My Thoughts on Tank Nation

What would Carelton say?

Over the last week or so, there has been a lot of talk about the imminent rebuilding of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Additionally, there has been a lot of talk of "tank nation" in which the Leafs would throw the remaining games to better improve their odds of getting  a draft pick.

Yes, I'd love to see him in a Leaf uniform.

While I certainly welcome a complete and sincere rebuild, I am not so sure about the idea of playing to lose.  As we have already seen, losing becomes a habit.  If we start lowering our compete level, can we get it back?

There are some other problems with this idea.

• The "superstars" that we are going to be trading away will want to look good for their future team.  They want to be sought after by strong teams, not weak teams.  Playing to lose won't improve their value on the trade market.  That's a lose-lose proposition.

• The team seems to have lost without trying to lose, so maybe we should just let nature take its course.

• Once we have jettisoned our free agent talent, or older players, or overpaid players, or whomever we let go, I suspect that the team won't be in any position to compete anyway.  Losing will happen, whether we want it to or not.

• What kind of mood will be left in the dressing room by a team that gave up?

• These players have been competing for their whole lives.  Can we expect them to unlearn that behaviour?

In the end, we will just have to see how things turn out.  I welcome your opinions.