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Toronto Maple Leafs preseason is underway; +Lupul

September 18, 2017, 10:59 AM ET [226 Comments]
Lucas Neilson
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The Leafs will be venturing to Ottawa to play against the Ontario rival in the Senators. It will be the first preseason game of the year and likely one that most of Leafs Nation will be dialing in for.

The first taste of the 2017-18 season; let’s hope it’s a sweet one.

Toronto vs Ottawa (7:30 PM) - Sportsnet.

There will be eight preseason games and Coach Mike Babcock has no intention of resting any of his players unless they get banged up. Everyone will be getting into the exhibition games as the Leafs prepare for battle (October 4) versus the Winnipeg Jets. Toronto will start their season on the road and it will be a great start to the season as the Matthews vs Laine battle will continue as the number one and two picks overall from last season square off in their sophomore years.

The Maple Leafs will play eight games in thirteen nights and a home/away versus Ottawa, Buffalo, Montreal and Detroit. You know Babcock will want to win in Detroit, it being his former team and the first game he and his Leafs play in Little Caesars Arena; which I have been told is quite the sight to see.

Babcock wants not only his rookies and young guns getting into the flow of things, he also wants his veteran players to kick off the rust and get things moving forward. He plans to get some early chemistry going with his lines and quickly inject his new additions into the mix.

All signs point to the Leafs keeping the Hyman-Matthews-Nylander line as one, as well as the JVR-Bozak-Marner combination. This makes me think the Leafs will have some tryouts going on for third and fourth line roles, but to start we will likely see Marleau-Kadri-Komarov. If I had to take a guess I’d predict Martin-Moore-Brown will be the Leafs fourth line to start the season.

It seems that Babcock is quite high on Miro Aaltonen, so keep an eye on him as he challenges Moore for the fourth line duties. Leivo, Kapanen and Soshnikov are all hungry to get a shot and guys like Fehr and Smith are going to have to knock the socks off Babs and his henchmen if they want to be a part of this Maple Leafs team. Keep an eye on these players, if they stand out consistently they just may be in action come October.

Players on the defensive end to keep an eye on include newcomers Rosen and Borgman, but Travis Dermott has my support as I personally hope he pushes Marincin out and makes the Leafs out of camp. The Leafs still have Roman Polak in the mix on a PTO as he is coming off a broken fibula. So the competition is open for one of the 5-6-7 spots on the Leafs back end.

Do you think any of the players listed above (forwards and defense) will be on the Leafs roster come October 4th?

Lupul:

I get that Joffrey Lupul is upset that he’s not going to be part of this Leafs team. It would be difficult playing your entire life and then being pushed aside when you feel like you are good to go.

Well there is a lot more to being “good to go” than feeling ok and not being in pristine physical condition. Because if you are playing in the NHL, you should be in prime shape as you battle out an 82+ game grueling season. If Lupul was so upset with not being a part of the team last year you’d think he would have worked his bag off all season and off-season training as hard as he could so that he was able to pass the physical and be part of the team. This is embarrassing for him I’m sure, but what’s more embarrassing is chirping away at the Leafs franchise saying they cheat, and so on just because he can’t pass a physical that lets him play.

Where is the dedication? Lupul was a decent player for the Leafs when he was healthy; the problem was he was always banged up. Let’s also stress that Mike Babcock isn’t a big fan of players who don’t give 110% on and off the ice.

Does he think this is going to get him back on the ice? I assure you it won’t and that what he should have done was talk to Lou Lamoriello if he had a problem, not post on social media. Should have just collected your 5+ million USD and moved on, I don’t see this helping Lupul in any which way but making a stink as he goes out.

Enjoy tonight’s first preseason game of the season!

Thanks for reading.
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