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With seven games remaining for the Calgary Flames, and six for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the two teams will take to the ice tonight as one tries to expand upon their strong team play, while the other tries to find their own.
Having lost eight games in a row at the worst time of the year, the Toronto Maple Leafs have essentially knocked themselves out of a playoff chance due to their unimpressive, lackadaisical play. Conversely, and while they have also been losing more games than winning, the Flames have been playing some very strong hockey as the team has seemingly bought into their coaches “hard work, no excuses… system.
When Bob Hartley first became coach of the Calgary Flames, I had written a blog which went on to explain how the Flames would be a defensive focused team. Much of the response I received from my readers was that, on the contrary, they would be a greater offensive team. While their response wasn't inaccurate, Hartley has his team playing a simple and effective defensive system, one in which opposing players are kept to the outside, shots are limited, and the puck carrier is often pressured. This system has ultimately allowed the Flames to keep games very close throughout the entire season.
A strong defensive system doesn’t always reflect a positive goal differential as, in the case of the Flames, the team has many young and inexperienced players who are likely to make an extra mistake here and there. That being said, Calgary has received a lot of hard work from their newly acquired players and the coach is happy with the on-ice product which he is receiving, despite sitting 26th in the league. And I have to say, the way the Flames have their players playing, I simply do not envision them ever being a bottom feeding team.
That said, Brian Burke and his Calgary Flames will look to leave a sour mark on the Toronto Maple Leafs by handing them another loss tonight, extending their current streak to nine straight games. Though at this point, I’m not so sure that another loss would bother fans too much as they’ve already been let done quite a bit over the past week. But I digress.
Despite the above, the Leafs should be expected to come firing out of the gates tonight after their poor play of late. The players no longer appear to be playing for their coach as over the past couple of weeks, a second or third effort on they play simply wasn't there. The worst part of it all, really, is when the team’s captain gives up the puck for the 3rd or 4th time in a row and not a player, including said captain, battles to win the puck back which ultimately ends up in their own net.
To put things into perspective, Sid Seixeiro mentioned over SN radio about a week ago after a terrible defensive breakdown from the Leafs - “If I were Jon Bernier, I’d punch about three guys in the face!…
Seems rather fitting actually, because quite frankly, the Leafs have been letting their goaltender(s) hang out to dry on a nightly basis. Not only is the team allowing 40 shots a night, but the number of turnovers and odd man rushes have been insanely high for a team fighting to make the playoffs for the 2nd time in ten years.
There is really no sugarcoating their defensive problems. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been pretty terrible in their own end for nearly the entire season thus far, and the only thing that has really saved or disguised this was their top end scoring and great goaltending.
That said, and moving into tonight, neither team has any significant injuries to speak of and as such, it should be a good, hard fought battle; at least, so I can vow for the Calgary Flames. I suppose the saving grace for this Toronto Maple Leafs team will be to battle back and get out of this slump in an attempt to defy odds and make it into the playoffs. While this scenario is not very likely, a strong effort from the team in closing the season may be the only thing that saves Randy Carlyle’s job…and that’s a big maybe.
With respect to the Flames, look for former Toronto players Matt Stajan and Joe Colborne to have big nights. The two players have been doing well of late, as Stajan sits with 7pts in his last 5 games played, while Colborne has managed 2pts in as many games, and a career high 26pts.
“Emotions in all Canadian cities are always high among the fans because hockey means so much,… Stajan said. “But I know from growing up in Toronto and having played there, the highs and lows are always magnified in the centre of hockey.…
“I won’t be feeling for them (Tuesday) — I’ll tell you that much,… said Joe Colborne. “Yeah, it’s tough. A guy like (James Reimer), he won’t say a bad word about anyone, and when you see the fans getting on him, it’s tough. But we want to make it even worse.…
Fans may get a chance to see forward prospect Bryce Van Brabant who recently signed an entry level contract with the Flames. At 6’3 and 205lbs, Van Brabant adds some added grit to the Flames organization as the big bodied forward tends to play an aggressive, checking style game and will likely see a lot of 3rd and 4th line minutes throughout his potential NHL career.
In addition to Van Brabant, the Flames also announced that prospect Morgan Klimchuk will join the Abbostford Heat after his junior team, the Regina Pats, were eliminated from playoffs. Klimchuk will bring a ton of extra offensive and defensive experience to the already strong Heat roster, who should do quite well come playoffs.
Here are your expected lines for tonight’s game.
Glencross - Monahan - Colborne Cammalleri - Backlund - Byron Hudler - Stajan - McGrattan Van Brabant - Bouma - Westgarth
Brodie - Giordano Russell - Butler Smid - Wotherspoon
Ramo
Thanks for reading!