Thursday's my Friday; Otherwise, I'm Grumpy

So, living in Vancouver has its good points and its bad points.  I hate subzero temperatures and snow, and both of these rarely occur here, which I love.  I have a great job, and managed to get hired right after University and get the company to pay for me to move out here.  Vancouver's really been good to me, but there are things that make me think that I should have stuck to my original plan of moving back to Toronto after milking Vancouver for money for two years.

At the top of this list today is the fact that I have to watch so many Canucks games. I know, I know, it's my own fault for marrying a Canucks fan, but really, that's his biggest flaw so I'm gonna live with it What I wish I wasn't stuck with is the omnipresent Leafs bashing from media and fans alike. During last night's Canucks/Oilers game, John Garrett reviewed the Oilers' poor record, and stated "Their last win was against Toronto, which doesn't really count." Yes. I know. Somehow despite the fact the the league awards two points for a win against the Leafs, just like they do with all other teams, John Garret doesn't think it counts. I mean, maybe the city of Toronto was horrible to him when he played for the Toronto Toros of the WHA for 9 games, but I don't understand his conclusion that games against the Leafs don't count. Maybe it's because we've been having a pretty rough year, he thinks even bottom feeders should expect to win against us (because, it's not like we've beaten any quality teams this year, except for oh, the Penguins and Red Wings, last year's Stanley Cup Finalists). Clearly, his distinguished playing career gives him the basis to bash a team down on its luck. Oh, look at that - he only had four out of sixteen seasons where he had more wins than losses. To be fair, he did manage to make the NHL All-Star game one year. In 1983, he replaced the injured Richard Brodeur to be the only Canucks representative in the game, and managed to be voted the game's MVP. But then, Wayne Gretzky scored four goals in the last ten minutes of the game, so they held a re-vote and Garrett lost his MVP title to Gretzky. Ouch. Maybe someone in his position should give the respect due an original 6 franchise that's trying to extricate itself from a mess to be able to compete again. Games against the Leafs are still worth 2 points in the standings so yes, John, it does count.

Yeah, the media here gets to me. The pain of Leafs losses is often worsened by the mockery I have to endure. Good thing Saturday games end early enough that I can still go out and enjoy myself after. And I have great blogs like this one and those I've linked to below to regain my sanity.
Links after the jump.

• Maple Leafs Assist Totals through January 19, 2010 (after 51 Games)
  Slava Duris takes a look at who on the Leafs has assists - but not the way the NHL counts them. He looks at who actually creates the goal, and who assisted by screening the goalie, and few other interesting things that lead to an assist.
  
• The Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie Dilemma: How the Floundering Team can Fix Their Problem Bewteen the Pipes
  Marcia Di Michele takes a look at what the Leafs should do in goal.
• Path To The Playoffs, Part 1: Minding The Net
  Pamplemousse's RSS reader may be working again, as I managed to find this new article where he looks at post-season teams and how they differ from our Maple Leafs.
• Upcoming Dates in the Leafs' Calendar
  MF37 takes a look at significant dates upcoming for the Leafs - with his focus on March 3, 2010.
• THN.com Top 10: 2010 UFAs
  You might have noticed this yesterday, but here is The Hockey News' top 10 list of potential UFAs this summer. See anything on there that you'd like Burke to buy for us?
• SB Nation's Hockey Roundtable: The State Of The NHL, Part Two
  Part Two of SBN's State of the NHL series is a roundtable about illegal hits, the lack of standard punishments, and the trade deadline.

• Dream or Reality: Could Ilya Kovalchuk Actually Become a Toronto Maple Leaf?
  TO Sports wonders aloud whether or not we could actually see Kovalchuk in the blue and white next year.

• Mikhail Grabovski's Secret Injury Diary
  That's right, somehow Loser Domi managed to get into Grabbo's Injury Diary. What secrets does she reveal???
• Michael Peca – Mr. Intangible
  Rick Gethin of The Hockey Writers has an excellent article about Mike Peca, his career and his legacy of leadership.
• Leafs vs Nordiques 1982
  Vintage Leafs has the game sheet from a Leafs/Nordiques game from back in my birth year. There's some interesting stats on there that might explain a few things about Toskala's persistent presence in the Leafs lineup.
• Oilers lead NHL in man-games lost
  James Mirtle looks at the one thing the Oilers lead the league in - man games lost to injury.
• Defending Big D's Haiti Relief Fundraiser
  Defending Big D is holding their own GDT fundraiser for Haiti. Please note that only comments that are useful and relevant will be counted. If you feel like joining in, it's this Sunday, during the Stars/Avs game.

And this one made me smile:

• Hit of the night, starring Cam Janssen and ... Carey Price?
  Yes, you read that right. Puck Daddy's hit of the night last night was Cam Janssen on Carey Price. I thought we'd all enjoy this one.

Lunchtime Addition:

• Bloge Salming: Start of a New Era in Carolina
  Try not to spit out your food as you watch it.  Also, don't drink milk, I hear it's painful when it comes out your nose./