Kaberle's Father....

Here we go again, another year is upon us. What the future hold is anyones guess at this point.

There has been much media attention regarding Kaberle in the off season. After the trade deadline had passed Brian Burke then went on the Fan590 and commented on the need and desire, or lack there of, to trade Kaberle in the off season.

Burke says he did not have a mandate from Coach Wilson to make a move, but the comments made by Kaberle's father (“I cannot imagine how he will get along with coach Wilson, who relies primarily on aggression and stress”) seem to suggest otherwise.

Is Burke just trying to spin the reality to appease Leaf Nation and the press? Maybe. Maybe Not? Does it really matter?

I think Wilson should be happy to have a veteran defenceman, albeit on that may not fit into his mold exactly. He is not a Phaneuf to be sure but how many Phaneuf's does a team need?

Get on with it Burke and Wilson. Your team falls flat on their face again this year it won't be Kaberle's fault.

Last Game of the season.....thankfully.

Nearly 1.5 Million people will have watched the Toronto Maple Leafs play "hockey" this year, and countless more millions watching on TV across the country.

Millions of Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys,hats,sticks and pucks will have been purchased, millions of liters of beer will have been drank, millions paid in parking and transportation getting to the games, and millions of disappointed fans once again.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are big business. A successful business. A well established brand with well known logos and colours. They are one of the top sports franchises in North America.

The question is why are they such a horrendous hockey team aside from the occasional venture into the playoffs?

The answer is because the success of the product on the ice has absolutely no bearing on the success of the business, and TML is in the business of making money not winning hockey games.

What other business has the luxury of have a poor product, and yet thrives? Could you imagine a beer that tasted like pig urine being the most sought after beer on the market? and the taste for the pig urine being passed on to the generations that follow?

This season is the low point since the lockout. Its all uphill from here.

Should we push back the 2016 Stanley Cup Parade ?

9 games remaining....

This season was declared a write off many months ago, but Burke et al have been busy trying to reinvent this team, and by all accounts they have made progress. The team is younger, quicker, and playing with heart.

Youthful exuberance has its advantages, but 82 games is a long season full of bumps and bruises and hard work, what is the glue that will bind the team together? How do you keep spirts high and the team dedicated to the task for 82 games ?

I am not convinced they have the goal tending situation resolved fully, but it may be functional until a better arrangement can be had. It will be a damn sight better then Toskala, of that there is no debate. I just don't think Gustavsson has the heart to be a full time net minder, and Giguere is slated for $7 Million in 2010/11 and is a unrestricted free agent the following year. I think Giguere is a stop gap measure and they will be looking to add to the goalie platoon. The problem is it is really tight market for goalies, with no notables coming onto the unrestricted market anytime soon, so where does the goalie come from? To make a trade you need trade-able commodities and with luck one of these young skaters will make a name for himself next year and become that trade bait. Forecast: Tough sledding ahead.

12 games remaining in the season

Thankfully the season is coming to a end, and the "new" team is showing some spunk, enough to give leaf nation some hope for next year, and the giddiness and the talk about playoffs next year is already starting to ramp up now that they have won an astounding 4 of 5 games. wow.

With all the changes, it is firmly team Burke now and 2010-11 can't possibly be any worse then this year, but its a little premature to be talking about playoffs.

at least baseball spring training has started....

The Blue Jays are making some noise in spring training. I know it is March, but maybe at least one of the Toronto teams might be respectable this year? The Raptors were putting a decent season together until recently when they imploded as soon as Bosh got hurt.

At least the raptors have one star player, what does NHL team 29 have, and better yet what is going to stop it from becoming team 30? By my estimate, nothing. The only thing stopping the Leafs from being team 30 right now is the 12 OTL's and the looser points that go along with them. I am sure they are going to go blazing into April with one giant final implosion.

12 games remaining in March, of which they might beat Edmonton and one or two others,maybe.

5-1 Carolina

Here we go again. The NHL season continues after the Olympic break, which saw some of the best hockey you will see for another 4 years, maybe, thats if the NHL allows the players to go to Sochi, but that is another story.

The Leafs sucked heading into the break and it is no surprise they sucked last night coming out of the break, but then team 28 playing team 29 is bound to bring out the worst.

Wilson said " “It was like the old Aqua Velva commercial, the slap across the face and like, ‘back to reality”

Back to Reality indeed. I am betting if Burke and Wilson are wishing they never took this job.

Canada-USA Feb. 21, 4:40 PM PST

Russia-Czech - Feb. 21, 12:00 PM PST
Canada-USA - Feb. 21, 4:40 PM PST
Sweden-Finland - Feb. 21, 9:00 PM PST


Sunday Olympic Hockey matchups, 3 games ! Should be some good hockey played, although I am not likely to see the Sweden game as it starts at midnight EST.