Well, ho-lee smokes. Apparently there was some big move yesterday involving the Leafs. Looking at the trade and reading reactions I realized that something was happening that hadn't happened in a long time: the Leafs were being called winners in a trade. Even a reporter in St. Louis thought so. This is a really weird feeling.
Obviously, my heart is broken. Steen and Colaiacovo were two guys that I thought were going to be big parts of the future but for whatever reason the former was forgotten by two consecutive coaches and the latter was brittle. I use the past tense because I have no doubt that per league rules Steen will now get to play with Brad Boyes where he will meet the potential that he showed in his rookie campaign and Carlo will never be injured again. I am pretty torn because obviously I want to see the Leafs win the trade in a rout and that involves both players falling off the face of the earth. At the same time, I spent so much time defending those two dummies that I want to see them light the league alight for "I told you so" purposes. I think I'll just take the hit instead because that option is too painful.
On the bright side, we can see how the Leafs will develop in Toronto as well as how they could have developed in St. Louis where they have been gleefully collecting their second and third former first round picks.
As for Lee Stempniak, he'll get every chance to succeed. It's almost certain that he'll displace Nikolai Kulemin on the Man Grabs Lemon line which turns into Man Grabs Stemps (what the hell is a Stemp?) line. As a right-handed shot he'll fill Wilson's frequently mentioned hole on the powerplay so expect that he'll be on the top unit and on 5-on-3s (0-16 so far). The trade will be tough to judge until many seasons pass but in the short-term it's probably going to look amazing for the Leafs.
So good bye and good luck to two kids that never got the shot I think that they deserved, although it's tough to get it when you're always on the trainer's table, and all the best just not against Toronto.
Links after the jump
- Mirtle looks at all things Leafs including the goaltending.
- Steve looks at the numbers behind the trade.
- TSM wraps up the fishwrap coverage. Stop talking about trading Antropov. Seriously. It makes me sad.
- Stajan needs a new BFF. Loser Domi is on the case!
- The General reminds us of the human toll of the trade. Carlo wearing that Italy hat sealed the deal for me. Ciao!
- Koopa Kid points out that Stempniak isn't a sure thing either...
- Archimedies knows how the news was broken to the boys.
- Alec's got some thoughts on the trade.
- Down Goes Brown scores one for Leaf fans everywhere.
- Eyebeleaf is sad too which isn't a suprise because he is one morose mother-watchyourmouth!
- This will brighten everyone's day./