Saying Goodbye: Ian White

I remember at the beginning of last season, how we were all calling for Ian White to be gone. He had so many horrible turnovers in front of our net.
The great thing is, if this is what Ron Wilson can do with Ian White and his talent…. what can he do with Phaneuf? WOOOO

I was in Germany last fall and missed most of the beginning of the season. When I got back, a buddy told me we’d probably seen the last of Ian White. I’d had hopes for him since he started getting called up for spot duty – his “unheralded guy making unexpected strides” persona exactly fits the profile of the kinds of players I gravitate toward – so I was disappointed, but I filed it under shit happens. A 6th round pick failing to establish himself in the NHL is far from a big shocker. I was really happy to see him eventually get back into the lineup though, and when he really took the bull by the horns this year, I was over the moon. He was easily my favourite player on this year’s team.

I like the trade (I’m a fan, not a moron), but letting go of Ian White was definitely the toughest part for me to get my head around. I think he’s got a bright future. I have to think Calgary was at least talking to his agent before being willing to pull the trigger on this one, and I hope he gets a big payday from them.

Can Dion Phaneuf grow a moustache?

I will remember most were all the cries for him to be named captain, and scoffing at them. The guy was a good defenceman, but captain? Those were ridiculous.
For some reason, I am not as sad about his departure as other people around here, however, it could just be my epic man crush on Dion that clouds my judgment

Out of all the players going it’s a toss up of Hagman and White of which player I’ll miss the most in these trades. Wilson really righted the ship with White and turned him from a spare part to a critical piece of the Leafs defense core. Sad to see him go, even sadder to see XLB taint the number #7 days later.
Good Luck in Calgary, Ian.

Has to be the most Moustachulent moment… EVAR!!!

White dumps and destroys Eric Cole

Gabe Desjardins ran some numbers that suggested that Wilson was masterful in doling out the ice time to White, giving him a huge number of offensive zone face-offs. This is certainly not to take anything away from White, but that type of strategic territorial advantage helps explain some of his great numbers.

I was a big fan of White mostly because of his price-tag and willingness to do whatever it took to stay in the line-up.

In the end he defined buying low-selling high.

all though i was a big fan of his (eventually…) I’m actually kind of “meh” on his departure.

Wish him the best of luck, but don’t feel like it’s all that great a loss

White was brutal in January, especially that devils game last friday, we pretty much lost that game because of his horrible turnovers, but even still. He was a warrior for us, but Id take Dion 10/10 without thinking twice.

Hagman was the best move Fletcher made and his offence will be missed, but still if you said Phaneuf for White, but you have to throw in Hagman, id still do it 10/10.

I know a lot of you are saying you won’t miss him, but I will and so will the team. He was always solid (yeah he did take some dumb penalties once in a while – but what Leafs player hasn’t this year?), always worked hard and was a good role model on the ice for the younger guys with his work ethic. It’s kind of sad though that the head coach never said that about him as much as he did other guys (Blake, Wallin – wtf is that about?).

Anyway, I wish him the best of luck in the future, I’ll always be a fan.

Good luck in Calgary Ian. You did well and wore the Maple Leaf with pride and honour.

Even without that, I’ll still miss White. But I think Dion will fill the void.

I’ll miss White. Straight up – without thinking about who we got for him or any other factors – just based on his play here, I will miss him.

When I think he was part of a package that brought in Phaneuf, it’s cool.

Somehow having White and Phaneuf on the same team would’ve been gold. Would’ve never happened.

I first became a Leafs fan because one of my Finns, Hagman, became a Leaf. Then I noticed this guy with a moustache and I liked him. He and Nik became my reason for watching the team.

Now that White’s gone, I have nobody left on the Leafs :(

“Mason has been mired in a season-long slump and is just 13-18-6 with a 3.28 goals-against average and .890 save percentage. His GAA is better than only Atlanta’s Ondrej Pavelec (3.43) and Anaheim’s Vesa Toskala (3.66). His save percentage also is among the worst in the NHL. "

The buzz lives on.

it has no option for “namesake”

Since last year I had hoped that the Leafs would find a way to leverage your breakout year into something great. Now that they’ve done that, kudos for being a trooper about the whole “playing at forward” thing.

Also, thanks for telling me you thought my Wendel NHL10 cover was cool. I appreciated it. The way you yelled at those autograph hunters was pretty wicked.

Is how I will remember Mr White

When I was telling my girlfriend (Sharks fan) about the trade her reaction was: “Isn’t White the guy whose mustache you like?”

I’m from Winnipeg Manitoba. Ian White is from Steinbach Manitoba. On Saturday night i met a guy from stienbach whose brother is great friends with White. I considered myself to then have only three degrees of separation between me and The Stached One. Woke up the next morning to find that he was a Flame. Good luck in Calgary my (basically after Saturday night) best friend.