Saturday, March 24, 2007

How do you spell Leafs? C-H-O-K-E-R-S

I want to say this now for the record: the Toronto Maple Leafs do not deserve to make the playoffs and there is now an even bigger part of me that hopes they do not. A three goal lead in the third period should mean that a game is in the bag, as far as I am concerned. I had a much easier time with them getting their collective butt kicked by Washington last week than I do with this loss to Buffalo. There are no excuses for this Buffalo-Bills-like loss to the Sabres, a choke artist job of the first degree. However, for the Leafs last night's 5-4 loss to the Sabres confirms what I hate to admit, though in the back of my mind I have probably always known: this team is not a playoff team. They don't have the defense, they don't have the goaltending, and they don't really have the consistent scoring (though there are some gifted offensive players) to go anywhere.

I was very excited last night when I was out for a late dinner and saw the score as being 4-1 on one of the TVs at the restaurant. When I got home and saw the final score on NHL.com, I was furious and even went so far as to make the heretical comment of becoming a Senators fan! It's time to start thinking long-term if your are in management because this team ain't going to to do a thing the way it is, sadly. Say goodbye to JFJ, find a way to get rid of McCabe and some of the middling players, and get some real goaltending (sorry Rayzor, I love you and I want you to be great, but you are not getting the job done!). Players to keep: Tucker, Wellwood, Kaberle, Pohl, Steen, and perhaps Sundin (I love him, but he eats up a lot of cap space). I love the personalities on the team, guys like Stajan and Battaglia are pretty loveable, but the Leafs needs a makeover if they ever going to be a contender. I want to see the team I love succeed, for once! I'm done ranting...

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