Comments on: Tomas Kaberle being the last of the “Muskoka Five” http://www.nhl4u.com/toronto-maple-leafs/tomas-kaberle-being-the-last-of-the-%e2%80%9cmuskoka-five%e2%80%9d.html 2009 NHL playoffs, National Hockey League, Teams, Games Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:29:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Dmitriy http://www.nhl4u.com/toronto-maple-leafs/tomas-kaberle-being-the-last-of-the-%e2%80%9cmuskoka-five%e2%80%9d.html/comment-page-1#comment-58 Dmitriy Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:29:11 +0000 http://www.nhl4u.com/?p=214#comment-58 For several years the Toronto Maple Leafs have been a terrible team and a terrible organization. Possibly the worst in hockey when you consider the amount of money, fan-support, and youth/junior hockey culture there has been in the Greater Toronto Area (ie. southern Ontario). Other poorly-run, sad-sack franchises have at least had the excuse of being located in alien regions of the country (Atlanta, Florida, Phoenix), while even others have been much more successful than the Leafs despite their disadvantages (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Dallas). The Leafs, at least until Burke came along, had no "core" of "players to build around". Please. Jeff Finger and Mike Van Ryn are core, leading players? The Jeff Finger Contract was the laughing-stock of the NHL last season, and this year it was easy to see why. Grabovski, Kulemin and Tlusty are all talented, but they are European, and therefore all of them could really go either way. (That's not to offend any European fans. I'm just calling a duck a "duck".) Tomas Kaberle has been a fantastic player for the Leafs, second only to Mats Sundin in terms of "best performance over a player's tenure" category. He is an exceptional skater with consistently-strong defensive coverage. He reads plays well and is not only responsible in his own end, but often times does a great job of covering up his teammates' defensive mistakes. He puts in goals and points, and he is able to run the power play pretty well, given what he's had to work with. He has essentially stayed quiet and loyal, ignoring the many criticisms and trade demands coming from Bandwagon Nation over the years. I hope he gets to play somewhere promising next. He certainly deserves it. For several years the Toronto Maple Leafs have been a terrible team and a terrible organization. Possibly the worst in hockey when you consider the amount of money, fan-support, and youth/junior hockey culture there has been in the Greater Toronto Area (ie. southern Ontario). Other poorly-run, sad-sack franchises have at least had the excuse of being located in alien regions of the country (Atlanta, Florida, Phoenix), while even others have been much more successful than the Leafs despite their disadvantages (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Dallas).

The Leafs, at least until Burke came along, had no “core” of “players to build around”. Please. Jeff Finger and Mike Van Ryn are core, leading players? The Jeff Finger Contract was the laughing-stock of the NHL last season, and this year it was easy to see why. Grabovski, Kulemin and Tlusty are all talented, but they are European, and therefore all of them could really go either way. (That’s not to offend any European fans. I’m just calling a duck a “duck”.)

Tomas Kaberle has been a fantastic player for the Leafs, second only to Mats Sundin in terms of “best performance over a player’s tenure” category. He is an exceptional skater with consistently-strong defensive coverage. He reads plays well and is not only responsible in his own end, but often times does a great job of covering up his teammates’ defensive mistakes. He puts in goals and points, and he is able to run the power play pretty well, given what he’s had to work with. He has essentially stayed quiet and loyal, ignoring the many criticisms and trade demands coming from Bandwagon Nation over the years.

I hope he gets to play somewhere promising next. He certainly deserves it.

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