I'm going to break my rule about linking to Eklund. KingsCast at HFBoards broke this story, I'm passing it on to you.

Eklund posted today (screenshot for posterity):

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Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye?

The most drawn out trade in Leafs' history (I am guessing) was finally confirmed yesterday. The details (McCabe and a fourth in 2010 for Mike Van Ryn) are secondary to the fact that yet one more piece of the invisible veteran leadership (as per Ron Wilson) is gone. McCabe joins Raycroft, Wellwood, and Tucker in the cull of players that made too many excuses, didn't bring the necessary work ethic, and were deemed too poor as role models to be allowed near the incoming crop of youngsters.

While some will focus on the numbers (and the wrong ones at that) or on some sort of vendetta by Cliff the reality is that moving Bryan McCabe became necessary more for issues in the locker room than anything else. Moving McCabe gets him away from Stralman, Schenn, Colaiacovo, Kronwall, and any other Leafs' defenceman that might look at his pudgy, mohawked face and think that he is the kind of player that they want to imitate.

McCabe's arrival in Toronto via trade (for Alexander "Silent V" Karpovtsev) was brilliant move by Mike Smith. He had bounced around from the Island to the Canucks to the Blackhawks before finding a home in Toronto. Until the lockout it looked like McCabe was going to anchor the Leafs' defence for years to come. Unfortunately, it turned out that he would be the anchor on the Leafs' for years to come until yesterday when Cliff made a trade to end McCabe's stint with the club one month short of eight years.

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Once upon a time, this site was hosted on blogger. I would put my thoughts out into the intertubes and once in a while it would pop out onto someone's screen. I averaged about 30-50 visitors per day and would get a comment every once in a blue moon. I plugged away mostly because I needed some place to vent. At the end of August last year the site migrated over the SB Nation. The first full month ended with 1528 visitors and 3013 page views which at that time seemed like a lot. A small group of core visitors came out of the woodwork and became fixtures here.

One year on (and two years of writing the blog in total), and August was another record breaking month (the 9th out of 12) with 9368 visits and 21658 page views. After a long-time of flying solo I welcomed long-time reader and commenter Chemmy as a partner to the site (best decision ever) and watched more and more lurkers come out of hiding to become members no doubt inspired by his call to arms.

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While general managers around the league are on vacation I have been busy looking to bring in some fresh faces for the new season. Mostly because I already went on vacation in July. Luckily, most bloggers shut it down during the off-season but not Leafers! Probably because there is so little to look forward to that we want to fill up on the time when the Leafs are in first place in the league. But I digress from discussing the Franklin Expedition-like season that we are about to endure to make another site announcement and like the Beijing Olympics (or the Baltimore Colts) I am going to give the big news while everyone's asleep.

On the back of announcing that Greener of the podcastable He Score! He Shoot! would be making a recurring appearance as a guest poster I am pleased to announce another stunning coup. The negotiations were long and the final price was probably a little higher than I was expecting (in true Toronto fashion I outbid myself. Woo-hoo! I win! and as per club policy details will not be made public) but I am pleased to announce that starting tomorrow I'll have someone to a. help carry the load (come the regular season there will be a lot of posting) but more importantly b. help improve the quality of the site. He was one of the OCs (Original Commenters) here by way of the Battle of Ontario. He likes long walks on the beach and talking about shot quality and how much he hates Jason Blake. Who is he? Find out after the jump.

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The latest in a long line of bloggers v. Howard Berger missives took me a long time so read it again (or finish it, I know it was long). Here are some links to get you through the morning. Toss any others in the comments

• Mike Ulmer has Six Things He Knows making six more than the combined totals of Mssrs. Cox, Berger, and Simmons.
• The next coach of the Leafs is getting groomed on the farm.
• Who will be the next captain of the Leafs? Vote in the poll below.
• This is a random link to someone that thinks that players get more credit for playing in Toronto than less...
• Time for history lessons! First, why Conn Smythe is awesome and Stafford had to have been spawned from a defective egg. Part I of a history of the Leafs and part II is here.
• DJ points out that The Fraud is lying once again.
• Joe has some fun with the Bleacher Report.
• Fan Fiction gone terribly terribly wrong.

By now I would imagine that everyone has read the ultimate Howard Berger takedown penned by CoxBloc commenter Varry Galk. While it is certainly difficult to follow up perfection people did not stop playing hockey after Wendel retired so why should bloggers stop calling attention to Howard's horrible writing?

The answer of course is that we should not because who knows maybe one day an editor will read one of these pieces and realize what a crap writer he's been employing. Then again, odds are, based on The Omen, Garrioch, Brennan et al, that Berger would end up getting a promotion instead of the punch in the mustache he deserves. Memo to Howard: in the world of facial hair there is suave and debonair at one end of the scale and "oh dear God please don't open your trenchcoat" at the other end. Guess where yours lies?

I know, I know, we all promise ourselves that we are not going to go to that site or read any of Berger's columns ever again. However, we're already visiting blogs so we are inherently a sports addicted group so naturally once in a while we'll sneak over to that site to partially sate our unquenchable thirst for rumours and innuendo or to see what is the latest insane barb being launched at our fellow fans. Plus, rebutting them is too easy. It's like fishing with dynamite.

Today, via Howard Berger, Leaf fan's greatest sin: Having hope that some of the young players in the Leafs' system might turn out pretty good.

Does not sound like a mortal sin does it? Well, wait until you see how Working Class Howard proves his point. It is a new (and of course hilariously sad) low for the Mustachioed Maven of Make-Believe.

If you dare to endanger your eyes you can read Berger's post over at that site or you can check out the four screen caps [One Two Three Four] I made to ensure that he could not delete the offending articles or passages (standard shady Hockey Buzz practices). If, however, you have neither the desire to make your eyes bleed or to send clicks The Fraud's way then today is your lucky day because I've compiled the highlights.

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Well since there is so little hockey news I am going to unload on a couple of things that have been bothering me for a while. As you read this, don't worry, I am not armed and am not going to be hunting dumbasses. I couldn't get a license for it.

Toronto's Olympics will be kicking off on Friday. Unfortunately, due to the greed and corruption fo the IOC they will be taking place in Beijing. Now, I understand the desire of multinationals to access the vast Chinese market and cozy up to a ridiculously evil regime rather than invade it especially since things have not worked out so well in Iraq and China could actually defend itself. And I also understand why IOC representatives from poor countries that are bribed with several months' worth of their normal salaries would vote for the Chinese and try to label it as 'sticking together' as if the Chinese cared about you more than North America (hint: they like you as far as they can exploit you). Spare me the argument that this was meant to be some sort of key to fostering better relations between China and the West. Only during one period in their history (1421-1423) have the Chinese shown any desire to be part of the larger world and then they shut up shop again. Whether it's steps to prevent global warming, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, fair trade, the protection of copyrights and intellectual property, basic human rights or any of a long list of international values China has demonstrated that they could care less about what the rest of the world wants. Anyone who believes otherwise should give me a call because I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them.

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In just over an hour the Leafs are going to make a 'fan related announcement' and have been using Matt Stajan to promote the event using his special deadpan delivery method. Of course, considering the only way that you can go to a Leafs' game is to have had one forward looking grandfather or to have the cash to splash out on the pricey ducats why make the announcement at 11am on a Wednesday?

I live two blocks from the ACC and would love to have gone to see the announcement but sadly I have to work (not all of the time obviously) or I'll go hungry. How many rabid Leaf fans will be refreshing the official website to read the story or logging into the video portal to watch it live while hoping that their boss will not choose that moment to stroll by their desk/office? Not as many as there would be if the Leafs had a coherent communications strategy which is where MF37 comes in. Fresh off of another brilliant piece in which he handed Berger, Cox, Simmons et al nine topics to fill their notebook over the summer he is now giving the lazy louts at MLSE a free dose of his professional advice in:

ten ways the Leafs could revamp LeafsTV, update their web-presence and easily provide more viable, unfiltered and interesting alternative information for their fans and reduce/supplant the role of the increasingly adversarial, cranky and ineffective media.

MF37 even made sure to account for ways to eliminate troublesome writers with his tenth point. The plan would definitely go a long way towards 're-shaping the Leafs Media Environment' and I wonder if maybe MLSE is looking to hire a consultant to put the plan into place. He does not write nearly often enough to suit my appetite but when he does it's invariably worth taking the time to read and digest.

• Chemmy has cracked the Leafs' code and thinks that he knows what the Leafs' fan related announcement will be. Hint: It's not going to be a boat.
• Mirtle is painting an interesting picture of the ongoing NHL v. KHL confrontation.

If you have any other links that you want to share add them in the comments and be sure to try to follow DGB's suggestions on how to boost your blog on Google.

Over the past day or so I've been trying to see what I've missed in the world. Hope is still in the lead in the US, the Leafs are making good/great/could be good moves (more on that later), and the American Empire should be wrapping up sometime next week when their national debt hits $14 trillion. And I thought I had debt problems.

One post I liked centred on senators' hate and as luck would have it one of the over 2000 posts in my Google Reader (don't other people take vacations?!) gave us one more reason: sell out fans. Right now, you're all nodding your heads and saying "this isn't new, we know that they are all ex-Leaf and Habs' fans and a bunch of traitors" but this (via The Big Lead) Profile story about Superfan Cameron Hughes who travels North America getting paid to be that obnoxious ass in front of you that won't stop twirling his shirt over his head takes the cake. As a person that sells his fanhood who could he possibly support? 

Needless to say, a career as a traveling sports fan was not something Hughes envisioned when he finished college, even if he had been a mascot for his school team and was an avid supporter of his beloved Ottawa Senators.

Colour me stunned that a sens fan would make a living selling his support. But it's not all giggles because when they mention the clubs that pay for his services you are probably going to throw your monitor so step away from the computer before clicking through the jump.

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Wow. That's the only way to describe my vacation. It covers everything that happened. The cruise was unbelievable and a big upgrade from the last time I was in Europe. That sounds impressive but last time I slept on the floor and frequently dined on peanut butter sandwiches so as long as I had an actual bed and edible food things were looking up.

Being in Europe during the run up to the free agency period was akin to sleeping in one of these:

Did you guys know that the BBC does not do a Canada Day/UFA extravaganza? Instead, I heard all about how rugby players were roasting exotic dancers, how South Africa has not won a cricket match since before the Apartheid Era, or how Wimbledon is the pinnacle of sport. Actually, I read that last one on The Omen's blog on a rare occasion when there was an internet connection available.

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