Leafs Trade Colaiacovo and Steen for Stempniak

Published November 24, 2008 @ 13:43 in Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo and forward Alex Steen to the St. Louis Blues for forward Lee Stempniak.

Colaicovo was a nice little player, but injury prone. I have no faith he can stay healthy and contribute on a consistent basis. Steen has been a disappointment. I expected far more, but it appears he's just another guy and not the player his father was. This is no great loss for the Leafs, but what do we know about Lee Stempniak?

Here's a little Wikipedia blurb on the newest Leaf.

Stempniak was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in the 5th round (148th overall). He led the team in goals in his first full season (2006-07) with 27. He and David Backes joined Jay McClement to form one of the NHL's youngest lines.

Sounds like he has a lot of upside and might be able to be the kind of player Steen was supposed to be. Will Brian Burke be the next Leaf?

10 Responses to "Leafs Trade Colaiacovo and Steen for Stempniak"

Buffalo Boy Mike
November 24, 2008 / 17:27

Stempniak is also a WNY native.

Kathleen
November 24, 2008 / 19:16

Alright, a Buffalo kid on the Leafers :-)

VegasGeoff
November 24, 2008 / 20:13

So, guess who I heard this news from this morning? Mats Sundin!

I work in a coffee shop down here in Vegas, and when I turned around to help a customer, I was shocked to see it was Mats himself. He's down here vacationing with his parents and wife, and was ordering coffee for them all. I told him I was a huge Leaf fan, originally from Toronto, and we chatted while his coffee was being made. He told me about the trade, made a comment about the team that I won't post here, and just chuckled when I asked him if we'd see him back this year. I told him I wasn't going to run and spill the beans to the Sun, but he wouldn't give up any info.

Anyway, an amazing start to my day this morning.

Toronto Mike
November 24, 2008 / 20:29

That's amazing.

I'd love to know the comment he made... I'm guessing he called MSLE a bunch of f*ck-ups.

VegasGeoff
November 24, 2008 / 21:08

Well, the f word wasn't used, but the s word certainly was. :)

Toronto Mike
November 24, 2008 / 21:43

Ok, now you've got to tell us. Pick the closest guess...

a) That team is a shit-storm.
b) The Leafs have a pretty shitty team.
c) That's a pretty shitty trade.
d) My buddy Steen got some shitty news.
e) Shit, this coffee is expensive!
f) Toronto Mike is The Shit.

elvis
November 25, 2008 / 09:56

I'm going with:

g) Holy shit - VegasGeoff just made my coffee! I just shit my pants!

VegasGeoff
November 25, 2008 / 17:11

It was definitely g. :)

Ok, he said "Toronto is going to shit, man".

Toronto Mike
November 25, 2008 / 17:23

Stop the presses - this is HUGE!!!

VegasGeoff
November 26, 2008 / 01:51

Hahaha!

Well, I don't think it's huge, but he's obviously not happy with the direction they are going. I highly doubt we will see him play for Toronto again.