Now before you get all hot and heavy, ‘Sundin woes’ only means there was no one to play with Sundin for years. Not since Mogilny has there been a proper top line for our Maple Leafs. Jason Blake can fix that.

Blake comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization with experience, skill, and success. He scored 40 goals last season. Not to say he will score 40 this year, but even a 30 goal scorer on this team would be nice.

Jason Blake will definitely be playing with Sundin; it would be a waste for him to play on any other line. This post is being written after the pre-season, so we do have glimpses of what they can do together. Their chemistry looks good. They each have 4 points in limited playing time during the 8 game pre-season. Their opponents seem to be having trouble controlling the puck when Sundin, Blake and Antropov are out there. This is not unusual though, as the Leafs top line could devastate other teams with puck control. If this translates the same way, and Blake is there to finish it off, look for many goals to come from this line.

Now for the signing itself. Blake signed for 5 years. He is 32 years old. He is a late bloomer, coming into his own later in life, but 5 years? The Leafs are doing the same old dance again, signing an older player for way too long. Blake says he has many good years left, and I believe he thinks that, but you never know with Leafs players.

There is a curse around this team for good players’ careers being knocked down a few notches by coming here. Is the curse due to the Stanley Cup being across the street? Who knows.