Twenty Bucks Wasted

January 24, 2010 @ 10:30

Sunrise, FLA - What can I say; last night was probably the lowest point ever for me as a Leaf fan.

I paid twenty bucks for two tickets for the Leaf game in Florida last night, and it was twenty bucks too much.

Like hundreds of other loser Leaf fans I sort of planned my vacation around a Leaf road game and was somewhat looking forward to it.

We drove up to Sunrise in the afternoon, I endured a couple of hours at the Sawgrass Mall, we had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then we headed across the parking lot to the BankAmerica Center to look for tickets.

I got two twenty dollar seats for ten bucks each, and then we went back to the car and did what you're apparently supposed to do when following your team on the road.

We put on Leaf jerseys.

What a miserable game. The Leafs sucked the big one and sitting there, it made me contemplate that this may be the worst Leaf team I've ever experienced

I know, I know. I lived through the 70's and 80's when the Leafs were horrendous, and it's been pretty slim since they last made a run in 2002, but this current team is sickening and most of the blame has to rest on the shoulders of the coach.

And that's the crazy thing; I still believe this team could be a lot better than it is. They've showed signs of promise a few times during the season, but it seems their coach, a guy whose way too cocky and condescending for someone who has no results to point to, doesn't know what he's doing.

It's fine to watch games on television but sometimes you actually have to be there to appreciate some things and that's what happened to me last night.

Isn't it the coach's job to tell his players to shoot more on the power-play? Isn't the coach's job to do something about the worst penalty kill in the league? Isn't it the coach's job to tell his players to finish their checks? Isn't it the coach's job to instill team discipline that prevents defensive break downs that minor atoms shouldn't make?

Let's go back to the game against Tampa Bay on Thursday night. Shouldn't the coach shoulder some of the blame for the ridiculous melt-down that Alexie Ponikarovsky had?

Where's the team discipline?

Shouldn't the coach be held responsible for a "too many men on the ice" penalty during overtime?

No discipline.

Isolated, these things happen. But with the Leafs they happen way too often and meanwhile the team is showing absolutely no progress. If anything, they're going in the other direction, and to my mind, a lot of it has to do with coaching.

And while we're at it, what about the General Manager? It might be OK if he quietly went about his business, but he too is awfully cocky for a guy who was going to bring chance to the organization and then turned around and traded away two first round draft choices for an average player.

He's got no right to act like he does, like he's smarter than everyone else. Shit, me and six of my best friends would have known not to trade first round draft choices.

Brian Burke has no been reduced to a nervous wreck whose terrifed that Boston may end up with the first pick over-all.

Same with the coach, he talks a big game before and afterwards, but during the game his team looks like a freakin' mess, a disorganized, undisciplined collection of under-achievers.

Again, I realize this team is far from good, but they should be doing better than they are.

The only saving grace in all of this is that Ron Wilson will coach Team USA at the Olympics. We can only hope he maintains the same standard.

It's fascinating. I looked around the arena last night and it was heavily dotted with Leaf jerseys. People like me who worked a game into their vacation. Dedicated Leaf fans who stick with their team through thick and thin, but what do they get in return?

Nothing.

And I know what's happening right now. There are Hab fans reading this and laughing at my prediction that the Leafs would finish ahead Montreal this year. Go ahead and laugh, you deserve it.

But don't get too ahead of yourself. That team of yours ain't so hot either, and there's a collapse coming just like last year.

As for your joy in the mess that is the Toronto Maple Leafs, thank Ron Wilson.