Behind The Monster

I like the word unfathomable. It's a good word to describe the effect that the Monster is having on the Toronto Maple Leafs.Last night Gustavsson turned aside 35 of 36 shots, and despite the fact that the Leafs managed to score 5 goals, it's the goaltender's stats that are fascinating me at the moment.

In his last 3 starts, Gustavsson has faced 104 shots, turning aside 99, for a .951 SV% and a 1.66 GA while the Leafs have picked up 5 out of 6 points.Three games is a small sample size, but so far the Monster looks comfortable at the ACC with 1-1-1 record and a stunning 1.65 GA and .941 SV% in three home games.

The Leafs are currently on a 7-game point streak that began with the return of the Monster to the line-up in Anahiem. Gustavsson has started all but one since then - a 5-4 OT loss to Montreal - as the Leafs have picked up 10 of a possible 14 points.
In 5 starts, Toskala has allowed 4 goals once, 5 goals twice, 7 goals once, and was yanked once after allowing 3 in the opening period. Gustavsson has allowed 4 in one game only - an OT goal against Dallas - and has kept the opposition to 2 goals or fewer four times in seven starts.

"He's made big saves at key times. When you've got that in goal, it gives you confidence."
Beauchemin

"The way Gustavsson played was unbelievable. I don’t know what to say about him, doing that two games in a row."
Kessel “When you do get saves and the goalie bails people out, obviously you appreciate him even more."
Wilson

"The whole bench gets pretty excited when they see the saves he can pull off."
Wilson, again"

We get excited. He's been outstanding. He's making key saves at key times and he did a tremendous job all night."
Blake
"He's made some saves that I call game-changers. Right at the key times and they've been outstanding. Last night and tonight, he was the difference. It was good to see."
Blake, again

"He has been huge for us the last five or six games, he just never gives up on a play. Even in practice, you think you have him beat and he just slides over and makes a big save."
Komisarek

Shoot To Kill

Here's a problem: The Leafs are 0 and 5 in extra-time so far this season. That's 5 points left on the table, and worse, 5 additional points surrendered to the opposition. Distressingly, 4 of those losses were to Conference rivals, and twice it was the Habs.

The Leafs are a better team then their record indicates... blah blah blah. If the Leafs keep playing this way, the wins will start to come... blah blah blah. Once again, the Leafs outplayed their opponents for most of the game... blah blah blah. Boring.

If the Leafs had won those games, we'd have 12 points after 13 games, and more importantly, we'd be just 2 points out of a playoff spot. We'd also be equal to Montreal (who'd have 12, not 14) with still 2 games in hand. In fact, those dastardly Habs are a frustrating contrast. ALL BUT ONE of their wins have come in extra-time, and they have yet to surrender a loss in overtime or the shoot-out. 4 OT wins, 2 shoot-out wins. 6 additional points acquired on top of the 12 points split evenly with their opponents. The Habs record could look like: 1-8-6 and 8 points, almost exactly the same as the Leafs 1-7-5 and 7 points. Instead, the Habs are 7-8-0 and 14 points and tied for 8th in the East. That seems like a pretty significant difference for two teams that match up evenly after 60 minutes.

The Leafs last night again displayed an alarming lack of finish, despite the presence of Kessel. One game is too soon to expect a solution, but there is promise that the problem is being fixed. Kessel looked dangerous all night, unleashing 10 shots on goal over nearly 24 minutes of ice time. As long as he can stay out of the trolley tracks, he should be producing plenty, and soon.

Our heroes are on a 5 game point-streak, which sounds great, picking up 6 points out of a possible 10. That's a .600 winning percentage, which over 82 games translates into 98 points and a playoff spot. Unfortunately, Leaf opponents have taken 8 of a possible 10 points in those same 5 games and are therefore playing .800 hockey. Welcome to the post-lockout NHL, where .500 means you suck.

"We have to persevere. We can't change what we're doing, because we're right there knocking on the door. We've just got to find a way to knock the door completely down."
-Wilson
The Leafs have found the right level of intensity that allows them to compete with their opponents for 60 minutes, giving themselves a chance to win for 5 straight games now, but like the old cliche, we need one hundred and ten percent. We need to go to 65 solid minutes of hockey, if that's what it takes. We need more then just desperation, we need a killer instinct. Stop knocking on the door fellas - you have to let yourselves in, make yourselves at home, and have sex on the carpet.

"He's gotta make plays, he can't be content to be on the ice..."
-Wilson

The coach is talking about Tlusty there, after he was called up, but he could be talking about the entire team's approach to extra-time. Stajan, Blake, Stempniak, Hagman, White, Kaberle, Kulemin, Grabovski, and Ponikarovsky, not just Kessel, need to kick it up a notch. We can't just be happy for the point. We can't just be satisfied to have played a decent game. We gotta make it happen, and overtime is just as much our opportunity as it is anyone else's. There's a point up for grabs and it's five minutes and then it's a shoot-out. We can't be content to be on the ice.

We need to smell blood and finish it.

Respect

Tomas Kaberle has 13 points in his last 5 games, all on the road.
12 games into the season, he is the highest scoring defenceman in the NHL, with 17 points, now 4 ahead of San Jose's Dan Boyle.

He is the league leader in assists with 15, 1 ahead of both Joe Thornton and Nicklas Backstrom.

He leads the league in powerplay points (12) and assists (11), and he's doing it without Kubina, Antropov, Sundin, McCabe, Tucker, Wellwood, etc,. Stajan is the Leafs 2nd-deadliest weapon on the powerplay with 6 points (tied for 24th overall).

Kaberle's 17 points leads the Leafs in scoring while Grabovski is 2nd - 7 back - with 10.

Currently, Kaberle is tied for 6th overall in NHL scoring.

He now has 450 career points for the Leafs, putting him 15th on the all-time list, just 2 back of Dougie Gilmour (452), and now 9 ahead of Wendel Clark (441) whom he passed rather quietly the other night in Anahiem when he registered 5 points.

Kaberle is just 9 points away from eclipsing Tim Horton (458) to become the 2nd highest scoring defenceman in Leafs history.

It now seems very likely that he'll surpass Gilmour, Horton, Lanny McDonald (459) and Norm Ullman (471) this season to move all the way up to 11th on the all-time list for all positions. Catching Rick Vaive (537) for 10th would require a 104-point season.

He's currently on pace for 116.

Respect.

Welcome Back

One hundred and ninety-eight days. That's how long it's been since Leaf fans were able to celebrate a regular season win. That's how long it's been since we've known what 2 points in the standings felt like. God, it's good to be back in the win column. Oh, how we've missed you, Defiant Maple Leaf. Welcome back, my friend.

And a very special welcome back to the Monster, who provided the Leafs first true act of defiance on the night when he denied the Ducks an early strike with this spectacular save:
Sensational. Now that is defiant. What a difference a Monster makes.

Later, Anaheim's dubious opening goal of the 1st period would set the stage for the Leafs second act of defiance. Just 7 seconds after the goal - a bench minor for abuse of officials at 10:35, assessed during a TV timeout, presumably for over-zealous chirping about the missed goaltender-interference call on Marchant. Could have been quite costly if the Ducks had scored to go up 2-0, but the Leafs continued their defiance with a gutsy and determined penalty kill.

In fact, before the penalty-time had even expired, the Leafs third significant act of defiance occurred. A minute and a half into the Ducks' powerplay, Beauchemin drew a slash from Bobby Ryan, and then, after standing his ground against his former teammate, drew the attention of Corey Perry. Within seconds, the game's hat-trick hero Hagman, along with Stajan, became involved as gloves and sticks fell to the ice. When it was all sorted out, Hagman had the lone Leaf penalty for roughing, while Ryan's initial slashing minor was accompanied by a double-roughing minor to Perry for separate mix-ups with Beauchemin and then Hagman.

Three minutes, forty-two seconds and 2 quick powerplay goals later, the Leafs were in the lead.

In the 2nd period, there was a similar moment, with similar execution. With the Leafs already on the powerplay, Stempniak takes a terrific run at Anahiem's crease-crashng-culprit, Marchant, absolutely ninja-popping him into the boards. As Niedemayer reacts and comes in to engage Stempniak after the hit, our favourite Weeble-Wobbler, Rowdy Grabbo intercepts and jumps on the old warrior's back. Grabovski, who'd scored the Leafs first goal, loses his helmet in the scrum, yet Niedemayer is the one assessed the only penalty for roughing and the Leafs go to their 2nd 5-on-3 advantage. Once again, Hagman makes them pay.
A great save. A bench penalty. An aggressive penalty kill. A dangerous powerplay. Team courage and toughness.

Defiance. Truculence. Victory.

And 2 points.

Writing's On The Wall

"When you believe in things that you don't understand,
then you suffer..."

I believe in the Leafs. I don't understand why, especially when they're this bad. And then, yes, I suffer, especially when they're this bad. But it doesn't stop me from believing that my believing and suffering will somehow help. Of course, it doesn't actually help, but I still act like it does. I guess you could say I'm a little bit - superstitious.

Can you make out this image? It's kinda grainy, dark, and fuzzy, and it sorta reminds me of photos of the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot, or flying saucers. It's kinda fitting that it should be such poor quality because it represents the (sketchy at) best evidence that I've been able to acquire that proves that the Leafs are indeed CURSED.
Is this any better? Not really, now it's just a bigger blur. This image was taken from a still-frame of an obscure video on youtube, laser printed onto hard-copy white paper, digitally photographed using sub-standard Fido technology, then e-mailed across cyberspace, downloaded to a secure hard-drive and then uploaded to this blog page. You might question the wisdom of these methods, but please consider that many Bothans died to bring us this information, so a little respect, okay. We're dealing with the Paranormal here.

This will give you the best look of all at what I'm talkin' about. Pause the video at the 24 second mark and then again at the 25 second mark. Go ahead, I'll wait... What you're looking at is the NY Rangers third goal on Saturday, putting them ahead 3-0, effectively taking the Leafs out of the game. This is the goal that bothers me more then any other this season because for the life of me, I cannot figure out how this one goes in the net.

The two Leaf players in front of the Rangers' shooter are Beauchemin and Stempniak. They're doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing - lining up to block the shot. Their positioning is excellent. In fact, from my point of view, it's perfect. They've played it beautifully. And then... THE PUCK GOES THROUGH THE GOALTENDER'S LEGS!

I don't see how that's possible. I don't see a path along the ice to the net that would allow the puck to reach MacDonald without hitting Beachemin or Stempniak. There just isn't one. I've watched the video again and again - and again, and again. I even watched the referee to make sure he didn't throw a decoy puck into the back of the net. I just don't understand how it went in. And yet...

The goal was scored by Michael Del Zotto, an Ontario-born teenaged-rookie, playing his first game in Toronto, in front of 70 family members and friends. That's how it happened - that's EXACTLY how it happened!! There's your explanation. It was, as it always is, destiny.

Watch the video again - the puck actually loses material substance and form, right before your eyes, and DISAPPEARS, only to REAPPEAR on the other side of Beauchemin and Stempniak, directly below MacDonald's open legs and then into the back of the net. It didn't go through their sticks and skates - it wasn't even there! Spooky shit. Some goalies would like to have that one back, but you can't control fate and you can't fault a goaltender when there's nothing any mortal could possibly do. It works the same way for returning players in their first trip back to the ACC - did you see Tucker's goal against the Leafs last Tuesday? After he scores, he tilts his head back and looks up at the ACC ceiling with reverent appreciation. Tucker knows the score...

This is pretty serious, folks. I don't want to downplay this at all. The Leafs have an infinite amount of bad luck. It truly is a Curse. It's magical - Black Magic of the evilest kind - and it's more powerful then the... what? Watch another video? Seems highly unusual, but I suppose...

What the heck was that? Was that Ian White saving a goal? But the shooter was Colorado's Matt Duchene, another Ontario-born rookie playing his first game in Toronto, and that would have been his first NHL goal! And Ian White stopped it...!

Oh. My. God.

It's the 'stache! That freakin' mustache has the power to defy destiny! White didn't even have a grip on an NHL career until that 'stache came along. What wonders! It's a miracle. A MIRACLE, I tell you. Hey, wait a minute - what happens immediately after the Del Zotto goal? Oh... my... Less then 30 seconds later, Ian White scores a goal, the only Leaf goal of the game. Well, I don't need any further proof. I know the answer. I believe in the Mustachulence!

Good Golly! That hockey puck threw itself at Ian White's face after he scored that goal! Behold, the power of The Curse, and yet, behold, the power of the 'stache is greater! White went down but he got back up. The Curse went for a knock-out blow against its greatest challenger but the 'stache wouldn't stay down.

Again, I don't want to understate the importance of these cosmic events. This is an epic battle being waged to regain spiritual control of Leaf Nation's karma and fortune. I suggest that EVERYONE should start growing a mustache today - even the women and children. If you can't grow at least a half-decent mustache by Saturday night, then wear a fake one. We need everybody on the same page and pulling together in the same direction. Together, we can break this awful Curse - with mustaches!

Defeat The Curse.Grow Your 'Stache.