A desperate plea, from me to you

As the Leafs trek to Florida this week for a road trip, I took a sidewalk trip this morning and went for a long stroll before work.

The iPod was cranking out a bittersweet playlist of Beach House, Broken Bells, The Middle East and Band of Horses. And in the darkness, as I ambled forth in my ridiculously puffy vest, I couldn't stop thinking about some of your weekend comments.

After the Buffalo fiasco, Denial, Pyramid Power and Hoofheartz all top-lined the same bottom line: Farewell, Toronto Maple Leafs. You are now dead to us.

To quote from Denial's poetic epiphany:

And then, after it was all done, and I sat in a dull, lukewarm stasis that I've come to know very well as Post-Leaf-Game-Syndrome (or PLGS), I arrived at a happy place.

I don't know how I got there. Or maybe I didn't go anywhere, and it just came to me. Or maybe we met half way – though don't ask me to show you the way.

But the last tumbler clicked. The lock opened, and out of it emerged a peace of mind that said, gently and calmly: you may now stop watching Leaf games.

It was wonderful. It was LIBERATING. It wasn't an angry, stomping out of the room "I'm never going to follow this @!*&#$ team again." We all know that the momentum that takes us away in those moments quickly turns around and we find ourselves in the same old, same old. I mean, we've all quit drinking -- permanently -- after bowing before the porcelain god at 4 am, wondering why beer tastes better coming out than going in. But we know that this kind of "quitting" doesn't work.

I am not quitting the Leafs. I am simply done. My tenure is over.

I am a free man.

Next, Pyramid Power – one of ALF B’s most prolific commenters and a Leafs fan who is following this team while living in China – jumped into the thread to announce his departure:

Washing my hands of the Leafs is truly a liberating feeling. I too am free. Thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs. I have cleansed myself of thee. I have my life back, and it feels fantastic. Amen.

Then responding to Denial and Pyramid Power, Hoofheartz added:

Can you imagine if all TML fans were as fed up as PP and Denial? The shockwaves would reverberate through the ACC and maybe, just maybe an end would come to the pain of being a TML fan. The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem, so even though BB doesn't read this blog, he has my solemn pledge that there will be no more Leafs for me until at the very least, that most useless of all coaches has been dispatched to any ECHL backwater you can name. Aaahhhh, that is liberating.

All this liberation left me feeling very caged. And so a desperate plea, from me to you: Don't leave!

People, misery loves company and I don't want to be miserable alone. If you guys start burning your passports and defect from Leafs Nation now, how will I make it to April? Hell, how will I make it to January?

So as the Leafs prepare for their excursion in the Sun Belt, let's try to look on the bright side. You know, technically, um, this team has picked up points in 8 of 13 games this season! Despite the hideous slide of late, they are still, hang on, a .500 team!

But let's forget about stats for a minute.

Moe Green posted another thoughtful comment this weekend. His provocative theory, more or less, is that, "Burke's a guy who talks a good game but really could care less about the franchise, the city or its fans."

With great respect, this is the one time I must disagree with Moe.

I can tell you, with some personal certainty, that this losing streak is gnawing at Burke's intestines. He wants to win. And he loves this city. Before the season even started, he told me Toronto is where he and his wife want to settle down after retiring.

On another occasion, he said this about Toronto:

"You are talking about one of the great cities in the world. So you can look at this as a crushing pressure-cooker or an opportunity. A player that wins a scoring title here can run for mayor when he's done playing.

"I have the greatest job in hockey. Right now people might say it might be the worst job in hockey – the pressure, the media. But I have the greatest job in hockey because I view it as an opportunity. The guy that wins a Stanley Cup here, the GM, they will name schools after him."

I bumped into Burke after the Florida game. The Leafs had just won but he looked like bloody hell. He was distracted. His eyes were glazed. His visage was so unsettling I actually asked if he was ill.

He later told me he just trying to "gear down." Win or lose, the games are so emotionally draining that he turns into a walking zombie for a couple of hours afterwards.

Another time, at lunch, he was on his blue BlackBerry and his face suddenly got as red as a nearby painting. He muttered a string of obscenities and later said, "Changing a culture is the hardest thing to change."

Make of this what you will.

If you're not buying what he's saying, that's your prerogative. If you're fed up with the perennial emotional slingshot that starts with guarded optimism and ends with bitter disappointment, well, I actually understand.

But from my perspective – and, yes, take this with a large grain of salt because I have to stick with the Leafs this season – I believe things will get better. I do. That is, I don't believe Burke will just wallow in the putrid mediocrity we have witnessed over the past nine games.

So the question becomes: Will this team turn things around quickly enough or will the mass exodus from Leafs Nation become the defining hallmark of the 2010-2011 season?

PHOTO: VINAY MENON/TORONTO STAR

 

Comments

[Al]

Two wins in a row and Denial, Pyramid et al will be back on the bandwagon. That's what keeps Leafs Nation lurching on... binge and purge, baby. Binge and purge.

[KD]

Don't worry about the bandwagon passenger load. For every one who sensibly jumps off, there'll be another fool to take his place.

[Moe Green]

I appreciate the inside information and I will take your word for it that Burke is a sincere guy who cares about this city, the hockey team and it's fans. Unfortunately, that says nothing about Ron Wilson.

Look, as a fan I am eternally optimistic. I so hope that the Leafs thrash the Lightening and Panthers this week and put an emphatic end to this sorry losing streak. Trouble is, I doubt that they will. Tampa is a team stocked with talent and a team that has lost it's last two games. Stamkos is amazing and would like nothing better than to impress his 2nd favorite team. At least the Leafs have a chance playing in Tampa. Thank god the game isn't in Toronto.

[Leafer]

It is apparent that anyone who makes a statement that Burke doesn't want to win or care to win is ignorant. I would say that he absolutely wants to win as bad as anyone, the problem is that he is not very good at his job right now. The leafs stink right now offensively and there is nothing Burke has/can do(ne) about it. Burke has had a fair amount of time and has turned over the roster, burned off draft picks and the leafs are probably worse off now than a couple of years ago, there are no great prospects (Kadri is not a great prospect, what are the chances he becomes a first line player - and by first line player, I mean someone who would play on the first line of a good team, not the leafs, as these are two clearly independent concenpts). Burke is a blowhard, who wants to win, but simply cannot, due to his incompetence.

[TG77]

I have to say I am really enjoying this blog overall and it's a great addition to the coverage. Saturday's loss was incredibly frustrating but I am not ready to walk from this team. The tying goal was a calamity of errors and took about 8 deflections before it ended up on Hecht's stick and with some better luck it floats harmlessly to the corner. Now I was watching online so maybe I missed some poor coverage by the guys on the ice but there is no way Jiggy could be faulted for that one and he has brought some stability to the goalie position and Jonas is looking fairly solid too. The goals against is way down and despite some boneheaded passes on a nightly basis by Beauchemin and Komisarek (two veterans that need to step up) the D is looking decent this year. The PK is middle of the road compared to useless and with Armstrong in the line-up they were quite solid and killed off late 3rd period penalties that would have resulted in losses last year (i.e. game 1 against the Habs). Yes, they are struggling but I just wish the Leafs "fans" at the ACC would put down the blackberries and sushi trays and make noise and pump them up right away. The old faithful at the Gardens would be ashamed of these fans. To me, having fans who come to the game to schmooze and/or wait until they screw up so they can boo is incredibly annoying coming from someone who lives on the other side of the country now and couldn't afford to go even when i lived in TO. It is easy to make the argument that they are professionals and they should get up for the game etc but when the first 5-10 rows are practically empty at the start of the period and they make no noise, it has to be demoralizing. If TO wants to be recognized as a great market, they need great fans in the seats not the suits making deals in the concourse.

[Denial]

Vinay, I appreciate your point. Al, I don't appreciate your point, but I understand it.

Here's the thing. I have indeed fled the Leafs in the past; not because of wins and losses (I'm as fickle as the next guy, but I'm not a goldfish), but because of ludicrous organizational moves and, more specifically, the people who make those moves.

And so I understand the bandwagon. I understand it well. I've ridden and driven it. I've also parked it next to the ACC for the low, low price of a non-essential organ, the deed to my unborn child's first house, and a Jow Bowen impersonation ("holy mackinaw, that's gouging!").

But as I tried to describe, this is not about leaving the Leafs. It's not about leaving anything. I have no ill will towards the Leafs. In fact, if for nobody by Al's sake, I hope they do very well. Why would I want them -- or more honestly, their fans -- to suffer? Why would I want all of the businesses that thrive during winning seasons (I mean non-MLSE businesses, of course, like sports bars and stuff) to suffer? I'd love for them to do well, hire more people, and generate all kinds of good, happy thing.

So really, I would like to Leafs to do well. More power to them.

But *I* have simply disengaged and it's great. It's very peaceful; more than that, it's empowering.

This happened to me with the Jays back during the lockout, and the connection never came back. It was not resentment. It was just disengagement.

And the same thing happened when Ben Innis (man, he has GOOD hands) scored the shootout winner. Something inside me said 'thank you for everything, even the misery, and good luck.'

So I'm done.

What will I do with the hundreds of hours of free time? Will I search for the meaning of life? Will I study a new skill, learn a new language, become a better person? No. Most likely, I'll lie on the couch eating processed foods (mmmmmmm....processed foods). Or maybe not. Who cares?

Disengagement is DELIGHTFUL.

[Northphinfan]

I don't care what he thinks about Toronto. He sucks at his job right now. This an extremely weak team. Is it Wilson? How would I know? Is it Burke? I don't see product on the ice and that is his job. Where is the fire? Where is the will to win? Where are the Toronto Maple Leafs? Oh yeah, heading for last place again. Gees Burkey trade away the next 10 first rounders to Boston for a bucket of hockey pucks.

[Geoff Read]

Vinay and other Leafs fans,

I'm sure the chute-pullers will be back, and I'm sure Burke wants to win. Conspiracy theories about Burke trying to engineer a job in New York are silly.

I am, however, starting to question Burke as a GM. I thought at the time and I still think that the Kessel deal was a big mistake, and it stemmed from Burke's philosophy, which I believe was erroneous, of trying to retool quickly and turn the team into a contender sooner rather than later. That approach works when you've got some good building blocks already in place. The Kessel deal, for instance, might've made sense for a team that already had a couple of blue chip prospects lying around. The Leafs didn't..., they had Jiri Tlusty, and Burke's "quick turnaround" approach isn't working - the team's record is no better this year than it was in his first season. And where are the good young players? Khadri is not a can't miss kid; Schenn is a good player, but his offensive potential is very limited; the jury is very much out on Bozak; Stalberg is gone; Hanson might never be an NHL regular; Gustavsson may or may not be a bonafide NHL starter; Keith Aulie is several years away.

I also think Burke erred both last year and this year by raising expectations and suggesting the team would make the playoffs.... and the angst fans are feeling right now is partly a product of that. One glance at this team's forwards should've been enough to convince anyone that it was not playoff bound.

Here's the real clanger: what happens if the Bruins get another lottery pick this summer?

Sorry - that was a long unfocused rant... but there it is.

[Kyle The 5th Line Centre]

Everyone needs to remember that at 13 games in it is not the time to draw conclusions about the people in the front office or on the ice.
If you really think Burke doesn't care about the city or fans, that's fine. All that should matter is if he cares about winning. And you cannot say he doesn't want that more then anything.
As for the players, this is a young team that does not have many games together. There will be growing pains, so be ready for them.
just relax, read this post about some positives and watch some hockey: http://5thlinecentre.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/noveractions/

[Sparky]

I'm still here, Vinay. My only way out of Leafs fandom is in a body bag. Bandwagoners will come and go, but nobody will savour success one day like we will.

[A True Leafs Fan]

The Leafs are a great team plain and simple. For all those fans jumping ship, good riddance. Im sure Montreal or Ottawa would love to have you. Once leafs fan always a leafs fan. Everyone in Leafs Nation was on top of the world when we went 4-0 at the begining of the season, but now that we have had alot of bad luck your leaving?? A true fan sticks through his team through the good, the bad and the ugly. so all these chumps saying they have found happiness by giving up actually makes me happy knowing that we have lost the kind of fan that is making this team worse. Burke keep doing what your doing because this fan is staying true to the most important rule of all... KEEP THE FAITH!!!

[Kid Delicious 24]

I am somewhat puzzled by all this. Being a Habs fan I understand what you guys are going through. I am old enough to remember the glory years in Montreal but it's been 17 years since I've seen the parade on Ste. Cathereine St. I've felt like jumping off too. In my opinion...Brian Burke was the 'worst' thing that could have happened to the Leafs. He will be reviled in Toronto for years to come. Time people...his days are numbered. Support the young guys coming up...isn't that what really matters? The rivalry isn't just between our two teams but between the fans of both squads. This is as old as time ( Original six teams included). Be there for thwm. They need you now more than ever.

[Pyramid Power]

Thank you for the kind words and shout out Vinay. You are a good man, and this blog is outstanding. Kind of cathartic to read for me. Early morning over here near Shanghai now, and am quite touched by what you have written today.
Am not a bandwagon fan at all. Sunday morning I was teaching a load of children in my home. 2-0 Leafs against Buffalo and all was well. Feeling good. Feeling great! You saw that in the comments section that morning of the blog you had posted the day before the Sabres game. Then it became 2-1 and I tensed up as my wife here kept me informed of what was going on in Toronto.
My teaching started to decline as my mind wandered thinking of the worst case scenario.
Stopped teaching and gave the kids a break as I went online to watch the last couple of minutes of the game. When Hecht scored his first of the year to tie it late I erupted with fury, and the worst curse word you can use with my students in my home. LOUD curse word that I won't use here as this is a family newspaper, but you can well imagine what I shrieked in agony/anger.
Kids shocked and wife just furious with me. I did not care. I stuck with the game thru OT and then the shootout horror as the gentle little Chinese children were just stunned watching 'teacher' about to have a heart attack and muttering to himself insanely with my small wooden Buddhist statue out and holding it in front of my computer praying in Mandarin for the Leafs to somehow win in OT or in the SO so I could have what would resemble a normal day of teaching and joy. Not to be! Could not get it done in OT or the SO.

Ruined my day, my teaching was horrible and the argument with my wife is still not over as of this writing here on a Tuesday morning China time. May have lost that class as the kids would certainly tell their parents what 'teacher' thundered in fury and angst. When a team of pro hockey players 10,000 miles away from me start having that kind of impact on my personal and professional life it is seriously time to examine my priorities in life. I did so.
I will NEVER desert the Toronto Maple Leafs. I will always be a huge fan of this team.
In 1993 after they lost to Gretz and the Kings in the conference finals it took me all summer, and truly, years to get over it. Am STILL not over that or 1994 and the Canucks, 1999 and the Sabres and 2002 and Raleigh.
I went to Jamaica to get married and enjoy my honeymoon after the 1993 disaster, and to this day, harbor dreams/fantasies of seeing Kerry Fraser die a slow and agonizing death. I had to leave the country to deal with their loss, and got married as a way of coping with that loss. That is how hard core a fan I am.
No more. I am going to try very very very hard to just take the Leafs in stride from now on. Will not follow every game with breathless emotion, heart racing, tense, taut and let a loss destroy my day and a win make me ecstatic until the next game. It is simply not worth it.
That is part of my own personal story here, just a part, and will almost close with that.
I do not blame other fans here of accusing me and others of being bandwagon fans. I get that. I deserve that. But I am not a bandwagon fan. I drive the freakin' wagon! I repair and maintain the bloody wagon! I AM the wagon! lol
It came to me though as the day progressed and after reading Moe Green's poetic comment, and then Hoofheartz and other stuff at other places, that I really need to chill out about the blue and white. And a long heart to heart with my wife helped too.
I will always love the Leafs, will stick with them until I die, but hopefully hopefully like a recovering drug addict or alcoholic etc..... I will be able to enjoy the Leafs IN MODERATION.
GO LEAFS GO NOW AND FOREVER!

[Denial]

Also, while I'm just hovering around, I would like to echo the earlier comment about this being a great blog. Vinay, I understand why you were chosen to write this blog and it was one of the Star's more inspired moves (deleting Chris Z.'s media blog was not, by the way).

So thanks Vinay for being competent without being snarky. You remind me a bit of Greg Brady (formerly of 640, now doing afternoons on 590). I think you two would get along. If you call him up and decide to go to the zoo or something, let me know and I'll pay.

Seriously though, if sports media in Toronto is allowed to cross-pollinate, I think you should call up his show and he should guest blog here.

[ol]

Dear Vinay, I would apprecitate it if you would point out the fact that although the Leafs have not been winning of late, they have been in every game and even lost a few they should have won. I understand that this is a results based business, but as someone with a platform, it would do a world of good if you were to tell people to chill the (BLEEP) out. This team is a top flight centre away from being a supreme team, and with Kadri on the horizen and Phaneuf back soon, there is no reason this team cant compete for the cup. Sorry about the F bomb, but I think its warrented in this context. I believe "Leaf Nation" is a vortex of fairweather friends and uninformed opnionites. Some where there are fans who get it, but besides me and my cronies, I dont see any.

VM Replies: I had to censor the F bomb to put this through but now your point has been made.

[ragekage]

After the Buffalo game, I was a very deflated Leafs fan. One of the most deflating losses in recent memory - even more deflating than last years opening stretch of losses. Even then I was optimistic about their chances to reach the playoffs. That said, I'll be watching as always - since doing so is part of me, I am a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

[Pyramid Power]

Still on the good ship Leaf, will be a dedicated crew member until I breathe my last.
Momentary lapse of reason over passion or passion over reason? Not sure.
Will always love the blue and white and it is always the same for me:
GO LEAFS GO!
Need a couple of wins in Florida this week.

[Arthur Bailey]

I moved from Toronto to Red Lake (a small town in Northern Ontario...) over a year ago. I am a 6 hour drive from Winnipeg, 7 hour drive from Thunder Bay, and a 24 hour drive from that blue and white mess in Toronto. Maybe more so than others, I was really excited by the prospect of the Coyotes returning to their birth place in Winnipeg (1. it is geographically closer than the Leafs, despite being in a different province. 2. I could probably actually afford good seats... The only time I have seen the leafs live, I had to travel to Ottawa back when I was still living in Toronto.) but it looks like that will never happen now. so I was sitting on the fence. Should i still be a Leafs fan? and then Saturday the CBC gave me a push in one direction. I turned on the CBC broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada expecting to see the Leafs vs. The Sabres, and instead I got the Ottawa-Montreal game. This has never happened before. I guess it was because I lived in the local Leafs market before, and now that I get CBC from Winnipeg, I was exposed to the National broadcast rather than the Southern Ontario broadcast. Pitting two Canadian teams together, I can understand why the Leafs were not the highlight of the national broadcast as they always seemed to be before. So while I still live in Ontario, I am not in Leafs land anymore, and I wonder if that means I can make a clean break. I am not entirely sure... I ended up watching the Leafs game on the CBC internet broadcast (thank god it has improved so much from 2 years ago when I would try to catch games on my computer at work).

The Leafs hold on me has been weakening for years, mostly from the losing, but now Geography and broadcasting strategies are loosening that grip even more. Before the lockout, when the Leafs had some good and even great teams (Conference final against Carolina) I watched 90% of the games. Post lockout, not even 20%, and not having a Leafs TV subscription helps with that.

One more push (and like Damien Cox suggests, I will wait until the 20 game mark to evaluate the Leafs) and I might give away that Steen (Yes, Steen, I bought into the "possible future captain" hoop-la) Jersey I have not taken out of my closet in 3 years.

[Moe Green]

Okay so how about some positives:

Grabovski is playing well. He could easily have scored three or four more this year. He's also set up a couple nice ones particularly by MacArthur. MacArthur's been a nice surprise. I think we can reasonably expect 20-25 from him this year. Kessel is, at his best a superstar in the making, at worst a lethal sniper. Kulemin looks to be for real and should also pot 25 this season. Kaberle came out of the gate with renewed confidence and vigor. Though that has waned I think he's made it clear just how important that skill-set is. Phaneuf, in all but the last couple before the injury, has been rock solid and has emerged as a legitimate leader. Schenn is finally living up to his draft position. There is every reason to expect that all the above mentioned players are improving and have considerable upside. Oh yeah, and Kadri is still developing on the farm.

In spite of an atrocious one for nine skid, the Leafs are still in close contention for a playoff spot. If they can get it together soon, we could at the very least be in for a fun ride late into the regular season and perhaps beyond. Beyond, you remember.

[We BeLeaf]

Vinay, I am frustrated as well with the play of late, however it's not like this has never happened to the Leafs in the past. I do sympathize with rants of my fellow bloggers on here. The fact that they post so vehemently is a testament to their devout following of the Leafs. If it were not for these people posting on here, all there would be left to read is posts about how bad the Leafs are, and/or how great the Habs are. Ask yourselves this...if management hadn't made the Leafs so bad throughout the 70's and 80's, would any of this really be an issue now? I believe that it's because the team was not up to par that a lot of fans were pushed into looking beyond their home team to cheer on others. Still you cannot deny, that there are legions of fans worldwide who have never waned in their support the slightest. I doubt that you will find another NHL team that has that type of support.

I'll sum things up in one line..."it's tough to be a Leafs fan"

[The Merlot Kid]

Let's face it, being part of Leaf Nation hasn't been easy especially if you've been loyal over the last 40+ years of futility. The last 5 years have been especially hard to take. Every year, the same old same old!! When will we, yes me included, realize that until MLSE is hurt financially by the inferior product they put on the ice, things will never change. As long as we pay for mediocrity, that's what they will continue to provide. You give the customer what they want and if they continue to buy, they must want it, right? With the highest ticket prices in the NHL, we deserve the best, for one year at the very least. Stop spending your hard earned cash to support "AHL quality" hockey and then MLSE's only option is to improve the product on the ice to win customers back. Not really rocket science, just common sense. I know, easier said than done but it's the only way!!

[Paul E Duval]

Do any nay sayers ever look a the standings.They are a couple of games out of first 2 points behind Cosby and company instead of booing the coach and players,why not try cheering and being positive for a change all I read is negitive.Fans cheer the rest boo.

[Brian Kallion]

True Leaf Nation members revel in the suffering. That unites us more than any marketing-speak "passion."

[Chad]

Rebuild means that you have to lose first before you win. See Chicago and LA as the latest examples.
All the non-Leaf fans, Leaf haters, and impatient Leaf fans will tell you that they've been rebuilding since 1967. Not true. What they've been doing is using talent that only had a couple of years left in their competitive tanks to try and win right away. And by doing this they destroyed their long-term strategy.
The playoff runs of 1993 & 1994 were fantastic, but in the three years following Fletcher did all he could to ride that wave and try and "win now". So he sold off the future to do it, and the team slowly got worse.
Then the Pat Quinn era started, and in his first year we had a great playoff run. So once again the long-term strategy got tossed and they did all they could to "win now". Same with the JFJ years. Both failed to win the ultimate prize. Only now are we seeing the consequences of that.
True that Burke sold off two 1st round picks to get Kessel. But at least Kessel is 23 years old, and has worlds of potential ahead of him. The GM's mentioned above would have asked for a 34 year old has been who's on his last legs. A speedy 23 year old goal scoring forward can help you rebuild. A slow 34 old veteran who's two years from retirement cannot.
Burke is trying to do something here that hasn't been done in a very very long time. And the trouble is that most Leaf fans do not have the patience to wait for a winner. And the media don't exactly help either by publishing nothing but pessimistic articles, and constantly hounding Wilson and Burke with the most ridiculous questions.
Losing sucks. No one likes to lose. The team we see this year is not built to win, and chances are neither will next years team. But we must be able to look past that and see what moves Burke is making to help build a winner 5 years from now. It's gonna be a rocky ride Leafs Nation. Grab a hold of something and try not to fall off.

[James Reiner]

-- "Despite the hideous slide of late, they are still, hang on, a .500 team!" --

This needs to stop. The Leafs are NOT a .500 team. What makes a .500 team?? The same number of wins/losses (oh, and, um... OT Losses are a .500 stat). This is ridiculous.

Saying that your team is a .500 team implies that you are at (or around) the middle of the field, based on standings. So lets see. As of noon, Nov 9, 11 teams in the east and 12 teams in the west are ".500" teams. That makes 23 teams out of 30. That's more than 75%!!!!! So three-quarters of the teams are .500 teams?!?! How does this make sense?

What is being forgotten is that we have to count not just how many points we GET, but how many points we GIVE.
Our record stands at W-4 OTW-1 L-5 OTL-3
That means we have earned 13 points, but given up 17 points!! See the difference?

Ottawa is a .500 team, while Atlanta is not.
Ottawa earned 15, gave up 14.
Atlanta earned 15, gave up 16. Go figure they are placed 7th and 8th out of 15 teams.

If you do the math like this, surprise surprise, 16/30 teams are above .500, much more realistic.

I love the Leafs, and I still like their potential, but let's not throw around the term ".500 team", like it doesn't mean anything. This isn't basketball, baseball, football, or any other sport where you get zero points for losing, no matter what.

GO LEAFS GO!

[KD]

An interesting but unrelated observation. As Moe noted above, Grabovski is playing well, even if he's not scoring a lot. Wilson is happy with how he's playing and says the goals will come. Kulemin is playing well and scoring. Where, then, were they during the shootout on Saturday? Sure, he went with a hunch and put Mitchell in (and it worked) but why not Kulemin or Grabo as well? It couldn't be any worse - I don't think either Kessel or Versteeg could find the net even with a map based on their recent play.