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Pat Quinn is Hurting The Leafs
August 7, 2003
Courtesy of On
The Wall
Story by: George Nassios
There is a good chance the upcoming NHL
season will be the last of its kind. The
Collective Bargaining Agreement between
the league and the players’ association
expires in the summer of 2004, and most
hockey analysts believe a new system will
be put in place to control salaries and
revenue in the NHL.
There is a very good chance the players
will go on strike. Nevertheless, whatever
happens, one thing is guaranteed, the NHL
will be operating under different financial
limitations after this season.
The NHL wants to give small market teams
such as the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton
Oilers, a better chance to compete against
the big boys, like the New York Rangers,
and of course Toronto’s beloved Maple
Leafs.
Teams like the Leafs and Rangers will be
restricted from throwing gobs of money at
free agents, as they have done in the past
few years.
This is a signal for Leafs management.
If you are ever going to spend money, spend
now.
However, it doesn’t look like the
Leafs will do anything major in this off-season.
Current Leafs GM-coach Pat Quinn has made
it abundantly clear that the Leafs have
no interest whatsoever in acquiring big-ticket
free agents this off-season.
So what has transpired since Quinn made
his feelings clear. For starters, Teemu
Selanne and Paul Kariya, two of the most
dynamic hockey players in the world, shocked
the world when they both signed one-year
deals with the Colorado Avalanche on July
3rd.
How much is it going to cost the Aves for
both players combined? How about $7 million?
That’s less money than Leafs captain
Mats Sundin makes on his own.
Were the Leafs ever in the running for
Kariya and Selanne? They might have been,
but Quinn shut the door on that idea as
early as possible by basically saying he
doesn’t want to add any superstar,
game-breaking players to his team.
Because of Quinn’s comments Kariya
and Selanne probably never even thought
about giving the Leafs a chance.
Other major free agents have expressed
interest in joining the Leafs organization.
Sergei Federov’s agent stated that
Toronto would be a city that his client
would be interested to play in . However,
big Mr. Quinn shut the door on any possibility
of that as quickly as he could. Quinn said
that Federov’s agent was just blowing
smoke, and trying to create a higher demand
in the market for his client. And now Federov
has signed with the Ducks.
Joe Nieuwendyk grew up in the Toronto area,
and many people feel that he would like
nothing better than to spend his last few
years in a Leafs uniform with his old buddy
from the Calgary Flames, Gary Roberts. Still,
Quinn is only going to sign Nieuwendyk if
the time is right.
Quinn has said that he doesn’t want
to give anybody a fat contract because he
doesn’t know the climate he will be
operating in after next year.
But, what he has to realize is that the
Leafs are not getting any younger. Alex
Mogilny is 34-years-old, Sundin 32, Ed Belfour
38, Owen Nolan 31, and Roberts 37. These
are the core players of the Maple Leafs.
If Quinn was smart, he would realize, that
next year is basically a now or never year
for the Leafs. Colorado and Detroit have
already taken some chances and stepped to
the plate, while the Leafs have done absolutely
nothing.
There is still time left. Many quality
free agents are still out there, but if
Quinn were to sign one of them it would
be a shock across North America.
It looks as though Quinn’s steady,
patient, cautious approach will cost the
Leafs a chance to capture the Stanley Cup
for the first time in over 35 years.
It is time for the Leafs to realize, the
time is now to win the Stanley Cup. The
Leafs must seize the moment this year and
do all they can to win the cup before the
roster turns into a bunch of washed-up has-beens.
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