SLOWLY...THAT'S OK... NOW WE'RE ROLLING

        Once Brendon Shanahan was hired,
I was pretty sure there would be a turn
around.
        
       The man has pride, and thank God
for it.
       
       Mike Babcock being hired - well, this
is Maple Leaf heaven!
          
           We the fans, and especially the media
have to stop creating disasters out of every little thing.  But not making the playoffs in nine
years - that's no little thing.
            Still, steady as we go. The public have to stop flipping out. Though recently, we've had every reason to go bananas and apeshit and  crazy as shithouse rats.
            No longer.  Someone somewhere in the Leaf organization stopped being cheap and parsimonious.
             I APPLAUD THIS DECISION!


              Play it one day at a time. Take it slow. We're building. But this time the re-build is not a con.
               Thank the holy God!
                It's happening!


                Hopeless decades have passed, but now I feel something positive...
                 Finally!  There is oxygen in the room...


             THE MAPLE LEAFS HAVE A
                   CHANCE!










(Looks like it's time to change the colour of this blog back to blue.)






                                  








 (C)2015 by W.G. Milne










                         


                  

AM I RIGHT OR AM I RIGHT? SEEING THE OBVIOUS WITH THE SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST

            The L.A. Kings have just won 2 Stanley Cups.
They are a team it's almost acceptable to be pushed around by... except... it's never acceptable to be pushed around at every turn.  And this is what happened to the Leafs last night.
       Don't get me wrong, I love the Leafs!  And they played pretty well last night. It's just this -
you can't play well when you're intimidated.
I don't think our team was intimidated at all
at the start of the game. The Leafs likely
were intimidated by the end of the game.
       All you need is one real slugger
on the team - someone who's going to win
almost all of the fights. Had we had that one
guy on the ice last night, the entire feeling
of the game would have changed.
       The Leafs are a highly skilled team,
no question about that. But when you're being
pushed around, it's hard to show your skill.
To win games against physically strong
teams, you need more than skill.

        I'm merely stating the obvious. I don't
know much more about hockey than most of 
the people in this country. I just write
better.
        I'm just expressing what you all
know to be true. 

       
       Where is Fraser McLaren right now? 
Hey! He's playing for the Marlies!

SEEING THE OBVIOUS WITH THE SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST.

                       OK, who beats the Leafs? It's usually
a team with good goal tending, and fairly
big guys playing an effective system of
defence. Of course, most teams are beaten by that very same combination.
          Now I don't want to rub it in too much, but more on the Dave Bolland trade. When the Leafs played the Panthers, Tyler Bozak, who is an excellent face-off man, he won 30% of the face-offs.  Bolland won 70% percent of the face offs.
          In addition to this, Bolland is a tougher guy
than most of the Leafs. He goes into the corners, etc., and for whatever reason, he is (was) an inspiration to the team.
          
         We need at least one tough guy on the Leafs.That way our captain will not have to fight so many battles. Fighting is not the job of a captain.
I truly think many of the problems the Leafs are facing is that they're too small or not intimidating enough. God knows, the team is fast enough. But the players get discouraged.
          Physical menace always helps solve
most business situations and sports situations.
If fear is a part of the equation, it's best to have it on your side. For example, if someone had gone
over and decked Ovechkin  after he ran
Komarov... well... if we had someone who could
deck Ovechkin, that would really help. I keep thinking of #38 Fraser McLaren, 6 foot 5, 
230 pounds with an effective punch.
         Where is he now?
         You don't have to play him much. The Leafs
could still have a forth line. But we need someone.
(Trading away Jay McClement  and Clarke MacArthur,these were also bad moves. But this is hindsight. With Dave Bolland I had foresight. I was telling you what would happen, and I can prove it!)
         One thing that Don Cherry is right about,
Physical intimidation will always be part of hockey,
and part of most games for that matter.  


              I must admit, someone in the Leafs organization is trying to put a decent
team on the ice. And the players are good guys
and they're trying hard.
       It's too bad such decent efforts will always
fail because ownership is too cheap or too stupid.
I'm not sure which it is, but maybe it's both.
       
       Larry Tanenbaum, I believe cares.  But maybe he cares about the wrong things. When he talked
about the fact that owning the Leafs is a trusteeship, that he's a 'trustee for the morale of the people of Toronto' (my words), he's absolutely correct.
        I was impressed when he said that.  Maybe
he doesn't know just how right he was!
        
         Toronto's big enough for two teams.
Leafs ownership every year is given a licence
to print money. That licence involves
a fiduciary duty to the people of Toronto.And I
think this duty should be put in writing.
        
         I don't want to see two teams, but  two teams would provide a competitive situation, which is maybe what is needed to get a Stanley Cup winning team in Toronto.
         Toronto can easily support two teams financially.
         Ownership needs a kick in the ass. No more
excuses. You have the most financially
successful franchise in sports. It's
time to ante up, boys. The people of Toronto
are no longer buying your scam.
         
          It's been 47 years folks and no cup.
And 8 years of not making the playoffs.
Smarten up or you're going to lose your
"licence."

        The one spot of light I see is the fact
that Brendan Shannahan is at least partly
running the show. He's never been a loser
in all his career, and he won't like being
a loser now.
          I have to think he has the brains
to pull this off. But he needs the financial support
of ownership.  
          Five million dollars is not much for Dave Bolland. Think of what the team would be
like if her were here now.






"Seeing The Obvious With The Sports Psychologist",  Title (C)2014 by W.G.Milne.

WHAT DO THE LEAFS NEED MOST OF ALL?

           I'm not withdrawing any nasty articles about Leaf's ownership. I can't withdraw a single word.
I meant everything I said about the OWNERSHIP FUCKAROO in Leafs' land.
          They make big money with bad  teams! Then they try to con us. Ownerships assures us they are trying really hard.

BUT:

I made a vow: "I will not die until the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup."
        I made this vow in 1990. I was 13 when I personally (with my dad) watched the Leafs win the Stanley Cup in 1967 FOR THE LAST TIME! (47 years ago).
           Problem is, if you do the math you'll see I'm a hell of a lot older now. And I have employed various stimulants, several forms of hallucinogens,
and an avalanch of booze to make my mind more keen in order to write books and support the
Toronto Maple Leafs.
           But sometimes ( as your wives will tell you)
support means 'telling the truth'.

           I love the players. I always have.
            
           A few  LEAFLINES! I'll make a few suggestion, as usual:


(1) Don't play Bernier in Montreal.  There's too
      much pressure on him.

(2)  Find another defenceman ( from the Marlies
       if necessary....) PLAY # 51 as a forward.
       Stop being so damn stubborn. Get a massage   for those brain cramps! Make him a forward. He's got obvious talent in that role.

(3)    JOSH LEIVO. Keep him in the NHL! Damn!  Get that goal-scorer up from the Marlies! Smarten up! KEEP HIM ON A GOOD LINE. Don't you
know a natural sniper when you see him?
         Some forwards are not meant to play much defence.

(4)    I've been watching this game for 47 years
         and I'm rarely wrong. 

(5)  Bring back McClaren. You're going to need
       him. Don't let the captain fight all the time.
       You need the Captain for DEFENCE and
        McClaren has one hell of a punch. People
         fear him, and fear is an essential tool
                 in the Big League. Fear is worth one
           defenceman.
(6)   The Leafs played pretty damn hard against
        Nashville.  The truth of the matter is,
         Nashville has a stronger team. The cure?
         See above stories re: ownership. How did
          Christian Ehrhoff    make it to Buffalo?
           Why didn't we grab him on the way by?
          Ownership should be willing to spend some
           of the fortune, the monetary bonanza
            they make on the Leafs. As they
            selfishly allow the morale of the City           of         of Toronto to wane and fall into the depths of          depression and despair...
              GIVE,FOOLS, GIVE!   Reach into
              your oh so tight pockets and buy another
              star or two for the team.
                     What a surprise that would be!
              A little generosity. 

           Of  the new guys on the team, here's some of the guys I like:  I love Josh Leivo, a natural
scorer, a sniper. Keep him up in the big club. Let him get used to a good line, then watch what happens in a month or two! 
            I love Komarov, also.
             Vote of confidence for Polak, and Panic,
and I'm forgetting several guys.
               Someone's thinking.  Kudos to the
scouts.
              Of course, Bernier's fine, and the defence
seem to help him a little.
               But Reimer's a better goalie than his press sometimes suggests. The big deal is -
don't let the power forwards of the opposite
team run him.  For God sakes, in the old
days if you got in the crease and knocked over a goalie you were in Big Shit.
               I think the rule must be made more strict
re: running goalies. Why are goalie's such big targets these days?
              If a guy's going to hit your goalie,
HIT HIM before he gets there. The lack of protection Reimer gets from the Leaf's defence is a disgrace!
               Also, tell Reimer not to leave his crease and try to stick-handle.
                 What do the Leafs need to do most of all? Start laying some heavy body checks on the
opposing team! What the hell?
                 Watch some Scott Stevens tapes! 

SHANAHAN - A POSITIVE STEP........... OTHERWISE.......

                                  The addition of Brendan Shanahan as president
of the Toronto Maple Leafs, this move has to be
a plus for the team.
                   Shanahan is a class guy and a good
strategic thinker and  of course he's had a terrific
career as a player.
                   My hope is this - I hope that Brendan
Shanahan  will put up with only so much
humiliation, before he demands that positive
changes be made to the team.
                  Because the Leafs have been losing
for so very, very long, a masochistic situation
has arisen with regard to Toronto hockey
viewing. When the losses start to pile
up again, the sports press enters, scene left,
and starts to pick apart every circumstance
that led to every loss.
               Every gaff is seen through
a magnifying glass, and this intense situation
is hard on the psyches of the young players
trying to make it as Leafs.

               This situation can weigh on the
mind of a Leaf President, also.
               I've been a leaf fan for a very
long time, and it has taken a lot
to make me as cynical as I am today
about the motives of Leaf Management.
                When the Argos were constantly losing
years ago, they were still very popular,
because it was still fun going to the games,
and having a few drinks and booing
good-naturedly.
         But Toronto is a hockey town, and
there's nothing funny about  the Leafs
losing for decades  and living in the
basement and continuing to do so,
with no end in sight!
         Nothing funny at all.  Changes will be
made to the Toronto Maple Leafs
management's methods and attitudes.
If changes are not made from within,
changes will have to be made externally
to alter the monopolistic hockey
situation in the Toronto area.
         All anyone can do at the moment is hope
that the appointment of Brendan Shanahan
is the beginning of positive changes 
within the Leaf organization.

               Otherwise...

               I think perhaps Leaf's Management ought to
understand that this really is the
end of the line for them... only a few more years, and
this present situation will be excised utterly,
as in a 100% excise tax.

CHEAP AND DUMB AND DETERMINED TO LOSE

                      There was weeping and wailing
in Toronto Maple Leaf land last night and the
 day before. WEEPING AND WAILING AND GNASHING
OF TEETH...BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON,
I KNELT DOWN AND WEPT.

            If the Buffalo Sabres were wealthy and brave
enough to bring back Matt Moulson at 25 million
dollars over 5 years... why under all the formerly
bright stars of the milky way couldn't Toronto
Maple Leaf management sea its way clear to
bring back Dave Bolland, who is a far more
valuable player than Matt Moulson?
            This is not to sell Moulson short. He's a damn
good player, and probably helps inspire the team,
just like Dave Bolland did for the Maple Leafs...
Only Dave Bolland played a far more important
inspirational role.
             There's no question about his importance
to the team.  Last year the Leafs were on a terrific
and nearly record win streak.
             What happened next?
 
             DAVE BOLLAND WAS INJURED
AND THE WIN STREAK WAS OVER...!!!!

            But, woe is me! The bright days of winning
 are over. Stupidity and greed, once more, have won the
day. Toronto sports fans have just been
SCREWED AGAIN...
            Once more this phrase passed through
my head, just as when Bolland was injured
las year:  THERE GOES THE SEASON!

            I remember one other day, as gloomy as
this one... Many years past, the Toronto Maple Leafs
traded Steve Thomas, at the height of his powers, to
Chicago.
              The Leafs wouldn't cough up the necessary 12,000 dollars.... Yes, that was the sticking point - some
paltry sum of money.
               And what happened as a result of this
blood simple, short-sided moron-time lack of
thought?
              Oh, yes.

               THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS WON THE CUP!

THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS CONTINUED TO WALLOW
IN THE MIRE OF STUPIDITY, BLINDNESS
AND BUNGED-UP BRAIN CRAMPS!

                FOOLS!

                 FOOLS!

                  FOOLS!

                   My friends, Leaf Fans across this
noble land, join me this evening as I crawl down to the Don River on my knees, a two hundred pound cross on my back... And by the shore of the River, I will pour ashes on my head and wail at the loss
of hopes that might have been.
                  Great Babylon has fallen.
The GREED-HEADS in Toronto Maple Leafs
management have done it again! 
                  The MORONS are running the show.
The slathering rabid avaricious fools once
more have won the day.

                  THE BLIND ARE DRIVING THE BUS!

                  We are the fans! We're the ones
 who pay for this show.  Does no one consider us?
Is no one looking out for us? Does no one
care about the Spirit of Toronto?


                                     Leaf fans are smart.  We know we've
been screwed. We know this means DOOM
for the team. 

THIS IS THE TIME TO STICK TOGETHER!

         The most intelligent,
insightful statement made by any of the
leaders of this half-assed crazy world
has been made - not by our prime minister........
not by the president of the USA, and not by the
premier of Russia ...........

         Nope.

          And what do we expect?

           We don't expect our political  leaders
to be intelligent! And we get exactly
what we've expected....


           BUT IN CANADA - LAND OF THE WILD
AND THE FREE

           we damn well do expect brains
and mental capacity
            FROM OUR HOCKEY LEADERS!!


            And do you know what?
             We get what we expect
in this arena, also. And thank God for
 this!

              Dion Phoneuf has just come
forward with the most intelligent, insightful
statement I have heard in a long time.

                 "When we're losing, when times are
tough... this is the time to stick together."
                  He has proved why he is the
captain of the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS,
the greatest team ever to play hockey on land or
sea or in outer space.
                What character!
                  What truth!
                    What deep insight!

                      I am so very proud once again
to be a LEAF fan!!!
                      We just won the cup! The real cup -

the trophy it takes brains, belief and character to win -

what class! what a guy!
WHAT A TEAM!
WHAT A COUNTRY!

                                       FINALLY SOMEONE HAS MADE
A STATEMENT THAT MEANS SOMETHING!

                     I'm tired of morons and fools
and self-centered gloating actors
stuffing the airwaves with idiocy and dross!

                    This is why hockey is a great game -
because sometimes it brings out the best in us.

                    Hey, Dion, good man!  Now we know
why you're captain! We know why you lead the team!

                    When are you going to run
for politics? (Whoops!  I'm sorry!
Why would you bother?)

                     This is the finest bit
                             of wisdom and wit
                                   I have heard publicly stated
                                                                        in a very long time!



GO LEAFS!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!



                                  You just made it, baby!