Nice title

When I returned to my unflushed toilet, notepad, and pen, I found this. Some shit just writes itself I guess!

Judging by the tone of the author of the post, I'm guessing the title isn't an homage to yours truly. Hey, I can't fault the guy. He's from Cornwall, which stinks so bad it could drive one to distraction. Some shit indeed writes itself. However, it must be said that if you can get past the anti-Leafs slant, it is a great read. Reality Check [via] has compiled a top ten of Dubious Leaf Facts. Most interesting;

2 - For the Leafs the Entry draft has never held much consequence. Maybe that is why they traded their #1 pick in '91 to New Jersey five games into the 1990 season for well travelled defenseman Tom Kurvers. They were 0 and 5 at the time, and for reasons still not known, panic struck. Kurvers was decent enough to keep the Leafs from last overall. Too bad. The first pick that year was Eric Lindros. NJ used Toronto's 3rd pick to choose Scott Neidermayer. First rounders that year included Peter Forsberg 6th, Alexei Kovalev 15th, and Markus Naslund 16th. One may suggest that hindsight is 20/20, but foresight is priceless. Pay for an expensive scout - he may tell you that a certain draft down the road is loaded!

Ouch. Scotty D would've been nice. But atleast the Habs fan author could agree JFJ has been correcting the mistakes of the past.

Addressing what prompted this dubious list, I'm not sure how I feel about Belak getting re-upped. His skill-set is limited to put it mildly, but that is no surprise. Belak is a known quantity. But to compare simliar talents still holding a roster spot in the new-NHL (Eric Goddard, John Erksine, Dan LaCouture, Eric Boulton, Eric Cairns, Andre Roy, et al) Belak is practically a renaissance man. Forward and Defense?! Give the man a raise! Oh, right.

Wade's value to the team is probably attributable to the ridiculous eight games against division rivals. It should be six, but whatever. Belak's salary, assumed to be about $665k, doesn't look so bad when you consider Andre Roy is getting paid $1m per year. The 'yippee, it isn't the worst contract in the league' defense isn't bullet-proof, but give me another sentence or two.

I checked the remaining salaries of the above listed players, and the nearest comparisons (games played, # of MAJs, +/-, and pts) were in the neighborhood of what Wade was paid last season or less, and have a few less year of experience. Most comparables on the Major Penalty leader board are new to the league and signed for the minimum. The Leafs don't have much toughness in the pipeline, so keeping Belak around is somewhat of a need.

The tripe that Belak is being overpaid is just that. At $665,000, or slightly more, Belak is a serviceable tough guy, who most likely will play approximately two-thirds of the season. Good enough for me.