Blue And White Beat: Upgraded Leafs still not yet playoff contenders

Upgraded Leafs still not yet playoff contenders

Ever since Brian Burke’s eyebrow-raising acquisitions of wingers Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong earlier this month, members of Leaf Nation have gained a renewed sense of optimism with regards to the reversal of the team’s fortunes.

Predictably there has been a scattering of bloggers and writers in long-standing publications that have taken the extreme view of proposing that the team has already upgraded to the extent that it can end its five-year long playoff drought.

This space suggests otherwise.

Credit is due Burke for obtaining three reasonably-priced players in Versteeg, Armstrong and also former Stanley Cup-winning defenceman Brett Lebda this off-season.

Also, the cheerleaders favouring the blue and white are correct to point out that a solidified blueline, bolstered by the return of a healthy Komisarek and the addition of Lebda, should result in a decrease in goals-against. Having Vesa Toskala well – playing elsewhere – certainly doesn’t hurt either.

Be that as it may, this author continues to see the beer mug as half-empty, for now.

Versteeg and Armstrong, both 20-goal scorers, will no doubt inject grit into the lineup as shutdown men. Yet neither player addresses the Leafs gaping need at the centre position. A strong pivot is still needed to maximize Phil Kessel’s scoring prowess, and with respect to Mikhail Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, John Mitchell, none of those players get top billing down the middle.

It’s difficult to identify the source of the Leafs’ firepower, beyond Kessel. Both Bozak and Nikolai Kulemin showed sparks of brilliance during the past season, but expecting top-line production over a course of an 82-game schedule is unrealistic for either player, at this point in their careers.

‘So what?’ you ask. The Bruins (206 goals) and the Habs (217 goals) made the playoffs last year, within the range of the Leafs firepower (214 goals); shouldn’t a steadier defence corps, plus a tandem of Jonas Gustavsson and J.S. Giguere in net bring the goals-against down to a level comparable with either Eastern Conference Original Six club from 2009-10?

Statistically, it’s admittedly possible.

However the number-crunching doesn’t always tell the entire story.

And the skepticism from this column is rooted in a cynicism over the team’s ability to compete over the entire grind of a six-month schedule.

Specifically, there is no reason to believe that the team’s propensity for falling behind in the standings early in the season will be absent when the puck drops on the season this fall.

If the season goes as this author predicts, come January the Leafs will be on the wrong end of a logjam of teams scratching and clawing for the last playoff spot. By the time March rolls around, any realistic chance of qualifying for the post-season will be eliminated. This realization will serve as a catalyst for the squad playing more carefree, with all the pressure off, and frankly, above their heads. The scenario has played itself out ever since the lockout (a collective result of 16 games over .500 in March and April).

In this author’s opinion, the team does not yet have the talent or fortitude to buck that trend.

Perhaps a trade of Tomas Kaberle for a top-line centre will prove me wrong.

Perhaps Dion Phaneuf’s intangibles will prove to be the missing ingredient, and his leadership presence will perpetuate throughout the team from Game One, just enough to shake the Leafs’ doldrums.

Or perhaps, like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, we’ll see the same script played out, over and over, for at least another year.

Yes, the Leafs have improved. Whether they have improved enough to leapfrog over seven teams remains in doubt.

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Speaking of Versteeg, he and Armstrong made their public debuts as Leafs this past week, in support of what has become the annual Coca-Cola Fans First Game as the club has once again made their first pre-season game available free of charge to lucky members of the public.

Regardless of whether Toronto actually makes the playoffs, it should be unanimous opinion that the team will not end its long-standing Stanley Cup drought. The silver lining to that projected result is that Nathan Philips Square will not play host to a victory party that will see the likes of the ‘Versteeg rap’, as played out in Chicago in June.

In Versteeg’s defence, he is certainly not the first player to reinforce that hockey should be his first vocation, while music should be – how about, somewhere below ‘mail clerk’ on the list of career choices? Take a peek at Mike Krushelnyski, Glenn Anderson, et al.

And let’s not forget the musical exploits of Leafs legend and Hall of Famer Johnny Bower.

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Props go out to a few good friends of TMLfans.ca, Kevin Shea, Hersh Borenstein and Paul Bruno, who have each become involved with “Road Hockey To Conquer Cancer”, an event that will benefit the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. The event is earmarked as a full day of festivities to take place at Ontario Place on Saturday, October 1, 2011.

Please visit http://www.teamuptoconquercancer.ca/ for more information on putting a team together and supporting a good cause. A special call-out goes to TMLfans.ca message board members – anyone up for some hockey? If so, get in touch with me.

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