A Few Videos I Enjoy...

Below are a few links to some videos I really enjoy. Some commercials and some cool moments I just feel like sharing. Enjoy!

Mats Sundin Nike Commercial #1

Mats Sundin Nike Commercial #2

Mats and Wayne McDonald's Commercial

My Favourite Leafs Moment!

Wade Belak...SCORES?!

Luke Schenn ERASES Malkin then fights Tyler Kennedy!

If you have any videos you'd like me to see and share, just e-mail me the link at bradleyhutchison@hotmail.com or post a comment below!

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...

Here we go again!

Steve says:

Hey Leafers!

I'm gonna start writing on here again after a few months on nothing major happening. Now there is finally something to discuss.

Fletch has made some decent deals to get the Leafs some more picks and cleared up some cap space.

He wasn't able to achieve the BIG TRADE we were all hoping for due to the NTC's that JFJ handed out like candy. But, now the gloves can come off. Basically now, if you are unwilling to waive the NTC, Fletch is either going to buy you out, or send your ass down to the Marlies (who did really well this year!).

Sundin is still on the fence about his return...his latest comments indicate that he wants to see the Leafs make some real changes towards putting together a winning team. It looks as though Fletch is about to make the first big move.

A lot of rumours are pointing towards Ron Wilson (ex. Sharks coach) taking over the bench duties in Toronto.

I think this is a big upgrade from PM who could never really adapt on the fly during a game. He was also a soft coach who seemed really interested in being liked by the media more than disciplining his team for shoddy play.

Wilson is not like that. He's been known to bench star players when they don't perform. He calls players out in the media for poor work ethic.

I think the Leafs are about to say goodbye to the country club at the ACC.

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.

The O is doing their job....

Steve says:

In case any of you don't think the Leafs have enough offense to win take a look at this...(it also highlights the fact that it is our D that is letting us down)

Chris says:

Antropov? Can you believe it?

What I like best about the whole Antropov scenario is how reasonable his price tag is. Under 2 mill a season.

Game 5

Steve says:

Sundin Sundin Sundin!

Well he finally did it. Mats Sundin is the top goal scorer and point getter of any Maple Leaf Ever!

Good on ya Mats!

And, as the gracious leader that he is, he immediately thanked the fans for their help along the way.

There will be many sites praising Sundin for all of his accomplishments so I am sure if you want more Sundin stats you can Google them easily enough. I want to talk about the game itself.

The loss to Carolina was exactly what the Leafs needed to kick them in the ass. They have been playing (for the most part) slightly above mediocre hockey and squeaking out wins here and there. Then a team like Carolina comes to town and say hey Leafs, suck on this!

The team could have gone one of 2 directions after the loss to the Hurricanes...suck more or kick some ass....I'm glad they chose the latter.

Everything was really firing for the buds. they cut back on penalties (still more than I would have liked, but getting better), the defencemen actually started to hit. They called up some speed in Gamache (who I thought should have made the opening roster) and I gotta say that Raycroft looked pretty sharp.

The thing that made Raycroft look sharp is that our defencemen cleared the front of the net and they cleared away rebounds for a change. Most goalies in the NHL can stop what they see. It's the screened shots and the rebounds that get behind them. So when our defencemen actually do their jobs, even Raycroft looks good!

If they can keep up that style of hitting defence and solid rebound clearing, our goalie tandem will take us a long way!

Go Leafs!

Chris says:

So they gave Mats Sundin all three stars last night.

Not too shabby. Scratch that. It was freaking amazing.

In an 8-1 slaughter of the Islanders Sundin finally found that elusive point number 917 to sneak past Sittler as the Leaf’s all time point leader.

Sundin is slowly but surely winding up his career. Which means the opportunities for him to hoist a cup over his head are starting to shrink. Is this the team that can help turn it all that around for him? My gut reaction says no. Essentially we’re the same team as last year, good, but not good enough. The Leafs made a smart upgrade upfront landing Blake but what they really need is another high level sniper and a consistently solid puckstopper. Both of which have eluded this club for the last couple of seasons.

But it’s a long season and we’re barely out of the gate here. And while it’s nice to get in a drubbing like that every now and again, that accomplishment is diminished slightly by the fact that the Leafs were on the receiving end of a similar pounding only two nights earlier.

With such a demanding schedule ahead of them the trick to making it into the playoffs is going to be consistency, and unfortunately, on that front we’ve been found lacking.

So while it’s important to enjoy this milestone while we can, our number one focus has to be on making sure that we’re bringing our A-game to the ice, week in and week out.

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!

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!

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!"