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

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So Brian Burke was on with Mccown and Blair tonight. Burke is good on air and while he didn’t drop any major bombshells you can tell that he is really still trying to upgrade his roster. Burke said that ideally he would ship out not one but of his current defencemen. No, he didn’t name names. Kaberle is the obvious name that comes to everyone’s mind, well almost everyone. One has to wonder what Burke could get for Kaberle at this point on the open market. On draft it is was Kaberle and a pick for Kessel plus or minus a pick, someone’s pick. After the inital rush of signings the money seems to have dried up on many fronts. Yes minor league guys are getting signed, but I am pretty sure I read somewhere that almost 150 guys remain unsigned. Everyone always says that Kaberle’s salary is reasonable. The question is under which economic climate is or was it reasonable. All I will say about Kaberle is that you know what you are getting and you had better not lose him for nothing. Burke has gone on the record as stating that he won’t ask players with no trade clauses to wave them and on that notion he has less than a month to maximize his return on that asset. For those who say Burke can go back on his word, I think he will have a tough time doing that. Burke presents himself as if nothing else a man of integrity and honesty. He certainly preaches character above almost everything else. If he starts backtracking his credibility will take a major beating.

So who else would he like to move? I think he would love to move Jeff Finger and his contract, but won’t be able to. I think he would love to move VanRyn but won’t be able to. So….who is left??? He isn’t moving Schenn. I can’t imagine he is moving anyone he just signed. So, what about anyone he picked up via trade??? There is also the possibility of White and or Frogren.

Burke, as i told you earlier is going to be announcing the name of a new member of the front office staff tomorrow. Tongues are a wagging that it is going to be Markus Naslund in the role of European Scout or Head of European Scouting. I am not doubting the word on the street, it’s just that this doesn’t appear to be the type of announcement that warrants a press release leading up to the announcement to me. For the record, here is a list of the “management” of the Leafs:

Team Management
Brian Burke President & General Manager
Dave Nonis Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations
Cliff Fletcher Special Advisor
Mike Penny Director of Pro Scouting
Jeff Jackson Assistant General Manager & Director of Hockey Operations
Dallas Eakins Director of Player Development
Reid Mitchell Director, Hockey & Scouting Administration
Dave Griffiths Team Services Manager
Mary Speck Travel Coordinator
Brad Lynn Assistant to the General Manager’s Office

Now, maybe a guy named Costanza is going to be named to the position of Assistant to Mary Speck, the Travel Coordinator. For whatever reason I just am not seeing Naslund as a scout being big enough for that. Here are some random and I do mean random thoughts on other possibilities. First, keep in mind that Burke lost Joe N. Second, Burke has said publicly that he believes he will lose Nonis after this year. Sooooo, maybe he wants to start grooming someone new. He does after all have a long term deal. The most obvious name is that of Brad May. We haven’t heard his name mentioned much with respect to next season. Perhaps he is retiring and is going to be named special assistant to the GM? Another guy who could be in that role is Curtis Joseph. We know he has said he wants to play, but maybe Burke talked him into a managerial role that keeps him in Toronto. Clark and Sittler already have gigs so I doubt that they could be part of it. I know this is waaaaaay out there, but maybe it’s naming a guy like Joe Sakic to take on that advisor role. I have no clue if there are any ties between the two and I have no clue why he wouldn’t try to do something with the Avlanche… Let me repeat that it isn’t a rumour, just a thought. It would be pretty cool though!

Oh well, we will see what Burke has done in a few short hours. Good money is on Naslund. Again, I am not sure why that is so newsworthy, but….welcome to Toronto.

TSM