Let’s hope that the flight into Ottawa was better than the one into Long Island on Sunday….The Buds had a rough outing after winning 3-straight.
Aside from another opportunity for the kids to get some playing time, tonight is about winning the Battle of Ontario and Orr v. Carkner…..Orr has had the best of Carkner so far this season but I have a feeling his classless “three-fingered” salute after the last battle will motivate Carkner to get into the win column.
No line-ups were posted today so I’d have to imagine that nothing has changed. Poor Exelby…Lesson #1…if you want ice time, don’t tell your GM to move you – and definitely let it out into the public. Queue in Jeff Finger again – he’s probably exhausted with all of the ice time he’s had since the deadline. The Sens have struggled of late and it appears as though they will be without Mike Fisher. Let’s see if Jonas Gustavsson can win his 4th straight….
The kids return from an entertaining and reasonably productive 3-game road trip. They looked much better than they did against the Caines on March 2nd. Let’s see what they can do against the Savardless Bruins…..Kessel is certainly due against his old mates.
Tonight’s Notables:
Luca “Truman” Caputi makes his ACC debut….should be a fun night for the Toronto born winger that was recently acquired from the Pens for Pony. Jeff Finger is on a streak….this will be his 3rd straight game!! Exelby sits. Mikhail “Put Up Your Dukes” Grabovski is back from injury….Let’s see if he steps in for Orr if Lucic gets out of hand tonight. Rosehill is back out of the line-up for Grabbo. With the alternating games strategy, look for Gustavsson to get the start.
I don’t know about you but, as excited as I am to get the NHL going again, nothing is going to compare to the hockey we got to see out of Vancouver over the past 2 weeks. I’m not just talking about the Canada vs. USA or Canada vs. Russia games…aside from a few blowouts, the hockey overall was fantastic.
Hanson, Stalberg and newly acquired Jamie Lundmark will be in the line-up….presumably that means Mikahail “Put Up Your Dukes” Grabovski is not ready to play. The same is true for Mike Komisarek as it looks like Garnet Exelby will be in the line-up as well. I’ll give you one guess as to who is scheduled to be riding the pine from the defence corp…..you got it, Jeff Finger. I wonder if Ron Wilson and Brian Burke make Cliff Fletcher communicate his game status for them?
Anyway, it will be a very emotional night at the ACC….not because they will honour the Olympians, but because it will likely be Ponikarovsky, Primeau, Exelby and perhaps Stempniak’s final games in their storied careers as Toronto Maple Leafs.
So here I am sitting at a buddies cottage. Enjoying a break from the olympics when I blackberry buzzed that I had an email. An email from the toronto maple leafs. The last time I was at this cottage I had an email from the leafs was the day Brian Burke blew up the leafs.
This time the release is about grabovski. Apparently enough tongues are wagging about an apparnt bar fight that the Leafs felt they had to issue a release saying they were investigating. I can’t imagine this will really please Burke. A guy who is hurt getting into enough trouble to garnet a release let alone if the reprts are true and he was in a bat fight.
Cliff Fletcher just announced that Nazem Kadri will play tonight!!! Emergency recall.
There were indications earlier in the day that some Leafs have fallen ill and Deveau was recalled from the Marlies. But Kadri? Wow. I don’t know who’s out yet…I will update if I find out before departing for the game.
UPDATE: Christian Hanson and Freddy Sjostrom sit out with the flu.
What a difference a 3-days makes….The Leafs will face the Devils #1 goalie this time around and the introduction of Ilya Kovalchuk as a Devil. Tonight’s game will likely be a completely different experience for the Blue and White. Let’s hope they do as much of what they did on Tuesday tonight again tonight. Also, the Leafs will start Jonas Gustavsson – JS Giguere will play tomorrow night. Jeff Finger – well, you know where he’ll be….
Let’s see if what we got back will fare better than what we sent packing…..While the Ducks won their game, neither Blake nor Toskala showed up on the boxscore. The new look Flames fizzled and couldn’t muster a goal, let alone more than 15 shots last night. Yes, it’s too early to tell whether or not any of the aforementioned will have an impact on their respective new teams.
Now for the debut of our new additions….While Phaneuf may not be paired with Kaberle 5 on 5, I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do together on the power play. Our PK has been surprisingly brutal most of the season; will Sjostrom make a difference? I think Burke and company will be holding their breath until Giguere makes his first couple of stops. Remember Eddie Belfour’s first shot on goal (pre-season that is)?
As expected, 1 call up from the Baby Leafs (how come nobody calls them that anymore? Probably not a bad thing – but I do miss references to “the rock”)…Christian Hanson gets another chance. This time he will play center on the 2nd line – though his line mates look more like 3rd or 4th liners. I actually like the idea of Mitchell on the wing versus center.
The odd man out again is Jeff Finger…..what a tough season for him.
The Leafs may have gotten a bit of a break – Yann Danis will start for the Devils…though history has shown that back-ups shine against the Leafs when given a chance….and even more likely with less fire power coming his way.
The Leafs look to bounce back after a disastrous couple of games . They’ll need a solid effort with significant improvement on the back-end – especially with the surging Flyers in town.
Line-up changes of note …. Rosehill is in for Stalberg and Toskala is back in replacing Gustavsson.
That didn’t take too long. What is it, 25 games and the one guy who stood up and said the Toronto Maple Leafs would make the playoffs has written them off- And in a good way:
“nobody would disagree any more that the Maple Leafs are a lousy hockey club this season, destined to finish in the lower rungs of the NHL.They are second worst in the league, with a four-point gap between themselves and the third worst outfit. If not for disastrous Carolina, the Leafs would be looking up at 29 other teams.”
Yup, Damien Cox, who pronounced prior to the season started that Brian Burke’s team would make the playoffs has come to the realization that 2009-2010 is a write off for the good ship maple leaf. Oddly enough, he views it in a positive light.
“No one would seriously suggest any longer that Vesa Toskala has either the stamina or ability to be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL, or that Matt Stajan or Alexei Ponikarovsky are bona fide top six forwards in the NHL. Luke Schenn is a prospect learning the game, not a player poised to be youngest captain in team history. Jason Blake just isn’t in a slump — that’s what he is. Lee Stempniak is just the residue of a bad trade, not a player set to re-discover his lost scoring touch. Mikhail Grabovski is speed and energy but not a No. 1 or No. 2 centre in the making.”
The world will no longer be viewed in blue and white colored glasses because the reality is what the reality is. Change will be imminent and the build will be slow and painful. In the end though, the talent evaluator will have little doubt in his mind what he has (or needs).
“Tomas Kaberle should be put on the trading block, and if he doesn’t like it, too bad. A first round pick is the asking price and somebody will pay. The players set to be free agents — Stajan, Ponikarovsky, Stempniak, Toskala — shouldn’t be re-signed, and so should be moved if anything of value can be retrieved.
Having so few players under contract after this season should open a world of possibilities for Burke, and he knows now more than ever he’ll be spending money on college free agents next spring.”
Yes the NHL version of the expiring contract trade. Brian Burke must, unlike Randall and Winthorp Duke in Trading Places , SELL! The sooner the selling begins the better, at least for those of us who still follow this team.
“The only uncertainty in this picture is that of Wilson and his coaching staff. Burke will have a tough decision to make on his coaches if this turns out to be a 20-win season.
Otherwise, nobody’s fooling anybody any longer. The state of the Leafs is crystal clear.”
I can’t disagree with anything in Cox’s piece. I think he is right on. Now, with Gustavsson’s health a major question, wins are going to be more difficult then ever. Gutavsson’s brought hope to not only fans but also his teammates. For the first time in a long we all felt confident that not every shot on net caused by a Maple Leaf miscue would end up in our net. We all need to face it that Gustavsoon has some sort of heart issue. Burke and co. aren’t going to fool around with that in a year that is already quite predicatable and nor should they….
