Belfour a Bust
Mar 24, 2006 9:40:46 GMT -5
Post by CentreHice on Mar 24, 2006 9:40:46 GMT -5
I caught Bob McKenzie's feature in the first intermission last night, which shows up today as his tsn.ca blog. Belfour and his agent have taken the Leafs to the cleaners, by the sounds of it. When you consider the return on investment, playoff-wise...he's got a first-round win over the Sens in 02-03....that's it.
But what he's cost the Leafs in the lockout year and this year is just incredible. Turns out to be a worse signing than anything the Habs have done.
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McKenzie: Belfour deal bears little fruit
TSN.ca Staff
3/23/20
Now that the Ed Belfour era in Toronto is over - and make no mistake, it is over - two things need to be said.
The first, and perhaps most important, is that Belfour is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup champion who is the second winningest goalie of all time behind only Patrick Roy and just one game shy of tying Glenn Hall for third on the all-time games played list for goalies. Not bad for a guy who was never drafted.
The second, though, is that the Toronto Maple Leafs made a huge mistake, perhaps the mother of all errors, when they signed Belfour to a new contract in the summer of 2004.
We can say this now because we said it back then. The Maple Leafs were overpaying for Belfour at the time, but never could we have imagined how badly they overpaid.
Belfour's contract that summer paid him a $2 million signing bonus, which was a pure gift since we knew the lockout was coming a few months later. Shortly after signing the contract, but before the lockout, Belfour underwent back surgery, which as an injured player during the lockout allowed him to collect more than 50 per cent of his $6 million salary for last season.
If you're keeping score, with signing bonus, the Leafs gave Belfour in the neighborhood of $5 million for the lockout year.
This season, Belfour received a salary of $4.56 million, but he hardly earned it. His performance this season has been sub-par, plagued by inconsistency and now injury.
The Leafs have an option on Belfour's contract for next season, but at $4.484 million, they are not going to exercise it. But by not exercising it, they must give Belfour a $1.54 million kiss-off.
So, from the time he signed his contract in the summer of 2004, to the time he will officially leave the Leafs in the summer of 2006, Belfour will have received, by our count, more than $11 million, and all he has provided to the Leafs for that sum is one highly sub-standard season.
Certainly not a very fitting exit for one of the great goalies to ever play the game.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie.
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It's very fitting for Belfour's and his agent's wallets. Nice timing for the back surgery too....allowing him to earn more than half of his $6 million last year. Calculated all the way to the bank.
He single-handedly beat the Sens in the first round of 03-04 with three shutouts. Sens horribly outplayed the Leafs in every game (except Game 7, when Lalime decided to let in two weak Nieuwendyk goals.) Belfour joined the rest of the team in falling apart twice to the Flyers after that.
So, one playoff series win.....and all that money.
But what he's cost the Leafs in the lockout year and this year is just incredible. Turns out to be a worse signing than anything the Habs have done.
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McKenzie: Belfour deal bears little fruit
TSN.ca Staff
3/23/20
Now that the Ed Belfour era in Toronto is over - and make no mistake, it is over - two things need to be said.
The first, and perhaps most important, is that Belfour is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup champion who is the second winningest goalie of all time behind only Patrick Roy and just one game shy of tying Glenn Hall for third on the all-time games played list for goalies. Not bad for a guy who was never drafted.
The second, though, is that the Toronto Maple Leafs made a huge mistake, perhaps the mother of all errors, when they signed Belfour to a new contract in the summer of 2004.
We can say this now because we said it back then. The Maple Leafs were overpaying for Belfour at the time, but never could we have imagined how badly they overpaid.
Belfour's contract that summer paid him a $2 million signing bonus, which was a pure gift since we knew the lockout was coming a few months later. Shortly after signing the contract, but before the lockout, Belfour underwent back surgery, which as an injured player during the lockout allowed him to collect more than 50 per cent of his $6 million salary for last season.
If you're keeping score, with signing bonus, the Leafs gave Belfour in the neighborhood of $5 million for the lockout year.
This season, Belfour received a salary of $4.56 million, but he hardly earned it. His performance this season has been sub-par, plagued by inconsistency and now injury.
The Leafs have an option on Belfour's contract for next season, but at $4.484 million, they are not going to exercise it. But by not exercising it, they must give Belfour a $1.54 million kiss-off.
So, from the time he signed his contract in the summer of 2004, to the time he will officially leave the Leafs in the summer of 2006, Belfour will have received, by our count, more than $11 million, and all he has provided to the Leafs for that sum is one highly sub-standard season.
Certainly not a very fitting exit for one of the great goalies to ever play the game.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie.
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It's very fitting for Belfour's and his agent's wallets. Nice timing for the back surgery too....allowing him to earn more than half of his $6 million last year. Calculated all the way to the bank.
He single-handedly beat the Sens in the first round of 03-04 with three shutouts. Sens horribly outplayed the Leafs in every game (except Game 7, when Lalime decided to let in two weak Nieuwendyk goals.) Belfour joined the rest of the team in falling apart twice to the Flyers after that.
So, one playoff series win.....and all that money.
