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Leafs and Thrashers

by on March 30, 2010 in Uncategorized - 423 Comments

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Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Atlanta Thrashers at the Air Canada Center. Atlanta is hoping to catch the Boston Bruins for the 8th seed in the East and snag a post-season berth, while the Maple Leafs are looking to continue a playoff of their own – the quest to get out of the bottom five.

NOTE: Newly signed Brayden Irwin will not make his debut tonight. He will likely see action Thursday or Saturday.

"If we deserve to be there, we will be there," goalie Johan Hedberg told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's going to be in our own hands."

The Leafs have sported a 7-2-1 record over their last ten games, and both teams are coming off a loss. The Leafs are just 3 points behind 3 seperate teams in the standings, and they hope to continue their strong performances to leap frog a few in the last 6 games of the season.

Toronto has won two of three meetings with the Thrashers this season, including their overtime win on March 25th in which Mikhail Grabovski tallied the overtime winner.

This is the start of a 4 game home-stand for the Leafs who will see action with Boston, Buffalo and Philadelphia over the next week. Jonas Gustavsson is expected to get the start.

From Maple Leafs.com: Gustavsson has recorded a win in seven consecutive starts from March 6 to 27. Over that span, he has stopped 183 of 197 shots, posting a 1.93 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. Gustavsson's current win streak marks the best span for a Maple Leafs rookie goaltender since Damian Rhodes won the first six games of his NHL career (March 1991 to Dec. 1993). The last Leafs goaltender to win seven straight starts was Ed Belfour (Nov. 22-Dec. 6, 2003). … Bergfors is fourth among all NHL rookies in scoring with 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists), and is tied for second in goals. He has scored 8-7-15 in 21 games with Atlanta since being acquired in a trade from New Jersey earlier this season.

Who’s Hot? Toronto:

Tomas Kaberle (D) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Dion Phaneuf (D) 4 pts in last 6 GP
Nikolai Kulemin (RW/LW) 3 pts in last 2 GP
Tyler Bozak (C) 11 pts in last 10 GP
Phil Kessel (RW) 11 pts in last 10 GP
Mikhail Grabovski (C) 3 pts in last 3 GP
John Mitchell (C/LW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Rickard Wallin (C/LW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Jonas Gustavsson (G) 4-0-0, 1.46, .948 in last 4 GPI

Who’s Hot? Atlanta:

Zach Bogosian (D) 2 pts in last 3 GP
Bryan Little (RW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Niclas Bergfors (RW/LW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Rich Peverley (C/RW) 4 pts in last 5 GP
Ondrej Pavelec (G) 1-0-1, 1.50, .960 in last 2 GPI
Johan Hedberg (G) 1-1-0, 1.51, .945 in last 2 GPI

Other Articles:
Coyotes Back to Winnipeg? The Breakdown!
NHL Signings – Including Bobby Butler, Unfortunately
Metropolit Out for Season

Micheal A. Aldred

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  • Leafs4ever
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  • Blue Max

    @ Cameron:
    You’re waisting your words! I’ve been watching Kabs since he broke in with Queen, and I can vouch for him not being as bad as they make him out to be. Sure he’s not as physical, but his active stick more than makes up for it. There’s so many little plays he makes to get us out of trouble, it’s not even funny. We all forget how hes’ been bandied around in the media as trade bait for more than a few years now. Yea, put him under that much stress, and lets see how good he is. You’re right, so many breakaways and actual goals started of his stick, yet many choose to forget. I hope BB signs him here for the duration. Just to show all the asshole GMs what they’ve missed out on, if anything!

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  • Waiting4LSC

    @Cameron: You make good points. But why are you making them. I would have expected RW to provide stronger support of Kabs. In the interviews I watch, RW is uninteresting, does not display passion, does not praise where praise is due. He undersells his players, particularly Luke. My comments are based on what I see. You add good counter-balance. But RW adds nothing. Its not BB or DN’s job. My beef all along this year has been with RW, and his Quasimodo Acton. If they don’t instill accountability then I am more than likely going to be unfair in my comments. Just for the record, I like Kaberle, I think he has great value to the team, but he also has great trade value, and we need O. I don’t know why I think Gunnar will be a solid replacement, I just do.

    You bring a good perspective, and I appreciate it.

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  • Craigory

    New Uniforms for next year! Yeah!

    Here’s the link:

    http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2010/03/30/13417201.html

    Am I seriously the only one pumped on this? Can’t wait to finally get my Schenn jersey.

    Anyways continue; everyone should probably fight about Kaberle some more.

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  • Leafs4ever

    @ Blue Max:

    No one is disputing that Kaberle is still a top offensive defenseman but you have to admit, for whatever reason, he hasn’t been playing up to par lately. His breakout passes are awesome but when he carries the puck through the neutral zone he tends to slow down now and is reluctant to dump it in when confronted with the trap. Too much stick handling and circling. On the power play he is trying to force feed Kessel too much (at the expense of moving to a better position to setup Phaneuf for a one timer or shooting when there is traffic).
    We all know Kabs is not physical but makes up for it with an active stick and is very cool with the puck in his own zone.

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  • kingkessel
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  • Cameron

    @ Leafs4ever:

    So what? This part of the season is for kids to develop. Don’t you think he’s getting used to that to? It’s not like Kaberle just knows where all these new faces are going to be on the ice, and what their tendencies are. Add that to the schedule not allowing for any quality practice time, and of course he’s going to have a bad month

    And about RW not giving any positive comments about his players – he’s not going to come out and start blabbing about Kaberle’s value when the team might try to resign him at a bargain. RW also praised Hagman, Stajan and White a fair bit in their time here, and we know where that ended up. I think a lot of what goes on is very strategic. Remember, Blake was RW’s “hardest working player”, and Toskala was “one of my favorite goalies ever”. What he says means nothing right now. Once we get Kulemin locked up for 3-5 years, expect to hear RW singing his praises.

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  • Leafs4ever
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  • Bob is your uncle

    Leafs4ever wrote:

    I would be happy with Horton. He hits and has more scoring ability than Armstrong making him a top line candidate.

    Because he’s listed 6′ 2″/229 lbs.(or more), everyone seems to think Horton hits a lot.

    His totals.

    05/06 – 71 gms – 46 hits.

    06/07 – 82 gms – 63 hits.

    07/08 – 82 gms – 81 hits.

    (Stajan had more)

    08/09 – 67 gms – 95 hits.

    (projects to 82 gms – 116 hits a decent total but again Stajan had more 76 gms – 116 hits. projected – 125 hits)

    09/10 – 58 gms – 31 hits.(pretty pathetic)

    (This puts him up there with these notorious hitters)
    Jason Blake – 56 gms – 36 hits.
    Ricard Wallin – 56 gms – 31 hits.
    Niklas Hagman – 55 gms – 26 hits.

    A total of 316 hits in his last 360 games. Ryan Callahan has 273 hits in his last 74 games.

    Perhaps I misunderstood. Maybe you meant he hits on women or hits the bar after the game?

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  • Leafs4ever
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  • Wook

    Unlike many veterans who were forced to pack their bags after many consecutive years of dismal play coupled to lack of passion, people tend to turn a blind eye when it comes to Kaberle.

    Some people believe that Kaberle started playing like shit only after the olympics. He must be tired right? Maybe he is having a hard time adjusting to all the new players.

    Let’s have a closer look at the numbers throughout the entire season.

    .. GP G .A .P +/-
    1) 77 7 42 49 -16
    2) 32 2 29 31 -5
    3) 45 5 13 18 -11
    4) 24 3 09 12 -5
    5) 21 2 04 06 -6
    6) 15 1 02 03 -5

    Key:
    1) Entire season
    2) First 32 games of season
    3) Last 45 games of season
    4) 24 games before the Phaneuf trade
    5) 21 games since the Phaneuf trade
    6) 15 games since the dawning of the new Leafs

    Facts:
    1) Kaberle was playing like an elite offensive defenseman until mid-December (still a minus player)
    2) In contrary to popular belief, Kaberle has been playing like a below average offensive defenseman since LONG before the olympics (i.e. much greater than half of the season)
    3) Kaberle’s production went further down after the acquisition of Phaneuf
    4) Kaberle’s production has been laughable as a member of the new squad

    As an offensive defenseman, he really has not been very offensive for the majority of the season. He continues to be on the ice when the opposition scores, and he no longer produces at the offensive end.

    With the exception of the game against the Rangers (where he scored that offensively gifted goal), Kaberle has not made much tangible contributions during the 9-4-2 stretch (points in just two games) following the trade deadline. Actually, I take that back, he was -9 in those 6 losses. I boldly state that, based on stats alone, had Finger or Exelby replaced Kaberle during those 6 games, we would most likely be outside the lottery position.

    It is entirely possible that he will magically turn things around next season when he is in a different uniform.

    Maybe he is just tired and getting old. Maybe the overwhelming youth and committed forechcking upfront negates the need for those long stretch passes to score. Maybe other defensemen on the Leafs can make those less frequent stretch passes. Maybe that “A” on his jersey is weighing him down. Maybe he misses his now outcast friends. Maybe Kabby is a sad and depressed man.

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  • T-Bone

    Hits means, wins puck battles and goes to the dirty areas in front of net. Glad you explained that. I thought someone who hits, was someone who hits.

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  • Bob is your uncle
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  • Leafs4ever
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  • Leafs4ever

    T-Bone wrote:

    Hits means, wins puck battles and goes to the dirty areas in front of net. Glad you explained that. I thought someone who hits, was someone who hits.

    Except, “hits” as Bobs meant it is the number of body checks counted by nhl statisticians. They don’t count plays like battling for position in front of the net or pushing a guy off the puck to get control. He pulled those stats out without even knowing what I meant. He was being a prick about it too.

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  • Cameron

    @ Leafs4ever:

    There’s a reason Horton has been on the trade block forever.

    And about Kaberle, no stats sheet can account for the Vesa Toskala factor or the stress of the impending trade situation. Nor can any stats calculations deduce that Kaberle starts a great deal of our goal scoring plays, even when he doesn’t get credit. They do not tally, either, the number of times he gets the puck in his own zone, and kills a relentless forecheck simply by taking the puck – immediately the attackers back off.

    Jeez, I can’t wait till Pierre McGuire gets a hold of this stat mongering. In Toronto, we find a way to cripple anyone. 2nd highest scoring defensemen since the lockout you say? Well, we should be able to get a 4th, because some stats say he isn’t very good. Way to go guys. Keep complaining. He’ll be gone for half of what he’s worth soon enough, and you can all start complaining about Horton, or whatever other piece of garbage we end up having to take….

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  • Schenn

    I think it’ll definetly be interesting to see what hte Leafs do with their jerseys.

    I am almost certain they’ll be bringing back the stripes at the bottom and it sounds like they’ll be putting shoulder patches on again. I wonder if it’ll be the classic Leafs, the TML or something totally new. When they say trim, I hope they don’t mean the vertical stripes that go down by the shoulders and armpits.

    I’m also interested to see waht Classic jersey they goto in 2012? I’m thikning the 1931-32 jersey would be pretty cool and have it in blue so it is better for home games.

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  • Bob is your uncle
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  • Leafs4ever
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  • Leafs4ever
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