Oops hit post too soon,

Meant to add another note in regards to the 10th in scoring comment from Shoalts, it wasn’t just last years offense that gave people the impression they were better then this. The Leafs have been a top scoring team since the lockout, but have really struggled in net and on defense.

I don’t think anyone would have predicted this big of a drop off, Most predictions had the Leafs Pegged to finished 9th to 12th losing out to the rest of the bubble teams. Unfortunately that is seeming like a more difficult task then first thought.

The Raptors, Jays, and I presume Argonauts are all booed pretty quickly these days by the home fans.

The city getting increasingly hostile is a valid point. Even TFC’s love affair is basically over and next year could get very ugly if the team misses the playoffs.

Hearing that the ACC has atmosphere is news to me.

Imagine if it’s another lotto pick in 2011 as well.

what’s crazy is calling Toskala average.

The future is bright in Toronto with kids like Kessel and Kadri in the fold (don’t forget next season he’ll be a Leaf)

It’s the only thing keeping me going from day to day.

And looking in.

It still seems silly.

And it isn’t that it’s COMPLETELY the wrong assessment – it’s not – it’s just overblown like everything else is when pointed at Toronto.

The team is overpopulated with third and fourth-line forwards – this is true, and you won’t get any argument from any reasonable Leaf fan over this. Contrary to your opinion, XLB is nearly universally despised in the Barilkosphere, so don’t get that idea into your head (though I will agree that Gustavsson has been, to say the least, hyped).

Kessel IS a superstar, and you’d be mistaken to believe he was third-best on Boston who was “helped” by dynamite linemates. He is awesome, and only 21.

Kaberle… well, if you don’t think he’s a good defenseman, you’re just not watching Leaf games (which may or may not be the case, I dunno). The guy is a first-line D-man on 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL.

Like I said, I think most reasonable fans thought they’d be about 10th in the East this year with the additions. But, as Shoalts wrote, a lot of the players are having a hard time duplicating what they did last season, and it’s killing them up front.

By no means should this have ever been considered a good team. But they’re better than this. They’re not going to finish the season with 50 points.

The coach and the GM were talking about competing for the playoffs. It wasn’t close to Paul Maurice’s insane “This team will compete for the Stanley Cup” although you’re okay to pretend that it was.

Where else would a defenceman that has averaged .70ppg be a household name? Likely in any city with any clue about hockey.

You can look at most predictions and they had the Leafs anywhere from 12th to 7th in the East.

You’ll have to point out ANYWHERE where Exelby’s been viewed as an all-star.

Kessel’s not a star? how many 21 year olds score 36 goals in the NHL?

Still, good work for your first baseless anti-Leafs rant. You don’t get full credit because you forgot to blame the fans.

They are second this year but in three of the last four years they were in the bottom half of the league.

As for the blender, it’s not unique to Wilson and he actually does give lines some time to gel. Much moreso than Maurice seemed to but when things are going this badly it’s hard to give lines so much time to work out.

This season would have played out entirely differently so far if Gustavsson had not had the surgery and groin injury to start the year. That really put the team behind the eight ball.

That certainly didn’t help their cause either, especially with Toskala performing so poorly that Wilson had to turn to journeyman Joey MacDonald to tend goal. One can only wonder that if Gustavsson had played a couple of those games early if that would’ve stemmed the bleeding a little. If anything else it would’ve put the onus on Toskala to perform at a much higher level as he would’ve never received the amount of playing time that he did.