Do you actually believe this?
Name a more talented Leaf. The Leafs are terrible. Most of them are equally bad. Lupul is having a good year. Kessel is balless, literally. Dion Phaneuf is more concerned with who his girlfriend is fucking than who he plays against. The Leafs destroy goaltenders, and yet, they have seen fit to destroy two YOUNG goaltenders instead of doing the rational thing and becoming the goalie graveyard by signing the Marty Turco's of the world much like they did with Cujo and Belfour.
You have size. Kinda like America's debt has size. Hockey isn't sex, size isn't everything. Your top line is the second line of most self-respecting teams, and everything beyond that is the third or fourth line of most non-self respecting teams.
Your defense is big, and though deep on paper, it's filled with bums and under-achievers, and those who crave the spotlight of your shitty media-crazy market also seem to crumble under it or simply crave it to compliment their lack of dedication to the sport. There's a reason the St. Louis Blues are dominating in the NHL. Their market barely gives a shit, meaning less time in front of a microphone and more time DOING THEIR FUCKING JOB! <---- this is not anger, it's an expression which I believe was coined in the Christian Bale meltdown.
The Leafs are, in essence, shite. Kadri has skill and potential. Some Leafs players have comparable or marginally better skill, but potential that has been pissed to waste.
As far as the fact that Kadri drifts offside when called up, that has to do with 2 things.
#1 Clearly, he isn't used to playing with his teammates.
#2 Clearly, the coach of the Marlies isn't focussing on fundamentals properly.
The fact that he still does dumb shit like this is indicative of the lack of attention to the proper details in the coaching system, which he can hardly be faulted for. If his coaches let him get away with this sorry shit, then they need to get fired.
The entire organization is a joke if you ask me. The Leafs and Brian Burke deserve each other, which is hilarious, because Burke is arguably the most business saavy and non-hockey intelligent GM in the league. Sure, there are better hockey guys, but no one can feed the Toronto Media the constant string of bullshit they demand quite like the best Shit Shoveller in town a la Brian "The Drunken Irishman" Burke. Hell, he even looks like Pat Quinn now.
So, yes, I stand by my statement, insofaras the Leafs suck shit, and Kadri does suck shit as well, but at least he's still got some upside that hasn't been beaten out of him by the media, the inept coaches and the self-indulgent false confidence that pollutes the entire franchise.
And no, that has nothing to do with me being from Ottawa, that has to do with the Leafs being a sad sack excuse for a franchise. If this season's class of Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and a bunch of other expiring assets that you've beaten into the ground is what you have to show for a 6 year rebuild, then, bottom line, people need to get fired. Unfortunately, ineptitude is the status quo, and there are no signs of that changing any time soon. Randy Carlyle (sp?) is a half decent coach, but he's got a bunch of wash-outs to deal with.
He can't be blamed, though. Who went out and got all these washed up bums? Dion Phaneuf? Who was falling apart and playing like shit because his ego got demolished when Sean Avery mentioned that he used to ass ram his girlfriend?
Fooltime.exe
Jay Bouwmeester, once a stud defensive prospect who became a raging alcoholic who couldn't give two shits about whether his team wins or loses due to drafted in Hockey Hell, AKA the Panthers.
Fooltime.exe
Mike Komisarek, once a half-decent shutdown defenseman, but lacks the discipline to be anything more than the stay at home body for an offensively talented youngster who can jump up to join the rush and be consoled by the fact that Komisarek will be to blame when they inevitably get scored on in the counter-attack.
The pride of this team is supposed to be it's depth in defence. It's deep alright. Knee-deep in shit. As sad as it is to say, Thomas Kaberle WAS your best defenseman, and you don't even have him anymore. Bouwmeister might be gone, but the fact that you made sacrifices to pay that bum and considered it a wise idea is pathetic.
The organization bought other people's garbage with the picks and prospects they needed to build their own future. That's not how you rebuild a franchise to succeed. That's how you rebuild a franchise to fail. Any GM worth his salt will trade his past for your future all day long. THe only difference the Leafs made from this policy which they adhered to 10 years ago is the wash ups they grabbed were younger. Instead of trading for has-beens, they're trading for "never-will-be"s.
Sad truth. The team is fuckin terrible, and getting worse by the minute. The Boston Bruins laughed all the way to the Stanley Cup they so desperately desired and all the Leafs have to show for it is a one-nut American who plays as though he has none at all.
That's just fuckin pathetic.
