Win #2 ! 4-2 vs. Boston

Steve says:

That was a really good game for our guys...there were some big hits, and we stood up for ourselves. We won puck battles in the corners and best of all, we didn't give up after being down 2-0.

No Blake in the lineup didn't stop us from having a lot of shots on net, but this time some of them went in...

Toskala got his 100th win which is cool.

Van Ryn got his first goal as a Leaf.

Hagman played another solid game.

Schenn was pretty solid for the most part. He took a couple of penalties standing up for teammates which I am totally OK with and he was cool and collected on the PK. Great future for this kid...and it looks like he'll stay up with the big club for the duration.

between the #'s

Steve says:

Hollweg runs a kid from behind. The kid sees the hit coming and turns his back (rookie mistake). Hollweg gets a match penalty, and a 3 game suspension and all of Leafs Nation starts to turn him into the new whipping boy.

Malkin, one of the NHL's poster boys, runs Semin in the back. Malkin gets a 2 minute boarding penalty.

Kostitsyn, on the glorious 100 year old Habs team, runs Wideman into next week...he starts his charge at the blue line and ends it somewhere around row 5 in the stands...verdict? 2 minute boarding.

Now you may make the argument that Hollweg has a history and I will give you that. This guy has got to stop hitting like that. He must adapt his game if he hopes to continue on.

But, the whole point of the stiff sentences is to not only get Hollweg to change his ways, but also to send a message to all players that the league will not tolerate hits from behind.

I cant see how the message will ever get across if the only player being actually punished for doing this is Hollweg.

A streak?

Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins
Toronto wins 3 - 2 (S.O.)

Chris says:

Toskala's first shootout win, and a great shootout victory for Steen. There was some sweet hockey being played in Beantown last night.

That sound you heard last night was the collective snapping of all the ankles in Toronto as people hurried to make space for themselves on the Leafs bandwagon.

If you listen real hard you might even the same sound from Ottawa as Steve processes the ramifications of a two game 'streak'.

Suddenly winning two games balances out that five game free fall and all is forgiven, if not forgotten.

But it's not that easy. The Leafs aren't a bad team, they just aren't good enough to crack the playoff threshold. That means that they're going to put together some winning streaks, just like any other team, but it also means that there losing streaks will be longer and more painful.

There are two trains of thought circulating about what the remainder of the Leafs season is going to shape up as.

1. Playoff bound. This season is far from over and given the right wins under the right circumstances we can back in the hunt for a playoff position before the end of next week. I'm going to file this under 'P' for Possible, but highly unlikely.

2. Then there are the people who think the Leafs should start tanking games, on purpose. (Instead of, y'know, losing them accidentally like they are right now) The logic being that the worse the Leafs do in the standing the better our draft pick. Here's my official response.

Do you really want to cheer and support a team that intentionally loses games? Is a solitary high level draft pick really worth the knowledge that your team went out there to screw the pooch? That kind of thinking smacks of everything that's wrong with professional sports these days. It says that players are only in the game for a paycheque and that pride, honour and competitiveness aren't a factor at all.

If the Leafs finish up in the bottom of the standings, let it be a testament to their (in)ability, not their willingness to take a dive.

Steve says:

Not that I want them to lose...but I am looking at a bigger picture here..even if we somehow manage to get into the playoffs, I just don't think this team has either the talent or mental ability to maintain a deep run or the Cup run. I would love to be proven wrong. And I will be cheering them on with every breath if they manage to sneak in there...
BUT
looking ahead to next year, it would be a lot sweeter if we could be picking first at the draft.
Not only that, but with Sundin as a rental player we could also have from Vancouver a package deal involving a top prospect (one of goalie Cory Schneider or defenseman Luc Bourdon), plus first- and second-round draft picks...and possibly even Ryan Kesler in a deal to sweeten the pot!
All of this is because Canuck center Brendan Morrison is out of action due to wrist surgery.

Can you imagine what next year would look like if we had the 1st pick at the draft, Luc Bourdon, Ryan Kesler, re-sign Sundin, plus Vancouvers and our own 2nd round picks!!!!

Holy crap we would be good!

Look...I think the Leafs are a team with huge heart, but with players like Wozniewski and White getting regular shift, Tucker falling off in both skills and health, Sundin with not a lot of help (love ya Blake, but dude ya gotta start putting them in the back of the net more!) I just think this franchise would benefit hugely from some good fortune in the not to distant future in lieu of another average season...just like we have seen since the 90's...

Go Leafs Go!

from last night...to tonight

Steve says:

Some good things happened for the Leafs:
Sens beat the Penguins
Devils beat the Bruins
Flames beat Tampa

but, with the good comes the bad

habs beat flyers
isles beat yotes

So after all the dust has settled, Toronto gets bumped down to 10th place.
The good way to spin this is that we are now in a 3 way tie for points with Pittsburgh and NYIslanders. Pittsburgh has played the same number of games as us, and the Islanders only have 1 game in hand.
The Habs, Rangers, Bruins, and Devils have all also played the same number of games...so we can really see where we sit right now...which is out of a playoff spot.

That means that our future is really in our own hands now. Hopefully we fans will not be left on the edge of our seats hoping for some other team to win in order to decide our playoff fate this year.

Of the games happening tonight, here is who I hope wins...

Caps over Sabres
Flames over Canes
Leafs over Thrashers (duh)

Go Leafs Go!

Game 30 - Boston wins 2-1

Steve says:

I went to this game since I was visiting friends in Toronto. Chris however wussed out after pulling an old-man stunt during his afternoon knitting session. No worries, I went anyway...and got a ticket for $50....all those people who think it is impossible to get Leafs tickets have probably never tried.

As for the game, it was pretty boring to watch...the trap Boston played pretty much killed the Leafs multiple attempts to carry across the blue...which is what was pissing me off...why could PM not see the 1-4 trap and tell the guys to go back to the dump and chase?

Also, any time White or Woz touched the puck, it usually ended up as a turnover...I mean there were some seriously bad passes out of our zone....

The Leaf goal was lucky by Blake...caught Auld daydreaming I think...the first Bruin goal was lucky..same thing..Toskala dreaming about something...the 2nd Bruin goal was a nice screen job and slapshot...

I think that, as boring as this game was, if the Leafs had decided to take more shots on goal, they could have pulled off a win...instead they tried to make the perfect pass...but it usually ended up on a Bruin stick...

I cant wait for the next game I go to at the ACC...I'll need to make sure Chris isn't at his bridge club meeting...

Game 29 - Holy Antropov! another win! 6-2 vs. Rangers

Steve says:

Wooooooo Hooooooo!

Now this is what I am talking about! solid Defensive hockey (except for the Rangers 1st goal...we looked like old Leafs on that one) and some creative and aggressive offense is gonna take us far.

I would have liked to see a higher SOG number, but as long as they are going in the back of the net, I can't really complain.

Toskala is really doing it for us. Yes Antropov got a hat trick, but it is the extra confidence that the guys seem to have that Toskala can pull off a few big time stops in a game to keep us in it.

I love that at one point during the game, they showed Sean Avery checking his blackberry...you know a team is getting whooped when the players start checking email during the game!

Good on ya boys!

I'm heading down the 401 to Toronto tonight to see some family and friends...Chris and I are gonna get together to try to get some cheap scalper seats at the ACC for Sat. Hope we get to see win #5 against the Bruins...the key to that one is to get at the goalies fast and early to shake them all up...and use Blake's speed to get around Chara.

Game 20

Boston Bruins @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston wins 5 - 2

Chris:

"Gee Chris. Why aren't you writing about the recent loss of the Leafs?"

"Well, Phantom Reader" I'm not writing about the Leafs because I have absolutely nothing to say that I haven't already mentioned in the last 19 some odd posts."

"Oh?"

"Allow me to break it down for you. Raycroft was in net (cue furious head nodding). The defence was at its best, which is to say it had more holes in it than a colander and frankly the whole team was skating around the ice like a bunch of multi-millionares who were just there to earn there paycheques. So good on you Toronto. You've managed to live up the expectations of all your fans. Which isn't saying much these days."

Beantown goes down...barely.

The Pre-Season matchups continued on Saturday with Toronto spanking Boston 4-3.

New man on campus Scott Clemmensen was the net minder for the affair. Initially the Leafs were up 2 – nil on Bruins before finding themselves on the short end of stick, down 3 – 2 in the third. However, Pohl scored early into the third period and that was enough to send the game into a shootout.

14 shots later Kubina finally managed to score and the Leafs were able to notch another win on their belt.

Goal scorers for the game were Mitchell, Kilger, Pohl and Kubina

I don’t know about you but in my mind one of the Leafs weakest areas is their shootout game play, offensively and defensively. Last year Raycroft would hunker down in the crease rarely, if ever, coming out to challenge players. And frankly we let way to many games slip out of hands when our team couldn’t manage to find the back of the net.

It may not seem like much but when you add up all the points that we could have taken from a successful shootout, who’s to say how the season would have ended if we’d have been a little more proficient at dealing with this “new” tie breaking format.

Steve says:
The funny thing is that Clemmenson was the guy who ended up deciding the ultimate fate of the Leafs last season. I find it so weird that he is a Leaf now...