Hockey Trade Rumors

I know what you’re thinking….ARGH….another Leaf article. Sorry but I have to get this out there.

First off it is refreshing to see and hear Maurice get angry with this team. One of the bright spots last night was seeing Maurice loose his mind after pulling Toskala. What is the last team any of us seen that the goaltender was pulled so much for reasons that were not his doing? This is crazy. My buddy looked at me last night when we were watching the game and said…I have never seen a shoddier defensive team in my life. That is saying something as we watched the Colorado Rockies play…and not the baseball team. It is time for everyone to start taking the blame here. From JFJ to Maurice and Sundin to Kaberle , no one playing in a Leafs uniform looks like they have a clue in their own end. I have more of a clue on dollar drink nights then the Leafs do. They look completely lost in their own end.

That being said… Nick Kypreos had a great point today on the radio about this. Yes I said Kypreos. He summarized how I felt in a two minute clip. He said this team looks as though they just don’t care. That they were playing with no heart and no identity. That there is no cohesiveness to the team. He was right. They have no heart and they don’t care.

Think of this. Would you see Colorado, Detroit, or Philly (as examples) get hammered 7-1 and just go through the game like the Leafs have been? Do you think any self-respecting team would let that happen without cracking some heads? Trying to instill some emotion in the team? Of course the answer to all this is no. But the Leafs just play out the game careful to not check someone and ruffle any feathers.

It is this team’s lack of emotion that I find hard to take. They look as though they just don’t care and if they are loosing they just play it out and leave their goaltender out there to get slammed with puck after puck. Toskala already this season has seen more rubber then road kill on the Trans Canada Highway.

It isn’t like the Leafs don’t have character guys. Where is Blake, Tucker, McCabe or any other self respecting teammate? How can they watch Ovechkin put on a celebration after potting a goal in a five to one game? If Wendel Clark , Doug Gilmour, or George Armstrong were playing on this team then heads would be rolling. On both benches!! Seeing a score of seven to one would make Tie Domi go mad and give this team the lift they need to at least make the other team think that the Leafs are not going to roll over and die.

Blake for example would not get away with the effort he is giving lately if Nolan is behind the bench. Maurice needs to fire this team up. Stop playing the good guy. Come in the dressing room before games with some fire and brimstone.

We need Krusty (Tucker) to put on a show like the old days. Get this team woken up out of the comas they are in. Sundin is playing well but leading by example is not working. Stand up in the dressing room and be vocal….yell and scream. Kick some A doule S in there. Even watching this team come out before a game is mind numbing. All their heads down…praying they don’t screw things up.

Bottom line is that this team has no emotion in their game anymore. They don’t care and it is obvious now. If they cared they would start playing with a sense of urgency and desperation. This team simply does not compete night in and night out.

Another thing I wanted to mention was what is in the head of JFJ and Maurice to waive Gamache . They should have waived Devereaux, or Battaglia before this guy. Neither one of them contribute much to the team and are slow of foot. Gamache is younger and has a lot more upside then these two relics. Gamache has great speed at the very least and showed me more talent then either of these two.

But it is another case of JFJ doing his Pat Quinn impression. Size is the only thing that matters in the NHL. Keep the vets as the kids don’t know how to play. I am having a flashback of the way Sullivan was treated by Quinn. Not that Gamache is another Sullivan…at least not yet anyway as another team has not picked him up yet.

Lastly I see that Eklund has been stirring the pot with rumors that the Leafs are close to a huge trade with Colorado. He said the Leafs were going to send Kaberle and a prospect to Colorado for Svatos, Liles and a pick(it had better be a first rounder). He also said that Phoenix wanted to get both Raycroft and Kubina. I just seen it is on there again today about Leaf trades but he did not mention anyone like past articles. Just thought I would pass this along.