13 days to go…

by Jonah… So Brian Burke has been offered a lottery pick for Luke Schenn.  His response was why trade a 19 year old player who is earning 22 minutes a night of ice time for an unproven prospect.  Question is do you agree?  From my perspective, I wouldn’t make this deal before the lottery happens.  Unless I knew it would be for #1, I wouldn’t make the deal.  I can’t imagine that at this time the other team, and I am willing to bet it was Tampa, would trade their number one straight up for Schenn.  They would want more.  They don’t want players either, they want prospects or picks.  Burke would get crucified if he traded Schenn plus anything for a lottery pick.  That doesn’t mean Schenn is untradeable.  As Burke has said publicly already, offer me 10 first rounders and he is gone.  We all know that he says that tongue in cheek.  The offer could be less then 10 first rounders and Schenn would be gone.  One for one, would you trade Luke Schenn for John Tavares?  I haven’t seen JT play first hand.  I have seen a bit on TV and I have read the reviews.  One NHL scout told me this am that he would make that trade every day of the week and 2x on Saturday.  I would be stunned if Schenn got moved prior to the end of the season.  Would I be shocked if he got dealt before or at the draft?  Not one bit.

I really liked the segment Stellick and Landry had after talking to Ron Wilson.  Wilson was good, he didn’t say too much.  He was asked the usual questions, he dumped a little bit on Carey Price, but recovered quite well.  The only thing that stuck with me was when Wilson said there are 7 or 8 guys from which to build upon.  We could go through the list of who they are, granted it gets harder after Schenn and Stajan.  it got me thinking though.  If Burke is able to clean the slate, I mean really gut this team, from Wilson’s perspective was this season a waste of time?  All the principals, practices, lessons etc. that he has tried to instill, if they are left on only 5-7 guys and you have a new 10-15 (and lots not even consider the Marlies roster), are they any further ahead.  Unless all the guys Burke acquires are Wilson type guys or are so raw that the bad habits haven’t been established, next season could be equally as frustrating for Wilson.  I guess the only difference will be that the guys he will be coaching should be long term guys as opposed to this years bunch.  As a coach, or coaching staff, that has to be frustrating as hell.

Stellick made a great point after the interview.  He said that Wilson is the cover boy of the Leafs team this year (along with Schenn he said) but if Wilson is next year then Wilson and Burke have a big problem.  I think that is exactly right.  I think the one thing this team really lacks is an identity.  Who is the one Maple Leaf player the fans rally around and support.  It’s hard to say Luke Schenn.  He is only 19.  It is not like he is leading end to end rushes (that isn’t his game).  He doesn’t have an overly dynamic personality (he is 19!).  While the physical part of the game is certainly good, he doesn’t throw Wendel Clark like hits (he’s only 19 and he plays defence).  Grabovsky is a lot like Sergei Berezin, fun to watch especially when he scores but…. Jason Blake has really come a long way.  He has a few thousand more miles to become a fan favorite.  The team doesn’t even have the prototypical mucker or plumber for the fans to cheer especially when he scores.  May could be that guy, if LOST were more then a TV show and time travel were possible.  The next 13 days are going to be interesting as hell.  I think they will exciting in that moves will be made.  I don’t see anything tangible coming back that is going to get people excited.  It’s hard to get over excited about a draft pick, except that it offers the greatest thing ever, and no, not a mutton lettuce and tomato sandwich, HOPE… Hope for maple leaf nation is the greatest thing.  With JFJ we had none, well none that related to winning.  The hope was that the powers that be wake and realize the mistake they had in hiring him in the first place.

13 days to go, a TON of work to be done.  This should be a very,very interesting time for leaf fans.

Jonah, blogger of torontosportsmedia.com

Footballers’ Club Moving Is Ridiculous

by Zahi Sahli…

It is such a shame to see footballers moving clubs so often. It seems that moving from a club to another has become a natural  habit as ordinary as changing underwears.

The English Premier League might be the clearest proof of the great amounts of cash  that has taken over the game that are being spent by billionaire foreign owners.

But the English Premier League is not the only league that has witnessed its players change clubs quickly. Players from Serie A and La Liga have also been moving clubs a little bit too often.

Since today, it seems that transferring clubs too often is seen as a professional move to go further with a footballer’s career, I will not be writing about moving clubs from the moral angle.

Let us focus on the professional side of the story. How is it benefiting players’ careers to move clubs two times a year?

A good example is Robbie Keane moved to Liverpool in July 2008 from Tottenham and then moved back to North London six months later.

Surely the media plays a grand role in unsettling players when journals criticize players for failing to find their good, old form. And players seem to lack the patience, discipline and composure needed to reach their potential after moving to a new club.

Adapting to a new city, new teammates and a new lifestyle needs a good amount of time. But apparently players do not seem to have the tolerance needed to realize their potentials.

Many players refuse to sit on the bench for a couple of matches before being fielded as part of the starting lineup. When they sit out a match, media outlets hurry to cover their “dissatisfaction” and therefore unsettle them even more.

This is what happening currently with Real Madrid’s January signing Klass Jan Huntelaar. The Dutch striker, who signed from Ajax only a month ago, is being linked with a move away from Madrid.

He is “reportedly” already ”sick” with the “lack of first-team football”, and he’s been at Santiago Bernabeu for only a month with one of the best clubs in the world!

Every on-form player is misquoted for wanting a move away from his club and even the great players like Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are linked with moves to other clubs when they are great stars already playing for great clubs!

Messi and Ronaldo have collected plenty of honors with their clubs and are yet listed as “wantaways.” Why? Because the media wants to excite the readers over the worthless news.

But the worthless news is unsettling players and causing the football world no good.

Moving clubs too often is an awful trend in modern-day football. It does no good to the clubs involved nor do these transfers benefit the players who are moving clubs so often.

Ronaldo can be a legendary figure at Old Trafford and can be as great of a legend-or even greater than Roy Keane. He can be seen as United’s Maldini! But it seems money has taken over the world. There is no more emotional ties whatsoever between the player and his club.

So, to all unfaithful players, do not kiss your club’s shirt when you score goals! Bring cash along and kiss the Euro sign, that would show your feelings toward football  and clubs more clearly.

Wanna Bet (Pro-line Picks) (Record NHL 29-23 NBA 24-11Overall 53-34)

by Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano…

Too bad I got off this gambling stuff, I think it must be the post NFL season blues that kinda got me in this funk, and we’ve got March Madness coming up so let get in some warm up gambling, and I feel it’s been way too long since I’ve just been able to spew out an opinion on some shit.

So let’s try and find a few picks out there to make some money on! There’s a whack of games on the docket tonight, and damn it I could use some cash for this weekend’s beer drinking binge since, I nor anyone else won that massive 649 Jackpot last night, so why not scoop some of it from the bastards who always seem to be taking it from us, namely the Government! There’s NCAA b-ball going down and quite a number of NHL games to choose from as well.

The first game catching my eye in the NCAA is this Xavier Musketeers (favoured on the road by 6.5)playing the Charlotte 49ers, X-men are 21-4 and Charlotte is a weak 9-15, if this isn’t enough to take the X-men by 6 well here’s a couple quick stats for the hell of it. Xavier is 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS all time, they are 7-3 ATS on the road this year, also the X-men average 5 points more per game and give up 8 points less than the 49ers. Bet tracker has 89% of their money on the X-men (-6.5), I’m Taken Xavier to win by 6 for the 1.50.

The Wisconsin Badgers (16-9) visit the Indiana Hoosiers (6-18) and again their records reflect what the outcome of the game should be. The Badgers have the 19th ranked overall defence in the NCAA, and Indiana sure ain’t no scoring machine, ranked 302 overall on offence. Bet tracker has 73% of their money on them (-10) I’m going to take the battling Badgers to win by 6 for 1.40.

Let’s slip a couple quick hockey games in now and then make our way to the corner store and get that ticket done, then hopefully it’s just going through the motions tonight, before the chocko sendo of the loot tomorrow!

The Buffalo Sabres are limping into Philly tonight, and the Flyers have been red hot at home as of late 10-3. No Vanek  no scoring bye bye Buffalo. I’ll take a shot with Philly for 1.55 at home.

NJ has been on fire and yet lost to the Panthers Tuesday, I just can’t see them losing to the other Florida team, the uh lifeless lightening, not happening! TB sucks yeah they won a couple games as of late beating Toronto and NYI big whoop! Taking NJ for 1.45.

Now you may be saying to yourself yeah big deal you picked the favourites and the value isn’t really there, yeah well you’re right and I am going to drop a quick 20 bucks on them and that’ll pay me 94.40, little beer money for the weekend, not trying to break the bank just squeeze a little blood from the big cheese.

Ship it send it chalk it and lock it, from the King of Roncesvalles to your sports books good luck boys! All the best!

UFC 95: Josh Koscheck vs Paulo Thiago—See Nothing, Fear Not

by Stoker Dafire…

The O2 Arena in London England is rapidly becoming to MMA what New York’s Madison Square Garden was to Boxing in the ’60s.

It’s the venue of choice, or the “Mecca” of the UFC’s Mixed Martial Arts events on the European side of the world.

The other good news is that most of these major MMA events are shown live and for free on SpikeTV here in Canada.

This Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, an unknown, but undefeated young Brazilian prospect named Paulo Thiago will make his “big screen debut” at UFC 95 against Josh Koscheck, co-headlined by Diego Sanchez vs Joe Stevenson.

Thiago out of the Constrictor Team, who has only fought in Brazil, will be facing the biggest challenge of his carreer.

Koscheck, an American Kickboxing Academy fighter has fought nothing but the  toughest opponents in the past two years; losing only to elite UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and top contender Thiago Alves.

As the picture above plainly shows, koscheck is not a fearful man, but as a general rule, most of us humans have a deep seeded fear of the unknown.

Things that lurk in the dark have a tendency to scare the hell out of us; it doesnt matter if its merely a stray cat that’s just over-turned a garbage can looking for a free meal, the fact that we cant see it still gives us the willies.

There is no such fear in the fighting heart of Koscheck, the young warrior is solely focused on the task at hand.

Kos recently stated,”I don’t know anything about this guy, I don’t even know what color he is. I just wanted to fight as soon as possible, so this is what I’m facing. I have to focus on me, and my game plan.”

From a fans perspective, this fight is very interesting.

With koscheck involved it has the potential for greatness, but it also reminds me of the last time an unknown Brazilian entered the UFC octagon, and the shocking, unpredictable consequences.

Before Fabricio Werdum’s fight with Junior Dos Santos, Werdum was a top contender in a thin UFC Heavyweight division. Many experts including this writer, assumed that a win over Dos Santos would hurdle him into a position to fight the winner of Couture - Lesnar, or Nogueira - Mir.

Though Werdum was one of the most decorated Jiu-Jitsu players in the heavyweight division, Junior Dos Santos had great hand speed, and he showed us an incredible right uppercut that knocked Werdum out cold.

Exit Werdum, enter Dos Santos, who is also on Saturday nights fight card.

“And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror.” Edgar Allan Poe.

Vesa Toskala: Worst Goalie In The NHL?

by Heather Parry…

As a pseudo-Torontonian, I know the list of excuses spouted by Leafs apologists like the back of my hand.

They’re in a tough division; they’ve just lost Sundin; they’re laying low for the draft picks; they’re in a transition period.

The last of this list I’ve heard every season for the past ten years.

Despite these excuses, everyone has their own opinion on the Leafs’ biggest problem, whether it be coaching, defense, or the fact that their ’star’ player is Nik freakin’ Antropov.

If you ask me, however, its the goaltending.

No other team in the NHL manages to have three goalies who, between them, can’t equal one half-decent puck-stopper.

Curtis Joseph, at 41, should have taken his bow several years ago. During his mid-90s glory days I was a huge fan, but difficult as it might be to accept, this dog has had his day.

Justin Pogge, on the other hand, has the opposite problem.

Solid with the Marlies and brilliant in his first game in the big league, he’s suffered from instability. His confidence seems to wane with every un-winnable game, despite the fact that he’s playing at least as well as Joseph and Toskala.

Vesa Toskala, however, has no such excuse.

He consistently starts games, and he’s consistently terrible. He’s not over the hill, or still a baby. He’s just crap.

Harsh, I know, but its not even the amount of goals he lets through that bothers me—its the fact that he doesn’t seem to be trying at all.

When Ryan Miller lets in a goal, he’s splayed out like Stretch Armstrong, but accepts the fact that he still got beaten.

Toskala, conversely, might have dropped to one knee and extended his blocker, but still reacts to the fact that someone found one of the 75 holes in his stance like a petulant little child.

Yet still, he plays the majority of Leafs games.

Yes, I’ve heard the ‘why get rid of him?’ debate. Keeping him to the end of his contract, losing badly, and then getting a good goalie in the draft pick is supposedly the ‘big picture’.

That doesn’t help those of us who have to sit and watch him disgrace the fine art of goaltending every game.

So what, I hear you ask, is to be done?

In an ideal world, I’d draft in Steve Mason and Roberto Luongo and let them fight for starting privileges, but we all know that the Leafs organisation is not an ideal world.

Instead, I’d bring Pogge up from the AHL for good, drop Toskala, and let Cujo enjoy his well-earned retirement with a decent thirty-something goalie in his place.

If that’s not an option, then perhaps permanently dropping the goalie for the extra attacker might actually be a better idea.

At least it would wake the defense up a bit.

College Basketball March Madness: How to Win March Madness One and Done

by Jameson Fleming… Fantasy Sports Madness contacted me about its fantasy college basketball game that takes shape during the NCAA Tournament. The game is called “March Madness One and Done.” For complete rules on the game, check out the previous link.

The game is a pretty simple idea. You pick a new team of players for each weekend of the NCAA Tournament (rounds one and two in the first weekend, rounds three and four in the second weekend, and the Final Four in the final weekend). The catch is, once you’ve picked a player for one weekend, you cannot use him again.

Instead of picking the best players, you have to work in strategy in order to figure out when to use the best players to maximize your roster.

Before I continue on how to final this fantasy college basketball game…

Quick Shameless Plug: If you sign up for the game, I receive a portion of the entry fee if and only if you reference Bleacher Report or my name in the “how I heard about Fantasy Sports Madness” space. If you play the version with the registration fee, you can win a 42-inch HD LCD TV. If you register before March 1, you receive five dollars off the registration fee.

Now that I got that out of the way, it’s time to talk strategy. This will be a three-part series of how to win March Madness One and Done. Today, I will focus on what to do in the first round.

When picking your team, you must consider what teams have the best chance to play two games in the weekend, but have a poor chance to make it out of the first weekend.

a) The best way to maximize your future rosters is to figure out which teams are a lock to win the opening round, but lose in the second round. This way you have 16 teams’ worth of players to pick from for round two.

For the most part, you are going to want to pick a team composed entirely of players from that group of teams you deem to be locks to win on Thursday or Friday, but lose over of the weekend.

Your most likely targets will come teams seed five through 10. Players from teams seeded as a six or seven are ideal, as a first round win is very likely, but a second round victory is unlikely. If you select a player from a nine or 10, you have be to very confident that the team will pull an upset, or that player must be an outstanding producer.

Some players from teams that could easily end up as a six or seven seed that will be great all-around producers are Jonathan Brockman of Washington, Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf from Syracuse, Toney Douglas of Florida State, and Marcus Thornton of LSU.

Other safe picks from teams that will likely will be seed an eight through 10 include South Carolina’s Devan Downey, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler, Utah center Luke Nevill, Boston College’s Tyrese Rice, and Arizona’s duo of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger.

b) There are a few players across the country on teams that will likely go one and done that will be just as valuable if not more valuable than players on teams who will play two games.

The player who sticks out the most to fit this bill is Stephen Curry. As long as the Davidson guard doesn’t go up against an extremely strong defensive team, Curry should be good for about 30 points, a handful of assists, and several three-pointers, which all score points in March Madness One and Done.

Plus with Curry you get a guy who could easily lead his team to an upset on any given night. If Davidson does pull an upset, having Curry on your roster will set your team apart by a lot.

Do not save Curry for the second weekend if you plan on picking him at some point. He’s too talented to waste if he doesn’t make it through the first weekend.

Other players that can make enough noise in the first round to be worth picking: Robert Morris guard Jeremy Chappell, VCU guard Eric Maynor, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, UT-Martin’s Lester Hudson, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, and Virginia Military Institute’s Holmes twins. Being able to pick those players will depend on whether their teams can actually make the tournament.

c) For your first weekend picks, generally stay away from players on teams that receive a top four seed.

There are a few expectations to this rule. There are a few teams that are so stacked with multiple high production players that they’d be a waste to not use at least one player per weekend.

The first team that fits this bill is North Carolina. UNC plays a very up-tempo style of basketball, so naturally the team’s statistics are inflated by about 10 to 15 percent.

Tyler Hansbrough would be a great first weekend pick because of the depth of the center position when looking at the top teams in the country. Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet, and Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair will likely all be available late in the tournament.

Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are decent picks for the first round, but the top contenders aren’t as deep at the guard spot, so saving Lawson and Ellington is probably a good idea.

There is also a second team that’s not very deep, but very talented. Marquette gets the majority of its production from just four players: Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Lazar Hayward, and Dominic James. McNeal and Matthews are your best bets to grab a player from the Golden Eagles for the first weekend. They will score a bunch of points, grab a few boards, and create steals, as well as drill several three-pointers.

Tlusty sets record for Marlies with Five goals (Inside scoop, Leafs trade!)

By Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano…

Toronto Marlies vs Syracuse Crunch-Ricoh Coliseum Feb 18 2009

This is the third meeting in less than two weeks between these divisional rivals. Both teams are jockeying for a playoff spot in the North division of Western conference of the AHL. The Toronto Marlies hold a record of 2-3 against Syracuse this season and won their last meeting at

Ricoh Coliseum 6-3. Toronto has been on a tear during its 11 game home stand going 6-2 in the 8 games played so far and having won 4 straight matching their longest winning streak this year.

The Marlies lead from the outset and mostly held a 2 goal lead. Early in the 3rd the game was tied briefly but was broken by new arrival D Josh Engel’s first goal as a member of the Toronto organization along with adding 2 assists for 3 points and receiving a 2nd star selection for the game in the 8-5 win, and extending the streak to 5 straight.

Syracuse goaltender Dan LaCosta surrendered the first goal to Yuri Tlusty just 2:12 into the game, Tlusty then scored again at 5:41mark of the first. In his third shift and with Maxim Mayorov in the box, Tlusty found himself wide open in front of the net yet just missed wide on the glove side which would have given him the natural hat trick. The young left winger found the back of the net behind LaCosta 5:40 into the second, chasing LaCosta from between the pipes after giving up 5 goals on only 15 shots. Although replaced by Sebastian Dahm at this point the tandem of goalies couldn’t keep Tlusty off the score sheet sealing the deal with 2 minutes left in the game and then burying an empty netter for a grand total of 5 goals and a Marlies record.

The humble young man had this to say about (not his, but)his teammates performance “ I have to say thanks to my team mates, they were great tonight, we have to play every night like that” and “I was lucky it just went in and it doesn’t matter who’s scoring goals, most important are those two points”. I had to tell him the he was the first guy in Marlies history to score 5 goals and he remarked “No no uh no I uh I didn’t know that, but, it’s very nice, yeah, yeah thank you.”

Since Yuri wouldn’t talk about himself I tried to get some info from Bates Battaglia, mentioning that Yuri was quite tight lipped about his performance, Bates said “That’s good that’s how it should be, obviously, he had a great night and was finding spots and taking advantage of the opportunities he got, not too many guys can go out and score 5 goals in any league, so it’s pretty impressive.”

Coach Greg Gilbert said of Tlusty’s game “Well you know what, I am just happy to see him playing with confidence again, he’s playing hard without the puck and he’s shooting the puck, he’s always had a great shot, young players sometimes when they play with older guys think that they are obligated to set them up and pass it off instead of shooting, and obviously he’s getting the hang of it now, if he’s got the shot he’s taking it now.”

Notes: Stapleton continued putting points on the board with two assists; #4 D Phil Oreskovic leads the team in +- with a +20 rating after being a +4 in this game. Tlusty obviously received the 1st Star selection for his 5 goals and will be the AHL player of the week or I will print this article and eat it!

The inside scoop: I saw Joe Nieuwendyk waiting in the wings while we interviewed Tlusty and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tlusty gets the call up to the big club. The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade, should be announced in the next day or so, it’s all inked out but the brass want to make sure the guy will fit in with the Maple Leaf squad before they put their John Hancock on the dotted line the deal was reached apparently while the team was in Buffalo the other night, what the trade is, I can’t say, keep your eyes and ears open.

All the Best!

If the Stars aligned??? What ifs for the Toronto Maple Leafs

By Mark Ritter…

What if? This is a question many hockey fans and General Managers have asked themselves at the trade deadline. Often, after the dust has settled and the trades are all completed, there are several deals, for whatever reason, that just don’t get done, leaving many fans feeling disappointed and wondering what could have been?

For arguments sake, let’s say that pigs are flying, hell has frozen over and the Toronto Maple Leafs have made some key additions at the 2009 trade deadline. Further, The Leafs go on to draft draft well this summer and then they make some tremendous Free Agent acquisitions during the off-season. Seems unlikely? You are probably right. Kinda makes you say “Hmmm” though, right?…I wonder then, if all those things happened, what could the Toronto Maple Leafs look like to start the 2009/10 season? Here’s what I envision the trades looking like, whom the Leafs will draft and which Free Agents get signed…..Keep in mind, This is a “DREAM”, not to be taken too seriously; at the same time I will do my best to make sure the trades make some sense, I mean, we wouldn’t want to go too far, right?

Ok, so the first trade would involve underachieving Goaltender Vesa Toskala. Considering Toskala’s recent results his trade value is limited, but there is a sucker born every minute, thus there is a chance he can be moved. So, what’s the dilly? Vesa Toskala (Who still has a reputation as a good goaltender) and Nik Antropov (Whom the  this team has inquired about before) are moved to the Philadelphia Flyers (Who have a reputation for picking up bad goalies). What comes back in return? Pain in the butt forward Scottie Upshall and the very average, Goalie Martin Biron. The Skinny? The Flyers get what they believe will be a goalie that can take them through the playoffs and they get the big center that can play on the third line. The Leafs? In Biron, they get a Goalie they can easily play for a season, buyout or bury in the minors. In Upshall, the Leafs get a player that brings the much needed grit that GM Brian Burke so anxiously covets. The Leafs also throw in rugged forward Ryan Hollweg to offset Philly’s loss of toughness.

The second trade involves Pavol Kubina. Kubina has a Stanley Cup ring, he is a fierce competitor, very valuable on the Power Play and he blocks a lot of shots; essentially Kubina is a great catch for a team looking to make a run at the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals, a team that could use a defensive upgrade and some Cup experience, pick up the phone and offer up defensive prospect Karl Alzner and Washington’s fourth round draft pick in 2010. Brian Burke puts his hand over the phone to cover his laughter and says, “I think you are robbing me blind, but I am desperate, so I will take the deal”…Alzner will now has a chance to partner up with Canadian Junior Teammate Luke Schenn, giving the Leafs a great one-two punch on the back-end for the next decade. As mentioned before, the Caps get a great D-Man, who will ensure they have a better chance of making a run at the Cup and, going forward, Kubina’s contract is fairly reasonable, so it kinda makes sense. Washington is in the “Now”, Alzner, while talented has not been able to stick with the big club, thus we have a deal…Ok, so it’s a bit far fetched, but plausible…..Think about it…..

The Third trade involves Matt Stajan. Ok, so Stajan hasn’t exactly lit the NHL on fire since he’s been in Toronto, but he does have 13 goals and 39 points this year, not too bad, right? He also has a low budget contract, so he is appealing to teams with Cap issues. Que the Calgary Flames. Calgary needs more scoring, and they can’t afford another first round loss in the playoffs, they have little Cap room, so Stajan is a viable option. Coincidentally, the Flames feel Checking forward Brett Sutter could use a change in scenery and like what Stajan brings to the table. Burke quickly pulls the trigger on the deal and now the Leafs have a player that, with some grooming in the minors, will grind it out for a full 60 minutes in a season or two. Win/win here, no?

Now, for the fourth trade. Jason Blake has had a resurgence this season, he is tied with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Jerome Iginla and Marc Savard in goals scored with 21 and, even though his contract is a bit steep in 2010 at $4 Million, he makes $3 Million a year in 2011 and 2012 respectively, not bad for a guy who could score 25-30 goals each of the next three years! There are plenty of teams that need a goal scorer, there are not many with the Cap space that is needed to acquire Blake’s long term contract. So, who picks up the phone and calls Burke? The San Jose Sharks. I know, they don’t have much Cap room, but they offer up Jonathan CheeChoo in return, thus giving the Sharks the flexibility they need to pull this one off. CheeChoo is a reclamation project, but Leafs Head Coach Ron Wilson believes in this guy. Done deal. Leafs sign CheeChoo to 3 year deal in the off-season, Blake help lead the Sharks to the Cup, everyone is happy!

And, for my final trick, the Mother of all deals, Thomas Kaberle waives his no-trade clause and accepts a trade to the Vancouver Canuck’s to be reunited with his good buddy Mats Sundin. The Leafs also give up their Second Round Draft Pick in 2009/10…..Toronto GM Brian Burke, realizing Justin Pogge is still far from making an impact in the NHL , gets Goaltending prospect Corey Schneider (Who is tearing up the AHL in Manitoba), Vancouver’s First Round Draft Pick in 2009/10, Left Winger Mason Raymond and Right Wing prospect Jannik Hansen (Who has been compared to Daniel Alfredsson) in return. The Leafs throw in prospect Jiri Tlusty, more as a joke than anything else. See, Vancouver hockey fans believe any ex-Maple Leaf is great, so they love the idea of adding Tlusty. Remember, Vancouver already has Mats Sundin and Kyle Wellwood on the roster, and, for the most part, Wellwood and Sundin are doing well. Hmmm…not bad, right?

Ok, so the trades are all done, let’s review what the Leafs got in return and what they will need to give up in-

Gone-                              In-

Vesa Toskala (G)            Martin Biron (G)
Nik Antropov (F)            Scottie Upshall (F)
Pavol Kubina (D)            Karl Alzner (D)
Jason Blake    (F)            Jonathan CheeChoo (F)
Matt Stajan    (F)            Brett Sutter (F)
Thomas Kaberle (D)      Corey Schneider (G)
Jiri Tlusty (F)                Mason Raymond (F)
T.O. 2nd Rnd. draft pick 09/10    Jannick Hansen (F)
Ryan Hollweg (F)            Vancouver’s 1st Rnd. Draft pick in 2009/10.
Washington’s 4th Rnd. Draft Pick in 2009/10.

Now, for the Free Agents-

The Leafs will have upwards of $9 Million in Cap space to spend on free agents next season. First, they will need to sign Jonathan CheeChoo, he inks for three years @ $3 Million a year, same as he is making now. Next, they re-sign gritty forward Dominic Moore for somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years @ $850,000 per year. Now for the fun part, the Leafs sign a couple of new faces. First up, the Sedin Twins. Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke brought them to the NHL as a package, now he brings them to the Mecca of hockey as a package. Daniel and Henrik Sedin sign five year deals, they will now be the Leafs dynamic dual and bring us to the promised-land!!!! (Hopefully) Each signs for $5.5 Million per season, Jonathan CheeChoo will be their winger- That’s a pretty nice line! The next step is to bring in a Veteran D-Man, Jay Bouwmeester and Scott Neidermeyer sign elsewhere, that leaves the Leafs with Derek Morris. Once considered a great D-Man, Morris will thrive in Toronto where they will play a simple game, he signs for 3 years @ $4.0 Million per season. Last but not least,  Brian Burke needs to fill out the roster, he signs Veteran Winger and Stanley Cup winner Erik Cole for the discounted price of $9 Million over three years- he is making $3 million a year right now, he’s not worth more. Remember, the Leafs got rid of Kaberle, Kubina, Stajan, Blake, Toskala and Nik Antropov’s contracts, and they had $9 Million to spare, so the math works.

Without further adieu, what we have all been waiting for, after all the trades, signings, and draft picks, here is the Leafs FANTASY opening day roster for the  2009/10 season could very well look like this-

LW-                                C-                    RW-
Daniel Sedin             Henrik Sedin          Jonathan CheeChoo
Niklas Hagman        M. Grabovski         Erik Cole
Scottie Upshall        Dominic Moore      A. Ponikarovsky
Mason Raymond      Brett Sutter            Brad May

Extras-
*N. Kulemin
** J. Mitchell

Defence-
Derek Morris    Luke Schenn
Karl Alzner        Ian White
Mike Van Ryn    Jeff Finger

Extras-
*Anton Stralman    *Jonas Frogren

Goaltending-
1. Marty Biron
*2. Justin Pogge or
**2b) Corey Schneider

Whichever Goaltender earns his way into the NHL is the number two guy, with an outside chance of being number one in the not so distant future. Justin Pogge needs to be gently pushed not shoved into the NHL; Schneider, who has shown he is as close to ready as they come to being an NHL goaltender, would push Pogge, which would allow the Leafs to either promote Pogge to the big club or trade him for another prospect. Either way, the goaltending issue will be solved. Another alternative is for the Leafs to consider trading Biron to a team that needs a reliable backup and look at signing Manny Fernandez. Fernandez has had a great year in Boston, before that he was a reliable goalie for the Minnesota Wild, certainly Fernandez is capable of being a reliable goalie for the Leafs for a year or two.

Bought out- Lee Stempniak
Minors- *Jannik Hansen, *Ben Ondrus, *Jonas Frogren.

Now for the draft. Well, the Leafs didn’t get the number one draft choice, but they did manage to get the third pick overall, which netted them Center Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion- or Center Evander Kane (He of team Canada fame). Alternatively, the Leafs trade the #3 pick for the #5, reap the rewards of the trade- let’s say the Leafs get an upgrade in the second round and another prospect, and then select Brayden Schenn (Luke’s Brother) in the five slot; either way, it’s all good! With Vancouver’s first round pick the Leafs grab Windsor Spitfire D-Man Ryan Ellis in the # 18 spot. Alternatively, if Ellis goes earlier, the Leafs grab Brayden Schenn’s line-mate Center/Winger Scott Glennie; they are a great 1-2 punch, so why pass up the opportunity to let them continue to grow together at the NHL level? Amongst several other notable draft picks, the Leafs use Washington’s fourth round draft choice to select Rugged Defenseman Luke Curadi of the Hartford, Jr. Wolfpack at the #114 position. Curadi, a relative unknown, stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 250 pounds…He’s 17 years old, dude is going to be a monster!

If one or more of these picks is able to step up and play for the Maple Leafs right away, all the better for the Leaf The reality is, even the best prospects can use a year or two in the minors, so I expect that is where Brian Burke will slot them. Case in point, Tampa Bay top prospect Steven Stamkos. Stammer could have used a year in the AHL instead of being propelled to the NHL right away. The Leafs can and will be patient, in the end the future will be bright and that’s all that counts.

So there you have it, my “Fantasy” Toronto Maple Leaf moves right through to the end of the Free Agent signings. Admittedly it’s not perfect, and probably unlikely, but it is a decent start to respectability…Hey, it just might happen, keep an eye out for those pigs flying by!

Until next time,
Peace!