Jean-Sebastien Giguere Just Ducky
Published February 5, 2010 @ 15:41 in Toronto Maple Leafs

Part of the fun in catching Jean-Sebastien Giguere's first game as a Maple Leaf is seeing him suit up for the blue and white while wearing his Ducks mask.

I don't know if he'll be wearing his Ducks mask tonight or if he'll be breaking in a new paint job, but I hope it's the latter. That duck theme doesn't intimidate anyone.

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Maple Leafs 3, Devils 0 - Witnessed from Row 3
Published February 3, 2010 @ 07:57 in Toronto Maple Leafs

I had horseshoes up my ass for this one. Ford invited me to sit in their super amazing 3rd row seats just beside the Leafs penalty box just as I was hating my favourite team, and then a miracle happened. This game became a big deal.

I kept a very close eye on the three newbies, and all three played a great game. Here's a shot I took of Dion Phaneuf.

J.S. Giguère got a shutout, Dion Phaneuf had us chanting his name with big hits and a fight, and even Fredrik Sjostrom looked great, getting a point. You'd have thought this one was scripted.

Early in the first, Dion Phaneuf sat beside me for five minutes. That was pretty surreal.

Lest we forget our new goaltender, who was just solid. The only other Leaf goalie to get a shutout in his first game was Eddie Belfour. Here's Giggy, still wearing his Ducks mask.

There was an extraordinary energy in the ACC last night, and we were loud throughout. I thought we might all head to Yonge street after the final buzzer.

A big thanks to Ford Canada for inviting me. They gave me the best seat I've ever had for a Leafs game, access to their luxury suite where I could eat and drink whatever I wanted, and... and this was the most surprising part to me... there was absolutely no sales pitch at any time. No speech about their new line of automobiles, no slideshow about their new promotion, nothing. They just wanted me to have a good time, and I had a great time. Thanks, Ford!

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Glorious Leafs Trades, Freaky Timing and My Thoughts
Published January 31, 2010 @ 15:49 in Toronto Maple Leafs

I slept in this morning. My son's early morning practice was cancelled due to a video shoot at the rink, so I didn't wake up until 9:30 or so.

The moment I got online, I learnt something big was going down. Brian Burke had a press conference scheduled for 11:30 and the announcement was to be "major". The more details that leaked, the better it all got. In my humble opinion, this was a fantastic day for fellow fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Before I dive into the nuts and bolts, I've got to comment on the freaky timing. Three days ago, the PR person for Ford Canada contacted me and asked me if I'd like to watch a Leafs game from the third row this coming Tuesday. I actually hesitated before saying yes. That's when an alarm went off in my head. The result was this entry entitled "I Hate My Favourite Team".

I wrote that late Thursday night. My ticket for Tuesday night's game arrived on Friday. I watched last night's game and didn't give a flying fig that we blew a 3-0 lead in the third period. I awoke this morning caring as little about the Leafs as I ever have in my lifetime. I felt complete apathy.

Suddenly, with a couple of strokes of his mighty pen, Brian Burke has me very much looking forward to watching Tuesday's game from the third row. Today, we sent six players and got four in return. Let's take a look at what we gave up.

Leaving Toronto	My Thoughts
Matt Stajan	He's just a guy, a 3rd liner. Nice player, but no major loss.
Ian White	I really liked White. I'm very sorry to see him go.
Jamal Mayers	Who cares? I sure don't.
Nik Hagman	Hagman was a decent player, but no all-star.
Jason Blake	Overrated, overpaid, don't let the door hit ya on the way out.
Vesa Toskala	See above - I'd have given both Blake and Toskala away for absolutely nothing.

To summarize the above, I'm sorry to see White and Hagman go, but you've got to give up something to get something special. Let's see who's joining Toronto in today's trades.

Joining Toronto	My Thoughts
Dion Phaneuf	I love this addition. He's a former and future all-star who got serious Team Canada consideration. He's only 24-years old. I'd have traded the 4 Leafs for him alone.
Fredrik Sjostrom	I'm not sure what Sjostrom adds, but at least he's only 26.
Keith Aulie	I'm surprised we got a bonafide prospect in this deal. He'll join the Marlies and has great promise.
Jean-Sébastien Giguère	Sure, Giguere might be overpaid, but he's only 32 and we need goaltending. And besides, we got him for Blake and Toskala, two players I'd have traded for nothing.

I'm very, very happy with today's deals, and very much looking forward to Tuesday night. The Leafs are a better team today, and more importantly, there's reason to care again. And dare I say, even a glimmer of hope.

Thanks, Burkie.

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Dion Phaneuf a Maple Leaf - Huge 7 Player Trade
Published January 31, 2010 @ 11:36 in Toronto Maple Leafs

Dion Phaneuf is a Toronto Maple Leaf. This is not a drill. The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defensemen Dion Phaneuf and Keith Aulie along with winger Fredrik Sjöström from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Matt Stajan, Nik Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White.

Phaneuf, 24, averaged 51.5 points per season from 2005-09. This year, he has 10 goals and 12 assists to go with a plus-3 rating. I absolutely love this deal; Burke won this one hands down.

Brian Burke will announce a second trade shortly. I'm hearing Jean-Sébastien Giguère is coming to Toronto for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake. I'm off to the movies so if someone out there can leave a comment confirming the details surrounding trade #2, I'd appreciate it.

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Maple Leafs 3, Canucks 5
Published January 31, 2010 @ 10:17 in Toronto Maple Leafs

Up by 3 heading into the third, they fooled me. For a brief moment, I truly believed we could win a game.

Quite the fool I was. In the words of Roger Daltrey, WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN.

I'm told "major changes" are coming today. In an hour, Brian Burke will hold a press conference. Welcome to Toronto, Jean-Sébastien Giguère!

And sorry Ron Wilson, I'm taking over this team. You suck.

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Rennie Park Zamboni
Published January 30, 2010 @ 11:10 in Toronto Maple Leafs

The Swansea Hockey Association is the world's largest outdoor hockey league. Normally that's a good thing if you ask me, but when it's -18°C, it's less of a good thing.

The SHA plays at Rennie Park. The Rennie Park zamboni has animated Maple Leafs painted on it, and it always brings a smile to my face.

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Maple Leafs 4, Devils 5
Published January 30, 2010 @ 00:13 in Toronto Maple Leafs

I just got back from a great little party to celebrate a pal's birthday. I left this party with a pretty cool gift. It's Wendel Clark's book "Wendel - My Life in Hockey" and it's autographed for me.

Earlier in the week, I ordered a tee shirt from Pucking Hilarious. I ordered WWWD? in black.

Hard work is the ethic of the free.

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I Hate My Favourite Team
Published January 28, 2010 @ 21:22 in Toronto Maple Leafs

I thought I hit the bottom last October. I had just come to the realization that my five and a half year old daughter had not been alive for a single Leafs playoff game. We Leaf fans are enduring an unprecedented streak of failure for a team that hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 42 years.

Four months later, it's gotten worse. For the first time since I discovered the team in the early 80s, I hate my Maple Leafs. We've been this bad before, we've even been worse, but as a wise man once tweeted, the 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs "have no redeeming qualities whatsoever".

It's okay hating your favourite team. I feel I've earned the right. After 30 years of investing blood, sweat and tears, I know I deserve better. And in lieu of better, I'm going to do what feels natural, and that means hating this hateful, brutal team.

I knew we found a new bottom when I got free tickets to next Tuesday nights game at the ACC and I didn't feel the excitement I've felt every time prior. I'm not even looking forward to watching my team live and that scares saddens me.

It's bad, folks. I hate my favourite team. I can't stop watching them, or reading about them, or writing about them, but I sure as hell can hate them. And I do.

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Maple Leafs 3, Kings 5
Published January 27, 2010 @ 08:51 in Toronto Maple Leafs

The George Carlin of the Barilkosphere, also known as Down Goes Brown, had this to tweet the other night.

Dear 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs. You have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I hate you.

That, in a nutshell, is precisely the problem. There are no redeeming qualities to speak of. We watch, because it's our team, and you don't desert your team during bad times, but you don't have to love your team. You can root for your team and hate your team. I have the right to hate my team, and I hate this team.

And now the vultures are circling, picking through the carcass of this Leafs' season. All this and our first round pick belongs to Boston.

There's more to say... so much more... but in typical 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs fashion, I'm going to underwhelm as I disappoint and miss your already low expectations.

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Maple Leafs 0, Panthers 2
Published January 24, 2010 @ 10:07 in Toronto Maple Leafs

This is a pretty shitty hockey team we have here. We'll be missing the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, and if we throw in that lockout year, it'll be six springs without blue and white playoff action. Remember how fun that was?

After this loss, my son and I watched a couple of Wendel Clark video montages. We didn't win any cups with #17 either, but damn he had heart.

All Heart

MLSE Tribute

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