Deal or No Deal?....NO DEAL! a(5)
It's been almost 2 months since the no movement clause for Tomas Kaberle became null and void for a brief window of time. Well, that window was slammed shut as of midnight on Sunday, and ironically there was no movement involving Tomas Kaberle! I like Tomas Kaberle. He's a top two d-man to be sure, so him still being here is not a bad thing. I am not blaming him for this long saga that amounted to absolutely nothing. No, for that the blame falls on Brian Burke, the media, and every one's favourite village idiot, John Ferguson Jr.
Brian Burke has made some very intelligent moves to improve this hockey club. After all he unloaded three of the most useless hockey players ever to wear the Blue & White and got a Stanley Cup winning goalie in J.S. Giguere and a superstar defenseman and our captain Dion Phaneuf. That deal makes him a superhero of sorts. However, with this Kaberle situation, he looks like a court jester. First off was the bull$#it line that, "We are not actively shopping Tomas, but we'll listen to offers. That's a lie and everyone knew it. I mean you almost traded him for Kessel a year ago! Nice way to create a bidding war that ultimately failed. Then two days before the window closes Burke advises a Toronto newspapers that there are "4 legitimate offers that the club had to consider" in regards to Kaberle. Great so something seemed to be in the offing. Then, the morning of K -day, as so many un-cleaverly called it, Burke told another reporter that, "If these offers are all we get...he's staying put." What about those 4 "legitimate offers you mentioned 24 hours earlier? Which is it? You can't have your cake and eat it too. When midnight hit, Kaberle remained a Leaf, and Burke said he was " pleased that there is a resolution." I wonder if Burke will be as pleased when Kaberle refuses to waive his NTC at the trade deadline, and walks away from the team as a free agent next summer, as I believe he will. Burke missed an opportunity with this one, and were I in his shoes, I would have taken the best offer available as the final hour drew to a close. After all, isn't something better then the eventual nothing at that point?
The Kaberle saga was made even more laughable by the media, specifically one particular website. This particular website revolves around creating HOCKEY BUZZ regarding trades and player signings. This Kaberle fiasco teaches a valuable lesson. That lesson being, that any @$$#OLE with access to a computer, and an Internet connection can claim to be a hockey insider, post bull$#it rumors and make themselves appear to be a credible source of information. For the past 2 months the site's founder and CEO has been posting countless updates on his blog regarding Kaberle. Ranging from, "This is the week Kaberle gets traded," to "I am 99.9% certain that Kaberle is moved before the deadline", or "Sharks closest to Deal for Kaberle." Daily he would update the blog with information from his so-called "sources" often listing LA, Boston, or San Jose as likely destinations for Kaberle. He even has a rating system which supposedly validates the reported trade or signing. The first letter of his pseudonym is prescribed a number from 1 - 5. 1 being the lowest 5 being the highest. My only problem with this rating system is that it doesn't validate any of his claims. It simply illustrates that the individual knows his alphabet and can count to five. Wow! Welcome to pre-school! I've illustrated how pointless it is by mockingly using it in my title. Look, I'm sure he's been right on some deals in the past, and possibly even broken a few deals ahead of time. However, as the saying goes, if you throw enough $#i+ against the wall some of it's bound to stick. For my money the site and its mysterious founder specializes in leading people on, in an effort to gain more website hits. I'll get my hockey news from trusted and reliable NHL insiders like Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie thank you very much.
Before I attempt to put the Kaberle fiasco to rest, I'd like to thank John Ferguson Jr. For without his sheer idiocy and penchant for handing out NTC's like their Halloween candy, the Leafs may have been a constant playoff team, or at the very least been able to trade players like Kaberle, and Sundin for value, instead of being left with nothing and a six year playoff drought to show for it. More to come...
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