Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.10

www.afootinthecrease.com

Prior to the game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke said that jobs are now on the line and that demotions to the Toronto Marlies, veterans being placed on waivers and possible trades are not out of the question for underperforming players. However, with just four wins through twenty one games, the chance to make the playoffs is now all but gone unless the Leafs get hot and stay hot for an awfully long time.

Prior to the season, all the talk was centered around eradicating the culture of complacency that seemed to become prevalent in the Maple Leafs locker room over the past four seasons. But through twenty one games, very little has been done in terms of roster adjustments to make underachieving players at all uncomfortable. Players have continually rolled out the same clichés of, “We need to work harder,” or “We need to get off to better starts,” and so on. Easy to say, now let’s see it done. Quite frankly, as Vice President of the United States Joe Biden said during his VP nomination acceptance speech, “That’s not change, that’s more of the same.”

The longer Burke waits before making some changes to shake up the comfort level, the more credibility he starts to lose. The lip service only goes so far, it needs to be backed up with decisive action. Send a guy like Jason Blake or Lee Stempniak to the Toronto Marlies, eat their salary and scare other players into thinking I could be the next guy. Yes they’d have to be put on waivers first, but if they lose them (and is there really much chance of that?), what have they really lost.

One can only wonder why it has taken this long to stir the pot. And at this point, these changes are still talk and threats, let’s wait till the hammer actually falls but honestly, is it ever time for it. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.