Pain reliever

Buddies are great. They'll knock you down off your high horse, or pick you up by your boot straps, or whatever pedal apparati you might be wearing at the time. This past week was a case of the latter, after seeing the Leafs' lackluster performances and JFJ's trade for Yanic which left a bland taste in my mouth. A buddy wrote the following, and it made me feel quite a bit better. Hopefully it will have a similar affect on you, dear reader.

Hey dude,

Got your email yesterday lamenting mediocrity and praising the "true
rebuild". Well, I caution you that success via re-build is no sure
thing. Ask Chicago. Or Boston. Or Florida. Or LA. And yes, for each
failure there is a Carolina or a Nashville, but that only underscores
the point that the trash-and-start-again approach is iffy.

Rather than trash-and-burn versus slow-and-steady, success is
dependent on having people with bright minds in place with a cohesive
vision and commitment to a determined path. And in my mind the
slow-and-steady approach is evidence of such a successful system.

Think about Jersey, where the GM and the coach (whoever it is) agree
on a style and a type of player they want. They pick those players
(ever notice that every Devil is the same player?) and they work
within the system. Toss in a Marty and you have a winner for decades.

Or Detroit. Same thing. Or Buffalo lately. Or Colordao. Sure, the Avs
are in a lull this year, but is there any reason to believe this team
won't make the playoffs in 08? And that's what it's all about... Getting to the point where your lulls put you on a point per game pace.

The trash-and-burn rebuild is a myth. You're better with a soft
re-build followed by a slow-and-steady approach. Draft the right
players. Select and sign people because they fit your style, not
because they might (!) have the talent to be a super-star. Take sure
and steady... Minimize misses, be it in the draft or free agency.

Zach Parisie was good at all levels. People liked him and his skill.
Hugh Jessimen was good at a B-level American college, but he was huge
and people liked the possibility. If you're drafting to minimize
misses, the choice is simple. And when you select Jessimen instead of
making the right choice it can set you back a full year in overall
team development. Think about that and know that the trash-and-burn
method results in far more Jessimens than Parisies.

It's the nature of that approach. It's inherent within trash-and-burn
that you'll reach for the possibility. A GM will do this because you
need to have that kind of overwhelming success from a player. Or you
have more picks so you can take a chance on this one guy. And before
you know it you're dumping never-will-bes and career ECHLers for 5th
round picks and laundry detergent.

You follow up that with desperation and soon you're signing the hot
goalie of the year to a six-year deal to appease the press and your
fans. Before you know it you end up in Chicago banking on Marty Havlat
and trying to figure out if Lapointes 17 points offset his -15
plus/minus (it doesn't).

Now go back and look at the trade-deadline with a new eye. Hell, go
look at the entire year for the Leafs so far. Sure they didn't trade
Sundin, Kaberle, Antropov, McCabe and Tucker for draft picks, but they
didn't pick up Bertuzzi either. And that, coupled with the moves they
did make, are evidence that the tide has turned in Leaf-land and
turned for the better. Slow and steady. Prudence is the virtue.

Success is dependent on having people with bright minds in place with a cohesive vision and commitment to a determined path.

If you think Junior and Paulie are bright and if they are working
together... Be happy.

Paulie I'm pretty sure about. Junior is ok.

Thanks bud.