I find the notion that former Nordiques fans would cheer for a team with Patrick Roy on it...dubious at best.

Although I guess a few of them perhaps got past that due to their love for Joe Sakic and Adam Foote.

It's hard...I remember when my favourite team moved, I had trouble cheering for them in their new town. Whalers Hooo!
It's shame the Whalers didn't last long enough to be a part of that other Conneticut institution blossoming out of Stars Hollow...


EDIT: I just got the double CD for Crooked Rain Crooked Rain...is Stephen Malkmus the coolest man alive? Signs point to yes.

When the Rams moved, I had absolutely no trouble hating them. By the time the Nords moved, Peter Stastny was already gone, so I didn't care. Also, I'm not from Quebec.

Not the most extensive of interviews.

EDIT: I just got the double CD for Crooked Rain Crooked Rain...is Stephen Malkmus the coolest man alive? Signs point to yes.

Yes.

edit: Do Not Feed The Royster was pretty good. The best I probably could have came up with is Jo Jo Reyes' Jacket.

How about
Rattled by (Glendon) Rusch?

bit of a stretch.

or Gary Pettis' new autobiography "Range Life"

Yes...I suck at this

I GOT IT!

The Unseen Power of Hunter Pence!

Mark Loretta's Scars
Cust Your Hair
Jenny and the One Dog
Shady Jason Lane
Champ Summers Babe

Trigger Cust/Wounded Kite Thomas? It would be better if one of them wore #17.

If the Indians ever leave Cleveland, or the Bills ever leave Buffalo, or if the Senators ever leave Ottawa, #### 'em. It'll just give me more spare time.

But did Malkmus ever pitch college ball, once throwing a no-hitter?
No, but Guided by Voices' Robert Pollard did!

I would be eternally greatful if the Sens left Ottawa.

There is always a tiny, terror-filled hole in my soul that gnaws at me, until the Sens are safely eliminated from the playoffs.

Wow, this almost makes me forgive Malkmus for destroying Pavement.
Wait, no it doesn't.

Greg, than you'd miss out on all the fun of beating them in the playoffs.

Oh, and Vincente Serpentine Padilla.

Yeah, I have to admit...nothing in hockey will beat the pure joy of watching Lalime give the Leafs that game seven on a platter.

(in theory the Leafs winning the Cup would beat that, but I'm sticking to events that can actually happen in the real world here)

Ugh, tell me about it. Remembereing Nieuwy floating that exact same wrister from the line to beat him again is as good as it gets right now. At least Tlusty and Stralman look good, and I hope they can take someone exciting at #7 this year. I'm optimistic as long as they make the right GM hire and stay out of the way (BIG if, I know). Teams can rebuild faster under a cap system, I think - look at Philly.

Yeah, I'm generally a more optimistic fan than most...I really thought Toskala would make the Leafs a reasonable #7 or 8 seed this year.

Tlusty really impressed me.

The other great thing about hockey is that you really only need to be a .500 team to make the playoffs. I look forward to the next run the Leafs make.

Until then I'll have to live off of the high I had when Pilar sent that last game in Philly into OT...and try to forget JR's annoying dancing which came soon after...

Or the last game of 2007, against Montreal. That was one for the ages...too bad it ended up being meaningless

I look forward to a year without Woz and Raycroft.
I had us at 6 going into this year- at least Toskala is a bona fide #1 after all, but there are so many questions. I would absolutely love to see a young, speedy, energetic LEafs team with tons of developing players - to watch guys grow. I haven't seen that in my entire 15 year tenure as a Leafs fan.

Who would you like to see back? Gone? Who do you like to run the show? What about Mats?

I haven't been following it much so far, too jazzed about the Jays starting up.

I've heard rumours of Burke or Bowman (in the Toronto media sense of "heard" as in Burke saying that will never happen somehow being interpreted as "negotiations nearly done!")

It depends on what Mats wants...without him the Leafs really look like a sub-80 point team. But if he's looking for a multi-year commitment (I have no idea), I think they have to look elsewhere. I haven't looked at who the UFAs are this year...just off the top of my head Hossa is one right? Man would that ever melt my brother's head.

As for who goes...Kubina, Tucker are obvious candidates. But with their contracts like they are, I don't see a point in dumping them, not going to get anything. I can't express how glad I am to see Belak and Gill go.

I'm really excited about Ian White, Tlusty, the further development of Wellwood. I think they need to recognize that young does not always = promising. Guys like Newberry, Pohl, Ondrus...I really hope they don't see them as long-term players. I may be in a minority, but I think Ponikarovsky and Antropov are useful players to have around.

I guess I don't see a major over-haul of the team...I think I'm just too conservative as a fan. I guess if Antro or Pony could pick up anything at all, maybe they should be moved.

EDIT: What's the ETA on Pogge?

Just browsing the UFA list

Living out west I see a lot of Oilers and Flames games...and I really like Huselius, he might be had for cheap.
I can't belive Ryder is a UFA already. He had a down year, but I'd jump on that.

Pogge - maybe Vesa's backup next year.

Antro and Pony are very good value at their current deals. Kubina is gone. I see Burke as an actual possibility, but don't know if he's the best fit - though he has the schops to stare down MLSE and the media, a big plus.

Mats is great, and I'd hate to see him go, but him and Toskala could be enough to pull us into another season of mediocrity; I think what we need is one more year of pain and a shot at Tavares. Mats would only want a one-year.

Huselius or Rolston could be worth it if we can dump salary elsewhere. No thanks to Ryder.
But who would want to come to TO right now?

Yeah, I guess it doesn't feel right to me to play for draft picks.

Not that I'm the type of fan that demands they go for the Cup every year. But it seems somehow dishonest to ice a worse team than you reasonably could. If Toskala could net them something useful for the future I think I could get behind that.

I'm mixed on Burke. I really love his straight-shooter-ness. But I thought his ######## about the RFA signing of Penner was beneath him. It's in the CBA, totally legitimate, so don't gripe when someone does it.

That being said, the RFA system is ridiculous. Why not use baseball's arbitration system?

He did get off some good lines though.

I don't suggest tanking, more moving in a new direction (and I'm not totally sold, just throwing it out there) See what guys like Steen, Stajan, Tlusty, Wellwood do with more ice time and responisibility. Doubt MLSE could countenace another 2 years outta the playoffs though.

Yeah, I think I get where you're coming from.

I guess I've just been so shocked by how well Sundin has maintained his skills the last couple years, I'm mildly frightened by what this team will be without him.

It always seems like you'll find Canadians willing to come to Toronto. But Most of the UFAs this year are not Canadian. Redden is I guess. But I don't know if a long-time Sen would come here, and I don't know if we need defenceman at the moment.

So you think Kubina will just be dumped? I don't suppose anyone would give the Leafs anything for him. At a certain point I guess you need to free up salary somewhere.

Absolutely no to Redden, for on and off ice reasons.

Kubina raised his stock by playing very well down the stretch. We had a deal for him at the deadline, and he played well after. We'll get something. I'd rather keep him than McCabe, but I doubt anyone will take McCabe or that he will go. We need minutes and cap room. I wish we could deal Blake, but no chance of that.

Yeah

Tucker, McCabe, Blake seem unmovable at this point, I think you just have to eat their contracts for now.

Who else is on the GM watch aside from Burke?
They better not wait forever to get one like last time

Rutherford, Colin Campbell, .. an uninspiring lot so far. Who knows?