Tiger in contention despite demons

[img=300,206]http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/the-big-e-300x206.jpg[/img]I’m not a fan of Ron Wilson. I’m also not a fan of seeing people un justly crucified.Many fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs would like to see Ron Wilson ridden out of Toronto tied to a rocket sled, and I just don’t think he’s been given ample opportunity yet.[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]If he had been coaching, say….the Vancouver Canucks, and not made the playoffs for a couple of years, or the Detroit Red Wings or the Pittsburgh Penguins…well you get the point.I could see the fans of said city wanting to crucify him because, after all, he has the talent he needs and still can’t win.The fact of the matter is, he just hasn’t had anything close in Toronto. The Leafs are getting there, but they still aren’t close.[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]No disrespect to Mr. Kessel who I think has all the makings of the Leafs’ first 50-goal scorer since Dave Andreychuk did it during the 1993-94 season, but he isn’t a star just yet and every Stanley Cup winning team needs one.If Kessel continues to improve and fulfils his star potential, Kadri manages to live up to the pressure that we’ve all put on him and Burke can manage to put in place one or two more solid pieces, then the team will be complete and fans can start railing on Wilson’s miss givings all they want but I don’t care who you are you can’t make an ice cream cake out of mud.When he arrived, he came to a team in complete disarray. It had no leadership, no direction and no identity, whose leading scorer was supposed to be Jason Blake.Those things aren’t all his fault, but they had been brewing for some time.Last year was, in my opinion, the first real start to a new era for the Leafs, Burke came in and tried to establish a new, tougher kind of team, but quickly found he just didn’t have the right mix of guys.[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]The start last year couldn’t possibly have been all Wilson’s fault. He can’t ask his players to lay across the goal crease to try and keep the puck out of the net. It would be similar to ask a young team to skate up ice and take a chance to make a play and score a goal when all they are thinking about is whether or not their goalie will be able to stop a shot if they don’t make it back in time.Once Giggy got there and provided some depth in net, the team in front of him gained confidence and started to play well. Had Giggy been there at the start of the year, the Leafs would probably made a pretty good run at the postseason.In spite of the fact that people will say “well, he hasn’t really won anything”, in his 16 years as a head coach in the NHL, he has brought his teams to the playoffs eight times. That’s half as many as Paul Maurices’ four.[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]I think, really think, this will be the first real chance he’s had to ice a competetive team in Toronto. Keep in mind, as well, they are a really young team that still needs to grow together some, but there is probably no reason for them to not make the playoffs.If the Toronto Maple Leafs make the postseason in Ron Wilson’s third year as head coach, then I would say he’s been a success given the mess he walked into.[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]I don’t know if he can get the Leafs to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I know this: if you give him a good team, he has a chance.