Brian Burke, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs

By Dan O’Shea

@dkoshea_

I know this as fact because I am a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sure, there are some out there who will disagree with me. They live in Ottawa. They’ll point to the leafs goals against average or comment on the terrible start to our season. They will say we gave up too much for Kessel. Fact of the matter is Brian Burke saw this coming. He planned it. Hell, he probably ran it by Pat Quinn and they both had a good chuckle over it, then discussed how Dustin Penner was great with Burke is great with Quinn but sucked with McTavish. Then they’ll laugh at Kevin Lowe (I assume). That being said, the leafs are exactly what Brian Burke wanted them to be;

Overachievers.

Let’s face it, it’s not like our roster is chalk full of “Brian Burke type players” Kuliman, Grabo, Poni, Stajan.. Yet it’s apparent the sum is worth more than its parts. We are the highest shooting team in the league. We are a tough team and a tough team to play against (especially on the road…) we’re hard working, and there is little quit in these leafs. More importantly – for the 1st time since the lockout we are playing exciting hockey. No offense Jason Allison.

If you don’t believe me here is my evidence – I live in Southern California yet I haven’t missed a game this year. I’m wearing my Wendel t-shirt on Saturdays and my American born Girlfriend knows how to spell “Ponikarovsky”. I begrudgingly follow @mapleleafs and @leafspacemonika on twitter (relax leafspacers, they’re good sports) and more importantly there are only 2 things that will bring me back to Toronto in the dead of winter

1. Steaks with my father

2. The Toronto Maple Leafs

And all this from the 2nd worst team in the league.

See – we’re over achievers. Always have been. Now we are starting to hear there “may be” a market out there for Hagman, Blake (and his 5 goals) or Poni. Now, Hagman I get – but Blake or Ponikarovsky? We couldn’t give these players away a year ago! That said, it’s starting to make sense right? Blake (and all of his 5 goals) is a proven goal scorer when paired with a decent center. Alexi Yashin proved that and so did Dominic Moore (that’s right Yashin, we are NOT in the business of giving out complements) Blake (and all of his 5 goals) works his ass off every night (5 goals). He’s quick, skates hard and plays with (kindof) an edge. Burke and Wilson (sorry Grapes) have created a market for him (and his 5 goals)and if you don’t believe me just think of the “ever lacking depth on the wing” Pittsburgh Penguins they could use a (kindof) feisty, quick, proven goal scorer on Crosby’s wing, right? Or Malkin’s? Or Staal’s? Seriously, Blake’s contract isn’t what it used to be.

Or maybe I just want Blake out of town .

Either way – All of a sudden the leafs have quietly established a core (Kessel, Komisarik, Schenn and Beaucheman) and a market for their “spare parts” (the rest) all while icing a very entertaining team. That sounds like a Burke Kind of rebuild to me. Not Convinced? Let’s keep going –

You can’t have a leafs article containing the word “trade” without the words “Thomas Kaberle”. So let’s get it out of the way.

1. Thomas Kaberle is playing out of his mind right now.

2. I would hate to see him go.

3. Thomas Kaberle is playing out of his mind right now.

4. Kessel was expensive.

Burke has every right to entertain offers for Kaberle. That’s right folks, “entertain”. For the 1st time, when it comes to Kaberle we are in the drivers seat. As we all know Toronto was offered Carter and a 1st rounder while shopping Kaberle 2 years ago. I expect this year there will be something of a bidding war for his services. Kaberle will waive in order to go to a contender if burke gets an offer that “blows his doors off”. Again, I feel we are a better team with him then without, but his contract will expire before we will be contending for the Cup (playoffs first) If we can get some Kessel picks back along with a top 6 forward then lets do what we can to help Kaberle get a cup and shut up his brother Frank.

If Kaberle goes Ian White gets his minutes. If Kaberle stays then I think we all agree Ian White is a legit NHL defenseman, right? (note: Ian White got good the day Hal Gill was shipped out of town. Just saying). There is always a market for a top 6 defenseman in the NHL.

As for Stajan I say trade him and give Primeau his minutes. Yes, I said it and I stand by it. Primeau has been the biggest surprise of the season for me. The more ice he gets the better he plays. Either way trade Stajan. Just trade him. Trade him for Mike Danton. I don’t care.

Or keep them all (except Stajan). They are a fast team that forechecks well and plays hard. I will continue to watch. Happily. That’s the thing about this team – There is a good core in place and I don’t really care if the rest get traded or are leafs till the end of the year.

Genius.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens

Two years ago, the Montreal Canadiens had the best record in the Eastern Conference. After things went south last season, they’ve got a revamped roster and a new coach in Jacques Martin.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, believe they may be able to end a franchise-record four-year playoff drought — if they can fix their leaky defense.

The Original Six and Northeast Division rivals open the new season on Thursday night as Martin makes his debut behind the Canadiens bench in the start of a five-game trip for his club.

Montreal (41-30-11) had an East-leading 104 points in 2007-08 under Guy Carbonneau before losing in five games to Philadelphia in the conference semifinals. Last season, the Canadiens were 35-24-7 when they fired Carbonneau on March 9 with general manager Bob Gainey taking over, but the change failed to provide much of a spark.

Playing as the eighth seed, Montreal was swept by Boston in the opening round.

Gainey hired Martin, who had stints with St. Louis, Ottawa and Florida. Martin coached the Blues and Senators to the postseason in 10 of his 11 seasons with those clubs but never reached the playoffs in three seasons with the Panthers from 2005-08.

“It was a priority for me that we find a head coach that had seen a lot of situations,” Gainey said. “We love Montreal as a marketplace, if that’s the right word, but it comes with the demands and expectations and pressures. And I think Jacques has already proven that’s well within his capacity to handle not only the coaching but the environment in Montreal.”

Gainey also went about reshaping his roster, and the Canadiens will have a smaller — and perhaps quicker team — on the ice.

The Canadiens acquired Scott Gomez in a trade with the New York Rangers and signed forwards Brian Gionta from New Jersey and Mike Cammalleri from Calgary.

Cammalleri had a career-high 82 points last year for the Flames while Gomez tied for the Rangers’ lead with 58 — his lowest total in five years. Gionta had 60 points in his final season with the Devils, his most since a career-high 89 in 2005-06.

Among those gone are Alex Kovalev, who led the Habs with 26 goals and 65 points, and longtime captain Saku Koivu. Kovalev signed with division rival Ottawa while Koivu joined Anaheim.

Carey Price is back in net after a bit of a rocky second season for Montreal. Price went 23-16-10 with a 2.83 goals-against average in 2008-09, but never seemed to recover from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for nearly three weeks in January.

Over his final 32 games including the postseason, Price was 7-16-5 with a 3.48 GAA. He also comes in having lost seven straight, but believes he can bounce back.

“I’m not really doing anything different, just working hard and staying focused,” Price told the Canadiens’ official Web site.

His counterpart, Vesa Toskala, also will be under pressure. Toronto (34-35-13) allowed a league-worst 3.49 goals per game last year and Toskala was 22-17-11 with a career-worst 3.26 GAA.

General manager Brian Burke made sweeping changes to the Maple Leafs’ blueline, adding Francois Beauchemin from the Ducks and prying Mike Komisarek away from the Canadiens. An All-Star, Komisarek spent his first six seasons with Montreal before signing a five-year, $22.5-million deal to join Toronto.

“We are extremely pleased to add a player with Mike’s ability and leadership qualities to our lineup,” Burke said. “He’s a respected competitor in this league and we know that he will bring his hard-nosed approach to our team on a consistent basis.”

Burke also added high-scoring forward Phil Kessel, who was acquired from Boston on Sept. 18 for two first-round picks and a second-round pick. Kessel led the Bruins with a career-high 36 goals last season, but won’t be available until November while recovering from rotator cuff surgery.

The Maple Leafs play five of their first seven games at Air Canada Centre, and know their defense will come under scrutiny in the early season.

“We got guys that can score, we can obviously play better defense,” forward Jason Blake said.

Montreal and Toronto split six meetings last season with each being decided by at least three goals.

Starting Line-ups

Canadiens: One year after taking the East’s top seed, Montreal had a disappointing campaign last season, costing coach Guy Carbonneau his job before the Habs barely squeaked into the final playoff spot. Montreal has had moderate success thus far, finishing 4-2-1 in the preseason, but coach Jacques Martin and GM Bob Gainey will be expecting more production out of an offense that finished eighth in the conference in scoring in 2008-09, after adding Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, and Scott Gomez. The Canadiens’ new trio of forwards totaled 200 points last season, but those points didn’t come cheaply. The three will make a combined $18 million this year.

Maple Leafs: Brian Burke’s rebuilding operation is in full swing, and the GM wasted little time molding the roster into a similar unit to the one he won a Stanley Cup with in Anaheim in 2007. Those Ducks were noted for their physical play, and with Toronto adding Francois Beauchemin, Garnet Exelby and Komisarek to accompany maturing defenseman Luke Schenn, the Leafs have enough brawn on the blue line that few teams will push them around. Newly-signed winger Colton Orr also brings toughness to the lineup. So far this has worked for Toronto, which went 6-3-0 in the preseason, but the goals may not come so quickly. Phil Kessel, perhaps the biggest fish reeled in by Burke this offseason, is out until at least mid-November.

Who’s Hot — After spending his entire career in the defensive-minded Devils organization, Gionta might be primed for a big season in Montreal. The winger is on a roll with three goals in the last three preseason games. For Toronto, Swedish winger Viktor Stahlberg is set to make his NHL debut, and if he produces as he did this past month, he’ll become a mainstay. Stahlberg finished September at a blistering pace, netting five goals in the Leafs’ final five exhibition games.

Injury Report – With Kessel out of the lineup, Toronto’s offense could prove sluggish, and the loss of Mike Van Ryn will make the Maple Leafs thinner on the blue line. The Leafs may also be without gritty center Jamal Mayers, who has not played since a collision with Pittsburgh’s Tim Wallace last week. Montreal should have a full lineup for the opener.

Stat Pack — One might assume the Kessel-less Leafs will want for scoring, but that may not be the case. Despite finishing outside the East’s top eight, Toronto ended the 2008-09 season a respectable 10th overall in goals.

Puck Drop — With the excitement of opening night, it’s unlikely either side will come out flat. Look for Montreal to unleash their newly added firepower, but don’t be surprised if Orr and Toronto’s physical blueliners attempt to establish the tone early, both for the game and the season.

Phil Kessel

Five years, $27 million for Kessel. Toronto has given Boston two first round draft picks and a second round pick.

Kessel is regarded as an outstanding talent by many.

Intrigue in this circumstance was heightened earlier today, when Kessel’s Mississauga-based agent, Wade Arnott, dropped by the Leafs’ practice facility and chatted at length with senior vice-president of hockey operations David Nonis. Arnott — though typically amicable — refused to comment on the specifics of the Kessel negotiations, but one can assume he did not huddle with Nonis to review what the two men had for dinner on Saturday. As sort of a middle-man between Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli and the Maple Leafs, Arnott clearly has a pulse on what Boston is seeking in a deal for Kessel and it’s further anticipated the agent will do his utmost to help facilitate a move to Toronto. Chiarelli, of course, holds the hammer, as he maintains the right to match any offer and to negotiate with all of the clubs interested in Kessel. In a perfect situation, one would suspect he’d rather trade Kessel out of the Northeast Division and, perhaps, the Eastern Conference to reduce the likelihood of his former player coming back to hurt the Bruins. And, that’s where Brian Burke factors in.

The Leafs’ GM is undoubtedly conscious of the fact Chiarelli would prefer to do business elsewhere, and Burke understands his equalizing factor is to offer the Bruins’ manager a package he simply cannot refuse — one substantially more attractive than that put forward by any other team. Technically, if so inclined, Burke could go to extremes in order to secure Kessel’s rights; if he were to do something ridiculous such as putting $6 or $7-million a season into a multi-year offer-sheet, it’s unlikely the Bruins would follow through on their claim to match. But, Burke also has a cap situation to manage, and it would seem terribly imprudent — not to mention hypocritical — for him to disfigure the market premium on any free agent.

Whether or not Burke, as part of a trade, should sacrifice a first-round draft pick in the post-lockout NHL is another topic for debate, though he can make the valid argument that Kessel was a first-rounder — and a legitimate one — only three years ago (chosen fifth overall by the Bruins). To include a second opening-round pick in the deal is a far greater risk, but it appears the Leafs’ GM is at least considering such a move.

Whatever the case, it should come as no surprise if a Boston-Toronto trade happens in the next 48 hours.

Brian Burke hasn’t always looked like a genius in the NHL draft. But the current general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs has made two of the most bold and memorable draft-day moves in the history of the game.

In 1993, as GM of the Hartford Whalers, he swapped a handful of draft picks for the second overall choice and selected Chris Pronger. A decade ago, facing what has emerged as one of the weakest draft pools ever, Burke bid his way to the second and third picks and then drew a pair of Sedins.

Squarely in his crosshairs today is John Tavares. While it takes two (or more) parties to make a successful swap happen, there is considerable evidence that the man just might pull it off.

Why this matters to the Leafs is not just that Tavares is considered by Burke to be the top talent available in the draft pool but that such a selection would be the closest thing to a sure thing that one can get in the draft.

So this scenario is about risk management as much as talent management. The lottery to order the top picks of the NHL draft is high profile but the real lottery is in the assessment and emergence of talent from the actual draft.

What is clear to most is that the top selections offer the best chance to acquire an NHL-calibre player who will perform at a high level. What is less clear is how those odds erode as the draft progresses.

To assess that question let’s look at the 20 drafts between 1985 and 2004 to see how careers have developed. Later draft years were excluded as many players graduating from the process have yet to fully mature. Also excluded from this analysis, for comparative reasons, are goaltenders. Note that many of the players included in the study have far from complete careers.

Of the top 30 picks from each of the drafts over the study period around 10 per cent were complete duds, failing to play even one game in the NHL.

If we expand the definition of a first-round dud to playing fewer than 200 NHL career games (perhaps an unfair definition for those drafted in the later years of this study), then more than 25 per cent would qualify. Looking at this by draft position we can count nine “failed” draft picks among the top five choices (no ‘duds’ were drafted No. 1 overall), 24 from picks 6-10, 32 from picks 11-15, 40 from picks 16-20, 33 from picks 21-25 and 38 from picks 26-30.

Does this not provide solid support for Mr. Burke’s behaviour?

The top five overall picks, especially the first pick, offer clearly reduced risk profiles. After that the first round looks a great deal like a lottery (although picks 6-10 look somewhat safer).

If you get to roll the dice often enough, a luxury many GMs don’t have, then you can think about averages more than absolutes. Below is a graph of the average performance (games played and scoring points) of forwards selected among the top 30 in the draft.

Forwards drafted No. 1 overall have averaged over 800 career games and 700 career points. Those averages fall off rapidly over the first few picks and diminish slowly as we go deeper into the first round.

Such an analysis suggests that, after the top 10 selections, there is not much difference in the value of a first-round draft pick. This is more confirmation that, beyond the blue-chip prospects, even the first round of the draft should be thought of as a lottery.

Defencemen need to be assessed separately as they are not properly measured by a focus on scoring points. While overall impact can be measured using complex methods, the simplest way to look at the impact of defenders is to look at ice time. But the NHL has captured that statistic only recently in its history. The next best proxy is games played.

Below is a graph of the average games played (and points) of defencemen selected among the top 30.

Alan Ryder

Because the dataset is smaller, this is a noisier-looking graph. But the games played profile looks similar and the conclusions reached for forwards would also seem to apply to blueliners.

If the latter part of the first round is a lottery, what does that say about later rounds?

Over the study period the NHL grew from 21 to 30 teams. To study the value of a later-round pick we need to normalize for this. Let’s group the first 30 draft picks as “Tier 1”, the second 30 picks as “Tier 2” and so on. And let’s chop the data off after 240 picks (Tier due to variations in the length of the draft. The data already reviewed suggests that it might also be helpful to split Tier 1 into the top 10 picks (Tier 1a) and the subsequent 20 picks (Tier 1b).

Below is a graph of player performance by draft tier.

Alan Ryder

Intuition tells us that the value of a draft pick ought to diminish with picks that are deeper in the draft. Sure enough, Tier 1 picks outperform those in later tiers. But this analysis also suggests that there is not much difference in expected player performance between the subsequent rounds of the NHL draft.

That there is no material difference in the value of a draft pick after the first round is further strong evidence that the draft is largely a lottery. Some very talented players, such as Theo Fleury, Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have emerged from quite deep in the draft. And this assessment has ignored goaltenders. A large number of today’s No. 1 goaltenders were selected with a low pick.

How does one increase the chances of winning a lottery? Hold more tickets. Want to reduce the overall risk in draft results? Make more picks.

The selection of a blue-chip prospect substantially reduces draft execution and concentrates talent in one player – both good outcomes. But the relative value of late picks is higher than one might think. To build a successful team over time one needs to believe in these dynamics.

Ken Holland has built the Red Wings into a powerhouse by, among other things, successfully managing this lottery. No other general manager has done so much with so little.

In Toronto the story has been different. The Leafs have historically been short on draft picks. In particular, Cliff Fletcher did not apply this data as the interim GM in Toronto. As he was cleaning house he traded away more picks than he acquired.

Burke’s pursuit of John Tavares suggests that he gets it. In this case the improved certainty of outcome is as valuable as the improvement in talent.

Having John Tavares in Toronto is much closer to happening now. In light of Tampa Bay’s known money problems, with Malone being paid between $7 and 8 million this coming season, this trade makes financial sense for the Lightning. Tavares would give the Leafs that young gun they need to build around.

More details to follow as this story develops.

Here is the complete interview.

With a number of players available in Toronto, the Maple Leafs could be inching closer towards pulling the trigger on another trade this season.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, the Lightning is thin on the blueline and has had interest in Maple Leafs defenseman Ian White.

Leafs GM Brian Burke has been working the phones and is in constant talk with several of his counterparts.

White is among several players available for trade, including the likes of forwards Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Jason Blake, defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Pavel Kubina, and goalie Vesa Toskala.

TSN Reports that Mat Sundin is now a Vancouver Canuck. Terms of the deal have no been disclosed (yet).

Ron Wilson’s Fascination With Technology Puts Him At Forefront Of The Coaching Profession

By Ross McKeon

Ron Wilson was 10 years old when his grandfather taught him to type. Those long summer days, spent in a Canadian Pacific Railway office where his grandfather repaired communications equipment, were a lot of fun once Wilson learned how to work that intriguing Teletype machine.

He’d remove the tape of what he typed, insert it into another machine, and just like magic, Wilson’s words would appear on a screen.

That got Wilson thinking.

“He instilled in me that love for technical stuff,” Wilson said of his mother’s father. “We’d take apart a TV for the heck of it. He’d show me how things work.”

A hockey career, first as a player and then a coach, has replaced his childhood interest, and advanced technology has rendered Teletypes obsolete, but Wilson’s enthusiasm to blend the two remains unparalleled.

Ronald Laurence Wilson is a man devoted to hockey. He’s married, has two grown-up daughters, loves to play golf, go to the movies and enjoys playing practical jokes.

And then there’s his endless fascination with technology. Armed with the database software he designed to compile statistics, Wilson feeds information of what happens on the ice into a computer, sees what is spit out and uses the results as a tool to coach more effectively.

“Ron has always been very computer-oriented. When I was with him, we were the first team to use the technology to our advantage,” says Tim Army, who spent nine years with Wilson as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Washington Capitals. “Over the years, there have been a number of upgrades and the [computer] programs continue to get better. Ron’s always been on top of all the latest innovations.”

Wilson completed his 11th year of coaching in the NHL, a season that was as personally satisfying as any other. After replacing Darryl Sutter in San Jose halfway through the 2002-03 season, Wilson rallied the Sharks from a disappointing last-place finish to a franchise-record 104-point regular season, a second Pacific Division title and the team’s first visit to the Stanley Cup semifinals.

After ironically bowing out against a team — Calgary — that the man he replaced — Sutter — now coached, Wilson resumed his long-standing relationship with USA Hockey and led the Americans again in the World Cup of Hockey in late summer. Wilson returned to help defend the U.S. victory in ’96, the last time the World Cup took place. And just like his time with the Sharks, his handy laptop was present during the World Cup.

He doesn’t go anywhere without it.

“When I got involved in coaching, I didn’t know if I had a shot at being a head coach,” Wilson admitted, “but I wanted to have something that I could bring and would be invaluable to a coaching staff.”

It was following an NHL playing career in which he played parts of seven seasons with Toronto and Minnesota (26 goals, 93 points in 177 games), and after spending parts of six others in Europe, that the former defenseman started to dabble with computer programs in an effort to store and analyze information about players. It was in the late 1980s, while playing in Switzerland, when a friend taught Wilson simple programming language for computers.

That ingenuity impressed expansion Anaheim enough to make Wilson its first head coach in 1993. Something must be working, because in all three stops — with the Mighty Ducks, Washington and San Jose — Wilson has achieved the postseason.

“I knew nobody would be doing this kind of stuff and that would help me get a job,” said Wilson, who was raised in Riverside, R.I. “That would keep me in the game by keeping a step or two ahead of them with the technology.”

Isn’t it a coincidence Wilson wound up coaching a team in Silicon Valley, the home of Bill Gates, microchips and often the latest in computer technology?

“I’ll probably be in the junk heap with all the other broken-down computer executives when it’s all said and done,” Wilson said with a laugh.

The only heap on which he was tossed last season was for coach-of-the-year honors. In the end, Wilson finished runner-up as American-born John Tortorella of Tampa Bay won the Jack Adams Trophy.

One piece of technology the finalists besides Wilson didn’t have at their disposal, along with the other 27 teams in the league, was a portable tablet personal computer the Sharks employed on their bench toward the end of the season and throughout the playoffs.

The computer receives a television feed of the game, which coaches can stop, replay, slow down, etc., to enable them to make quick adjustments without having to wait for an intermission.

A product of Providence College, the 49-year-old Wilson, whose father, Larry, and uncle, Johnny, won Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, knew he had to do things his way at the start of last season. Wilson let everyone know in training camp not only who was boss but how things would work.

General manager Doug Wilson (no relation) supported the effort by getting everyone signed and into camp on time.

And despite a slow start with one win in 10 games to open the season, momentum was building.

“The main thing is, everyone bought into the system,” Sharks captain Patrick Marleau said. “If a coach can do that, he’s going to have success.”

Rob Zettler, who became an assistant coach after spending a portion of his playing career as a Shark, said Wilson has made hockey a thinking-man’s game, making mental preparation just as important as being physically ready night after night.

“You think as a player you know the game coming in, then you realize after working with someone like Ron you have a long way to go,” Zettler said. “His overall knowledge of the game from A to Z is really impressive.”

Wilson didn’t need a computer to tell him how this team would have success. He instilled a puck-control system that utilizes speed and backside pressure from the defense. He demanded attention to detail with an emphasis on cutting down on goals against and getting downright stingy on the penalty kill.

“They think you make decisions based on a computer program. No. We don’t even show them what we’re doing,” said Wilson, who also digitally combines music and movie clips into hockey videos that he shows to players to provide motivation.

“I put this stuff together to support my own gut feeling about what’s going on. I always want to make sure what I’m seeing and what I’m feeling I can back up with some facts.”

Ross McKeon covers the San Jose Sharks for the San Francisco Chronicle.

You are welcome to post your revisions in the comments section.

Nik Antropov

B+

One of the only bright spots on a horrible Leaf team this year, was Nik Antropov. Starting the season off at a strong point-per-game production, Nik looked like all the trades that the Leafs had held off on, started to make sense…until he got injured …again. Why he wasn’t traded at the deadline is beyond me. Cliff Fletcher said he was “untouchable”.

Boyd Devereaux

B

Another bright spot on the hopelessly bad Toronto squad, was Boyd Devereaux. Every shift was played conscientiously, with a strong work ethic and sound defensive play. A solid role player.

Dominic Moore

B-

A smart waiver pick-up by JFJ, Moore, in the same vein as Devereaux, plays a strong checking game and plays hard every shift. He lacks puck smarts and good vision but is a good deal at close to the league minimum.

Kris Newbury

C+

While not the prettiest skater, when he was given a role on the Leafs team he immediately added some grit to a team that lacked emotion or any sign of toughness. He demonstrated that he was a very good player at the AHL level and deserves another shot at a full time slot on the Leafs with his workman like attitude, he is a strong commodity.

Matt Stajan

D

After another disappointing season that started with high hopes and promise, Stajan has managed to disappoint in every department. Once being touted as blue-chip prospect, the 24 year old and 4 season NHL veteran has proven not: Offensively gifted, a defensively minded, a “body checker”, a faceoff specialist, a powerplay specialist, a penalty kill specialist. At best a top four center Stajan has proven soft with little imagination or desire to drive to the net and generally gets beat man-on-man in puck battles along the board or behind the net. The touted future captain, he is not.

Mats Sundin

A

Consistency. One word to sum up the Leaf captain. Sundin produces at a point a game and hasn’t dipped off that pace his whole career. Highlighted with big-time clutch goals and overtime heroics. Sundin’s fitness has been getting better and better with age. A common sight used to be a winded Sundin gasping for breath on the bench. He seems to be skating as good, or better than he has his whole career – this year in particular. Unfortunately, Sundin has been flanked by players that are not up to his caliber and this has affected his output. The question remains if he will retire or play another season with the Leafs.

Jiri Tlusty

N/A

Embarrassing pictures aside Tlusty’s first season in the NHL was a disappointment. leafsnews.com has not entirely closed the book on this Czech import but due to mismanagement by the coaching staff it is impossible to say if he will live up to his high draft billing. Tlusty, touted as a future star capable of putting up quality offensive numbers was used very poorly by the team. On a team that should be focused on rebuilding he received limited minutes and when he did see the ice he did so in a checking capacity. Though he did show flashes of offense he was never given very much powerplay time and only rarely was he put into a scoring role on the team. At the end of the season, he did see more ice time and more responsibility and put up some numbers to show for it.

Kyle Wellwood

D

While the season started with high hopes for Wellwood, he just never seemed right the whole season. His hernia injury seemed to hamper the entire season and he never really got it together to produce at his projected rate. With grumblings of little or no fitness training, Wellwood’s commitment is being called into question. An enigma that has the tools to be a powerplay specialist or a good second line center will never come to fruition if he can’t sort out his fitness issues.

Mark Bell

N/A

One of the few Leafs that would hit on a shift-by-shift basis, Bell could never shake the black cloud that seemed to hanging over his head. Didn’t display the timing that you would expect from an NHL caliber player, but that can be expect due to suspensions, a lack practice and an injury that put him out for a good portion of the season.

Jason Blake

D+

Medical issues aside, Jason Blake’s first year in the blue and white has been a major disappointment. Not only has he proven not to be the scoring winger management had hoped for he has actually hindered this clubs offensive production by taking too many meaningless perimeter shots, not passing the puck, making too many solo rushes up the ice and making timely give aways. Though he does play a high energy game and drives hard to the net – rarely do his efforts create results. Furthermore his role on the power play created confusion between his and Darcy Tuckers roles within the team.

Alexei Ponikarovsky

C

While being thrust into a 1st line role and often seen playing with Antropov and Sundin, he is not a 1st line player. A good skater and a strong forechecker, he often lacks finish and can squander great scoring chances. At 6’4 and 220, he is a valuable big player for the Leafs, but only if he uses his size.

Alexander Steen

C-

Steen has been the one piece of many Leaf trades that never happened. Chris Pronger to Toronto for Tomas Kaberle was supposed to be a deal that was in the works. The Leafs would not offer up Steen . Time after time they held onto him and in his rookie campaign, he was one of the most complete players – even given his young age. Finished his checks (always), back-checked effectively and showed some amazing offensive creativity, if lacking a little bit in the finishing department. Since then, it has been a steady downward spiral. Perhaps it was Pat Quinn’s run and gun style of hockey that suited Steen better and Maurice being a more defensively minded coach is playing too heavily on the mind of a player that is already defensively conscience. His physical play has dropped off to nothing and he is a gifted 3rd line center at his current pace.

Darcy Tucker

D

Darcy Tucker was invisible in most games this year. A huge disappointment, considering his big production last season at almost 30 goals

Jeremy Williams

C+

After scoring in a three NHL games he was called up for (over three years) Jeremy Williams showed some speed, smarts and a little bit of grit to earn him some more looks for next season.

Carlo Colaiacovo

B-

Another season, more injuries. More frustration…both for Carlo and for the fans. Just when he looks like a top 3 defenseman, Carlo seems to get injured. WHEN healthy, Carlo hits hard, rushes the puck, makes a good first pass, is strong on the puck and pinches (sometimes too much). He makes mistakes, but has the wheels and smarts to cover up (most of the time). Everyone seems to be rooting for Carlo and we all hope he has a good offseason to recover and train. On occasion, Carlo was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ best defenseman.

Tomas Kaberle

C-

A low point producing affair for Tomas who looked a little lost when McCabe started to tank this season. Towards the end of the season he started to play well with Kubina, but it was too little too late. Another player that seems to bring frustration to leafs nation, Tomas wins the accuracy competition at the all-star game but refuses to shoot the puck. His low points performance makes his 1-on-1 work all the more glaring.

Staffan Kronwall

N/A

Staffan did not have a enough ice-time to warrant a fair assessment. He fit in well at the end of the season and played a ‘steady-eddie’ style game and a played physical shut down style of defence. His footwork is still a little slow and he’ll have his work cut out for him at training camp.

Pavel Kubina

B-

The much maligned Kubina really came into his own on the stretch run for the Leafs this year. With more confidence and added ice-time, Kubina showed why he was one of the pieces to Tampa Bay’s cup run in 2004. More (good) shots to the net and rushing the puck in areas that he normally wouldn’t, allowed Kubina to shine. Lets hope for continued improvement for next season.

Bryan McCabe

D

I think this sums up McCabe’s season.

Anton Stralman

C+

Stralman was a highly touted rookie coming into the season and after he was called up and stayed up on the big team, he scored some big goals at the end of the season and showed he has the touch and skating ability, not unlike his teammate Tomas Kaberle. He needs to be get stronger, and improve his defensive play. He looks to be a star in the making.

Ian White

D
Ian White has taken many steps back since originally making the team in 2006. His work in his own zone -specifically the corners- is shoddy at best. He has not proven to be the rushing defensman the leafs hoped for and although he boasts a hard shot he is ineffective on the powerplay and rarely hits the net. Ian White is not an NHL caliber defenseman.

Andrew Raycroft

F-

Vesa Toskala

A-

After he frustratingly had to earn the starting goaltending role in Toronto, Vesa never looked back. He was considered to be one of the best goalies on the eastern conference in the latter half of the season and with good reason. He had the odd night off, but for the most part he was excellent.

It has taken an impressive run without their top two scorers to even keep the Toronto Maple Leafs’ longshot bid for a playoff spot alive. Even Steven Harper is on the bandwagon.

With two more wins this week, the prospects for postseason in Toronto could become a whole lot more likely.

The Leafs will seek to win their fourth straight game while handing the eighth-place Boston Bruins their fourth straight loss as the teams begin a home-and-home series in Toronto on Tuesday.

Toronto’s recent run of five wins in six games may not have been as relevant if it hadn’t been accompanied by continued struggles by the Bruins, whose grip on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference has loosened after losses in six of their last seven and nine of 11.

“We’re showing what keeping the faith can do for a team,” Toronto’s Alex Steen said. “We don’t quit.”

The Maple Leafs (35-31-10) are still in 12th place in the East, and must pass Florida, Buffalo, Washington and the Bruins to earn a playoff berth, but they’re only four points behind Boston (37-28-10). They’ve played one more game than the Bruins, but can tie their Northeast Division rivals with a pair of regulation wins over them this week.

They may have to continue to do it without both Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov, however. Sundin, who leads the team with 77 points, has missed the last four games with a groin injury, while Antropov – second on the squad with 52 points – has been out for three games with a knee problem.

Toronto has won three straight anyway – all on the road – including wins in the last two games at Buffalo and Ottawa. The Leafs beat the Senators 5-4 on Saturday, erasing a 4-2 deficit with three straight goals, including the winner in the final period by Matt Stajan.

“This was a big win for us,” Stajan said. “We’re battling for our lives, and with the injuries we have we’re showing what kind of guys we have. We’re not going to give up.”

A win over the Bruins would be even bigger. Boston appeared all but assured of a playoff spot a few weeks ago, but has seen its lead shrink to just two points over Washington.

The Bruins, already on their third three-game losing streak this month, have only managed more than two goals in a game once in March. In its last 12 games, Boston has only 18 goals.

The Bruins earned a point for the first time in eight games this season against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, but still lost 3-2 in a shootout.

“It’s kind of like a broken record, but we have a hard time finishing and scoring goals and it always seems to come back and bite us,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told the team’s official Web site. “We’re going to have to find ways to put pucks in.”

Defense was the problem against Toronto on March 6, when the Leafs won 8-2 in Boston. Antropov and Sundin combined for three goals and two assists in that game.

Leafs scored 4 powerplay goals.McCabe had a goal and an assist while captain Mats Sundin had 3 points. Antropov scored 2 goals and Jason Blake had a couple of points to kill the bruins.

GAME RE-CAP(NHL.COM):

BOSTON (AP) -The Toronto Maple Leafs might have been the only ones thinking they were in a playoff chase a month ago. Now, the rest of the Eastern Conference better pay attention.

Bryan McCabe had a goal and an assist during a four-goal second period to lead the resurgent Maple Leafs to an 8-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan and Nik Antropov also scored in the second as Toronto turned a tight game into a rout. Antropov finished with two goals.

Toronto, which looked to be buried outside the conference’s tight playoff chase three weeks ago, won for the seventh time in 10 games. The Maple Leafs are six points behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot.

“I think it’s something all of us believed in clearly,” left wing Alex Steen said. “We’ve certainly kept the faith and believed we can make the playoffs. The last five weeks or so we’ve played pretty solid hockey.”

Toronto scored four power-play goals.

“Were going to have to stay in the fight in the games were not playing those guys and then do what we did tonight,” Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve got to win those games against the teams were trying to catch.”

Boston has had big problems lately. The Bruins, who won six straight before a current three-game losing streak, have lost a pair of lopsided games this week, also dropping a 10-2 decision against Washington on Monday.

“I don’t think it’s time to panic,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “It’s certainly time to make the adjustments and address. I don’t know if it’s we’re totally out of sync or the pressure. We’ve just got to take a step back.”

Peter Schaefer and Phil Kessel had the goals for Boston.

“I’m not going to take any credit away from Toronto. They played a good game, too. They’re fighting for their lives,” Bruins center Marc Savard said. “It’s like weve got to get back to doing that for us.”

Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin played his 1,300th career game, becoming the NHL’s 46th player to reach that mark, and scored his team-leading 30th goal. He has 553 in his career.

The game was tied 1-1 after one period before the Maple Leafs chased Boston goaltender Tim Thomas in the second.

“We’re just a little fragile right now,” Thomas said. “We haven’t really been that all year.”

Ponikarovsky scored when his shot caromed in off the right post, making it 2-1 at 1:17. McCabe’s wrister from the left circle ricocheted off Boston forward Chuck Kobasew’s skate and past Thomas just 3:31 later.

The Bruins’ goaltender then allowed a pair of weak goals before being pulled with 8:10 left in the period.

Stajan scored on a tough angle, slipping a shot between Thomas’ pads from along the goal line outside the right post, to make it 4-1.

Antropov’s 25th of the season, a wrist shot from the right circle, made it 5-1. Thomas came out and slid kind of awkwardly to his side as the puck slipped under his body.

After Thomas was replaced by Alex Auld, he headed straight for the runway and down the ramp that leads to the dressing room before returning to the bench late in the period.

Darcy Tucker had a power-play goal in the third, Antropov added his second, and Sundin scored with 4:55 to play.

Boston grabbed a 1-0 lead on Schaefer’s goal 11:40 into the game, but Toronto tied it on Jason Blake’s power-play score 3:02 later.

Notes: The Maple Leafs entered with the league’s 24th ranked power play. … It was the teams’ sixth meeting, with Boston winning the first three. … Thomas was also pulled in his last start at Washington on Monday. … Sundin has six goals and seven assists in his last seven games.

Toronto has won three straight against the Bruins after dropping the first three meetings this season.

UPDATE: BURKE SIGNS WITH LEAFS (NOV. 27th/2008)

L.B.D. made a great post about the Anaheim/Toronto trade situation and the one thing that came to mind was that if Burke makes this deal with Toronto and accepts the reputed 6-year position as the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, then is he in a conflict of interest?

Perhaps he will pull a trade off with Toronto and accept this position loaded with his prospect (possibly Bobby Ryan) and a 1st round pick, the 4th overall courtesy of Edmonton (likely to be Luke Schenn (D), Zach Bogosian (D) or Michael Del Zotto (D) for Sundin and Antropov. He starts his new position in good stead, loaded with 1st round picks and a proven prospect. Would he mind getting his short term results with Sundin and Antropov in Anaheim and knowing that they are immediate favorites with Sundin looking to be on a line with Selanne and Bertuzzi (Yikes!) and then move to his post in Toronto with youthful picks and prospects?

A week ago it looked like it will be hard to take Detroit in the Western Conference. Anaheim has much depth at defense, debatably the best in the league. Adding Sundin to that team takes them into another category. The injury to Lidstrom in Detroit has to make Burke smile and believe with all sincerity that Anaheim will repeat as Stanley Cup champions and that in just a few short days, the tables have turned.

Former Leaf GM, Bill Watters said today that Toronto has a GM that is NOT currently employed in the NHL, which lead to speculation that it is one of either Anaheim Assistant GM Dave McNab, Detroit assistant GM Jim Nill, Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson, or the director of NHL Discipline Colin Campbell. This would go against the mission statement of Richard Peddie, Gord Kirke and Cliff Fletcher of going with a GM with a proven track record, as these potential candidates have no GM experience. Toronto would be put back into a similar situation that they had with John Ferguson Jr. – a hockey executive with no GM experience being moved into the most public and scrutinized job in hockey.

Interesting fodder for the coming days and months here in Leaf Nation.

It seemed like a far fetched idea that Toronto could get a top pick, but if we continue at the current pace we might be in a good position to get one of the great young players coming through the draft.

2008 OHL All-Star Classic Rosters

Western Conference All-Stars

Goaltenders
Steve Mason, Kitchener Rangers
Jeremy Smith, Plymouth Whalers

Defencemen
Michael Caruso, Guelph Storm
Wes Cunningham, Plymouth Whalers
Drew Doughty, Guelph Storm
Josh Godfrey, S.S. Marie Greyhounds
David Kolomatis, Owen Sound Attack
Yannick Weber, Kitchener Rangers

Forwards
Justin Azevedo, Kitchener Rangers
Jack Combs, Saginaw Spirit
Justin DiBenedetto, Sarnia Sting
Matt Halischuk, Kitchener Rangers
Justin Hodgman, Erie Otters
Dustin Jeffrey, S.S. Marie Greyhounds
Pat Maroon, London Knights
Wayne Simmonds, S.S. Marie Greyhounds
Bradley Snetsinger, Windsor Spitfires
Nick Spaling, Kitchener Rangers
Steve Stamkos, Sarnia Sting
Chris Terry, Plymouth Whalers

Eastern Conference All-Stars

Goaltenders
Mike Murphy, Belleville Bulls
Bryan Pitton, Brampton Battalion

Defencemen
Zach Bogosian, Peterborough Petes
Tyler Cuma, Ottawa 67’s
Ryan McGinnis, Oshawa Generals
Alex Pietrangelo, Niagara IceDogs
Bobby Sanguinetti, Brampton Battalion
P.K. Subban, Belleville Bulls

Forwards
Matt Beleskey, Belleville Bulls
Luca Caputi, Niagara IceDogs
Logan Couture, Ottawa 67’s
Kaspars Daugavins, St. Michael’s Majors
Stefan Legein, Niagara IceDogs
Brett MacLean, Oshawa Generals
Cody Hodgson, Brampton Battalion
Alex Hutchings, Barrie Colts
Shawn Matthias, Belleville Bulls
Nathan Moon, Kingston Frontenacs
Jared Staal, Sudbury Wolves
John Tavares, Oshawa Generals 

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
01:18 Keith Tkachuk, Assists: Bryce Salvador and David Backes
05:41 Keith Tkachuk, Assists: Jay McKee
12:17 Jason Blake, Assists: Darcy Tucker and Dominic Moore
2nd Period
10:55 David Backes, Assists: Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya
15:11 Matt Stajan, Assists: Jason Blake and Darcy Tucker
3rd Period
NONE

PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
07:08 Gill, H. : Holding – 2 min
14:17 Mayers, J. : Tripping – 2 min
2nd Period
04:31 Kubina, P. : Hooking – 2 min
05:38 Brewer, E. : Tripping – 2 min
11:47 Perron, D. : Holding – 2 min
3rd Period
15:03 Salvador, B. : Hooking – 2 min
16:21 Antropov, N. : Holding the stick – 2 min

SHOTS ON GOAL
1st 2nd 3rd T
St Louis 7 5 7 19
Toronto 11 7 7 25

Saves – Shots
Goalies Team EV PP SH Total
Legace STL 18 – 20 4 – 4 1 – 1 23 – 25
Toskala TM 11 – 14 4 – 4 1 – 1 16 – 19

St Louis Skaters
G A +/- SH PIM TOI
Tkachuk 2 0 2 3 0 15:27
Kariya 0 1 1 3 0 16:43
Mayers 0 0 0 2 2 13:59
Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 15:18
Salvador 0 1 1 0 2 20:04
McKee 0 1 2 0 0 20:22
Hinote 0 0 0 1 0 14:55
Brewer 0 0 1 1 2 23:53
Jackman 0 0 -2 1 0 24:37
McDonald 0 0 0 1 0 18:21
Boyes 0 0 -1 0 0 16:59
McClement 0 0 -1 0 0 14:10
King 0 0 0 1 0 6:45
Backes 1 1 2 2 0 15:57
Stempniak 0 0 0 2 0 15:40
Johnson 0 1 2 1 0 12:48
Wagner 0 0 -2 1 0 16:22
Perron 0 0 0 0 2 9:56

Toronto Skaters
G A +/- SH PIM TOI
Sundin 0 0 -1 1 0 22:48
Tucker 0 2 1 2 0 19:24
Gill 0 0 -1 0 2 17:50
Belak 0 0 0 1 0 3:53
Kilger 0 0 0 1 0 14:24
Kaberle 0 0 -1 3 0 26:41
Kubina 0 0 -1 3 2 26:15
Antropov 0 0 -1 2 2 21:22
Pohl 0 0 -1 0 0 8:22
Blake 1 1 1 6 0 21:00
Moore 0 1 0 1 0 14:22
Colaiacovo 0 0 1 0 0 14:48
Wellwood 0 0 0 0 0 10:20
Stajan 1 0 0 2 0 20:27
Newbury 0 0 0 0 0 3:58
White 0 0 1 0 0 20:34
Stralman 0 0 -1 1 0 14:04
Tlusty 0 0 -2 2 0 14:43

Other Facts
Attendance: 19363
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Don VanMassenhoven
Linesmen: Steve Miller, Mark Shewchyk

Watch him, as he micromanages a 72 year old hockey man on his first day (back) on the job.

Clearly, Peddie wrote this speech for Cliff Fletcher.

Video available HERE

“After full consideration of the Leafs’ situation, it has become clear that change and a new direction is needed,” Richard Peddie, president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement. “The decision has been made that John will not be receiving a new contract at the end of this year, and it’s in the best interests of the Leafs and of John to begin the transition immediately.”

Ferguson was informed of the news by Peddie on Tuesday morning. A news conference was set for 1 p.m. ET at the Air Canada Centre.

When reached by e-mail Tuesday, Ferguson declined to comment.

“John has been given the opportunity and the resources he requested to deliver results from the strategic plans that he put in place when he was named general manager in 2003, and while the new collective bargaining agreement required some re-shaping of those plans, the results have fallen short of what our organization, including John, and our fans expect,” added Peddie.

“We will always be grateful to John for his passion, dedication and commitment to putting a winning team on the ice. He’s a man of the highest integrity, who withstood often unfair public criticism with dignity and class. He represented our organization and our community in a first class manner. We wish him well in what we expect will be a long and productive hockey career.”

The MLSE board of directors met on Monday and decided to make the change.

Fletcher first served as GM of the Maple Leafs from 1991 to 1997, twice leading the team to the Western Conference finals. The 72-year-old is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“Cliff Fletcher is the ideal person to lay the groundwork of positive change for the Leafs,” said Peddie. “As all of our general managers have had, he will have the autonomy and responsibility for all hockey decisions with a focus on establishing a foundation from which the next general manager can build. He will guide us through the upcoming trade deadline and toward the draft and free agent signing period.”

Leafs head coach Paul Maurice left the ice during practice Tuesday morning and was seen huddling with Peddie before returning to practice.

Speculation about Ferguson’s future with the club has been swirling recently as the club has struggled in January.

The Leafs missed the playoffs the past two years and are in 14th place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference standings with a 19-22-5-3 record. But they have won three of their last four games.

It looks like the day has finally come for Toronto Maple Leaf fans to celebrate.

Sportsnet.ca says:

“The Leafs have finally made a managerial move, but just what that is still uncertain.

Despite reports Tuesday suggesting John Ferguson’s tenure is finished with the Maple Leafs, CEO Richard Peddie said “I have not fired John,” when contacted by Sportsnet.ca.

A formal announcement is expected later today.”

…and TSN says:

“John Ferguson Jr.’s tenure as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks as though it is coming to an end.

Sources tell TSN the Maple Leafs board of directors met on Monday and decided to make a change. A formal announcement is expected today.

Despite the fact the team has been on a bit of a roll lately with a 3-1 record in its last four games, the rumour mill has continued to churn concerning Ferguson’s fate.

It’s still possible that Cliff Fletcher – set to return from his vacation in Mexico – could become the team’s interim general manager.

The Leafs contacted a number of hockey management types last week to gauge their interest in the job and asked Fletcher if he was interested in taking over for the rest of the 2007-08 campaign.

Fletcher, a Montreal native and Hockey Hall of Famer, was GM of the Leafs from 1991 to 1997.”

I think that you’ll see John Ferguson Jr. as the Head of Scouting or a similar role. He has done a very good job of scouting overseas and sourcing talent like Tlusty, Stralman and Kulemin.

JFJ had a seriously rebuilding program in place that would have dismantled the team and started with young picks. His plan was shot down by the board at MLSE and he had to continue with the current crop of older, fringe players.

Stay tuned…

Sportsnet has learned that the Toronto Maple Leafs called the Phoenix Coyotes Wednesday for permission to speak to Cliff Fletcher.

The Toronto Maple Leafs called the Phoenix Coyotes Wednesday for permission to speak to Cliff Fletcher, Sportsnet has learned.

Fletcher, 72, is under contract to the Coyotes for both this season and next. He was fired last year, along with general manager Mike Barnett, after seven seasons as an executive with the club.

If Fletcher is hired by the Maple Leafs, his role will likely be that of a caretaker GM while MLSE tries to find a more permanent replacement. Most of the bigger names, such as Ken Holland of Detroit, Jim Rutherford of Carolina and Brian Burke of Anaheim, wouldn’t leave their teams until the off-season — if at all.

Fletcher, a Montreal native and Hockey Hall of Famer, was GM of the Leafs from 1991 to 1997 and oversaw a revival of the Original Six franchise. His blockbuster trade for Doug Gilmour and back-to-back trips to the conference final in 1993 and 1994 were the highlights of a successful tenure before he was fired in 1997.

He was also GM of the Calgary Flames during the organization’s first 19 years in the NHL and built the Flames’ one and only Stanley Cup champion in 1989.

UPDATE: FLETCHER NAMED NEW GM

LOS ANGELES — It appears John Ferguson will not serve out the final months of his contract as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In light of the Maple Leafs’ most recent losing streak, which culminated in a 5-2 loss Thursday night to the last-place team in the NHL, the Los Angeles Kings, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Richard Peddie said Friday morning that the board will be discussing Ferguson’s future very soon. His contract expires in June.

Peddie said that, contrary to other reports, the MLSE board did not have a meeting scheduled for next week. However, after the loss to the Kings, which was the Leafs’ 10th in their last 12 games, at least some directors have been in contact with Peddie, who is on the Leafs’ California trip and watched the disaster first-hand.

Peddie said it is too early to say what the board will do but indicated the directors do not need to meet in person to discuss Ferguson’s fate. That means something could happen in the next few days by conference call or other electronic communication.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson answers a question during a media availability in Toronto on Sept. 12, 2007. (Frank Gunn/CP)

“Clearly, we’ve got a problem but to say what our action [will be] is premature,” Peddie said. “But we owe it to the people involved to hear [the directors' plans] first, not [the media].

“It was out there that there’s a board meeting next week but there isn’t. But the board members are wired. They have Blackberrys and I’ve heard from some of them. Let’s say I’m in contact [with the board].”

Peddie said the directors are “very aware” of the crisis within the team and the anger of the fans.

“If we think we need to do something, we’ll do it when the timing is right.”

When asked if that time has come, Peddie said, “It’s not a good time,” but did not elaborate. However, the full context of his remarks indicated perhaps it is not a good time today because the board has not had a chance to discuss Ferguson’s fate. That time could arrive in the next few days.

Sources close to the MLSE board say Ferguson is on his way out as GM. But no one can say just when because it appears the board does not have a succession plan in place yet.

Peddie did say that Ferguson has never approached the board about firing head coach Paul Maurice. While Peddie would not say so, sources also indicate the board will not give Ferguson permission to fire Maurice, probably because the GM could be fired himself in the near future. The decision on Maurice would be left to the interim or next GM.

News that Peddie was on the trip caused a stir in the media, although it was planned months in advance and had nothing to do with the team’s performance. But the timing could not have been worse for Ferguson and Maurice because the team was outscored 10-2 in losses to the Anaheim Ducks and the Kings.

“Obviously, it’s a very, very difficult time for our players, for the organization, for our fans,” Peddie said. “You can’t sugar-coat this. It’s very difficult to watch, it’s very difficult not to get depressed.

“I never intended this trip to be a hockey trip per se, to look over John’s shoulder, but at same time I’m here. One thing is that there are a lot of Leaf fans on this trip. I’m running into them all the time. Amongst Leaf fans, I feel their angst big-time.”

Peddie also said Ferguson has the freedom to make any trades he feels necessary as long as he is still the GM. He admitted they have discussed various scenarios but said none of them involved Leaf captain Mats Sundin.

“We speculated upon certain things but not Mats,” Peddie said. “We never talked about Mats in that context.”

Ferguson could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Maple Leafs, perhaps the continent’s most scrutinized pro franchise, lost big to the Ducks on Wednesday and are no closer to relieving the pressure at home.

MARK WHICKER

Register columnist

ANAHEIM — A hockey player wants to go where everybody knows his name.

But not necessarily his number, his salary, his plus-minus figure in his past 100 games, his favorite bar and the names of his kids.

That is the tradeoff when you join the Toronto Maple Leafs, who spend their home games locked between a hug and a stranglehold.

The Maple Leafs were able to hang around Fashion Island this week and enjoy an uninterrupted meal or two. Outside Toronto they are no longer prisoners of their fame. On Wednesday night, they were just prisoners.

They banged away fruitlessly at Jean-Sebastien Giguere and then watched Todd Bertuzzi (on Mathieu Schneider’s breakout pass) and Corey Perry counterpunch for first-period goals. The Ducks won, 5-0, and Toronto receded to 16-19-8, the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.

By the way, the disappointing and underachieving Ducks are 8-2-2 since Dec. 16, or since Scott Niedermayer returned and Doug Weight showed up.

“We’ve been bombarded with issues from the beginning,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “As coaches, we often said we wished we could put this team under glass and protect it. Now we’ve reached a point where things are more settled.”

The Maple Leafs remain under siege.

Now that the Boston Red Sox rule baseball, there is no team anywhere that returns fewer victories per snapshot than Toronto, especially in a time when everybody with a cell phone is a papparazzo.

“If you followed Mats Sundin around for a day, you’d see what he goes through,” said Brian Burke, the Ducks general manager. “The big thing now is having people snap your picture everywhere you go, with those phones.

“When I was in Vancouver we used to mock them and say Toronto must be the capital of hockey, but the truth is that it is.”

He’s right, until the puck drops.

The Maple Leafs were in conference finals in ’93, ’94, ’99 and ’04, but they haven’t reached a Stanley Cup Final since they won the trophy over Montreal in ’67 — which was the final year of the six-team NHL. They missed the playoffs in the two salary-cap seasons, ’06 and ’07.

Since ’93, no Leaf has won one of the major NHL postseason trophies since Alexander Mogilny was non-violent enough to be selected the Lady Byng winner in 2003. No Leaf has been voted a first-team All-NHL player since defenseman Borje Salming in 1977.

And no Leaf has been drafted higher than 10th in the first round since 1992 (Brandon Convery, 8th), which helps explain it.

Few coaches envy Toronto’s roster, but every vice president of accounting thirsts for the Leafs’ P&L statement. Forbes Magazine recently judged the Leafs the most valuable franchise in the NHL, worth $411 million.

The headline on that story was “Winning Isn’t Everything.” Some in Toronto wonder if winning even makes the agenda.

But losing doesn’t seem to break the fever. “The seats on the glass there go for $350,” Burke said, and that’s not funny money anymore, since the Canadian dollar is worth more than ours.

Any scrap of information about the Leafs becomes a blood diamond. At every practice and morning skate, there are cameras from six TV outlets, along with at least one reporter from each of Toronto’s four newspapers, and the usual posse of radio folks. The writers estimate that at least 90 percent of talk-show callers want to talk Leafs, whether it’s Boxing Day or the Fourth of July.

“We were going through hard times when I was there,” said Schneider, a Leaf in ’96 and ’97, “and if things aren’t going well, people are going to write and talk about it. You never want to be around negatives like that. But there are a lot of perks in that atmosphere, too. Maybe it’s tough to get through a meal, but you always get a table at the best restaurants.”

“I’ve seen players who can handle it,” said Darcy Tucker, a Leaf since 2000, “and I’ve seen some who can’t.”

Randy Ladouceur, the original Mighty Duck who is now a Leafs assistant coach, grew up near Toronto and knows how magnetic the franchise is, if not the team.

“It was the club I wanted to play for,” he said. “That might work against us at times. Almost every visiting team has a few players from Ontario who have family in the building. There’s no way they’re not going to play their best game against us.”

“When you play Canadian teams there’s no problem with motivation,” confirmed Caryle, an ex-Leaf himself. “We have 15 Canadians ourselves.”

Ladouceur retired in ’96. Could he have imagined the Ducks would win the Cup just 11 years later? Would Toronto actually be habitable if the Leafs ever did?

“I’m not sure I want to think about it,” he said, laughing.

Tucker already has.

“Mayhem,” he said, assuredly. “It would be the biggest thing ever to happen to a pro sports franchise.”

LOS ANGELES-With the club having all but quit on head coach Paul Maurice after two one-sided losses in California, the Maple Leafs are in full panic mode today.

GM John Ferguson refused to comment last night after the Leafs were hammered 5-2 by the NHL’s worst team, the Los Angeles Kings, but it is believed the latest emergency strategy of the free-falling club will be to summon blue-chip goaltending prospect Justin Pogge from the minors as early as today.

Ferguson huddled with Leaf assistant GM Mike Penny, also the GM of the AHL Toronto Marlies, Justin Pogge’s team, after the game.

“I’m not getting involved tonight,” said Ferguson after the shockingly one-sided defeat to the Kings, the 30th place NHL club.

Justin Pogge almost was requested to make the start last Saturday against Philadelphia, but instead the Leaf management team had second thoughts and Andrew Raycroft started against the Flyers and dropped a 3-2 decision.

It’s believed that if Justin Pogge is summoned from the AHL Toronto Marlies, it will be because No. 1 netminder Vesa Toskala has suffered a relapse in his ongoing battle with groin problems after being recklessly forced into action for the final two periods of the embarrassing loss to the Kings on Thursday.

Toskala was expecting to have the night off, but played after former starter Andrew Raycroft surrendered four goals on 11 shots in the first period against the Kings. It’s believed Toskala may have re-injured himself in the loss to L.A., which could pave the way for Pogge to make his NHL debut Saturday night against the Sharks in San Jose.

If that happens, it will be a difficult task indeed for Justin Pogge, with all evidence suggesting the club is no longer responding to the direction of Maurice after 10 losses in the past 12 games. All political antennae are on high, and even the Leaf players are aware team president Richard Peddie is hovering over the club in what is turning out to be a disastrous California road trip.

A smarter decision would be to bring back veteran Scott Clemmensen, who left the club on Thursday and returned to the Marlies. But with the entire hockey organization expecting major changes because of the dreadful results of late, recalling Pogge is likely to make a bigger splash, perhaps the last ditch effort of the Ferguson regime to put the club into a playoff position.

The Leafs were nightmarishly bad Thursday night, managing only seven shots on the L.A. net in the opening 27 minutes of action as the Kings cruised to a 5-0 lead. It was only after the game was decided that the Leafs got busy, putting 43 shots on Jason Labarbara in the Kings net after the game was already decided.

Maurice denied that his team has quit on him.

“If they’d quit you’d have seen three periods like the first period,” said the Leaf coach.

Truth was, the lazy, disinterested manner in which the Leafs played the opening 27 minutes was much more reflective of their attitude towards their coach than the final half of the game.

“Trust me, we’re under a lot of pressure,” said centre Matt Stajan. “We know what’s going on.”

You see, when Pat Quinn was brought in to fix the Leafs, he did. He made a huge impact. If you remember, it was a similar circumstance to this predicament we are in right now. The Maple Leafs did not make it to the post season in 1996. Quinn was brought in during the 1997-1998 season.

From Wikipedia:

“In that year he moved to Toronto to become head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He assumed the additional duties of general manager a few months later, reportedly because he and Leafs President Ken Dryden did not get along. In his first season as coach the Maple Leafs’ record improved dramatically. As a result of Quinn’s coaching the Leafs reached the conference finals but lost to the Buffalo Sabres. Pat Quinn was again runner-up for the Jack Adams Award. Under Quinn, the Toronto Maple Leafs had consistently been contenders, but were never able to reach the Stanley Cup finals during his tenure. Quinn’s best results were making the Eastern Conference finals in 1999 and 2002.

On April 20, 2006, Quinn was let go along with the Maple Leafs assistant coach and former teammate Rick Ley. Neither were offered another position within the organization. Quinn was dismissed because the Leafs had narrowly failed to reach the playoffs, though others criticized Ferguson’s signings, all of which had little impact in the Leaf’s late season run to secure a postseason berth. Toronto Marlies coach Paul Maurice was announced as Quinn’s successor as coach of the Maple Leafs. Quinn gave his final low-key goodbyes to the Maple Leaf franchise on Thursday, April 27, 2006 in a written statement.

Quinn was the winningest active coach in the NHL and 4th all time with 616 wins and is recognized by the hockey community as one of the top coaches of the NHL. Quinn’s NHL coaching record includes 11 first round playoff wins in 16 seasons. An astounding winning percentage of 69%, surpassed only by coaching legend Scotty Bowman, 71%, and ahead of New York Islanders legend Al Arbour, 66%.”

Apologies for the Wikipedia page being the first reference.

From NHL.com:

“In his first season as head coach Pat Quinn guided the 1998-99 Maple Leafs to a prosperous regular season and an exciting playoff run – the Leafs’ first postseason appearance since 1996 and third final four appearance of the 1990′s. In the 2002 campaign, Quinn once again made it to the Conference Finals, where the Leafs took on and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. Under Quinn’s leadership the Leafs set new club records in overall wins with 45 and road wins with 22.

The 1998-99 Leafs accumulated 97 points under Quinn – a 28-point improvement from the previous season – which culminated with him being named runner-up for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year. On July 14, 1999, Quinn added the responsibilities of general manager for the hockey club. At the time of the announcement he became the only individual to hold the dual role in the NHL. Quinn joins former Leaf Punch Imlach as being the only Leafs to dually manage the head coach and general manager duties.”

I get a little upset when I hear that The Leafs have not been that successful over the last few years. This is not a Pat Quinn legacy, but a John Ferguson Jr. legacy. Prior to JFJ taking the reins, between 1998 and 2004:

1. The Toronto Maple Leafs had the most wins during that time period, in the regular season. Pat Quinn had the best coaching record, naturally.

2. The Toronto Maple Leafs had the most post season visits and won the most rounds of any NHL club.

Pat Quinn should not be lumped in together with JFJ and Paul Maurice. He was successful. Very successful. Granted, he had one of the highest payrolls during that time, but good use was made of it and the other teams with the same budget did much less than Toronto did.

The John Ferguson Jr. experiment is over and I think we can safely say that Paul Maurice is a good coach and helps to get the players prepared much better than they were before. I am not sure he is the right man to be coaching this team, however.

I am not sure we got rid of the right person in the first place.

Toronto was building momentum with a healthy Vesa Toskala in net. Without their No. 1 goaltender, the Maple Leafs haven’t looked like a team capable of reaching the playoffs.

The Maple Leafs could be without Toskala for a seventh straight game Wednesday night when they open a three-game California road trip against the resurgent Anaheim Ducks.

Although he started slowly in his first season with Toronto (16-18-8), Toskala had played well enough lately to become the team’s clear No. 1 goalie. He is 7-3-1 with one shutout and a 1.81 goals-against average in his last 11 starts, although he hasn’t played since Dec. 22 because of a groin injury.

Without Toskala, the Maple Leafs have struggled to a 1-4-1 record, allowing 26 goals. They are last in the Northeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference with 40 points.

Andrew Raycroft hasn’t been the answer in Toskala’s absence, going 0-3-1 with a 4.47 GAA in his last four starts. Scott Clemmensen, who began the season in the minors, is 1-1-0 with a 4.33 GAA in two starts this month.

Toskala practiced Sunday and could return on this trip, which includes stops at Los Angeles on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday.

Toronto is 13-11-4 with Toskala in goal, and 3-7-4 without him.

Raycroft, who hasn’t won since Nov. 9, didn’t play poorly Saturday, but was bested by counterpart Antero Niittymaki in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 loss to visiting Philadelphia.

Captain Mats Sundin scored both goals for Toronto, which lost despite a 56-32 shot advantage.

“We played a good game, but it’s like we don’t know how to win the close games,” Sundin said. “We have to become smarter and learn what it takes to win.”

The 542nd and 543rd goals of Sundin‘s career moved him past Stan Mikita into 25th place all-time. His next goal will tie him with Maurice Richard.

Sundin continues to produce, tallying four goals and two assists in his last five games to give him 48 points. He has a shot at his first 100-point season since recording a career-high 114 in 1992-93 with Quebec.

Center Nik Antropov, however, has cooled off considerably. Antropov, – second on the team with 35 points – has no goals in his last 11 contests and is pointless in nine games.

Anaheim (22-17-6) has rebounded from a sluggish start, and appears ready to assert itself as one of the league’s elite teams again.

The Ducks are 3-0-1 in their last four games and 7-2-1 in their past 10, a surge that’s moved them to within two points of Dallas and San Jose for the Pacific Division lead.

Chris Pronger and Corey Perry scored power-play goals 1:10 apart to cap a four-goal spurt in the second period as Anaheim beat Nashville 5-2 on Monday. The Ducks had been held to two goals or fewer in 10 of their previous 12 games.

“We stuck with the same program that we’ve been sticking with the last few weeks – getting the puck in deep, cycling it and taking it to the net. Tonight we finally started getting the bounces,” Perry said.

Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and an assist, extending his point streak to a career high-tying eight games. He has four goals and six assists during the run.

The Maple Leafs have won four of their last five overall meetings with the Ducks, but lost their last visit to Anaheim on Nov. 11, 2003. Toronto’s last win there came March 11, 1998.

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced questions about their goaltending even before starter Marc-Andre Fleury was injured. Unheralded Ty Conklin is providing all the answers right now.

Conklin tries to lead the Penguins to their season-high fifth straight victory Thursday night when they conclude their season series against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

Pittsburgh (21-16-2) appeared to be in trouble after learning that Fleury would be sidelined into February after sustaining a high ankle sprain Dec. 6. With no veteran backup available, the starting job was left to Dany Sabourin, who had made 10 NHL starts before this season.

Sabourin went 2-4-0 with a 3.32 goals-against average in six starts before coach Michel Therrien called on Conklin, who was recalled from the minors Dec. 7, to start against Boston on Dec. 20.

Conklin stopped 37 of 41 shots in that game, a 5-4 shootout victory. He has been even better in his last four starts, going 4-0-0 with one shutout and a 1.46 GAA.

Conklin, who has allowed 13 goals in six appearances this season, was outstanding in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 shootout victory in the NHL Winter Classic outdoor game Tuesday. He stopped 36 of 37 shots, including all seven in overtime.

“We were pretty discouraged when we lost Fleury,” Therrien said. “Certainly, (Conklin’s) playing at a level that gives us a chance to win. … He made some key saves in overtime.”

Conklin’s goaltending and Sidney Crosby’s memorable shootout goal helped the Penguins match their longest win streak of the season.

Crosby assisted on Colby Armstrong’s first-period goal for his 53rd point, putting him five behind Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier for the league lead. Crosby has one goal and nine assists during a six-game point streak, but hasn’t scored a non-shootout goal in five straight contests.

He has six goals and nine assists during an eight-game point streak against Toronto (16-16-8).

The outdoor victory gave Pittsburgh a sweep of its home-and-home series with the Sabres that started with a 2-0 home win Saturday.

Conklin’s strong play has at least temporarily solidified Pittsburgh’s goaltending. Fleury, the top overall pick in the 2003 draft, has yet to establish himself as an elite player at the position, and the Pens had little depth behind him before Conklin arrived.

The Maple Leafs are also missing their No. 1 goalie, playing the last four games without Vesa Toskala, who has a groin injury.

Andrew Raycroft went 0-2-1 with a 5.03 GAA in three games as Toskala’s replacement, so Scott Clemmensen was given his first start of the season Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

Clemmensen made 30 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards in the shootout as Toronto ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory.

“My whole career I’ve had to fight and work hard to get where I’m at,” Clemmensen said. “If I get the start in Pittsburgh that’s great. If I don’t, I’m going to be happy with the way I played tonight.”

Captain Mats Sundin, Jason Blake and Hal Gill scored in regulation for the Leafs, 1-3-2 in their last six road games.

Sundin – the team leader with 44 points – has 13 goals and 18 assists in his last 18 games against Pittsburgh. His 38 goals versus the Penguins are his most against any opponent, while his 79 points are tied for his most.

The Maple Leafs have won two of three meetings this season, including a 5-2 road win Oct. 25. Toronto is 8-2-0 in its last 10 visits to Pittsburgh.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (last 10 games: 6-2-2) take on the Tampa Bay Lighting (last 10 games: 4-5-1) marking the halfway point in the Maple Leafs longest road trip of the season.

A meeting against the Tampa Bay Lightning may be just what the Toronto Maple Leafs need to bounce back from one of their most disappointing losses this season.

The Maple Leafs continue their season-high seven-game road trip on Thursday looking to win their seventh straight game over the Lightning.

Toronto (14-13-7) had a 2-0 lead over Carolina on Tuesday, before allowing two goals in the final 1:25 of regulation. The Leafs lost 3-2 in overtime.

“It’s a tough loss for us because we played a solid game except for the last two minutes,” defenseman Pavel Kubina said. “With two minutes I thought it was game over.”

Toronto is 1-1-1 so far on its road trip, and it tries to rebound at Tampa Bay, where it is 18-4-1 with one tie all-time.

The Leafs beat the Lightning 6-1 at home on Dec. 10. Toronto is outscoring Tampa Bay 27-12 during the winning streak in the series.

Leafs captain Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist in the win over the Lightning last week, giving him three goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak against them. Sundin leads the Leafs with 16 goals and 24 assists this season, but has been held without a point in each of his last two games.

Sundin, the franchise leader in goals (404) and assists (545), hasn’t gone without a point in three straight games since March 19-23, 2006.

Nik Antropov is second on Toronto with 15 goals and 20 assists, and has recorded a goal and an assist in each of his last three games against Tampa Bay.

The Leafs’ Vesa Toskala made 26 saves in last week’s win over the Lightning to improve to 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average in two career games against them. Toskala, though, has allowed seven goals in losing his last two games after giving up just six goals in his previous five

Tampa Bay (14-17-3) fell to Atlanta 6-2 on Tuesday to drop its third straight and fifth in its last six. The Lightning have allowed the third-most goals in the league (113), and have given up 18 during their three-game skid.

“We have to keep on trying. We just have to find a way to grind through this,” Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said.

Johan Holmqvist yielded three goals on nine shots against the Thrashers before being replaced by Marc Denis.

Holmqvist is 0-3-0 with a 6.64 GAA in his last four starts and has been pulled from three of them. In his first career game against Toronto last week, he gave up four goals on 22 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Denis, stopped five of seven shots.

Denis is just 1-5-0 with a 4.05 GAA in 10 games this season, and 1-4-0 with a 2.95 GAA in seven career games against Toronto.

Vincent Lecavalier, who leads league in scoring with 51 points, was held scoreless on Tuesday after recording three goals and three assists in his last three games. Lecavalier looks get back on track at the St. Pete Times Forum, where he has six goals and eight assists during a seven-game points streak.

The Lightning have dropped three straight games at home following an 11-3-1 start.

“Obviously, the fact that Cristobal hasn’t been successful the last three games against Toronto certainly got into the decision,” coach Guy Carbonneau said Monday.

This declaring an obvious weakness in their starting goaltender is not a good sign for any club. Speaking of which, Toronto will announce their goal tending decision closer to game time. Conventional wisdom says the goalie with the shut out as his last start, will get the call. Perhaps that should have been the wisdom when choosing the starter against New York. The facial expressions from Andrew Raycroft would indicate that he agrees that his play warranted a start the next game (shutout, 27 shots, 1st star selection). More to come…