Yardbarker: Bryan McCabe

DEAR BRYAN MCCABE, WHY ARE YOU STILL IN TORONTO?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:21:14 -0500

Dear Bryan McCabe, Why are you still in Toronto? I mean, I understand why you originally wanted to play in Toronto. It is the center of the hockey universe. There are more hockey fans in Toronto than any other city in the world. I also understand that you're from St. Catharines, Ontario and grew up a Maple Leaf fan. One thing about playing in the center of the hockey universe though is that there are more eyes watching you than in any other NHL market, and these eyes do not forget what they see. You should know better than anyone what they've seen. They've seen a guy score on his own net. They've seen a guy pass the puck directly onto the stick of his opponent allowing his opponent to score the goal that defeats your team several times. They've seen a defenseman who seems to take his time skating into his own zone to defend the offensive rush of his opponents. They see their worse defensive defenseman get paid more than any other player on the team. You're the 10th highest paid defenseman in the league, and the fans in Toronto don't think you're worth it. On occasion, the Toronto fans also see you sport a handle bar moustache that makes you look more like a gay biker than a hockey player. Because of these things, you get booed. I'm sure you can hear it. You're not only booed at the arena. Toronto fans take the time to make websites and youtube videos about how much they hate you and want you to leave. You're ridiculed in the media – print and on television. Now, you know just like everyone else knows that you hold the key to your own destiny. You've got a no trade clause and the Leafs management along with every other hockey fan in the city wants you to waive that no trade clause and leave town. I don't understand why you'd want to stay where you're not wanted. If you go to some city that doesn't care about hockey so much, maybe they won't notice your horrible defensive play if you put a few pucks in the net. Why not go anywhere that wants you? Look, chances are that the Toronto fans will never forgive you for your mistakes, but if you're going to piss everyone off by sticking around here's a few things you may want to try to accomplish. First off, do not score on your own net ever again. I guess that goes without saying. Secondly, I know you're 33 years old and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but maybe you could learn how to play a little defence. You are a defenseman. Maybe you can have a look at newly acquired defenseman, Jeff Finger and take some notes. You could also concentrate a little more on your job and not your facial hair. You look like you could use some Ritalin or something. The last suggestion I have, which is maybe the most likely for you to accomplish is for you to score 68 points in 73 games like you did three seasons ago. People liked that. If you can be an elite scoring defenseman again and not cough up the puck quite as much, there's a chance that you may be forgiven. Paul Coffey scored on his own net once, and he's a Hall of Famer. Anyway, I hope you take my suggestions under consideration and have better luck next season. Sincerely, Mike Jack

HAGMAN, FINGER & CUJO: WHAT WILL THE MAPLE LEAFS DO NEXT?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:50:05 -0500

by Mike Jack Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger, Niklas Hagman, defenseman, Jeff Finger and goaltender Curtis Joseph on the first day of the NHL free agent signing period. Coach Ron Wilson has said Hagman will most likely play on a checking line with Jamal Mayers who was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues just before the draft. Hagman scored 27 goals last season with the Dallas Star. He was signed for a reasonable $3 million per season. Finger, who played with Colorado last season, will play a defensive role and be paired with an offensive defenseman (Kaberle, Kubina or McCabe) on one of the teams top two pairing. Finger will be paid $3.5 million each season for the next four years. It seems like his contract is based on what Toronto GM, Cliff Fletcher thinks he can do, and not what he's done already which may be similar to what happened when Bryan McCabe was signed a few years ago, and that didn't really work out. Unlike McCabe though, Finger's proven that he's very skilled defensively. The risk is predicting the amount of offense he'll provide. Fletcher seems to think he's going to improve quite a bit. Joseph was the Leafs starting goaltender from 1998 to 2002, and now returns to back up Vesa Toskala. He left Toronto for a chance to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit, but ended up riding the pine when Dominik Hasek signed with Detroit soon after. Joseph signed with Toronto for only $700,000. He proved last season with Calgary that he can be effective in a back-up role despite being 41 years old. He's a way better goalie than Andrew Raycroft and they're paying him $1.5million less. That makes Raycroft's buy out cap hit of nearly $740,000 this season worth it. Now that the Leafs have gotten rid of most of their old players, CuJo will provide a veteran presence and mentor Toronto's younger goalies. The best part is that CuJo fans can now reuse and recycle their old Toronto CuJo jerseys, thus saving the planet. So, what's Toronto's next move? In a July 1st press conference, Fletcher said they'd sign another defenseman in the next couple days. I think the best fit of the remaining UFA defensemen is Steve Montador. They should be able to get him for less than $3 million and he's only 28 years old. If the Leafs do sign another defensemen though, they'll have eight defenseman signed (Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, McCabe, Finger, Anton Stralman, Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo). I think that means that either Kubina, McCabe or maybe even Colaiacovo will be traded. Now that Brian Campbell, Mark Streit, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Brooks Orpik and Ron Hainsey are all signed, teams looking for an offensive defenseman may be willing to dish out the dollars for McCabe or Kubina. McCabe said he'd waiver his no trade clause to go to New York because that's where his wife is from, but the Rangers just signed Redden and Rozsival and the Islanders signed Streit. The Islanders do still have nearly $19 million in cap space though, and may want another offensive defenseman. Since it's clear that Toronto know longer wants him, McCabe may be willing to settle for somewhere close to New York like New Jersey, Philadelphia or Buffalo. Kubina may have earned another chance with the Leafs after scoring 40 points last season, but at 31, he's now the fifth oldest Leaf and one of seven Leafs that are 30+. Kubina's contract only allows him to be traded before August 15th. Colaiacovo could be gone for the same reason that Kyle Wellwood left, he's hurt often. If Kubina or McCabe go, he'd be a good sixth or seventh defenseman though. If Luke Schenn, the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft, makes a push in camp, he may too take Colaiacovo's spot. Now, that most of the really good UFA forwards have been signed, I think the Leafs might resign Mats Sundin (pictured backed when he had hair). They have $10.8 million in cap space, and it seems like Fletcher is going to stand firm on his $7 million offer. That's a descent raise from the $5.5 million he made last year but obviously a lot less than Vancouver's offer of $10 million per season. That would make him the highest paid player in the league. I don't think anyone will match that, so he'll probably either go to the Canucks or the Leafs. I think Sundin will be willing to take a pay cut to be where he wants to be just like Marian Hossa did. I don't think he'll sign until August though. Sundin has also received offers from the Canadiens and the Rangers. I think the Leafs will give Jason Blake another shot. He'll be 35 this season, but he had some stuff to deal with next year like cancer. He could still be a top scorer. It looks like the Leafs may be keeping Mark Bell around too. I think that huge hit on Daniel Alfredsson at the end of the year saved his career. Besides Fletcher's promise to sign another defenseman soon, any other moves the Leafs perform this off season will depend on whether or not they trade Kubina or McCabe and whether or not Sundin decides to sign back with Toronto.< These situations may not be resolved for another month. Toronto has just enough cap space right now to sign Sundin and a top six defenseman. If Kubina or McCabe are dealt or if Sundin signs elsewhere, they'll have some more cap room to bring in a two or three younger second or third line UFA forwards like Josef Vasicek, Antti Meittinen, Matt Cooke and/or Jason Williams.

MAPLE LEAFS TUCKER, RAYCROFT & WELLWOOD AS GOOD AS GONE

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:43:59 -0500

by Mike Jack, Staff Writer

Earlier today (June 24, 2008), the Toronto Maple Leafs placed center, Kyle Wellwood and goaltender, Andrew Raycroft on waivers. TSN has also just reported that the Leafs have told winger, Darcy Tucker of their intentions to buy him out. These are just some of the many steps the Leafs have taken and will most likely continue to make as they've promised to rebuild the team that has, for the first time in team history, missed the play-offs for three consecutive seasons.

For Raycroft, this is likely the first step to buying out his contract. He is an obvious candidate for a buyout after recording only two wins in 19 games last season. He's scheduled to make $2.2 million next season. There will now be a 24 hour period where any NHL team can claim Raycroft off waivers. If Raycroft is not claimed, the Leafs can either assign him to their farm team, The Toronto Marlies, put him on re-entry waivers where they'd be responsible for half of his salary if he's claimed, or buy out his contract making them pay out 2/3 of his contract over two seasons. If the Leafs do decide to place Raycroft on the Marlies, his $2.2 million won't count towards their salary cap.

Many Leafs fans may be surprised that Wellwood will mostly likely not be with the team next season. You may think a rebuilding team would be interested in keeping a 25 year-old who scored 42 points in 48 games in 2006-07 and was once touted to hold the position of the team's second-line center. However, Wellwood has missed 56 games in the last two seasons mostly due to a sports hernia. Odds are the Leafs doubt the 5'10," 180lbs forward will ever recover. The team may also be impatient with injury prone players since leading the league in "man-games-lost-to-injury" during the 2006-07 season. Wellwood is currently a restricted free agent, but if he's not claimed on waivers and not presented a qualifying offer of 105% of last season's salary, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.

Since Tucker has a no movement clause, the Leafs won't be able to put him on waivers. His contract will be bought out and he'll become an unrestricted free agent. Tucker was a hard-nosed fan favourite in Toronto much like Wendel Clark and Tie Domi. Tucker has had trouble with his knees causing him to see only 56 games in 2006-07 and his scoring pace slowed in 2007-08 to just 34 points in 74 games. The Leafs must pay Tucker $1 million for each of the next six seasons.

It still remains to be seen whether or not they'll buy out the contract of Bryan McCabe. Many have anticipated the buying out of McCabe, but it appears that the Leafs are unwilling to take the large cap hit that would be required over the next six seasons.

The only official buy out so far has the Ottawa Senators buying out the contract of goaltender Ray Emery. The Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning have also placed goalies on waivers. The Kings have tried to buy out Dan Cloutier, but they may not be able to because Cloutier claims he is injured and therefore ineligible for a buy out. Lightning goalie, Marc Denis has been placed on waivers and is eligible for a buy out tomorrow if unclaimed.

The Love Guru: Fact vs. Fiction

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:20:00 -0500

The Love Guru opens today. As a big budget Hollywood blockbuster, the film will no doubt be seen by a lot of non-hockey fans. This is great news for the NHL, which needs all the publicity it can get. However, as with any movie the Hollywood version has taken some liberties with reality. Movie goers may be left with some false impressions about the NHL in general and the Toronto Maple Leafs in specific. To avoid confusion, Down Goes Brown attempts to sort out fact and fiction.

Northeast Division 2008 Free Agency Preview

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:24:24 -0500

What does July 1st hold for the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs? Will Mats Sundin remain a Leaf? Can Ottawa reload, or do they need to rebuild? Can Montreal make the moves necessary to stay on top of the division? Can the Sabres find a replacement for Brian Campbell?

When hockey fans attack: hockey-reference.com sponsorship hijinks

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:09:11 -0500

Now that hockey-reference.com is accepting sponsorships on player and team pages, most of the response has been predictable. But not all of it -- some fans have slapped down a few bucks to have some fun with certain players. Find out what's been done to Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky, Carey Price and others. And us know if you've seen any we missed.

20 Good Things About the 2007-08 Maple Leafs

Tue, 06 May 2008 21:02:24 -0500

A normally negative Leafs blogger resolves to find 20 nice things to say about this year's Maple Leafs.

If the Maple Leafs made their own brand of beer

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:04:36 -0500

Richard Peddie and the rest of the clowns at MLSE haven't had much luck building a successful hockey team. Would they do any better if they were in the beer business?

April Fools day suggestions for NHL stars

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:33:00 -0500

A blog offers up suggested April Fools day pranks for various NHL players such as Sean Avery ("Use funny smiley faces instead of zeroes on all personal cheques written to prostitutes") and Peter Forsberg ("Play hilarious joke on referee by falling down immediately every time you're touched").

How to fight when you don't want to fight

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:27:08 -0500

Inspired by Jonathan Roy, this blog post looks at what to do when forced to fight. The nine options range from the good ("beat down opponent, then leave like it was no big deal," aka the Mr. Miyagi) to not-so-good ("defecate on ice, fling poo," aka the Sean Avery). Helpful YouTube clips of pro athletes demonstrating each method are included.

Bryan McCabe: Beyond the Criticism

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:53:09 -0500

Ever since signing his new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bryan McCabe has become public enemy number one with the fans and especially the media. While John Ferguson Jr. took most of the blame for the team that was assembled this year, Bryan McCabe took a lot of the blame for the Leafs' on ice performance. Many will remember the infamous October 17th edition of the Toronto Sun newspaper that had McCabe's picture on the front page with the headline reading "Brian McKlutz." Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for McCabe this season, he broke his left hand in three places in a 4-1 loss to the Canadiens. McCabe would ultimately miss 23 games with the injury. Many Leaf fans actually didn't mind, some even had a ridiculous idea that somehow the Leafs would be a better team with Bryan McCabe watching from home. They were wrong, very wrong. With Bryan McCabe out of the line-up this season the Leafs have a record of (7-13-3). With Bryan McCabe dressed and playing this season the Leafs have a record of (23-17-7) He doesn't look so bad now does he?

Another Pathetic Day in Leaf Land

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:52:38 -0500

The NHL trade deadline is an opportunity for teams to add some final pieces in hopes of having a successful playoff run. It also gives dwindling franchises the opportunity to unload some big contracts, and add some inexpensive pieces for the future. Neither of which came true for the NHL's most dysfunctional franchise, The Toronto Maple Leafs.

Will This Deadline Cause Another Big Splash?

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:17:23 -0500

The most popular of these rumors has been the possibility of defenseman Bryan McCabe returning to Long Island. McCabe, who was an Islanders 2nd round draft pick in 1993, has been ridiculed by the Toronto media for his recent play and his bloated contract. McCabe is set to make $7 million dollars this and next year which could be the potential stumbling block in trade negotiations. However, it is not the only snag. McCabe also has a full no-trade-clause and would have to waive it to be traded. Another potential problem could be the asking price on the part of the Maple Leafs. If the Leafs want more than 1 of the Islanders top young defensemen or prospects, the Islanders may have to balk.

The Calm Before The Rattling......

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:06:23 -0500

Its a relatively calm hockey night with only 4 games...but with the games this weekend and then the trade deadline...this is the last calm day for awhile.

Trade Rumor Extravaganza!

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:48:30 -0500

Examining some of the trade rumors floating over the heads of certain NHL players. Who will be moved? Where to? For who? Will nothing major even go down when all is said and done? Only time will tell, but that doesn't mean we can't get all worked up in the meantime!