Games 37,38,39,40, and 41

Steve says:

Well...I went away for a while thanks to some holiday time...but now I am back.
What has happened to our beloved Leafs in my absence?
well...

game 37 - We lost to the Islanders 4-3 in OT
game 38 - We lost to the Flyers 4-1
game 39 - We lost to the Rangers 6-1
game 40 - We actually won a game against the worst team in the league, the Lightning. We won 4-3 in a shootout!
game 41 - we returned to the losing ways by getting utterly blown out of the water 6-2 by the Penguins.

...And so now we are at the halfway mark of the season. We are 13th in the conference, 26th in the League. our Record is 16-17-8 and we have a grand total of 40 points.

Toskala has been injured for the past little while with a groin pull. He is expected to return by Saturday's game against the Flyers. Raycroft tried to fill in for him and proceeded to lose 3 games in a row (14 goals in 3 games...yikes!)
So then they brought in Clemmenson...our goalie who is helping us so much in the minors where the Marlies are doing a splendid job....he luckily made saves in a shootout to give us a win, but when faced with the offensive force that is Malkin, Crosby and the Penguins, our Defence left Clemmenson out to dry...

Blake however, as I predicted, starting to show his offensive abilities. He scored both Leaf goals last night and had a 3 point game in the win against the Lightning.

So it has been a very VERY painful first half of the season. We've had some ups and many downs. One way to keep the spirits up is to realise that as bad as we are doing, we are only 3 points out of a play-off spot. That's a win and OT Loss....so things can turn very quickly.
We are starting to run short on time however...and it would be nice if the boys could turn things around this half and give us fans more reasons to cheer.

Go Leafs Go !
(as in Go get a new GM)

Chris says:

With the the terrible downturns we've been suffering through this year I'm honestly surprised that we're doing as well as we are.

Well being a relative term.

Ok. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I'm surprised we're keeping it as close as we are.

But here's the thing. This is as well as we're likely to do with these players. Offensively we're about average. Most nights we can manage to find the back of the net at least a couple times. Yah Blake hasn't been posting his usual numbers, but he gets a pass this year. (Actually, he gets a pass for as long as he has leukemia.) In goal, Toskala has proven himself to be a step up on Raycroft and his absense proves just how much we've come to rely on him.

Our problem continues to be on the defensive front. We've got good guys, guys who can kick the ever loving crap out of you and me. But essentially guys who aren't good enough to shut down the other side on any kind of consistent basis. That's not there fault. They look to be like they're playing to the best of their ability. It's just that there ability...isn't as strong as we'd like.

Will a new GM or a head coach help this team? Not this season and not with these players. Let Ferger-berger finish his walk of shame, hire a decent GM and then do the smart thing and BACK THE F#CK OFF.