Boston Sports Then and Now

Talking Bruins-Leafs with Jason from Pension Plan Puppets.

I thought it would be cool to get a Toronto Maple Leafs fan’s perspective about the Bruins-Leafs rivalry amongst other hockey topics.

“Chemmy” from Pension Plan Puppets was nice enough to take a few minutes to talk some hockey.

BST&N: Do you live in Toronto? How did you become a Leafs fan?

“Chemmy”: To start off I don’t live in Toronto. I’m actually from New England but after the Whale left I began following the Leafs as my goalie coach at the time was from Toronto.

BST&N: What do you think about the Bruins-Leafs rivalry?

“Chemmy”: To me this “rivalry” feels very one sided. Boston has a player that wasn’t fitting well into its system and got two first round draft picks in exchange. Toronto didn’t send Kessel an outrageous offer sheet and Kessel was a young player who didn’t like playing for Claude Julien. I’m not sure why Boston fans are so mad about losing a player they claim not to have liked for two good picks that Toronto fans are happy to have given up.

BST&N: What are your feelings about Phil Kessel?

Jason thinks Chiarelli will regret the Lucic and Thomas contracts.

“Chemmy”: The Boston media spoke at length about Kessel not being a two way player, about Kessel’s lack of physicality and his reliance on Marc Savard. Coming off of shoulder surgery Kessel has ten goals and sixteen points in seventeen games playing with nobodies. Kessel back checks like his life depends on it. Kessel fought Kris Russell in Columbus and won. He doesn’t throw a lot of hits because that’s not his job.

BST&N: What do you think about the Tuuka Rask trade?

“Chemmy”: The Rask trade is terrible in hindsight but when it happened Raycroft had a bad season after winning the Calder and the Leafs had two great goalie prospects: Tuukka Rask and Justin Pogge. They made their decision and every part of it turned out wrong; that happens sometimes. However the previous year the Leafs were a good squad torpedoed by injuries and bad goaltending. Rask looks great now but based on Thomas’ contract he won’t be the go to guy in Boston before he’s a UFA or the Bruins will have a terrible contract in Thomas as a backup.

BST&N: Parting Shots? Final Thoughts?

“Chemmy”: There are two things that years from now a lot of people will look back and go “you blew it” in regards to Chiarelli; Thomas and Lucic.

Don’t get me wrong, Lucic is a great player and I’d love to have him but he makes more money than Marc Savard. He makes about a million less than Kessel. With how cheap Savard signed, pulling Lucic down to the $3.5m range probably opens room for Boston to sign Kessel, which leads me back to the original point: Boston could have kept Kessel if they wanted to, where’s the rivalry?

Boston fans are hoping Toronto ends up with a lottery pick, but this is a hands down better team than it was last year. It took a few weeks for the team to start playing hockey and their terrible start was a combination of poor play and terrible luck, but the Leafs are 6-2-2 in their last ten. That’s good enough that when the smoke clears in March or January the Leafs will probably be drafting around 10th.

As far as the Bruins beating the Leafs goes, the Bruins always beat the Leafs. Even the first few years post lockout when the Leafs were consistently a better team than Boston the Bruins would hammer Toronto. That’s why I’ve never bothered going to the Garden to see the Leafs play.
Thanks “Chemmy” for your time and your feedback. It was great to get a Leafs fan’s view.

Folks, make sure you check “Chemmy”’s Leafs blog, Pension Plan Puppets.