NHL, 2006-2007 season

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The Leafs looked really good tonight in handing the mutant muskrats their first regulation time loss. Everyone on the Leafs roster seemed to put in a good effort. They took too many penalties in the third period but they looked very composed in killing them off. Sundin's second goal of the night was a real beauty - the pass from White was just about perfect.

 

Honestly, if the Leafs can come out that strong more often this season, I don't see why they wouldn't be strong contenders for the cup. That was the most solid game I've seen them play in a while. But then again I haven't been watching too many games this year. Damn you, university dorms without TV!

 

It was certainly the best game that I have seen them play so far this season - and I have watched most of their games.

Which dorm do they have you stuck in reepnorp? I was in village 1 and we always watched the Leafs games in the floor lounge.

 

I saw the replay... Man, the Sabre's first goal was a horrible one for Raycroft to let in... I wasn't impressed..

Damn you Devils! they beat the Habs 2-1... It was espacially important for the devils since it was the return of head coach Claude Julien in montréal since he was fired by the Habs. And Martin Brodeur always wants to win against the Canadians (he has something of 1.80 goals per game in his games against the habs)

 

JSBB, you went to Waterloo?! That's crazy! And yes, I'm here in Village 1, West 4. Unfortunately there's a bunch of other things that have us hockey fans outnumbered here these days, like Grey's Anatomy, House, even the Raptors. That just isn't cool. Luckily I can still listen to the game over NHL.com.

[ November 06, 2006, 16:40: Message edited by: reepnorp ]

 

@Triactus - Raycroft should have had that one but he was solid the rest of the night.

@reepnorp - I was in North 1. My brother is going to UW too - he was in Eby Hall his first year and then started renting houses with his buddies after that. He is on a co-op work term out in Vancouver right now. It is funny how things change - we always had either sports or the Simpsons on in the Lounge and Leafs games were always top priority.

 

Jeff O'Neil is rebounding from a disasterous season last year. He's got 5 goals in about 15 or 16 games, and could score 25 to 30.

The Buffalo game was awesome. True, the one the Sabres got was one that Razor should have had, but count that against the 3 or 4 that the Sabres should have had, I'll take the soft goal and deny them the ones that they didn't get.

They beat Philly tonight too. I think that their problem is a lack of scoring. Nittymakki is going to be a great goalie for them, but they need a team in front of him...

 

Yeah, O'Neil has actually been playing pretty well for the last three games.

What surprised me more was that Antropov actually looked very good out there last night! He was using his size to his advantage all night and had three pretty good scoring opportunities in addition to his goal.

It was a bit worrying how the Leafs dominated in the first but then were completely dominated by the Flyers in the second but Raycroft was superb in net and they managed to weather the storm relatively unscathed.

The job that Peca, Kilger and Gill have been doing on the penalty kill has just been spectacular. The Flyers were 0 for 7 last night including a stretch in the second where the Leafs took four penalties within eight minutes and were two men short for a minute.

Speaking of which that chowderhead Belak was damned lucky that he only received a two minute penalty - after the call and the whistle had blown the idiot proceeded the deck and knock down his victim a second time - and then after the guy got up Belak took a third swing at him. I can only hope that Belak gets a nice seat in the press box when Kubina returns on Thursday.

 

LIstening to that game on the radio, I had to flinch a couple of times. I really don't see why they keep Belak. He's a mediocre forward/defenceman, yet he throws it all away by taking dumb penalties, and losing fights. If he could win more fights than he loses, it would be a different story. But it's safe to say I'd pick him over Aki Berg any day of the week.

And now we have two games in the next week and a half, I guess we're giving other teams a chance to catch up to us in games-played.

 

With the Flyer's disastreous season start, the trade rumors are flying... I heard one where Forsberg would be going back with Colorado. And another where Gagné, along with Jeff Carter, R,J, Umberger and Claude Giroux would head to Calgary in return of Jarome Iginla and two young players. That to me would be a disaster move by the Flame. Yes, Gagné is an excellent player, but Iginla is a fan favorite...

I love trade rumors..

 

Yes, trade rumors
Ottawa may be trading for Vancouver's Brendan Morrison in exchange with some defense. Although the Canucks could use the defensive help, they can't afford to lose a centerman without getting a decent one back. Otherwise the teams will just trade predicaments: no second-line center going from one team to another.

 

Belak was never meant to be a long term defenceman, but only a temporary replacement in case one player needs a night off for whatever reason. Belak might be a fillin on forward for a rough game is also an option, but he's not a top player.

Hal Gill is meant to be a defensive defenceman. His position has been curtailed under the new NHL, but he's adjusting a lot better than many in his position...

Their Penalty Kill have been awesome these last 5 games. They need to get their powerplay rolling better, but I think they are turning the corner into the team that Paul Maurice wants them to be. Give Kubina a couple games to get back into the feel of the game, and he'll take the heat off Kaberle and McCabe.

I don't see any trades that will help any of the struggling teams. The guys they need to move are the ones that aren't getting the job done, and the players they need are the ones that nobody should be coughing up.

 

Well, a trade might have a good effect on present players. Sometimes, a new element might put all the blocks into place. The line between a winning team and a losing one isn't that big..
And there's a saying between GMs. They're often trading problems. The Theodore / Aebischer trade is a good example of that...

And as for the good players that teams won't let go, just remember Thorthon. He made a winning team out of San Jose. Of course, not all of the GMs are as stupid as was the Bruins' GM was, but hey, you never know.

Oh Yeah, the Habs won't in a shootout against the Oilers. I only watched the third period, but man, was that an exciting game! A lot of open ice, lots of shots on goalies, lots of scoring chances... And Latendresse finally got his first NHL goal and point. Next to get crushed by the habs : Toronto, saturday night...

 

Uh oh, Sundin is going to be out three to four weeks with a torn ligament. Without Sundin I think we are going to see things get a little ugly. It is a good thing that the Leafs are starting a fairly light stretch of their schedule - they have only two games this week. If Sundin is back by the end of November he will end up missing 10 games with four of them being against Boston.

 

This isn't good. Sundin is one of the main powers of our team right now. Without him, I could definitely see the team being sort of depressed against Boston. God knows that that will be a game that the Leafs should win. If we can come out an make a good game of it, we'll do alright until Sundin gets back. If the Leafs show up in body but not spirit, I think it's going to be a long couple of weeks.

 

Even without Sundin I would say that they should be able to beat Boston - but Montreal and Buffalo are another story. Of course Montreal's top scorer tore a ligament on Saturday and he is expected to miss six weeks so I guess that evens things out somewhat.

Edit: Well, the Leafs beat Boston but it was ugly. The Bruins goaltending being weak lead to the Leafs five goals - Finley did play very well after he let in the fifth goal but up until then the lousy Boston goaltending was the major factor in the game.

Raycroft was excellent until he got hurt. Given how poorly Aubin has been I can't say this was good news. Tellqvist is injured too so you have to wonder who they will have as their back-up goalie in Montreal. Aubin let in two goals on seven shots but the ones he let in would have required exceptional goaltending to stop so I guess it isn't fair to blame him. Still, he has posted a goals against average of over 4 and a save percentage in the .86 range which just isn't good enough.

On the positive side, Antropov and Ponikarovsky looked really good out there tonight. They were playing a physical game and generating a lot of offensive chances.

[ November 10, 2006, 07:16: Message edited by: JSBB ]

 

I think that Paul Maurice will get results out of Antropov, and I think the fans will get off his back.

The Leafs will do all right while Sundin is out. I think they'll do better than .500 over the 3 weeks...

In Ottawa, even though they beat Pittsburg, I still think that if they don't turn things around, by Christmas, the new Gm will make some huge trades and the New Coach will be trying to brace the fans for a few years out of the playoffs. "At least we won't lose to Toronto in the Playoffs..."

 

If I were to make a bet on tonight's game it would be on Montreal. They currently have two goalies who are playing very well. Raycroft has been playing very well recently for the Leafs but given that the soonest that he is going to be back is on Thursday that leaves the Leafs with Aubin who has not been playing well in the limited playing time he has had so far. Lets just hope that Aubin doesn't need to be replaced in net as the back-up goalie is going to have to be a minor league call up with no NHL experience.

 

Glad you saw things my way JSBB...

I agree that with Sundin and Raycroft out of play, they'll have to work hard for a win. I say 3-1 for the habs..

EDIT : Leafs win 5-1 against the habs

Can you spell "In My Face"? When I made the prediction, I was actually counting on Montreal *trying* to win. That was a horrible game. Aebisher let in very bad goals, they took penalties they shouldn't have, and they played poorly in penalty kill.. On a plus side, the Koivu goal was a beauty!

I will grant you this. For once, ther Leafs have outplayed Montreal...

[ November 12, 2006, 05:46: Message edited by: Triactus ]

 

Yeah. I'm surprised that the Montreal defence was as weak as it was.

I'm looking forward to Thursday against Boston, when Raycroft and Kubina are back in the lineup. I just hope that Maurice gives Suglobov a real chance to play while Sundin is out. If they aren't going to play him, he should be in the AHL where he will play and be able to learn to be defensively adequate to go with his creative offence...