Connolly
On July 2, 2011 you could find me in the kitchen preheating an oven. Why? I wanted to make sure that everything was nice and warm for when I threw my head into it because the Leafs signed Tim Connolly. Was this an overreaction? Sure. Connolly may have a high cap hit at $4.5 million a season, but his contract is for only two years.
In year one Connolly did little to prove me wrong. In a season where Connolly would actually avoid the injury bug (missing only 12 games is an achievement for him), Tim would put up his lowest point totals since before the lockout (excluding the season he missed and his 2 game season.) Anyway you cut it 36 points seems bad, especially since this was the player pegged to be the new first line center (unfair expectation alert.) [more…]
Training camp is set up with a scrimmage in one rink and drills going on in the other rink. The notes are about the scrimmages. Camp was split into three squads. The notes below are observations from the scrimmages.
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An annual tradition, here's the scoring predictions for the 2011-12 version of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I won't get too much into player specifics since my scouting reports are in the Maple Leafs Annual with further expansion in the McKeen's Yearbook to be released soon.
Some minor commentary on Kulemin winning the scoring title. When coming up with predictions, the hold of the top spot was so delicate any slump/streak could cost some player the scoring crown. If it wasn't Kulemin, it could be Grabovski coming off a breakout campaign (and entering a contract year) or Kessel for a third straight season. [more…]
