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Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • Fan 590 •
TORONTO (Nov. 7) – At least we know the coach is paying attention.
I would loathe thinking these words are solely for the eyes of the befuddled and delusional. Now, I can confidently say that Ron Wilson obtains much of his professional inspiration from the daily opus here. I mean, why else would Ronnie come right back with Jonas Gustavsson tonight against Detroit? Wasn’t it only two days ago that he proclaimed Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala are “equally capable of winning games” for the Maple Leafs? Clearly, Wilson is studying this enlightened corner.
Either that or an epiphany must have come over the coach during Friday’s narrow triumph in Raleigh, N.C. – preserved by another sizzling effort from The Monster. Wilson – for the moment – appears to have moved into the realm of coaches that identify and run with a stand-out No. 1 goalie. As such, Gustavsson is playing on consecutive nights.
By any measure, it is not only the correct decision, but the ONLY one. While the Leafs are still on the wrong side of the international date-line as it pertains to playoff territory, they’ve picked up eight points in their past six games, which is seven more than they earned in their first eight matches. Almost all of that can be attributed to Gustavsson, who offers the perception of a franchise goaltender. And, it's easy to pin-point the last time the Leafs had such a youthful commodity.
For that, we have to go beyond Curtis Joseph [in the prime of his career when he played for the Leafs] and Ed Belfour [toward the end of his career]. Some might suggest Felix Potvin fit the bill in the early ‘90s, and Potvin did steal some points for the Blue & White. But, that club was clearly led by Doug Gilmour, and Potvin benefited, on many nights, from the scoring exploits of Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk, Wendel Clark, Glenn Anderson, Mike Gartner and others. To really identify the last goalie that came into the NHL and began to carry the Leafs, we must travel all the way back 33 years in time – to late-October of 1976 – when Mike Palmateer was called up from the minors and rescued a season that was quickly fading away.
Palmateer and Gustavsson are polar opposites in style. The former was a small, flamboyant net minder who virtually taunted opposition forwards by racing way out of his crease to narrow shooting angles. Gustavsson is deceptively quick for his size, but much more conservative in his movement around the goal. What the two appear to have entirely in common, however, is an ability to ignore the novelty and turbulence of jumping into the world’s best hockey league in a city that cares as much about the game as any on earth.
And, that’s why Ron Wilson has no choice but to pin the Leafs’ fortunes on the lanky native of Danderyd, Sweden – game after game; night after night – until The Monster either poops out, or somehow shows he isn’t capable of the work-load entrusted a No. 1 goalie. To this point, there is no indication that either will occur.
**************************************
Speaking of Wilson, kudos to him for coming up with the precise words in the first intermission Friday night, after his listless club had again fallen behind in a game – this time, 2-0, to the Carolina Hurricanes. I’m paraphrasing, but the coach looked at his players in the visitors’ lair at the RBC Center and wondered if it wasn’t time for them to show a little piss and vinegar; to feel some embarrassment from their horrid start to the season. There is only so much a man can do while standing behind the bench, and we can legitimately debate whether Wilson is constructively impacting the Leafs this autumn. But, when the puck is dropped, it’s up to the guys on the ice. And Ronnie was more than justified in appealing to their self-esteem.
On this night, anyway, it was the perfect coaching elixir.
**************************************
Talk about an old coot… Kris Draper – one of the truly good guys in the game – will watch this weekend as three of his former Detroit teammates are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Draper, 38, played with Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille on what he calls the best Red Wings’ club of his career – the 2002 Stanley Cup champions. “That team… it was sometimes overwhelming to look around the dressing room and realize I was playing with such greatness every day,” Draper said this morning at the Air Canada Centre. “I’m just glad I got a lot of Red Wings’ jerseys signed that year; I’m going to hang onto them.”
After watching Hull and former Islanders’ great Mike Bossy during their careers in the NHL, it’s nearly impossible for me to determine which player had the quicker one-time release. All I can say – for certain – is that no one, before or since, equaled the cat-like offerings of both men in the vicinity of a rival net. Perhaps that’s why they combined to score 1,314 big-league goals.
**************************************
The Leafs put a two-game, two-season win streak against Detroit on the line tonight. You’ll recall that Wilson won his inaugural game behind the Toronto bench in last year’s season opener, when the Leafs went into Joe Louis Arena and up-ended the defending Stanley Cup champions, 3-2, on Nikolai Kulemin’s first NHL goal. Two seasons ago – on the afternoon of Feb. 9, 2008 – Nik Antropov re-directed Anton Stralman’s shot past Dominik Hasek in overtime for a 3-2 Toronto triumph at the ACC. It was back on Dec. 9, 2006 that the Leafs were last defeated by the Red Wings – and rather easily – 5-1, in Motown.
As we’ve mentioned on a number of occasions, any small steps the Leafs are able to take will be instantly nullified if the club cannot overcome its ineptitude on home ice. Next Wednesday [Nov. 11] will represent the seven-month anniversary of the Leafs’ last victory that counted at the ACC – in the season finale of 2008-09. There are two chances to usurp the milestone: tonight against the Wings, and Tuesday against Minnesota.
E-mail howardlberger@gmail.com
I would loathe thinking these words are solely for the eyes of the befuddled and delusional. Now, I can confidently say that Ron Wilson obtains much of his professional inspiration from the daily opus here. I mean, why else would Ronnie come right back with Jonas Gustavsson tonight against Detroit? Wasn’t it only two days ago that he proclaimed Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala are “equally capable of winning games” for the Maple Leafs? Clearly, Wilson is studying this enlightened corner.
Either that or an epiphany must have come over the coach during Friday’s narrow triumph in Raleigh, N.C. – preserved by another sizzling effort from The Monster. Wilson – for the moment – appears to have moved into the realm of coaches that identify and run with a stand-out No. 1 goalie. As such, Gustavsson is playing on consecutive nights.
By any measure, it is not only the correct decision, but the ONLY one. While the Leafs are still on the wrong side of the international date-line as it pertains to playoff territory, they’ve picked up eight points in their past six games, which is seven more than they earned in their first eight matches. Almost all of that can be attributed to Gustavsson, who offers the perception of a franchise goaltender. And, it's easy to pin-point the last time the Leafs had such a youthful commodity.
For that, we have to go beyond Curtis Joseph [in the prime of his career when he played for the Leafs] and Ed Belfour [toward the end of his career]. Some might suggest Felix Potvin fit the bill in the early ‘90s, and Potvin did steal some points for the Blue & White. But, that club was clearly led by Doug Gilmour, and Potvin benefited, on many nights, from the scoring exploits of Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk, Wendel Clark, Glenn Anderson, Mike Gartner and others. To really identify the last goalie that came into the NHL and began to carry the Leafs, we must travel all the way back 33 years in time – to late-October of 1976 – when Mike Palmateer was called up from the minors and rescued a season that was quickly fading away.
Palmateer and Gustavsson are polar opposites in style. The former was a small, flamboyant net minder who virtually taunted opposition forwards by racing way out of his crease to narrow shooting angles. Gustavsson is deceptively quick for his size, but much more conservative in his movement around the goal. What the two appear to have entirely in common, however, is an ability to ignore the novelty and turbulence of jumping into the world’s best hockey league in a city that cares as much about the game as any on earth.
And, that’s why Ron Wilson has no choice but to pin the Leafs’ fortunes on the lanky native of Danderyd, Sweden – game after game; night after night – until The Monster either poops out, or somehow shows he isn’t capable of the work-load entrusted a No. 1 goalie. To this point, there is no indication that either will occur.
**************************************
Speaking of Wilson, kudos to him for coming up with the precise words in the first intermission Friday night, after his listless club had again fallen behind in a game – this time, 2-0, to the Carolina Hurricanes. I’m paraphrasing, but the coach looked at his players in the visitors’ lair at the RBC Center and wondered if it wasn’t time for them to show a little piss and vinegar; to feel some embarrassment from their horrid start to the season. There is only so much a man can do while standing behind the bench, and we can legitimately debate whether Wilson is constructively impacting the Leafs this autumn. But, when the puck is dropped, it’s up to the guys on the ice. And Ronnie was more than justified in appealing to their self-esteem.
On this night, anyway, it was the perfect coaching elixir.
**************************************
Talk about an old coot… Kris Draper – one of the truly good guys in the game – will watch this weekend as three of his former Detroit teammates are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Draper, 38, played with Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille on what he calls the best Red Wings’ club of his career – the 2002 Stanley Cup champions. “That team… it was sometimes overwhelming to look around the dressing room and realize I was playing with such greatness every day,” Draper said this morning at the Air Canada Centre. “I’m just glad I got a lot of Red Wings’ jerseys signed that year; I’m going to hang onto them.”
After watching Hull and former Islanders’ great Mike Bossy during their careers in the NHL, it’s nearly impossible for me to determine which player had the quicker one-time release. All I can say – for certain – is that no one, before or since, equaled the cat-like offerings of both men in the vicinity of a rival net. Perhaps that’s why they combined to score 1,314 big-league goals.
**************************************
The Leafs put a two-game, two-season win streak against Detroit on the line tonight. You’ll recall that Wilson won his inaugural game behind the Toronto bench in last year’s season opener, when the Leafs went into Joe Louis Arena and up-ended the defending Stanley Cup champions, 3-2, on Nikolai Kulemin’s first NHL goal. Two seasons ago – on the afternoon of Feb. 9, 2008 – Nik Antropov re-directed Anton Stralman’s shot past Dominik Hasek in overtime for a 3-2 Toronto triumph at the ACC. It was back on Dec. 9, 2006 that the Leafs were last defeated by the Red Wings – and rather easily – 5-1, in Motown.
As we’ve mentioned on a number of occasions, any small steps the Leafs are able to take will be instantly nullified if the club cannot overcome its ineptitude on home ice. Next Wednesday [Nov. 11] will represent the seven-month anniversary of the Leafs’ last victory that counted at the ACC – in the season finale of 2008-09. There are two chances to usurp the milestone: tonight against the Wings, and Tuesday against Minnesota.
E-mail howardlberger@gmail.com
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