Leaf Nation ignoring their stars?

During the first two months of a fantasy season any player that shows any signs of being productive is generally snapped off the waiver wire.

Players like Aaron Voros, Louie Erikkson and Trent Hunter are generally snapped up and sent packing within a couple of weeks.

Which is why I am surprised at the lack of love for God's team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Outside of Vesa Toskala and maybe Nik Antropov, Leaf players have been left to sit on the waiver wire with big numbers.

Did Ron Wilson and Cliff Fletcher really sell Leaf Nation on them being that bad?

Since when did Leaf Nation become so cynical and realistic? In days gone by any Leaf fan with a pulse would be snapped up instantly off the waiver wire, yet here we are 16 games into the "lost season" and there are Matt Stajan, Mikael Grabovski and Alexei Ponikoravsky sitting on the waiver wire without a home.

Stajan (10% owned) is on an 82 point pace. Grabovski (13% owned) the rookie and Alexei Ponikoravsky (16% owned) are on pace for 60 points yet not a sniff? What is going on?

When you actually study things closely though it should not be a surprise. When Leaf Nation is spoonfed delusions of grandeur by the local media they usually buy it. I have to hand it to MLSE, spoonfeeding misery was a masterful stroke and seems to have worked to dampen the stench of marijuana that usually envelops the Air Canada Center.

Ron Wilson is a defensive minded coach and sooner or later Vesa Toskala is going to show up for the season. I would be shocked if any of the three broke the 60 point barrier this season, but hey, you never know. Gary Leeman once got so motivated for a season he scored 50 goals.

THAT IS PROOF that projections are worth shit.

Tim Connoly - Marian Havorik All-Star

Tim Connolly is quickly becoming the Vince Carter of the NHL.

Connolly was the center piece of the Mike Peca trade with the Islanders. He started off his career fairly slowly but seemed to have made the fantasy leap in 2006. After scoring the game winner against the Sens in Game One, Connolly was about to make his descent to Marian Havorik All-Star. In Game Two he kept his head down and was lit up by Peter Schaefer of the Senators. Connolly has played 55 games since.

Where he becomes a fantasy pariah is his 47 points in those 55 games.

Year after year desperate owners grab him in hopes of unearthing an injured gem, making them smarter than the owner who tried it they year before, and the owner who learned the year before that owner, etc etc.

Once again comes word that Connolly has left a game with an upper body injury suffered from a hit by Keith Tkachuk. Congratulations Mr. Connolly on your nomination, you have earned it. You now join fellow members Martin Havlat, Marian Gaborik and Kari Lehtonen.

David Perron - A real Keeper

In an earlier blog I mentioned how jumping on David Perron one pick to early cost me Jakub Voracek.

It was surprising to me because I did not feel I over estimated his value. The problem was I over estimated his value to others owners.

I picked up Perron on my radar as a 19 year old who entered camp and dazzled the Blues upper management and earned a roster spot. He exploded out of the gate with 8 points in his first 10 games and forced the Blues to keep him in the NHL for the duration of the season. Perron found himself in Andy Murray's doghouse because of a lack of defensive commitment and never regained his early season form.

I had stashed Perron on the Peter Northstars Minor League affiliate the Lexington Steele and was disappointed when he reached the maximum amount of games to leave him minor league eligible. I could not keep him after the season and hoped that I could reacquire him in 2009.

A monster pre-season where Perron had 8 points (6G, 2A) in 7 games including a 3 goal, 1 assist outburst against the Thrashers convinced me that the fantasy clueless would take notice and my sleeper would be snatched, forcing me to take him one pick to early.

Then due to Martin St. Louis' brutal start, lacking a right winger and ridiculous depth at LW, with the knowledge that he would be scooped up immediately I had to drop Perron. But a strange thing happened, nobody touched him. 7 pts in 10 games, 8 pts in 12 games still no bites. Then while watching the Sabres game I notice Perron all over the ice on his way to 1 goal and 2 assists. Back to the waiver wire I went and scooped him back up.

It is amazing that in a fantasy keeper league with everybody constantly searching to unearth offensive talent that a kid with this much offensive flair was ignored. Twenty years old and 11 points in 13 games and he is treated like a fantasy leper.

Perron is creative, has great hands and is a magician with the puck. He has a heavy, quick release and due to strength issues is a work in progress. But the kid will score at the NHL level and has PPG potential.

How much longer will he fly under the fantasy radar? Don't make the same mistakes that the owners in my league did, if he is available in your keeper league the kid is a must stash. Be patient and enjoy, Kariya is getting old and Perron is the perfect replacement. Patrick Berglund, David Perron and Brad Boyes will be causing fantasy havoc in St. Louis for years to come.

Is Brian Burke on his way to Toronto?

Brian Burke has left his GM post and is now working as a consultant for the Ducks, most likely paving his way for a move to Toronto. Recently Brian Burke was rated the number 1 General Manager in the Hockey News annual rankings. He also tops the wish list of most Leaf fans as as the media anointed saviour of God’s team.

But is he really the best GM for the Maple Leafs?

I guess it depends on what tonic you are searching for to cure your ails. If you want to rip down the foundation and rebuild from scratch then Burke is the wrong guy for the job. His work history is littered with mediocre drafts and slightly above average trades. He is credited with the rebuild of the Canucks into contenders and with the turnaround of the Mighty Ducks.

I tend to disagree and feel the heavy lifting was completed before his arrival in either city.

The Hartford Whaler era cannot be analyzed properly as he was only afforded a year as the GM before being fired. His first and only draft for the Whalers yielded the following players:

Robert Petrovicky , Andrei Nikolishin , Litvinov Chemopetrol, Ken Belanger, Konstantin Korotkov, Greg Zwakman, Steve Halko and Joakim Esbjors

Hardly an impressive crop of NHL caliber players, but seeing as he was a rookie and was not really afforded a real opportunity his results are really inconclusive. If anything the poor performance on the ice allowed the Whalers to manoeuvre into a position to draft Chris Pronger.

Burke has been widely credited with turning around the Vancouver Canucks from doormat into Stanley Cup contender. I believe that Pat Quinn and MIke Keenan’s contribution’s were just as important in the ascendence of the Canucks in the early 2000s.

When Burke arrived in Vancouver he had a core of Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, Pavel Bure, Alexander Mogilny, Adrian Aucoin, Brett Hedican, Matthias Ohlund, and Garth Snow. Along with Quinn draft picks Brett Hedican, Peter Schaefer and Brent Sopel.

Burke allowed Messier to become a Free Agent, traded Pavel Bure for Ed Jovanovski and Alexander Mogilny for Brendan Morrison. Both trades worked well for the Canucks as Bure coming off 58 and 59 goal seasons hurt his knee in Florida and could never recapture the explosiveness that made him the best goal scorer in the league. Mogilny was just beginning the descent and he acquired the center piece for what would become the league’s most dangerous line.

He also reacquired Trevor Linden as a Free Agent, traded for Felix Potvin, traded Adrian Aucoin for Dan Cloutier and Sami Salo for Peter Schaefer.

Although his draft results netted him the Sedin Twins his 6 drafts (1998-2003) in Vancouver yielded very little NHL talent

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000039.html

The Canucks under Brian Burke had a combined record of 209-181-68-24 and made the playoffs 4 of 6 seasons winning 1 round in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Burke benefited greatly from a youthful nucleus provided by Quinn and tradeable assets in Mogilny and Bure. Although he had strong regular season success he never addressed the secondary scoring problems and the Canucks were hampered by average goaltending. Burke left the Canucks with very little in their farm system and an aging fading core of Bertuzzi, Naslund, Jovanovski and Cloutier.

Burke the smart man he is leaped to a situation with great possibilities created by his successor Bryan Murray. The Ducks had lots of cap space and had restocked their minor league system with elite level prospects Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf , Dustin Penner and Joffrey Lupul. He inherited a franchise goalie in JS Giguere and an elite backup in Ilya Bryzgalov.

Burke made a shrewd move of dumping Sergei Federov’s salary and acquiring Francois Beauchemin. With a strong young core and tons of cap space he signed the crown jewel of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, Scott Niedermayer. Burke then came within a hair of landing Sydney Crosby and settled for Bobby Ryan passing on Jack Johnson, Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Marc Staal, Tuuka Rask and Andrew Cogliano.

He then used a combination of the youth he inherited and his ample cap space to acquire Chris Pronger from the Ducks for Lupul, two first rounders and a 2nd round pick.

Although his draft record cannot be acurately judged after only 3 seasons, their system is not overflowing with elite young talent anymore.

http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=17374

Burke helped to change the face of the Ducks in 2 seasons and did a strong job in doing so. But he bailed on a franchise that was ailing from the Bertuzzi fiasco and jumped in bed with a franchise in great position for the future.

Which brings me to what the Maple Leafs need. If the Leafs want a GM who is going to come in and rebuild the franchise from the ground up like the Canadiens and Penguins have, then Brian Burke is not the man for the job.

His draft record is poor and he will be entering a situation which lacks the cap space and emerging superstar talent (Bertuzzi, Naslund, Getzlaf, Perry) to make an immediate impact. He lacks the quality assets to flip for quality players like Brendan Morrison and Ed Jovanovski.

Even if he is able pull a rabbit out of the hat, and steal an elite player? Where is the glut of $800,000 forwards and defencemen to push this franchise forward?

He may be able to provide a quick turnaround, but is that going to cure what ails the crown jewel of MLSE? Will a couple of playoff appearances change the long term future of the franchise? Will Free Agent band aids mark any substantial changes from the Pat Quinn/JFJ era’s?

Unfortuantely I think that Burke is the headline splashing move that MLSE is looking for. Personally as a Canadiens fan Ken Holland, Doug Armstrong and Dave Nonis would worry me a lot more than Brian Burke.

But I am sure Leaf Nation will eat this up and believe that Burke can create a miracle and bring them back to contender status within a couple of years. The Leafs need to go back to square one and set their sights on John Tavares and rebuilding a depleted farm system, not concern themselves with PR moves.

So for somebody who revels in the Leafs mistakes I welcome the hiring of Brian Burke. Nobody likes to hear themselves speak more than Mr. Burke and with all of the media coverage that is aimed at the Leafs his ego will get it’s much needed spotlight.

Over to you Dick Peddie. I am looking forward to the Press Conference where you and Brian Burke continually pat yourselves on the back.

At least you have nice hair Theo

How sad is it that the 2002 NHL MVP is now more famous for shagging Wonky eye behind his wife's back, his father being arrested and using Propecia to stop from balding.

Being a Canadiens fan, I can attest to how unbelievable he was during the 2002 Season/Playoffs. Dominant was not the word. Even though it was a longshot at best, he convinced me that a roster with a first line of Doug Gilmour, Richard Zednik and Oleg Petrov could win the Cup if he continued to stand on his head.

In the first round of the 2002 playoffs vs the top seeded Bruins, Theodore and the Canadiens were outshot 211-141 (79-31 in Game 5 and 6) yet won the series in 6 games. In the second round of the playoffs against the Hurricanes, Theodore had the Canadiens on the brink of a 3-1 lead against the Canes while being outshot 158-70 in the first 4 games. The walls finally came tumbling in after blowing a 3-0 third period lead in Game 4, but his season ended when he was yanked during an 8-2 loss against the Hurricanes in Montreal to a standing ovation.

The guy had it all. At 26 he was the reigning MVP and the starting goaltender on the Montreal Canadiens, (which is akin to being a rockstar in that city), he had good looks and was armed with a $5M contract. Fans were beginning to forget the name Patrick Roy and Jose Theodore decides it is a better idea to hang out with Mike Ribeiro and Pierre Dagenais and chase tail, then work on the skills that brought him to the apex of his sport.

Upon being traded to Colorado he proclaimed that the Canadiens were wrong and he would recapture his form. Well he quickly rounded in to Don Swayze form and found himself playing backup to Peter Budaj!! The Avs contemplated buying him out, but decided to stick with him during his contract run. Theodore than puts together another great season sucking the Caps into ditching Cristobal Huet in the process.

The Caps deserve that albatross and it amuses me that GMs can be so stupid as to reward a guy who has chronically underachieved outside of his contract years for the past 6 years. Good for you Theo, I guess Paris Hilton taught you that you don't need to show any talent to actually make big money today.

Losing your starting job 5 weeks into the season to Brent Johnson? (and Boudreau will not come out and say it, but when you pay a guy $4M+ and are going to his backup in the first week of November, you are not happy with his play) Bravo, even I who would not have touched you in a fantasy draft with a ten foot pole is impressed with your new found ineptitude. For all you Theodore owners out there, he played you for a sucker, good luck with that and say hi to your mother for me.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider/

This morning's practice was canceled, but Coach Bruce Boudreau talked to the beat writers on the phone a few minutes ago. The topic du jour - you guessed it - was the goalie situation.

There is no controversy, according to Boudreau. But Johnson will make his second straight start tomorrow night against Carolina at Verizon Center.

"I don't think [either is] going to play 10 games in a row," Boudreau said. "But we're going to go with the hot hand."

And right now, the hot hand belongs to Johnson, who stopped 42 shots in the Caps' 2-1 overtime loss to the Senators. Johnson is 1-1-2 with a 2.47 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. Jose Theodore, meantime, has a 3.44 goals against and a .877 save percentage.

"We haven't given up on Theo or anything, or think anything less of him," Boudreau added. "Right now, Brent played really well last night, so I've got to believe he's earned another start tomorrow night."

Boudreau said after last night's game that goaltending coach Dave Prior told him that Johnson's performance at Scotiabank Place was his best as a Capital.

"He's not old by goaltending standards," Boudreau said of Johnson, 31. "So I've got to believe that he's going to get better. He's better than when he was 25 and he's better than when he was 29. I don't know if he would have been able to poke check Daniel Alfredsson on a breakaway five years ago."

Boudreau is clearly pleased with Johnson's play this season (he was also very good in the preseason). But the coach also wasn't willing to say that there's been a change in the hierarchy. Theodore is still the Caps' No. 1, Boudreau said.

"Who knows, if Brent goes in and is crappy tomorrow obviously we're going to go with Theodore against the Rangers on Saturday," Boudreau said. "All I'm looking at is tomorrow night's game."

He added: "Theodore is still the No. 1 goalie we have. But for tomorrow, Brent is getting another start. Theodore started five games in a row. Brent came in a did well, so he's earned another start."

Did the Wellwood gamble pay off?

It's funny how being released and then sent to the minors for being out of shape can light a fire under one's ass.

Last night Kyle Wellwood put up another 2 goals giving him 6 on the season and 7 point in 8 games in 2008.

Wellwood's offensive skills have never been in doubt. It has always been motivation and his commitment to conditioning that has kept him from reaching his potential.

At this point in the year with waiver wire's thinning out, a guy like Wellwood can hold a lot of value. Playing on a Canucks team with little offensive depth will provide ample opportunities for the dimunitive center. He also has a previous history of being productive in the NHL as witnessed during his 42 points in 48 games in Toronto during the 2007 season. One wonders how badly he alienated himself from the Maple Leafs for them to just dump him and his offensive gifts.

Wellwood has been given a second life, and by sending him down to the minors the Canucks have already sent a strong message about their expectations. With the collection of skills he possesses he is a solid add if you have some dead weight lying on your bench. He is very capable of putting up 60-75 points with the ice time he will receive on the West Coast.

Other stars last night

• Erik Ersberg was strong in his first start of the season, giving up just one goal. Unfortunately it was an OT winner in a 1-0 defeat.

• Mikael Grabovski had 2 goals and an assist leaving him with 5 points in his last 2 games. Grabovski has the skill to succeed in the NHL, does he have the toughness?

• Welcome back Roberto Luongo. Luongo stopped 24 saves to register his 3rd shutout of the season. That would be impressive if those 3 shutouts were not sandwhiched around 9 other shitty games.

NHL Notes

• Chris Higgins has been elevated to the Canadiens top line with Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay. Big news for Higgins owners, bad news for those who own Guillaume Latendresse.

• Steve Bernier has been reunited with the Sedin twins on the Canucks top line. Mason Raymond finds himself between Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows.

• Claude Julien has declared Tim Thomas his definite number one starter. Great news for Thomas owners, poor news for Bruin fans.

• Marek Svatos gets an offensive boost as he now finds himself between Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski.

• Bryan McCabe returns from his Muskoka getaway and may be back in the lineup Thursday night for the Panthers.

• Gaborik to miss the remainder of the Wild's roadtrip. Shocking development for the brittle winger and founding member of the Marian Havorik All-Stars.

• The Rangers have finally come to their senses and given Scott Gomez some offensive talent to work with. Gomez will be lining up with Markus Naslund and Ryan Callahan. The line of Zherdev-Dubinsky-and the destined for the fantasy waiver wire and Hartford Wolfpack Aaron Voros

• Peter Mueller has been elevated to the Jokinen-Doan line. A great opportunity for the sophomore winger.

• Alexander Ovechkin was back at practice and will be paired with Backstrom and Kozlov. A nice boost for the struggling Backstrom