Cliff Fletcher is Happy with the Leafs but Allsports thinks the Bar was not set to High
This sports news article on the web was written a while back but do to allsports writing about the Mann Cup I had it archived for a bit so it could be written about at a later date.
Cliff Fletcher is a well respected GM around the NHL and most hockey fans in leafdom understand that time and patience will be required to get the franchise back into contention. The core of the Maple Leafs this year will be a very young team that will require some time to gel together and gain experience as a viable NHL team.
Two areas where the Maple Leafs should be fairly sound are defence and goaltending. The big question mark will be with the Leafs forwards. When Nik Andropov is your most accomplished forward, well you can see the issue I am raising here. If the forwards can gel quickly and all prove that they belong at the NHL level then the leafs could surprise a few teams. Based on other sports news articles I have seen on the web I would not count on this happening though. Allsporst feels that the leafs will be bottom dwellers for a couple of years at least until they have a chance at a playoff spot.
Fletcher did the best he could do considering how much Ferguson and to an extent Peddy had tied his hand with ridiculous contracts. He was able to get rid of Bryan McCabe, he did not get much for him but at least they are not paying him to sit at home and they managed to get some of his contract off the books. One thing I did not agree with was the release of Kyle Wellwood, he may have been a bit soft but you can’t teach the natural ability that he had. Mats Sundin on the other hand could help a young team with his leadership on the ice, but at this point in his career would he want that. Know look for Sundin to take part of the year off, much like Scott Niedermayer did for the Ducks last year. Then Sundin could come back with a contender and still be fresh for a playoff run.
I Just don’t want to hear anymore about the Sundin Drama, if he comes back great, if not get over it and move on. The bottom line is that Fletcher has the ship going in the right direction but there will be a couple of years of pain first. Then again leaf fans are pretty patient after all it has been 41 years and counting since the last Stanley Cup parade.
“No Guts No Glory”
Walt Webb
Filed under: All Sports Buzz, NHL Hockey, Olympics, World Hockey
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[...] Next up for the Leafs in a date with the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Look for Kyle Wellwood to have a good game against his former team. He has been a good addition for Vancouver and I still feel that the Leafs gave up on him to soon, as I have written previously. [...]