NHL Thread - 2009-10

[CH David]

Another tough win for the Blackhawks tonight against the Blues. After Andy Murray was fired, the Blues took to the ice with Davis Payne making the calls on the bench now. He got promoted to the big club after coaching their AHL affiliate in Peoria, Illinois.

This game was just vicious. Hard hits, throughout. During the first, Patrick Kane got a nice little forearm shivver or elbow to the face, and maybe one or two shifts later, Ben Eager went up with Jackman in a fight, and gave him quite a few good shots to the noggin before being wrestled down. That was just the start, as about three minutes later, Mike Weaver simply laid out Patrick Sharp on a clean open ice hit. Cam Barker stuck up for his teammate and started to fight him. For that he was rewarded with a 7 minute penalty, plus a game misconduct. During the 7 minute power play for the Blues, they couldn't score once with the man advantage, with Brent Sopel stepping up huuuuge on defense. However they did score during this period of time when it was 4 on 4. The hitting still continued, and as much as the Blues came to play and hit, the Hawks out hit them 21-18.

Tomas Kopecky opened the scoring with a power play goal, and also got another a few minutes later for his first two goal game as a pro. Brian Campbell and Kris Versteeg scored goals three and four respectively. Brian Campbell made a nice jump in on the offensive side of the puck for his goal, getting a bit of a deflection to beat Ty Conklin. Steeger got his goal on a nice two on one break after Dustin Byfuglien poked the puck away from a Blues player, and passed the puck off the boards up to Versteeg. Patrick Sharp would come back from his open ice hit on the next shift, but had the last laughs later in the game. Both goals came in the third period, with his first coming off a centered pass from Marian Hossa, which got slowed down on a deflection, but reached Sharp's stick and he got it past Conklin for the 5th goal of the game. His second goal would come when he tried to center the puck, but it would deflect off a Blues defender in over Conklin's pads.

A very good game, hopefully leading to a revival of the good old St. Louis vs. Chicago rivalry that has been missing for the better portion of the 00s. Great hits, fights, a lot of penalties.

 

[the troop]

Alright, i havent posted my comment after a Hawks game since their win against the Red Wings. Lets backtrack.

Vs. Nashville Predators, Dec. 26 & Dec. 27- In my past posts, I have been emphasizing the importance of these two games, connsidering the fact they were and still are 1,2 in the central division. At that point, the Preds were one of the hottest teams in the league. The fact that the Hawks won not one but both games against them was huge.

In the first game, the Hawks defeated the Preds in somewhat dominating fashion with a 4-1 score, three coming in the second period. The second game wasn't so easy with a 5-4 score. It seemed like the Hawks had the game in the third with a 4-2 score with John Madden emerging as the unlikely hero with two goals, but the Preds got a quick two, turning it into a nail biter. However, in the closing seconds of the third period, US hockey team member Patrick Kane scored the game winning goal securing the two points and leaving Nashville with 0 for the whole weekend.

vs. Dallas Dec. 29- Looking at where these two teams were in the standings, it seemed that the Hawks would run over the Stars, but that didnt happen. If you looked at the previous game between these two, you would see that G Cristobal Huet had already had trouble with Dallas. This game was no exception. In the 10 shots that he faced in less than two periods, he let four go by. In case you were wondering, thats not good. Actually the Hawks were pretty much dominating the Stars in both shots on goal and time of posession, Huet just didnt back them up. Huet eventually got pulled with Niemi coming in and taking over as netminder. He played pretty good, but let one go by, which was enough for the Stars win. Very disappointing loss.

vs New Jersey Dec. 31- In 2003, if you heard that in a Hawks vs. Devils game six years from then, the score would be 5-1, who would you guess who won? The Devils probably. Well things have changed, the Hawks have changed. The Hawks in fact won this game. People thought that the Hawks would be a good test against Marty Brodeur, but five goals against the greatest of all time? Few saw that coming. Albeit Brodeur probably wasnt at the top of his game, but you got to give some of that credit of the win to hawks skaters.

I havent watched the games vs the Blues yet but did record it. From what I have heard, it was pretty physical.

 

[Mr. TM]

Luongo showed that he has what is needed for Canada last night. The Canucks took it to the Stars 3-1. Dallas had a goal for disallowed because of the blantant kick in by Morrow. Lost a little respect for him and his attitude there.

Hank Sedin moved into first in the NHL with a two point night. He leads the league with 55 points. After missing most of the season Daniel also had an NHL month with his brother in December, and they look to continue it.

 

[CH David]

Blackhawks brought it again last night. Improving to 8-0-2 (if memory serves correctly) on the hind end of back to back games. They are also tied for first in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks at 61 points, but having taken the tiebreaker, are considered in first place. On the defensive side of the puck, the Blackhawks are no longer the best, as they have allowed 90 goals, with only the Devils being the better team by one goal.

Last night, the Hawks looked pretty sluggish to start out the first period. But 22 seconds in, Dustin Byfuglien got into a fight with Troy Bodie, but it was meh when it comes to fights. The Ducks got the better of the offensive flurries in the first, but came up with a goose egg. Niemi was making some big stops, but also was catching quite a few breaks with the puck clanking off the post and crossbar. The Hawks would get their own flurries in, but still couldn't capitalize, with some of their shots missing wide open nets or clanking off the posts.

The second started off with more of the same, both teams having opportunities, but still being shut down by the netminders. But at about the 6:30ish mark, Kris Versteeg finally lit the lamp for the Blackhawks, giving them that always helpful first goal. At about the 15:44 mark, Troy Brouwer put in a nice backhand when he had a lot of time in front of the net with the puck. The start of the third was the Marian Hossa show, on Marian Hossa bobblehead night as well. He lit the lamp twice in the third, both on lasers from the right circle. The final tally for the Blackhawks was Jonathan Toews going backdoor on Giguerre, following a great pass from Kane. No defender was on him, moving well without the puck.

Antti Niemi made 22 saves, giving up only 2 goals in the game, which were fairly meaningless, being scored with less than 3:30 left to go in the game. Another solid defensive performance all around.

 

[Mr. TM]

Well for you Washington fan... Ovechkin was officially named Captain of the Washington Capitals today. It is well deserved, as it puts their star with the C. If Crosby gets the C, Ovechkin should as well, as they are the two dominant players in the NHL.

In Canucks news, Bieska is out for a few months. It is too bad, but not the worst news. Bieska has underperformed. Sedin because of the break, lost the scoring lead after Thornton got 3 points in two games. Canucks start a 9/11 Homestand, before the dreaded 13 game road trip. Good time to start the Road trip, as the Canucks have finally figured out how to win on the road.

 

[Mr. TM]

Domination for the Canucks tonight, as we win 7-3. Burrows got a Hat trick, bus statistically, great night for Sedin who got 3 points to move back into first tied with that Joe guy that Guy knows all about. Little scary seeing us go down 2-0, but I am glad to see us come back, and then rout the opposition. Great way to start a bit of a home stand.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

The Leafs beat the Panthers tonight to start a critical 4 games in 5 nights stretch. Those 4 games are all against Eastern Conference foes so these games are very important for the Leafs.

They held of the Panthers tonight with Ponikarovsky scoring the winner. Kulemin has been playing fantastic lately and is really standing out on the team. The offence has been a little quiet lately so hopefully we can get some secondary scoring to help out Kessel. The Leafs have another important game tomorrow night against the Flyers so here's hoping they can stay consistent and bust out some wins to get back into the playoff picture.

 

[CH David]

I missed the other night, I was out with friends, and then just didn't post it when I got home. Oh well. Tuesday night, the Hawks played the Minnesota Wild, and beat them again with some tough defense. The first was highlighted by Brent Seabrook making a mid air stop with his stick with Cristobal Huet out of position. The Wild would strike first, with Guillaume Latendresse scoring on a rebound off of Huet. But the Blackhawks struck back later in the period when the old wise man on the team, John Madden, had to whacks at a rebound from Kris Versteeg's shot, and tied it at one.

Latendresse would get a breakaway chance in the second period, but Huet made a nice stop on the five hole shot. Not long after, the Wild would have a 3 on 1 break, but John Madden hustled his ass from the bench to make a great defensive poke check. From there it was basically all Hawks. Marian Hossa would add two goals, and Patrick Kane put in a power play goal to make it eight straight games with a goal on the man advantage. Blackhawks win 4-1.

Tonight the Blackhawks faced Boston in another Original Six matchup, and a rematch of a game from a few weeks ago. Again, the Hawks came out a little shaky in the first, something they need to improve upon soon before it catches up to them. Boston would jump out to a 2-0 lead within the first nine minutes when they dominated quite a bit of play. The first was on the power play, with Blake Wheeler redirecting a shot from the point, and the second was off of a turnover in the defensive zone by the Hawks. But then they turned up the juices and made it their game.

The momentum would shift with about 11:15 left in the first. Zdeno Chara would make a nice clean check on Patrick Sharp at about the 11:30 mark, but then as the Niklas Hjalmarsson dumped the puck around the boards in the Bruins' zone, Patrick Sharp made a very excellent hit on Chara, knocking the big man on his rear. Impressive feat as Sharp is maybe 195, and Chara is about 255 I think, plus that height differential.

The Blackhawks started skating better, and at the 7:11 mark, can't beat that timing right, Duncan Keith shot a one timer past Tim Thomas to get the Hawks on the board. A few minutes later, the Hawks would get more scoring from their 4th line, on the best streak they have been on, contributing more than just energy the past 6-7 games. Tomas Kopecky would tie it up after Thomas overplayed the puck while in possession of Colin Fraser, and was out of position when passed to Kopecky. The second was more of the same, with the Blackhawks skating harder and making plays, as Andrew Ladd scored on a rebounded puck off a Brent Seabrook slap shot, and Duncan Keith would add his 2nd goal of the night with a quick snap shot past Thomas as Chara was blocking him. Thomas was pulled, and Rask came in and did a stand up job to stop the bleeding. Patrick Kane would keep his point streak alive with a goal in the third, and add to his point total on the season with 50. Blackhawks win 5-2.

An interesting note on the game, the Blackhawks would register 14 points on their 5 goals. That is impressive in itself, and a great show of distribution on the team.

 

[Mr. TM]

Burrows has been one of, if not THE hottest player in the NHL right now. In one weeks time, the man has scored 7 goals in 3 games, including two hat tricks in the last two. Henrik Sedin had three helpers to jump ahead of Thornton for the scoring lead in the NHL, in a season where he has a chance to clean up in the hardware if he keeps it up, being the leader in many eyes for MVP. He brought the Canucks to life, and has helped the team up all season, even after the early injuries of Luongo, D. Sedin, Demitra, and half their defense.

Those 3 points came in their 4-0 beating of Phoenix, which moved the Canucks into a tie for the division league, but it depends on Calgary losing in regulation to keep them their. If Burrows keeps this up, he might put on a bit of a show in the second half, and might get close to 50 goals this season.

 

[Mr. TM]

Theo Fleury left a pretty mean blog in concern to his former team, and the same team that said no on his NHL return. Theo lives in Calgary, and is down to 180 pounds of muscle, and I thought he looked great in the exhibition, but the guy was cut, after years of sobriety. Sure, he is getting old, but as he said, Conroy is also old, and Conroy fucking sucks.

I thought Theo should have been brought back, even if he played in the AHL for the first couple weeks to perfect his skills once again.

 

[Mr. TM]

Gotta love moving up two spots in your conference without having to play a game. With the loss to Columbus (for shame) Calgary has now played equal games with the Canucks.

Canucks now face that same Calgary team in the battle for first of the North West. With a win over Calgary, Canucks can start putting some distance. Canucks have the same amount of points, and games played, but they have more wins, and with another win against the Flames, Canucks will have more points than Phoenix. Canucks have been great up front on their first line, and I hope the line stays playing hard moving into the Olympic break, of course not a break for the Sedins, as they will play on that cursed Swedish team.

 

[the troop]

So far, the Hawks are undefeated in the new year at 4-0. Each game has been pretty much won with dominating fashion, with each game with a three goal differential.

One of the hottest players in the league right now is Patrick Kane. He is currently on a 10 game point streak and nine goals and seven assists during those games. It seems like everytime he touches the puck he makes something happen. Whether its making the key pass or doing the work himself with his sharpsooter accuracy ,he does what's needed for te team to succeed.

Anyway, Tonight they are in Minnesota for the first time this year with a date with the Wild, whom they beat 4-1 in the UC on Tuesday. Let's see if they can stay on their current tear.

 

[Mr. TM]

I guess the Canucks cant always win, their last two, they escaped with a point to the Flames, and then lost to the Predators, two games Canucks should and could have won, but fell behind late in the game, and in the shootout. Big story still remains is Burrows, who scored 2 more goals last night, to have 9 in 5 games, and Henrik Sedin getting another assist last night. Henrik is doing well getting points, but his goals has dropped off, but with his linemate getting them all, I can see why. Besides the Sedin-Burrows line, and Samu's recent tear after being left off the Swedish Olympics, Canucks are are not getting any other scoring, and that needs to pick up.

Both games had some controversy, in the Calgary game, there might have been use of a laser pointer against Kippy, and in the Nashville game, there were two late penalties to Burrows and Sedin for light calls, and then a game misconduct to Burrows which I thought were sort of silly, neutering a Canucks comeback chance.

From TSN:

Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows did not hold back about what he felt were unjust penalty calls, ripping into NHL referee Stephane Auger after Vancouver's 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday night.

The NHL is looking into the matter and sources tell TSN that while Colin Campbell will be handling the investigation, commissioner Gary Bettman will be heavily involved in the process.

The Canucks forward could face discipline for making such strong allegations publicly.

Burrows, who was called for diving in the second period and interference in the third, also received a 10-minute misconduct with seconds left in the game, and he was not shy his post-game interview.

"It was personal. It started in warmup, before the anthem," Burrows said of Auger's penalty calling. "(Auger) came over to me and he said I made him look bad in Nashville on the (Jerred) Smithson hit and he said he was going to get me back tonight."

Burrows was referring to an incident back in December when the Preds' Smithson hit Burrows and was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. On Monday night, Burrows said Auger was getting back at him.

"When Smithson hit me from sideways and he (Auger) said, 'I saw the replay, you had your head up, you weren't really hurt and you made me look bad so I'm going to get you back tonight,' and he did, and he cost us two points.

"He did his job in the third, I think. He got me on a diving call I didn't think was diving. He got me on an interference call that I had no idea how he could call that. It changed the game. It sucks right now for teammates who are battling 60 minutes to win a hockey game because every two points are so huge, are so important. And because of a guy's ego, it just blows everything out of proportion and the refs - they're making bad calls and the fans are paying for it and we're paying for it."

Burrows, who also had two goals in the contest, continued to lay into Auger until the Canucks' PR staff intervened to stop him.

Burrows claimed that Auger's calls were pre-meditated.

"He comes into the game and he knows he's going to make a call against me to give Nashville an advantage and I don't think that's fair for my teammates and for the fans," said Burrows.

The 28-year-old said he exchanged more words with Auger as the game was winding down.

"After my second penalty, I skated by him and he said, 'If you say a word, I'm going to kick you out,' so I didn't say a word because I still thought we could come back and win the game. But with three seconds left and a faceoff outside the zone, I thought I could tell him what I thought about him.

"I think he should stay out for the rest of the year making calls like that that are making us look bad. Every two points are so important in this league. We just blew two points because of his officiating tonight."

Burrows asked if he was afraid of possible repercussions for his comments.

"Maybe, but at the same time, I don't think it's fair for the fans, I don't think it's fair for my teammates, and I don't think it's fair for everyone to deal with that. Let's say we miss the playoffs by one point at the end of the year; that might be the game that will cost us the playoffs so it's important."

Auger and Burrows have indeed crossed paths before. Auger kicked the Pincourt, Quebec native out of a game last season in Montreal.

As for Monday night's game, Roberto Luongo said the calls were simply unprecedented.

"I'm not the type of guy to make excuses - I mean, that's not who I am, but I've never seen anything like it in my whole career," Luongo said. "That was the first time I've seen calls like that, especially when the game is on the line."

Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault weighed in after the game with some candid thoughts.

"There's a history there. We're definitely going to look into that," said Vigneault. "If those (allegations) are true, then they need to be brought up and we'll see.

"Does he (Burrows) have a legitimate case and how many times has this happened with this individual?"

Former NHL official Bryan Lewis, who hired Stephane Auger, said on Tuesday it is unheard of for a referee to tell a player he will pay him back for a previous incident.

Appearing on TSN's Off The Record on Tuesday, Lewis said officials put too much time and energy into making it to the NHL to risk it all by exacting revenge on a player.

"I can' think of anybody that's worked long and hard to get into the National Hockey League, or pro hockey in general, putting themsleves at peril by not doing their job properly," said Lewis.

Off The Record can be seen weekdays on TSN at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt.

 

[Mr. TM]

Today officially marked the end of a dynasty as Curtis Joseph, the fourth winningest and first losingest goalie in NHL history. One of my favourite goalies of my youth, his stylings as a goalie led the Oilers to some of there better years of the past 12, as well as Toronto's, as well as a Stanley cup in Detroit, he was a key piece for many teams.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Did anybody else see last nights Rangers/Devils game on Versus (in America, don't know where it aired up north) last night? Being a Ranger fan, I watched this game, and what a game it was. To anyone who says that Martin Brodeur isn't the best goalie of this generation, please watch last nights game and reconsider. Both Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist were standing on their heads all game long.

Lundqvist stopped 45 of 45 shots, and was outplayed by the greatest goalie of this generation, who stopped 51 of 51. For those who can't add, that's a total of 96 shots that the 2 goalies stopped without letting one in the net. After the overtime session, the shootout was more of the same, until Patrick Elias put one past Lundqvist in the 4th round.

If you include the shootout shots, Lunqvist saved 48 shots, and Brodeur 54 (1 shootout attempted missed the net). That's a combined 102 saves on 103 shots. It was simply one of the best games by 2 goalies I have seen in a long time.

 

[CH David]

It has been a while since I last made a post in here. I apologize. Work, school, friends, and sleep take up quite a bit of time. Now where to get to. Saturday night the Blackhawks played the Minnesota Wild and let a 5-1 lead slip, as they fell in the shootout. Sunday they fell to the Ducks, with Jonas Hiller just having an outstanding game, letting up one goal on I think 43 shots.

Last night, they came out firing off the bat, scoring 61 seconds into the game. Kris Versteeg started a breakaway, and was joined by two others on the attack, and Steeger passed the puck to the middle of the ice where Brian Campbell was coming in unguarded and one timed the puck right past the Blue Jackets goaltender. Then the scoring died down for a good 30ish minutes of ice time, and Dustin Byfuglien scored on a one timer himself from John Madden. Skating up ice on a rush, Madden was charging with the puck and Buff was support, he was open, Madden passes over, and Byfuglien just blasts a cannon shot for the score. Duncan Keith finished the scoring at about the 13:30 mark of the 3rd period, on a nice slapper from the left circle. Huet made 24 saves to mark his 4th shut out of the season, and keep his GAA down, to which he is still in the top 5 in the league.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Did anybody else see last nights Rangers/Devils game on Versus (in America, don't know where it aired up north) last night? Being a Ranger fan, I watched this game, and what a game it was. To anyone who says that Martin Brodeur isn't the best goalie of this generation, please watch last nights game and reconsider. Both Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist were standing on their heads all game long.

Lundqvist stopped 45 of 45 shots, and was outplayed by the greatest goalie of this generation, who stopped 51 of 51. For those who can't add, that's a total of 96 shots that the 2 goalies stopped without letting one in the net. After the overtime session, the shootout was more of the same, until Patrick Elias put one past Lundqvist in the 4th round.

If you include the shootout shots, Lunqvist saved 48 shots, and Brodeur 54 (1 shootout attempted missed the net). That's a combined 102 saves on 103 shots. It was simply one of the best games by 2 goalies I have seen in a long time.

Great review. Very fair.

There are two types of 0-0 ties. There are the boring, trap-style, no shots for 5 minutes types of 0-0 ties where the goalies make 21 uninspired saves, and then there are games like Devils / Rags the other night when the goaltenders ARE the game. Brodeur had a game like that on a December 23st Tuesday night like 10 years ago against Dominick Hasek, which less than 3,000 saw live, because a snow storm had hit Jersey and left us with ice and 10 inches of snow.

I'd posted a thread a while back chronicling the amazing career of Marty Brodeur. He's the best of all time, and I am glad a Rangers fan can see that.

In other news, the Rangers still suck.

 

[Stormtrooper]

I'd posted a thread a while back chronicling the amazing career of Marty Brodeur. He's the best of all time, and I am glad a Rangers fan can see that.

In other news, the Rangers still suck.

Just because I'm a Ranger fan doesn't mean I'm stupid (believe it or not, they don't go hand in hand). I know Brodeur is the best, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just incorrect.

And the Rangers don't suck, we just can't score a goal it seems now (back to back shutouts). Typical Lundqvist, however, following the aforementioned Devils/Rangers game with 58+ minutes of shutout hockey to give the team the best chance to win. Of course now when we start to score, he will have some bad games.

I can't complain about the Rangers struggling right now, because the team is still in the playoff hunt. They currently have a 2 point edge over Boston for the 6 seed. Maybe they can come out of the Olympic break and get on another run to try and get a better seed and home ice advantage for round 1.

 

[Mr. TM]

Canucks cam back with a win after a 3 game slide there, winning in a big way last night 6-2 against the Pens. 9 Different Canucks got points, and Sedin got 3 of them. Burrows scored again, as he is moving up the charts. Sedin still leads the NHL in points, and at this pace, will win the Art Ross with ease.

Canucks held Sidney Crosby shotless and pointless, a task that had not been done all season. It is funny how much attention Crosby gets, despite the fact that Sedin outmatches him in almost all categories this season.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

The Leafs start a 4 game road trip tonight, which will be a big test for the team. They will play 4 teams that are beatable and if they play well on this road trip, it could bring them back into the playoff picture.

They start the road trip with a rare visit to Nashville tonight. Nashville is a good team, but they are a team that the Leafs match up well with and I believe they can beat them unless they run into another hot goaltender, like they have all season.

The Leafs then finish the road trip with a Southeast Division swing, facing Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Florida. These 3 games are also all winnable and if the Leafs picks up their socks and play like I know they can, they could walk away with 8 valuable points. Wishful thinking, maybe, but I guess I believe in the Leafs more than others.

Of course the whole road trip will be for not if they don't get goaltending.

 

[Mr. TM]

Vancouver won in grand style tonight. Canucks looked to avoid losing to the last place conference team for the fourth time this year when they faces the horrendous Edmonton Oilers. Yet they took it to the Canucks early, scoring to go up 1-0, and 2-1. Burrows got the first one from Sedinx2, but it was Salo's goal from Sedinx2 with 5 minutes left to send it to overtime that was the beauty. Daniel Sedin then scored in overtime from... Henrik Sedin who leads the NHL scoring race by 5 over OVechkin at 70 points. Burrows got his 12th goal in 8 games this year.

 

[Mr. TM]

Well the end of Michael Peca's carrer has come, and all I have to say is... He only got 400 points?

When the Canucks drafted him, he was bound to be a future great. But after injuries, the season he took off because he felt low balled by an offer from the Sabres, his two Finals apperances, he has had a back and forth career.

I always liked Peca, so it is sad I'll never get to see him play again, but an overrated career that comes to an end after not getting signed.

 

[Mr. TM]

Strange Canuck v. Dallas game tonight. A weak short handed goal against Luongo, a Wellwood goal, a kicked in goal that was disallowed, a goal with seconds left no one cared about by the team down by two, and Auld trying to stick handle by Burrows, getting stripped by Burrows, and Burrows getting his 13th in 9 games. Henrick and Daniel each got an assist as Canucks go on to win 4-3 against their former goalie, for the first time ever.

Canucks played great in the third, and that is the reason they won. Canucks won the season series 3-1.

In other news, Ovechkin took game one against Sidney Crosby as the Caps won 6-3 over the Penguins.

 

[gd]

Fuck Ovechkin, I really can't stand him. He's a great player, but not likeable at all. If the Pens are going to have any chance at the Cup this year Malkin has to get his head out of his ass. What the hell is wrong with him? He insists it's not an injury, but I can't be so sure. Hopefully we see the Caps in the playoffs, those pricks.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

Well the Leafs have had a rough road trip and really I shouldn't be surprised anymore. They had a 3-0 lead against Nashville and barely won. Then they blow a 2-0 lead against Atlanta and lose, and then they take stupid penalties and blow another game against Tampa Bay. An important road trip where they could have won all of the games and they blow it. They still have Florida on Saturday, but I'm not assuming anything anymore with the Leafs. They have to get their heads out of their ass fast or else this season will go down in flames.

Other Leafs news: Jonas Gustavsson will get the bulk of the starts for the rest of the season over Vesa Toskala. I think this is a good move to see if Jonas is the real deal. Hopefully he steps up his game and shows why he is called "The Monster". He's played better than Toskala this year so we'll see how this works out.