Fallen Leafs

The Rise and Fall of a Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect, Part 17 (The Justin Pogge Picture Story)

Pogge is looking at these playoffs as his last in the AHL. Next year, he not only wants to earn a full-time job in the NHL, he expects it.

“I’m never going to play with this group of guys again,” he said. “So I’m trying to make the most of it and try to win a Calder Cup.” (via National Post)

That was a quote shortly before the conclusion of the 2009 Calder Cup Championships of the AHL. Pogge is an extremely proud and cocky player. Normally, that’s what you want in any player, never mind a goalie. One that is always confident of his abilities without any self-doubt. Patrick Roy, arguably one of the best goaltenders of all time, was known as one of the most arrogant players to ever grace the ice. When it came to Pogge, it was either all a ruse or he simply did not want to redeem himself under the blue & white. While there is no doubt that the Maple Leafs placed undue expectations on him, expectations Pogge could not possibly match, an aura of entitlement and resignation appears to have engulfed Pogge as well.

When fans, media members, and even the Leafs brass brandished Pogge as the next Maple Leafs superstar, he took it to heart. And why wouldn’t he, coming off the high of a Team Canada gold and a prominent promotion to the most famous hockey team in the world. But when Pogge’s professional career didn’t progress as quick and easy as his final years of juniors did, the shifting of blame and responsiblity soon happened. Judging by the recent reports that Pogge was reluctant to call GM Brian Burke back, likely in regards to his new standing and expectations on the team, the fight to rake and claw his way back to Toronto did not appeal to Pogge. The feeling of distrust, abandonment, and now, the evisceration of his standing as a viable NHL’er was not deserved - at least, according to Pogge I’m sure.

With Pogge on the verge of being traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional draft pick, the chapter is nearly complete. Was this another failed Maple Leafs prospect done by the unrelenting pressures from the media, fans, and upper management? Or was Justin Pogge simply the remaining vestiges of the old regime, where the extent of player development for the Leafs was tied to being how great a player you were in the first place?