Never mind Canadian...my name is Ken, and I'm a hockeyholic.
July 1, besides being Canada Day, is also UFA day in hockey. It beats even the trade deadline for drama and sheer excitement: this is the one day your team can get something for nothing.
And as usual Leaf fans are there to babble and bitch.
Yeah, I'm a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But please don't tar me with the moron brush because of it. I don't wear blue and white coloured glasses: the Leafs are bad right now, and they're going to get worse before they get better.
Which, ultimately, is a good thing. It means they're finally doing something right. They tried to spend their way to a Cup and that failed. Then they completely missed the salary cap bus, signed a bunch of players to outrageous long term deals for obscene amounts of money and threw in no-trade clauses that essentially stagnated the roster. Now they've brought Cliff Fletcher back and given him carte blanche to play hardball. And he's playing.
Fletch made two moves at the NHL draft that spoke to the new era he's forging. The first was signing Jamal Mayers: a gritty, defensively sound forward with international experience and a bit of a mean streak. What we have here, folks, is an vast upgrade on Wade Belak: a character guy who isn't afraid to drop the gloves, but who also isn't a liability on the ice at any time.
Fletch's next move was to trade up a couple of spots in the draft to grab Luke Schenn. Luke's potential is nearly limitless. At 18, he's already got a cool nickname--"The Human Eraser"--and he's drawing comparisons to Scott Stevens. If he turns out half so well, the Leafs will have a franchise defenseman.
In the days leading up to today, the Toronto media went into its typical frenzy. Everyone who is anyone was linked in print to the Leafs. This is the quintessential Toronto trait. The city fancies itself the center of the hockey universe, even as its team hasn't competed for, let alone won, a cup in over four decades. (Incidentally, Toronto still thinks of itself as the capital of Canada and a world class city besides...which is almost as funny, being as it's nearly bankrupt, actually encourages homelessness, and furthermore is bleeding head offices at a furious rate.)
In any event, the papers were rife with speculation. Who would come join the circus? (Not the people named, that's for sure.) Why would Sundin spurn us so? (Maybe he finally got fed up with fourteen years of shoddy treatment?) How would the irresistible force/immovable object drama between Fletcher and Bryan McCabe play out? (Still waiting on that one.)
In a move that surprised nobody, Fletcher signed former Leaf stalwart Curtis Joseph to a one-year, $700,000 deal. This Breadbin welcomes Cujo back with open arms. He'll prove a reliable backup to Toskala this year, and at a bargain-basement price.
The next domino to fall: Jeff Finger.
Who dat?
I have no idea, but apparently he's worth $3.5 million a year after a career spanning 94 NHL games.
Holy crap.
The Leaf boards went nuts with is. First, of course, is the name. "Colorado gives Leafs the Finger!"..."wait 'til he checks somebody. Say it's (Freddy) Modin: 'Freddy got Fingered!'"..."Hey, Colorado had a Finger and a Foote, and now they've signed Raycroft, and thus have an ass!"
Grow up.
Please?
It's the guy's freakin' name, people. His last name. Men, as a rule, don't get to choose those. You have to imagine Jeff's heard every possible variation of finger joke about ten thousand million too many billion times. But, oh, no, you're so witty, did you come up with that yourself?
Does anybody ever put themselves in another's shoes for just a minute?
Moving on, we have the salary: a four year deal at $3.5 million per. That sounds both long and steep, especially as he's had such a short career. Also, a quick perusal of the Colorado boards shows both peril and promise. He's slow of foot but defensively sound (Hey, Fletch! I'm sensing a pattern here!). And he's a workhorse: his ice time increased throughout the season last year until he was clocking upwards of 20:00 a game. My sense: a new Hal Gill. But this, from an Avs fan, is why the Leafs are taking a chance, and why I'll reserve judgment:
Things change of course but I got the feeling that he’s a pure rink rat and work ethic will never be missing from his game. The way that guy laughs when he got smoked on a few forechecks this year reminded me of that attitude. I think he really does enjoy the contact and could very well be a bit looney.
Bring it on.
Another comment from the peanutbrain gallery of Leaf fans: why is Fletcher bringing in so many defensemen? We need forwards!
Well, yes, the Leafs could use some punch up front, with Sundin gone. That'll be coming, I'm sure. For now, Cliff is stockpiling D-men for two reasons: one, the Leafs haven't had a pure defenseman for over ten years and two, the more character D-men he brings in, the more Bryan McCabe might start feeling the foot in his butt making a distinct kicking motion.
The most recent move as of this writing is the signing of Niklas Hagman., and this is the one I'm most impressed with. At $3 million per over four years, he's an absolute steal. Like every other player Fletch has brought in (and unlike pretty much the entire 2007-08 Leafs roster), this one has the reputation of never taking a shift off. He works hard, he skates like the wind, and he should improve on his 41 points last year.
What you're going to see next year is a Leafs time that's difficult to play against. They're not overly talented, but in the NHL hard work can beat talent most nights. I will guarantee the defensive game will improve markedly, as will the PK. Scoring remains an issue, but I expect the movement of McCabe and/or Kubina will address that.
Fletcher's grade so far: A-
Drop the puck already.
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