The Hockey Thread

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Huh, guess Gabriel was right. Not sure how I feel about this yet (I suspect Phaneuf will be a disappointment a la Komisarek), but it's miles better than Giguere.

[SeanDMan]

I was going to say a few days ago that if Phanuef was traded from the Flames, a few years from now when he was dominating opponents and taking his team to Stanley Cups, the Flames would regret it.

Now that he's a Leaf I'm glad I kept my mouth shut. >_>

[The Sultan of Swank]

I don't see him being a dissappointment like Komi. I mean, I'll admit that Phaneuf if pretty over rated, but he's big, he's talented, he hits hard and can pass well. Maybe sometimes we think better than he really can, but Komisarek had suffered a pretty humiliating injury(and ass kicking) in his last year as a Hab, and also suffers from Markov syndrom where he was just playing with a ridiculously talented partner who made up for his shortcommings, Phaneuf should be a great anchor for the Defense in Toronto because it'll take pressure off Kaberle to do everything. Phaneuf's also a star. Which a team like Toronto needs. Because as talented as Kessel or Kaberle are, they don't seem to have that Star quality that makes people talk about them all the time.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Jeff Marek is reporting that it's Giguere and Phaneuf. I know I sound repetitive but a goalie should really be the Leafs' last priority at the moment.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

More importantly, what the hell are the Leafs giving up here? Draft picks? Kadri? This seems kind of ridiculous - let's pretend to compete in 2011 even if it means there's no way we'll be able to compete by 2015!

[The Sultan of Swank]

Eklund (I know...), is reporting Phaneuf, Sjostrom and more for Stajan, White and more

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Marek (hopefully not getting this from Eklund) says White and Stajan at least are gone. Yikes.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I'm not overly familiar with the West(I follow my Hawks and that's about it haha), but how Valueable is Phaneuf realistically?

[SeanDMan]

It really depends on whether you measure his value as a hockey player, or his value to the Flames. The Flames have always underrated the guys. He's like the defensive version of Jason Spezza.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Alright I'm going to stop reporting every new rumour and piece of information that comes out, but there'd better be a lot more to this than what we've heard so far. Phaneuf is, at best, a top-line defenseman but not a superstar. Unfortunately injuries have led to a questionable performance, and there's no guarantee he'll ever be that superstar.

Giguere is probably a better goalie than anyone the Leafs have, but he's gone after next year. There'd better be more coming from Anaheim (prospects or something) to make this a good idea.

There'd better be a forward coming in, especially with Stajan and Hagman rumoured to be gone...or it'll just be the same problem we thought the Leafs would have at the beginning of the year where they can't score at all.

Most importantly, there'd better not be any blue-chip prospects or high draft picks going out. This is not a team that can be turned into anything more than scraping a playoff berth and first-round exit in the next two years, and there's no point mortgaging the future just to get to *that* point. Even hearing that Ian White be gone is making me question Burke's entire strategy - why can't a Toronto GM commit to rebuilding for even a full year?

Also James Sharman's brief mention of this at the beginning of soccer halftime was hilarious.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Phaneuf, Sjostrom, Aulie to Toronto for Stajan, Hagman, Mayers, White

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Great trade for Calgary. Some excellent depth in exchange for players they could have done without.

[The Sultan of Swank]

How good are Sjostrom and Aulie? Who would they compare to?

[SeanDMan]

That's absolutely horrible for the Leafs.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

That's absolutely horrible for the Leafs.

It depends. I mean, yes the Leafs are pinning way too much hope on Phaneuf's questionable shoulders, but at this point is any waiver wire pickup going to be that much worse than any regular Leafs forward?

[The Sultan of Swank]

Now they're saying Giggy and a #1 for Toskala and a prospect.

Lord Jesus, there is a large part of me that wishes it's Kadri.

[SeanDMan]

Hagman has been playing way above his paper value for them and Stajan is definitely a better forward then fucking Sjostrom.

[NobBe Nobbs]

I will disown this team if they give up Kadri.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Well, I mean Toronto's taking the cap space for Anaheim, but that 1st round pick is also a pretty big deal. So I'm going to assume that Anaheim has no real interest in Toskala, but do in whoever the prospect would be... but who would it realistically be? I don't think Burke would dunp Kadri.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Toskala and Blake for Giguere