"Does it hurt to watch Tyler Seguin?"

That's a common question many Leafs fans get, especially as Seguin launches an offensive assault on the league.

You may have heard this before, but the Maple Leafs traded the draft pick that eventually became Seguin. The Phil Kessel trade is rarely discussed so don't feel bad if you didn't know this fact. Oh, what's that? You've heard that before. Of course, because by law the Kessel-Seguin swap needs to be brought up EVERY SINGLE DAY. For eternity.

But unlike other painful trades of the past that continually hurt Leafs Nation's collective psyche (like the Tom Kurvers-pick-that-became-Scott Niedermayer deal that everyone was reminded of as Cody Franson crept up on a Kurvers points streak record), the Seguin trade doesn't hurt. And I'm not just saying that because the Leafs have killed off any feelings I still might have inside of me.

The Sabres keep making headlines, and for all the wrong reasons. They can't win a game, they are going to trade anyone decent for peanuts, and they now have more suspensions than wins. Woof!

The Leafs made the playoffs for the first time in nine years and I almost missed it.

With how the series came crashing down catastrophically at the end, maybe that would have been for the best. But even after enduring insanely improbable heartbreak, the Leafs at least had a chance. And after nearly a decade lost in the bleak wilderness of apathy, I wouldn't trade this season, ending and all, for another lottery finish.

I almost missed the most relevant Leafs hockey in nine years because I was invited to a destination wedding in Punta Cana that inconveniently coincided with games 3-6.

Tip for anyone thinking about getting married: Book it before or after the playoffs, even if you're an Oilers fan and the chances of your wedding interfering with the playoffs is nil (Hey! I can make fun of other teams that don't make the playoffs now and it feels great). Otherwise, make accommodations for your insane hockey friends. For example, I went to a Stag and Doe on the night of Game 2 and one of the groomsmen brought his satellite dish from home and hooked it up so no one had to miss the game (or, more likely, the Stag and Doe). If you're having your wedding this might interfere with things like speeches, but just crank up the volume during intermission and it'll be like Don Cherry is giving you a personal wedding toast. "Keep your stick on the ice, even in the bedroom."

Bringing a satellite dish to Punta Cana probably wasn't going to happen, not that I was worried when I was first invited. I've had my plane tickets booked since last Autumn, well before the NHL lockout even ended, so I initially didn't think my trip south would be anything other than blissful. I wasn't overly optimistic about Toronto's chances heading into the season either, so even when the lockout ended I didn't think a trip in early May would be an issue. There are 10-year-old children who didn't even know the Leafs were allowed to play hockey in May. But as the season crept along, and the Leafs continued to pile on wins, I began to slowly realize that this trip was going to prove challenging.

For normal people, taking a trip to an all-inclusive resort with beautiful sunny weather would wash away any thoughts about a hockey game. Unfortunately, as a Leafs fan, I'm far from normal, and I was in a slight panic. Where was I going to watch the game? Was there an ESPN5 that would at least show some highlights, albeit after three hours of football and basketball coverage? How could I argue with bartenders about the merits of Jake Gardiner over Mike Kostka if I couldn't speak a lick of Spanish (other than "dos cervezas por favor").

After a win in Game 2, it became even more imperative that I watch this series. It was actually going to be a series, not a one-sided beating like many predicted. Luckily, there was a good contingent of Leafs fans going to the wedding, so I wouldn't be alone on my quest to find hockey.

And a quest it was. Here is how my (possibly hazy) memory recalls the week.

"how happy is the sportless vestal's lot
the world forgetting, by the world forgot
eternal sunshine of the sportless mind
each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned"

- adapted from "Eloisa to Abelard," by Alexander Pope

Not so long ago, Tomas Kaberle was the only bright light during increasingly dark times in Toronto.

With the Leafs attempting to rebuild, Kaberle's name was linked in just about every trade rumour imaginable. Finally, after what seemed like years of endless rumours, Kaberle was dealt to the Boston Bruins for Joe Colborne, a first-round pick, and a conditional second-round pick, which eventually went to Toronto after Boston won the 2011 Stanley Cup.

However, Kaberle has been involved in trade talks long before Brian Burke struggled to bring respectability back to Toronto. Here are five major trades that would have seen Tomas Kaberle packing his bags and the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs change dramatically.

Making a trade is always a risky proposition. You may think you know what you're giving up, but sometimes, especially with young players, you really have no idea. If you have to give something to get something, in a lot of cases that something you give could turn out to be a lot more than you expected.

It’s very rare that you can rummage in the dumpster out back, throw your findings in an old, dirty burlap sack and get Dion Phaneuf. It just doesn’t happen all that often, especially now that Darryl Sutter isn’t employed as a GM.

Sometimes you're the one giving up the Dion Phaneuf in the deal. In other words: the loser.

Being on the losing end of a deal is a bad feeling. There’s the shame in knowing that your team once had that certain player now dominating the league, and there’s an even greater shame in knowing the team you support is run by people dumb enough to let that player get away.

That’s the feeling Toronto fans get when they think about Tuukka Rask, Boston’s backup goalie who just needs to wait for Tim Thomas to vacate the crease before becoming the league’s best netminder. He's already amazing, but Thomas is so unhumanly good that Rask sits patiently and bides his time before everyone can see his awesomeness 60+ times a year. Thanks, JFJ!

It’s also the feeling Leafs Nation gets whenever Tyler Seguin’s name shows up in the boxscore. Although this feeling is somewhat mitigated every time Phil Kessel’s name shows up, which, thankfully, is quite often.

In addition to Seguin and Rask, another former Leaf is doing quite well for himself. Kris Vertseeg has 28 points in 26 games for the Florida Panthers. He sits 10th in points and is in the top-20 in goals.

But despite how well Versteeg is playing right now, very few Maple Leafs fans are bemoaning his loss. There are a few reasons for this.

The Bruins dug themselves an early hole against the Canucks after dropping two heart-breaking games in Vancouver. I thought it was over, as did many. However, the Bruins stormed back and eventually won in seven games.

How did this happen? How did the Bruins complete the comeback after losing the first two games against the President’s Trophy winners? What went right for the Bruins and, maybe more importantly, what went wrong for the Canucks?

On Wednesday night the world saw an ugly side of Vancouver. After losing to the Bruins, a couple hundred people, who the police are now describing as organized anarchists masquerading as Canuck fans, started rioting in the streets of downtown Vancouver. It wasn’t a very good representation of Vancouver, which is a beautiful city. The next day the citizens of Vancouver took to the streets to help the clean-up effort. Those are the real people of Vancouver.

Amidst all the mayhem, there was a celebration occurring in the Bruins’ locker room after their impressive series clinching victory. The shots of Kaberle dousing his teammates in champagne made my heart feel good. The cars on fire outside? Not so much.

Not many people (myself included) gave the Bruins a shot after they fell 2-0 to the Canucks, but they rallied back like they did all post-season and became the only team in Stanley Cup history to win three game 7s.

Well, that’s the season. It was fun. I hope you enjoyed it. I guess we’ll all be on our merry way… But wait, there’s the important matter of handing out some hardware for the deserving few who excelled (and a few that didn’t) during the playoffs.

Without further ado, here’s the second annual Five Minutes For Fighting Playoff Awards.

I have a new article posted at The Good Point that you should all check out. Today I'm discussing how difficult it is to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, especially in the cap era. Specifically, I'm looking at how likely it will be that for either Boston or Vancouver to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final next season.

Here is the link to the article. It should kill some time during the day while you wait patiently for tonight's (hopefully) exciting game 7. There isn't anything better in all of sports than a game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final. I can't wait.

Following an almost unbearable break after the Conference Finals, the Stanley Cup will finally begin tonight. I hope at this point you trust my predictions. I nailed both Conference Finals, which matches my performance last season. I'm 11-3 on the season and 22-7 over the past two. However, I refuse to accept responsibility if you lose your kid’s college fund gambling.

The second round of the playoffs wasn’t able to live up to the lofty expectations set by the fantastically exciting first round. The Eastern Conference Final match-up was set almost a week ago, while the Western Conference was only solidified after last night's big game 7 between the Wings and Sharks.

Thankfully, the Wings and Sharks prolonged their series, which at one point looked like it would be the third sweep of the second round. Not only does this add some drama and suspense to the second round, but I was away for a week and unable to post a conference final breakdown. Let’s first break down the Eastern Conference Final and tomorrow we’ll set up the Western Conference Final.

The East is a conference of haves and have-nots. There is a clear distinction between the teams currently in the playoffs and those that aren’t. Sure, the Senators are only six points out of eighth, but their goal differential is almost as bad as the hapless Maple Leafs. Sorry, you're not good; you’re not making the playoffs.

It seems likely that the teams currently in the top-8 in the East will be there come playoff time – barring any crazy winning streak by a team on the outside or a prolonged losing streak by one on the inside. The three-point game means that it’s too hard for teams to make up ground otherwise.

But among the eight current playoff teams there is not a lot of points separating each team. The Penguins lead the conference with 50 points, but the Flyers are right behind them and there are other teams with games at hand, meaning the distance between first and eighth could be a lot closer than it appears.

So who is the best team in the conference? The end of the year seems like a good time to evaluate everyone and see who is in the best position to meet in the Stanley Cup Final. I'll take a look at the West in a few days.

A thousand pardons for my temporary disappearance from the interwebs. Well, not total disappearance because I’ve been cracking jokes at the expense of the Habs on twitter - because trying to make a handful of strangers laugh is the only thing worthwhile about twitter. The worst thing about twitter, aside from the absolute lack of thought required for it, is people who live tweet sports. We get it, you’re watching the game. So are we. We saw the goal.

Talking about twitter is worse than actually being on twitter. Alas.

Another reason for my temporary disappearance may be a job change. That’s really just an excuse because I was working pretty much the same amount of hours for the majority of this blog’s life at my previous job.

The real reason may be the lack of Maple Leaf news. I can’t just write pieces trashing Montreal and Vancouver non-stop. It’s been hard restraining myself. However, this isn't why I've been away.

The true reason I haven’t posted in some time is I’m rattled. I’ve been having night terrors. Terrible dreams that haunt me. Really it’s one dream. It’s a striking image that I can’t seem to shake.

There were big expectations from the Bruins this year after two back-to-back surprising seasons. After posting a 35-41-6 season in 2006-2007 and being thoroughly lambasted by the media for dealing star-forward Joe Thornton to the Sharks the previous year, the Bruins finished with an unexpected 94 points. That was good enough to squeak into the playoffs as the eight seed. They even pushed a heavily favoured Montreal squad to seven games. Last year, the Bruins shocked many pundits by winning the Eastern Conference by a wide margin and narrowly missing the President’s Trophy by only one point. The Bruins were eventually ousted in the second round, but their young squad appeared set to contend with the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way so far this year. In fact, the Bruins sit tied for 9th in the East and just recently snapped a 10 game winless streak by beating the Canadiens in Montreal. So what’s wrong with the Bruins? What happened to last year’s powerhouse?

Hating in sports makes it better. I hate the Yankees. It’s much more fun to watch games when they’re involved. Even if they aren’t playing against the Blue Jays I can still cheer for injuries and beanballs. Notice how I didn’t say either the Senators or the Canadiens. That’s because my hate for them is so vociferous that I can hardly stand to watch them play, ever.

So, I can appreciate the hate that Bruins fans are graciously bestowing upon Phil Kessel. I get it. I certainly don’t like it, but I can understand their hatred. If I were a Bruins fan I would treat Kessel the same way. As a fan, when I feel slighted by a player, even in the most trivial way, I carry that for the rest of their career. Alfredsson hits Tucker from behind and has the audacity to score the overtime winner immediately after? Hate. He mocks Sundin by pretending to throw his stick in the crowd? I can’t even describe my Alfredsson hate. Sean Avery makes cancer jokes to Blake? Hate. Yes, I take attacks against Leafs players personally. Even if these attacks are just merely scoring a lot of goals against the Leafs. Tavares is slowly developing some hatred in me. He’ll get there.

So, if I was a Bruins fan I would boo Kessel every time he touches the puck. I’d enjoy it, too. This will probably help rekindle the dormant rivalry between the Leafs and Bruins. I’m starting to hate the Bruins even more. Their Kessel hate is making me mad. Not to mention their pile of mounting victories against the Leafs. Hate.

With each mounting loss there is only one thing on my mind: first-round draft pick (or lack thereof). In previous years I shielded myself from the emotional pain of losing by looking forward to the end of June when an awful season could be rewarded with a tantalizing young prospect. However, this year, a loss is just a loss. There is no upside to losing.

I’m not concluding that the Phil Kessel trade was bad for the Leafs. In reality, whether it was a good deal or bad won’t be known for a number of years. My opinion, at this early juncture, is that the trade was good. Here’s why: Kessel is young. Jiri Tlusty came from the same draft class and is still considered a prospect. Whether this reflects poorly on Tlusty rather than favourably on Kessel isn’t relevant. He was also considered a top-end, franchise-type player when drafted and the early returns for the Leafs appear to indicate as much. Accordingly, this year’s draft pick doesn’t really matter. The Leafs have already drafted it. The Leafs’ first-round pick this year is Phil Kessel. I’m happy with that.