I'm back!

I went home for the holidays and neglected my blog for a little while. I got Rock 'Em Sock 'Em 21 on DVD. That should be fun to watch; I haven't watched on of these since the 90's. I also got to watch the Leafs struggle against Buffalo, Phoenix and Montreal but pull out wins over Pittsburgh and Boston. Despite some shakey play, the Leafs remain in the hunt.

The game tomorrow in Edmonton will be fun to watch, if only because we rarely get to see the Edmonton Oilers. They are a young team that is still struggling to find consistency. They lack potent weapons on the offensive end, but have the people in place to have an effective powerplay (although they are below the Leafs in that category).

I'd like to see Phil Kessel be an impact player tomorrow night. I think his play has been sub-par recently, and a good game on the road could help him to find his goal scoring rythym again. And if Kessel can get going, that will help his linemates to produce. If I were Ron Wilson, I would stop putting Kessel on the half boards and instead have him set just off to the side of the goal. Kessel could then look for rebounds and tip ins, or the Leafs could try to implement that cross-crease play that was so successful with Darcy Tucker and Kyle Wellwood / Mats Sundin.

The World Junior Hockey Championships has been fun to watch, with the Leafs finally having a good prospect in the tournament. Kadri has been solid, although a bit undisciplined. The tournament has been a bit of a bore though. Canada has destroyed Latvia, Switzerland, and Slovakia. The games have been too one-sided to be entertaining. We do have the US coming up and that game should be a fun one to watch.

Just when I think I'm out...

...they keep pulling me back in!

These Toronto Maple Leafs might have dug themselves into a deep hole in October, but they are determined to remain relevant and interesting. Sure, they spotted the Florida Panthers an early two goal lead in the first period. Unlike earlier in the season, however, the blue and white managed to battle back and eventually grab the win. It was very refreshing to see Toronto hold the lead late and defend it without the opposition creating one amazing scoring chance after another.

The Maple Leafs are 5-4-3 in the month of November. 13 points in 12 games is in no way a great month, but for a team that won once in October, it is a vast improvement. The players have not given up yet, and that gives me at least a small amount of hope that this team can battle back and compete for a playoff spot.

As Greg Millen said tonight, the puck just seems to find the good goal scorers sometimes. The second Kessel goal definitly follows that adage. The first goal by Kessel was just a supreme effort by a talented player. I could watch that goal for days and not get bored of it. Hagman continued his excellent play with two goals. Both came from his willingness to go to the net and fight for space. His backhander through a crowd had eyes and I was very suprised to see the puck even reach Vokoun.

The star of the game, in my eyes, was Ponikarovsky. People always bash him, but he has been a key contributor for this team for years now. To see him involved in four goals tonight was not a suprise. When he decides to compete, he has both the size and strength to bully the defence and he has enough of a scoring touch to be a threat around the crease. With Mats Sundin, he was a force, and last season he scored a career high 23 goals without Mats. I believe Alexei is a free agent at the end of this season, and I wonder if he will go the way of Antropov and be moved.

This was a good game for the Leafs. To come back on the road is always a strong statement. Hopefully, the Leafs can keep this little streak going and inch their way back into the race.

Monster Performance

After a horrible start to the season, who thought the Maple Leafs would be able to play so well against the Detroit Red Wings?

Sure, the Wings are missing some key people, but they have been playing well despite their losses and are still a dangerous team in the Western Conference. Tonight, the Leafs were able to take the lead and hold it with good defence and some great goaltending from "The Monster".

Seeing the Leafs score 5 is great. In all of their overtime loses, they have struggled to put the puck into the net. With Phil Kessel in the line-up, the Leafs just seem to be better at finishing their chances. The powerplay continues to be a positive for the Leafs and the penalty kill is slowly improving.

I expect Jonas Gustavsson to start on Tuesday against Minnesota and on Friday in Chicago. Depending on how the Chicago game plays out, he could also play on Saturday against Calgary. Really, this team needs to ride "The Monster". He is playing very well and is the reason why the Leafs have seemingly found their groove.

A New Beginning

So, October was a fun month, eh?

Everything pointed towards the Leafs being a better team then this before the season began. The defence was supposed to be tougher. The goaltending was supposed to improve. The penalty kill was supposed to be somewhat effective.

With one month done and only one win, the Toronto Maple Leafs have looked worse then the team from last year. Losses to Washington and New York stick out in particular as moments this Leafs team would like to forget. Vesa Toskala was absolutely terrible and has lost his starting job. Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin have had a difficult time fitting in. Finding goals has been difficult.

Looking forward, there is some hope still for this Maple Leafs team to turn things around. The last four games have seen a huge improvement in all aspects of the game. Jonas Gustavsson has been fantastic. The defence has done a better job in front of the net. The powerplay has started to perform at a high level, mostly because of Tomas Kaberle.

The Leafs have recieved points in all of their last four games, but only won the game in Anaheim. They deserved better against Dallas, Buffalo and Montreal.

Despite the terrible start, Toronto is only 7 points back of a playoff spot. With "The Monster" in goal and the addition of Phil Kessel to the line-up, the Leafs will begin the long climb back into contention tomorrow night when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to the Air Canada Centre.

I personally believe Kessel will make a difference for the Leafs. Although some say Marc Savard is the reason Kessel scored 36 goals, the majority of Kessel's goals actual come from his powerful wrist shot. His ability to put a hard, accurate shot on goal from all angles will be a big help to a Leafs team that sometimes fails to even hit the net.

This is a new beginning for the Leafs. Hopefully it is a good one.