It is often said that its not possible to convince hockeys biggest, richest market to be patient enough to allow a general manager the time he needs to build his team into a long term winner. Were talking about Toronto where the Leafs have not won a championship in four-and-a-half decades, and yet supposedly neither fans nor ownership have the stomach for a long, slow rebuild. Really? In fact, time should be the greatest asset to building a hockey team in Toronto since the one thing we know about the Maple Leafs is that its impossible to keep people out of the building or away from their television sets on game nights. No matter how poorly the team performs, no matter how many disappointing seasons pile one upon another, worry that the fan base will become fed up and turn away is never, ever part of the equation. So it should be simple here, right? Hire the best general manager available, give him time and space and let nature take its course. Except, it never seems to work out that way. Which begs the question of why have so many Maple Leaf general managers of the past 30 years stumbled and failed, while the blueprint to building successful teams seems so evident in other markets around the league? Why does the slow build to success never happen? The first thing to keep in mind is that building long-term success in the NHL happens through success in the draft, with few, if any, exceptions. Free agency and the ability to execute good trades help, but find a team thats maintained success over a period of more than a handful of years and youre guaranteed to find a very strong draft record. Pick your example because there are all kinds of them right now in the NHL – LA, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Washington, Vancouver, Chicago, Boston, to name just the most obvious. Edmonton, where fans have endured plenty of awful seasons, now has a team loaded with top draft picks that many predict will return them to their glory days. But building through draft requires two things – the patience of ownership to allow time for maturation of prospects into front-line NHLers, and the ability of the general manager to get it right on draft day (or not trade away draft picks before draft day ever arrives.) There isnt a single Maple Leaf general manager of the past 30 years who can look back and say he had both those things going for him, from Burke to John Ferguson Jr., Cliff Fletcher all the way back to Gerry McNamara. There have certainly been times where there was pressure from ownership to win immediately, such as during Ferguson Jr.s stormy period operating the Leafs. Brian Burke followed him with the clout of a Stanley Cup ring, and a resume that earned him more autonomy than any general manager in recent memory. But in fine Maple Leaf general manager tradition, he either traded away picks before the draft or wasnt able to pick the best available player when his turn came along. He may have never uttered the words "draft schmaaft," but his signature move -- trading three draft picks – two first-rounders and a second-rounder – to Boston for Phil Kessel, has Maple Leaf DNA all over it. And the highest pick he retained during any of his first three Maple Leaf drafts – the No. 7 overall in 2009, he used to take Nazem Kadri, a player who remains very much a work in progress at age 22. Interestingly, Kadri is the only player selected by Burke to play a single NHL game. Among players taken during the 09, 10 and 11 drafts there are 90 players whove participated in NHL games. But Kadri, whose status in the NHL remains iffy, is the only Leaf. Leaf GMs werent much more successful at the draft table during the years that preceded Ferguson, but those teams were operating in an environment where errors on draft day could always be papered over with cash, something thats never been in short supply in Toronto. That cant happen in todays NHL, which makes the skills of a general manager on draft day, and the willingness to let him build through the draft, that much more important. Yet nearly 46 years removed from a Stanley Cup win and nearly nine years since they last played a playoff game, passion for the Maple Leafs in Toronto hasnt subsided one tiny bit. Ten general managers have come and gone since 1967, all of them falling victim to impatience, either their own or that of ownership, and/or ineptitude at the draft. Building from the ground up shouldnt be so complicated, even in Toronto, with all the pressures that abound. Some day, someone is going to get it right. wholesale jerseys . Hamilton hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning as the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 Saturday. Toronto had taken a 7-5 lead in the top of the inning, but reliever Justin Frasor couldnt hold on to it. cheap nfl jerseys . The White Sox are only 1 1/2 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the American League Central lead and dropped a 6-2 decision in Fridays series opener. Jake Peavy had an outing he would like to forget and gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings. http://www.cheapjerseyfromchina.us.... . The Summerside, P.E.I., native may have pulled the trigger, but he says he wouldnt have even had the chance if not for team trainer Jan Antons. With Canada up 1-0 in the second period, Bridges had just finished a penalty-killing shift when coach Mike Mondin called for him to go back out on the ice. [url=http://www.cheapjerseyfromchina.us.com/]cheap jerseys from china . Catcher J.P. Arencibia backed up Romeros six effective innings with a three-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 7-4 on Thursday night. nfl jerseys china . A tense four-game series featuring a benches-clearing brawl between NL division leaders ended with an act of sportsmanship. "He said, Sorry, man," said Lincecum, San Franciscos ace. SEATTLE -- The whirlwind of playing games on two continents and three states to begin the 2012 season had Brendan Ryan so confused he legitimately didnt know the Seattle Mariners had an off-day at home coming on Monday. Ryan will get the needed break after accomplishing a first in his time with Seattle: actually hitting a home run at home. "I didnt know that. Are you serious?" Ryan asked. "I dont have to show up tomorrow? Thats a really happy off-day then." Ryan hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Justin Smoak added a solo shot in the third and the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3 on Sunday. Snapping streaks was the tone of the afternoon. Ryan hit his first homer before the home crowd after all three of his homers last season came on the road. Then Smoak snapped a skid of 11 straight at-bats without a hit when he lined a solo homer to right field with two outs in the third off Graham Godfrey (0-2). Blake Beavan threw seven strong innings, making just one mistake in the fifth when Oaklands Eric Sogard hit a three-run homer. But Beavan recovered to retire nine of the final 10 batters he faced and Brandon League pitched the ninth for his fourth save in as many chances. Homers are expected to come off the bat of Smoak, who was one of the key pieces in the trade that sent Cliff Lee to Texas during the 2010 season. But Ryan might be the last person in Seattles lineup expected to go deep. After fouling off three straight 2-2 pitches, Ryan hit a shot over the hand-operated scoreboard in left field. Ryan circled the bases so quickly there was barely a chance for the crowd to acknowledge the home run. Asked if he thought his ball was out when it left the bat, Ryan emphatically expressed his doubt. "Never here. No, not ever. Not even from second base. No. No. So, yeah, thats it. Just no," Ryan said. Even with the homers, Seattle still needed a clutch double from Ichiro Suzuki in the fifth inning to snap a 3-all tie, and the Mariners took two of three from an As team Seattle is tired of seeing. The As and Mariners opened the season in Japan in late March, then played a pair of games in Oakland on the first weekend of the regular season for everyone else and closed out the tiresome stretch oof seven early-season games against one another with the series in Seattle.dddddddddddd. For many Mariners, Monday will be the first day in Seattle with no baseball since early February. "Its been a long stretch," Seattle manager Eric Wedge. "These guys still havent gotten a chance to get settled in." While the home runs provided highlights, it was Seattle taking advantage of Oaklands defensive mistakes in the fifth that became the difference in the game. Chone Figgins walked with one out and Dustin Ackley followed with a chopper to second. Instead of making a pivot and overhand throw, Oakland second baseman Jemile Weeks tried to make a back-handed flip and was well wide of the bag. Suzuki followed with a double off the wall in right for a 4-3 lead and Smoak got himself another RBI when his tapper back to the mound was initially bobbled by Godfrey, allowing Ackley to score from third without a play at the plate. "(Weeks) knows he has to get an out there and it didnt happen," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. That was plenty for Beavan, who struck out four and didnt walk a batter. His only problem was one stretch of three batters in the top of the fifth. Kai Kaaihue led off with a single and Anthony Reckers jersey was brushed by Beavans inside pitch, putting two runners on with no outs. Sogard, who had just one hit in his first 11 at-bats this season, then hit his third career homer into the seats in right field. After the homer, Beavan was terrific. "Youve got to have a short-term memory. If you give up a couple of runs and start thinking about it and not going after the guys the way you were before that you end up getting hurt and giving up more runs," Beavan said. "Once I gave up the home run I had to stop the damage right there." NOTES: Oakland has yet to record 10 hits in any of its first 10 games this year. That matches the longest streak in Oakland history to begin a season. ... The Mariners and As wont see each other again until late June in Seattle. ... Hall of Fame centre Bill Russell threw out the first pitch on Sunday as part of the festivities honouring Jackie Robinson. Russell one-hopped his pitch to Figgins, then posed for a picture with the 5-foot-8 leadoff man. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '