On JFJ and Rebuilding

As JFJ begins packing up his office in anticipation, I'd like to remind Leafs fans of one thing: JFJ might be a terrible GM. Might be. We have no idea. The board of MLSE jerked JFJ around with one year contracts and "make the playoffs" demands. JFJ never had the opportunity to put a multi-year plan into action. Maybe that plan would have sucked, maybe it wouldn't have, but the Leafs' woes right now go straight to the top.

Don't get me wrong, JFJ has written some bad contracts, and Maurice has a propensity for putting Wozniewski on the ice in crucial situations. I just don't think firing JFJ is going to fix anything. The next Leafs GM doesn't need to be Nostradamus or the second coming of Conn Smythe, he needs a four year contract and for the MLSE board to leave him alone for four years so he (or she, it's 2008) can rebuild.

On rebuilding, the argument I've always heard is that Toronto won't tolerate a bad team, they need to rebuild on the fly because noone will tolerate a loser. If the teams of this and the past two seasons weren't losers, I don't know what to say. Yet here we all are, watching and hoping desperately that our team that hasn't been to the playoffs in four years will squeak in next year maybe. The time to rebuild is now. The fans in Toronto will tolerate rebuilding because they're die hards. Maybe some of the corporate seats will disappear, big deal. There are tons of people lined up to see the Leafs, even if they stink. As much as I hate the guy, Harold Ballard was right - the Leafs will play to a sellout crowd even if they lose every game. So why can't they rebuild?