So Many Centers, So Little Time

    Last summer Leafs fans saw Brian Burke searching for that center to complement Phil Kessel. Burke and Leafs fans everywhere got their centre when Tim Connolly was signed and Matthew Lombardi was traded to Toronto along with Cody “stud” Franson. As the season moved forward everyone that was watching the leafs could see that Lombardi was playing okay for a guy who missed a full year of hockey, but he was no top 4 forward. And Connolly was playing like a third or fourth liner (not good for a cap hit of $4.75 mil a year).

In the case of Dave Steckel, some like to point out that he is not an offensive threat and does nothing but face offs, but in reality what more do you want from a fourth line center? He fits in perfectly with Mike Brown and gets in front of the net for a tap in or rebound. 

Zigomanis. Does that ring a bell? Maybe you heard the name every Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada’s first intermission on the CBC show. Don cherry loves to rant about how he thinks Zigomanis should be the Leafs fourth or third line center, and he has a point. Ziggy gets good point totals in the AHL and his face off numbers are almost as good as Steckel’s as well as his presence on the penalty kill. And he has a Stanley cup under his belt.

Mikhail Grabovski has established himself throughout the NHL as the poster boy for 2nd line centers, he fits in perfectly at 15 to 20 minutes a game. Leafs nation knows that the chemistry between Grabovski and MacAurther is similar to Kessel and Lupul who played phenomenal in 2012.

Last years #1 centre was Tyler Bozak. Is he the #1 this year though? To answer that question he is defiantly not. Bozak is a great third line center and would be a good replacement center just incase the number one center got injured for a week or so. (possibly long term but knock on wood). Bozak is exactly like what Bobby Holik said back when he was in New Jersey: “Play me on the first line and we wont make the playoffs, but play me on the third line and we will win the Stanley Cup”.

Jay McClement is the leafs big summer pick up (thats sad), is he bad player though? No he is a good role player just like Steckel, he wins face offs, fights, and is good on the PK. McClement wins a fare amount of face offs and he gets gritty in the corners. He was a completely useless and uncalled for free agency signing when you have a team with good young centers in their farm system.

Last but not least, James Van Riemsdyk. Picked behind Patrick Kane in the 2008 draft. Van Riemsdyk is a player who in three seasons has not reached his full potential, therefore he was traded for a player with the same value, a young player with a bright future ahead. The worst thing about him is that in his three seasons in the NHL he has never played a full season as center. JVR played center back in college and never got the opportunity of playing center in Philly behind the likes of Mike Richards and Claude Giroux. He looks like he is going to play along with Lupul and Kessel thanks to head coach Randy Carlye who said several weeks ago that he is going to see how Van Riemsdyk does at center during NHL training camp in September.

In conclusion the Leafs have every center except a #1 to go play with a 30 goal scorer (Kessel) and an alternate all star captain (Lupul). What will happen now? Lets hope that like Jeremy Lin, one of the unknown players can break out of their shell and pull a miracle not just for the leafs but for the struggling Toronto sports market. 

God Help Us!

-GO LEAFS GO

-Daniel Testa

Inspired by David Testa.

One of a Kind Fans

       There is something about Toronto that makes us special. It has nothing to do with the amount of sports teams that we have to offer or the types of people that live in this city. It has to do with loyalty. Every major sports team has it, it’s just a matter how much loyalty they really possess. No matter what league you look at, whether you go to a Toronto FC game on a rainy Monday night or a Leafs game that means absolutely nothing because they have already been eliminated from the playoffs. Why do we choose to support team that give nothing back?

Argos have not won a Grey Cup since 2004 (long for a league with 8 teams). Toronto FC has yet to make the playoffs since their introduction in 2007. The Raptors made the playoffs in 2008 but lost in the first round and have gotten worse since. The Blue Jays have not seen October baseball since the World Series in 1993.who cares about the Toronto Rock. And our beloved Maple Leafs have not made the playoffs in the new NHL (2005 till now) or have won a Stanley Cup since 1967. (Yes Habs fans we all know!) For some reason though we still fill our stadiums year in and year out to watch meaningless sports that are over priced and give us no hope. I am not saying Raptors games are sold out but we do have pretty good attendance.

Where am I going with this?

Well this year seemed like a hopeful year for the Blue Jays. I was pumped the city was pumped, the players were pumped, but at the half way point it looks like the same .500 ball club from the past couple of years. The Leafs on the other hand seem to be going nowhere. There is no hype, there is no hope, and yet we still cheer and pay $150 for nosebleeds in the ACC! This could be a good thing. No pressure on a team where they are consistently under a microscope and a boat load of cash in the owners pocket. I hear these boycott rumors about joining as one and raiding MLSE head offices but that will solve nothing and makes other NHL teams laugh at us more.

We still pay for overpriced tickets where you can only see half the ice, while in Floride they have $2 Tuesdays for the same seats. What is wrong with us? Have we been brainwashed to dig deep into our bank accounts because our pockets can not hold a stack of $100 bills to dish out for 1 Leafs game? I am not saying do not go to Leafs games because we sucks and our tickets are over priced. Im just saying maybe it is time we think about what we are really doing to ourselves by dishing out boats loads of money and then paying for a therapist because we cant deal with our depression on our own. 

I guess I got lost in exactly what I wanted to talk about when it comes to loyalty, but filling up stadiums on a consistent basis for nothing shows that we have a form of rare loyalty where there is no hope for a win, just a good business deal done at the end of the first period while the seats directly behind Carlyle get colder then ice 10 feet away.

The Week That Was

It has been quite a week in the NHL. The last rounds of the draft were completed, teams needed to sign any players before free agency opened, and then July 1st came and every teams roster blew up. Not bad considering that we might not even have a NHL season this fall.

Of course the Leafs have been one of the quietists teams out there. Burke said it himself, nothing is going to happen, and so far he is right. We will start at the draft, and move on towards free agent frenzy.

After the first round was completed there were a few questions as to why some teams passed up on good young talent. Sebastian Collberg and Matt Finn left the Console Energy Centre on the Friday night with there nerves still in play and their heart trying to find a home. After Collberg went 33rd overall it was just a matter of time before the NY Islanders called up Matt Finn, but thats not the way it went. They chose Ville Pokka and Brian Burke was left in shock after central scouting had Finn going as a mid-first rounder. Therefore with the 35th pick the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Matt Finn a defenseman from the OHL and a hometown boy. (I actually peer-tutored him in high school). Some are calling him the steal of the draft while some are shaking their heads after Burke already drafted Morgan Rielly, also a defenseman, along with a ton of NHL ready defenseman.

Finn getting used to the Toronto media.

Good ol’ Burkie was not done there. He decided to trade young defenseman Luke Schenn straight up for James Van Riemsdyk. Luke joined his brother Braden in the city of brotherly love (Philadelphia) where there is this new thing going around the NHL where brothers united and try and dominate like the Sedins. I do not know if the Schenn’s will dominate but they will be great players together. As for JVR, he brings size and scoring touch to the Leafs front end along with a locked up contract at a very young age, 23. This trade made sense for both teams as Philly needed big, strong defense and the Toronto was in need of sizable forwards. Both were young and locked up to long term contacts it was a win-win for both teams, although I think the Leafs lost it due to that I have a man crush on Luke Schenn and always will, but I’m sure I will grow on JVR.

As for free agent frenzy, there was tons of actions going around. More then 50+ signings, 125 million+ in contracts and an league overhaul and in 1 day. The Leafs did nothing big so far as the FA period runs all through the summer and season till February.  Jay Mclement was signed by Burke on the fist day to a 2 year, $3 million contract. He is a centre with some size who is good on the penalty kill. A spot where the Leafs need a major turn around. I am not sure what the plan is for him but we will just have to wait. Along with Mclement, Matt Frattin, Ryan Hamilton and Jussi Rynnas were also signed. Being the first day of free agency I was not expecting anything from Burke especially in a weak market. Mclement is a bonus. What we would all like to see is a Ryan Suter or a Zach Parise donning the Blue and white but it does not look good so far. We will just have to wait and see what is next in the Brain Burke ‘plan’. Till next time.

The old and the new.

GO LEAFS GO!

-Daniel Testa

And the Toronto Maple Leafs Select....

Last night in Pittsburgh was a draft to remember as 8 of the top 10 picked were defenseman.  With Nail Yakupov going where everybody knew he would, at #1 with the Edmonton Oilers, he is a lock to be on the Oilers next season. After Nail it is wide open as to who will be making their respective teams roster, although it seems that Ryan Murray will make it by default because the Blue Jackets have the worst defense in the league, as well as forwards, which they might as well put him out there because they are that bad.

From there on it was defense after defense until #11 came up.

But here at TML Blue Blood we do not care what other teams pick. We care about who we pick, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are proud to select Morgan Rielly a defenseman from the Moosejaw Warriors of the WHL.




 Morgan Riellyis not your normal defenseman. He shoots, he passes, and he plays all offense. He compares his game to a Kris Letang, where I see him more as a Erik Karlsson. He is a smooth skater and likes the puck on his stick, but where does he fit in with the Leafs?

With an already stacked up blue line this pick allows us to move guys up and down on D that are injured or are playing at the top of their game. I do not see Morgan Rielly on the team this year unless Burke can find a way to move some D around as in the one and only Mike Komisarek. With him still on the team that leaves us with the same blue line as last year except now you have the likes of Korbinian Holzer, Jesse Blacker and Stewart Percy knocking on the door.

The only thing that may set him back from making a pro roster this year weather it be the NHL or AHL is that he is coming off a major injury. At the start of the 2011-2012 WHL season Rielly tore his ACL while trying to drive the net as a defenseman. When he got hit, his leg twisted on the post and missed 5 months. Obviously this does not scare Brian Burke at all because after they selected him Burke came out to say "We had him at #1." This kind of scared me because if we did have the first overall selection would he still take Morgan Rielly?

Only time will tell if Rielly is set to become the defenceman he is set out to be. We all hope he is but we never know for sure.

This is my projected defenseman line up when trade deadline him in March without any trades of injuries.

          NHL
 Phaneuf - Liles
Schenn - Gardiner
Gunnerson - Rielly

 Extra: Komisarek  


        AHL
Blacker - Holzer
Gysbers - Rielly
Lashoff- Percy

If we were to trade or a long term injury occurred I see Holzer coming up and then Rielly.


-GO LEAFS

-Daniel Testa