Brendan, funny how we always move to Toronto when we talk about inept management. They got lucky when they landed Mats and Gilmour int he early 90’s. That period was the only period when they’ve been good for the past 30 years.

Punch Imlach is up in heaven smiling at the Leafs’ inept record. Imlach was one the best GM’s of his time.

Dang. Tampa is up, 4-1, on the Phoenix Coyotes, from Glendale, Arizona. It’ll be a final in mere seconds.

Now, for our ol’ friend, Garnett Exelby, I think he’s sitting in the Presser in Toronto. Which segues nicely into this: Pat Stapleton is a team leader in Chicago. He was part of the Exelby trade, that also brough Kubina here. The part of that trade I didn’t like … was Colin Stuart going to Toronto. But he’s not there. Where did he go after that? Was it Calgary? Where is Colin Stuart, now? I haven’t heard his name anywhere on Center Ice. Anywho, GM Brian Burke isn’t looking good on that trade. One guy’s traded away and the other sits in the pressbox. Meanwhile, Stapleton is doing well in the AHL and Kubina is +7, with three goals, on the Thrashers top pairing. Depending on the game, with 32 shots. I understand why Burke made that trade. He had a player in Kubina, eating up $5 million in cap hit, with a year left, at age 32. He saw an opportunity to shed payroll while taking in a serviceable player in Exelby and a depth Center in Colin Stuart. It turn out quite the way he hoped, but he still shed payroll in the deal. Since Brian Burke took over as Leafs GM, the one I liked was the Luke Schenn trade, at the draft, with the NY Islanders for some ‘throw away’ 2nd and 3rd rounders. I never liked the Kessel trade. But it’s still too early to make any definitive assessments. If Toronto can finish 18th or 19th in the league, that 1st rounder headed back to Boston won’t be so devastating. If they finish 27th or 28th, they’ll wish they could make that pick. But, then again, Kessel is under contract for 5 years. And they might well turn out to be very productive years.

Moose’s fine record, early on, is very encouraging. Some nice wins and save percentage for Hedberg. At 10-6-1, Moose is responsible for almost half of those wins. Since that 4-1-1 start, the team has gone 6-5-0. But six of those eleven (6/11) games were played sans Kovalchuk.

I went trolling around http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/nhl and found some interesting stats, in this … our LULL time. Guess Kovy’s shot percentage conversions? It’s a whopping 30.8 percent. That’s almost a goal every three shots for # 17. Peverley is next, at 22.9 percent. At 20.5 percent … it’s Zach Bogosian. That’s a little better than a goal every five (5) shots. Finny is at 17.1 percent. Evander Kane and Armstrong are tied at 16.7 percent. What about shots taken? Kovy had the most, right? Wrong!! It’s Max Afinogenov, at 41. Kovy and Bogosian are next, at 39. At 37 is … would you believe … Slava Kozlov???? Yes. At 36 shots, E.Kane. Pevs is next, at 35. Kubins sits at 32. And Todd White at 26.

The plus-minus leader is: Evander Kane. That’s right. The rookie leads the team, at +9. At +7 are Nik Antropov and Pavel Kubina. At +6 is Marty Reasoner. At +5, is the Pevs Dispenser. Army is next, at +4. Enstrom and Kovy are +3. And in the dog house is Todd White, at -6.

Our Assist leader is Antropov, at 16. I would have guessed Peverley, but he’s next, at 15. Enstrom has 10 helpers, tied with Finny. And Reasoner has 8 assists.

But we have a long way to go. Plenty of injuries ahead and no quality depth in goal. We’re one high ankle sprain away from fighting for the 8th spot.

Watching the LA/Fla shootout now.

Right now, Florida and the L.A. Kings are in OT, at 3-3. Remember, the L.A. Kings beat TB in the shootout and have now taken Florida to overtime, while losing to Atlanta, 7-0. If the Kings played Carolina before us, I’m sure they won that one, too. The Kings seem to be touring the Southeast Division. There’s 2:00 left in OT. It’s Channel # 779 on Comcast, if you have Center Ice.