Ron Wilson and the Blue and White Kool-Aid of the Toronto Maple Leafs

Well, the Ron Wilson press conference is over and done with and, needless to say, I drank the Kool-Aid. It’s amazing what one press conference can do.

I didn’t want to be swayed by the man who took the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (at the time) to the playoffs for the first time. I didn’t want to believe in the man who rode Olaf Kolzig to the Stanley Cup final. I didn’t want to buy into the stock that started out sweetly and inexplicably soured in San Jose.

Now I’m rummaging through the drawer looking for a straw.

I mean, the man said he might be able to fix Carlo Colaiacovo. I’d be less impressed if he were to say he could convince the Mona Lisa to frown.

From the first question though, Wilson’s attitude was clear—even to the dense Toronto media.

I’m here to make a difference. 

This is coming from a man who began to preach the importance of summer development of our younger players, having a Plan A and a Plan B (and a little of Plan C) in mind to construct a coaching staff and is prepared to “take a step backward before you can go ahead.”

For a minute there I thought I was hearing things.

But he just kept going. He’s committed to trying to improve the roster—not just from the outside, but he wants the chance to improve the players that are already here and try to make them better defensively.

He says he’s not here to have his players make him look like a great coach, but to be the coach to make his players look great. And he still thinks he can heal Carlo Colaiacovo!

Side note: Ok, the “I want a chance to improve our roster with the guys we have here” bit kind of scares me. I mean, it’s been the same players essentially for the past three years and nothing is changing. We heard that line from Paul Maurice and JFJ and all the rest, and we got nothing but tears and a bunch of angry, drunk, Leafs' fans rioting in the streets post-game.

In saying that, Ron Wilson seems like the kind of guy I’d want to sit and have a beer with—I bet he spray-paints a good dumpster. 

Despite being stuck over on the West Coast, he’s familiar with the roster. He’s encouraged by the progress he’s seen from Anton Stralman and has me captivated by the idea that he can make him even better than people thought he’d be.

He’s going on about finding “the keys to making these guys complete players."

I’m going on about finding a psychiatrist—I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.

He says that buying out Darcy Tucker may not be a foregone conclusion—that he may be able to lure a little luster out of the forlorn veteran.

He feels that it’s easier to coach in the East, that you need a great goalie to win, and that if the media stays out of the team’s way, the young players can develop quicker and easier due to the lack of distraction.

Hell, he didn’t even buy into the reporter’s goading him to talk about Brian Burke, merely pointing out that in all of his years as a coach, Burkie has never approached him for a job.

As he said, if he had relied solely on his friends, he wouldn’t have gotten very far.

Oh and here’s the kicker—he loves Joe Bowen and Vesa Toskala.

Leafs' Nation, I think I’m in love…

Either that or the morphine to kill the pain from this past season hasn’t worn off yet. I guess we just have to wait and see.