Toronto Maple Leafs - Why are they so dumb?

First of all, I'll be the 1st to say that I hate the Maple Leafs. I hate Toronto, I hate Sundin, I hate JFJ. I hate verything about them. The only thing they have is that they are a good rival team because they are Original 6.

But my hatred has nothing to do with why the Maple Leafs are so incompetent, and at the same time why they make mind numbing moves over and over. Every year, whomever Toronto's GM is, they do their best effort to acquire as many old players as possible so they can show the world how great they are. Unfortunately for them, their moves rarely work because all they seem to do is pick up "name" players off the reject pile.

The highlight of last seaosn for anyone not a Ducks or Leafs fan was probably when Vik Kozlov scored a SO goal in the final game of the seaosn to eliminate Toronto from playoff contention. So why was Toronto so bad last season?

Well for once they recognized that an old, aging player in Eddie Belfour was not the man to lead them to the playoffs. I'll admit, some smart thinking there. However, instead of actually trying to get a good goaltender, they go after Andrew Raycroft. he had a good season once, right? Well yes he did, but that was in 2003-2004. In the most recent season Raycroft posted an appauling .879 SV %. So the Leafs bank that he can regain his 2003-2004 form, and all they have to do is give up one of the top 3 goalie prospects in the NHL! A guy that will likely be a better goalie in 2 years times. A move earmarked to help only in the short run, and it of course failed miserably. It should have been surprise to nobody that Raycroft was an awful goalie last season. You can't bank a season based on 1 good season from 2 years in the past.

Toronto's big FA signing last season was Pavel Kubina. A decent player, but not a guy to pay top dollar for. But that didn't stop Toronto. They of course overpaid by giving him 4M per season for 5 years. I would say that it is always a terrible idea to give decent players long term deals. The difference between decent and bad isn't that far, and not a risk you want to take for 5 seasons. Kubina continues to be the 2nd pairing defensemen that he is, and in the meantime, JFJ has been shopping him to anyone that can stand his presence for more than 10 minutes at a time. Perhaps instead of locking up a questionable "hame" players to longterm deals, perhaps he should have signed a real defensive defensmen that would actually solve a problem. In Kaberle and McCabe, the last thing Toronto needed was an offense 1st defensmen. Kubina's signing failed on so many levels. It's no surprise (except to JFJ) that he was injured and bad last season.

The one attempt the Leafs had at picking up an actual defender was Hal Gill, a player known for being slow and a poor fit for the new rule changes in the NHL. He can't defend any kind of speed/skill player, but I'm JFJ thought he would solve the defensive woes. Again, like his other moves, it failed.

At the deadline, JFJ recognized that his team needed help in order to secure a playoff spot. So he went out and picked up 3rd line centre to get over the hump. Yannic Perault was the last ace up his sleeve, and when his ice time was cut in half, he was a massive failure. Can't play offense without ice time, and again did nothing to help the awful defense problem.

Come the offseason, I'm sure JFJ has finally realized that his team's defense sucks and that a real defensmen would be needed to improve the team. Well I guess i was wrong. Instead JFJ does the usual. He finds the 1st overhyped, aging forward that he can think of (in this case Jason Blake) and locks him in to another 5 year deal. My bet is that next offseason, JFJ dangles him in trade talks alongside Kubina. So what if Jason Blake will be 34 in the upcoming season, I'm sure his numbers won't start to go on the inevitable decline. I'm sure he will be worth 4M when he's 39 years old. How does this man still have a job? Perhaps a Sergei Berezin reuinion is on the horizion.

Foget the fact that Jason Blake isn't even that good in the 1st place. Last season was the 1st year he got over 60 points. It's a virtual guarantee that Blake returns to his normal form of a 55 point type player. An average 2nd liner. Being paid 4M. One career season does not a 1st line player make.

JFJ's other big move in the offseason was to pick up a real #1 goalie to make up for last season's blunder. Again, instead of going after a top flight goalie (Vokoun?), JFJ picks up his binder of overhyped players and picks out Vesa Toskala, a 30 year old goalie yet to establish himself as a true number 1. Toskala had only a .908 SV % while playing in front of one of the best defensive teams in hockey. Outside of his 2003-2004 season, Toskala has played like a fringe #1 goalie. More of a tandem starter, like the Sharks used him as. But I'm sure at the age of 30, Toskala will be one of the league's better starters. Right?

He better, considering the Leafs payed a 1st round (amongst other things) to have him. JFJ managed to give up a good 1st round pick, plus an elite goalie prospect, and yet he still hasn't managed to pick up a true number 1 goalie. It's simply astounding that this man still has a job. But he now has 2 tandem starters! Plus he got Mark Bell! A 4th liner making over 2M per season!

Again, the same story with the Maple Leafs. More overhyped players to make their fans pompously brag about how good the Leafs will be this season, but the team still has a horrid defense and is still without a true #1 goalie. Not to mention that they have mortgaged the future to ensure they can put this group of studs together. Again, the Leafs have done nothing to solve their problems. they should contend for the 7-8th seeds in the playoffs, but even if they succeed, their team has no shot in the playoffs because of their horrid defense. And yet they have no good young players to look forward to in the next few seasons. Instead bad contracts and aging players. Should be another "exciting" season in Toronto.