7 Things Leafs Fans Will Watch For

Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Hungry,

H to the L-F, I used to write blogs about fake refs...

I was going to head to the gym today but decided to dust off the ol' blogspot instead. It's been a long while since I've written anything on here and even a longer while since I've written anything worth reading. Hopefully that will change. The more content part. No guarantees about it being worth reading.

With the hockey season about to start, I figured it would be a great time to get things rolling again. While majority of the team we saw in April is still here, there has been a few key moves in the offseason. In case you weren't paying attention to hockey during the summer, here is a guide with seven things Leafs fans will be keeping an eye on during the new 2010-11 season.

#1 Tomas Kaberle

The big Leafs news...or non-news during the offseason was who we would be getting in return for our favourite Czech, Tomas Kaberle. As I'm sure we all know, Tomas is staying in TO for at least one more year, assuming that he doesn't waive his NTC. Kaberle flew out of the gates last year, scoring 35 points in his first 41 games. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up his hot start and only notched 14 points in his last 41 games. He still finished with a very respectable 49 points, good for 8th in points by defencemen in the league, but also had a dismal -16 to accompany it.

Tomas have stated a number of times that he wants to remain a Leaf for life but with all the drama he has been through over the past year, I wouldn't blame him if he left. While is future is cloudy in Toronto, there is one thing that is certain. Whether he plays well or puts up horrendous numbers; whether he waives his NTC or stands pat; whether he re-signs or flees in the summer, people will be watching, people will be judging.

#2 Sensationalized Headlines

Oh look! The puck hasn't even dropped yet and it has already begun. But wait, you say. This is merely a play on words signalling the emergence of Kadri's two-way play!

You're giving them too much credit. This is the Toronto media after all.

#3 New Additions

The most notable additions Burke brought in during the summer are Kris Versteeg, Colby Armstrong and Clarke MacArthur.

Versteeg is a welcome addition as he should take some pressure off Phil Kessel by providing some much needed secondary scoring. It also never hurts to bring in a Stanley Cup winner. We'll see if he can shine when he's not overshadowed by Toews and Kane.

At $3M a season, Colby Armstrong will have to put up some career numbers to justify his salary. While I don't see him doing that, I do see him winning the fans over with some hard-nosed hockey. I'm hoping we get a Darcy Tucker like effort from Colby, minus the crazy.

We might be overpaying for Armstrong but MacArthur comes at a steal at $1.1M. Since it's a one year deal, MacArthur will definitely be looking to put up some numbers for a pay raise. Given he get put into the right situation, he should be able to pot a career high in goals.

#4 Sophomore Slumps

The dreaded sophomore slump. Many have fallen victim to it but few can explain why.

Can Bozak continue to shine and turn Kessel into a 40 goal guy? Can Gunnarson continue his steady play which saw him with a team leading +8? Can Gustavsson continue where he left off, winning 7 out of 10 while posting a .915 save percentage? With three sophomores looking to play pivotal roles on next year's team, Leafs fans everywhere are hoping that they don't get hit by this phenomenon.

#5 Second Year Leafs

We move from second year NHLers to second year Leafs. With only a handful of players remaining from the JFJ era, most or our team are first or second year Leafs. While many are depth players, there are a few we will be watching to see if they can carry the team on their shoulders. Can Phaneuf handle the pressure that comes with being the first Leafs captain since Mats? Will Komisarek and Beauchemin find their game in a Leafs uniform and prove that last year was simply a bad fluke season? Can Sjostrom bolster the PK and lead us out of our 30th place ranking? Can Kessel keep lighting the lamp? I'm hoping the answer is yes to all of those questions.

#6 Rookies

With a 29th place finish last year, the returning vet's places in the line ups are all but secured. Kadri, D'Amigo, Rynnas and Stefanovich might be four rookies for Leafs fans and veteran players low on the depth chart to keep an eye on this year.

We all know about Kadri. He's the Leafs blue chip, our second saviour. Will he play his way on to the big club or will he start with the Marlies? The Leafs doesn't want to rush his development but they want to see if he has what it takes to play at the top level too. No matter what league he plays in, Leafs fans will definitely have an eye on him this season.

Jerry D'Amigo's most famous goal to date was one that crushed another team with a Maple Leaf on their chest. If he can provide that kind of clutch play for our Leafs, all will be forgiven.

With Giguere coming off the books after this season, the Leafs will need somebody to step into his spot. The goalie prospect most are hyped about right now is the 6'5 Jussi Rynnas. He will almost certainly start off with the Marlies but could be the next in line to join the big club. Much like Gustavsson last year, Rynnas will have to get accustomed to the North American game. While that may lead to a rough start, he is still somebody Leafs fans will want to pay close attention to.

Mikhail Stefanovich is a bit of a question mark. Many thought he might make some noise with the team last year but a poor preseason put an end to those ideas. He had a mediocre season in the Q last year and as a result, he's flying a bit under the radar. Hopefully he can find that scorer's touch which helped him net 49 goals in the Q two years ago.

#7...

I hate to say it, but whether we like it or not, many Leafs fans will have an eye on...

:(

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

Scrambled Thoughts

More than Advertised
I hope to have a full post on Kessel some time in the near future so I won't go into too much detail here but being born in 85, I don't remember seeing a winger on the Leafs with such offensive flair since...ever. Kessel is the winger Sundin never had. A lightning quick release, speed in the neutral zone and the ability to finish plays. Somebody Pinch Me. This Phil Kessel guy is too good to be a Leafs winger.

Broken-Hearted

The Monster just went in for his second heart ablation in about as many months. He should be back in a week to 10 days time. While reasons for concern are low, it's the heart we're dealing with here so extra caution should always be taken. We want Gustavsson to be our #1 for the next ten years. There's no reason to rush him back.

Accountability

The Raptors will have none of it. Here are some quotes from the team yesterday

"Every time something happens it's always, 'It's okay, it's all right.' It's not all right. Problems go by without attacking them or challenging them or bringing them to the forefront and getting them solved. We can't keep keep putting them to the back of the bus and just saying, 'That's okay.' It's not all right."

-Jarett Jack

"You've got to address (the defensive issues) and you've got to show people on tape. It's not personal. If you want to win, you're going to have to make some sacrifices."

-Antoine Wright

Does Jay Triano deserve some blame? Yes. But he doesn't deserve all of it. It's a team game and frankly, he isn't the one on the floor getting beat by his man. Whether it be the NBA or NCAA, every player on this team has played on another team before. Did they not teach you how to close out on perimeter shooting? Did they not teach you how to defend the pick and roll? Did they not teach you how to box out for a rebound? Because these are a lot of the fundamental errors I see that leads to buckets by the opposing team.

It's easy to point the finger at the coach and play the blame game and unfortunately for Triano, I don't see him lasting too much longer on this team as he's already lost the respect in the locker room. Sadly, I think it will take more than a coaching change to pull this team together. Even with the worst coaching possible, no team should allow 146 points in regulation...

Marco's Shipping Up To Boston

Dear Scoots,

From stealing second off a walk to your incredible .789 lead-off OPS, I loved every bit of your play. You were great for us last year and you definitely will be missed. With that said, please give me back my spare key and get the fuck out.

Paul Pierce is a Douchebag

Whether you are dropping down to block a slap shot or standing in the lane to take a charge, it takes cojones to play pro sports. You wouldn't know it from the following clip though.

This whole video just makes me sick. Let's break it down.
1. Rasho Nesterovic is guarding Paul Pierce on an ISO play. How the fuck does this happen?
2. Paul Pierce's dirty fuckin slam on Bosh. Now when I say dirty I don't mean it the same way the hip kids do. The way he sticks out his knee out to catch CB4 in the nuts is plain dirty.
3. The stare-down. You're a real tough guy, Pierce. You didn't posterize Bosh, you kneed him in the balls. Need I remind you that you're the same guy that did this?

4. The score. It was 87-72 before the dunk. The dunk was totally unnecessary.
5. The Kevin Garnett pan away. From one big douchebag to the biggest douchebag.
6. 4 fuckin Raptors who stood around and did NOTHING!

Rasho Nesterovic, Jose Calderon, Hedo Turkuglo and Jarrett Jack should hang their head in shame for not standing up for their team leader and all-star, Chris Bosh. None of them even wanted to make eye contact with Pierce. This is why teams like The Celtics aren't afraid to step all over the Raptors. They know that they won't have to face the consequences if they do. I haven't seen a Raptor get animated over a play since Charles Oakley. What this clip doesn't show is the only guy who stood up for Bosh, the only guy who gave a shit, the only guy to go after Pierce; that guy was Raptors head coach and good ol' Canadian boy, Jay Triano.

Speaking of balls, Phil Kessel might only have one but he is the fuckin man.

When was the last time you remember seeing a player going coast to coast and scoring a beauty like that on the Leafs? As great as Sundin was, even he didn't have that speed and quick release. There's only one possible reaction to a goal so pretty.