The 2018/19 Toronto Maple Leafs - by Moses

  The verdict is in, our Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas has made a deal and landed Jake Muzzin as our new number two defenceman.  We parted with our 2019 1st round pick and two top prospects to pick up Muzzin, who now teams with Morgan Rielly as our number 1 defence pairing.  To back them we have Jake Gardiner playing with Nikita Zaitsev on our second pairing and Ron Hainsey moves to the third pairing to help youngster Travis Dermott's progress.  This deal will probably secure the Leafs advancement into at least the third round of this years' playoffs by this writer's account.

  This is the Leafs team at this point (barring a move to possibly pick up a tough winger like a Wayne Simmonds);

Head Coach - Mike Babcock

Goalies

1.  Frederik Andersen
2.  Garret Sparks
3.  Michael Hutchinson

Defencemen

1.  Morgan Rielly
2.  Jake Muzzin
3.  Jake Gardiner
4.  Ron Hainsey
5.  Nikita Zaitsev
6.  Travis Dermott
7.  Igor Ozhiganov
8.  Calle Rosen *
9.  Justin Holl *

Forwards

1.  Mitch Marner
2.  Auston Matthews
3.  John Tavares
4.  Kasperi Kapanen
5.  Nazem Kadri
6.  Patrick Marleau
7.  William Nylander
8.  Zach Hyman
9.  Andreas Johnsson
10.Connor Brown
11.Trevor Moore
12.Frederik Gauthier

The Canadian Contingent of the NHL - by Moses

  This year of 2018/19 there are seven Canadian Teams in the NHL.  The Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadians, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators.  The best of the bunch this writers' opinion is in order; 1) Toronto Maple Leafs 2) Winnipeg Jets 3) Calgary Flames 4) Montreal Canadians 5) Edmonton Oilers 6) Vancouver Canucks 7) Ottawa Senators.

  Each team has a strong core.  Toronto has John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and Frederik Andersen to lead the way.  Winnipeg has Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, and Patrik Laine.  We're probably going to see Winnipeg vs Calgary in the Western Conference Finals.  Calgary is another powerhouse with studs Johnny Gaudreau, Mark Giordano, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Sean Monahan. Montreal has a good young core in Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin and Thomas Tatar, and strong leadership with Shea Weber and Carey Price.
  
  Wouldn't it be justice to Canada to see an all four Canadian team Semi-Finals this year.  It's achievable.  Toronto vs Montreal in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Winnipeg vs Calgary in the Western Finals.  Canadians bring their heart and souls to every Hockey game in our home court.  What's missing from the game from the American contingent is the passion for the game that we have here.  Are we to believe that the people in Nashville, Columbus, Carolina, Las Vegas, Arizona, (and soon to be Seattle) really give a shit about their Hockey teams and their players?  All they want is the to say they are the best, the American way.  Do they really know the micro of the game of Hockey itself (like we do in Canada) ?  How many times do we have to see Canadian Markets being sidestepped in the name of making the game of Hockey a money maker and appeasing American interests.  This game of Hockey is a Canadian thing.

  Let's analyze the remaining Canadian teams;  Edmonton still has a shot at making the playoffs, led by Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl among others they are top heavy in offence and would benefit from better Goaltending.  Having already fired McLellan and their General Manager they are definitely serious about success.  Hitchcock is a winner having already hoisted the prized Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars.

  Vancouver and Ottawa are teams for the future.  The Canucks have standouts Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.  Ottawa likewise with Thomas Chabot, Matt Duchesne, and Mark Stone.  They may be out of the playoffs this year, but look out in a few years...

  It still stands to reason that Gary Betteman will eventually be taken out of power with a Canadian brought in to govern the owners.  This would provide the NHL with four more teams in Canada, namely Quebec City, Quebec, Markham, Ontario, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

  The reality is that Canadians deserve a sounding board and drive to Hockey.  We live it here.  We play it, go to the games, watch the games, and buy Hockey cards.  We commemorate to the World Juniors each and every year, watch the Olympics with our hearts on the line, and live through the Stanley Cup Finals every year.  Is the current NHL the vision as to how Gordie Howe envisioned the League to be upon his passing?

The NHL Playoff Picture - by Moses

  This year there are standout teams in the NHL in the name of the Tampa Bay Lightening, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and the Las Vegas Golden Knights among other contending teams.


  In this writer's opinion here is how the standings will read at the end of the season;


In the Eastern Conference

1.  Tampa Bay Lightening

2.  Pittsburgh Penguins

3.  Toronto Maple Leafs

4.  Boston Bruins

5.  Washington Capitals

6.  New York Islanders

7.  Columbus Blue Jackets

8.  Montreal Canadiens


In the Western Conference

1.  Winnipeg Jets

2.  Calgary Flames

3.  Nashville Predators

4.  San Jose Sharks

5.  Colorado Avalanche

6.  Dallas Stars

7.  St. Louis Blues

8.  Las Vegas Golden Knights


Playoffs

Eastern Conference

1st Round

1.  Tampa Bay Lightening vs Montreal Canadiens (Montreal in 7)

2.  Pittsburgh Penguins vs Columbus Blue Jackets (Pittsburgh in 6)

3.  Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Islanders (Toronto in 5)

4.  Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals (Washington in 5)


2nd Round

1.  Pittsburgh Penguins vs Montreal Canadiens (Montreal in 7)

2.  Toronto Maple Leafs vs Washington Capitals (Toronto in 6)


Eastern Conference Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens (Toronto in 6)


Western Conference

1st Round

1.  Winnipeg Jets vs Las Vegas Golden Knights (Winnipeg in 5)

2.  Calgary Flames vs St. Louis Blues (Calgary in 6)

3.  Nashville Predators vs Dallas Stars (Nashville in 5)

4.  San Jose Sharks vs Colorado Avalanche (Colorado in 7)


2nd Round

1.  Winnipeg Jets vs Colorado Avalanche (Winnipeg in 7)

2.  Calgary Flames vs Nashville Predators (Calgary in 7)


Western Conference Finals

Winnipeg Jets vs Calgary Flames (Winnipeg in 6)


Stanley Cup Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Winnipeg Jets (Toronto in 7)

The Occupy Movement (Part 7) - by Moses

  When I last revisited the Occupy Movement I called on the next Woodstock.  What I'd like to expand on now is how to build the infrastructure of the Occupy Movement across Canada.  Should the Canadian Kibbutz Movement be centralized or de-centralized?  In other words should it be regulated Federally or Provincially.  As we see the failure the U.S.A is having with their centralized F.E.M.A Camps, perhaps it should be de-centralized and honoured Province to Province to take into account distinct societies within Canada that exist Province to Province.

  On any given Kibbutz in Israel there are commonly multiple facets in industry and business dealings that a Kibbutz has with the Israeli Government.  For example a Kibbutz may have a strong agricultural centre, and also a minor manufacturing element.  The Kibbutz has to be able to self sustain economically and is held accountable by the Government, therefore ensuring that it makes money.  For a Kibbutz to self sustain with a labour force of 600 people, that gives total labour force 24,000 hours of time to do their jobs every week if each individual works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  There is usually 4 or more industries within each Kibbutz; 1) agricultural 2) manufacturing 3) shipping and receiving 4) professionals - someone to do the books, provide banking services, lend legal advice when necessary etc.  There are also positions that need to be taken into account such as laundry duty, kitchen staff, and wood-shop.

  To appreciate the Occupy Movement expanding and becoming relevant in the Western World we would see different views for each occupy site.  For example;  The head of the agricultural centre would have ideas of where to expand, likewise the head of the manufacturing centre having ideas and which professionals deemed to be necessary.  These are details that each occupy site would have to come to terms with, and decide how to be accountable to the Government.  Could 2% of the Canadian GDP be allocated to this movement?  If so, why are the homeless in Canada being left to die, likewise that of Aboriginals on reserves across Canada?  

  Should each Province, Territory incorporate 100 Government funded occupy sites with 600 people on each site, that would entail 60,000 employed in each Province, Territory, and Nunuvit, 780,000 jobs by this writers' account.  Why hasn't Canada adopted this strategy?  

The Imminent Toronto Maple Leafs Trade - by Moses

      It is now imminent that the Toronto Maple Leafs need help on the blue-line.  Whilst we have top notch defencemen in Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, and Ron Hainsey, we have a need for another top two defenceman.  The Blue and White have the following assets to offer up;  William Nylander, Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown, a 2019 1st Round Draft Pick, and possibly a couple of Marlies.  We will need help come the 2nd Round of the playoffs by this writers' account.  Say we have to play Boston in the first round.  The team we have now will probably be able to get through, however, in the second round against a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins our blue-line will be exposed by the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Kris Letang among others. 

  The reality is that the Leafs are currently a playoff team with no real bite.  When we're up 2-0 the fan base is never quite sure if we can hold on to the lead.  With all the great offensive players that the Montreal Canadiens had in the seventies, it was their defence that won them Stanley Cups.  With Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, and Serge Savard on the blue-line, and Ken Dryden in net Montreal rarely gave up more than 2 goals a game. 

Trade Proposals

1.  From the Toronto Maple Leafs; William Nylander, Nikita Zaitsev, and a 1st Round Draft Pick to the Los Angeles Kings for Drew Doughty and $10 Mil U.S.D to be paid over the next 3 years to the Maple Leafs for future cap issues and to incur Doughty's $10 Mil U.S.D/year salary.

2.  From the Toronto Maple Leafs; William Nylander, Nikita Zaitsev, and a 1st Round Draft Pick to the St. Louis Blues for Alex Pietrangelo and $10 Mil U.S.D to be paid over the next 3 years to the Maple Leafs for future cap issues.  

3.  From the Toronto Maple Leafs; Connor Brown and Chris Mueller to the Vancouver Canucks for Michael Del Zotto

As a result of two deals this would be our Toronto Maple Leafs

Head Coach - Mike Babcock

Goalies

1.  Frederik Andersen
2.  Garret Sparks
3.  Michael Hutchinson

Defencemen

1.  Morgan Rielly
2.  Drew Doughty
3.  Jake Gardiner
4.  Ron Hainsey
5.  Michael Del Zotto
6.  Travis Dermott
7.  Igor Ozhiganov
8.  Calle Rosen *

Forward Lines

                LW                                           C                                            RW

1.  Andreas Johnsson                Auston Matthews                  Kasperi Kapanen

2.  Zach Hyman                            John Tavares                         Mitch Marner

3.  Patrick Marleau                      Nazem Kadri                          Tyler Ennis

4.  Trevor Moore                        Frederik Gauthier                  Jeremy Bracco *

* - currently with the Toronto Marlies 
 

The 2018/2019 Toronto Maple Leafs - by Moses

Head Coach - Mike Babcock

Goalies

1.  Frederik Andersen

2.  Garret Sparks

3.  Michael Hutchinson

4.  Ian Scott @

Defencemen

1.  Morgan Rielly

2.  Jake Gardiner

3.  Ron Hainsey

4.  Nikita Zaitsev

5.  Igor Ozhiganov

6.  Travis Dermott

7.  Calle Rosen *

8.  Andreas Borgman *

Forward Lines

                 LW                               C                                   RW

1.  Andreas Johnsson        Auston Matthews         William Nylander

2.  Zach Hyman                   John Tavares                Mitch Marner

3.  Patrick Marleau             Nazem Kadri              Kasperi Kapanen

4.  Trevor Moore              Frederik Gauthier           Connor Brown

@ - still in Juniors

* - currently playing with the Toronto Marlies