Leafs Involved in an another Reclamation Project?

Twitterverse reporting Devin Setoguchi may be putting on a Leafs jersey.


Here's the stats from www.generalfanager.com on Devin Setoguchi. Former Sharks, Wild, Jets and Flames player.

I always like reclamation projects and if this deal works for David that'd be a nice story for the Leafs. They tried this with Paul Ranger and it didn't work out so well.   He played 1 season with the big club for 53 games.  He was a Tampa Bay Lightning before he disappeared from the hockey world.

Podcasts

If you're into podcasts and are looking for some recommendations here's what I've been tuned into for a long while (in no particular order)

Grantland 
Specifically Andy Greenwald,
Do You Like Prince Movies,
Girls with Hoodies,
Hollywood Prospectus

There's a really great one about the career arc of film director Steven Soderbergh

If you're into Football - they have plenty to offer on that subject matter as well). Great website overall.

Tim and Sid
(From Sportsnet- their entire show is carved into 1 hour episodes each day)

Spark
CBC's Tech podcast with Nora Young

Eli Glasner
CBC Movie Reviewer

Get-It-Done Guys' Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More
(Stever Robbins)

Hockey Central
(Sportsnet)

Pensions Plan Puppets
(Leafs)

TedTalks
assorted collection of Ted Talks

Stuff You Should Know
How stuff works website

Documentary of the Week
BBC Radio

Day 6 

(CBC Radio)

Leafs Re-Boot

Leo Komarov - www.canada.com

I was so happy with the Leafs when they competed in the playoffs two seasons ago.

I told my fellow hockey fans that I didn't expect anything from the Leafs except some building blocks and a taste of the playoffs.  It was a young energetic team that was gaining valuable experience.  They were great days to be a Leafs Fan.

I was happy to see them win 1 game in the series.  I really liked the 'lunch bucket' attitude they had. They had lots of grit, for-check and toughness.

This was a team to be proud of - they left it all out there and played for each other.

All other teams hated the Leafs.  Not because of the cliche 'leafs suck'. But because the Leafs broke other teams.  They were tough to play against.  With 1 line of  skilled players (JVR/Boz/Kess) and 3 lines of fast, pesky, grinding players with some fists to back it up they were formidable.

That all changed last year when the 2nd line was gutted (Grabo/MacArthur/Kule) in favor of Kadri and Lupol.   Those 2 were decent but their lack of production put more strain on the top line to score.  Kadri didn't live up to the hype and the pressure put on him.

Not signing Leo last year lost the Leafs more grit.

The Lunch Bucket hard working team transformed into 1 line of skill that scored almost every goal on  a 2 on 1 breakaway.  Leafs couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone because they no longer had any grinders.

That meant more D-zone time which is where it all fell apart.

The balance was lost.  Sure the D was a disaster, but had the puck not been in the D zone as much - I think they could have held back the 12 game collapse.

I sincerely hope the 'brass' is trying to re-capture some of what they cut last season and make this team worthy of pride again.

Sure - leadership is important - but so is some of the lunch bucket effort.

Today I Learned Jack Adams was from Thunder Bay

I was watching the Winter Classic over the Holiday.  During the pre-amble Don Maclean mentioned Jack Adams, Toronto Maple Leafs and Thunder Bay in the same sentence.

I was born and raised in Thunder Bay. Played minor hockey in Thunder Bay. Seen the Stanley Cup visit here numerous times thanks to the Staals, and Patrick Sharp.

Thunder Bay has a pretty good hockey factory. 

But not until the other day did I learn of Jack Adams and his roots.   It was one line - but enough for me to be dumbfounded?  How did I not know of this?   "...when Jack Adams from Thunder Bay went to the Toronto Maple Leafs..."

He played for Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and won 2 Stanley Cups. 

He coached the Red Wings to 3 Stanley Cups and still holds the most wins as coach to this date.

The Jack Adams award in his honor is awarded to the most valuable coach in the NHL.

A mistake I made was thinking the "Adams" division was in his honor as well.  It is not.  Charles Adams is who the division was named after.

Sources:
Wikipedia

Tbnewswatch

Leafs Epic Collapse

Had the Bruins brought their 'A' game from the start - Leafs would've been lucky to win a single game in this series.  And that still would've been a success for this season.

We got our hopes up because Boston was Jekyll and hide. When the Bruins decided to play, they steam rolled us. Plain and simple - the Leafs weren't good enough. And that's al-right.  We knew that going in.

Had we won last nite - I'm afraid we'd be setting ourselves up for another repeat of 1993.  The Leafs played better than expected and got on a roll.  We suffered for over a decade with mediocrity and the insanity of believing that team was that good.  They weren't. They still need a few key pieces to make them great. But that '93 run made people think otherwise.

I'm glad the Bruins put us in our place. You can't teach what they learned last night.

Now we know officially where we stand and what needs to be changed in the off season.

Mark my words - when the Leafs become great - they'll have this 'epic collapse' as the reason they became great - because you know they will never let it happen again.

The Bruins lost a 3-0 lead against Philly in 2010. They won the cup the following year.

Here's my theory.  Ownership may have changed - but the greed to make money will always exist.  I wouldn't be surprised that MLSE thinks that if they go all in - they may get 2 or more playoff rounds.  

This would equate to millions in revenue with 4+ home games not to mention the fevered pitch of bandwagon jumpers buying up Kadri and Luopol jerseys.

Adding a veteran goal tender would surely help this cause.  

I think we may be replaying shades of 93 when the Leafs were technically in a rebuild state but surprised everyone by running the gauntlet only to loose out against the infamous Gretzky high stick on Gilmour (. Leafs 93 Playoff Summary )

Yes the Leafs have gotten better and our chances greatly improved - but we are still a few key pieces away from CUP contender status. But this seems eerily similar to 93.

If ownership knows its history - than one could surmise that its a fairly safe bet to try and load up for a playoff run with this team finally starting to gel.  The core of this group is relatively in tact next year so the gambling risk isn't high to add a piece or two for this playoff push.

With the mentality of "LA did it - all we need is to make 8th and we have a chance... but we're actually in 6th with possible home ice...."  I could believe ownership is pushing to recoup half a season of losses due to the strike by trying to not win the cup - but go a round or two or three and CASH IN BABY.  Its a win win for them.  

What about the little guy?

WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY?

I'm torn.

Do I really care if the NHLis locked out?

Again? 

It's like the devil and the angel on my shoulders, whispering into my ears with suggestive thoughts.

The Angel says: 

• yes despite the fact that this round of labour agreement talks is purely about money and nothing else
• Sure - Gary Bettman won't admit that Phoenix isn't working and wants the players to pay for his mistake
• The league is using 'lockout' as its first move instead of last
• The league will make more money in its return from lockout than it lost in the abssense of a stoppage - as proved last time this happened

An easy desicion to say sure - who cares if there's no hockey. This is just greed at work. But the Angel on my shoulder says - what about all the minimum paying jobs of employees that won't be working in the arenas, that won't be feeding their families?  They'll be out of work.

The Angel says - swallow your pride and your angst and think about the little guy - no one else is right now.  Hope for no lockout.

The Devil on the other shoulder has these points:

• Your a Leafs supporter.  That's too bad - but its a fact - you bleed Blue and White.  But lest be clear here, your team has made one change and will be basically fielding the same team as last season. 
• Last season's Leafs cut out your heart and stomped on it in February.  Do you really want to go through that again? 
• Maybe the lockout isn't such a bad idea.  Your Leafs will have more time to make changes
• MLSE will be officially owned by Rogers and who knows?  Maybe they'll fire Burke and clean house and rebuild - again.  
• A rebuild will be far more exciting than a reboot of last season's Leafs installment

 The Devil says - screw em!