No I in TEAM

On Friday night, I had the chance to spend some time with Marlies player Alex Foster who was sitting out nursing an injury. You could tell that he wanted to be on the ice (and should be soon). What struck me most about the conversation was his commitment to the team.

At a time when the Leafs organization is struggling to put together W's, it is amazing to me that the players are less about themselves and more about their play as a team; players are starting to gel, player transactions between the Marlies and Leafs are becoming seamless, and as OT loss after OT loss piles up at the ACC and we continue to put together wins at the Ricoh, you can tell that the rebuilding is underway and that patience will be key.

There is no I in team and it is up to all of us as fans to remember that. It is certainly easy to criticize (especially when the Leafs' W column is so sparse) but as I heard one fan tell a young boy at the ACC one night, a real fan supports the team even when they lose so that victories are even that much sweeter!

The road to Lord Stanley's Mug is a long one and even though it is a virtual impossibility (even playoffs are distant at this point as October was a month where Leafs really did fall from the tree!), at least the prospect of a Cup in the not-so-distant future is certainly welcome. Although we shouldn't start planning the victory parade now, Burke is starting to do something that hasn't been done in a long time with the Leafs franchise.....he's giving it a direction and that is the first step on the road to success!

GO MARLIES GO!!! GO LEAFS GO!!!

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.