Well sports fans, as promised Damien brought out the knife today and aimed it squarely at one Clff Fletcher. At least so far Damien has been very pro Brian Burke, or at least more balanced when it comes to reporting on his actions (or lack thereof). With Cliff, he says the right things, kind of but his criticism is, like Kramer said, hanging right out there…

“Had that not happened, Cliff Fletcher would have remained in charge through to this coming June, and it’s difficult to imagine the damage that might have been done by that time. Fletcher’s a nice man who owns a Stanley Cup ring and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is part of hockey history, and that will never change. But he wasn’t a suitable fit to run an NHL team in the cap era, yet Richard Peddie was prepared to let him to do so. Fletcher gave away viable draft picks like candy last summer (even a fifth rounder was obscene for Ryan Hollweg) to try and put a better team on the ice immediately and in so doing hang on to the “interim” GM position. The last piece evidence that he was prepared to sell the future was the deal that brought Lee Stempniak to town for Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo, a deal that will be even more difficult to swallow next season when the light-weight winger earns a $3.5 million salary.”

One point to remember on Stempniak, is that is cap hit next year is under 2 million. Damien has been anti Cliff since Cliff took over. I think Cliff did a hell of a lot better then JFJ was doing or ever could have done. The Hollweg deal was a joke, I think the Mayers one was equally as bad and I have to think that Wilson was at least partially on board with trading Steen and Carlo. He did make the move for Schenn, which some people still argue was a bad move given the other players who were available at no additional cost to the Leafs. He did deal away McCabe and get Van Ryn back and he did bring in Grabovsky whom only yesterday Wilson said he “had all the time in the world for Grabovsky” which seems in stark contrast to what other media members seem to say his reputation is.

“Yesterday, meanwhile, the league fined the Leafs $500,000 and stripped them of a fourth round pick for the Jonas Frogren signing last summer. The contract was illegal, but rather than running it past the NHL first, Fletcher just did it and now the Burke administration is paying the price. Whether Fletcher really understood that the deal wouldn’t pass muster is unclear. The new CBA, after all, is a complicated beast. But that this was all done to sign Frogren, a marginal NHLer with suspect foot speed who can’t stay healthy, is ridiculous. Again, the notion was that Frogren would make an immediate difference, however, and that, not long-term growth, was the priority of Fletcher, which is why Jeff Finger was signed to such an outlandish contract How’s three more years at $3.5 million hit you today?”

Again, I may be alone on this one, but the Finger deal doesn’t bother me. By the Buds are really competitive the Finger deal won’t be so bad and it will be almost over. The guy is exactly as advertised, a steady defencemen. He doesn’t hurt you and he doesn’t embarrass you. I think if he had some strength around him his play would be even better. Let’s say that the Frogren matter is a pain in the ass and it stinks to high hell too.

“Burke may never lack for bluster, but he showed great class yesterday in not making any comment at all that could be seen as a condemnation of the previous caretaker administration for the Frogren screwup, and good for him. It would have been easy for him to roll his eyes at the loss of the very same draft pick that he essentially bought from Tampa for $500,000 in a complicated deadline deal, one that he made sure the league would accept BEFORE he did it, so instead he refused comment and issued an nondescript, let’s-move-on press release. ”

True, good for him. However what good would it have done for him to carve Cliff. There are lots of people who love the silver fox and carving him would only have made Burke looked bad. I think Burke knows that Cliff did what many of us would have if we were in the same situation. He came in midstream with no real mandate and no real timetable.

“The good news for Leaf fans is that while Burke and his underrated sidekick Dave Nonis are aggressive managers, they know the CBA and always make the extra phone call. They’ll make mistakes. Christian Hanson may be the first one, who knows. But it won’t be because they don’t have a logical plan or don’t know the rules.”

Let’s remember that when the sword comes out and Damien wants Burke to fall on it. We all know that day will come. It always does. I don’t know why he would point to Hanson in this column. I can’t imagine how he could classify signing a kid to a 2 year entry level deal as being a mistake. Say he plays less then 50 games as a leaf ever. What did it cost him. It didn’t cost him a pick. There was no compensation outside of money. Money he has lots of. Seems like a strange example to throw in to this piece.

In his mailbag segement of his blog today, he has an interesting response to a question about Justin Pogge (and no, I didn’t write it):

“What is unclear to me is whether Corey Hirsch is a suitable goaltending coach to bring the best out in Pogge, and Burke will have to make that assessment this summer. It would be a shame if the Leafs decided they didn’t even want to re-sign the young goaltender, but these are the tough decisions you have to make in a cap world.”

Funny how I said the exact same thing about Hirsch only a day or two ago. I have no clue if he is the right go or not. There are lots of good goalie coaches out there and to be honest I had never heard Hirsch’s name mentioned among them. That doesn’t mean he isn’t. With respect to resigning him, there is no way in hell Pogge will be able to demand a one way deal. His play hasn’t warranted that. So I am not sure why the cap comment here. Burke should be able to sign Pogge to a deal that pretty much pays him the league minimum. I still don’t see why they wouldn’t try to sign him to a two way deal….

“Grabovski is no stranger to the rough-housing in his first season as a Maple Leaf. The 25-year-old was suspended for three games on Jan 9, 2009 when he pushed aside an official to get at Montreal Canadiens forward Sergei Kostitsyn.”

That from Sportsnet on Grabovsky getting into a skirmish wih Jason Blake at practice today….

Anyone else see this gem?:

“HOLLWEG ON WAIVERS

Little-used forward Ryan Hollweg was placed on waivers. Any team in the league can put claim on Hollweg until noon Saturday. If he clears waivers, he can be sent to the Marlies.”

IF HE CLEARS WAIVERS???? This guy sucks. Flat out sucks. I don’t know what Cliff was smoking when he grabbed him, but he is an embarrassment to the team and the league. Why he was carried thus far is a complete mystery.

No big surprise that yesterday’s waiver players cleared. Interested to see how long they stay up if at all…

Something in the water tonight I think. A very strange evening as people saying all kinds of stuff making us raise our eyebrows…

Craig Hartsburg, “Those guys cost us the game, you try to trust your best players and they cost you the game, it’s happened before.” Those guys are Spezza and Alfredsson. Their line was a minus 10 tonight.

Folks, this guy is TOAST and he knows it. Stick a fork in him, he is done. The only question is, is this a solo execution or is Mr. Murray going with him? I would not be the least bit surprised that by the time I am sitting in my kids parent/teacher conference tomorrow am that this changeover is underway. Remember what the Sens owner did the Leafs dressing room after being beaten in the playoffs???? I wouldn’t want to see what his house looks like right now.

Watters: ” I wouldn’t trade Tomas Kaberle straight up for Dany Heatly”

Ummmmmm. Ummmmmm. There has to be more to this story. You know I am not a huge DH fan. I am not going to get into that again. I am alone in thinking that Brian Burke would make that move in a split second??? That would be a no-brainer. Would Wilbur trade Blake for DH? Hollweg?? Mayers??? Mayers, by the way had his best night as a leaf tonight.

Mike Brophy to Pat Quinn: “I know for a fact you didn’t talk with any other teams about coaching after leaving the maple leafs.
Darren Millard/Pat Quinn (Together): “BOSTON
Brophy/Quinn/Millard:” ____________________________________________”
Enough silence to leave force Pat Quinn, the guest to explain the Boston situation.

What the hell was Brophy thinking??? (I smell a minus/down arrow in the new media power rankings). Even my dog new about the Boston story. Good on Pat Quinn for rescuing the moment. Please land in Pittsburgh PQ.

The constant bickering, eye rolling between Nik Kyrpos and Bill Watter is PRICELESS….I would love to hear these guys off the record speaking about the other..By the looks in their respective eyes whenever the other is speaking is awesome!!! Seriously folks, watch a segment…

Oh, and what is the over on the number of mentions, comments, questions about Grabovsky getting fined/suspended for shoving the lineman? Will it be higher then the number of times Hogan mentions grey cup visits tomorrow, or the money references Richie MacLean makes on his show tomorrow? It says here Grabs gets fined, but not suspended (if anything at all).I for one think he played a great game by the way. Yeah he got too riled up, but at least he should a little bit of heart. Interesting clip seeing Brad May trying to pull him back a bit. I thought May looked AOK in Maple Leaf blue and white and not too bad in the fight either.

As promised, the first of several stories appeared today about the value of cap space as we edge towards 2010-2011. Damien Cox wrote about it in today’s Star. Instead of moving through his album, we can move right to the end to begin:

“The Leafs, you see, could stand to take on a veteran player with an oversized contract if the other team was willing to throw in a second- or third-round pick in the deal. In effect, then, the Leafs trade their cap room for a future draft pick. Everybody wins.That’s the ammunition Burke has, and he plans to use it. The trick, however, will be doing so in such a way as to not improve the club with veterans to such a degree that a top-five draft pick next June disappears in the process.”

What a strange situation indeed. The suggestion is that the Leafs should take veteran players from another team on 2 conditions, one that the veteran player comes with a draft pick(s) and secondly that the player has to suck; or suck enough as to not improve the team. So this poses a few questions. First, whom are the leafs trading in exchange for the pick(s) and bad (enough) player? Assume for a second that the Leafs aren’t going to trade Luke Schenn. Who will these other teams be willing to take back? Before you say Jason Blake, in a we take your “crap” you take our “crap” deal, remember that the teams Cox wants to trade with want to save money, not take it on. So, who can Burke trade, because when you take on a veteran and a draft pick(s), you usually send picks or future considerations the other way. This time the Leafs can’t send picks the other way, that doesn’t accomplish what Cox is suggesting. So, with the help from the stats over at nhlnumbers.com, here is a look at who Burke can dangle and their cap hit:

Lee Stempniak cap hit of 1.882 contract ends after 09-10 season
Alexei Ponikarovsky cap hit of 2.105 contract ends after 09-10 season
Nik Antropov, cap hit of 2.050 contract ends after this season. If the Leafs do this they better get a lot back for trading an expiring contract
Jamal Mayers, cap hit of 1.333 contract ends after the 09-10 season
Dominic Moore, cap hit of .900 contract ends after this season. See Antropov
Niklas Hagman, cap hit of 3.000 contract ends after 2011-2012 and NTC this year will make it hard to move him this year
Ryan Hollweg, cap hit of .485 contract ends after this season. See Antropov (except don’t expect a lot back)
Pavel Kubina, cap hit of 5.00 contract ends after 09-10 will make it hard to move him for these reasons
Tomas Kaberle, cap hit of 4.250 contract expires after 10-11 but has a ntc
jeff Finger, cap hit of 3.50 contract ends in 11-12 not likely
Mike Van Ryn cap hit of 2.900 contract ends 09-10
Jonas Frogren cap hit of 1.065 contract ends 09-10
Vesa Toskala cap hit of 4.000 contact ends after 09/10

I left all players under 25 out as their salaries are fairly low and their age making their trade probability fairly low. The Leafs also have Mark Bell with the Marlies to move. The harder thing is how do you trade for high priced talent that isn’t going to improve your team? That just isn’t going to be easy to do. Also when you take these bad guys back how long a contract are you willing to take back? I wouldn’t want a contract back that goes beyond 2010-2011.

I don’t doubt for one second that Burke would like to use his cap space to his advantage. Doing it in a smart effective way is not going to be easy. Also, would the media give Burke a pass for trading for “crap”??? Believe it when I see it.

Cox’s article can be found here

I know some folks out there don’t get the Blake bashing, and that is okay. Here is what drives me nuts about the guy. On this team of youngin, he is clearly a veteran, he should be a leader, his actions and words should be those in which you want the younger guys to emulate. His spouting off to the press yesterday is precisely not what you want the younger guys to see. If the guy has a problem, he should talk to the coach or his agent or the GM about it. To fly off the handle about it in the room just aint gonna cut it.

“Here’s what is going on, Mr. Blake. Coach Ron Wilson has urged you to drive harder to the net. After your inaugural banishment to the press box, you showed signs of doing it. But recently you have reverted back to your old ways, staying on the periphery, taking bad-angle shots and, judging by the fact you have scored just twice in 14 games, hitting the goalie in the logo more often than not.”

Mike Zeisberger nailed it with that comment. Not sure if anyone else heard Pierre McGuire on the Fan this am but he urged the Leafs to send him to the minors. Although he didn’t use the word (for obvious reasons), but it appears that Blake is starting to become a, ummmm, ahhhhh, dare I say “Cancer” in the room. Pierre said that the leafs have already waived Blake and they should stick him on the Marlies so he doesn’t disrupt what Cliff and Ron have going on up here…I totally agree.

Meanwhile, will someone please tell the Villiage Idiot to just shut up. The guys should just say no comment when asked about the Van Ryn hit. For him to say anything about the player who hit Van Ryn or the hit itself is totally inappropriate. Wilson appears to be making some headway in his play, he should tutor him in some media skills too. It is never the wrong thing to say no comment or that’s not for me to comment on.

They said there would be injuries, and well now there are… Unfortunately to the buds, they were on the blue line as one can assume they would have hoped. Nik Antropov is day to day with a bruised foot and John Mitchell is out lets say indefinitely with a separated shoulder.

Ian White I guess can continue to play a roll up front, but where else to they look. Does this force Cliff’s hand to deal an extra D for help up front??? The thought of White and the village idiot (Hollweg) as the replacements for Antropov and Mitchell is laughable….I guess Kris Newbury could get the call, he has 3 goals and 8 assists in 10 games on the farm…..

Something has to be done before Saturday’s game….

By the way:

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Life Long Buffalo native who makes regular treks up to Toronto to sit next to McCowan certainly knows where and how to take his shots:

“Lecavalier, who doesn’t know Hollweg except by reputation and has never had an incident or altercation with him, waited until he arrived in Toronto, the perceived center of the hockey universe, to speak his mind.”

Perceived, by whom is it only perceived out of curiosity? And if it isn’t in reality the center of the hockey universe where pres tel is, and why don’t you drive there to work????

“”Everybody knows when he’s on the ice what to expect,” Lecavalier told the assembled media prior to the Lightning engaging the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. “Hollweg has done it many times. He’s a dirty player, he doesn’t respect anybody. I don’t know how he is off the ice, but on the ice guys don’t respect guys like that. You can play hard, but you don’t have to hit a guy from behind.” Hollweg has no redeeming qualities as a hockey player. He’s not known as a goalscorer, a defensive maven, a faceoff expert or even a character guy in the room. He’s a hitter and his reputation around the NHL is that of a one who hits from behind; intentionally and with little to no regard for the consequences.

Check the stats: In the first four years of his NHL career, Hollweg contributed a grand total of 12 points, a plus-minus figure of minus-26, and 326 penalty minutes. In his four games with the Leafs to date (he’s missed six via two three-game suspensions for hitting from behind, once in the preseason with another Blues player, Jay McKee, and again just days into the regular season with Pietrangelo). As of Oct. 30, Hollweg had no goals and no assists and is a minus four with 15 penalty minutes this season.”

As you know I can’t stand Hollweg. I think he is an embarrassment to the Leafs. Kelly isn’t however being truthful in his reporting. Dreger was on 640 last night talking about it and basically said that Vinny only answered the question here because it was the first time he was asked about it. No offense to our friends in the Tampa area but, this is a non story there, or anywhere but here to be honest. So to say that Vinny waited until he got here to say these things is disingenuous to say the least.

Remember, it’s only his job to make shit up, to increase uv’s and pageviews to therefore driveup the value of his site so that the folks who are buying it overpay…:

Without further adue, your Hanky Wednesday…

“Yesterday I told you there was a trade rumour involving Toronto that would send a player from the Southeast Division to the Leafs. It appears to be a D-man from what I am getting, and I believe it to be either a Hurricane player or a Thrasher. Joni Pitkanen is a player the Leafs have been known to have interest in. Several times, dating back to his Philly days, I have heard the Leafs had interest in Joni.”

Cliff has just brought in a slew of D.  No, they may not all be long timers, but quiet frankly he doesn’t have room for the guys he has and he also has yet to be ablt to establish a market for any of the extras.  Brining in a D makes little sense right now…

In any event here is the 411 on Pitkanen:

2003-04  Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    71    8   19   27   44  15   0   3   3   6
2004-05  Philadelphia Phantoms       AHL    76    6   35   41  105  21   3   4   7  16
2005-06  Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    58   13   33   46   78   6   0   2   2   2
2006-07  Philadelphia Flyers         NHL    77    4   39   43   88  --  --  --  --  --
2007-08  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    63    8   18   26   56
2008-09  Carolina Hurricanes         NHL     7    1    3    4    6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         NHL Totals                        276   34  112  146  272  21   0   5   5   8

In other news, Hanky things Stajan and Steen could be headed to Carolina for Tomas Kaberle’s brother….

Which would be awesome and right in line with what Cliff is trying to do, add a 35 year old defencemen….;)

“And to complicate things even further, I was told that Jeff Finger could possibly be one of the big names that gets thrown around at the Deadline. Yes the well-paid, just signed UFA. There is a school of thought here that is whacky to me, could be nothing, but just passing it along…

Ok…enough!  Jeff finger has played all of 2 games for the Leafs and they are already trading him????  Secondly, if he is “big name” at the deadline, then this will be the slowest deadline days EVER.

Meanwhile back on earth, I am hearing that the Leafs are hot after a starting goalie and look for Ryan Hollweg  to be THE hot commodity at the deadline this year, with teams offering multiple first rounders for him.  Lastly, although this may sound whacky, but Cliff is also said to be coveting Byran McCabe.  That is the player from the Southeast…he loves his attitude and his presence in the lockeroom is sorely missed.

Just a thought, but I am thinking that trader cliff should put in a claim for Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty and send the village idiot packing. True, McCarty is not what he used to be, but at the very least he won’t embarrass the leafs night in and night out… I would prefer his reduced toughness to that of the village idiot…

Thoughts

Cliff dealt the pick he got for Hal Gill for a little muscle today; meet the newest Bud:

One year remaining on his deal at $512k

I wonder if  Cliff saw this video before making the trade?

hope he hits better then he dances!