Harry How
Go ahead: buy your Patrick Marleau Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys.
Let's cut all the garbage: Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said last week that he wanted to add a first line winger with some muscle and scoring touch. This isn't "moving heaven and earth" to get John Tavares. The draft was too big a puzzle to pull that off.
But throwing money at a guy? Burke can do that better than anybody and remember: for better or worse he usually does what he says he'll do.
So never mind the song and dance that's going to follow. Or that Marleau doesn't mind San Jose - there are few places I'd rather live than the Bay area, too. Of that it's such an obvious marriage that a true skeptic would shake their head and say: 'Nah, too obvious. Never happen.' But if Marleau really wants to think about it, he'll realize that even though the Leafs have their own warped history - 1967 and all that - being on the same team as Dany Heatley dooms him because Heatley is the 'Typhoid Mary' of NHL players: he brings nothing but bad karma with him. He's like the 'Old Maid' of NHL players … the guy you don't want to be stuck with.
Patrick Marleau.
Leaf.
Get used to it.
Oh, and if you're looking for some baseball to read lemme save you the trip around the internet: this piece from Bob Klapisch is the best thing out there today.
Hey … you're welcome ….