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.

With Brian Burke comes Pat Quinn all over again for Toronto Maple Leaf fans

Brian Burke is on the horizon, and the Leafs chances of winning a Stanley Cup have just been pushed even further back. Brian Burke is an overrated GM. He failed in Vancouver for 5 years, and aside from winning one cup with Anaheim, has done a pretty terrible job managing the cap since. Seriously, Bobby Ryan in the minors? I don't want a guy that won't hesitate to send down a blue chip prospect (drafted 2nd behind Crosby) to the minors, just to stay under the cap. Detroit wins the Cup, and still manages to sign Marian Hossa the next year. That is successful management. Brian Burke has been blown out of proportion by the always faithful Leaf fans. Since his name has been tossed around in rumors for the new Leaf GM job, radio call in junkies have mentioned him with some of the best GM's in the world, past and present.

If you sit down and actually break down his career, he has been somewhat of a Pat Quinn. Employing wash outs like Jyrki Lumme, Robert Reichel, Aki Berg etc... (who would not crack another NHL line up) while giving the boot to players like Andy McDonald, Steve Sullivan, and Jason Smith. That just doesn't make sense to your average Leaf fan. But it made sense to Pat Quinn, and it makes sense to Brian Burke. It just shows that their eye for talent is out of touch with reality. How could a die-hard Leaf fan, who only watches games from his couch at home know that Jyrki Lumme and Robert Reichel were unemployable outside of Toronto? How could a hardcore hockey fan know that Anaheim dishing off Andy McDonald instead of 2 million dollar players like Todd Marchant and Rob Niedermayer would be a bad idea? How do we see it, and they don't? It's called bad sports management, and it has plagued both gentlemen their entire respective careers. They haven't been terrible, they just haven't been great.

The latest Brian Burke blunder has him sending down NHL ready prospect Bobby Ryan, the player whom he chose 2nd overall behind Sydney Crosby in the 2005 NHL entry draft. That was over 3 years ago. Now if Bobby Ryan and his outstanding AHL stats aren't good enough for the NHL after all these years, than that is a horrible draft pick by Burke and the Ducks. However, that is not the case, Bobby Ryan some say was NHL ready last year, a season in which he was called up and sent down, and produced 10 points in 23 games, while putting up 49 points in 48 games in the AHL. He endured the rigors of going back and forth from Iowa to Anaheim for 1 season in hopes that he would have a regular spot saved for him the next year. Wrong, his spot was either given to Ryan Carter, or Brian Burkes forever loyalty to aging hasbeens such as Rob Niedermayer, Sami Pahlsson, Todd Marchant, or even better yet Brad May left Bobby Ryan no room. The issue here is Ryan's contract. With bonuses that Burke is convinced he'll achieve, he would be set to make $300,000 more than his original contract of just over a million dollars. So because of $300,000 a contract Burke negotiated, the best young prospect in Anaheim gets another year in the minors, where he currently has 16 points in 13 games. So what would be the point of bringing in Brian Burke only to have him draft us a player in the top 10 this year, and railroad him to the minors for the next 3 seasons due to poor money management, and throwing away money to guys like Brad May?

Brace ourselves Leaf fans, for we have to endure another 4/5 years of smokes and mirrors. MLSE one of the greatest illusionists out there have conducted another masterful plan. Or we can look at the upside and hope for another 4 years of Pat Quinn.