Truc Life?

First and foremost, I'm sorry for the lack of posts. Only three posts in the month of February?...I'll blame it on the short month! In reality, I've just been busy with work. They have implemented these new "enhancements" which, to my understanding, are supposed to improve things but instead they have made my job a living hell. This is no different from the enhancements that Burke has brought to the Leafs this season. Did anybody really expect the Leafs to be this bad? Prior to the start of the season most experts, bloggers and hockey fans all over had them pegged as a team fighting for the playoffs instead of a team fighting to get out of the basement.

The biggest change Burke made to this year's edition of the Leafs were to inject them with truculence. Leafs bloggers latched on to this word harder than a hungry baby would to a tit and why wouldn't they? Burke won a Stanley Cup with a truculent team! To illustrate just how infatuated we were with truculence, some of us were excited over having Garnet Exelby as a third pairing defenceman because of videos like this.

Sporting a 21-33-12 record through 66 games, I think it's fair to ask the question "Is truculence overrated?" (Obviously) To answer this, I took a look at the games we played this season. Through 66 games played:

• 29 of them had at least a fight. Our win/loss record in those games is 8-21 (.275 Winning %)
  
• We had more penalty minutes than our opposition in 26 of those games. Our win/loss record in those games is 6-20 (.231 Winning %)
  
• 16 of those games featured a fight(s) while we lead in penalty minutes. Our record in those games is 3-13 (.188 Winning %)
  
• In the 27 games where there the opposition had more penalty minutes and didn't feature any fights, our record is 11-16 (.407 Winning %)

Obviously there are many factors that I didn't account for like when the fight started (Was it within the first 5 minutes of the game? Was it during a blow out?); how the fight started (Planned fight off the draw? Coming to the aid of a team mate?) and who won the fight, but my half-assed analysis shows that 1) The Leafs aren't very good 2) I'm lazy and 3) Skill > Truculence!*

*Outcome of games played may have differed greatly if Vesa Toskala didn't suit up for 26 games

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Ladies and gentlemen, the Burke era is officially here. There was no holding back, he came out guns blazing. These are the type of deals that us Leafs fans have only heard of...the deals we were expecting last trade deadline and this past draft. While we came away disappointed on both those occasions, he really made our heads turn with this one.

Like everybody else, I was completely caught off guard by the news of these deals. I stayed up until the morning watching Federer do his thing so I was still in bed when the trades went down. It was around 11:30. I feel a slight vibration (get your mind out of the gutter, you perv) and my eyes slowly opened. I just got a text message from my buddy and it read "Brian Burke is a genius!" I sprung out of bed and turned on my computer. Twitter was blowing up with activity. Who did we get? Who is gone? A day later and I can finally wrap my head around this. Sure, there's a lot of good in these two deals but like with most things, there's some bad and some ugly too.

The Good

• Elisha Cuthbert - One of the key components to this trade. The one edge Ottawa has had on us was the celebrity girlfriend factor. This pretty much gives us the upper hand in the battle of Ontario.
  

• Getting a competent goalie - Our biggest weakness this season has been our goaltending by far. With Giguere, we get a goalie that has taken his team to the Stanley Cup finals twice and came away with some hardware both times...even when he lost the series! Giguere's performance in the 2003 playoffs was one of the most clutch performances I have ever seen by a goalie. While it would be delusional to expect that same goaltender from the past, he is still miles above Toskala and at this very moment, probably a better choice than The Monster too.

• The Kids Get to Play! - We lost a goalie (if you can call him that), a defenceman and four forwards. In return we got back a goalie, a defenceman and only one forward. That opens up three forwards spots! Come on down, Hanson and Stalberg!...unfortunately Wallin will probably be filling in that last spot.
  
  
• Draft Schmaft - We essentially gave up two first round picks for Kessel and Phaneuf. Two players with star potential under the age of 25? I don't think too many GMs would shake their head at that
  
  
• #1 Centre - We are giving Matt Stajan the chance to flourish into a #1 centre that we all knew he would someday be...with Calgary! /snickers
  
  
• WE GOT SOMETHING OF VALUE FOR JASON BLAKE AND VESA TOSKALA!!! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME

The Bad

• Moustachulence - Losing this epic moustache
  
  
• High Risk - At $6.5M per season, Phaneuf is definitely a big risk. I know we all have our fingers crossed that he will not be the second coming of Bryan McCabe. Here's hoping that a change of scenery is what he needs to go back to his Norris candidate form.
  
  
• More Defence? - With almost $23M invested in our d (not including Finger's terrible contract), it will be an embarrassment if we don't improve next season. The top four of Kaberle, Phaneuf, Beauchemin and Komisarek does make me giddy...but of course I said the same thing earlier this season but with Schenn instead of Phaneuf.
  
  
• Hope - Okay, this is normally a good thing but not when you thought everybody else was giving up on this team and you wanted to get good tickets for cheap! With this new found hope, fans will be filling the seats to see Phaneuf in action. Thanks, Burke!
  

• Piritta Hannula -Or Niklas Hagman's wife as you probably know her. Sure, we get Elisha Cuthbert but I have to admit that I'm a bigger fan of Hagman's wife. Especially since she's not tainted by Sean Avery. Oh, Piritta. You will be missed.
  

The Ugly

DION PHANEUF
DA DAAAAAAA DA-DA-DA
DION PHANEUF
DA DA-DA DA

There is no denying that Dion Phaneuf is one of the ugliest human beings on this planet

One of these things do not belong in this picture
Motivation for ugly dudes. Get good in hockey. This is what $6.5M a year can nab you

The Muskoka Fiveheads
Dion's forehead compared with four other notoriously gargantuan foreheads.
Only Christina Ricci has him beat!

Inspired by words from our very own WAC
"He looks two steps behind on an evolution chart."
Looks like she nailed it

Mid-season Report Cards

Okay so it's a bit past mid-season and if I could forget the past few games, I totally would...but I can't, so here are my mid-season and three games grades.

Forwards

Phil Kessel

32 GP / 14 G / 8 A / 22 PTS / -2

Kessel is still by far the most talented player on this team. If it wasn't for his hot start, we might be battling Carolina for last. Instead, we are battling the Flyers, Thrashers, Lightning and Panthers for second last. Kessel was off to a blazing start with his new club and scored at pretty much a point a game pace. Unfortunately, the last 10 games happened where he's only gotten 1 point in that stretch. He can definitely make things happen but he has to play stronger with the puck. Brian Burke, please get him an elite centre!

Grade: B+

Matt Stajan

43 GP / 11 G / 21 A / 32 PTs / -2

Matt Stajan is not a number one centre...but with the depth we have up the middle, he's probably the closest thing we have. Most of his points came during Kessel's hot stretch and when Kessel cooled off, so did he; only notching 4 points in the last 10. While he is on pace to record career highs in his offensive totals, his career highs weren't all that impressive to begin with.

Grade: C+

Niklas Hagman

43 GP / 16 G / 11 A / 27 PTS / -1

While there are a ton of things I like about Hagman's game, I expected more from him in terms of his offensive numbers. He's a streaky scorer, notching 13 points in 12 games beginning late November. Since then, he has only gotten 3 points in his next 12. For the past couple of games he has seen fourth line minutes. As one of the veteran forwards on this team, I would like to see him respond to his demotion but driving hard to the net and doing anything to get the puck over the goal line.

Grade: C

Jason Blake

44 GP / 10 G / 15 A / 25 PTS / -1

Jason Blake was horrible to start the year. It took him 27 games to score his 3rd and 4th goals. He has picked things up slightly since then but still not good enough to be a factor most nights. While he will never earn that $4.5 million, he could still be a decent hockey player (as we saw last year). Only 2 more seasons after this one!...

Grade: D+

Mikhael Grabovski

42 GP / 7 G / 18 A / 25 PTS / -1

Like most, I was expecting a break out season for Grabovski. I wasn't looking for a point a game or anything but I didn't think 60 points would be out of the question. Unfortunately, with him being out for the next 6 weeks, it doesn't look like it will happen. Didn't look like it would happen regardless though. His play has been streaky and I would even say he looked disinterested some nights. I blame the peace treaty between him and the Kostitsyns! We want crazy Grabs!

Grade: C-

Lee Stempniak

44 GP / 11 G / 12 A / 23 PTS / -5

I was actually surprised by Stempniak's points total when I checked out his stats. I thought he would have more. I guess this speaks well for him because I actually notice him this season. He's been one of the better Leafs forwards, in my opinion. His play has gotten him some good chances but he just hasn't been able to capitalize on all of them. I do hope that he regains his scoring touch that he had in St. Louis where he scored 27 goals in his sophomore season.

Grade: B-

Nikolai Kulemin

40 GP / 7 G / 7 A /14 PTS / -2

Kulemin is what I would consider a no stats all-star. Well, all-star might be a bit of a stretch but you get the gist of what I'm saying. He's been physical, he back checks and he takes a hit to make a play. When I first heard he was coming over from Russia and played on the same line as Malkin, I figured he would be a one dimensional scorer. Thankfully he isn't...but I would like to see more of that scoring dimension!

Grade: B

Alexei Ponikarovsky

44 GP / 15 G / 14 A / 29 PTS / +4

Poni had a great season last year and I was really hoping to see him build on that. With higher expectations over his head he hasn't really delivered. I would like to see Poni use his size and play more assertively. He has the frame to drive to the net and when he does, good things usually happen. With a team full of negatives, it's nice to finally see a plus player. With 4 points in his last 5, it certainly isn't too late to turn things around. It's a contract year, Poni. Show us what you got!

Grade: C

Colton Orr

44 GP / 1 G / 2 A / 3 PTS / -3 / 86 PIM Orr's been fantastic. I love watching him fight and he doesn't really hurt the team much either. He doesn't take a ton of bad penalties unlike a lot of enforcers/pests and he's a tremendous forechecker. He also scored a goal! That's one more than Rickard Wallin...

Grade: B+

Jamal Mayers

32 GP / 1 G / 4 A / 5 PTS / -3

Mayers is one of those players that I can't quite figure out. What is his purpose? Why is he playing? Can we get our 5th pick back? While I do enjoy watching him throw down, I would much rather give a kid like Christian Hanson a chance with the big club than to dress Mayers.

Grade: D+

Wayne Primeau

35 GP / 2 G / 3 A / 5 PTS / +1

Another plus player on this team! Primeau has been a solid addition to the team. He won't light the world on fire with his game but he's all you can ask for from a 4th liner. That said, if I could trade him for Stralman, I would.

Grade: B

Viktor Stalberg

14 GP / 2 G / 1 A / 3 PTS / -3

Here's a player Leafs Nation fell in love with during the pre-season. This pretty much shows you that the games played before 1-82 doesn't mean a thing. While Stalberg tore up the pre-season, his regular season stats to start the year was less than impressive, registering a lone assist in 8 games. On his current stint with the Leafs, he's scored 2 goals in 6. While an improvement, still not enough to draw the ooh's and ahh's he did in September. I have no doubt that Stalberg will be quite the player someday. We'll just have to wait patiently for that day to come.

Grade: C

John Mitchell

24 GP / 2 G / 7 A / 9 PTS / -6

In my opinion, John Mitchell will forever be a fringe NHL third liner. While he has decent hands, he doesn't seem to possess the shot to finish. Being injured for close to 20 games does set him back a bit but I can't say my expectations for Mitchell were too high anyway.

Grade: C

Rickard Wallin

32 GP / 0 G / 3 A / 3 PTS / -6

Did Wallin really bring Gustavsson over? If I remember correctly, The Monster was signed before Wallin. So what purpose does he bring to the table? Through half a season, I honestly can't think of a single reason why he is still on the team. You know you're terrible when Colton Orr is outscoring you.

Grade: F

Defence

Tomas Kaberle

44 GP / 4 G / 34 A / 38 PTS / -7

Kaberle's never been much of a defender but he's having a blistering season offensively. He leads the team in points and is second in the league in scoring for defencemen. While that -7 is an ugly number, I have to give it to him for his consistent offensive output. I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved at the deadline though. Especially if a package included a much needed first round pick.

Grade: A-

Mike Komisarek

34 GP / 0 G / 4 A / 4 PTS / -9

Komisarek was one of two big free agent defencemen brought in and the pressure to perform seemed to have gotten to him as he started the season pretty poorly. He played overly aggressive and was a negative most nights. His game has settled down a bit since but still not quite the in-your-face defender that I hated playing against when he was on the Habs.

Grade: C+

Francois Beauchemin

44 GP / 4 G / 15 A / 19 PTS / -8

The second big free agent signing was another disappointment to start the season. Beauchemin was at one point a season low -13 but playing that many games with Toskala in net doesn't help. He has definitely picked his game up on both the defensive and offensive ends though and I'm certain he will continue his strong play in the second half.

Grade: B

Ian White

44 GP / 8 G / 14 A / 22 PTS / +7

How does a team with every defenceman in the negatives have one that is +7?! Over the past season and a half, Ian White has shown how valuable he really is. He puts up decent offensive numbers and plays sound positional defence. While he isn't the biggest guy on the ice, he is quick with his stick and doesn't leave his man alone too often. Re-sign Ian White!

Grade: A+

Luke Schenn

41 GP / 1 G / 4 A / 5 PTS / -1

I have to say that Luke Schenn has been playing more like Luke Schenn than he has like OLAS this season. He's been hesitant and second guesses himself at times. In a game of inches, that little pause can mean a clean break out pass or a turn over for a goal. I was really hoping to see a more physical player this year with a slightly improved offensive game but instead his defensive game remained the same, if not a little worse and Schenn hasn't really shown any offensive improvements either. I definitely haven't given up on him but he's certainly be a slight disappointment so far.

Grade: C-

Jeff Finger

25 GP / 2 G / 7 A / 9 PTS / -10

On a team filled with negatives, Finger has the lowest with a -10! What's more impressive is that he did it in about half as many games. He still plays a physical brand of defence but I remember him going down to block shots a lot more last season. For somebody fighting for that 5th/6th spot, I expected to see more out of him.

Grade: C-

Garnet Exelby

24 GP / 0 G / 3 A / 3 PTS / -3

On the bright side, he has the same amount of points as Rickard Wallin! That's about it though...Exelby flat out sucks. He's a train wreck on defence and looks for that big hit too often...even if it will compromise his defensive position and lead to an odd-man rush.

Grade: F

Goaltending

Vesa Toskala

6-8-2 / 3.72 GAA / .869 Save %

This really needs no explanation.

Grade: Submitted to failblog

Jonas Gustavsson

8-8-7 / 2.93 GAA / .904 Save %

If memory serves me right, 2 of those losses came in relief of Toskala. Needless to say, if The Monster started the season as the starter and didn't get injured, we would be in a much better position than we are in right now. Here's to a Toskala-free crease from now on.

Grade: B+

Do You Want A Resolution?

I hope everybody's New Years celebration went well. Mine is pretty much the same every year; look back at all the goals I didn't meet then drink until I'm completely shitfaced to forget my failures. 2010 will be different though. Mainly because I have a venue to jot down my resolutions. I can't let my readers down (all three of you). Well here goes, as a sports fan, these are my goals for the new year.

• I will not diss the game of soccer.
• I will refrain from saying ______ reminds me of a young Halladay because I will simply be setting myself up for disappointment. There will never be another!
• I will try to follow the CFL - I've always given the CFL a lot of grief but never much of a chance. This year will be different. As a Saskatchewan native, I'm leaning towards following the Riders.
• I will make it out to at least 10 Jays games - The Jays are totally affordable when catching games in the 500s but Doc's departure makes it that much harder to pick games to watch. Here's to Shaun Marcum continuing where he left off before Tommy John.
• I will not boo Vernon Wells - We're in it for the long haul, baby. Make me proud. I BELIEVE IN VERNON WELLS!!1
• I will not go to Boston Pizza to watch UFC - If I have a party of 7 but only 6 of us are here, there is no reason why I shouldn't get a table. I am tired of your shit, Boston Pizza!
• I will not get a bacon-wrapped dog at Burkie's Doghouse.
• I will refrain from cursing if the Raptors blow a 20-point lead. Serenity now, serenity now...
• I will not pretend to understand Cito Gaston's line up decisions.
• NO MORE VESA TOSKALA DRINKING GAMES! My liver is still recovering.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully those are 10 goals that will make me a better sports fan at the end of the year. But like any good baseball player, I will be happy if I can hit .300.

A Year of Emotions

Have no fear. I have not died. Life just kind of got in the way of blogging (read: I've been spending all my free time playing Modern Warfare 2). I figured with the year dwindling down, I should do one last post before 2009 is over. Don't worry, it won't be a top 10 list. As with every other year, it was an emotional rollercoaster in the world of sports. Being a Toronto sports fan, we've definitely seen more lows than highs. Here are some of the emotions I felt along with the events that caused them.

Hunger

• Leafs? No
• Raptors? No
• Blue Jays? No
• Argos? Who cares...but no

I AM HUNGRY FOR PLAYOFFS!!1

Sorrow

• Doc's departure - I don't think I've felt this sad since Felix Potvin was traded
  
• Sundin hangs em up - It was expected but it didn't make it any easier
• Federer losing to Del Potro - Could have made it 6 straight US Opens. Definitely had his chances to put the match away. I hope he has some great years left in the tank
• Dustin McGowan - Okay so we still don't know if he'll be back or not but when you hear whispers of a player never playing again...chances are he will not be the same if he does
• R.I.P. Teeder - The Leafs lost a legend but the heavens gained a hero
  

Joy

• Ian White - And his continued strong play. He is nearing folk-hero status
• Phil Kessel - I don't care what he cost. I don't remember the last time the Leafs have had a winger this dynamic since...ever!
• The emergence of Adam Lind and Aaron Hill - I thought both would be good but I had no idea they would be this good! All they're missing is some sort of dynamic duo nickname.
• Kid Kadri - I wasn't sure about the pick at first but watching him at the World Juniors is definitely a joy. The kid is as gritty as they come. The throat-slash was the icing on the cake. Also, this.
• Doc vs AJ - The emotion at that event was just phenomenal.
  
• Burkie's Doghouse - Bacon wrapped hot dog...you can get it in a footlong. That is all.
  

Fear

• Waiving Rios - I still give a fuck! Rios still has all the tools to be a star in the league. If he puts it all together next year...Somebody buy me a voodoo doll!
• Bosh's future - I'm going to go on and say that Bosh won't sign an extension with us. If that holds true, this future Raptors team will be a joke to watch.
• Losing 8 straight - Bring on the Taylor Hall jokes...which sounded so very real at the time
• Monster's Heart - So they say it's not a serious procedure and it isn't uncommon to have it twice...but that's still the motherfuckin heart you're dealing with!!!
  

Rage

• Shogun snubbed - Shogun loses a unanimous victory to Machida for the light-heavyweight belt. Everybody else who has eyes thinks differently.
• Vernon's performance - As much as I wanted to believe in him (I had him on my fantasy team at some point!) he was just so frustrating to watch at the plate
• Vesa Toskala - This pretty much sums it up
• 13th Man - I would totally be pissed about it if I was a Riders fan
• Tiger Woods - You had Elin freakin' Nordegren! What more do you want?
  

Confusion

• Greasegate - Allegations of GSP greasing against Penn were totally bogus. Did they not see how badly BJ got his ass whooped? Greasing doesn't help boxing, take downs or elbows to the face
• Jays hot start - Probably the greatest cocktease of all time but it was fun while it lasted
• Komisarek and Beauchemin in October - Uhhh....I thought you guys were better than this?
• Patrice Bergeron? - Seriously?
  

Hope

• Drabek - You've got some big shoes to fill
• In the race - Leafs are in that group fighting for 8th. The playoffs are in sight!
• Team Canada - Winning gold on Canadian soil sounds awfully nice
• 5th straight - As of today, the Raps have won five straight and is one game under .500!
• PLAYOFFS!!1 - In 2010. Book it.
  

Goodbye 2009!

The Leafs 2009 Skills Competition

I grew up loving the sport of hockey but sadly, road hockey outside my house is about as competitive of a level as I got to. Heck, I might be the only person born in Saskatoon that doesn't know how to skate! This is why I love skills competitions. It's simply a treat for me to admire the skill level of these athletes up close. Here's a recap of the 2009 Leafs Skills Competition.

Schenn and Finger right before the puck control relay

It all started with the puck control relay. The blue team of Schenn, Finger and Beauchemin beat out the white team of Exelby, White and Kaberle due to Exelby stumbling. This is why you're a healthy scratch, XLB!

The blue team got another point as Komisarek beat out Orr in the individual puck control relay. Seriously, who picks these players? Why is Colton Orr in this event?

The White team giving Primeau a shower

The next event is the fastest skater. My personal pick going into the event was Phil Kessel who ended up having the worst time.

As each skater skated by the benches the opposing team would shower them with their water bottles. I don't know if they were filled with water or yellow Gatorade but there's a golden shower joke in there somewhere. Here's a list of the participants and their times

Jason Blake - 14.09
Phil Kessel - 14.85
Mikhail Grabovski - 14.32 (this was timed with the manual stop watch because the clock messed up and had him at 9 seconds)
Christian Hanson - 14.46
Nikolai Kulemin - 14.05
Wayne Primeau - 14.72

I had no idea Kulemin was that quick.

Hagman winding up for the shot

Next up is my favourite event; the hardest shot. My personal pick for this event was Francois Beauchemin edging out Poni.

Here are a list of the participants and what they clocked

Jeff Finger - 85.6 // 89.7
Tomas Kaberle - 95.1 // 95.7
Alexei Ponikarovsky - 95 // 90.4 but the shot didn't hit the net
Lee Stempniak - 89.7 // 93.3
Francois Beauchemin - 102.2 // 99.8
Niklas Hagman - 95.9 // 84.9
Mike Komisarek - 97.4 // 101.5
Nikolai Kulemin - 93 // 98.4

Looks like my picks are 1 for 2 so far. Poni didn't fare as well as I thought he would though. Also, if Kaberle can blast it at 95+, he should definitely be shooting the puck more often!

The moustache is in full force

Next event was the accuracy competition. My personal pick for this one was Tomas Kaberle going for another 4 for 4 like he did a couple years back. Unfortunately, he was a passer and didn't even get to shoot!

Here are the participants and the results

Niklas Hagman - 2 for 8
Matt Stajan - 2 for 8
Lee Stempniak - 4 for 8
Phil Kessel - 2 for 8
Rickard Wallin - 4 for 5
Christian Hanson - 3 for 7

Rickard Wallin? Seriously? I thought he got deported back to Sweden or something. Kessel rang a couple off the post but most shots were around the middle of the net...you know, right where a goalie's chest would be! No wonder we can't score!

The panel of judges with Monika. My restraining order wouldn't let me get any closer.

They then had a "creative" shoot out challenge. Each player had 2 shots each and the judges (those puck bunnies and Carlton) would score the attempts based on creativity. I believe the shooters were Kessel, Blake, Grabovski and Hagman. Blake was the only player to score and he didn't do the spin-o-rama. What's up with that?

Grabvoski playing keep away with a kid during a break in the action

Next was the 3 on 1 event. This event featured 3 skaters against 1 defenceman and a goalie. The team had a minute to score as many goals as they could. Engelage was in net against the blue team and MacDonald was in net against the White team. Unfortunately, I didn't jot down the participants for this event so if memory serves me right it was

Kessel - Stajan - Ponikarovsky vs White. They scored 1 goal.
Blake - Grabovski - Kulemin vs Komisarek. They scored 2 or 3.
Primeau - Mayers - Hanson vs Exelby. They scored 1.
Hagman, Stempniak, Orr vs Schenn. They scored 1 or 2.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

The IR squad of Gunnarsson, Gustavsson and Mitchell.

The last event was the Breakaway. Every shooter got a shot. Only Kaberle, Orr, Stajan and Beauchemin advanced past the first round...on Joey Macdonald and Andrew Engelage! You think our shoot out can use some help? #WeMissYouMats

Francois Beauchemin ended up winning it with the lone goal in the second round via wrist shot.

Hagman, Blake and Kaberle

The White team ended up beating the Blue team by a score that nobody cared about. I was surprised to see Engelage in net instead of Toskala. He wasn't with the injured guys either. Did he get released? Somebody please tell me he did...

This was my first Skills Competition and I had a good time even though my friend was late and I had to wait outside for a good half hour...I could have gotten a Burkie's Dog! The atmosphere was totally different from a game. I guess this is what happens when you replace suits with jerseys. Surprisingly, I didn't spot too many jersey fouls but I did see 2 Pogge jerseys (1 Leaf, 1 Marlie) and a Stralman jersey. I hope nobody bought Tlusty jerseys!

I'm not sure how many tickets were available but the Leafs did a good job making this an event affordable for the kids. Even as I waited outside for my friends this man came up to me and offered me a couple of tickets for free! Speaking of free, people will take anything for free...including styrofoam accuracy targets that says Rogers of them. WHY WOULD ANYBODY WANT ONE OF THOSE???

If anybody is interested, here are the rest of the photos I took

What's In The Home Cooking

Inside the concrete confines of 40 Bay St. is a place opposing goalies come to shine. I don't know if it's just me but it seems like every game we play at home we get stymied by the opposing goaltender. Let's take a look at some numbers.

Oct 1 - Carey Price - 43/46 - W - .935 vs .909
Oct 6 - Pascal Leclaire - 26/27 - W - .963 vs .901
Oct 10 - Marc-Andre Fleury - 18/20 - W - .900 vs .903
Oct 13 - Craig Anderson - 30/31 - W - .968 vs .918
Oct 17 - Henrik Lundqvist - 34/35 - W - .971 vs .912
Nov 3 - Antero Niittymaki - 40/41 - W - .976 vs .932
Nov 7 - Chris Osgood - 23/28 - L - .821 vs .897
Nov 10 - Niklas Backstrom - 37/39 - W - .949 vs .910
Nov 14 - Miikka Kiprusoff - 38/40 - W - .950 vs .922
Nov 21 - Semyon Varlamov - 38/39 - L - .974 vs .919
Nov 23 - Dwayne Roloson - 58/61 - W - .951 vs .916
Nov 30 - Ryan Miller - 38/38 - W - 1.000 vs .933

That is a list of all the starting visiting goaltenders, the number of saves/shots faced, the outcome of the game for them and their save percentage in the game vs their save percentage on the season.

The visiting goalies made a total of 423 saves on a total of 445 shots. That's a .951 save percentage!

In 12 home games, the Leafs only won two, one coming against a bad Chris Osgood and the other against an amazing Semyon Varlamov. The only time the Leafs faced a goalie who didn't play way above of way below his average was in a loss against Marc Andre-Fleury. On average, the opposing goalie posts a save percentage that is .032 higher than their season average! Tack on .032 to Toskala's save percentage and he's the owner of an almost respectable .897 save percentage. Do you know how hard it is to make Toskala almost respectable? Yeah...that's how our luck at home has been.

On the contrary, we are shooting a dismal 4.94%. To put that into perspective, remember how bad Jason Blake was his first season here? Well, he shot a mere 4.5%. We are basically watching a group of Jason Blakes!

Remember when the Yankees dug up their new stadium to get rid of that Ortiz jersey? Well, they ended up winning the World Series. My only explanation is that somebody buried a Georges Vezina or Jacques Plante jersey here and the curse is finally taking effect. That or Ken Dryden's stench is still in the building. Blow up the ACC is you have to, this must end. Until the Leafs get a new arena, we can only hope that the law of averages eventually evens things out because I am getting sick and tired of playing against what looks like a Vezina candidate night after night.

Highway 61

Highway 61. Often called the Blues Highway because it runs through the heart of blues country, the Mississippi delta.
To quote a great bluesman

"If it wasn't for bad luck
I wouldn't have no luck at all"

-Albert King

Oh yeah. Fuck off, Vesa.

Goose vs Monster

There seems to be a bit of confusion over what to call Jonas Gustavsson. I know modern day nicknames are typically lazy and uncreative and usually the short form of the player's name. Kipper (Kiprusoff), Kabby (Kaberle), Lou (Luongo) and recently I have heard people calling Gustavsson, Goose. Well I'm here to set the record straight.

Goose

Monster

Goose

Monster

Goose

Monster

Goose

Monster

Let's put an end to calling Gustavsson Goose because he is

THE MONSTER!!!

The Real Story Behind Toskala's Injury

So as you may or may not have heard, I won tickets to Monday night's Leafs and Rangers game. The contest was hosted by EA Sports to promote their new Be A GM Mode in NHL10. I got to fly down to New York with the team and sat in the manager's box to watch the game with Burkie. Well, you saw the game. It was a complete shit show and Burke definitely wasn't happy about it. After the game, Burke took me down to the dressing room. I'm glad I brought my camera because you would have never believed me if I told you what happened.

"Hey Vesa, great game today.
I know we didn't get the win but it wasn't your fault.
You put together a solid effort!
I saw you go down in the 2nd. How are you feeling?"

"Thanks, Mr. Burke. I was a little sore earlier but it's no big deal. I'm ready to play again tomorrow!
I bet you already regret signing The Monster with me in net"

"...Are you sure you can play tomorrow?
Are you sure you're not hurt?
I don't know...your groin, maybe?
We should get you checked out in case."

"No need, sir. I'm feeling fine.
I'm just going to go down to 5th Ave. and do some shopping. I'll be as good as new after a good night's sleep.
Hey, who is tha...."

"Vesa, I'd like you to meet my new free agent signing, The Bear Jew. You two will be roommates on the road. I'm sure he'll take good care of you"

"Huh? Where am I?
What are you doing with that duct ta..."

"HMMMM!!!
MMMMPPPPHHHH!!!"