A tough sell

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, these are the good times. In one corner of the Lakeshore Lions Arena locker room, a post-practice Andrew Raycroft is being asked about being named the NHL's No. 1 star last week ("I don't think St. Louis is going to care about it tomorrow night," he says dryly). In another, Wade Belak is cheerfully calling Alex Steen, seated next to him, a "Swedish meatball." The Leafs have won four straight games, and nine of 13, in this bright new year. These are the good times.

But whether this is a positive development is, frankly, another question entirely.

Obviously, Toronto winning games makes a large number of Torontonians, in the city and abroad, happy. Good for them. But in the long run, this might be bad for the franchise.

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