man the leafs look horrible this season, whats the opinion around hear???? will they fire maurice to shake up the team like it seems to have worked in washington and atlanta....
Even I said to myself last night after the first period maybe it is time for Maurice to be moved. Then I thought, I do not think this is the issue. He only gets to work with what he has and actually is good for the youth of this team which is a major problem we have had with this team for years. No Youth playing time and no farm system. Well now we have a farm system coming maybe nothing sensational but this is because we kept trying to get into the playoffs and not lying on the bottom of the pack of the league to get the blue chippers such as Pittsburgh and Chicago.
I think the obvious first move is John Ferguson. Short of bringing in some decent youth for the farm which he really has little to do since all of our top Marlies are a product of what was already in the system, and not what he dealt for. Most of his deals have been absolutely brutal eg: Raycroft for Rask or Perrault for Brendon Bell. Bell will be a solid offensive D man. I think ferguson is learning the ropes but why at the expence of the most dedicated fans of all. Let him learn in Columbus.
Maurice has some good youth on the team and quite a few coming. He has nothing to do with the goaltending situation, or with the D situation. He has what he has. My only uncertainty with him is he is not getting the team to do what he wants and he needs to step on some veteran toes not the youthful ones. They ( The Media ) say he is teaching and working on their defensive coverage as a team but that in game situations they are not applying it. I have Leaf TV and get a lot of inside stuff. So maybe Maurice cannot get the rooms attention, or maybe its just the vets do not respect him enough.
I think Maurice should get until at least the end of the 08 - 09 season before he is evaluated completely. Ferguson however should be removed and shot as of yesterday ! Leaf fans have got to let the Leafs rebuild their main and farm squads and win from within instead if throwing the farm away and try to build their franchise with their wallets.
Here is a personal report card from me on the Leafs
B - Mats Sundin ...........Has Had a super beginning to the season but has disappeared somewhat lately. Got the feeling his age and depreciation starts now.
B - Nik Antropov..........A nice suprize considering where he normally is rated. Again though play has slipped as of late.
B - Matt Stajan............Although not a major point producer I do not know of any GM who not want him on their third line.
B - Boyd Devereaux....Almost the same can be said for Boyd. Just works hard and is deservent of the spot.
B - Kyle Wellwood.......Really too early to tell since he just got back from injury this season, but his play is one of the few bright spots the Leafs have right now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C - Tomas Kaberle......A personal favorite of mine and a real disappointment as of right now. Possibly the reason why the Leafs look so bad considering when he is good so is the team.
C - Alexei Ponikarovsky.. Will he ever get it going to where he can be. Shows signs of brilliance some nights but most just going for the ride.
C - Ian White.............Steady D man but gets himself in trouble with his mishandling of the puck sometimes. He is a bit slow but has offensive ability. Think he needs to be let to play his game more instead of being so restricted.
C - Hal Gill.................Said to be the smartest D Man on the team, but is slow and lumbering. Good thing he has all that reach. Can't expect more.
C - Chad Kilger..........Another player who has played well then tailed off. I think again he is too restricted to have his best game show.
C - Jiri Tlusty.............The one night darling of Toronto has tailed off as well. All things considering gets little ice time and is a youngster in training.
C - Anton Stralman....Might see more action soon. Situation is not a good one for him though as he is all offense on a team that needs D
C - Staffon Kronwall...Nice to see him finally get his chance. Deserves to be here for sure over Wozniewski
C - Mark Bell.............Just came back from suspension and although not doing what I would like to see from him he is at least playing a guy who can be an enforcer of sorts and can play the game as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D - Jason Blake.........FAST FAST FAST but thats it. Tons of shots but no quality. Fans on lots of shots as well. Size is a factor. Could be just another Ferguson blunder, and is as of right now.
D - John Pohl.............Hard worker as long as the game is not rough. Add some pop and he will drop. Only time will tell with John
D - Simon Gamanche. Small but has scoring ability. He has time on his side.
D - Bates Bataglia.....If ever Paul Maurice had a thorn in his butt Bates is him. I watched Bates play with the Marlies after his Carolina days and he was terrible down there, so I was suprized when Paul's loyalties allowed him to creep back in. He did play very well to Bates credit for the first bit convincing Paul even more but has since ridden the pines. Need we say more.
D - Kris Newbury......Playing well once again down on the farm team but you got to wonder if the knock out punch he got up in the bigs is a permanent AHL factor.
D - Wade Belak........I like the guy I really do. I have never seen him be the reason for a Leaf screw up although he always gets labeled as the jock of all trades, enforcer when we need him, type of guy. Is he a 40 goal scorer ? Of course not, but he is much better than lots in here and if not why has he hung on so long.
D - Vesa Toskala......Has looked great at times and absolutely terrible at others. He is number 1 cause Raycroft is brutal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E - Pavel Kubina......Another Ferguson blunder. Tampa knew what they were doing getting rid of him.
E - Alex Steen.........Where is he? Will Alex ever pass the puck again? Only thing going for him at this point is his name and age. He had better get his butt in gear or Winnipeg might be hgis destination.
E - Bryan McCabe....As close to an F without being one. Without Kaberle he has proven he is at best a number 7 or 8 d man with him with Kabs strugglin' he is a number 6 or 7 D man. Grossly overpaid. You guessed it another Ferguson Blunder.
E - Darcy Tucker.....Been non existent this season. Shows no grit no grind at all. When you look at him on the bench you can see the age in him. He will retire early guaranteed. No Grit should mean no play. Being tossed around like a rag doll right now with little fight back in him. John Pohl only older at this point. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F - Andrew Raycroft...Andrew should consider another profession cause goaltender is not what he is good at. Cannot make the save when needed has always been his downfall. Once in the Toronto fans bad books almost never get out of it.
F - Andy Wozniewski....Why Why Why ? Why does Paul have such a thing for Andy. He is slow, he is constantly making bad decisions, He cannot put points on the board. He is finished, get him back to the Marlies.
Good write up Rod. I live in Toronto too, and it's very tough being a Leaf fan right now.
While I'm not a Maurice fan at all, I don't think we are in 26th place because of him. Ferguson has made some very poor signings and trades and therefore has hurt this team for the long term. Is that all his fault? No, not completely. He is just a puppet for the BOD. They have told him that if they miss the playoffs this year, he is out of a job. Like most would likely do, he has tried to save his job and has made moves to try and help this team for the short term. The team is clearly needing to be rebuilt and Ferguson isn't the guy to do this.
You rated the players Rod, and most of them received very poor grades. The Leafs do have some decent players and there is a reason they aren't playing well. I don't think Maurice has been able to get the most out of his players and they clearly aren't responding to his coaching style. He has claimed for weeks now that he has focused on their defensive game and it still is awful. If he hasn't been able to fix it in a month, he likely can't. While I don't like Maurice and would love to see a replacement, it isn't the answer to this mess. A new coach isn't going to be able to lead this team to a Stanley Cup, or even a long playoff run. I disagree with you wanting to give Pogge a chance. I don't think he should be thrown into this mess as it will only shatter his confidence and hurt his development.
Until upper management realizes that this team has to be blown up and rebuilt through the draft, there is no point in anyone losing their job. They could bring in the best GM in the world, but he isn't going to fix this team until he has full control of all hockey operations and can blow everything up.
Rumours in Toronto today are that Ferguson tried to fire Maurice after the loss Saturday, but he wasn't given the green light from the majority the BOD. The discussion of a war inside the BOD has been brought up, again, by several reporters in Toronto. Tannenbaum and a few others have wanted to get rid of Ferguson and blow up the team for a few years now whereas Peddie and the majority of the Teachers Pension Plan want to ride it out and keep everything as is. It's a no brainer why Peddie wants this. He was responsible for hiring Ferguson and Maurice as well as many others that failed on the Raptors side of the company. He doesn't want to accept failure any earlier than he has to, or else he will be next to go.
It's a mess here in Toronto. While most of you hate the Leafs, there are thousands of loyal fans in Toronto that deserve a much better team to cheer for.
EDIT: As I read more reports, it appears Peddie is the only reason why there hasn't been a complete overhaul of the coaches and the GM. He believes that once the team is healthy they can compete. Earth to Peddie: A healthy Kubina and Coliacovo aren't the difference between a 26th ranked them and a Cup contender...
For 27 years I have been a Leafs fan, yet I am feeling more and more that I should give up my alligiance and switch teams. In my 27 years, the Leafs have never tried to rebuild via the draft... Unless they start afresh, they will never win the Cup. Judging from their drafting ability in the past 8 years, they do show some ability to find decent guys late. A few last place finishes wouldn't hurt though!
The Leafs' draft picks since 2000:
2000
24th C Brad Boyes 51 C Kris Vernarsky 70 G Mikael Tellqvist 90 G Jean-Francois Racine 100 C Miguel Delisle 179 L Vadim Sozinov 209 D Markus Seikola 223 D Lubos Velebny 254 R Alexander Shinkar 265 D Jean-Philippe Cote
2001
17 D Carlo Colaiacovo 39 D Karel Pilar 65 D Brendan Bell 82 D Jay Harrison 88 C Nicolas Corbeil 134 C Kyle Wellwood 168 D Maxim Kondratiev 183 L Jaroslav Sklenar 198 F Ivan Kolozvary 213 G Jan Chovan 246 D Tomas Mojzis 276 F Mike Knoepfli
2002
24 C Alexander Steen 57 C Matthew Stajan 74 G Todd Ford 88 D Dominic D'Amour 122 D David Turon 191 D Ian White 222 C Scott May 254 C Jarkko Immonen 285 D Staffan Kronwall
2003
57 D John Doherty 91 L Martin Sagat 125 R Konstantin Volkov 158 C John Mitchell 220 R Jeremy Williams 237 C Shaun Landolt
2004
90 G Justin Pogge 113 F Roman Kukumberg 157 D Dmitry Vorobiev 187 L Robbie Earl 220 D Maxim Semenov 252 C Jan Steber 285 R Pierce Norton
2005
21 G Tuukka Rask 82 D Phil Oreskovic 153 R Alex Berry 173 L Johan Dahlberg 216 D Anton Stralman 228 C Chad Rau
2006
13 L Jiri Tlusty 44 W Nikolai Kulemin 99 G James Reimer 111 D Korbinian Holzer 161 L Viktor Stahlberg 166 C Tyler Ruegsegger 180 C Leo Komarov
2007
74 R Dale Mitchell 99 R Matt Frattin 104 L Ben Winnett 134 D Juraj Mikus 164 C Christopher DiDomenico 194 D Carl Gunnarsson
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2007-08 - missed playoffs (29th overall) 2008-09 - missed playoffs (26th overall) 2009-10 - 7th place in Western Conference (99 pts), Conference Semi-Finals 2010-11 - missed playoffs (19th overall) 2011-12
Also being a big Marlies supporter I agree their are no franchise players. Earl was highlighted but is not likely to ever see serious NHL time. Pogge has been a terrible disappointment as of up to now.
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Rod Edwards Pittsburgh Penguins / Wilkes Barre Penguins General Manager BRHL2
Also being a big Marlies supporter I agree their are no franchise players. Earl was highlighted but is not likely to ever see serious NHL time. Pogge has been a terrible disappointment as of up to now.
It's a huge mistake not making him the starter for the Marlies in his 2nd year as a pro. I don't see the reasoning behind giving Clemmensen the majority of the starts. Pogge has been very good in his games though which is good to see after his poor play last year.
He won't be fired.
