Leafs/Sabres – Pre-Game & GFWE Game #6 Predictions
The Leafs make the dreaded trip down south tonight to face the Buffalo Sabres at the HSBC Arena. Fresh off an ugly game against the Coyotes, Toronto will be looking to crack the seemingly impenetrable wall that is Ryan Miller. It is perhaps a mixed blessing that the Sabres were just shutout by the Senators and Brian Elliott. On one hand, that is the third time they have been blanked in the last few weeks and some of Buffalo’s forwards are finding it difficult to contribute consistently. On the other hand, we all know how well the Sabres play against the Leafs (currently: 7-game winning streak) and you have to be wary of an offensive explosion. Vesa Toskala will start tonight in net, with Jonas Gustavsson likely getting the nod tomorrow.
The big stories for Toronto going into this game are the lineup changes they’ll be making. Viktor Stalberg draws back in after an extended stay with the Marlies in which he emerged as their leading scorer. He practiced as an extra on the fourth line yesterday, but you’ll likely see him skating alongside Grabovski and Hagman at some point tonight. The reasoning behind management’s decision to bring up the Swedish winger is pretty clear. As Ron Wilson put it, “…I want a little more speed in the lineup, especially with a couple of games this weekend.”
Sophomore defenseman Luke Schenn will also return to the lineup tonight in lieu of Jeff Finger. The loss against Phoenix is the best thing that could have happened for the young blueliner, as he wasn’t going to be seeing any time if the Leafs kept winning. It will be up to him to play HIS game tonight: good decisions, strong plays, and some physicality. Wilson said exactly this yesterday, “I expect him to have a good game tomorrow night, to be more aggressive than he has been and get his feet moving right off the bat.”
The Leafs will be in tough against Ryan Miller. He’s thrown down a 1.14 GAA in Buffalo’s 7-game winning streak over Toronto. This includes a shutout on November 30th. The Leafs will have to get back on their game early, running a high-tempo forecheck and getting some quality chances on net. “To play Buffalo, we can’t turn pucks over,” Wilson said. “We have to get as many pucks in front of Ryan as we can and settle down and play our game.”
Get F’ed With Ed – Game #6
You all know the drill by now! Make your predictions in this thread before game time (7:30 PM). The standings are tight across the lower half, with a few leaders separating themselves from the pack as follows:
- Zoonpolitikon, leafsFTW, Carltonthebear, mapleaf31 (8 points)
- JasonTrent, frito10 (7 points)
- modernhipster, Scooter (6 points)
-With many people sitting at 5, 4, 3 and even 2 points, this contest is still very much up for grabs!
-A stunning 96% of contestants picked the Leafs to win Monday against the Sens. Hopefully some of you played a little Proline.
-Sadly, the 82% of you that chose Toronto to pick up another victory on Wednesday were mistaken.
Cheers,
Nik
December 19th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
@ ingy56:
I agree, I predict Stalberg will start on line with Stajan and Kessel tonight and will show excellent chemistry with Kessel scoring hat trick.
Poni with Grabo and Blake or Hagman
Kuli with Primeau and Hagman or Blake.
Orr Mayers and Stempi
and I predict
1. Leafs win
2. score 5 to 2
3. Kessell
December 19th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
@ 4evrb1lue:
totally on same waive lengh with you.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
ingy56 wrote:
AMEN! I watched Stalberg make a few great passes last night which resulted in legitimate scoring chances but he was passing the puck to Orr! Orr has his job and he does it well but scoring isn’t a part of his job. If those passes landed on Kessels/Ponis/Stajans/Hags/Grabs stick then those would have been great chances but instead they were easy shots for the best goalie in the league right now to handle. Stalberg earned his spot with the great play on the 4th line last night and should have been bumped up. If he was then maybe the 4th line wouldn’t have been the best line last night
December 19th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
@ lonsmos2:
It is worth keeping him around because, IMO, Joey Mac is not a significant upgrade. Toskala played decently in the games leading up to this week and if the Leafs insulate him, like I said, he has a better chance of improving his value. If he plays like last night, I agree…a 4th rounder would be lucky. If he plays like the last few weeks, and a team needs depth that badly and depending on the goaltending market at the time, asecond rounder is possible. POSSIBLE! Not probable. Sending him down means you’ll get nothing, Joey Mac will probably not be a signigicant upgrade and the Leafs look bad for demoting a veteran. They would lose all around.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Last night was the first time that RW actually looked pissed at Vesa. Hope this means BB does something if not now then after his self imposed Xmas roster freeze.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
@ rockydundas:
maybe, my only concern is we keep a guy around who “might” play the odd good game against lesser teams and he is eating up 4.5M cap space which handcuffs BB from making other call-ups or moves. I would just hate to keep 4.5M on the bench in the “hope” we can get a pick for him but in the meantime while he’s sitting, is he helping us in other areas to win games and keep us in the mix for a possible playoff spot. If we are writing off the season and don’t care about where we finsih then sure keep him around to “maybe” get us an extra pick. I for one would be happy to “give up” on that possible pick and have more flexability with regards to other players move. Do you think sending a vet down who has the worst Gaa and Save % out of 40 + other goalies last 2 years would really be a black mark on BB reputation? I think he and RW have gone to the wall for this guy and have not been rewarded with their loyalty.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
@ rockydundas:
no GM in their right mind in this league would give up a 4th for Toskala. I wouldn’t even give up a 1,978,463rd round pick for this guy. My 4 year old neice would go in that round, I’d keep the pick and draft her before giving Tosk even one more start in this league
December 19th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
4evrb1lue wrote:
Unless JFJ gets a GM job soon, even then…
December 19th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Dirk_Diggler wrote:
did Crosby have any problems at 19, when he was the only “star” on his team? Ovechkin at a young age? No, these guys battle through it. Kessel is too much of a woman to play some dirty hockey. He tries to play a slick game and when the going gets tough, Kessel puts his tail between his legs and takes low percentage perimeter shots (if he can even hold onto the puck for that long). Again, I’m super excited we gave away two potential lottery picks for this loser.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
@ 4evrb1lue:
Hahaha! Well, one think I think Leaf fans should remember is, is that we tend to over-evaluate our talent when it’s at the top and under value it when it’s near the bottom. See Bryan McCabe and Larry Murphy for the opposite ends of that spectrum. Believe me, I’m not sticking up for Toskala, he’s been lousy for the most part. Even at $500 000 I think he’d be overpaid, but it’s all about managing your assets. It’s easy to say banish him to the AHL but if you feel you can get something for him you try to make it work. I believe that he’ll have value in the right circumstance and I’d rather get value for him, whatever it is then nothing. When you consider that his replacement won’t be much, if any better (MacDonald) then you have nothing to lose except whatever you were going to get for him on the trade market.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Man you guys gotta stop worrying and whining about Toskala, we are done with his contract at the end of this year. And he did play well in recent starts and was the reason we won a few of the games. If Gus was healthy we all know he would be getting more starts than Toskala but he isnt and RW is right in putting in Toskala because he does have more performance upside than MacDonald. We arent very deep period.
BTW Bozak is really starting to look like a dud signing. Oh well cant win them all.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Thank GOD that Gusto is playing tonight. We might have a chance at a win.
After last night no one needs to see Toskala.
To sum up the debate for me on the whole Toskala thing…
I have seen people write that maybe we should in insulate him from better clubs…we should platoon him…not be as hard on him…give him a chance…and look at what he done lately before last night. I am going to shoot all that down!!
First off he is pegged as the starting goalie going into this season. By both Wilson and Burkie. If it wasn’t clear last season that he could not deliver then it is now. So to insulate a starting goalie who is makin 4 mill + from the better teams and throw a young prospect in Gusto at all the hard teams makes absolutely no sense!!
Platooning him also makes no sense. Any starting goaltender in the NHL has to start the bulk of the games to maintain his game. How is that going to help anyone in only playing every odd game? Give the starters job to Gusto or trade for a decent goaltender. Gusto would be better off with the starts under his belt and the fans would not have to watch Toskala flub it each night.
Not be as hard on him? This is Toronto the center of all that is hockey. The richest team in this country. Should we be content with having the goalie with the worst stats in the NHL? Should we take it easy on him cause he lost his confidence? He is a profesional NHL player makin starting goaltender money. Of course we should be hard on him. His lack of quality work ethic…his often lack of focus during the game…and he never points himself out as the cause of a loss. We should be a lot harder on him cause of this. Wilson and Burkie called out his work ethic last season…does no one remember that?
Give him a chance? How many seasons does it take for him to show us quality net worth? He has been here too long and has showed Leaf fans nothing. Taken this team no where. Any starting Goalie in the NHL should be able to steal a game for his team. I can’t remember the last time Toskala did that. Anyone see Rolo stone us when we had over 60 shots? Rolo at his age is still stealing games. Toskala has never done anything like this for the Leafs.
He hasn’t done anything lately that Gusto or Joey MD could not have done. The team was playin smokin good hockey in front of him and even Raycrap could have won those games. Yes the team has off nights…as all teams do…but it is then up to the goalie to steal one for his team. Toskala does not do this.
Also you can say that the team has given up on him….can you blame them? If you go to work and there is a guy not giving 100% and he draggs the work place down with a lack of focus and a poor work ethic…how would you treat him? Boss then starts to blame you and other co-workers for a poor job and here is this guy not doing his job…how would you handle him? Same as anyone else…not give a shit for his job. So can you blame the players? No. Wilson has called the team out when Toskala has played poorly. When it should never have been the team. Also there is a reason why the team plays different in front of anyone not named Toskala. If you have not seen that then you need to watch for it.
Lastly to sum up my rant…If your going to collect a 4 mill paycheque in TO then you better be earning it or else we are going to let you know it. Leaf fans deserve better then this clown is delivering. If you want to suport him then fine…but don’t try to defend him to his haters cause we have valid points as to why we don’t like him or want him on our team. We will have to agree to disagree.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
@ rockydundas:
what you have to lose are more games…
December 19th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
@ caper7:
here here…well said.
December 19th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
@ peterbleafs:
Well said! Everyone seems to think I’m supporting Toskala. I’m NOT!!! I’m saying that if the alternative isn’t any better then do yourself a favor and do whatever you can to maximize the return. Toskala sucks and has been a failure in Toronto. We all know that and the rest of the league does too.
BUT…
I seem to recall a certain player named Martin Gerber who couldn’t stop a beachball in Ottawa. He looked completely done. He came to the Leafs and, in a short stretch gave us the best goaltending we’d had in some time.
Good GM’s know that you are never as good or as bad as you seem. A team will take a flyer on him later in the year, mark my words and since there’s nothing here, not named Monster, that is any better then you go with it. If it gets worse then you play him less…if he plays like he did for the last few weeks, he increases his vlaue. That seems simple enough.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
peterbleafs wrote:
Hahaha. Bozak 20 games into a season where he’s been out with H1N1 and an injury and he’s a bust. What a prognosis.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
honesthockey wrote:
Amazing to me that Bozak is a bust now…
Stalberg really showed us something last night – ie what can be done when you have talent.. the kid scored on probably the best goalie in the NHL when he had an opportunity in close..
I need to give Wilson some credit as his system works – and on the whole, he seems to have gotten through to the players – ie, they have bought in..
Bozak is a talent – and if he plays Wilsons system, along side Kessel – he will put up similar or better numbers then Stajan.. why? because Wilsons system works – and Bozak and Stalberg have more finishing skill then lets say Blake or Stajan..
the reason Bozak and Stalberg are not playing prime time roles is because Mr Burke wants a return of picks for players like Stajan and Stempniak and because they are rookies – and consistency will be an issue. I still say run with them though, as their skill is at a different level – and if they can keep up the effort, even if they are inconsistent – they will score more then Blake or Stajan – simply because they have the skill level to do so within the Wilson system.. (ie when they get the chance from 10 feet out the system generates, they will ring it off the bar and in, rather then fire it into the crest)
December 19th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Andrew R wrote:
Just kind of floors me that someone would think Bozak is a bust having played 1 NHL game. Just lets you know where some fans heads are. I’m going to suggest that before the year is out Bozak is a center on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
December 19th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
honesthockey wrote:
yup – once the trade deadline passes – at least I hope so anyway… Curious what Mr Burke will do when the Leafs are within striking distance of the playoffs come trade deadline.. will he hold steady with the plan? or he will go for 8th at all costs?
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