Posts tagged gustavsson
Impending Doom Through the Looking Glass
Jul 18th
If the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs have under two-million in cap space currently isn’t scary enough for a team that just finished 29th in the league this past season, perhaps the fact that it only gets worse from here once the team actually truly hopes to be competitive should scare off some of you.
What I mean when I say it only gets worse is that the Leafs are gonna be entering a bit of a logjam at the end of the 2011-2012 season. At this point in time the Maple Leafs will be forced to deal with inking new contracts for old players, being forced to resign the likes of potentially key free agents Kris Versteeg, Nikolai Kulemin, Jonas Gustavsson, Francois Beauchemin, Keith Aulie, Korbinian Holzer, Jussia Rynnas and Marcel Mueller among others.
Do You Know What Day It Is Today?
Jul 7th
No, it’s not my birthday, that’s two months from now. It is however the potentially historic anniversary of one of the most recent landmarks in Leafs Nation’s fabled existence. Today’s anniversary marks what started great, went to poor, and ended great again. It’s an anniversary that both pointed towards better things to come and still represents that very same thing. It’s a date of hope, much as it was the very first time we experienced what we can now say is something very promising indeed: today marks the one-year anniversary of the acquisition of the Monster. Today, my friends, is Monster Day.
Defending Burke and the Kessel Trade! Part 3 of 3
Jul 3rd
First off, I apologize that it took me so long to get to my 3rd article, just didn’t have that much time to write it properly, as I was out of town last weekend, and this week was quite the hectic week. Thank you for being patient!
Now, you already know that the first two reasons why I defended the trade of the 2nd overall selection were having both Phil Kessel, and Nazem Kadri on the team. The 3rd reason why I defend the Burke trade, is a different reason. It is not just one player, in fact it is having Brian Burke as the GM. I don’t think people realize how lucky we are to have a GM like this, I personally remember what it was like before him, and it wasn’t good. When was the last time we had a GM who would make blockbuster trades for players in their PRIME (key word), and bring them onto our team. When was the last time we as Leafs fans were constantly excited because we knew every single day the team could change for the better. I know that some people disagree with the moves that Burke has made, however, you cannot deny the fact that unlike a lot of GM’s in the league he is doing his best and being proactive to not only try to get the best team on the ice that he can, but also to win a Stanley Cup. That is what I love about him, he doesn’t care if people will disagree with his moves, he will not do anything unless he thinks it is the best move for the Toronto Maple Leafs having the best chance they can to win the Stanley Cup. He doesn’t just sit around, he is continuously doing the best he can, and looking at ALL OPTIONS, and because of the fact that he does that, to me it doesn’t matter that he traded away the 2nd overall selection. Because he really has more than made up for that. Just look at the other moves he made, that if he were not Brian Burke, would have never happened for the Leafs.
Leafs 2010-2011 Schedule Breakdown
Jun 22nd
Lost in the news of pretty much anything else imaginable today (Nathan Horton to the Bruins, Scott Niedermayer’s retirement, an increase in the salary cap, Pat Quinn’s lack of a head coaching job and an awful Hall of Fame class) was the announcement of the entire 2010-2011 NHL schedule for all 30 franchises.
The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off the season in a style similar to last season, hosting the Habs on October the 7th. It’s definitely a schedule different than last season’s as the Leafs don’t make anything that remotely resembles a home-stand until they host the Canucks, Predators and Devils from Saturday November the 13th until Thursday November 18th. And again, that’s barely a home-stand considering that’s only three games.
As for a road trip, there isn’t one that lasts more than two games until a Western-Canadian road-swing that sees the Leafs play the Oilers, Flames and Canucks from December 14th-December 18th.
The Leafs make a bit of a longer road-trip in mid-January when they play the Thrashers, Sharks, Kings and Coyotes over the course of six days.
The Buds next so-called “home-stand” takes place all the way in March, when from the 10th to the 14th the Leafs will host the Lightning, the Sabres and defending Eastern Conference Champs, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The blue and white will close out the regular season against their most hated of rivals, facing off against all other four teams in their division once apiece in their last six games of the season.
The longest break from action will be five full days without hockey as the Leafs play the Atlanta Thrashers at the ACC on December the 20th and don’t pick up again until boxing day in New Jersey.
Whose Drought Will End First?
Jun 19th
You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/raskofalltrades
By now we’re all well aware that the Toronto Maple Leafs hold the longest Stanley Cup drought in the entire NHL. Well, that’s what Damien Cox would like us to believe, but most of us also know by now that the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings hold the exact same miserable feat to their name.
In light of both the recent deal for Jaroslav Halak by the St. Louis Blues (as well as the lack of any other notable storylines in hockey right now) it got me thinking about how all three of these teams are seemingly on the rise, all emerging from the ashes of long and harsh rebuilding processes. Whenever one long drought ends, the next longest one seems to end within a short span. So again, with all three of these teams clearly on the quick road to contention it seems only natural that a Stanley Cup win from one of the Maple Leafs, Kings or Blues is imminent. Let’s take a further look at whose poised to hoist Stanley’s mug next.
Loading ...
