Leafs...

[Shell]

Leafs downplay personality rifts
Canadian Press

Toronto — At least six Maple Leafs will be playing in the world hockey tournament in Finland beginning Saturday, and they’ll be happy to be on another continent as critics continue to dissect Toronto’s first-round elimination from the NHL playoffs.

In this hockey hotbed, the topic won’t go away for weeks if not months.

One thing has become clear in the wake of the embarrassing 6-1 season-ending loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia: there was dissension in the dressing room.

“Guys on this team (haven’t) been the best of friends,” admitted captain Mats Sundin, tacking on a predictable addendum.

“There’s problems on any team,” said Sundin. “But there hasn’t been a problem here that has affected the play of the team.”

GM-coach Pat Quinn acknowledged what he termed was diversity among his players. He, too, said it was not a factor on the ice.

“We didn’t lose because of anything that was going on in the dressing room,” Quinn insisted.

While a handful of players gathered at a downtown bar to drown their sorrows before last call after midnight Tuesday night, others met at Sundin’s residence, and some went straight home. There was nothing close to a group hug.

Tie Domi was upset even before the plane touched Canada. He was rankled during the flight from Philadelphia to hear teammates discussing joining their national teams in Finland.

Aki Berg and Jyrki Lumme will play for the host country, Mikael Renberg for Sweden, Robert Reichel for the Czech Republic, Robert Svehla for Slovakia and Phil Housley for the United States. Sweden is trying to convince Sundin to enlist but as a friend of Domi, and considering Domi’s outlook, that appears unlikely now.

“I’m just frustrated and upset,” Domi said outside the Leafs’ dressing room as players autographed sticks and sweaters Wednesday. “We have six guys going to the world championships.

“I hope they all do well but I just can’t see how guys can pack up and leave and go and play in the world championships after being embarrassed like we were. That’s definitely an eye opener for sure.

“I’m kind of shocked and surprised. I know guys have to represent their countries and everything but I’d find that pretty hard to do right now.”

How the personality clashes will or won’t be sorted out before training camp opens in September remains to be seen.

The departure of Shayne Corson is a start.

Corson had complained to teammates about lack of ice time. He found his diminished role hard to swallow when players such as Tom Fitzgerald and Jonas Hoglund were getting ice time. Corson, with brother-in-law Darcy Tucker and Travis Green, formed one of several lineup cliques.

Most of the players are under contract for next season, with the exceptions of Bryan McCabe, Nik Antropov, Wade Belak, Paul Healey and Hoglund, who is not expected to be re-signed.

A buyout of Lumme’s remaining two years will be considered by management. Svehla will again drop hints of retirement but he’s under contract at $4 million US for 2003-2004 so it’s unlikely he’ll walk away. Doug Gilmour will have knee surgery and decide during the summer if at age 40 he’ll be up to playing for the $3 million US he’s due to receive.

There will be at least four new faces in the lineup next season — and more if there are summer trades. After this spring’s disappointment, anybody and everybody could go.

It’ll be slim pickings for Toronto at the entry draft in Nashville, Tenn., in June because it won’t have a first-round pick.

Player issues aside, Larry Tanenbaum, who takes over as board chairman July 1, will have far-reaching decisions to make.

Quinn wants to remain as both general manager and head coach and if Tanenbaum lets him it means the same attacking style will continue to be employed. It’s an entertaining brand of hockey, and it keeps the Air Canada Centre filled, but it hasn’t ended the club’s 36-year Stanley Cup drought.

The Leafs’ inconsistent defensive play can be blamed. They have neither a good enough defence corps nor a successful enough plan to defend that will take them all the way.

“That’s obviously one of the things this organization is going to have to address,” said late-season pickup Glen Wesley, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1 but who will listen to contract offers from the Leafs.

All in all, this looms as one of the most intriguing off-seasons in club history.

[Shell]

Leafs downplay personality rifts
Canadian Press

Toronto — At least six Maple Leafs will be playing in the world hockey tournament in Finland beginning Saturday, and they’ll be happy to be on another continent as critics continue to dissect Toronto’s first-round elimination from the NHL playoffs.

In this hockey hotbed, the topic won’t go away for weeks if not months.

One thing has become clear in the wake of the embarrassing 6-1 season-ending loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia: there was dissension in the dressing room.

“Guys on this team (haven’t) been the best of friends,” admitted captain Mats Sundin, tacking on a predictable addendum.

“There’s problems on any team,” said Sundin. “But there hasn’t been a problem here that has affected the play of the team.”

GM-coach Pat Quinn acknowledged what he termed was diversity among his players. He, too, said it was not a factor on the ice.

“We didn’t lose because of anything that was going on in the dressing room,” Quinn insisted.

While a handful of players gathered at a downtown bar to drown their sorrows before last call after midnight Tuesday night, others met at Sundin’s residence, and some went straight home. There was nothing close to a group hug.

Tie Domi was upset even before the plane touched Canada. He was rankled during the flight from Philadelphia to hear teammates discussing joining their national teams in Finland.

Aki Berg and Jyrki Lumme will play for the host country, Mikael Renberg for Sweden, Robert Reichel for the Czech Republic, Robert Svehla for Slovakia and Phil Housley for the United States. Sweden is trying to convince Sundin to enlist but as a friend of Domi, and considering Domi’s outlook, that appears unlikely now.

“I’m just frustrated and upset,” Domi said outside the Leafs’ dressing room as players autographed sticks and sweaters Wednesday. “We have six guys going to the world championships.

“I hope they all do well but I just can’t see how guys can pack up and leave and go and play in the world championships after being embarrassed like we were. That’s definitely an eye opener for sure.

“I’m kind of shocked and surprised. I know guys have to represent their countries and everything but I’d find that pretty hard to do right now.”

How the personality clashes will or won’t be sorted out before training camp opens in September remains to be seen.

The departure of Shayne Corson is a start.

Corson had complained to teammates about lack of ice time. He found his diminished role hard to swallow when players such as Tom Fitzgerald and Jonas Hoglund were getting ice time. Corson, with brother-in-law Darcy Tucker and Travis Green, formed one of several lineup cliques.

Most of the players are under contract for next season, with the exceptions of Bryan McCabe, Nik Antropov, Wade Belak, Paul Healey and Hoglund, who is not expected to be re-signed.

A buyout of Lumme’s remaining two years will be considered by management. Svehla will again drop hints of retirement but he’s under contract at $4 million US for 2003-2004 so it’s unlikely he’ll walk away. Doug Gilmour will have knee surgery and decide during the summer if at age 40 he’ll be up to playing for the $3 million US he’s due to receive.

There will be at least four new faces in the lineup next season — and more if there are summer trades. After this spring’s disappointment, anybody and everybody could go.

It’ll be slim pickings for Toronto at the entry draft in Nashville, Tenn., in June because it won’t have a first-round pick.

Player issues aside, Larry Tanenbaum, who takes over as board chairman July 1, will have far-reaching decisions to make.

Quinn wants to remain as both general manager and head coach and if Tanenbaum lets him it means the same attacking style will continue to be employed. It’s an entertaining brand of hockey, and it keeps the Air Canada Centre filled, but it hasn’t ended the club’s 36-year Stanley Cup drought.

The Leafs’ inconsistent defensive play can be blamed. They have neither a good enough defence corps nor a successful enough plan to defend that will take them all the way.

“That’s obviously one of the things this organization is going to have to address,” said late-season pickup Glen Wesley, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1 but who will listen to contract offers from the Leafs.

All in all, this looms as one of the most intriguing off-seasons in club history.

[Lady J]

You know, I'm not entirely sure why Tie Domi would have a problem with his teammates going to play for their national teams? Their season is over, so I don't see the issue. Being embarrassed about the way the NHL team played doesn't seem to have any bearing on the post season decisions, unless there's something subtle I'm missing. What should the other guys do, sit around and flagellate themselves for losing?

[Lady J]

You know, I'm not entirely sure why Tie Domi would have a problem with his teammates going to play for their national teams? Their season is over, so I don't see the issue. Being embarrassed about the way the NHL team played doesn't seem to have any bearing on the post season decisions, unless there's something subtle I'm missing. What should the other guys do, sit around and flagellate themselves for losing?

[SouthernHockeyChick]

And apparantly Corson sorta cut lose about it on the radio:

Corson clears the air on Maple Leafs

TSN.ca Staff
4/24/2003
Shayne Corson went on the defensive on a Toronto radio station on Thursday, amid reports of dissension within his soon to be former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto papers reported Thursday that just a handful of players - Corson, Travis Green, Darcy Tucker, Jyrki Lumme and Aki Berg - gathered at a downtown restaurant, while others met at captain Mats Sundin's residence or went straight home.

Reports also said Corson had complained to teammates about lack of ice time and found his diminished role hard to swallow when players such as Tom Fitzgerald and Jonas Hoglund were getting ice time.

In an interview with Toronto's Fan 590 on Thursday, Corson pointed at Leaf head coach and General Manager Pat Quinn for allowing such issues to drag on.

"I blame Pat for that," Corson told the radio station. "He knows that it wasn't true. He knows no players came through that door to complain about Hogie's (Jonas Hoglund) ice time or Fitzie's (Tom Fitzgerald) ice time, he's the only one that knows about that and I know that. Fitzie and Hogie know that but it's up to him, he's our leader. It's up to him to stand up and say to the media and say that's a bunch of crap, put his foot down and it would have ended right there."

The 18-year NHL veteran also took time to address reports that not every Leaf player in the locker room was on the same page.

"You're going to have 25 guys on a hockey team with different personalities," he explained. "They're not going to think the same, they're not going to like the same things or enjoy being together. But they're going to respect each other and when they get on the ice they're going to go to war for each other, and that is how you win championships. And I think on every team I've been on, that's the way it's been."

An agitated Corson then shot back at the Toronto media for their critique of the team over the last few days.

"After seeing some of the stuff being written today, it's probably hurting some of the other guys that are on the team and bothering them, and I don't think that's fair to them either. This s--t that's going on in the room is a bunch of crap, stuff about somebody trying to start s--t. Obviously when teams don't do well, lose out and don't do as well as they'd like to do, all those guys in that room are disappointed and unhappy. They want to win a Stanley Cup here in Toronto."

"I think it's just people on the outside, trying to make up excuses for the players and for the team losing," he continued. "We're not going to make excuses for losing. A lot of these reports that have been going on - I don't know who started it and where it's come from - there no truth to it. And when there's no truth to it, that's what hurts the hockey team the most. It's when people stir s--t and tell lies and that affects the whole hockey team. Not just the guys whose names are involved but the whole team. And that's not fair to any of the guys."

Corson, who was a healthy scratch for Game 3 of the Leafs' first round series against Philadelphia, met with Quinn last week reached the decision that Corson would no longer play or practice with the club.

Corson appeared in only 46 games and had 15 points including a career-low seven goals, and 49 penalty minutes. Injuries twice took him out of the lineup, and he missed the final five games due to illness. He was also a healthy scratch for seven straight games in February. Corson said at the time he had never been a healthy scratch in his NHL career.

In 1,139 regular-season games in 18 seasons with Montreal, Edmonton, St. Louis, Montreal again, and Toronto, the six-foot-one native of Barrie, Ont., has 268 goals, 415 assists and 2,328 penalty minutes. In 133 playoff games, he had 38 goals, 48 assists and 277 penalty minutes.

He played in NHL all-star games in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

And apparantly Corson sorta cut lose about it on the radio:

Corson clears the air on Maple Leafs

TSN.ca Staff
4/24/2003
Shayne Corson went on the defensive on a Toronto radio station on Thursday, amid reports of dissension within his soon to be former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto papers reported Thursday that just a handful of players - Corson, Travis Green, Darcy Tucker, Jyrki Lumme and Aki Berg - gathered at a downtown restaurant, while others met at captain Mats Sundin's residence or went straight home.

Reports also said Corson had complained to teammates about lack of ice time and found his diminished role hard to swallow when players such as Tom Fitzgerald and Jonas Hoglund were getting ice time.

In an interview with Toronto's Fan 590 on Thursday, Corson pointed at Leaf head coach and General Manager Pat Quinn for allowing such issues to drag on.

"I blame Pat for that," Corson told the radio station. "He knows that it wasn't true. He knows no players came through that door to complain about Hogie's (Jonas Hoglund) ice time or Fitzie's (Tom Fitzgerald) ice time, he's the only one that knows about that and I know that. Fitzie and Hogie know that but it's up to him, he's our leader. It's up to him to stand up and say to the media and say that's a bunch of crap, put his foot down and it would have ended right there."

The 18-year NHL veteran also took time to address reports that not every Leaf player in the locker room was on the same page.

"You're going to have 25 guys on a hockey team with different personalities," he explained. "They're not going to think the same, they're not going to like the same things or enjoy being together. But they're going to respect each other and when they get on the ice they're going to go to war for each other, and that is how you win championships. And I think on every team I've been on, that's the way it's been."

An agitated Corson then shot back at the Toronto media for their critique of the team over the last few days.

"After seeing some of the stuff being written today, it's probably hurting some of the other guys that are on the team and bothering them, and I don't think that's fair to them either. This s--t that's going on in the room is a bunch of crap, stuff about somebody trying to start s--t. Obviously when teams don't do well, lose out and don't do as well as they'd like to do, all those guys in that room are disappointed and unhappy. They want to win a Stanley Cup here in Toronto."

"I think it's just people on the outside, trying to make up excuses for the players and for the team losing," he continued. "We're not going to make excuses for losing. A lot of these reports that have been going on - I don't know who started it and where it's come from - there no truth to it. And when there's no truth to it, that's what hurts the hockey team the most. It's when people stir s--t and tell lies and that affects the whole hockey team. Not just the guys whose names are involved but the whole team. And that's not fair to any of the guys."

Corson, who was a healthy scratch for Game 3 of the Leafs' first round series against Philadelphia, met with Quinn last week reached the decision that Corson would no longer play or practice with the club.

Corson appeared in only 46 games and had 15 points including a career-low seven goals, and 49 penalty minutes. Injuries twice took him out of the lineup, and he missed the final five games due to illness. He was also a healthy scratch for seven straight games in February. Corson said at the time he had never been a healthy scratch in his NHL career.

In 1,139 regular-season games in 18 seasons with Montreal, Edmonton, St. Louis, Montreal again, and Toronto, the six-foot-one native of Barrie, Ont., has 268 goals, 415 assists and 2,328 penalty minutes. In 133 playoff games, he had 38 goals, 48 assists and 277 penalty minutes.

He played in NHL all-star games in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

[Shell]

Thanks SHC!! certainly puts a different light on things from someone more in the know than the media.

[Shell]

Thanks SHC!! certainly puts a different light on things from someone more in the know than the media.

[canadianinmd]

I totally agree with what Domi said. Despite the last game, Domi has had the best year of his career. He has taken on a different role with the Leafs as compared to being the team goon.
He made a good point. Your NHL team is suppose to be your number one team where you put your entire heart in to. This world championships is really meaningless with the playoffs on the go. I really dont understand either why their so anxious to join this championship. For Domi his dedication to his one team: the Leafs is his only priority. To me thats totally respectable.

[canadianinmd]

I totally agree with what Domi said. Despite the last game, Domi has had the best year of his career. He has taken on a different role with the Leafs as compared to being the team goon.
He made a good point. Your NHL team is suppose to be your number one team where you put your entire heart in to. This world championships is really meaningless with the playoffs on the go. I really dont understand either why their so anxious to join this championship. For Domi his dedication to his one team: the Leafs is his only priority. To me thats totally respectable.

[Guyute]

but you might be hearing a different story if Domi had been invited. :shrug:

while I do agree that your NHL team is your #1 priority... I don't see the problem with going to play in the Worlds. I mean, your NHL season is done... why not take on some more games to A) get that horrible loss out of your head, B) get in some more ice time before being done for several months.

I mean, it's not like these guys had team stuff to do. maybe talking to the GM now and then... but other than that, once your season ins over, you go home to your family.

what does Domi care if his teammates are at their homes, or playing hockey in another country. ?

not a big deal imo.

[Guyute]

but you might be hearing a different story if Domi had been invited. :shrug:

while I do agree that your NHL team is your #1 priority... I don't see the problem with going to play in the Worlds. I mean, your NHL season is done... why not take on some more games to A) get that horrible loss out of your head, B) get in some more ice time before being done for several months.

I mean, it's not like these guys had team stuff to do. maybe talking to the GM now and then... but other than that, once your season ins over, you go home to your family.

what does Domi care if his teammates are at their homes, or playing hockey in another country. ?

not a big deal imo.

[canadianinmd]

I do see his point and I dont think Domi would be that upset if they go play. Its their decision, I just think the media may try and make something big out of it.
I dont think domi would go play if he was invited.
But I do see your point about forgetting about a loss and moving on.
To each their own I guess as people deal with losses in a different way.
Good luck with the Sens.

[canadianinmd]

I do see his point and I dont think Domi would be that upset if they go play. Its their decision, I just think the media may try and make something big out of it.
I dont think domi would go play if he was invited.
But I do see your point about forgetting about a loss and moving on.
To each their own I guess as people deal with losses in a different way.
Good luck with the Sens.

[Jeff O Rocks]

The Leafs are a classic example of "talent and dissention"....I have seen it happen many, many times in the college sports world....lots of talent, but if you don't get along and there are bad feelings, you won't have success...any team...in my opinion ...pro or college...must have unity to take care of business! ...and it doesn't sound like Quinn helps out a whole lot in that department. :roll:

[Jeff O Rocks]

The Leafs are a classic example of "talent and dissention"....I have seen it happen many, many times in the college sports world....lots of talent, but if you don't get along and there are bad feelings, you won't have success...any team...in my opinion ...pro or college...must have unity to take care of business! ...and it doesn't sound like Quinn helps out a whole lot in that department. :roll:

[canadianinmd]

Pat is definitely not to blame for all this. The media spices things up- there is no question about that. But there are a few faces i definitely dont want to see in the line up next year.

Pat obviously is good with a team. I mean he brought together a bunch of rival players together (not by himself) and coached them to a Gold medal.

[Shell]

Tue, May 6, 2003
Roberts tells it like it is
Team leader says Leafs sadly lack communication
By STEVE SIMMONS, Toronto Sun

This is the kind of influence Gary Roberts has on the rest of the Maple Leafs.

When he went to take his inhaler for asthma between periods of an overtime playoff game, a number of his teammates approached and asked if they could use it also.

And this is the kind of influence Roberts has now.

When he contends, as he did in conversation yesterday, that Pat Quinn has to be more communicative with his players, that the Shayne Corson situation -- no matter how little use he has for Corson -- should have been settled internally, Leafs ears will be listening to every word he speaks, responding accordingly.

"It's important to have communication with Pat ... I think that's the No. 1 thing," said Roberts, having to talk hockey when he was trying to promote a healthy lifestyle for asthmatics. "As players, we need to give him our feedback and he needs to give us his feedback. As long as that communication is there, no matter what the situation is ... we stick together."

That is a nice way of saying there were problems that weren't settled with the Leafs. It's also dreaming. Governments change. Countries change. Policies change. Pat Quinn doesn't.

That is a polite way of saying that Quinn, a bright man, has to open his mind to change and do something he truly doesn't believe in or even comprehend.

He has to talk to his players.

They have to talk to him. Not think he's talking to his players and think they're talking to him. The Leafs general manager/coach has to realize this ain't the Punch Imlach era anymore. The relationship between coach and player isn't necessarily autocratic.

"Things have changed, attitudes have changed," Roberts said from his his fancy new downtown gym. "Players overall have changed. It isn't the same influence, veterans to younger players the way it used to be. When you were a younger player, you said nothing. You went about your business if you were spoken to and then you spoke."

And still, having said that, Roberts, without the captain's C, remains the most influential of all Leafs. The E.F. Hutton on a team of too many whisperers.

"You don't have the same influence with players," he said as a team leader. "There are different nationalities, different personalities. Obviously, money is not an issue.

"I don't think teams are as close as they were a long time ago. Years ago, you came to a city and you were one big family. The environment of Toronto along with players being spread out all over the place affects how close your team is.

"Life is busier, people are busier, people have lives outside the game that players never had years ago. Because of that, you need more communication. You have to get involved with a problem before it's a problem. I have good conversations with Pat."

But the impression is there needs to be more. Not more between Roberts and Quinn. More between everyone and Quinn.

It's strange how this off-season has shifted with the Maple Leafs' elimination. The Leafs lost out and suddenly the split dressing room that was every bit as apparent a year ago and was good enough to get them to a conference final was the reason they didn't escape the first round this year.

"It all came public and it shouldn't have," Roberts said, indicating there were issues, indicating they should have been kept internal. "It's a shame we ended the season and (the dressing room rift) was what everybody was talking about. I think that's the most disappointing thing."

DISAPPOINTING

The most disappointing aspect for Roberts, who in his own words is "obviously running out of time" was his own play and that of his team. He had a torn biceps and another injury in the post-season, aside from the groin pull he was recovering from, but won't allow that to be used as an excuse.

Next season almost certainly will be his last.

One season, a lockout, and then who knows?

"I'm looking at it as if it's my last year," he said. "Depending on what happens in the collective bargaining agreement, this might be the last year for a lot of guys."

Last year and last chance at his second Stanley Cup, his first for Toronto.

But the sense is, there have to be changes in attitude, delivery and mostly communication for the Leafs to recover from this coming summer of discontent.

And this year, no vacation for Gary Roberts.

"I played 14 games last year," he said.

"I've already had my vacation."

[nccanes]

Great article Shell (although it seems unfair that he was grilled about Leaf hockey when he was making an appearance about Asthma :roll: ).

I would imagine (but what do I know) that playing for Pat Quinn the coach and Pat Quinn the GM at the same time as well as Pat Quinn the man has got to be difficult for the players.

14 games. Wow.

Run away Glen. ;)

[StormShaman]

I didn't know Roberts was asthmatic.

[Shell]

Svehla faxes in his retirement
Canadian Press
5/7/2003

TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto Maple Leafs lost their best defenceman yesterday when Robert Svehla announced his retirement.

Rich Winter, Svehla's agent, sent out a fax that said his 34-year-old client had accepted a position with Dukla Trencin, a club team in Svehla's native Slovakia. Svehla will be the team's vice-president in charge of junior player development.

Svehla is playing for Slovakia at the world championships in Finland and was not available for comment. Winter was travelling yesterday and was also not available for comment.

Winter and Svhela first announced that the player was considering retirement after the Leafs were knocked out of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers. At the time, it was regarded as a contract ploy, since Svehla has threatened retirement in the past.

The Maple Leafs have an option year on Svhela's contract at a salary of $4 million US and Bill Watters, the assistant to the general manager, said the Leafs will exercise it. This will prevent Svehla from playing for any team other than the Maple Leafs.

``That's his prerogative,'' Watters said of Svehla`s announcement, adding that the Leafs will not offer him any more than the $4-million salary in the contract option. ``If he`s announced his retirement, then he`s retired.

``We`re exercising the option, so that ends the contract ruse right there.''

However, to be officially recognized as a retired player by the National Hockey League, a player has to sign documents to that effect. Watters said Svehla has not signed his retirement papers yet and does not know if he plans to do so.

The Leafs went through the retirement scenario last year with Svehla when he told the Florida Panthers he was retiring rather than returning to the team for another season. But when the Leafs put out feelers to him about a new contract, he indicated he would play again, and the Leafs traded defenceman Dmitry Yushkevich for him.

Svehla signed a contract with the Leafs for about $3.5-million with an unusual condition. Only $2.8-million was registered as his NHL salary, with the rest going to Dukla Trencin, the cash-strapped club team where Svehla once played.

It is thought a similar arrangement would have been in place for his salary next season.

Losing Svehla is a tough blow for the Leafs, who are in desperate need of a couple of elite defencemen. By the end of the regular season, Svehla was the team`s best defenceman.

His 43 points were the most among the Leafs' defencemen, and he was equally skilled in his own end. (Globe and Mail)

[Guyute]

A house of cards anyone? :crazy:

[crazy4canes]

A house of cards anyone? :crazy:

My thoughts exactly. :eek2:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Yeah....the Leafs all get along just fiiinnneeee. No problems in that locker room at all. :roll:

[Jeff O Rocks]

A house of cards anyone? :crazy:

**pulls out the Ace of Spades..and they all come tumbling down** :crazy:

Whenever players on any team in any sport start talking to the press like this...it only spells disaster! :roll:

[Shell]

Wesley to test market
By TERRY KOSHAN -- Toronto Sun

Glen Wesley may be part of the answer for the Maple Leafs in their quest to stabilize their blue-line corps for next season, but whether the steady defenceman decides to return to Toronto is another question.

Wesley, 34, wants to play for a Stanley Cup contender next season, and like most other NHL observers, realizes the Leafs must make large upgrades among their defencemen to challenge for a Cup.

While his re-signing with Toronto would be a stride in the right direction, he also knows that turning his back on the free-agency market on July 1 would be foolish.

If Wesley signs with the Leafs before July 1, of course, he will never know what his options could have been on the open market. The Alberta native made $2.5 million US last season.

"I would think there will be a great deal of interest in Glen," Rick Curran, Wesley's agent, said. "There has been no change in his feelings in that he enjoyed his experience in Toronto. There is plenty of time before a decision has to be made."

The Leafs acquired Wesley from the Carolina Hurricanes on March 9, and although he suffered a broken foot soon after, his presence on the ice and in the dressing room was a bonus for Toronto. If Robert Svehla was the Leafs' best two-way defenceman overall last season, Wesley was their best defensive player in the short-lived playoff run that lasted seven games against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Curran and Leafs executive Bill Watters have spoken to each other this week about Wesley's future. Toronto general manager/coach Pat Quinn said after the Maple Leafs were eliminated he would like to get Wesley back on board for next season. There was the thought at one point that Wesley would re-sign with Carolina, but that is unlikely.

"We only want Glen if he wants to be here," Watters said. "Ricky is going to let me know when he knows."

Derian Hatcher and Brian Leetch lead the group of defencemen who can become unrestricted on July 1, but it's doubtful at best that either would wind up with Toronto.

Others bound to be available include Eric Desjardins, Bryan Marchment, Dmitry Yushkevich and Janne Laukkanen.

[nccanes]

Curran and Leafs executive Bill Watters have spoken to each other this week about Wesley's future. Toronto general manager/coach Pat Quinn said after the Maple Leafs were eliminated he would like to get Wesley back on board for next season. There was the thought at one point that Wesley would re-sign with Carolina, but that is unlikely.

"We only want Glen if he wants to be here," Watters said. "Ricky is going to let me know when he knows."


I just read this article too Shell.

I know this is all pre-negotiations ramblings, and the "unlikely" comment is not a quote, but let's hope the Canes have a plan B when it comes to defensemen.

[Shell]

Jun. 9, 2003. 09:40 PM

Pat Quinn says he is ``open'' to giving up his GM role with Maple Leafs

TORONTO (CP) — Pat Quinn is ``open'' to the possibility of relinquishing his role as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Quinn, appearing on TSN's Off the Record Monday, told host Michael Lansberg that he may have to give up the role with the team's new ownership structure set to take the reins on July 1.

``It is very possible,'' Quinn said when asked if he wouldn't be the team's GM next season. ``I don't think there's any guarantees at this point. It's very possible.

``I'm open to it.''

Quinn, 59, was hired as Toronto's coach prior to the 1998-99 season, and added the GM role a year later when Mike Smith fled to Chicago.

Quinn, under contract to the team for the next two years, said that he prefers his coaching role.

``I came to coach. I still want to coach,'' he said. ``I think that's what satisfies me the most.''

Quinn and team president Ken Dryden agreed to review the position at the end of each season when he took both jobs.

He said that he hadn't been replaced because he and Dryden had different candidates in mind for the job and they decided that everything was going well with Quinn at the helm.

``You'd put names forward — it was Ken and I that would talk about this thing,'' Quinn said. ``Eventually the decision was, `it's going fine you go ahead and do it again.'''

Steve Tambellini, Vancouver's vice-president of player personnel, seems to be the front-runner to replace Quinn as GM. The Canucks have given the Maple Leafs permission to talk with him.

``Steve is an excellent guy,'' Quinn said of Tambellini. ``He's smart, he's young, he's aggressive. . . . I'd love to have him.''

While on the program, Quinn also addressed the issue of scoring in the NHL.

Quinn prefers to employ an offensive game but with defensive teams like New Jersey and Anaheim fighting for the Stanley Cup, Quinn conceded that the Leafs may have to alter their style to be successful.

``We may have to,'' Quinn said of the possibility. ``I hate it. I want this to be an entertaining hockey team.

``I've always believed that we can entertain and win too, (but) I'm sitting here without a Stanley Cup.''

[Shell]

Jun. 10, 2003. 01:00 AM
Svehla reverses his stance on retirement once again
Expected to negotiate with the Leafs

Junior defenceman signs for three years

KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER

The decisiveness that has made Robert Svehla one of the most feared hitters in the NHL in recent years evidently doesn't extend to his ability to decision-making off the ice.

Svehla, who was lured out of retirement by the Leafs last summer, is seriously contemplating reversing his latest retirement decision and the sentiment is that he will tell his agent, Ritch Winter, today to begin negotiating with the Leafs on a new deal.

Svehla said from his home in Slovakia that he had made his decision, but wanted to discuss it with Winter before making the decision public.

But just because Svehla wants to negotiate doesn't necessarily mean the two sides will be able to agree on a contract. The Leafs hold team options the next two seasons for $4 million (all figures U.S.) each and have offered to make both years guaranteed. But it's believed that Svehla, who finished second in the NHL in hits this season, wants to be paid about $5 million.

In other news, NHL arbitrator Joan Parker ruled yesterday that signing bonuses and option clauses are permissible during the 2004-05 season, one which many believe could be wiped out by a lockout.

Parker also ruled that the provision in Leaf winger Owen Nolan's contract that adds a year to his deal at $7.5 million in the event of a lockout is also permissible. Even though the ruling would not have affected Nolan's deal because it had been registered by the league, it opens the possibility of similar clauses in contracts this summer.

Should the 2004-05 season be reduced to fewer than 40 games, Nolan has the option to extend his contract through 2005-06 with a $6.5 million salary and a $1 million signing bonus.

Also, the Leafs were supposed to receive a contract proposal from Glen Wesley's agent, Rick Curran, but that was delayed and it will likely arrive today.

The Leafs made one deal yesterday, signing 18-year-old junior defenceman Ian White for three years.

[Jeff O Rocks]

From everything I have read, looking like Glen really wants to stay in Toronto! :roll:

[Shell]

Jun. 11, 2003. 01:00 AM
Quinn tempted me, but no, Svehla says
Leaf defenceman confirms retirement

Watters optimistic on Wesley's proposal

KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER

The Maple Leafs lost their best defenceman from the regular season when Robert Svehla confirmed that he intends to remain retired.

But they got some good news on their best defenceman from the playoffs when they received Glen Wesley's proposal for a new contract.

Svehla made it clear that his on-again, off-again career with the Leafs was off when he informed his agent Ritch Winter of his decision yesterday. Svehla, who announced his retirement shortly after the Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, reconsidered his decision after speaking directly to Leafs GM-coach Pat Quinn last week.

In fact, the two sides had come to terms on the parameters of a new contract, which included a raise on his $4 million (U.S.) salary. But in the end, Svehla decided he didn't have another year of hockey left in his 34-year-old body.

"He just doesn't have the passion to play at this point," Winter said. "A lot of people said he should still be playing, but this was not something he thought he should do for other people."

Svehla said yesterday that he was tempted to return to the Leafs after speaking with Quinn, but said his family is more important than hockey.

"My family would rather stay here (Slovakia) and we are very happy right now," Svehla said.

When asked whether he has retired for good this time, Svehla said, "Yes, I think so. My position is that I want to retire and in two weeks I don't want to go through all this again."

But despite the Leafs' request he file retirement papers, Svehla won't do that at the urging of Winter, who would still like to leave the door open a sliver.

"He was willing to do so, but he hasn't done that on my advice," Winter said. "Will it change things? I don't think so but never say never."

Leafs executive Bill Watters, meanwhile, received a contract proposal from Wesley's agent, Rick Curran, yesterday and the two sides will talk again next week.

While Watters wouldn't comment on the particulars of the proposal, he said there is reason for optimism.

"It was pretty much what Rick told me it was going to be and there were no surprises," Watters said. "It was not outlandish by any stretch."

Wesley will become a free agent July 1 if the Leafs don't sign him before then.

With Svehla, the Leafs will pick up the option on his contract simply to retain his rights if he does change his mind again. But there's little doubt that Svehla's retirement leaves a huge void on the blue line that will likely be filled by a free-agent acquisition. The Leafs will undoubtedly be in the running should Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars become a free agent, but a more likely possibility is Ken Klee of the Washington Capitals or Greg de Vries of the Colorado Avalanche.

Meanwhile, Leaf winger Alexander Mogilny appears to be sticking to his word that he won't attend the NHL awards ceremony tomorrow night in Toronto. Mogilny stands an excellent chance of being named winner of the Lady Byng Trophy as most gentlemanly player, but a source close to Mogilny said he won't be here to accept it.

Leafs goalie Ed Belfour, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender, will be at the gala.

[nccanes]

Maybe Glen just wants to spend his final years in the NHL in that Canadian rock-star-like glow of being a Leaf? ;)

Doesn't really sound like him, but maybe the intrigue of being a Leaf really got to him. :sick:

[nccanes]

More on Svehla. I'm glad we don't have this kind of speculation about the Canes - it seems so sensationalized....

Wed, June 11, 2003
Svehla is absolutely positively retiring for sure
By LANCE HORNBY, TORONTO SUN

On second, or third thought, Robert Svehla will remain retired, leaving the Maple Leafs defence with its gaping hole. Calls from general manager/coach Pat Quinn, as well as similar efforts from captain Mats Sundin and goaltender Eddie Belfour, apparently have failed to change Svehla's mind after he indicated to agent Ritch Winter last week he was leaning toward returning.

Though the Leafs aren't thoroughly convinced Svehla won't be at camp, Winter's comments had an air of finality yesterday.

"He and his wife and two sons talked about it during the weekend and the conclusion is that he has lost a lot of passion (for the National Hockey League)," Winter said after a phone call to Svehla's home in Trencin, Slovakia. "A lot of his teammates had called and I was surprised (at his decision) because I thought he was going the other way. I know Mats called and Eddie has been trying to hook up with him.

"I said 'Robert, are you sure you want to do this? What if there's a flood in your home town and they need money, what if you get a new contract for X amount of dollars for three or four more years? What if a team is a player short for a Stanley Cup run in March?' His response was 'I don't think I want to come back.' "

But Winter did sway Svehla from officially signing his retirement papers. Had he done so, he couldn't play in the NHL in 2003-04.

"As I told Dominik Hasek (another client), never say never," Winter said.

But Winter's feeling is now that the Svehlas have moved back to Trencin, they don't want to pack up and move again.

Though the Leafs exercised their option and would pay the dependable Svehla $4 million US for the coming season, Winter said his client was comfortable financially.

"Over there, I think he could live like the Conrad Black of Trencin," Winter said jokingly.

There is suspicion Svehla is trying to squeeze more money out of the Leafs, about $1 million, to transfer to the Dukla Trencin team, which Svehla helps operate. Part of Svehla's salary last year went to that team as incentive to "un-retire" from the Florida Panthers. But the Leafs don't appear anxious to divert seven figures to Trencin, weighed against paying other free-agent defencemen.

"We have a contract with him for next year and that's the end of it," player personnel director Mike Penny said. "It's in his ball park. We'll see if he shows up (at camp)."

Asked about a backup plan to improve blue-line depth, particularly if the Glen Wesley contract talks don't proceed well this month, Penny said the Leafs wouldn't be caught short. They have some prospects who might break through and they could go after a big-name free agent or a couple of smaller fish.

"We'll get a little war chest going," Penny said. "You'd be surprised who has been calling us (looking for work)."

[Jeff O Rocks]

"We'll get a little war chest going," Penny said. "You'd be surprised who has been calling us (looking for work)."



That statement is very intriguing! :roll:

[Shell]

Leafs up ticket prices, barely
Canadian Press
6/12/2003

TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto Maple Leafs have increased their season ticket prices for next season.

Season seats will vary from $37 in the purple section to $182 in the platinum area. That's up from $35 to $175 per game last year. The largest increase was in the platinum and gold sections, which were bumped from $175 in 2002-03 to $182 for next season.

The purple seats, which went from $35 to $37 and the blue and green tickets, which were increased to $72 from $70 experienced the smallest hike.

Single game ticket prices will be announced later in the summer. The NHL schedule is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

[Shell]

Jun. 14, 2003. 01:00 AM

Watters may not attend NHL draft
Leaf executive won't go `without a (new) contract' Twelve-year career could end
KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER, Toronto Star

Bill Watters' 12-year management career with the Maple Leafs will likely come to an end next weekend when the organization gathers in Nashville for the NHL entry draft.

Watters, who is not expected to have his contract renewed when it expires July 1, said he's uncomfortable with the prospect of sitting at the Leafs' draft table under the current circumstances and is seriously considering staying behind.

"Under no circumstances do I want to go to the draft without a (new) contract," Watters said.

"I guess that's my proclamation. If something doesn't happen this week, there's a good chance I'll be staying home. I really don't want to go there and have people around the league whom I've worked with for 30 years coming to me and saying, `Billy, what are you doing here?'"

This is not an attempt by Watters to force the Leafs into giving him a deal. Watters came to the realization shortly after the Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs that it looked as though he would be one of the casualties in the front-office showdown between team president Ken Dryden and GM-coach Pat Quinn. Watters has begun speaking openly about his situation, which leads one to believe that he has already been told what will happen.

"Bill and I knew this was coming months ago," said Richard Peddie, the president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. "We have had a number of 1-on-1 meetings and I think Bill knows where this is probably going to go."

When asked whether he expects Watters to go to the draft under the circumstances, Peddie said, "I don't know. I haven't talked to him about that yet."

Watters does not play a part in the actual drafting of players, but is on hand to give Quinn information on the contract status of current players who might be part of the trade talks that go on at the draft. If the player is a free agent, Watters would provide input on what it would take to get the player signed.

Along with Watters' anticipated release, it has long been expected that Quinn will drop the GM title and president Ken Dryden will be shuffled out of the hockey department. But Peddie said there is no sense of urgency to clear up the matter because the Leafs can go into the draft with their current personnel.

Peddie said the exhaustive search for a new head coach for the Raptors has convinced him the Leafs must take the same approach if they reconfigure their hockey department.

"Whatever we do on the hockey side, if we do anything, will be done slowly," Peddie said. "There will be multiple candidates and the move will be a blend of art and science. We want to make the right decision. We just went through it on the basketball side and I really believe that if we do something on the hockey side, it should be the same process. It has been very helpful to us."

[nccanes]

Seems like Wesley can write his ticket for the Leafs - they are down to 3 returning defenseman. I read somewhere else that Wesley's agent is meeting with the Leafs today. :sad:

The end lurking for Lumme
Leafs set to buy out defenceman
Payout would be almost $2 million


KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER

The 15-year NHL career of Maple Leaf defenceman Jyrki Lumme will almost certainly end July 1.

Sources confirmed yesterday that the Maple Leafs have decided to buy out the final year of his contract two weeks before Lumme's 37th birthday at almost $2 million (all figures U.S.).

Lumme is scheduled to make $1.5 million next season, but if his contract is bought out by July 1, the team pays two-thirds of that total. There is a team option for the following season with a buyout provision of $750,000, meaning Lumme will get $1.75 million for the final two years of his deal.

Lumme's agent, Don Baizley, said yesterday that the Leafs have informed him of their plans for Lumme, but said he would wait for the team to make an announcement. Lumme could not be reached for comment.

Acquired in a trade with the Dallas Stars in 2001, Lumme represents another in a long line of player personnel blunders precipitated by both GM-coach Pat Quinn and his pro scouts.

From the time Lumme arrived in Toronto, it was clear that he was not the same calibre of defenceman that Quinn had in Vancouver and that a lack of foot speed brought on by advancing age made him particularly vulnerable against fast, skilled forwards.

And once the Leafs ran into injuries on their defence corps, Lumme was pressed into playing more than he should have in crucial situations. There were times during the playoffs where Quinn had the tandem of Lumme and Aki Berg out together against the Philadelphia Flyers during overtime.

Despite his declining skills, Lumme did put in a complete effort every game and handled himself with dignity and class. He will likely leave the game this summer with an impressive resumé both on and off the ice.

Not having Lumme in the lineup has undoubtedly cleared the decks for some noticeable changes to the Maple Leafs' blue- line corps.

With Robert Svehla retiring — at least that was his stance last week — the Leafs have just three NHL-calibre defencemen returning in Tomas Kaberle, Berg and Bryan McCabe. McCabe will become a restricted free agent July 1.

If the Leafs manage to sign Glen Wesley to a deal, that leaves two spots open on the blue line. And while the likes of Carlo Colaiacovo, Karel Pilar, Maxim Kondratiev, Pierre Hedin and Regan Kelly will get a chance to prove their NHL potential, the Leafs will almost certainly have to fill both spots with free agents over the summer if they hope to upgrade their blue-line depth and remain a contender. That will happen if they sign two of Derian Hatcher, Greg de Vries and Ken Klee, all of whom are expected to become unrestricted free agents July 1.

It appears that Lumme is the only player the Leafs will buy out this summer. They are still waiting to hear whether Mikael Renberg intends to return for the final season of his deal and sources indicate that both Robert Reichel and Berg, two other logical candidates to be bought out, will return next season.

[Shell]

Tue, June 24, 2003
Gilmour eyeing return
By MIKE ZEISBERGER, TORONTO SUN

Doug Gilmour turns 40 tomorrow, but those creaky veteran bones still are not ready to leave the NHL. After several months of pondering retirement, Gilmour has decided to give one more season a shot, health permitting.

"Yes, I want to come back," Gilmour, one of the most popular players to wear a Maple Leaf jersey, said yesterday. "I'm planning for my leg to be as close to normal as possible."

Gilmour's optimism has been fuelled by the improvement in his healing left knee, which was mushed during an accidental collision in a game against the Calgary Flames March 13.

UNDER THE KNIFE

Less than two months after going under the knife to have his damaged medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments repaired, Gilmour is lifting weights, riding the stationary bike and even doing some light running.

The next step begins today when he kicks off the personal rehab and fitness program prepared for him by the experts at Station Seven Reebok, the downtown gym of longtime chum Gary Roberts.

Roberts is one of Gilmour's biggest backers and has made no secret of the fact that he would like to see the Kingston native back with the Leafs in 2003-04.

For his part, Toronto general manager/ coach Pat Quinn seems receptive to a potential Gilmour comeback.

"He is another Mr. Leaf, another important guy in our history," Quinn said the other day during the entry draft in Nashville. "If he still has an ounce of juice left, he might still be able to help us."

Gilmour's agent, Larry Kelly, is expected to contact the Leafs in the near future. While the Leafs will not pick up his $3 million option by July 1, Gilmour has said in the past that a contract would not be an issue until he is back on blades.

"I've never been through this before but I feel so much better," he said. "I feel great, and the people who have looked at the knee have been pleasantly surprised (at the progress)."

Gilmour hopes to receive the green light to begin skating when he visits the doctor next month. He is aiming to be ready for training camp, although he likely won't see game action until the third week of September.

[Shell]

LOL, even their own paper makes fun of them ;)

From the Toronto Sun:
PRE-EMPTIVE WHINE: Pat Quinn is unhappy a proposed schedule for next season includes a 15-day western swing for the Maple Leafs.

Just like training camp, opening night, the skills competition and an untimely demise, complaining about the schedule has become an annual event on the Leafs calendar.

It's just that normally the complaints don't come until there's actually something to officially complain about.

[nccanes]

LOL Shell! :laugh:

Seems like most teams get a 2 week trip out west at some point. Didn't the Canes have a long one in Feb? :roll:

[nccanes]

Another not-so-kind article (this one from the Globe and Mail). Couldn't happen to a nicer team. ;)

New ownership not turning over new Leafs
By STEPHEN BRUNT
Wednesday, June 25, 2003 - Page S2

There are no more loyal, more wide-eyed, more innocently optimistic fans in sport than those of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Other teams have lost for longer and can still draw a crowd, but whether it's the goofy hopelessness of Chicago Cubs rooters or the underlying cynicism of those who love the Boston Red Sox, there's another, darker element in play.

In the Maple Leafs Nation, though, they really honestly believe, every year, despite the evidence, despite the history, that wish fulfilment is just around the corner. When all of those horns start honking after the first win in the first round of the playoffs, it's the product of a kind of profound, wholehearted sincerity.

(Put those same folks in front of a shell game, and they'd lose the house and family and goldfish before arriving at the conclusion that perhaps the contest was rigged.)

Come fall, they'll be back dreaming, once again, of the Stanley Cup. A shame, then, that the events so far this summer suggest strongly that deliverance, once again, is not at hand.

When the great power shift began within the ownership of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, when it became clear that at least the faces of the politburo were going to change, Toronto fans grew hopeful that an obviously dysfunctional hockey operation might finally be straightened out.

The Ken Dryden-Pat Quinn standoff would be settled once and for all, either a new coach or a new general manager would arrive with fresh ideas and in the remaining season before the great labour standoff (and the economically levelled playing field that's supposed to follow), the Leafs would use their position of financial advantage to make a serious push to win a championship.

A little less than a week before the new board officially takes over, the signs point to something rather different.

The biggest development has been the shoddy treatment of loyal retainer Bill Watters -- a man of the past, Quinn suggested at the National Hockey League's draft, though no one has had the good grace to tell Watters that to his face. The assistant general manager, who has been with the club for 12 years, was still working away until a few days ago, knowing that his contract was about to expire, knowing that he hadn't been offered an extension, but not knowing, officially, his fate.

That kind of stuff smacks of bad Leafs ownership past, of a franchise that eats its own. One thing notoriously press-shy Quinn will understand quickly this season is how much protection Watters provided, how much good will he generated. Now who's to do the explaining for the man who will be the coach and coach alone?

Structurally, of course, that's the big change in the offing, Quinn's forced sacrifice of one of his jobs, making way for a new general manager. But whoever gets the senior post will be hamstrung in a couple of significant ways.

One, because he won't enjoy the privilege normally accorded to GMs, that of hiring his own coach. And, two, because he'll be inheriting one whose act may be all played out.

A bad smell lingered over the Leafs after their first-round playoff exit against Philadelphia, the sad conclusion to a season that seemed to have real promise. This is a veteran team, for the glass-half-full crowd, an old team for everyone else, and all of those stories of disharmony in the ranks, about communication problems between the coach and the playing leaders, had the ring of truth.

That type of festering discord is normally only solved with a house cleaning. Since Mats Sundin, Ed Belfour et al aren't going anywhere, especially in the year before Armageddon, the natural solution would be to change the guy behind the bench. In Toronto's case, that would mean paying the current coach (and, until July 1 at least, general manager) his generous salary for two years of leisure -- and in the bottom-line-driven world of MLSE, where they can't have enjoyed paying various people not to coach their basketball team, that simply isn't on.

So the new era of Maple Leafs hockey will begin with Ken Dryden in some as-yet-to-be-defined role that's less than a president, with a GM trying to run the club with someone else's players and someone else's coach and with a coach who still wields considerable power with ownership, but who, at this moment, probably isn't the best guy for the job.

They have only three defencemen (their big weakness last year) under contract, they're playing hardball with free agent Glen Wesley, who was so good for them after he arrived from Carolina, they have had a spotty record, at best, luring big-money free agents to Toronto and there's little young talent apparently ready to make the jump next season.

Then will come the lockout, with something unrecognizable as the old NHL rising from the crater when it's done.

Oh, and ticket prices at the Air Canada Centre are up, again.

Don't worry. They'll sell every last one.

sbrunt@globeandmail.ca

[nccanes]

The much rumored front-office shakeup seems to have occured:

TORONTO (Ticker) - The Toronto Maple Leafs could announce front office changes Friday at a 2 p.m. EDT news conference.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Pat Quinn has agreed to step aside as general manager, but will remain as coach. A clause in his contract as GM reportedly gives him right of approval over his replacement.

Quinn has two years left on his contract.

Although it did not reveal the subject matter, the team has scheduled a gathering of "high importance" at the Air Canada Centre.

The Leafs also are expected to announce that assistant to the GM Bill Watters will not have his contract renewed when it expires July 1, according to the Star.

Since the sale of outgoing chairman Steve Stavro's shares in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to Bell Globemedia, a new board of directors has been running the organization.

The new board reportedly is negotiating with team president Ken Dryden on a lesser role that will remove him from hockey operations.



Updated on Friday, Jun 27, 2003 12:00 pm EDT

[Shell]

Jul. 6, 2003. 01:00 AM
Indecisive Svehla leaves Maple Leafs in a lurch
Defenceman refuses to officially retire
`Happy' working two jobs in Slovakia
KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER

Maple Leafs GM-coach Pat Quinn didn't receive the answer he was seeking from defenceman Robert Svehla yesterday and now the $4 million question is: What on earth are they going to do?

Svehla said yesterday from his home in Slovakia that he was expecting to speak to Quinn later in the day, but made it clear that he would neither file his retirement papers nor give Quinn a 100 per cent guarantee that he won't come back at some point next season.

The Leafs have been using Svehla's reluctance to file retirement papers as one of a number of excuses for not spending money on free agents this summer and Quinn said the team's budget would remain paralyzed until Svehla gave him assurances he wouldn't change his retirement plans.

If he does and reports to training camp, the Leafs will be on the hook for his $4 million salary.

Svehla said he's happy at home and is focusing on his jobs as director of development for the Dukla Trencin organization and assistant coach of the Slovakian national team, but could not say whether he would stay home for the entire season.

"I'm happy and I don't want to come back, but you never know what can happen in December," Svehla said. "This is more my agent's (Rich Winter) thinking, more of what he's telling me.

"He says it's better for me if I don't sign (the retirement papers)."

Svehla said it's highly unlikely he would come for training camp in September and that while he continues to work out this summer, he is not doing it as though he's preparing to play hockey.

Some observers are convinced that Svehla's actions are simply a ploy to extract more money from the Leafs, something Quinn says he will not do.

But it's clear now that Quinn must gamble and face the possible consequences.

[nccanes]

Sorry, he and his agent are chumps. What a joke. I sure hope (but doubt) that this reflects on his agent down the road and make it more difficult to gain clients because clubs are not going to deal nicely with him, etc.

I mean really - the guys says "I'm happy and don't want to come back", but his dear old club that paid him 4 mil last season and allowed him this lifestyle he enjoys so much can't do anything as long as he doesn't sign the retirement papers.
:sick: :roll:

[Shell]

more from "As the leafs fall".. you're favorite hockey soap opera

Tue, July 8, 2003
Some Leafs fit to be tied
Frustration over inaction growing
By MIKE ZEISBERGER, TORONTO SUN

MARKHAM -- Tie Domi has fielded calls from Mats Sundin in Sweden, Ed Belfour in Manitoba, and Alexander Mogilny and Owen Nolan in California. Their questions always are the same.

What is the media saying back in Leafland?

What's new on the Robert Svehla front?

Did we sign anyone?

The answers usually are not what they want to hear.

"Guys are frustrated and since I'm the guy based in Toronto, they phone me to find out what is going on with the team," Domi said.

Or in this, the summer of discontent, what isn't going on.

Even during the Bell Celebrity Golf Classic, a charity event held at Angus Glen yesterday, the boiling frustrations of Maple Leafs players concerning this truly perplexing off-season were front and centre.

It has reached the point where Gary Roberts, an acknowledged team leader, politely declined to comment on the direction the team is headed.

Anyone familiar with the normally vocal veteran winger knows that such silence speaks volumes.

SPEAKING OUT

Domi had no such problems speaking out. Before going to the first tee, he teed off on Svehla's agent, Ritch Winter.

Svehla has not signed retirement papers despite telling the Leafs he is not coming back in the fall. Until the Leafs can be certain he'll stay away, team officials insist they cannot spend the $4 million US allotted for Svehla.

As a result, the Leafs are rejecting the overtures of Ontario-born free agents such as Joe Nieuwendyk and Bryan Marchment, who would love to play for Toronto.

"I think it's frustrating for management and players that they're holding us over a barrel and I don't like that," Domi said of Svehla and Winter. "And I don't think the decision is (Svehla's). I think the agent is giving him bad advice, and that's why I think (Winter) should be reminded he works for the player, not the other way around.

"If guys don't want to play here, don't. We haven't won (a Stanley Cup) in 36 years and it's frustrating. We want guys that want to be here. There are a ton of guys like Nieuwy and Marchment who would give (anything) to be here.

"This thing is holding us up. Robert's a great guy, but if we had his money maybe we could pursue free agents."

Instead, that does not appear it will happen. In fact Pat Quinn, who was at the same tournament yesterday, said any moves likely will come through trades.

Not good news for Nieuwendyk, Roberts' close friend.

"For Robs', it's a difficult situation because of Joe," Domi said. "I saw Joe at Doug Gilmour's birthday party and he was really excited at the chance to come here."

Unless something changes quickly, the Leafs may not sign Nieuwendyk, Marchment or anyone else. And that prospect is not making for many happy Leafs players these days.

[Shell]

Tue, July 8, 2003
The Last Word
By STEVE SIMMONS, Toronto Sun

The process to determine the next general manager of the Maple Leafs is badly flawed and unlikely to produce the best available person for the job. Appointing a three-man search committee of Ken Dryden, Richard Peddie and Pat Quinn -- three men of various agendas, lacking cohesion -- is so fraught with problems it is difficult to know where to begin.

Start in this case, though, with Quinn.

What happens if the first person interviewed for the job, a legitimate candidate with a real plan and real concerns, walks into the interview session and announces that the Leafs front office must be dismantled and the coaching staff replaced.

Is Quinn going to agree to his own demise?

Would you if you were in that position?

By having Quinn, now the interim GM and full-time coach, involved in the process to hire his successor, you are instantly limiting the scope of whomever the successor must be.

Quinn isn't going to agree to anything radical in thought. The scouting staff is his scouting staff. The front-office staff is his front-office staff. The rest of the coaching staff is his coaching staff.

Quinn didn't exactly give up his dual-portfolio happily: He isn't about to agree to hire anyone who doesn't think along the same lines as he does.

Which severely limits anyone with the scope of the GM search. It's clear, also, that Quinn is in no hurry to find a GM or he wouldn't have left the city for his Vancouver home already. It's hard to be part of a process when you're not even in the same city.

And then there are his communication issues, despite his protests. Two seasons ago, for example, when a group of players privately met with him at the end of the campaign and told him they were having serious problems with Shayne Corson and thought he should be moved in the best interest of the team, Quinn responded by telling Corson that a lot of his teammates didn't like him.

That made for a most interesting team wrapup party that night with Corson asking around "Who hates me?"

Instead of dealing with the problem, Quinn made the matter worse by not respecting the confidence of those who spoke with him.

But here he is, allowed to pick his own boss in a Maple Leafs world that makes less and less sense with each passing day.

Dryden, who has a wonderful big-picture, intellectual mind, has never been much at being pragmatic. He makes decisions slowly, methodically, and there is word filtering around that whomever interviews for the Leafs job will be subjected to psychological testing of some kind before being offered the position.

My best frame of reference for psychological testing occurred before the 1983 entry draft. The Minnesota North Stars had first pick and had difficulty deciding between Pat LaFontaine, Steve Yzerman and Brian Lawton. But as Lou Nanne told me years later, they selected Lawton because his test scores were much better than the others.

We know how well that turned out over time.

Dryden, historically, has worked ultra-slowly on any major hockey decision from the firing of Mike Murphy -- he already had hired Quinn to coach but he still couldn't find his way to fire Murphy -- to the anointment of a four-headed management team of himself, Mike Smith, Anders Hedberg and Bill Watters that didn't exactly end up with them holding hands and singing Kumbaya.

His history of organizational building is sketchy at best.

Peddie's role in all this may be traffic cop. Quinn usually rolls his eyes when Dryden starts speaking. Both don't like it when Peddie talks hockey. Expecting this trio of individuals to do what's best for the Maple Leafs cause is expecting the improbable.

The next GM will not be blessed with the competitive advantage Quinn has had: This almost certainly will be the last season where size of budget can make a difference. If, as expected, a salary cap or some kind of spending limit is put into the next collective bargaining agreement, whatever economic advantage Toronto once had will disappear.

The new GM will need an organization, which isn't there right now. He'll need a better system of developing players, more scouts at the NHL level: More than that, he'll need a vision and a plan.

A committee shouldn't be picking the next general manager. The owner, if there was just one, should make the decision. Maybe this is where Larry Tanenbaum should come in and try to exert some authority.

Toronto deserves the best candidate for the position, not the most convenient. But under the current process, the most qualified need not apply.

[crazy4canes]

Good grief. It's like circus monkeys are trying to be the ring leaders. :roll: If the Leafs are ever going to get back to glory they need to get rid of Pat Quinn, imho.

[Shell]

agreed!

[Shell]

Fri, July 11, 2003
The Last Word
By STEVE SIMMONS

Give Robert Svehla a menu and he probably will tell you he needs more time before ordering. Ask him whom he voted for in the past election and you'll find out his party of choice is undecided.

The truth is, the man is the quintessential Maple Leaf. He doesn't know what he wants. He doesn't know when he wants it. He doesn't know how to get it.

The guy is so indecisive he should have made his career in Leafs management.

Last summer he retired. Then he unretired.

This summer he retired but somehow wouldn't sign those elusive retirement papers.

One minute he doesn't want to play anymore, the next minute he's entertaining a three-year contract offer from the Leafs.

One minute he's staying in Slovakia in the best interests of his children, the next minute he's wondering if he might want to come back to the National Hockey League by November.

And this is a man the Maple Leafs have been so desperately afraid of losing that they made him a qualifying offer of $4 million US next season, handcuffing themselves in the process by their own short-sighted miscalculations.

Which begs the question: When exactly in time did Robert Svehla become Bobby Orr with a personality disorder?

He may have been as solid a defender as the Leafs had last season but he was as culpable as any of the blue liners in the opening- round loss to Philadelphia. He wasn't about to win the Leafs a Stanley Cup on his own last season and, should he deem himself interested enough to actually play this coming season, he won't be the difference-maker either.

This is essentially the problem the Leafs have created for themselves with Svehla. They say they want him to play this season, knowing full well he truly isn't motivated to do so. They say their budget is hamstrung by the $4-million commitment they have made, leaving them little room for financial manipulation if he happens to show up at the opening of training camp.

And if this whole situation wasn't strange enough, it took on an elementary school dimension yesterday when Svehla's agent, Ritch Winter, said that Svehla wouldn't even consider returning to Toronto unless he knew it was all right with Tie Domi and the rest of his Leafs playmates who have been critical of the off-ice machinations.

So, let us recap for a moment and try to stay focused. This isn't easy.

Unless Domi and friends are willing to play nice with Svehla, he won't play for the Leafs, which has really been his intention all along.

In other words, he won't play for the Leafs if Domi and friends aren't accepting of him -- and both Domi and Ed Belfour have spoken with Svehla -- and he won't play for the Leafs if they are.

If all of this sounds a little like a Grade 2 meeting in the principal's office -- I'm taking my puck and going home -- this would be true except for one problem: The principal has gone home to Vancouver for the summer and left the vice-principal in charge of contracts and discipline.

Another inconsistency: Svehla won't play, but he gladly will accept free agency.

So, where does all this leave the Leafs?

It leaves them without Glen Wesley, who wanted to play here, and without Svehla, who remains forever undecided. And Winter, doing his part of agent, is just trying to keep the fires burning. He gets paid only if Svehla comes back to play, so he is trying anything from Domi phone calls to other enticements to change his client's mind.

All the while the Leafs are left with a defence that is offensive to any reasonable-thinking hockey fan. Bryan McCabe, coming off a terrible season, is unsigned. His value suddenly has gone up only because he remains attainable. There is Tomas Kaberle, who can win a playoff game one night and lose another the next -- he is that talented. And then there is Aki Berg, whom the players themselves have little belief in.

And that's about it. Which is why the Leafs worship at the shrine of Svehla, forever hoping he may actually make a decision on playing hockey once again.

"Robert said he was retiring, they (the Leafs) exercised the option on his contract," Winter said. "That was their choice. We didn't do anything wrong. Our integrity is intact."

And when asked what he thought of all this, Robert Svehla paused and said he wasn't sure. His summer of indecision, the Maple Leafs summer of indecision, continues.

[drwFischerFan2]

Maple Leafs ink Marchment
TSN.ca Staff
7/11/2003

The Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped into the free agent market, TSN has learned.

Sources have told TSN that the Maple Leafs and defenceman Bryan Marchment have agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $2 million.

Marchment finished last season with the Colorado Avalanche but became an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Marchement is a native of Toronto.

The Avalanche acquired the hard-hitting defenceman in a trade with San Jose that sent Colorado's selections in the third and fifth rounds of the 2003 draft to the Sharks.

Entering his 15th season in the NHL, the 34-year-old collected 14 points last season (2 goals/12 assists) with 141 penalty minutes and finished +2.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=47013&hubName=nhl


Marchment is really going to help the Leafs defensive problems. :roll:

[StormShaman]

So fitting, really.

Dirty player, meet dirty team. A perfect match.

[Shell]

Jul. 11, 2003. 12:56 PM
Fans to protest Leafs' inertia
Cleveland woman organizes rally
Club asleep at the switch, she fumes

KEN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER

Joey Hatfield compares the Maple Leafs to the worthless brother-in-law who keeps borrowing money and never pays it back. And she's mad as hell and she's not going to take it anymore.

That's why the 35-year-old computer drafter from Cleveland is part of a small group of people at the grassroots of a planned protest outside the Air Canada Centre next Wednesday that she hopes will attract thousands of disgruntled Leaf fans who feel the same way.

Hatfield said the thrust of the protest is that not only have the Leafs not won the Stanley Cup for 36 years, they also seem content to lollygag their way through the summer without signing any free agents of consequence.

"It's almost like they want to shut the whole thing down for the next year because of the lockout," said Hatfield, who will make the five-hour drive to Toronto with a car full of friends. "I think people are sick and tired of waiting for them to do something. There are guys who want to play in Toronto and are willing to take pay cuts and sign one-year contracts and they still won't sign them."

The protest is scheduled to take place outside the ACC on the west side of York Street on Bremner Blvd., next Wednesday at 4 p.m. Hatfield emphasized that it will be a peaceful protest and that anyone intent on causing trouble will be asked to leave.

The roots of the protest started on the Maple Leafs' Web site, of all places. The site has an interactive zone and it was there that Hatfield and a handful of other regular correspondents came up with the idea for the protest. A message concerning the protest was posted on the site yesterday and Hatfield said she has posted it on a number of other Yahoo! group sites and had received more than 100 responses back the first day.

By actually taking action, Hatfield and others like her are in a small way putting to rest the notion that Leaf fans' blind loyalty for the blue and white allows the organization to continue to take them for granted.

"I know the games sell out all the time, but I really believe there's a point where they won't sell out anymore," Hatfield said. "I'm from Cleveland and our baseball team sold out the stadium for six years straight. Then they dismantled the team and guess what? Now they can't get it even one-third filled. Fans do get fed up."

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Richard Peddie said he is concerned about how fans feel, but promised the team will improve and that 10 days into the free-agent season it's far too early to judge the organization.

"Obviously the fans are what pay our paycheques and our job is to bring a winner to them, but the fact remains that we have a plan and it would be a mistake to start letting fans make decisions for the GM and coaches," Peddie said.

"Fans have the passion and the enthusiasm, but what they often don't have are the facts. They can't be in the boardroom making the decisions."

And what will Hatfield and her fellow protesters do if the Maple Leafs announce a major signing or make a blockbuster trade before Wednesday?

"Then we'll turn it into a party," she said.

[nccanes]

Reading Leaf posts on Fanhome are just a hoot. Here's one of my faves:

Fact is, the Leafs have added ANOTHER idiot to a lineup already filled with idiots.

McCabe, Domi, Tucker, Green, Roberts, Sundin, Antropov... all these guys have a fetish for bad penalties.

Now we have added the least respected defenceman in the league.

[Shell]

Belak signs, McCabe waits for better offer

The Leafs roster got a little cloudier Wednesday as defenceman Bryan McCabe rejected a qualifying offer from the club.

TORONTO - While Bryan McCabe waits, teammate Wade Belak wasted no time signing a new deal with the Maple Leafs.

McCabe also failed to file for arbitration.

McCabe scored six goals and added 24 assists as one of Toronto's top blue liners in 2002-03.

Belak, 27, appeared in 55 games for Toronto last season and collected nine points (three goals, six assists) with 196 penalty minutes. He finished first on the team in penalty minutes and set career highs in goals, assists, points and penalty minutes. Belak also appeared in two playoff games and was held pointless with four penalty minutes.

The native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has played 241 career NHL games and has registered 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) with 702 penalty minutes. He was originally Quebec's first choice, 12th overall, in the 1994 Entry Draft.

In other news Wednesday, goaltender Jamie Hodson to a one year contract.

As per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

[Shell]

(as an aside, it seems like everything that appears in the NY Post is false)

Leafs deny Tverdovsky report
TSN.ca Staff
7/21/2003

The Toronto Maple Leafs are denying a report in the New York Post that they have reached a tentative one-year agreement with unrestricted free agent Oleg Tverdovsky.

The Post reported that the deal would be made official once the Maple Leafs were released from their obligation to Robert Svehla.

"We've had no discussions in regards to Tverdosky in quite some time now," Maple Leafs assistant general manager Mike Penny told the Fan590 radio station. "When I saw that this morning I thought 'Boy, I wonder where this came from, because it sure didn't come out of here’."

"No we have not signed him and at this point it doesn't look like we will." Penny added.

[Jeff O Rocks]

What a saga this off season has been for them...it should be a show and call it...THE YOUNG AND THE MAPLE LEAFS or AS THE MAPLE LEAFS TURN!!! :roll: :D

[Shell]

Jul. 28, 2003. 09:03 AM
As usual, Leafs are snoozing away the summer
GARTH WOOLSEY

With August on the doorstep and September not far behind, inquiring minds want to know: You figure the Maple Leafs just might get around to starting their search for a new GM this week?

Is lazy 'n' hazy over? Anyone back on the job at the ACC? Hello!

Most organizations would have given this matter the highest off-season priority — beyond calling a press conference to declare the need for a new GM then going, en masse, to the cottage. Most operations would identify the best candidate and nail him down before someone else does, right? But this is the Leafs, who have taken a similar ho-hum, not-us approach to the free agent player market.

The ESPN Web site is currently headlining its hockey page with a photo of Mats Sundin under a two-word headline that sums up, fairly or not, out-of-town perceptions of the Leafs operations: "Cheap Skates." The team's total disinterest in front-line free agents is ascribed first and foremost to an unwillingness to spend with the legit contenders. "Frugal Leafs may pay for it later," is how ESPN puts it.

The Leafs' only real off-season signing is defenceman Bryan Marchment, guaranteed to be a fan favourite in a city that celebrates his style of play (which may or may not be "cheap") but no-one's idea of a player who might guarantee a Stanley Cup.

When it suits him, Pat Quinn, the GM until another one gets hired (and maybe even, in fact, afterward), acts as if he's spending his own money rather than that held in trust by a franchise that demands, and gets, more from its loyal fans than most.

Quinn reads occasionally from the same book being quoted the other day by Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers GM. "I don't want to talk about today's market any more because nobody can make sense of what the market is," said Lowe. "It's all over the map. There's a bunch of lunatics out there throwing money away. I'm sick and tired of it. It's lunacy. Punch me in the head and tell me I'm stupid, but that's the way I feel. There's no sense to it any more."

There was sense to it before? Like when Lowe, the player, chose to leave Edmonton for the Rangers for one primary reason — money? When he was running the Oilers, Glen Sather was equally stingy. Since he's been in New York, Sather has been in a league of his own when it comes to blowing money and the small-market competition.

The Leafs say they're simply anticipating the market meltdown expected when the collective bargaining agreement expires after this season. As excuses for not improving their roster, though, that's lame. The trick is to keep the fans on the hook without having to invest too heavily in new bait.

The Jays are playing this game, too, of course. They're not characterizing the departure of Shannon Stewart and, eventually, Kelvim Escobar, and others, as salary dumps so much as prudent long-term planning. But finding trading partners may become more difficult.

"Some GMs are wary of the close relationship between the A's Billy Beane and Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi," says The Sporting News, "fearing that if they trade with one, their player could end up with the other and then get sent to a division rival."

In any case, Ricciardi, more than anyone in uniform, or at the ownership level, has come to characterize the Blue Jays this summer. Pro-active, smart, aggressive, tough-minded, driven, creative, motivated, organized, responsible — those are words that describe him and his operation. The Leafs right now have no one and nothing of comparable quality. And, apparently, they remain in no hurry to fill the void, either.

[Shell]

:laugh:

Quinn awful quiet in Leafs' GM search
By STEVE SIMMONS, TORONTO SUN

TORONTO -- This is how the interviews have worked for the vacant Toronto Maple Leaf general manager's job.

First round, the candidates met with Richard Peddie, Pat Quinn and Ken Dryden. Second round, they spent an entire day in individual sessions - 90 minutes each - with Peddie, Quinn, Dryden and board chairman Larry Tanenbaum.

Why Neil Smith is the best of the remaining candidates: 1) experience; 2) strong scouting background; 3) as a Don Mills kid, this is the job of his dreams; 4) he's not a Quinn sycophant ... Biggest surprise in the interview sessions to date: How little Quinn has participated in the 3-on-1 interviews and how few questions, for an apparent control freak, he asks ... According to The Hockey News preview edition, Alexander Mogilny is the 30th best player in the NHL. The way he played for the Leafs last season, he's no worse than 15th ... Does any team in the NHL have a better right side than the Ottawa Senators with Marian Hossa, Daniel Alfredsson and Martin Havlat?And the Leafs might be second best with Mogilny, Owen Nolan and Tie Domi ... Still available in free agency: Joe Nieuwendyk, Dmitry Yushkevich, Stumpy Thomas, Ken Klee and Felix Potvin ... Just in case you were wondering: Phil Housley is also available ... Since the summer began, the rather desperate Carolina Hurricanes have upgraded their defence with Glen Wesley, Danny Markov and Bob Boughner. The Leafs, for the record, have added Bryan Marchment.

[Jeff O Rocks]

:laugh:

Since the summer began, the rather desperate Carolina Hurricanes have upgraded their defence with Glen Wesley, Danny Markov and Bob Boughner. The Leafs, for the record, have added Bryan Marchment.

While they call us desperate and are sitting back and resting on their.....um...laurels........we are stocking our defensive pond and will proceed to kick their asses!! :D :spin: ;)

[nccanes]

This sounds serious.... :(

Pilar to miss Leafs training camp
Canadian Press
8/22/2003

TORONTO (CP) - Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Karel Pilar will miss the team's training camp in Sweden due to a "recurring medical problem," the team said Friday.

A team spokesman declined to say more on the medical problem.

Pilar missed most of last season due to a virus that was so severe it has weakened his heart.

Pilar, 25, played 17 games with Toronto last season, collecting three goals and four assists with 12 penalty minutes. He also recorded two goals and five assists in seven games with St. John's of the American Hockey League.

Training camp opens Sept. 12.

[Guyute]

jeez, hope it's not serious.

kid has promise.

[Shell]

Leafs to name new GM on Friday
TSN.ca Staff
8/28/2003

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they are holding a news conference on Friday to introduce the team's new general manager.

It can be seen live on TSN.ca at 11am et/8am pt.

Multiple media sources have already tabbed John Ferguson Jr. as the front-runner for the high-profile post.

Considered one of the bright young minds in the game, Ferguson is one of three finalists for the Toronto job, along with former Rangers’ GM Neil Smith and Canucks’ director of player personnel Steve Tambellini.

After five years as assistant general manager for the St. Louis Blues, Ferguson was promoted to Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations in 2001. He was also the President and General Manager the Worcester IceCats, the Blues top minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League.

With the Blues, he negotiated all player contracts and was in charge of both the pro and amateur scouting operations for the club. Prior to joining the Blues, he was a member of the scouting staff of the Ottawa Senators.

Ferguson is the son of Montreal Canadiens legend and former Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers general manager John Ferguson.

[nccanes]

And the Leafs defense suffers a little more. Doesn't sound too serious though.....


9/2/2003
John Ferguson, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Tuesday that defenceman Bryan McCabe suffered a knee injury while training.

He will be sidelined indefinitely and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. During that time, McCabe will undergo conservative therapy.

McCabe played 75 games with the Maple Leafs last season, compiling six goals 18 assists to go along with 135 penalty minutes.

[Shell]

End of the ordeal: Svehla to retire
TSN.ca Staff
9/4/2003

(TSN.ca) - The Toronto Maple Leafs can finally look for some blueline help.

The agent for defenseman Robert Svehla, Rich Winter told the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto that his client will make his retirement official, therefore freeing up $4 million for the Leafs to spend.

Svehla, 34, announced his retirement during the world hockey championships in May but the Leafs - aware that he had attempted to retire when he played with the Florida Panthers - picked up his $4-million US contract option for 2003-04 to prevent Svehla from playing in Europe.

More details to follow.

[Shell]

I always joke around about bulging discs :roll:

"Without a doubt I've got a bulging disc, so that's never going to heal unless I have surgery," Nolan told the Fan 590 yesterday. "It was tight a little bit (in yesterday's exhibition game) and I'm sure (today) it's going to be a little worse.

"But once we get ice on it and some stretching and stuff hopefully we can contain it until we can get back and get some major treatment."

Nolan: I'm 100 percent healthy
TSN.ca Staff
9/17/2003

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Owen Nolan was on the defensive on Wednesday amid reports that a hairline fracture in his vertebrae and a bulging disc could limit his playing time this season.

Nolan told reporters that he made the remarks about his back ‘in a joking manner’ and emphatically denied any health problems.

“I don’t have a back problem,” he told TSN. “I’m 100 per cent healthy.”

Nolan told The Fan 590 all-sports radio station that he would play through the pain and hold off surgery until it was absolutely necessary.

Nolan, acquired by the Leafs at the trade deadline last March, endured back and hip problems during the 2003 playoffs.

The Leafs are holding a pre-season camp in Stockholm and Helsinki.

[nccanes]

I like Bob McKenzie

McKenzie: Only in Toronto
TSN.ca Staff
9/17/2003

Only in Toronto. Yes, only in Toronto could Maple Leaf winger Owen Nolan tell a radio reporter in a taped interview that he has a bulging disc in his back and then, a day later, tell concerned members of the Leaf nation that his back is fine, it's 100 per cent. It was a misunderstanding, Nolan said. Things were taken out of context.

Well, there's no misunderstanding this: Owen Nolan has a wonky back. There isn't anybody in the NHL who doesn't know that. And as Nolan told the FAN 590 in Toronto very directly and succinctly on Tuesday, he has a bulging disc. There's not much to misunderstand.

There is, however, much interpretation on what that could mean down the road to Nolan and the Leafs. Upon hearing this news, there was much speculation from many that perhaps Nolan won't make it through it the year, that he will have to have surgery. And that's where things got a little out of hand.

Nolan's wonky back isn't so much different than some other veteran players, like Mats Lindgren in Vancouver, for example. There is discomfort and there is pain. It comes and goes. It requires significant treatment to keep it loose. And there are days when it tightens up and a rest may be required.

Surgery can fix the problem, but the rehab is long and difficult and there are no real guarantees there won't be future back woes. So most veteran players like Nolan try to "manage" the condition and soldier on.

So why the public about face by Nolan, who said on Wednesday his back is fine, it's 100 per cent healthy?

Well, let's just say that in Leaf land, truth is always the first casualty where injuries are concerned. Pat Quinn and the Leaf brass no doubt flipped out over all the rampant speculation that they may have acquired damaged goods from San Jose last March and quite likely encouraged Nolan to set the record straight.

If not, then Nolan simply realized on his own what a stir he caused with a frank and honest assessment of his condition, and he decided to do his bit to allay any fears.

In the meantime, the poor radio reporter who did the interview is being hung out to dry because the bulging disc revelation caused a whole lot of other people to speculate on a worst case scenario of season-ending surgery.

Seems like a whole lot of fuss over what most of us have taken for granted -- Owen Nolan has a wonky back. No more, no less.

But nothing is ever that simple in the crazed Leaf nation, where there's Leaf TV, Leaf Radio and, as it turns out, a whole lot of Leaf Lunacy.

Only in Toronto.

For TSN.CA, I'm Bob McKenzie.

[Shell]

I do too Eileen... and enjoyed the article.. thanks for posting :) He actually makes sense of things lol

[cmw00]

With all the BS that goes on in toronto, and all that gets said about Pat Quinn, you gotta give him credit for puttiing up respectable seasons!

[Shell]

I have a hard time giving Pat Quinn any credit at all.

[cmw00]

Well he gets decent seasons out of his teams and gets them in the playoffs

[Shell]

It just seems To Me, that a lot of the discord and strife amongst teammates comes from him. I'm glad he will supposedly have less power this season. I think that should help him and the team.
(all just my opinions of course, not worth much)

[Shell]

have I really not bad mouthed the leafs in over 2 months?? How on earth did they get to be tied for second in the NHL while I was ignoring them?? :crazy:

[nccanes]

This article is just too much fun....


Battle of Ontario heats up
Canadian Press

2/1/2004

TORONTO (CP) - If there is an empty seat in Ottawa's Corel Centre on Thursday night, somebody is going to miss one heck of a hockey game.

The Maple Leafs got revenge for a 7-1 home loss three weeks ago by slamming the Senators 5-1 Saturday night.

Now it is up to Ottawa to counterattack in the battle for control of the NHL's Northeast Division.

``We've struggled against Philadelphia, we've struggled against New Jersey, and Ottawa, too,'' Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. ``We needed to make a statement that we can beat the top teams.''

Asked after Saturday's bad-tempered game if he senses a mutual hatred between the two teams, Leafs coach Pat Quinn replied that he ``couldn't disagree with that one bit.''

Heavy hitting claimed a player from each team. Ottawa's Jason Spezza injured his left leg and the Senators were waiting for swelling to go down on Sunday before re-evaluating it on Monday. And Toronto's Joe Nieuwendyk's ribs got squashed.

Each side fuelled the fire for Thursday's re-match with post-game bickering.

Shaun Van Allen, wearing a cage while a broken jaw heals, claimed his eyes were gouged when Tie Domi attacked him with 25 seconds remaining.

``He knows Van Allen has a guard for his mouth and he goes after him and sucker-punches him,'' Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. ``It was totally embarrassing.''

The Leafs claimed Van Allen speared and harrassed Mats Sundin all night and deserved whatever he got. And Quinn dismissed the assessment by Alfredsson, who was penalized for kneeing Sundin two minutes from the end.

``He's the guy that tried to take Mats' knee out with that hit at the end,'' Quinn said. ``He's the guy that hit (Darcy) Tucker from behind two years ago and should have been suspended for life probably so I don't give it much validity.''

Ottawa's Shane Hnidy, a punching bag for Domi early in the game, screamed profanities down a hallway at Toronto's Nathan Perrott as the Maple Leaf headed for the dressing room. Perrott had charged into the late-game melee in aid of Domi.

``You're going to do stuff like that, you know Tie or I are going to call you on it,'' Perrott said of Van Allen's tactics.

The Leafs were in the Senators' faces all night. Defenceman Bryan McCabe dared to drop his gloves at the big feet of six-foot-nine Zdeno Chara and got flung around as if he were a rag doll.

But McCabe was willing to fight the most physically imposing Senator if that's what it took to win. Earlier in the game, Alfredsson was molested and no teammate responded.

That's been a big difference between these teams for years. The Senators are supposedly tougher these days but after watching the game Saturday it is apparent that they still can't - or won't because of Martin's strategical approach - physically match the Leafs.

``There was a little payback involved,'' said Owen Nolan, who returned to the Leafs'lineup after missing 12 games after eye surgery. ``Those guys have been riding a high so we were fired up.

``Maybe it got out of hand a little bit, giving them too many opportunities on the power play, but you've got to love the emotion. If we can control that a little more . . . we're a tough team to beat when we play like that.''

Lost in the drama was the performance of goaltender Ed Belfour, who outplayed Patrick Lalime with the shots even at 25-25. Belfour moved past Tony Esposito into fourth place on the all-time list with his 424th career win. And Quinn became only the fourth coach in NHL history with 600 wins.

Toronto may want to play with more discipline on Thursday instead of giving the best power play in the league 14 chances.

But Ottawa, getting a limp effort from traffic-shy Marian Hossa, scored only once with an extra man on Saturday. Toronto, 0-for-25 in six previous games, went 4-for-7.

``You look at the number of power-play goals they scored and that was the difference,'' said Ottawa coach Jacques Martin, speaking in short sentences out of gritted teeth. ``We didn't click, obviously.''

Alfredsson was booed every time he touched the puck and that's the price he'll pay in Toronto for the rest of his career because he mocked Sundin the last time he was in town by pretending to throw a stick into the stands. Sundin was suspended for the 7-1 game for tossing a stick shaft.

``We were embarrassed here at home and we didn't want that to happen again,'' McCabe said. ``We knew this was for first place in our conference and we wanted to hold onto that.

``We've been up there all year and it was a big four-point night for us.''

Both teams play Tuesday. The Leafs are at home against Chicago, while the Senators are at New Jersey. The Devils are only one point behind them.

Then Thursday rolls around.

[nccanes]

This article is just too much fun....


Battle of Ontario heats up
Canadian Press

2/1/2004

TORONTO (CP) - If there is an empty seat in Ottawa's Corel Centre on Thursday night, somebody is going to miss one heck of a hockey game.

The Maple Leafs got revenge for a 7-1 home loss three weeks ago by slamming the Senators 5-1 Saturday night.

Now it is up to Ottawa to counterattack in the battle for control of the NHL's Northeast Division.

``We've struggled against Philadelphia, we've struggled against New Jersey, and Ottawa, too,'' Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. ``We needed to make a statement that we can beat the top teams.''

Asked after Saturday's bad-tempered game if he senses a mutual hatred between the two teams, Leafs coach Pat Quinn replied that he ``couldn't disagree with that one bit.''

Heavy hitting claimed a player from each team. Ottawa's Jason Spezza injured his left leg and the Senators were waiting for swelling to go down on Sunday before re-evaluating it on Monday. And Toronto's Joe Nieuwendyk's ribs got squashed.

Each side fuelled the fire for Thursday's re-match with post-game bickering.

Shaun Van Allen, wearing a cage while a broken jaw heals, claimed his eyes were gouged when Tie Domi attacked him with 25 seconds remaining.

``He knows Van Allen has a guard for his mouth and he goes after him and sucker-punches him,'' Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. ``It was totally embarrassing.''

The Leafs claimed Van Allen speared and harrassed Mats Sundin all night and deserved whatever he got. And Quinn dismissed the assessment by Alfredsson, who was penalized for kneeing Sundin two minutes from the end.

``He's the guy that tried to take Mats' knee out with that hit at the end,'' Quinn said. ``He's the guy that hit (Darcy) Tucker from behind two years ago and should have been suspended for life probably so I don't give it much validity.''

Ottawa's Shane Hnidy, a punching bag for Domi early in the game, screamed profanities down a hallway at Toronto's Nathan Perrott as the Maple Leaf headed for the dressing room. Perrott had charged into the late-game melee in aid of Domi.

``You're going to do stuff like that, you know Tie or I are going to call you on it,'' Perrott said of Van Allen's tactics.

The Leafs were in the Senators' faces all night. Defenceman Bryan McCabe dared to drop his gloves at the big feet of six-foot-nine Zdeno Chara and got flung around as if he were a rag doll.

But McCabe was willing to fight the most physically imposing Senator if that's what it took to win. Earlier in the game, Alfredsson was molested and no teammate responded.

That's been a big difference between these teams for years. The Senators are supposedly tougher these days but after watching the game Saturday it is apparent that they still can't - or won't because of Martin's strategical approach - physically match the Leafs.

``There was a little payback involved,'' said Owen Nolan, who returned to the Leafs'lineup after missing 12 games after eye surgery. ``Those guys have been riding a high so we were fired up.

``Maybe it got out of hand a little bit, giving them too many opportunities on the power play, but you've got to love the emotion. If we can control that a little more . . . we're a tough team to beat when we play like that.''

Lost in the drama was the performance of goaltender Ed Belfour, who outplayed Patrick Lalime with the shots even at 25-25. Belfour moved past Tony Esposito into fourth place on the all-time list with his 424th career win. And Quinn became only the fourth coach in NHL history with 600 wins.

Toronto may want to play with more discipline on Thursday instead of giving the best power play in the league 14 chances.

But Ottawa, getting a limp effort from traffic-shy Marian Hossa, scored only once with an extra man on Saturday. Toronto, 0-for-25 in six previous games, went 4-for-7.

``You look at the number of power-play goals they scored and that was the difference,'' said Ottawa coach Jacques Martin, speaking in short sentences out of gritted teeth. ``We didn't click, obviously.''

Alfredsson was booed every time he touched the puck and that's the price he'll pay in Toronto for the rest of his career because he mocked Sundin the last time he was in town by pretending to throw a stick into the stands. Sundin was suspended for the 7-1 game for tossing a stick shaft.

``We were embarrassed here at home and we didn't want that to happen again,'' McCabe said. ``We knew this was for first place in our conference and we wanted to hold onto that.

``We've been up there all year and it was a big four-point night for us.''

Both teams play Tuesday. The Leafs are at home against Chicago, while the Senators are at New Jersey. The Devils are only one point behind them.

Then Thursday rolls around.

[puckin_A]

I taped this game and watched it later (as I love my Sens!)....my gosh!!
I could not believe Belfour is such a cheap shot!! If you stand around him
he continually smacks you with his stick. And it's not just a pat. He had
to chop White THREE times before they even called it. Makes me sick
that goalies are so untouchable but gets away with that.

That Domi hit was so LOW CLASS!! My gosh, the guy has a chin shield on
for a reason!! hello??

McCabe charged and elbowed Hossa in the face! unbelievable.

The best part was the fight between McCabe and Chara where Chara
flung him around like a rag doll.

NOTE TO CANES: do not get into a fight with Chara. LOL Maybe Jessie
could of done better.

Stay tuned for more. They play again thursday and the rivalry is HUGE!

[puckin_A]

I taped this game and watched it later (as I love my Sens!)....my gosh!!
I could not believe Belfour is such a cheap shot!! If you stand around him
he continually smacks you with his stick. And it's not just a pat. He had
to chop White THREE times before they even called it. Makes me sick
that goalies are so untouchable but gets away with that.

That Domi hit was so LOW CLASS!! My gosh, the guy has a chin shield on
for a reason!! hello??

McCabe charged and elbowed Hossa in the face! unbelievable.

The best part was the fight between McCabe and Chara where Chara
flung him around like a rag doll.

NOTE TO CANES: do not get into a fight with Chara. LOL Maybe Jessie
could of done better.

Stay tuned for more. They play again thursday and the rivalry is HUGE!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I saw the post-game press conference where Quinn was running his mouth about Alfredsson being suspended for life. LMAO. Come on! No wonder they whine so much with him as their leader.

McCabe tried to fight Chara. I might give an appendage to see that. :beatup: I'll have to remember to TiVo this one Thursday if I can't watch it.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I saw the post-game press conference where Quinn was running his mouth about Alfredsson being suspended for life. LMAO. Come on! No wonder they whine so much with him as their leader.

McCabe tried to fight Chara. I might give an appendage to see that. :beatup: I'll have to remember to TiVo this one Thursday if I can't watch it.

[Shell]

NHL stickhandles Domi signing incident
TSN.ca Staff
2/15/2004

The National Hockey League punished Toronto Maple Leafs forward Tie Domi on Sunday, fining him $1,000 US for his autograph signing incident against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

The league also fined the team $5,000.

The Blue Jackets were angry after Domi engaged in a little showmanship during the Leafs' 4-1 win over Columbus. After having a running battle all game with Columbus forward Jody Shelley, Domi pulled out a pen while on the Leaf bench, autographed a stick and then flipped it over the glass partition between the benches and towards Shelley.

"I think it showed disrepect to Jody Shelley, who is a legitimate NHL tough guy," Jackets head coach/general manager Doug MacLean told TSN. "I think it showed disrespect to our hockey team and I think it showed disrespect to the game. This is the NHL, not the WWF."

MacLean said he was so bothered by Domi's stick-signing routine that he called NHL vice president Colin Campbell to voice his displeasure. He also put in a call into Maple Leaf general manager John Ferguson Jr.

[puckin_A]

what killed me about this is the fan reaction. If you go to the TSN.ca site and read the responses from the Leaf fans....it's so hippocritical.....they can't believe he got fined and that people need to lighten up, it's only a joke but then they threw a HUGE fit when Alfredsson did the little stick imitation about Sundin.......Can't have both ways kids.

[Jeff O Rocks]

What an ass.. I saw him do that on ESPN and couldn't believe it.. they should have fined him even more...if one of our guys did that, they would deserve the same thing.. :mad:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

<sarcasm>Leafs fans hypocritical? Naaaaah. <sarcasm>



;)

[nccanes]

Jeez, it wasn't even original really. Who was the NFL guy that pulled the pen out of his sock and signed the touchdown used for the football? Rhetorical question - I don't really care, but Domi ripped the idea off.

This is why Domi and CAdams got fined - because the NHL doesn't want the showboating to take root.

[Stormbringer]

Jeez, it wasn't even original really. Who was the NFL guy that pulled the pen out of his sock and signed the touchdown used for the football? Rhetorical question - I don't really care, but Domi ripped the idea off.

It was Terrell Owens, and I too was thinking that what Domi did was just like the Owens incident.

[SouthernCaniac]

Hmmm, methinks the Leafs have issues with their...sticks. ;)

[talkingcanes]

Offered without comment :evil:


Leafs fans are a strange breed

TSN.ca Staff
2/26/2004

Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are the strangest breed - they're not happy unless they're worrying or complaining about something.

And the team follows suit - scores 8 goals in Pittsburgh and grumbles.

Here are the Leafs, with a chance to win the NHL's toughest division, and better still, the conference as well, and who knows? The leafs could wind up winning the presidents trophy, and no matter where they finish, they could win the Stanley Cup, for cryin out loud, and their fans are ... crying out loud.

They won't sleep at night until Eddie Belfour's back problems are cured, or until a replacement is found. The trading deadline is March 9 and they think it's 9 o'clock... tomorrow.

Leaf fans won't eat properly until their team lands a shut-down, big-stud, plough-horse defenceman, or Sergei Gonchar, or both.

Toronto supporters are convinced their team will never be at full strength, and then they debate the merits of a full lineup.

They remember the playoffs of two years ago, when a suddenly-healthy Leaf team wasn't as good as the mash unit that brought honour to the blue and white. So there are complaining leaf fans who shudder at the thought of a team without injuries.

Hey, it used to be a team that lost 52 games for coach Dan Maloney (1984-85) - those were the days to shudder.

[Captain Slack]

I heard that on Hockey Night in Canada several weeks ago! Can't believe it took this long to find it's way into print!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I just thought this letter was interesting, for several reasons.

A Letter To All Leafs Fans
May 17, 2004

Dear Leafs Fans,

I would like to thank you for the last seven years. I knew this a little before I started here, I know it a lot better now, that it's you who give meaning to the hockey experience for all of us. You wear Leafs jerseys, you fill Air Canada Centre for games, but also for open practices, for the Skills Competition, for almost anything that brings you closer to your team. You talk about us, write to us, you remind us better than any coach or owner can, better than we can remind ourselves, that what we do matters. You make every moment of pride prouder, every moment of sadness sadder, every moment of triumph more triumphant.

I grew up in a Toronto that loved the Leafs and knew hockey. But it was a quiet Toronto, even at games. So quiet that a single fan's voice yelling "C'mon Teeder" could be heard easily from the ice surface to the greys. I played in a Maple Leaf Gardens so quiet that the players called it, "The Library." And in these last few years, first at Maple Leaf Gardens, now at Air Canada Centre, I have been able to watch games that feel like a celebration, of a team, a game, even a country, that feel that way because you've made them feel that way. It has been a privilege.

We have had some crushing moments these last seven years; we've had some great moments. We have been able to watch, almost game-in, game-out, outstanding goaltending, the acrobatic, in-trouble, somehow-out-of-trouble Curtis Joseph; the no muss, no fuss, everything-looks-easy-even-if-it-isn't Ed Belfour. We've had the chance to watch Tomas Kaberle and Danny Markov emerge out of nowhere, to watch Bryan McCabe move from a good player to someone on the verge of more, to watch Steve Thomas become young again. We've had the chance to watch Gary Roberts in the corners, Alex Mogilny with the puck, to watch Joe Nieuwendyk skate. To watch the "never say die" spirit of the Leafs, which brought the team Stanley Cups in the 1940s and 1960s far more than great players did, rekindle and return. And through all this, we've had the great good luck to watch Mats, in his deeply proud, generous, dignified way, lead the team.

As much as anything, I will remember Leafs fans on the road. The thousands of you that drive to Buffalo, in your Leafs jerseys, even though game after game, somehow we give you our worst games there. In Ottawa, where you have defied special strategies to keep you out -- no more ticket orders from the 416 and 905 area codes, no entry to a game without a donation to an Ottawa food bank. In your chants of "Go Leafs Go!," in booing the Senators' captain in his own home arena, in reminding your team that you are there, you make a difference. And especially in Montreal. Who would ever have imagined in the Forum or Bell Centre, thousands of Leafs jerseys, the chants of "Ed-die! Ed-die!" and "Go Leafs Go!", and choruses of "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye" in the last minutes of a Leafs win? In Montreal?! Who would ever, ever have imagined?

I often say to people that in Toronto there is nobody or nothing more "given to" than the Toronto Maple Leafs. You give us not only your money, but your time, your loyalty, your passions and emotions. In a hundred different ways, to help us win, you have said to us, "We will do whatever it takes." And in return, you should expect the same from us. That is the real bargain, I think, between any team and its fans. Whatever you do, I do. It's only fair. We are doing better that way. We need you to keep reminding us that we need to do better still.

We need that reminder about the game as well. How we play it, how it is structured, how it is administered and run. The game doesn't belong to the NHL, to the NHL team owners, or to the NHL Players Association. If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who play it at every level, to those who watch it, to those everywhere in the world for whom it is part of their lives and family stories. So this summer and next fall, when Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow forget that they are acting as if the game belongs only to them, because in the heat of a negotiation everyone at times does forget, remind them. You are the critical third party in all this. Really, you are the critical first party. The deal will be done better, sooner, if you get involved.

These last seven years when our season had ended, I was very unhappy because we hadn't won. And I was more unhappy because, no matter how good and loyal the Buffalo, New Jersey, Carolina or Philadelphia fans are, they didn't deserve a victory as much as you do. My goal since I joined the Leafs has always been to have on the ice a team as good as our fans. We have never quite gotten there. Some day we will.

I love watching games. I love watching players, young and old, suddenly understand something they didn't understand, and get better. And most of all I love watching all this happen at Air Canada Centre, especially on a Saturday night, especially during the playoffs, when everything -- the players, the game, the fans, the atmosphere -- when everything together is really cooking. You are the excitement. You are the fun.

Thank you.

Go Leafs Go!

Sincerely,
Ken Dryden

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I just thought this letter was interesting, for several reasons.

A Letter To All Leafs Fans
May 17, 2004

Dear Leafs Fans,

I would like to thank you for the last seven years. I knew this a little before I started here, I know it a lot better now, that it's you who give meaning to the hockey experience for all of us. You wear Leafs jerseys, you fill Air Canada Centre for games, but also for open practices, for the Skills Competition, for almost anything that brings you closer to your team. You talk about us, write to us, you remind us better than any coach or owner can, better than we can remind ourselves, that what we do matters. You make every moment of pride prouder, every moment of sadness sadder, every moment of triumph more triumphant.

I grew up in a Toronto that loved the Leafs and knew hockey. But it was a quiet Toronto, even at games. So quiet that a single fan's voice yelling "C'mon Teeder" could be heard easily from the ice surface to the greys. I played in a Maple Leaf Gardens so quiet that the players called it, "The Library." And in these last few years, first at Maple Leaf Gardens, now at Air Canada Centre, I have been able to watch games that feel like a celebration, of a team, a game, even a country, that feel that way because you've made them feel that way. It has been a privilege.

We have had some crushing moments these last seven years; we've had some great moments. We have been able to watch, almost game-in, game-out, outstanding goaltending, the acrobatic, in-trouble, somehow-out-of-trouble Curtis Joseph; the no muss, no fuss, everything-looks-easy-even-if-it-isn't Ed Belfour. We've had the chance to watch Tomas Kaberle and Danny Markov emerge out of nowhere, to watch Bryan McCabe move from a good player to someone on the verge of more, to watch Steve Thomas become young again. We've had the chance to watch Gary Roberts in the corners, Alex Mogilny with the puck, to watch Joe Nieuwendyk skate. To watch the "never say die" spirit of the Leafs, which brought the team Stanley Cups in the 1940s and 1960s far more than great players did, rekindle and return. And through all this, we've had the great good luck to watch Mats, in his deeply proud, generous, dignified way, lead the team.

As much as anything, I will remember Leafs fans on the road. The thousands of you that drive to Buffalo, in your Leafs jerseys, even though game after game, somehow we give you our worst games there. In Ottawa, where you have defied special strategies to keep you out -- no more ticket orders from the 416 and 905 area codes, no entry to a game without a donation to an Ottawa food bank. In your chants of "Go Leafs Go!," in booing the Senators' captain in his own home arena, in reminding your team that you are there, you make a difference. And especially in Montreal. Who would ever have imagined in the Forum or Bell Centre, thousands of Leafs jerseys, the chants of "Ed-die! Ed-die!" and "Go Leafs Go!", and choruses of "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye" in the last minutes of a Leafs win? In Montreal?! Who would ever, ever have imagined?

I often say to people that in Toronto there is nobody or nothing more "given to" than the Toronto Maple Leafs. You give us not only your money, but your time, your loyalty, your passions and emotions. In a hundred different ways, to help us win, you have said to us, "We will do whatever it takes." And in return, you should expect the same from us. That is the real bargain, I think, between any team and its fans. Whatever you do, I do. It's only fair. We are doing better that way. We need you to keep reminding us that we need to do better still.

We need that reminder about the game as well. How we play it, how it is structured, how it is administered and run. The game doesn't belong to the NHL, to the NHL team owners, or to the NHL Players Association. If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who play it at every level, to those who watch it, to those everywhere in the world for whom it is part of their lives and family stories. So this summer and next fall, when Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow forget that they are acting as if the game belongs only to them, because in the heat of a negotiation everyone at times does forget, remind them. You are the critical third party in all this. Really, you are the critical first party. The deal will be done better, sooner, if you get involved.

These last seven years when our season had ended, I was very unhappy because we hadn't won. And I was more unhappy because, no matter how good and loyal the Buffalo, New Jersey, Carolina or Philadelphia fans are, they didn't deserve a victory as much as you do. My goal since I joined the Leafs has always been to have on the ice a team as good as our fans. We have never quite gotten there. Some day we will.

I love watching games. I love watching players, young and old, suddenly understand something they didn't understand, and get better. And most of all I love watching all this happen at Air Canada Centre, especially on a Saturday night, especially during the playoffs, when everything -- the players, the game, the fans, the atmosphere -- when everything together is really cooking. You are the excitement. You are the fun.

Thank you.

Go Leafs Go!

Sincerely,
Ken Dryden

[Turbulence]

That's a fantastic letter. Doesn't do much to explain why he's leaving, but a good letter nonetheless...

[Turbulence]

That's a fantastic letter. Doesn't do much to explain why he's leaving, but a good letter nonetheless...

[talkingcanes]

That's a fantastic letter. Doesn't do much to explain why he's leaving, but a good letter nonetheless...

he's running for political office, I believe.

[talkingcanes]

That's a fantastic letter. Doesn't do much to explain why he's leaving, but a good letter nonetheless...

he's running for political office, I believe.

[talkingcanes]

Dryden leaves Leafs for politics

Canadian Press
5/17/2004

TORONTO (CP) - Hockey icon Ken Dryden announced Monday his intention to make politics his ``ultimate'' career, in a maiden election bid he described as ``scary'' as Game 7 of a Stanley Cup final.

Dryden, vice-chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said ``it is time'' to leave the organization that owns the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs to try to score the Toronto riding of York Centre in the federal election, expected to be called within days.

``How do I feel now after all these years finally being a candidate?'' Dryden, 56, said at centre ice at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Leafs, where a blue and white Maple Leafs flag was suspended behind him.

``Like I did when I went from kindergarten to Grade 1 ... when I played in the seventh game of a Stanley Cup final ... excited, scared, nervous.''

The longtime lawyer also expressed his devotion to the Leafs, an organization he joined seven years ago as president to bring the team back to respectability after lean years under the helm of late owner Harold Ballard.

``If I become the Liberal candidate for York Centre, if I win the election, I will be in Ottawa a lot more. Go Sens go? I don't think so,'' he joked, referring to the NHL team in the nation's capital.

Dryden, a star netminder with the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, said he is entering politics because ``I always believed politics was anybody's ultimate career,'' and ``because I want to do my best, and I want to find out what my best is.''

He said he believes he could do more to help people as a politician than as a civilian.

``I like (Prime Minister) Paul Martin,'' Dryden said. ``I believe he and others can make Canada a better place.''

All of the major political parties have made overtures to him over the years, Dryden said.

He said he chose the Liberals because he is attracted to the party's approach of ``finding a way'' to solve problems rather than being stuck in ideology.

``It wasn't right, it wasn't left, it was really what's the best instrument at this moment,'' he said.

Dryden, who has lived in Toronto for 22 years with his wife Lynda, said his decision to enter politics was also influenced by the fact their two children, Sarah and Michael, are now grown.

The path for Dryden to enter politics was cleared last week when Liberal Art Eggleton, a cabinet minister under former prime minister Jean Chretien, announced he would not seek re-election.

York Centre is considered a safe Liberal seat; Eggleton won it by 20,000 votes in the 2000 federal election.

Martin is widely expected to call the election within a week for a June 28 vote.

Dryden, who was born in Hamilton and grew up in Toronto, played for the Canadiens from 1971 to 1979, earning six Stanley Cup rings.

He retired as a player after winning his final Stanley Cup in 1979 at the age of 32.

Dryden was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 and has written a number of best-selling books on hockey and Canada's education system.

Michael Mostyn, the Conservatives' candidate in York Centre, was waiting outside the Air Canada Centre holding a big Conservative sign as reporters left the news conference.

Dryden's name recognition won't offset the fact that he is being parachuted into the riding and has bypassed the nomination process by being appointed as a candidate, Mostyn said.

``I think Mr. Dryden is going to be having an uphill battle, coming in with no history in this riding,'' he said.

[talkingcanes]

Dryden leaves Leafs for politics

Canadian Press
5/17/2004

TORONTO (CP) - Hockey icon Ken Dryden announced Monday his intention to make politics his ``ultimate'' career, in a maiden election bid he described as ``scary'' as Game 7 of a Stanley Cup final.

Dryden, vice-chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said ``it is time'' to leave the organization that owns the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs to try to score the Toronto riding of York Centre in the federal election, expected to be called within days.

``How do I feel now after all these years finally being a candidate?'' Dryden, 56, said at centre ice at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Leafs, where a blue and white Maple Leafs flag was suspended behind him.

``Like I did when I went from kindergarten to Grade 1 ... when I played in the seventh game of a Stanley Cup final ... excited, scared, nervous.''

The longtime lawyer also expressed his devotion to the Leafs, an organization he joined seven years ago as president to bring the team back to respectability after lean years under the helm of late owner Harold Ballard.

``If I become the Liberal candidate for York Centre, if I win the election, I will be in Ottawa a lot more. Go Sens go? I don't think so,'' he joked, referring to the NHL team in the nation's capital.

Dryden, a star netminder with the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, said he is entering politics because ``I always believed politics was anybody's ultimate career,'' and ``because I want to do my best, and I want to find out what my best is.''

He said he believes he could do more to help people as a politician than as a civilian.

``I like (Prime Minister) Paul Martin,'' Dryden said. ``I believe he and others can make Canada a better place.''

All of the major political parties have made overtures to him over the years, Dryden said.

He said he chose the Liberals because he is attracted to the party's approach of ``finding a way'' to solve problems rather than being stuck in ideology.

``It wasn't right, it wasn't left, it was really what's the best instrument at this moment,'' he said.

Dryden, who has lived in Toronto for 22 years with his wife Lynda, said his decision to enter politics was also influenced by the fact their two children, Sarah and Michael, are now grown.

The path for Dryden to enter politics was cleared last week when Liberal Art Eggleton, a cabinet minister under former prime minister Jean Chretien, announced he would not seek re-election.

York Centre is considered a safe Liberal seat; Eggleton won it by 20,000 votes in the 2000 federal election.

Martin is widely expected to call the election within a week for a June 28 vote.

Dryden, who was born in Hamilton and grew up in Toronto, played for the Canadiens from 1971 to 1979, earning six Stanley Cup rings.

He retired as a player after winning his final Stanley Cup in 1979 at the age of 32.

Dryden was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 and has written a number of best-selling books on hockey and Canada's education system.

Michael Mostyn, the Conservatives' candidate in York Centre, was waiting outside the Air Canada Centre holding a big Conservative sign as reporters left the news conference.

Dryden's name recognition won't offset the fact that he is being parachuted into the riding and has bypassed the nomination process by being appointed as a candidate, Mostyn said.

``I think Mr. Dryden is going to be having an uphill battle, coming in with no history in this riding,'' he said.

[nccanes]

I thought it was very good. I particularly liked this part:

We need that reminder about the game as well. How we play it, how it is structured, how it is administered and run. The game doesn't belong to the NHL, to the NHL team owners, or to the NHL Players Association. If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who play it at every level, to those who watch it, to those everywhere in the world for whom it is part of their lives and family stories. So this summer and next fall, when Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow forget that they are acting as if the game belongs only to them, because in the heat of a negotiation everyone at times does forget, remind them. You are the critical third party in all this. Really, you are the critical first party. The deal will be done better, sooner, if you get involved.


The part about the fans "deserving" more than us and the others - well okay whatever :roll: . Remember the man will be running for office. :laugh:

[nccanes]

I thought it was very good. I particularly liked this part:

We need that reminder about the game as well. How we play it, how it is structured, how it is administered and run. The game doesn't belong to the NHL, to the NHL team owners, or to the NHL Players Association. If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who play it at every level, to those who watch it, to those everywhere in the world for whom it is part of their lives and family stories. So this summer and next fall, when Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow forget that they are acting as if the game belongs only to them, because in the heat of a negotiation everyone at times does forget, remind them. You are the critical third party in all this. Really, you are the critical first party. The deal will be done better, sooner, if you get involved.


The part about the fans "deserving" more than us and the others - well okay whatever :roll: . Remember the man will be running for office. :laugh:

[puckin_A]

We've had the chance to watch Tomas Kaberle and Danny Markov emerge out of nowhere.

Danny must of impressed him since he hasn't been a Leaf in quite some
time.

[puckin_A]

We've had the chance to watch Tomas Kaberle and Danny Markov emerge out of nowhere.

Danny must of impressed him since he hasn't been a Leaf in quite some
time.

[nccanes]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....

Something stinks in Toronto

It's true, no man is an island. But don't tell that to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who continue to operate like they're playing in a one-team NHL.

A back alley in the big city can be one the most depressing places on earth.

Last week, for instance, somebody dumped a dirty old sofa outside the back gate of my house in Toronto.

The message was clear.

"Who cares about anybody else? I'll do whatever I want."

Yes, the back alley has always been a dog-eat-dog world. In fact, Conn Smythe referred to it when he coined one of the most famous phrases in sports.

"If you can't beat 'em in the alley, you can't beat 'em on the ice."

Something tells me ol' Conn would be proud of the modern day Toronto Maple Leafs. In the selfish department, the Leafs are the meanest alley cats in the NHL. Everybody knows about the black money cloud hanging over hockey. However, with a lockout looming larger by the day, the Buds continue to boogie to the beat of their own bongo.

Pay raises for underachievers such as Nik Antropov and Tomas Kaberle.

Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.

So, with most teams pleading poverty and talking about a $35 million salary cap, Toronto's payroll is now pushing $60 million. But like the Einsteins who dumped the aforementioned rat-infested couch in my back alley, the Leafs couldn't care less.

"Our revenues justify our expenditures," Leaf G.M. John Ferguson recently told Canadian Press.

Bully for you, Fergie. It must be nice to have a bunch of filthy rich Stanley-starved fans willing to pay any price to watch another playoff bust.

But what about your partners?

Despite seeing Tomas Kaberle's production drop dramatically last season, (31 points from 47 the year before) the Leafs gave him a raise and signed him to a two-year deal worth almost $6 million. As a result, the jobs of Ferguson's fellow general managers just got a whole lot tougher.

How would you like to be Darryl Sutter in Calgary?

He has to try and explain to playoff workhorse Robyn Regehr why Tomas Kaberle stands to make over $1 million more than him this season.

Or how about Jay Feaster in Tampa Bay?

Last year, Dan Boyle had more points than Kaberle, a better plus/minus; and, oh, yeah, he also earned a Stanley Cup ring. But Kaberle is still a few hundred thousand dollars ahead on the pay scale.

The Leafs will grumble that they can't worry about other teams.

"It's our job to win hockey games," you can hear them saying. "We have to operate like a business."

However, there are a few flaws in the philosophy.

Number one, the Leafs haven't won anything since 1967.

Number two, sports isn't like any other business. In the corporate world, McDonald's could care less if Burger King survives. But in sports, if you don't have other teams to play against, you don't have much of a league.

Then again, who can blame Toronto if they long for the days of the Original Six?

God knows they haven't been able to get their hands on the Cup in a 30-team landscape.

Eventually, however, selfishness always comes back to bite you in the blue and white butt.

Just a few weeks after signing his huge contract with the Leafs, Ed Belfour showed his gratitude by using some of the cash to buy a piece of the World Hockey Association Dallas Americans.

Talk about an embarrassment.

Your franchise player has the audacity to spend the money you gave him on another team from a rival league. But when asked about Belfour's business plan, Ferguson could only shrug his shoulders.

"He doesn't consult me," he told reporters.

And, really, what else could Fergie say?

The Leafs offer a graduate class on selfishness and Belfour was simply taking advantage of his front row seat.

As a result, the beat goes on.

Salaries spiral out of control and so do ticket prices, making it impossible for the working man to take his kids to a game.

The bank accounts of the players grow and so does their belief that they can do whatever they darn well please.

And just like that rotten pile of garbage sitting in a back alley in Toronto, the whole thing stinks.

I'll talk with you next week.


Check in Thursdays for Sportsnetnews host Mike Toth's take on the sports world.

[nccanes]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....

Something stinks in Toronto

It's true, no man is an island. But don't tell that to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who continue to operate like they're playing in a one-team NHL.

A back alley in the big city can be one the most depressing places on earth.

Last week, for instance, somebody dumped a dirty old sofa outside the back gate of my house in Toronto.

The message was clear.

"Who cares about anybody else? I'll do whatever I want."

Yes, the back alley has always been a dog-eat-dog world. In fact, Conn Smythe referred to it when he coined one of the most famous phrases in sports.

"If you can't beat 'em in the alley, you can't beat 'em on the ice."

Something tells me ol' Conn would be proud of the modern day Toronto Maple Leafs. In the selfish department, the Leafs are the meanest alley cats in the NHL. Everybody knows about the black money cloud hanging over hockey. However, with a lockout looming larger by the day, the Buds continue to boogie to the beat of their own bongo.

Pay raises for underachievers such as Nik Antropov and Tomas Kaberle.

Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.

So, with most teams pleading poverty and talking about a $35 million salary cap, Toronto's payroll is now pushing $60 million. But like the Einsteins who dumped the aforementioned rat-infested couch in my back alley, the Leafs couldn't care less.

"Our revenues justify our expenditures," Leaf G.M. John Ferguson recently told Canadian Press.

Bully for you, Fergie. It must be nice to have a bunch of filthy rich Stanley-starved fans willing to pay any price to watch another playoff bust.

But what about your partners?

Despite seeing Tomas Kaberle's production drop dramatically last season, (31 points from 47 the year before) the Leafs gave him a raise and signed him to a two-year deal worth almost $6 million. As a result, the jobs of Ferguson's fellow general managers just got a whole lot tougher.

How would you like to be Darryl Sutter in Calgary?

He has to try and explain to playoff workhorse Robyn Regehr why Tomas Kaberle stands to make over $1 million more than him this season.

Or how about Jay Feaster in Tampa Bay?

Last year, Dan Boyle had more points than Kaberle, a better plus/minus; and, oh, yeah, he also earned a Stanley Cup ring. But Kaberle is still a few hundred thousand dollars ahead on the pay scale.

The Leafs will grumble that they can't worry about other teams.

"It's our job to win hockey games," you can hear them saying. "We have to operate like a business."

However, there are a few flaws in the philosophy.

Number one, the Leafs haven't won anything since 1967.

Number two, sports isn't like any other business. In the corporate world, McDonald's could care less if Burger King survives. But in sports, if you don't have other teams to play against, you don't have much of a league.

Then again, who can blame Toronto if they long for the days of the Original Six?

God knows they haven't been able to get their hands on the Cup in a 30-team landscape.

Eventually, however, selfishness always comes back to bite you in the blue and white butt.

Just a few weeks after signing his huge contract with the Leafs, Ed Belfour showed his gratitude by using some of the cash to buy a piece of the World Hockey Association Dallas Americans.

Talk about an embarrassment.

Your franchise player has the audacity to spend the money you gave him on another team from a rival league. But when asked about Belfour's business plan, Ferguson could only shrug his shoulders.

"He doesn't consult me," he told reporters.

And, really, what else could Fergie say?

The Leafs offer a graduate class on selfishness and Belfour was simply taking advantage of his front row seat.

As a result, the beat goes on.

Salaries spiral out of control and so do ticket prices, making it impossible for the working man to take his kids to a game.

The bank accounts of the players grow and so does their belief that they can do whatever they darn well please.

And just like that rotten pile of garbage sitting in a back alley in Toronto, the whole thing stinks.

I'll talk with you next week.


Check in Thursdays for Sportsnetnews host Mike Toth's take on the sports world.

[Mona]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....


Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.



Me too E.. do they call them Tylenol Twins because of all THEIR aches and pains or because of all the headaches they give Leafs fans?? :laugh:

and WTF is wonky??? Is that a Canadian word, eh??? :lol:

[Mona]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....


Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.



Me too E.. do they call them Tylenol Twins because of all THEIR aches and pains or because of all the headaches they give Leafs fans?? :laugh:

and WTF is wonky??? Is that a Canadian word, eh??? :lol:

[talkingcanes]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

[talkingcanes]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

[Mona]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

I have never heard it before.. it sounds like one of those words you use when you don't know what to say! ;)

[Mona]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

I have never heard it before.. it sounds like one of those words you use when you don't know what to say! ;)

[talkingcanes]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

I have never heard it before.. it sounds like one of those words you use when you don't know what to say! ;)

that's exactly what it is and I have a whole list of them!

[talkingcanes]

wonky is a great word. I use it all the time and have for years and since I'm not Canadian.......... ;) :D

I have never heard it before.. it sounds like one of those words you use when you don't know what to say! ;)

that's exactly what it is and I have a whole list of them!

[SoCalcaniac]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....


Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.



Me too E.. do they call them Tylenol Twins because of all THEIR aches and pains or because of all the headaches they give Leafs fans?? :laugh:

and WTF is wonky??? Is that a Canadian word, eh??? :lol:

The Canadian media seems to love to use that word "wonky" and I only noticed it in the last couple years because they ALWAYS refer to Ed Belfour as the 'one with the wonky back" very Canadian! :spin:

That article was priceless. So very agonizing in Leaf Land. Oh, btw, is this the same Mike Toth who is on Rogers Sportnet in Canada? He is very good. Saw him in studio with Mo when Mo was doing work for sportsnet.

The Tylenol Twins... freakin hilarious!

This is the first time I ever noticed this thread (geez the Leafs have a thread on lgc.com- Ok, I'm over it.)

The Dryden Letter was very good. It's always been said that he was 'too intellectual" to be a hockey player (whatever that means) but I object to his assertion that Laffs, uh Leafs fans are 'more deserving' than Buffalo, Philly, NJ or Carolina fans. Win for your fans and they'll get what they deserve. Although it'll probably be another 37 years..... HEE HEE makes my day just to type that....

I find all articles on the Leafs very interesting in that there is a staunch anti-Leaf sentiment in TO and beyond, especially with all the spending, but it's almost one of those scizo type deals where deep down they love the Leafs, but they hate the way it's run. Read Ferguson Jr.'s comments (paraphrasing here) well, we make a lotta money, so we need to spend alot of money. WTFever. I'm sure the fans who hang outside of ACC just hoping to get in every game love that thought. I propose in the new CBA a Maple Leaf Idiot Tax. Every dumb signing, over paying contract they get taxed and the 29 other teams get to split whatever the agreed upon tax is. Those dopes have a $60 million payroll right now. How on earth. :mad: I know they love their hockey up there, but I could not and would refuse to support a team that just doesn't have a clue. And their 'farm system' is a laugh. Completely depleted, why? because Quinn gave everyone away trading for the Owen Nolans of the world.

Glad it's them and not us........ We can always say, at least we're not the Leafs- as much as they wanna bash us, we can at least say we're not as poorly run as they are........

[SoCalcaniac]

Yes, I'm mean. I love articles like this....


Signing the "Tylenol Twins", Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts, to rich new deals. :lol:

Handing 39-year old Ed Belfour, wonky back and all, a three-year contract that could end up being worth $22 million.



Me too E.. do they call them Tylenol Twins because of all THEIR aches and pains or because of all the headaches they give Leafs fans?? :laugh:

and WTF is wonky??? Is that a Canadian word, eh??? :lol:

The Canadian media seems to love to use that word "wonky" and I only noticed it in the last couple years because they ALWAYS refer to Ed Belfour as the 'one with the wonky back" very Canadian! :spin:

That article was priceless. So very agonizing in Leaf Land. Oh, btw, is this the same Mike Toth who is on Rogers Sportnet in Canada? He is very good. Saw him in studio with Mo when Mo was doing work for sportsnet.

The Tylenol Twins... freakin hilarious!

This is the first time I ever noticed this thread (geez the Leafs have a thread on lgc.com- Ok, I'm over it.)

The Dryden Letter was very good. It's always been said that he was 'too intellectual" to be a hockey player (whatever that means) but I object to his assertion that Laffs, uh Leafs fans are 'more deserving' than Buffalo, Philly, NJ or Carolina fans. Win for your fans and they'll get what they deserve. Although it'll probably be another 37 years..... HEE HEE makes my day just to type that....

I find all articles on the Leafs very interesting in that there is a staunch anti-Leaf sentiment in TO and beyond, especially with all the spending, but it's almost one of those scizo type deals where deep down they love the Leafs, but they hate the way it's run. Read Ferguson Jr.'s comments (paraphrasing here) well, we make a lotta money, so we need to spend alot of money. WTFever. I'm sure the fans who hang outside of ACC just hoping to get in every game love that thought. I propose in the new CBA a Maple Leaf Idiot Tax. Every dumb signing, over paying contract they get taxed and the 29 other teams get to split whatever the agreed upon tax is. Those dopes have a $60 million payroll right now. How on earth. :mad: I know they love their hockey up there, but I could not and would refuse to support a team that just doesn't have a clue. And their 'farm system' is a laugh. Completely depleted, why? because Quinn gave everyone away trading for the Owen Nolans of the world.

Glad it's them and not us........ We can always say, at least we're not the Leafs- as much as they wanna bash us, we can at least say we're not as poorly run as they are........

[Captain Slack]

Leaf no more: Reichel joins Litvinov

TSN.ca Staff

8/19/2004

Former Toronto Maple Leafs centre Robert Reichel has returned home to play for Chemopetrol Litvinov, the Czech club said on Thursday.

"Toronto did not exercise an option in the contract and I would like to allow my son to grow up here (in the Czech Republic)," Reichel said on Litvinov's Web site.

Reichel, who won a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, scored 252 goals and had 378 assists during his 13 years in the National Hockey League.

He previously played for Litvinov for two seasons between 1999 and 2001.

Reichel 33, is a member of the Czech team for the World Cup which starts later this month.

[Captain Slack]

Leaf no more: Reichel joins Litvinov

TSN.ca Staff

8/19/2004

Former Toronto Maple Leafs centre Robert Reichel has returned home to play for Chemopetrol Litvinov, the Czech club said on Thursday.

"Toronto did not exercise an option in the contract and I would like to allow my son to grow up here (in the Czech Republic)," Reichel said on Litvinov's Web site.

Reichel, who won a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, scored 252 goals and had 378 assists during his 13 years in the National Hockey League.

He previously played for Litvinov for two seasons between 1999 and 2001.

Reichel 33, is a member of the Czech team for the World Cup which starts later this month.

[AbNormal27]

Report: Belfour may require back surgery

Eddie the Eagle may start the season on the DL.

Sportsnet.ca -- If the season starts on time, the Maple Leafs may have to start without their best player.

According to a story out of the Toronto Star, Leafs goaltender Eddie Belfour injured his back while training for the World Cup last month. The 39-year-old Belfour told the Star his back "continually got a little worse and worse" over the next three weeks, which finally prompted him to withdraw from the World Cup.

After consulting several back specialists, it was determined that Belfour was suffering from a disk problem, which is unrelated to the other back problems Belfour has experienced in his career.

Although not guaranteed, it is more than likely Belfour will undergo surgery to fix the problem and no timetable will be set for his return.

"If they go ahead with surgery then there'll be some time to it but it's not as invasive as it used to be in the old days," head coach Pat Quinn said. "Like many things, they can do it a lot more quickly."

Earlier this summer, the Leafs signed Belfour to a contract that will pay him at least $14 million (U.S.) over the next two seasons.

Aaryn

[AbNormal27]

Report: Belfour may require back surgery

Eddie the Eagle may start the season on the DL.

Sportsnet.ca -- If the season starts on time, the Maple Leafs may have to start without their best player.

According to a story out of the Toronto Star, Leafs goaltender Eddie Belfour injured his back while training for the World Cup last month. The 39-year-old Belfour told the Star his back "continually got a little worse and worse" over the next three weeks, which finally prompted him to withdraw from the World Cup.

After consulting several back specialists, it was determined that Belfour was suffering from a disk problem, which is unrelated to the other back problems Belfour has experienced in his career.

Although not guaranteed, it is more than likely Belfour will undergo surgery to fix the problem and no timetable will be set for his return.

"If they go ahead with surgery then there'll be some time to it but it's not as invasive as it used to be in the old days," head coach Pat Quinn said. "Like many things, they can do it a lot more quickly."

Earlier this summer, the Leafs signed Belfour to a contract that will pay him at least $14 million (U.S.) over the next two seasons.

Aaryn

[nccanes]

Mogilny has arthroscopic surgery on hip
Canadian Press



9/28/2004

TORONTO (CP) - Winger Alexander Mogilny of the Toronto Maple Leafs has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery to his left hip for the second time in a year.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon in Pittsburgh on Monday and the Leafs announced it Tuesday.

The 35-year-old missed 40 games due to left hip surgery last season but never felt quite right upon his return. Mogilny had 30 points (8-22) in 37 regular-season games and added six points (2-4) in 13 playoff games.

Unlike the majority of NHL players who are locked out, Mogilny will get paid Oct. 15 when the season's first paycheques were slated to go out because he's injured. He'll continue to get his $5.5 million US salary until he's fully recovered.

The native of Khabarovsk, Russia, has played 956 career NHL games for Buffalo, Vancouver, New Jersey and Toronto collecting 1,007 points (461-546).

[nccanes]

Mogilny has arthroscopic surgery on hip
Canadian Press



9/28/2004

TORONTO (CP) - Winger Alexander Mogilny of the Toronto Maple Leafs has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery to his left hip for the second time in a year.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon in Pittsburgh on Monday and the Leafs announced it Tuesday.

The 35-year-old missed 40 games due to left hip surgery last season but never felt quite right upon his return. Mogilny had 30 points (8-22) in 37 regular-season games and added six points (2-4) in 13 playoff games.

Unlike the majority of NHL players who are locked out, Mogilny will get paid Oct. 15 when the season's first paycheques were slated to go out because he's injured. He'll continue to get his $5.5 million US salary until he's fully recovered.

The native of Khabarovsk, Russia, has played 956 career NHL games for Buffalo, Vancouver, New Jersey and Toronto collecting 1,007 points (461-546).

[SoCalcaniac]

He'll continue to get his $5.5 million US salary until he's fully recovered.

Uh, huh. :help: ?

I know the hip for Mogilny has been a forever and a day thing, but is there a reason that he would be getting the surgery now as opposed to back in March/April when he was nearly immobile and was scratched for games? I'm sure it has something to do with continuing to receive his salary- as we all know that if you're declared injured prior to the expiration of the CBA, and are not medically cleared, you remain on salary, like Leopold, Lombardi of the Flames, and others..... but this just has me shaking my head. Ok, enough out of me........

[SoCalcaniac]

He'll continue to get his $5.5 million US salary until he's fully recovered.

Uh, huh. :help: ?

I know the hip for Mogilny has been a forever and a day thing, but is there a reason that he would be getting the surgery now as opposed to back in March/April when he was nearly immobile and was scratched for games? I'm sure it has something to do with continuing to receive his salary- as we all know that if you're declared injured prior to the expiration of the CBA, and are not medically cleared, you remain on salary, like Leopold, Lombardi of the Flames, and others..... but this just has me shaking my head. Ok, enough out of me........