The Toronto Sun has been running, and re-running the “Maple Leafs suck, have always sucked, will always suck, it’s the fans fault” ticket for several weeks now. Bill Lankhoff has been leading the way, each article less intriguing then the next. Today’s 2 pager is no real exception.

Let me start my review by asking a series of questions:

What was it that everyone knew and wanted in a new GM?
What was it that everyone wanted the new GM to do?
Didn’t we all say that we had patience for the rebuild?

“Brian Burke promised there would be changes when he took over as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And, there have been.

It’s just that nobody expected it would be a change for the bad.”

We all wanted a GM who would come to Toronto, without blue and white colored lenses and would have the conviction to do the things that many of his predecessors didn’t. Yes, the goal is to win a stanley cup. However, we all knew that the goal ahead was to blow this team. We had seen the quick fixes. None of them fixed anything. What was needed was, as Steve Kee referred to as throwing the proverbial bomb in. Yet this time the bomb needed to be nuclear.

As Howard Berger wrote in his blog last week, of the thirty something players who wore the blue and white in 2007-2008 one remains, Tomas Kaberle. Next in line in terms of seniority is Kulemin only to be followed by the cagy old veteran, Luke Schenn.

“Toronto is now the only city in North America with two teams that have American Hockey League rosters.

In rebuilding the Leafs, Burke has left this team naked of much of its recent history.

Maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing.

Maybe this was a dirty job that someone had to do.”

Maybe?????

I’m told that the vast majority if not all of the candidates considered for the GM job when Burke was hired all said the same thing. The franchise had to be totally blown up. From the bottom up. Everyone acknowledges that this has been done.

“There is no denying that today’s roster is weaker than the one — flawed as it was — that Burke has blown up.

People want to believe in Burke.

They want to believe he can rebuild the Maple Leafs as he did the Anaheim Ducks.

They want to believe he is constructing an Iron Curtain defence like he did in Vancouver. ”

Isn’t the notion that it’s weaker redundant? Look at the guys he has jettisoned. Their has to be 2 steps to this, knocking down and then building up. The vast majority of Burke’s work so far has been in the blowing up. For those, like Lankhoff bitching, consider all the crap that was leveled at the teams in the past. Look at the guys Burke has thrown over board in order to start again. He hasn’t lost or given up 1 player that you really wish he had kept(we’ll talk draft picks in a second).

The mere fact that he was able to get anything, let alone a guy like Phaneuf for the guys he got rid of remains nothing short of remarkable. You have to knock it down before you build it up. No matter what anyone, Lankhoff included thought, Burke wasn’t going to turn every piece of chicken bleep into a stud young player. As the guys on TSN said on deadline day, the Calgary Flames now contain a strong nucleus that was the Toronto Maple Leafs. The same Toronto Maple Leafs that owned the non-playoff track record. Burke can’t really be on the hook for last years miss. So his clock starts at 1 this year. Gone are, what really amount to, as the old saying goes, a bunch of over paid bums.

What’s left really is a bunch of maybes. At least these maybes are young. As with the Blue Jays, I am much happier watching a bunch of hungry kids losing yet trying then a “bunch of over paid bums”. I too am going to have to bite my tongue the rest of the way this season and most likely next as the losing mounts. Games like the one this past week against Carolina can’t be tolerated. Losing is okay, not showing up isn’t.

“But when looking at a roster of mostly college kids, untested rookies and a sprinkling of second-hand veterans that faith is being severely tested. People look at what Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is selling and who can blame them for wondering about what they’re buying.”

Sorry, if your faith is being tested, your a tad clueless and your expectations aren’t realistic. The team was full of crap and this is part of the process. I will say this once again about prices, tickets etc. If you don’t like the prices, stop paying them. MLSE, the New York Yankees, Morton’s Steak House, the Four Seasons hotel will ONLY CHARGE WHAT THE MARKET WILL ALLOW. This constant chatter about shame on MLSE for doing what their doing is crap. They are a business. My company runs the same way. I am sure everyone who is reading that works, works for a company that is the same too. Private schools, restaurants, do it as well. No one is holding a gun to anyones head saying you must keep paying. If you are questioning anyone, question yourself. If you aren’t happy, stop buying.

“Plus, I personally share a pair of greens and they’re $180 a pair and my wife is a hockey nut too, so we’re there all the time. And, I’m looking at the roster. We have maybe seven bona fide NHLers and one top-six forward. If we’re an American Hockey league team and you can get top of the line tickets for twenty-five to fifty bucks why should I be paying this kind of money for a team when only 30% of the roster is NHL calibre.”

That’s crap. Go to a retailer in Toronto pick up most items, look at their price and then go home and see what you can pay for it in buffalo. My family is going to Las Vegas this summer. I need 4 plane tickets. The cheapest flight in Toronto is $504 roundtrip. They are flying from Detroit for $219! Don’t give me this crap about gas….4 people in one car, driving 4 hours each way will be in total an extra $120 TOTAL, not per person. Take a look at Buffalo Sabres tickets. Drive to Pittsburgh and see a game. “why should I be paying this kind of money for a team when only 30% of the roster is NHL calibre.”? Becuase your a fan, you want to go and that’s the price of tickets. IF you don’t like it, don’t pay it! I guarantee you there’s a ton of others out there who will.

“Fans expected that Burke would have to gut the place before rebuilding but few expected that the hole could get this dark and this deep.”

Then we (and me included) were idiots. You can’t get uperstars by trading collective crap. Answer me this. If Burke hadn’t traded our picks to Boston for Kessel, would Leaf Nation be elated? Would these articles be written? What were we expecting?

Now- the Kessel issue. Im not sure there’s been a more polarizing issue for Leaf fans since the whole Mats Sundin saga. The hard part to swallow with the Burke era so far is that Kessel appears to contradict what he is preaching. Trading picks for a player doesn’t flow the right way. Yes he got a kid back, but man he gave up a lot. The biggest problem is, is that Kessel has yet to capture the imagination of the Leafs fans. The biggest question is will he ever? Those who watch junior hockey are drooling over the the guys who could be drafted at the top of this year. On paper they appear to have much greater star value than Kessel. Burke argues that he likes the kid he has. A bird in the hand…..as the saying goes. What if Burke is right? What if the Kessel produces at a clip of 20-30 + goals a year and the guy Boston picks becomes the next Alexandre Daigle? I am not suggesting it will happen- but what if?

The point is we all have to (and most of all me) take a deep breath and relax. Let’s enjoy the ride and watch this unfold. More bodies are going to go overboard this summer. No one saw or predicted the Phaneuf move. Right now the prospects of a gaining any forwards of any significance are slim given the UFA list. Let’s see what happens.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

I’m the first to jump on Berger when he writes or says something stupid. His most recent blog on Brian Burke is one where he deserves credit. You can tell it’s from the heart and totally legitimate. Unlike his Maple Leaf/Maple Leaf fan hatred which is clearly contrived, Berger is genuine in this article. It’s good to see that even guys like Berger can still have good days when they don’t try so hard.

Read Berger’s post here.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

(I know NESN is a tv network but Edwards happened to be on the radio)

I was in the car today listening to the fan 590 enroute to physio for my rehabbing knee when Jack Armstrong started an interview with Jack Edwards who covers the Boston Bruins for NESN.

I’m not sure if anyone else out there caught the interview, but it was fantastic! It was everything we don’t get from Howard Berger or jolly Jonas siegel.

Edwards (is he the same guy who used to be on ESPN?) was informative, entertaining, opinionated yet respectful and certainly didn’t dump all over the Bruins fans. He called out there management for missing the boat to make a big trade two or three weeks ago, but didn’t sound like a raving lunatic in doing so.

Edwards comes across as Bruins fan but without calling the players by their nicknames, he didn’t have a love in with the hosts most importantly he sounded professional. He also didn’t sound like he had am agenda.

As I listened to Edwards I couldn’t help but be jealous that our radio stations don’t have a guy like this on to talk as the guy who lives, eats and breathes with the club.

Maybe one day we will, for now one can only hope.

I tried to find a link or clip but the fan didn’t have one. If anyone does send it along.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

So we aren’t the only ones who get annoyed when Happy Howard Berger speaks day in and day out, saying exactly the same thing. Jeremy Sandler reports that Ron Wison took on Happy Howie yesterday. I’m in Montreal and so if this is elsewhere I haven’t seen it or heard it:

“All of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ losing hasn’t robbed Ron Wilson of his sense of humour.

The sometimes prickly Leafs coach turned a question from Fan 590 radio reporter Howard Berger on his personal level of optimism into a miniature stand-up routine.

“You ask me this every day Howard,” he said. “It’s like water boarding or Chinese water torture until I crack. I’m not going to crack, I want to win every game. So it does get frustrating when you don’t win. We should send you to Guantanamo, we’d solve all the issues that we had.

“You would drive some of these guys nuts. I would interview these poor guys, the prisoners, after you’ve interrogated them and see what they have to say. It would be fun.”

Man does Wilson have Berger’s number. I guess listening to the same question every day will do that to you. It’s too bad Wilson has to answer the question, winning would solve it, but until that happens his little shots at Berger are brilliant. Brilliant in that sending Berger elsewhere to interrogate would be phenomenal, I think Jack Bauer would love the argyle sweaters or the Miami Dolphins jacket- Berger would be a huge hit on 24.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Sandler is here

I thought I would take a look and try to find some memorable incidents involving Toronto sports coaches and their “interactions” with the media…oddly enough these are the only two video’s that I could find!- let me know the ones I am missing please:

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Mike Zeisberger has an interesting post today on the Maple Leafs. If nothing else it certainly causes pause for thought.

“Forget the playoffs. Unlikely to happen. From here on in, the focus should be squarely on the kids, the ones who have the potential to form the nucleus of this franchise for years to come. Wilson did not name names, but let’s face it: Many of the veterans the coach referred to will not be with the Leafs next year. The Alexei Ponikarovskys of the team have served their time in blue-and-white but it’s time for the young guns to take over.”

What, do you think Wilson/Burke are thinking the rest of the way here. Are the coaching/managing to try to make the playoffs or is the goal the bigger picture? How exactly does Zeisberger suggest that youth be served? Is the idea that only the kids should be played? Is the goal not to ice the most competitive squad every night?

“No more back-to-back games for Vesa Toskala. It’s nice to reward Toskala for his shutout against the Flyers by giving him the call the next night against Alexander Ovechkin but, as a pending unrestricted free agent, he will not be back anyway. So why start him?”

Wouldn’t the answer be two-fold, one he is an asset to certain degree and with the deadline approaching, he is an expiring contract so you never know what other teams are thinking. Would it be worth it to trade him for a 3rd or 4th round pick? I say so. Well, the only way you get ANYTHING for the guy is if he plays. Odds of him garnering any return is slim, but if he isn’t playing it’s nill. As for starting him again, I am pretty sure I read somewhere that he had a fairly decent record against the caps and more importantly he was damn good vs. Philly.

“If Wilson chose to go on a youth kick, he could actually ice a unit in which no player is older than 25 — Gustavsson (25), Schenn (20), Gunnarsson (23), Kessel (22), Bozak (23) and Kulemin (23), with White (25) waiting in the wings. No one is attempting to claim you’ll be ticking off these names on an all-star ballot one day. Given the franchise’s history of prospects who come up short, there is more than enough reason to be cynical about the future of this particular crop. But it’s time to find that out firsthand. How else do you get to see a glimpse of brilliance like Bozak’s between-the-defenceman’s-legs goal against the Flyers? There will be nights where Bozak looks out of place. It’s part of learning. But moves like that, while they shouldn’t send expectations skyrocketing, can not be taught. It’s pure skill.”

The one line of youth thing is interesting. Isn’t the issue for Wilson and Burke when does learning end and bad lessons begin. If kids aren’t ready, can more harm be done by over playing them? Last year Wilson’s approach with Schenn was that Schenn could do no wrong. Every mistake was viewed as a learning experience and Luke was sent right back out there. He consistently lead the team in minutes played. Why not take the same approach with these kids?

“Kulemin has been a pleasant surprise. Those of us who have been critical of his moribund play in the past must acknowledge his somewhat surprising work ethic has turned him into a solid two-way player. As for you Luke Schenn bashers out there, he has a plus-minus of zero. On this team, that’s not bad. And neither is the collection of kids”

Solid two-way player, isn’t that just a tad premature? I am not trying to be negative, but let’s not get overly excited here. He could turn into that and I think he has played very well of late. The bigger more pleasant surprise has to be Ian White.

Meanwhile, it looks like Happy Howie is starting to repeat what many of his fellow journalists are saying these days:

“So, to summarize: Burke is happy with his coaching staff. He will not consider offers for his only marketable player, even though it could help him to land assets that augment Kessel’s performance down the line. He has traded the Leafs’ first-round pick in the next two NHL drafts. The free agents he signed last summer [Michael Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Colton Orr and Jonas Gustavsson] have had a negligable impact on the hockey club to this point.

Where, then, does one of the highest-salaried GMs in the league turn to begin moving the Leafs in the proper direction?

Your guess is as good as mine.”

Compare that with Simmons’ piece from last Sunday:

” A quick Brian Burke report card. His team stinks. His friend, the coach, can’t get the Maple Leafs to kill penalties or play anything resembling team defence. His big acquisition, Phil Kessel, has gone soft and sour. He won’t be drafting Taylor Hall in June or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the year after. And his college free-agent signings are nowhere to be found while David McNab, who signed Andy McDonald and Dustin Penner for Anaheim, has come up with another good one for his former team in Dan Sexton. Outside of goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who has had two heart procedures and a groin injury in his rookie season, little has gone right in Burke’s world and, knowing him, that has to driving him to absolute frustration”

Totally identical? No. Same thoughts and tone, for sure. Berger’s blog post on the 14th suggests that Brian Burke is blowing it by publicly starting his Tomas Kaberle position. It’s kind of an odd position for Berger. He who bashed the Leafs for thier alleged intentions with Bryan McCabe. This is the same guy who was the most relentless about the culture and reputation of the Maple Leafs had to change. No one wants to play here etc. I wonder how much this is about the fact that with Tomas Kaberle not in play, how little there will be for Berger to report on up and until the deadline. Who, pres tell would listen to him if he had no Maple Leaf scoops. With Kaberle not being asked to wave his no trade clause, the clammer of info on the Poni and Stajan talk just isn’t going to be that juicy is it? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Over at the Toronto Star, Kevin McGran has an interesting quote from Ron Wilson:

“Coach Ron Wilson acknowledges he’s got a young team, but won’t use it as an excuse. “The guys who are making the big mistakes aren’t our rookies and second-year players, they were veterans,” said Wilson. “Shame on them for not quite being ready. It’s simple little things, like defencemen backing off.”

Doesn’t that beg the questions, WHY ARE THE PLAYING THEN??? and Who’s job is it for a player to be ready?????

The first should be pretty easy. Wilson shouldn’t be playing guys who are making “big” mistakes. What am I missing here?

With regards to the second, part of the responsibility has to be the players. I get that. However, a big part has to fall on the coaching staff. Their job is to ensure that their players are prepared. That started last season when they sent them away for the summer. For the new guys, it was the coaches job to get them on the right page before training camp and then the entire group during it. The duty carries forward as the season progresses. One thing Wilson can’t complain about is a revolving door of personnel. His GM hasn’t really made too many changes.

Did you catch this gem from Bill Houston? Houston writes how Berger went off the other day how surprised he was that Leafs fans were “bitter” with respect to how the season has unfolded:

” We would suggest not. This has everything to do with a sense of hopelessness — that the future, at least for the next two seasons, has been squandered. It’s all about Burke, after one mediocre season, rejecting the idea of building the team the sensible way, through the draft, and instead opting to give away two first round draft choices and a second to Boston for Phil Kessel, a player who’s streaky but talented, but certainly not a franchise player. For the fan, it’s not so much what Kessel is or isn’t. It’s about the fact there’s nothing to look forward to. There’s no lottery pick waiting for the team at the end of the season. The rebuilding is over, but the house is a wreck. Now, as Bill Watters said on AM640 in Toronto today, it’s all about Burke trying to renovate as best he can.”

It’s hard for me to disagree with the take, except for the Wilbur part. Wilbur’s anti- Leaf bias is legendary.

So, who’s excited for the Blue Jays season? Bought any tickets???? Ohhh, how bout them Argonauts??? Ohhhh and hey, what ever happened to Craig Daniels?

Zeisberger is here
Berger is here
Simmons is here
McGran is here
Houston is here

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

“Maple Leaf fans – and the media, and the city, it seems – aren’t even patient for a retooling, or at least a retooling that some believe is doomed to failure.”
Damien Cox

“The point is, most hockey commentators in Toronto have rolled over for Burke. They blame goaltending, the defense, the coach and the forwards for the team’s awful start, but give Burke a pass.”
William Houston

” Hey Leaf zealots, why overreact this early in a season in which your team can still finish 78-3-1? Get off the high bridges and shut those upstairs windows. Better days – as always – are just around the corner, right? In the interim, here are some observations after a 5-2 trampling of the Blue & White by the defending Stanley Cup champions at the Air Canada Centre”
Howard Berger

“Even more ominous would be the aftermath of a seventh consecutive defeat – Saturday night at home to the New York Rangers. An anomaly in the schedule has the Leafs idle for an entire week, which means that Burke, Wilson and the players would have to munch on an 0-6-1 record for a full seven days.”
Howard Berger

6899

12,179

13,103

13,280

5,000

So once again we are suckers, we are idiots and yes we are losers. Right, I mean, we still seem to love our hockey teams. The nerve. I mean, our team loses every game it has played so far and we are “panicked”. Oh the horror. Oh those idiot fans. Oh those losers. I know, let’s shit over the same people who indirectly put food on our plates. The more I piss them off the more they will read what I have to say the more money I will make. That’s the logic right? We all are sure that Stay At Home Berger is the world’s biggest closet Maple Leaf fan. He is negative, not because he believes it, but rather because the competition is and he thinks that he has to be in order to compete. He no longer is an insider. He hasn’t broken a story since I don’t know when. To be honest, I am no longer quite sure what the hell he’s an authority on at all. But I digress. Stay at Home Berger is doing what he thinks he has to do.

The question is, or perhaps the answer, I guess, is… What would these brains prefer? would they be happier if we stopped listening, reading, watching and going? No seriously. Would these guys prefer an apathetic fanbase? Look at the Jays. Do these think that their bosses would employ 1/4 of them if the ACC was as empty as the TED on a nightly basis? If the Leafs were 0-6 and the fans weren’t calling the talk shows, commenting on stories like the sky was falling what would these guys we talking about? If no one was reading, listening or watching would they really be happier? So the media would be happy if the love fell off the maple leafs, unemployed but happy…I don’t buy it. These guys are sellouts. They write what they believe will sell. No more and no more less.

The proof is in the Burke furor. Houston, the NY TImes and others are getting on the Toronto Sports Media for going soft on Burke. The problem these same guys have is they have sung the Burke song for so long they no longer have a choice. Seriously, go back in time as many years as you want, but I can’t remember the last time they had a GM that the press actually endorsed. They liked Cliff when he made the Gilmour deal. However the rose fell off pretty quickly as he dealt the picks away- TRADE SCHMAFT- remember that. Following Cliff in no specific order, Mike Smith, Ken Dryden, Pat Quinn, JFJ and Cliff part deux. The “experts” had issues with credentials of all of the above for a wide range of reasons. Each GM or acting manager had their own flaws according to those who are considered the brightest and best of our sports media team.

The battle cry from EVERYONE was to bring in a REAL hockey man. Someone like a Ken Hollan. Someone who had won. Someone who could build the modern day Maple Leafs. Go back over the last 10 years and read the comments on how the Leafs need a GM who can build a hockey department. One who will have total control and build the organization properly. As Burke became a possibility these experts zeroed in on him. In essence they wanted him here. Yes, he’s great for the media. He’s a great quote. There will always be a good story. Life won’t be dull under Brian Burke. The problem for each and every one of these guys is, they begged for and fully endorsed the hiring of Burke. When the team was struggling over the years they said that is what the team needed. Now that he is here they can’t start saying Ooops less than a year in. To do so would be to admit the unthinkable, that they don’t know shit. I mean if the guy they wrote about this team needing for years isn’t, what does that make them????

So, Cox’s article today isn’t all that surprising. Neither is the perceived hysteria over the current losing streak. The problem in his town is that neither the song nor the singers have changed despite lots of other things changing. GM’s, presidents, players and more have been run out of town. The commentators haven’t. The wise read, watch and listen to be entertained. The fools take it as anything more than that.

The numbers above, by the way, represent attendance at various NHL buildings over the last 2 weeks:

6899- announced in Phoenix

12,179 – Nashville announced attendance

13,103- Nashville announced attendance

13,280- Columbus announced attendance

5,000- number of unsold tickets in Tampa

So I ask the media, if the Leafs had numbers like that, do you think you would have a job???? Do you prefer the empty seats or the ship of fools?????

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

So Tie Domi was on Hockey Central At Noon the other day. Here is a recap (the interview is below). it’s pretty funny and for the Sundin Lover in You, you will love it. Tie rips Bill Watters and takes lots of jabs at John Ferguson Jr. and even one at Howard Berger…

Tie Domi: wow does that guy still have the city fooled (Bill Watters)

Was very very close to Mats Sundin- Sundin used to buy dinner for Domi for taking care of him on the ice. Domi last speaker at the wedding. Took the high road, he made everyone feel comfortable from top to bottom, treated everyone the same, wanted to have family atmosphere like Messier did in New York. Sundin’s stats speak for themselves. We had good teams but we didn’t have the luck. Mats is going to live in Sweden so retiring in Toronto not as important to him. Thinks have to change here with the whole culture, Burke is going to do that. Why was it Mat’s job to fix the disaster that John Ferguson Jr. did here? People could have protected Mats better and I think Burke would have done it better. Mats Sundin’s wedding was the best wedding I have ever been to. It was UNBELIEVABLE. Sundin “crushed” that Kaberle didn’t come to the wedding.(likely kidding).. No head table at the wedding, his parents and his wife’s parents sitting together with him and the bride. 140 people at a golf course. When Roberts and Nieuendyk came to Toronto they changed his career, how they prepared and acted, when they left he was crushed. If there was ever a day he wanted to run over John Ferguson that was the day. New guys they brought in are all character guys. It’s been tough watching this team for a long time. Having guys being accountable. Colton Orr had dinner with Tie Domi, they have become friends, he is a good kid. “Berger couldn’t scoop ice cream berger”

Kypreos thinks Sundin is bitter on how things ended here. “wait till maclean is on in the 2nd hour…that guy doesn’t shut up” Colton Orr loooooves to fight..he reminds me of Tie- a little koo-koo.

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Listen to the Chat here

What do you call a beat writer who isn’t on the beat?

No, it’s not a joke. It is the reality of the world we live in 2009. At least that’s the word on the street as it pertains to one Howard Berger. I am told from a few different sources that when the good ship Maple Leaf takes to the road this year they will be doing so less one usually argyle sweater wearing reporter. No Berger isn’t going to be always left at home. He just won’t be on every or most road trips as he has in the past. At least that is what we are told is being contemplated by the owners of the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Communications. So while we have heard of American media outlets cutting back on hockey coverage costs, it appears that perhaps hell hath frozen over here and that despite the rabid appetite for Maple Leaf coverage, the Fan 590 is, off the time of this writing, planning on forgoing some Maple Leaf road trips. It is hard to contemplate and believe. Let me clear, if this is indeed true, the disappointment is more about the reality than it is the work of the reporter in question. If Berger is the best Roger’s can do, then he should be on road trips, plain and simple. Together with colleagues I always laughed when I heard Mike Wilner covering Jays games from the studios in Toronto when the team was on the road. Granted 81 games on the road is a ton compared to 41, one can’t compare the Jays to the Maple Leafs in terms of interest and demand for information. So whether he is writing brutal articles about parties into the wee hours at Cliff Fletcher’s party in Phoenix or some other odd story from road trip, if this is his gig, he should be there.

On the topic of rumblings, I have a question for you all. Let’s say, hypothetically that an executive from a sports team goes to lengths to ensure that a former member of that executives team does not appear on the radio station which owns the broadcast rights to that hypothetical teams games. Hypothetically speaking, the executive was concerned about potentially damning comments this imaginary former employee may say on the same very radio station where games could hypothetically be heard. So, here’s the question. If you were the hypothetical radio station, would you give in to that hypothetical request/demand??? So, this isn’t the case, but let’s assume that the radio station that broadcasts the Chicago Blackhawks games was about to have Dale Talon on the air after he hypothetically joined another team and upon hearing this, Stan Bowman (again, I am making this specific scenario up) called the radio station and asked/demanded that the station not conduct the interview. If you were a Blackhawks fan, how would you feel? If it were a Toronto team, would you be pissed? What do you as a fan think the station should do? Where is the line drawn?

When I lived in Detroit, the old all sports radio station WDFN, used to promote itself as “the only station not bought and paid for by the home team” before it was a rights holder of a professional team. The implication of the pronouncement was that they would be more fair and balanced because they wouldn’t be pressured by the almighty dollar. Cash, is, more than ever king these days. One can imagine the immense pressure on any media outlet who pays a small fortune for the rights and in turns sells advertising based upon having those rights should that call ever come. I think it’s easy for us to jump to the conclusion that the outlet shouldn’t cave to the pressure. Easier, I think we all can agree, said than done. 640 Toronto is the radio rights holder for your Toronto Maple Leafs. Do you think there is should be added pressure on Brian Burke to tip them off on transactions simply due to the cash that 640 pays the Maple Leafs for those rights? Should he have leaked the info to 640 on the Kessel deal? is he obligated to go on 640 first as a result of the radio rights? In my opinion the answer is no. That shouldn’t be what the rights get you. I think there are certain intrinsic benefits to being the right holder. Access to players and management immediately before during and after games would be one of them for sure. Weekly coaches shows, ability to call themselves the official station of…, I get all of those. Where, I ask you is the line drawn?

I have no definitive proof that these things happen here. I get the sense that there are immense pressures on both the teams and the media outlets right now. I am curious as to what you think. I would hope, and perhaps it’s way too altruistic, that the good of the fan is what wins out. My hope is that no matter how much they want to win, both the media and the teams operate with honour and integrity. Thoughts?