Let's Draft Again (1999-2000)

Don’t you ever wonder how our team would look like if we had made the right draft choices instead of the poor ones we usually made? So many good players have been passed over for complete duds who didn’t even make the NHL because they didn’t know how to hold a hockey stick. This is why I have decided to look at some of the players we could have had if we drafted differently. Although we have to remember hindsight is always clearer then what the general managers see at the draft tables.

So basically I will start from the 1999-2000 draft all the way to the 2007-2008 draft because in those years I think we made some poor choices. The last two season have been not as bad and I will like to give credit the current scouting team for their excellent work in getting players like Schenn and Kadri. They might not be the best players in the draft but as of now they are two very good prospects. What I will do is i will redraft the seven rounds and instead pick the best player that went soon after the Leafs drafted. There will be times where I will decide to keep the players the Leafs selected due to them being good players and better then ones that followed them.

**The order of the players is by rounds... so first players is from the 1^st round and so on.**

1999

Players we drafted – Brad Boyes, Kris Vernarsky, Mikael Tellqvist, Jean-Francoise Racine, Miguel Delisie, Vadim Sozinov, Markus Seikola, Lubos Velebny, Alexander Shinkar and Jean-Philippe Cote.

Players we should have drafted – Brad Boyes (i would keep him), Antoine Vermette, Micheal Rupp, Dominic Moore, Lubomir Visnovsky, Darcy Hordichuk, Matthew Lombardi, Antti Miettinen, Alexander Shinkar (the guys after him sucked even more) and Simon Gamache.

This draft didn’t have much class at the spots the Leafs were picking but we did miss out on guys like Vermette, Moore and Visnovsky. These three would have been better additions then some of the weak talent we picked up. This draft didn’t hurt as much but then next few will hurt where it really hurts as die hard fans.

I will be back tomorrow with the next draft and it’s only going to get worse I am afraid.

Weight Room Transcript (Leafs Style)

This is a little transcript which gives you a little insight on the happenings of the Leafs (all fake of course). This has been perfected by Downgoesbrown but I am giving it a shot to add some energy to TML Nation.

(28 guys are working out in the weight room)

**Trainer walks in**

Trainer: NOOOOO... this can’t be happening... i’ll have to actually do some work this year!? I like guys like that fat kid we had last year.

Wilson: Are you talking about Wellwood?

Trainer: Never got his name.. cause he came once and that was by mistake. He was going to the Cafeteria and made a wrong turn.

Mike Komisarek: Hey trainer... can you help me with my weight lifting?

Trainer: What’s weight lifting? Never heard of such a term.

Burke: Have you heard of the term.. FIRED? Time to bring in the real boys!

**In walk two supremely fit trainers**

Burke: Boys I want....

Entire Team: proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence!!!

Burke: That’s more like it!!!

Wilson: Burkie perhaps we should ease up on these boys... I mean it’s an optional training day after all.

Burke: BOYS! Tell coach what you do for guys who think this is optional!

Entire Team: We pray that they live to tell the tale of their encounter with Garnet Exelby in the Parking lot.

Garnet Exelby: I love the parking lot part the most. (gives a deadly smile to Vesa)

**Vesa Toskala faints**

Wilson: What happened to him? Don’t scare him guys!

Garnet Exelby: I don’t know what’s wrong with the guy, whenever i come near him he faints.

Luke Schenn: Ummm... yeaaaa... that’s my fault. I kinda showed him Exelby’s montage on Youtube.

Entire Team: Yikes!!

Kaberle: Where’s Poni by the way?

Burke: Caught him praying that JFJ would come back.

Entire Team: May Poni’s soul rest in peace!

Wilson: If you keep this up we’re not going to have any players for the first game this season

Burke: The opposition won’t have many players after the 1^st period.

Wilson: We can’t go out there and play like goons all the time.

Burke: Why not?!

Wilson: The point of the game is to score goals not hurt people all the time.

Burke: Why are you my best friend again?

Wilson: You’re crazy!

Burke: Thank You.

**The players trained for the rest of the day and are told to now live in the fitness** room*

Jason Allison is Back!!!

Jason Allison is back and I am so excited! Ok no I am not ... but it’s good to see the guy after he just disappeared off the radar for some time. An excellent player back in the day but it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with all the news things that have been slowly added to the NHL. Jason Allison’s willingness to even put on a pair of skates is tremendous and will make this training camp even more interesting for Leafs fans. Competition will again increase if he gets a hang of it out there on the ice very quickly. Also, him being a local boy doesn’t hurt the equation much cause that’ll bring back his passion a bit faster for this game which he randomly deserted.

Jason Allison was always regarded as a slow and sluggish in terms of his overall hockey abilities. There is no doubt though that this guy could put up the points when he was on top of his game. He was when at the top of his game a top 6 forward and a very capable one at that. His stats don’t lie even with the one year in 2005 here in Toronto he potted 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) and that’s not bad for only 66 games. His best season was in 2001 and that was with the Bruins when he really was at the peak of his career and he potted a fantastic 95 points (36 goals, 59 assists). His performance on the ice in those years was phenomenal and I supposed that does make him acceptable for a tryout as this can only be a win-win situation for Burke and his team.

What would Allison bring to our team if he blew the coaching staff’s socks off at camp? Well he was known to have a flair for the net and thus was quite good at putting the puck in the net. His offensive talents were quite good indeed, and no one questioned them at all. His 6’3’’ frame didn’t do much to ruin his case as he used to do well in the corners and was tough to move once he was set on getting the puck. Unfortunately, that was if he reached the puck before the defender, and in most races he was second. This was always his problem because his skating was horrid to put it nicely and if he has improved on that facet of his game he might become extremely valuable. His passing skills plus his pass first mindset made him one of the finer passers in the game. He could pick players with ease if you gave him open space and he was respected for that from his teammates and the opposition. Although many questioned the wisdom of not shooting more in Allison’s case because he had a good shot back then and most people were dumbfounded that he didn’t shoot more often.

Whatever Allison does this training camp, this will only be a positive for the Leafs who could use some positive news in terms of handling players. This way Allison will only have good things to say about the Leafs and perhaps he might even show up as a really good hockey player. His experience will be invaluable as well because I am sure some of the younger players on this team will go to him and ask for some great tips that he might have. His tips about playing in Toronto could certainly help out in the long run for some of the younger guys who don’t have many experienced players to ask. Allison will come out firing but will he be rusty or not is the main question that the coaches will have.

This certainly is going to be an interesting camp for everyone involved. He will be scrutinised to death by the Toronto media and I can guarantee that.

Sophomore Jinx: Luke Schenn?

A lot of attention will be paid towards the offensive side of the Leafs game and that makes sense since there is a lot of young talent there. Although I will keenly be observing Luke Schenn’s progress in his sophomore year. The second year for an athlete is considered the hardest, because of the expectations from the fans, coaches and general managers for a repeat performance or improved performance

.

Luke Schenn showed immense growth throughout last season, and his level of maturity can never be questioned. He handled himself so well that there are shouts for handing him the captaincy for the Leafs already. Obviously i wouldn’t go that far yet, because he has to show how consistent he can be plus how he can improve his game even further. Toronto is at times a tough place to grow as a hockey player but Schenn has handled himself exceptionally well in front of the media and on the ice. Everyone would like to see his offensive numbers go up and I am sure he has worked hard on that aspect of his game over the summer, but he will have to remember what his main job is and that’s stopping the offensive stars of the opposing team. He did that really well last year but will he be able to do the same thing this year, with the offensive stalwarts around the NHL knowing his weaknesses a little better than they did last year when he was new to the NHL?

He fits the belligerence and truculence requirements that Burke has set up for the team and that certainly won’t be a problem. It will be interesting to see who is paired up with all the changes that have been made over the off season. I am sure Wilson has something in mind; I would think he might be paired up with Beauchemin who is more offensively gifted then Schenn is. They could be a lesser version of the Leafs’ top defensive pairing which will most likely consist of Kaberle and Komisarek.

It will be interesting to see how much ice time he’s given this year with the amount of quality defensemen we have in the team. I would think he will still get a lot of time if he plays like he did last year, because he was crucial to whatever little success we had at the backend. Schenn will be keen to get started especially after all the success he had last year, but he should remember that good hockey players can be found anywhere... it’s the great ones that are hard to pick out. He needs to become a great NHL defenseman and he has all the potential in the world to become one if he stays focused on the task. He doesn’t come across as a kid who will stop working once the money starts rolling in, because if he stops working he might see himself gone really fast.

I hope Schenn has a fantastic sophomore season and he surprises everyone with the improvements he’s made over the summer. This certainly is shaping up to be quite a season even before the puck has been dropped.

Rookie Tourney Squad Announced

The rookie tourney that will be held in Kitchener is shaping up to be an exciting one for Leafs fans as the roster was released today. The roster includes names like Bozak, Viktor Stalberg, Mikhail Stefanovich, Nazem Kadri and Jonas Gustavsson.

Player	Position
Alex Berry	Forward
Jesse Blacker	Defence
Tyler Bozak	Forward
Joel Champagne	Forward
Jamie Devane	Forward
Andrew Engelage	Goaltender
Stefano Giliati	Forward
Richard Greenop	Forward
Carl Gunnarsson	Defence
Jonas Gustavsson	Goaltender
Christian Hanson	Forward
Nazem Kadri	Forward
John Kurtz	Forward
Simon Lacroix	Defence
Brandon Manning	Defence
Juraj Mikus	Defence
Dale Mitchell	Forward
James Reimer	Goaltender
Greg Scott	Forward
Robert Slaney	Forward
Barron Smith	Defence
Viktor Stalberg	Forward
Mikhail Stefanovich	Forward
Adam Wallace	Defence

Squad courtesy of mapleleafs.com

Weekly Roundup of Minor Leafs News

“Weekly roundup of Minor Leafs news” is what I have decided to start as a little feature here at TML Nation. Yes I know it’s a Tuesday and this doesn’t make any sense at all, but I am still going ahead with it. Although I will be doing this feature on Sundays only from here on in. This will basically consist of news that perhaps is not worthy of getting a full article on itself but good enough for a paragraph in this feature.

I hope you guys enjoy this as I will be giving my opinion on these little news stories as well.

First up is a little story about Nazem Kadri and how his dentist decided that the wisdom tooth comes before hockey. Therefore Nazem will not be playing in the Euro Can Cup this year due to his wisdom being snatched from him. I don’t think Nazem would really be missing much by skipping this year’s Euro Can Cup and thus perhaps it’s good he sits out. Also, hopefully tooth decay doesn’t become a permanent fixture otherwise the Toronto media might not be so pleased.

Another little snippet on Nazem Kadri as Brian Burke told the media that Nazdaq will certainly be lacing up the skates in one of the first two exhibition games the Leafs will play this year. Hopefully Nazem can pot in a hat trick and show Burke what he’s missing out on. There will be a lot of pressure on the young man to perform right away and we should ease up on him if he doesn’t do much in the first game. I don’t think he’s that kind of player who can make the jump into the NHL right away, he needs to be eased in slowly and methodically.

A lot of stuff has been said about the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan buying more of the MLSEL and thus supposedly making us worse. I don’t think they are exactly the ones that should be blamed for how woeful the Leafs have played over the years and especially the past 4 years. After all these guys teach the kids of Ontario so let’s all ease up on the nerds. There are many other aspects of the Toronto Maple Leafs that you can blame such as the actual players, coaches and General Managers. Although you have my go ahead to do whatever you like with Richard Peddie.

Komisarek seems all set to play for our rivals USA as he’s considered to be a certain pick for the final team. I think that’s the right move as he’s a good defender to have in the backend and clearly Burke values him a lot cause he just picked him up for the Leafs as well. It’ll be interesting how much hurt Komi lays out at the world level, I think he will be handing out big bruises and broken bones about every time he steps out on the ice... I might be underestimating him.

That’s all for this week and I hope you enjoyed this feature. As you can see Nazem’s dental history wasn’t really worth making an whole article on neither was his chance to play in the first exhibition game. Although the Teachers’ invasion on the Maple Leafs is certainly something to be concerned about it’s still not good enough for me. Komisarek was close to getting his own article as I was afraid for my family’s well being, I have unfortunately taken the risk...don’t worry about me if I don’t post for the next few weeks as I will be lying in the hospital from a Komisarek forecheck.

In all seriousness this was fun to do and I would like to see more comments from you guys.

Jason Blake Interview (Courtesy LeafsTV)

An Excellent interview by LeafsTV talking with Jason Blake about his battle with cancer and how it effected his season a few season back. Also, how he overcame the adversities of two years ago and made a strong comeback last season.

Some Excellent answers from Jason Blake and it seems that he has great character contradicting the New York media that made him out to be a negative influence in the dressing room. The way he handled being benched is classy and something other players should learn from.

Kessel Rumours Again?

There have been a lot of rumours spreading around saying that we are back in the hunt for Phil Kessel. I think it’s pure rubbish and I just don’t see it happening after the little miscommunication that went on between Burke and Chiarelli at the draft. There was a huge chance that a deal would have been made back then but after the mishap I just don’t see these two getting together to talk about Kessel again.

There is no doubt in anyones mind that Kessel would help our team immensely and would probably make our team extremely good. This is the only reason that would attract Brian Burke to Phil Kessel. I don’t see the problem being from Burke’s end but the reason this deal will not happen is the fact that Chiarelli won’t be willing to deal with Burke anymore on this player at least. Of course if Burke blows his socks off then he will have a deal, otherwise Burke will have to look elsewhere for his top six forward.

Rumours likes these are always spread around to create some excitement especially in Canadian cities where even the slightest of rumours will become national news in a few seconds. This rumour has just lost steam in my eyes and they are basically clutching at straws by drawing up this rumour out of thin air. I hope common sense prevails and people making the rumours stop with this nonsense which is entirely improbable. If I am proven to be wrong then shame on me but I don’t even see them discussing Kessel in trade talks let alone thinking of dealing him.

Also, recently Phil Kessel was asked about the rumours and he clearly seemed a little agitated by all this trade talk surrounding him. It would certainly help to see what his demands are before I label someone the bad guy but right now I think Kessel is in a poor position and Chiarelli is trying to see how the waiting game plays out. The Leafs certainly can’t be the only team interested in trading with the Briuns for Kessel, and this will most definitely factor in the final decision from Peter Chiarelli. I wish Kessel the best with whatever happens cause he sure is a fine player to watch even if he plays for the Bruins.

Mats Sundin's Future

There have been rumours floating around about Mats Sundin thinking of making a decision in the near future. Last season proved to only be about the Sundin saga and boy was it annoying. This year hopefully he will make a decision much faster because no one wants to go through that torture again. Hockeybuzz had a great time with his indecision no doubt about that with the amount of times he was rumoured to be going to every team in the NHL.

There are many reasons for me to write about Sundin and his possible return for another go at the cup everyone craves to hold at the end of the season. I think he might actually consider returning to the Leafs for his last season before he retires and heads back to his lavish house in Sweden. The Leafs are as of now lacking offensive star power and Sundin would clearly become that number one center we are looking for. Financially he would have to take a pay cut and I am sure he would be willing to do that to wear the Leafs jersey once again. The problem is that the Leafs are going down another path where only youngsters are allowed, Burke has been keen on keeping the team young and not adding too many veterans. Sundin is old and Burke would have to consider that before offering Sundin a contract. There is also the little dillemma of the Leafs not being a stanley cup contender thus Sundin would again be going through a losing season most likely even if they make the playoffs.

Due to the many problems behind the signing of Mats Sundin, Brian Burke will probably not even look down that road and just scratch this possibility off his list. This would certainly go down as an attempt for a quick fix and we all know those don’t work too often with the Maple Leafs. Plus it wouldn’t be nice to see Sundin have to go through the rigours of the regular season only to see the Leafs completely miss the playoffs or to lose in the first round after barely crawling into the last playoff spot. Mats Sundin will have to look at his option and perhaps he might even head back to Vancouver for another go with Luongo and the boys at the Stanley Cup. It’s a tough choice no doubt about it, but there certainly will be interest from a few teams that are a piece away from the cup. As long as he keeps his financial demands on the lower end of the spectrum he will easily find a home and a team where winning the cup is a real possiblity.

There is the option of retirement if he doesn’t find the right fit, but I just don’t see him retiring. If he does then good on him cause it’s really hard watching him play for another NHL team and scoring goals for them. Whatever he decides, he’s been a great player for the Leafs and will always remain a legend here in Toronto. Although please Mats let’s not make this too long for us poor souls.

Patrick Marleau Trade Rumour Analysis

A silly trade rumour has been making the circles recently and I am going to do a little review on it. The rumour was posted on Hockey Bums (not really the most reliable source) and it was released soon after San Jose’s coach decided that Marleau is not worthy of being captain in shark land. It seems that Big Joe will get the captaincy and rightly so, even if he doesn’t have much luck in the playoffs.

The trade is as follows....

To SJS:
Ian White
2011 2nd round pick
2011 2nd round pick
Jiri Tlusty
Mikhail Stefanovich

To TOR:
Patrick Marleau
Derek Joslin/Nick Petrecki

This is a trade that will never go down as it’s a complete rip off and Burke would never let that happen. Patrick Marleau doesn’t exactly love Ron Wilson to actually want to play for the Leafs after their first stint didn’t work out so well. Plus the Leafs will be giving a ton up with not a lot coming back.

To break this trade down... The Leafs will be getting a 1st line left winger and an excellent defensive prospect for an NHL ready defenseman, two excellent offensive prospects and two 2^nd rounders to top it off. This would be a huge steal for the Sharks.

In terms of the financial hit for the Leafs they will basically be adding 6.3 million for one year and then will be looking at having to face the fear of him moving away for nothing. Of course I don’t think the deal would go through anyways unless a contract was set in stone prior to the deal between the Leafs and Sharks. It wouldn’t make sense to sign him for one year as we are not really close to a stanley cup run to be looking for such quick fixes.

Even though the chances of this trade going through are almost nil, it’s always interesting to look through the offers and analyze them and see if we would win the trade or not. Clearly this is a big no no if you are Brian Burke and would reek of desperation if such a trade were to go through.

Blake an All-Star?

Jason Blake recently made the NHL All-star lineup for players over the age of 35 and I am quite shocked myself. There are some high quality players around the league that are over 35 and Jason Blake is not really the first guy you think of when you are picking you starting lineup consisting of 35+ (age that is) players. It seems the people who picked this list are either trying to focus on him because he plays for the Leafs or due to his battle with cancer. I am not knocking Jason Blake as he was quite good last year but that doesn’t mean he deserves to make this list.

Goalie: Martin Brodeur

Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermeyer

Forwards: Teemu Selanne, Slava Kozlov, Jason Blake

There are some high quality players in that list and it’s surprising to see Jason Blake in it. One thing that Blake still impresses people with is the fact he’s a speedy skater for his age, and he can probably skate with the best of them and still come out on top. He was also a big part of the Leafs offense last season and thus probably got the vote as well. The reasoning given by the NHL is as follows...

“Talk about a late bloomer: Blake didn't play his first NHL game until he was 25 and didn't break the 20-goal mark until he was 29. Since then, though, he's had five seasons of 20 or more goals, including a 40-goal performance in 2006-07, and led Toronto in scoring last season with 25 goals and 63 points. Blake is one of the NHL's quickest skaters, and though he's just 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, he's more than willing to get into traffic to score goals. He was the Leafs' best forward for much of last season.” (nhl.com)

The players that I feel should have made this list ahead of Jason Blake are Daniel Alfredsson, Mark Recchi and Alexei Kovalev. Those that disagree with me can have a viable rebuttal by saying that Alfredsson and Kovalev play on the right wing thus were not put in the list. If that’s the reasoning then perhaps you can put him in the list although Recchi at 40 years of age is as good as Blake in my opinion. It’s rare for a Leafs fans to argue against his own player, but this selection is a lame one and deserves to be argued against. Jason Blake has had quite a few goals but with the amount of shots he was taking you would think he was Ovechkin or something.

In the end the decision has been made and Blake is the winner, we should be happy as Leafs fan to see one our our older guys being appreciated and that too for his offensive abilities on the ice. I hope he has another great season and proves me wrong by scoring 50 goals (even half of that would be fine :p).

HF Releases Rankings for Leafs Prospects

So the Rankings are out and they look just about right in my eyesFor those that aren’t familiar with these grades mean here is an explanation. The numbers beside a player’s name show how much potential a player has with 1 representing mediocre and 10 representing Crosbyesque skills. The letter (A-F) tell the reader how likely it is for the player to actually follow through on their potential, thus A would represent almost certainly will reach potential and F represents“he should choose another sport perhaps”.

Maple Leafs Top 20 at a glance

1. (NR) Nazem Kadri, C – 8.0 C
2. (NR) Jonas Gustavsson, G – 7.5 B
3. (3) Mikhail Stefanovich, C – 7.5 C
4. (18) Tyler Bozak, C – 7.5 C
5. (6) Viktor Stalberg, LW – 7.5 C
6. (4) Jimmy Hayes, RW – 7.0 C
7. (NR) Kenny Ryan, RW – 7.0 C
8. (NR) Jesse Blacker, D – 7.0 C
9. (5) Chris DiDomenico, C – 7.5 D
10. (NR) Christian Hanson, RW – 6.5 B
11. (9) James Reimer, G – 7.0 C
12. (8) Dale Mitchell, RW – 6.5 C
13. (NR) Jerry D’Amigo, LW – 6.5 C
14. (14) Phil Oreskovic, D – 6.0 B
15. (16) Jerome Flaake, LW – 6.5 C
16. (11) Matt Frattin, RW – 7.0 D
17. (13) Joel Champagne, C – 6.0 C
18. (NR) Carl Gunnarsson, D – 6.0 C
19. (NR) Robert Slaney, LW – 6.0 C
20. (NR) Jamie Devane, LW – 6.0 D

Nazem Kadri as expected is topping the list and rightly so cause he certainly is our best prospect right now. According to HF Nazem Kadri has excellent potential and is quite likely to follow through on it. It’s also interesting to see Gustavvson high up on the list, to be specific he’s second with a rating of 7.5B. He seems to have a great shot at reaching his potential according to HF that is. We have quite a good batch of youngsters in the cupboard and that can only bode well for the future of our beloved team. We may have a lack of top 6 talent in our team right now, but there certainly is a good batch of youngsters who could become top 6 forwards for the Leafs in the near future.

None of the ratings were over the top and I thought they were well thought out and pretty much on the spot. Burke has done a good job in replenishing what was quite a pathetic prospect pool, and has turned into one where we could actually be hopeful of a bright future offensively and defensively.

Acton won the Lottery (ROFL)

Leafs news is so rare these days that we are having major newspapers start to write about things such as Chelios asking for a job, countdown to the first preseason game and today the fact that Acton won the lottery and is $98585 richer. I assure you that when I am thinking of topics to write personal lives of players are never an option as this is not gossip land. Although once the news is out what can I do as it was this time with Acton.

Since I didn’t have much to write about today I will write what may end up being one of the worst pieces in the history of Leafs blogging... not Hockey blogging cause no one can outdue the anonymous liar Eklund and his wild imagination. If he got his way we would have traded Kaberle for every single player in the league ...twice. This is not going to be a rant on Eklund so stop drooling, this is not your lucky day.

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Firstly I will be looking at the significance of Keith Acton winning the lottery. As you can see Burke is smart and he knows the value of Acton and his luck. Unfortunately his luck didn’t pay dividends in the past years for the Leafs but perhaps they will this time. If the Leafs don’t win just with his luck then at least they will have some lucky hands to go out into the world and buy them all some winning lottery tickets. Ever noticed that many times the guys who win the lottery tickets are already making enough money that the win becomes insignificant to their bank balance.

I didn’t get to pay my tribute to Ted Kennedy and would like to do that in this little paragraph. I didn’t get to see him cause I was still in the heavens somewhere plotting my entry into this world. You can tell though that he was quite the leader and one the Leafs would love to have right now in the team. The way he influenced people who watched him seems extraordinary and he certainly was a good player as well to boot. It’s sad to see a member of Leafs lose his life but he will always be remembered even by those that were unfortunate to not see him play when the Leafs were actually decent. We will miss you Ted no doubt about it.

Did Anyone see those new jerseys for Team Canada? Not exactly the best designing job but who cares cause they’ll sell anyways. I know I will be buying one not sure who’s name I would like to have on the back of it. Perhaps Iginla cause he’s a great player to watch and does everything a captain should be doing. Don’t suggest Crosby cause I don’t like him.. I like Ovechkin. Yes, I know who whole “he went to two finals, won one...what has Ovechkin done? “ . Who cares? I like Ovechkin.

If you actually read this then you truly are bored, cause I don’t know how I’ve written this piece but I guess through this little article I got to share my views on a few topics. Hopefully my next article will be a little better and of higher quality compared to this one.

Chris Chelios (asks for job with Leafs)

**Hey readers... It would be nice if you guys would comment on the articles as it will create discussion here at TML Nation. Also through your comments I will be able to learn more about the way my readers think.**

Chris Chelios recently asked Ron Wilson if he could get a job with the Maple Leafs (thanks to The Sun for breaking this news). He’s certainly one of the greatest American players to have played the game and there is no doubt he was serious when he asked this question due to his passion for the game. Obviously, that doesn’t mean you get sentimental and give a 47 year old a job on your team.

It’s clear that he is a passionate player who will do anything to lace up the skates and play in the NHL one more time. The problem is that he was starting to slow down and it seems his body is starting to say “It’s time retire Chris”, while his mind is saying “Come on Chris you’re still young!”. Seriously, if Chris came up and asked Wilson the same question perhaps 10 years ago, he would have been signed before he could say anything else, unfortunately he just asked way too late.

There are many reasons why he wouldn’t even be considered these days, firstly we have an abundance of defenders and are already going to be sitting out NHL ready defensemen due to the amount of guys we have. Chris Chelios certainly has all the traits that Burke covets from his players but he lacks in one thing that even he can’t change and that’s age. The amount of experience he has is invaluable and the amount of respect Burke has for him is clear as he has Chris at the US Camp to help with the players.

There is one thing though that should be done now that Chelios has started to talk a bit. Perhaps we could offer him a job helping the players because the amount of knowledge he has on all aspects of the game could help our youth big time. Obviously, it seems that Chris is just not ready to give up his pursuit for a contract, and as usual he’s putting up a fight until the end and you have to commend him for that no doubt about it. I wish he gets a contract cause he’s been one of my favourite players over the years just for the way he approaches the game and the way he conducts himself with the fans, media and his own teammates. If players want a role model to follow then Chris Chelios certainly wouldn’t be a bad choice.

We can all hope that he gets what he wants, but I am sure Burke will always have a spot open for him and if he doesn’t then he will probably create a new position just for Chelios. Sadly, that position won’t be on the ice I am afraid. Thanks for asking though Chris.

Hagman Underrated?

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Niklas Hagman is not one of those players who is keen on staying in the spotlight and he somehow manages to stay away from the media even in such a hockey crazy city like Toronto. Unfairly though he seems to go unnoticed even when he’s playing well and this is just not right in my eyes. I think he deserves more praise then he is given. He played his heart out last season yet is rarely mentioned and someetimes is completely missed by people in their lineup predictions (now that’s silly).

He certainly is one of the most underrated Leafs I have ever seen. He doesn’t seem to get any positive or negative feedback from the fans no matter what he does. The problem is that if he makes one mistake next season fans will get on him as if he’s never done anything for the Leafs. We need to start noticing these players and not just consider them as extra pieces in the team that might not be here later on. Niklas Hagman has always been a team player and certainly doesn’t mind not being in the spotlight although any player would want to be appreciated by the fans for his good play by chanting his name in appreciation. Unfortunately, fans feel players like Belak deserve praise (when he was here) yet guys like Hagman don’t. I don’t blame the fans though as they are a loyal bunch and appreciate their players, it’s just that he’s portrayed as a quiet guy and no one seems to notice him from the media. I think it should be the media’s goal to get this guy on TV more as he probably has a lot of insight to offer. Sometimes he performs really well but the media still focuses on other guys much more intensely then they do for the actual guy who won the game.

Why does Hagman deserve more attention from the fans? He’s a fantastic all around player, he can score with his snappy shot which is deadly accurate as we have seen him serve up some top cheese in games. His passes are on the money most of the time due to his superbly developed hockey smarts. One thing no one can put him down for is the fact his defensive game is top class for a forward of his scoring prowess. He certainly was one of the better signings by Fletcher, it’s understandable if a guy like Stempniak goes unrecognised but someone who is putting up good numbers deserves a bit more respect don’t you think?

I didn’t write this article to tell fans that Hagman is 1^st line material, but I certainly think he deserves a spot on the 2^nd line ahead of players like Stempniak that’s for sure. I hope fans start appreciating his game more and more as next season goes along.

MIkhail Stefanovich

The Maple Leafs have an interesting prospect in Mikhail Stefanovich and he’s certainly one guy I am looking forward to seeing play with the big club soon. The question is will he make the big team right away by blowing away his coaches or will he go to the Marlies for a warm up year. The belief around most of the Leafs’ fans is that he will be going to the Marlies to gain more experience and strength before he plays for the Leafs.

I think that would be an excellent move because Dallas Eakins will teach him the fine points of the game and this will hopefully make him a much better player then he is right now. There is no doubt that Stefanovich has top level potential, because he can score goals like the best of them at his level. He has been spoken highly of from the likes of Patrick Roy who was his coach before. 49 goals is a nice haul even if it was acheived in the QMJHL and he should be proud of scoring that many goals.

The reports on this kid are that he has a fine shot and he is quite a flashy player. The Leafs require a couple of players like him who can just pick apart the other team’s defense by simply dangling right past them. There are hopes that he can translate this into the NHL with the better Defenseman. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how his season fares in the AHL.

Kabs Staying!

After all of the media coverage nothing happened. Tomas Kaberle will remain a Maple Leaf unless he decides that he needs a change of scenary. Most people know that Kaberle is not interested in leaving the Leafs at all because he’s quite comfortable with the city and the fans. He has never really had a bad reputation with the fans and never will because he’s too nice of a guy to not like and appreciate.

The Defensive side of the game for the Leafs will be solid indeed next year, as the back end will provide a good mix of offence and defence for the Leafs throughout the tiring regular season. There can only be one reason for Burke not trading Tomas Kaberle and that reason is basically Burke not getting the right offer for Kaberle. The asking price was always a tad high and no one was going to meet it unless they were desperate, clearly no one was desperate enough to give Burke three major components of their assets.

Let’s not focus on what Tomas Kaberle will bring to our newly patched up defensive batch. He will certainly add the offensive numbers that this defensemen were getting ridiculed for. We all know they can defend their zone but points are a problem. Kaberle if he can get back to his old groove will provide those numbers and make this back end one of the toughest in the league. Kaberle will certainly be getting a lot of minutes and his usual powerplay spot as playmaker. It seems as if his partner on the powerplay will be Beauchemin which is a sound pairing to have back there. We all know Francois has a superlative shot just like Kubina and Kaberle is one of the smoothest passers of the puck. We all hope the chemistry between them is good otherwise we could have one disastrous season in terms of our powerplay numbers.

As for his partner in five on five situations, I would have to say that he will lace up with Komisarek because Burke has been keen on stating the fact that Kaberle will do better with more toughness surrounding him. I think these two could be as deadly as markov and Komisarek were a few years back. Of course Markov is a fantastic Defenseman but Kaberle is not to shabby himself. We will now have a puck carrying defenseman and that problem can now be put to bed.

We all hope he does well and proves Burke right in keeping him. If he doesn’t do well then Burke will certainly have to answer the critics for not pulling the trigger on a deal when Kaberle’s value was still respectable.

The John Mitchell Conundrum

John Mitchell was brilliant last season and one would think he will be in the starting lineup against the Canadiens in our season opener. The problem lies with the amount of players we have who are able to do his job. Unfortunately, he’s not a top six forward although he could become one as he develops. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind about his superb shot. The two goals against New York Rangers showed us how good his shot can be.

The acquisitions of bottom six personnel has somewhat ruined his chances of making the team especially with the trade bringing Primeau into the team. In normal circumstances I would still go with John Mitchell over Primeau but it fully depends on Ron Wilson and his willingness to drop a veteran forward like Wayne.

There are many other players within the Leafs cupboard that would love to get a shot in training camp to impress the coaches into giving them a spot. John Mitchell will certainly have to bring his game if he wants to even have a shot in making this team. It would be a gutsy move by Ron Wilson to plug Mitchell into the 2^nd line but you never know he could exceed with the extra ice time like he did last year. It’s really hard to take players like Mitchell off the team because they work so hard and are determined to make their case heard. He’s a fantastic player in both aspects of the game and Ron Wilson will know all about that. A responsible forward in the defensive part of the game is crucial to any team.

There are people in the NHL that question his skating although I would disagree because he seemed to get better and better with his skating as the games progressed and he got more ice time. He’s a hard worker and he knows that skating is a part of his game that he will have to work on and don’t expect a half hearted effort from him either, he’ll surely have worked on it throughout the summer. I hope he gets a fair chance to prove himself because he’s slowly but surely becoming a fan favourite in Toronto because of his work ethic.

Balsillie The Drama Queen (Blames Leafs)

Jim Balsillie is a fantastic businessman and it’s not really hard to figure out why he’s adamant on bringing the Coyotes to Hamilton. I don’t really care which way this battle goes because I will only be cheering for the Leafs. If this means more chances for me getting tickets to Leafs’ games then that’s great cause this new team could prove to be a filter to get rid of the wannabe fans.

I don’t have a special interest in Balsillie’s attempts although I don’t like his continuous blame game approach to this whole deal. This whole process should have been handled in a much more professional manner then it has and Balsillie is fully to blame. There was no need of going public with his ideas and in fact I think he’s ruined his chances by bringing so much publicity to this whole deal. Bettman perhaps wouldn’t have been so rough with Balsillie if Jim had been more private in his approach and rather less forceful then he’s been. The deal is a fantastic one in terms of the financial value for the current Coyotes’ owner Jerry Moyes. He obviously doesn’t care if the team gets moved cause he has debt to take care of and that’s his first priority.

The recent blame game that caused me to write this article is him saying Richard Peddie is holding him down from getting the team. I think we all know that Peddie is trying his level best to convince Bettman and the other owners that Jim is not worthy of being an owner. It’s typical of any businessman to do this because he wants to protect his business which would be hampered by a new team and in business every cent counts. I don’t care if the Leafs are a rich team, Peddie knows that he will lose severe business to Hamilton and Balsillie if this deal goes through. As fans a new team would be a good move cause it would get Peddie and his boys off their butts and cause them to actually try and create a winning team. The fact that irked me about Balsillie’s blaming display towards Peddie is the fact that yet again he’s gone public to sell his case to the fans and everyone else related to this case. I think he’s being quite childish and to those that will say if Peddie can do what he’s doing then why not Balsillie? Well, because Peddie isn’t going to the media and saying everything. This stuff should stay behind doors and he definitely hasn’t won any points from MLSE after his comments. They will probably not even talk to him anymore and this certainly won’t help his chances.

I love his intentions and it’ll be great to have two teams in this market, but he needs to retool his approach and make this slightly easier on the fans and stop blabbing to the media whenever he thinks someone is cheating him. He’s a gossip queen in my eyes and he needs to stop with his behaviour of blaming others to spice up the game.

Leafs & Rivals

Have the Leafs done enough to be classified as better then their rivals? Well Ross Mckeon from Yahoo sports thinks we’re better then the Sens. Check his article at...

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AnZ5U9fndkKkNTGXqKmO4XoJfwM6?slug=rm-nhlpower081209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I am not so happy about the ranking the Leafs got in his list but even he thought we are better then the Sens. The Question is though are we better then them or the Montreal Canadiens? The Leafs over the off season have added muscle, grit and great defensive ability which certainly boosts their rankings but not much if Mckeon’s is the guy doing them. Defence has always been underestimated and with such a solid and well rounded unit of defenceman it will be interesting to see how we fare this season compared to weaker defensive teams such as the Sens and Canadiens.

Now Back to comparing the Leafs with the Sens and Canadiens, we see that over the summer the Canadiens have gotten shorter but much faster and offensively quite strong. The Sens have signed Kovy (that’s Kovalev not Kovalchuk) who for me won’t be that good next year while trying to adjust to the Sens’ system. The Leafs have the upper hand on the Sens not because of the talent but because of all the issues they are going through at this point in time with Heatley and I feel he might become a huge distraction this year for them. We must also remember that the Sens have acquired Pascal Leclaire and he might just make a huge difference in net for the Sens.The Canadiens will be a better team then up because they have a decent bunch of Dmen and they have quality forwards.

It’s sad to say that they will be the better team next year, but I think we will do much better then Ross Mckeon is suggesting and we will certainly have a tough time catching Montreal due to their well rounded team. In my previous articles I have stated many times that the speed at which the Leafs gel will tell us how far this team will go this year. If they just don’t click then we might be worse then the Sens, Canadiens and basically every other team. It could go the opposite way and we might just end up in 6^th place (don’t tell me you thought I was going to say they would end up in 1^st place).

We will have to wait and see which of these three teams will be the best after their offseason moves and who will stink up the house.

Coaches Will Be Crucial

Brian Burke has now pretty much wrapped up his off season work and we all aware of the signings and deals that Burke has made in his first off season as GM. The question now is how will Ron Wilson bring these guys together to form one strong cohesive unit? Will the new players buy into Ron Wilson’s system and sometimes his upfront and bitter behaviour with players?

These are all things that will be of serious interest amongst Maple Leafs’ fans. Ron Wilson is known to focus on the defensive side of the game heavily and now he has pretty much a dream defensive six and he will have to show his magic to make them unbeatable. Ron Wilson is certainly a perfectionist and he doesn’t like any laziness on the ice and he makes sure he gets his message across. This really shouldn’t be a problem because classy guys like Komisarek and Beauchemin rarely show up to a game unprepared. Ron Wilson’s work will certainly be cut out on the offensive side of things where he has barely any star power to work with. Of course a coach can’t have everything but I am sure he is happy that the players he has are known to work hard for the team they play for and they all give 110% on the ice.

Ron Wilson will be crucial this year in the development of the youngsters and seeing from the work he did last year on the rookies we shouldn’t be worried to much about Wilson. I might not be expecting results from the Leafs but I certainly would like to see some hustle and effort along with certain plans being used on the ice effectively to shut down a team. The Leafs aren’t fooling anyone with the fact that we won’t be winning games by huge margins and this is why it will be crucial that all the stay at home defensemen we have accumalated show their skills every single shift.

One thing you have to love about Ron Wilson is the fact that due to his perfectionist mindframe he rarely misses the details thus resulting in the Leafs’ never being behind the eight ball. Also the way he picks out players who aren’t trying their hardest or aren’t doing things properly is fantastic and a trait that many coaches sometimes don’t perfect thus resulting in losing careers. Minor details are key and the assistant coaches are crucial, the staff last year was solid so this shouldn’t be a problem. The addition of the goalie coach Francois Allaire hopefully will bring some strength to Toskala’s goaltending and with luck elevate Gustavvson into our future starting goalie.

These are all things that we will need to watch out for because these coaches will have to step up the game if the Leafs expect this rebuild to be successful.

The Kovalchuk Sweepstakes

Will the Leafs get Ilya Kovalchuk next summer? This is a question that will certainly be contemplated more and more as next summer approaches and the rumours will certainly swirl. Everyone knows that Ilya won’t even look at the contract until he is certain that the Thrashers are heading in the right direction. They have made some decent moves but is it enough to lure Kovalchuk into signing a contract with the Thrashers again? This is the question and one most people would love to have answered by the man himself, unfortunately he’s too smart for that and will wait it out till the end.

Now the Leafs if given the option will have an interesting player to contemplate over. There is no reason why an offer wouldn’t be made even if it isn’t what Kovalchuk wants. It’s a given that every NHL team would love to have him on their team but who can afford him will show up who the real players are in the Kovy sweepstakes. The Leafs will certainly have enough money to throw at Ilya but one has to wonder what the maximum is that they can offer. There were rumours about Atlanta considering giving Ilya the maximum and if they decide to do that then perhaps it’s time for Don Waddell to turn off NHL 09 for a while and snap back to reality. There is no player in the NHL worth the maximum. This is not a one man show where one guy does everything. If Ilya is looking for that kind of money he will only get it from the Thrashers so he better lower his expectations big time.

Brian Burke will certainly show an interest in Ilya who might just be the final piece to this never ending puzzle. A proven 50 goal scorer is exactly what the current team needs but Burke and Nonis will know that if they offer to much then they may be risking the Leafs’ future and that’s never a good thing.

Ilya has been a fantastic player for the Thrashers and his stats from last year show that he’s certainly not lost his touch. The real positive and perhaps a negative is that he can score a ton of goals no matter who you put on his line. Unfortunately that’s a huge negative as well because he basically hogs the puck and I am sure Wilson would have none of that no matter who the guy is. We all know Ilya is probably one of the best pure snipers in the game and he can dangle the puck at will around high calibre defenseman. This is something you love to have on your team.

If you were to ask me if the Leafs will go after Ilya next summer, my answer would be yes. If you were to ask me if they will sign Ilya, I would have to say NO. Simply because some idiot will come and sign him to the maximum and regret it for the rest of his life. If that idiots doesn’t show up then Ilya will certainly get an interesting offer from the Leafs. We all know that Ilya would love to play in a hockey hotbed because he loves the attention, but would he be willing to lower his financial expectations a little bit?

Dave Nonis: The Actual Mastermind?

They say behind every successful man there is a woman, well in this scenario behind every successful GM there is his Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations (yikes that was weird). Well what I am trying to say is that Dave Nonis has really been influential in this whole ”Rebuilding” process starting from the draft all the way to the signing of Joey Macdonald. Brian Burke has really picked a gem in this guy to carry around with him wherever he goes, in fact I wouldn’t mind Nonis as our GM instead of Burke,I feel he’s that good.

Brian Burke has gotten all the praise from the media because he’s upfront and honest with what he says. Dave Nonis is not like that in fact he’s probably the exact opposite of Burke and in a hockey hotbed like Toronto it’s sometimes smart to have opposite personalities in crunch situations. I am sure Nonis pulled Burke out of some big trades because of the long term affects financially and on the ice that perhaps Burke missed. Nonis is not given enough praise for his excellent eye for talent and his unbelievable ability to sign players for bargain contracts. While Burke was in Sweden handling the Gustavvson issue (for which he deserves full credit) Nonis handled the free agency and the amount of trust Burke has in this man shows his credentials as a top hockey man. Dave Nonis signed Komisarek to a fantastic contract, he inked up Orr quickly and got that out of the way and then I am sure later on he had a hand in Beauchemin’s contract as well. The interesting part of Nonis’ work is that he knows the ins and outs of the contractual part of the game and that’s an excellent quality to have as a management personnel because many general managers are tricked by little things here and there that agents do to get their players the better deal.

The Roberto Luongo trade is known by everyone as a masterclass robbery and we can’t expect him to get those type of deals done with Burke because all the other GMs certainly wouldn’t want to get fleeced like Florida did. The patience of Dave Nonis is what sucks other general managers into making poor decisions and it seems he’s passed on this trait to Brian Burke, with patience you reduce the chance of getting fleeced big time.

If you look at the most recent move of signing Joey Macdonald it seems quite obvious that Nonis was the one who recommended this goalie because in his interviews he seemed to know a whole lot about this kid. Perhaps Macdonald will turn out to be an average goalie but there is an equal chance of him becoming a stunning goalie for the Marlies and an excellent replacement if an injury occurs.

Praise is something Leafs management aren’t used to but for a guy like Nonis no matter how much you praise him it’s not enough. We all hope Nonis and his calm demeanour take the Leafs all the way one day, but we know Burke will be needed as well to solve this puzzle.