Game 3

Steve says:

WooHoo!

We got win #1 under our belt! It was a great effort by all of the buds to come back from being down 3-1.

Once again the refs made some pretty bad calls on both sides including one on Sundin in Overtime, and then right after we killed that off, one on the habs...but that last one worked in our favour so I won't complain too loudly.

Once again Toskala made some huge saves to keep us in it. Now if only we didn't have to score 4 goals to win a game...

I am glad that Blake is such a strong person to be able to to play as well as he has knowing that he has a rare form of cancer. Hopefully he is telling the truth about his ability to continue playing. I hope he recovers and that his family doesn't need to suffer.

Good job boys...now lets keep the train a rollin'!

Go Leafs!

Chris Says:

I have a confession to make. I was watching this game at a restaurant in Montreal when I should have been paying attention to my lovely and gorgeous fiancé who was sitting at the table with me.

Oh, by the way, Steve, I’m going to need a groomsman. Save the date.

Anyway, moving on. This was a great game. It was good to see the boys in blue battle back after getting down two goals. Toskala was sharp and the defense wasn’t totally porous. But in the third period Toskala was leaving the net a lot to field the puck on the boards and that was making me nervous. On more than one occasion a Habs player could have easily given him a well placed nudge. Raycroft has the same habit and it’s that kind of wanderlust that could see a quick goal scored on an undefended T.O. net.

Stay between the pipes boys and if you’re gonna leave the safety of the crease, at least be smart about it and don’t chase after every puck skidding across the ice like an over anxious retriever.

Three assists from Sundin and that ain’t shabby. But I want to see the old man scoring goals. He may not have m(any) more seasons left in him and I’d like to see him run up his stats while he still can.

And finally, Jason Blake. For those of you still unaware Blake was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The good news is apparently CML is highly treatable so Blake’s prognosis is positive. Having gone through my own cancer scare with my mother this year I know how heavy this kind of stuff can be. I wish him all the best and I hope that he comes through this thing in flying colours.

Game 2

Steve says:

First, the good stuff.

SUNDIN TIES SITTLER!!!

Ok, on with the rest...

Steve's Report Card
Game 2

Offense - C

Defence - D

Goaltending - B

Overall, it was more of the same. More Penalties. More Defensive breakdowns.
I didn't think that Blake-Sundin-Antro really gelled too well last night. But Toskala was really good. It was nice to see our goalie making a few great stops at key times to keep us in the game. It must be frustrating for him to make all those stops and then still lose because of the 10 penalties we took against one of the most offensive teams in the league. On top of that, we totally failed to make anything of the chance we got on the powerplay (I don't think we can call ours, a "power"play). At one point we had an extra man for 4 minutes. and what happened? Nothing, barely even a scoring chance.

I do have a bone to pick with the reffing in the league however. This is not because of the penalties. Don't worry I'm not some guy who whines when his team loses that the refs were paid or anything stupid like that. No, this is because of inconsistency from one game to the next depending on which ref you get. The Blake goal which was disallowed due to Goaltender interference was a correct call. As much as I didn't like it, it was the correct call to make (although my Leafer side says that I am sure Blake did everything he could to get out of the way). My issue with it is the fact that 20 minutes later in a different game, Phoenix scored a goal and they had players literally sitting on the Blues goalie. How does that goal count but the Blake one not?

vs

Inconsistency from ref to ref has plagued this game for decades. There needs to be a standard set and met each and every night from every ref so that the players know each night what they can and can not do.

Go Leafs...take this same game (minus the penalties) to Montreal (1-0-0, 6th overall) and kick their asses!