Weekend FTB: The hockey season is over... long live the hockey season!

With the Toronto Marlies winning the Calder Cup on Thursday night, we finally turned the page on the 2017-18 hockey season here in PPP land. I mean really the Leafs as an organization have already made a number of changes ahead of the next season, but now we shift focus entirely.

I’ll just take a second to say that the Marlies winning was awesome. It’s always nice for our hometown team to win a championship, even if it was a minor league affiliate. So many players on the Marlies you had to root for, young and old. So many other people in the organization you had to root for. It was just a very likeable team.

Plus, we got to see glimpses of so many players that have and might still help the Maple Leafs in the NHL. Dermott and Johnsson for sure, Liljregren for sure as well but maybe not next year, plus guys like Sparks, Rosen, Borgman, Bracco, Brooks, Moore, Aaltonen, Pickard, Holl, and so on. They may not all play many significant roles, and may only get their shots either as an injury replacement or for another NHL team, but they all seemed to really get along with great chemistry.

We saw a glimpse of it in the NHL this year, with how excited the young Leafs and former Marlies like Brown, Nylander, and Hyman were when guys like Dermott, Holl and Johnsson got their first NHL goals.

We got to see our new GM, Kyle Dubas, scream out in pure joy with such noise that he looked like either his head would explode or his scream would break the arena glass.

I can’t wait for this offseason. I can’t wait to see what the Leafs do at the draft, in free agency, in trades, whatever. I can’t wait for rookie camp and training camp get here. I’m telling myself I can’t wait for the exhibition games even though I know I’ll get tired of them after the first 5 minutes. I can’t wait for next season!

BUT WAIT!

The Habs and Coyotes decided to honour the end of the AHL season by swinging a trade between two teams that probably should have been in the AHL after last year.

TRADE ALERT: #Coyotes acquire Galchenyuk from Montreal for Domi. More details to come.
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) June 16, 2018

The Montreal Canadiens are negotiating a contract extension with Max Domi. Expected to be done in the next few days.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 16, 2018

So the Habs — a team desperate for center depth — traded their former 1C of the future who once scored 30+ goals in a season for some racist asshole who once scored 30+ goals in the OHL who is also a pure winger.

Oh Montreal... never change!