Is That The Kid You Want?

I can’t believe what the Flyers gave up for Pronger. It amounts to 3 1st rounders and Lupal for a older player that wants a big deal.

So switch this to Kaberle .. he’s younger, under a good contract, a puck mover which are in higher demand, and he can get better — and unlike Pronger he won’t disrupt your team chemistry.

All of the sudden the Kessel + 1st rnd for Kaberle isn’t such a great deal anyway.

good times, all I know is i woke up with all my fingers in tact, in a bed, and my wallet wasnt empty
so it could have been worse

I think the Kaberle deal changed with the Pronger deal, and will likely drive a lot of eastern teams to offer more for Kaberle and maybe even Kubina in hopes of keeping up with the Philly deal. It likely makes any of Kessel/Kaberle talk seem moot and will likely allow Burke to demand more.

you should have been here, our comentary was very insighful, and vulgar

But honestly, aside from some initial disappointment on my part because Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson was passed over (who was no secret my favourite prospect, even over Brayden Schenn), I did not freak out or say this draft was a disaster all due to Nazem Kadri. I’m not sure who you’re referring to specifically in regards to ultimately being disappointed in this community, but I’m sorry if you feel like you have to lower your expectations now.

I stand by my stance that I wasn’t overtly negative, unnecessarily reactionary, or unrealistically staking Burke’s entire reputation on trading up for Tavares. I don’t want to put words in other people, but for many, the draft was the righteous culmination or penance if you will for enduring another losing (albeit fun for me) season. Right from the get go, no matter what the Leafs did, I’m sure there would have been someone complaining or being wholly dissatisfied with the end result. It was inevitable.

While I don’t put much stock into this draft right now, I can’t say the same for other Leafs fans. Certainly, the hype didn’t match their ridiculously high expectations (one that was in part set by Brian Burke’s numerous public soundbites), but sports is an emotional, if not irrational following in itself. While I roll my eyes when people utter ridiculous statements like Burke is a hack, the Leafs rebuild is a disaster, etc., I also shrug my shoulders. Logic isn’t always the prevailing course of action when we put so much stock into something. I disagree with many thoughts, but in the end, I say my piece about why their opinion might be flawed and I move on.

Hopefully, people know my expectations for Burke and the Leafs by now. Burke has several more years under the helm as president and GM of the Leafs and to lose faith in him after barely one year doesn’t make sense to me. Having said that, I’m not all satisfied with his performance up till this point, but that’s okay. It’s a process. Again, if Burke can’t rebuild this team without the aid of lottery draft picks and superstar players landing on his lap, then frankly, why are the Leafs paying him the big bucks? I have no qualms with how the team is going about their business, and I will continue to have minimal qualms if the rebuild continues earnestly.

As I think about it, I don’t know why I spent so much time writing a response like this for a seemingly non-issue. Maybe I felt you were being a tad unfair depicting how my emotions ran gamut throughout the night when I didn’t feel unreasonable about them at all. Maybe I’m being paranoid and looking into this way too much (actually, I don’t think this is a maybe at all…sigh, I need a life). Whatever the reason, I felt a need to explain myself and perhaps, better understand where you’re coming from, too. I hope this doesn’t come out as if I’m calling you or anyone else out because that’s not my intention.

In any case, the absolute last thing I want to do is make someone feel unwelcome, trivialize their opinions, and intimidate them into repeating a certain mantra of thought. But I also don’t want to feel guilty or bad about holding a specific viewpoint, whether it be fueled with emotion, logic or both. Now, to get off my soapbox and end this ridiculously long, unnecessary rant. Apologies for taking up valuable space and time in what amounts to being equal parts melodramatic and equal parts head-scratching.

aight, is skinnyfish coming?