On The Rise

Wings visiting the Leafs

After a terrible start to the season in October, the Leafs have made a 180. After walking in and taking a win from Paul Maurice and the Hurricanes, the Leafs came back home to a tough Red Wing team. Who cares, we have Kessel and Gustavsson. The Leafs were in control for the entire night leaving the ACC with a 5-1 victory. What impressed me the most was the balance in scoring with 12 guys registering a point in the game, that to me is a sign of good things to come.

November brings 13 games and if the Leafs can leave the ACC on Nov. 30 with 7 to 9 wins, you'll see me with a pretty big smile. You won't see me planning a parade down Yonge or Bay (not too sure where they would hold it) but with the Leafs winning and rising up through the standings, it gives me hope that the Leafs have started their path to the ultimate goal, raising the Stanley Cup.

Few Thoughts

Just think of your shittiest day you have ever had in your life. I guarantee you that is how Marian Hossa is feeling right now. After reaching the Stanley Cup finals just a year ago, he decided to forgo a long-term contract with the Penguins to sign a one year $7.5 mil contract with the Wings because he thought the Wings would have the best chance of winning the Cup.

Things were going just dandy for Hossa until he ran into his former teammates the Penguins in this year's Stanley Cup Final. I am kind of stuck on the fence on how I feel about this whole situation.

One side, I think he's a complete idiot and selfish bastard for leaving his teammates just for a chance to win a cup. It would have been a good idea if he left a team that was a bottom feeder in the NHL but as you can see from this year and the results from last year, the Penguins are the real deal. Hossa left a team that was on the verge of being a dynasty. That's right, I'm using the word dynasty. Look at the make-up of the team. Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Fleury are a few guys that come to mind. The dynasty talk will come up in the near future in a post.

On the other side, I'm all for him leaving the Pens and signing with a team that had a legitimate chance at the Cup. In the end, it was for the Stanley Cup. The whole thing just finished in a way that most would never have come up with. Come on, leaving a Stanley Cup runner-up and signing with the champions and a year later, the runner-up becomes the new Stanley Cup champions, only a hollywood writer could have come up with this kind of story.

Either way, you do have to feel some sort of sadness for the dude. Guy just watched two of his teams lose in the Stanley Cup finals.

Moving on, the Cup belongs to the Penguins and the NHL has ended their season. I do have to admit, the final game looked like a pretty intense game. I only watched the highlights but after watching them I should have watched the entire game live. Guess I'll just have to wait until the start of the 09-10 NHL season. Is this the start of dynasty in Pittsburgh?