Game Day! +Rumors
Pregame:
Toronto is about to step into HSBC Arena for the 2nd time this week. There is no doubt in my mind that Buffalo is going to be craving for a win against the Leafs considering the recent slide they have seen in the standings and the fact that the team they used to be able to write off as a win in their schedule, has finally started showing up to play.
Buffalo is an interesting team to look at, as a Toronto fan. With the new owner, the pressure to win has intensified to the level of all other NHL franchises that spend to the cap. The fans are getting irritable with their lack of success, considering that with more cap space last year, they produced similar results to this point in the season.
I predict much of the same from this team as we have seen from the Leafs over the past 10 years (until recently). Money will be spent to the max each year, and the prospects will start flowing out of the system for players that can help now.
LEAFS game leaves me thinKING(S)
Last nights match, although tough to bear at some points, was one of the more entertaining games I have seen from the Leafs in a while. There were a lot of positives coming out of the game, but the negatives were the same as they have been for the last few years.
I prefer ending on a good note, so let’s start with the bad:
1) Not my biggest beef with the team, but those extra points will kill us in the long run. No goals in 3 shots in the shootout, maybe they need to spend a little bit more time in practice honing the skill.
2) More stupid penalties. For a team with the worst ranked PK in the league, you would assume that they would understand the fact that taking a penalty drastically reduces their chances of winning every game. Luckily, we only had 5… (sigh)
3) Our PK started out the game on fire for once. It was exactly how I would have pictured it at the start, but then a bad penalty by Phaneuf brought in a 4-on-3 that prevented us from applying pressure the same way. A quick goal, and our PK reverted back to the indecisive coverage (somewhere in between a pressure system and a collapsing one)
Where Have You Been All My Life!???
I have been watching the leafs for 12 years now (the better part of my life) and I can honestly say, without any doubt in my mind, that a group of hockey players must have kidnapped the Leafs, stolen their jerseys, and played out the entire first period of Toronto’s 3-2 win over the Rags, before letting the real Leafs back on the ice in the 2nd. There is no other explanation for it.
I have never in my life seen such play by the Leafs to this day. Constant pressure, perfect cycling, heads up playmaking, driving to the net, well placed shots, outstanding goaltending, smart match-ups, key face-off wins, winning battles, proper positioning, well-placed outlet passes, and the list goes on. It was an entirely different team. As quickly as it came, it left, as the 2nd period was a team that played back at the level I have been used to for a while. However, I want to focus on the positive here. What was it that made this team play the way they did? Steroids in the water bottles was my first thought, but then saner thoughts prevailed.
The answer? Dadda. The father-son road trip (I believe) was the cause of this effort. While all fathers were present for the 4-1 loss to the Bruins on Saturday, the Bruins were clearly the better team and did not give the Leafs a chance to play the game they wish they had played. All the more reason to step it up more at the very next opportunity; the opportunity at Madison Square Garden.
The Evolution of Coaching – The Next Step
So I was watching the Pittsburgh game last night and just got onto thinking of what Dan Bylsma was able to accomplish over the past year and a half, while missing his top 2 players (Crosby and Malkin) for a significant portion of time. It got me thinking how much I would love to have a guy like this running the Leaf’s bench and then it got me thinking even more. Currently there are regulations in place to prevent an NHL team from reaching out to a player before they reach the pro-level, and rightfully so, but at the moment there is no regulation (as far as I believe) for coaches. What I mean is, is there any regulations out there currently that prevent an NHL team from contacting a coach at a semi-pro level, and having them commit to the team? Allow me to explain with an example.
Say the Toronto Maple Leafs were the first to act on this idea. What we could do is start looking into the NCAA, CHL, OHL, etc… and begin trying to find the best coaches available. The ideal situation would be to find coaches that have different styles, in order to diversify our pool. Let’s say we find Coach X who has a fantastic defence-first system (i.e. plays the trap to perfection), we find Coach Y who plays a great run-and-gun offense, and we find Coach Z who doesn’t have a great system, but seems to have found an incredible method to get the most out of his players and have them improve constantly. Although this would be very premature, as these coaches have only been a part of semi-pro hockey, what if we went to each one and said the following:
Player Review: Joffrey Lupul
The most underrated player currently in a Leaf Jersey would have to be #19 Joffrey Lupul. Effective in all areas of the ice, the Lupster (trying out the nickname) has managed to keep up over a point per game pace so far through ¼ of the regular season. His play thus far has been overshadowed by that of Phil Kessel, but in the end, some time out of the spot-light may have just been the thing to get Lupul out of his past slumps. Let’s back up a bit before I get into JoffrEye Pupil’s (This one better?… Ok I’ll stop) Leaf overview.
Taken 7th overall in the 2002 draft, coming off a 56 goal effort in the WHL in 2001-2002, Lupul continued his hot play by reaching an impressive 41 goals and 78 points in 50 games in the 2002-2003 WHL season. Lupul was hard-pressed to find any flow to his game once entering the NHL, as he was traded after only two seasons in Anaheim to Edmonton, where he played only one year before being shipped off to Philidelphia for the duration of only two seasons; eventually being sent back to the team that drafted him, Anaheim.
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