Post-Game: Leafs/Isles – The Deadline Dangles
In a shaky and at times sloppy game, the Leafs pulled out of yet another overtime with a shootout win. Vesa Toskala had a night in net that was a simple summary of his season to date: solid at times, with glaring weaknesses and questionable play marring his effort as a whole. Nonetheless, in a tilt that saw another Leaf rookie debut and a season stalwart leave the game with an injury, Toronto ironically secured two points against one of the very teams that many “tank-minded” fans badly want to see move up in the standings.
Here are some notes from this Thursday night tussle:
-The Kulemin-Grabovski-Hagman line has finally regained some of their dash from the earlier part of the season. An interesting observation is that it has coincided with an elevation in the play of ALL three players, who experienced obvious degradations in their games over the middle portion of the campaign. Not much has seemed to change in the play of Hagman or Grabovski, other than their confidence as this has a large factor in the success of the risky, skilled tactics they employ. On the other hand, Nikolai Kulemin has definitely become more engaged in the game in recent matches, as involvement on the ice has been missing for large stretches of the year. To say that they are out of the woods completely would be preemptive, as Mikhail Grabovski had a horrendous giveaway on Bergenheim’s shorthanded goal. Here’s to hoping that the final member of this line, Niklas Hagman, recovers quickly from a fly-by elbow courtesy of Brendan Witt.
-Tim Stapleton showed flashes of why he has been such a force for the Toronto Marlies this year. Speed and determination have become much more prominent in the Leaf organization in the last two seasons. It seems that Leaf management finally got the memo about what works in the “new NHL”. Good job by Ron Wilson for putting the kid in for the shootout. Better job by said kid to bury it like a pro.
-Early on, it seemed like Vesa Toskala would finally be rewarded for his strong play of late, possibly with a shutout. Then, as if they wanted to set that meaningless overtimes-in-a-row record (this season) that the commentators viciously beat to death, the team as a whole decided to stop playing. Long stretches of running around in their own zone lead to comeback goals on the Leafs netminder, along with some horrendous gaffes of his own. You could knock it down to a tired team on the back leg of two games in a row–but for a squad that is clearly not headed for the playoffs, you have to expect that they will be prone to taking shifts, or even nights off. Really, this is something new for Leaf fans in the past decade. While the last few seasons have obviously not involved postseason trips for Toronto, they have (unfortunately) been races to the last stretches of the season. The overwhelming and inevitable hopelessness of any one campaign is a fresh, but bitter sensation.
Following that train of thought, most of us can agree that the definite upside to this is that we are losing with a direction. Part of this involves securing high draft picks. However, the flipside is that soon enough, we will see likely see significant members of the Maple Leafs shipped out of town. Whilst the rumour mill will constantly churn out names of who exactly is involved, its clear that this will be the first year in recent memory where such changes will occur. Previous seasons have seen at most the dismissals of studs such as Wade Belak and Chad Kilger, as hands were tied by no trade clauses or an unwillingness to call the season a lost cause. Regardless of the way the game tonight had gone, I think we can all agree that the focus of our excitement is increasingly the trade deadline of next week, and the moves to come.
As always, interested to hear your thoughts.
Cheers,
Nik
February 26th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Great to see Timmy get the winning goal. Kid worked his tail off to get here, played a good game, and got rewarded for it. Really like how Wilson handles these situations.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
P.S. DIRTY hit on Hagman. Minimum 3 games.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Witt’s a fucking cunt
You play on the LAST PLACED TEAM. THIS IS A MEANINGLESS GAME. WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU THROWING THE ELBOW EQUIVALENT OF A GODDAMN HAYMAKER COMPLETELY UNNECESSARILY. Cut your hair you fucker.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
That comment should probably be moderated. I just agree too much with it.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Hahaha well played.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
deMarcus.. couldn’t have said it better then that LMAO
February 26th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
lmao I love it
February 26th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Anyone else notice how empty Nassau Coliseum was tonight? As a Leafs fan I’m used to seeing empty seats at the start of the game, but they always fill up after the first stoppage in play. Not the case here.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
It’s Long Island…they haven’t had much to cheer for over there in a while other than the odd Ricky DiPietro sighting! Although those that do show up manage to exhibit some solid gusto every time, you have to give ‘em that.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Yah demarcus hit that on the head.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
that was a dirty hit… But the leafs are playing really well recently and are stringing some wins together. Is Burkie gonna make a playoff push ? ; )
Seriously… as much as I love the Leafs… i hope they start losing some games so we can get a good pick!! hopefully that happens with antro gone… and possibly moore, which could affect blake’s play. Not to mention hagman being out for a bit. But on the other hand, that Jordan stall trade wouldn’t really help the cause….
February 27th, 2009 at 12:09 am
That win tonight was a tough pill to swallow… I bet you don’t hear that often in sports. The Leafs needed to lose tonight because a loss here and a loss saturday to the Sens could’ve found them in the fourth draft position. I really enjoyed seeing Stapleton get a shot and be involved in the game and I think the Leafs need to do more of these call ups. It gives the Leafs a look at their prospects, allows the prospects to get experience, and with enough green in the line up you’re more likely to lose and get a better draft spot. This season will be all for not if the Leafs fall out of the lottery contention.
By the way, is Blake in the zone or what? He almost had a gorgeous short handed marker on a give and go that he knocked out of the air below the cross bar and then he scores the best shoot goal I’ve seen from a Leaf since they added this gimmick.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:17 am
As soon as Blake went wide I knew what he was doing.. Everyone in the arena and certainly MacDonald should of known when left handed shots take it that wide they usually spin around. (Especially since Blake has a history of it)
Great goal though and I was really happy for Stapleton when he scored.. He played a great game.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Interesting…. seems that when the Leafs even receive remotely solid goaltending from Toskala they win. Leafs are 8 points out of 8th place. I can easily name four games in which better support from the man between the Leafs’ posts would’ve been the difference maker in the Leafs’ favour. Not that finishing 9th is in the Leafs best interests but it’s just interesting to note and a testament to a young roster that’s overachieved even if it’s been masked by it’s goaltender (no pun intended).
February 27th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Some rumors courtesy of Andy Strickland:
“If Detroit loses out on Neil they could turn their attention to Maple Leafs forward Jamal Mayers who has one year remaining after this season. If Ron Wilson isn’t going to use Mayers, then they might as well move him.”
“There already is some whispering going on behind the scenes involving Leafs GM Brian Burke taking a strong run this summer at the Sedin Twins as well as Canucks forward Alex Burrows.
Word is Burke has a strong dislike for Canucks GM Mike Gillis for how the Dave Nonis era ended in Vancouver and this could be an effort to drive up the price on all three players who the Canucks are interested in retaining.”
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Andy-Strickland/NHL-Rink-Rats-and-Scoops/5/19641
February 27th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Leafs should grab Metrolpolit off of waivers. He’s one of those Leaf killers should we might as well have him on our side.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:00 am
should = so
February 27th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Fuck Witt.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Anybody know how many concussions Hagman has had?
February 27th, 2009 at 9:28 am
@Lee this is his 2nd this year!! He’s been very healthy throughout his career. I can’t even find another injury during his career. Before this year he only missed 13 games in 6 years.
February 27th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Hags 2nd this year
Fuck Witt – DeMarcus got it right
February 27th, 2009 at 11:09 am
This is why we need a Boogard or somebody… guys won’t be taking shots like that if they know there will be retribution!
February 27th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Has anybody noticed that regardless of the sport, Toronto based teams always have injury problems.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@ Burn,
Thanks. I was listening to the radio the other day and this specialist was talking about concussions. Apparently, once you get one, they get easier and easier to get. Also, whatever symptoms you have, are accumulative. That is to say, if you get 3 days of dizziness, and nausea, then the next time you get a concusion, you’re bound to get even more.
Hockey HAS to find a way to protect our prized athletes. So very frustrating.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
How about the players stop acting like morons. I can see a hard hockey play that results in a concussion, but skating by a guy with an elbow out, that’s just uncalled for. Witt looked like a Hanson brother out there, and while hilarious in film, has no part in hockey.
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