The Francis Report - Ep12 - 12 Days of Leafsmas

Latest episode of The Francis Report is out! Mike and I write our own version of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Talk about if the Leafs are for real this time, about The Big Ice chat, and what the Leafs should do to shed some salary.

Santo Claus; The Gift that Keeps on Giving

This Leafs season has a couple of ties to the Nashville Predators. On November 19th the Preds handed the Leafs a 9-2 loss at the ACC, which proved to be the wakeup call this team needed, going 9-1-1 since the mid November debacle. During this streak, the Leafs have seen improved play from a majority of the team, however, they have been led by an unsuspecting player, who happens to be a former Nashville Predator.

 Mike Santorelli was picked 178th overall in the 6th round of the 04 NHL entry draft by the Predators. Santorelli spent the bulk of his time in Milwaukee with the Preds AHL affiliate, scoring 171Pts (74G, 97A) over 3 seasons with the Preds AHL affiliate. He only ended up playing 32 games with the big club in Nashville, making his NHL debut in the 08/09 season. In 2010/11 Santorelli became a member of the Florida Panthers, and finally experienced his first full 82 game season, where he posted his career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41). Following the success of this season, he would experience a huge drop off, appearing in only 60 games. During the lockout season he played 4 games in Sweden for Tingsryds AIF, and 24 games for the Panthers, before eventually ending up in the AHL once again and closing out the season in Winnipeg. It appeared as though he would end up another journeyman playing in the NHL, bouncing from team to team, never being able to find a home.

 Last season, Santorelli signed with his 4th NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. In what was a productive season, he played 49 games and finished the season with 10G, 18A for 28Pts, while also earning league wide recognition for his play on the penalty kill. However, the theme of not being able to stick with an NHL club continued as Santorelli did not receive a new contract from the Canucks. Luckily for the Leafs, and Santorelli, this season Dave Nonis and the rest of the Toronto front office realized that depth was something an NHL team needed to do things like win hockey games.

 In an offseason where the Leafs turned their attention to addressing the depth (or lack thereof) on the team, by signing guys such as; Leo Komarov, Daniel Winnik and David Booth. Perhaps the best offseason move the Leafs made came on July 3rd when the signed Mike Santorelli to a 1yr, $1.5 million deal. In the Leafs current 9-1-1 streak, Santorelli leads the team in scoring (3G, 10A, 13 Pts) and seems to have found great chemistry on the Leafs hottest line alongside Kadri and Winnik. For the season, Santorelli has 6G, 16A, 22Pts, which puts him on pace to set career highs in all three categories. Santorelli is 4th overall in team scoring, behind only Kessel, Bozak and JVR, and is tied for 2nd overall in the entire league in +/- (+17). Also, Santorelli (along with Winnik) has been a pivotal piece of the Leafs 10th ranked penalty kill. For a $1.5 million dollar "prove it" contract, so far Santorelli is setting himself up for an "I proved it, now pay me" contract next offseason.

 It has been fun to watch the Leafs on this current streak, and all of us in Leafs nation hope that it continues. The highlight for me personally has been the emergence and consistent play of Mike Santorelli, a journeyman NHLer who is quickly becoming a fan favourite here in Toronto. It's still too early to tell if he will finally be able to land a long term deal to stay with the Maple Leafs, however, if he continues to play at the level he is, this may turn out to be a match made in hockey heaven, and Santorelli may finally have found a place to call home.

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The Francis Report Episode 9 - We Salute You

Episode 9 of the Francis Report podcast is available on Soundcloud!




Latest articles:
Jeff Francis - Crosby VS Ovechkin
Mike Byrne - I Wish All The Leafs Were As Fat As Phil
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Episode 6 - Voodoo Magic

The newest episode of The Francis Report is out!

Our Website! www.TheFrancisReport.ca

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Game 9 - Leafs Host Sabres - Predictions

Leafs are not looking good.  After a 4-1 loss to the Bruins Saturday, it seems like the world is caving in around them.  Half the people are calling for the Leafs to Fire Carlyle.  Another 2/3 wants the Leafs to trade Phaneuf and Kadri.  The other 1/3 wants to see Kessel run out of town.  I do not see the Leafs doing much on the trade front.  Carlyle is probably the next to go.  But does it matter?

The Leafs fire Randy Carlyle.  Coach "B" comes in. Then what? What happens if this roster isn't good enough. You have to think another playoff miss would be the end of Nonis.

Buffalo's Record: 2-7-0, 8th in the ATL, 15th in the East
Leading Scorers: Stafford 0-4-4, Ennis 3-0-3, Girgensons 2-1-3
Leaf's Record: 3-4-1, 7th in the ATL, 14th in the East
Leading Scorers: Kessel 4-4-8, Bozak 3-5-8, van Riemsdyk 3-2-5

Mike (0-8): 4-2 Sabres - 3rd jersey toss of the season!
Jeff (0-8): 3-2 Sabres - Leafs continues to lose.  This will be loss 2 in a series of 5 straight losses.  Once the Leafs lose to the Coyotes next week, Carlyle will be FIRED.
Jessie (0-0) 3-1 Leafs - Rielly with the game winner 

Check out Mike's latest article - Toronto, Where NHL Stars Never Shine Their Brightest
The latest episode of The Francis Report - Solidarity & Strength
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Game 6: Red Wings Host Leafs - Predictions

Red Wings: Red Wings beat the Leafs last night with Zetterberg notching 4 assists.  That's about all you need to know!
Record: 2-1-1
Leading Scorers: Nyquist 4-1-5, Franzen 2-3-5, Zetterberg 0-5-5

Leafs: Leafs got beat last night by a much better playing Detroit team.  Leafs have lost 3 of the 1st 5 games and are showing very little change from last season's problems.
Record: 2-3
Leading Scorers: Bozak 3-3-6, Kessel 2-3-5, Komarov 0-4-4

Mike (0-5-1): 2-1 Leafs in OT.  Kadri with the Winner.
Jeff (0-5-): 4-3 Loss - Percy gets his 1st NHL goal.

Check out the newest podcast! EP3 - Semi Live From The Air Canada Center.

Leafs Might Want to Staal Trade Rumours - By Mike Byrne

 It’s no great secret the Leafs have made some head scratching transactions over their history. Whether over paying for lack lustre free agents, or it’s trading away young players who eventually bloom into NHL studs. Sure it would be nice live in a world Eric Staal centres JVR and Kessel, but at what price? There is little doubt in my mind this would be one of the best lines in the NHL in terms of points and productivity (not to mention the dangles), however is he worth the reported asking price of Bozak or Kadri, Jake Gardiner and a 1st?

 It seems no matter which GM is at the helm the Leafs have been more than willing to part with their first round picks. Historically we are always reminded of the fact that the Leafs traded away picks that ended up being used on stars such as Roberto Luongo(1997) Scott Neidermeyer(1991) or Dainus Zubrus(1996).  Most recently of course, the two firsts given up by Burke for Phil Kessel, which as we all know turned in to Tyler Seguin(2010) and Dougie Hamilton (2011). Seguin of course had proven he is going to be a star in the league, and the verdict is still out on Dougie Hamilton. Personally I'm happy to have one of the NHL's best wingers in Phil Kessel , also knowing the Leafs they would've muffed the draft and passed on Seguin in 2010.

     

 The Leafs have given up on more than just picks to try and land big name players over the years, which is perhaps even more heartbreaking than trading away picks, due to the fact that at the end of the day, pick scenarios are all hypothetical, This is made even more painful due to the fact the Leafs have been doing quite well with “home grown” talent in recent years (James Reimer, Stuart Percy and Morgan Rielly) . It is painful to watch guys like; Alex Steen (traded in 2008) who had a career year last season (33G, 29A, 62P) playing alongside T.J. Oshie and David Backes in St.Louis. If that's not good enough Leafs nation is reminded of awful trades every time the Buds match up against the Bruins and get stymied by 2014 Vezina winner Tuukka Rask, who also has a Stanley cup ring to go alongside his shiny Vezina trophy. Honourable mentions; Brad Boyes, Anton Stralman. I could continue to provide examples of poor Leafs trades, but it is becoming increasing difficult to not repeatedly bash my face into my laptop.

  

 At the end of the day if you are Dave Nonis (assuming he still makes any decisions anymore) and Carolina calls asking for Jake Gardiner, you listen, however if the next words out of Ron Francis’s mouth are “Kadri”, “Bozak” or “1^st round pick” the phone hangs up immediately. Unless Carolina is willing to eat some of Staal’s $18.5 million dollar salary, beyond Gardiner there shouldn’t need to be much else offered from Toronto’s end.

By the numbers:

C, Eric Staal (29 years old) 771 GP (290G, 400A, 690 Pts)

C, Tyler Bozak (28 years old) 300 GP (75G, 114 A, 189 Pts)

C, Nazem Kadri (24 years old) 181 GP (48G, 67A, 115 Pts)

D, Jake Gardiner (24 years old) 169 GP (17G, 49A, 79 Pts)

We would love some feedback from the Francis faithful; let us hear your take on the Eric Staal trade rumours in the comments below!

@ByrneMGL