Originally Posted by Android1

ottawa is a terrible road team. tough to win in the playoffs when you suck on the road. pens in 5 or 6.

i think pittsburgh will ****kick ottawa and everything, but ottawa's road record is bad because of the stupidly terrible december they had.

you cant really build around kessel any way

why isnt #1 canadian here? oh yea orbi doesnt DO sports

Originally Posted by TF_Grungir

why isnt #1 canadian here? oh yea orbi doesnt DO sports

He follows it about the same as Red Wings fans, minus a month or two.

Originally Posted by Pagy

here's the ting

the trade itself wasn't bad, it was the circumstances around them.

let me explain

burke believed the team would contend for a playoff spot this year. as such, he made a play to improve his team quickly as opposed to drafting and cultivating. if the leafs make the playoffs, we're talking about a draft pick that is 15+ this year, hopefully even higher in 2011. you don't need to look further than tsn's preseason power rankings to see that even the hockey media thought the same.

outside the TORONTO sports network in leaf hating land (ottawa/montreal) we were all sort of scratching our heads thinking that the leafs would still do very badly this year. i think even a meathead like burke would have kept those picks if he had a crystal ball and knew that it would be second overall.

in the end, the leaf's struggle (LOL HAPPY 43rd BIRTHDAY) boils dow to what you pointed out: their inability or unwillingness to rebuild. now instead of having a player to rebuild around, they try to buy their way out of a problem with players like kessel. teams like chicago, washington, pittsburgh all went through this process and look at them now. look at tampa on the horizon. hell even the islanders have a better outlook.

funny sidenote: boston couldn't score goals this year and they are still laughing at that trade. apparently that guy is an enormous douche.

Losing the the #2 pick hurts a lot, especially considering we also lost this years #32 pick, and next years first rounder. You're right though, Burke gambled that the team would be either hunting for the playoffs, or at least higher in the standings (17-25th overall). He lost that gamble - even Chiarelli said he didn't think the pick would be this high.

Now I'm not going argue missing out on Hall/Seguin is not a big deal, because it is. I think a lot of people are forgetting however, that Kessel isn't an awful player. He put up 36 goals in Boston, playing part of the year with mono and a mangled shoulder, and 30 in Toronto with a ****ty supporting cast and after missing training camp and the 1st month of the season. I could see him in the mid 40s at some point - the guy is only 22 years old. This is a guy that at one point, people were putting next to Crosby (pre-draft).

I do think the Leafs got raped, but we'll really see in couple of years when Hall/Seguin are in the NHL. Could turn out to be an okay trade, or even worse than I think it is now.

Playoffs need to start faster so I can stop talking about the ****ty Leafs.

Originally Posted by turdburgler

Losing the the #2 pick hurts a lot, especially considering we also lost this years #32 pick, and next years first rounder. You're right though, Burke gambled that the team would be either hunting for the playoffs, or at least higher in the standings (17-25th overall). He lost that gamble - even Chiarelli said he didn't think the pick would be this high.

Now I'm not going argue missing out on Hall/Seguin is not a big deal, because it is. I think a lot of people are forgetting however, that Kessel isn't an awful player. He put up 36 goals in Boston, playing part of the year with mono and a mangled shoulder, and 30 in Toronto with a ****ty supporting cast and after missing training camp and the 1st month of the season. I could see him in the mid 40s at some point - the guy is only 22 years old. This is a guy that at one point, people were putting next to Crosby (pre-draft).

I do think the Leafs got raped, but we'll really see in couple of years when Hall/Seguin are in the NHL. Could turn out to be an okay trade, or even worse than I think it is now.

Playoffs need to start faster so I can stop talking about the ****ty Leafs.

Teams almost never, ever build this way. Even before the lockout most great teams start with a good, young core that was drafted. Then, you add on with trades/free agents, etc.

Other than the Sharks, I can't think of one top seed who isn't made up mostly of players that came up through that system.

Most teams do draft - which the Leafs have done well over the last couple of years (with the few late round picks they get ).

Schenn, Kulemin, Kadri, Bozak, Gustavson, Gunnarsson... that is a decent core to me. We also have some good guys in waiting like Jerry D'Amigo, Jimmy Hayes, and a number of other prospects who look like they could turn out well. Not to mention Kessel/Phaneuf (and the other guys we traded for).

Like I said that trade looks terrible now, but the Leafs are way better off now than they were a year ago.

I'm still jealous of Myers though ... bah.

Originally Posted by turdburgler

I'm still jealous of Myers though ... bah.

I doubt the Sabres would even be a playoff team without Myers. He just stepped in and became our #1 d-man at 19 (now 20). In all my years watching this team I've never seen us have a true top d-man who plays great at both ends of the rink.

Tyler Ennis is going to play as well who has been great.

It sucked going from the President's trophy to missing the playoffs for two years, but in hindsight it is the way to go.

Just a reminder that games start tonight

Get your beers ready!

I got my root beer ready

sup

got the scotch ready for the sharks game, along with some more bottles of hard alcohol in case of emergency aka sharks inevitably ****ting the bed against the avs to put me out of my misery.

I have some pretty good friendly bets so far.
Sharks win: 1 beer
Wings win: 1 beer
Leafs don't make playoffs next season: slap

Thinking I'm getting a couple free beers and the chance to slap my intern in the face come next spring.

Originally Posted by Respice

Looks like your coyote is earning his "red wings"

Wow. What the hell are the Pens doing?

wtf was that call

Originally Posted by Xcursion

Wow. What the hell are the Pens doing?

Game is far from over.

Originally Posted by Merranza

Game is far from over.

3 ****ty rebounds resulting in goals. Sorry, but he's not doing his team any favors.

ruh roh marty