Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Smile for the Camera Eddie
I think that Belfour wasn't refusing to put his hands behind his back for cuffing, he was trying to reach into his pocket to pull out a billion dollar check to offer as a bribe to get out the arrest.
By the way Eddie, nice shirt.
Where to begin….
As you all can tell, I've been slacking in posting blogs over the last week or so, been busy with other projects. I've also been ranting about the beloved Maple Leafs, and having trouble thinking of where to start with this team. Damn are they frustrating. They did make it interesting for us to watch, and did come through in the final game of the season. But in the end, they blew it. I'll spend the next couple weeks going through the roster, changes that should be made, what went wrong this year, etc. etc..Let's start off with the big JFJ. Sorry Johny boy, it's time for you to get fired. Actually, you shouldn't have been given an extension at the
beginning of the year after the team got off to a decent start. I'm still trying to figure out what positive moves this guy has made for the Leafs. Was it trading all world goalie prospect Raske for Raycroft? Trading Brandan Bell and a 2nd Round pick for 6 minute Yannick? Wait I got it, signing one of the most overrated players in the league to a 5 year contract worth $5.75 million a season. No that wasn't it, how
about Kubina at $5 million a year for 4 years?
I think the only good deals that Fergie has done in all the years he's been here was signing Kaberle at $4.25 and Tucker for $3. But I don't think he should get full credit for decent price they were signed at, the credit should go to Kaberle and Tucker for giving the Leafs a great hometown discount. Two good picks that I can give JFJ credit for are John Pohl and Chad Kilger. But the only problem is, if adding 2 3rd line players is his best move, you're not doing your job properly.
Now, if for some reason big Fergie still has his job heading into next season, can he fix this mess he created? I personally don't think so.
Sure the salary cap is suppose to be going up to around $48 million from the $44 million this year, but there is a lot of money tied up in a few players. There won't be a lot of room to bring in the players that could put this team as a contender for next year. There really isn't any young prospects that could set in and make a difference. I'm not very optimistic about positive change this summer. I think it's going to be a frustrating off-season, and the same can be said for the 2007-08 season.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Game 79 - Leafs 2 Rangers 7
1st Period Summary Toronto Power-Play Goal - Alexei Ponikarovsky (21), from Mats Sundin at 1:48.
NY Rangers Goal - Sean Avery (17), unassisted at 5:19.
NY Rangers Goal - Michael Nylander (25), from Brad Isbister and Jaromir Jagr at 9:14.
Toronto Goal - Boyd Devereaux (8), from Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle at 16:35.
Penalties
0:48 NY Rangers Jaromir Jagr - 2 minutes for interference
11:54 Toronto Darcy Tucker - 2 minutes for roughing
14:33 Toronto Darcy Tucker - 5 minutes for fighting
14:33 NY Rangers Sean Avery - 5 minutes for fighting
18:16 Toronto Ian White - 2 minutes for slashing
2nd Period Summary
NY Rangers Goal - Ryan Callahan (4), from Jed Ortmeyer at 1:35.
NY Rangers Goal - Martin Straka (29), from Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan at 4:42.
NY Rangers Goal - Sean Avery 2 (18), unassisted at 14:53.
Penalties
8:04 NY Rangers Colton Orr - 2 minutes for tripping
10:28 NY Rangers Jaromir Jagr - 2 minutes for holding
18:22 Toronto Alexei Ponikarovsky - 2 minutes for hooking
3rd Period Summary
NY Rangers Power-Play Goal - Michal Rozsival (10), from Michael Nylander and Jaromir Jagr at 6:49.
NY Rangers Goal - Jaromir Jagr (29), from Brad Isbister at 12:14.
Penalties
5:20 Toronto Matt Stajan - 2 minutes for holding
Shots on Goal 1 2 3 Total
Toronto 11 11 5 27
NY Rangers 12 6 7 25
Team Power Play
Toronto 1 of 3
NY Rangers 1 of 4
Toronto Goaltending
Player SA GA Saves SV% TOI
Jean-Sebastien Aubin 9 3 6 .667 35:18
Andrew Raycroft 16 4 12 .750 24:42
NY Rangers Goaltending
Player SA GA Saves SV% TOI
Henrik Lundqvist 27 2 25 .926 60:00
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
He is funny…
So we all rip on Wade Belak's questionable hockey talent, but one thing he gets full props on is his sense of humor. This is a couple weeks old, but it's still worthwhile watching again.
Another Must Win
The Maple Leafs face another playoff hopeful opponent tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes. This is another must game for the Leafs. The Leafs are currently sitting in 11th spot in the Eastern Conference with 82 points, but only 2 points back of the 8th placed Montreal Canadiens. Carolina and the NYI Islanders are also ahead of the Leafs by 2 points. The NY Rangers have been playing well of late and are sitting in 6th place with 87 points, only 5 points ahead of the Leafs.The Leafs must win every game they play against the other playoff hopefuls. After tonights game, the Leafs will have 6 games remaining. They will face Rangers, Islanders and Canadiens before seasons end and the outcome of these games will most likely be the key to if they make the playoffs or if they don't. Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philly are the other games.
Jeff O'Neill will be a healthy scratch again tonight. O'Neill hasn't scored in a month. John Pohl will be in the lineup again.
Sundin in one goal short of Darryl Sittlers' Toronto Maple Leaf record of 389.
Carolina is 4-0-1 in their last 5 games.
The Leafs are 4-7 in shoutouts this season. 3-3 in overtime.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Kaberle to Return Tonight
Tomas Kaberle and Kyle Wellwood will be returning to the lineup tonight for Maple Leafs. The Leafs need these 2 guys to remain healthy for the rest of the season if they have any hope of making the playoffs this year. Heading into tonight's game, the Leafs are sitting in 11th spot. Granted they are only a couple points out and have a game or two in hand over teams they are chasing, but they can not afford to waste points. This is a pivotal home-and-home series with Buffalo. The Leafs need to at least come away with 2 out of the 4 points. If they were to lose both games, I think it would be very difficult for them to get into the playoffs.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Belak Seeks Revenge
Well it wasn't much of surprise to see Wade Belak and Cam Janssen go toe-to-toe last night. Belak throws 16 punches before Janssen tosses 1. Check out the fight if you missed it or want to see it again.
Friday, March 16, 2007
And the All-Time Maple Leaf Wins Leader Could Be….
The Leafs have 12 games remaining this season, with everyone of them being important. There is a chance that Andrew Raycroft could start all of them, giving him a shot at becoming the Maple Leafs all-time win leader for goaltenders. He only needs 5 wins to tie Eddie Belfour's record of 37. So far this season, Raycroft has played in 60 of the Leafs 70 games, posting a record of 32-21-7. His current pace would put him at 37-25-8 playing in 70 games. So there is a really good chance that Andrew Raycroft will become the all-time single season win leader. That doesn't sound right saying that. How can a goaltender, who appears to be disliked by 98% of Toronto because of questionable goaltending skills, have a shot at holding such a record. His goals against average is 2.94 (31st in the league) and his save percentage of .895 is ranked 35th. That's terrible. How can this guy be mentioned in the same sentences with Bauer, Belfour and Cujo when it comes to goalie records. Here's a few reasons as to how he may get this record. Raycroft has a shot at playing in 72 games this season, the most games Cujo played was 68, Belfour 62. Shootouts didn't exist until last season. 3 of Raycrofts wins have been by shootout. For every other leaf goalie, those 3 wins would have been ties. So if we disregard the 3 shootout wins, Raycroft would only have 29 wins, meaning he'd have to win 8 of the 12 games to tie the record. But this is the new NHL and shootouts count, and more than likely Raycroft will get the record. I wonder how many wins he would have had if he had an average GAA and not a terrible one.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Someone forgot to tell the team they are in the playoff race
From all reports I've read and heard this morning, it sounds like it was a good thing that I was unable to watch the Leafs game last. A terrible first period for the Leafs, they allowed 23 shots on net, with 22 of them coming in the first 11 1/2 minutes. With the Leafs fighting for a playoff spot (dropped to 11th), how do you come out so slow? Where is the sense of urgency?Speaking of wondering where things are, has anyone located the Leafs power play unit? They've been M.I.A. for over a month. Their 0-8 performance last night brought their 0-fer streak to 19. Is it a coincidence that the 0-fer streak consists of the last 3 games that Kaberle has been out of the lineup? Since January 27th, the Leafs power play has been terrible, going 7-80. So much for Darcy Tucker's return to the lineup to spark this dismal unit.
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Leafs, it may come Saturday night, as Kyle Wellwood is set to return to the lineup. He will hopefully provide the spark that the power play needs. Wellwood has missed the last 33 games.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Quick Hits
The National Post is reporting that Tomas Kaberle will be gone for the rest of the season. Kaberle's agent hasn't heard anything about this, or so he says. If they were to lose Kaberle for the rest of the season, it would be a serious blow to their playoff aspirations. But one thing this team has showed this season (as well as in the past) is that they have been able to overcome injuries to key players and still win. They are currently sitting in 8th place in the east.Pavel Kubina returned to the Leafs blueline last night after missing 5 games with a broken finger.
Kyle Wellwood skated with the team yesterday and is targeting next Tuesday as his first game since December 19th. The skilled forward has missed the last 32 games.
I was pretty surprised to find out yesterday that the Leafs have the most 'man games lost' this season. Heading into last nights games, the Leafs have lost 285 man games so far, followed by Carolina at 219, and Buffalo at 193. One of the reasons I'm guessing the Leaf number is high is due to the 60 or so games that 6th/7th dman Andy Wozniewski has missed. If all defenseman were healthy, I doubt Wozniewski would be playing, therefore skewing the high number. Suglabov at one point was injured, even though he was a healthy scratch. The 3 goalie, Tellqvist situation were he was hurt but sent down for weeks on conditioning would also affect the number. The way I see it, the number should be considered a lot lower as players that were injured, wouldn't make the starting lineup. I'm not taking away from the length of time the Leaf main stay players have been out (Peca, Wellwood, Kubina, now Kaberle, etc.) but it should be viewed as closer to the rest of the pack.
Once again Andrew Raycroft frustrated this Fantasy Hockey G.M. Tired of seeing one of his goaltenders getting pulled from games with an inflated GAA, he was left on the bench, even against the lowly Capitals. Now I do have 2 other 'Top Notch' goalies, and contemplated taking one of them out for Raycroft but decided against it. Yeah that backfired, Raycroft pitched a shutout and Marty Brodeur and Tomas Vokoun both lost. I just acquired Brodeur in a deal that involved Budaj of Colorado, Budaj also pitched a shutout last night.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
No Movement by the Leafs yet
With the trade deadline only a few hours away, the Leafs have yet to make a deal. They are rumored to be interested in Jamal Mayers of St. Louis. They were also talking to the Blues about Bill Guerin, but he was dealt to the San Jose Sharks. The Leafs were also in play for Gary Roberts and reportedly offered a 2nd round pick, a 4th round pick and either Brandon Bell or Staffan Kronwall.Darcy Tucker signed a 4 year deal for $12 million. A $3 million a year average is pretty good from the Leafs standpoint. Tucker on the other hand could have made more on the open market, but decided to give the Leafs a nice hometown discount. I was worried that they would overpay him (ala Bryan McCabe), but I'm happy with this deal.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tucker Resigns
According to the Toronto Star, Darcy Tucker will officially be resigned by the Toronto Maple Leafs either today or tomorrow. The Leafs and Tucker's agent have been talking for weeks trying to hammer out a new contract before the trade deadline day tomorrow. Tucker would have been an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season if they were not able to agree on a deal. Tucker has said all along that he wanted to resign with the team. The deal is reportedly for around $3 million a season, for 3 or 4 years. It is not known for sure if there is a no-trade clause in the contract.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Kerry Fraser Has A Brain Cramp
What was referee Kerry Fraser thinking last night? His brain cramp cost the Leafs 2 points last night. Sundin's goal would have put the Leafs up 3-1, potentially sealing a victory, but of course that didn't happen. Let us examine Mats Sundin's goal last night...I mean Mats Sundin's goal that was called back. Big Alexei Ponikarovsky is battling for position in front of Rick DiPietro, he's cross-checked and pushed into DiPietro by Brendan Witt, with his stick getting caught between the goalies pads. At the same time, Mats Sundin collects the puck in the corner, fires the puck at the net. Ponikarovsky is out of the crease when the puck crosses the line, but his stick is still between DiPietro pads. From looking at the replay, it is noticeable that DiPietro is grabbing Ponikarovsky's stick. Fraser delays his call for a few seconds, then waves the goal off, saying there was “incidental contact". What is 'Incidental Contact"? Does it mean they ran into each other by accident? If it does, how can you call a goal back because of accidental contact? It's part of the play. Does a play get blown down every time 2 players accidentally run into each other? Sure this example involved a goaltender, but a player from his own team instigated the contact by forcing an opposing player into the crease. A blown call in my opinion in a very important game that cost the Leafs, dropping them to 10th place in the conference.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Leafs - Bruins Highlights
The Boston Bruins shutout the Maple Leafs last night, even though the Leafs recorded 44 shots on Tim Thomas. Check out the highlights of last nights game.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tucker Returning Soon and Other Leaf Notes
Darcy Tucker had the cast removed from his foot and is off the crutches. He still has to work on his conditioning, so he won't return to the lineup for another week or two. The Leafs are still attempting to sign Tucker before the trade deadline next Tuesday, but are at odds with both the length of contract and salary.Kyle Wellwood’s return date is still several weeks away, they are aiming for mid-March.
The Leafs are 7-1-2 since the all-star break, and find themselves tied for the eighth spot in the eastern conference.
Mats Sundin has 14 points in the last 13 games since being reunited with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. The line has scored 16 goals over the same span. Sundin needs only 3 goals to tie Darryl Sittler for the most goals scored in a Leaf uniform. Sittler scored 389 goals in 844 games, to-date Sundin has played in 884 games.
On the trade front: Teams are asking for Steen and Tlusty but Ferguson isn't interested in giving those players up, especially for a rental player. The salary cap will also come into play if the Leafs are looking to add a player or two. If Ferguson moves Michael Peca to the Long-Term Injury list, it would allow the Leafs to add a player with a $2.5 million salary. Peca wouldn't be able to return before the playoffs if he's placed on long-term injury; he's hoping to get in a few games before the playoffs. Gary Roberts has said he'll waive his no trade clause only for Toronto or Ottawa.
With Boyd Devereaux still nursing a sore wrist, defenseman Brendan Bell will once again find himself playing left wing on a line with Travis Green and Wade Belak. With the Leafs having plenty of young defenseman in the organization, Bell along with Andy Wozniewski or Staffan Kronwall, may find themselves as part of trade package to bring in a forward.
Andy Wozniewski's five game conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies is now over and he's back up with the big club, getting into the lineup will be difficult.