October has come and gone so we can officially mark month one of the 2021-2022 NHL season off and in the books for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In typical Toronto Maple Leafs fashion, they dominated the possession and expected goals categories but, in the only category that really matters, the win column, the Leafs fell slightly short of those lofty expectations and finished the month at 4-4-1.
On the bright side, despite limited production from Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Leafs still managed to play .500 hockey and looked fully dominant for the first time this year in their last appearance, a 5-4 win over the Red Wings that featured some intriguing lineup changes:
- Holl scratched and Brodie paired with Muzzin, immediately revitalizing the latter
- Sandin and Liljegren both in the lineup and paired together. They displayed a good mixture of skill, mobility and puck-moving ability
- Marner back with Tavares with Kerfoot on the other wing. They were flying all night and it was arguably Marner’s best showing this year and easily Tavares’ best
- Bunting staying on the top-line and Ritchie moved to the 4th which, like most of these other changes, acted to showcase more of the Toronto Maple Leafs speed and quickness; an element that feels like it has been lacking for awhile
On the other hand, the powerplay is still abysmal and the Leafs still almost managed to cough up the lead despite handily outplaying their opponent for most of the match. This is the Toronto Maple Leafs we are talking about, after all. Anything good or bad (but mostly bad) is possible.
Looking Beyond the Toronto Maple Leafs
As for the rest of the NHL well there was so much going on that instead of writing a general recap I have elected to write a short breakdown for each of the 32 teams over multiple pages featuring quips, puns or wordplay and general info that I hope at least some of you will find amusing.
Here is the October monthly re-quip for all 32 NHL teams:
32. Arizona: 0-8-1 (1 point)
Cleaned house, including all goaltenders from last year, and sit last or 2nd-last in PP, PK, GF and GA (all stat rankings from yahoo.ca) but goaltending has still been good. So who’s manning the pipes, you ask? Yep, you guessed it, household name Karel Vejmelka (2.63 GAA .920 SV%). This desert is in dire need of some manna.
Random Note: D Jakob Chychrun 2020-2021: 18 goals and 41 points in 56 games. This year: 0 points and a team-worst -15. Coyote ugly.