MLSE Cheap, Sky Blue

Did Balsillie buy The Toronto Star when no one was looking? They have gone from blaming just about anyone related with the Leafs (including the fans but that's another post) to waging what amounts to newspaper-war on MLSE.

James has a round-up of the articles by The Star while my compatriots in the interwebs share their thoughts:

• Ninja, Raking Leafs

And newly anointed assistant GM Mike Penny misses the point when comparing the Leafs scouting department of 11 being twice as large as some of their rivals (I wouldn't want to try and decipher who 'rivals' consist of, considering how badly some NHL teams are run). If the organization plans to rebuild on the fly, exceptional value must be harvested from middling to late picks, which is likely more possible if more knowledge is available from more rinks around the world.

• MF37, Bitter Leaf Fan

Finding out that MLSE has a lifestyle that combines the best of Montgomery Burns and Ranier Wolfcastle is about as surprising as finding out another b-list celebrity "forgot" to wear gitch whilst getting out of her car.

It really is a ridiculous situation considering the financial backing that the Leafs theoretically possess. When the Tavares non-story broke the question arose of whether the Leafs could afford to outbid other teams that might want to pursue the phenom. With scouting the Leafs' expenditure should blow other teams away. If there is a scout at another franchise that has been great then make them an offer they cannot turn down. There is a reason that the Red Sox have now won 2 World Series in 4 years after waiting 86 for the Curse of the Bambino to pass. There is no excuse for them to not have the dominant scouting department in the league.