Leafs Surrender to Senators

The game was over last night 39 seconds into the game when Ed Belfour surrendered the first goal in a humiliating 7-0 defeat. It seemed to me that Belfour and Aki Berg both looked down in shame at that point. The team showed a total lack of confidence last night and rightly so as they have lost three contests to Ottawa with a combined score of 23-1. After the game Mats Sundin said he was worried about how the team was playing and if they kept playing like this they would not make the play-offs. That sounds a little understated to me. I think Sundin should be personally worried that this could be his last year playing in Toronto as well as many of his wealthy team mates.

The current five game losing streak represents the longest losing streak this team has had since 1997. When watching After The Horn on Leafs TV, the only positive that anyone could come up with was that this was the first time in five games that the Leafs hadn't blown the lead. Who do you point your finger at for the loss? Who knows, the entire team lacked passion, they looked like a Beer League team playing in front of twenty fans that was content to lose as they knew that at least the beer was on ice in the dressing room and it wasn't worthwhile getting all bent out of shape, not when you need your energy to flirt with the girls at Hooters over a pitcher of draft and a basket of wings.

What happens now? Well, I think we should be looking at a trade to occur before the rematch Monday night. If that doesn't happen, then that means that John Ferguson Jr is busy moving the finger of blame from himself for acquiring our current roster to Pat Quinn for failing to have them produce. That also means that a similar debacle Monday night will see Ottawa dethrone not only Paul Martin and the Liberals but also Pat Quinn. You will then see Paul Maurice promoted from the Toronto Marlies to be bench boss of the Leafs.

The game Monday night will be the most important for Pat Quinn since he signed on to run the Leafs some six seasons ago. What would I do? I would certainly make sure I had Darcy Tucker and Brian McCabe under contract for next year as they are the heart and soul of the Leafs. I would start shopping Mats Sundin before his value plummets even further. I would run Jeff O'Neill out of town and I would make this Tie Domi's final season with the Leafs. I would let Tie finish out the string in recognition of his his 16-17 seasons of loyal service. I would give Mikael Tellqvist more ice time and shop Ed Belfour. The best the Leafs can do with this crew is a first round playoff loss. I would start preparing for next season and above all else I would not trade any of their promising youth. There are no quick fixes for this team, so why screw around with the future.

As far as getting the team back on track, it may be best to say good bye to Quinn and hello to Maurice. It also would benefit the team if Ken Dryden were to lose his re-election bid and to resume his post as president of the team. Ken Dryden is a deep thinker with tremendous hockey knowledge and tremendous integrity. With Quinn out of the picture, Dryden just may be willing to lead the organization again. I for one appreciate how Dryden turned the ship around from an also ran to a contender. If Dryden had been on board he would have foreseen this breakdown coming and would have limited Quinn's influence on personnel and stopped the many short sighted trades that have occurred during Quinn's time with the Leafs.

Leafs
Toronto+Maple+Leafs
Maple+Leafs
Ottawa+Senators
Senators