16197 replies to this topic

[digitalmonkey]

LEAF CHARGED IN BURGLARY AFTER RELEASE FOR EARLIER ARRESThttp://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=392027psych!

[Fenxis]

digitalmonkey, on Monday, April 2nd, 2012, 12:27 PM, said:

LEAF CHARGED IN BURGLARY AFTER RELEASE FOR EARLIER ARRESThttp://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=392027psych!

Worst draft pick ever.

[Mercury69]

Awesome misdirect lol

[Babying]

Unreal that he was supposely on the same level as Peyton Manning. Also how he blew his money to get to this level.

[MapleLeafpoker]

Babying, on Monday, April 2nd, 2012, 1:39 PM, said:

Unreal that he was supposely on the same level as Peyton Manning. Also how he blew his money to get to this level.

Ya, but imagine how much fun he had doing it. What a waste.

[serge]

sigh

[MapleLeafpoker]

serge, on Thursday, April 5th, 2012, 2:04 PM, said:

sigh

Can I try to cheer you up?Leafs sneak into the lottery.Next Tuesday, you watch them win the lottery.Next year, you have first pick in the AHL draft, and your Leafs have first overall in the NHL draft. Hello Mr.Yakupov.See, all worth it now, right?This would actually make me very happy, as Id love to see such a talent come to Toronto. (since Carolina blew their shot)

[Dubey]

let's be honest. Leafs are going to come up with a heroic effort to win their last 2 games in convincing fashion, and pick 8th.

[serge]

MapleLeafpoker, on Thursday, April 5th, 2012, 12:52 PM, said:

Can I try to cheer you up?Leafs sneak into the lottery.Next Tuesday, you watch them win the lottery.Next year, you have first pick in the AHL draft, and your Leafs have first overall in the NHL draft. Hello Mr.Yakupov.See, all worth it now, right?This would actually make me very happy, as Id love to see such a talent come to Toronto. (since Carolina blew their shot)

Wishful thinking..but would be nice.I believe after all the crap we have been through starting in 1993 its time Bettman cheated for us..

[Derswick]

Big game Tuesday. Habs or Leafs get #1?

[ajs510]

Derswick, on Sunday, April 8th, 2012, 9:14 PM, said:

Big game Tuesday. Habs or Leafs get #1?

Islanders.

[Zach6668]

Would be alright to see the Leafs get the pick. Long shot, however. I don't really care who gets it, to be honest, though. Top few picks will all be pretty good.

[Swacker Dave]

"Pittsburgh model my ass..." lol. Brian Burke is awesome... keep him 4ever!

[serge]

I thought I write my post season comments on the season that has passed: While most casual hockey fans and Leaf haters will point to the fact that this was another year the Leafs failed to make the playoffs it was far from it. In recent years the Leafs would start out really bad digging themselves into a hole , and then make a huge push just to fall short of the Playoffs. This year was way different. 2011-2012 started out wonderfully for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It finally looked liked Brian Burke's team was coming together. The young guys were all playing great, we were getting decent goaltending, we had one of the most powerful duos in hockey. For 53 games the Leafs looked liked they were ready to take the next step. At one point they were even challenging to finish in the top half of the playoff seeds. This didnt seem like a fluke, it wasnt a few games. It was a great chunk of the season. People were finally praising Burke and some people (albeit a few) were even giving praise to the coach Ron Wilson. Then something happened. Something that we havent seen in these parts in recent years. A late season dumping. Not just a slump , but sort of like when the faucet is turned off in your bathroom. The team just stopped. Literally, they just stopped playing like NHLers. The season got away with a disastrous ending.No scoring, no defence and brutal goaltending. It was the biggest example of a 360 that we have seen in the NHL possibly ever.Were the first 53 games a fluke and the last 29 games is the true Leafs? Its a difficult question to answer. The easy answer is the team doesnt have the experience nor the talent to compete yet in the NHL when the pressure and the playoffs are around the corner. Its like one morning they woke up and said, WOW we are going to make the playoffs, this is really scary, we arent ready for this.Do I think the Leafs are a very good team ready to compete in the playoffs, not yet. Do I think they are back at square one when Brian Burke took over, like some people will have you believe? Hell no.There is something lacking , veteran presence, killer instinct that the good teams have. Sure we dont have the talent of the Pittsburghs,Phillys,Rangers of the East..But these teams does not need to be blown up. The high draft pick will help , maybe getting a guy like Galchenyuk who seems to be a very good talent will be what we need. I think where Burke failed was that he didnt add 2 or 3 veterans. Veterans that can play. Its good to go young but you need a guy like a Selanne,Iginla on your team to compliment the young guns.I know a lot of people get joy out of another season of Leafs failure, but this one hurt way more than others. Especially after the promise and the great first half that we had.Good luck to those who have teams playing for the Cup..We will see you next year, hopefully with a better product on the ice.GO LEAFS GO

[MapleLeafpoker]

Swacker Dave, on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012, 4:38 PM, said:

"Pittsburgh model my ass..." lol. Brian Burke is awesome... keep him 4ever!

I like Burke, but that was a piss poor argument. That team isnt just good because of the 1player, they drafted well with very high picks for years.But ya, I like his attitude, for the most part.

[digitalmonkey]

I think many of the leafs' players were on a hot streak at the same time and then slumped at the same time. I think their actual performance expectation should be somewhere in the middle.

[mrdannyg]

Good post serge. I don't understand the ad that was taken out. Owner's say they take "full responsibility" for the late season collapse. Well, that isn't something you can just say. Taking responsibility involves, you know, actual responsibility. Is someone going to lose their job? Are we going to see someone doing more than just paying lip service? I doubt it. To me, unless something significant happens, ownership making a big deal of "taking responsibility," then maintaining the status quo is just a fantastic snapshot of them in a nutshell, and a great example of why little has changed in 45 years.

[MapleLeafpoker]

mrdannyg, on Thursday, April 12th, 2012, 10:41 AM, said:

Good post serge. I don't understand the ad that was taken out. Owner's say they take "full responsibility" for the late season collapse. Well, that isn't something you can just say. Taking responsibility involves, you know, actual responsibility. Is someone going to lose their job? Are we going to see someone doing more than just paying lip service? I doubt it. To me, unless something significant happens, ownership making a big deal of "taking responsibility," then maintaining the status quo is just a fantastic snapshot of them in a nutshell, and a great example of why little has changed in 45 years.

Very well said.

[Zach6668]

MapleLeafpoker, on Thursday, April 12th, 2012, 9:57 AM, said:

I like Burke, but that was a piss poor argument. That team isnt just good because of the 1player, they drafted well with very high picks for years.But ya, I like his attitude, for the most part.

Like, yeah. And it was more than just lucking into top picks. For sure, the Pens got lucky by being bad at the right time but it's a ton more than that. Remember how the LOST the lottery the year Ovechkin went #1 overall. Got lucky that Malkin was almost nearly as highly ranked. And the Crosby thing was all luck.But anyways, after that, it was a combination of good drafting, good trades, good asset management, good contracts, etc. It's not like the Pens just sucked and lucked into a bunch of guys and were instantly good. Letang was a 3rd rounder. Joe Vitale was a 7th.People always point out the opposite side, like Atlanta always having high picks and never really amounting to anything. Well, yeah, they had high-ish picks, but the only 1st overall was Stefan at least 10 years ago, and also, every other decision the GMs ever made were horrible.The "Pittsburgh Model" seems like a flawed cliche because everyone seems to use that term now for tanking getting high picks. That's not exactly how Pittsburgh turned it around. It helped, but like I said, it's not a magic recipe for success, you still need to be a skilled GM to turn the team in the Cup champion/contender.

digitalmonkey, on Thursday, April 12th, 2012, 10:13 AM, said:

I think many of the leafs' players were on a hot streak at the same time and then slumped at the same time. I think their actual performance expectation should be somewhere in the middle.

Yeah, was going to post something like that as well.

[InternetExplorer]

was atlanta's ownership forcing don waddell to pull some of the moves he did, or is he just not a very good GM? the talent he threw away in 2007 was actually pretty staggering, and all it earned them was a first round exit.