Date: March 18, 2010

Rink: ACC (Toronto)

Puck Drop: 7:30PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: TSN

Once again the Leafs are fairing quite well when it doesn’t matter….that’s what most of the critics will say.  While this may be true, the difference in my opinion is that it’s not a bunch of under performing veterens like in past years.  We’re seeing marked improvement and strong performances from young players that will likely be part of this squad for years to come.   At least we are seeing entertaining hockey.

Though Jonas Gustavsson has played extremely well of late, Ron Wilson will continue with the alternating games approach so expect to see JS Giguere between the pipes.  Fredik Sjostrom returns from injury and various reports indicate that it will be Wayne Primeau that takes a seat.  Garnet “trade me” Exelby got back into the line-up against the Sens and TSN Ice Chips has him playing again tonight.  Finger must have missed his press box seat. 

I know it’s the day after St. Patricks Day but….I wonder if we’ll see this tonight?

Forwards
Kulemin Bozak Kessel
Stalberg Grabovski Caputi
Mitchell Hanson Lundmark
Orr Wallin Sjostrom

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Schenn
Exelby Gunnarson

Goalie
Giguere (start)
Gustavsson

Scratch: Finger, Primeau

Inured: Van Ryn (ofs), Komisarek (ofs)

LT

Date: March 16, 2010

Rink: Scotia Bank Place (Ottawa)

Puck Drop: 7:30PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: Rogers Sportsnet

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….

Forwards
Kulemin Bozak Kessel
Stalberg Grabovski Caputi
Mitchell Hanson Lundmark
Wallin Primeau Orr

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Gunnarsson
Finger Schenn

Goalie
Giguere
Gustavsson (Start)

Scratch: Exelby

Injured: Komisarek (ofs), Sjostrom, Van Ryn (ofs)

UPDATE: EXELBY IN, FINGER OUT. 

LT

Date: March 9, 2010

Rink: ACC (Toronto)

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: Rogers Sportsnet

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.

Forwards
Caputi Bozak Kessel
Stalberg Grabovski Kulemin
Wallin Hanson Lundmark
Mitchell Primeau Orr

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Schenn
Finger Gunnarsson

Goalie
Gustavsson (start)
Giguere

Scratch: Exelby

Injured: Komisarek, Sjostrom, Van Ryn

LT

Date: March 2, 2010

Rink: ACC (Toronto)

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: Sportsnet

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. 

Here is the expected line-up….

Forwards
Ponikarovsky Bozak Kessel
Stalberg Hanson Stempniak
Kulemin Wallin Sjostrom
Mitchell Primeau Orr

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Schenn
Exelby Gunnarsson

Goal
Giguere (start)
Gustavsson

Scratch: Finger

TSM and I will be at the game….looking forward to getting back to the ACC.

LT

Date: February 8, 2010

Rink: ACC (Toronto)

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: Rogers Sportsnet

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.

LT

Date: February 5, 2010

Rink: Prudential Center 

Puck Drop: 7:00PM EST

Radio: AM 640

TV: Rogers Sportsnet

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….

Forwards
Ponikarovsky Bozak Kessel
Mitchell Hanson Stempniak
Kulemin Wallin Sjostrom
Rosehill Primeau Orr

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Gunnarsson
Exelby Schenn

Goalie
Giguere
Gustavsson (start)

Scratch: Finger

LT

Date: February 2, 2010

Rink: ACC (Toronto)

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET

Radio: AM 640

TV: Rogers Sportsnet

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 2^nd line – though his line mates look more like 3^rd or 4^th 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.

Forwards
Ponikarovsky Bozak Kessel
Mitchell Hanson Stempniak
Kulemin Wallin Sjostrom
Rosehill Primeau Orr

Defence
Phaneuf Beauchemin
Kaberle Gunnarsson
Exelby Schenn

Goalie
Giguere (start)
Gustavsson

Scratch: Finger

LT

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.

Projected Lines vs. Flyers

Forwards:
Kulemin Bozak Kessel
Ponikarovsky Stajan Hagman
Blake Mitchell Stempniak
Rosehill Mayers Orr

Defencemen:

Gunnarson Beauchemin
Kaberle White
Exelby Schenn

Goaltenders:
Toskala
Gustavsson

LT

Have you ever played a really shitty round of golf. You know, you lose a ball a hole at least, can’t drive, chip or putt. Until the last hole you drive the shit out of the ball- longest drive of your life- straight down the fairway. You then chip the ball on to the green only to be followed by the greatest putt ever. To the point that as you walk off the course, you say to yourself, hey, I’m not so bad, next time I will kick ass.

Now, consider our beloved Maple Leafs. Every time the sky seems to be falling, you know they can’t win a game, let alone kill a penalty, the are free falling in the standings, everyone including the press is writing them off and what do they do???? They go on a mini streak. Pucks start going in when they shouldn’t, goalies are making saves they have no business making and guys like Colton Orr actually win a fight or two.

Don’t get me wrong, they don’t rise meteorically to playoff levels, no, they win enough games to be considered back into the hunt, do well enough to draw us back in and then, they will return to their mediocrity that we know so well. They will lose like they are losing now….and all will appear almost lost again.

So that is where we are today. The Toronto Sun has an article which basically says Ron Wilson is starting to realize that he doesn’t have the troops to win the battle. The Toronto Star has one that says kids are so bored with the Maple Leafs they are playing video games as opposed to watching Leafs games. The Globe and Mail has one questioning whether Ron Wilson actually deserves the reputation of being a good penalty killing coach.

Every blog around (this one especially) has written this team and players off as crap. The stage is set. Get ready to be teased as we get every year. Its about to happen again. Yes Maple Leaf fans, this is the time when the Leafs are supposed to complete the swan song and nose dive right to the bottom. But no, instead I am certain they will do exactly what they have done in the past, they will pull it together just enough to get our hopes back up. You know, they will hit that tea shot, chip and putt to get us all thinking maybe they aren’t that bad after all…

Unfortunately, for us, like the beginning of Major League, when all the locals comment on just how shitty the Indians actually are, we too know the truth. This team is devoid of real talent. The wholes are big and numerous.

When Mats Sundin arrived, after the Gilmour era, every problem the Leafs revolved around the fact that the Maple Leafs were one dimensional. Every single forward of any name or value that was brought in was done to play with Mats. Only one problem. None could play with Mats. None were as good as Mats. Now, the pressure is on Burke to find someone to play with Kessel. Kessel won’t be a superstar here unless he has someone of equal value to play with. None of the role players will be able to play roles as long as we don’t have depth. It’s really that simple.

You know it’s coming when Damien’s latest article talks about the reason why the Leafs won’t tank this year. The Leafs never tank. They tease. This is the time they do it, at our darkest day, when all looks lost, they will become our short term oasis. Enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t get sucked in….it’s not real, and let’s hope our own talent evaluators know better.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

I guess it would be one thing if nobody did say there would be days like these. Problem is, Ron Wilson warned us. Way back when, Ron Wilson said that there would be dark says ahead. I wonder if he envisioned them being this dark. One has to wonder if he thought his would be so bad to continue to have the worst penalty kill in the league with an eye on becoming the worst ever.

It’s funny, (we Toronto Maple Leafs have to laugh), that many pundits picked the buds to finish dead last, last year when they never really threatened to capture that title despite the wishes of many fans. This year, when several of the same Nostradamuses predicted a playoff birth for team Burke, the squad is playing as if it as an anchor tied around it’s neck night in and night out.

Irrespective of what Wilson told 640 today about blowing his stack, the truth is the pressure on Wilson has to be getting rather immense. Face it, his steam stinks. He is about to head off to Vancouver to coach the Olympics, where many people already are snickering at his selection. Coming in with Wilson’s track record won’t help his cause in the US team’s dressing room. So it’s clear that Wilson’s gasket blowing is well understandable.

As I have said in this space many times, as Alex Tran wrote this evening as well, the problem with the Maple Leafs is really quite simple. They are totally devoid of talent. Yes the team has mustered together a win here or a couple, but hey on any given sunday. For the Maple Leafs to actually be successful every single thing must go there way. They quite simply don’t have the horses to compete. The drop off in talent upfront after Phil Kessel is about as wide as the grand canyon. The same can be said after Kaberle on the back end. In net, neither guy has established themselves as a true number one.

So, what we see is what we get. It’s really not all the surprising after all.

I loved the question Brian Burke got during the pre game tonight about his playoff comment in the pre-season. You know it’s really not that complicated an issue. Most fans got it, most media heard enough to try and twist it. For those who don’t get it, here again it is…

Burke, perhaps trying to be a tad too cute said that his goal was to make the playoffs.

What he meant was, you show up every season, every day, every game to win. You don’t prepare to lose. Losing isn’t acceptable. If you set the tone by saying you aren’t trying to make the playoffs then losing become acceptable. How would Burke or Wilson look at their team from day one, or any other day for that matter if they didn’t believe they could win?

That, my friends is totally different as how this has been spun. We expect to compete for a playoff spot suddenly became we will make the playoffs. Semantics ? Perhaps. Maybe Burke should have spelled it out clearer. I suspect that he assumed we were smarter than that. Instead what he said was that he doesn’t want one player on his roster who doesn’t come to win every night, any player who isn’t prepared to fight for a playoff spot should see him and Burke will try to trade him.

It’s really not that hard to decipher, however it has been misplayed over and over.

It’s going to be fun reading and watching as the clock crawls towards March 3. The problem with this team is simple. There just not very good.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia