Sports by Schmucks Podcast - Episode 21 (April 15)

On the 21st edition of the Sports by Schmucks podcast, the guys talk about The Masters and what's next for the Maple Leafs.

A King's Ransom?

Earlier this afternoon, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings agreed on a trade sending Jonathan Bernier to the Leafs in exchange for Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens, and a second round pick in either 2014 or '15. Let's break it down.



In Jonathan Bernier, the Leafs get a goaltender with tremendous upside and a very strong hockey pedigree. He's won a QMJHL Championship with the Lewiston MAINEiacs, World Junior Gold Medal for Canada, and Stanley Cup (as a back-up) last year with the Kings. In the juniors, he won the playoff MVP during the MAINEiacs' championship run. In 2009-10, Bernier won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award for outstanding AHL goalie. Oh yeah, he was also the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

While all of that sounds nice on paper, he's also put up some respectable numbers so far during his short time in the NHL. Bernier has only had a goals-against average of more than 2.40 once in his career: his first four games in his rookie season in the NHL, winning one of them.

The main question is how he will respond to potentially being the starting goalie for a full season. In two full seasons in the AHL, Bernier posted GAAs of 2.40 and 2.03 and 53 total wins. How will that translate to the NHL? It will take some time to tell, but he's had success at every level he's played.

For the Leafs, it will give a lot of flexibility in net. They must hope that James Reimer and Bernier will push each other for the starting spot. If Reimer responds well, then the team has two quality, young goalies. If he doesn't, he becomes a trade asset for the team. Either way, it's a win-win situation.

As for the Kings, Bernier wasn't going to get any playing time behind former Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick. With Bernier's impending restricted free agent status, it made sense to get a quality and inexpensive back-up goalie. According to CapGeek.com, the Kings will be $2 million under the cap next season, without having restricted free agent Kyle Clifford and unrestricted free agent Rob Scuderi signed.

Photo from cbc.ca

Ben Scrivens will be a nice fit for the Kings to back up Quick. He's making just over $600,000 next season, has NHL experience, and led the Toronto Marlies to the Calder Cup in the 2011-12 AHL campaign. Scrivens has shown some promise for the Leafs, but he couldn't challenge James Reimer for the starting job. However, he'll be a great fit for the Kings in their defensive system.

Photo from ourhometown.ca

Matt Frattin has been a very inconsistent pro. He was very hot for the Leafs at the beginning of the year, but fizzled out by the end. Frattin is still probably recovering from a knee injury suffered in the final game of the AHL Conference Finals, but what is his ceiling? Personally, I see him ending up as a third liner, nothing more.

So, who do I think won the trade? Well, if you couldn't tell by now, it was the Leafs. They added a potential franchise goalie for a back-up and third line forward. It makes sense for LA based on cap situation, but I feel like they could've held out for more. There were multiple teams interested in the services of the former first round selection.

What are your thoughts us in the trade? Let us know in the comment section or on Twitter.

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An Event 9 Years in the Making

I had to let this sink in for a while because I almost didn't believe it. Part of me had to wait until that magnificent little "x" appeared beside their name on the standings page of NHL.com. It took nine years, but it finally happened again. The Maple Leafs are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

R.I.P. Playoff Drought (2004-2013)

I'll add here that I am a Leafs fan. My dad told me when he moved to Canada from Aberdeen, Scotland, my grandfather had a choice of hockey teams between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. They went with the blue and white, and it's been in my family ever since.

Now, I thought of doing a post about all the things that were different about my life and hockey in 2004. That would be the easy way out, not to mention done to death. Granted, I was in Grade 10 the last time the Leafs qualified for the postseason. After the Flyers eliminated the Buds in Game 6 the Conference Semi-Finals, I told my 15-year-old self that there's always next year.

But the lockout followed after after my proclamation. Then, the losing kept happening. I kept waiting for things to turn around. Draft picks were made - some were traded away. GMs were brought in with the promise of bringing a Stanley Cup contender to the city and not wanting to compromise the future to sneak into an eighth place spot. And fans of other teams relished in the fact that the Leafs again missed the playoffs, adding to the longest-running Stanley Cup drought in the NHL. It got worse when teams like Chicago and Boston won their latest Cups, ending their long droughts.

Then, a magical thing happened. There was a second lockout! This led to the shortened season we are in now and cut out the worst part of most Toronto seasons: the second half. And now we're in the playoffs thanks to a core put together by the recently-fired Brian Burke. Led by players like Joffrey Lupul, an emerging Nazem Kadri, and netminder James Reimer, the city is buzzing with playoff aspirations.

Photo credit: theleafsnation.com

Reimer will be the key to the series against any team the Leafs draw in the first round, whether it be Montreal (Yes please!) or Boston (Dear God, no!). The team has been drastically shot all year, especially in games down the stretch. Although most of the shots have been from non-scoring areas, it just takes one to trickle in or take an awkward bounce off of a skate to destroy the confidence of a goalie. The pressure will already be high on the Manitoba-native as he will have two withstand nine years of pent-up playoff pressure.

Now, the fans of other teams can't let us Leafs fans live in the moment. It's not unusual to get bombarded with statements that we won't make it out of the first round, it's only a shortened season, or we shouldn't be celebrating something that 53% of teams in the league do. No matter how many things you say, no one can take away the fact that the Leafs made the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sure, they might get knocked out in the first round, but the Leafs were there.

My message to them: let us be. Do some of us have high expectations? Sure. It's really hard to look at the standings and the schedule and think, "Hey, that second seed isn't out of the question." But is it realistic? Of course not. Just let us be happy with our drought being over. Small victories. And, if you're right about us not going far, you won't hear from us again until the offseason when the team gets attached in rumours to every player out there. You'll also get to keep saying that we haven't made the playoffs in a full 82-game season since 2004.

Until then, please let us have our moment. We've let you have yours for nine years.

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