A Complete Nightmare

Two things seem abundantly clear this morning.

One, this notion that sending big-money Leafs to the minors — Jason Blake is the most obvious target — will somehow fix what ails the club is just wrong. Blake may not be much use this season, but unless he is clearly a detrimental figure in the dressing room, just getting rid of him is essentially pointless and probably just symbolic.

Unless you have a replacement, dumping a player isn't much of an answer.

Two, whatever is wrong with this team, Ron Wilson seems powerless to fix it.

The Leafs were the worst defensive team in the NHL last season and the worst penalty killing team. Today, they are the NHL's worst defensive team and worst penalty killing team.

Faces have changed. Bodies have left town, others have been brought in. The blueline was rebuilt.

But still the basic fundamentals of team defence completely escape this team. Some of that is about dumb hockey players, and some of it is about a coaching staff that isn't having a positive impact.

People are upset today in Leaf-dom, and with good reason. Nobody thought the club would be a strong team this season — maybe a playoff team — but nobody forecast it would be this bad, this awful after 20 games.

Believe me, there are other cities in the NHL where there is great unhappiness today. Calgary. Anaheim. Montreal. People in Boston are disappointed. Detroit fans are wondering what happened to their great team.

None of those teams have an easy fix in front of them, and neither do the Leafs. When the majority of hockey fans applauded the concept of a salary cap five years ago, what they didn't appreciate was that this was the world that would be created, a world in which the team that starts the season is basically the team you're stuck with, at least until the trade deadline.

The off-season is when important change is made. Not November.

So Leaf fans can scream all they want, and they have good reason to scream.

But that won't change much. In terms of the playing roster, the options are almost non-existent.

Comments

[JuicemaN]

Wilson is powerless...to me it sounds like Wilson is the problem. Like you said last year they were the worse defensive and penalty killing team....the defense gets rebuilt almost completely and still they are the worst defensive and penalty killing team. Do you see the common denominator...no? Well it's Wilson. Not saying he should be fired for that reason, just saying he's the problem and if you truly think he's powerless to fix it; than yes he should be fired for the inability to fix it.

[Rick]

Until the NHL stops screwing the leafs royaly (goals that go in get disallowed, phantom penalties called) things will never change. Since the NHL like sthe leafs under their thumb.

[The J - Man]

Put Ron Wilson up in the box with Burke for 2 weeks and let Hunter run the team , It will give Wilson and Burke a chance to figure it out ,and it will also allow the Leafs to guage Tim Hunters effectiveness. He could be good !

I cannot count how many times they have totally outplayed other teams and lost in OT or by one goal. Not too many blow outs happening which is a great sign.

[KE24]

Normally, I would not be someone who would call for a coaching change as it seems like a small solution to a much bigger problem but Wilson's player decisions confound me. Who does Rickard Wallin have suggestive pictures of that he warrants even dressing never mind the ice time he gets. And explain to me why you bench Schenn for the third and then when you need a crucial kill you put him out there ? I know White was in the box (the refereeing in this league - a much longer debate for another time) but you can get 4 D to kill four minutes. In the 60's they only dressed 4 D period. I know Burke does not want to go down this road but at some point he will not be able to ignore the fact that the message is not getting through. No amount of dodgeball can fix this.

[wayne]

I have never seem the Leafs as bad as they are today. I think it has to do with management and the coaching staff. They created a goaltender problem at the start of the season by destroying there confidence level..in the NHL the skills are there it's the mental things that you can't destroy. You have to wonder about the coach..with a 5-4 lead with 29 seconds left, you would think a timeout and and pep talk was in order..and to make sure you have the right guys on the ice. I would love to go into that dressing room and find out the true story..I think there is a chemistry problem and confidence levels at all positions are shakey. It's time to clean house and I mean get rid of Wilson.

[Will]

Damien - you're right, dumping a player won't fix this problem, but dumping a player or two and giving the guys who looked good in camp a chance is what should happen. Like you said, it can't be fixed mid season so all the more reason to give Bozak, Hanson and Kadri a look with the big team. It can't get any worse. It surely won't harm the development of these guys.. They know it's a mess too.

[Jim]

Would you not rather see them lose with a bunch of good young talent,who hopefully can also learn how to win,rather than the overpaid dead wood that was left behind JFJ?

[Tim]

Hey, I was always against the salary cap. If the owners and GMs want to throw around a lot of money, it's not my problem

[John]

Sure makes Burke look like a genius!! There is no use in blaming the Leaf's problems and lack of a solution on the salary cap, Burke knew about it when he spent the dough this past summer. The really galling thing is the loss of the first rounders so there is now nothing to look forward to except more of the same. He pawned our future, spent the money and now can only look at it as he walks past the pawnshop window. Boston may be disappointed but they will soon have our pawned goods.

[Jon Harding]

Damien,
What are Keith Acton's coaching responsibilities? Why has he lasted through three Toronto head coaching regimes - Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice and Ron Wilson? Just a desparate thought during these bleak, desparate days.
Also, I'd rather see the Leafs losing like this with young players who may become valuable core players in a year or two. Players such as Jason Blake and Matt (captain material?) Stajan are not going to suddenly turn into upper-echelon key cogs. Get rid of 'em, even if nothing comes back in return.

[Tom]

But neither could Maurice nor Quinn fix what is wrong with this group. 3 basically good coaches, none of whom could do the job. Pretty soon, you run out of alternatives, and you have to pin it on the players.

Next assumption: That getting rid of Blake without a replacement is not a help. Yes, it is. Blake is not young, and should frankly be tending to his health in other areas. But that aside, if the season is a waste, then getting in young players who will improve as a result of the shellackings they get, will improve the team in the long run. Keeping Blake, and others, in the lineup for another couple of years will not improve the future.

[Richard Reilly]

Just wondering when Brian Burke is going to start looking at what the coaching staff of this team is doing.
Who is the defence coach? I remember the old adage, that if the student didn't learn, the teacher didn't teach. When very little improvement is shown over 18 to 20 games perhaps the time has come to find another cause than players not performing up to expectations.

[Bryan M]

I agree with everything except one point - there is great unhappiness in Calgary? I know Jokinen is underachieving, and Phaneuf and the coach are perhaps not seeing eye-to-eye, but the team is 12-6-2, six points out of first overall with 3 games in hand. Leaf fans would love to have this kind of unhappiness.

[Jason]

Nothing will ever change for the "Maple Laughs"! They can bring in the top players in the league and it will still not change a thing! The problem is that the Maple Laughs need to sign a long term contract with a good Exorcist!!! Ya see the real problem is the team is still cursed by the ghost of Harold Ballard! As silly as it sounds it wouldn't hurt one bit, I mean they are the worst team as of today so ya can't get much worse!!!!

[Honest Al]

Damien...this hardly a nightmare anymore. We set high goals and that create high expectations and when they don't get met, it is a huge disappointment. Honest to god, who in the world thought we had a contender in such a short time period? Leaf Nation...be humble. We are rebuilding , not retooling. We clearly have gaps in our team that has not got filled. The style of hockey we are witnessing is a gritty and plain as it can be. It should give us a close to 50-50 record but execution has been poor and inconsistent. Oh well...hitting rock bottom is that bad...the only direction is up from here on or remain there.

[c_mcguinty@hotmail.com]

And I quote:

"If the Leaf GM wants to be bold, he could clear up in the neighbourhood of $8 million (all figures U.S.) in cap space by sending goaltender Vesa Toskala and forward Jason Blake to the minors and eating their contracts. Neither player is making a positive contribution to the Leafs or seems likely to." -Damien Cox Oct 12, 2009

"One, this notion that sending big-money Leafs to the minors — Jason Blake is the most obvious target — will somehow fix what ails the club is just wrong." - Damien Cox Nov 20, 2009

By this logic, Damien Cox is just wrong or simply a hypocrite.

[joe jacobs]

I think the culture on the leafs needs to change and that means several players need to move aside.
I don't know that jason blake is part of that culture, but certainly stajan, poni, and kaberle are.
if the team plays like this, it makes more sense to have all young players learning together and that will include lots of losing.

[Honest Al]

Wilson powerless...hmmm...we have other lines more fitting. I prefer "Leafs showing no progress" or "Leafs waiting for the axe." Fletcher's short tenure never had the buds playing this bad.

[Lee Baker]

Is this a surprise to anyone? If so then your hockey knowledge is the pits. The leafs entire roster is full of 3rd and 4th line players and guys who would be in the minors if they were with any other NHL organization. Their is simply just not enough talent on the ice each game which means Ron Wilson has very little to work with. if anyone is to blame it's ownership - and if you're not aware, ownership is a mish mash of high priced board members with no hockey sense. Go Red Wings!

[Cobblecorn]

if Mitchell drops and blocks that point shot in last 5 seconds we get the win - an embarrassment!

[Ajax19]

No, Damian, Detroit fans are not "wondering what happened to their great team". We know what happened to it: Free agency, the salary cap and injuries. I don't think anyone who was realistic about this team thought they'd be in the top 3 in the conference or the best team in the, vastly improved, Central Division (Chicago is benefitting from the same "perfect storm of salaries" that Detroit did last year). The Wings started off a bit slower than most expected, but they are pretty much where they should be and, will very likely end up, the middle of the pack in the Western Conference. A 4-6 seed or therebouts.

[Jeff]

Okay Damien, I have been a solid Leaf supporter for over 50 years now, during some heydays and some bad days;however, this is it!

I will NOT watch ANY more of this futile display by so-called Professionals until the Leafs move to respectability.

This is SHAMEFUL, from the top down, the whole organization needs SOMETHING done and soon.

I do not care what the other NHL teams are doing, never did...but to have this sorry group of jerks foisted upon us is too much to take.

My dollars, which are considerable, will not be spent on ANYTHING remotely resembling the Leafs this Christmas.

If and when something is done to right this sinking ship, well, write another good column as I will occassionally visit to check on things.

Good luck, all you Toronto fans, I have just left the building, oh wait there are thousands following me!

Do something, anything, right NOW!

[Pete]

Damien,
I'm not sure why true hockey fans would be in favour of a salary cap. It's not about cost containment for the fans. The only teams with low ticket prices now are ones that had low overall salary commitments as well as low ticket prices before the cap, simply because they have a hard time filling the seats. They are the same teams that will probably always struggle due to Gary Bettman's Quixotic mission to force hockey onto an apathetic southern U.S. audience. All the cap has really done is to take away the one advantage that powerful, money-making franchises had and that was to cherry-pick the best free agents available or at least have that option. The Leafs still haven't properly adjusted to this climate and perhaps never will. The sooner they do away with the cap, the better. Not only will strong teams be able to lure top-end players, but the truly weak teams in the southern U.S. will finally be put out of their misery.

[Quin]

Finally somebody speaking of the elephant in the room publicly! Wilson needs to go, the players are not responding to him. The players as a group are better than this record. They have tuned him out. I am a life long Leafs fan, but am done with them until he is gone. I usually go to two games a year, this season I will not be going at all.

[John]

"People in Boston are disappointed"

At least they can look forward to picking first overall!!