From The Branches - Short-term pain, Long-term gain?

Editor's Note: For anyone unfamiliar with the acronym FTB it stands for the above. It's not the greatest name but you guys didn't give me much to work with. It's the morning's first post that rounds up the Barilkosphere and Leafs news.

I don't think that there is any doubt now that Toskala is completely worthless unless some general manager thinks that the Leafs are so bad that no goalie would look good playing for them. I am not entirely sure how they would reconcile his horrible positioning (goals 1 and 3 last night) or his terrible rebound control (goal 4) or his tendency to give up Wellwood-soft goals (goal 2). However, GMs are notorious for thinking that they and they alone see the brilliance in a player or the only one that can handle them properly (see: Hull, Brett). Not that the Leafs are lucky enough to have that happen with Vesa.

• The General takes a look at not only how bad The Vesa has been but how bad his timing has been.
• Repressed Optimism sums up the conflict in Leaf fans hearts and minds.
• This is a remarkable simplification of those same feelings. As for the answers, if you are cheering for the opposition or feel no conflict in not getting as upset as usual about the Leafs losing then odds are that what you really want is for it to be easy to be a Leafs fan. No worries, the bandwagon will have room for you in three seasons.
• Until you reconcile your emotions remember that you cheer for the laundry not the hangers.
• John Anderson does not reminisce about his time as the burger king of the GTA but he does talk about Kovalchuk.
• Looking for insight from an Islanders fan? Cox Bloc has really lost the plot.
• Lehtonen and Toskala are both Finnish but they handled similar plays in vastly different ways. You want to get excited? Look at Pogge's numbers since his game against the Thrashers. March fourth can't come soon enough.
• Meanwhile, Andrew Raycroft made 50 saves last night! But he still found a way to cost his team the game.