Gone Fishing

I would've been around to wax poetic about the 'so close and yet not close enough' theme of Hockey Night in Leafland on Saturday, but I was out starting my summer activities. (If you care to know, Saturday's fishing was great, the catching was a little slow, but that's all good.) Alas, the winter hibernation of witnessing Leafs hockey from my couch has ended a day or two or a month or two early.

After the way the team has played the last few weeks, I was hoping to draw the Senators in the first round. I honestly think the buds would've taken the series, especially with the way the Senators have been playing the past couple of weeks. And without an in-form Hasek...well, we'll never know, but I would've had money on the upset. And I find irrational comfort in the hope that Sens' fans might be breathing a sigh of relief now that the Leafs won't be around to spoil what should be a cake walk to the cup now that their nemesis won't be around.

O'Neill summed up the wild ride that was the last month of the Leafs' season rather well with this nugget;

Four weeks ago I was a little bit skeptical, but the last little while I almost felt like we were a team of destiny

Almost, indeed. I've been holding my tongue, seeing all the naysayers become bolder and bolder, wishing the team would make them eat their words. But this wasn't going to be a fairy tale year. Rather, it should serve to be the start of a new Leafs team. Operative word : should. [Here is an easy list of who is signed for 06-07. TSN also has a good salary/status list]

Posts around here will be much less frequent over the summer. My little niche is limited to commentary of actual on-ice activity with the benefit, or draw back depending on your opinion, of being outside of the Toronto media fish bowl. Expect me to be more of an observer of the goings on with the team, chiming in with a thumbs-up/thumbs-down take on any moves.

Thanks for stopping by my little slice of the interweb. I should be back in the fall and hopefully you, dear reader, will be back as well.