Great story about the pre-camp shinny games that are currently going on where the NHLers just play to start to get into shape. Tie Domi says "It's a chance to get back our timing, not that I have any timing."

Posted 9:32 AM by Chris |

News about Nic Antropov who disappeared off the big team's radar last year, but played well in St. John's before injuring his knee. He should be able to get it going this year, but he'll have to stay healthy to make an impact. Antropov's one of those players with the size and instincts to make a long NHL career, but he keeps getting seriously injured. Hopefully that';s all behind him, but one more knock and the Leafs might bail on him. Pat Quinn doesn't seem to like China dolls in his lineup, as we have seen with Yushkevich. Injury prone is not a label you will wear long as a Leaf.

Posted 9:26 AM by Chris |

How about that? With Trevor Kidd signing today, this blog makes its first right call. From Joseph and Schwab to Belfour and Kidd, I don't think we've really lost a thing in goal. I have a sneaking sense that both these guys are keen to use Toronto for a fresh start, and being as close as the Leafs are to the Cup, they might just get themselves into tip top shape over the season. We shall see. That would be the second spot on call for this blog, but that one is a little harder to make.

Anyway, welcome to the Kidd.

Posted 4:58 PM by Chris |

So if Trevor Kidd shows up in Toronto, and he might just be the best backup out there, he will grace the city with some off-ice grit that he has developed through helping his wife battle cancer.


Posted 8:53 AM by Chris |

I loved Steve Simmons's column so much, I sent him a note that kind of acts as a manifesto for the terms upon which I engage my fandom:

I am one of those fans that loves the story of the season, watches intently as the team makes decisions in the larger sense, tries to execute them on the ice and tries to find a way to get to the final. It's an amazing process to watch, and one that needs 82 games to refine, tinker with and get right. And then we sit and watch the litmus test of the playoffs. People who say the season is too long miss the point. A long season demands concentration, refinement and some luck to get through it all. When it all comes together and there is the reward of a Cup, it is that much sweeter for the journey.

The Leafs have been absolutely engaging to watch for 10 years now, a far cry from what it was like in the 80s when they seemed intent on taking the team apart at every opportunity. I think Quinn and the ownership and the players who are committed to Toronto form a fascinating team to watch. Can we put it all together? That is the enduring question of every year, and every night is another chance to watch the complex series of decisions and variables come together and get infused with the spirit of the guys on the ice. To me that was what the Ottawa playoff series was about. All those minor league guys, the constantly shifting strategy, the emergence of AMac, all of that was the culmination of the story of the season.

For me, as a life long Leaf fan, born the year after the last Cup, I am very satisfied with their performance over the past decade. A Cup will be nice when it comes, but going to the semis four times is a treat, even though the heartbreak can get hard to take. All I ask of the team to keep me a fan is that that they make the playoffs every year, that they go out with a win in mind every night and that we pull in a Cup once in a while. You can't win the thing every year, so true fans find other ways to engage, while the bleating gets louder on the bandwagon behind us.

Last year, on the Leafs newsgroup, I posted a similar version of this manifesto.

Posted 11:14 AM by Chris |

Okay. There is SOME news:

Leafs are still interested in pursuing Theoren Fleury, although he is looking south.

The Leafs might take Alexandre Daigle, presumeably if there were no strings attached. Doesn't seem likely though.

As the Leafs try to shore up the backup goaltender position by talking with Tom Barrasso, suddenly Trevor Kidd appears to be a contender.

And finally comes a lucid piece of writing by Steve Simmons who articulates much of what I feel about Pat Quinn and the Leafs organization, especially in the face of the ridiculous bleating from fans and pundits. Leaf fans can count among themselves some of the brightest and most knowledgeable fans in hockey. And they can also count on the dumbest badwagon jumpers anywhere. And folks who jump the bandwagon get fickle really quickly if their new team doesn't win the Stanley Cup and start moaning before they finally leave. Thank God for this column. Finally a breath of fresh air.


Posted 11:01 AM by Chris |

Sigh.

Dog days of summer. No hockey for two more months. How can anyone say the season is too long?

Cricket anyone?

Posted 2:38 PM by Chris |

Classic slow news day. The Globe and Mail reports that the Leafs saved the economy this spring by making the semi finals.

Excellent.


Posted 2:57 PM by Chris |