I reckon that when PPP got hit on the head by a soccer teammate' head when he was 13, I had the reaction of not taking the head blow seriously until hours later. [Editor's Note: I stood up, fell down right away, and they all though I was joking :(]  I wish I knew more then about concussions.  Thankfully, he had no adverse effects to the head blow, which left a mark on his forehead for a long time.  But it could have been a different and regrettable outcome.

Nowdays concussions are being discussed and being taken seriously in most sports, including hockey.  Rather than repeat information that is well explained elsewhere, I offer a couple of links to articles that I believe PPP readers will find interesting and I hope useful:

Consider this: An essential tool for assessing concussions

After watching in horror as Mr. Crosby was felled by a mammoth blow, lay on the ice, dropped his mouthguard, stumbled to his feet, skated hunched over to the bench and then returned to the ice, possibly with a brain injury – who could possibly think their sons or daughters will be protected after absorbing a similar blow in youth sports?

All youth coaches from now on should carry in their sport bags a piece of equipment as important as a puck or ball, whistle or clipboard: the SCAT2, or Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 2 (download PDF), which is backed by an international consensus of brain doctors and includes some quick, reliable tests.  

The day a concussion shook my world

Risk my daughter's brain, for a game? Would any capable parent do such a thing?

They do. All the time. In a study led by sports doctor Paul Echlin of London, Ont., independent physicians and neutral observers monitored two junior hockey teams with players 16 to 21 years old. During the 52 games they observed at rinkside, they diagnosed 21 concussions. That is seven times the highest rate ever recorded for hockey.

Those physicians found concussions because they looked for them, and because they knew what to look for. And yet a coach, a team executive and even several parents balked at keeping concussed players out of the lineup. And this was a fourth-tier league.

I believe that the most important action is to take all blows to the head as a potentially serious injury, that should be examined carefully.  The other, is that it is not possible to "skate it off". 

To those who play sports, please take care.

Now I understand why these two clowns don't have time to properly manage the Leafs. They have been dealing with very important matters, such as removing any reference to Bill Watters from the ACC.  It is amazing that these two clowns are focussing their energy and limited brainpower on such a trivial issue.  The two clowns don't understand that Watters is simply voicing the opinion of every Leaf fan, and that he is right on.  Back to the same question: how can we, as fans, ensure the removal of Peddie (at least) or both Peddie and Tanenbaum (even better) from the helm of MLSE?  I don't have the answer, does any one?

For a while there I thought it may be a good idea to trade Sundin to a team where he could win the Stanley Cup. Trade Sundin for his own good, is what that position is called.  Then I realized that I, and any other who holds that position, have been "pissing and missing the pot".  Here's why:  Let's say Sundin agreed to be traded (NFW, he says), what would guarantee that he'd come back? Nothing, especially once he realizes that the grass is indeed greener on the other side of the fence. If he won the Cup with another team, which would be the objective we say, there would be even less of a chance that he would agree to come back.
Then there's the issue of the team who takes him.  Would they want him to go away after he helps them win a Cup. Would you? NFW.

Hopefully the Leafs will act with some class and will leave him alone.  He deserves it.

I've reached the conclusion that the true cause of the Leafs status is not the incompetence of JFJ or Peddie.  It is Greed.

Reading Dave Feshuk of Torstar today I realized that this "mother" is sinking at the same rate as it was on Monday.  Tanenbaum, Peddie, et al have confirmed by their comments that their main interest is the revenue produced by the team.  Cliff Fletcher's comments confirmed that he will toe the line (the goal is to make the playoffs, give me a break!).

Short of a revolt affecting that source of revenue, I can't think of any other thing we fans can do to straighten up this mess.

McCabe is out due to injury, and the team is playing effective defense.  Is there a correlation here?  I would say probably yes.  I'm not sure about the efffect of Tucker being out, although I suspect it helps,too.

I didn't watch the game because I refuse to pay for Leafs TV. However, I was glad to read The Toronto Star's report on the game tonight.  By this account, the Leafs neutralized - almost - Crosby the Kid and managed to score in bunches.  I hope they like the feeling and continue to play this way.

[Editor's Note] I promoted this diary because it highlights two good discussion points about the Leafs: When do the player's attitudes need to change and when have enough games been played to gauge the team's prospects? Their record through 10 games is worse than in either of the past two years in which they missed the playoffs both times. I'll have more on this tomorrow but this should kick things off.

In today's Globe & Mail, Tim Wharnsby gives it the right title: Beaten by the Worst.

Halfway through the article, I found this gem, that helps to explain the outright mediocrity of this team:

"I don't think we put much stock in 10 games," Leafs forward Chad Kilger said. "Maybe, the quarter pole so you see where you stand. Sure we would like to be better off and get better results in these three-point games. But we still have time to get better."

Talk about not learning from your mistakes (see 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons).  Goddammit! Every game counts, Kilger.  Please pass that on to your teammates.  You have to play desperate every shift, not on-and-off, one game yes, another no.

The next paragraph is just as bad:

"The atmosphere in the Leafs' dressing room after losing to the lowly Thrashers was mixed."

What the ...? How can it be mixed? This is not novice Timmy Horton's hockey, it's not "oh, well, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" hockey, it's not "married against singles, Saturday afternoon" shinny.

They just don't get it.

... and the Leafs don't.

It's all here in a nutshell: During the press conference by Joe Torre (who led the NY Yankees to the post-season 12 of 12 seasons he was the manager), he said, referring to George Steinbrenner:  "I thanked George Steinbrenner for trusting me with his club. The goal for me has always been to make him proud of what we did, even though he was never satisfied, which is why he kept that drill going all the time — he felt he owed it to the people of New York to have a winning team." [bold mine]

I don't need to explain the contrast between that attitude and that of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.

The Leafs need to watch The Secret and then start doing some visualization of their goal, which mustn't be to make the playoffs.  Their goal must be to take the Stanley Cup to their respective home town in the summer of 2008, to drink from the cup, you get the picture.  

I can't believe that a $45M NHL team cannot produce the way they need to to win.  From Toskala to the stick boy, this team really needs to believe that they can be a contender team. The way they are playing, it is obvious that they don't see themselves as winners.

In 1993 the Los Angeles Kings had Anthony Robbins work with them, visualizing their wins, motivating them.  The result? They made it to the Stanley Cup final.  They lost to Patrick Roy after that, but heck, had it been for AR's work, they would have been a run-of-the-mill team (even with Gretzky on board).

The Leafs must be convinced that they can win.  At the moment, it is obvious that they aren't.