Pride, hustle, heart. An NHL 12 Leafs BAGM

[Dynasty]

Quote: Originally Posted by bthomp05

Excellent news having Kess and Franson back, that will help. Great pick up as well, cheap too.

Yeah Kessel and Franson have already made huge waves for me when they came back, unfortunately I lost Connolly so my only playmaker is out for 4-6 weeks now

[bthomp05]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dynasty

Yeah Kessel and Franson have already made huge waves for me when they came back, unfortunately I lost Connolly so my only playmaker is out for 4-6 weeks now

That sucks.

[Dynasty]

Trouble in Leaf land

Hello and welcome I am hockey insider Bob McKenzie, last year was once again a mediocre year from the Maple Leafs, another year where the fans expected and another year where the team failed.

Injuries played a large part in the failure of last season but never the less you could almost cut the tension between the club and its fans with a knife, much was expected, maybe too much. The result of last season was unacceptable to fans and also to the management staff, the club went through a clean sweep and many players were released from their contracts, the head coach was replaced and a new fan favourite brought in.

Veteran leadership and skill was brought in through Teemu Selanne and Niklas Lidstrom, James Reimer was once again healthy and ready to launch into a successful season, depth was never so evident and the excitement was once again built up.

Unfortunately somewhere along the way the club became lost in it all; once again injuries have rocked through the line up with major players missing time. The effect has been horrendous after 18 games the Leafs are 8-10-0 with little signs of life beyond a few stand out guys, namely Phil Kessel, Luke Schenn and Cody Franson, it would appear that everyone else has been swept under the rug of mediocrity.

After a rocky opening ten, the fans in and around Toronto collectively sucked in their breaths, and after witnessing the downward spiral into the cellar has ignited a furious uproar amongst the Toronto faithful, So why am I here telling you things you already know?

Ever since the collapse of the team, around the seven game mark began, the brass in Toronto have been nigh unreachable and this vacuum of silence has fallen over the club. Management is silent, the players are silent the coaches are silent.

In his final year as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke has made statements that this year failure will be unacceptable and action will be swift, the recent return of captain Dion Phaneuf has been more of a shock then a reprieve, Dion has been practicing with the team but has not as of yet been place into the active line up, joining Phaneuf in the press box for the past two games has been sniper Joffery Lupul and face off man Dominic Moore. Veteran Niklas Lidstrom has been scratched and listed as day to day and winger Clarke MacArthur has been removed from the team and listed as on personal leave.

Oscar Moller, Kyle Beach, Ty Wishart, Marcell Mueller and Wade Brookebank have all been recalled from the Toronto Marlies and placed immediately into the active line up.

Now all of these things could be simple coincidence, Phaneuf may not yet be ready to make a full return, Joffery Lupul has been a determent on the ice and may be getting some time in the press box to think about his actions, Dominic Moore is in the same boat as Lupul. Lidstrom who broke his leg earlier this season and is also at the ripe age of 42 may honestly just need a rest and MacArthur's wife is with child and near the due date, so as you see this all could be for not.

But with the poor start yet again this season and previous statements combined with how reluctant anyone in the Leafs organization has been about talking recently it is hard not to think a trade is coming, or something serious enough to warrant so much action. One would think that if you were serious about regaining points in the standing you wouldn’t harbour 17 million dollars of talent in your press box.

Taking a look at the leafs for possibilities it really could be endless, beyond their first line scoring isn’t very good and with the injury to top center Tim Connolly, suddenly your playmaking center is Tyler Bozak again, and we all know how that went two years ago.

While the defence has been injured more than they have been healthy, Luke Schenn has been steady and is once again leading the league in total hits and remains one of the few leafs in the plus category; Cody Franson when available has been a steadying force on both sides of the puck. Dion Phaneuf who started out strong but fell twice to injury has been a question mark since the opening week of the season and John-Michael Liles seems to be uninterested in hockey so far this season, the veteran D who was acquired from the avalanche during last year’s off season, and then retained after playing a successful campaign has been slow and ineffective.

Veteran D man Niklas Lidstrom has shown his age in a poor fashion, Lidstrom who is still positional sound has lost a step or twelve and seems slow, while he retains a high passing percentage this season his shots on net rarely hit the mark and none have passed the red line as of yet.

Goaltending has been hit or miss, back up Alex Auld has been a non factor and James Reimer has been 50/50. Some games you see the Reimer the Leafs need to have and other games you see a frustrated young man, unable to keep pace and the puck out of the net.

As I eluded to in the opening of this statement the team as a whole has struggled mightily both with injury and on ice performance, save a very few players, now this could ultimately be a ripple effect so to say, that has swept over the entire team and is the result of some of the poor play, and possibly poor attitudes that are present in the 2012-2013 Maple Leafs.

There are young hopefuls here in Toronto. Nazem Kadri, Joe Colborne, Jake Gardiner, Oscar Moller, Kyle Beach, Austin Watson to just name a few, are exactly that, hopefuls. These guys are not far enough into their progression to become NHL regulars, while Kadri and Colborne has spent some time with the big club it is evident they are not yet ready to shoulder the burden that is this season, and it may be unfair to ask them to do so right now.

What may happen is hard to say at this point, but it is clear that something does need to happen, and soon before the Leafs cannot salvage this season.

For TSN I am Hockey Insider, Bob McKenzie.

[bthomp05]

Ouch - tough break so far, I hear "shake-up" haha.

[Dynasty]

The bubble bursts


What was supposed to be a season of success has turned into a march into the basement, currently sitting 28th in the league for points, all the while harbouring a top 3 scorer and the league’s top power play unit has left fans scratching their heads in frustration and anger.

If one thing has become clear, it's not just the fans feeling this way. The "cone of silence" has lifted from Toronto and everyone is taking their turn speaking. Were turning now to a live press conference with Toronto's head coach Doug Gilmour and GM Brian Burke.


Burke: Thank you all for gathering, before we begin taking questions I wanted to adress a few things.

First off, this has been a crappy start for our club, we all know that, and we are all embarrassed by it. A lot of people are calling for our jobs, and saying how I have failed and how Dough has failed, how our players have failed.

Your right, we have failed, we have failed to produce what we wanted to, what our fans deserve and want. Now in saying that what I will not do is blame one specific group, or person, simply because we failed as a unit from top to bottom. There will be no excuses offered, only that we are sorry that it began this way but promise it will not end this way.

As I had said in this previous off season another losing season would not be tolerated and changes would be made if it happened again, and they are happening right now as we stand here.

We have spent the past week behind closed doors, re evaluating and making some very hard decisions. I have addressed all of our staff here and we came to a few unanimous decisions. Our team effort is low, our team speed is poor and we need to shake it up. Questions?

Media: What exactly do you mean by "shake it up"

Burke: I can't reveal the specifics just yet as the details are not concrete and I won't talk about that until they are, so don't bother asking about specifics. We have addressed what we believe are our glaring weaknesses after the first twenty games and have aggressively perused what we believe will be the remedy for this situation. Now that means that it is possible some players maybe leaving us by the end of this day, when I left the office earlier this morning we were waiting on confirmation on a few conversations we have had with teams around the league, once those have been confirmed you all will be the first to know.

Gilmour: Just to add to what Brian is pointing out, it's not just a player issue, our coaching strategies and line combinations are being shaken up and I am offering no quarter to the guys here. We are better than this, and we need to be better on the ice. Right now we are a bunch of individuals skating on the ice, we need to be a team, we need to make those smart support plays, and we need to attack the puck like it's our last shot at making the playoffs, each and every shift. I need to see that compete level out of every one of our guys here. Currently were not getting that, but it's going to change.

Media: What line changes do you have in mind, and what will you do to bring about such a change in mind set?

Gilmour: For now I can't talk about line changes, but it's not just a change of mind set. We need to change how we approach everything; we need to show up ready and energised. That doesn't just mean come to games ready to go, no. I want the guys pushing themselves everywhere, I want to see competition in practice, I need to see competition in the lock room and on the ice, the guys need to push each other to that next level, we need to create that energy from within and carry it on the ice, it's all or it's nothing and if you can’t give it all, I will find someone who can, we are in the position of having great young depth here and we will use it.

Burke: Sorry to interrupt here guys, I don’t mean to just step in like this but we have gotten the confirmations I was previously speaking of and I would like to take time to talk about that.

Tension around here has been thick, and it goes way back. I feel for the fans here I really do, we have been unable to give them what they deserve. As this season began and slowly turned sour we began exploring options internally. Let's be honest here going 2-7-1 in the past ten games gave us a swift kick in the rear and we have been working endlessly on a solution, that solution means that a few of our guys here will be moving on.

Earlier today we signed free agent defenseman Jim Vandermeer to a one year one way contract, we believe Jim will add a dimension of grit and toughness that we feel has been missing this season.

Toronto signs free agent:

D Jim Vandermeer (TGH) 32 years old .820M 1 year contract 82 overall C/C/C potential

Jim will begin with the Toronto Marlies to begin, he will help protect our young guys down there while we evaluate him in a game atmosphere and see where he fits in with us.

Next I would like to announce a trade.

Toronto trades:
D John-Michael Liles (OFD) 31 years old 3.5M 1 year remaining on his contract 83 overall C/C/C potential

To Columbus for:

D Theo Peckham (DFD) 25 years old 1.105M per season 2 years remaining on his contract 83 overall B-/B-/B- potential

2013 6th round pick (CBJ)

This deal was rather simple in effect, we were looking to improve our defensive game and Columbus was looking for a puck moving defenseman. This deal was completed and signed off rather quickly with both sides getting what they needed. I would like to wish John the best of luck with Columbus and would also like to welcome Theo into our organization. I believe Theo will provide exactly what we were looking for in a solid hard hitting D man capable in his own zone and reliable when called upon.

Once this deal was completed we were able to make a big move, and one of the hardest ones I have had to do since being the GM here in Toronto.

Toronto Trades:
D Dion Phaneuf (TWD) 27 years old 6.5M per season 2 years remaining on his contract 85 overall C/C/C potential

RW Joffery Lupul (SNP) 29 years old 4.25M 1 year remaining on his contract 84 overall C/C/C potential

C Dominic Moore (TWF) 32 years old 1.2M 1 year remaining on his contract 81 overall C/C/C potential

2013 2nd round pick (TOR)

To Phoenix for:

C Kyle Turris (PLY) 23 years old 3.76M per season 2 years remaining on his contract 84 overall A-/B-/B potential

LW Mikkel Boedker (SNP) 22 years old 2.055M 1 year remaining on his contract 81 overall B-/B-/B- potential

This deal as very difficult to sign off on, obviously for the most part one has to trade talent to get talent, but Dion was our captain here and he was good at it. I truly wish Dion the best of luck in his career with Phoenix. Joffery and Dominic will be accompanying him there and we hope that they all enjoy a successful tenure with the coyotes.

In return we get two young men who we believe will do a multitude of things for us here in Toronto, Both of the guys coming here are quick afoot and have soft hands, two things we require desperately. We also believe that Kyle will be our long term solution to a long standing issue at center ice. With Tim Connolly currently injured, Kyle will get his chance to prove to us why we traded for him.

With that said I have one deal left to announce. We did this deal because it was requested by the player, and this isn’t something I would normally do but I made special exemption in this guy’s case.

Toronto trades:
D Nicklas Lidstrom (OFD) 42 years old 4.530M 1 year remaining on his contract 88 overall D/D-/D potential

To Tampa Bay for:

D Marc-Andre Bergeron (OFD) 32 years old 1.190M 1 year remaining on his contract 82 overall C/C/C potential

2013 3rd round pick (TB)

Nicklas had come to me requesting that he be moved to a contending team, and I had no problem doing that for him, we expected to be in that situation ourselves and while we’re not counting that possibility out yet, it was an honour to have a legend here such as Lidstrom for any length of time, he will go to Tampa who expects to be pushing for the Stanley cup.

In return we get a guy who we need, with Dion gone we were searching for a guy with experience and with a hard shot from the point, Marc easily covers both of those categories and we are excited to have him join us.

Thank you all for your time but I have to go and attend to the final paper work for these transactions as we want our new players to be available for the next game against Tampa Bay.





Hello and welcome everyone, I am hockey insider Bob McKenzie.

As most of you just found out the Toronto Maple Leafs have made huge moves to what they hope will jar them out of the massive slump they have entered into. I will take a moment to break down the trades made and provide special insight into the deals made now that the media block has been lifted and my sources are once again providing accurate information.

First let’s take a look at the big move made today

We see Captain Dion Phaneuf, sniper Joffery Lupul and Face off man Dominic Moore heading to Phoenix for young upcoming center Kyle Turris and speedster Mikkel Boedker.

This deal was completed due to the malcontent of Kyle Turris in Phoenix. Now I am not sure if you all remember last year, there were rumblings out of Phoenix that Turris wanted out of the yotes camp and he didn’t much care where he went. Most thought that amends were made and Turris resigned this summer with Phoenix, but for only two years at a modest price, this was apparently due to both sides wanting to test the waters and see where things went from there.

Having a long summer off would seem to have done nothing for the young center as he demanded to be traded not long after the season opening loss to the Nashville Predators, while Turris has a ton of potential, Toronto could end up losing this deal in a big way if Turris can’t find his way out of his funk and provide what Toronto needs. After coming from the relatively quiet Coyote's media to a hockey crazy (and currently angry) Toronto, it will be interesting to see how Turris handles the heat and pressure he will be under.

Facing the loss of your Captain and a big part of the Toronto blue line, it will be interesting to see how the club fares in the post Phaneuf era. While Lupul was admittedly struggling to find his scoring ways again, he was still a valuable threat to have on the ice that drew attention away from your top guys and loosing Dominic Moore may not hurt your positive point totals all that much it may have in impact on your goals against as Moore was being used as a key faceoff man, and while maintaining a near 60% win percentage, that loss may be keenly felt.

After coasting out of the gate this year, veteran D man John-Michael Liles was beginning to catch up to his previous form, netting one goal and six assists in the previous ten games played, but it would appear that it was not enough for Leafs brass, also having guys like Cody Franson and Jake Gardiner who were both ahead of Liles in the depth chart certainly made moving Liles that much easier. In return the Leaf acquire someone who will help close the physical gap of loosing Dion Phaneuf, Theo Peckham isn't much to look at, and wont score you many goals to speak of but he has spent the past two years making a name for himself punishing opposition who enter his defensive zone

Nicklas Lidstrom requesting a trade, while surprising in a way, really isn't. I am sure the Swede doesn’t want to spend what could be his last year in the NHL on a team struggling to find its identity. The move made by Brian Burke to find Lidstrom a competitive home has brought them back what I see as being another piece to help recover from the loss of Dion Phaneuf, while Bergeron defiantly isn't a defensive superstar, what he does, and does very well I might add is shoot pucks form the blue line

At this point only time will tell if Toronto made the smart move, but I do agree with Burke that something had to be done immediately if this season was to be saved.

For TSN, I am hockey insider Bob McKenzie.

[BZito75]

great write up. following!

[Dynasty]

Quote: Originally Posted by BZito75

great write up. following!

Thank you very much, I appreciate it

[Dynasty]

20 game update

With the dust settling in Toronto after all the recent activity let's have a look at club and league statistics and how the new players coming in rank within the team structure.

that's the effort we need to see!

Team record: 8-11-1

Toronto Maple Leafs Stats - 2012
Skaters	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	GW	PIM	SOG	SPCT
Phil Kessel	16	17	6	23	-1	1	4	100	17%
Kyle Turris	22	10	11	21	0	2	6	58	17.2%
Nikolai Kulemin	20	6	9	15	-5	3	8	62	9.7%
Tim Connolly	14	3	11	14	0	0	6	27	11.1%
Teemu Selanne	20	5	8	13	-1	0	2	64	7.8%
Matthew Lombardi	20	4	7	11	-5	0	12	54	7.4%
Clarke MacArthur	20	4	5	9	-12	0	6	38	10.5%
Mikkel Boedker	22	4	5	9	6	1	2	53	7.5%
Cody Franson	16	2	5	7	-7	1	4	12	16.7%
Justin Abdelkader	20	5	2	7	-3	1	0	46	10.9%
Nazem Kadri	11	5	2	7	1	1	4	39	12.8%
Joe Colborne	11	3	4	7	-3	0	2	24	12.5%
Kurtis Foster	20	1	6	7	3	0	6	13	7.7%
Luke Schenn	20	1	5	6	-6	0	16	15	6.7%
Jake Gardiner	9	0	6	6	6	0	0	15	0%
Colby Armstrong	20	1	4	5	-9	0	11	39	2.6%
Tyler Bozak	20	3	1	4	-8	0	6	31	9.7%
Kyle Beach	4	2	0	2	1	0	5	11	18.2%
Keith Aulie	11	0	2	2	-7	0	6	7	0%
Marc-Andre Bergeron	9	0	1	1	0	0	2	10	0%
Goalies	GP	W	L	T	GAA	TOI	SV	SV%	SHO
James Reimer	16	6	10	0	3.71	939	499	.896%	0
Alex Auld	5	2	2	0	4.31	264	120	.860%	0

Turris gets his first assist in Toronto

So Connolly remains fourth in points on the team even though he has missed six games, and Kessel is dominating the offense for Toronto, even though he has also missed time.

Goaltending is a huge concern moving forward at this point; it has been a mix of poor play and lax defence which the coaching staff in Toronto are working on fixing.

NHL League Leaders - Updated: Jan 1,
Goals		G	Assists		A
	1. Alexander Ovechkin	21		1. Pavel Datsyuk	21
	2. Phil Kessel	17		2. Mike Ribeiro	20
	3. Evgeni Malkin	16		3. Marion Gaborik	20
	4. Brad Richards	13		4. John Tavares	19
	5. Bobby Ryan	12		5. Jonathan Toews	18
Points		PTS	Plus/Minus		+/-
	1. Alexander Ovechkin	34		1. Alexander Ovechkin	25
	2. Nicklas Backstrom	28		2. Nicklas Backstrom	24
	3. Evgeni Malkin	27		3. Alexander Semin	22
	4. Ryan Getzlaf	26		4. Henrik Sedin	19
	5. Sidney Crosby	26		5. Daniel Sedin	19
Wins		W	Goals Against Average		GAA
	1. Macr-Andre Fleury	12		1. Tomas Vokoun	2.04
	2. Devan Dubnyk	11		2. Jaroslav Halak	2.10
	3. Roberto Luongo	10		3. Steve Mason	2.10
	4. Jarsolav Halak	10		4. Mikka Kiprusoff	2.13
	5. Mikka Kiprusoff	10		5. Antti Niemi	2.15
Save Percentage		SV%	Shutouts		SO
	1. Tomas Vokoun	.933%		1. Mathieu Garon	3
	2. Steve Mason	.927%		2. Antti Niemi	3
	3. Pekka Rinne	.926%		3. Steve Mason	3
	4. Ondrej Pavelec	.926%		4. Curtis Sanford	2
	5. Antti Niemi	.925%		5. Niklas Backstrom	2

Washington defiantly has their mojo on, Nice to see Kessel second in goals for.

Team announcement from head coach Doug Gilmour

Thank you everyone for coming, there will be no questions taken during this session.

Directly after this announcement I will be heading into a closed door meeting with our NHL squad where I will detail our plan of attack for the remainder of this season.

I will be expecting 110% effort on each and every shift, and I ask this of them not because this is what we need, but because I know they can do it. A lot of the guys are still in shock from our recent moves and some adjustment time is required, but we are going to have to learn on the fly here and gel on the move. We have no room for mistakes, no times for excuses.

I expect our season to brighten drastically and I know this team is capable of making the playoffs, this season. I don’t care about next year, or next month, I don’t care about next week. I care about here, about now. And we are in the mode of the next game could be it. Yes we all know we are only twenty games into this season but we all also know that the playoffs are missed in the beginning of the year with poor play.

We know what needs to be done, and how to do it. We have the personnel here to accomplish that and it will happen, I leave you now with a promise from everyone within our organization, we will do it, we will make the playoffs.

here are our updated lines

Changes are in bold

Line one
LW Phil Kessel C Kyle Turris RW Nikolai Kulemin
LD Luke Schenn RD Jake Gardiner

Line two
LW Teemu Selanne C Matthew Lombardi RW Mikkel Boedker
LD Cody Franson RD Theo Peckham

Line three
LW Colby Armstrong C Tyler Bozak RW Clarke MacArthur
LD Kurtis Foster RD Marc-Andre Bergeron

Line four
LW George Parros C Oscar Moller RW Justin Abdelkader

G1
James Reimer
G2
Alex Auld

PP one
LW Phil Kessel C Kyle Turris RW Nikolai Kulemin
LD Luke Schenn RD Jake Gardiner

PP two
LW Teemu Selanne C Matthew Lombardi RW Mikkel Boedker
LD Cody Franson RD Marc-Andre Bergeron

4 Man PP one
C Tim Connolly RW Phil Kessel
LD Luke Schenn RD Jake Gardiner

4 Man PP two
C Matthew Lombardi RW Mikkel Boedker
LD Cody Franson RD Marc-Andre Bergeron

PK one
C Matthew Lombardi RW Justin Abdelkader
LD Luke Schenn RD Theo Peckham

PK two
C Tyler Bozak RW Colby Armstrong
LD Cody Franson RD Kurtis Foster

3 Man PK one
C Matthew Lombardi
LD Luke Schenn RD Theo Peckham

3 Man PK two
C Tyler Bozak
LD Cody Franson RD Kurtis Foster

Captains:
C: Luke Schenn
A: Phil Kessel
A: Colby Armstrong