From left field...

Chris says:

In case you’re dead…ooor have been living in some sort of cave, on Mars perhaps, you’ve missed the Leafs “Big Play” yesterday.

The Leafs are chasing John Tavares and trying to get him to sign up with their Marlies farm club.

The 17 year old “phenom” is a mere five days to young to qualify for the 2008 draft. So the Leafs are offering him a chance to opt out of that draft and play for the Marlies instead.

It’s hardly written in stone, the AHL has the same age requirements as the NHL and Tavares doesn’t seem to have a burning desire to get out of his commitment with Oshawa Generals. So it would take some rule bending and a little more incentive for him to sign on.

But even though it’s a slight possibility. It’s a possibility nonetheless.

Honestly, it’s nice to see the Leafs and JFJ think outside the box and try something like this. It may not work, they may fall flat on their faces, but just the fact that they’re out there knocking on doors and trying to create some opportunities shows that maybe they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make themselves a better team.

Good for you. What took you so long?

Game 11

Steve says:

...And help they did! Nice job by Tlusty to get his first 2 goals :40 apart in his first NHL game...keep it up!

BUT the most important factor of last nights game is that our D stayed at home...no pinching except when totally safe to do so...we dropped our shots against from the average 45/50 per game down to 25! Toskala can handle that every night...

As for the whole JT thing, (in case you don't know, JFJ has made an offer to John Tavares from the Oshawa Generals to come and play for the Marlies) I don't know if JFJ can make it work...but it is an act of desperation....and sometimes desperation results in miracles.

Chris says:

Wow.

Some good news out of Leafdom for a change.

Now that’s the game we’ve been waiting to see.

At only 19 years of age Jiri Tlusty broke into the NHL in a big way last night, scoring twice, a mere 35 seconds apart, to lead our boys in a romp over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

What’s that Sidney Crosby? Suck it?

I think maybe he will.

Vulgarity aside it was a hell of a game last night. The third period, traditionally a dying ground for this Leafs this season, became a scoring exhibition of sorts. Besides Tlusty’s pair, the Leafs other scorers for the evening were Steen, Devereaux and Kaberle.

Maurice needed to shake things up. We’re scoring lots of goals but our defense has been letting games that we have in the bag slip away from us. When you’re struggling as badly as we are right now, there are worse strategies then calling up a couple of hungry young players to take a crack at the big time. Well, for one game at least, the gamble has paid off.

This is as it should be. No one’s place in the roster is secure. You need to earn, every night, the right to step onto that ice.

Much like last year we seem to have been bitten by the injury bug again, besides Wellwood and Colaiacovo recent additions to the list include McCabe and Tucker. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Wellwood and Colaiacovo? The last time I heard both players were on the mend and mere days away from being back in the lineup. Yet so far we’ve seen nothing. What gives? News on this subject from the front office has dried up and I haven’t the foggiest idea of what their status is.