TORONTO (Sep. 12) – For as long as any of us can remember, the Maple Leafs have been among the weakest defensive teams in the National Hockey League.
Even during their brief interludes of accomplishment since 1967, the Leafs relied on brilliant goaltending to camouflage a soft defensive underbelly. This was best illustrated between 1998 and 2002, when Curtis Joseph habitually rescued a talented but erratic team. Though it provided the Leafs a solid playoff foundation, it came at an incalculable price: Having exhausted himself neutralizing rival shooters from October to April, Joseph lacked the energy reserve to sustain performance through the Stanley Cup marathon. The pattern continued for two seasons with Ed Belfour as the club’s No. 1 goalie. As such, the Leafs were rudely dispatched from the playoffs each spring; their final act one of humiliation.
An effective balance of goaltending and defensive equilibrium must therefore be attained to vault the club into legitimacy. Such is the blueprint of Brian Burke’s reconstruction. During his 21-month term as general manager of the Leafs, Burke has overhauled the entire scheme behind centre-ice – luring, to Toronto, the best goaltender in Europe [Jonas Gustavsson]; trading for a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy winner [Jean-Sebastien Giguere], while glutting the roster with NHL-caliber defensemen. It now falls upon Ron Wilson to unify these upgraded parts; his future as coach depends on it.
To begin our training camp analysis of the Maple Leafs, we look at the club’s blue line.
LUKE SCHENN: For the Leafs to catapult into the NHL’s high rent district, Luke Schenn has to become a star. Or, very close to it. The Adam Foote comparisons – though still flattering – are all well and good, but the Leafs need a more dynamic return from the fifth overall draft pick in 2008. The history of that slot, mind you, doesn’t augur particularly well. Though several distinguished players have emerged (Richard Martin 1971; Rick Vaive 1979; Scott Stevens 1982 and Jaromir Jagr 1990), many others have flopped after having their name called at No. 5 – among them Cam Connor 1974; Bjorn Johansson 1976; Shawn Anderson 1986; Chris Joseph 1987; Daniel Dore 1988; Ric Jackman 1996; Vitaly Vishnevski 1998 and Stanislav Chistov 2001. History aside, Schenn is vital to any meaningful improvement by the Leafs. There was nothing atypical about his two-year initiation in the NHL – a poised rookie effort gave way to a sophomore struggle that ebbed in the absence of team pressure. Entering his third season, Schenn will be looked upon to make big strides. In that pursuit, the Leafs’ strength and conditioning coach, Anthony Belza, recommended that Schenn add 20 pounds of bulk to his 215-pound frame. Now built like a football linebacker, the 20-year-old should be an imposing figure on the Toronto blue line, providing the extra weight hasn’t slowed him. Though he is sturdy on the ice, Luke isn’t a smooth or fast skater, and that could hold him back. He’ll have to rely on his reach and overall strength to vault into the upper ranks of defensemen. He also needs to be more aggressive – not physically so – but in his decision making and movement of the puck. Luke tended to hesitate last season. When he became assertive, he found that rival players often gave him a wide berth commensurate with his size. Building on that self-assurance will determine whether Schenn becomes a front-line talent.
DION PHANEUF: Few players in recent Leaf history have carried the burden this man does, primarily because no Toronto player has ever been named captain in the midst of a five-season playoff drought. Phaneuf came over from Calgary as the most erudite trade purchase in the NHL last year – Burke enacting a long-overdue detonation of his feeble roster by talking Calgary into the puck wizardry of Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Ian White, and the character of Jamal Mayers. All four were useful acquisitions, though they couldn’t help nudge the Flames into the Stanley Cup tournament. From the outset, however, it was believed that Toronto garnered the best player in the deal, often the tipping point of any transaction. Now, Phaneuf has to emerge as a constructive focal point in arguably the NHL’s most intense, cynical market. It will not be a simple task. Dion has lived a charmed life in his early Leaf existence. He arrived at a time when playoff hopes had long been dashed, allowing for an easier transition. His steely temperament gave the club a different look and helped to fill an enormous leadership void. The captaincy seemed like a natural progression, and Dion has followed by making comments he knows the adoring hockey public in this region will devour [“we’re a playoff team and anything less is unacceptable”]. Now comes the hard part; the honeymoon ends once the puck is dropped at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 7. From that moment on, the man wearing 3 and the ‘C’ will move beneath an incandescent spotlight – hope resting like an anvil on his shoulders. With a $6.5-million cap hit, Phaneuf is expected to put up better-than-average numbers for a defenseman; a scoreless drought like the 24-gamer to begin his Leaf career simply won’t cut it. If the club advances steadily northward in his presence, he’ll be considered alongside the most beloved Leaf captains. Continued inadequacy, on the other hand, may heighten the Calgary-bred notion of Phaneuf as a mercurial, egocentric teammate, ill-equipped to prosper in a fierce hockey environment. Whatever the case, it will be fascinating to watch.
TOMAS KABERLE: Amid all the trade-window hysteria in July and August, one question about this veteran defenseman remained unanswered: What happened after the 15-game mark last season when he brilliantly led all NHL blue-liners with two goals and 20 points? He managed just 29 points in the ensuing 67 games while slumping to a ghastly minus-16 by season’s end. And people still wonder why Burke wasn’t able to swap Kaberle for a front-line forward this summer. Though he’s enjoyed a distinguished career in blue and white – and is a consummate gentleman – Kaberle is very much an enigma heading into his 12th NHL campaign. Does he have the drive and character to offset diminishing skill? Can he possibly remember what it was like to be in a playoff environment – the gap widening to seven calendar years next April? Despite ubiquitous denials, can he effectively commingle with Ron Wilson, and how severe is the underlying friction that helped to spoil his performance last season? Amid assurance a few days ago that he’d “do anything for this organization”, will Kaberle – should the Leafs again be out of reasonable playoff contention – offer himself as trade bait next March, providing Burke a last opportunity to barter for an asset? These are all issues that surround the Czech-born defenseman heading into his final contract year with the Maple Leafs. Most comfortable toiling beyond the spotlight, can No. 15 thrive in a season-long atmosphere of uncertainty about his future? It bears close observation.
MIKE KOMISAREK: Another player that falls into the “enigma” category after a first season in Toronto that was wrecked by injury. This strapping veteran has a mischievous, fun-loving nature that I believe shrouds a large dollop of insecurity. He answers even the most mundane questions with a nervous staccato and seems to revel in convincing himself that everything is going to be okay. It may well be in the coming season, for big Mike is due a break or two. His initial go-around in blue and white was a calamity almost from the outset. He spent the early part of the schedule trying too hard to be “the man” after a voluntary uniform switch among storied rivals. His return to Montreal in late-October was almost comical, as he made a near- Biblical vow to treat it as “just another game”. The jeering he received that night at the Bell Centre quickly proved otherwise. Then came the injuries – first a knee ailment in early-November, then a season-ending shoulder reconstruction just prior to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, an event he so desperately wished to attend on behalf of the United States. His body rested and repaired, Komisarek claims to be in a different emotional galaxy right now. Like so many of his Leaf teammates, he’s excited about a fresh start with an untried nucleus. If he’s in the proper frame of mind, big Mike could be a stud on the revamped Toronto blue line. If uncertainty creeps in once again, another struggle may ensue.
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN: His first season in Toronto unfolded as almost everyone predicted. After toiling nicely in the shadows of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer on a Stanley Cup team in Anaheim, Beauchemin foundered amid the scrutiny of playing big minutes for a terrible Leafs squad. Like Komisarek, he took too much upon himself in the early part of the schedule, trying to justify his lucrative free agent pact. Routinely encountering the opposition’s top forwards, he had no chance to flourish on an unstable defensive team. This season could be markedly different. The affable native of Sorel, Que. is a learned player, and he’ll find a niche amid the assortment of youngsters and veterans on the blue line. If handling a No. 3-type role suits him most comfortably, he can nestle in behind Phaneuf and/or Schenn and Kaberle. With Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson on the scene from the get-go, Francois will benefit from shared responsibility, as he did with the Ducks. He should be a much-improved performer for the Blue & White.
CARL GUNNARSSON: I call this guy the “typical Swede” and I do it endearingly. Like so many of his fellow countrymen in the NHL, Gunnarsson plays the game with a calm, unruffled air, regardless of the situation. He arrived as an injury replacement last November with the Leafs in absolute disarray, at 3-9-5. Battling through roster upheaval and a dislocated elbow that sidelined him for 22 games in the heart of the schedule, Gunnarsson evolved into one of the few stabilizing elements on the hockey club. In 43 games, he contributed 15 points and led all skaters with a tidy plus-8. There wasn’t an ounce of flash or glitter about him; he went from day to day seemingly oblivious to – and unperturbed by – the tumult that enveloped the NHL’s 29th-place team. This cool-headedness will keep Gunnarsson in the big league for a long time. He’ll likely encounter more of a struggle in his second season, as do many players. And, he’ll have to clamp down in the defensive zone, where he was soft and frequently out-maneuvered. But, he showed terrific poise in evading opposition forecheckers and moving the puck quickly up ice – a skill that is more innate than acquired. Working his way through the sophomore plague will be Carl’s biggest challenge.
JEFF FINGER: Someone has to wear the double-circled target on a bad hockey team and this amicable veteran is currently the dart board of Leafs Nation. Imagine the gall to accept a four-season, $14-million offer from Cliff Fletcher in the summer of 2008. Jeff should have known it would strangle Burke’s payroll ceiling two years later and politely declined. If not for his inflated stipend, Finger would be considered a useful swing-man on the Leafs’ blue line, and he still may get that opportunity. Many fans are aching for Burke to waive him through the NHL and demote his $3.5-million salary hit to the minors. Under the current CBA, such action is available to the Leafs’ GM and it may provide the club some cap relief. But, Burke doesn’t appear all that anxious to lose Finger, who can adequately step into the fray when injuries begin to mount. Jeff plays the game aggressively and has never been an unsettling force when scratched from the line-up. He’s a good teammate; a good guy, and he may come in handy at some point this season.
BRETT LEBDA: It’s difficult to comprehend where this former Detroit chattel fits into the pecking order with the Maple Leafs. Even as a Red Wing, he was all over the map in terms of playing time – his minutes ranging, last season, from 7:44 on Oct. 3 at St. Louis to 22:58 in a home game against Chicago on Dec. 23. The Leafs signed Brett as a measure of depth and insurance during the Kaberle trade watch and he’s not likely to un-seat any of the top six players on the Toronto blue line. Along with Finger and, perhaps, Matt Lashoff, he’ll be a safeguard in the event of injury.
NOTES: As per the pre-Christmas sale-a-thon each year, a number of new hockey books are on the horizon, including Mike Leonetti’s latest effort geared toward children. Leonetti – a prolific author and big-time Leafs fan – has teamed with illustrator Greg Banning on THE MIGHTY TIM HORTON , a picture-book about the career of the great Toronto defenseman, inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame in 1977. A prime mover on the Leafs’ four Stanley Cup teams of the 1960s, Horton is better known today for the large string of donut emporiums that bears his name. But, he ranks among the best players in Leaf history and Leonetti’s book is a terrific reminder – for young and old – about that legacy. It is published by North Winds Press and costs $19.99… Among the plethora of hockey preview magazines on the market right now is a splendid production by members of the Leafs’ blogging universe. The second annual Maple Street Press magazine is a wonderful tribute to the hockey club and its immense legion of followers. It is richly illustrated; full of passionate writing, and available on news-stands everywhere in the city.
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