Jeff Finger has been placed on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs. When he clears waivers, he'll be sent down to the Marlies and Brian Burke will get $3.5 million of cap room back.
One of the cool things about maintaining this blog for the past 8 years is that I can go back in time and read what I thought about events as they unfolded. For example, on July 1, 2008, I wrote an entry entitled "Uncle Cliffy Gives Us The Finger". The deal didn't make any sense to me at the time, and here's what I wrote.
I understood signing Cujo to a nice and tidy one year deal for $700,000 but I don't get why Cliff Fletcher just signed defenceman Jeff Finger to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million a season.
I understand the Toronto Maple Leafs need bodies, but do we really have to give four year deals to 28 year olds with 94 career games under their belts? Admittedly, I can't remember ever seeing him play, so if The Finger is Sylvain Lefebvre reincarnate I shall stand corrected.
In a sense, Uncle Cliffy just gave us The Finger and told Bryan McCabe to f*ck off.
It's also fun to read the comments that fateful day in July, 2008. I wrote this in response to a few "trust Cliff" comments.
C'mon, he was benched for half of the Avs' playoff games. How awesome could he be when he's a healthy scratch in the playoffs?
And, that's a mammoth raise for a guy with one season under his belt. Why did we pay so much for such a lengthy term?
A two year deal at $2 million per sounds about right for The Finger.
I also made a little image that day. It rings more true today than ever. Thanks Uncle Cliffy!
