from Pierre LeBrun at Sportsnet,

The Anaheim Ducks, surely, will wake up one day soon and realize they’ve got to let their GM, Brian Burke, talk to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

If not, they’re making a terrible mistake.

This is going to be a distraction for them every single day until Burke’s contract expires after next season. Especially if two things happen:

1) The Ducks can’t get Burke to sign a contract extension.

2) The Leafs hire Burke’s friend Dave Nonis in some form of front-office role while very much keeping the big job open. Nonis, fired as Vancouver Canucks GM last month, is meeting with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment early next week.

continued

PITTSBURGH (May 9) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs must believe they have a business plan in effect that will ultimately lure the NHL's equivalent of Moses to their general manager's chair. As we are discovering this week, however, the Leafs' plan is virtually unprecedented in the annals of big-league hockey. In order to fulfill its own characterization of a manager, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment h

Here are your Afternoon Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest...

from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

According to president Richard Peddie, the club wants “a winner,” someone who is a “long-term builder and short-term fixer,” an executive with “NHL experience and an established track record, a success on and off the ice.”

From that, most people have come to believe the Leafs want a president/GM with one or more Stanley Cup rings gathered through years of senior management experience with one or more teams before ascending, to steal Brian Burke’s words, to “the Vatican” of hockey.

An admirable goal.

What’s interesting, however, is that of the four teams that have made their way to the NHL’s conference championships this spring, none are managed by individuals who initially made their way into their current jobs by first accumulating the type of experience the Leafs are apparently demanding.

read on

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Jason Blake was one of three finalists named for the Bill Masterson Trophy on Friday.

Left wing Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and right wing Fernando Pisani of the Edmonton Oilers were selected Friday as finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award, given out by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, is presented annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance,...

So we've had back-to-back big days. Wednesday had a hint of what was to come while Thursday unveiled Project Mayhem without the explosions and fights or the blood. Basically, our goal is to buy up rivals, give them funny captions, have them link to Leafs blogs, and then laugh at our rivals when they inevitably get worked up about it.

Things kicked off with the purcahse of this youngster's page:

Our nefarious plot then moved to secure the greatest Maple Leaf ever, Mats Sundin, to safe guard him from opposition fans. Chemmy then made the suggestion that made kicked this plot into high gear: grab Daniel Alfredsson. And we did. Through our fundraising efforts we have now paid for both sponsorships ($80) and we can kick off phase II and I can reveal the two secret targets:

The franchise pages for the Montreal Canadiens and the ottawa senators.

This is huge. This means that no matter what page people go to see whether it's their skater registry, season leaders, career leaders, or any page under the franchise page they will see whatever message we put up. The cost is $200 for the two pages and we already have commitments for $40 so we are just $160 short. Spread the word and help us reach our goal. Anyone that wants to donate can do so via Paypal or can e-mail me to arrange another way via e-mail. The sponshorship comes with a link which I am going to direct to a compilation of links sent in from each person that donates. You can have it link to your blog or to a charity or another page (within reason).

Sean has a roundup of Leafdom's assault and you'll get to see where CoxBloc's cash went. Mirtle is trying to compile the blogosphere's purchases.

So I'll open up the comments to suggestions for Mats and Alfredsson's caption. The limit for the caption is 255 characters so use as little or as much as you'd like. Try to start a new comment thread for each suggestion. If you like it reply to it and if you have a new one post a new comment. That way I can get an idea of which are the most popular and then we can have a run-off vote if needed. Also, Loser Domi needs some help coming up with a caption for Matt Stajan.

As always, here are some links to help pass the day:

• Chemmy follows this Hockey-Reference.com phenomenon to its hilarious ends. Possibly the funniest thing I've read in a long long time. For the record, I wasn't belittling, I was being facetious!
  
  
• MF37 has an amazing piece on hope and Maple Leaf fans and it doesn't end with the conclusion that there is none. Great way to start the day.
  
  
• Sean did it! A perfectly logical and optimistic post to end optimism week. I knew he had it in him.
  
  
• Steve joins MF37 in frustration about how the sports media in this city (and country) can cherry pick facts and their editors turn a blind eye. Remember when editors used to actually do work? Yeah, me neither.
  
  
• Greener and Moose have a podcast. I haven't listened to it yet but after reading that description I can't wait to go on living my life.
  
   
• Tim Wharnsby finally puts those Ken Holland rumours. Will anyone in the Toronto media listen? My guess is no.

Leafs            Leafs aim high in search for GM (Toronto Star)                     Maurice exits with style, little substance (Toronto Star)                    Swedish free agent spurns Leafs (Toronto Star)                     Maurice says winning isn't far off for Leafs (Toronto Star)                     Leafs put Brunnstrom behind, move on with GM search (Toronto... (...)

Months of speculation ended yesterday as the young Swede has chosen to play in Dallas next season. His reasons for not coming to Toronto? According to his agent, Brunnstrom felt there would be too much pressure on him here and that the expectations would be a lot higher. If Toronto signed an unproven player to $850K a year with a bonus structure that could net him $2.5M a season, as Dallas did,

Forget about a quick, conventional solution to filling the holes in the Maple Leafs' hierarchy.

On May 7, the day Paul Maurice was fired as coach, his departure took a back seat to news the Leafs had requested permission from the Vancouver Canucks to talk with their fired general manager, Dave Nonis.

That rekindled talk that Nonis's former boss, Brian Burke, could be on his way to Toronto next summer to front a hockey office that Nonis would set up while Burke serves the final year of his contract as the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks.

Burke insists he knows nothing about such a plan, though the Leafs were pursuing him in the shadows up until last month, when the Ducks ownership demanded Burke finish his term.

First, I would like to start by thanking everyone who commented on my last blog. It was great to be part of a civil exchange of arguments between hockey fans. After all the controversies and fights, it was nice to see that even though we were facing different sides of an argument, we were able to not take anything personally and not attack one another. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Now to my latest blog...

With July 1st coming closer and closer and all the fuss over high-risk prospect Brunnstrom its clear that some teams are looking to add some top end offensive punch. This year, the draft should bring that in spades, reputed to be the deepest draft since 2003, many teams will be looking to make moves to acquire the right kids.

In my opinion, Toronto should be the biggest movers. They have some pick depth as well as some major needs to fill. I think we'll most likely see them trading up in this draft to get an impact player. Stamkos will most likely be the Leafs' main target and would most likely start centering the first line if Sundin doesn't return. I could see Toronto going after a shutdown centre as well, someone with lots of size and skill. I could see them potentially trying to trade for San Jose's Marleau who is potentially available. Marleau is off one of the worst years of his career and his value is at an all-time low. Toronto could hypothetically trade their 1st and a second if they can't land Stamkos. Marleau is young, and has the potential to bounce back...Toronto would also be picking up a guy with lots of leadership. Could be very interesting for both parties. Especially since San Jose will be looking to re-sign campbell and will need all the cash that they could get. Markus Naslund could also be on the Leaf's radar, Naslund plays well with some big strong players, and could potentially play very well if Sundin returns. There is also the potential of a great deal of chemistry with Jason Blake. (Who I think will bounce back this season)

Ottawa will be looking to move Emery, will probably have to draft a goaltender to replace him. What will be interesting will be the fact that they might have to package Emery out if they want someone to take him on. I could see the cap rich Nashville taking a chance on Emery, the sens might look for a gritty guy like tootoo in return. Emery, a 2nd for tootoo...Basically anything not to buy him out. Tootoo is a great energy guy and would be a fan favorite in Ottawa...on a line with Chris Neil, it could represent one of the best checking lines in the east. Nashville could use Emery as a 1b goaltender and draft a decent player with the 2nd rounder.

Montreal will probably look to add depth during the draft, but also they might be inclined to move some assets. I think that Olli Jokinen will be their top target this year, Montreal is stacked at the D position, and could make a big move for Jokinen trading some picks as well as some prospects. They might also be one of the teams willing to give up a pick to negotiate with Jeff Carter. Philly is right at the cap and might not be able to afford the 3.5-5.5 (depending on length) that Carter will be asking for. Martin Havlat might also be a target for Montreal based on his potential recovery. There is no question that Havlat is as spectacular as he is injury prone. There is also the great possibility that Montreal will send feelers out to Jagr who although would be a short term solution would not solve the team's long term concerns. Montreal's best bet would be in landing Hossa or package out picks and prospects for a star player from a financially challenged team.

Boston will be looking to quietly upgrade. They seem to have all the pieces and in my opinion will want to upgrade their third line, and might be in the market for a defenseman to play with Chara. Redden who previously played with him in Ottawa could be a strong contender. I could see Boston going for a Conroy type of player to give some extra oomph to their playoff line-up.

Washington should be the wildcard of the draft, their recent drafting has been top notch while their free agent signings have been average at best. With Kolzig gone, Huet will most probably re-sign...Look for this team to be a huge player in the hunt for Hossa, not to mention a team who can afford to deal picks to get better right away.

With the free agent market being at best lukewarm this year, the draft should see some MAJOR moves. Be ready for an interesting draft...I know I will be.

The Dallas Stars have signed the most coveted player who isn't playing in the NHL by agreeing to Fabian Brunnstrom with a preliminary deal, agreeing that Brunnstrom will earn the same salary as a top 5 draft pick. I have to applaud the working of Brett Hull and Les Jackson because they have made some spectacular moves, firstly acquiring Brad Richards for practically nothing and now bringing in the potentially best free agent available. The Dallas Stars will be absolutely deadly next year because of playing two first lines, the fact that they have great up and coming talent and stability between the pipes and at the defense corps. I think that Dallas is going to be a great team next year and with Hull and Jackson at the helm the team is going to get better because both of them are great general managers and have made excellent moves.

An interesting story about Washington Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig saying that he won't return to the Capitals. Kolzig is thirty eight years old but is still in excellent shape, and will definitely bring great goaltending if he further decides to play, there is still the possibility of him retiring. The Washington Capitals basically sandbagged Kolzig by acquiring Cristobal Huet from Montreal during a playoff run, Kolzig had been the number one goalie in Washington forever so the frustration seems warranted. Kolzig is an incredible human being who has been known to raise money for autism through the Carson Kolzig Foundation for Youth Autism (I have a brother with autism). Again, whichever team gets him will be fortunate.

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue there look for a coach and a general manager, they are still trying to get Dave Nonis but I think the move that makes the most sense would be getting Brian Burke, who is a proven winner, but has anyone thought of Doug Armstrong who was the former GM of Dallas?, he is an excellent general manager and I am sure the Leafs would want him. Interesting coaching rumors include Colorado's Joel Quenneville, former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley and current Toronto Marlies coach Greg Gilbert, but remember those are all just rumors.

thanks for reading

Liam

By: Riley McGuire (294th NHL Post)

This list is my top 5 upcoming free agents and some other things, hopefully I won't forget anyone, so lets get started..





All though his point total dropped by thirty four this season Hossa Is probably the most sought after free agent in the league and is likely to test the free agent market depending on how Pittsburgh does in this playoffs. Any team that wants Marian will probably give him around 8-9 million dollars a year because this guy is an 100 scorer and at 29 is still at the peek of his career.

Season Grade: B-





This guy's stock has probably risen the most in the last few years, and the trade is looking worse for Buffalo. Including the playoffs Brian Campbell had 26 points in 33 games this year with the San Jose Sharks which is pretty outstanding, Brian should seek 5.5-6.0 million in salaries but should seek a long term deal. Also there's a good change he'll resign with the Sharks but if I was him, I would test the market.

Season Grade: A





Ollie the Goalie has already stated that he doesn't want to play for the Capitals next season and could become a cheap Dwayne Roloson type of guy. He's still in top shape and a team like Atlanta or Tampa Bay could really use a guy like that and he's been amazing on the Capitals in recent years, imagine what he could do on a better team.

Season Grade: B





Peter has made it pretty clear that he wants to play in the NHL next year but I don't think it will be with Colorado because with Joe Sakic and likely retiring interest is vein. If he does play in the National Hockey League expect a big contract with little years.

Season Grade: A+ (for the games he's played in)





Yeah there's two Colorado Avalanche on this list, that may seem bias, I don't care. Jose was one of the best goalies in the NHL this year and I hope to god he resigns with the Avalanche because if he doesn't were looking like hell next year.

Season Grade: B+



John Michael Liles - Colorado Avalanche
Daymond Langkow - Calgary Flames
Kristian Hueselius - Calgary Flames
Ladislav Nagy - Los Angeles Kings
Bryan Berard - New York Islanders
Cory Stillman - Ottawa Sentaors
Andrew Brunette - Colorado Avalanche
Radim Vrbata - Phoenix Coyotes
Mark Streit - Montreal Canadiens
Jarkko Ruutu - Pittsburgh Penguins



Mats Sundin - The Toronto Maple Leafs
Rob Blake - Los Angeles Kings
Dominik Hasek - Detroit Red Wings
Chris Chelios - Detroit Red Wings
Sean Hill - Minnesota Wild
Luke Richardson - Ottawa Senators
Gary Roberts - Pittsburgh Penguins
Jeremy Roenick - San Jose Sharks
Trevor Linden - Vancouver Canucks
Sergei Federov - Washington Capitals

Bibliography - NHL.COM, GOOGLE.COM, HOCKEYDB.COM and My Brain.

If I forgot any free agents on the Honorable Mention or should retire list please let me know and I will try to add them to the list, agree or disagree with my top five?, let me know!

Thanks For Reading!

You people are hard to please.

You all tell me I'm too negative. Then, when I write 20 Good Things About The 2007-08 Leafs, some of you still find a way to call them "thinly veiled swipes at the team". I can't win.

So here, in a wrap-up to Optimism Week, is one last try. Here are five honest-to-goodness reasons for optimism in Leafs land.

They'll be far better at coach and GM

We don't know who they'll be. But we don't need to know their names to know that they'll be an upgrade over Maurice and Ferguson. And while the new GM will need a year or two to dig out from under JFJ's mess, coaches often have an immediate impact. If a new man behind the bench can do things Maurice never could -- like implement a defensive system, hold a veteran accountable, or call a timeout properly -- then the Leafs could get a boost right away.

Could you name an NHL team with worse coach/GM combo last year than the Leafs? Me neither. There's nowhere to go but up.

And the new coach will have one thing going for him...

They're only solid at one position in the entire organization -- but it's the most important one

Realistically, the Leafs are weak on defence and only average at forward (and that's assuming Sundin stays). But the goaltending outlook is solid. In fact, it may be excellent.

Vesa Toskala started slow last year, but in the second half he showed that he can be a top NHL goalie. He's not in the Brodeur/Luongo class, of course, but there are plenty of NHL teams that would trade their starter straight-up for Toskala in a heartbeat. With the exception of the Raycroft era, the Leafs have had excellent goaltending every year since Grant Fuhr arrived in 1991. Toskala looks like he may give that to them again.

And while the NHL club's best player is a goalie, the organization's best prospect is too. Justin Pogge's progress hasn't been as rapid as some had hoped (and Greg Gilbert seems hellbent on slowing it further), but he's still a top prospect with an excellent outlook.

If the Leafs are lucky, we could soon see Pogge playing Potvin to Toskala's Fuhr. And that worked out pretty well last time around.

And speaking of Pogge...

The Leafs have some decent young players

They don't have many decent young players (and they don't have any great young players), but the Leafs have put together a core group of reasonably talented youth. In addition to Pogge, the Leafs have prospects such as Jiri Tlustly and Nikolai Kulemin ready to play a role next year, and Jeremy Williams has shown flashes. Young NHLers such as Stajan, Steen, Colaiacovo and Stralman have shown promise. Even Kyle Wellwood could wake up from his donut coma in time to make a career for himself.

That's not a great list, but it's also not a bare cupboard. The Leafs have enough young talent to fill most of their second and third lines for years to come. And while there isn't a single sure-fire first line player on the list, the Leafs have other ways of filling those spots. Namely...

There's always free agency

It's an old joke among fans of other teams: These poor delusional Leaf fans think every free agent is desperate to go to Toronto at a discount. But the punchline is that it's often true. In the past few years, we've seen players like Gary Roberts, Curtis Joseph, Michael Peca, Eric Lindros and Joe Nieuwendyk turn down more money somewhere else to come to Toronto. And that's in addition to top FAs like Belfour and Mogilny who signed for fair value. Despite the best efforts of Richard Peddie, some players just really want to play in Toronto.

That's not a reflection on the franchise -- it has more to do with geography and history. There are more players from the Toronto area in the NHL than anywhere else, and some of those guys want to play in front of their families and/or for the team they grew up watching.

Combine that with the fact that the Leafs will always be able to spend to the upper limits of the salary cap, and you have a team that starts each free agency season a few steps ahead of most other franchises. It's not fair, but it's reality.

Of course, that doesn't mean they should spend on veteran FA's -- at least not any time soon. But when the times comes, there will be good players waiting for Toronto to call. And that time may not be as far off as everyone thinks, if only because...

We just don't know how long it takes to rebuild in today's NHL

Look, the Leafs are a mess right now. I'm the last guy to argue otherwise.

But at the same time, enough with all the talk of four- or five- or seven-year plans. The truth is we just don't know yet what the timelines look like for a rebuilding effort takes in the post-lockout NHL. But the early returns show it could be quicker than you'd think.

Since the lockout, we've seen some amazing turnarounds. Montreal finished behind the Leafs last year, then won the conference this year. The Flyers had the worst record in the league last year, and are in the final four today. The Capitals went from being Ovechkin and a bunch of stiffs to among the league's top teams almost overnight. And we're not even counting the Penguins, who are a special case thanks to the Crosby lottery.

On the other side of the coin, we've seen the Hurricanes win a Cup, then miss the playoffs in back-to-back years. The Sabres went from conference winner to afterthought in one season. It only took one year for the Canucks to go from contender to also-ran. The Senators did it in half a season.

What does all that have to do with the Leafs? Probably not much. For starters, the Habs, Caps and Flyers all had a far more talented group of young players than the Leafs do.

But the bottom line is that there's plenty of evidence to suggest that teams can go from pretenders to contenders (and back) very quickly in the era of early free agency and the salary cap. If the Leafs ever could get their act together, they could be back in contention much faster than any of the sky-is-falling crowd thinks possible.

(Even me.)

Howard Berger couldn’t resist taking a swipe at the MLSE pursuit of an English Footballing side the other day when he typed up this gem:

“Of course, Detroit, Dallas and Montreal offer Brunnstrom what the Leafs cannot: The opportunity to join organizations with a demonstrated committment to winning. It might take him a bit longer to break into the front ranks of players on the Red Wings, Stars or Canadiens, but he’ll never have to question the motives of his employer. Condominuims and soccer teams will not be essential topics of development. The other teams have full-time general managers, and coaches that Brunnstrom is assured of playing for next season. They have combined to win 14 Stanley Cups since the Leafs last made an appearance in the championship round.”

Ok, I have more than a few problems with this completely asinine statement. First off, Detroit has won 3 cups since Toronto last hoisted it, and Dallas has won a single time… ever. Montreal has won the other 10 times he’s mentioning in the paragraph I loathe. UNFORTUNATELY, The current ownership of Montreal, George N. Gillett Jr. and family, were NOT in charge for any of Montreal’s championships. Does that make his ownership incompetent? Probably not… but maybe if he spent less time arguing with Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks about their split on who should really be in charge of the Liverpool Reds Premiership football side, or following his NASCAR team as it drove around making nothing but left hand turns, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge could get the lead out and actually WIN something meaningful.

Tom Hicks is also the owner of that awesome powerhouse of a MLB franchise, the Texas Rangers. The team most noted for never winning a World Series, and signing Alex Rodriguez to the 2nd most ridiculous contract in baseball history - at the time he signed it, his contract was worth more than the value of 13 other major league franchises. To be fair, he bought this sinkhole of a team from President George W. Bush before he moved on to bigger things like wrecking the US Economy and making the states one of the most despised nations on the planet. Nothing says “winner” like making a team worse than it was under the most despised U.S. president in history. I guess if he paid more attention to hockey he wouldn’t have fired that genius Doug Armstrong, who I’m pretty sure is every media type’s favourite choice for GM after the Brian Burke soap opera ended (to be continued in a year if anyone wants to pay him $6 million a year).

Mike Illitch did turn the Red Wings around after he bought the team in 1982, FOR $8 MILLION DOLLARS!!! It only took him 15 years to get them to the Cup. He also turned around the Detroit Tigers MLB franchise after he watched the team crap its pants to losing records in 12 of the first 13 seasons he owned it. Eventually they won a World Series, but not before he had also taken an interest in the wonderfully exciting world of ARENA FOOTBALL! The Detroit Drive is probably the worst name I’ve ever heard of for a sports team (you might as well call them the Detroit Scenic Route or something).

The guys that currently own MLSE took over soon after Larry Tanenbaum joined up in 1996 alongside Steve “The Grocery Guy” Stavro. That was what? 12 years ago? The Leafs made the conference finals in 1999, then only qualified for the 2nd round in 2000, and 2001! OH MY GOD THEY WERE HORRIBLE! I mean seriously… they even won the division in 2000, what a bunch of morons! Then they made the conference finals again in 2002 before losing to Paul Maurice and those crazy ass Carolina Hurricanes. Then they went out and hired the guy that beat them, only to fire him 2 years later after he lost more games than he won! How backwards of them.

I’m not saying the Leafs are paragons of management virtue or anything. They’re basically one giant rolling miasma of crap in many ways. But the idea that because the ownership group has multiple sporting interests, not to mention ventures outside of sports, is somehow responsible for why this club can’t win the Stanley Cup is BEYOND RETARDED. If you’re basing your assessments of these owners on their skill in building a winner, then you’d better assess EVERYTHING they’ve done, not cherry pick info thus leaving yourself open to total journalistic annihilation.

Fabian Brunnstrom IS gone to Dallas now, but Howard Berger, Damien Cox, Steve Simmons, and the other uninformed media we’re forced to put up with on a daily basis are here to stay. Doesn’t it make you proud to be a Leafs fan?

As you've probably heard, Hockey-Reference.com is accepting sponsorships for player pages. According to Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo Sports, they sold 100 pages in the first 24 hours. Most have been predictable (kind words from fans and/or advertising), but not all.

You know by now about Pension Plan Puppets nefarious plot to mess with certain targets. Wyshynski is offering fans a chance to take aim at Chris Pronger. And various other folks (me included) have slapped down a few bucks to have some fun at the expense of various players and teams.

Since many folks in the hockey world are having some fun with this, I thought I'd start a list of some of the humorous or otherwise unexpected sponsorships that have appeared.

Here's what I've found so far. I know there's more out there (and more to come, no doubt) so feel free to add to the list by posting a comment or e-mailing me.

• Wayne Gretzky
  
• Jaromir Jagr
  
• Chris Pronger
  
• Gary Roberts
  
• Carey Price
  
• Ulf Samuelsson
  
• Vesa Toskala
  
• Jiri Tlusty
  
• Chris Neil
  
• Sean Avery
  
• Bryan McCabe
  
• Jaroslav Halak
  
• Jarkko Ruutu
  

There is nothing wrong with being hopeful. There is no shame in being an optimist or leaving oneself open to the possibility of miracles. Hope is why sports fans return season after season. Hope is why we watch the games, even when we know the coach should be fired and the team has a 3% chance of making the post-season. Hope is what fans do. Hope is pretty much all that Leaf fans have. Or,

From Ed Willes at The Province,

As anyone who’s seen an Oliver Stone movie can tell you, it’s now clear that Wednesday’s TSN report was the first act in a sequence of events which will inevitably lead to Brian Burke and Dave Nonis reuniting in Toronto to run the Maple Leafs.

I mean, who would argue differently? The crack management team at Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment has long since targeted Burke as the man who would be king of their empire. Nonis, his close confederate and former first lieutenant with the Vancouver Canucks, has recently been made available amid an equally interesting set of circumstances.

Put it all together and the inescapable conclusion is Nonis has been approached to serve as a caretaker GM in Toronto while Burke completes the last year of his contract with the Anaheim Ducks. The two allies will then resume their working relationship in the Big Smoke in 2009-10 with Burke running the show and Nonis serving as his No. 2 and that will wrap up everything in a nice, neat package.

continued... and as Willes goes on to note, there’s some problems with this theory.

Update 3:44pm ET: Jim Kelly at Sports Illustrated doesn’t think the idea is as crazy as it seems.

A day after firing their coach, the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently have begun searching for a new general manager.

Here are your Afternoon Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest...

from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

From the day Richard Peddie’s lips were caught moving while Fletcher made the opening remarks on his second tour of duty with the Leafs to yesterday’s rather laughable press conference, it’s become pretty clear why the MLSE board hired Fletcher.

They wanted him to do their bidding – just as he did in 1996 when he was instructed to trade away a slew of high-priced veterans and not to sign free agent Wayne Gretzky – and they want his immense credibility in the industry to hide behind.

Beloved in the hockey world, he’s the perfect front man.

more

Hockey-Reference.com sponsorships are like iTunes purchases for puckheads: Easily acquired, completely...

Yesterday, I mentioned that, courtesy of Sean, Chemmy, and Mirtle inspiration had struck. Below are the initial fruits of that labour.

For at least the next year, anyone visiting that page will be reminded that the third coming of the rookie goalie saviour was all hat and no cattle. Anyone visiting Wayne Gretzky's page will get a Leafs related surprise. Yesterday I mentioned that I had a surprise (courtesy of Chemmy) in store for today along the lines of the Carey Price sponsorship and that is that Leaf fans own Daniel Alfredsson and Mats Sundin. This means that Leaf fans will decide what both pages will have as their tagline similar to Price's.

Now - this is the call to arms - I wanted to open this idea up to the entire Leaf community. There are numerous targets that we could acquire. Obviously, this takes some funds and I wanted to make this community project. Right now, including two surprises that I have if things go well, my goal is to raise $280. All proceeds will go towards buying sponsorships on Hockey-Reference. My idea for the link that comes with the sponsorship is that it will go to a page that lists all of the Leafs' blogs so if you make a donation and want to participate in the page send me your blog address and I'll include it on the page. Also, once we have the pages paid for we can have a contest to see what the captions will be for Alfie, Mats, and the two surprise sponsorships. Finally, if there are any funds leftover we can run a vote to see who our next target will be. If you are interested in participating you can either send me money via paypal or e-mail money transfer or e-mail me and we can figure out a convenient way. I'll post the totals and receipts to show that all of the money is going towards this great idea.

Update [9:30am] So far, Chemmy, Loser Domi, Eyebeleaf, Sean, Godd and Till, and Greener have all contributed in addition to myself so we are up to $80 out of $280. You could use that $10 towards a pint at the bar or you could donate it knowing that the end result will piss off sens fans for an entire year. I think we all know the smart choice. The beauty is that you don't just have to be a Leafs fan to participate. You just need to hate Alfredsson.

Update [11:46am] Eric McErlain at AOL's NHL FanHouse thinks that Chemmy's plan is sheer brilliance. We are a third of the way towards Phase III of our plan. Is it childish? Sure. Is it hate-driven? Of course. Is this what being a fan is all about? Absolutely.

And for the Chris Pronger haters of the world Greg Wyshynski is offering you the chance to write the caption for Pronger's page. This thing is becoming epic.

• Steve does a rundown of the rumoured GM candidates. Why doesn't a reporter just admit that they have no clue and basically anyone that's ever worked in the NHL is a candidate regardless of whether they actually meet the criteria set out by the team. Hell, go nuts and include anyone from Europe too.
  
  
• Make your Conference Finals picks here
  
  
• Greener has the transcript of yesterday's news conference.
  
  
• Godd Till has to be on Howard Berger's shit list. Seriously, a Bears jersey? How did Working Class Howard afford that?
  
  
• Gretzky? And he'll bring back Barnett? So, when he was willing to take a paycut to play for the Leafs they said no. Now that he wants to bring his former agent who helped destroy Phoenix and showed no aptitude for management the Leafs will take The Great One? No thanks.
  
  
• They had to wait for a board meeting!?!?! Well, there goes all of my hope for the franchise. Almost all because I kind of trust Uncle Cliff.
  
  
• Want a glimpse of genius? Check out how these guys got booze into the Kentucky Derby. Do they not sell mickeys in the States? Or do they check the crotchal area that diligently?

As soon as we heard Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Paul Maurice had been fired, we figured this would jumpstart the...

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