In It For The Long Haul

Published September 12, 2008 @ 20:52 in Toronto Maple Leafs

leafsDuring the 1990-91 Toronto Maple Leafs season, I continued to wear my Leafs cap to Mr. Rocca's math class. When your second leading scorer is Mike Krushelnyski with 39 points, you know it's a rough year. That 1990-91 season was very rough indeed, and my classmates ridiculed me for continuing to don the Maple Leaf.

I took the abuse and continued to support my team. I could see they weren't very good, but that didn't mean I was going to bail on them. I was in it for the long haul.

I'm on the record as saying this coming season will be the worst Leafs season yet. As I eyeball our list of forwards, I don't see anything more than a long list of fourth liners and fringe players who wouldn't see much ice time on any competitive team. I'm slightly more optimisitic about our defenders, but not much. Our only hope is that Vesa Toskala stays healthy and steals several games between the pipes.

Cliff Fletcher, who may or may not read this blog, is all but agreeing with me. "You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to know there's going to be rocky days ahead, tough games, maybe tough stretches." He went on to say the Leafs have only one top six forward: Nik Antropov.

I agree with Cliffy that there are rocky days ahead, but I disagree with him about Antropov. I don't believe he's that good, despite his miraculous campaign of 2007-08. I don't believe we have a single forward worthy of a half decent team's top two lines.

Just as I continued to wear my cap in 1991, I take no delight in the fact my team will be horrible this coming season. It is what it is, but I won't bail. I'm in it for the long haul.

Here's the current Maple Leaf depth chart. Brace yourselves, this is going to get ugly.

depth

11 Responses to "In It For The Long Haul"

Trackback Address

Stephanie Wilkinson
September 12, 2008 / 22:42

If you look at that same website that calculated the Jays mathematical chances of making the playoffs this year, the Leafs are already at 53% before the season starts. Even black and white math isn't favouring it.... Shall we call it now? 42 years??

Toronto Mike
September 12, 2008 / 22:47

Time of death.... 10:42pm.

If the Leafs make the playoffs this year, I'll shave my beautiful thick head of hair.

Buffalo Boy Mike
September 13, 2008 / 09:27

Mike, The have a decent defensive core and the goaltending is decent, Their problem is up front, they have one center who should be a number 2 or 3 guy in Steen, Stajan is a number 3 guy, Their most talented group is at right wing with Jason Blake and Antropov. Left Wing looks like a mess and anyone at Center behind Stajan looks bad too.

Toronto Mike
September 13, 2008 / 09:54

With all due respect MR. Buffalo Boy, Steen is not a #2 and Stajan is probably not a #3. Not on any decent team, anyway.

Seriously, stick these guys on a cup contender, like the Pens or Red Wings or Ducks or Flyers or any top 10 team and see what kind of ice time they get.

Buffalo Boy Mike
September 13, 2008 / 15:15

Maybe what they need is Ice time. No Mats Sundin is certainly going to provide them with that.
Steen could easily be a number 2 guy with two decent wingers. Thats half the problem is theyhave no wingers up front to feed the puck to besides Blake and Antropov.
I do think you are right, Nik Antropov was the beneficiary of being on Mat Sundin's line last year. He is overrated and probably no better than a 15-20 goal guy, not enough for 1-2 line guy. Blake is probably the best forward they have.
You might get your 20 goals out of Mark Bell this year

Toronto Mike
September 13, 2008 / 16:24

I'll take that bet! I still don't think Bell will score 20... but he can hurt Sens like nobody's business.

Buffalo Boy Mike
September 13, 2008 / 22:11

Your on Mike, Not only that but I bet Steen becomes a legit number one center. 25 goals, 75 points with playing time. Bell will score 20 for you guys and Steen with a 25-50-75 year.

Buffalo Boy Mike
September 14, 2008 / 09:58

You know what, you never know, I never heard leaf fans sound so dejected. I bet these guys surprise people. How many times in the NHL do you see a collection of Nobodies go out and play half way decent and actually end up turing some heads.
Ted Nolan did it in Buffalo with guys like Dixon Ward, Matthew Barnaby and Bob Boughner. Who knew any of them were any good.
All they had was a goalie. IF there is one guy in that leaf dressing room that will not let this team quit before the season even starts its CUJO, hes probably not the goalie he was but hell be a locker room presence.
Toskala I think is better than last year and will have to be. You never know. I like the Leafs, I hope they do well, they are my second favorite team and always have been so stop sounding so hopeless guys geez

Toronto Mike
September 14, 2008 / 14:03

No doubt, you have to play the games, but over 82 of them we'll need Hasek-like goaltending and amazing coaching to compete for 8th in the conference.

It's not that we're down, it's that we're realists. I'll be watching every game as usual, and I'll be rooting for Leafs victories and our youngsters to improve, but for once Peddie has it right. There will be no playoff games in April for the fourth season in a row.

As for Steen becoming a legitimate #1 center, I'm still laughing. This will be his fourth NHL season and he hasn't really improved from season #1. He's only 24 and I think he's a useful player, but I don't anticipate the kind of improvement that would make him a first line centre in this league.

If he could chip in 60 points, I'd be ecstatic.

And Bell... I think he's just a 4th line guy, if that. I'd bet against him scoring 20 goals this season in a heartbeat.

Mike from Lowville
September 19, 2008 / 09:07

Advice from a fan, Habs fan that is, keep your hat on Mike, support your team of choice and hope for the best.

Leave a Reply



« The Man In Black How Many Active Blogs Are There? »