Leafs Updates / Burke Talks
For the second time this week, Mike Komisarek has missed the team practice. He also left early on in the game against the Wild on Tuesday and now Ron Wilson isn’t sure when he will return, or if he’s even able to play this weekend.
Update: Burke‘s reaction after the GM’s Meeting.
It seems that day to day status on his tail bone is still affecting him. Ron Wilson’s response when asked if he had an update on Komisarek was “No, I don’t”.
“We just have to compete harder,” said Wilson. “Go into the dangerous areas, and battle when we’re there. Chicago is a difficult building to play in.”
Wilson feels they need to be much more physical on the play to make sure they hold off the other team. “It’s all about competing and not letting the other team win the little battles. It comes down to will power, and we have to improve that.”
Wilson feels the team is not good enough that if they sit back in a game they can still pull out a win. “We’re not good enough and the Red Wings aren’t good enough to sit back and only give a 75% effort in a game and expect a win.”
Wilson also addressed Luke’s play this season, and says he expects more from him. “It’s up to Luke to start playing with the intensity we need from him,” said Wilson. “Your first year kind of went your way a little bit and you come in relaxed and you don’t have the same drive or hunger and it’s up to me as a coach to get that out of him.”
Toronto will meet with the Blackhawks in Chicago tomorrow night, before heading back to Toronto to host the Calgary Flames. It’s definitely going to be a challenge to face two of the best teams in the Western Conference on back to back nights.
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Also, who should the Leafs trade, Ian White or Tomas Kaberle? Dan Renaud breaks it down for you!
Update: Burke’s reaction from the GM’s Meeting.
“Look at the hit from Mattias Ohlund on Phil Kessel last week. That’s a great hit, we want that hit. We don’t want to turn this into a game where there’s no hitting, and it’s not ringette, it’s hockey. We want to keep that hit in the game, but that’s a player who either was aware of the hit or skated right into it and should have been aware of the hit. We want to eliminate where a player can’t anticipate it or prepare for it or avoid it.”
Leafs Lines in Practice:
FORWARDS
Jason Blake – John Mitchell – Phil Kessel
Alexei Ponikarovsky – Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolai Kulemin
Niklas Hagman – Rickard Wallin – Lee Stempniak
Wayne Primeau – Matt Stajan – Colton Orr
Jay Rosehill – Jamal Mayers
DEFENCE
Tomas Kaberle – Luke Schenn
Ian White – Jeff Finger
Garnet Exelby – Francois Beauchemin
GOALIES
Jonas Gustavsson
Vesa Toskala
Other Articles:
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Scary Hit on Reddox – Video
Micheal A. Aldred
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