Just Breathe

Brian Burke is about to make a trade. We know this because a) Burke loves a camera and b) he told us as much.

On January 12 the Toronto Maple Leafs were riding a season high four game winning streak when their general manager Brian Burke naturally decided to stand on his soapbox and announce that he was open for business.

"I'm not interested in getting our asses kicked in the first round." he said, before later in the media scrum adding, "We are looking to add and get better now."

Some general managers might look at a four game winning streak and decide it probably isn't the right time to suggest he is ready to make changes. Some general managers, particularly those in charge of teams that haven't participated in a single playoff game since they arrived, might think getting their asses kicked in the first round might not be so bad. That it might even represent progress.

Of course some GM's also occasionally smile, and some are even capable of offering a "no comment" when asked for their opinion. Brian Burke is not one of those GM's.

Burke was built for reality TV. Earlier this season he made news for revealing he offered to rent a barn and schedule a time to fight Kevin Lowe. It's amazing that HBO has waited three seasons to showcase him on 24/7.

Leading us back to the fact that Brian Burke is about to make a trade...and that scares me.

After seven long years, Leaf fans can finally see the end of the tunnel. The Toronto roster, as it currently stands, is young, quick, talented and not only does it have considerable upside for the future, it's already proving it is legitimate. The Leafs have 2/3rds of an elite first line, an excellent second line, tremendous depth on defence, and decent depth in their bottom six forwards. (As I've been saying for years, goalies don't matter.)

Even the penalty kill, after three and a half years (that felt like seven) of truly horrific play, has come around. Last night's win over Pittsburgh moved Toronto into seventh in the conference, with 6th place Ottawa entirely catchable.

All of which is say that now is not the time to make a two or three for one type of deal that removes multiple players from the NHL roster. Now is not the time to move a comfortable and productive Grabovski. Now is not the time to dangle Kulemin or first and second round draft picks. Now is not the time to play to the media, to put the team on edge, to make a trade only because you've previously indicated you were ready to make a trade.

Now is the time to let this roster breathe.

Now is the time for Burke to show his players the same patience he has shown his head coach.

View From the Top

Leafs Finally Looking Good (For The Moment)


Last night's win by the Leafs not only continued their hot start to the season, it moved them right up to first overall in the NHL. And as of me writing this, hell had not officially frozen over.

Tied with Pittsburgh atop the standings thru 13 games, just about everything is going right for the Leafs. They boast two of the top scorers in the league, have battled through a lot of tight one goal games, the penalty kill has been terrific*, and because of the tremendous ACC crowd, have yet to lose a game.**

*I lied. Ranked dead last percentage wise, the Leafs penalty kill is a joke. This would be really alarming if the PK had been this bad for three years now. What? It has? Moving along...
**Lied again. Not a great job at all by the ACC crowd. Embarrassing would be a much better way to describe all the fake hockey fans who gobble up the best tickets but can't be bothered to actually sit in them until maybe the 15 minute mark.

The few remaining Leaf haters out there (!) might argue that Kessel and company have benefited from a borderline soft schedule, but at least credit Phil and the boys for taking advantage of it.

And credit Kessel himself, who has been dynamic and so far looks like the most dangerous offensive player in the game. Phil has traditionally been streaky as an NHL scorer, but he's never been this hot, for this long. Kessel is a serious threat to score every time he is on the ice. The puck follows him around and he creates scoring chances almost every shift.

Maybe at 24 he is mature enough to transition from streaky-young-player-with-crazy-offensive-potential, to legitimate NHL superstar.

But it hasn't just been Kessel carrying the load. Every part of the roster has contributed. Joffrey Lupul is probably playing above his head, but he has scored at this level before and he and Kessel seem to have developed great chemistry.

After a slow start the Grabovski/Kulemin/McCarthur line has started to pile up points, just as they did at times last year. Phaneuf is playing his best hockey in years and his partner Carl Gunnarson has blossomed. Rookie Jake Gardiner has been just about as good. Before going down with injury, Reimer was proving last year wasn't a fluke. Joey Crabb gets called up from the minors, scores 2 goals in 2 games, and quickly gets perhaps the best nick name in the league (King Crabb).

When you're on a roll, you're on a roll.

If you wanted to try to poke holes in the Leafs you could point to the disappointing performance Luke Schenn has turned in, obviously the PK, and the big summer trade with Nashville that has been a total bust.*

*The positive would be that Matthew Lombardi has bounced back and remained healthy so far after missing all but a handful of games last year with a concussion. Unfortunately he's put up about the same level of production as he did last year when he wasn't even in the line-up. But at least Lombardi is in the line-up, which is a lot more than you can say for Cody Franson. The other half of their return from the Predators was supposed be the bounty Toronto was rewarded with for taking on the minor albatross of a contract belonging to Lombardi. Instead Franson has been in the press box, unable to crack the line-up for all but 3 games, and is rumoured to be trade bait.

But that would be nitpicking, and after an extremely lean few years since the lockout, Leafs fans are more than ready to feel good about their team.

We'll see how long those feelings will last.

Benedict Junkie?

The return of NHL hockey to Winnipeg has this blogger questioning where to place his allegiance

Growing up in rural Manitoba, the first jersey I ever got was of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

An older kid who lived down the street and who was an excellent player in his own right, had a passion for the Leafs and I keenly followed his lead. Hats, pajamas, tooth brush, underwear - yup, all Leafs. Soon I had a sweet "Starter" jacket with a blue and white crisp Maple Leaf on the back, and I couldn't have been more proud.

In those days our family had a quarter share of two season tickets for the Jets, and with me being the biggest hockey fanatic of the four kids and my Mom, I went to the lions share of the games with my Dad. I cheered for the Jets, was a big fan of Ducky and Teemu (and Essensa and Steen, and the list goes on and on...), but I always wore my Leafs jersey and when Toronto came to town, I absolutely wanted the Buds to leave with the two points.

Still, when the Jets left in '96 it was a crushing feeling. I was at the last ever game, when Detroit eliminated Winnipeg in Game six of the first round and I can vividly remember the old Winnipeg Arena being completely jammed at 6pm, the original whiteout crowd going crazy, chanting "GO JETS GO" a full 90 minutes before game time.

Like most of my friends, I donated some of my hard-earned summer employment cash to the grassroots campaign that was launched to try and raise enough capital to keep the team around for one more year, to buy a little more time to find a new owner. I attended the "Save the Jets" rally, where 15,000 fans staged a sit-in at the arena and Don Cherry told us not to give up.

But it didn't matter. The Jets were sold, relocated to Phoenix, and suddenly I had no reason to even consider splitting my allegiance. If I wasn't completely and 100% behind the Leafs prior to that moment, I most certainly was from that point on.

As the rumours grew louder and louder over the past few weeks that the NHL would indeed be returning to Winnipeg, many of my friends, colleagues, and even strangers who saw me walking down the street with my Leafs hat on, asked what I was going to do if the Jets/Falcons/Moose came back?

My initial answer was easy: I've invested more than 25 years of my life following the Leafs, living and dieing with each and every win and loss. If and when the Leafs finally do win a Stanley Cup (humour me), I want to be around for that payoff. But having a team in my own backyard that in many ways represents the emotional return of long-lost friend, well, that complicates things.

My mind tells me Leafs, my heart tells me Jets.

I'd like to think I'm a logical person.

State of the Leafs: 2010

I started writing report cards for the Leafs, Jays and Raptors in 2004 long before this blog ever existed. Back then I would simply email them to friends. I've always enjoyed writing them, but slowly at first and now quickly there are sports team report cards everywhere. I posted a Raptors edition two weeks ago and it would have been time for a Leafs version but...I can't.

I'm not saying I invented the concept of handing out grades to sports teams (read: I probably did), but I am saying I'm done with them. I'm retiring the report cards and moving on.

I'm replacing them with State of the Union type columns. Of course if they bomb (the articles, not the teams) I have no problem pulling a Jay Leno and slipping the report cards right back in there. We'll see what happens. For now, it's on to the State of the Leafs: 2010.

The last year has been exceedingly rough for the Maple Leafs and their fans. Actually, tough isn't nearly strong enough. It's been a nightmare. A fourth straight spring without playoff hockey (and soon to be five), a number one goalie who wasn't even AHL quality, and a clear lack of goal-scoring ability amongst the forwards have all contributed to the futile state of the franchise.

But that's only the beginning.

Brian Burke, the chosen one, the crusty, egotistical and (previously) successful GM who was hired away from Anaheim in November 2008 and given total autonomy over hockey decisions...has not been able to turn the ship around. He hasn't even offered up his typically crazy sound-bites that would have at least provided an entertainment value that is clearly missing on the ice.

Unwilling to fully commit (or accept?) to a proper rebuilding phase, Burke again swung for the fences this past Sunday, trading for Dion Phaneuf and J.S. Giguere, two players with monster contracts that their previous teams were desperate to move. The trades leave the Leafs with approximately 14 defencemen eating up 98% of the team's cap space and an aging, expensive goalie at a time when nearly every successful team allots minimal salary to a position that can be filled by almost anyone (except Vesa Toskala).

Even worse, Burke's September trade for Phil Kessel coupled with the season-long funk his team has shown on the ice have combined to sap every ounce of feeling out of the season. Leaf fans are not upset as much as they are disconnected. The losing would be sufferable if the payoff - a top three pick - was still an option. You know, a reason to believe, a reason to care. But Burke traded Toronto's 2010 and 2011 first round draft picks to Boston to acquire Kessel. The result is a 2009-10 season that is totally lost. Toronto fans have become zombies, sleep-walking through the season without cause or emotion.

And the players that were supposed to be building blocks for the future, most notably Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski, have regressed. Considerably. Schenn looks completely overwhelmed in his sophmore season, constantly fighting the puck and taking bad penalties at an alarming rate. The supposed defensive defenceman has been repeatedly victimized on one-on-ones and has been a healthy scratch at times. Grabovski, whom Burke curiously signed to a 3 year $9 million extension last summer, has failed to build on his 20 goal season and seems to have more fire in practices, where he routinely fights with teammates, than he does in games.

The rest of the roster is filled with role players (Beauchemin, Komisarek, Primeau, Mitchell, Orr), unproven projects (Bozak, Stalberg, Hanson, Kulemin, Gunnarson, Gustavsson), cap filler (Exelby, Wallin) and the stale leftovers from the Cliff Fletcher era (Finger, Stempniak). The two best Leafs aside from Kessel (Kaberle and Ponikarovsky), are rumoured to be on their way out of town, the next to be traded in the ongoing effort to...what?

10 NHL Questions

10. Does the NHL have a 'Tim Donaghy' moment on their hands?
Following Monday's Vancouver/Nashville game Alex Burrows basically lobbed a grenade at the league office when he flatly stated that referee Stephane Auger was carrying out a personal vendetta when he made two calls against him during the third period. A few years ago this wouldn't have been that big a deal, but after the Tim Donaghy scandal that rocked the NBA, the NHL has a serious question to ponder: Do they fine and suspend Burrows for his comments and side with the ref even though the player seems to have ample proof (a pre-game conversation, video footage of the questionable calls and a detailed history between the two) of his side of the story or do they validate the players claims, suspend the ref and risk opening pandora's box?

9a. Is the Detroit dynasty over?

Okay, first of all it hasn't really been a dynasty for the Wings. Yes, they won 4 championships in 12 years but they were spread out across two decades. A dynasty is multiple championships in a row or nearly in a row. Like three in four years. Not to say that Detroit won't make the playoffs this year or even next, but their run of 9 straight 100+ point seasons and being either the first or second playoff seed in the Western Conference is very much in doubt. And losing 6-0 to the Islanders? The Islanders? That never would have happened if Pavel Datsyuk were still alive.

9b. What happened to Nicklas Lidstrom?
When you watch him play he looks the same and continues to eat up a lot of minutes, but after 17 seasons the 39-year-old Lidstrom is finally showing his age. The Captain of the Wings has averaged 13 goals and 59 points a season over his illustrious career but has only a single goal and 20 measley points (ranking 34th among NHL defencemen) this year.

8. Is Barry Trotz invisible?

The only coach Predator fans have ever known, the man who guided the franchise from expansion infancy to 100 point seasons and perennial playoff appearances, continues to coach in relative obscurity. All Trotz does is win in Nashville, and yet nobody ever notices. The Preds have hosted postseason games in four of the last five years and will again be in the fight for a playoff spot in the West this season despite having the league's third lowest payroll ($44.4M, behind PHX $41.7M and NYI $44.3) and one of it's most un-inspiring rosters. Casual hockey fans would be hard-pressed to name more than a couple of Nashville players yet Trotz always seems to over-achieve with his crew. If this team was located in Hamilton or the Toronto area (where it absolutely should be, but that's another story) Trotz would be the second-coming of Scotty Bowman.

7. Is the moustache here to stay?

During the 70's and 80's, NHL players routinely sported 'lip foliage' but the trend nearly disappeared in the 90's and the early 00's. However, over the last few years many of the league's heaviest hitters (George Parros, Dan Carcillo) have brought the 'nose neighbor' back, and some of the league's younger players have jumped on board and started rocking the 'soup strainer'. And if you're thinking maybe I included this question just so I could slip-in a bunch of cool moustache nicknames, well, you might be right.

6. Why did it take Andrei Markov getting injured for Marc-Andre Bergeron to get a job?

The 29-year-old Bergeron had seasons of 15, 14, 9 and 14 goals following the lockout and yet somehow found himself without a contract when training camps began last September. During those four years, only six defencemen scored more goals (Phaneuf-65, Souray-64, Chara-63, Lidstrom-55, Boyle-55, and McCabe-54) than Bergeron's 52. With 10 goals so far this year, Bergeron trails only Mike Green in scoring by defencemen.

5. When will GM's learn to stop paying for goalies?

Craig Anderson has been stellar in Colorado and was signed for only $1.5 million last summer. Antti Niemi continues to take games away from Cristobal Huet in Chicago while Jonas Hiller does the same to J.S. Giguere in Anaheim. Tuuka Rask has badly outplayed Tim Thomas in Boston, making Peter Chiarelli's decision to give the 35-year-old journeyman Thomas a four year $20 million contract even more perplexing. Philadelphia picks up Michael Leighton off waivers and he goes 8-0-1 in his first 9 starts. The LA Kings have been in a playoff position all year in the West and will spend a total of $1.32M combined on Jon Quick and Erik Ersberg. Same thing with Nashville, who will pay Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne $2.7M total. The lesson: If you're not employing Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo, don't pay for goaltending.

4. Is it absolutely killing Leaf fans to be headed towards their 5th straight spring without playoffs? Is the fact that Toronto has no first round picks in either of the next two drafts threatening to drive members of Leafs Nation on a multi-province killing spree? Has Brian Burke aged roughly 20 years in the 15 months he's been in charge of the Maple Leafs?

Yes, yes and yes. And while we're here...the Leafs are purposefully trying to be the worst penalty killing team in history, right? There's no way they could honestly be that bad, it has to be an inside joke or a plea to get Ron Wilson fired. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

3. What is going on in the Calgary dressing room?

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. But I do know how to speculate...and read between the lines. On the ice, the Flames have enjoyed a solid first half of the season and certainly appear headed for a playoff birth and potentially home-ice advantage in the first round. But off the ice there appear to be some problems. First there was the shouting match back in November between Brent Sutter and Dion Phaneuf that has lead to continued trade rumours surrounding the defenceman, and now, a new report from the New York Post suggests there is a growing rift between Jarome Iginla and Sutter due to the coach bringing too many Junior hockey tactics to the big leagues.

2. Who will win the scoring race?

No, not the Art Ross for most points, the Rocket Richard trophy that is given to the player who leads the league in goals. Normally this wouldn't even be a question. Alexander Ovechkin is hands down the best scorer in hockey. He's averaged 55 goals a season over his four year career but has already missed 8 games this year due to injury and suspension. With 27 goals so far, Ovechkin is still the odds-on favourite, but with the way he plays and the reputation he now has, another suspension is always right around the corner. And that brings a finally healthy (but for how long?) Marian Gaborik, a suddenly re-tooled Sidney Crosby (including the playoffs he has 44 goals in his last 70 games) and two-thirds of the Shark line (Heatley and Marleau) all into the equation.

1. Is Ilya Kovalchuk destined for the KHL?

The fear of the escrow tax combined with the uncertain stability surrounding the Thrashers (and perhaps the enormous shadow of a certain countryman and NHL rockstar with the initials A.O.?) might be enough to push Kovalchuk home to Russia when his contract expires after the season. He reportedly loves Atlanta but has turned down several contract extensions that are rumoured to be in excess of $10 million a year and worth over $100 million total. Well, something doesn't add up and all signs point to the motherland.

The Fan Confidence Scale V2.0

Roughly a quarter of the way through the NHL season...time to again break-out the fan confidence scale.

7.8 - Calgary Flames

The Flames, on paper, are easily the most formidable of Canada's six NHL teams. They have a top five talent in Jarome Iginla, excellent secondary point producers (Jokinen, Bourque, Langkow) and a rock-solid defensive unit that includes three premier players (Bouwmeester, Phaneuf and Regehr). When you combine new coach Brent Sutter and perhaps the best group of foot soldiers in hockey (Boyd, Dawes, Glencross, Nystrom, Giordano), this is a blueprint for post-season success. They'll need to find a way to keep Kiprusoff fresh for playoffs (he's started 19 of 21 games), especially in an Olympic year, but my money is on Calgary being the last Canadian team standing in 2010.

6.2 - Ottawa Senators

Overall, the Sens have played slightly above their heads through the first quarter of the season and much of that is due to Mike Fisher finally earning some of his $21 million contract. Maybe Carrie Underwood is to Fisher what Kate Hudson is to A-Rod? Some might argue Sens fans should have a higher rating, that they are a confident bunch right now. But the schedule has been soft (multiple wins against Toronto and Tampa) and heavily loaded with home games (15 of 21). And to everyone who anointed Pascal Leclaire the best goalie in Senators history before he ever played a game for Ottawa - care to change your vote? I'm not saying he can't be the answer, goalies heat up and cool off all the time (sort of like the Canadian dollar or Lindsay Lohan) but a .900 save percentage and 2.71 GAA are very close to his career stats (.906 and 2.81). He is what he is: A decent goalie who can potentially steal a few games but cannot be counted on to provide consistently stellar performances. Anyone who thought Jonathan Cheechoo might benefit from a change of scenery (Bryan Murray...Buhler?) was proven wrong. He's on pace for 8 goals and 16 points, which would be his fifth straight season with declining totals in both categories. Thankfully for Ottawa, this is the final year of his contract (but $3.5 million for 8 or so goals can't look very good to owner Eugene Melnyk).

5.6 - Vancouver Canucks

The 'Nucks weathered the storm nicely while Luongo was out and now that they have him and Daniel Sedin back in the line-up, fans are hoping they can snap out of the funk that has seen them alternate 3 game winning and losing streaks and put together a more consistent effort. Speaking of goaltending, it would seem that with Luongo signed through 2022, now might be the time to trade Schneider. No, not Matthew. Top goaltending prospect Corey Schneider (who has been dominant in the AHL with a 58-26-3 career record, a 2.12 GAA and .920 SV% and led his Manitoba Moose to within one win of a championship) is clearly ready to make the next step and is too valuable to be stuck in a back-up role for the next decade. GM Mike Gillis made a couple of underrated moves when he added Mikael Samuelsson (9G, 9A) and picked up Christian Ehrhoff (5G, 10A, +11) from the salary-dumping Sharks. Together with the growth of Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler, Ehrhoff has really solidified the defence. If they can get Pavol Demitra back and finally ice a healthy line-up the Canucks will be knocking on the Calgary door.

5.1 - Montreal Canadiens

From the department of 'How Shocking' - Scott Gomez has 2 goals on the season. I would love to wonder aloud how long it will be until Hab fans and the media partner up to run him out of town, but his contract makes that an impossibility. Gomez has a better chance of being bought out than traded again. So instead, we can wonder: how long until Carey Price is run out of town? Because you know it's going to happen. Price has been on thin ice with the fans since the day Gainey pushed him onto Guy Carbonneau's team and then forced him into the starting position by trading Cristobal Huet at the 2008 trade deadline. If I were a NHL GM I would constantly be in Gainey's ear trying to swindle him out of Price, who will be a terrific goalie when he reaches the magic 'goalie maturation date' of 26 or 27. Price is 22 right now. The standings say Montreal is a .500 team, but in reality they've won four shootouts and four more overtime games. That's three regulation wins in 23 games. They pushed Guillaume Latendresse out of town amid 'character' issues and just re-called Sergei Kostytin who demanded a trade in October and, with his brother, was at the center of 'character' issues last year. In short: The dressing room continues to be a mess. The only current bright spot for Canadiens fans is the colossal disaster that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

4.4 Edmonton Oilers

It's extremely disappointing for Oiler fans that neither Sam Gagner nor Andrew Cogliano has progressed into the bonafide point producer they were projected to become. Gagner is two years younger and still has the potential to be a genuine top-6 forward, but Cogliano looks more and more like a third line center. As for the guy who seemingly has progressed and developed, Dustin Penner, well I'm not quite ready to pencil him in for 30 goals and 80 points. Penner absolutely looks quicker and more confident on the ice, but if you take away his two big games (4 points vs. Detroit on Oct. 29 and 5 against Columbus on Oct. 22) he has 17 points in 22 games. Decent numbers for sure, but anyone suggesting a roster spot on the Olympic team is within reach should go ahead and have their head examined. Twenty games does not a player make. Nikolai Khabibulin is a difference-maker in net, but he hasn't played 60+ games since the 2002-03 season in Tampa and the Oilers need him to play close to 70 if they are going to have a shot at the playoffs.

0.8 - Toronto Maple Leafs

Vesa Toskala is trying (and succeeding) to play himself out of the league, free-agent signings Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek have somehow made the defence worse (a combined -20) and Luke Schenn looks "Land of the Lost" bad. Which, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is truly awful. Up front Toronto has Phil Kessel and eleven guys who should be in the minors. Or retired. Or doing anything besides being paid to play hockey. The two highest paid forwards besides Kessel, Jason Blake and Lee Stempniak, have 7 total goals and are rumoured to be days (or hours) away from being put on waivers. When Ian White is your team MVP at this stage of the season you better hope you're playing in the AHL. Or the ECHL. If the Leafs would've just held on to Anton Stralman (4G, 11A with Columbus) or not signed Colton Orr (and Jeff Finger) or only traded one of their next two first-round picks...things wouldn't be so bad. I'll let Dwight Shrute take it from here. "If onlys and justs were candies and nuts, then everyday would be un de donkfest". And there you have it.

Just Lose

A simple message to Brian Burke, Ron Wilson and the entire Toronto Maple Leafs organization: Lose. Tank. Throw in the towel. Do anything and everything you can to ensure your team doesn’t earn another point in the standings.

Actually, with a goaltending tandem of Curtis Joseph and Martin Gerber, a dozen third and fourth line forwards, and an overpaid and underwhelming group of defenceman, maybe they’ve done all they can.

With only three meaningless regular season games remaining for the Leafs it’s time for the team to do what they probably should’ve been doing all year long. Namely, losing on purpose. Re-inserting the corpse of Lee Stempniak into the line-up would be a good start.

As of this morning, Toronto is the 24th best team in hockey or the seventh worst, depending on your point of view. Only teams that finish in the bottom five have a mathematical chance of winning the draft lottery and the first overall selection that goes with it because no team can move up more than four places. The New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning are locked into the first three slots but fifth (worst) place is certainly well within reach for the Leafs and they could conceivably still move all the way into fourth.

Here’s how it can happen:

If Atlanta wins two of their last three (WSH, FLA, TB ), Los Angeles wins any of their last three (@EDM, @VAN, SJ), Phoenix wins any of their last three (STL, @SJ, ANA) and the Leafs lose all of their final three (@NJ, BUF, OTT) Toronto would end up 27th and sit in the fourth position going into the lottery.

After four straight seasons without qualifying for the playoffs, the only potential reward for the long-suffering members of Leaf Nation is the possibility of a top draft pick at this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. Obtaining a Tavares or a Victor Hedman in the draft would be a huge piece for Toronto to pair with Luke Schenn in the re-building process.

**************************************************************************

Speaking of Tavares, he and his London Knight teammates are one win away from moving on to the third round of the OHL playoffs and a potential marquee showdown with the Windsor Spitfires. The two teams finished 1-2 in the OHL standings and have been angling toward this match-up all year long.

And as good as Tavares has been this year (breaking the OHL career goal scoring record, turning the World Junior Championship into a personal showcase, and generally living up to the hype like he’s Lebron James) you have to wonder when the Hunter brothers, Dale and Mark, will join him in moving on to the next level.

They purchased the Knights and took over day-to-day operations in 2001 and all they’ve done since is put together the most impressive record in all of junior hockey and built a player development program that continuously pumps out NHL talent.

In addition to Tavares, the list of high caliber players who have sharpened their skills under the tutelage of the Hunters is remarkable…and for the most part, star-studded.

Rick Nash - Columbus Blue Jackets
Corey Perry - Anaheim Ducks
Sam Gagner - Edmonton Oilers
Patrick Kane - Chicago Blackhawks
David Bolland - Chicago Blackhawks
Sergei Kostitsyn - Montreal Canadiens
Brandon Prust - Phoenix Coyotes
Danny Fritsche - Minnesota Wild
Dennis Wideman - Boston Bruins
Dan Girardi - New York Rangers
Mark Methot - Columbus Blue Jackets
Kyle Quincey - Los Angeles Kings
Steve Mason - Columbus Blue Jackets

That group of players would be the backbone to a great NHL roster and speak volumes about the ability of the Hunter brothers as a management team. If I’m Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk or Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz or any other NHL franchise in need of new life, I know what direction I’d be looking in.

Maple Leafs Report Card

Last night's shellacking at the hands of the Canadiens was Toronto's 41st game of the year, officially marking the halfway point of the season and an obvious time for mid-term report cards.

Nik Antropov – When Cliff Fletcher was still GM I was so afraid of waking up to a “Leafs extend Antropov for 5 years/$30 Million” headline that I was literally terrified to turn on my computer each morning. I would hesitate, hit the power button and then jump back a few steps, close my eyes and visualize good things. Needless to say I’m now salivating at the thought of receiving the standard currency for a rental player of a pick and a prospect. Who knows, maybe the Leafs re-sign him again in the summer?
Grade: B

Matt Stajan – Don’t let the points fool you (31 in 35 games), Stajan is putting up 2nd line numbers on first line minutes…and he’s a third line player. But he has played well.
Grade: B+

Mikhail Grabovski – I’m still not sold on the Russian rookie. He definitely has considerable skill and speed, but he shows up about as often as Amy Winehouse. He reminds me of Alexei Zhamnov and I can’t figure out if that’s a good thing or not. I’m leaning towards not.
Grade: C+

Jason Blake – Blake has played significantly better since half-demanding a trade in November after Ron Wilson benched him for a couple games. I think it would be better if Leaf fans totally forgot about his contract (drinking excessively helps sometimes I find) and just pretended he was a scrappy little guy with speed and little understanding of when to shoot or how to play a team game.
Grade: B-

Lee Stempniak – Next year Toronto will pay Stempniak and Jason Blake a combined $8 million to score 30 goals and 60 points. Not good times.
Grade: C-

Alex Ponikarovsky – Slightly overpaid but a big body who goes into corners and is a consistent 20 goal scorer. Over his history he’s taken a lot of careless stick penalties, but appears to have corrected that under Wilson’s tutelage.
Grade: B

Kyle Wellwood – His 14 goals lead the team…or, wait, they would lead the team if the Leafs hadn’t decided to get rid of him for nothing. (Although as the picture to the right indicates, Wellwood wasn't always in 'game' shape during his Leafs tenure.)
Grade: #$*%

Niklas Hagman – A very questionable signing by Fletcher, and eerily similar to the Finger deal (more on that shortly). Both are average players and veterans that don’t seem to fit into a sensible re-building plan.
Grade: C

Dominic Moore – One of if not the most consistent Leaf day-in and day-out: always shows up and works hard. The problem of course, is that he’s a fourth line player who can only do so much.
Grade: A-

Jamal Mayers – Was brought in to provide leadership and stability in the dressing room and toughness on the ice. I have no sources inside the Leafs dressing room, so I can't confirm what his presence has meant behind closed doors, but on the ice he's doing his job: hitting guys and dropping the gloves when needed. For the most part, it's just really hard to look good or bad when you have 10 bottom six forwards.
Grade: B-

Nikolai Kulemin – I guess it’s not officially a Brian Burke team until Brad May is on it, but I don’t particularly agree with sending down Kumelin to make room for him. Kulemin was playing solid two-way hockey and now we’ve potentially robbed Kumelin of some confidence. Kulemin deserves better.
Grade: B

Ryan Hollweg – He’s stopped nailing guys from behind. Ahh, well, you know what I mean. Other than the exceedingly cool moustache, Hollweg really doesn’t bring anything to the table. I’d be surprised if he got another contract to play next year…from any NHL team.
Grade: D+

John Mitchell – He was just starting to come on, receiving more and more ice time when he injured his shoulder, and hasn’t been able to get back to that level. Still up for debate whether he’s a legitimate NHLer.
Grade: C

Tomas Kaberle – Since the lockout and through this morning, only two defencemen in the National Hockey League have accumulated more points than Kaberle (Lidstrom and Gonchar). That’s it. Two guys. Is Kaberle a great defensive defenceman? No. But he makes a great first pass and is terrific on the powerplay. At $4.15 million and with two more years still to go on his contract, he is one of the best bargains in hockey. The only way he’s getting moved is if somebody meets a steep price. The Marian Hossa deal from last year (a former first-rounder in Esposito, a future first rounder and a roster player) should be the starting point.
Grade: B

Pavel Kubina – The demanding Toronto media has eroded Kubina’s perceived value, continuing to position him as the overpaid and inadequate defenceman who struggled mightily in his initial season with the Leafs. But since then, Kubina has quietly played really well and was excellent at the end of last season. In my mind, a Kaberle/Kubina/Schenn top three defensive core (at a very reasonable cost) wouldn’t be a bad group to build around.
Grade: B

Luke Schenn – A very solid rookie season for the 18 year-old, but watching the World Juniors I couldn’t help but wonder what being an integral part of a championship team would have done for his development.
Grade: A-

Jeff Finger – Unfortunately for Leaf fans, his contract (4 years/$14 million) doesn’t make any more sense now than it did this summer, when rumours circulated that Toronto mistakenly thought they had signed Kurt Sauer and ended up with Finger (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=16043). Finger is a decent player, an average player, awww dammit, I can’t continue with that. He’s a lottery winner. Cliff Fletcher was Willy Wonka and Finger had the golden ticket.
Grade: C+

Mike Van Ryn – Has looked pretty good when he’s played, but on the heels of missing 60+ games last year and another 24 games already this year…well, you have to wonder if he’ll ever be a full-time player again.
Grade: B+

Ian White – If White is dressing every night, your team is not making the playoffs. He had a decent little streak earlier in the year, but so did One Republic. He would look great on the Marlies. Or bagging my groceries.
Grade: C

Jonas Frogen – The only acceptable transaction Fletcher made was signing Frogen, who is tough and cheap. He kind of reminds me of a Swedish Vinnie Jones.
Grade: B

Vesa Toskala – He ranks 44th in the league in goals against average and 45th in save percentage and has started 35 of the Leafs first 41 games. He hasn’t stolen a single one. In fact, he’s allowed four or more goals a league high 14 times.
Grade: D

Curtis Joseph –Yeah, bringing back Joseph for $850,000 makes a lot more sense than keeping Scott Clemmensen for $500,000.
Grade: D

Random Thoughts a Week Before Christmas

Who at this point of the NHL and NBA seasons correctly predicted the Leafs to be closer to a playoff position than the Raptors? Anyone? Buhler?

When thinking of the Raptors’ current situation (mostly with my face in my hands and shaking my head) I can’t help but be reminded of the classic Ron Burgundy line from ‘Anchorman’: “Boy, that escalated quickly…I mean that really got out of hand fast!” From a 3-0 start, to firing Sam Mitchell only 16 games in, to an awful 5-8 record at home.

At least Chris Bosh looks fresh.

And two things about the Leafs:

1) Brian Burke has been in Toronto for nearly three weeks and we’ve hardly heard a peep out of him. I wasn’t expecting daily appearances on the Up Front segment of ‘Off the Record’ or one-on-one interviews with the Star or Globe taking readers inside his new Rosedale digs, but…nothing? Couldn’t someone from the middle of the media scrum lob in a Kevin Lowe question and then duck? Is that too much to ask?

2) For all the Leaf fans salivating at the thought of pushing Tomas Kaberle out of town: Calm down. His salary is a very reasonable $4.15M a year. Or less than Mathieu Schneider, Ron Hainsey, Lubomir Visnovsky, Kim Johnsson, Sheldon Souray, Roman Hamrlik, Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden, and Eric Brewer. Would you really take any of those players over Kaberle? I wouldn’t. Has he looked great this year? No. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still extremely valuable (perhaps the Leafs' best player) and again, is tremendously affordable. Unless a team wants to overpay, I don’t think Burke moves him. How do you replace what Kaberle provides at that price moving forward?

As for a certain former Maple Leaf Captain who is reportedly set to join the Rangers, I ask: What happened to your refusing to be dealt at last year’s deadline because you “never believed in the concept of a rental player” and felt that to truly appreciate winning a Stanley Cup “you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June.”

If your goaltending tandem consists of Alex Auld and Martin Gerber, and your defence is as mobile as Kurt Warner in the pocket, can you really be surprised or upset that you find yourself on the outside of the playoff race?

In Montreal fans and media alike are jumping all over the Habs powerplay (or lack thereof after going 2 for their last 37 which has plummeted the unit all the way to 29th in the league) and overall lack of intensity and urgency, but I think Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey are quietly comfortable with their position. This season, the 100th in the illustrious history of the Canadiens, was always going to be a grind no matter how it played out. With the extra CBC games providing even more exposure, the huss and fuss over the All-Star Game including the ballot-stuffing efforts of the local faithful, and the plethora of impending free agents, expectations and pressure could easily get out of hand in Montreal. The ‘slow’ start has tempered that, and it’s probably a good thing in the long run. Let Boston deal with the spotlight for now and focus on building momentum towards the playoffs.

While I wrote that paragraph the San Jose Sharks won three more times and now have a remarkable 124 points through 30 games.

The NHL isn’t exactly experiencing a scoring renaissance: Total goals per game are up slightly, but still remain at less than 6 per contest, a far cry from the free-wheeling days of the 80’s and early 90’s. On the flip side however, more players are stepping up their production to the point that we could see the league’s largest group of bonafide snipers since the turn of the century. As of this morning five players are on pace for 50 goal seasons (Ovechkin, Vanek, Carter, Kessel, Parise) and another eight are on pace for 40+ goals (Sharp, Gagne, Iginla, Marleau, Hossa, Boyes, Setoguchi, Zetterberg).

Fantasy Sports tangent: For me, Kessel is a player whose performance is bitter sweet. I drafted him each of the last two years expecting him to break out only to suffer through terrible seasons. This year I stayed away and sure enough he summons his inner Ovechkin and goes on a tear. It’s times like these when I consider whether investing so much time admiring or cursing my roster, and contemplating trades is worth it. (Thinking...) Yes. Yes it is.

The best part of Angelo Esposito finally making the World Junior Team in his fourth attempt was not having to watch him give another choked-up interview at six in the morning minutes after being cut. That would have been tough.

A month into baseball’s free agent season the Yankees have spent $250 million upgrading their rotation and the Rays and Red Sox will both return nearly every key player from last year’s playoff rosters. The Jays answer? Signing Matt Clement and Adam Loewen to minor league deals. Do the Orioles smell blood?

The Fan Confidence Scale

After a quarter of the NHL regular season, how much confidence should fans have in their favorite Canadian team?

8.7 - Montreal Canadiens
Despite their team not playing anywhere close to their capability, most Habs fans are feeling pretty good about their team, and rightfully so. Montreal can get outplayed or dig a deep hole yet they’ve shown they have the ability to battle back and win, even if they don’t put in their best effort. The Canadiens have remarkable balance and depth throughout the line-up, most notably in net where Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak make up the best goaltending tandem in the league. Bob Gainey has constructed a talented veteran roster that is well insulated with cheap, young fringe players, and Guy Carbonneau, now in his third full season, has grown into a presence behind the bench.

They clearly have another gear, but the Canadiens seem happy to continue along at a ho-hum pace, not creating too many unnecessary waves at this point in the season. With the jersey retirements, 100th Anniversary celebrations, and all the other hoopla that constitutes day-to-day life in hockey-crazy Montreal, it would be extremely taxing for the Habs to play from ahead all year long. They know the true test begins in April, and that's when Gainey and Carbonneau want their team to peak.

6.9 - Calgary Flames
In Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf, the Flames continue to feature the best forward/defence 1-2 combo in hockey, which has made it reasonably simple for Darryl Sutter to sufficiently fill in the rest of the roster. And while neither the Todd Bertuzzi signing (16 points but a minus 10) nor the Mike Cammalleri trade (20 points but afraid of going anywhere near the net) has been an overwhelming success, they haven’t been awful mistakes either. Both guys were brought in to take scoring pressure off Iginla, which they along with dependable veterans Daymond Langkow and Craig Conroy, have done. Throw-in the surprising contributions from Curtis Glencross and Rene Bourque, and a defence unit that as a whole is tough, versatile and certainly capable of providing above average play, and Calgary appears to be in very good shape.

But there's a problem…in net. This is the fifth straight season Miikka Kiprusoff has seen his GAA go up (1.70, 2.07, 2.46, 2.69, 3.05) and his save percentage go down (.933, .923, .917, .906, .895). Calgary hasn't won a playoff round since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. Unless Kipper regains his form, that streak will continue.

6.1 - Vancouver Canucks
With Roberto Luongo this team has a chance to win every game. Without him, they are the Vancouver Blue Jackets. The Sedin twins should remember that when they’re holding the Canucks hostage next summer during contract negotiations.

As for this season, Canucks fans would be wise not to get too comfortable in their current surroundings, because even if Luongo returns from his groin pull relatively soon, Vancouver isn’t likely to continue leading the Northwest division much longer. The team is playing well above it’s head and is relying on unsustainable production from a streaky Kyle Wellwood and foot soldiers like Alex Burrows, Jannick Hansen, and Willie Mitchell. The Sedins are putting up decent but not outstanding numbers, as usual, but if making the playoffs this year means a seven or eight year contract for the brothers, maybe the Canucks would be better off losing?

The $15 million combined that the Sedins want in addition to Luongo’s contract would tie up nearly 40% of Vancouver’s cap room on just three players. That could be enough to push Luongo out the door the following year if he suspects the team won’t be able to surround him with enough talent to realistically compete for the Stanley Cup. I'm not sure two Sedins and a bunch of pluggers fit that bill.

5.5 - Ottawa Senators
For a long time the Sens were a good team that made consistent progress year after year. They were young, talented, full of potential, and were earning their playoff scars that would eventually take them to the next level. After all those good regular seasons and playoff disappointments, Ottawa finally reached the Cup finals two years ago only to be throttled by Anaheim. Then Pittsburgh destroyed them in the first round last year after the Sens backed into the playoffs, and now the window of opportunity for this team is shut. Boom. Locked, boarded up, it's over. The Senators can continue to switch coaches like George Steinbrenner in the 70’s, but there isn’t a band-aid big enough to fix this problem. They're not a bottom-feeder, but the days of being a true contender are over. Time to blow it up.

You have to wonder how different things may have been if Ottawa had decided to pay Zdeno Chara the extra $2 million a year and keep him instead of Wade Redden?

4.9 - Edmonton Oilers
Most of the blame for a disappointing start has been focused on goaltending and the lack of offense from forwards not named Ales Hemsky. But how does Kevin Lowe get let off the hook? He was the one who signed a still unproven Dustin Penner to an outlandish contract. It was Lowe and Steve Tambellini who traded for a clearly on-the-decline Eric Cole (who peaked in 2006 and has never been the same since the Brooks Orpik hit), and have allowed their team to play a quarter of the season with a three-headed goaltending monster that has produced several storylines but few big wins. Scary indeed.

One player who shouldn’t be singled out is second year forward Sam Gagner. The 19 year-old is another Oiler struggling mightily this year after unrealistic expectations were created following his 49-point rookie campaign. All of a sudden this year he was ‘penciled’ in for 60+ points and when you put a young player in a situation like that, if he doesn’t get off to a good start it can be nearly impossible to get on track.

To sum it up: Blame Kevin, not Sam.

2.8 - Toronto Maple Leafs
This spring will mark the fourth straight season that Toronto has missed the playoffs, but with the hiring of Brian Burke as the new GM, Leaf fans finally have a reason to be optimistic about the future. Not the immediate future mind you, because the current roster is a mess and the lack of draft picks (10 total over the next two drafts) make this re-building effort at least a two-year project, maybe three. Still, Burke has the personality and stature to deal with the demanding Toronto media, and gone, supposedly, are the days of the evil MLSE board having to approve any and all hockey transactions, making the path back to credibility decidedly less tumultuous..

If my calculations are correct and Burke continues to clear cap space as expected (good-bye: Antropov, Kaberle, Kubina), the Leafs should have more than enough room to sign both Lebron James and Chris Bosh in 2010.

Last One, I Promise

First of all, I apologize for another Leafs column, this will most assuredly be the last for a while. I know many of you out there despise the Leafs and really, there are several other noteworthy subjects to discuss.

But I just can't help myself. Mistake after mistake from the Leaf organization, it's like watching Perez Hilton play scrabble.

The word around training camp is that Toronto has guaranteed a roster spot to defenceman Jonas Frogen, the 28 year-old Swede who will make his NHL debut this fall. I'm not complaining about this at all. Frogen is signed to a reasonable $1.065M per year contract, by all accounts played well at the World Championships last year in Quebec, and is precisely the type of low risk-low cost free agent the Leafs should be building with.

The real question is why they would they sign Jeff Finger to a four year $14M contract? It's not like this team was one mid-level defenceman away from winning the Stanley Cup, or even being legitimate contenders. Last time I checked, being able to score a goal was instrumental in being able to win a game. With the set of forwards GM Cliff Fletcher has assembled, scoring will be a monumental challenge. (Exhibit A: Mikhail Grabovski is the #1 center.)

And the Leafs already had numerous other viable options to plug in on defence, none of whom would've eaten up nearly as much cap space as Finger. This is a rebuilding project that has no blueprint. The right move is to stockpile draft picks and bring in players who are either young or cheap or better yet, both.

Right now the Leafs have nine NHL defencemen in camp (Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Finger, Frogen, Mike Van Ryn, Carlo Colaiacovo, Anton Stralman, Staffan Kronwall and Ian White). Actually, scratch that. The correct number is eight because Ian White is an AHL defencemen, end of story. Luke Schenn, the 5th overall pick in this summers draft, has absolutely no business making this team regardless of how amazing he plays. It serves no long-term purpose to have him on the squad which is exactly why I'm terrified the organization will keep him around.

Any way you cut it, there are too many bodies. Someone has to go, either by trade, via the waiver wire, or being sent down to the minors. Which makes the case for signing Finger even more confusing. What did they gain by signing him? A worse spot in the draft lottery? He certainly won't be the difference between making or missing the playoffs and now he could end up forcing the Leafs to give up on a guy like Colaiacovo or Kronwall who may be just as good as Finger.

Toronto easily could have gone with Kubina, Kaberle, McCabe, Frogen, Stralman, Colaiacovo, and Kronwall on defence this year (Total Cap hit: $18.58M) and then moved McCabe at the trade deadline for draft picks and opened up significant cap space in the process. Instead they'll go with Kubina, Kaberle, Finger, Van Ryn, Frogen, Stralman and one of Colaiacovo/Kronwall/White (Total Cap hit: $17.45M) with the net result being a sacrificed 4th round draft pick (from the McCabe trade), and a worse cap situation in the long run.

The good news is that Brian Burke is officially nine months away from fixing this mess. The bad news is the Nik Antropov situation has to be dealt with before then.

Antropov is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off his most (only?) impressive season. My immediate reaction is to hope he continues to play well and put up points so the Leafs can get more in return for trading him at the deadline. But after more consideration, I'm scared a good start to the season will force Fletcher to offer Antropov a lucrative extension, since he is "our only top 6 forward".

I'm left staring straight-ahead blankly in disbelief while I consider living in a world where Nik Antropov makes $6M a year to play hockey.

On my team.

Each day is more painful than the one before it

With a headline like that you'd probably think I was going through a tough time personally, having suffered the loss of a close friend or contracted some strange virus.

But thankfully it's not like that. Simply put: I am a Leafs fan.

I love hockey, love the NHL, and like many others I follow the pro game very closely. But the Maple Leafs are my team. And it just hurts so bad.

Since the lockout year in 2004-05, the Leafs have been trending down and it doesn't appear they've bottomed out yet. Two near-misses from playoff action were followed by a 23rd place performance last year, and a bottom five (perhaps three even?) seems inevitable for this coming season.

When the Leafs fired John Ferguson Jr. as GM I accepted the second coming of Cliff Fletcher only because I assumed Brian Burke (or Scotty Bowman or maybe even Ken Holland) would be taking over in the summer and Fletcher would just be keeping the GM's seat warm in the meantime. Okay, maybe I didn't assume it would be any of those names mentioned above. 'Hoped' is probably closer to the truth, maybe even 'wished'. Anyway, the point is that I believed someone, anyone, would be hired to right the ship.

Eight months later I feel like Adam Sandler in 'Reign Over Me', my headphones glued to my ears protecting me from the outside world, quickly changing the subject should I find myself in a situation where someone mentions the Leafs.

After watching Fletcher mishandle the entire Mats Sundin drama (first at the trade deadline, then again this summer), trade valuable draft picks for 3rd and 4th liners (Grabovski, Mayers), buy out Darcy Tucker for a net savings of almost nil, throw borderline insane free agent dollars at marginal talent (Finger, Hagman) and tie up valuable future cap space, it's clear the Silver Fox is not merely holding down the fort. He's making plans. He's putting his stamp on the team instead of clearing the deck for the next guy. In short: Cliff Fletcher is more Rob Babcock than Wayne Embry.

By all accounts, Bryan McCabe will be traded on Tuesday. The Leafs will finally rid themselves of a defenceman they openly announced they no longer wanted. Apparently the deal, McCabe to Florida for Mike Van Ryn, was agreed to a few weeks ago but has been held up by a roster bonus due to McCabe on September 1st. The bonus was $2M and payable by the team that held his rights on that day which of course is why the trade won't officially happen until Sept.2nd. That means in the final three years of his contract Florida will pay McCabe a very reasonable $12.45M (only $4.15M a year). Including the Sept.1st bonus, Toronto will have paid McCabe $16.3 million for two years.

Unless the idea is to further sabotage the team's chances, why make this trade? Van Ryn is a fourth or fifth defenceman who can't stay healthy. His $3.35M salary for each of the next two seasons is only slightly cheaper than what McCabe will earn and Van Ryn isn't half the player.

On the other hand, if the idea is indeed to sabotage, to get worse at whatever cost, well, surely there could have been easier (and more beneficial) ways to do it. Oh I don't know, maybe you hold on to the draft picks you just traded for? Or go with a much younger and greener team to ensure another lottery position?

Certainly giving away a power play specialist defenceman who can play 25 minutes a night and cutting a consistent 20 goal scorer who wears his heart on his sleeve are not the right moves. Why give away assets at the absolute bottom of their value? Especially when you have to turn around and replace them?

Why sign mediocre free agents to long-term deals in the middle of a rebuilding plan? Why continue to bring back former stars, both on and off the ice, who are well past their glory days? When will management get proactive and decide to follow the lead of the Red Sox and Yankees and start outspending teams in areas that aren't capped like scouting and player development?

Such is life as a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Many, many questions. Very few logical answers.

It's been 41 long years since the Stanley Cup was paraded down Yonge St. by a victorious Leaf squad. After a fair amount of playoff success and a couple of close calls in the final years leading up to the lockout produced reason to believe...times have again grown grim.

Memo: For Brian Burke

Mr.Burke,

Please arrive soon. Like ASAP. The ghost of Cliff Fletcher is about to buy-out high-priced veteran talent and risk screwing up Toronto's cap for the foreseeable future.

We've all been reading between the lines and fully understand you want to be here. From the not-so quiet whispers that have circulated for months to you leaking that you wouldn't be signing a contract extension with the Ducks, everything is pointing towards an inevitable divorce, so blow a gasket already and get yourself out of Anaheim. (Is it too much to ask for somebody to float a Kevin Lowe RFA contract offer rumour?)

In Toronto you'd be the Saviour. You'd be the guy who finally got all the nameless, soulless suits at MLSE to stay out of hockey operations. You could be the guy to lead the Leafs back to the Stanley Cup finals, and at the very least get us back into the playoffs. After we finish last next season, preferably.

But mostly, you'll matter. Everything you do will be big news, every quote you deliver will resonate across the hockey universe, and every media outlet will bow at your feet. You'll be like Lindsay Lohan with skates. Well, maybe not, but you get the idea. Be honest, does working in California in total anonymity really do it for you?

As you may have noticed from your place near the top of GM Mountain (behind Lamoriello and Holland, ahead of Wilson), things haven't been too great for the Buds in the post-lockout era. The best thing that's happened to Leaf fans over the last 3 years was Ottawa not winning the Cup and then nearly choking their way out of the playoffs this year. Besides that, things have been pretty lean. (Kyle Wellwood and his lovehandles aside.)

Fletcher promised next season's Leaf roster would look different and he intends on keeping his word. So much so that teams are lining up to get their hands on quality defenceman (Kubina, McCabe) who are no longer overpaid under-performers in a $55M cap world. Or to sign a hard-nosed veteran (Tucker) who might be bought out for a net savings of roughly $1M a year.

Fletcher doesn't seem to understand that next year's Leafs squad isn't likely to be any better than the 07/08 team that finished 24th overall. Instead of letting the ship run its course for one more year and potentially gaining another early 1st round pick, Cliff wants to make a statement. Something like: "Eighth place could be ours", or maybe "MLSE: Where mediocrity happens".

Burkey, you know these moves don't need to be made, especially when they are so transparent to the other teams. After winning a Cup with the Ducks, it's time for you to move on. You need a new challenge and you deserve the spotlight that Toronto will provide.

And just think of all the hair gel and bad suits you could buy on $5M a year.

Hey Cliff Fletcher: Read This Carefully

Dear Mr. Fletcher,

The most important thing to understand Cliff, is that you absolutely can turn this around. Don't listen to everyone out there saying the situation is impossible, the ownership is a mess or that the team is too old and slow. It all starts with you! You are going to be the Leafs Wayne Embry. It's not a big job, or a long job, just make some moves and set the table for the Next Guy. The Savior. Whomever He ends up being.

The point is Cliff, He isn't you. So just follow this advice and I guarantee no one will notice you sleeping in the office, or watching wheel of fortune in your skybox at home games.

Heading into trade deadline time, the three Leafs with the most value are Sundin, Kaberle and Antropov. Obviously, the guys most Leafs fans want to see traded are any or all of Kubina, Blake and Tucker. Unfortunately for us, Isiah Thomas doesn't run a hockey team. Those guys are all staying.

If somebody really wants to overpay for Kaberle, like two first rounders and a prime prospect or two, you have to consider it because this team really needs to clear cap space, but you can't be aggressively shopping Tomas. He's a top two defenceman that is underpaid and locked into that underpaid contract for three more years, so moving him doesn't make a lot of sense. For the same reason, you now can't trade McCabe unless you get overwhelmed. And I mean REALLY overwhelmed, not 'Brian Burke just called and promised me all kinds of future considerations' overwhelmed. McCabe's been ridiculously overpaid the last two years at $7.15M a season, but he makes an average of only 4.5 a year for the next three. That's pretty good value for a 25 minute a night, consistently top 10 scoring D. (Yes, McCabe has flaws in his game, most notably that he makes enormous mistakes at critical times, but after living through the worst part of the contract, why not see if the end pays off?)

However, moving both the other two guys does make a lot of sense. With Mats, it's almost a foregone conclusion that he's gone. I like the Anaheim deal more for Edmonton's #1 than for Bobby Ryan, but whatever trade ends up happening, you're going to stockpile some assets. Hey Silver Fox, did you hear me? I'll repeat: Stockpile assets. Bobby Mac said Toronto could get up to 6 picks or prospects, and if bums like Tkachuk can fetch big hauls, the Mats trade should be monstrous.

The Antropov situation terrifies me, and it should do the same to you Cliff. Nicky (as Bill Watters calls him) has another year left on his contract at a very reasonable $2.15 million and then becomes unrestricted after next season. Even though he is absolutely ICE COLD right now, the numbers he's already put up are sure to make him fairly attractive. When you factor in that he's not just a 'rent-a-player', that his new team will get to 'enjoy' him for all of next year as well, this might be the perfect storm for trading AN-Drop-off. Wondering where the terrifying part comes in? Just as the Leafs could be in real position to clear some cap space and create some breathing room (Bell, Gill, and Raycroft will all come off the books after next season, clearing almost $7M), would the Next Guy be able to resist giving Borat (providing he continues to put up good-to-solid numbers) some goofy Mike Ribeiro-type deal? I would much prefer moving him now, while he has a lot of value, and then let some other team get seduced by his length and talent. You'll thank me for this one later, I promise.

Suddenly you've added 6-9 prospects or picks in dealing Mats and Antropov plus you hopefully have a top five pick of your own in the 2008 draft, depending on how bad the Leafs finish. At that point, for the first time in, ahhhh, forever? the cupboard would be reasonably well-stocked in Leafland. Actually, it would be more than well stocked. It would be the foundation needed for the Next Guy to come in and take the Leafs to the promised land.

I understand the thought of trading everyone, all the veteran talent, completely blowing everything up. But don't let it be anymore than a thought Cliffy. That is what 31 other GM's want you to do. They want to take your assets at a discount. They want you to tear the whole thing down, and maybe never be able to build it back up again. As hard as it is for most of the media to see, there are some pieces in place here that can be built upon. And if we really want Mats to do the old welcome back trick this summer (which we do, don't we? please tell me we do), then we're going to need to have an NHL calibre roster to entice him.

So, to wrap it up, don't be a hero. Realize you are not the hero. No matter what happens, the Next Guy is taking over in the summer.

Sincerely,

The Canadian Sports Junkie

The BLUE-print: My 7 Step Guide to the Next TML Dynasty!

1. Fire JFJ - This is not to say he's been a terrible GM, because he hasn't. Fergie made some bad trades, but they weren't Mike MIilbury bad. He overpaid McCabe, Kubina, and Jason Blake, but did get Kaberle and Antropov signed cheap. The thing is, this will be three years with no playoffs and he has simply run out of credibility with the fans and media. The current situation (not winning Stanley Cups for 40 years and counting) is never going to change with him in charge. This board of approval nonsense and constant meddling continues to hold the Leafs down in the standings. The overall structure of the organization is counter-productive to success and needs to be replaced. That begins with firing Fergie, preferrably before he re-signs Bryan McCabe to a three-year extension.

2. Hand The Keys To Mr.Big Shot (No, not Robert Horry) - The next GM of the Leafs absolutely has to be a HUGE name. My first choice would be to hire Brian Burke away from Anaheim, and my second would be to lure Brent Sutter out of Jersey, but neither is likely to happen. But that's the type of name and hockey person Toronto has to get. One of the best, a top tier guy with a pedigree who can come in and do things HIS WAY without anyone second-guessing him. The Buds were kinda on the right track with Scotty Bowman, and even if they don't get him, hopefully he sets the terms that everyone will end up committing too. Total autonomy over hockey decisions, or as it's known around town...the Bryan Colangelo deal. That's the only way things will ever change in this organization.

3 (Sigh) Trade Mats - It's fairly obvious that Mats has to go. The haul he'd net in return (3-4 prospects or picks) is simply too much to pass up on for a team with no cap-space going forward and no legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. I would tell Mats that the team had every intention of bringing him back as a UFA in the summer if he was willing, to hopefully a younger, quicker and better team than he was leaving.

3.5 Mats Retires as a Leaf - Mats is our Derek Jeter. Ummmm, Mats is our Jim Kelly. Ok, neither of those is right but you get the point. Mats owns the Leaf record book and has long been the face of the franchise. A few days before July 1st you pull the Paul Holmgren and trade a 3rd or 4th rounder to which ever team ends up with Mats in exchange for his rights before he hits the open market. Give Mats a 2 year/$9M contract (same as Alffy makes) with another no-trade.

4. Say Goodbye to Antropov - It makes sense for the Leafs to listen to offers for any of their players not named Steen, Wellwood, Tlusty, Colaiacovo, Stralman or Pogge. The phones won't be ringing for guys like Tucker or Blake, so the guy I would try to move would be Antropov. He has another year on his contract before he becomes unrestricted, and he's playing well enough that if he keeps it going next year he could work his way into a Mike Ribeiro type of deal. If he's still with the Leafs, that situation terrifies me. Better to move him now when he has a lot of value. At only $2M next year, almost every team in the league could afford him.

5. Beef Up Scouting and Coaching - The salary cap may have leveled the playing field on the ice, but off of it the league's most profitable franchise needs to upgrade and max-out their entire scouting and coaching departments. There is no reason Toronto shouldn't be out-spending every team significantly in these areas. It's what the Yankees and Red Sox are doing under similar circumstances.

6. NO SUITS ALLOWED - This part is embarrassing. Canada's largest city and an original six franchise with home crowds that are under-whelming at best and far too tardy. I know this rule would never work because the entire lower bowl at the ACC is a corporate schmooze-fest, but can't we fine them or something if they don't get to their seats by the 5 minute mark? Something needs to be done. You don't think staring at 4000 empty ice-level seats at the beginning of every period is demoralizing for a home team?

7. Clear Cap-Space, Re-Stock the System, and Wait for the Cavalry to Arrive - If we could somehow look into the future, to the year 2010 and beyond and see a very solid Toronto roster stocked with youth, talent and depth, with ample cap-space, I have to believe players would be lining up to sign here. I could see some players who were born in Ontario and grew up Leaf fans maybe agreeing to slight home-town discounts on their contracts. Guys around the league know that winning a Cup in Toronto would be very similar to what the players who were on the Boston Red Sox in 2004 went through, it could be a career-maker. I think that opportunity, if the proper foundation is in place, would be very enticing to all types of free-agents.