Hello dobberhockey members,

recently, JD88 stepped down from his tenure as the man that covers the boys in blue and white. I've been asked to step in. If I can post coverage of the Leafs anywhere near JD, I will be proud. JD had 33 pages of posts on the TML, all interesting and insightful. He will be missed, and hopefully give me pointers on my tenure as the leafs writer.

My first post comes on a quiet day. Leafs had a practice and prepared for the Sens. Not too much...except for the Tomas Kaberle era ended today! A daunting task to write about on a first day, but I'll give it my best shot.

In the afternoon today, Tomas Kaberle was traded to the Boston Bruins for Joe Colborne, a 1st round pick in the 2011 draft, and a conditional 2nd rounder in 2012 (Leafs get 2nd rounder if Boston makes finals or Kaberle resigns). With Kaberle's departure, only 1 player on the Leafs played prior to the Burke era, that being Darryl Boyce who played one game as a Marlies call up.

I have been lobbying for Kaberle to be traded for quite some time now. While I thought he was a great player and great person, it was time for our organization to move on. We needed to get younger, Kaberle needed a winning team. But when this trade happened, hit me like a ton of bricks. It finally happened. After 3 years of speculation Tomas Kaberle will not be wearing the blue and white. I'll miss him, and all Leaf fans should too. He was an amazing PP quarterback, a monster passer, and had great awareness. While he never shot, when he did they were accurate shots, that could easily be deflected. Boston gets a fantastic puck moving d-man, something all teams covet.

However, what the Leafs get in return subsides the pain of losing such an outstanding individual. The Leafs get a 1st rounder, and Joe Colborne, a 6'6 center out of University of Denver. He is currently noted as the Bruins best prospect behind Seguin, and has great playmaking ability (is a self noted pass-first player), nice speed, and a big body. While he has not learned how to use his size yet, as he just recently hit a growth spurt, it is believed it will be Burke's priority to get him to utilize his massive size to his advantage. Do not expect him to play this year, but easily be a Leaf in the 2011/12 season.

This is a great deal for both teams, for the reasons stated above. In fact, this trade was better than anything Burke was offered in the summer. However, Leafs are not done after this trade. Burke has mentioned they are in pursuit for a defenseman, and a young forward (or bundle the firsts for a higher first). Burke also said a first line center will not be available on the market before the deadline that can play with Phil, but hopefully Colborne can fit that role next season.

Leafs play Ottawa at home tomorrow, hoping to stretch their current winning streak to 3 games, and close in further to the final playoff spot.

Until next time,

TK

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Twitter: @TK12555

Nice start TK, I didn't post much in the other Leafs thread but I enjoy following these Team Threads. Looking forward to your coverage and congrats for getting the gig.

As for the deal, I really like it for both clubs and see it as Burke getting the Leafs back on track in the rebuild. The dedicated thread in General Hockey Chat had a great breakdown comparing the last few trades by listing the assets lost & gained. It looks so much better now than just Kessel for Seguin and a million 1st rounders

Now c'mon Leafs, make the playoffs to give us another Canadian Team to follow and make littleranger eat his socks

Good job TK! great article. I'm very excited about these last couple of trades by Burke. I think the TML are finally moving in the right direction. What's your take on Burke acquiring a goalie before the deadline?

Keep up the great work, looking forward to reading more of your articles.

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12 Team H2H 6x6 Pts keep 3
C: Yadier
1B: Rizzo
2B: Hill, Kendrick
3B: Lawrie
SS: Desmond, Ramirez
OF: Braun, B.J Upton, Willingham, M.Cabrera
U: Desmond

SP: Price, Kuroda, Morrow, Guthrie, Ogando, Haren, Davis
RP: Betancourt, Jansen
DL: Greinke

10 Team H2H 5x5 Pts keep 2(Weekly lineups)
C: Yadier
1B: Votto
2B: Kipnis
3B: Ryan Zimmerman
SS: A.Cabrera
OF: Trout, Harper, Craig
U: Morales
SP: Lee, Sale, Bumgarner
RP: Kimbrel, Cashner

BN: Goldschmidt, Heyward, Latos
DL: H.Ramirez, Ogando

Very true statement there MCT, We've essentially acquired 4 first rounders in the past week, two of which are NHL ready next season.

Don't think we'll see that happen. Gustavsson is back on the ice very soon, and Giggy isn't seriously hurt, just a tweak from what I've heard. Scrivens will back up tomorrow, and either the monster or giggy should be ready for the next game.

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Twitter: @TK12555

welcome TK, hopefully you will usher in some positive trends for Leafs fans...actually scratch that I hope they stay the same old familiar Leafs

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Thats me on the street with a violin under my chin, playing with a grin, singing gibberish.





P=1 DPts=1.2 +/-=.32 PIM=.08 PPP=.4 SHP=.6 S=.015 Blk=.2 Hit=.08
W=2 OTL=.8 GA=-.64 SV=.08 SO=3

Pro (23 keep 17)
C- Filppula,Turris,Stastny,Backstrom
D-Boyle,MDZ,Karlsson,Robidas,Goligoski,Schenn,Seiden berg
G-Anderson,Hiller,Rinne
LW-Malone,Parise,Rolston,Eriksson,Ruutu
RW-Alfredsson,Callahan,Setoguchi,Brown,Ryder,Vrbata

Farm (9 keep all, max 200 GP, 100 Goalies)
Colborne,Leblanc,Loktionov,Perreault,Tangradi,Blum ,Poulin,Markstrom

wow. so encouraging mcgoo

I hope the Leafs do change, lots of great prospects and youth in the system. Mckegg had a 4 goal night last night!

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Twitter: @TK12555

Welcome. Great trade today but I don't necessarily agree that the leafs "need to get younger". The Leafs only have 4 players over the age of 30 in the ENTIRE organization - Finger 31 , Giguere 34, cowan 34 and zigomanis 30. Our top 4 D are all 25 or under - Phaneuf (25), Gunnarsson (24), Schenn (21) and Aulie (21)

We need to get better through youth but Toronto is going to need to bring in some leadership in the offseason.

Good first post! I will be visiting often

Thanks for the good words Dean!

By younger, I meant that we needed to get younger in the sense of future assets. I think our team is young enough, but we needed to add some future assets, and Colborne fits the bill perfectly.

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Twitter: @TK12555

Good stuff TK! Glad to have you here. Passion is what makes this place great.

I know I've neglected you in the sim league stuff but rest assured I'm making the push to get you on board. Myself and the commish both hit weird busy stretches but we're still committed to getting the teams filled and you're in the mix.

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UHL Calgary Flames
24-team H2H (roto G, A, GWG, SHP, PPP, PIM, +/, SOG, Hits, Blks, FOW, W, SV, SV%, GAA, SO)

Capped article archive

Montreal Canadiens coverage

Twitter:@DH_EricDaoust.

true dat Deaner, to me it seems a rudderless team...traditionally they always had good leadership even when the team was medicore....Gilmour, Sundin...Mahovolic if you need to go back that far

__________________
Thats me on the street with a violin under my chin, playing with a grin, singing gibberish.





P=1 DPts=1.2 +/-=.32 PIM=.08 PPP=.4 SHP=.6 S=.015 Blk=.2 Hit=.08
W=2 OTL=.8 GA=-.64 SV=.08 SO=3

Pro (23 keep 17)
C- Filppula,Turris,Stastny,Backstrom
D-Boyle,MDZ,Karlsson,Robidas,Goligoski,Schenn,Seiden berg
G-Anderson,Hiller,Rinne
LW-Malone,Parise,Rolston,Eriksson,Ruutu
RW-Alfredsson,Callahan,Setoguchi,Brown,Ryder,Vrbata

Farm (9 keep all, max 200 GP, 100 Goalies)
Colborne,Leblanc,Loktionov,Perreault,Tangradi,Blum ,Poulin,Markstrom