The Bizarro Leafs

Here it is, post number 2! I realize that it’s been over a month since my first post, and my lack of production has been pretty staggering. At this rate, JFJ wouldn't sign me for much more than a million. In my defence, I've had a legitimate excuse. I won’t go into the details, but heretofore the girlfriend will now be known as the wife.

Incidentally, you’ve never known fear until the
woman you love says to you: “Why don’t you pick the music for our first dance?” Wow. In the end she changed her mind and chose the music though, and I think that’s wise. You really don’t want to be leaving a decision of that magnitude to somebody that believes we should change the national anthem to Thunderstruck.

But I digress…

In any case, since I’ve been away it's fair to say that a lot has happened to the Blue and White.

Consider if you will a professional hockey team. They’re a relatively young club, with a media friendly coach who (if past experience is any indication) runs a pretty structured system that emphasises defence. Their blue line is probably their best asset, although goaltending could be problem. Scoring could also be an issue.

Sounds like the opposite of everything we’ve come to expect as Leaf fans right?

That's my dilemma. I really don’t know what to make of this new look team. It’s not that I have my doubts about Hal Gill, or that I question giving up a prospect like Rask for a goalie with the worst GAA in the league last season (although I do). It’s that everything I’ve known about the Leafs is now wrong. It’s like up is down, black is white, cats and dogs living together… Nothing makes sense any more.

I am gonna get Domi a nice fruitbasket. I'm gonna MISS him!

Think about what this really means. There will be no more cantankerous Quinn post-game interviews. No more jokes about a Leaf roster that saves money on flights and hotels by getting the senior's discount. No more round the clock coverage of Ed Belfour’s back. No more 30 minutes of defensive pairings that would look shaky in my Friday pickup game.

(On a side note, are most Leaf fans aware that Alexander Khavanov logged over a thousand hours of ice time last season? I have no recollection of this at all. Does he have some kind of ninja power that renders him completely invisible?)

Is this man some sort of shadow warrior?

I’m not saying I’m going to miss the geriatric defensively challenged soap opera that’s been my team for nearly a decade. It’s a bit like trading in an old car though. The newer model might very well be more efficient and reliable, but occasionally you long for the familiar quirkiness of the old beater.

For better or for worse though, the JFJ era begins in earnest this October. Welcome to the age of the Bizzaro Leafs.