Should We be Optimistic?
The idea for this blog came to me after a couple of weeks studying comments on a few hockey web sites, reading many blogs and of course watching the games. I found myself asking the same question over and over again, do we really as Leafs fans have a reason to be optimistic this season and beyond?
More than four years ago the outlook was bleak, I can remember the deplorable words in my eyes written plenty of times on various web sites and blogs, “it’s time to tank or the Leafs should sell off all players and tank”. As a hockey fan it exacerbated me to think a team would conducts itself in this manner, how anyone could want their team to intentionally tank a season is foreign to me, it circumvents the true meaning of having honour and integrity, the organization and players should feel absolute pride when they put on that Leaf jersey and not do a discourtesy to the logo, the fans and the city.
So this brings me to today, do I feel optimistic about the Leafs? Well yes and no.
2011-2012 Season Opener - Leafs vs Habs
The start of the season begins tonight and with it comes new hope that the Leafs are in at least contention for a playoff spot. New additions to the roster this season are J.M. Liles, Matthew Lombardi, Cody Franson, Jake Gardiner, Matt Frattin, David Seckel and Injured Tim Connolly.
Last year’s record gets wiped from the standings as the Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens, the Habs will be without their perennial injured defenseman Andrei Markov.
One key area that I will focus on is specialty teams,with new assistant coaches Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin now in place, I hope we don’t see the same old bad habits, bad positioning on the penalty kill, for me, the tone for the entire season is defensive zone coverage which we will be paramount for a successful season. The powerplay is another key area that needs improvement.
Close eyes will be on Jake Gardiner, who had a terrific pre season, Liles on the powerplay and Matt Frattin, who impressed with his three zone play during the Exhibition games. Buckle up, with the Leafs you just don’t know what you will get from game to game.
Who stays and who goes?
Today the Leafs made 14 cuts to the roster, Luca Caputi, Joe Colborne, Jerry D’Amigo, Ryan Hamilton, Marcel Mueller, Kenny Ryan, Greg Scott, Mike Zigomanis, Jesse Blacker, Jeff Finger, Simon Gysbers, Korbinian Holzer, Juraj Mikus and Mark Owuya all have been assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.
Surviving the cuts were Nazem Kadri, Matt Frattin, Darryl Boyce, Philippe Dupuis, Jake Gardiner, Matt Lashoff and Ben Scrivens.
Dave Poulin, Vice-President of Hockey Operations said, “Some people are making decisions very difficult for us right now which is the beauty of depth in an organization,” “This is what we want. We want it to be really, really difficult to decide who gets to be on the Toronto Maple Leafs. That means we’re a better hockey club.”
So the big question remains, who stays and who goes? Throw into the mix that Matthew Lombardi may be ready to go, also add in that Mike Brown may not be sufficiently healed from his groin injury to start the season. In my opinion Matt Frattin has out played all of the surviving cuts on forward, Kadri regressed in the last couple of games, whether it be fatigue or not, the same mental mistakes have crept in again. Burke said in an interview Saturday night about Kadri “We’re still seeing too many turnovers high in the attacking zone.” This has made that crack in the door wider for Frattin to slip in. This in no way makes me doubt Kadri’s talent, I believe he is a very good young developing player and I will not give up hope on him, he may need a little more time in the AHL.
Progression or Regression: Leaf Player Analysis for the upcoming 2011-12 Season
As the Leafs get ready to start the 2011-12 season many question marks surround the lineup, with a relatively young roster it will be curious to see who will progress and who will regress if any will at all. Brian Burke and the rest of the management are banking on players who have had injury plagued seasons in the past to try and get them back into the playoffs, Joffrey Lupul, Tim Connolly, Matthew Lombardi and a Dion Phaneuf who suffered a deep cut and only came back to form towards the end of the season.
Does the fate of the Leafs rest on these players coming to form or will it depend on other players that may progress in their development or will the failure fall on regression of their development.
I asked a question in another forum about what five players that will be the key or integral part to the Leafs season, the consensus seemed to be the same five players but I will expand it further.
James Reimer, Last Season in 37 games played he sported a 2.60 GAA and a .921 save percentage. Many pin the hopes on him to get back to the playoffs after a lengthy absence from it, what is brought up many times is his demeanour and that is what leads Leaf fans to think he will be the real deal, I believe he will have few struggles throughout the season but hope it is not a prolonged sophomore season one but looking around at other goalies in their second season there may be a slight regression in his play. I project him to play around 50 games with a 2.77 GAA and a .916 save percentage
Analysis: Slight Regression or stay the same
Toronto Marlies Thoughts for 2011-12
This is early but I wanted to write a blog about next season’s Toronto Marlies. Next year’s squad will see major changes to it making them a much younger team with more talent than it has seen in a few years especially on the defense.
Gone from last year’s team is Alex Foster, Danny Richmond, Christian Hanson, unsigned and not expected to return are Aaron Voros, Fabian Brunnstrom, Jeff Cowan and Brayden Irwin.
The Leafs have added so far, Phillippe Dupuis and resigned Mike Zigomanis and Ryan Hamilton and soon to sign from all accounts Darryl Boyce. Dupuis, Zigomanis and Boyce will all compete for the job as the Leafs 4th line Centre position.
With that being said, it looks to be a good lineup for the Marlies starting the 2011-2012 season.
So let’s look at the potential line-up.
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