The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to an incredible start to the season.
After six games – over ten percent of their schedule already ! – the Toronto Maple Leafs are a very nice 4-2, which is 56 win 112 point pace over a full season.
The Leafs have already dealt with some injuries, some odd coaching choices and the NHL has even seen an absolutely massive blockbuster trade.
So all in all, it’s been a great start to the new NHL season. Strap in and find out just what is good and bad as we use the NHL’s worst stat to do the the only thing it’s good for: mock it by using it for evil.
PLUS / MINUS Toronto Maple Leafs Version
PLUS: The Toronto Maple Leafs are 4-2 despite one 5v5 goal from Auston Matthews and a sub-900 save percentage from Freddie Andersen. When those things self-correct, which they are 100% guaranteed to, the Leafs will be nearly unstoppable.
PLUS: Adam Brooks picking up his first NHL goal. This guy is a really development story (undrafted twice) that gives you feelings in your heart about things like perseverance and achieving your dreams. His first NHL goal was like the end of a Disney Movie.
MINUS: The NHL continues to allow defenders to cross check the backs of forwards near the crease with impunity.
PLUS: The Flight Attendant – it’s trashy fun and I enjoyed ever minute.
PLUS 5: Twin Peaks. A soap opera with haunted owls where you can’t tell if the director is making fun or being sincere, but where you don’t really care because everyone is having a blast…….It’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages and I can’t believe I never watched it before. Agent Cooper is the best character in television history. Aces!
MINUS: What the hell where the Winnipeg Jets thinking trading Patrick Laine for Pierre Luc Dubois? If it’s a best-name contest then Pierre-Luc wins hands down, but if we’re talking goal scoring then I think this trade is brutal for the Jets.
PLUS: After I finished my post-game wine the other night (a silky Merlot, if you must know) I felt the need to order the complete Skydiggers discography at 5AM EST (well the ones I didn’t already have). This may prove to be the best decision of my life.
As a CanRock Scholar second only to Allen Cross, I must say that the Skydiggers deserve to be a more highly ranked band in the history of our country. Sure, they don’t rock like the Hip but they are worth at least 40 Blue Rodeos, which works out to at least 189 Frozen Ghosts.
Andy Maize should be the Mick to Gord’s Bowie but for some reason I get the impression I could probably get him on the phone if I tried hard enough. Why aren’t the Skydiggers more beloved? They can match any band in the country song for song, album for album. In fact, they should be international superstars on par with say REM or Tom Petty, both of whose fans would embrace them if they ever heard of them.
I don’t know that Leonard Cohen was jealous that he didn’t write the song “She Comes into the Room,” but I imagine it’s true.
MINUS: An intermission with Dreger, Poulin and O’Neil, which is like the country that fostered the Skydiggers giving Nickleback to the world.
PLUS: This week feels like a real life version of when Harry defeated Voldemort.
PLUS: Tenant. Oh baby what a movie. If you like ambitious preattention mixed with a hundred million dollars, this is the film for you. I also watched Annie Hall this week, and, as usual, it was delightful. I mean, it’s no Blade Runner, but still one of my all-time favorites.
PLUS: I am loving this all-Canadian Division.
MINUS: Selling out with helmet sponsors. So lame. Best to ask yourself before every decision of commerce: what would Joe Strummer do, then do that.
PLUS: Kevin Bieksa and Cassie Campbell. It must seem crazy to see insightful and intelligent analysts talking about a hockey game during an intermission, but this is real. Now add in Mike Johnsson in place of the outdated and angry Brian Burke and we’ve actually got something worth watching.
MINUS: The “It’s On” commercial is so bad that I actually can’t watch it without feeling a sense of embarrassment on par with the time it was revealed that I have multiple Jar Jar Binks tattoos. This is the worst thing associated with the NHL since Matt Cooke.
PLUS: I found out about Lauren Buekes this year, and if you need a thriller to get you through, might I suggest the Shining Girls? I’m on my third book of hers this year and I haven’t been disappointed yet. The New Stephen King is big praise, but I’m gonna say it.