Leafs
The Leafs are on Long Island tonight looking to bounce back after a dismal showing at home against the Habs less than 24 hours ago. Tonight is like most game nights in that I'd highly recommend the Leafs win, but it's especially the case given they're playing the Islanders and have New Jersey and Pittsburgh on tap after the upcoming three-day break.
The big story as far as lineup changes go is the return of James Reimer, who banged up his knee 17 days ago. Tonight hopefully marks the beginning of a two- (healthy) Leafs goalie platoon where both 'tendies push each other for the opportunity to provide quality starts. Reimer's last start was the Leafs' 5-2 win over Philadelphia and he enters tonight looking to belatedly continue a three-game win streak. He's 6-3-0 with a .931 save percentage on the season. [more…]
Prior to this one, the Habs lost only four regulation games this season, but two of those loses have come at the hands of the Maple Leafs, including the 6-0 shellacking handed to them in the Bell Centre. The 6-0 win also featured physical dominance by the Leafs so this one was expected to be a fiery affair. The Habs added Michael Ryder and PK Subban to the lineup just to make things more difficult. [more…]
“When the schedule first came out, you know, you look forward to it. But I think both teams have moved on now and they’re having some success, too.” – Luke Schenn
The definition of success is a funny one. It seems like it should be the Flyers who are proudly sitting in fifth place in the East, poised to make a leap into a tie with Pittsburgh or surpass a division leader with a victory on Monday night. It seems like it should be the Leafs who are taking pride in getting over the hiccups of a slow start, pleased to be part of an early tie for the last playoff spot in the Conference. Surprisingly, the tables have turned, and with very little changing for either team besides the Schenn/van Riemsdyk trade, it seems like Schenn has a lot to prove against his former club on Monday. Moreover, he's got to show his current club that he can eventually become the type of shutdown defenseman that can warrant giving up a player who now seems to be discovering his true offensive upside. [more…]
On Hockey Day in Canada in February of 2012, the Leafs organization added special lustre to their matchup against the Montreal Canadiens with the decision to honour Mats Sundin with a pregame banner raising ceremony at the ACC. The Leafs were 28-21-6 at the time, in the playoff hunt, and had even more reason than usual to put on a good showing. They proceeded to get stomped by a score of 5-0, slipping silently into the night and initiating a disastrous slump that would eventually extend the team's playoff drought and end their head coach's tenure behind the bench. [more…]
Hope you've all been enjoying a day chock full of awkward interviews on CBC.
The main event gets underway in about an hour as the Leafs take on the Habs at the Bell Centre in their second meeting this season. At the quarter point of the season, the Leafs could pass the Habs in the division and conference standings with a win and pull into a tie with the Senators after their 1-0 loss to the Jets this afternoon. [more…]
The Maple Leafs, one of the league's better road teams through five away games (4-1), will visit one of the loudest buildings in the league tonight, the acoustic MTS Centre, where the Jets are 3-1 this season and 26-14-5 since their return to Winnipeg. [more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from last night’s drubbing, defeating the Washington Capitals 3 - 2. But did you really expect a team with Tim Hunter coaching and Joey Crabb featuring heavily on the PK to actually win a game?
With just a single goal in their past two games, the Leafs need their top six to wake up offensively as they begin a three-game road trip at the Verizon Center tonight in Washington, DC. [more…]
Prepare yourself, this loss is going to invite some doomsday, trade-everybody overreactions. [more…]
This is a big of a test as there is in game #8 of the season for Carlyle's team. How the Leafs look against the 5-1-1 Boston Bruins tonight is going to be an early measuring stick when it comes to the team's level of improvement this season over last.
In the process of losing all six games to the Bruins last season, the Leafs never allowed less than four and were lit up by scores of 7-0, 8-0, 6-3 and 6-2 throughout the season series. The way in which the Leafs were roundly outplayed in all facets of the game, and at times physically outmatched to an extent hard to imagine of an NHL team, in those blowouts was an embarrassment to all wearing Blue and White; the types of performances against a hated division rival the Leafs must avoid if, as Carlyle pledged, his team isn't going to be a laughingstock. [more…]
The Capitals are not a good team at the moment and for a while there the Leafs looked in danger of walking away with nothing in a winnable game. Thankfully, a two-goal third period saves the day and the Leafs move to 4-3-0 with their first home win. [more…]
Randy Carlyle has not been with the Leafs for long, but he’s beginning to put his stamp on this team.
Hired on March 2nd 2012, the former Ducks bench boss inherited a team on the decline and wound up finishing with a 6-9-3 record to close out the season in his first 18 games as the Leafs head coach. Questions and attention were given to things such as whether or not Carlyle, a former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, could turn around Luke Schenn’s game, how he was using Connolly-Steckel-Crabb as a shutdown line, whether he and Joffrey Lupul could get along, if Phil Kessel could produce with him, and the intrigue of the looks he was giving Matt Lombardi and Matt Frattin on the top line. [more…]
