Well, that fight just made me an official carkner fan.

But come on, Philips less useful than Smith or Richardson?
Thats a bit of a stretch. Besides, we have carkner for that.
Not everyone has to be a tough guy

Well, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are too young to have seen these guys in their heyday. Are you guys telling me that if Philips threw down and stood up for his team mates every once in a while he would not be a better player/leader? This type of hard as nails play is why Jason Smith was an will always be revered as being one of the best leaders in the modern history of the NHL.

One thing that has always bothered me is that aside from Neil and Fisher/etc, the rest of our team seems like a bunch of beanpoles, and I can't imagine they have very good work ethic in the weight room. It's too bad we don't have a guy like Rod Brind'Amour in there showing our young guys how to make the most out of what they've got. It was nice to have a guy like Marty Lapointe for a short time for that very reason. He didn't end up playing too well for us, but I am sure he made them all look like ******* in the weight room.

The Moscow native doesn't even hit the most on the Senators - that would be Chris Neil - but he's the most feared in the Eastern Conference if not the league, centre Jason Spezza said Wednesday.

Obviously Spezza doesn't want us to re-sign him. 

Rosehill finds a buyer for what he's selling

Son of auctioneer uses grit and determination to catch on with Leafs after long journey through minors.

TIM WHARNSBY HOCKEY REPORTER

Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Jay Rosehill had two career paths to choose from when he was growing up in the small Central Alberta town of Olds, population 7,500.

He could have taken the easier route and gone into his father's auctioneer business, or he could have toughed it out and tried to become a pro hockey player.

"I thought about following my father [Dan] and becoming an auctioneer," said Rosehill, whose Leafs lost to the New York Rangers 7-2 at Madison Square Garden last night to remain winless this season.

"I was hoping my brother [Tyler] would take it over because it's a business that has been in our family since the early 1950s. My passion always has been hockey."

Rosehill Auction Service mainly deals with livestock, land and machinery public sales. If he was needed to fill in for his father or brother, Jay isn't confident he could step in.

"I don't think so," he said. "I know the basics. That's about it.

"Playing hockey is all I wanted to do growing up. It's been my No. 1 goal. I just thought if I would keep playing the game to my strengths, there would be a spot for me some place and I never let anything get in my way."

His patience and determination paid dividends this season, when six years after the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Rosehill in the seventh round (227th overall), he cracked his first NHL lineup. He phoned home to tell his father, who jumped on a plane and made it to his son's first game, against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 1.

In Rosehill's third game of the season, the fourth-line left winger scored his first NHL goal for the Leafs in a 5-2 loss to the Stanley Cup champion Penguins at the Air Canada Centre last Saturday.

"You always want to win the game, first and foremost," the 24-year-old Rosehill said. "It was an important goal [to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1 early in the second period]."

Toronto coach Ron Wilson likes the "fearlessness" that the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Rosehill exhibits on the ice. Rosehill also is quick to drop his gloves and fight, the type of player both Wilson and Leafs general manager Brian Burke want on their fourth line.

So far Rosehill has fought Canadiens forward Travis Moen and Pittsburgh's Mike Rupp.

This is the way Rosehill always has played the game, even when he was a defenceman lining up for the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He was patrolling the blueline for the Grizzlys - his brother, Tyler, was a teammate - when the Lightning drafted him in 2003.

"I knew a few teams were interested in me, but I didn't know that Tampa was one of them," said Rosehill, who decided not to attend the draft in Nashville that summer. "I thought it was something for the studs who get taken in the first three rounds. I didn't want to sit around and wait until the end of the day."

Rosehill received a hockey scholarship to play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but left school after one season in 2005 at the suggestion of the Lightning and he wanted "to get on with his pro career."

But he toiled in the ECHL and the AHL for four seasons, until he received a break late last year. Leafs assistant general manager Jeff Jackson picked up Rosehill from the Norfolk Admirals for future considerations last March to fortify the Toronto Marlies' lineup for a run at a playoff spot.

Seven months later, the kid who grew up in the railway and agriculture town of Olds proved he chose the right career path after all.

While I agree with some of those points, one thing Burke has done is make the most of the Maple Leafs name. He was able to sign many highly regarded college free agents, and also Gustavsson. His ability to sign them has allowed him to trade some picks.

He overpaid for Komisarek and brought in too many of the same types of players. His Kubina trade was just plain stupid. But, we can't really evaluate that Kessel trade at this point. We can't even evaluate that trade next year or the year after.

Yeah, that is the only consolation for me in the Kessel deal. He was able to supplement some picks for next year with a list of College FAs that should be able to produce at a relatively high level now. I still think I would have held onto my picks and kept expectations low for this season. The Kessel trade has got everyone thinking that he is trying to win the Cup this year. The expectations are not weighing on his roster very well thus far.

That crap, Bones. I start flinging shit only when three or four idiots start trying to pile on. Read back in this very thread, PiePants and I were talking stats, and in comes douchebag84. 

Yeah, but it is pre-mixed with alcohol. The kid these days are crazy about mixing Vodka/Red Bull/etc. for some reason.

By highly educated you must be referring only to hockey  . I sincerely doubt there is anything else of real value you could possibly teach me.

If you're as knowledgeable as you say you are about hockey, perhaps you could put a little more effort into your posts. You usually come across as an idiot.

No, I am referring to... being highly educated.

I have no interest in butt-hurt wankers who troll around the boards making thoughtless contrived posts about things they don't quite understand. Maybe if you spent as much time reading about the game as you do following me around on other websites you would be a more valuable contributor to the discussions at hand.

Of course he hasn't produced much in the **** playoffs. As I've posted many times, the guy is chronically injured in the playoffs.

It's a waste of time to go into such detail with him. You've clearly proven your point with facts, but he would rather come back with insults than admit he was wrong.

I have no problem saying I am wrong in the rare case that I actually am, but this thread is just a bunch of butt-hurt fans who are kidding themselves, including you. Tell yourselves whatever you need to.