Go Leafs Go - Fan Forum 10/11

[hamilton]

Nononononononononono!

[Booche]

I challenge you to name to me a team in the NHL that plays with less balls.

What happened in Anaheim doesn’t matter much anymore.

What happened in Vancouver or Hartford, with the nifty manipulation that led to the drafting of the Sedin twins or Chris Pronger, is ancient hockey history.

The old records, frankly, have gotten old and stale.

Just weeks away from two years on the job of running the Maple Leafs, this much is now obvious: Brian Burke has been a grand disappointment as president and general manager of the Leafs. For all his sound and all his fury — and if you get to know him you can’t help but like him — the Maple Leafs are again a horrible hockey team.

They are 25th best in the NHL. With the 26th best powerplay. The 27th best penalty killers. And 28th in goal scoring.

This is Burke’s team. This is his preferred coach, even if he didn’t hire him. These are mostly players he has acquired.

If this was John Ferguson Jr., there would be a metaphorical noose waiting for his neck. He was an easy target. But because it’s Burke, who has won a Stanley Cup, who has never ducked a question, who did good work in Vancouver, who came to Toronto with so much hope and hype, there is the tendency to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But for how long?

That is the difficulty of the Maple Leafs situation. This is a team without much hope. They had no centres yesterday. They have no big time centres today. Tomorrow, other than the possibility of Nazem Kadri, there may be no other centres to choose from. They didn’t have their first round pick last June. They don’t have their first round draft pick this June. June of 2012 is a long way away.

The Burke Leafs, unless they vastly improve, are a team lacking leadership, skill, depth and a definitive blueprint to the future.

And there are few trades to be made in this salary capped National Hockey League world even though Burke has already made deals for Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg, players that were supposed to make the Leafs better. Individually, each should add something to the Leafs. Collectively, for everything they have provided, there is something still lacking, something missing. And inside, that must bother Burke terribly.

“I’m sure this (losing) is killing him,†said J.S. Giguere, the Leafs goalie and apparent spokesman, who won a Cup with Burke in Anaheim. “And I’m sure in the back of his mind, he knows we’re capable of doing good. I know Brian. He believes in us. We’re his players. He brought us in because he believes in us.â€

The Leafs best defenceman this season, Luke Schenn, was not a Burke draft choice. He inherited him from the previous administration.

The Leafs most complete forward this season, Nikolai Kulemin, was not a Burke selection. Kulemin was drafted in the Ferguson years.

The Leafs largest plus player, Mikhail Grabovski, was a Cliff Fletcher deal.

The Burke additions on defence, Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin, have yet to meet expectations, let alone play anywhere near the level of their salaries. All of them played better before arriving in Toronto.

The Burke additions on offence, Tyler Bozak, Kessel, Clarke MacArthur, Versteeg, Colton Orr, Mike Brown, Fredrik Sjostrom, Christian Hansen, were supposed to change the offensive nature of the team, or team toughness, or something: But like everything else, the wingers are strangled by the weakness at centre.

A quick confession: I was a huge advocate of the hiring of Burke. I thought he was a perfect choice for this city and the franchise. I was a fan of the way he rebuilt the Anaheim defence, which enabled the Ducks to win a Stanley Cup. I was impressed with the clever deals he had made in the past. I saw him as someone who would bring sense and stability and aggressiveness and purpose to the Maple Leafs front office, something that had been lacking for years.

But I didn’t like the Martin Gerber waiver claim in 2009, which didn’t allow the Leafs to bottom out when they ran out of goaltenders, thus costing the team a lottery pick which could have turned out to be John Tavares or Matt Duchene. I didn’t like the price he paid for Kessel. I think he sharply overpaid for Komisarek and Beauchemin. All of it in a rush of impatience.

I still believe Brian Burke can make this team work.

But it’s easy to wonder now if his bark isn’t a whole lot more dangerous than his bite?

[dave-O]

[Schwa.]

Leafs need an Ogie injection.

[hamilton]

I can't believe they pulled that off against Nashville. Let's hope this gives the team a shot of confidence. *fingers crossed*

[Schwa.]

First game I've watched til the end in a month.

[Guest Low Roller]

Did Giguere just get bored and left or what happened there?

[Schwa.]

re-injured something....i think I heard them say that.

[Kanada Kev]

Damn! Watched the highlights last night and was shocked to see how they came back to win it. The first period looked dreadful! Hope Giguere is OK. Gustavsson did an admirable job to hang on for those final minutes.

Parade = ON!

[Schwa.]

Yeah, Gustavsson got 3rd star for his heroics towards the end of the 3rd.

[Schwa.]

[Guest Low Roller]

Word is that Rogers is trying to buy the Leafs (and Marlies, Raptors, and Toronto FC).

[Booche]

I heard they are going to rename the city Tedrogers.

[rubberdinghy]

oh booche...that was fucking lame.

I'm thinking the whole city is going to be..."ON DEMAND"

bwahahahhahahahahahhahahA

[Schwa.]

you both fail.

[Schwa.]

Ron Wilson needs to go. This is pretty fucking pathetic.

[peipunk]

I had the pleasure of watching Tuesday nights epic collapse (I know the Habs did the same thing the night after) in a bar in Toronto. There was sort of a groan after the game tying goal with 8 seconds left, but then everyone just assumed they would lose from there.

[Kanada Kev]

I refuse to watch this tripe. They have reached that point. BIG change needs to happen. This experiment is NOT working. I understand there needs to be time to rebuild. This is year 3 with Wilson. Is it any better? There is some talent there, but they sure aren't playing for Ron.

Symbolic change at least. Send Ron back to the US. F this season and let all the young guys get tons of ice time and experience.

With Vancouver still going strong, at least there's one franchise in Canada that has hope. The rest are fucked

[Booche]

I fail to see how firing Ron Wilson is going to do anything positive with that roster. Brian Burke has assmbled a bad team. How can anyone expect them to compete when they dont have any centers?

And that doesnt even begin to look at the problems on the wing. It's a poor collection of players, plain and simple. Did any of you really think Clarke Macarther was going to keep up his early pace?

The fingers are entirely pointed at Brian Burke and should he fire Ron Wilson the only thing he will be doing is buying himself some much needed vacation away from the blame.

[Schwa.]

Ron Wilson firing? Because SOMETHING has to change and he has not even come close to motivating them.

Clarke Macarthur? No. I don't think anyone expected the run of goals OR for them to continue.

Finger at Burke? yep. Shitty team ya built there assface.

[Guest Low Roller]

Thankfully they have some bluechip first round prosp.... oh.

[Kanada Kev]

Yes, there are issues with centres and wingers. Dumping the coach won't FIX that. However, at this point it doesn't seem as if ANY of the players are playing for Ron at all. Look at his body language on the bench in the replays as he realizes this too. He knows that it is highly unlikely he makes it to the end of the season, let alone the end of the calendar year.

At least there are a lot of other teams to watch in the NHL. I loudly laugh at people who actually pay big money to go and watch the Leafs at the ACC. It's like an abusive relationship and they keep on doing it.

[badams]

I read at stat where 93.7% of Leaf fans are sadomasochists.

[hamilton]

I was reading a book about statistics, probability and such recently that did an in-depth study on the effect of a losing team dumping the coach. Effectiveness of doing so? Statistically insignificant. Wilson isn't the problem: inexperience + lack of talent is the issue.

Kadri and Bozak may be great in the future, but the only players ready to explode NOW are Kulemin and Kessel, and they don't have any support. Mike Brown is the only fearsome bottom-six player they have, and he's out for the next month.

[Whitey]

I loudly laugh at people who actually pay big money to go and watch the Leafs at the ACC. It's like an abusive relationship and they keep on doing it.

Kev, you are a fair weather fan. Yes, the Leafs suck, but people still want to attend games and cheer on their team.