The new comeback kids

Steve says,

well, we started off good...

then it got sloppy...

then it got even more sloppy,

then we started kicking the snot out of people,

then they started taking penalties,

then we scored 3 unanswered goals for the win.

and what a clutch save by Toskala in OT...makes up for some of the sloppy play I mentioned earlier...

and a sweet goal by Hagman, using the D man as a screen...smart move.

nice to have a winning record for now...

these guys are fun to watch even when losing...

Kaberle and Beauchemin look great together ...lots of communication...nice to see a good tandem on our blue line...

Oh...and in case you've been living under a rock...we got Kessel!

The Future

As we near the end of another season I feel the need to point out some highlights.

Starting with our future...Christian Hanson is already a welcome new addition, and Tyler Bozak will come in next training camp and prove all the drafters of past years wrong...I hope...

Poni had a great season even though we traded Antropov away. Grabovski broke the 20 goal mark in his rookie season. Kulemin has shown major progress towards his development to the North American ice surfaces. His forecheck has become a major part of his game. Hagman has scored 20 goals even though he missed 20 games due to injuries. I hope he can remain healthy next season as he is a major workhorse on every shift. Blake had a much improved season. He and Moore had some great chemistry before Burke traded Moore away...and how could he not...Moore was asking for the moon...nice try Dom...Burke is not JFJ. Blake looks like he is having fun on the Leafs team this year...and I think it has a lot to do with the change in the room. All the players who felt they had "the right" to be Leafs are gone. What's left are a group of youngsters competing for jobs with a few good vets in place for leadership. Toskala had a terrible season that he put down to injury...but with his surgery this summer, he should be 100% next season...let's hope for the best.

Whatever happens over the summer will surely make the Leafs even more dangerous next season. No one is expecting the Leafs to compete next season again. They are expected to continue the rebuild. And so they might...but I see the competitive fires burning in Burke...and I think we will pick up a FA and maybe even another big college guy before long (Gilroy?).

It's a no lose situation...which is great...Leaf games have been very entertaining for just that reason....and we'll get 82+ more next season.

Go Leafs!

History is made...and The Comeback (almost) Kids

Steve says:

OBAMA-RAMA!

down 3-0....we get 1

then down 4-1...and we storm back to tie it

a goal by Blake is called back (early whistle)

only to have a shot from the point go in past a screened Toskala.

Another painful loss after a storybook comeback.

Seems these guys love to bounce back in the 2nd period.

That Grabovski / Kulemin / Hagman line is deadly!

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.

Free Agency rant

Steve:
what do you think of the idea of having Cujo back to backup Vesa...maybe pass on some knowledge...and be a decent back up to rest Vesaeverynow and then...he wouldn't command a lot of $$...and could fill in for 20-ish gamesHoward Berger says he has a few sources that say that it is likely thatCujo will end up in Toronto tomorrow (July 1)

thoughts?

Chris:
Cujo for one year at 700k isn't terrible.Then we bring up Pogge to backup Toskala with the eventual idea ofmaking him your starter.

Steve:
exactly...I think it's a great acquisition.I'm on the fence about Jeff Finger...looks like he could turn out to begood, but that's a big chunk of coin for an unproven guy...

Chris:
On Ron Wilson's say so it sounds.

Steve:
he's got good #'s and i remember him in the play-offs and thinking thathewas a solid hitter...I think he's a good add simply because he is a stay at home Dman...whichissomething we have needed for a while...he doesn't do much offensively, but ...they say the best offence is a good defence!

Chris:
I'm not sold on him yet.But he'll have lots of time to prove himself.

Steve:
i just youtubed Finger (man...that sounds dirty)and a lot of his footage is big hits followed by fights, where Fingerstakes guys down to the ice...

Chris:
So they're looking for a new Domi/Tucker

Steve:
basically...I thought Mayers was the new Tucker...
it just looks to me that we are getting big guys that can play welldefensively which falls inline with Ron Wilson's style of coaching...I guess we are hoping that Blake and Antro and Stajan all turn it up anotch to core more goals..It makes sense since a lot of our losses were due to poor D play and notdue to lack of goals....I think we can score enough (especially if Kelumin turns out to be asgoodas his reports say he will...)...we just need to keep the puck out ofourown net...especially in the 3rd period..

Chris:
I still say we need a better goal scorer

Steve:
i don't disagree...but lets see what Fletch does...and Kulemin might be pretty damn good...
I don't see how Sundin can turn down the Canuck offer...so I doubt he iscoming to us...
screwed at trade deadline,...screwed in offseason...damn

Chris:
20 mill for two years.Damn. I want him back but if that's his worth on the free market...

Steve:
and Mats just announced that he isnt ready to make a decision yet about next year!http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242264&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main

that means even $20mil cant make him hurry up...crazyso..my thinking is that he is either going to retire, or is waiting to see what Fletch does...or..that he is thinking that even at $20 mill he is still not joining a cup contender...but he didn't exactly jump at the MTL offers did he?and Detroit took Hossa..so...that's out...

Chris:
Or he could retire and then come back to a cup contender just before the
trade deadline.

Steve:
I don't see that happening as that would make him a Rental player...and we know how he feels about that...

the future

Steve says:

So it seems like we can beat the top teams (Ott, Det, Mtl) but cant seem to muster up enough cahones to take out the teams we actually need to beat if the playoffs are in our future (Buf, NYI).

Thant's ok though, cuz with each loss, we are that much closer to having the #1 draft pick (STAMKOS!!!). And since it appears (for the moment) that Sundin is not actually gonna lift that NTC, then we need to prepare for the worst...and that means losing Sundin to either another team and get nothing for him, or lose Sundin to retirement, or resign Sundin to a big contract in order to keep him over the summer.
those 3 options kinda blow, but that looks like how it will play out.

We do have some other assets to work with however. And at every game now there are more and more scouts out to see our wares. Last night Dallas scouts were in town to watch Blake. They lost to Toronto last summer in a bidding war to get Blake, and now that they can smell blood, they are back in the hunt.
I personally hope Blake stays. Dallas does not have a lot to offer us for him, and he is really starting to become the player I was expecting him to be. I always knew he wouldnt reach that 40 goal plateau again (esp not with this lineup) but I knew he would drive the net hard, take a lot of shots in hopes of rebounds and ...let's face it..the guy is one of the only Leafs who shows up every night.

keep Blake
keep Toskala
keep Moore
figure out the Sundin issue

the rest are up for grabs

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!

Free Tickets

Carolina Hurricanes at Toronto Maple Leafs
Leafs win 5-4

Chris says:

So,

At the absolute last minute S and I got tickets to the Leafs game last night, for the shiny price of cheap as free.

We were in the second row in the lower reds so the seats were absolutely phenomenal. If I can get away with it at work, I’ll upload a couple pictures from last night’s game.

Our seats allowed us access to the Air Canada executive lounge. (Think of it as the place where all the rich, old, fat, white men go to die.) It was pretty swank. But, on our way up to the lounge we had to pile into an elevator with David Suzuki. And by pile into an elevator I mean I was literally squished into David’s personal breathing room, which was just awkward for the both of us. Cool, but awkward.

Then in the exec lounge, I’m drinking one of my el cheapo eight dollar domestic beers when I look up to see Wendel Clark at the table next to me. S flatly refused to believe it was Clark until they flashed an older picture of him up on the overhead screen just before the game.

And FINALLY, as we’re sitting in our seats getting a little picture happy with the camera, (look I never thought I’d ever get an opp to be this close to the game – they really were great seats), Walter Gretzky came out and started posing for pictures with all the kids and their parents in the back of the section right in front of us. The man was literally five feet away. We snapped a couple pics but they honestly weren’t the greatest.

I honestly don’t go in for the fanboy routine, but there I was in free Leaf seats, in the lower bowl, with a beer in my hand and an opportunity to meet Walter Gretzky.

Chris = happy.

Oh, and the Leafs won too, which was pretty great.

Steve says:

You bastard! Sooo lucky!
David Suzuki! amazing!
ha!

That's really cool. I imagine that was a lot of fun.
I was only able to see highlights since I am stuck in Ottawa, and I cant even see the game on TV.
As for the game itself, I am actually surprised that they won. But they just held on against the late period surge. But everyone looked shaky to me. Even Toskala let out some HUGE rebounds...some great saves, but also some huge rebounds....which did cost him.
And Kubina decision to ice the puck with 8 seconds left in a 1 goal game was probably not the best choice to make.
The Ferguson interview was a refreshing change from the usual white-washed answers we get from Leafs people. He basically said that the team underachieved and that the buck stops with him. No running, no hiding or anything...just straight up answers...weird.
Also, I saw Blake on "The Hour" last night and it was pretty clear to me that he doesn't want to stay in Toronto. When asked about why he wasn't scoring goals like last year, he responded "sometimes change is good...and then , like this, sometimes change is bad".
When asked if he would finish the season here, he just sort of laughed and said "we'll see".
Never, at any point did he say that he wants to stay in Toronto and be a part of turning things around (like Sundin does at every chance).

that was a bit disheartening.

So I guess a win was good...but does it just prolong the pain of havig Peddie and JFJ running the ship...will JFJ be in charge of a Sundin trade?

Game 31 - Leafs extinguish Lightning 6-1

Steve says:

woo hoo...that was a "shitkickin" to quote the coach of Tampa Bay. Great play all around. Even the PP was looking good. Blake with a sweet tip in. Toskala gets an assist. Even Wozniewski made a pretty sweet pass.

I will say that when this team is clickin, they really click! Nice to see them rebound off a loss with a commanding effort on home ice before a 7 game road trip.

Now we get to the real serious section of the season. We are in the meat and potatoes part of the season. we need to get our record over .500...preferably 5 games over .500. That would put us on pace to be 10 over .500 by the end of the season and that would put us in good position for a playoff spot. These are the games that matter most. We've had some time to make some mistakes and learn how to play as a team. Our PP still needs some love, but it is starting to look better. We are finally combining shots with the patient passing and it is getting results.

Our D is collapsing nicely and we have really eliminated the 2-1 rushes that killed us so many times at the top of the season.

And of course, Toskala has been playing the kind of solid goal tending I always knew he was capable of. This is the kind of consistent positional play I was waiting for. He is very aggressive in challenging the shooter which can lead to rebounds, but 2 great things have been happening as of late. Firstly, he is standing up more and not allowing himself to be baited out of position. Secondly, the D has become much better at clearing the rebounds out to the forwards who are collapsing down more to get the puck out of our zone.

All positive things that they hopefully will continue to execute over the next 2 weeks on the road.

Go Leafs Go!

ps. The Leafs management are cleaning some cap space by putting Battaglia on waivers today. I wonder if this means a trade is coming up...I hope JFJ doesn't do anything stupid.

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 27 - Leafs win...AGAIN! 4-2

Steve says:

A 2 game winning streak !!!
Now that was a great game...total domination for most of the game. A slight breakdown in the 3rd made me a bit nervous, but they managed to pull it off. Very good job boys!

The aggressive fore check and the blanket coverage on Crosby (nice kick Vesa!) had our boys looking in fine form...and watching Roberts go into a hissy fit was pretty funny as well...

After the loss to the Habs, Vesa said something to the effect that if they keep playing the way they did that night, they would be a hard team to beat....and it looks as thought he may have known what he was talking about.

For the first time in a while, I am excited about Leafs play again instead of the management (or lack thereof) side of things...of course that means we will probably lose...lol!

but hey...at least we are not the Sens ...6 losses in a row!!! and more to come I am sure.

Go Leafs Go!

hey kid...watch where you are going...that blue ice is mine alone

Game 26 - Leafs Win! Leafs Win! 4-2

Steve says:
Sundin with a sweet backhander...how that went in, I'll never know...and Toskala playing a great game especially near the end with a HUGE blocker save!
On the 2nd goal by Notlanta (ha !), Enstrom just walks in from the right point while Stajan is caught watching the puck instead of taking his man out....I hope someone points this out to him because that is how we are letting in most of our goals. Our defensive mode is supposed to take out the man...but we often get caught watching the puck or following the man in to the corner...must be more careful to watch for open players.

It was a great game for the players last night...but there is a problem that the win creates....it allows the OTPP to stay the course just that much longer with JFJ....and if the Leafs manage a win on Saturday, then who knows how much longer JFJ can stretch that into him keeping his job.

I went and reviewed JFJ's actual record of trades etc. and it was pretty depressing. Most of the people we traded our future away for are no longer playing hockey and/or only played 15 or so games for us...woo hoo (/sarcasm) .

I hear reports out of Florida and McLean with regards to management changes...I wonder if that will turn into anything ...do we want it to?

ps. Ottawa lost it's 5th in a row.... :-)

Game 25 - Habs win in s/o 4-3

Steve says:

Captain clutch gives the Leafs (and PM and JFJ) hope with 17 seconds left thanks to some real hard work by Jason Blake....but the PM fucks it all up by putting Tucker in the shootout!

I really feel bad for Jason Blake...the poor guy cant buy a goal....he is working so hard and in the last few games I have seen at least a dozen shots that would have gone in had Jason not been jinxed by some weird voodoo.

And as for Vesa toskala...poor guy again...our D just keeps leaving him out to dry. I wouldn't say even one of those goals was his fault. He didn't let in one bad goal with the possible exception being the only that got jammed under his pad..but can you say "goaltender interference"?

The Hab player was all over him and jabbing Toskala with his stick...at what point does it become interference/slashing/spearing ?

It will be interesting to see if the OTPP finally steps in and does something about this train wreck. Sundin and Toskala deserve better.

ps. I think the zamboni driver was drunk.

vs the Habs - a preview

Steve says:

- Price in nets for the Habs
- Lafleur called the whole team a bunch of 4th liners
- Toskala starting for us
- Poni may not play, and if that is the case there is a possibility that Mark Bell could go onto the 1st line

WTF?! Mark Bell on the 1st line...

What the hell is PM thinking....with his job essentially on the line tonight ..he is gonna try Mark Bell on line 1?

Games 12

Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Rangers
Final Score: 4 -1 Leafs

Chris:

There we go! That’s more like it!

We’ve won two games in a row. No matter how tenuous the claim that’s officially a strike.

I think you may see Toskala moving ever so sloooowly into the starter’s position now, if by now you mean finally. He’s had two solid starts in net now, the momentum is with him and there’s also going to be the psychological aspect. The team is starting to feel like they can win in front of Toskala and that’s huge. Like anyone else, when the team mentality is sucking (see recent uninspiring start to season) they’re going to over think the situation, play conservative hockey and generally beat themselves. When they think they can win, they’re going to play good aggressive hockey and make things happen on the ice.

Aside from a slow start on Saturday it wasn’t a particularly noteworthy game. Yes we managed to protect our two goal lead in the third period, which has been a problem as of late. But with that exception it wasn’t spectacular hockey. Rather, it was the kind of game we need to win on a nightly basis. One we where show up, get ourselves on the board and then protect the lead through smart hockey and capable defense.

In net, see above, Toskala was more than capable, shutting down the Rangers and even managing to fan the Rangers when they had a two man advantage. Goal scorers for the evening were Kubina, Antropov, Pohl and Kilger with the empty netter.

Steve says:

I thought that we finally played some good positional defensive hockey which has been missing since...well...since as long as I can recall....years even...
A win against the Rangers, one of if not THE lowest scoring team, is not super spectacular, but a winis a win and since it is 2 in a row, I'll take it and love it!

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.

well...that was painful...

Steve says:

Ok...well....they pretty much sucked all around last night...uhm...*searching for a good point to last night's game*


oh yeah...here's a good point...Ed Belfour lost 7-2 to the Ottawa Senators in the preseason the same year he owned them in the playoffs....so...hopefully this will be a serious kick in the ass for Toskala et al to wake the hell up and play some real hockey.

They were beaten by Derek Roy alone!

I just don't know...maybe these boys needed a good schooling like that. All the preseason games have been decided by one goal...so maybe they always went back to the dressing room thinking that they were actually in these games ...until someone came along who decided to really take it to them...and last night was the result.
But, that being said, it is pre-season, and perhaps they were trying new things...

unfortunately, losing is not new anymore...

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!

blue and white game

Steve says:

argh...whole post just disappeared..so now you get the short form version...
saw the blue and white game
Liked:
sundin-Blake combo....great passing and playmaking
Dis-liked:
Toskala and raycroft leaving the net and being so bad with stick handling the puck
also, the Defense barely cleared rebounds

also heard that Sundin tweaked his wrist catching a Darcy tucker pass...hope that doesn't bite us in the ass later...

and as a side note...i heard a fight broke out at the Sens intersquad game...idiots....

Chris Says:

Say it loud now, "Sens Suck!"