Have I Really Waited Seventeen Years For This?

This is a post that I've wanted to do for a while.

Just 3 days after Phaneuf was acquired, it was announced that Komisarek's season was finished for shoulder surgery. Since then I've been anxiously waiting to see the Leafs top-six defenders suit up together, though I thought it would never come. After enduring the summer-long agony of Kaberle's trade window in solemn isolation, I can finally look forward to opening night and seeing the most promising six-man unit on the blue line since 1993.

Or is it ever?

Dimitri Mironov vs. Carl Gunnarsson

Mironov was a rookie in the 92-93 season with just 7 NHL games under his belt before that. He had a decent impact in the regular season with 31 points in 59 games, but he appeared in just 14 of the Leafs 21 playoff games, registering only 3 points in very limited ice-time. The following season, a greatly improved Mironov would play in all 18 post-season games, racking up 15 points.

After an injury-riddled 3rd season, Mironov was shipped out in the summer, along with a 2nd round pick to Pittsburgh for Larry Murphy. Pittsburgh would then flip Mironov to Anaheim in November for three players and Mironov would go on to have his break-out season, recording 52 points. The following season he recorded 43 points, got traded at the deadline to Detroit, and won a Stanley Cup. Mironov then finished his career with three seasons in Washington under head coach, you guessed it, Ron Wilson.

There's not too much to say about Gunnarsson. Seems to have what it takes. 43 games played in his rookie campaign, 15 points, and a team leading plus 8. Sky is the limit for this kid's potential right now.

Jamie Macoun vs. Luke Schenn

Jamie "Crazy Legs" Macoun came to the Leafs from Calgary on January 2nd, 1992 as part of the Gilmour-blockbuster, and immediately gave them a savvy veteran presence on the blue line. Currently, Luke Schenn is entering his 3rd season in the NHL and what he lacks in veteran savvy he makes up for with poise and diligence.

Schenn is a strong, hard-hitting, stay at home defenceman, a cornerstone of the future here in Toronto. Jamie "Crazy Legs" Macoun had crazy legs. They wiggled and wobbled this way and that, like elastic bands wrapped around jellO. It was very difficult to get the puck past or through Macoun's awkward defensive style, for even when he was on his rump, his feet were still moving, legs flailing about. He wasn't dirty, but he was crafty, and often matched up against the league's top stars.

Macoun gave the Leafs more then 5 solid seasons before being traded to Detroit in '98, and winning a Stanley Cup, his second, alongside former teammate Dimitri Mironov. The 4th round pick the Leafs received in return for Crazy Legs turned out to be Ponikarovsky.

Sylvain Lefebvre vs. Francois Beauchemin

Sylvain Lefebvre only played 2 seasons for the Blue and White, but his impact was enormous. He was one of the most poised and reliable stay-at-home defenceman the Leafs have ever seen. His first season in Toronto he had 2 goals to go along with 12 assists and 90 penalty minutes and he was a major presence defending the Leafs goal in the magical playoff run of '93. The following year, Lefebvre chipped in 2 goals again, along with 9 assists, 79 penalty minutes, and a team leading plus 33. Once again, Lefebvre was a significant part of the '94 blue line that went back to the final four.

Lefebvre was also involved in one of the '93 team's most iconic moments, and were it not for Joe Bowen's masterful eruption, one wonders where we would all be? For how could there be a blog called DownGoesBrown if that had never happend? And truthfully, if there was no DownGoesBrown, I probably wouldn't be blogging and YOU wouldn't be reading this. You'd be doing something else, just think about that. And then thank Sylvain Lefebvre.

In the summer of '94, Lefebvre was traded to the Nordiques with Wendel Clark as part of the huge Sundin-blockbuster. After one season in Quebec, the team was moved to Colorado where Lefebvre won (ho hum) a Stanley Cup.

Beauchemin is entering his 2nd season with the Leafs and gives them the same quiet, reliable depth on the blue line as Lefebvre once did, often counted on to be the shut-down specialist in tight games.

Bob Rouse vs. Mike Komisarek

Bob Rouse was a very hard-nosed, low maintenance, reliable defenceman. Like Lefebvre, he seemed quiet and unassuming, but played a tough physical game that was hard as nails. Rouse was another stay-at-home defenceman that stood up for his teammates on many occasions. In '92-'93, Rouse's 2nd season with the team, he had 14 points and 130 penalty minutes. The following year, 16 points and 101 penalty minutes in 63 games.

Rouse, of course, also assisted on one of the Leafs most important and iconic goals of the '93 playoff run. In the summer of '94, after his second consecutive trip to the final four, Rouse was signed as a Free-Agent by Detroit and went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1997, and again in 1998 with former '93 teammates Dimitri Mironov and Jamie Macoun. Why, Lord, why did we let these guys go?

Mike Komisarek is coming back from shoulder surgery and is expected to be the physical, nasty presence that the Leafs need. As long as his health holds up, Mike is a hard working soldier that backs down from no one. If Komisarek can play a more refined, retrained game, he'd make a good version of a bigger, better, stronger Bob Rouse.

Todd Gill vs. Tomas Kaberle

Todd Gill is awesome and don't you dare say otherwise. Same goes for Kabby.

After that there's not much in the way of similarities between these two. Maybe there's a perception that they give the puck away a lot. I think it's over-exaggerated. Who cares. Awesome. I could write a million posts about it so don't get me started!

What Todd Gill lacked in talent he made up for in heart. And when you think of how much talent he lacked, you realize that's a whole hell lotta heart. Gill was a in his 9th season as a Maple Leaf in 1992-93. He wore the blue and white proudly, as proud as any Leaf before him or since. The 92-93 season was his break out year as a better-then-atrocious defender, scoring 11 goals and 32 assists for 43 points in 69 games, leading the defence in scoring and good for 4th on the team overall. You better believe it. Gill gave the Leafs timely contributions and gritty shifts game-in, game-out and was the embodiment of the Leafs' Never Say Die spirit.

Todd Gill appeared in 19 NHL seasons - after 12 with the Leafs, he had stops in San Jose, St. Louis, Detroit, Phoenix, Detroit again, Colorado, and finally Chicago, but never did win a Stanley Cup. This year Kaberle is entering his 12th season as a Maple Leaf - the 2nd highest scoring defenceman in Toronto's history, and perhaps the most under-appreciated.

Another interesting thing to note about the career path of Gill, is that he was one of only 3 players in '93 still with the Leafs since the last time they'd made the playoffs in 1990. Can you name the other two? Wendel is the easy one. And the other is a trick question - the returning Mark Osborne, who'd been traded to Winnipeg for Dave Ellett, and then reacquired.

Dave Ellett vs. Dion Phaneuf

Dave Ellett came to the Leafs in November 1990 as part of a trade that saw popular Leaf forwards Ed Olczyk and Mark Osborne heading to Winnipeg. After suffering through two terrible seasons and missing the playoffs twice, things finally came together in the 1992-93 season with the additions of Lefebvre, Rouse, Macoun, and Mironov. And while Ellett was suddenly surrounded by a solid group of capable defenders, he remained the top dog, and the most steady puck-carrier on the blue line.

In 92-93, Ellett had 6 goals and 34 assists for 40 points, and was an impressive plus 19, The following year, Ellett put up similar numbers, 7 goals, 36 assists, 43 points. In the 39 playoff games from those two seasons, Ellett contributed 30 points; 7 goals and 23 assists.

Ellett patrolled the Leafs blue-line for more then 6 six seasons until he was finally traded, along with Doug Gilmour, to New Jersey, bringing Steve Sullivan, Jason Smith, and Alyn McCauley to Toronto. His NHL career spanned 16 seasons, 1129 games, scoring 568 points.

Dion Phaneuf is now not only the top-dog on a stacked blue line, this year he comes to camp as the team's first Captain in three seasons. Expectations include ending a six-year playoff drought and restoring some semblance of pride and glory, not to mention some fine truculence, to this beautiful, loved, and yet oft-forsaken franchise. Phaneuf is entering his 6th NHL season with 238 points in 404 career games.

Well, so this post was not really a comparative analysis so much as a lazy, self-indulgent juant through nostalgia-town, but I had fun with it anyways. I loved all those guys from the '93 and '94 playoffs, and that six-pack on defence under Burns' first two seasons was the best group of defenders from top to bottom that I can ever recall playing for the Blue and White.

That is, I'm hoping, until this year.

This September, the one thing I'm excited about most is seeing a group of defenders together for the first time that might become the best group of Maple Leafs defenders I've ever seen.

They Be Doin' What Now?

If You haven't seen DownGoesBrown's series, Is This The Worst It's Ever Been?, you should really check it out. Really helps put things in perspective, and you'll feel better after you cry. One line that jumped out at me from Part Two was this:

"... the greatest five-man defensive unit of all time..."

Unless I've lost my mind from playing too much on-line poker this week, he can only be talking about The Fantastic Five from the '93 playoff drive; Jamie Macoun, Bob Rouse, Sylvain Lefebvre, Dave Ellett, and everyone's favorite underdog, Todd Gill.

For 21 playoff games, these 5 were Felix the Cat's claws, blocking shots, clearing pucks, and swinging fists. Collectively, their greatest talent was not scoring goals or thrilling rushes through the neutral zone, it was smashing players like Dino Ciccarelli and Brett Hull into the boards, knocking them to the ice, and then standing over them and not letting them get up until long after the play had moved up the ice. That's Pat Burns hockey. "Pay attention to detail" means "put your knee on his back".

Fond memories indeed, but this post is not about reflection. Instead, we look forward to the future. Seeing nothing there, we take a sideways glance at the present - oh, here's something interesting! After learning that Gill was still very much involved in hockey as a coach in the CJHL, I was curious to see what the other Super-Buds of the Buds' Blue and White Blue-Line (wow that's awkward) were up to now. So I called up my good friend, Ric Nattress, and he said he didn't know who I was, but he's not as out-of-the-loop as I thought, and after some quick research (did you know they have internet on computers now?) I barely have enough material for a new post. No, not another one. This one.

Todd Gill

The guy who taught me that anyone (even you, Wozniewski!) can have a career in the NHL as long as they just work hard and never give up, is now teaching that lesson to NHL hopefuls in the CJHL. Todd Gill is currently the head coach of the Brockville Braves. So far this year they're not off to a good start, losing both of their first two games, and being outscored 10-1. Fear not, however, for Todd Gill is a former CJHL Coach of the Year (2007), and one thing he has never, ever done or will ever do, is accept failure and stop trying. The Braves may not be the most talented team in the Yzerman Division, but I'm guessing they play with heart. Pylons of heart.

* Update - minutes after this post was published I learned that the Braves had won their 3rd game, beating Cornwall 12-4. So now their GF vs. GA stands at 13-14. Heart. Pylons...

For more great writing about Todd Gill you may have to really look around, but one of my earliest and sloppiest pieces is here if you wanna read about how Todd Gill would make a far better coach for the Leafs then Ron Wilson.

Bob Rouse

Wow, is that really Bob Rouse? The guy whose beautiful tape-to-tape pass completely fooled Tim Cheveldae, allowing little Nikki "the Stick" to score the most important goal in our modern Leaf history? Yep, that's the guy.

"Gilmour to Bobby Rouse - shot! SCOOOORESSSSS! ... Nikolai! Borschevsky! Has scored for Toronto! Leafs win! Leafs win!"

Sorry. Don't know where I drifted off to just then. Currently, Bob Rouse is an assistant coach with the Chilliwack Bruins (WHL), and has been since last year. The 'Wackers (I wonder if they like being called that) open their season Saturday at home against the Kamloops Blazers.

Sylvain Lefebvre

One thing we know for sure, wherever Sylvain Lefebvre is, Rob Brown isn't. Who'll ever forget that magnificent moment when we heard those brilliant words "Brown really got corked by Lefebvre with a straight right-hand!" 15 years later, that iconic phrase is now a popular website, BrownReallyGotCorked.com, but I'm not providing a link because it's disgusting what they do there.

Our buddy Sylvain, who was the model stay at home defenceman that The Cat seemingly couldn't do without, is today working in tandem with another former Leaf, Joe Sacco. Together they form the coaching duo for the Lake Erie Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, whose hilarious marketing slogan is: It's Alive! Sacco, the head coach, is in his third year with the Avalanche orginization, and has been credited with being a "key figure in the development process" of current Leaf defencman, Jeff Finger. Hopefully, he's been taught how to play hockey like Sylvain Lefebvre.

Dave Ellett

On the left in the picture above is Dave "the Ankle of Death" Ellett, one of 5 members forming an ownership group , and the Governor for the new CHL franchise, the New Mexico Scorpians. It must be weird being out there in the desert, but it's probably part of Ellett's secret plan of one day sneaking up on Wayne, drugging him, and driving out to the desert with the Great One in the trunk of his car. That's when Wayne has a mysterious "scorpion accident" and isn't seen again for some time. Eventually, an autopsy will reveal that Greztky died in the desert from scorpion venom, but that won't explain the missing foot. Bizarre.

The New Mexico Scorpions sounds like a really cool name for a hockey club, and I wish them, and Ellett, and his secret little plan, the best of luck.

"Crazy Legs" Jamie Macoun

Good ol' "Crazy Legs" Macoun seems to be the least involved in hockey of The Fantastic Five but he is still around. Mostly he's been appearing in Calgary, popping up at charity Golf tournaments, participating in the Juno Cup (an exhibition hockey game involving Canadian rock stars for the Juno's, whatever that is), and being the primary organizer for an NHL Alumni 3-on-3 Pond Hockey tournament. Sounds like an awesome idea. It seems to be a Calgary thing, but the list of former Leafs participating is impressive: Lanny, Tiger, Jeff Brown, Gary Valk, and Ric Nattress.

Speaking of Ric Nattress, who I really only consider a distant acquaintance now, maybe he, and not Mironov is really the missing guy from this group. Continuing on the theme of Leafs That Should Have Been, imagine if Nattress had not departed in the summer of '92, but instead was part of this group for the '93 run. Wow. No way the series with L.A. goes anywhere near 7 games. And just think, then Dave Ellett wouldn't have to invest all his money in a crazy desert hockey franchise scheme just for the chance of catching Gretzky with his back turned.

Ric Nattress

Ric Nattress is currently the head coach for the Stoney Creek Warriors of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). Nattress was born and raised in Hamilton, so the Niagara area is very much in his comfort zone. The Warriors season began exactly two weeks ago, with Leaf legend and local deity Wendel Clark on hand to drop the puck. No doubt, Clark's inspirational presence and sheer omnipotence has helped the Warriors to a 4 and 0 start this season. It's quite possible, in fact, that if Wendel intentionally dropped the puck at the right angle, Stoney Creek might run the table and have an undefeated season.

So, there ya have it. A "Where are they now?" for the "greatest five man defensive unit of all-time" and the one That Should Have Been there. Thanks everybody.