Burke, Leafs land The Monster

July 7, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the bidding war for The Monster. Who is he you ask? Just another giant reason for our friendly Buffalo blogger to hate Brian Burke and continue his Leaf session.

His name is Jonas Gustavsson. A 24 year-old Swedish netminder who’s been highly sought by a few NHL teams since he made his intentions clear to finally come. The most interested pursuers were the Leafs, Avs, Stars and Sharks. But in the end, it really was no surprise he chose Toronto as they were the favorite.

Labeled the best goalie outside the NHL, The Monster who goes 6-3, 181 had a great season for Farjestad in the Swedish Elite League, posting a 1.96 GAA and .932 save percentage while leading the club to the championship.

Now, Gustavsson takes the next big step signing on the dotted line with Toronto for one year, $810,000 including a $90,000 signing bonus. If he’s the real deal, he could unseat incumbent Vesa Toskala even if Burke says otherwise. We all know how much he can be trusted. Besides, the Leafs aren’t going anywhere with Toskala and overrated prospect Justin Pogge had a nightmarish season. So, it became a must to land the big Swede.

“Jonas is considered by many to be the best goaltender not playing in the NHL today,” Burke indicated earlier today. “He has a unique combination of size and agility and we’re excited to add a player with his potential to our roster.”

“I want to thank Brian Burke and his staff for giving me the opportunity to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs,” said Gustavsson. “It is truly an honor and privilege and I feel very fortunate to wear the Blue and White sweater. Toronto is a great city, with tremendous fan support, and I am very excited about the future.“

Can’t you just see it now? The classic reaction from Brian echoing that cheesy 2007-08 slogan, The Passion That Unites Us All.

Really. That’s how egocentric the Leafs are. As they really did use it and I sat there rolled up in laughter.

Don’t you just want to see this guy fail? I don’t hate the Leafs but loathe Burke. As great a hockey mind as he is, he thinks he invented hockey. Now, they land a guy called Monster. What’s next? A player called The Mountain?

In any event, the Leafs should be a more interesting watch with Gustavsson along with a revamped blueline that includes Francois Beauchemin, Habs traitor Mike Komisarek and cheapshot extraordinaire Garnet Exelby. Figure Burke to move Tomas Kaberle. So, he’s definitely not done.

Here’s some highlights of Gustavsson along with an interesting take from the always comical Steve Dangle: