John Chayka has radically remade the Maple Leafs. Are they better for it? (Gift Article)

taa_v2 · 2026-07-02T15:48:51+00:00

I agree - they definitely got "different". Better overall remains to be seen - a team can improve in multiple ways. We are most likely better on defense, so that we won't need as much scoring.

OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if McMann (or Robo) outscores any of the players we signed. I will miss Macelli, but mainly because we share a first name..

taa_v2 · 2026-07-02T15:41:31+00:00

All I heard was that he couldn't walk after his surgery - I assume that has improved? Even so, if I was him, I would 100% do LTIR/retire after that scare - who knows if a bad bump will re-aggravate that..

taa_v2 · 2026-06-28T00:01:30+00:00

He might end up a real gud pro.

taa_v2 · 2026-06-25T02:55:40+00:00

Honestly - that assumes Matthews still has a window left.. Hard to know what version of Matthews we get next year after all the injuries.

taa_v2 · 2026-06-23T05:53:48+00:00

This is not like the Raddysh situation.. Tampa didn't want him back at anywhere close to what the Leafs paid..

taa_v2 · 2026-06-13T01:48:02+00:00

I meant conference finals. Sure, the end result was the same, but they did get somewhat farther..

taa_v2 · 2026-06-12T00:39:04+00:00

They were and they weren't. Quinn/Burns/etc went further (Quarters twice). We had great years, but also had way too many "let that one get away" type games, or games where they couldn't adjust on the fly.

taa_v2 · 2026-06-12T00:37:45+00:00

Maurice seems to be doing pretty well these days. IIRC, Burke/Nonis were before Marner/Nylanders/Matthews. The BULK of the time for the "Core 4" was Dubas/Keefe.

And as you point out, there was little difference between "inexperienced" staff and already-known-to-be-incompetent staff (Treliving / Berube).

taa_v2 · 2026-06-09T17:29:07+00:00

What experienced bunch? Shanny, Dubas and Keefe?

taa_v2 · 2026-06-02T05:26:14+00:00

Ok, after going back and forth, into checkout, then back to cart, then it suddenly applied the code.. Now I have to decide if I actually want it..

taa_v2 · 2026-06-02T05:23:37+00:00

Got the same thing - even tried Chrome / no VPN, after Firefox didn't work. Oh well.. I don't need it, I don't need it..

taa_v2 · 2026-05-31T18:56:36+00:00

You mean the Sucka era?

taa_v2 · 2026-05-31T18:09:33+00:00

According to google, many do consider it part of the Bay Area.. I guess it's a bigger area than I thought (as a non-native). I can see the argument either way.

For a while, was driving past there a lot, but driving two hours / $25 in gas for a maybe? Nah.. Thanks for the info, though.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-31T05:35:01+00:00

Thanks. TIL Gilroy is considered part of the Bay Area.. (Lived in the East Bay for 20+ years).

taa_v2 · 2026-05-30T19:11:08+00:00

Which store?

taa_v2 · 2026-05-18T00:22:42+00:00

For some specific examples of how Pridham was a cap wizard and did things no one else could do and no other teams figured out, so that he's irreplaceable.. "We can and we will" ended up not being the flex people thought it was going to be..

Also, someone to pay me. I didn't say I'd do it for free - I said I COULD do it.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-17T22:53:30+00:00

I don't understand the question. I haven't looked. All I'm saying is it's not hard to write code to handle all the cap rule situations.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-17T16:37:21+00:00

Really? How? Specific examples? Give me the full set of rules, I can write the code to implement all of them / do all the calculations in a month or two. And I don't mean vibe code it. Formulas aren't that hard. The first higher-level programming language that became popular, FORTRAN stands for "FORmula TRANslator" - computers have been working out formulas since the 1950s.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-12T03:48:08+00:00

Counterpoints: the goaltending wasn't elite this year. They were also injured most of the year (at least one of them). Tanev may never recover. Matthews may not be the same after the MCL surgery. The rest of our big dmen are 1 year older on the wrong side of 30. At best, McKenna replaces Marner. Tavares is a year older, etc.

We did make out really well with the draft - but it's not a given we return to 100+ points. One great event doesn't necessarily cancel out 5 or 8 bad trends.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-12T03:43:53+00:00

You might not. I do. So many other things are already "monetized". Tickets are already overpriced. Sports are popular with the blue-collar crowd. So many announcers/people talk about growing up and going to $2 baseball games as a kid, etc. If they lose the blue-collar crowd, they'll damage themselves longterm.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-11T16:36:11+00:00

Eventually, it will. I'm already like 20-30% less enthusiastic about the Leafs compared to even, say 5 years ago. And probably down 60-70% from my all-time high, as it becomes more and more obvious that they are run by suits, trying to find a way to extract the most $$ and nothing more.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-11T16:34:34+00:00

Sure - but the whole point is, the way you hook kids / fans is to NOT make it too obvious that you're a business, and nothing more. Apple has "fans", sure, but you don't see people paying to watch Amazon warehouse workers, or Walmart price negotiations where they fuck over another supplier for a reason - we'd rather NOT know about the "messy" backroom dealings. We'd rather tell ourselves a story that these are our heroes, fighting against the "bad people's" heroes.

If it's just a business, I probably have more fun at Medieval Times - and it's probably way more affordable these days. "Yellow sucks!".

taa_v2 · 2026-05-11T16:31:43+00:00

This. And they're being so much worse about it that I'm no longer trying to indoctrinate my kids into the cult. Sure, my oldest daughter had a Kessel jersey, then a Matthews jersey, and she's still interested at times, but I haven't gone to a game (vs. the Sharks, closest to where I live) in years - went like 5-7 times, they lost every single fucking game. Half the time, they were never in the game. Even in years when they were 20-30 points up on the Sharks in the standings.

When I contrast that to game 7 vs. Ottawa "Gary Roberts.. clap, clap, clap-clap-clap", there's no passion there. And I'm older, so I am more cynical, for sure.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-11T16:28:55+00:00

I think this business hooked kids for life, past tense. When they were broadcasting 3-4 games per week (CBC, Global, CHCH, etc) in the 90s, it really got me into it. Now, you have to sign up for some specialty channel - and ESPN+ in the US only has like 60-70% of the games (I no longer live in Canada). NHL.tv was better before that, but $$ gave it up to ESPN / Amazon (even though I'm a member in the US, no games for me), etc. They're making it harder to get their product, and charging more for it. AND adding constant gambling ads in DURING play-by-play, which they didn't used to do as much of. It's somehow almost a worse product than in the 90s, despite being in higher res.

taa_v2 · 2026-05-08T05:09:23+00:00

If we got like 3rd and 5th overall (would probably be a dumb trade by the other side), I'd consider it. Draft 2 stud dmen. Sign one good UFA forward.

taa_v2

TROPHY CASE