Leafs Nation can slowly start beLEAFing

Finally, the Leafs have done something positive. They have shed useless baggage and acquired some heavy duty talent. Beautiful! Here’s how the shake-up went down:

In the Calgary deal, the Leafs traded Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers to the Calgary Flames for all-star defenceman Dion Phaneuf, six-foot-six defenceman Keith Aulie and winger Fredrik Sjostrom.

In the Anaheim deal, Leafs traded Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake for JS Giguere.

TSN has done an excellent job covering the trade story. Check out: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=308479 for all the details.

With regards to all these trades, all I can say is ‘beautiful!’ ... for 3 distinct reasons.

1. Dion Phaneuf.
What a stud. Enough said. He may not be having his best season, but he is young and incredibly talented; he’ll be dominating again in no time. Straight-up, when Phaneuf is on, he is unstoppable. Bone crushing hits, a dynamite shot and some much needed leadership, he is the complete package. I give it a month before he wears the Leafs’ C.



Are you kidding me? What an animal.

2. JS Giguere.
This guy was once a top NHL goalie and it’s only a matter of time before he returns to his great form. Heck, even if he doesn’t become a top level goalie again, he’s still infinitely better than Vesa Toskala. He can back up Gustavsson and come in to any gaming confidently. He’s a big goalie who squares himself well to every shot. And with a Stanley cup win under his belt, he knows how to win. A Great move.

3. Jason Blake – Goodbye and good riddance.
Thank God, he’s gone...finally. Blake has been nothing but an overpaid, undersized, third liner who’s done nothing for the Leafs. I know as soon as we acquired him, he wouldn’t be nearly as good as he was with the New York Islanders. Yeah yeah, he once had an impressive 40 goal season, but seriously, that was a fluke. He lacks skill, size and game saavy. And with his huge $5 million a year contract, he is the most overpaid player in the NHL. Now we can move on and use that money elsewhere.

Good riddance Blake.




To see what Brian Burke and the rest of Leafs Nation has to say about the trades, check out: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/index.html

And to see what is in store for the Leafs, check out The Globe and Mail's David Shoalt's report. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/whats-next-for-leafs/article1452609/