young winger
Remember Jimmy Hayes? He was the Leafs 2nd round pick in 2008, a burgeoning power forward who struggled last season in his freshman campaign with the Boston College Eagles as he adjusted to the NCAA game.
Consider those struggles a thing of the past.
Hayes was fantastic in the Hockey East Championship this past week as his team captured their ninth tournament victory, an NCAA record. Oh, and you may be interested to know that his 2 goals and 5 assists (in 4 games) led all tournament point-getters.
Ever since the Leafs' late-offseason acquisition of Phil Kessel, his performance has been (understandably) heavily-scrutinized in the face of the hefty amount of futures given up to secure the extremely talented winger.
Kessel's season has, in some ways, mirrored that of his teammates, with periods of great productivity followed by periods of near-invisibility. However, considering a host of issues which seemingly stood in the way of a productive season, including significant shoulder surgery, causing him to miss out on training camp, and the lack of talent surrounding him, the Leafs' young sniper has produced at a rate which, in the context of the aforementioned factors, is actually quite impressive.
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Reports indicate that Phil Kessel will definitely be in the lineup tomorrow night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Â The much-anticipated debut of the young winger has been a hot topic of late with information surfacing in the last few weeks that he would be ready before the previously upheld mid-November estimate. Â With the Leafs playing much better in recent games, it will be interesting to see how Kessel fits in. Â Fans should not expect him to be completely in form yet, as he will need some time to get into game-shape.
Today's midweek rumblings include the implications of the Joey Macdonald signing, Zherdev bolts for the KHL, a preview of the Coyotes afternoon hearing, a possible Senators throwback jersey, a whole lot of nothing on Phil Kessel and the National Post's take on winners/losers of free agency. [more…]
