June 2, 2002

Leafs in retrospect...

June 2, 2002

The Leafs are golfing...

Now that the shock and disbelief are over, let's get on with the post-season analysis:

Curtis Joseph - it's hard to fault Cujo when they got beat out by a team who usually waited until OT to win. Curtis' future with the Leafs is in question, but since he got them this far, the team will make him a good offer for 2002-2003.

Mats Sundin - sadly, the captain's late return appeared to distract the rest of the team and allowed them to relax. Perhaps Mats shouldn't have drank so much milk. If he wasn't back for the sad end of the Carolina series, who knows how many notches the rest of the gang would have stepped up?

Alyn McCauley - perhaps the Leafs will start to play Alyn a bit next season, or at least ship him off to a team that will uitilize his talents and trade for a veteran defenceman or something!

Gary Roberts - the de facto team captain had the Leafs fine-tuned into a grit machine all through Sundin's absence, and deserves a Cup over the next couple years. Rumour has it that ROBERTS is the Leaf that all the Baby Leafs look up to as a mentor.

Tie Domi - we were waiting for Tie to either become a playoff hero or pull another stunt like he did last year. Unfortunately, he did neither, but he did do a pretty good job at assisting on several key plays in the first two series.

Robert Riechel - what can be said about this guy? He offered next to nothing throughout the season, and, as expected, the same in the playoffs. We lost Danny Markov for this useless tosser? Executives know best, right?

Travis Green - Travis the Tractor plays hard, and makes the lack of Danny Markov a bit easier to take. He was involved in quite a few key plays and played a lot harder than his small frame would sometimes allow. We like this kid, and find him to be a perfect teammate to guys like Darcy Tucker and Shayne Corson.

Darcy Tucker - another milk drinker, Tucker was supposed to be "done" for the season, yet, there he was, not quite up to snuff, and likely hurting like hell, when his team needed him.

Dmitry Yushkevich - sidelined for the whole playoffs due to a blood clot in his leg, the lack of Yushy hurt the team greatly. Although Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle pulled off a few miracles in his absence, they are just two men. Yushky was missed.

Bryan McCabe - a former Islander and team captain, McCabe's skills were evident as he played more time than anyone who wasn't a goalie in this year's playoffs. They say ice time is a reward? McCabe must have been a good boy!

Tomas Kaberle - the politest defenseman in the NHL (two penalty minutes all year?!?) finally got a little aggro happening in the playoffs. Unfortunately, he may just be remembered for taking THAT PENALTY in the third period of the last game.

Jyrkki Lumme - weasel!

Corey Cross - once a big, dumb fuck, always a big, dumb fuck. This big, dumb fuck's name should have been "Brad".

Pat Quinn - we hope to see you back next year, and if you really like the "job security" thing, keep both jobs!!! However, next year better be the year. Gary Roberts isn't getting any younger, and neither are we!!!