Leafs Nation is just a bit worried

Steve says:

so...here are my notes for the last game against Detroit

first of all...we had the Marlies out there..so don't get all freaked...but I am a bit concerned because the errors that were made, were not made by the young uns so much as the team as a whole....

goal #1 - what the heck was Vesa thinking coming out of the net when there were 3 red players deep in the Toronto zone?

goal #2 - Vesa makes a good save but lets out a big rebound which Ian White does nothing with in terms of defending and Detroit puts it in...I dont blame Vesa for that one...Ian White was just standing there

goal #3 - another rebound, another non play by the Leaf D man. White and Coli are both to blame...they were killing a penalty, but it was weak PK indeed

goal #4 - i cant believe Vesa lets that in...routine shot should have been a routine save.

Battaglia looked really good out there...had a lot of presence which is missing from the blue and white...

Chris says:

I had to fight the urge to pick up a pair scalped tickets to this event. S and I were meeting friends at a Jays game and we had to walk by a looooong line of scalpers just to get there. So unfortunately I won’t be able to offer up a first hand POV to this game. However, a buddy of mine wasn’t above flaunting his seats to me over drinks the night before.

When I quizzed him about the game after the fact he wasn’t able to give me the details of who scored and who was in net. BUT, he did remember that they asked fans to stay behind after the fact to be extras in the new upcoming Mike Myers’ film being shot here in Toronto, Love Guru. He’s Australian so he can be forgiven for his faulty hockey memory. As an aside, I got a sneak peek at the Love Guru script, it’s going to be hilarious and a nice shot in the arm for Leaf fans.

Here’s all you need to know about the game.

Detroit 4. Toronto 0.

And Toskala was puckstopping, in theory anyway. I forget, how much are we paying to have two goaltenders who can’t keep the puck out of the back of the net?

Postscript: Downie got a twenty game suspension, when and if he makes it to the big leagues. Not long enough IMO.

The first battle of Ontario

Steve says:
The first battle of Ontario goes to those bastard Senators.....argh..
I can't even begin to put into words how upset I am with that last call the ref made...there was no tripping...the Senator player tried to split the Toronto D and fell in the process...in the replay it clearly showed no Leaf player held him, or even had a stick near him.
But, also...that last play by Spezza made the Leafs look like real amateurs...they just stood there and watched the guy literally skate circles around them. Disgusting.

Blake and Sundin look like they will live up to the expectations though!

Chris says:

That stench in your nostrils this morning? That's the smell of the Leaf's Defense trying to contain Spezza. Smells pretty bad don't it?

Almost as bad as our powerplay. 0 for 5.

Work. In. Progress.

Under the Knife

Wellwood goes under the knife again.

Remember how great Kyle Wellwood was playing last year? Neither do I. The oft injured Wellwood is apparently out for the count, at least for the beginning of the season.

The culprit? More groin surgery.

(Ouch)

Wellwood is often touted as the Leaf’s next “playmaker” a role that’s gone unfilled in the organization for quite some time. Unfortunately he hasn’t been given the chance to live up to his tremendous potential as he was riding the pine for what felt like the majority of last year. When he did come back last year it was too little too late as the Leafs weren’t able to put together a big enough string of wins to get us to the holy land.

What makes it worse is that Wellwood didn’t even make it to the Pre-Season before he had to go for surgery. Benched, with an undisclosed tightening of the groin muscles MLSE downplayed the sitch until they were forced to come clean by curious reporters.

With no return date set for Wellwood, who knows how long we’ll have to wait and see whether or not this man can live up to all his hype.

Steve says:
There should be some kind of insurance off the cap when a player has this many injuries. Losing this guy this many times has put in the financial hole without even a whiff of a chance to make it worth it. Frustrating to say the least.

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...

Pre-Season: Game 3 Phoenix v. Toronto

Chris says:

What goes around, comes around.

After beating the Coyotes 3-2 in their last pre-season match up Wednesday, the Leafers found themselves on the short end of the stick against the very same team dropping last night’s game by an identical score.

Most disturbing element?

The Coyotes scored on Toskala with their first shot on net. If that doesn’t say humbling I don’t know what does. Now, the man isn’t completely to blame. There was some pretty lackluster D being played by the Leafs throughout. But I have to say this was supposed to be one of our big off-season upgrades and with Raycroft performing about as well as he normally does, I’m not seeing out of Tosk to put my faith in him quite yet.

This is what the Pre-Season is all about, finding your rhythm and getting familiar with your new teammates’ style of play. I just hope I don’t have to wait too much longer in order to see some tangible results.



Steve says:

So last nights game was not exactly what most of us had in mind when we thought of Vesa Toskala's first game as a Leaf.
First shot = first weak goal.
Some people actually booed Vesa for that.
But, just for a minute, try to imagine the nerves that must have been working overtime for Toskala.
He comes from San Jose, where their average attendance was probably in the ball park of 7-10,000. And reporters after the game? Maybe 1 or 2 here and there...
Now move to the centre of the Hockey universe where thousands of people spend their entire day either chatting on forums, or talking on the radio, or TV or in coffee shops and bars about every single move the team and the management make. At every practise there is a swarm of media. At game time, the ACC is exploding with energy.
Add to it the fact that Vesa sat on the pine for most of the games in SJ, and that it was the first game after a long summer.

I think if you take that all into account, Vesa can be forgiven losing game one.

Just don't let it happen again, or Toronto will have your head!

Pre-Season: Game 2

Chris says:

For those of you keeping track at home, our Pre-Season stats are 1 win and 1 loss. Of course no one is breaking out the champagne quite yet. A 3 – 2 win against the Coyotes, a team widely expected to make a run for the bottom, is hardly conclusive proof of anything. But we here at Hockey Talk are eternal optimists and even a win at a glorified game of shinny has us dreaming of the Cup.

I’m feeling good so far about the Sundin-Blake line. I think having a 40 goal scorer on his flank will go a long way to relieving some of the pressure he must feel to carry the line as well as creating a double scoring threat. Last night seems to bear that out.

Goal scorers last night? Blake, Steen and Kilger.

Here’s to 2008.

Steve says:
That's a bit better boys...The Sundin-Blake combo is starting to look really good, but damn we have got to stop giving the puck away (Gill, I'm looking at you).
although Gill had 2 helpers in the game, he also did a tape to tape pass right onto a phoenix players stick....
I mean, come on,...that's basic stuff we are dealing with here...Don't pass the puck to the other team.
If you lose the puck in a battle on the boards, OK
If you lose the puck scrambling in front of the net, OK (not great but OK)
BUT
If you are in your zone and you PASS it to the other team, NOT OK!
We need to work on D still, but it should come with time....and Raycroft looked shaky in the last minute, but had much better rebound control for most of the night. The go ahead goal scored by Phoenix was , yup you guessed it , short side glove hand!..dude...practise using your glove ...PLEASE!!!!

so, overall I'd say that was a below average game, with some moments of offensive greatness against a mediocre team.
We will need to do better against other teams.
but a win is a win...I'll take it....and yes, I am wearing the Blue and White today!

1st game...1st loss

Steve says:

well...it didn't end as I would have hoped, but wow, what a game...the future really does look good for the Leafs....great plays, lots of grit, and the goal tending was outstanding..
I will say the ref called way too many penalties, especially for a preseason game....
and we spent a lot of time in the box...i guess that issues is still carrying over from last year...that's gotta stop...
Justin Pogge stole large parts of that game for us...just awesome to watch...

kudos to NHL TV for putting these games online for free!

Chris says:

I'm a bad commentator.

I missed the game because I was playing one of my own. But I did read the wrap up. Apparently Paul Maurice is none to happy with his Top Line not playing the way he'd like to see. It's one game and waaaay to early to read into it. Mo is probably just trying to make sure he's lit a fire under the collective asses of his team early on.

free on line games

Steve says:

watch all preseason games free on-line...
https://www.nhl.tv/team/secure/loginform?product=SEASON

create your account from where you will be watching the games cuz they base it on IP address...

Go Leafs

Game 1

Steve says:

Tonight Justin Pogge will be in nets for pre-season Game #1 vs. Edmonton...it should be good!

Our lineup looks like this:

O:

Ponikarovsky/Wellwood/Tucker

Gamache/Stajan/Williams

Tlusty/Kilger/Salmelainen

Ondrus/Newbury/Belak

D:

McCabe/Colaiacovo

Kaberle/Muir

Harrison/Walser

G:

Pogge