No Trade Clauses - Hero or Villian
“I can assure you that come October-the face of this team will be different than it is now”
Was it a threat, or was it a call to glory? Were those his thoughts, or were those the thoughts of the custodians’ speech writer? That eerie statement was uttered by an uncommonly flustered Cliff Fletcher. It was clear that the Fab Five have been the topic of his discussions for quite some time, and he was quite perturbed at wasting precious trade time entertaining offers for players that never even existed on the market, or maybe thats what he wants you to believe. Many people want to blame the former GM for those conditions, that fact remains that these assets would not be property of the franchise unless the ‘no trade clauses’ were issued, in the same way 120+ players around the league had done.
To waive a NTC is more common then not; however this is the fist time that 5 players on the same team decided to not do so.
One person would call it devotion; recognizing that a professional athlete, when given a choice, in a city where only a championships matter, would rather keep himself here in a seemingly impossible situation to even make the playoffs, rather then move on to greener pastures.
Where another person would call it selfish, feeling that the sacrifice would guarantee the losing season with the loss of veterans, and invoke the 20 % chance of a first overall pick, as well as a possibility of prospects and more draft picks. With 18 games remaining, this individual has come to the conclusion that the season is over.
The first person is a Leafs fan. The second person, whatever they are, are represented by the mass media, the clueless bandwagon fan, and of coarse MLSE; all of whom have yet to watch an entire game, or even see parts of two consecutive games. Their slogan is; “we got to blow this thing up” “time to rebuild” “get rid of everyone”. Dreaming that a 37 year old rental player, with 4 other underperforming players, would somehow garner high first round picks, top tear prospects, or their actual worth, is a daydream that is pure lunacy. Even more delusional is wanting to sacrifice a season for a slim chance at a 1st overall pick, as the only thing losing guarantees is that you’re a loser. Tanking a season would do severe damage to the youth on this team, on average the 5th youngest team in the league. For now and for the future, winning as many games as possible is what will bring a championship to this team.
Any knowledgeable fan would know what these players are capable of, respect the injuries these players had, and as a result would want them to at least attempt to succeed. Any knowledgeable ownership board would see that keeping the peace and sticking with a group of players that you supported with NTC’s in the first place, is what makes more sense for now and for the growth of all players.
Plagued by the ‘rich way of doing things’, the Toronto Maple Leafs and every other high spending franchise at the time of the lockout got burned by the new CBA, understandably the team had a rough restart, but what the naysayer’s fail to recognize, is that this franchise with the help of Pat Quinn, has been rebuilding since JFJ got here. Currently the Leafs are one of the youngest teams in the league, most importantly they are the youngest with players that have been key figures in the lineup for this, and the past two seasons. Each year the youth obtained more established roles, and each year the Leafs were left only a point from the playoffs. Drafting great players season to season, even with the 14 teams picking ahead of him, the Leafs have snatched enormous talent from the draft, and seeing as how the draft is the best way to improve in the new NHL, one can only wonder why JFJ wasn’t given more time and slack as scouting and drafting are his greatest assets. Unfortunately, JFJ was the ownerships scapegoat, when he struggled they gave him an extension, when he started to turn things around, they cut his authority and ultimately fired him before he got back any credibility and the focus of blame re-shifted back to the top.
It has to be noted that these young players that have been gaining experience and battling each night for a chance to compete for the cup, its their will, determination, skill, talent and desire that has kept the Maple Leafs in the running each year, years that were infected with key injuries to key players. Only now are we seeing the effects of positive growth to the depth of the organization, as all draft picks take time. In order for the youth to step up, remain clear headed and confident to be skilled enough to be stars and winners in this league now and in the future, it was, and is, important to have a veteran support group to gain knowledge from, compliment their youth, and help them compete.
Enter the Fab Five, all of whom have battled through injury and have missed many man games due to lengthy, nagging, injuries. 37, 33, 33, 31 and 30 years old respectively, not old at all, nowhere near washed up, 4 of the 5 currently in their prime, and the 5th is one of the best to play the game. The 5th being Mats Sundin, the heart and soul of the team.
Mats Sundin, the all time leader in goals and points for the Maple Leafs, the Captain of the team, and longest serving member of the franchise. With 18 games and 6 points to go, all management wants to do is pull the rug from under his and the teams feet before following through on promises made at the start of the season, doing whatever it took to push the leader out. In the face of the negative scorn, orchestrated by ownership, Sundin was forced to repeatedly answer the same distracting question over and over again, when ownership could have simply made it clear that Captain Clutch would not be traded. As Mats finally stated “It’s not in my heart to leave my teammates, or go back on my word”. Ownership failed to protect a world class player, and all that does is leave another black mark on this ownership group.
“I can assure you that come October-the face of this team will be different than it is now”
As a Leafs fan, I can only hope Fletcher was talking about the board of MLSE.
Was it a threat, or was it a call to glory? Were those his thoughts, or were those the thoughts of the custodians’ speech writer? That eerie statement was uttered by an uncommonly flustered Cliff Fletcher. It was clear that the Fab Five have been the topic of his discussions for quite some time, and he was quite perturbed at wasting precious trade time entertaining offers for players that never even existed on the market, or maybe thats what he wants you to believe. Many people want to blame the former GM for those conditions, that fact remains that these assets would not be property of the franchise unless the ‘no trade clauses’ were issued, in the same way 120+ players around the league had done.
To waive a NTC is more common then not; however this is the fist time that 5 players on the same team decided to not do so.
One person would call it devotion; recognizing that a professional athlete, when given a choice, in a city where only a championships matter, would rather keep himself here in a seemingly impossible situation to even make the playoffs, rather then move on to greener pastures.
Where another person would call it selfish, feeling that the sacrifice would guarantee the losing season with the loss of veterans, and invoke the 20 % chance of a first overall pick, as well as a possibility of prospects and more draft picks. With 18 games remaining, this individual has come to the conclusion that the season is over.
The first person is a Leafs fan. The second person, whatever they are, are represented by the mass media, the clueless bandwagon fan, and of coarse MLSE; all of whom have yet to watch an entire game, or even see parts of two consecutive games. Their slogan is; “we got to blow this thing up” “time to rebuild” “get rid of everyone”. Dreaming that a 37 year old rental player, with 4 other underperforming players, would somehow garner high first round picks, top tear prospects, or their actual worth, is a daydream that is pure lunacy. Even more delusional is wanting to sacrifice a season for a slim chance at a 1st overall pick, as the only thing losing guarantees is that you’re a loser. Tanking a season would do severe damage to the youth on this team, on average the 5th youngest team in the league. For now and for the future, winning as many games as possible is what will bring a championship to this team.
Any knowledgeable fan would know what these players are capable of, respect the injuries these players had, and as a result would want them to at least attempt to succeed. Any knowledgeable ownership board would see that keeping the peace and sticking with a group of players that you supported with NTC’s in the first place, is what makes more sense for now and for the growth of all players.
Plagued by the ‘rich way of doing things’, the Toronto Maple Leafs and every other high spending franchise at the time of the lockout got burned by the new CBA, understandably the team had a rough restart, but what the naysayer’s fail to recognize, is that this franchise with the help of Pat Quinn, has been rebuilding since JFJ got here. Currently the Leafs are one of the youngest teams in the league, most importantly they are the youngest with players that have been key figures in the lineup for this, and the past two seasons. Each year the youth obtained more established roles, and each year the Leafs were left only a point from the playoffs. Drafting great players season to season, even with the 14 teams picking ahead of him, the Leafs have snatched enormous talent from the draft, and seeing as how the draft is the best way to improve in the new NHL, one can only wonder why JFJ wasn’t given more time and slack as scouting and drafting are his greatest assets. Unfortunately, JFJ was the ownerships scapegoat, when he struggled they gave him an extension, when he started to turn things around, they cut his authority and ultimately fired him before he got back any credibility and the focus of blame re-shifted back to the top.
It has to be noted that these young players that have been gaining experience and battling each night for a chance to compete for the cup, its their will, determination, skill, talent and desire that has kept the Maple Leafs in the running each year, years that were infected with key injuries to key players. Only now are we seeing the effects of positive growth to the depth of the organization, as all draft picks take time. In order for the youth to step up, remain clear headed and confident to be skilled enough to be stars and winners in this league now and in the future, it was, and is, important to have a veteran support group to gain knowledge from, compliment their youth, and help them compete.
Enter the Fab Five, all of whom have battled through injury and have missed many man games due to lengthy, nagging, injuries. 37, 33, 33, 31 and 30 years old respectively, not old at all, nowhere near washed up, 4 of the 5 currently in their prime, and the 5th is one of the best to play the game. The 5th being Mats Sundin, the heart and soul of the team.
Mats Sundin, the all time leader in goals and points for the Maple Leafs, the Captain of the team, and longest serving member of the franchise. With 18 games and 6 points to go, all management wants to do is pull the rug from under his and the teams feet before following through on promises made at the start of the season, doing whatever it took to push the leader out. In the face of the negative scorn, orchestrated by ownership, Sundin was forced to repeatedly answer the same distracting question over and over again, when ownership could have simply made it clear that Captain Clutch would not be traded. As Mats finally stated “It’s not in my heart to leave my teammates, or go back on my word”. Ownership failed to protect a world class player, and all that does is leave another black mark on this ownership group.
“I can assure you that come October-the face of this team will be different than it is now”
As a Leafs fan, I can only hope Fletcher was talking about the board of MLSE.
posted by LEAFER at
8:25 AM
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