Op-Ed: Kyle Wellwood Sticks it to Toronto Maple Leafs

If it was wrong to feel good seeing Kyle Wellwood score against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night, well, I don't want to be right.

Here's video of Wellwood's goal. I was genuinely happy for the guy. Way to stick it back to the Leafs, the franchise who so ceremoniously dumped him last summer. I know, I know. He's fat, and the Vancouver Canucks waived him too. Be that as it may. Say what you want about him and show me pictures of his gut, but he's got seven goals in 12 games to lead the Canucks, and two of them have been game winners. Knowing Wellwood, he could be back in the minors by January. He may yet turn out to be a bust. But I still don't quite understand the logic of cutting loose a 25-year-old who has produced offensively at every level he's ever played at. It's asset management. If the guy needs work, you work on him. You fix his eating habits. You get him on the God damn exercise bike. You cook every meal for him if you have to. You send him to the minors. You do anything you can. But you don't release him and let him walk away for nothing. Wellwood surely has his faults, but I would have loved for Ron Wilson to have had a go at him. Monsieur Wilson has done quite the job with Mr. Stajan, wouldn't you agree? Keep proving 'em wrong, Kyle.