SB Nation - Chad Kilger

Your Toronto Maple Leafs: How Did We Get Here?

mf37 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:32:36 -0000

An anonymous comment over at my blog Bitter Leaf Fan raised the question of how exactly the Leafs arrived in their current mess.

There’s not a single cause or easy explantion.

This franchise has gone through three, maybe even four, different phases since 2000, however; with the exception of one small window, all of these phases have focused on the short-term, sacrificing picks and prospects for a supposed fix.

After the jump, a look at the Leafs' propensity to deal away the future and the pile of pocket lint, loose change and used gum wrappers they got in return.

Pre-Lockout

The Pat Quinn teams of the early 2000s were powerful clubs. Each made the playoffs and several flirted with 100 point seasons. They combined a nice mix of talent and flair (Sundin, Mogilny) with grit (Roberts, Tucker) and solid goaltending (Cujo, Belfour).

These teams were often legitimate threats to go deep in the post season and on more than one occasion it was widely thought they could challenge for a cup. As a result, these teams made a number of trades where the future was sacrificed for the present. There was a small window of success and the Leafs went for it, selling off the future in the hopes of a big pay-day.

In 2003, the Leafs trade Brad Boyes (2000 1st round pick), Alyn McCauley and a 1st round pick for Owen Nolan

In 2004, the Leafs trade two prospects, a 1st and 2nd round pick for Brian Leetch.

In addition to dealing away those three first round picks, the Leafs also had some bad luck when their 1999 first round selection (and WJC 1st team all-star) Luca Cereda had to hang up his skates due to health complications with his heart.

From 1999 to 2004, the Leafs emerged with just two first round draft picks: Carlo Colaiacovo and Alexander Steen. Both would later be traded to St. Louis for Lee Stempniak.

The Missing Years

John Ferguson Junior’s tenure was like a ship lost at sea…or maybe it was a ship that kept running into ice bergs…or a lost ship, on fire, that kept hitting ice bergs. Choose your own nautical disaster metaphor and, in keeping with JFJ’s reign of error, the more apocalyptic and dire your selection the more accurate it will be.

Ferguson was GM from the 2004 to 2007 drafts.

Out of those five drafts, he managed to hold on to his first round pick in just once – giving the franchise Jiri Tlusty and a whole lotta NSFW jokes.

Unable to shake-off the "win now!" edict from the MLSE board, in just two years Ferguson sacrificed two first, a second and a fourth round pick in an effort to shore-up the team’s goaltending. Some four years later, goaltending remains a position of weakness that hasn’t been adequately addressed.

JFJ's draft day magic:

The 2005 first round pick (Tukka Rask) dealt for Andrew Raycroft.
The 2006 first round pick was Jiri Tlusty.
The 2007 first round and second round picks (along with a 2009 4th) to San Jose for Vesa Toskala.
The 2008 second round pick to Phoenix for Yannic Perreault.

Draft Schmaft Redux?

In 2008, Cliff Fletcher was brought in to try to move out the NTCs/NMCs on the club and start the, ahem, rebuilding process.

Given the need to get more talent into the system, he made some, shall we say, curious moves:

A swap of first round picks, 2008 3rd round pick, 2009 2nd round pick for Luke Schenn
2008 3rd round pick for Jamal Mayers
2008 4th round pick to get rid of Bryan McCabe
2008 5th round pick for Ryan Hollwegg
2010 2nd round pick for Mikhail Grabovski

In fairness to Fletcher, he also acquired a small parcel of picks:

2008 2nd round pick and a 2009 5th round pick for Hal Gill
2008 3rd round pick for Chad Kilger
2008 5th round pick for Wade Belak

An Eye for Talent? Um. Not really...

If you’re going to trade away picks and prospects, the returning players better pan out.

Clearly that has not been the case for the Leafs.

By my math, the Leafs traded five first round and three second round picks for the following return:

69 games from Owen Nolan.
28 games of Brian Leetch.
91 games (and 268 goals against) of Andrew Raycroft (plus a multi-year buyout)
17 games of Yanic Perreault
127 games (and counting) from Vesa Toskala

Stop and marvel at that return.

Five first and three third round picks for 332 games played (plus Toskala's starts until the end of the season).

I'll spare the Leaf defenders from doing the math - Brad Boyes, one of the former first rounders traded away, has played 347 NHL games, 15 more than this motley collection managed for the Leafs.

What's worse is that every single one of these players left the Leafs without a single asset coming back in return.

I'll wait while you drink it all in.

I don’t know about you, but I don't think there’s an adjective that can adequately summarize this. One could argue that only Bernie Madoff has done a worse job of asset management - and even that might be a stretch.

Making Mistakes Beyond the Draft

Even more painfully, that poor return only reflects the draft side of the equation.

The Leafs have not excelled in the free agency department (Blake, Finger), have made poor decisions in awarding NMCs and NTCs, and have made a series of poor decisions on talent retention – signing McCabe, Tucker and others to long-term deals rather than trading them at peak value. But I’ll save that rant/analysis for another day…

For now, in a nutshell, this is a good first step toward building a franchise that’s on target for a 50 point season and has limited options at hand.

Canadiens' Jacques Martin : A legacy of confusion in Sunrise

Whale4ever — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:51:35 -0000

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

6 months ago: Jacques Martin smiles during a press conference in Montreal, Monday, June 1, 2009, announcing his appointment as new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Browse more photos »

New Hab Scott Gomez asked a teammate what he later deemed "the dumbest question": would tonight's exhibition opener against the Florida Panthers be a sellout? Like so many games before, and countless more to follow, the answer was an explicit "yes".

Montreal fans are eager to get a first view of their revamped Canadiens after what can only be deemed a less-than-stellar 100th anniversary season. Excitement over free agent pickups such as Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, and Brian Gionta have the locals believing in substance and systems over last year's bloated pomp and circumstance. Oh, and they're probably curious about that new guy behind the bench.

Florida followers undoubtedly will have an eye on Habs head coach Jacques Martin: not quite as polarizing a figure during his days in Sunrise as, say, Mike Keenan, but the fanbase was unquestionably split on how best to remember the Cats' three-year coach and two-season GM (who has yet to be officially replaced in that capacity). What exactly did he do for the Florida Panthers?

Is "JM the Bench Boss" to be hailed as one who brought consistency - albeit of an underwhelming variety - to the Panthers' record (three seasons: 110-100-36, no playoffs)? A coach who continued the development of Olli Jokinen and authored the (lamely titled) Sunrise Express...together again after all these years?

Or a dinosaur who couldn't adjust to the post-lockout offensive-minded world of the modern NHL? For a man who was believed very close to his boss (Keenan), they didn't appear to be doing anything more than spinning wheels and offering kneejerk reactions (Kristian Huselius for Steve Montador and Dustin Johner in late '05).

Best described as defensively conservative - and that's probably polite - Martin's strategies strangled the abilities of their forwards while rarely allowing blueliners to make that all-important breakout of their own zone. A bizarre combination of pass-pass-pass-pass-pass. The mid-90s New Jersey Devils - never a club confused with exciting hockey - shut down neutral ice while the defense scooped up turnover after turnover, immediately sending it forward. Until it was legislated out of the game in 2005, this was almost unbeatable. But Martin continued attempting to employ it...and didn't even have the right personnel to make it work even if it remained legal.

Another issue: his allowing for the roster to "split" or develop cliques. Widely commented on by Florida players after DeBoer's hiring, the team had fractured into mini-fiefdoms; seldom were relationships any deeper than one or two fellow players. Any form of unity had long since disappeared, and Martin's hands-off approach - basically leaving Jokinen, a captain whose leadership skills have been questioned for years by fans, in charge - led the organization headfirst into "Country Club" territory.

Is "JM the GM" a visionary who had the foresight to outbid a desperate Ottawa organization for the services of a yet unproven (at the big-league level) Peter DeBoer - as his own replacement, no less? (It could be conspiratorially theorized this was a shocktroop move to keep the young buck out of the hands of his former employer at Scotiabank Place, but we're not going there.) Or is he to be chastised for holding on to a determined Jay Bouwmeester for far too long?

Ask just about any Panthers fan what Martin's greatest accomplishment was - in all his time with the club - and chances are very good you'd get "Pete DeBoer" as the answer. Second? Quite probably the Jokinen for (essentially) Keith Ballard deal at the 2008 Entry Draft. Beyond that? Perhaps signing Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and Ballard long-term.

Notice a pattern? They're all management actions. The list goes on: assistant coach Mike Kitchen, a JM hire, remains with the club. The scouting staff was left more or less in place, still under the tutelage of a very capable Scott Luce; Martin could have gutted them long ago, but stayed the course...it was this bunch who drafted - under JM - a few pretty hot prospects: Jacob Markstrom, Keaton Ellerby, Michal Repik, Evgeny Dadonov, and others now in camp. A solidified - though not initially successful - primary operating agreement was secured with the Rochester Americans. Tomas Vokoun was acquired, as were Radek Dvorak and Cory Stillman.

Not all of his moves were brilliant, of course (Chad Kilger, anyone?), but perfection isn't realistic. If there's one tremendous debacle he alone perpetuated it would have to be not trading Bouwmeester one year earlier - before the extension was signed - when it was painfully obvious the defenseman wanted out. Left to clean up the mess after JM's departure in June, assistant general manager Randy Sexton could harness only the rights of soon-to-be UFA Jordan Leopold (eventually signed) and a third-round pick from Calgary. What more could be done? (For the record, I supported Martin NOT trading Bouwmeester at the 2009 deadline.) Ah, hindsight.

Nonetheless, for a guy with zippo management experience above the bench, it wasn't a terribly embarrassing run.

He's been given his dream assignment: head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Regardless of the multitude of opinions surrounding his time in Sunrise, we should all hope for such luck.

Habs And Leafs: A Jersey Shared - Part 1: The 1990's and 2000's

Robert L — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:48:00 -0000

The 1990's

For the first time in three decades, both the Canadiens and Maple Leafs peaked at the same time. Toronto would reach the semi - finals in 1993 and 1994, while Montreal would win the Cup with a young team in 1993 that was in hindsight, unconsciounable torn apart rather rashly in light of it taking a few steps back after winning it all.

The former Montreal players that began to appear in Maple Leafs jerseys, were for the most part, Habs of the late 1980's. The former Leafs turned Canadiens included three former first round picks and a 50 goal scorer gone sour.

By the decade's end, Toronto would emerge the stronger franchise despite Montreal's Cup win in 1993, and a role reversal of sorts, would begin to take place. Ultimately, neither team would reach previous heights, with Montreal experiencing the lowest of franchise history low points.

Lucien Deblois - MON 1984 - 86*/TOR 1990 - 92
MON: 112-26-28-54 / 19-2-4-6
TOR: 92-18-23-41 /

Deblois was an honest and useful two way player by the time the Leafs aquired him. In Montreal for a short stint, Deblois arrived as a gifted offensive threat and departed a checking forward.

Rick Wamsley - MON 1980 - 84/TOR 1991 - 93
MON: 131-72-36-16 / 9-2-6
TOR: 11-4-6-0 /

Ric Nattress - MON 1982 - 85/TOR 1991 - 92
MON: 79-1-16-17 / 5-0-0-0
TOR: 36-2-14-16 /

Wamsley and Nattress arrived in Toronto via the blockbuster 12 player deal that brought the Leafs Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun and spare parts in exchange for Gary Leeman and the same. Wamsley was a decent regular season goalie for Montreal, who had trouble converting the success into playoff wins. Nattress was a kid with great upside until he was marked and blindsided by pot possesion charge from his junior days that he never seemed to recover from emotionally. In the end, neither gave either team much.

Vincent Damphousse - TOR 1986 - 91/MON 1992 - 99*
TOR: 394-118-211-329 / 23-1-8-9
MON: 519-184-314-498 / 48-19-24-43

Damphousse was one the brightest Leafs draft choices to arrive on the scene in a decade in the late 1980's. Toronto gave up him some after one uninspired season and he was dealt to Edmonton for some over the hill Oilers that never gave them much.

After a year in Edmonton, the Habs fleeced the Oilers of him, and a year later he was the key to the Habs offense as they hoisted their 24th Cup. Damphousse would serve as the Habs captain for three seasons.

Sylvain Lefebvre - MON 1989 - 92/TOR 1992 - 94
MON: 200-11-42-53 / 19-1-0-1
TOR: 165-4-21-25 / 39-3-3-6

Lefebvre followed former Habs coach Pat Burns to Toronto after three solid seasons on the Habs blueline. Traded for a 3rd round pick, Lefebvre spent two season in Toronto, helping them reach the semi - finals in both. He was part of the package that enabled the Leafs to land Mats Sundin from Quebec.

Gary Leeman - TOR 1982 - 92/MON 1992 - 93*
TOR: 555-176-231-409 / 24-7-14-21
MON: 51-10-23-33 / 12-1-2-3

One of only three Maple Leafs to ever score 50 goals, Leeman ran into personal troubles with team mates and it had a great effect on his play. Never one to be accused of backchecking, he was the main card that lured Gilmour to Leafland. Calgary gave up on him within a year and he was reduced to spare part status. The Habs offered Brian Skrudland, the antethisis of Leeman and he became a Hab. He had a rebirth of sorts in Montreal during the regular season, but was a playoff spectator for the most part when things got serious and playing Leeman became risky. His tenure in Montreal saw him gone early the next season.

Rob Ramage - TOR 1989 - 91/MON 1992 - 93*
TOR: 160-18-66-84 / 5-1-2-3
MON: 14-0-2-2 / 7-0-0-0

Ramage started off his career as a "can't miss" prospect, and after playing for some mildling teams, he hit his stride as a Flame during their 1989 Cup win. He was captain of the Leafs, and that was where he played his last top line hockey. He became a depth defenseman after, and drifted around before becoming an insurance player brought in for leadership and the same depth in Montreal. He was solid when called upon for the Canadiens in the '93 Cup run.

Kirk Muller - MON 1991 - 95*/TOR 1995 - 97
MON: 267-104-143-247 / 38-20-12-32
TOR: 102-29-33-62 / 6-3-2-5

Unhappy with his contract negotiation in New Jersey, top line center Muller was a key aquisition for the Canadiens in the early 1990's, one that saw 50 goal man Stephane Richer head to the Devils. Muller responded with his best years while helping lead Montreal to the Cup.

Always durable and dependable, playing through injuries slowed Muller down by his fourth season in Montreal, and the Canadiens traded their captain to the Islanders for Pierre Turgeon. Muller was disillusioned in New York, as the Islanders quickly found out the same as the Habs did - that Muller was no longer a top line player. Toronto aquired Muller for goalie Damian Rhodes, and he went on to score 20 goals for the Leafs in the 1996-97 season.

Paul Dipietro - MON 1991 - 95*/TOR 1995 - 96
MON: 154-25-44-69 / 24-10-9-19
TOR: 32-5-5-10 / 7-1-1-2

Dipietro was a sparkplug for the 1993 Habs and proved to be an even sounder playoff performer that year. The Leafs thought he had more to give after he failed to stick with Montreal but they were wrong.

Sergio Momesso - MON 1983 - 88*/TOR 1995 - 96
MON: 137-29-38-67 / 17-1-5-6
TOR: 54-7-8-15 /

Montreal had high hopes for Momesso after a great junior career and they weren't disappointed by his rookie performance. Midway through a stellar first season, Momesso suffered an injured that left him a tentative player at best afterwards. The Canadiens gave up on him after three frustrating seasons and he became a journeyman from that time on. The Leafs would be his fourth of six teams, and he would be the same paradox as he was in Montreal and St Louis.

Mathieu Schneider - MON 1987 - 95*/TOR 1996 - 98/ MON 2009

MON: 360-53-136-189 / 44-5-16-21

TOR: 115-18-38-56 / 6-0-4-4

MON: 23-5-12-17 / 2-0-0-0

Schneider was chosen 44th overall by Montreal in the 1987 draft and found his way onto to team for short stints over the next three seasons. By the age of 21, he was a Canadiens regular, and an important componant in its attack when they won the Cup in 1993. The following season, he became one of the rare Canadiens defensemen to ever reach the 20 goal plateau. Things soured from there for Schneider, as rumours of dressing room conflicts and contract squabbles shortened what should have been a secure stay in Montreal.

Packeged with Kirk Muller for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov in a trade with the Islanders, Schneider was an ill fit on the Island, and was again dispatched to Toronto with Wendel Clark, in a trade that gained the Islanders Kenny Jonsson and a first round pick that became Roberto Luongo.

Toronto and Schneider went together like oil and water, and the defenseman was practically given away to the New York Rangers for Alexander Karpotsev and a 4th round pick.

After two decent seasons in the Big Apple, Schneider was a hot commodity, landing first with the Kings, then the Red Wings - where he regained a prowess last seen in Montreal, and then finally with the Anaheim Ducks for the 2007-08 season.

Scott Thornton - TOR 1990 - 91/MON 1996 - 2000
TOR: 33-1-3-4 /
MON: 222-25-26-51 / 14-1-2-3

Thornton, believe it or not, was a third overall pick of the Leafs in the 1989 draft. A rugged depth player at best - Joe Thornton he wasn't. Before even having the chance to add sugar to his Maple Leaf cup of coffee, he was packaged with Vincent Damphousse in a mega 10 player deal with the Oilers.

When he failed to pan out in Edmonton as well, he was shipped to the Habs for Andrei Kovalenko. His toughness served the Canadiens well for three seasons, but Thornton was a consistant unhappy camper, and was offed to Dallas for Juha Lind.

Signing as a free agent with the Sharks the following season, Thornton finally reached potential with 19 and 26 goal seasons. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

Jonas Hogland - MON 1997 - 99/TOR 1999 - 03
MON: 102-14-15-29 / 10-2-0-2
TOR: 325-78-106-184 / 49-6-11-17

Another Rejean Houle blunder, Hoglund was the laziest player on skates, aquired for the talented but undisciplined Valeri Bure. Hoglund played on a team too thin too cover his weaknesses in Montreal, but thrived initially in Toronto when paired with Mats Sundin. Over time, the holes in Hoglund's game in Toronto, along with his decreasing production, mad ehim the wrath of fans there as well.

The final tally:

Of the four former Leafs donning Habs jerseys, three of them would see their names engraved with the 1993 Canadiens. Leeman and Ramage made varying contributions as part time Habs, but it would be Damphousse that would be the Habs markee player for seven seasons.

Five of the nine former Canadiens who became Leafs had won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in either 1986 or 1993. Of those nine, the biggest contribution came from Jonas Hoglund, who lasted four full seasons in Toronto before wearing out his welcome. The Leafs miscued on the Schneider aquisition bigtime, as a decade later, Schneider, as a Canuck, is still playing in the NHL.

Gerald Diduck - MON 1990 - 91/TOR 1999 - 2000
MON: 32-1-2-3 /
TOR: 26-0-3-3 / 10-0-1-1

A steady, stay at home defenseman with the Islanders, Diduck was a mess for a half season in Montreal. Aquired for Craig Ludwig, he was dispatched 6 months later for nothing more than a draft pick that became Vladimir Vujtek. Toronto sought his experience in 1999, adding his as a 7th defenseman to little avail.

Shayne Corson - MON 1985 -92, 1996 - 2000/TOR 2000 - 03
MON: 662-168-255-423 / 90-28-35-63
TOR: 197-27-47-74 / 32-2-7-9

A rugged two way player who wore out his initial welcome in Montreal, Corson was sacrificed in order to aquire Vincent Damphousse from Edmonton. Five sesaons later, he was reaquired in exchange for Pierre Turgeon. Corson was more serious and focused his second time around, but the Habs were spinning their wheels as his game declined. Corson wanted way too much for his worth, and bolted for silly money with the Leafs and a chance to lay with his brother in law Darcy Tucker. Personal problems conspired to taint Corson's time with the Leafs and he was almost thrown out of town for being a distraction.

Darcy Tucker - MON 1995 - 98/TOR 2000 - 07
MON: 115-8-18-26 / 4-0-0-0
TOR: 489-134-160-294 / 58-10-11-21

A pesty, gritty, do anything to win player that Rejean Houle let get away found himself in Toronto three seasons later. He found his niche as an irritant in Toronto, becoming one of the most despised players in the game. While he has rarely helped the Leafs become unqualifiyingly successful, Tucker does have what it takes to make the opposition know when he's on the ice. One could wish the Habs were more patient with Tucker.

Dave Manson - MON 1996 - 99/TOR 2000 - 02
MON: 101-5-33-38 / 15-0-1-1
TOR: 87-4-8-12 / 2-0-0-0

Manson was highly drafted defenseman for Chicago in 1985. Known for his temper and hard shot, Manson develped a "crazy man" reputation for his willingness to drop the gloves, even after having suffering an injury to his larynx that made him sound like the "Godfather".

Rechristened "Charlie" for his on ice insanity, Manson had moved around a bit when the Habs aquired him from Phoenix for Murray Baron and Chris Murray in 1996. After a season and a half of being pretty much average in Montreal, he was offed back to the Hawks with Jocelyn Thibault as bait for Jeff Hackett and Eric Weinrich.

Early in the 2001 season, he was sent to Toronto by Dallas for Jyrki Lumme, in an exchange of unwanted parts.

Yanic Perreault - TOR 1991 - 94, 1998 - 2001/MON 2001 - 04/TOR 2006 - 07
TOR: 176-54-69-123 / 29-5-10-15
MON: 224-67-66-133 / 20-5-7-12

Yanic Perreault was an offensive dynamo with the QMJHL's Trois Rivieres Draveurs for three junior seasons. It wasn't his 5' 11'', 180 lbs frame that initially scared NHL teams off, it was the fact the he played small that kept him undrafted until Toronto took the bait in 1991.

Perreault was crafty though, and despite his shortcomings, he parlayed his talents into an NHL career with a mastery of faceoffs.

During his first of three stints with Toronto, he accumulated enough curiosity that the L.A. Kings came calling for his services, and through parts of 5 seasons there, he developed into a full time NHL'er. Toronto reaquired him for draft picks in 1999, and Perreault continued to be an ace at in the faceoff circle despite a perceived reluctance to play in traffic when the going got tough.

The Canadiens signed Perreault as a free agent and learnt the same lessons - through three seasons of diminishing production, Perreault could only exel when he was given ample room. The puck drop specialist who was defensive liability was not resigned by the Habs, and began a journeyman's trail through Nashville, Phoenix, Toronto again, and finally Chicago.

Darryl Shannon - TOR 1988 - 93/MON 2001 - 02
TOR: 98-3-13-16 /
MON: 7-0-1-1 /

Shannon, the elder of two NHL playing siblings, was a high draft pick of the Maple Leafs in 1986 that never panned out. After bouncing back and forth between Toronto and Newmarket of the AHL for 5 seasons, he began journeymen excursions to five other NHL cities, ending with a seven game stint with Montreal after signing there as a free agent in 2000.

Doug Gilmour - TOR 1991 - 97 / MON 2001 - 03 / TOR 2002 - 03
TOR: 392-131-321-452 / 52-17-60-77
MON: 131-21-50-71 / 12-4-6-10
TOR: 1-0-0-0 /

Likely because I've met him a few times, Doug Gilmour will always be one of my all time favorite Montreal Canadiens players. But who's kidding who - he may just have been the greatest ever Toronto Maple Leaf player.

Gilmour made his mark with me while playing with my hometown Cornwall Royals from 1980 to 1983. Watching him set an OHL league record 55 game point scoring streak is still of my most endearing hockey memories.

Dougie was a Hab killer with the Calgary Flames in the 1989 Stanley Cup finals and became an even better Leaf. Gilmour literally owned the city for six seasons while setting numerous team records and bringing the Leafs to within a period of meeting Montreal in the 1993 finals.

A word of advice - if ever you meet Doug, don't ask him what happened in game 7 of the Kings series!

The Leafs sinfully traded the gritty Gilmour away to New Jersey and likely regretted it. After suiting up with the Devils, Gilmour played for the Blackhawks and Sabres.

I recall meeting Dougie in a local bar in the summer of 1999, before his third season as a Blackhawk. It was a memorable night for many reasons. That evening, as I kidded him about undoing my Habs in 1989, he stated to me that he would be interested in finishing his career as either a Hab or a Senator. It was startling to hear, and when it finally did happen, to me, it felt like a dream come true.

As a Montreal Canadien, Gilmour was far removed from the player, the legend, he was in Toronto. But still, there was a certain fire in his eyes.

With Habs captain Saku Koivu out for the season while battling stomach cancer, Gilmour, along with Habs goalie Jose Theodore, became inspirational leaders. Gilmour virtually captained the team and led it to a playoff spot and a first round upset over the Bruins. It was an unforgettable season of surprise and character for an aging warrior.

The Canadiens were not as united the following season, and Gilmour was reaquired late in the season by Toronto to strengthen their playoff run. Two shifts into his first game back as a Leaf, he suffered a freak knee injury that ended his career.

Sergei Berezin - TOR 1996 - 2001 / MON 2001 - 02
TOR: 357-126-94-220 / 40-12-15-27
MON: 29-4-6-10 / 6-1-1-2

An offensively gifted but defensively weak player, Berezin would play five season in Toronto before being dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes in 2001-02. Known for his blazing speed and wicked shot, Berezin would falter somewhat in Phoenix and subsequently was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens in 2001 for Brian Savage.

Berezin would last long enough in Montreal to score the team's 10,000th home ice goal, but he was generally unable to fit in with the Habs. Berezin was on the move once again, traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for a draft pick. There, he would regain his scoring touch somewhat, notching 18 goals before he was dealt to the Washington Capitals at the trading deadline.

Jyrki Lumme - MON 1988 - 90 / TOR 2001 - 03
MON: 75-2-22-24 /
TOR: 124-10-19-29 / 21-0-2-2

When Lumme joined the Montreal Canadiens in 1988, it was a historical move, for he was the first ever Finn to don the legendary jersey. After parts of two seasons, adaptation and disciplinary issues made him expendable, and he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a draft pick which became Craig Darby.

Lumme would spend a decade with Vancouver, rounding out into a solid two way defenseman. After short stays in Phoenix and Dallas, Toronto aquired him in exchange for Dave Manson. Like Manson before him, Lumme was also the victim of Maple Leafs fans wrath, and his tenure in Toronto was short lived.

Chad Kilger - MON 2000 - 03 / TOR 2003 - 07
MON: 214-28-40-68 / 12-0-1-1
TOR:199-39-31-60 / 13-2-1-3

Highly drafted Chad Kilger - 4th overall in 1995 - has shown flashes of a salivating package, but has never quite lived up to his billing during his career. Chosen by the Anaheim Ducks, he was dispatched in a deal for Teemu Selanne. Once projected as a top line line forward, Kilger soon became a journeyman. Stints in Phoenix, Chicago, and Edmonton did little to asert regularity.

After scoring only seven points as an Oiler in his first 34 games of the 2000-01 schedule, Kilger was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Sergei Zholtok. Upon his arrival, Kilger played some of the most inspired hockey of his career with the Habs. Kilger recorded 25 points in 43 games and went on to play parts of three more seasons with Montreal before being claimed off of waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2004 trade deadline.

Mariusz Czerkawski ($)- MON 2002 - 03 / TOR 2005 - 06
MON: 43-4-5-9 /
TOR: 19-4-1-5 /

Czerkawski, Polish born, was an all offense and no conscience proposition by the time he reached Montreal, and his razzle dazzle act was short lived. He finished out the season demoted to the hamilton Bulldogs. He cost the Habs a workmanlike player in Aaron Asham, and insult was added to injury when he was resigned by the Islanders a season later, scoring 25 goals for New York. The Leafs rolled the dice on him two seasons later with the same mixed results.

Mikhail Grabovski (=) MON 2006-08 / TOR 2008-10

MON: 27-3-6-8

TOR: 78-20-28-48

After a promising debut in Montreal, Grabovski quickly fell out of favor with the organization. After some selfish posturing in which he felt he had more clout than he did, he was returned to the minors, and traded in the off season of 2008 to Toronto, where he was allowed to blossom as a player. The Canadiens received a surprisingly high pick for the player, a second rounder, which they flipped to Chicago for Robert Lang. While Lang gave the Habs a strong 50 games before being injured, Grabovski's performance was more noteworthy. The Leafs have since reacquired that same second pick, making them the clear winner in the deal.

Hal Gill ($) TOR 2006-08 / MON 2009-10

TOR: 145-8-32-40

MON: 0-0-0-0

Gill was signed by the Leafs as a free agent from Boston in 2006 and left Toronto to sign with Pittsburgh in 2008. He has since played in two Stanley Cup finals, winning the Cup this past season. Following the win, he was signed by the Canadiens for two seasons.

Mike Komisarek ($) MON 2002-09 / TOR 2009-10

MON: 361-12-46-58

TOR: 0-0-0-0

Komisarek's signing with the Leafs has felt like a knife in the back. After seven seasons with Montreal, Komisarek was voted by fans to last season's All Star Game in Montreal. While his 2008-09 campaign with the Canadiens was a brutal one that exposed his shortcomings, it was still expected that he would resign with the Habs. Not only was it a disappointment that chose to move on, it was a shocker that he chose Toronto.

Francois Beauchemin MON 2002-03 / TOR 2009-10

MON: 1-0-0-0

TOR: 0-0-0-0

Beauchemin is a Canadiens managerial snafu that got away. By the time he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks Cup winner in 2007, it became a bit of an embarassment. That boob was accentuated when Montreal had the opportunity to bring him back into the fold in the summer of 2009 but were outbid by the Leafs. Should the Maple Leafs prove better defensively with both Beauchemin and Komisarek in 2009-10 than the Canadiens, there will be abundant criticism, and much of it merited.

The Final Tally:

Currently the Leafs with Komisarek and Grabovski swiped directly from the Habs look sweeter in the former player rivalry. Over the years, Toronto made better use of Tucker and Hoglund, but also acquired some fairly used up also rans. The Canadiens made good use of Gilmour for two seasons, and got the best out of lightweight Yanic Perrault for three years. Kilger was a solid Hab for a season and a half, and a decent Leaf for three years. Corson filled a role with the Leafs, with his best days clearly behind him. Shannon, Czerkawski, Lumme and Berezin were bits parts all the way. There's no real clear winner over the past two decades. Perhaps Damphousse, as a member of the 1993 Habs Cup team provides a slight edge. With no Cups in Montreal since then, and none in Toronto in that span, the winners and losers aren't as cut and dried.

Here are the first three parts in the series:

Habs And Leafs: A Jersey Shared - Part 2: The 1980's

Habs And Leafs: A Jersey Shared - Part 3: The 1960's and 1970's

Habs And Leafs: A Jersey Shared - Part 4: The 1920's, 30's, 40's, and 50's