Daisy Jane
everything is gonna be okay!
- Jul 2, 2009
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- 9,192
Nonahan Watch
Carlyle Firing Watch
fire him, fire him not.... fire him.. fire him not.
Let Go of the Loser Mentality in LeafLand
Take it away, Elsa:
In this season of re-vamping the Maple Leafs Culture (accountability, leadership, buzz word, buzz word), we the fans keep mucking around in the mud of the past, and need to justify it, find other things to excuse it, or just roll around in it while saying why the Leafs suck. For Example:
Heartbreak in Game Seven
It sucked. It was historic. But people still can't see it, people still get mad about it and so on. Why? It was a great sporting moment. (I mean it sucked for us - and it was brutal) but it was a great sporting moment. Almost every team has "oh my God, that happened? moment, and it actually stinks that the Leafs racked up 3 in 3 years....but - we need to let this moment go. We need to accept that it happened and hope that! never happens again (which is part of Nonahan's job now).
Or this:
Get. Over. it. It happened. It shouldn't have happened, but it did. And this goes for Gerry Cheevers, the trade that would have = Scott Neidermayer (but actually would have been Eric Lindros had we really sucked), or [oh this trade really sucked but I bet I can beat it with this one! Why are we living in the past? Yes - those players would really, really help if they were in the system or with the big club? Yes.
But here's the thing. That's all hindsight. Just because they are and/or were amazing before - doesn't mean had they grown up and developed in the Toronto system they'd be who they were now. Sure - they could have. We could have been a dynasty, or it could have been fair to middling. We judge these things because we saw how their careers turned out.
The only thing we should want for the new management is to learn from the past. Us as the fans shouldn't be using this as sackcloth and ashes every time someone brings up a trade request.
We need to get over this. and 2002. For our sanity. (though the team could take a page of the work ethic of those teams)
And the biggest one for what I feel applies for most fans nowadays
the beginning of the retool.... seven years later
And this is where I have to take my own advice. This happened. You may hate Burke for it (or rather what he's now doing in Calgary vs. what he did in Toronto), you may hate Kessel being here, and you want to try to undo it - but we need to get over this. We need to accept what happened and hope that again what happened in the past is something at we learn from, but after every bad thing - we come back to this point - as if - this point is what prevented anything good from ever happening.
We need to push past this. Not come back to it, and wrap up in it like it's a blanket of pathetic comfort after bad things happen to our organization. I think it starts with mindsets. I believe (I choose to believe) that with Shanahan (and Nonis - ergo: Nonahan) will continue to put the Leafs on the right path, using what hurt the Leafs before as an example. Like a history book.
But we as fans need to .. well. let it go. Move on. live for the future. There are - as grumpy as we are - good things to look forward to, if you choose/decide to.
SO...
DaisyVision #4: Dion Phaneuf (Captain) & Carl Gunnarsson
I will admit. I had zero idea who Larry Murphy was until this year. (Just like I didn't know that being right handed in the NHL was the newest 'thing'.). He was before my time. I knew that we don't like crap defensemen. (Aki Berg. Cory Cross. Bryan McCabe at the end. Mike Komisarek we're all looking at you). And I knew that Phaneuf is one 1/2 of the polarizing YES WE NEED HIM! NO WE DON'T spectrum in Leaf Nation. I firmly believe - without a shadow of a doubt - He's done here. It doesn't matter what he does - (unless you know, he wins the Norris next year, or the Conn Smythe... see what I did there?).
It's like Dion forgot a few things
A: He's in TORONTO.
B: He's the CAPTAIN of the Leafs and C
C: He's the CAPTAIN of the LEAFS in TORONTO.
D: we get really, really really cranky.
And Dion has no one to blame for the total shift of "general dislike" to full on "Larry Murphy-dom" but himself. Holy Moses did this man make it hard on himself this season.
I think that everyone can admit that in the beginning of the season - his play personally was really, really good. Like. Very. He and Gunnar were shutting down Ovi (who had like only 2 points against us in the series), Crosby (1 goal against us in the series), and in several games his big plays and big hits turned the tide. I instantly think to that big hit on the Anaheim player (which won him Player of the Week!) in October. and. As we learned in 24/7. He was a great motivational speaker:
Also. He could spell intense
But after he signed on the dotted line and earned 7 million dollars for 7 years. And I even remember saying during is press conference it really sounded like he & Nonis were talking in code because 'people were bring brought in' and 'surrounding the core' and stuff like that.
And then. ..Dion's play just....well. this kinda sums up the second 1/2 of the season
Play after play, game after game - it just snowballed. And the worst part about it is - it happened after the Olympic Break. so one couldn't really argue "ooh. He was tired." well yah he had 2 weeks off. And the injury thing... this is the time of year everyone was injured.
But I think what really did him a disservice - was "that Night." You know the night I'm talking about. Him vs. St Louis. Basically, he decide to channel Franson that night and was responsible for 4 goals against. Everyone was booing him (lustily), and... Dion decides not to talk to the media.
I think Sid says it better than I could:
I don't even have a hope for him or anything - I am truly 100 percent mystified, and intrigued on what they're going to do with him. Like if Shanahan says "he needs to go - for ANYTHING" (ala: Rick Nash/Columbus) even if we retain salary, he's going to go. (And then we'll be defensively worse on paper. In theory). Or. He'll stay. And he can really ramp up his game. Which would be okay. In theory.
But I think this is beyond - he's overpaid/overrated/unerappreciated/he's the best we've got. People simply don't like him. (also he's a liar. Or he's stupid: see all his responses during the meltdown. Everyone is saying yah this is bad, we're being out worked, and Dion's all like "yah, we're good!" No, love. We sucked. We would have appreciated you not telling us how 'hardworking' y'all are being when we saw you not just 3 minutes ago sucking like you never sucked the night before). And in a city where we cherish our Captains.... he could be the only one in the 14 before him that people don't mind him being Marleaued. Like - big time.
So this Phaneuf Drahamah - is going to be intriguing up until July 1st. then he has 10 team list to submit and then it's not Drahamah at all. It's just hoping he plays better or we get someone to play with him. Speaking of which.
He has the best plus minus on the team. (I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that he didn't play on the powerplay that let up 2 shorties in 1 powerplay both times AND he didn't have to play with Franson that much).
But....
I really don't have anything to say about Gunnar. I thought - despite some issues - he played well, and if we could get him on the 2nd line where he should be - he'd be really good. but like almost every position we've got - everyone is playing in the position they shouldn't be playing.
But he's Swedish. Nothing stood out. He came in, did his job, and went home. Play better next time with better choices next season, and we're good to go.
my. that ended on a boring note.
Sorry.
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had to do a double take
