Oh, so that's how it's done...

The preseason is like a full double rainbow.

It’s true, the preseason doesn’t mean ish, but no matter what the stakes of the game, the Wings are far and away more talented. Not every winning team needs their level of skill up front, but it sparks a sadness in me still. The Bertuzzis and Modanos of the world ate pieces you acquire when you’re in contention mode, because they occupy spots that teams like the Leafs would otherwise use to be developing young players. Detroit builds with Grand Rapids, while giving Helm and Abdelkader bottom-6 minutes. Somehow they maintain their level.

This said, I do think that the Leafs are one top-3 forward away from contending. Yes, contending.

Did Jussi the Rhinoceros look just as terrible live and in colour?

the only reason I see him playing is Big Daddy Wilson wants a look at our opening night roster. Apparently Detroit is icing a far from opening night team, so this will be a good way to look at the positives of our full roster

he said in an interview a few days ago that if it was the regular season he would have been playing and practicing right after the first game he sat out, the only reason he was taking it easy was because it was meaningless preseason and they were being careful. I’m sure that if there was still an issue he would be sitting tonight too

I think tonight’s game is somewhat meaningful in that it’s the final tune up and you want to go into the first game well prepared with all hands on deck. This isn’t about fighting for roster spots, this is the dress rehearsal before the big show.

Yea, saw the first section yesterday. The Globe is better than that. I understand looking at the business side of MLSE, but I their hypothesis of “they only care about making money not winning” is quickly busted when you consider how much extra revenue playoff games generate. They casually mention it in the article but ignore it and continue blathering for two days.
One interesting thing was Richard Peddie talking about starting a Real Sports Network that would be home to TFC, the Raptors, and the Leafs. He is quoted as saying “Imagine what we could charge for that.” Ruh-oh.

is pretty damned tired and stale, to be honest.

the article agrees with a lot of things I’ve had to say. the logic is sound – the MLSE corporation expects a certain level of revenue, and it’s more important to them to have a mediocre team giving them a steady flow rather than have a painful bottoming-out.

as for JFJ, he wasn’t stupid; his hands were tied too much. yeah, some of his moves were stupid, but they were the moves of a man who was Peddie and Tannenbaum`s puppet. A man who was forced to pay Tie Domi 2 mil per year. A man who was probably given the directive to make the playoffs at all costs the year after the lockout. So what did he do? he was forced to keep as many pieces from the 03-04 Leafs as possible. the players and their agents knew the powerless man was an easy mark, so they negotiated the absolute best deals they could, complete with NTCs, knowing that JFJ couldn’t afford to walk away from negotiations, or he would lose his job. the only stupid thing JFJ did was accept the job in the first place.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILLLLL!!!
It’s also Gandhi’s birthday

Good move for Minny