News Article: Toronto Maple Leafs opt to tinker, while other teams splurge on free agents

[Clark4Ever]

Ridiculous article.

The contracts handed out to our former players have been cringeworthy for the most part.

I think Nonis has been fiscally responsible thus far.

 

[Teeder9]

again to me a lot of this is very much - the Leafs can't win. Leafs go all out "why didn't the leafs exercise caution." this year the Leafs exercise caution "why didn't the leafs become more aggressive."

it's so obvious they're creating holes so the marlies can play - and Mirtle and everyone is complaining that it's not enough and we need to get more players to fill holes.

forget the fans unable to handle a rebuild - the freaking media doesn't know what it wants.

You need to realize why they do it. I have a hypothesis. It goes like this.

Headline in TO newspapers:

"Leafs win the Cup"

UN investigating crime as 14, 984, 383 died waiting in vain. Called it worse sporticide since Roman Coliseum. Kafar El Hab states, "it says it all when parades are planned yearly and cancelled by Christmas, as if to say kids, Santa hates you, and so do the Leafs". When asked for his incite, Steve Simmons, who exposed the crime against Leaf fans daily, had this to say, "**** all y'all, click my site, *****es". He seems too upset to speak really. Another reporter, "Mirtle", states Corsi could have saved them. We haven't found Corsi yet, and are doubting "Mirtle" is his real name. Canadien's GM Marc bergeron screamed, almost incoherently, "they burn boats. We need boats. L'arrest, L'arrest. Beside himself at the atrocity we suspect. News at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, and on the 30's, forever.

 

[GoonieFace]

Ridiculous article.

The contracts handed out to our former players have been cringeworthy for the most part.

I think Nonis has been fiscally responsible thus far.

He has no choice, they have no money spend. Im sure they would have thrown stupid money at Brian Boyle, but he chose to sign with Tampa. He tried to handcuff the Leafs further, maybe players feel sorry for him as well.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Same article would have mocked the contracts they gave out had they went after some of those players.

Shanahan did exactly what I expected him to do on July 1: watch others spend and sit back and wait. For the first time in a while it's nice to take that approach and have some faith in the youth instead of hoping a Blake, Kubina, Armstrong or Clarkson can constantly repeat career highs after striking it rich here.

 

[GoonieFace]

Same article would have mocked the contracts they gave out had they went after some of those players.

Shanahan did exactly what I expected him to do on July 1: watch others spend and sit back and wait. For the first time in a while it's nice to take that approach and have some faith in the youth instead of hoping a Blake, Kubina, Armstrong or Clarkson can constantly repeat career highs after striking it rich here.

They tried to spend, the fact was nobody wanted to play here. They offered Bolland close to $5million/yr, they offered Brian Boyle more $$$ than Tampa, they wanted Gorges who makes $4million/yr. The effort to further handicap the team was there, thank God they were saved from their own stupidity.

 

[Tak7]

I disagree, the media knows exactly what it wants: to make the Leafs seem like a terrible organization. Why else would they come out with negative comments for every single move the Leafs make. One day when the Leafs win the Cup, the media stories will not be 'Leafs win Stanley Cup', they will be 'what took so long?'

The media gauges the mood of the marketplace. There's a hypercritical vibe about fans regarding this team.

Why?

Because they are a god awful hockey team, with little recent success and even less suggestion that they are about to turn a corner.

Want a media that does't take digs at this team? Ice a consistently good team. How many media types take digs at Chicago? LA? Boston? Yeah - that's what I thought.

Some of you are probably too young to remember the Leafs regularly making the playoffs. I remember it - and let me tell you, there weren't media personalities (on TV or radio) taking digs at the team then.

It's all born out of the sensational incompetence of this organization.

 

[Jacob8hockey*]

Lets build into a regular playoff team and then worry about free agency. Right now we build from within or trades and become a place people want to play.

Then we can sign the top free agents and not worry about the 4-5M second and third liners.

 

[leafs in five]

I disagree, the media knows exactly what it wants: to make the Leafs seem like a terrible organization.

you really think it takes a media smear campaign to make the Leafs seem like a terrible organization?

 

[Jack Bauer]

They tried to spend, the fact was nobody wanted to play here. They offered Bolland close to $5million/yr, they offered Brian Boyle more $$$ than Tampa, they wanted Gorges who makes $4million/yr. The effort to further handicap the team was there, thank God they were saved from their own stupidity.

There were also deals to move out salary that never happened.

Just because they made those offers doesn't mean they were doing ALL of those moves.

Some of you would stroke out if you seen how many balls NHL GM's are juggling in the air around July 1. It's never simply offering money and waiting, 1 move can hinge on 2 others and vice versa.

 

[Clark4Ever]

He has no choice, they have no money spend. Im sure they would have thrown stupid money at Brian Boyle, but he chose to sign with Tampa. He tried to handcuff the Leafs further, maybe players feel sorry for him as well.

Well, he did offer Bolland 4.75 X 5 years (which he thankfully rejected), so you are partly right. Otherwise, I think Nonis has been responsible in letting our other players walk and signing the new acquisitions to reasonable contracts.

 

[Stats01]

The media gauges the mood of the marketplace. There's a hypercritical vibe about fans regarding this team.

Why?

Because they are a god awful hockey team, with little recent success and even less suggestion that they are about to turn a corner.

Want a media that does't take digs at this team? Ice a consistently good team. How many media types take digs at Chicago? LA? Boston? Yeah - that's what I thought.

Some of you are probably too young to remember the Leafs regularly making the playoffs. I remember it - and let me tell you, there weren't media personalities (on TV or radio) taking digs at the team then.

It's all born out of the sensational incompetence of this organization.

I'm 27, I was 15 the last time the Leafs did anything in the playoffs, freakin 12 years ago. I was 12 in 1999, when Valk scored in OT to send the Leafs to the ECF against Buffalo. I remember a young Dwayne Roloson having the game of his life in Game 4 or 5 of that series..Trust me I remember I was freaking out when Sundin tied Game 6 of the 2002 ECF. I was soooo depressed when we lost in OT, literally speechless.

No there weren't but the media seems stuck in that time. Back then the Leafs fixed their team in free agency and did fairly well with results. The media still drives that garbage about going for it and signing free agents..It's the same bozos too (Cox, Simmons etc.) They only bring up rebuilding when it fits for them..and that is usually when the free agents don't pan out. That's when they say "Leafs should tank and rebuild" other than that they've always been on the free agent bandwagon. These are the same idiots that say Toronto can't handle a rebuild...when it clearly shows we would. The ACC sells out every game.

 

[leafs in five]

Lets build into a regular playoff team and then worry about free agency. Right now we build from within or trades and become a place people want to play.

Then we can sign the top free agents and not worry about the 4-5M second and third liners.

a year ago we signed the top free agent, a third liner, to a deal with 5M a year until he's bought out.

i'm not against being patient if that's what this is. but Nonis deserves to be taken to task for preaching the exact opposite approach to the one he took last summer when he set this team back another few years at least with silly deals for bit part veteran winners that were meant to improve an already improving team that would also of course improve by virtue of subtracting the non-winners Macarthur and Grabovski.

it's patience espoused by the front office that had a destructively impulsive offseason last summer.

 

[Jack Bauer]

The media gauges the mood of the marketplace. There's a hypercritical vibe about fans regarding this team.

Why?

Because they are a god awful hockey team, with little recent success and even less suggestion that they are about to turn a corner.

Want a media that does't take digs at this team? Ice a consistently good team. How many media types take digs at Chicago? LA? Boston? Yeah - that's what I thought.

Some of you are probably too young to remember the Leafs regularly making the playoffs. I remember it - and let me tell you, there weren't media personalities (on TV or radio) taking digs at the team then.

It's all born out of the sensational incompetence of this organization.

I'm not sure who you were listening to but the media took the same digs at the team 15 years ago when Quinn was turning the team around.

It has nothing to do with the mood of the fan base.

The difference in the big American markets like Chicago and LA is that when the team struggled they didn't take digs because nobody cared. The building was half full(or empty if you wish) and the local media knew nobody cared and had many other stories in those markets to attract viewers and readers.

In Chicago or LA you just need to mention Bulls or Lakers to get peoples attention, whether it be positive or negative.

In Toronto it's the hockey team that gets that attention. And tabloids like the Sun love to use their sensationalism to sell papers.

 

[leafs in five]

Toronto media has plenty of cheerleaders, for whatever that's worth

me i'm confused as to why anyone would think this organization deserves to be complimented for the way it's been run.

 

[Liminality]

me i'm confused as to why anyone would think this organization deserves to be complimented for the way it's been run.

It's not that people think they should be complimented, people think their articles are not sharing the whole story and are only pointing out what they want to point out.

They put their spin on their articles to catch the readers attention and I feel sorry for the people who actually read these articles and are influenced by them.

 

[theMajor]

got to look at the end game........mcdavid/eichle

this guy gets it

another bad year = Nonis is gone, maybe Randy too...and the team has a top pick in one of the best drafts in the last 6-7 years

 

[leafs in five]

of course articles point out what the authors of articles want to point out. Simmons does it when he praises the Leafs.

the OP article identifies the weaknesses of last year's team, says they haven't been addressed in any way, which i think is true. this isn't a good team, the GM hasn't made it better if at all, and considering the money and picks that have been invested to assemble the current roster, the idea that the Leafs are just being smart and patient about the whole thing is at least deserving of scrutiny. Nonis would have had a lot more of a grace period to be patient last summer, and he went shopping instead. i think he forfeited the right to ask for patience when he bought out Grabo to sign Clarkson.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I disagree, the media knows exactly what it wants: to make the Leafs seem like a terrible organization. Why else would they come out with negative comments for every single move the Leafs make. One day when the Leafs win the Cup, the media stories will not be 'Leafs win Stanley Cup', they will be 'what took so long?'

complete with a decade by decade analysis of suckitude.

 

[leafs in five]

yeah, when the Leafs win the cup

 

[leafs in five]

"negative comments for every single move the Leafs make"

 

[Daisy Jane]

The media gauges the mood of the marketplace. There's a hypercritical vibe about fans regarding this team.

Why?

Because they are a god awful hockey team, with little recent success and even less suggestion that they are about to turn a corner.

Want a media that does't take digs at this team? Ice a consistently good team. How many media types take digs at Chicago? LA? Boston? Yeah - that's what I thought.

Some of you are probably too young to remember the Leafs regularly making the playoffs. I remember it - and let me tell you, there weren't media personalities (on TV or radio) taking digs at the team then.

It's all born out of the sensational incompetence of this organization.

are you kidding me? Even when the Leafs were playoff bound every season and made it to 2 Eastern finals in like 4 years or so - it was complain complain complain complain. I keep bringing this up.

This utter crap about Toronto being Undesirable is not the first time this has raised it's stupid head. Guerin, Hollik and I can't remember the other player (maybe Blake?) but HUGE names were coming out and when Guerin went to Dallas and Hollik went to the Rangers, the Media BLEW. UP, calling Quinn useless, not capable of bringing in big names and everything. (ignoring at the time our dollar at the time was pretty much worthless). like it got so bad - every other day "Leafs are pathetic, and can't sign big names bad bad bad." to the point both Hollik and Guerin had interviews with the Star and flat out denied all the crap the media was spewing - that Quinn did offer them contracts, but Guerin was only considering US cities anyway, and Hollik considered it but wanted to stay in the NY area for his family (because he was a Devil)."

And when the Leafs signed Niuwendyk and Mogliny - everyone complained because Niuewendyk and Mogliny were broken. (we'll ignore how good they were in the playoffs for us).

Good or bad or in between the Media in this city spins everything negative. Hell Chicago wins the cup (the first time) and instead of Yay, Chicago wins it was See how pathetic Toronto is that Chicago won a cup?

Social Media i think adds fuel to the fire. We're clearly setting up TO be bad, so we can draft well - and eveyrone is like we're not turning the corner. Where as all last season people were complaining that we aren't going to take a step back and just let the chips fall where they may.

 

[achtungbaby]

I'm glad we didn't spend like crazy again. We'd just wind up buying them out and having it count against the cap for years. I do wonder how long we'll "tinker" with this core though. Maybe they'll surprise me.

 

[achtungbaby]

you really think it takes a media smear campaign to make the Leafs seem like a terrible organization?

The Leafs do that just fine by themselves, no help needed there.

 

[abdew29]

Im glad the leafs only tinkered. The contracts given out this year were ludicrous

 

[New User Name]

I don't know about anyone else or even if it' a popular position but I don't want this team to do well this year.

In fact I'd be trading for picks next year.

With a strong draft next year, it just might be the road to respectability.

And with the rabid, most loyal fans in the league we ****ing deserve it.

and as I type this TSN reports Leafs made an offer to David Legwand