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I think many of the leafs' players were on a hot streak at the same time and then slumped at the same time. I think their actual performance expectation should be somewhere in the middle.

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Is it a coincidence that every good team in the league follows the "fancy video game stat Geek" model of thinking? and NHL seasons aren't 68 games long, unfortunately.

I had this thought process of blasting into you, getting all mad and belligerent, and then I realized, whats the point. I don't know you, I don't really know what makes you tick, and at the end of the

I guess I'll disclaim this by saying I'm a huge Sundin fan. He's probably my favourite player of all time.   First: Nobody knows exactly what happened. The Leafs couldn't work out a trade with a pla

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Good post serge. I don't understand the ad that was taken out. Owner's say they take "full responsibility" for the late season collapse. Well, that isn't something you can just say. Taking responsibility involves, you know, actual responsibility. Is someone going to lose their job? Are we going to see someone doing more than just paying lip service? I doubt it. To me, unless something significant happens, ownership making a big deal of "taking responsibility," then maintaining the status quo is just a fantastic snapshot of them in a nutshell, and a great example of why little has changed in 45 years.

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Good post serge. I don't understand the ad that was taken out. Owner's say they take "full responsibility" for the late season collapse. Well, that isn't something you can just say. Taking responsibility involves, you know, actual responsibility. Is someone going to lose their job? Are we going to see someone doing more than just paying lip service? I doubt it. To me, unless something significant happens, ownership making a big deal of "taking responsibility," then maintaining the status quo is just a fantastic snapshot of them in a nutshell, and a great example of why little has changed in 45 years.
:club::ts:4h Very well said.
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I like Burke, but that was a piss poor argument. That team isnt just good because of the 1player, they drafted well with very high picks for years.But ya, I like his attitude, for the most part.
Like, yeah. And it was more than just lucking into top picks. For sure, the Pens got lucky by being bad at the right time but it's a ton more than that. Remember how the LOST the lottery the year Ovechkin went #1 overall. Got lucky that Malkin was almost nearly as highly ranked. And the Crosby thing was all luck.But anyways, after that, it was a combination of good drafting, good trades, good asset management, good contracts, etc. It's not like the Pens just sucked and lucked into a bunch of guys and were instantly good. Letang was a 3rd rounder. Joe Vitale was a 7th.People always point out the opposite side, like Atlanta always having high picks and never really amounting to anything. Well, yeah, they had high-ish picks, but the only 1st overall was Stefan at least 10 years ago, and also, every other decision the GMs ever made were horrible.The "Pittsburgh Model" seems like a flawed cliche because everyone seems to use that term now for tanking getting high picks. That's not exactly how Pittsburgh turned it around. It helped, but like I said, it's not a magic recipe for success, you still need to be a skilled GM to turn the team in the Cup champion/contender.
I think many of the leafs' players were on a hot streak at the same time and then slumped at the same time. I think their actual performance expectation should be somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, was going to post something like that as well.
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Do you judge a GM on what he has done? Or do you judge a GM on a 30 game catastrophic collapse?

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Do you judge a GM on what he has done? Or do you judge a GM on a 30 game catastrophic collapse?
Well, obviously 30 games isn't a big enough sample to be mathematically significant, just like 52 games isn't a big enough sample. And even 82 games isn't.But the reality, is that in 4 seasons, have the Maple Leafs really improved their situation all that much? They added Kessel, who has been great, but at great expense. The farm system is still middle of the pack, and the team is still missing the playoffs, and isn't really showing that much promise the be a lock to make it anytime soon.And like, I dunno, I think Burke is ok, and I find him entertaining (which means absolutely nothing as far as being a good GM goes), but I don't get why he purposefully handicaps himself in this game. He says he's not going to free agency. At all. Ever. Ok, like, I get that you think everyone just gets overpaid as UFAs, but to completely close it off as an option? It's just asinine. He says he's going to improve his team solely through trades. That's all well and good, but it's not exactly the easiest thing ever to do when you're giving up assets to get assets. It's not like you can just fleece every other GM. Burke isn't that good, and most NHL GMs are pretty competent.What are the Leafs primary needs? How can these be upgraded via trade, and where exactly do you have a surplus of talent that you can afford to give up in a trade?Like, you're not going to be trading Mike Zigomanis for a top end center or anything.Honestly, now, I know this is revisionist history here, but honest, what would really have helped the Leafs, would be a couple FREE top end potential players coming out of their last few drafts. Like, if they had someone better than Kadri from that draft. If they held onto their last 2 picks and had Seguin and Hamilton or whoever they'd have drafted.Then Burke can go out and make his trades, go out and make signings, etc, and you're just that much better because you added pieces from the draft.Just seems like a lot more likely way to get better. There are no guarantees your strategy is going to work no matter which way you go about it, so don't sit there and tell me draftees are no sure thing. Nothing is, but a top 3 pick has a lot higher probability of being successful and helpful.Now, Edmonton is an interesting example to bring up here. They're stockpiling these top forward picks. I don't think they needed to stay bad for this long, but it's mostly happened because Tambellini is kinda terrible as well, and failed to shore up the rest of the team. But after getting Hall and RNH, and now probably Yakupov, they'd be wise to trade from a position of strength (young, extremely talented forwards) in order to shore up their biggest weakness, defense. And go from there. Like I said about Pittsburgh, it's more than just drafting the best player available for a few years.
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the leafs make insane money. free agents can be turned into draft picks if you sign them to multiyear deals. this is something the leafs need to be doing, no question at all. yes, bidding against the other 29 teams means you might end up overpaying, but that's not a huge deal when you make leafs money.

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The problem with Brian Burke is he is better suited to thrive in an atmosphere like Anaheim but his ego prefers an atmosphere like Toronto.IMO.

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Burke doesn't do long term deals, front-loaded deals. He has morals.In seriousness, that's another handicap.
Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying. In the post-lockout salary cap NHL...you can either stand on principle or you can field a winner. You can't really do both.
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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm officially starting the Luongo to the Leafs rumour right here.
Honestly that makes a lot of sense. I can't even begin to imagine what the Leafs would have to give up though.
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A bag of pucks ?
Somehow I think that isn't getting it done. Vancouver isn't against the wall as far as needing to trade him, Schneider is RFA so he isn't going anywhere.
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Canucks need better defence, don't they?
1. Alexander Edler 2. Kevin Bieksa 3. Dan Hamhuis 4. Sami Salo 5. Aaron Rome 6. Keith Ballard 7. Andrew Alberts 8. Marc-Andre Gragnani 9. Chris Tanev I think they need need better scoring wingers. Grabovski is listed as a centre but the switch from centre to wing isn't a hard one.
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Luongo to Toronto doesnt make sense on many levels.First of all Burke has been on his soapbox for many years against contracts like the one Luongo has...The Grabovski thing is NOT happening...Luongo would be a salary dump, and no significant asset should go back.If Luongo couldnt handle the pressure of Vancouver(which is what people make you believe) then how is he going to handle Toronto..He is going to Tampa Bay IMO

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Luongo to Toronto doesnt make sense on many levels.First of all Burke has been on his soapbox for many years against contracts like the one Luongo has...The Grabovski thing is NOT happening...Luongo would be a salary dump, and no significant asset should go back.If Luongo couldnt handle the pressure of Vancouver(which is what people make you believe) then how is he going to handle Toronto..He is going to Tampa Bay IMO
Tampa Bay is definitely an option, but to say Luongo to Toronto doesn't make sense is simply wrong.Trading Rick DiPietro would be a salary dump. Trading Roberto Luongo...not so much.Also, Burke may have nothing to do with this decision.Oh! And Toronto's goaltending sucks.
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I'd like to see Luongo in Tampa Bay, though I doubt he goes anywhere.The Canucks won the President's Trophy, I think it is a big stretch to say they "need" anything. What they "need" is maybe Daniel Sedin to play every game. I guess you could argue that for playoff hockey, they could use the kind of power forward - think Holmstrom, James Neal, Bobby Ryan - that you can send to the net when the opponent's goaltending seems to be stopping everything.

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I'd like to see Luongo in Tampa Bay, though I doubt he goes anywhere.The Canucks won the President's Trophy, I think it is a big stretch to say they "need" anything. What they "need" is maybe Daniel Sedin to play every game. I guess you could argue that for playoff hockey, they could use the kind of power forward - think Holmstrom, James Neal, Bobby Ryan - that you can send to the net when the opponent's goaltending seems to be stopping everything.
Ryan Kesler?Rumours are that he had an injured shoulder. With an injured shoulder and a sandy vagina it's no wonder he looked ineffective for the most part.
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Tampa Bay is definitely an option, but to say Luongo to Toronto doesn't make sense is simply wrong.Trading Rick DiPietro would be a salary dump. Trading Roberto Luongo...not so much.Also, Burke may have nothing to do with this decision.Oh! And Toronto's goaltending sucks.
As a Leafs fan, i would LOVE to see Luongo here.But his wife being from Florida, it makes a lot of sense for him to go there.I see him as a reserved guy suited to play in a non hockey market..He is no Bryzgalov.
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