When Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter consummated their seven-player deal last January many felt the Toronto Maple Leafs won the trade hands down.
Fast-forward 10 months later and, while many Calgary fans long to believe they have won the trade, it appears as if Toronto will emerge with the better deal.
It has been said many times that the team that emerges with the best player wins a trade. While one can argue that Phaneuf is not worth the $7 million salary he carries, the accumulative play of former Flames Phaneuf, Keith Aulie and Fredrik Sjostrom has been far and away better than that of Nik Hagman, Matt Stajan and the departed Jamal Mayers and Ian White.
At the time of the trade, rumors were running rampant that Phaneuf was a negative influence in the Flames locker room. Infighting, sleeping with teammates' wives and physical confrontations were all rumored with Phaneuf the catalyst in each.
While most of those rumors have never been substantiated it is clear that, while both sides are saying all the right things, tonight's tilt between the Leafs and Flames will be as much ab ...
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Article written by Mark Ritter
Maple Leafs vs. Flames: Dion Phaneuf Returns To Calgary Tonight
December 16th, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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