The NHL Trade Deadline coverage we were subject to on Monday makes me realize one thing – maybe Canadian hockey fans need to pick up a hobby.
Perhaps we should get off the couch and actually play a sport – or spend some more time with our families – or do anything else but get sucked up into eight hours of watching a bunch of guys in suits talking about another bunch of guys in suits making a handful of trades.
Talk about much ado about nothing! Sure there were a few decent deals and a couple of high priced players moved, but there’s no way the day merits the time and attention given to it by the sports networks in this country. Is this really about catering to a demand, or is it trying to force feed demand upon people who really don’t want or need that much blabbing. Guess we’ll see when the ratings come out.
Anyway, now that the NHL trade deadline has come and gone – we can properly assess where the Toronto Maple Leafs are in terms of their present and the future.
And I have to tell you, for the first time in several years, I feel pretty good about both the Leafs present and their future
This team works hard. Just about every game this team is involved in is a one-goal game. And this team has at least a decent shot at a playoff spot due in large part to a good core of young players who are battling hard.
There is no mirage to the Leafs recent winning ways. I still say they miss the playoffs this year, but there are no smoke and mirrors involved in their recent solid play. The games have meaning and the Leafs overall better play is legitimate – no “fake” run like in recent years when they only one when the pressure was off.
I like where they sit for the future as well. Their roster now contains a lot of high NHL draft picks who are still young. They have two first round picks in June and a high second round. They gave a General Manager in Brian Burke who is one of the most secure GMs in the league – trust me on this one Burke has complete authority and job security to do whatever he wants to do moving forward.
Hey, there are no guarantees. And this team still has a lot of work to do in order to seriously challenge for a championship. But they have improved in the past two years, and they are younger and better. And judged by their recent play, there is no reason to suggest that they can’t get even better in another year or two.
Nothing terribly exciting about that comment, and it’s kind of like the NHL trade deadline – it’s not terribly exciting. But the Leafs are showing some patience, they are trying to get better with younger players and they have stability in the front office.
In short, they are headed in the right direction. First time in several years I would have said that.
Sometimes the best deal you make is the one you didn’t make. That would explain the quiet NHL trade deadline period, and at least the Leafs didn’t part with the future for another short-term solution.
Doing nothing on Monday was the right thing for the Toronto Maple Leafs to do.