Due to some extenuating circumstances—of which I will divulge in next Thursday’s column—this will be the penultimate article of this blog that flows from my pen, or keyboard. I know, I know, it’s shocking and I’m sure some of you are currently going through the five stages of grief. But that’s why I’m giving you a week to digest the news, to let it sink in.
I will save all the mushy musings for next week, but not before I present a challenge to my long time readers. I’m thinking one final mailbag for next week. So ask a question in the comment section of this article and I will answer every one next Thursday. Don’t let me down.
Since this is the final full-fledged column of Talkin’ with Tewks—before I dissolve into a puddle of tears during my emotional reminiscence of the various iterations of this blog next week—I wanted to return to one of my favourite and most passionate pastimes: ripping the Toronto Maple Leafs.
How can I do that when the team hasn’t even played a game in over a month? Very easily.
A couple of years ago, back when Brian Burke was still considered a hockey genius, he leveraged the long term future of the franchise—trading away two high first round draft picks, due to the Leafs’ futility on the ice—to acquire Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins.
Kessel has been a perfectly serviceable cog in Toronto’s machine, but I would think you’d want something a little more substantial than a cog for two first round picks. One of those picks turned out to be the top player in the 2010 draft: Tyler Seguin.
Seguin, as an 18 year old, made the Bruins out of training camp and enjoyed a rollercoaster ride season typical of a teenager playing in a man’s league. He did show flashes of brilliance, but it’s admittedly hard to get minutes playing for a Cup contender and one that is led by a defensive-minded coach such as Claude Julien.
He was scratched periodically throughout the season and was stapled to the press box to begin the playoffs as Julien did not yet think young Tyler was ready for primetime.
This next part may be difficult to understand as I’m going to attempt to brave the dark waters of a Leafs’ fan’s twisted logic and rationale. Apparently, because Seguin was scratched to begin the playoffs, this means, according to Maple Leaf fans, that Toronto won the trade because Kessel can consistently score 30 goals for a team that can’t make the playoffs.
Nevermind that Seguin isn’t legally allowed to drink in North America or that he’s one of the most talented players on the Bruins—his problem is that he’s weak like a boy and terrible defensively—but moronic Leaf fans will jump to obscene conclusions to make themselves feel better about their shitty franchise.
So those that bleed blue and white were foolishly trying to make themselves feel better about getting fleeced for two draft picks, while their team hit the golf course in April once again, while Seguin languished as a healthy scratch.
Then a funny thing happened. Seguin cracked the lineup for the first time in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning and scored two points in less than ten minutes of icetime. Surely that was fluke Leaf fans told themselves.
For an encore, Seguin completely dominated the action in Game 2 netting four points in limited ice time, including one of the prettiest blue line to goal line rushes of the season. He scored two goals, added two helpers and put his stamp on the series. All of this at eighteen years of age.
Uh oh. That sound you hear is thousands of Maple Leaf fans furiously trying to dig themselves out of another horrible decision by the front office and talking themselves into the Nazem Kadri era.
“He’s just as good as Seguin!”
No, he’s not.
This trade is going to haunt Toronto for years to come as Seguin’s body develops into one that has chest hair, his comfort level playing in the NHL rises—although four points in an Eastern Conference Final game seems pretty comfortable—and he torments Toronto, making a fool of Phil Kessel every time the Leafs and Bruins face off.
And I will love it. It couldn’t happen to a worse organization.
(Don't forget to post your questions/comments for the mailbag)
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