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Official Tank Nation Topic

lc9 said:
Unbelievable how far they have fallen.  Go top 5 pick!...i guess
They finished january 9 games above .500, they are 2 bellow now...

Next is back to back action against New Jersey and NYR, so a couple of loss might put the Leafs in top 5.
 
Potvin29 said:
Tampa and the NYI will both pass us if they win their games in hand, so we could very easily be in the bottom 4 in no time.

The Leafs really need to get some luck to drop far enough and maybe even win the lottery.  For all the prospects that Burke has stockpiled, there aren't very many guys who are projecting to fill out the top 6, let alone as legitimate top end talent.  The top end players just aren't making it to free agency with much frequency anymore and as long as Burke is our GM, he won't sign guys to 10 year contracts it pretty much excludes him from the few that do.  We need to get guys in the system who will actually be able to fill those roles.
 
Potvin29 said:
Tampa and the NYI will both pass us if they win their games in hand, so we could very easily be in the bottom 4 in no time.

This season sucks.

At the end of the day, what would make everyone happy is getting a top pick.  Yes it absolutely sucks to lose, and not make the playoffs again, but we've tried the free agency way, the trade way, the new coach way, etc... let's try the tank way now? 

These last 8 or whatever games don't matter, we won't remember them next year, so I say lose out :( 

Damn this sucks.
 
bustaheims said:
Tigger said:
One of the panel members on Saturday's After 40 minutes suggested Edmonton might trade down in the draft? That's two rumors floating out there now between Columbus and the Oilers.

I'm more inclined to believe Edmonton might trade down than believe Columbus would, but I don't believe either of them will trade their way out of the top 5.

There should be some rule against Edmonton getting another top pick.  This is ridiculous.
 
Erndog said:
Potvin29 said:
Tampa and the NYI will both pass us if they win their games in hand, so we could very easily be in the bottom 4 in no time.

This season sucks.

At the end of the day, what would make everyone happy is getting a top pick.  Yes it absolutely sucks to lose, and not make the playoffs again, but we've tried the free agency way, the trade way, the new coach way, etc... let's try the tank way now? 

These last 8 or whatever games don't matter, we won't remember them next year, so I say lose out :( 

Damn this sucks.

It sucks to lose, but it's definitely easier to swallow if we get a top 5 pick out of it.  And getting to the point of a top 5 pick would be good, because maybe we get lucky with the lottery, or maybe Burke moves from a #5 to #3 or something via some sort of deal.  Everything becomes a lot better if we end up in that 1-5 pick range.

Of course the prospect will bust, but that will still be at least 10 games into his career away.
 
One top 5 first round draft pick is not going to refloat this sinking ship.  We need 2-3 power forwards, a cleaning of the house of the defensive core (Schenn, Komi and Phaneuf in that order need to go) and a #1 goaltender. 
 
bbt said:
One top 5 first round draft pick is not going to refloat this sinking ship.  We need 2-3 power forwards, a cleaning of the house of the defensive core (Schenn, Komi and Phaneuf in that order need to go) and a #1 goaltender.

If the Leafs can somehow rid themselves of Phaneuf it would go a long way to signaling a change of direction and perceived leadership.  The captain just ain't cutting it.
 
Potvin29 said:
Erndog said:
Potvin29 said:
Tampa and the NYI will both pass us if they win their games in hand, so we could very easily be in the bottom 4 in no time.

This season sucks.

At the end of the day, what would make everyone happy is getting a top pick.  Yes it absolutely sucks to lose, and not make the playoffs again, but we've tried the free agency way, the trade way, the new coach way, etc... let's try the tank way now? 

These last 8 or whatever games don't matter, we won't remember them next year, so I say lose out :( 

Damn this sucks.

It sucks to lose, but it's definitely easier to swallow if we get a top 5 pick out of it.  And getting to the point of a top 5 pick would be good, because maybe we get lucky with the lottery, or maybe Burke moves from a #5 to #3 or something via some sort of deal.  Everything becomes a lot better if we end up in that 1-5 pick range.

Of course the prospect will bust, but that will still be at least 10 games into his career away.

I'd be happy in the top 5.  Top three I'd be ecstatic. 
 
Zee said:
bbt said:
One top 5 first round draft pick is not going to refloat this sinking ship.  We need 2-3 power forwards, a cleaning of the house of the defensive core (Schenn, Komi and Phaneuf in that order need to go) and a #1 goaltender.

If the Leafs can somehow rid themselves of Phaneuf it would go a long way to signaling a change of direction and perceived leadership.  The captain just ain't cutting it.

But he can operate the iPod.
 
Zee said:
bbt said:
One top 5 first round draft pick is not going to refloat this sinking ship.  We need 2-3 power forwards, a cleaning of the house of the defensive core (Schenn, Komi and Phaneuf in that order need to go) and a #1 goaltender.

If the Leafs can somehow rid themselves of Phaneuf it would go a long way to signaling a change of direction and perceived leadership.  The captain just ain't cutting it.

I still think this is overblown, the team isn't cutting it. When Sundin was made Captain the Leafs missed the playoffs two years in a row. That's not a comparison of Phanuef and Mats either, just that it's a team game.
 
Tigger said:
When Sundin was made Captain the Leafs missed the playoffs two years in a row.

One season. He was named Captain in the summer after the Gilmour trade I'm pretty sure, not immediately(not that being Captain for 20 or so games should count as a year regardless), and had them in the conference finals the next year. 
 
Saint Nik said:
Tigger said:
When Sundin was made Captain the Leafs missed the playoffs two years in a row.

One season. He was named Captain in the summer after the Gilmour trade I'm pretty sure, not immediately(not that being Captain for 20 or so games should count as a year regardless), and had them in the conference finals the next year.

I thought he was named when Doug was traded but I'll take the point regardless on 20 games.

For me there's similar mentality now as then though, huge questions around Mats 'leadership' and a pretty bad team.

Again, not comparing Mats to Dion but going to the conference finals wasn't just because of 'leadership'.

 
Tigger said:
Saint Nik said:
Tigger said:
When Sundin was made Captain the Leafs missed the playoffs two years in a row.

One season. He was named Captain in the summer after the Gilmour trade I'm pretty sure, not immediately(not that being Captain for 20 or so games should count as a year regardless), and had them in the conference finals the next year.

I thought he was named when Doug was traded but I'll take the point regardless on 20 games.

For me there's similar mentality now as then though, huge questions around Mats 'leadership' and a pretty bad team.

Again, not comparing Mats to Dion but going to the conference finals wasn't just because of 'leadership'.

Totally different situation with Sundin.  He was brought in on the back of trading one of the most popular captains in the history of the team, a player that was the total opposite of him.  Also, the leadership questions about Sundin came later on when the Leafs were making the playoffs, and people saying "Sundin's not the leader who can take you to a Cup" sort of talk.    Around the summer when Sundin was named captain, it was pretty well accepted that he was a top player in the league and one of the top centers in the league.  Nobody questioned his talent, but there's plenty of question around Phaneuf's talent and the ability of him to elevate his game.
 
Tigger said:
For me there's similar mentality now as then though, huge questions around Mats 'leadership' and a pretty bad team.

I don't think you can just write things off as similar because "there are questions". There's still the matter of what those questions are and whether or not they're valid.

And, for what it's worth, I don't think there were a lot of questions about Mats leadership in that one season.

Tigger said:
Again, not comparing Mats to Dion but going to the conference finals wasn't just because of 'leadership'.

No, but no reasonable person could have questioned Sundin's leadership in that one season. He was the team's best player and the team was legitimately terrible.  The "questions" about Mats Sundin were pretty much entirely because of where he was from and I don't think it's fair to equate legitimate questions about Phaneuf's mental mistakes and effort to that.
 
Zee said:
Totally different situation with Sundin.  He was brought in on the back of trading one of the most popular captains in the history of the team, a player that was the total opposite of him.  Also, the leadership questions about Sundin came later on when the Leafs were making the playoffs, and people saying "Sundin's not the leader who can take you to a Cup" sort of talk.    Around the summer when Sundin was named captain, it was pretty well accepted that he was a top player in the league and one of the top centers in the league.  Nobody questioned his talent, but there's plenty of question around Phaneuf's talent and the ability of him to elevate his game.

As far as I remember the leadership questions about Mats started as soon as he was named, you're right he had a lot to live up to but he was not embraced early on from what I remember.

I said I wasn't comparing their playing ability.

I don't see a lot of hard evidence to suggest anyone is basing these questions on anything more real than Mats country of origin.
 
Saint Nik said:
The "questions" about Mats Sundin were pretty much entirely because of where he was from and I don't think it's fair to equate legitimate questions about Phaneuf's mental mistakes and effort to that.

These kinds of questions about Mats happened back then too, unfairly, every mistake was magnified. Dion is not Sundin in terms of talent but I think it's a similar realm of magnification that has little to do with real 'leadership'.

I mean not only did he have to live up to Wendel, he had to live up to Doug... Dion has to live up to Mats, it's a pretty high standard that I think gets muddied with team performance too.
 
Tigger said:
These kinds of questions about Mats happened back then too, unfairly, every mistake was magnified.

Yeah, I'm just not going to agree with you on that. People did not question Sundin's effort or skill.
 

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