Mikhail "Difference Maker" Grabovski

Thought maybe the next one was going to be Kessel, didn't ya? Well, so did I, at the time, when I decided this would be a series. But then I read something insightful and it got me thinking a little...

"did anyone expect the Leafs to miss Grabbo that much? Since his return they are on a tear. Love that crazy bastard."

-JaredOfLondon, Die Hard Blue And White.

Totally agree. It made me realize that Grabbo's presence is really necessary as a secondary scoring threat, and without him, it's too easy for the opposition to focus their defensive muscle on Kessel. While Grabbo hasn't razzled and dazzled quite like he did last year, he's still an effective forechecker who messes with the opposition's heads, and screws with their rhythm and focus, altering the intensity of the game in the Leafs favor.

Then this happened...
That's pretty cool. But here's the real reason Grabbo is this edition's Difference Maker - did you realize that when Grabovski is in the line up for the Leafs, they are a BETTER THEN .500 TEAM? That was the goal, scored by Grabbo himself, that brought them up to the .500 plateau.

Tonight, Grabovski assisted on John Mitchell's 2nd period goal to cue the comeback, and then assisted on Kulemin's 2nd overtime winner of the month, to give the Leafs a 3-2 victory, thus pushing them one win over .500 when Grabbo laces up the skates this season. Grabovski was on the ice, as was Kaberle, for all 3 goals and both finished +3.

The Leafs record this season now stands at 28-35-12. When Grabovski got injured in the first period of the first game of the new year, a January 2nd 3-1 loss to Calgary, the Leafs record, that game included, was 14-19-9. From January 5th to March 7th, the Leafs record in Grabbo's absence was a brutal 6-14-3. Since returning to the line up on March 9th, the Leafs have been on a definitive roll, going 8-2-0.

14-19-9 + 8-2-0 = 22-21-9

or

28-35-12 - 6-14-3 = 22-21-9

Equals BETER THEN .500!

I'm not trying to say that Grabbo alone makes the Leafs awesome, but he makes them at least not horrible. Otherwise, they are. But when Grabovski's in the line-up, the Leafs are competitive, with a better then equal chance of picking up a point. Still not quite good enough to be playoff bound, but .500 is a lot closer then where we are now.

If the Leafs were in fact a .500 team, we would be ahead of Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Columbus, and the Islanders.

Post Game Notes...

MONSTER MARCH! Gustavsson is 7-0-0 for the month, sporting a super-nifty .929 SV% and a 1.93 GAA during this amazing streak.

Kulemin's overtime heroics continue with last night's game winner. That's now 2 overtime goals this month to go along with 3 goals scored in the shoot-out as well. Meanwhile the Leafs now have 7 straight victories in extra-time, all in the last 4 weeks, as their once woeful OT record suddenly begins to balance out.

Nikolai "Difference Maker" Kulemin

A couple of mornings ago I awoke to discover more then 200 new comments scattered throughout my blog, all of them from a Chinese porn robot. So, while doing some house cleaning and deleting them all one by one, I stumbled upon a post I'd written a year and a half ago which I thought was worth revisiting.

Time will tell, I guess, but if he continues to hit the back of the net with regularity during the shoot-out, or actually during the "game" part of the game, then he might be making a huge difference after all - the difference between winning and losing. As a Leaf fan, that's all the difference in the world.

Hey, wow! Look at that, I've got a theme going. Maybe I'll make it a series. Did you know that Kulemin was my favourite NHL player after just his 3rd NHL game? Ya, me neither, but that's what I wrote. There's also a funny joke in that post about how I thought Jari Kurri was my father. Some day I'll do a post about that. But today's post is about Nikolai Kulemin, my new favourite NHL player again, not counting Kaberle.

"He's probably our most complete player now. He's everything you want in a hockey player."

Wilson's assessment mirrors my own in this situation, a rare occurrence lately. One of the few real reasons for joy this season has been the pleasure of watching Kulemin's game blossom and bloom. While, at the time, I really wondered about the coach's decision to sit Kulemin as a healthy scratch through 4 of the first 8 games, it's clear now that one of Wilson's few significant achievements this season is the management and development of Kulemin's skills, from a raw sophomore talent, to the potent, confident, first line player he is today.

"He was crawling, then walking, now he's running."

Pretty soon he'll want to borrow the car.

Well, since the loss in our last game against Florida was kind of a downer and it's much more fun feeling hopeful and optimistic, let's all enjoy a video tribute of a Maple Leaf that I hope will be with the team for many years to come.

First up; Nikolai Kulemin's first NHL goal. The first player to score a goal while making his NHL debut in a season-opener against the defending Stanley Cup champs since Eric Lindros in 1992. For whatever that's worth.
Next; his 2nd-ever NHL goal, a beauty back-hander against St. Louis.
Here's a great goal from earlier this season, January 12, during a 4-2 loss against Carolina, a second period goal assisted by Bozak and Kessel.
The very next game, January 14th, another 2nd period goal, again assisted by Kessel. The Leafs take this game 4-0, and it's at about this time perhaps that a Maple Leafs puzzle begins to take shape without a Stajan, or a Hagman, a Poni, or Stempniak.
Another goal against the Flyers in January, this one 8 days earlier on the 6th, a 3rd period goal during a 6-2 defeat that began a 4-game losing streak that would end the next time the Leafs played Philadelphia. Check out how much Kulemin resembles Kessel on this play:
In this month alone, Kuelmin has scored 3 times in the shoot-out; March 6th, a 2-1 win against Ottawa, on the 18th, a 2-1 win over New Jersey, and the next game, March the 20th, a 3-2 win over Montreal. Here's a sample, from last season, of what Kulemin can do as an extra-point sniper:
He's also scored an overtime goal this month, Toronto's long-awaited first overtime goal of the year, giving the Leafs a 4-3 victory over Boston on the 9th. This was followed up the very next game, March 11th, with Phil Kessel scoring in OT to give the Leafs a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay for their second consecutive overtime win. In all, that's 2 overtimes and 3 shoot outs - 5 extra points, 5 wins and not losses, that Kulemin and his linemates have captured for the Leafs, just this month.
So cheers to Nikolai Kulemin, who's making a huge difference to my enjoyment of the second half of this Titanic-like season. The last video, despite misspelling "diffrence" is actually pretty good with the music. They should make another updated version with all of his shoot-out and overtime and highlight reel goals with the same music. Or somebody else should. Or maybe I should learn how to do it and do it myself.

Dion "Difference Maker" Phaneuf

Since February 1st and the arrival of Dion Phaneuf - and the departure of Stajan, White, Hagman, Mayers, Blake, and Toskala - the Leafs have been clearly a different team. We've seen a few let-down games, but overall, the new, younger Leafs look energized, hard-working, and hungry.

Phaneuf has now played 15 games for the Blue and White. The Leafs record in that time, thanks to 5 wins in their last 6 games, including Thursday's shoot-out victory over the Devils, is 8-6-1, 17 points in 15 games, a .566 winning percentage. On pace for 92.9 points over an 82 game schedule. That's fairly promising considering this is only the beginning.

Phaneuf might not be having the offensive impact that people imagined - yet to hit the back of the net after 45 shots, with just 4 assists - but other newcomers are filling in the scoring gap created by the Jan-31st-Overhaul. Sjostrom has 2 assists after 8 games, Lundmark has 3 points after 10, and Caputi has 5 points already in just 9 games as a Leaf. The team's 40 goals-for in the last 15 games (2.66) is exactly in line with what it was for the first 56 games of the season (146) at 2.6 per game. The bigger difference is in the goals-against, which has gone down from 3.3 (185) in the first 56 games before Phaneuf, to 2.6 (39 goals) allowed in 15 games after.

For the month of March, Gustavsson is 4-0, with a .920 SV% and 2.16 Goals-Against. Kulemin has 9 points in the last 10 games. Grabovski returned to the line-up with a 5-game point streak and is a +3.

Kessel has 17 points in 15 games since Phaneuf came aboard. Bozak has 13 points in the last 15 games. Gunnarsson is a +9 over that same period, and Luke Schenn has scored 7 points and is a +3. Even Jeff Finger is a +3 in 7 appearances since Dion came to town.

About the only player who hasn't benefited from the turnover is Kaberle, with just 4 points and a -6 since Phaneuf's arrival. A combination of fatigue, unfamiliarity, fewer opportunities with less ice-time, and a little bit of bad luck, has seen Kabby's once consistent point-production fall off the side of a cliff.

"It's not just about the points, it's about the two points at the end of the night."

-Kaberle, March 14th

I like that quote. As long as WE get the two points, that is. Doesn't help much if they get the two points.

However, a player's lack of on-ice production can be counter-balanced positively - by the way the player perseveres, by the encouragement that they give their teammates, and by the enthusiasm they bring to their next assignment or opportunity. Even if their names don't appear on the scoresheet, we know who they are - we call these players difference-makers.

And now some Leafs Trivia to end this post with: Name the only 3 Maple Leafs who have appeared in all 71 games thus far this season... The answer: Tomas Kaberle, Francois Beauchemin, and... did you know it? - Colton Orr. That's right. Orr has skated on the ice for every game and has yet to lose his spot in the line-up or miss any action due to injury. Having recently surpassed 200 penalty minutes, I'd have to say that he's doing his job, and doing it well. Definitely want him back next year. Nice job, Cowboy Colt.