Thoughts From The Weekend
It was a rather tumultuous 10 days in Leafs Nation, and now that the wreckage is smoldering lets take a look at what happened and why.
-Did Gustavsson shine for Carlyle or did Carlyle shine for Gustavsson? Fair question to ask as the defensive zone coverage was about as good as it has been this season. The quality of scoring chances given up to Montreal were dramatically down from the previous meeting, and while Monster did allow 1, he also gave the team a chance to win. Whether or not it was a mirage will be learned quickly as back to back meetings against Boston and the Pittsburgh will be much better proving ground than the last place Canadiens. Given that Toronto has been a goaltending graveyard for the last half decade, it’s worth observation to see if it truly was the goalies or the system being played by the team in front of them.
-Will Colby Armstrong and Mike Komisarek find new life under the new coach? Komisarek seems like he already has by maybe playing his best game as a Leaf Saturday night. He was a better reflection of the player that left Montreal that was hard nosed and did’nt often venture to trouble area’s looking for big hits or offense. Armstrong is difficult to pin down, but Carlyle liked using players of his skill set like Travis Moen and Sami Pahlsson while in Anaheim. The bet here is that Armstrong is’nt in the press box nearly as often as he was.
-How will Kessel and Lupul react to the coaching change? This one has more or less been answered and it is a bit troubling. Kessel seems less than thrilled to have to work a bit harder in practice than what was accustomed, but so long as production is up he should stay fairly happy. He did not like playing in Boston under Claude Julien, but it’s also fair to say he probably did’nt like the missing posters and lack of playoff hockey since leaving. Lupul is hard to read, but it seems like Carlyle went out of his way to push aside the idea that any friction exists. Having a career year may help calm his nerves about playing for his former coach, so long as he still gets the opportunity to produce.
-How will Brian Burke respond to the character assassination on Saturday? This site can hardly plea innocence on going after Burke, but never on a personal level. The shots that were fired during Hockey Night In Canada were grossly calculated and equally as unfair. Burke explained to the Toronto Sun already that he did not request that Cherry be fired, he requested that the criticism of his coach be toned down a bit after Wilson was accused of not respecting the troops during armed forces night at the Air Canada Centre. For the record, I 100% agree that Cherry should not be targeting a guy for not clapping loud enough during a standing ovation, his job is to coach a hockey team. I had differences with the way Wilson coached the team, but never should he or any of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization be accused of not respecting the troops. Burke will respond at some point, look for it to happen after the season is over.
-Will the Leafs start mining Ontario for talent? This deserved two parts mostly due to the fact that it was so outrageous. Brian Burke is charged with assembling the best hockey team with available resources, not with creating Ontario’s All Star Team. If Burke says the guys he has are the best available, than it’s safe to say that they are. How should a guy like Luke Schenn or Dion Phaneuf feel? They are no less Canadian than an Ontario born player. How about a true Don Cherry type player in Mike Brown from Chicago, Illinois. The NHL and hockey in general have worked long and hard to stretch the borders of the game and to grow it and xenophobic rants like this do nothing to help. Hockey Night In Canada is available in the United States, how do you think “The Americans” felt about that speech that were watching? Brian Burke has done more for the city of Toronto than simply run a hockey team, his social organization that range from meeting with sick children to marching in pride parades are a tribute to that. Cherry has done just as much, and it’s sad to see him try and tarnish a guy that really wants to make the place he currently resides better. For the better of all around you, kiss and make up.
-Can the Leafs win 12 more games, which should put them close to a playoff birth? The trick to this one is that some games are severely more important than others. Lose to Tampa, Washington, or Buffalo, than forget about it. Don’t discount the idea that Ottawa can fall back a bit too, they have been very good but also shown signs of being streaky at times. If they put 5 or 6 losses together they can probably be caught. Buffalo is the team that is going to make this very tough now that Ryan Miller has found himself.