This time difference thing has it’s benefits and it’s burdens. The burden is that any attempt to watch north american sports that are played during the week at night comes at the expense of sleep. Being 5 hours ahead doesn’t make those 7pm starts look so good :). What would be cool would be that when you get up at say 8am local time that the papers in Toronto have updated their websites with content from the morning papers. No such luck. Therefore it really isn’t until around 10:45 local time that news hits the websites.
So, what is there to talk about this am?
The paper that covers the Anaheim Ducks thinks that Brian Burke may be preparing to reunite with his former player, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Apparently the whispers that were present all offseason are turning to drumbeats. Hard to imagine how Burke gets the Toronto Maple’s budget in line to add what’s left of this year’s $6m salary and next year’s $7m due to Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The question is, does this rumour have legs or is it merely dot connecting. One has to think that Vesa Toskala’s shelf life is coming up very shortly.
Bill Houston in his blog offers the following:
“But Cox, in his Sunday column, was way too enthusiastic about the talent in the Leafs’ development system. Nazem Kadri, who’s back in junior hockey, played well at training camp and may be a star in the NHL someday. As for Viktor Stalberg, Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson, they’re not kids. They’re 23, are not good enough to make the team, and, only one, Stalberg, looks to be a potential first line player.”
I happen to disagree with Houston here. At 23 they are kids. Are they as kiddish as Kadri? No, but isn’t that just semantics? How times have we referred to Phil Kessel as a kid? Or, saying things like “he’s only 22”. Cox’s point was tell taken. For the first time the “prospects” that the Leafs have are being given the proper amount of time to develop. So maybe they aren’t kids, but they are still prospects. As for Cox’s sentiment, it’s quite refreshing to see and maybe just maybe the Maple Leafs are on the right road to building something. Is that so bad?
“I came into (the ACC), saw the locker room, saw my sweater with my name on it … it was breathtaking.”
That gem from Brian Leetch on his brief time with the Maple Leafs. Of all the players that have had stints in town, Leetch is the one that I wish got a chance to stick around longer.
That’s all from the UK so far- have a good day..
TSM
@yyzsportsmedia