I Pledge My Allegiance to the Vancouver Canucks

Being a Toronto Maple Leaf fan has been pretty uneventful for the last 4 years. We haven't made the playoffs since the NHL lockout in 2005. We've also lost many of the core players that were the last links we had to the playoffs. Although some of these players have simply diminished in terms of performance like Darcy Tucker, others I think we were just too spoiled with - see Brian McCabe. I think Florida is pretty happy we booed him out of town. The icing on the cake: the day we lost our captain Mats Sundin for absolutely NOTHING (!!!) Not to mention trading away the goalie of our future in Tuuka Rask. I'm still wondering if Boston is going to return a personal favour too John Ferguson Jr. for that gaffe. Our only blue chip prospect Jiri Tlusty looks like he belongs in the AHL since that's the only platform upon which he can succeed. Literally, the only optimism we have right now is that we have a great coach and when was the last time you can recall a team's coach being their most valuable player?

To sum it up - things have gotten pretty boring in Leaf land. I haven't been excited for the NHL playoffs in years, and never mind the fact that we haven't actually won the Cup since 1967. The other day I was scrolling the Internet and I came across a link to a website for Toronto Maple Leaf playoff tickets!!! That's got to be a joke right? It must be a scam. Or are they expecting a 5 year fixed payment plan? Immediately I thought of the famous Jim Mora rant. PLAYOFFS?For those of you scratching your head on Jim Mora, watch the video and it'll sum up my reactions to the Toronto Maple Leaf playoff tickets link.

So here's what I did - and remember by no means am I permanently jumping Maple leaf ship - I am simply following my money and it lead me to the Vancouver Canucks. In December when the Vancouver Canucks were going through a few stumbling blocks - Roberto Luongo was injured, no Mats Sundin, and average production from the Sedin's; I was looking for a good valued team to bet on to win the Stanley Cup when i came across an interesting statistic - the Canucks were a top 5 team WITH Luongo in the net, yet were struggling to make the playoffs without him. Seeing as how his injury wasn't for the entire season, and he was only weeks away from returning, I made a couple of $50 bets on the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, with a payout being near $3000. I figured when Luongo returned they would form back to the team that started the season as a Stanley Cup contender. I didn't expect them to sign Mats Sundin weeks after I made the bet!

So no, I haven't jumped Maple Leaf ship forever but for the moment I have jumped right into the driver seat for the Vancouver Canuck Stanley Cup bandwagon and I will be picking up passengers at all stops along the way. When I now refer to my team as "we", know that I am referring to the beloved Canucks. I also must admit to having sentimental reasons to cheer for them as I have followed Mats Sundins career for quite some time now and he is one of my top players. The Canucks also have some amazing fans. I must admit, back when they were making playoff runs via the Bertuzzi/Naslund circa, and the Leafs were making our own playoff runs, I used to watch Vancouver games in envy as their team would come out to the ever amazing intro of 'The Streets Have No Name' by U2, and every fan in the building would wave a white towel in the air to tribute their franchise. (fast forward to 1:32 of the video to see what I'm talking about)

Some would call them gimmicks to connect fan energy to the game - but they work which is something Toronto Maple Leaf fans would know nothing about as it would be way too difficult to type on your blackberry while waving a towel and not to mention the noise of a hit tune would be to distracting while trying to entertain business clients.

So here's to one Leaf fan pledging his allegiance to the Vancouver Canucks for the 2009 NHL playoffs. I will be watching their games and cheering as if it were the Maple Leafs playing like I did last night when the Canucks won game 1 over the Blues 2-1! I had the Tiger Woods fist pump accompanied by a roaring YEAHHHHHHH going for every Vancouver goal. So don't be shy Toronto and support a fellow Canadian city that shares a Stanley Cup passion with Toronto, and be happy that Ottawa didn't make the playoffs either, and god knows we can't cheer for Montreal...

Mayday! Mayday! Leafs Inch Closer to Lord Stanley by Signing Brad May

As you can see from my previous entry I was not too enthusiastic about the hiring of Brian Burke as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I would have preferred to see the job go to someone fresh. Not somebody new - ala John Ferguson Jr. - but somebody who had been around the game his entire life, had played the game, and was known as an intelligent hockey mind. If the decision had been mine to make, that somebody would have been Steve Yzerman or Joe Nieuwendyk. Instead, the Leafs made an Owen Nolan-like move and hired an old, washed up, and aging Brain Burke. Once again, the Leafs passed up on young fresh talent for somebody that was over the hill and whose best years were behind them. In Burke they are bringing in someone who cares more about his own reputation than he does about the team he is structuring. Brian Burke is the only reason why Brad May has been employable for the last 4 years. Burke would rather follow his own personal agenda than make a move that would benefit the entire team or organization.

On this day being a leaf fan is a sad thing indeed. Today is the day where many come to realize that Brian Burke is not the knight in shining armour many hoped he would be. He is not riding in on his white horse carrying a "How To Win The Stanley Cup for Dummies" manual. What he is doing is bringing to our team the same bad habits and poor decision making ability that has plagued him his entire career.

In my previous blog, I brought up the case of Bobby Ryan, a young prospect who was being buried in the minors in Anaheim by Brian Burke due to poor money management. Since Burke left Anaheim, Bobby Ryan has been called up. Not only has he been called up, but he has performed at a point per game pace. He has 22 points, 8 goals is 23 games. Anaheim was off to an awful start under Burke and have clearly turned their season around since letting Big Brain go. If I remember correctly, calling up Ryan was one of the first moves the new GM made after Burke left. And this is the guy Toronto made the highest paid GM in the entire league?

Today, I am embarrassed to be a Leaf fan. And it is not just because we made a bad trade, I have experienced many of those in my time as a Leaf fan - Steve Sullivan, Jason Smith, Tuka Raask et al. I am embarrassed by fact that I predicted 1 month ago that the Leafs would bring in Brad May. Of course I said it in jest simply to highlight the fact that Burke has carried May around like a suit case, but today that joke has become a reality and that reality has me and many fans like me red faced.