There were many unpleasant reminders for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night every time they directed their gaze at the Boston Bruins bench.
Sitting there were Brad Boyes, who was given up as part of the trade that brought Owen Nolan to Toronto in what proved to be a futile bid for a Stanley Cup, and Brian Leetch, who came to the Leafs in March, 2004, in another failed shot at a Cup.
The unpleasantness, at least in the Leetch case, is not so much from the memory that the Leafs fell well short of a National Hockey League championship. At the time each deal was made, it made sense to take the risk.
What must hurt now for the Leafs is the realization that Leetch would have been sitting on their bench last night, but for the lockout that brought the salary cap. And all the discussion about their serious problems on the blueline would never have happened.
If Leafs general manager John Ferguson did not have to worry about a team salary cap of $39-million (all figures U.S.), Leetch would not have put himself on the open market and ultimately signed with the Bruins. Ferguson probably would have paid Leetch more than he was worth at 37 years of age to remain as Bryan McCabe's defence partner.
Or, consider this: Leetch stays, but McCabe and Tomas Kaberle remain together, giving the Leafs the highest-scoring pair in the league, leaving Leetch to play with Ken Klee. That would have been a nice one-two punch on the back end, with Alexander Khavanov and Aki Berg serving as a serviceable third pairing. Wade Belak would be in his proper role, a No. 7 defenceman and swingman between forward and defence.
There was definitely some longing in the Leafs dressing room for the man who arrived on the eve of the 2004 playoffs and immediately elevated McCabe's game. That the Leafs fell short was not Leetch's fault, but the lack of depth behind him.
"Anyone who plays with him can say he makes their job easy," McCabe said. "Just to be around the guy for a couple of months was an honour.
"I hung around him on and off the ice and saw how he handled himself. I hope some of that rubs off on me. When he came here, some of us were a little star-struck. He's a true leader."
Leetch wanted to stay in Toronto, but not enough for Ferguson to beat the economics of the salary cap. He wanted a two-year contract and Ferguson was only offering a one-year deal, given Leetch's age.
The only way Ferguson would have offered a two-year contract was if Leetch agreed to take $2-million a year, but as an NHL source said, "there was no way Leetch would have stayed for that."
Ferguson was willing to go higher on a one-year deal, but the talks never got that far, as Leetch signed a one-year contract with the Bruins for $4-million, a number the Leafs could not match without cap problems.
The Leafs then went into training camp hoping Carlo Colaiacovo could make the team in his second serious attempt.
That would have given them an offensive threat on either the second or third defence pairing, but Colaiacovo did not play well enough to make anyone comfortable about putting him on the team.
So the Leafs went into the season with Belak as their No. 6 defenceman and hoped for the best.
The best is not what's happened so far, although head coach Pat Quinn blames the league for Belak's troubles in adapting to the new standard of officiating.
"You're supposed to be able to knock people down [in front of the net]when the puck is loose," Quinn complained yesterday. "But [enforcement]is all over the map. It's not just us [having trouble adapting] it's every team."
At this point, the Leafs are stuck in the predicament of so many other NHL teams in this new era that is free of hooking, holding and all those other things that kept big, lumbering defencemen employed for so many years -- they have four NHL-calibre defencemen, but not six.
The Leafs have some interest in Brendan Witt, who told Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee he wants to be traded.
But so have about 12 other NHL teams.
At this point, McPhee has not named his asking price, although in the Leafs' case it would probably include Colaiacovo.
Given Colaiacovo's struggles at the NHL level and the fact Kaberle is going to be the top offensive defenceman here for many years, Ferguson should make the deal.