Leafs Pre-Season Schedule and Discussion Thread

[hsb]

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Date           Visitor       Home           Time (ET)    TV Network/Results
Tue, 21 Sep    Senators      Maple Leafs    7:00 PM      5-0 L    
Wed, 22 Sep    Senators      Maple Leafs    7:00 PM      1-4 W    
Thu, 23 Sep    Maple Leafs   Flyers (London, ON)    7:00 PM    3-2 (OT) W    
Fri, 24 Sep    Flyers        Maple Leafs    7:00 PM      4-3 (SO) L
Sat, 25 Sep    Maple Leafs   Sabres         7:00 PM      1-3 L    
Mon, 27 Sep    Sabres        Maple Leafs    7:00 PM      4-5 W    
Wed, 29 Sep    Maple Leafs   Senators       7:30 PM      4-3 W
Fri, 1 Oct     Maple Leafs   Red Wings      7:00 PM      3-7 L     
Sat, 2 Oct     Red Wings     Maple Leafs    7:00 PM      2-4 W     

That time of year again. Today is the first game against Ottawa, the game is also streamed on the Leafs website.

[Weiwuer]

Leafs line up against Sens.

Versteeg - Kadri - Armstrong
Rosehill - Hanson - Brown
D'Amigo - Irwin - Mueller
Hamilton - Zigomanis - Crabb

Gunnarsson - Phaneuf
Lebda - Kaberle
Gysbers - Lashoff

Rynnas
Monster

[YogiStewart]

Phaneuf looked horrible.
trading for him and naming him captain will possibly mark the end of Burke's career. Calgary was happy to let him go and you may see why.

[darth_federer]

I went to the game and I thought he was OK. The most annoying thing was that he didnt take any shots despite being on the point. That turnover that led to the 4th goal was bad, but generally speaking he was below average. Its the first game in ages for these guys. Give it some time. Kadri on the other hand just looked horrible. Wilson said they didnt work on special teams (despite being horrible last year) in training camp at all and it showed. They missed out on a few 5 on 3's.

Versteeg can play. He had some really nice moves.

[ablatt]

I said last year that Phaneuf was terrible. He has no mobility and is prone to mistakes. I agree with the previous poster that Burke is done.

[jim todd]

phaneuf was blown by and caught reaching several times. he looked quite awful last night.

[J-Roc]

Sill early, so let's not get too excited. But I definitely have my eye on Phaneuf. Being named Leaf captain is no joke. Where's the guy from the Gatorade commercials? Hmm, or were those commercials right before his career tanked?

[YogiStewart]

the worst part about the leafs?

"hey! defence wins championships, so let's trade for another defender or 3....scoring will come by committee..."

when you have Tyler Bozak as your 1st line centre, you are in trouble. serious trouble. and i like the kid...as a 2nd or 3rd line centre.

also have problems with this mentality that you need 2 lines of scoring, 1 line of plugging and 1 line of grit. if you have talent (i.e. look at the Hawks or Capitals) you have 3 lines of scoring and 1 line of grit/plugging.

even better? the leafs are coughing up their pick next year. while Kessel is a very good player, Burke clearly overvalued last year's line-up, which is horrible assessment by the team's GM. that trade alone should have cost him his job. it will be fun to watch the Bruins kill the Leafs for years to come - that's what two 1st round (high 1st round) draft picks will do - make a team competitive.

Burke still thinks that guys like Bertuzzi win championships.

pre-season will highlight the lack of talent the Leafs have. this is be a painful season.

[hsb]

After reading those types of rants, the most logical response is bringing up the concept of rebuilding and adding a high draft pick. But Yogi is right, the Leafs will be giving Boston another pick this year.

With that being said, game two is tonight. Let's see how comfortable Kadri is out there and how the team deals with power plays. Wilson has to take criticism if the power play and penalty kill is terrible for another year.

[J-Roc]

The make or break of this team is goaltending. I like the idea of having a solid D, but without goaltending it's irrelevant. Better to spend money on offense and run n gun. You'll win half your games 6 -5. But spending most of your money on D, and having no offense and no goaltending.....just a waste.

It's all about Gustavsson. Giggy might be able to hold the fort, but then he's not a longterm solution so it doesn't matter.

[YogiStewart]

i honestly feel sorry for Leafs fans. the only thing you can hope for is a run like the one Edmonton had a few years ago - they got far on grit.
but the Leafs have fake grit or unestablished grit.

i ain't a hockey GM - i just play one on this website. but all you have to do is look at 2 schools of rebuilding:

a) the NY Rangers pre-cap (or, for that matter, the Leafs pre-cap)
b) the Penguins, Capitals, Blackhawks

The Rangers tossed $$ at free agents. over the past 10+ years, it got them nothing. they were a treadmill team.
the teams that succeeded? the ones that sucked. and sucked for 2+ years and have the picks to prove they sucked. remember how bad the Penguins were when Eddie O was the coach? they literally were an AHL team. you suck and you get some great draft picks. the best part about those picks? you get 1-2 years where they learn the ropes, and then 3-4 years where they (hopefully) are great and they are dirt cheap!!

what do the Leafs do? mortgage the house to get a $6/year guy. instead, Boston gets two VERY high 1st rnd picks that will cost less per year that Kessel will cost. you are practically handing a team a deep playoff run 2-3 years down the road when you make a bonehead move like that.

AA did something interesting this season (Jays reference): he traded a prospect for another prospect (Gose) that has a much greater risk/reward ratio. Burke did the opposite with Kessel - trade for a potential all star but a guy who likely won't be a top 10 player. ever.
and you don't win if you do that.

[darth_federer]

Of course, you could be like the Panthers (high draft picks for years), Blackhawks (terrible for years until they got the owner's son to take over), Thrashers, Islanders e.t.c

Just like in the NBA, you have teams that have been bad for years with nothing to show for it. Burke horribly misjudged his team and how good it might be, but the trade is done. Would I have preferred Cammalleri (who desperately wanted to come to Toronto and would have taken a couple of million less) and Taylor Hall? Yes, but whats done is done.

Guys like Bozak and Gustavson are first round picks and the other college free agents are second round picks in any NHL draft. The cupboard wasnt entirely bare.

[darth_federer]

After reading those types of rants, the most logical response is bringing up the concept of rebuilding and adding a high draft pick. But Yogi is right, the Leafs will be giving Boston another pick this year.

With that being said, game two is tonight. Let's see how comfortable Kadri is out there and how the team deals with power plays. Wilson has to take criticism if the power play and penalty kill is terrible for another year.

No Kadri tonight. Kessel and Bozak play today though.



Kulemin - Bozak - Kessel
MacArthur - Grabovski - D'Amigo
Caputi - Mitchell - Boyce
Rosehill - Foster - Orr

Beauchemin - Komisarek
Blacker - Schenn
Richmond - Mikus

Reimer (Starter)
Scrivens

[ontnut]

the worst part about the leafs?

"hey! defence wins championships, so let's trade for another defender or 3....scoring will come by committee..."

when you have Tyler Bozak as your 1st line centre, you are in trouble. serious trouble. and i like the kid...as a 2nd or 3rd line centre.

also have problems with this mentality that you need 2 lines of scoring, 1 line of plugging and 1 line of grit. if you have talent (i.e. look at the Hawks or Capitals) you have 3 lines of scoring and 1 line of grit/plugging.

even better? the leafs are coughing up their pick next year. while Kessel is a very good player, Burke clearly overvalued last year's line-up, which is horrible assessment by the team's GM. that trade alone should have cost him his job. it will be fun to watch the Bruins kill the Leafs for years to come - that's what two 1st round (high 1st round) draft picks will do - make a team competitive.

Burke still thinks that guys like Bertuzzi win championships.

pre-season will highlight the lack of talent the Leafs have. this is be a painful season.

Agree with it all. I cried when I heard about the Kessel deal. Ok, maybe I just punched a wall and THEN started crying, but still...it's painful. There's not a whole lot positive to look forward to for the Leafs. I really just want Wilson out of here. he's gotta go before Burke imo.

[ontnut]

The make or break of this team is goaltending. I like the idea of having a solid D, but without goaltending it's irrelevant. Better to spend money on offense and run n gun. You'll win half your games 6 -5. But spending most of your money on D, and having no offense and no goaltending.....just a waste.

It's all about Gustavsson. Giggy might be able to hold the fort, but then he's not a longterm solution so it doesn't matter.

The guy in net last night was pretty good...for the Sens. Made some nice glove saves.
It's gonna be a long night tonight...at least I got someone to pay $45 bucks for my $95 (but free) ticket....Free beer tends to make the game slightly better.

[YogiStewart]

just look at that...another prized FA acquisition D-man takes a penalty one minute it.


wow wow wow...

[darth_federer]

Ah damn it

[darth_federer]

Much better effort tonight. 3-1 Leafs

[darth_federer]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Np-r0LLa6o&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[hsb]

"Wilson says top two lines right now are Versteeg w/ Bozak and Kessel and Kulemin w/ Grabovski and MacArthur."

http://twitter.com/jonas640