NHL 2010/2011 season....

[the 4th hanson bro]

Annnnnnnnd Forsberg is retiring.

Sorry Avs fans, that must have sucked.

meh.

He didn't play enough to know if he was going to be any good or not.

The question couldn't be answered by Forsberg anyway - get some defensive depth, don't make a couple of bad trades.

Another year of missing the playoffs.

 

[Garak]

It's really a shame all around when it comes to Forsberg - probably one of the best players to ever lace up the skates. If injuries hadn't cut his career short, who knows what he could have accomplished.

Mind you he was in our division so I'm not complaining.

Oh and Versteeg to the Flyers for a 1st and 3rd rounder, holy schnikies!

 

[Canadave]

^ I have no idea what Burke is up to with that trade.

 

[Winterwind]

I've had no idea what Burke has been up to since he came to Toronto. Most over-rated GM ever in my view. I don't care for Burke or his buddy Wilson. Wilson should have been fired long ago.

As for Versteeg, I'm sure he's happy to be going to a contender. As for the picks Burke got in return, considering Philly's place in the standings, a first round pick from them isn't that great and the third round pick... *shrugs* Sometimes, it's just painful being a Leafs fan.

 

[mimic]

I'm pleased with the deal.

 

[DeafPoet]

Indications are that Versteeg wanted out of town and Burke simply got the best deal he could for him. Which wasn't half bad, IMO. But why did he want out? I'd lay odds it was Ron Wilson. It's forgivable to be an abrasive cocksucker if you deliver results, but Wilson's a terrible coach in addition to being an asshole.

So we can keep shipping unhappy hockey players out of town or fire the obvious cancer growing on the team.

 

[Canadave]

^ Yeah, you're probably right. It's frustrating as all hell, though... we might get lucky with a 20-something pick from Philly, but odds are it'll be next to worthless.

 

[Winterwind]

Some sports writers (and fans are hoping this is the case) are suggesting that the draft picks will be used as part of a package, possibly including Kaberle, to land the top line centre Kessel seems to need so desperately.

And if I were Versteeg, I'd have wanted out too. Wilson is useless. Like I said, only in Toronto, with his best friend as his boss, would a coach with his record last three years.

 

[DeafPoet]

The problem is of course that top line centers are a precious commodity and they're pretty much locked up. I can't think of one outside maybe Richards who's even worth speculating about.

As for the Kaberle thing, I like him as much as the next guy but I think fans are going a bit overboard when they talk about his value as trade bait. If I were a rival GM and Burke offered me Kaberle plus Philly's first for my franchise center I'd laugh him off the phone.

 

[Canadave]

^ Sounds more like Burke would be offering up the third pick than the first.

To be honest, though, I thought our best bet to get someone good in a trade for Kaberle would be a package with Versteeg, but I guess that's done now. There are rumours afoot that Toronto may be trying to get Zach Parise, which would certainly be a sign of Burke looking to next year to compete. I don't know if that would or could happen, but if true, it would finally give the Leafs at least three solid lines.

 

[DeafPoet]

That would certainly be exciting. I don't know how he'd manage it though given the current dearth of roster talent at his disposal.

Besides, with all the drama between Kessel, Wilson and Burke I'm wondering if another American in the mix is what we need

 

[Canadave]

That would certainly be exciting. I don't know how he'd manage it though given the current dearth of roster talent at his disposal.

Besides, with all the drama between Kessel, Wilson and Burke I'm wondering if another American in the mix is what we need

They are the root of all the problems, aren't they? Damn Yanks.

It does make me wonder how Kadri might fit into the mix, though, provided he's NHL-ready next year. If we assume they're able to pick up someone like Parise or Richards, then we'll probably end up with something like this for our top-two lines:

Lupol - Parise\Richards - Kessel
MacArthur - Grabovski - Kulimen

I guess if Lupol doesn't pan out, there might be a spot on the wing for him, and he's not really third-line material, so... it could be interesting.

And this does, again, require Burke to actually find that solid first-line centre.

 

[Winterwind]

I wouldn't mind those being our top two lines at all. Hell, the "Mac and the USSR" line, as fans are calling it, has been our top line all year in all but name. Those two lines would give us, hopefully, some very good scoring.

Our D would look promising if Aulie can stay up with the big club and Gardiner pans out (since folks say that's what the Lupul deal was really about) and Komisarek either gets his shit together or gets out of town.

As for our goaltenders... I think Reimer has some great potential. He's outperformed Giguere and Gustavsson. The only question is with Gustavsson having another heart proceedure, Burke says he's not looking to move Giguere this year (and Gustavsson wouldn't get any takers with his stats and medical history) so who knows what we're looking at for next season in the net.

As for Kaberle, yes, some Leafs fans with the blue and white glasses really do over-value him (and pretty much every other player). That's a messy situation. He's good, he was a bargain with his contract but I think Burke said he wasn't interested in re-signing him (plus there was that bit with his dad at the start of the year saying Kaberle didn't like the management/coaching and wouldn't re-sign anyhow).

Ah well. We'll see what happens between now and next fall. I could be good, it could be painful but it certainly should be interesting.

EDIT: Sportsnet is reporting that Kaberle has given the Leafs permission to talk to the Bruins. That would be just friggin' hilarious. They get our two 1st round picks for Kessel AND our best D-man.

 

[DeafPoet]

^

I know I'm dreaming but I'd give up Kaberle to get our pick back

 

[Canadave]

^ I suggested that on Twitter when I heard the news.

 

[Winterwind]

Wait... what!?!

I just noticed... DeafPoet, you're in Edmonton. Canadave, you're in Ottawa. And you're both Leafs fans. Too cool.

Amazingly, it's currently 2-1 T.O. over Boston and... Kessel finally fucking scored. And even more amazingly, against Boston. I think that's his first goal against them since the trade. Took almost two years but I'm sure he's happy now.

 

[DeafPoet]

Wait... what!?!

I just noticed... DeafPoet, you're in Edmonton. Canadave, you're in Ottawa. And you're both Leafs fans. Too cool.

Well I am from the GTA... But I moved out here to work for the Oilers.

Basically, where hockey of questionable quality is being played, look around and I'm probably in the neighborhood

And good news about Kessel! I was getting a little weary of the moping.

 

[Canadave]

I just noticed... DeafPoet, you're in Edmonton. Canadave, you're in Ottawa. And you're both Leafs fans. Too cool.

Yeah, so? What's so unusual about that? I mean, I'll admit that Scotiabank Place is a Montreal Canadiens arena just as much as it is a Toronto Maple Leafs arena, but I don't think that should count against me.

Really, though, I grew up in Peterborough, which is a massive hockey town, and close enough to the GTA to be firmly Leafs territory.

 

[mimic]

Gotta say, the Lightning have one hell of a team. Based on last night a playoff series vs. them would be terrifyingly awesome.

 

[Winterwind]

DeafPoet, Canadave, just having some teasing fun as I'm sure you guessed.

And last night's victory was nice. I certainly don't expect the Leafs to push for the final playoff spot but I'll be happy if they can crawl out of the bottom five.