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It’s been reported by everyone and their brother that Cliff Fletcher was recently in talks with Ron Wilson regarding contract negotiations for Wilson to sign on as the Leafs new coach. While there is no problem with hiring Ron Wilson as the coach, he’s a fine coach, the problem is that Fletcher is the guy doing the hiring.

Fletcher is the interim General Manager, and he said himself that the hiring of the new coach would be left up to the teams new permanant GM. Unfortunately for Cliff, the incompetent organization he’s affiliated with hasn’t been able to find a new GM, or President, and as such, Cliff is stuck trying to find a coach for this awful team.

I don’t know if I’m just being negative, but to me it isn’t a good sign that the Leafs have managed to screw up the very first step of their ‘rebuild’, namely find a General Manager who will find a coach and then start working on the team.

Two possibilities exist. Either 1) the Leafs are holding off, hoping to god that trader Cliff will stick around full time or 2) the management side of the organization really is completely useless, and haven’t even been able to find someone who could do a better job than the last guy, which in reality makes about 90% of the population a candidate.

I see another fun season on the horizon.

The Chicago Wolves officially ended the Toronto Marlies run at the Calder Cup yesterday, going down 4-2 at AllState Arena. While the Marlies won’t bring the Calder Cup to Toronto, they did set season records for wins and points for a Leafs farm team. Overall the season can be viewed as a solid success, although one without the ideal finish, for the baby Leafs, and it’s nice to know that at least one professional hockey team in Toronto is capable of making the playoffs, let alone winning rounds.

Pogge didn’t get the games he should’ve, but lets hope that he stays on the Marlies for next years playoff run, as there’s no point in putting him on the bench behind Vesa Toskala for a season.

Let’s just hope that when draft day comes, the Leafs can add another solid player or two to help the Marlies (or even the Leafs, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves) come next season.

Defunked Photoshop Contest Entry from Tim C

Start of Spring by Tim C

One of our readers alerted us to this petition. We think its a good cause. Sign it!

http://www.petitiononline.com/chabot01/petition.html

Get ex-Leafs tender Lorne Chabot in the HHOF!

Today is March 31st and as such it’s time to announce the winner of the comment contest. We took every comment left since the contest was announced into account, and each comment got that reader 1 entry. When all was said and done, the name that came up was…………….

Donny Chabot!

Congrats Donny, we’ve sent you an email to verify your email address and the $40 shop.NHL.com giftcard will be in the next email!

Thanks to all who left a comment! Keep your eyes peeled for the next contest.

Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. As far as I’m concerned the season is over. Any wins that come at this point will simply be rubbing salt in the wounds, so I’m going to consider the season effectively finished as of today. We’d like to congratulate the team on a third straight year without a playoff appearance and some individual congrats are also in order.

To Mats Sundin, congratulations on sticking with your guns and doing what you felt was best for you.

To Paul Maurice, congratulations on guaranteeing a playoff appearance in the preseason. If you guarantee you still have your job next year you should see a similar accuracy rate.

To Bryan McCabe, congratulations on a season that reeks of mediocrity.

To Tomas Kaberle, congratulations on showing us all that you have the most accurate shot in the league, but simply choose not to use it in game situations.

To Andrew Raycroft, congratulations on going from starting goalie to the worst backup in the league. If there was an anti-Vezina you’d win it hands down.

To Vesa Toskala, congratulations on finishing the first of what should be many frustrating seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

To Kyle Wellwood, congratulations on working on your beer gut more than on your game.

To Jason Blake, congratulations on 15 goals, you only missed our hoped for total by about 25!

To John Ferguson Jr., congratulations on leaving such a poweful legacy with this team.

To Richard Peddie, congratulations on proving to the league you’re the most incompetent hockey executive there is.

To the entire Toronto Maple Leafs organization, congratulations on another year of leaving your fan base feeling fed up, unsatisfied and generally fucked.

According to multiple news outlets, Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov may be in the lineup on Thursday night when the Leafs take on the Bruins in what could be the deciding game that sees the Leafs mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

On the surface this might seem like a good thing, but is it? Antropov, out with a knee tear, and Sundin, out with a groin tear, would be coming back before their injuries are actually all healed up. They both said that if their swelling is down and they feel good, they’ll take the ice. That doesn’t sound like a couple of 100% players to me.

So the question is, with the Leafs now chasing what is essentially an impossible dream, is it really worth it to risk further injury to two key players? Right now the Leafs have two players with manageable injuries, although Antropov’s will require surgery in the off-season. Why send those two guys out and risk turning manageable injuries into serious ones all in the name of chasing a pipe dream?

While there is speculation that Sundin may retire in the off-season, it is completely possible that he will be back with the team. However if an already injured Sundin were to go out and get even more hurt, that could severely increase the chances of Mats hanging up the skates this summer. Antropov has become a key member of the Leafs and is important to the teams future. Knee injuries are not something to screw around with. Is it worth the risk of sending him out on a bum knee just go miss the playoffs again?

Paul Maurice, if you’re reading this (and I know you are), sit these guys. It’s over Paul, it’s over. Your job is gone and at this point nothing is bringing it back. Don’t risk further injury to two of the teams best players.

Boston beat the Leafs handily on Tuesday night, walking away with a 6-2 victory after playing the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. With the win, Boston moves to 86 points and spreads the gap between the Leafs and the final playoff spot. Now, with only five games remaining, things are looking bad for Toronto.

Boston has six games left, giving them a game in hand. If Boston was to win only one of their next six games, moving to 88 points, the Leafs would have to win all five of their remaining games to move ahead of the Bruins. The Bruins are also ahead of the Leafs in the season series by one. This means that if Boston beats Toronto in their next match up, even if the Leafs then won their following four games and Boston won none, the tie at 88 points would still see the Buds be mathematically eliminated.

So now the question is this, with things looking so grim for the Leafs, all but out, hanging on by a finger nail, will Maurice continue to ride Toskala, or will we see our favourite backup take the ice for the first time in what seems like the entire season?

Based on the fact that the Leafs seem to really want this last playoff spot despite the fact they’d likely be murdered in the playoffs, my guess is that Maurice will play Toskala in the next game against Boston, hoping to God that the Leafs can pull it out and then somehow sneak into 8th by magic or miracle or whatever.

At this point, draft-wise, the damage is more or less done. The Leafs are sitting at 23rd in the league and are 10 and 12 points ahead of the bottom three teams. Each of those three teams would have to win everyone of their remaining games with the Leafs winning none just to meet Toronto at 80 points. The Leafs are more or less mathematically eliminated from finishing in the bottom three spots, and even the fourth and fifth last spots are looking out of reach.

In true Leafs style, they’ve found themselves at a point that …Read the rest of this entry →

The Globe and Mail talk about the Leafs win. “…Stay alive in playoff race”. Shudder.
SLAM! Sports/Sun Media writes on Sundin’s possibe return against Boston. Just what this team needs, the best asset they have to be back in action for their run to 9th.

The Star reviews the Leafs win over Ottawa. I’d just like to remind everyone of how the Sens used to beat up on the Leafs in regular season games and then get spanked in the playoffs. Just because we can pull games out against these teams now doesn’t mean we’re going to beat them in the playoffs.