McCabe/Fletcher: Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
by Greener on Aug 19, 2008 1:00 PM EDT
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PrintEditor's Note: You might remember Greener as part of the three man team that was needed to fill my shoes while I was gallivanting in Europe. He is also part of the team at He Score! He Shoot!. Considering his partner is Moose then you might say he's the entire team but then again Jay needs Kevin's laughter and Johnny needed Ed's millions so mostly useless presences do serve a purpose. But enough of the Straight-Talk Express. Greener will, in between trying to keep Moose from ruining another podcast, drop in on a somewhat regular basis with some brilliant photography in a feature that has no name so far. Feel free to make suggestions and welcome Greener's first piece.]
The non battle of wills which made up the Bryan McCabe/Cliff Fletcher tete-a-tete will come to an end in a week and a half, punctuated with a $2,000,000 kiss on the lips. It seems that two million dollars is what it takes for someone to not be a Maple Leaf. Several sources I’ve spoken to have said things like "For 2 million bucks I’d cut my own hand off." and, "Greener, don’t stand over my bed while I’m sleeping."
One million twonies ends up being the final word for McCabe in
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I would have had a better comment but honestly you drooled on me a little bit and that’s what woke me up.
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i hope
McCabe does well down in Miami. i don’t think he was treated really fairly over the past year by the fans and the organization. i understand, he’s the whipping boy and is seen as the type of player/attitude that ails the leafs…
McCabe was a dedicated warrior for this team. he gave us some great years of service. it’s a shame it had to come to this…
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Guaranteed this is going to be one of those trades than in ten years people talk about Toronto getting fleeced.
Bryan McCabe is going to get railroaded out of town for playing on a bad team.
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Bryan McCabe = Larry Murphy?
No way. The Leafs will not look back on this trade in 10 years with regrets. McCabe for Van Ryn might not end up being close (then again Van Ryn is actually pretty good and has had some wrist problems that have cleared up) but opening up a spot for one of the younger defencemen to play full-time will potentially make it a great move.
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The only “young defenseman” that matters is Stralman, and he should get playing time over White anyways. Colaiacovo will be injured in twenty games so it doesn’t matter.
Schenn’s young enough that we should leave him to play juniors and get bigger, we can bring him up once we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Yeah but McCabe’s contract is up in three seasons so that’s potentially two years of Schenn/Stralman’s development being de-railed.
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defense with mccabe
kaberle/kubina
mccabe/colaiacovo
finger/stralman
outsiders: white and frogren
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Honestly don’t even include Colaiacovo in the pairings he’s only going to play 30 games.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t count on him much but that lets frogren show us what he’s got.
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I was always a fan. He always seemed to care.
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he did care
dude wore his heart on his sleeve…
all he did was sign a contract that was presented to him. i don’t understand the need to have this guy traded, especially if we’re getting another d-man back in return. he isn’t that bad, he isn’t the be all and end all to all our problems. it’s ridiculous.
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Regardless of how bad McCabe really is, fact of the matter is that Ferguson signed two #1 PP defensemen in the span of a year, both of whom are only borderline responsible defensively and who fail to put up enough points to justify their salary on the second line. A team only really needs one of those guys, so one of them had to move period, not just for the team’s sake but for the players as well. If we were going with Kabby/Kubby as our first unit, I’ll bet you anything McCabe would never approach his career numbers ever again. Kubina had a record season on the coattails of McCabe’s injury, allowing him to supplant McCabe on the first unit for half the season.
In the end, Fletcher chose Kubina for a myriad of reasons, contract, age, cup experience, attitude, relationship with Kaberle, I could go on. At the end of the day, once the decision to keep Kubina was made long ago, McCabe had to move for the simple reason that he’d become redundant.
Wrong
The Bryan McCabe of Can Opener vintage was a huge asset to the team. The Bryan McCabe of the past two seasons is a massive danger to the Leafs’ future.
Putting aside the ridiculous contract which he only signed because JFJ was too dumb to make the unpopular decision and cash in McCabe there is more than enough in his past couple of seasons to warrant keeping his influece away from young kids.
1. The way he stopped being a physical defenceman. He is a big guy and should be laying the body instead of being muscled out of the way in front of the net.
2. He is not a particularly smart player. I cannot even count the number of times that a simple dump in or stick lift might have saved the day but he does not make the simple play.
3. Attitude – He, along with Darcy Tucker, formed the “Don’t You Criticize” (or DYC) coalition that never saw any fault in the Leafs and managed to find an excuse for everything.
4. He was supposed to be a leader and yet never managed to get the defence together over the past two seasons. He never led by example (unless you count teaching Jason Allison how to make that “who me?” face after every tripping or hooking call against him.
5. Back to intelligence – how many times does he have to blast a one-timer on the powerplay into a forward’s shin pads before he learns to change it up?
6. See Koopa Kid’s comment.
I really liked McCabe before the lockout but since then he’s done more than enough to warrant getting the bum’s rush out of town.
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Unless the Leafs can snag a superstar or a pair of decent NHL caliber picks/prospects who have long NHL careers in 5 years we are going to see the McCabe trade added to the list of “top 10 worst trades in Leaf History” because by then, McCabes point numbers will still look good, defenseman’s salaries will be even higher and everyone will have forgotten how much of a liability he actually was in his own end, or just how much his NMC weighed down the Leafs during a re-building era.
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by JaredFromLondon on Aug 19, 2008 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Poor Van Ryn
This guy isn’t a schlep.
It’s not inconceivable that with some second PP unit time he could put up 75% of the points that McCabe did which would be more than offset by the promotion of Kubina/Colaiacovo (don’t point out the hilarity of counting on Carlo to be healthy).
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mccabe post lockout
2005/2006: 73 GP, 19 goals, 49 assists, 68 points, -1
2006/2007: 82 GP, 15 goals, 42 assists, 57 points, +3 (on a team with that mother fucker raycroft)
2007/2008: 54 GP, 18 assists, 23 points, -2
only the 07/08 season comes off as the stinker. yes, he’s got his defensive deficiencies, like most everybody else on our team, but he hasn’t been so terrible post-lockout as you make him out to be. at least, that’s my opinion.
as for his attitude, and tucker’s, well, those two always came across to me as the guys who wanted to win the most…the guys who, even when it didn’t make sense, believed in their team and their troops the most…
yes, the fact that he couldn’t use the can opener anymore caused him to change his game, but he was never a glaring defensive liability like, say, sheldon souray, who put up 64 points in 06/07 and was a whopping and disgusting -28 on the year…
he couldn’t get the defence together? is it mccabe’s fault raycroft couldn’t stop anything? is it mccabe’s fault the leafs can’t kill penalties? yes, he took his fair share of stupid penalties, but you always knew what you were getting with mccabe. he registered 100+ penalty minutes in 5 out of his 7 seasons here in T.O.
say what you want about his one-time on the power play, but in 05/06 the leafs had a power play success rate of higher than 21% and in 06/07 it was better than 17%, which is middle of the road…
and i read koopa kid’s comment and understand why the leafs are keeping kubina over mccabe. my point is that mccabe’s not the monster he’s been made out to be. the attitude in toronto is always “what have you done for me lately” and that’s why fans can turn on guys like mccabe and sundin in a heartbeat.
in the end, i don’t think trading mccabe for van ryn makes the leafs a better team, especially when van ryn, coming off an injury of his own that saw him play only 20 odd games last year, is due to make $3 million over the next two years…
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The nice thing is Toronto stunk last year with McCabe out of the lineup. Tavares here we come.
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Always look on the bright side of life...
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None of the players we’ve gotten rid of this season were necessarily beyond redemption, or even as bad as they were made out to be. The Leafs do have good and genuine reasons to get rid of McCabe though, for his sake and theirs. While there’s a lot of bad sentiment towards the guy this year (losing two overtime games single-handedly in a week by yourself will do that) we’re not running him out of town because of rumours and a bad word.
Just like buying out Tucker and waiving Wellwood, it isn’t a move about skill, McCabe’s got more talent than a lot give him credit for. But him leaving allows Kubina to grow into his actual role, and allows someone making less who can maybe play better defense to take a second-line spot, which I would say makes the Leafs a better team, though not a more skilled one.
Also, McCabe’s 33, and if the rumour is correct he’s going to Florida, where players go to die. I severely doubt this move will be remembered in the same breath as “Rask for Raycroft”
Culture Change
That’s the big goal of the changes and unfortunately for McCabe raw numbers were secondary to that effort.
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mixed emotions
I would have enjoyed seeing McCabe attempt to redeem himself. Not sure how succesful he would have been, but y’know he’d give it a stubborn effort. Kinda wanted see that. Either it’d be a glorious comeback to remember, or a collossal train-wreck. Either way, it would’ve made for good drama.
I don’t see a McCabe deal coming back to haunt us. He’ll never be worth 5 million again.
Guaranteed he will score a goal against the Leafs this year whether he’s on the team or not. I doubt he’ll get in Antropov’s way much though when he’s driving for the Panther’s net.
by general borschevsky on Aug 19, 2008 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Not sure how succesful he would have been, but y’know he’d give it a stubborn effort.
But he didn’t give a stubborn effort last year. That OT own goal came pretty early in the season but can you honestly say that anything changed about McCabe? He was a leopard with its spots burned into his skin.
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McCabe is a monster. He used to put up 100 PIMs because he played with an edge. Now he does it because he picks up about 50 hooking penalties because he’s constantly lazy/out of position.
As for ‘what have you done for me lately’…stabbing the fan’s of a franchise in the chest is a pretty good reason to be hated. Then again, if Mats re-signs…
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i don’t even want to ask you how sundin leaving as a free agent constitutes stabbing us in the chest…
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The only thing I can say that redeems CuJo in any way is that at least he didn’t feed us a bunch of (potentially) bullshit about wanting to retire a Leaf. Plus, he came here the same way so it shouldn’t have been that much of a shock.
If Mats is ok with leaving for Broadway/Montreal/Vancouver then why not 6 months ago?
ALSO…what made me angriest was Kypreos’ suggestion on Hockey Central (I know, troll in the gutter and you’ll get garbage info/opinions but…) that Mats might play for $2M in New York because he’s already made so much money. What? Isn’t that exactly the kind of thing that he was asked to do for the Leafs and wouldn’t?
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why not 6 months ago...
because he didn’t, and doesn’t, want to be a rental player. that’s it. cut and dry. now, regardless of who he signs with, he’ll be there for the entire season. it will be on his terms. and that’s the only term he had/has – to not be a rental player. that’s why he didn’t go 6 months ago.
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I feel like we got sold a bill of goods. Lots of flowery statements about loving TO and not much love now. Of course, he could just make it easier on all of us and re-sign with the Leafs. It would save us having to go Pharoah on his ass and scratch his name out of all of the Leafs’ history books.
“(redacted) buried his 500th goal shorthanded to win against the Flames”
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so if he leaves now his 13 years of service mean absolutely nothing? his records need to be scratched out of the Leafs’ history books? really?
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Yes
Just like CuJo. Blue and White or nobody.
where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team
You’re not following your mandate!
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sundin is the exception to the rule
cujo was never the best goaltender to EVER man the pipes for the leafs. he was here for what, 4 years? sundin’s service time and accomplishments have set the bar so high, that he can do no wrong in these eyes…this is mats we’re talking about…we saw him grow from the taut young swedish boy he was when he arrived to the marvelous grown swedish/canadian bald man we love…he developed and grew into a man before our very eyes…it was a pleasure…a sheer fucking pleasure…he gave us his all, his greatest years, his most productive years…he wasn’t the greatest player in the nhl while he was a leaf but, man, did he ever do service to the blue and white…always productive…always played hard…always cared…and he was always accountable…
the first european to ever wear the “C”…the first european to ever captain a franchise as important as the fucking toronto maple leafs…the only man on the planet who could make jonas fucking hoglund score 29 goals in an nhl season…
mats was a thing of beauty…from his first season in the blue and white when he got to play with doug gilmour and learn what it took be captain in this town…to last season, when he was a force, even at 37 years old…
how any of my fellow leaf fans can even think of turning on mats, and chiding any decision he makes, is absolutely beyond me…this guy gave us everything…everything he had…all i can do in return is support him as the window closes on what was a most splendid career…
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Keep on rockin’ eyebleaf! I’m actually on the fence with Mats. If he comes back to Toronto then I’ll feel a great deal of respect and admiration towadrs him. If he goes elsewhere, I’ll feel a lot of dissapointment and resentment, If he retires I’ll feel flat and apathetic. But that’s me. I like your style, eyebleaf, and I salute your passion!
by general borschevsky on Aug 19, 2008 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions
thanks bro. i’ve been a sundin supporter/defender my entire life. i simply know no other way. god bless his swedish, undecided heart.
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i’ve been a sundin supporter/defender my entire life.
And he would take that passion and support that so many of us gave and throw it away to play for the Habs or the Rangers?!?!?!
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it’s a part of sports. it’s extremely rare for a guy to play his whole career, or the majority of his career, with one team. you know that.
clark played on other teams. gilmour played on other teams. it’s a new chapter in sundin’s career, if he chooses to walk. get over it.
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Big Difference
Wendel didn’t want to leave and he made his way back. Twice!
Dougie didn’t want to leave and he made his way back.
Sundin said he didn’t want to leave and now he might.
Just because athletes are mercenary whores doesn’t mean that we should accept being tricked into believing that we had been lucky enough to cheer for a Steve Yzerman-like exception.
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from what i’ve heard, dougie asked to be traded. he wanted out when we shipped him to new jersey. he didn’t want to go through a rebuild. and when he was a free agent, able to sign wtih any team in the league, gilmour chose the sabres and the hated habs on his own accord…
sundin said he didn’t want to leave, and i interpret that as he didn’t want to leave as a rental player. he’s old, he’s got 2 years left of great hockey in him, and toronto doesn’t offer the best situation for a player of his ilk. would you not understand why he might choose a team with better playoff possibilities? and the rangers, canucks and habs all have better shots, way better shots, than the leafs do at the post-season…
we’ll forever disagree on this, but i guess luckily for me, sundin’s records can’t be erased from the record books. they don’t deserve to be. what he did while he was here was special. i’m confident that even if he does leave, in time, his legacy will be what it deserves to be: that of the greatest player to ever, statistically, suit up for the toronto maple leafs…
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These comments are getting really narrow.
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as for his attitude, and tucker’s, well, those two always came across to me as the guys who wanted to win the most…the guys who, even when it didn’t make sense, believed in their team and their troops the most…
Both those guys had certainly mastered the art of looking like they cared. I almost wonder if they practiced their angry faces in front of a mirror.
In Tucker’s case, at least there’s some additional evidence (playing hurt, fighting guys twice his size, etc). McCabe? Not that I could see.
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by Down Goes Brown on Aug 19, 2008 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Bingo
Both those guys had certainly mastered the art of looking like they cared.
Don’t forget the feigned anger about being criticized and gosh darn it they are just trying their best!
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One thing that kind of bugged me about McCabe was that he seemed to care more about his new “look” (stupidass mohawk, dyed hair etc) rather than actually coming out to play.
The leafs will definitely not miss him, and I really doubt this will be labelled a bad trade down the road. If McCabe does flourish in Florida (how, I don’t know since his only marketable skill of booming from the point has been scouted by every team in the east) then more power to em, they still won’t be challenging for a cup anytime soon..
by LeafFanInVan on Aug 19, 2008 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
One thing that kind of bugged me about McCabe was that he seemed to care more about his new "look" (stupidass mohawk, dyed hair etc) rather than actually coming out to play.
What the hell are you basing this on?
I used to be Bryan McCabe’s hairstylist.
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By his shitty defensive performance and his perfectly coiffed dos.
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Bravo!
I really enjoyed the discourse from today’s posting. I have to agree here that McCabe had worn out his welcome. I only got to one game last year and his defensive prowess was to lie down at the top of the crease. Sure you block the odd shot but you don’t tie anyone up and you’ve taken yourself out of the play. I pointed it out to my buddy and we counted 9 times in a two minute penalty that he did that. And I’m not going to even touch his performance at the Olympics. He got put in with all the top flight players and looked wildly out of place. I say goodbye, thanks for the PP goals and don’t forget your hefty wallet on the way out.
by The Phillips Perspective on Aug 19, 2008 10:16 PM EDT reply actions
i’m sure you were cheerin for mccabe and lovin every power play goal he scored in 05/06, just like i was…i’m sure you were cheerin for him at the olympics too, just like i was…i was pretty damn proud that one maple leaf was goin to be on team canada, and wearing the red leaf…
phillips, you’re entitled to your opinion man, but don’t hold that fuckin contract against him…the “hefty wallet” comments are just totally uncalled for…he signed a contract that was offered to him…you would have done the same, my man
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Funny story, I had a friend that would actually get angry at every PP goal McCabe scored because he knew it would mean that he got paid.
As for the wallet comment, do you know that he didn’t demand that much money and that it was just given to him by JFJ?
I felt bad for McCabe at the Olympics because he was out of his depth, didn’t get enough ice-time to get acclimated to the tournament, the ice didn’t suit his PP set-up, and Bertuzzi was the worst pick by about 12 country miles and more focus should have been on that screw up.
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of course mccabe had his own contract demands. he would have got that type of dough from someone else if it wasn’t from us. but at the end of the day, it’s up to the team and management to present a contract, and all mccabe did was sign it…
it’s not just mccabe. i don’t think any of us can hold athletes’ contracts against them, with a-rod’s contract being the only exception…
if you were mccabe, you would have gone in with lofty demands after that type of season, too…and when presented with a contract the likes of mccabe’s, you would have signed too…i don’t know, i guess i just don’t think it’s fair to hold the terms and dollars against him
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A-Rod is the best player in baseball, if I owned the Yankees or Red Sox I would be happy to pay whatever he asks.
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he’s good, but the douchebag factor is extremely high. only the red sox or yankees could employ him, at least that’s the way i see it.
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i don’t think any of us can hold athletes’ contracts against them
Why not? No one makes them sign the deal. Before they do they know that signing a $5M a year contract will lead the fans to expect them to play like a $5M a year defenceman. How come they get to go “well, I just signed what they gave me” when that’s so disingenuous.
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jeff finger is really, really screwed this year…
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super screwed
Oh, there’s no doubt. He can’t just be Hal Gill-like defensively. He has to put up the points too.
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you make a good point. i would say that in today’s NHL, mccabe played like a $5 million man in 06/07…but not last season, of course…the question is whether he can prove his worth in the remaining years of his deal…
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And I don’t think that he would have. Part of what would have been expected of him was to steward the younger defencemen but his biggest weakness is that his game suffered without a guy like Carlo or Tomas that could cover his offensive forays with their good skating.
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Points
In terms of those he was a $5M defenceman but not in many other categories. He never raised the defensive game of his teammates in the same way that other elite (and similarly paid) defencemen can do.
by David Danforth on Aug 20, 2008 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions
i look forward to seeing how he’ll do down in Florida. it’ll be good for him to get out of this market.
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Agreed
I honestly think that the sort of beatdown that McCabe’s been taking can drain a player of the will to play and that a renaissance would never have been possible here in Toronto.
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