tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247468742008-07-19T14:45:38.661-04:00MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-72797369120119362008-07-18T00:08:00.004-04:002008-07-18T12:39:04.167-04:00

It's my understanding that Stephen Brunt is a Cleveland Browns fan. Think about this for a minute. The man that is, arguably, the best sports writer in Canada cheers for a team that won its last Championship in 1964 and hasn’t won its division since 1989. A 40+ year drought, bad ownership and no short-term success on the horizon. Sound familiar? Yet, up to 16 times a year, Brunt cheers on a

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-89288707990572044722008-07-16T10:57:00.005-04:002008-07-16T11:42:00.221-04:00

Sean from Down Goes Brown posted an interesting and insightful comment on the state of the Leafs Web-site in response to my long-winded post suggesting the Leafs re-vamp their online approach to information distribution and sharing. I completely agree with DGB, but his comment begs a larger question: how much control do NHL teams have over the development and utilization of their own web-sites?

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-50843243418051830452008-07-15T19:42:00.007-04:002008-07-16T00:15:45.009-04:00

There’s an interesting cross-post up between Pension Plan Puppets and Down Goes Brown regarding an abominable article by Howard Berger (I’m not sending any traffic to the Bergermeister Meister Berger's blog so you’ll have to locate the article yourself. Hint: it’s really not worth giving him the page views). Here’s the money quote from Working Class Howard: “Leaf fanatics constantly bitch about

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-60062704114300112572008-07-15T01:38:00.005-04:002008-07-15T09:54:11.261-04:00

The Leafs acquired Ryan Hollweg from the New York Rangers in exchange for Pittsburgh’s 2009 fifth round pick (picked up by the Leafs in the Hal Gill trade). Hollweg is best known for being Chris Simon’s piñata (Madres de Dios - sin dulce!) an incident that led to the longest suspension in the history of the NHL. An RFA at the end of the season, Hollweg was 23rd in the NHL in hits last season,

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-102887237726131542008-07-10T14:28:00.002-04:002008-07-10T14:42:46.837-04:00

This morning at breakfast the iPod wasn't charged and I was too slow getting to the radio so I got stuck listening to some really bad music. As Drive My Soul played in the background (gack!) it struck me that if the Toronto Maple Leafs really want to change their culture, if they really want a fresh start in 2008-'09, a public execution of the MLSE employee in charge of the in-game music

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-75980088467084014972008-07-03T23:27:00.005-04:002008-07-04T12:01:29.787-04:00

With 10 potential NHL ready players on the blue line, and prospect Luke Schenn as the only waiver exempt defenceman, it’s clear that the Leafs are going to have to make a few moves to get down to the seven D-men they plan on carrying during the regular season. I’m hoping the Leafs don’t give Schenn any more than the standard nine game look-see before sending him back down to junior, which would

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-45897072608758241992008-07-02T07:07:00.005-04:002008-07-02T08:31:57.175-04:00

As the four or five of you who read this blog know, I took a quick holiday to the west coast for two weeks. I ended up without an internet connection during my time on Vancouver Island and came back to the news of the Wellwood, Tucker and Raycroft moves (and a new found appreciation of just how much time I spend attached to the interwebs). The Raycroft move is about 10 months too late and about

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-60629636139953209822008-06-20T11:46:00.005-04:002008-06-20T12:37:16.801-04:00

I'm on a west-coast vacation until July 1. Instead of my usual routine for avoiding work and procrastinating at the office, I'm riding monorails, taking ferries and going to baseball games. As a result, I'm four-thousand kilometers and three hours further disconnected from Leaf news than usual. All of this is to say, I likely won't be posting anything on the Leafs' efforts at the draft, any

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-18777040732182991932008-06-12T07:59:00.003-04:002008-06-12T08:31:06.383-04:00

Three articles today, the first sets things up and the others close the deal. It's no wonder newspapers are dying... Pixels or Paper: Truth Doesn't Care - an old-school columnist realizes that access isn't all it's cracked up to be. He concludes that sports writing should really be all about "fresh, creative, unvarnished, unrestricted and entertaining thoughts about the issues of the day."

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-72100721032893865702008-06-11T00:29:00.007-04:002008-07-04T00:09:36.310-04:00

Three quick(ish) points today: 1. The Interim-GM Title: Why all the confusion? Is anyone else really sick and tired of the media’s hang-up on Fletcher’s interim title? Was there this much hand-wringing and bloviating (Hockey News I’m looking at you!) when Flyer’s Interim-GM Paul Holmgren signed Mike Knuble and Sami Kapanen to contract extensions? Were the columnists in Philly and at the

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-56394729563032594872008-06-04T12:31:00.002-04:002008-06-04T12:47:27.241-04:00

MC79 has a very interesting post up today that draws on a recent Mike Smith Blog entry over at THN. Both are worth the read... Smith was the Associate General Manager of the Leafs during the Ken Dryden years and was part of the group that brought in Pat Quinn. According to Smith's post at THN, he was the one that signed Curtis Joseph. It's far different from the "going out for ice cream and

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-77635340306016968142008-06-02T22:53:00.007-04:002008-06-11T01:06:03.166-04:00

Ron Wilson has apparently been hired as the 27th coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. My immediate reaction: should be an interesting three years before he gets fired. The Coverage (pick your poison) Sean at Down Goes Brown CBC The Globe and Mail The National Post The Toronto Star The Toronto Sun TSN or just Google News it The Plan Anyone who thinks the Leafs aren’t operating with a plan hasn’t

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-85480477264512079452008-05-30T12:39:00.004-04:002008-05-30T12:55:28.886-04:00

Sport was the main occupation of all of us, and continued to be mine for a long time. That is where I had my only lesson in ethics. – Albert Camus. Perhaps it’s because the sub-text of all sports is about complying with rules and the notions of fair play, ethics and good sportsmanship that fans often develop the expectation that these same values and attributes can and should be found in the

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-84161797887754610702008-05-29T11:06:00.005-04:002008-05-29T11:59:08.159-04:00

Two of my favourite bloggers, PPP and Sean, have interesting posts up about the future of Mats Sundin and both seem rather angry that Mats may be skating for another NHL club this September. Me? Not so much. I was shouted down on a few discussion boards when I brought this up, but if you parsed Mats' comments at the trade deadline, it was clear that he wasn't ruling out playing for another team

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-6994833663634516842008-05-27T13:13:00.002-04:002008-05-27T14:26:57.875-04:00

Damien Cox has filed yet another blog post that I just can't ignore. Just like those Devilishly tasty and tempting peanut M&M's - I just can't say no to the horribly written tripe that man generates. Speaking of chocolates, is it just me or does Cox's "blog" The Spin conjure up a little Roald Dahl: We'll begin, with a spin Traveling in the world of my creation What we'll see will defy

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-66164046238453132462008-05-14T12:38:00.000-04:002008-05-14T12:38:45.904-04:00

Last night I made the mistake of reading an ESPN magazine article by Adam Proteau (it was so painfully bad I'm not even going to post the link). Supposedly it was about the state of the Leafs, but I could have learned more about MLSE and my beloved Blue and White by staring into the lint trap on my dryer for 12 to 15 minutes. In addition to the lack of any original thought, insight, or quoted

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-70974714128152858532008-05-08T21:24:00.003-04:002008-05-14T19:43:44.876-04:00

There is nothing wrong with being hopeful. There is no shame in being an optimist or leaving oneself open to the possibility of miracles. Hope is why sports fans return season after season. Hope is why we watch the games, even when we know the coach should be fired and the team has a 3% chance of making the post-season. Hope is what fans do. Hope is pretty much all that Leaf fans have. Or,

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-57006880808227946022008-05-07T13:23:00.010-04:002008-05-07T14:36:31.557-04:00

The Leafs have called a newser for 3 PM. I suspect it's to confirm that Paul Maurice has been fired as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but other media are speculating it may be to announce a new GM. ### It's telling that in firing Maurice, the biggest blow to this organization will be the loss of an occasionally amusing sound bite in the scrums. There certainly couldn't be a much worse

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-11868081778867951902008-04-25T16:32:00.002-04:002008-07-18T13:11:01.967-04:00

Look, I’m not the most attentive employee around here in Leafs Nation, I’ll admit it. I’m almost always running a few minutes late, I don’t always put a loonie in the jar when I take a coffee, and I've been known to run-up long distance phone bills on the company dime. I leave the sports section in the executive washroom, which drives the poor guys at Cox Bloc batty. I’m the one that keeps

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-63322468930767766472008-04-18T13:52:00.004-04:002008-04-18T14:07:07.180-04:00

As some of you may know, Greg Wyshnyski, formerly Deadspin's Hockey Closer, is now heading things up over at Yahoo's hockey blog. Greg was kind enough to ask me to write an obituary for the Ottawa Senators season and I was only too happy to do so. The obit is now up and can be read here. I can't wait to read the one for the Montreal Canadiens (and the sooner, the better).

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-55758455082212261732008-04-06T15:00:00.002-04:002008-07-18T12:37:45.442-04:00

I’m contemplating a response to the Maclean’s piece on why the Leafs Stink (and wondering when Masthead Magazine or the Ryerson Reveiw of Journalism will feature their cover story on why Maclean’s Magazine stinks. I've got a few insights I can offer up...) In the interim, while the Leafs clean-out their lockers and Leafs Nation turns its lonely eyes to Monday's draft lottery (C'mon Phoenix -

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-53689720004953747242008-04-04T09:08:00.006-04:002008-04-04T09:45:30.672-04:00

As much as I like Toskala, I always thought JFJ gave up way too much in that trade. The tipping point for me was the inclusion of Mark Bell. His price-to-performance ratio coupled with his off-ice troubles (and a surprise 15 game suspension to start the season) made it seem that JFJ had been taken once again*. But if you break that deal down into its component parts, Toskala is proving to be

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-25216789884939487382008-04-02T09:53:00.001-04:002008-04-02T10:04:18.200-04:00

I really appreciate the quality of the comments on this site, they often make me stop and think. Case in point: The feedback on my Cox post deserved a response and my comment mushroomed into this (rather long) post. I think we'd all agree that there certainly couldn't be much more Leafs coverage. There are upwards of 30 reporters covering the Leafs. To put that in perspective, the entire media

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-24455652203973706572008-04-01T22:36:00.006-04:002008-04-02T00:26:11.170-04:00

Look, I know the Sabres are pretty much out of the playoff hunt: three points back with two games to go and two teams to leap frog makes it a long-shot at best. I also know the game meant nothing to the Leafs. But if I was cheering for Philadelphia, Boston or Carolina, I wouldn't be too happy with the Leafs sending out Williams, Kubina, and Pohl to finish off the shoot-out. Just think about the

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746874.post-63782003761954748512008-03-30T19:00:00.003-04:002008-03-30T19:19:33.738-04:00

The Leafs haven’t interviewed a single candidate for the President/GM job, despite having fired JFJ back on January 22. This comes as no surprise to me. While I'm no expert on the inner workings of NHL level executive recruitment, I would guess that the vast majority of candidates for the Leafs post are currently under contract with other NHL clubs. Not only does their current contractual

MF37http://www.blogger.com/profile/10238252282255067686noreply@blogger.com