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For anyone who watched last night’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings they would likely agree it was a close, interesting game to watch and the Maple Leafs should have walked away with a win.
While the point of that statement isn’t to try and sound biased by any means, I felt that Toronto had a greater opportunity last night for the win given that Detroit had so many of their key players out of the lineup. With that being established and with what actually transpired, the Leafs may have caused themselves some issues moving forward.
Here’s the thing about pro sports – with every win typically comes a hero, and with every loss typically comes a scapegoat. Last night, thanks to head coach Randy Carlyle, the scapegoat for the Toronto Maple Leafs was goaltender James Reimer.
“I thought he was okay, you know, just okay,… Carlyle said when asked about Reimer’s play last night.
I suppose whether or not you feel the above statement is an issue for the Leafs and their playoff chances ultimately rides on your opinion of James Reimer. However, at the end of the day and regardless of our opinions, the team will need the netminder to be at his best if they are going to secure a playoff spot, and the lack of confidence from his head coach certainly won’t help the situation.
My main problem with the comment wasn’t due to the fact that I felt Reimer had a great game, because perhaps he did just play “Ok…, rather it was because the Toronto Maple Leafs are still a young team and are arguably somewhat fragile. In order for this group to end their season on a high note, they are going to need their coach’s support and not, on the contrary, thrown under the bus.
“So he said I was just okay,… said Reimer, responding to Carlyle's comments. “I thought I played good, but obviously you'd like to make at least one of those saves in the third.…
With Toronto’s biggest area of concern being their defense and given that their “starting… goaltender is injured with a groin strain, expressing confidence in your second strongest option between the pipes is going to be critical. It should stand to reason that there is not a whole lot at this point that Carlyle can seemingly do to improve upon his defense and their play; however what we can say is that when the goaltenders are standing on their heads, this team has a very good chance every night.
As expressed, last night was a close, exciting game to watch for fans, despite the fact that the Leafs were not able to walk away with any points. It was not, in this writer’s opinion a bad loss, and frankly should have been deemed as a “team loss… rather than possibly holding a specific member personally accountable.
Yes, James Reimer could have had a better game last night.
Yes, he could have saved the last two on one break and goal by Daniel Alfredsson, but at the end of the day it was the Toronto Maple Leafs who lost that game and personally, I would find ways to improve my overall team defensive play before even looking at my netminder for a finger to point.
Whether Randy Carlyle’s comment truly upsets Reimer and works against his play, or does the complete opposite and fires him up for next game is left to be seen, but as the coach of a team fighting to remain in the playoff hunt, singling out your current starting goaltender is not likely going to be very constructive.
The decision on who starts for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning has not yet been decided, but if Randy Carlyle decides to start relief goaltender Drew MacIntyre, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have quite the goaltending controversy on their hands with just 12 games remaining.
Thanks for reading!