NNN: Leafs Sucks
by PPP on Jan 2, 2009 12:00 PM EST
Email
PrintMy buddy wants me to go to Montreal to see the Leafs and listen to that ridiculous chant in February. We went last year and watched the Leafs lose 5-1 while McCabe broke his hand on a typically underpunished Habs hit. Last night's game, coupled with the 8-2 drubbing makes me question whether that trip is a good idea.
C
urtis Joseph fell to his knees in the blue ice, and the sniper must have thought he'd been transported to some minor-league barn where the netminders aren't quite ready for the big time.
Hey look who's back to writing articles about hockey that would be better served as bird-cage liners! Actually, I agree with the premise but man is it mean.
Maybe bringing in Cujo and shipping out the promising Scott Clemmensen to New Jersey, where Clemmensen has done fine work standing in for Martin Brodeur, was a so-dumb-it's-smart tentacle of Operation Tank for Tavares. Whatever, if they actually are trying to make the playoffs around here – and we assume Brian Burke got the memo that the pension-plan kingpins are counting on the revenue – Joseph's hurting the cause even when he doesn't play
Oh yeah, it's stupid too. What planet does Feschuk live on where he doesn't realize that MLSE is not counting on playoff revenue this year? Who gives an assignment to a reporter that can't be bothered to do even the most cursory of research? The Star printed a nice letter about how it would strive to improve itself and we assume Dave Feschuk got the memo. Apparently, he decided to ignore it.
The Leafs last night were a lot like leftover champagne from a New Year's Eve bash the night before: Flat and uninteresting.
They fell 4-1 to the Buffalo Sabres on home ice and afterwards, head coach Ron Wilson said about the only thing he could do to prevent such a dull effort was to "fight the other coach."
That would make the price of a ticket palatable.
Special Teams
Special teams are something we have talked about as a key all season. As of late the Sabres penalty kill has been faltering and the power play has been less than spectacular. Tonight they scored two power play goals and killed off all five Leaf power plays. The Leafs were able to get some chances on the power play but they were kept mostly to the outside. When they did get a good chance, Miller was there to make the save. Miller has been key to the penalty killing all season and his team seems to feed off him.
I have nothing to say here other than to note that the Leafs' powerplay needs to pick it's spots better. A goal with the score 0-0 tends to help a little bit.
When Lindy Ruff called out his forwards after Tuesday's dismal 4-2 loss to Washington, the main point was that his grinders seemed to be his most interested players.
No offense to them but the Sabres don't go very far if they're the best the team has to offer. The stars better lead the way, and they did exactly that during Thursday's 4-1 win over the punchless Toronto Maple Leafs in Air Canada Centre.
And there's the difference. The Flying Sabres had their diving superstars ready to play while the Leafs' kept wondering what team they might be joining in the next two months.
18 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
it's all part of the plan...
Burke wants tavares. and he’s planning on playing our worst players as much as possible. chances are, burke himself kicked the soccer ball at Stajan’s eye in an attempt to get the guy off the ice without appearing to suspicious. the flukey injury to williams was just dumb luck on BB’s part…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Jan 2, 2009 12:08 PM EST reply actions
TAVARES
Everyone else is just auditioning for a new team for trade deadline.
After watching Tavares at the WJHC, hells yes… I don’t think there’s any question as to whether he or Hedman will go number one in this year’s draft.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
he makes me giddy...
seriously, i may cry if Burke doesn’t get him for us…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Jan 2, 2009 12:26 PM EST up reply actions
I’ve got a big plate of Tavares coming at ya in 30 minutes.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Tricky.
Ottawa is playing very poorly, and there is continual skuttlebutt that Spezza will be traded – and there goes one-third of their offense.
Islanders look to be on a mission of horribleness – and isn’t their Goalie-for-Life hurt again?
Tampa – oy, even their normally-decent goaltending was useless against the Capitals.
Thrashers can be relied upon to be horrible.
Minnesota is sliding fast, and Gaborik may be out for the season with hip surgery. Scoring 1.5 goals per game doesn’t add up to many wins no matter how good the defense is.
Los Angeles is still a ways away from being solidly competitive.
etc. etc. etc.
It isn’t as though Tavares is a surprise to anyone, some sixth-round Zetterberg that no one else has noticed. Every team near the bottom will be thinking he’s the perfect flashy piece to build around and get the team turned in the right direction.
How difficult would it be to fix the lottery? That might be needed, since even the most ping-pong balls won’t guarantee getting the number one pick.
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
not tricky...
when you combine Kaberle and our first for first overall, that’s a pretty sweet deal. Toss in another player like Mitchell or Williams and I think whoever’s got 1st overall will be hard pressed to say no. Especially considering how deep this year’s draft is rumoured to be.
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Jan 2, 2009 1:09 PM EST up reply actions
Do you think Long Island is going to take Kaberle and the eighth pick for Tavares?
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
eight...?
that’s wishful thinking. We’ve been beaten by Atlanta once already, and the stinkers we’ve thrown up doesn’t instill in me any visions of another 9th place finish…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Jan 2, 2009 1:32 PM EST up reply actions
I think finishing between 22nd and 26th in the league is reasonable.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Look
how much Nash helps Columbus. A flashy goal scorer isn’t worth a squirt of piss if the rest of the team is awful.(kovulchuk?)
Rebuilding, not tanking
seriously...?
you’re comparing the leafs to Atlanta and Columbus?
Sorry, no dice. All of our problems begin and end in net. given that there is no NHL ready goalie in the draft, and that our D are more than capable of keeping the crease clear and giving our goalies a good look at what’s coming (all they need to do now is figure out how to get in front of those pucks…)
I think Cujo and Vesa make our D look worse than you all think they are. Pogge, with a couple inches of height on Toskala looked more than capable behind our defense.
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Jan 2, 2009 3:47 PM EST up reply actions
Feschuk has been annoying me for quite some time now (I almost always ignore his articles unless I come across passages on other websites) – when he first came on I really liked reading his articles because they were interesting and the discussions that came out of them were fun. But since last year he’s been a whiny piece of shit that goes around trying to cause fights between best friends and revels in the destruction he has caused.
Except in this case I think people pretty much ignore his articles now because if they wanted nonsensical opinions they could just go on a rivals forum or something.
I actually liked Feschuk’s article, but wow Ron Wilson is hilarious.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Wow
Feschuk is a little too cruel with his headline.. It’s one thing to say stuff like that in the comments of a blog, but quite another to have it in an almost-national newspaper.
But Cujo should retire. It’s time.
Feschuk's article
was more than a tad superfluous.
Everyone realizes Joseph is done… and WCH is piling on with his blog posting too.
What I find ridiculous is they consider this a major story, but there’s zero mention of the Columbus scouts being in attendance in either of the major articles.
I wonder if Doug MacLean will provide any insight this afternoon on the Gameplan? Would be interesting if he still had contacts in the CBJ organization.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
- Sir Winston Churchill
I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.
What I find ridiculous is they consider this a major story, but there’s zero mention of the Columbus scouts being in attendance in either of the major articles.
Are you really surprised though? When was the last time that any Toronto journalist did any sort of reporting about the Leafs that really made you stand up and take notice?
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
by PPP on Jan 2, 2009 3:31 PM EST up reply actions
Nah I guess not
Toronto Sports Journalism seems to to be an oxymoronic term these days.
The Globe and Post both do a reasonably decent job when they do pay attention… but the Sun and Star both seem to suffer from a sort of hive mind myopia. They all think alike, and they don’t provide anything newsworthy. One of these days it would be nice to hear a fresh perspective on things.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
- Sir Winston Churchill
I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- The Chicago Blackhawks’ losing streak is bad for everybody
- According to NHL, here’s why Dominic Moore escaped suspension for Fedotenko hit
- How Mats Sundin’s no-trade clause controversy made fans reconsider loyalty in NHL
- Nordiques Nation invades Hockey Day in Canada
- Youth hockey coach, parents clash over alleged tirade over 9-year old’s 200th goal puck
Latest stories and headlines from NHL.com
- Tulupov's first lifts Oklahoma City Barons to 2-1 win over Abbotsford Heat
- Brossoit 24 saves, Rachinski three goals as the Oil Kings blank the Cougars 5-0
- OHL Roundup: A look at Saturday's games
- Mckechnie scores twice as the Hurricanes defeat the Raiders 4-1
- Czerwonka scores two goals to lead the Ice over the Blades 5-2
SBNation.com Recent Stories
StatCounter
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
