Editor In Leaf - A Toronto Maple Leafs Blog

Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

Tonight will mark the end of a story that never should have been.  The 2011 NHL All Star Draft was a bit longer than Maple Leaf fans would have hoped, and unfortunately was discussed throughout Canada ad nauseam.  Phil Kessel got the distinction of being selected last in the first time event and was rewarded with a new car for his trouble.  There was not a media outlet that covers hockey that was willing to let the story go, in spite of Kessel’s insistence that he was not bothered by the snub.  The unusual spike in performance since the All Star Draft is my only reason for doubt.

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Kicking off a home-and-home with the Islanders tonight, the Leafs needed to get back on the right track after a disappointing week saw them sandwich losses to division rivals Ottawa and Montreal around a win over a struggling Minnesota club. Coming into tonight’s game, the Buds were 1-4-0 in their last five while the Isles were riding a strong streak of play from last week’s NHL 3rd Star of the Week, Evgeni Nabokov, who’d won his last 3 starts. With the lines back to normal and Joffrey Lupul back with Phil Kessel, the Buds got things started early with another goal from Matthew Lombardi, who would score again to ice the game in the 3rd. With Kessel adding a goal of his own, the rest was up to the Monster, who turned in another solid performance to earn the win.

The Good

• Jonas Gustavsson continues his transformation into a solid netminder, which is impressive considering most of us had written him off after last season. He’s already got 3 shutouts this season, and has won 6 of 9 starts this month. Gus made 25 saves for the win tonight, and while it wasn’t exactly the most trying night, the few pushes that the Isles did make ended up going nowhere thanks to his play. Continue reading this post »

Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images

Tonight was a night that was a must win game for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Winnipeg Jets are breathing down the neck of the Maple Leafs in tenth place currently in the East, and the suddenly surging Washington Capitals have retaken their rightful spot in the lead of the Southeast Division.  The Leafs have three more games before the all star break, and not to sound bleak, they must win all four games.  At this point with the Montreal and the New York Islanders being far enough back in the standings, winning in regulation or overtime makes no difference.  To put this in more perspective, with four wins and a single Senators loss, the Leafs will trail by Ottawa by only a single point.  Toronto needs to begin to assert dominance on a game by game basis with the goal being not just qualifying for the playoffs, but chasing teams ahead of them in the standings in an effort to play some extra games at the Air Canada Centre.

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Credit to Mike Ivall

With the upcoming outdoor game scheduled in Hamilton, it seems like a good time to look at the future of the Maple Leafs.  The Marlies season could best be described as up and down, which makes sense when you relate them to the big club.  Injury concerns have robbed Dallas Eakins on several occasions this year of a full line-up, but in spite of this he has managed to keep the baby leafs above water.  They currently reside at the top of the AHL’s Western Conference North Division, and both Nazem Kadri and Joe Colborne have been named to the AHL All Star Game (Though doubtful Kadri will participate if still playing in the NHL)

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This was one of those games that left you scratching your head. For the first two periods, the Leafs thoroughly dominated their cross-province rivals. However, some ill-timed defensive lapses and a lights-out performance from Craig Andersen left the Leafs wondering what went wrong as they let a very attainable two points slip away from them tonight. Despite jumping out to an early two-goal lead, that ugly blonde Daniel Alfredsson pulled the Sens within one with a top-shelf backhand that beat James Reimer, who had been knocked out of position by a sliding Senator. Another scrum in the Leaf crease led to Jason Spezza’s tying goal, scored while he was sitting on top of Reimer late in the 2nd, and an early 3rd-period snipe from Kyle Turris led to a tightly-checked final frame that you got the feeling no one else was going to score in.

The Good

• All told, I didn’t think Reimer had a bad game considering the two week layoff. I’ll admit the 3rd goal he probably should have still been on his feet for, but the other two goals were the result of his defensemen failing to clear the crease for him, something I’ll touch on later. I’d assume he gets another game or two before Wilson makes a judgment call on deciding whether he or Jonas Gustavsson will handle the majority of the starting load during their upcoming playoff run.  Continue reading this post »

Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

I’m not going to sugar coat this one, it was ugly from start to finish.  The Leafs were noticeably sluggish from start to finish, they had zero net front presence, and basically did none of the things that made them successful through the last half dozen games.  The back to back situation was clearly a tough one, but over the course of the season both games of a back to back can’t be dropped.  On to the analysis

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Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

I will start out by apologizing for the delay in the blog, customs was quite backed up with Leafs fans crossing back into Ontario.  The game was not bad by any means, but the Leafs team that we see presently has a great reliance on speed and transition.  That was very much lacking tonight and its going to be tough for them to win games when that is the case.

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If any of you follow Leafs’ GM Brian Burke on Twitter (and if you don’t, you should @LeafsBB20), you’re aware that he hosted a Q&A session via his Twitter account recently. During that session, he was asked the following question from a Jets fan who has apparently not watched Jonas Gustavsson play since the new year. “Now that you know how horrendous your goaltending is, what are you going to do to address it?” Burke’s response – “Figures, a Jets fan asks this question. Not sure what you are watching. I, too, have sent emails when I was hammered!” - triggered a hashtag that was trending on Twitter by night’s end: #BrianBurkeDrunkEmails. Here’s my favorites from the bevy of tweets that it inspired.

• @BrettTersigni: ”How about Blake and Toskala for Giguere?” “Disregard last email, there’s a typo…oh you accept?” #BrianBurkeDrunkEmails
• @Warrior3728: Is Dion still dating Elisha Cuthbert? If not get me her number. sloppy thirds #BrianBurkedrunkemails Continue reading this post »