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Perhaps it’s that the bar (rightfully) was set so low going into the year, or perhaps it’s the credibility of Mike Babcock (rightfully) earning some bandwidth with the fans and media, but the headlines are mostly pretty upbeat in Leafland.

Technically speaking – record wise – it’s the worst five-game start the Leafs have had in six years, but some of the underlying indicators of team performance show promise.

After yet another strange gap in the early Leaf schedule, Jonathan Bernier is back in net versus Jack Eichel and the Sabres tonight. We’ll have lines and game day notes coming up in the afternoon.


Wednesday Links:

  • Elliotte Friedman: 30 Thoughts – Reeling Blue Jackets search for answers (Sportsnet)
    Interesting stuff from former Toronto coach Peter Horachek on building a relationship with Kessel. “Because he is such a quiet player, it takes coaches a really long time to get to know him. And the reason why is that he doesn’t trust very easily. There has to be an opportunity for a coach to spend time…with him over a whole season to get him to trust you.
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  • Jonas Siegel: Leafs already changing under Babcock (TSN.ca)
    Routinely pummeled there last season, the Leafs have been outshot just once in the first five games. The club, too, is swimming in the middle of the pack in terms of puck possession (at just over 50 per cent) after sitting as an anchor near the bottom of the league last season.
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  • Jonas Siegel: Maple Leafs testing Rielly against some of the league’s best (TSN.ca)
    “I thought he played real good against Sid the other night,” said Babcock. “I think we’ve been pretty lucky so far that we’ve managed to contain them,” said Rielly, more humble in his assessment. “When they get zone time I think that it’s just about trying to end plays and I think we’ve done a half-decent job of it so far.”
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  • Kevin McGran: Morgan Rielly embraces ‘boring’ Maple Leafs (Toronto Star)
    “It’s great,” said Rielly. “Last year we had our moments where we weren’t proud of certain things. This is a big thing for us. We want to make people proud of us. We want to be proud of ourselves. We want to behave the right way. Play hard. We want not to have any controversy, just to be boring.”
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  • Staff: Maple Leafs to start goalie Jonathan Bernier against Sabres (Windsor Star)
    The absence of their leading scorer from each of the last six seasons has been evident for the Leafs, who have scored once or been shut out three times. They’ve lost four of their first five for the first time since dropping eight straight to open 2009-10.
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