Overhaul almost complete

After the Ponikarovsky trade to the Stanley Cup defending Pittsburgh Penguins, which I called many-a blog ago, the overhaul of the Maple Leafs has taken another step in the new (hopefully right) direction. I’m not trying to toot my own horn or anything. Anyone could have seen that trade coming for months. It’s just some people decided to put a lot of teams into the Poni sweepstakes that were far from true. I really believe Pitt was the front-runner from the get-go, with Montreal and Atlanta also dabbling.

When I spoke to a friend today, who is another rabid Leafs fan, we discussed how insane this whole overhaul has been. It’s like trades and players we’ve all discussed in the past are coming to fruition in a pretty abrupt fashion. The old Leafs squad from the days of Quinn and eventually JFJ, are simply over. We all knew that when JFJ was fired, and talks of Brian Burke started up, that the Leafs would be overhauled because of their knack for failure. Little did we know that it would actually happen. I know that sounds stupid: “We expected it, but it’s surprising.” But put simply, us Leafs fans have expected a lot from the biggest franchise in hockey history, and we’ve been let down time and time again. So it’s fun to finally see some good deals go down.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think 14 (or so) players from the roster exactly one year ago have moved on. Howard Berger from the FAN590 wrote a new piece about the overhaul, and the list he presented was pretty mind-blowing. I know every trade and tidbit of news surrounding the Leafs as it happens, but when you look at the giant list of all the players that have left town, it really puts it into perspective.
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The Leafs are the worst OT/Shootout team ever. This season has forced me to just assume the Buds will lose when the game hits the extra frame. I really can’t believe how terrible they are. Last night against Boston, who can’t score their way out of a paper bag, the blue & white couldn’t get anything by Tim Thomas in the extra minutes and shootout. Give credit to Thomas, he was good. But how sad is it to always have to give credit to other teams players for the Leafs inadequacy? Can’t we just have a chance to hype or praise our own players for a change? Upsetting.

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Luca Caputi looked alright last night. The scouting report on this guy seemed pretty accurate. He’s strong when going to the net, has decent hands and needs work on his skating. All of that was evident last night.

Caputi helped to set up the Tyler Bozak goal by using a big body approach and chipping a pass to Kulemin, who should see a lot ice-time for the remainder of the season. It was good work by Caputi, as he looked pretty focused and ready to go last night, so hopefully he can keep it up.

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I forgot to add Chris Peluso to the stats sheet yesterday. Peluso was drafted in the 7th round by the Pens in 2004 (#194 overall) and came over to the Buds for a 6th rounder. Here’s what he’s all about.




MSU