“Form an orderly line!”
People are getting hurt they’re jumping off of the Leafs bandwagon so fast! And then there are the diehards. Who are still waiting for their “savior” (Reimer) to come back, right the ship, and take them to the promise land!
People; get off the wagon, get off the ship, and get off the pot! This is the same mediocre, (hopefully) 8th place team that we started the season with. Yes, they have had a spectacular start to the season. Mostly due to favorable scheduling, but a great start none the less. So far they have exceeded expectation. But, unfortunately the run has ended, as all runs due. And now its time to go back to grinding out games, and hopefully winning three out of every five to finish with enough points to sneak into the playoffs.
Don’t get me wrong, the Leafs do have some offensive talent. I was the first one to say Kessel will score 40 this year. But he’s not going to score 60. And he can’t carry this team. Lupul’s been good, and the secondary scoring is decent, but decent isn’t good enough. And now 2/3 of the second line is injured. Who’s going to fill that gap?
And then there’s the ever-elusive first line centre… So far, “Band-aid solution” Tim Connolly hasn’t been very productive. Not only that, but he’s only appeared in 7 games! The Leafs don’t mind coddling Connolly because they think he his a legitimate first line pivot. But I strongly disagree. And this, “maybe I’m hurt, maybe I’m not” crap, wouldn’t fly with me. I need a guy I can count on. Every time he got hurt I would be sending him to the minors for lengthy conditioning stints. And I would also find myself asking, is Colbourne close to ready?
On the back end there has been some surprises, and there has been some disappointments. Phaneuf is really taking to the captaincy role, and is digging deep to contribute at both ends of the ice. Liles (JML) has really assimilated well in Toronto, and the stats sheet mirror his efforts. Gunnarsson has been solid, and consistent. And so has rookie Jake Gardiner, although he is a minus six. A lot of people have been impressed with Mike Komisarek’s game, but I’m not quite convinced, and I’d like to see a little more before I offer my opinion. Although I will concede that he has a defense leading plus 3 right now. The guys that have been disappointing so far are Schenn, and Franson. They are minus 4 and minus 5 respectively. Schenn is supposed to be the Leafs best defenseman (maybe behind Phaneuf), and right now he’s probably the worst. He needs to get back to that elite level if the Leafs are ever going to be a contender. Franson, well I feel Franson hasn’t really been given a fair shake in Toronto. He got off on the wrong foot with coach Wilson, and for that has seen a revolving door of defense partners, and the inside of press boxes around the league.
I think Wilson needs to suck up his pride here and cultivate this young talent, well actually I don’t think that is Wilson’s forte, but he should at least be making the effort. This is a kid with a ton of skill, played last year as a top-four guy on a pretty good defensive team in the Nashville Predators, went deep into the playoffs, and grew up idolizing the Leafs.
The worst part about the D though, is they are again, at the bottom of the league in penalty killing percentage (29th). This is year after year, folks. And with the talent, and potential of talent they have on the blue line, it is unacceptable! For this reason alone I think Wilson isn’t the guy.
In goal it’s a different story. James Reimer was lights out (still hasn’t lost in regulation) before he got sidelined with a concussion from a dirty hit to the head. Rookie Ben Scrivens was tapped on the shoulder, and responded by posting a 2-3-1 record, with a 2.95 GAA, and a .899 SV% over 6 game. Which I think is excellent for a rookie that was thrown in to help a mediocre team, un-expectantly. But Toronto fans are out for blood. Come on guys, this kid still has a future, lets not ruin it yet. But before Scrivens got the tap, the onus fell to Jonas. And Gustavsson was his usual .500 self, going exactly 4 and 4 over 8 games. That’s not a shock to me. He’s a decent goalie, but not a great one. Maybe there still is some hidden potential there, but so far, after 3 years, I’m not seeing it. Well, I guess the Leafs brass is skeptical too if they are currently shopping for a steward for Reimer. Which I don’t mind, grab a guy like Turco for a 1 year, league minimum contract, send Scrivens down, which is a must, trade Gustavsson, and wait for Reimer to return. But I only like this if Gustavsson is traded. If you want to hang on to him because you still see potential, that’s fine, but then he should be playing, and there shouldn’t be any shopping. If you can’t count on him to step up for a few games when he’s needed, then why do you have him?
So in summation, no more delusions of grandeur! This team, and its fans, need to work together, and concentrate on the task at hand. Which means stop “planning the parade”, stop chirping other teams, and stop writing Kessel’s MVP speech. But it also means, don’t get down on your team when they lose a couple, it’s going to happen. And stop throwing the players, especially the young goalies under the bus (Wilson will do enough of that for everybody). This is the point in the season where the team is going to need your positive support the most. They are trying to pull out of a small tailspin before it turns into a big nosedive down the standings. And it’s hard enough with the adversity they are facing, having 7 of their starters out with injury (Reimer, McArthur, Grabovski, Lombardi, Armstrong, Brown, Komisarek), including their starting goalie. They don’t need the negativity from the fans and the media too. It’s going to take a lot of heart and determination to weather this storm. And they could sure use the rally and support of Leafs Nation to help them through it. And it all starts with you!
…and that’s the last word.
