T.I.L.L. B.I.T.S.

Well, it was a hell of a day for Marty York and Dave Feschuk, wasn't it? With their respective bete noires on the way outta town, odds are they were hoisting many a frosty mug tonite at the Two Mittens Pub (if they let Marty past the bouncer).

But at Cox Bloc, that's already yesterday's news. I'm here to give you the big story that's about to break apart Toronto. Call it a hot tip. Call it a T4. Mats Sundin is gone, he's a speck, he's a dot. After over a decade of memories, he, like Mary Poppins, is about unfurl his umbrella and float home. Or to Detroit. All you have to do is read the signs. First he did something I bet he had always wanted to, and took some batting practice cuts at the Dome (but did he CLOG THE BASES???); then he repaid Rosie Dimanno for a decade of mash notes by taking her out to dinner. All this after a season when he granted the wish of a young man born tragically without peripheral vision or hand/eye co-ordination, and helped him play a season on an NHL blueline. (Well, close enough). Trust me, next week he'll be spotted on the observation deck of the CN Tower, just remembering.

Speaking of hot tips, how about this flash?

Feaster and Tortrella I am told, as a GM/Coach TEAM, are in the running for the Leafs position. That would also open the door for Barry Melrose in Tampa....The timing of the Maurice firing is extremely intriguing to me when coupled with the timing of the Lightning sale.

I talked to a Toronto source who told me, "They won a Stanley Cup, and both hold very strong personalities that compliment each other perfectly. These are qualities high up on Fletcher's Check List." I think Feaster and Torts are the PERFECT fit for the Leafs. Two highly respected guys that have totally different approaches but really both would fill voids that have been lacking for some time.

I was petrified for a minute, before I remembered it was Eklund's ghoulish imagination and not anything connected to reality. He's a regular Wes Craven!

Also, we had a couple Blocheads put in a request that something, anything, be done about Howard Berger's latest train wreck, nominally about Fabian Brunnstrom. Berger took the possibility that the mystery winger (who has been 'overhyped' by the fans who apparently now run the major hockey media outlets in this country) might sign with the Leafs to drag out all his favourite dead horses for their ritual flogging.

To be honest, all I really have to say about it is that it certainly did prove that Brunnstrom would be an idiot to come to Toronto.

Apparently writing that vitriol left Howard with no time to gussy up for today's Maurice post-mortem presser, as he failed to even clear the extremely low bar of journalistic fashion sense by rocking up in a Bears jersey and jeans. Now every time I read his column, I'm gonna hear it in the voice of these guys. He barely had time to digest his ribs and Polish sausage before he had to return to the computer, this time to bang out an apologia for totally fucking up the facts in his Brunnstrom column. Whoops! He didn't include all the piece's errors, likely because Hockeybuzz doesn't have enough bandwidth. For example, no mention of this snafu superbly pointed out today by our own Varry Galk:

Among the many, many absurd misstatements in the article, this is one of my favourites:

It might take him a bit longer to break into the front ranks of players on the Red Wings, Stars or Canadiens, but he'll never have to question the motives of his employer. Condominiums and soccer teams will not be essential topics of development.

Right. Because in Liverpool, they call it "football."

Ouch. It's gonna take a while for Berger to top this week - but I'm sure he'll find a way. After all, this ain't his first rodeo.

Stay tuned, there's plenty more in the hopper. Did Damien Cox respond to our mailbag question? What role did we play in the great Leafs Nation Sponsorship Scandal? What insanity will be writ in the wake of Maurice getting canned? Stick around to find out....