Monday Morning Musings with Me, "The Big E"

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke once said of his son Brendan, who passed away this week in a car accident due to inclement weather, "If he wants to be the man to blaze this trail, I'll stand beside him with an axe."

When speaking of Brendan's desire to come out publicly, Brian also said, "I had a million reasons to love and admire Brendan before; (him being gay) doesn't alter any of them."

If that's truculence, I think we could all use a little more of it.

The Toronto Maple Leafs went 2-1 last week on the strength of two shutouts by newcomer JS Giguere. The Leafs, however, won't have much time to contemplate things, as the second-best team in the NHL rolls into town tonight to try and take a bite out of the Buds. The Sharks are three points behind the Capitals, who lead the league with 88 points.

The Buds may have an edge against the Sharks, though—a goalie who has seen eight years worth of their play, up close.

"Stay out of the penalty box," Giguere said of facing the Sharks. "Their power play is deadly; as long as we stay out of the box, we'll be fine."

Is it just me, or is this one of the "streakiest" seasons ever? Right from the start of the year, when the Leafs had a horrific losing streak, it's been a strange season for streaks. Most recently, the Ottawa Senators had an 11-game winning streak, the Washington Capitals a 12-game streak, the Phoenix Coyotes a six-gamer, and now the L.A. Kings are looking for their ninth in a row tonight. Extended losing streaks by Edmonton, Calgary, and Boston. Streaky—very streaky.

There have been approximately 16 players that changed teams since I published an article on Jan. 29 in regard to the Olympic trade freeze—look for some more wheeling and dealing this week, as there are plenty of teams trying to dump salary and still more looking to improve their positioning going toward the end of the season.