash.

What I don’t understand is why this is even newsworthy right now. It appears to me that EK, like lots of folks, is finding this summer increasingly difficult to find topics to write about. Truth be told, Toronto is one of the few markets where you say hockey or Maple Leaf and you are sure to gather a crowd to listen, watch or read. The Fletcher/Leaf GM story has 0 appeal in any other hockey market. The diehard fan in Florida could careless about it. The crazed Minnesota Wild fan who visits Ekbuzz on a daily basis could care less too. So you know he is catering to his largest market, Toronto.

The best part of this story is that the big announcement that we were all panicked about, the one that was set to come before this coming Friday, is obviously no longer an issue. Phewwwww, there’s one less thing to worry about.