The Official LEAFS NATION Hockey thread

Gord Downey was one of the biggest Leafs fans around

Gord Downey of the Tragically Hip passed away yesterday after a two-year battle with inoperable brain cancer. It hit the nation pretty hard from what i can tell, although we all knew that this day would come. I loved several 'Hip' songs and the song he dedicated to Leafs Stanley Cup hero Bill Barilko was one of my favorites. It was also one of former and late Leafs coach Pat Burns' favorite songs. Every time they'd play it at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, a spotlight would point up to Bill Barilko's #5 banner hanging way up in the rafters. Often referred to as 'The Bill Barilko Song', here is "Fifty Mission Cap":

[video=youtube_share;JaeRrrtsCqU]https://youtu.be/JaeRrrtsCqU[/video]

Here are the lyrics:

Fifty Mission Cap

Bill Barilko disappeared that summer,
He was on a fishing trip.
The last goal he ever scored
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another until 1962,
The year he was discovered.
I stole this from a hockey card,
I keep tucked up under
My fifty mission cap, I worked it in
To look like that
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer, (in 1950)
He was on a fishing trip.(in a plane)
The last goal he ever scored (in overtime)
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another until 1962,
The year he was discovered.
I stole this from a hockey card,
I keep tucked up under
My fifty mission cap, I worked it in
To look like that

Updated Stanley Cup odds:

Vegas oddsmakers now have the Toronto Maple Leafs as favorites to win the Stanley Cup by 8-1 odds.

Incredible!

Are the Leafs a team of destiny??

Will they win their first Stanley Cup since 1967 the same year one of their all-time biggest fans passed away??

You never know!

Here's another version of one of my favorite songs about one of the all-time great Leafs heroes....BASHIN' BILL BARILKO!!!!!

[video=youtube_share;JaeRrrtsCqU]https://youtu.be/JaeRrrtsCqU[/video]

For those who don't know, young Bill Barilko scored the Stanley Cup wining goal in overtime in 1951 and died a couple months later in a plane crash near Cochrane, Ontario...home of the legendary Tim Horton. Barilko's body was not found for 11 years. The Leafs hadn't won the Cup since Barilko's plane went down. Guess what? Soon after Barilko's body was found in June 1962, the Leafs won the Stanley Cup!!!

Leafs sign defenceman Roman Polak

The Leafs have signed one of its former defencemen to a team-friendly $1 million/one year contract. The tough-as-nails stay-at-home defenceman had been practicing with the Leafs since training camp after undergoing surgery to one of his legs after getting injured in the playoffs.

The Leafs host the LA Kings tonight and will also be honoring hockey legend Mario Lemieux prior to the game.

Leafs obtain Tomas Plekanec from the Habs

To TOR:
C Tomas Plekanec
F Kyle Baun

To MTL:
D Rinat Valiev
F Kerby Rychel
2018 2nd RD pick

Lou Lamoriello to take over NY Islanders' operations.

Mark Hunter decides to quit the Leafs after failing to get the Leafs' GM job.

Man, not a good week for the Buds!

The original plan was for Lou Lamoriello to be the Leafs GM for three seasons while assistant GM Kyle Dubas was being groomed for the job. The Leafs would have lost Dubas last year since other teams had asked for their permission to interview him for their vacant GM positions. The Leafs refused to grant them this right and promised Dubas his time would eventually come. Mark Hunter was also hired three years ago to be one of the team's VP but his main job responsibilities would be to oversee the scouting department, which he did so admirably.

Lamoriello is 75 years old. Dubas is 32 years old. While Mark Hunter had aspirations for the GM job he was never really under consideration. Hunter's expertise is in scouting and he's never been an NHL GM. Kyle Dubas ran the highly successful Toronto Marlies farm team, a team which could very likely win the Calder Cup this season. Many of the younger players on the Leafs team and others currently with the Marlies were developed under his watch. He knows the entire system.

Had the Leafs extended Lamoriello's contract as GM then Dubas would have been gone to another organization. That is 100% guaranteed. How long would have Lamoriello been with the organization? He's 75 years old and no man is immortal. So do you hang on to the 75 year old guy who's likely to be dead in a few years or do you hang on to the young prodigy who's 32 years old and who has been undergoing an apprenticeship for the GM job under Lamoriello for the past 3 years? For me it's not a very difficult decision. You go with Dubas.

The Leafs did hope that Lamoriello would remain as an advisor. But Lamoriello isn't ready to quit & loves power. So he jumped at the first offer that came his way & agreed to become the czar of the NY Islanders hockey operations. He's much more powerful than simply a GM: he runs the entire operation! In other words, had Shanahan offered to extend him as the Leafs GM there's a strong chance that Lamoriello would have turned down the offer in order to sign up for a considerably more powerful role on Long Island.

As for Mark Hunter, he's free to do what he wants. He was likely pissed when he found out Dubas would be getting the GM job instead of him and decided to quit the organization. But the writing on the wall has been there for the past three seasons: Kyle Dubas was the heir-in-waiting for the Leafs GM job once Lamoriello's contract was up. And Shanahan chose to remain with the original plan and good for him for sticking to his guns.

Dubas hasn't wasted any time in signing his assistants. Two days ago he promoted Brandon Pridham to the assistant GM position. He was their team cap & collective bargaining agreement expert over the past few years. He's a numbers guy and highly respected around the entire league. And yesterday he hired the highly respected Laurence Gilman as one of the team's two assistant general managers. He worked for the NHL this season and was highly responsible in how the past expansion draft rules would be implemented. He had previously worked as the Vancouver Canucks VP of hockey operations and also as an assistant GM. He's also very highly respected around the NHL.

Shanahan recently said in an interview with Primetime Sports that he expected to see at least 1 or 2 administrative defections once he made his final decision on whom his next GM would be. He expected to lose Dubas to another organization since it nearly happened last season. He hoped to hang onto Mark Hunter but wasn't entirely surprised Hunter chose to walk once he didn't get the GM job. This may have also happened had Lamoriello got re-hired as GM. And he was disappointed but not surprised Lou Lamoriello preferred to have full control of some team's hockey operation instead of simply being an advisor. So he's sticking to his original plan and hopefully it'll work out. You can't fault him for this.

John Tavares signs with the Leafs!!!!!

John Tavares is officially a Toronto Maple Leaf!!!!! He agreed to terms with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a seven-year, $77-million deal on Sunday. The contract will count for $11 million against the cap.

Tavares, 27, over the past week as he took meetings with six teams, including the Islanders, before hitting free agency on July 1. The Sharks, Bruins, Lightning and Stars were the other clubs in the mix for his services. He spent the past nine seasons with the Islanders after being selected No. 1 overall by the club in 2009, and was named captain ahead of the 2013-14 campaign. He registered 272 goals and 349 assists for 621 points in 669 career NHL games, which ranks him fifth all-time in points with the Islanders franchise and seventh in goals.

Matt Martin traded to the Islanders

Matt Martin was traded earlier today to the NY Islanders for a journeyman goalie no one's ever heard about. By trading him to the Isles the Leafs save his fat $5 million contract which was going to expire in two years. The Leafs now have about $19 million in cap money to play with, which some of it will be used to re-sign William Nylander. GM Kyle Dubas admitted they had lots of cap money available this season but of course a lot of it will be used next season to re-sign Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews.

THANK YOU LOU LAMORIELLO FOR THE FAVOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cheer2: