We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging with some big news from our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs have fired head coach Paul Maurice.

Maurice spent two seasons behind the bench of the Maple Leafs, posting a record of 76-66-22. The Leafs missed the playoffs both seasons.

The overhaul is underway. Who's next?

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Expect your local Habs fan to flaunt this poll in your face. A Canadian Press Harris/Decima survey found 40 per cent of Canadians identified the Habs as the nation's hockey team of choice, compared with 24 per cent for Leafs.

That's an interesting result, and incredibly flawed. Take it with a grain of salt the size of Montreal. The survey of more than 1,000 people across the country began April 24, after the Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames had been eliminated from playoff action, and ended April 28.

You see, these 1000 people were surveyed at a time when there was only one Canadian franchise left in the playoffs. Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton didn't qualify this year and Ottawa and Calgary were already eliminated. That left Montreal to attract the many "cheer for a Canadian team" fans and other bandwagon jumpers that make these polls worthless.

In reality there is no doubt as the the nation's team of choice. It's the same as God's team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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And so ends another season of recapping every Leafs game, something I've been doing now for five seasons. During the lockout I even recapped every St. Johns game. In five years I believe this is the only eastern time game I didn't peek at or check the score once until the following morning. I chose chair assembly and Planet Terror instead of a Leafs ~ Habs game on Hockey Night in Canada. That tells you where the passion that unites us all is at right now.

Mark Fucking Bell. He scored again last night. He's the epitome of what's wrong with this team. The GM wanted him, rumour has it Gilmour convinced JFJ that Bell was a great score, personal and legal issues aside, he was a waste of space on the ice when he wasn't suspended or injured. Sure, two goals in a couple of garbage games doubled his season output to a whopping and impressive 4 goals, but he still had a spot on this roster. He was still worthy of wearing the blue and white in NHL contests. He won me a bet, but gave me an ulcer. I'd gladly cough up $50 to regain my dignity, my self respect, a little pride.

Now begins the summer Maple Leaf endless chatter about who will be the new GM (Brian Burke), will Mats Sundin return (no) will the Leafs sign a great free agent (no), will the Leafs draft a future all-star (no), will Paul Maurice return (no) and will the Leafs win the cup in 2008/09 (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!).

How long will it last? How long before that empty feeling fades away? Won't somebody heal my broken heart?

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The cover story of the new issue of Maclean's magazine is titled "Why the Leafs Stink". I've probably written dozens of articles on that very subject, so I read with great interest. You can too, because I've reproduced the entire article below.

It would be comforting to believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are cursed. After 41 years of failure, supernatural explanations start to seem pretty attractive, especially when hard facts are just too painful to face.

It's not like there's any shortage of evidence for those inclined to see paranormal forces at work. These are the Leafs, where one can't-miss prospect after another disappears into minor-league obscurity. Remember Drake Berehowsky, Brandon Convery, Scott Pearson, Luca Cereda, Peter Ing, and Jeff Ware? They all, at one time or another, represented a future that never arrived. What about poor Jason Blake? A 40-goal scorer who gets diagnosed with cancer just months after his celebrated arrival in town. Then there's Mats Sundin. One of the game's true stars, he played 13 years surrounded by one of the best-paid supporting casts in the NHL, never once making the Stanley Cup finals, let alone winning it.

The list of disappointments could fill volumes, and now this. For the first time in Leafs' history, eliminated from the playoffs for a third consecutive season. It'd be tempting to say the team has hit rock bottom, but it's not clear they're done digging.

God hates the blue and white — it's that belief which binds together all those who call themselves citizens of Leafs Nation. On talk radio, in chat rooms, and in sports bars across the country (but mainly in southern Ontario) they share the misery of loving a team that does not give back. Not ever. Their bond is galvanized by the common struggle against forces beyond their control, and by the knowledge that they are hated (vehemently) by fans in Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and beyond. It's that sense of grievance and isolation that, in the absence of anything real to celebrate, holds them all together.

The only problem with all this talk of curses is that there are perfectly logical reasons for the Leafs' legacy of failure. The fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a bad hockey club is the inevitable by-product of the laws of economics. Their mediocrity is a design flaw, and it comes down to this: for any business to thrive, it must be obsessively focused on victory. Success must yield powerful benefits and failure must unleash harsh consequences. In the world's greatest market for pro hockey, that cost/benefit equation doesn't exist. A gusher of wealth, regardless of performance, has begat 40 years of infighting, a culture of laxity, and a refusal to admit the problem. The Leafs are a monopoly business that has been corrupted by its own market power.

It's not a curse. It's far, far worse.

In 2002, just a few years before he died, the world-renowned economist Peter Drucker was asked what he thought of the U.S. government's obsession with breaking up monopoly businesses (in all industries except sports). Drucker saw no sense in it. Like the dinosaurs, he said, monopolies were all marked for extinction anyway. "I am not afraid of monopolies because they eventually collapse," he said. "Thucydides wrote years ago that hegemony kills itself. A power that has hegemony always becomes arrogant. Always becomes overweened . . . It becomes defensive, arrogant, and a defender of yesterday. It destroys itself."

Arrogant, overweened, defensive, obsessed with history, and doomed. Could there be a better description of the Maple Leafs?

To be precise, however, the Leafs wield what economists call "monopolistic market power" — not quite the same as being a monopoly, but similar. Colin Jones, professor emeritus at the University of Victoria, has spent much of his career studying the economics of pro hockey. "Pretty much any study you look at, you'll find a very strong correlation between attendance and winning." But the Leafs, he says, are different. "They can do whatever the hell they like and the attendance and merchandise sales go up, and TV and radio contracts hold up. In terms of competitive performance, this monopolistic power is a very bad thing."

But just why it is a "bad thing" is the complicated question that underlies 40 years of failure. Thousands of disgruntled observers will tell you the Leafs don't try very hard because, no matter how bad the team is, the arena is full and the team makes a profit. But while there may be some truth to that, it fails to convey just how profoundly monopolistic power corrupts the ability to compete. It's not that the Leafs organization isn't trying. The problem is, no matter how hard they try, their efforts are undercut by the dynamics of their dominant market position. And in the NHL, that is completely unique.

"For most teams, winning is urgent," says Neil Longley, a professor of sports management at the University of Massachusetts, who studies the incentive structures affecting pro sports, including pro hockey. "Even winning doesn't guarantee [financial] success for a lot of teams, but losing pretty much guarantees their failure." Even in a city like Detroit, with a strong hockey tradition, managers know they must always ice a winner to fill an aging rink in an economically depressed area. In New Jersey, not even a perennial Cup contender can fill the arena. Dallas, Denver, Anaheim — all succeed on the ice, and all face an annual fight to turn a profit.

Toronto's problems are, in fact, the exact opposite of most struggling sports teams. There's no miserly owner cutting corners. There's no lack of fan support. And it's not a pressure-cooker environment that stunts the development of young players. (For all the references to the city's rabid media corps, the team is, in fact, treated with kid gloves and feted at any sign of improvement.) No, the rot that is destroying the Leafs comes from having too much, too easily.

This year, Forbes magazine ranked the Leafs (again) as the most valuable franchise in the NHL, by far. It estimates the team to be worth $413 million, up 24 per cent in one year, on revenue of about $138 million, and operating profit just north of $52 million. Consider also that the Leafs are just the biggest part of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., which also owns the Toronto Raptors of the NBA, the minor league Toronto Marlies, the Air Canada Centre, and the Toronto FC pro soccer team. All in all, the whole enterprise is valued around US$1.5 billion — three times its estimated price tag of nine years ago, when Richard Peddie took over as CEO. Even at that, Peddie maintains Forbes' valuation is way low. "Let's just say none of our owners would consider selling for that price."

Despite the utter lack of on-ice success, the team has been able to wring ever more revenue from its beleaguered fans year after year. Team Marketing Report issues an annual study of pro sports prices, and this year the Leafs ranked (again) as the most expensive ticket in hockey. The Fan Cost Index estimates the cost of bringing a family to a game — four average-priced seats; two beers; four small soft drinks and hot dogs; parking; a couple of programs and two ball caps. At a Leafs game, that'll cost $476, up 4.8 per cent from last year and way ahead of second-place Montreal at $388.

Economists say that kind of pricing power is typical of a monopolistic business. Remember the days when calling long-distance was a special occasion, because the monopoly phone companies charged a fortune for overseas calls? With their ownership of four of Toronto's major teams, MLSE has an firm grip on the southern Ontario sports market, and the cost of being an Ontario sports fan reflects that.

There is a dark side to that kind of power, however, and it is often reflected in an inability to innovate, and to develop internally. Big monopoly companies generally compensate for their stunted creativity by acquiring smaller firms. Microsoft built a notorious monopoly on its Windows operating system, got extremely rich, but then fell behind more innovative rivals. When Google came along and started dominating the market for online advertising, Bill Gates spent US$6 billion to buy a company called aQuantive to catch up. When it fell behind Mapquest and Google Maps, Microsoft bought Vexcel and GeoTango to try to close the gap. When none of that worked, it paid US$45 billion to buy Yahoo!

The Leafs have relied on the pro sports equivalent: signing veteran free agents to compensate for their woeful record in drafting and developing players. Over the past 20 years, the Leafs have drafted just two players — Tomas Kaberle and Felix Potvin — who went on to play in the NHL all-star game. Over the same period, Montreal drafted eight future all-stars. Currently, 17 of the Habs' 25 players, including virtually all of its nucleus of young talent — Carey Price, Andrei Markov, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins — were acquired through the draft.

This is due in part to the fact that the Habs have been subject to a healthy boom/bust cycle common to most teams. When the team falters, it uses high draft picks and a strong development system to rebuild. The Leafs organization, behaving like a true monopoly, has opted to use its money for a series of short-term fixes — Ed Belfour, Owen Nolan, Brian Leetch, Jason Blake to name a few. These moves keep the team suspended in a kind of permanent stasis. Not good enough to fight for the Cup, not bad enough to effectively rebuild.

Even that dubious strategy, however, has been stymied over the past few years, as the introduction of a salary cap has severely limited the ability of rich teams like the Leafs to spend their way out of bad management decisions. "Pre-salary cap, one of the strategies of the Leafs and other large market teams is to basically outspend your competitor," Longley says. "They no longer have that option. Now the challenge is not a [financial] race to the top, but it's a competition of who can use their money more wisely. Finding the most talent per dollar is going to drive success."

And that suggests, as badly as the team has performed, the real problem exists in the executive suite, not on the ice.

Richard Peddie is sitting at a small conference table in his office at the Air Canada Centre. Laying face down on the table in front of him is a paperback copy of Barack Obama's political memoir The Audacity of Hope. Perfect for the CEO of a team about to set a new standard for futility, but that's not the point. The point will be revealed later. For now, Peddie would just like you to know that he enjoys reading books.

Like many people in marketing, Peddie has a ready supply of anodyne insights that come out as perfectly formed sound bytes. You can almost see the quotation marks as the words come out of his mouth.

— "We have an expression around here: you have to win on the ice and off the ice."

— "Luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity."

— "Like that old cliché says, coming close is only good in hand grenades, it's no good in this business."

— "I've always said 'winning is good business.' I came up with a new phrase a couple of weeks ago: 'winning is good business. Championships are even better business.' "

— "My joke is 'at Pillsbury, nobody phoned me to complain about my crescent rolls, here they do.' "

But sloganeering isn't Peddie's only talent. He also has the politician's gift of simultaneously taking both sides of an argument, and doing it so convincingly that you're hard-pressed to notice the contradictions. A few weeks ago, he told the Toronto Sun that it was a mistake to hire John Ferguson Jr. as the team's last general manager. Today, he recants. "I still think John was a good hire. With his resumé, he was the best candidate at the time. But it didn't work out." And then, a few minutes later, a subtle shot at Ferguson's inexperience. "Gone are the days of hiring a rookie for either the Leafs or the Raptors."

Ask about decades of on-ice futility, he points to two trips to the league semifinals under Pat Quinn. "We had a good run when Pat was here. We didn't win the Stanley Cup, but those years weren't bleak at all." Later in the same conversation he confesses: "I didn't come away from those years we made it to the conference finals feeling like we had a great year. Not once."

Ask about his own performance and he rhymes off a long list of financial accomplishments, but later says he will consider his job incomplete until the Leafs win the Cup.

None of this is to suggest Peddie is disingenuous. He's just good at his job. This is what it takes to survive atop an organization steeped in four decades of back-stabbing, factionalism, alliances and betrayal. In the absence of any urgent need to compete against the rest of the league, the power brokers behind the Maple Leafs have honed their combat skills on each another.

It's survival of the slickest, and that is an inescapable part of the malaise that now defines the Leafs organization. It's a problem that has plagued dozens of powerful corporations over the years — Boeing, Coca-Cola, and Disney come quickly to mind. General Electric was famously obsessed for more than a year with the internal rivalry among three top executives to succeed Jack Welch as CEO, and its performance naturally suffered.

The Maple Leafs' history of toxic boardroom politics can be traced back to the late 1960s, when Harold Ballard began his Machiavellian climb from director and minority shareholder to absolutist overlord of Maple Leaf Gardens. In 1971, already facing fraud charges over his misuse of team money, Ballard managed to force his former partner John Bassett out of the ownership group, then gained full control just weeks later, when his erstwhile ally Stafford Smythe died. Under Ballard's often bizarre stewardship, the Leafs were in a constant state of disarray. In the 20 years between 1970 and Ballard's death in 1990, the Leafs changed head coaches 15 times, and a succession of star players, including Dave Keon, Bernie Parent, Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler, finally left the increasingly abysmal team.

When Ballard died in 1990, he made Steve Stavro and Don Giffen executors of his will, setting the stage for another power struggle. Stavro eventually won out, but not before Giffen installed Cliff Fletcher as GM. When Stavro completed his takeover, he nudged Fletcher into retirement and brought in Ken Dryden as team president and GM. According to Leafs executives who were there at the time, the Dryden years were characterized by a whole new round of dissension, as he feuded with his assistant, Mike Smith. Pat Quinn was brought in as coach in 1998, and took over as GM in 1999, but by then, he and Dryden were hardly speaking either.

Stavro orchestrated the merger with the Toronto Raptors and the creation of MLSE in 1996, but that did nothing to calm the internal upheaval. He was eventually squeezed out of the company in 2003. He gave up the chairmanship of MLSE to construction magnate Larry Tanenbaum, sold his controlling stake to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and died a few years later. It was also in 2003 that the Leafs decided to replace Quinn as GM while keeping him on as coach, setting in motion yet another infamous round of internal hostility.

Peddie formed a three-person hiring committee with Quinn and Dryden (two men who both thought they could do the job perfectly well). According to people familiar with the situation, Quinn wanted one candidate, Dryden another, and neither man would budge. Ferguson — a 36-year-old who'd never been an NHL general manager — was finally hired as a compromise candidate, backed by Peddie and Tanenbaum. In other words, nobody really thought Ferguson was the best man for the job, he was merely the one person everybody could live with. That's neither a ringing endorsement nor a recipe for success, but that's how arrogant and fractious organizations often do business.

Dryden soon moved on to federal politics, but the atmosphere at MLSE never warmed. One former NHL executive who knows both men says the dynamic between Quinn and Ferguson was doomed from the start. "They thought he'd learn on the job, but learn from who? Pat hardly spoke to the guy."

Ferguson finally fired Quinn in 2006. And this year, after a string of failed signings and dismal trades, Ferguson got the axe too. But there are many in and around the league who believe the real problem remains in the boardroom. The most outspoken critic may be Bill Watters, a former assistant GM under Quinn who is now a sports radio show host and television commentator. "The state of the organization is best exemplified by the interference provided by Peddie and Tanenbaum. That is the essence of the rot," he says. "I would sooner put up with Harold Ballard and all his quirks than with Peddie and Tanenbaum. They have no idea what they're doing. At least Harold was a sportsman."

In Leafs vernacular, that is pretty much the ultimate condemnation. Comparing the MLSE boys unfavourably to Harold Ballard is like saying Italy was better off under Mussolini. But Tanenbaum dismisses Watters as a disgruntled former employee, levelling "personal attacks to increase his on-air ratings."

As for rumours that Peddie and Tanenbaum have renewed the Leafs tradition of infighting and interference, both men deny it — and that's where Barack Obama comes in. "There's this meddling rumour right? They talk about dysfunction and meddling," Peddie says, picking up his copy of The Audacity of Hope. He points to a highlighted passage in which Obama laments how facts get distorted and then re-reported ad nauseam in the Internet age. This is a sore point. "I've never once influenced a trade, a free agent, a draft choice. Never once. Yet, if you polled the people they'd say 'Peddie meddles.' Once these things get out there, it takes on a life of its own."

Tuesday, March 11 in Toronto, and the home team is still on life support. Fading hopes to make the playoffs are on the line against the Philadelphia Flyers. Early in the third period, the expense-account crowd hasn't even made it back to their platinum seats when the Flyers pull ahead 3-0. A dejected calm falls over the ACC.

Then, a goal from Sundin with 15 minutes left changes the game. Pavel Kubina buries a slapshot with just under seven minutes to play. And, with 3:41 on the clock, the equalizer goes in. With a minute left in overtime, a fluky little flip-shot from behind the net hits a Flyer defenceman and bounces into the net. The Leafs win and the ACC crowd, nearly silent just 30 minutes ago, goes absolutely freaking nuts.

Over the next few days, the winning streak stretches on — another victory on the road in Philadelphia, then one in New York and another in Buffalo. Then, sweetest of all, Ottawa. Even an injury to Sundin doesn't slow the momentum, and the papers are full of hopeful stories lauding the team's courageous, improbable run for the playoffs.

Alas, just as quickly as it began, it's over. Back-to-back losses to the Boston Bruins and the Leafs are back to a sad, familiar place.

Don't the Leafs want to win?

Of course they do. Listen to Peddie talk about getting booed on the street when he goes for lunch. His frustration is real, but it is largely beside the point. "The team makes too much money. It's too easy," explains one former NHL general manager. "There's just no burning incentive to put a good team on the ice. And it's been that way since long before any of these current people were involved."

The players want to win too. But, as that former executive points out, in February when the Leafs asked five veteran players if they would agree to be traded to Cup contenders, all five refused, preferring to stay in Toronto despite the team's woeful record. Few in the hockey world were even surprised. "They need a cultural change. Everybody's just too comfortable."

Easy to say. Hard to do. Peddie promises that over the coming months, MLSE will hire "a proven winner" to run the club. That person will be paid more than any other executive in the league, will be given absolute autonomy to run the team, and a mandate to win the Stanley Cup. But Longley points out that the Leafs have been through dozens of coaches, hundreds of players, three distinct ownership structures, and yet the results remain astonishingly consistent.

Peddie rejects the notion that the Leafs are structurally ill-equipped to compete. "What the economists don't understand is the emotion of it," he says. "We're executives but we're also fans. We want to win."

But that's just it. Fans are the ones who celebrate every goal, every hit, and every fleeting win streak. Fans can be convinced that a last-minute dash toward the playoffs (in a 30-team league, in which more than half of the teams make the cut) is an achievement worth celebrating. Fans wish for success. Leaders make it happen, because they can't live with the alternative. Fans perpetuate the status quo. For 41 years, the Leafs have had too many fans, and not enough leaders.

The distinction is perhaps best illustrated by a story from 27 years ago. One night in 1981, the Winnipeg Jets — then the league's worst team — came into Maple Leaf Gardens and laid a humiliating pounding on the home team. During a stoppage, an older gentleman approached the boards, took off his Leafs jersey, threw it onto the ice and walked out of the rink in disgust. "He must have been close to his seventies, and all these people clapped," one witness laughs. "But you know, I bet that guy came back the next night."

Of course he did. That's what makes the Leafs monopolistic. And that's the problem.

Other than the one factual error I spotted, when Steve Maich writes "over the past 20 years, the Leafs have drafted just two players — Tomas Kaberle and Felix Potvin — who went on to play in the NHL all-star game", it's pretty spot on. We're far too happy with too little and management has been incompetent and distracted by power struggles and backstabbing for far too long.

I hate being a Leafs fan, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Crap, I wanted the Sens to miss the playoffs. All Ottawa has to do now to secure a playoff berth is to get at least one point from its final regular-season game tonight at Scotiabank Place against the Boston Bruins.

If they lose in regulation to the Bruins, they can still make the playoffs, but they need help. We could have saved our season with a better effort last night.

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I chose the Jays game tonight over the Leafs game, but I flipped over every so often hoping for a Sens loss. Once things got out of hand, I stopped flipping over.

Reading the AP summary of the game I caught a picture of an "Upset Fan" wearing a bag over his head. Here's that picture.

That picture piqued my interest, so I visited UpsetFan.com. The guy behind the site and the movement is Dave Armstrong, the same guy behind the 1985 "Albert, We Need You" campaign. I remember that one, because it was based on a very popular Canadian Tire ad at the time.

Here's that famous Albert ad that ran in the mid-80s. Albert! Albert!

Albert would look sweet in blue and white this October.

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After dodgeball, I watched the Jays game but turned to the Leaf game after the final out. That was just in time to watch Alexander Steen score the go-ahead marker with eight minutes to play in a game that meant nothing to us but everything to Buffalo.

The Sabres came back and won in a pretty entertaining shootout, and I was cool with that. I'm in full-blown ABO mode. Anybody but Ottawa. As a result, it's go Bruins, go Flyers, go Capitals, go Hurricanes and go Sabres!

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I promise I'll be brief, but something has been eating at me all day and I need to get it off my chest. Why did Vesa Toskala start his 30th game in a row last night?

Think about it, the Leafs are playing for honour now, having been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. Toskala has been great, and he helped make things interesting until this last week, but why not give him a rest and let Andrew Raycroft help us slip just a little in the standings. This is prime Raycroft time.

Mats Sundin is another story. He was so hurt, he had to miss vital games for this team. What's the point in risking a groin tear at this point in the season? We should shut him down because there's absolutely nothing to gain by playing him.

I'd better see Raycroft between the pipes Tuesday night or I'm going to start thinking we don't actually have a plan for future success.

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It's been a while since games at this point in the season meant butkis. I guess anytime you get to knock Montreal down a peg it's a good thing.

Remember earlier in the season when it looked like Ottawa might set a record for most wins? They got off to an incredible start, but now I see they're only two points out of 8th spot in the conference. Now that's incredible... Incredibly awesome!

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This is the first time since the 1926-28 seasons the Leafs have gone three years without a playoff appearance. Throw in the lockout season, and we haven't been to the big show in four years. Here's my recap of our last playoff game. I opened that entry with "I am 29 years old." By the time this is over, I'll be pushing 40.

In a crazy coincidence, I watched Sarah Polley's excellent Away from Her last night, and that film included scenes from that very same playoff game against the Flyers.

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Now that was disappointing. Unless Sundin's groin is ripped to shreds he should have been out there last night. And Mark Bell, how the hell does he still have a job?

I'm just cranky because the SOBs did it again. Let the healing begin once more.

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I can't believe I'm writing this entry. It's after 4pm, there's a blizzard outside my window and I'm feeling that nervous tingle in the pit of my stomach. Like a dumb ass catfish, I saw the worm dangling in open water and took a whopper of a chomp at it. They do this to me every time....

I call it the annual tease. For the third year in a row, I had completely given up on my hockey team only to get sucked back into caring by a late season surge. Like the other years, I know I'll end up disappointed again, but I can't help myself. I'm thinking about a sweep against the Bruins and slipping into 8th.

It's deja vu all over again. Here are exhibits A and B.

• They're Doing It Again circa 2006
• They're Doing It Again circa 2007

Go Leafs Go!

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Have you seen this ad yet? Orff's "O Fortuna" plays in dramatic fashion as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins are tied at 3 goals apiece. The game has gone to a shootout and Sidney Crosby is shooting against Vesa Toskala.

The fate of the game lies in the hands of a kid. After all, every game needs a hero. But is it going to be Sid the Kid or my new best friend Tosky. Watch and see for yourself.

I'm a sucker because even though I know this is a regular season game and unworthy of Carl Orff's masterpiece, I still love it.

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That's six straight road wins if you're counting at home. And that's four straight against the Senators if you're counting in Ottawa.

One thing is clear, the Leafs really, really want 9th place and they're not going to let anything stand in their way.

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I'm spending this Saturday night like I spend most of my Saturday nights during the winter. I'm watching my hockey team on Hockey Night in Canada.

Alex Steen just scored to give us the lead over the Sens. Even though I've reviewed the NHL standings countless times, and basic math assures me we won't be playing in the post season again this year, I still find myself pleased with our effort tonight and strongly rooting for a victory against Ottawa. The Leafs have been great these past sixty days, and it's made Saturday nights fun again, but it's bitter sweet. It's too little, too late.

As I type, the Sens didn't just tie it up, but they took the lead. That's okay. The way the Leafers are playing these days, I smell a third period comeback.

Where was this team the first few months of the season?

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No Mats Sundin, no Nik Antropov, no Carlo Colaiacovo, no problem. Thanks to Vesa Toskala's 35 saves the Leafs won their fourth in five games.

Yes my friends, the drive for ninth is well underway. This juggernaut won't stop until it gets there. Our next victims: the Ottawa Senators.

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I've got to level with you, the rest of these recaps are going to be me going through the motions. Yes, it's nice to win 3-1, but... you know...

The highlight last night was a 178-foot goal by Rob Davison on a bouncing shot from his own blue line that fooled Toskala. Alex Foster, who I saw score a goal for the Marlies earlier this year, made his NHL debut.

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Stick a fork in this season. It's done.

I say we shut down Mats Sundin for the season. We wouldn't want to rush him back from his groin injury. And Nik Antropov, he hurt his knee last night. Let's shut him down as well. And finally, after 24 starts in a row, Vesa Toskala must be exhausted. Andrew Raycroft, come on down!

Maybe, just maybe, that'll slip us into a top five pick. The phony playoff drive is finally over. With Mark Bell as our #2 centre, we're a bona fide lottery team.

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If I recall my days of scripture study, there's a part of the Book of Deuteronomy (or is it the Book of Leviticus?) that references Toronto Maple Leaf fans. The translation, and bear with me as my Hebrew is rusty, is "If a man roots for the Maple Leafs, following the great expansion, he has committed an abomination: and shall surely be destined for heart breaking failures."

Five years ago today, I wrote God about this unfortunate fact. Here's what I wrote on March 15, 2003.

Hello God, it's me Mike.

What exactly do you have against my Toronto Maple Leafs? Why to you use your omnipotent power to crush us at every opportunity? You tortured us with the Harold Ballard regime, forcing me to grow up in a decade almost completely void of playoff victories. Then, when everything lined up perfectly for a Habs-Leafs Stanley Cup Final in '93, you gave The Great One yet another break and used your mighty power to blind the refs as Gretzky clearly high-sticked Gilmour. We deserved to win that night. You made sure it didn't happen.

Now, in 2003, that very same Gilmour came home. On Thursday night, I watched #93 play for four minutes and fifty-one seconds. Everything seemed right again. Everything seemed perfectly in place for a serious run at the cup. Leaf fans were happy. We were oh so happy Lord! Then, as quickly as you giveth, you taketh away.

Dougie was laying on the ice, clearly in pain. The war horse couldn't stand, but this warrior was going to get to the bench on his own. As I watched him crawl twenty feet to the bench, I looked up and asked you one simple question. "Why?"

On behalf of all Torontonians, I apologize for whatever it is you don't like about us. Perhaps it's our arrogance? We are the self-proclaimed capital of Canada, you know. Perhaps it's the fact that many Leaf fans spill on to Yonge Street to celebrate a single playoff victory. Is it that we're satisfied with so little from our hockey team? Should we expect more? Tell us oh Lord, tell us what we can do to earn your favour. If we change now, maybe Dougie is back for the playoffs? Please see what you can do...

Your biggest fan,
Mike

That plea clearly fell on deaf or disinterested ears. Since I wrote that letter to God, an entire season was cancelled and we finished two points out of the playoffs, one point out of the playoffs, and however close we get this year before the final buzzer sounds.

On behalf of Maple Leaf fans everywhere, oh Lord, I cry "UNCLE!!!!!!!"

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I was sure we'd get trounced last night in Philly. Shows ya what I know.

I took the steam out of this recap last night with Too Little, Too Late. Here's the crux of that entry: it's too little, too late.

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Our damn Leafs swept Philly. The jerks are doing it again. We're only five points out of the playoffs, but it's too little, too late, dammit!

It's too bad, because I've been enjoying this little resurgence. This team is practically likable again, with amazing goaltending and a never-say-die swagger. Even with Sundin out, they found a way to stay alive. But it's too little, too late, dammit!

It's not my favourite Barenaked Ladies period, but the sentiment is right. Here's Toronto's BNL and "Too Little Too Late", dammit!

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It's much too late, but this was my favourite Leafs game of the season. It was guaranteed win night and we were down 3-0. Then, in the third period, we started to play inspired hockey. I haven't enjoyed a period of Leafs hockey like this in quite some time. With Tosky on the bench, we almost pulled it out in regulation.

Tonight we're in Philly, and I'm prepared for the let down. I've had my joy for the week.

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I'm going to preface this entry by assuring you that I don't believe there's a snowball's chance in hell that the Leafs will qualify for the post-season this year. I'd put it at 1%. It's just not going to happen.

Still, the media likes to create hype and Maple Leaf hype is tied to hope. As a result, you're reading and hearing everywhere that the Leafs have to sweep the home-at-home with the Flyers. They're calling it "do or die", even though this team has been dead for weeks.

Since some are holding on to this 1% possibility and hanging their hopes on a sweep of the Flyers, this is guaranteed win night. As usual, with it being too late the Leafs will come up big and create a sliver of drama tomorrow. We'll lose large tomorrow night, but tonight we can't lose.

There's still a half an hour to go. You might want to put a toonie on this one.

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Martin Fu**ing Brodeur. The guy was awesome once again, making 42 stops and infuriating me all night. Even though I'm no fool, I cheered like a mofo when Mats Sundin scored to tie things up in the 3rd. You know the rest of the story.

We'll know Paul Maurice and the gang have officially given up when Andrew Raycroft gets the call. Set your ARGH detectors to "imminent".

A quick note about Chad Kilger... I get visits from people wondering what's wrong with Kilger b/c I have some Google juice with his name. After we traded him to Florida, he was granted a leave of absence for personal reasons. His leave ended but he never showed up in Florida. This caused the Panthers to suspend him indefinitely without pay. It sounds like Kilger is battling some personal anxiety issues and will skip the rest of the season. That's all I know, I don't know the man personally, but I hope he works things out and returns to the NHL.

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You've likely heard the unfortunate news about Patrick Swayze. The Dirty Dancing star was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The Dirty Dancing soundtrack features a little number written and performed by Swayze. You likely know the words to "She's Like the Wind" by heart. In case you've forgotten, here are the opening verses.

She's like the wind through my tree
She rides the night next to me
She leads me through moonlight
Only to burn me with the sun
She's taken my heart
But she doesn't know what she's done

Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind

"She's Like the Wind" is about the Toronto Maple Leafs. When Swayze refers to "she", he's referring to the blue and white, the franchise I've loved and supported my entire life. When Swayze sings "just a fool to believe", he speaks for all Leaf fans. Since the lockout, the Maple Leafs have been pretty damn good after the Olympic or all-star breaks, making late runs at the playoffs only to come up short. It's the annual tease and it never fails to get die-hards believing again.

The Globe and Mail put numbers to the annual tease today, and postbreak the Leafs were 14-8-3 in 2005-06 and 18-10-5 in 2006-07. This season, we're 10-6-2, kicking ass with the pressure off for the third season in a row.

We finished a couple of points out of the playoffs in 2005-06 and one point out in 2006-07, and we'll come up short again here in 2007-08.

She's like the wind. Listen to Swayze.

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It's too late, but that was a hell of a lotta fun, wasn't it?

Sure, we've won 7 or our past 10, but we're still 6 points out of 8th and sitting in 12th, and I'm not drinking that blue kool aid. Well, maybe just a sip...

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If the Leafs lose one more game, just one more, I'm going to stop believing in them.

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With all hope seemed lost, the Leafs have gone 4-0-1 in their last five games. The same thing happened last season and the season before. There was no season before that one.

Mats Sundin was the offensive hero last night and Vesa Toskala was once again excellent. I'm old enough to remember a goaltender controversy at the beginning of this season. Now if I could only remember that other chap's name. Andrew something...

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Pavel Kubina is really getting on my nerves lately. Last night, he took a stupid penalty in overtime that cost us a point. He's overpaid with a no-trade clause he decided not to waive and now he blew a great little comeback in Tampa.

Luckily, there's a slight window of hope. If the Leafs fail to make the playoffs this year a clause clicks in on Kubina's contract, giving the opportunity to trade Kubina. It's a short window, from the June draft to August 15. I'll bet Kubina is playing elsewhere next October.

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Last August I wrote about The Love Guru, yet another comedy centred around our Toronto Maple Leafs. Here's the plot, according to Wikipedia.

The Love Guru is a 2008 Mike Myers comedy film, due for release on June 20, 2008. Filming took place in Toronto Ontario, Canada.

Pitka (Mike Myers) is an American raised by gurus who returns to the USA in order to break into the self-help business. His first challenge: To settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of star Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) whose wife Prudence (Meagan Good) left him for rival skater Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake). Filming for one of the hockey games took place at the Detroit Red Wing vs. Toronto Maple Leaf Exhibition game during intermission.

Here's the trailer which is full of that glorious Maple Leaf logo. It appears the Leafs are one player away from the Stanley Cup, so we know it's fiction. Do I smell an Oscar?

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I'm banning "The Leafs don't even know how to lose properly" jokes. That's it. They're too easy and they're everywhere, so I'm no longer going there. Instead, I'm going to talk about Jeremy Williams.

Jeremy Williams has played three NHL games in his career, all with the Leafs and each one separated by months in the AHL. He debuted on April 18, 2006, played his second game on February 26, 2007 and he played his third game in last night's thrilling comeback victory. Each game has been about a year apart and each game has featured a goal by this native of Glenavon, Saskatchewan. Three games, three years, three goals.

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I'm such a fool. When Cliff Fletcher came back to act as General Manager, I anticipated an active trading deadline. Even though I knew little was possible, I hired three temps to help me man this station throughout the day. I figured the action could be fast and furious and I didn't want to miss a thing.

It turns out I paid three people to alert me to blockbusters involving Wade Belak, Hal Gill and Chad Kilger. As I said, I'm a fool.

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Uncle Cliffy has made his third deal of the day.

Chad Kilger has been traded to the Florida Panthers for a 3rd round pick. Kilger did alright for a guy we picked up on waivers back in 2004, he just needed to shoot more. He has the unofficial record for hardest shot ever, having been clocked at 106.6 mph back in 2006. That beat Al Iafrate's old mark of 105.2 mph.

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Uncle Cliffy has made his second deal of the day.

Hal Gill, a defenseman in his first season with the Leafs, is off to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2nd and 5th round pick.

It's after 3pm. We'll see if anything else trickles down, but it looks like that's it. I was really hoping Bryan McCabe would go for a bag of pucks.

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It's deadline day, and we have our first trade by Uncle Cliffy.

Wade Belak has been traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 5th round pick in 2008. Belak was in his 7th season with the Leafs during which time he scored a whopping six goals. Needless to say, he wasn't kept around for his scoring touch.

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I don't care if we jumped into 12th place in the conference, it was worth it to lay a beating on the Senators. I hate this team and I take great joy in their recent struggles.

This was our Stanley Cup. No, it's not quite as exciting, and there's no parade or accolades or even an actual Stanley Cup, but we'll take what we can get.

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I love beating the Sens, and I'm glad Mats Sundin is a part of tonight's onslaught. It's 5-0 right now and Sundin got the opening goal.

Mats has made his decision and I'm trying to move on, but an email I got from my brother earlier today has me bothered. Ryan wrote, "Why is Sundin doing this???"

I replied with the following:

I actually don't blame Mats. In fact, it's honourable. The man doesn't want to be a rent-a-player. He wants to go down with the ship, play on his team. I think he might retire after this season.

We have many to blame, but don't blame Mats...

Ryan's reply is what has me upset. Ryan wrote, "How can he defend this? I respect the guys like Doug Weight more in this day and age where the game is about business."

Ryan isn't the only one with such an opinion. It saddens me that so many see Mats' refusal to waive his no-trade clause as a sign of disloyalty or worse. I commend Mats for what he's done, and although the fan in me would love to see him traded for youth and draft picks, the human in me is glad there are still people like Mats Sundin in professional sports.

Sometimes, it's not about business, and thank heavens for that.

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It's official. Mats Sundin will not waive his no-trade clause. Neither will Pavel Kubina, Darcy Tucker or Tomas Kaberle. Bryan McCabe might, if it's to the right Eastern Conference team. I'm guessing Uncle Cliffy will be doing a whole lot of nothing these next two days.

I'm giving Sundin a pass, because he's the classiest athlete to play in this city since Pinball, but why the hell did JFJ give these other guys no-trade clauses? These contracts will anchor our rebuilding process and make Uncle Cliffy's job all but impossible.

Welcome to the winter of our discontent.

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Yeah, we won, but this game wasn't significant because we took out the Thrashers. This may have been Mats Sundin's last game as a Toronto Maple Leaf. In 970 career games with the Maple Leafs, Sundin has 413 goals, 558 assists and 971 points.

In Mats own words:

No matter what happens I’ll always love Toronto and I’m going to love the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s been my home for the last 13 years and that’s never going to change. I hope people respect whatever decision’s going to come out of this.

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I'm watching the tribute to Bob Gainey. They're retiring his number in Montreal. He played his entire career for the Montreal Canadiens, captaining that team for nine seasons and never missing the playoffs.

I'm not suggesting Mats Sundin is Bob Gainey, Mats certainly doesn't have the Stanley Cup rings, but Mats is the closest thing we have to a Bob Gainey. He's our Bob Gainey.

I said this late last year in Mats, We Love You, Now Go!, but on this night it needs to be said again. Mats, it's ok. A loyal captain, I sense you're prepared to go down with the ship. This is a great quality, but this is one instance when we won't judge your loyalty should you agree to play elsewhere. In fact, as a life-long Leafs fan who has written 684 entries filed under Toronto Maple Leafs, I believe permitting Uncle Cliffy to move you to a contender will be viewed by Leafs Nation as a martyr-like sacrifice.

It's ok, it's ok, you know I love you anyway.

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YouTube user WNED17 recently uploaded some fantastic retro-Toronto-centric gems. These clips have brought back a tonne of memories for me, so I'm going to feature them one by one over the next few weeks.

Here's a Maple Leaf game promo from 1986. The game was aired on CHCH TV out of Hamilton and, judging from the clip, the play-by-play was by Jim Hughson.

This clip features a great goal by Peter Ihnacak while reminding us that the boards at Maple Leaf Gardens at the time were completely bare. As an added bonus, there's a promo for Don Cherry's Grapevine tagged on the end with goalie Don Edwards who was sharing duties at the time with Ken Wregget and Allan Bester.

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Yes, I'm still watching. I wouldn't want to miss Kubina's breakaway goal, would I?

The trade deadline is Tuesday @ 3pm EST. I'm going to be all over this sucker, updating this site regarding anything involving the Leafs. Go Cliff Go!

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You know it's one of those days when the clock approaches 7pm and you still haven't recapped last night's Leafs victory.

The Dominic Moore - Chad Kilger - Boyd Devereaux line is kicking some serious ass lately. On any other team that's a pretty decent fourth line. On the Leafs it's numero uno.

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I live blogged this sucker. It was a fun game, even if we did leap frog Tampa Bay in the standings. That's okay, we'll reserve our losing for after the trade deadline.

Go Leafs Go!

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As I wrote earlier, I'm going to attempt to root against my favourite hockey team for the first time in my life. In this entry I'll provide updates throughout the night as I fight what seems natural. It's 7:13pm...

7:17pm - The kids are sitting with me. They're chanting "Go Leafs Go". When Stajan had that breakaway, it upset me he didn't score. So far I'm finding it impossible to cheer for the Bruins.

7:19pm - When Murray scored for Boston, all three of us were sincerely unhappy. This unhappiness was immediately followed by a calming sensation as if everything was going to be alright.

7:26pm - Ok, clearly I'm rooting for the Leafs. I cheered loudly when we scored. Moore has been a nice surprise for this team.

7:33pm - There's a significant difference between rooting against your team and being okay with a loss by your team. I'm not that guy. I can't actually root for the opposition and root against the Leafs, but I'm no longer upset or unhappy when we fail to climb in the standings. That's the difference.

7:40pm - As I watch #13 I wonder if he'll agree to be traded. My hunch is that he won't. He's loyal to a fault and his character suggests he'd rather go down with the ship than jump. Uncle Cliffy once stunned us with a blockbuster to bring him to Toronto but I don't think he'll be able to ship him out in the same fashion. Heck, he might end up extending Sundin's contract instead.

7:52pm - Coach's Corner still entertains me. Don just made an interesting point about our failure to draft CHL players. He compared our roster to the Canadian-heavy Ducks and reminded us how many CHL teams play in the GTA. By the way, when Don said he roots for the Leafs, Michelle looked up at me all excitedly and said "he roots for the Leafs, too!".

8:06pm - I flipped over to TSN because I want to watch the slam dunk competition. Does anyone know exactly what time the slam dunk part starts?

8:13pm - Am I the only guy left in the first world without picture-in-picture? I'm flipping back and forth between 6 and 30 like a fool here. The NBA thing has some band playing when I'm looking for Apollo 33. The Leafs, meanwhile, have a 2-man advantage. Go Leafs Go!

8:24pm - They just showed an update from the Sens game. New Jersey leads 3-0. I love it when the Senators lose.

8:30pm - Bruins score... oh darn. (*cough* Steve Stamkos *cough*) Watching Shawn Thornton got me thinking about former Leaf Scott Thornton who is both a cousin of Joe Thornton and still active with the Kings. I'm spending the 2nd intermission with the NBA.

8:36pm - I just Googled Shawn Thornton. It turns out he was a Maple Leaf prospect before we traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks for Marty Wilford. Wilford never played a game in the NHL but Thornton has a Stanley Cup ring and three points in his last two games. The Shooting Stars event is boring me to tears.

8:55pm - Vesa Toskala is a pretty sharp goalie. Is Andrew Raycroft still on this team? If anyone wants proof we're not throwing these games they just need to look at the fact we don't play Raycroft anymore. I'm old enough to remember a bit of a controversy at the beginning of the year as to who was the #1. Let me just close this little update with I told ya so!

9:11pm - This is shaping up to be another perfect game: good effort, close game, Leafs loss. This purpose of this live blogging was to document how it felt to root against the team I've loved for as long as I can remember. It didn't take long for me to realize that I can't actually root against the Leafs. I want Steve Stamkos as much as the next Leaf fan, but I'll follow advice left in the comments and remain apathetic about Leafs losses. It's just easier that way.

9:16pm - Now Tucker decides to score. Nice pass from Mats... There's plenty of time to let this one slip away, although we're still on the PP...

9:19pm - Now Tucker's setting up Antropov to give us the lead. Heck, let's play spoiler and beat these Bruins. Stamkos, Schamkos.

9:24pm - In any other season, I'd be so pissed right now. Chara scored with the Bruins goailie out and we're likely looking at overtime. Prior to Chara's goal, CBC put up a graphic about Antropov hitting 20 goals for the first season in his career. I would have bet a great deal of money against Antropov ever scoring 20 goals in a season.

9:32pm - Leafs win! Leafs win! I'm guessing Darcy Tucker ate his Cheerios today. With 11 days remaining before deadline day, I'm wondering what this team will look like two Saturdays from now. Will Tucker be a Leaf? Will Antropov? That's it for me, it's been fun but I'm going to flip over to the craptacular NBA stuff.

Lessons Learned: Fandom is part of you. You can't just turn a switch after 33 years. I will forever cheer for Leaf victories, for better or for worse.

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It's Saturday, and other than a natural interest in how Jamario Moon will do in the slam dunk competition, I'll be watching the Leafs and Bruins tonight. Although I've flirted with the idea these past few weeks, I've yet to actually root for a Leafs loss. Like an innate reflex action I cannot control, I've been watching and cheering for Maple Leaf victories.

Tonight, for the first time in my 33 years of life, I'm going to cheer against my beloved hockey team. I really want a top three pick in the entry draft this year and that will require finishing as close to last as possible. Although I won't let myself get my hopes up, there's always a chance we could draft a stud like Steve Stamkos, and my sights are firmly set on the future for this team.

I'm George Milton and the Maple Leafs are Lennie Small. I'm doing this for them, even though I'm going to grossly dislike the act itself. It's for the greater good.

Never you mind. A guy got to sometimes.

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Another good effort, another close game, another one-goal loss, another ideal outcome.

Go Leafs Go!

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After the game, TSN hockey analyst Mike Milbury said it best. The Leafs played hard, played well and lost. That's the perfect game for this team at this time.

I'm happy with the recent effort from this squad, but my greatest fear was that they'd go on a winning streak and sneak back into contention for the elusive 8th spot. This was an easy loss to swallow and a nice compromise.

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"Three wins in four games have the Toronto Maple Leafs talking about the postseason again."

That's the first line in today's Associated Press write up about our thrilling victory yesterday afternoon. This is our worst dream realized. The Leafs can't even lose properly.

As a fan with decades of Leaf worship under my belt, I've thoroughly enjoyed these wins over Ottawa, Montreal and Detroit. We're beating the best in the league and it's thanks to efforts from guys named Dominic Moore, Robbie Earl and Jiri Tlusty. It's fun, but it's that vicious cycle we know all too well.

We finish 9th, which gives us a taste of a playoff race, but it doesn't win you the cup, and that's just not good enough.

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Have you noticed the Leafs are now just winning the games we really, really want to win. We're beating the Sens and Habs while rolling over and playing dead for teams like the Panthers. That's perfect.

If you watched, you'd have to admit this was a fun game. Guys we haven't seen in ages, guys like Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker, chipped in with goals while Toskala shut the door.

The next game that really matters is February 25 in Ottawa, although I wouldn't mind beating the Sabres on Wednesday night.

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Mats Sundin is truly beloved by his teammates. In a unified act of love the likes of which I've never seen before, Mats Sundin's teammates committed a sort of suicide. You see, they intentionally embarrassed #13, attempting to make him so ashamed to wear the blue and white that he'd waive his no-trade clause. You rarely see such selfless behaviour in professional sports.

My apologies... I needed a moment to wipe a tear from my eye. You have to love this team. Each and every one of them sacrificed their professional reputations to take a glorious dive, all for their captain. There's no way Mats will want to stick around after this. It was a risky strategy, but it's sure to pay dividends.

Bless you boys.

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I've mentioned in recent game recaps that I'm okay with losing these days. Last night, that couldn't be further from the truth. I wanted to beat the Sens as if it was game seven of the Stanley Cup final.

I got my wish. It was an entertaining game with hard luck defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo scoring the winner on a pass from NASCAR legend Robbie Earl.

I've got tickets to see the Marlies next Sunday. From what I saw last night, they've got a shot at the Calder Cup.

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Do you know Robbie Earl? What if I told you he was a NASCAR driver, would you doubt it? To my ears, the name Robbie Earl says NASCAR, but he's actually a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect making his NHL debut tonight against the Sens.

From Wikipedia: "Robert Wayne Earl (born June 2, 1985, in Chicago, Illinois) is an African American hockey player currently with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League." It's time to update that synopsis as he's been recalled by the Leafs.

In 44 games this season for the Marlies, he has 33 points with 11 goals and 22 assists. Gentlemen, start your engines.

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During the 3rd period of last night's game, my mom IM'd me to complain there was nothing on tv. I told her I was watching the Leafs game. Her response was "you still watch?"

That's when I realized the Leafs are my favourite reality show. Now that I've hit this unprecedented sweet spot where I'm okay with losing, watching games has become much more relaxing fun. I was thrilled when our great captain tied it up with 11.4 seconds left in regulation, but I was also okay when the Hurricanes won it in overtime. It was grand.

If you still care, and it's okay if you don't because this team will hopefully be gutted soon, we've now gone five games without a man-advantage goal. In the NHL 2.0, that's a recipe for disaster.

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This might be the best time to be a Leafs fan. Think about it. If we win, yay! If we lose, yay! As these losses pile up, our odds of making the playoffs slip from 3% and Uncle Cliffy can do what he has to do.

The Raptors lost as well, but in better news for our city, my dodgeball team kicked ass last night. That's two overwhelming victories in a row for Stop Or My Mom Will Duck And Hit You In The Face or whatever we're called. W00t!

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Brian Burke is a smart guy. Today he made the following statement.

I am flattered by all this (attention in Toronto), because this is a great job you are talking about, if you are Catholic, this is the Vatican - Maple Leaf Gardens, the Air Canada Centre, the players in the rafters. (Toronto) is an Original Six team and it is the epicenter, with Montreal, of the hockey universe, and I am flattered by all the attention, and that someone would think that I was the right guy for this.

He must be a smart guy, because after that statement he said he was happy in Anaheim and wasn't interested in running the Leafs right now.

I agree this is the epicenter of the hockey universe, but if MLSE is running the Vatican, God help us all.

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You know things are bad when you're envious of the Washington Capitals. They're only a point out of first heading into the all-star game, anchored by one of the best players in the game. Alex Ovechkin scored both goals last night. The SOB is good.

The All-Star break is here, and that's precisely what we need. This is one of those seasons you just want to fast forward. Let's get to the trading deadline, watch Uncle Cliffy try and clear the deck, and see who comes in as our next GM. In 2008/2009, we'll try this again.

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The Uncle Cliffy II era is off to a roaring start as Vesa Toskala made the big save and Mats Sundin scored the big goal. You've got to wonder where we'd be if Toskala hadn't missed a chunk of games with that groin injury. We could be in 10th place right now.

The AP has this little tidbit at the end of their game summary. "Fletcher says he'll examine an expanded role for former Leafs captain Doug Gilmour." This comes days after Deep Throat sent me this little note:

Neighbour works for MLSE - watch for Dougie as in comments. Cliff still has to respond to the board. Total control - NO. He is a bandaid for the next 19 months. This situation will be just if not worse than with JFjr. At least he had confidence from Peddie & Fletcher still doesn't from Tannenbaum. TOO BAD SOO SAD for the hockey capital of the world in such dissaray.

After promising to bring in a proven GM, I can't imagine MLSE would give Doug Gilmour the role. It does seem, though, that they're grooming Gilmour to be the GM-in-Training. The Dougie watch is in full effect.

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Earlier today, I wrote yet another anti-Peddie entry. In that entry, I linked to Howard Berger's blog. Felix clicked through and read Berger's latest entry which includes an intriguing discovery he just told me about.

Beginning at the 4-minute, 43-second mark of the press conference, Peddie unmistakably begins mouthing along with Fletcher as the incoming GM reads his statement. Cliff says: "I'd like to thank Richard and the board for making me..." and then Peddie's lips start moving "...the custodian of the keys for a period of time. And, I look forward to the challenge, and to a few tough months ahead." Peddie looks away from Fletcher, then turns his attention to the veteran hockey executive at the 5:09 mark of the video. And, again, he begins mouthing the words Fletcher is speaking.... "move the club ahead to the next level so it can compete with all the top teams in the league, so it can eventually lead to playoff success."

I've