It looks as if Babcock will be dressing the majority of the Maple Leafs opening night roster against Detroit tonight.
There has been no final decision made for the third pairing left side partner for Connor Carrick who will more than likely be starting the season on the right. Both Rosen and Borgman will be in tonight and will be giving 110% as they look to impress Babcock and the Leafs brass as they are leaving it up to the players to secure their spot. Obviously if one of them has a great game and can impress it makes the decision an easy one for management and I’m sure that’s what they are hoping. Obviously both players have been impressive since they are essentially battling it out for what looks to be the final open spot on the team.
Could it be that Dominic Moore has won the fourth line center position?
Perhaps, but one cant help but notice the play of Miro Aaltonen who looked better than both Trevor Moore and Eric Fehr. One could say he looked better than the veteran Dominic Moore who looked a bit rusty.
Nothing to get all worked up about if you were routing for Aaltonen, or one of Borgman/Rosen/Dermott who ends up not making the Leafs out of camp. There is still time and you can bet everyone will get a taste at some point.
Babcock has a doghouse and as one of his players you really don’t want to end up in it.
Another player who may be sent down due to numbers and contracts is Leafs winger Kasperi Kapanen. He too looks as if he will be starting the season with the AHL Marlies and that is going to bode well for the Leafs as Kapanen can get a lot of playing time there and with results he will surely be the first forward called up.
Right now I’m just hoping the boys have a good hard skate tonight and get themselves game ready because next Wednesday the puck will be dropping and that’s when it counts. We need a healthy, confident team to start the season and right now that’s exactly what we have. The Leafs lost their first two preseason games against Ottawa and then handled the Sabres and Canadiens with ease. A solid performance tonight by the so called A-team Leafs and they will surely be ready for the Winnipeg Jets on October 4th.
It will be the first time the Leafs play at the new rink in Detroit (Little Caesars Arena). You know Mike Babcock always wants to win, especially against his former team and almost certainly he wants to grab the win as the Leafs want to set the tone against the division rivals in their new home.
I may have to boycott eating those five dollar hot and ready Little Caesar pizzas until the season is over.
I’m not kidding either.
Here is tonight’s lineup:
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Marleau-Kadri-Komarov Van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner Marin-Moore-Brown
Rielly-Hainsey Gardiner-Zaitsev Rosen-Borgman
Andersen Kaskisuo
The Red Wings will be icing a quality lineup tonight as well. This will be Henrik Zetterberg’s first preseason game of the year as he was dealing with a kink in the neck earlier this week.
Tomas Tatar – Henrik Zettberg – Gustav Nyquist Anthony Mantha – Dylan Larkin – Martin FRK Darren Helm – Frans Nielsen – Riley Sheahan David Booth – Ben Street – Luke Glendening
Danny DeKeyser-Trevor Daley Jonathan Ericsson-Mike Green Xavier Ouellet-Joe Hicketts
Jimmy Howard Tom McCollum
Enjoy your weekend,
Thanks for reading!