Built Ford Tough Posted October 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) Dreger just reported that Reimer is out for Saturday against the Penguins as well. EDIT: And another update, Reimer has now been placed on the IR. Edited October 27, 2011 by The Great BFT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 On another note, I think it might be time to break up the KGM line. Demote Mac and Kule to the third line and bump Kadri and Frattin to the 2nd line. Those two were absolutely buzzing tonight, while Mac and Kule have been invisible all season long. Grabo is the only reason why that line gets any scoring chances. And the last two games show how wrong I was in suggesting this. They were undoubtedly the Leafs best line last night and were flying in the Rangers game as well. Kulemin still seems a step behind Mac and two behind Grabo, but he was a slow starter last seasona s well, so I have confidence that he will catch up soon. He is too good of a player not to. Connolly looked great last night to. Made three really nice passes that all resulted in great scoring chances. He definitely has the best playmaking instincts of any center that Kessel has played with in a Leafs uniform and I think if he can stay healthy him and Kessel could develop some really nice chemistry. Nice to see him pot an early goal as well to hopefully boost some confidence. Gus was really good last night again. Can't really expect him to stop that Malkin rocket on the 5-3, nor can you blame him for the first two goals as the Leafs defense did a poor job of clearing the front of the net. His rebound control still needs some work but you can't really ask much more of him these past two games filling in for the injured Reimer. Lastly, Dion Phaneuf has been brilliant this season. Leading all defenseman in +/-, 3rd in points and playing great defensively. I think you can make a very legitimate claim that he has been the best defenseman in the league during the first 10 games of the season. Hopefully he can keep it up. In other news, the Leafs will be raising Mats Sundin's #13 banner to the rafters Feburary 11th against the Habs. A long overdue honour to one of the greatest Maple Leaf players of All-Time. Should be great to see as Sundin (along with Markus Naslund) was my favourite player growing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 God that game last night stung as bad as any in recent memory. It is the kind of game we really need to win, and kind of makes the win vs Pittsburgh moot. Gus has been okay, but we need Reimer back. We can't play good hockey when we aren't sure if our goalie will stop dump ins or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Frattin to the Marlies and Joey Crabb called up. I wish it was Kadri, obviously, but you can't say that Crabb didn't deserve the call up as he has been one of the best players in the AHL this season so far. I also am pretty excited to see how a Frattin/Colborne/Kadri line does in the minors. I don't expect to see Crabb up for very long, though. Either Armstrong will get back in the lineup and he will be sent down, or his play will be underwhelming enough that they will bring up Kadri again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Lupul and Gardiner for Beauch, thanks Anaheim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Scrivens makes his NHL debut tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Columbus officially has Crabbs! Ok, that was lame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Good first NHL period from Scrivens. Made some very nice saves after some horrific giveaways from the Leafs defense. He didn't really stand on his head or anything, but I do think he played very well and this game could've easily had a different first period if he doesn't make some big saves early, especially since at the other end of the rink Steve Mason is playing like garbage. Schenn continues to play dreadfully, though. He is so slow right now and has absolutely no confidence with the puck, whcih were both on full display tonight and almost ended up in two goals. I think it is time for him to spend a game or two in the press box. I'll definitely take the 2-0 lead going intot he 2nd when you consider the Leafs did not play well at all in that period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) Liles scores his first goal as a Leaf. Great to see him pot one as he has been playing very well offensively but just couldn't score. Yet another weak goal from Mason, though. That is 2 of the 3 Leaf goals that he should've easily stopped. He looks absolutely awful. Edited November 4, 2011 by The Great BFT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Schenn scratched tonight against the Bruins. I think it is about time. He has been absolutely awful so far and it has been a while since Franson has gotten into the lineup. Franson hasn't been great by any means and has played pretty poorly in his own right, but Schenn needed to get benched for a game or two. Hopefully it is the kick in the ass that he needs to get going, as it worked well during his 2nd season when he was in that horrible sophomore slump. Rosehill is in for Dupuis as well, in case the Bruins try to take any liberties tonight. Scrivens gets his 2nd consecutive start in net. Unfortunately, I will only be able to catch the 1st period as I have to work a lame 5 hour shift tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Leafs PK is an absolute joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Very tough game to watch. Seguin continues to have the Leafs' number. I stopped watching after it was 5-0 I think, just absolutely terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Tim Connolly is out for 10-14 days with an "Upper Body" injury. He suffered the injury during the Leafs first penalty against the Bruins on Saturday. At least he managed 6 games before getting hurt again. I was surprised he even made it to Columbus. Bozak is expected to take Connolly's place on the first line and there is no word on if there is going to be a call up or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 Scrivens gets the start against the Blues tonight. Does this spell the end of Gustavsson's time in Toronto? I can't see him being too happy about this decision and benching him in favour of a rookie who hasn't looked very good in his last two appearances makes it seem like Wilson and company don't have any confidence in him anymore. I like him and still think he could become a number 1 goalie in the NHL for some team, but I think his time in Toronto is running out. I think it would be benficial for both parties if they went their seperate ways. In somewhat related news, the Leafs are supposedly interested in Nabokov and Turco. Yuck! Don't want either one at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Bozak finally puts one in the back of the net after an amazing play from Lupul to stay onside. He pretty much did the splits to get his skate on the blue line. It was also a pretty nice shot from Bozak, who has looked pretty good on the top line this season, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Scrivens gets the start against the Blues tonight. Does this spell the end of Gustavsson's time in Toronto? I can't see him being too happy about this decision and benching him in favour of a rookie who hasn't looked very good in his last two appearances makes it seem like Wilson and company don't have any confidence in him anymore. I like him and still think he could become a number 1 goalie in the NHL for some team, but I think his time in Toronto is running out. I think it would be benficial for both parties if they went their seperate ways. In somewhat related news, the Leafs are supposedly interested in Nabokov and Turco. Yuck! Don't want either one at all. Why? While he has the ability to make terrific saves, he still struggles to make routine plays, and is 27 years old. He is a below average goalie who has no business in the NHL unless he somehow overhauls his game, and can execute routine plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Why? While he has the ability to make terrific saves, he still struggles to make routine plays, and is 27 years old. He is a below average goalie who has no business in the NHL unless he somehow overhauls his game, and can execute routine plays. Because the talent is clearly there. He has had stretches where he has looked like a number one goalie in his career, but his confidence is absolutely shot and the Leafs play like garbage in front of him because they have no confidence in him. If he gets in the right system, I think he could become a starter. Put him on a team that isn't a complete disaster in their own end or on the PK, doesn't give up 5 breakaways a game and get him with a goalie coach who actually lets him play his game, rather than having somebody like Allaire force his style on him and I think he could be a starter. Clearly I'm not saying that he is going to be a top 10 goalie or anything, but I don't see why he can't become a Jose Theodore like goalie and play in a 1A/1B type of tandem. He has his flaws, but he is also very talented and maybe getting out of Toronto would help him with his mental state. Much less talented goalies than him have been able to become decent starters in the league, so its not like it is laughable to think that he can be a 50 or so game goalie on a team like Ottawa, Florida, Columbus etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) Grabovski out for the next 2 weeks with a leg injury (I think it might be a knee to be specific, but I'm not sure). Could be more as Wilson mentioned the words "at least 2 weeks" more than once. As for MacArthur, I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with him. Connolly will return on Thursday against the Predators, so that helps soften the Grabovski a bit. The question is whether or not he will even still be playing when Grabo comes back, which I doubt. In non-injury related news, according to Dreger the Leafs were offered a 2nd round pick and a player for Cody Franson, but Burke supposedly declined the offer. If that is true, the player must have been a salary dump or something because I don't think Burke would turn that kind of offer down if it was a decent player when you consider Franson doesn't even play. The Leafs also have guys like Aulie, Lashoff, etc... in the minors who could come up and play in a pinch. Of course it could also not be true. Dreger's big source in the Leafs locker room is Nonis, and he could just be using Dreger to try and boost Franson's value a bit more, should they want to move him. Edited November 16, 2011 by Built Ford Tough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) Gus back in net. Colborne playing his 2nd game in the NHL. Tim Connolly with his 400th career point. Edited November 20, 2011 by Built Ford Tough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Pretty much the ideal game for the Leafs. They really broke it open in the 2nd scoring 4 goals on 10 shots. Lupul was great with 4 points, Kessel was buzzing all night long and easily could've had a 4 points of his own as opposed to his 2. Bozak played really well centering those two. That line did a great job of controlling the puck in the offensive zone and creating scoring chances in a variety of different ways (off the cycle, off the rush, etc...). They moved the puck really well on the PP as well. Franson was fantastic at both ends of the ice. That was without a doubt the best game I have seen him play as a Leaf He did a nice job clearing the puck in his own zone, was aggressive on offense and showed his strong shot on that goal in the 2nd, even if it was a bit of a stinker (the shot was nice, it was just from way too far away that it should've been saved). I heard he played well in the Nashville game but I was at work so I missed that one. Hopefully he can continue this strong play and show why so many Leaf fans, myself included, were excited about picking him up in the offseason. Gustavsson was brilliant between the pipes. It looked like it would be another long night after the Caps scored on their first shot of the game. Even though it wasn't a weak goal (deflected off of both Liles and Franson) you couldn't help but think that Gus would have a meltdown like we have seen in the past. However, that was not the case at all as he went on to make 37 straight stops. My favourite part of his game was that he didn't have to make any higlight reel, athletic, desperation saves because he was in excellent position all night long. His positioning is obviously a big part of his game that he struggles with, so it was awesome to see him be so positionally sound tonight. Games like these are why I think that he could possibly become a #1 goalie in the NHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 And Gus makes me eat my words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Lombardi may need surgery on his seperated shoulder and, if that is the case, he will be done for the year. Really sucks for the guy to go through all of that work to come back from the concussion he suffered at the beginning of last season only to play in about 16 games or so to suffer yet another season ending injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Gunnarsson and Steckel are both listed as day-to-day, so that is good news. Grabovski may return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Ducks as well. I'm not sure if it is official one way or the other yet, though. Lastly, the Leafs have recalled Keith Aulie, so it sounds like Gunnar won't be in the lineup tomorrow night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 After all that shit I talked about Gus, he has been rock solid lately. Still don't want him here long term because I feel like he can be broken down at any time, but when he plays under control like he has, he is solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted December 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Lupul named 3rd Star of the Month. Kadri named AHL Player of the Month as well after putting up 17 points (6 goals and 11 assists) in 12 games. Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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