We seemed to have some unanswered questions and unresolved issues when we finished our session on Monday, so fire it up again for the next couple of hours. Someone suggested to me earlier today that between tonight and Tuesday will be the Leafs' best stretch of the season. The lines are running thin, folks.
If, and I repeat, if there should be a charge laid to this allegation, the Leafs may have to deal with it rather abruptly. As of now, Komisarek is not guilty of anything, and I trust your cheeky message was in jest rather than cruelty.
If you hate thinking "next year", Barry, you'd better take up some other passion until October. Because there isn't much tangibly left of the current Leaf season, and neither do I believe I'm presenting you a bulletin. Reimer, Schenn, Grabovski and MacArthur stand a good chance of providing you some smiles... but not anything of note until October. Tennis? Golf?
Thanks for the word count, Zack. First, there is no discussion yet regarding Burke's contract or length of stay; he's in Year 3 of 6 and will likely begin to feel a substantial amount of heat from above if the Leafs are in the same lousy position next January. Kaberle has twice been coveted in deals the Maple Leafs could have improved by making. John Ferguson chose not to part with Kaberle and Alex Steen when the Oilers were offering Pronger in 2006, during the summer window in which Kaberle's NMC was suspended. Then, Tomas invoked his contract privilege just prior to the trade deadline in 2008, when the Flyers were offering Jeff Carter and a first-round draft pick (ouch). Subsequently, Kaberle's market value has plummeted with his on-ice performance. Burke had no chance of landing the top-three forward he coveted last summer.
At the moment, perhaps a fifth to sixth-round pick... if a team believes it is worth taking on Giguere's remaining cap hit on Feb. 28, which exceeds $1 million. I'll be shocked if Burke can move him, unless Giguere puts together a decent string of games. But, when might he het that chance? James Reimer is probably up to stay for a good spell, and it is much more important for the Leafs to re-establish Jonas Gustavsson's confidence than to play the classy veteran at this stage of another lost season.
Number-one forward nice.
Perhaps, but hindsight suggests they didn't have a lot to build with at the time. John Ferguson believed he could patch holes, then start building the next summer, but panic set in and the ill-fated deal for Andrew Raycroft was made. That put the wheels in motion for the ill-fated trade that brought Vesa Toskala here, and JFJ was finished.
The ONTARIO TURTLE DERBY will be largely be decided in the two remaining head-to-head meetings: Sat. Feb. 19 at Ottawa, and Sat. Apr. 2 at the Air Canada Centre. Yawn!
Do you really WANT to? A chance certainly exists if Burke unloads a veteran or two at the trade deadline but, again, I caution you to remember that 19 games remain on the Leaf schedule after that (nearly a quarter of the season), so I'm not convinced Burke will invoke a fire-sale. In fact, he has said on a number of occasions he'll be looking to add, not subtract, and that jibes with his philosophy since arriving here -- like it or not.
First Rogers laptop freeze, folks. Sorry.
You think Larry Tanenbaum, Richard Peddie and the Teachers have "crippled" Kadri? I imagine you're referring to the Maple Leafs, and I wouldn't jump to any conclusion about the kid right now. Give him a couple more years before writing him off. Remember, Alex Steen couldn't play either... until he got to St. Louis.
He could still get some value for Kaberle and, perhaps, MacArthur, who I believe will test the July 1 waters unless Burke really steps up with a mega-extension offer in the interim.
The two "jokers" both have established NHL credentials and the GM joker isn't going anywhere for awhile. Whether or not he extends Wilson is another matter and will be settled in the off-season. I haven't heard Burke "brag" about anything since he's been with the Leafs. I've certainly heard him proclaim he can build the team in a non-conventional manner, and that has obviously yet to materialize. Also, what makes you believe yet another change in management and coaching will get the job done? Any idea how many people have held the GM/coaching titles since 1967 with this franchise?
So you'd rather be legitimately hopeless than marginally hopeful?
Probably a bit of all three, and thanks for the well-structured and thought-out question. In 16 nights, we'll get another example of why the Leafs play these games a bit more energetically, as they will face the Canadiens in Montreal (Sat. Feb. 12). If you ever have a chance to be either at the Bell Centre for a Saturday-night Leaf game, or even in the main downtown Montreal area, near the arena, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
Kessel is a far-bigger name than the other two and the All-Star weekend is mainly about wining and dining the league's top sponsors.
Wendel Clark works in the organization already as a community representative and has no interest whatsoever in coaching at the NHL level. Gilmour DOES have designs, and is going about it the proper way, building his credentials at the junior level with Kingston. Remember, though, great former players do not always make great coaches. Nor do they often have a similar effect on a team.
That's the equivlent of predicting, to the day, when you will get your next cold. Neither can be answered with any certainty at the moment.
Won't work... won't happen. JFJ didn't trade Antropov, Burke did... mainly because he detested the player's attitude.
I proposed that in a blog before Burke arrived and Gretzky sent his attack-dogs after me. He was still coach and part-owner in Phoenix at the time and suggested -- strongly -- that any notion of him leaving for another opportunity was preposterous. It took a week or so to pull the daggers out of my body LOL. I wonder if Wayne might have a different take nowadays, or if he's content being removed from the game. I think he'd be a pretty fine executive and I'd love to see him involved once again. BTW, I am almost two years older than Gretzky. Neither of us were drafted by an NHL team. I once had 300 goals in a season playing basement hockey.
Absolutely not, though your concern is well-placed. If anything, Brian is twice as anxious to build something with the Leafs he can dedicate to his late son... if only privately. I don't see a connection between the tragedy and the Leafs' record.
Burke will not relinquish control of the hockey operation with the team in a shambles. He'd take a major credibility hit if he walked away from the mess and kicked himself upstairs. Won't happen.
Burke generally doesn't deal with contracts (player or coaching) in the middle of a season. That doesn't mean he won't lock up MacArthur between Apr. 9 (Leafs last game) and July 1, but much of it depends on the player. Clarke has one chance here to test the open market coming off a really good season (assuming he stays healthy), and we've seen a lot of silly money tossed around at the on-set of free agency, haven't we? This will be intriguing to watch.
