Back on the Wagon

Alright so any one who has been around me when discussing the Leafs know my stance about them. I've been on the fence for the past four seasons, voicing my hate of their management, and the team in general. While I did in fact hate the team, deep down I knew I was a Leafs fan. It almost disgusts me to write such a thing, but its true. The minute John Ferguson Jr. was fired I got excited, hoping to God this was a turning point in the organization. In comes Brian Burke, the new GM, and holy crap that man has made be a 'be-leafer' once again. I'm not saying they're going to win a championship any time soon, but it seems they're well on their way to being a respectable team once again. Call me a traitor, a jumper, unscrupulous, whatever you want. The fact is that I will no longer be embarrassed to say I like the Maple Leafs.

I have come to this conclusion for a variety of reasons:

1. Drafting

For the past couple of seasons the Leafs have actually held on to their first round picks, not trading them away for some aging dinosaur in hopes that they will be propelled to the Stanley Cup Final for a season. Thank you JFJ for that. Already Luke Schenn is showing promise, and I can only hope it will be the same for Nazem Kadri, their pick this season.

2. Defence

This off-season Brian Burke has been signing free agent D-men like crazy. Beauchemin, Exelby, Komisarek. Not to mention that Kubina was traded, dumping his insane five-million dollar salary-cap hit. That makes 10 D-men on the roster at the moment, have fun in the minors Jeff Finger. Also, goodbye Kaberle? Only time will tell.

3. The Monster

Brian Burke signed Jonas 'the monster' Gustavsson this morning, who is considered to be the best goalie playing outside the NHL right now. He played 42 games in the Swedish Elite League last season, posting a remarkable .932 save percentage, and 1.96 goals against average. I doubt he'll start (at least at first) in front of Vesa Toskala, but at least it will light a fire under Toskala's ass knowing there's a new hot-shot goalie in town that's aching to get ice time. Who knows, maybe Toronto will ditch Toskala and his 4 million dollar salary. Pierre Mcguire is going to bust a nut when he gets asked to call Leafs games on TSN.

4. Size

Its no secret that Brian Burke loves tough, massive teams. Just look at the roster of the Anaheim Ducks. On top of huge defenceman, Burke also signed Colton Orr, a known scrapper and tough-guy around the league. The man had seventeen fighting majors last season. The Leafs might not score a ton this year, but they might just beat the other team into such a pulp that it won't matter.

Never thought I'd utter these words again:

Go Leafs Go.