There are four numbers Maple Leafs fans hate, and always in
a particular order 1,9,6,7. Anyone
with a moderate grasp for hockey history knows the significance of those
numbers. Those numbers would be the last year the Toronto Maple Leafs won Lord
Stanley’s Cup. That would also happen to be the least time the Leafs were even
in the finals.
While we’re on the subject of numbers lets throw out a few
more. 4, that would be the number of conference finals the Leafs reached from
1993 through 2002. 6, that would be how many consecutive post season
appearances the Leafs made in the Mid 2000’s. And Finally 0, Zero being the
number of times the Leafs have made it to the Playoffs since the lockout.
So where has it all gone wrong for Toronto? How did they go
from a sure bet to make the second season, to a sure bet for a lottery pick?
Raise your hand if you know who Tuukka Rask is. (Go ahead
seriously raise your hand. You wont feel nearly as stupid as Maple Leafs fans
for thinking they’d make the playoffs this year.) Well now that you’ve got your
hand raised try to remember the team that drafted him. Yup, that team would be
the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now think to who they traded him to, and who they
traded him for.
If you can’t remember I’ll fill you in. They Traded Rask to
the Boston Bruins were he has put up stellar numbers. Even as a back up you
can’t balk at an average save percentage of 926, and a goals against average of
2.20. You must be thinking for a 21st overall pick goalie with those
numbers they had to get something great in return for him.
The return was Andrew Raycroft he was supposed to be the future
in nets for years to come. The former Calder Trophy winner, played one full
season in Toronto where he let in a league worst 205 goals. The next season he
got a total of 17 starts before leaving the Leafs.
The leafs have not had a true number one goalie since Curtis
Joseph. Sure they had Ed Belfour but that was towards the end of his career.
When he went to the Panthers in 06 that is when the revolving door of average
goalies opened.
06-07- Andrew Raycroft- 37 Wins, G.A.A of 2.99- NO PLAYOFFS
07-08- Vesa Toskala- 33 Wins, G.A.A of 2.74-NO PLAYOFFS
08-09- Vesa Toskala- 22 Wins, G.A.A of 3.26- NO PLAYOFFS
09-10- Jonas Gustavsson/ J.S Giguere- 22 Wins. G.A.A 2.68- NO
PLAYOFFS
10-11. Reimer, Gigure, Gustavsson- 37 Wins, 2.86 G.A.A NO PLAYOFFS
11-12- Reimer, Gustavsson- 31 wins. No Playoffs
I’m sure we all see the theme there. Terrible. Awful.
Goaltending. But with all those bad years there has to be blue chip prospects
that are sure to lead this team to future greatness right? Wrong.
Enter the Brian Burke era, this team’s knight in shining
armor. Brining his love for truculence and his Stanley cup were sure to turn
this team around. Right? *pause*
Wrong. Again.
There are plenty glaring errors with Brian Burkes era with
the Leafs. Let’s start with Ron Wilson. Wilson was a great coach for the
Sharks. Wilson as a coach for the Leafs not so much, Paul Maruice who he
replaced had a better points earned percentage. But that’s another story.
Wilson had a 4 year tenure with the club. That tenure was
one year too long. After 3 seasons with no results you’d have expected the
leafs to have a new bench boss at the beginning of the 2011-12 season not the
end.
But Burkes relationship with Wilson, and his stubbornness
kept that lame duck coach one year too long. It should have been obvious that
Wilson wasn’t the coach for this team. They on many occasions showed an ability
to play past the level that they’re currently stuck at but they never
maintained it. When that continues to happen it’s not the make of the team, but
the man behind them.
So Burke finally got it right firing Wilson 16 games ago,
but it cost them a season.
And now we arrive at the heart of the issue. What is truly
killing this Maple Leafs team, a lack of direction. Burke couldn’t settle
himself to believe in a rebuild. He made big money signings like Mike Komisarek
because he misread the roster and thought it was better than it truly is. He
mortgaged the future on this miscalculation as well.
Dougie Hamilton or Luke Schenn?
There have been thousands for rumors that a Schenn trade
would yield a significant return. But Burke considered him a pillar, and let go
of his 2011 1st round pick because of it. Schenn is anything but a
pillar a career -22 who at times is overmatched would have been better
subtracted from this roster. Hamilton is the best ranked D-man prospect in the
Bruins system and the best in the NHL. Want a mulligan on that on Burkie? I
felt a golf term was for the best there.
Tyler Seguin, is every bit as good as Phil Kessel.
There I said it. I never wanted to but it’s a fact. Kessel
is the worst 80 point scorer in the history of the NHL. Look at the top ten
point getters in the NHL. With the exception of Stamkos every other player has
their team is in a playoff position. Kessel was benched in Boston for his lack
of playoff ability and here hasn’t lead the Leafs to the post season.
The Oilers are setup for the future. The Islanders well they
have bigger problems to worry about than hockey games. So lets not include
them. But the point is the struggling franchises in the NHL have a clear and concise
path of where they want to go. Brian Burke is sitting in neutral. He cant
decide if he can get this team to go forwards, or if he should say “forget it”
and put it into reverse and start over.
The fact remains is the Leafs fans cant wait for him to find
out. He needs to be out the door this summer. And someone that can commit to a
rebuild has to come in and take over.
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