Spinning a Toronto Tale: Maurice is Left Out of Leafs Future and Semifinal Picks

Call it cleaning house, call it the calm (so to speak) before the storm, or call it a second chance—just not here.

Whatever you want to call it, the axe finally came down over the head of Paul Maurice today, as his title of Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs means about as much as the fact that Rachel Taylor had speaking lines in Shutter.

That is, unless, you have something for the Australian accent—in which case the "steak at a vegetarian convention" analogy may work better for you.

Needless to say, after two years of playoff-less hockey in Toronto, the media's second-favorite whipping boy (I'm still counting JFJ here) is done in Hog Town.

I'll come out and say it thought—I was a fan of Paul Maurice.

For a franchise whose management says one thing, signs off on another, and then backtracks on the entire plan, Maurice was a straight shooter. He gave players their chances, he did the best with what he could, and he never pulled a "smoke-and-mirrors" game with the Toronto faithful.

Thanks to him, we got a few good shifts out of Bates Battaglia, watched as players like Boyd Devereaux, John Pohl, and Dominic Moore proved that (at times) they could do something of worth at the NHL level, and we even got to enjoy Nik Antropov and all of his untapped potential.

With teams that weren't even supposed to be anywhere near a playoff spot realistically, Maurice found a way to help his players push the bar ever higher, and grip tooth-and-nail what seemed to be far-off dreams.

It just would've been nice if he convinced them to play with all that gusto from October onward instead of starting in late-February.

For all of the blame heaped on him, he never called out the man that was responsible for putting him in between a rock and a hard place—John Ferguson Jr.

Maurice played every hand he was dealt the same way he dealt the hands to his players—he was a straight shooter and didn't pull any punches.

Did he say "our better players need to be better"? Sure he did. Did he call out the young guys asking them to rise to expectations? He did that too. But in a market where mediocrity is accepted far too readily, Maurice wasn't about to sit there and take it lightly.

It's a shame he was only given mediocre talent to work with.

For all of the hardships he endured, it appears that Maurice will be getting out in time from the asylum that is the Air Canada Centre.

As we speak, there's rumors that some sort of "hire Dave Nonis for a year and let's pray that Brian Burke is available after that time" scheme is brewing, and I have to say that as surprising as something like that sounds to someone not familiar with the Leafs, I'm not surprised at all.

Leave it to us to have some hair-brained scheme to try and lure a GM who has refused to even acknowledge our existence until his contract runs out next season to our Franchise by saying "Hey look! We're only going to hire this guy for a year, and then if you want the job we'll stick him somewhere else in the company".

With a sales pitch like that, who wouldn't want to work here? Especially if your name was Dave Nonis?

I can see it now, the nameplate reading "Dave Nonis, the Quick-fix GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs". 

Hmmm..."quick fixes". Isn't that what JFJ was always filling the roster out with? How did that turn out again?

Needless to say, at least it won't be boring in Leaf Land this summer.

But there's bigger fish to fry here, and the name of that fish would be the 2008 NHL Conference Championships! With the Western Final just around the corner (starting tomorrow night,) time was getting tight on the picks, but here we go!

By the way, Frank Drebin is taking this round off—for real this time, and we're going to start in the West because it's the first series to get started! 

Dallas Stars vs. Detroit Red Wings 

It's hard to say which series I'm looking forward to more, but I have to say if you're into story-lines, then Detroit vs. Dallas is for you.

In net, you've got the triumphant return of Chris "Babyface" Osgood who stormed into the playoffs this season and finished off the Nashville Predators while disarming the Colorado Avlanche's potent army of forwards.

Across the rink, you've got Marty Turco, a career 0-7-2 at Joe Louis Arena, looking to exorcise his demons, and further prove that he's a stalwart, not a slouch, when it comes to playoff hockey.

Although he's already proven himself last year and in the first two rounds of this year, carrying his team to a berth in the Cup final would help Texans forget all about the post-Belfour era. 

Then you wonder about Detroit's devastating offensive attack. Which Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will show up this round? Will Johan Franzen be able to carry over his goal scoring prowess from round two? Will the grind-line mark the end of Marty Turco's days on top? What about the defense—will the d-men be able to put up the points, or will they be more concerned with keeping the pucks out of their own net?

Looking at things from the Stars' perspective however, there's only one question:

How will the Wings handle the physicality?

That's the question I think this series comes down to.

Both goalies can stand on their head all series long—we've seen them do it in the past—but if Dallas can control the physical play, rough up the edges of Detroit's semi-gloss offensive play with some sandpaper, and just irritate the Red Wings, then Dallas could take this series.

It all comes down to whether or not Detroit can match the physical play or not, and although they showed it at times against Colorado, I think that Dallas is just that much more dangerous than the Winged Wheel.

Keep your heads up Wings fans, this could be one bumpy ride.

Dallas in Five 

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 

People keep asking me if I'm finally on the Marc-Andre Fleury bandwagon.

"He's beaten Lundqvist and he stymied Ottawa, surely you believe in him now?"

I'll give him credit—Fleury has played well up until this point—but when you've got a team like the Penguins playing in front of you, it isn't so much about "standing on your head" and stealing a game for your team, as it is stopping pucks.

Frankly, I want to see him challenged—and Philly is just the team to do that.

The Flyers weren't supposed to keep up with the high-powered Montreal Canadiens, but they did. They weren't supposed to be able to stop Alexander Ovechkin and the Cinderella-Washington Capitals, but it happened.

Now, facing Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin—two guys who have combined for over 50 points in just 27 career games against the Flyers—the Flyers are said to be outgunned, and may fall victim to the electrical storm that is Pittsburgh's offense.

Now I hated the "eight games against division rivals" schedule as much as the next fan, but it proved one thing to me—the Flyers have the tangibles to frustrate Pittsburgh's young phenoms.

If Crosby and Malkin are going to be effective, then I can only see it being that way for the first two or three games of the series. You can bet money on the fact that the Flyers are going to key on those two, and Derian Hatcher (on one leg and all) and the rest of that physical Philly defense core will stop at nothing to slow down Pittsburgh's offensive catalysts.

If Pittsburgh is going to win this series however, they're going to need Jordan Staal to step up in a large way. With his two-way presence, Staal can work to shut down the Jeff Carters, the Mike Richards, and the Daniel Brieres on this Flyers team, while he can also create scoring chances as well.

If Martin Biron and the rest of the Flyers can stymie the Penguins' attack, then it'll be up to the guys like Staal, Georges Laraque, and Gary Roberts to step in and pounce on their opportunities. 

If they can come through for the Pens, then the Pens have a chance at playing for Lord Stanley's Holy Grail.

Otherwise, it may be one of the most rough and tumble Stanley Cup Finals in recent memory.

Flyers in Six