What has happened in Leaf land? This is turning out to be a terrible season for them. They started out of the gate really well going 4-0-1 in their first five games. They have since gone on a 7 game losing streak. This my friends is due to the fact that Brian Burke and Ron Wilson have failed to put together their vision of a team that is pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence. Instead they have made a team almost completely opposite of that.There is no heart in the offensive zone, none what so ever in the neutral zone and almost none in the defensive end. They look like lost chirldren who don't want to actually go home. Luke Schenn has been one of the very few bright spots on this team and I actually have started to feel sorry for him. He must be hating the fact that he is playing well and it doesnt reflex on either his stats or the teams record. They have almost no building blocks in the minors to which they can look forward to helping them in the future with the exception of Nazim Kadri, Jerry D'Amico and this year at least Justin Hodgmen. If the Leafs are in the "re-building stage" as they claim then why hasn't any of these guys been called up. Your a team looking for goals, with nobody showing any type of effort or heart and you leave your young guys playing in the minors during what has turned out to be a nothing season. Mabye Ron Wilson should man up and actually coach his team. His rolling of all 4 lines isn't going to work here in Toronto, he doesn't have the talent like he had in San Jose when he was winning games. They had a 23 year old Patrick Marleau, a younger and healthier Teemu Selanne, a 24 year old Marco Strum who scored 28 goals for him that year. Add in a younger and healthier Owen Nolan and Mike Ricci then add Joe Thornton's arrival as well as having Nabokov, Kiprusoff, and Vesa Toskala to throw in the net and that should of been enough to win it all. However they didn't and I am wondering if the state of affairs of the coaching staff are partially to blame for all this mess. Just a thought though
Has anyone noticed a rapid decline of so called "superstars" in the league this year doing nothing? Simon Gagne hasn't done a damn thing in Tampa Bay even though they have been playing some of the best hockey around the league. Rick Nash (one of my personal favourites) just scored his first goal of the season on the 2nd of November, Steven Weiss, Florida's leading goal scorer of last year has just 1 goal, 2 assists and a terrible -6 rating. Whats going on here? While the heavyweights like Crosby are still up there others like Mark Letestu and Derick Brassard are now front runners for goals and points!!!! I am not sure but there seems to be a new defensive trend in the NHL right now and they are keying on the top players from each team. Not like this should come as a huge surprise given that everyone who knows hockey knows that this type of defence works. However the newest thing is that teams are now all playing a collapsing style of defense where everyone crowds around the goaltender and no shots get through. If playing in fantasy leagues, defencemen with high blocked shot ratios in the past would be an excellent pick up if this trend continues. Just watch the man games and keep aware of injuries because shots off the ankle and feet can and will lead to alot of injuries
So, the Toronto Maple Leafs had started the season with a bang winning its first 5 games of the season. This was a huge start considering the season that they had last year. My only concern was that the people of Toronto were already planning the Stanley Cup parade. Well the city has come back down to life with the recent losing streak that they have been on. I just wonder if winning those first five games really did anything to help the Maple Leafs. They are now under tremendous pressure from their coaching staff as well as the fans and media. I mean this is a team that many thought wouldn't make it to 5 wins this year, let alone start out the season 5-0. Now everyone wants to know what went wrong when really they should be saying that the Leafs are playing well with the talent that they have on their team. No offence to anyone on the team but without a top line centre to play with Phil Kessel and Chris Versteeg then the fans and media of the Leafs can continue to expect these types of performances for awhile.
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