Tyler Seguin grew up a Leafs fan and knowing Murphy's Law if the Leafs had held on to their draft picks they would have drafted sixth somehow. I was reading Seguin quotes in the Star today and I sort of feel bad for the kid:
"Growing up, all I wanted was to watch Toronto win a Cup," said Seguin - The Star
None of us were fortunate enough, talented enough or hard working enough to make it to the NHL. Tyler Seguin is. It wasn't his decision to go to Boston, wasn't his failure to secure a goaltender that gave Boston the #2 overall pick.
Ontario develops an absolute mountain of talent; that "the one that got away" is always from Ontario speaks more to how many kids from this province are great NHLers than some sort of bizarre coincidence.
I'm sure Bruins fans will boo Phil Kessel until they're hoarse in the throat tonight and I'm sure Seguin will get the same treatment in Toronto when he plays at the ACC for the first time but I think we, as Leafs fans, are better than that.
Booing Seguin says a lot more about us than him; it's the spouse who's seeing someone else that accuses you of cheating after a night spent drinking with your buddies. The classic Shakespeare "methinks thou doth protest too much".
If you're worried that Seguin is going to become an impact player at the NHL level you can stop worrying because he absolutely will. If you think Phil Kessel is an impact player, a possible 40+ goal scorer, then you can accept that you have to spend money to make money in a sense.
Tonight with Jonas Gustavsson facing off against Tim Thomas fans of the Leafs will watch Seguin and Kessel and tomorrow we'll all talk about why Kessel is better than Seguin while Boston talks about the opposite.
One game doesn't decide a trade this big. One night won't change anything. What will silence talk of this trade is if the Leafs can become a winning club, maybe then we can stop insisting everyone we've traded will be a bust.
Roster Notes:
Jonas Gustavsson gets the start against Tim Thomas, and Kris Versteeg is a gametime decision.
