Rorty

<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/images/upload/2009/09/kessel_burke_205x115.jpg" class="imageFloatRightFramed">An abysmal team like the Leafs already get too much attention on these boards without me tossing my two cents into the growing pile of change, but I simply have to get something off my chest. I want to know exactly what the hell the Leafs were thinking with that Kessel deal. Seriously, what were they thinking when they did that deal? I really like Dave Nonis and think his unwavering commitment to his own vision was what eventually led to his dismissal in Vancouver. I have generally agreed with Dave's thinking – even the Chouinard and and Bulis signings, which were calculated gambles that didn't pan out – but Kessel? Let's look at this. The deal was Kessel for a first and a second round pick in 2010, and a first round pick in 2011. Toronto just stinks. That's a given. They are guaranteed a bottom five finish for this season and next – barring some <a href=" target=_new>Disneyesque miracle</a> that would see Kurt Russell step behind the bench and push the Leafs to an Olympic gold medal with Emelio Esteves riding shot gun. <img src="http://blog.ugo.com/images/uploads/snake_plissken_efny.jpg" class="imageFloatLeftFramed">Assuming <a href=" target=_new>Kurt "Snake Pliskin" Russell</a> doesn't rescue President Burke from post-apocalypse Toronto, the Leafs are trading two picks that can be no worse than fifth overall… and a second-rounder. I will try to apply some real-world perspective on this by looking back a few seasons. Let's say the dice don't roll the Leafs' way and they end up with third overall picks this year and next, and never do get a first-overall (as we know the NHL uses a weighted lottery system to determine which of the bottom five teams actually get the first overall pick). And for the sake of this discussion, let's ignore the fact that experts are as high on the 2010 draft class as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Feiw_etAra0" target=_new>Britney is on Youtube</a>. We'll also ignore the past three drafts because those youngsters have yet to really find their game at the NHL level. So, exactly what did the Leafs surrender to acquire Kessel? The top five picks in 2006 were: Erik Johnson, Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews, Nicklas Backstrom and yes, Phil Kessel himself. Assuming the Leafs hit the sweet spot and picked third, they would have Toews. We have to throw out 2005 because it was the post-lockout draft and was as ripe with two season's worth of talent, but the top five was: Sidney Crosby, Bobby Ryan, Jack Johnson, Benoit Pouliot and Carey Price. For the record, it would've been Johnson. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/blackhawks/images/upload/2009/08/CB306x172.gif" class="imageFloatRightFramed">The 2004 year went: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Cam Barker, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler. Again, eliminating the possibility that the Leafs might've actually gone off the chart and dipped for a player like, say Wojtek Wolski (21st) or Mike Green (29th), the Leafs would've ended up with Barker. The third pick in 2003? Nathan Horton. In 2002, Jay Bouwmeester. In 2001, Aleander Svitov. In 2000, Marian Gaborik. The top second round picks from 2006 and earlier were: Tomas Kana, James Neal, Alex Edler & Johan Franzen, Patrice Bergeron & Shea Weber, Jarret Stoll & Trevor Daley. THUS, we can project that the Leafs gave up a Jonathan Toews and Cam Barker (and possibly Nathan Horton/Jay Bouwmeester), along with a second round player that's somewhere between Tomas Kana, Johan Franzen and Shea Weber. Good deal? What the hell were they thinking? Ignoring the possibility that the two-headed Burk-onis creature is actually an evil double agent and is doing the rest of Canada a favour by running the franchise into the ground, the only other plausible explanation is that the duo has already abandoned their plan to build through the draft, and instead, attempting to secure a solid young player like Kessel who they can build around in free agency. Either that or they're just drunk. It's 50/50.

Disclaimer: I think BC politicians and their staffers are sad, self-serving tools bereft of any moral decency. Clearly some junior staffer at the health office was reading up on their Alberta counterparts and was titillated at the prospect of a little face time. Why else would you attack the Canucks for following protocol when it comes to getting the H1N1 shot? We're all aware of how Darryl Sutter and the rest of the Calgary Flames upper (mis)management slithered their way to the front of the line for H1N1 shots – ahead of high-risk children - back on October 30th which cost two Albert a Health Authority employees their jobs. At the time B.C.'s chief medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, railed against the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, for also jumping the queue. What of the Canucks? Despite the fact that the Pig Flu had costs the Oilers a few points in the standings in late October, the organization publicly said they would wait until all the high-risk cases had been vaccinated and shots had become public before players would receive theirs. On Friday, Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, told an Ottawa news conference that "we are broadening our recommendations for the use of unadjuvanted vaccine. Specifically, the doses of unadjuvanted flu vaccine will be made available to healthy people between the ages of 10 and 65 and those with healthy immune systems so they can be vaccinated as soon as possible." Based on that recommendation, the Canucks organization arranged for flu shots on Tuesday – not Friday, not Monday, but Tuesday. And who rears their head in the media Thursday? None other than Dr. Perry Kendall, clearly drunk on his own fleeting celebrity stemming from his Calgary Flames grand-standing. He claims in a Vancouver Sun story the Canucks definitely jumped the H1N1 vaccine queue. "They were out of sequence," he was quoted as saying. Really Dr. P? Whose sequence? Could it possibly be your private sequence? Because your own government released a statement Friday clearing "healthy people between the ages of 10 and 65" for the vaccine. What a reeking pile of self-aggrandizing garbage. Dr. P, you should be ashamed. You're slamming the Canucks without just cause for your own personal gain.

Great blog. Though I disagree that Samuelsson is under "Jury still out". He's been better than expected and scored clutch goals. Anyone who expected him to break out offensively just because he was going to get better minutes in a better role in Vancouver is delusional. Samuelsson is what he is.

I implore you to temporarily muck all that media and message board hype out of that skull and take an honest look at this edition of the Canucks. Done now? Okay. Exactly why were folks so bloody high on this team to start the season? Was it just me or were even the most bitter, yellowed Canucks haters calling this the best team this franchise has seen? Even Tony G – that bastion of searing Canucks vitriol - was calling Mike Gillis team a legitimate playoff contender. No way. Ehrhoff, yeah, he's good. Better than Ohlund? Yeah, probably. But what else changed on the back end? Willie is no faster and no less likely to fire a puck up the boards in the dying moments of a crucial playoff game. Bieksa is no bigger, nor any more able to clear the front of his crease. Edler meaner? No. Up front this team has only gotten smaller and less skilled. Granted, they don't have to deal with Demitra's messes, but they also have zero semblance of a second line. Kesler, Raymond and whatever else AV has inked in beside them simply isn't good enough. The Flames have more offensive upside than this team and that's solely because they have Renee Bourque. And the Twins – oh god the poor Twins – they still don't have a winger. And I'm beginning to think they never will. John Leclair? Cam Neely? Dan f-ing Heatley for chistsakes. Anyone with some size, smarts and finish. Anson – I heart Europe – Carter was able to pop 30+ for the twins and was out of the league two years later. What does that tell you? Stay with me here… They can turn poop into gold. Imagine what they could do with some lead; lead that planted itself in the crease and kept its stick on the ice. And then there's Lui. What of Luongo? He's not a bad goalie. He's a very good goalie even. Certainly capable of getting hot at the right time just like anyone else. BUT, can any team really afford to spend $7 + million a year between the pipes when guys like Cam Ward and Chris Osgood can carry a team further for a fraction of the cost? I would say not. Too small. Too soft. Not skilled enough to play an offensive game and not gritty enough to play a grinding defensive game. And too expensive in the crease to fix what ails them.