Comments on: End Game For the Leafs

By: the_word

the_word — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:06:11 +0000

lol

By: the_word

the_word — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:04:36 +0000

Antropov has always been a great raw talent (who can forget that goal he scored against the Canes last year, pure skill and creativity) and is usually impressive when healthy. That being said, his injury issues are still too big of a concern to consider his contract one of value.

By: the_word

the_word — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:58:37 +0000

Philly has better defense than Toronto? Somebody didn't watch hockey last season.

By: the_word

the_word — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:53:45 +0000

Ok, and what if Boyd Devereux wins the Art Ross trophy? Seeing how no hockey of consequence has been played since last season (preseason was meanlingless for the Leafs has their roster was pretty much set) it is the best standard to judge players and teams by at the moment.

Now I realize Blake's 40 goals can in a contract year, but he's a great edition (can skate, play with grit and has a scoring touch, whats not to like other than the length of his contract). Kaberle has had strong back to back seasons and so long as he's healthy should be even better than last year (he's young and still plays a timid game, hence their is still upside). Steen is likely a bust but he was last year too, the Leafs' success is hardly dependent him. Toskala gives the Leafs the options of playing which goaltender gets hot.

Everything does remain to be seen, but to suggest that the Leafs are no better for the addition of Toskala and Blake is unfair. Don't try to turn a strength into a weakness.

By: jonnygf40

jonnygf40 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:26:00 +0000

OK. I don't exactly know what defensemen are for then, I thought they were supposed to help the goalie keep the puck out of the net. Or am I wrong? The Leafs had the 6th highest GOALS ALLOWED in the entire league. Only the bottom dweller Kings, Coyotes, Flyers, Capitals and Bruins let in more goals last season than the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs. Your lame comment about the leafs defense scoring more than the ducks is retarted, because their defense allowed 61 more goals in their own net than the ducks. So….204 points to 196 is +8 for the leafs. But the leafs allowed 269 in their own net to 208 for the ducks, which is -61. Hmmm….which defense would you take. Listen, I know your a leafs fan, and I feel bad for you, but there comes a time when you just have to admit that you have a horrible team, with a horrible GM. But I guess we'll just see at the end of the year, when…yet again the Leafs will oh so closely miss the playoffs.

By: jonnygf40

jonnygf40 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:24:21 +0000

By: nordiques100

nordiques100 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:37:50 +0000

ok many of you are very pro maurice and may of you do not blame him for as many things as I did. i think he has done a good job in many ways, but he has the onus to make the team even better, especially in the defensive zone.

however, if the team misses the playoffs and therefore results in a housecleaning, he has to be let go as well.

as good as a job he may be doing, the worse case scenario is for the new GM to be forced to keep the current caoch around. If a housecleaning is in order, everyone must go, including Maurice. otherwise, nothing really changes. if a new GM is in place, he has to be allowed to do whatever he wants, and if that means getting his own coach, so be it.

i always thought it was dumb for any GM to have the current coach forced upon them. it didnt work in vancouver when burke inherited keenan, it didnt work in toronto when ferguson inherited quinn, it didnt work in montreal when gainey stepped in and inherited julien. it never makes for a good scenario as i think time gets wasted trying to make the coach GM relationship work out. if the GM can bring in his own guy, that makes the transition much smoother. they should already be on the same page unlike the scenario if the new GM had to keep the coach around. in that case, there is a greater chance things will not work out.

also, if the coach is forced to stay, that once again tells me that whomever is in charge isnt really as once again the GM is not able to make the decision he wants/needs to make.

By: keyzero

keyzero — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:42:24 +0000

First, what are you trying to say? you're responses are not countering my main argument. You're just saying, "yeah toronto spends money unwisely but OTHER TEAMS DO IT TOO!" As I said before, my argument is, "Toronto Maple leafs are one of the several teams that spends money unwisely on players. They seem to be lost, their signings makes no sense longterm or short term wise,"other teams that you mentioned, such as calgary, colorado, edmonton, minesota or vancouver, is quite irrelevant in this argument becaseu i can say, "fine, they're one of several teams that also spend money unwisely." However, this time, I'll tell you why couple of the signings by the teams you mentioned aren't "stupid".

Calgary - Tanguay 5.25mil
I actually don't agree that this is a bad signing. Calgary signed him to a 3 year deal last year, in the new NHL. Since the lockout, Tanguay has averaged more than point per game, has over 500 games of experience with over 400points and not only that but he's always been a plus player. Clearly he is a proven player. He is still young at age 27 and about to enter his prime.

Colorado - Smyth 6.25mil
Ok, you win, this is a stupid signing by the Avalance. way to much for a 5-5.5mil player. However, i'll mention that the avs rarely make reatarded signings, as you can tell from 2 cups since 2000.

Edmonton - Penner 4.25mil
Yes, Penner is overpaid, you see why people are saying EDM won't make the playoffs? However, K.Lowe isn't stpuid, Aquiring Pronger and signing for 6.25/yr? that's a great signing by him. It's kind of obvoius he is just trying to make a "move" out of frustration. He made a smart decision by not signing Ryan Smyth to the luxurious contract that Smyth wanted.

Minnesota - Johnsson 4.85mil
I acutally can't coment on this because I really ahven't watched Johnsson play. I just absolutely hate Minnesota and I rarely watch canucks vs. min games lol So I'll just say, "sure, he's probably overpaid. so what? nthing to do with the leafs."

Vancouver - Naslund 6.00mil
oh I really really really wanted to tell you why this isn't a stupid signing, not just to you but all nazzy bashers too.
Think about it, this is a contract signed after a season where in his previous 3year/15mil contract, he had 41goals, 53assists, 93points with a plus of 17 while missing only 5 games due to injures. He DESERVED the 3 years 6mil contract, in fact, it was a bargain! He was worth every dime. Unfortunately for naslund, his numbers declined due to team's overall performance, defense-first system after craw got fired and chemistry with his teammates. I'd like to say to all nazzy bashers that you guys are retarded and shouldn't call yourself a fan. He was offered a better deal from 2 other teams yet he signed with vancouver because he loves vancouver. He deserves full respect. I can go on with this forever so i'll stop at this.

the original offer from toronto was 5 mil per over 4 years. Blake threw in the last year free.

I don't understand what you're trying to do here, that's a prime example of money being spent unwisely, Toronto was just lucky that for whatever reason Blake threw in another year. I'm sure more people would of bashed Toronto for the obvious reasons if they did sign him for 4yr/20mil.

the toskala trade has nothing to do with money spent unwisely. its draft picks spent unwisely, but not money. 4 million is the going rate for an average starter.

I like how you pointed out that they spent the draft picks unwisely, and I agree with half of what you said. I disagree with the "has nothing to do with the money" part. Why? simply because as you said, "on a new team, you dont give away possible UFA status for a mil less than guys who arent as good as you. " You KNOW that it was going to cost you. So thanks for mentioning, this was a combination of drafts and money being spent unwisely.

as for gomez comment, here, i'll add drury, Kasparaitis and in the old NHL, washedup mark messier, Holik, injury prone Pavel Bure: the signings are all quite reatarded. Needless to say, the NYR are probabaly in the bottom 3 when it comes to signing a player. I mean, everyone knows right? that in the old NHL, the NYR just bought players, and guess what, it took them several seasons to make the playoffs.

btw i would of done the pronger deal too. He was already signed to a 5 yr (4yrs left) contract at 6.25mil. You can't find a "pronger" that often ya know.

By: Aetherial

Aetherial — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:05:23 +0000

You can sign me up there also. I have defended him many times.

I honestly think that injuries are the only thing that has stood between him and a solid NHL player.

He was never as slow as people claim he is and he has always had good creativity in the offensive zone. Now that he seems to be using his size a little more, he could be in for a very nice season if he stays healthy.

By: BLUE_AND_WHITE

BLUE_AND_WHITE — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:57:32 +0000

wow, just when you cant get any dumber....the media was defending raycroft head over heels. mostly because the fans were attacking Raycroft every second.

come on, do you honestly believe philly can take a split out of NYR, Pittsburgh, or Jersey???? the 4th(maybe 5th) best team in a division almost never makes it.

The Leafs have played quite well against the habs(except Halak who seems to have our number), the sens and sabres will be tough as always, but the leafs played poorly against the B's last season(which they can easily turn around). The Leafs are the 3rd best team in their division. most years thats a playoff spot.

the number 1 player in givaways in the NHL is.....Smith
the worst defenseman in the NHL is....Hatcher
the goalie who stunk on the best team in the league last year is.....Biron

The Leafs turned Raycroft from the worst goalie in the league in Boston, to merely below average in Toronto.
Philly turned former top prospects and starting goalies (nitty and Esche) into guys nobody else wants.

yet you think we have the worst D in the NHL...McCabe and Kaberle had more points than Timminen, Kokkonen, Hatcher, Smith, Coburd, and Gaulthier COMBINED last season.