Yep, it was me. I didnt think he played well enough at both ends to be paid $8 mill.
Hes off to a good start but the first 40 games arent the problem. For some reason it seems the leafs are always a completely different team in the last half of the season. Top 10 team first half, bottom 10 second half. last season there was no second half, so no chance for the collapse
This is so wrong, and I'm getting sick of hearing it. Just because something is repeated by people who are too lazy to check information doesn't make it true.
First of all: When Toronto was good (yes you're gonna have to think WAY back to the early 2000's) they would start out pretty ****ty. Like .500-ish. Then, around Dec-Jan-Feb they'd turn on the jets and dominate.
Then after the lockout, when Toronto was ****ty, which is what most of you probably recall the easiest, they'd actually start out okay. Then something would happen around December and the bottom would fall out. End of the season? Back to strinign together W's when it no longer mattered.
But yes, there was that ONE season 2 years ago where they were awesome until losing a million games in February and March.
Second of all: This is actually a MUCH different team than even 2 years ago, when the Leafs 2nd-most-famous collapse happened.
GONE:
Grabovski
MacArthur
Connolly
Crabb
Schenn
Lombardi
Frattin
Steckel
Komisarek
Brown
Armstrong
Gustavsson
Scrivens
...and most importantly: Ron Wilson
ADDED:
JVR
Bolland
Raymond
Reilly
Ranger
Fraser
McLaren
Bernier
McClement
Clarkson
...and Randy Carlyle, plus the youngsters who've been filling in from the minors this season.
That's some serious upgrades over some pretty significant crap that's been shipped out. More importantly, they've also been able to keep the players they want to keep. Believe it or not MLSE has had a plan for the past 6 years and for once, they seem to know what they're doing.
Third of all:
Phil Kessel is the ****ing man. For the past 5 years we've seen him grow as a player, and now he truly does look like a leader on this team. Since Carlyle arrived, his urgency to backcheck was flicked on like a switch. Something tells me Ron Wilson's pond hockey system didn't give two ****s about Kessel playing at "both ends of the ice". Bottom line is he's there to score goals anyway, and that's what he does. SOmething happened to him in that playoff series against Boston, and it was good.
Lastly:
Edmonton is ****ing garbage. A stinking, steaming pile of crap. These so-called incredible group of forwards are perimeter players. At least Yakupov has enough balls to try to get the puck close to the net, but the rest of them look like a bunch of frightened little girls. You can have all the talent in the world, but when you become a giant ***** like RNH playing against grown men, you're ****ed. Could Taylor Hall have changed things? Perhaps, at least he plays the goddamn game, but he's injured all the time so **** him.
That team has bigger problems than D and goaltending. It's a mess. Changing coaches every few months has NOT done anything to develop these #1 picks, and it might be too late to hope anything good happens there for a looooong time. Eberle used to play like a boss - now he's barely there.
Rebuild the rebuild.
