Phlame On: Leafs Land Phaneuf, Giguere

Finally, a reason for some optimism.

After yesterday's predictable comeback loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Hockey Day In Canada -- a game the Leafs were leading 3-0 in the third, chasing Olympian Roberto Luongo from the crease, only to lose 5-3 at the hands of former Leafs scapegoat Andrew Raycroft -- Leafs General Manager Brian Burke shook up the team and made two blockbuster trades today, including a seven-player deal to land former Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

The Leafs acquired Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie in exchange for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White.

In the same press conference announcing this trade, Leafs GM Brian Burke told reporters to sit tight, as another one would be announced. After a coffee break, Burke revealed Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake were heading to Anaheim in exchange for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

For me, today's new was alarming. Literally.

My brother yelled down the basement stairs, "The Leafs got Phaneuf!" I was asleep, and obviously thought it was a dream. The current Leafs organization could not land a star player if they promised heroic monuments in their name. But it was true; Phaneuf is a Leaf, although he comes at a price.

The Leafs traded most of their scoring away as Stajan, Hagman and White were the most consistent Leafs this season. They all put up respectable numbers on a subpar team, and Jamal Mayers wanted out of Toronto anyways. To their credit, the Flames answered many of their needs. They have a potential centre for Jarome Iginla, much-needed scoring depth on the wing, and a productive defenseman on a D-corps that's still solid. But while this could solidify a bottom-five finish in the standings for the Leafs (to the delight of the Boston Bruins who own our first-round pick), it's short term pain for long term gain.

Phaneuf is not playing like the highly-touted prospect he once was, but he's only 24 and many defensemen get better with age. He'll have more playing time in Toronto, and a chance to rack up power play points with Tomas Kaberle feeding him. With all due respect, none of the players the Leafs traded will be elite players, but Phaneuf could be. And elite players are hard to come by, especially in Toronto.

I don't know much about Sjostrom, although he is a former first-round pick. Someone somewhere thought he had potential. And I vaguely remember Keith Aulie from Canada's World Junior Gold Medal team in 2009, but my thumb is always up to former World Juniors players.

As for the Anaheim trade, Toskala's time was up. He would have never recovered the faith of Leaf fans. Jason Blake brought it every night and is quick as light, but put a defender on him and the momentum's gone. Try all he might, he never lived up to his five-year, $20 million contract. Giguere looks like he's past his prime, but he's a former Conn Smythe winner and is reunited with Brian Burke and goalie coach Francois Allaire -- two men who share with him a Stanley Cup victory. While $7 million annually is a little much for a backup goalie, like most of the players involved in today's transactions, a change of scenery may rejuvenate his career. Even hockey players need a wake-up call.

No more memories of the first-, second- and fourth-round picks traded for Toskala and Mark Bell. No more flabby contract from Jason Blake, The Man Who Can't Be Moved. And only Garnet Exelby is left publicly wanting out of Toronto.

He better be traded soon, because there's another #3 in town.

Game Night: Toronto Maple Leafs vs New Jersey Devils

There's less than six minutes left in the second period of the game. Colton Orr just scored to make it 3-2 Devils. I was about to say, "Packing it in -- going to basketball," but things just got a little interesting. As long as Parise doesn't get his hat-trick goal, maybe the game's still in reach. If the Leafs can shut down that first line, there is hope.

Nevermind. Patrick Davis gets his first career NHL goal. Devils up 4-2 going into the third. I'm going out to play basketball.

This is what happens when you have a perennial losing team: with one period left, you're already calling it a game. I swear I never used to be this way. I would watch to the end, no matter the score. But seriously, giveaway after giveaway... hockey shouldn't look like The Ellen Degeneres Show.

There's still 20 minutes. But I doubt the Leafs will come back against Canada's potential Olympic starting goaltender.

The Life and Trials of a Toronto Sports Fan

It began when my buddy texted me the words: "Toronto fans are ridiculous."

I knew why he felt that way: the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors had lost that November night, and if my memory is correct, both were in dramatic, comeback fashion. I was at work when I received this prophetic message, but I caught the Leafs debauchery on television while wiping down dumbbells. It's amazing how busy you can look wiping down equipment with a wet-nap.

When the game was over -- I mean, when I finished cleaning the weight room -- I thought about what he said. He was right. Toronto sports fans are ridiculous. We support our teams through pretty unbelievable circumstances. It's great having teams in most professional leagues, but none exactly have winning track records. When you think of the Leafs, aside from a horrendous trade history, you think 43 years and counting since they've won the Stanley Cup. And their last hoist came with six teams in the league. When you think Raptors, you shudder from memories of Vince Carter. I have a theory that Raps fans have some form of postpartum depression, but I'll expand on this in a later post. Blue Jays fans rock the throwbacks, clinging to memories of back-to-back World Series Championships in the early '90s because being in a division with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees dashes any new dreams of the postseason. And the Toronto Argonauts? They're a mythological sinking ship.

And still, at the start of every new season, we have genuine, naive hope.

Toronto teams have a unique relationship with the fans and with each other. We have one of the most infamous, unsuccessful teams in the NHL who are also the largest revenue makers; we have a basketball and baseball team that are the only Canadian representatives in their respective leagues; we own one of the oldest football teams in North America whose success, according to some experts, is married with the livelihood of the CFL. And we also have a brand new soccer team.

Like it or lump it, eyes are always on Toronto.

My buddy told me one day he'd write an essay about all this, about why Toronto fans are ridiculous. Unfortunately, the problems of Toronto pro sports won't fit in an essay. And so this blog was born, hopefully an outlet of frustration for Toronto sports fans who wonder why they put themselves through the pleasure and pain -- the pleasure of having a handful of sports teams to choose from, and the pain of following them.

I am a Toronto sports fan. (To get specific: I'm die-hard Leafs, serious Raps, casual Blue Jays and Argos, and noob Toronto FC.) Ultimately, I want to see them win. I will never bash them out of spite -- if I'm "hating" it'll be for a legitimate reason. I'm grateful for the abundance of sports teams in Toronto, and for the players who (I assume) give their best every night. But when the going gets tough, the tough blog about it. Hopefully I can articulate the dilemmas of Toronto sports fans, and give outsiders a chance to see the inner-workings of Toronto sports organizations and how they affect us.

Maybe someday you'll understand the madness of it all: why we boo players at home, why we curse them out of town, and why, in the end, even if we're supposed to be wiping down fitness machines, we always come back.

Welcome to The Toronto Turnover.