Blue And White Beat: In the middle of figuring out the Leafs

Blue And White Beat: In the middle of figuring out the Leafs

In a breakup or divorce, there are usually three sides to the story; what he said, what she said, then – somewhere in the middle – there is the truth.

The same analogy can be used to describe the Maple Leafs after three games into the 2010-11 campaign. With their playoff drought having surpassed six years, and thus the length of many marriages, the team is continuously scrutinized by observers on all ends of the spectrum.

There are the overly-optimistic fans who are ready to proclaim Toronto as playoff contenders. Typically, they list “blue and white” as their blood type on medical questionnaires, and serve as the inspiration for the “plan the parade” jokes that are justifiably thrust upon Ontario’s capital.

Then there are the eternal pessimists who count down the seconds to the team’s collapse, often with the precision of the nuclear Doomsday Clock. With their voices hoarse from berating the trade for Phil Kessel on radio call-in shows, they fail to shed any positive light on any fraction of the Leafs’ success.

Any rational observer will conclude that, based on the play of Ron Wilson’s squad in the opening week of the NHL’s 93rd season, the truth is in the middle.

The rejuvenated Leafs team bolstered by the additions of Kris Versteeg, Clarke MacArthur and Colby Armstrong certainly looks quicker, more confident, and more attentive to detail than the team that took 15 games last year to win their third game. The goaltending tandem of J.S. Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson already appears to have exorcised the ghost of Vesa Toskala while Toronto’s penalty-killing, a disaster last year, has been stellar.

At the same time, fans should be cautious about flooding the Air Canada Centre switchboard with playoff ticket inquiries, for the time being. This is still a young team whose fragility can be exposed easily, as was evident in Wednesday’s victory in Pittsburgh when Phil Kessel was glued to the bench for ineffectiveness, particularly after a glaring turnover. The power-play has been mediocre, connecting just twice in 13 opportunities with one of those markers coming on a two-man advantage.

And while a win over Sidney Crosby’s team is welcome for Leafs supporters, Toronto’s famine of 16 minutes, 51 seconds without a shot on goal over two periods can’t be ignored.

In nine periods of hockey, the play that best illustrates the best and worst of the Leafs occurred on opening night in Toronto against the Canadiens. With Montreal desperately trying to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation time, defenceman Francois Beauchemin easily picked off a centering pass in the middle of the ice, but then botched what should have been an easy clearing play out of the Toronto end.

Fortunately, Giguere was spectacular in helping the Leafs cling to a one-goal win over a Habs team that was missing Michael Cammalleri and Andrei Markov.

If the Leafs are indeed a team that deserves to be in the playoffs – a defenceman like Beauchemin easily clears the zone.

If the Leafs are a merely a clone of the edition that wallowed in 29th place last year – an error like Beauchemin’s gaffe leads to collective panic, and Toronto finds a way to give up the tying goal in the dying seconds of regulation, perhaps even leading to an eventual overtime or shootout loss.

Somewhere between those two extremes is the team’s expected level of play this season. The probability is high that fans of the Blue and White will witness many close finishes over the next 79 games.

Exactly how many of them will turn out in the Leafs favour is still yet to be determined.

However if the first three games of the year are any indication, watching the events unfold will be entertaining.

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At Ricoh Coliseum, the Toronto Marlies dropped their first two games of the AHL season. On opening day Thanksgiving Saturday, 3,488 fans turned out to see the team fall 4-2 to the Rochester Americans. Long time NHL veteran Michael Nylander, on loan to Florida’s farm team, scored the prettiest goal of the afternoon on a breakway. Alex Foster and Simon Gysbers had the Toronto goals.

On holiday Monday, the Marlies got all their scoring from the blueline with Mike Brennan and Matt Lashoff finding the net in a 3-2 loss to the Abbotsford Flames.

As was the case during Leafs training camp, the buzz about the team was regarding 2009 first-round draft pick Nazem Kadri. The barrage of questions reserved for Ron Wilson during the month of September now generally shifts in the direction of Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins, who benched Kadri for a considerable stretch of play in the second period of the home opener.

“You turnover pucks like that in junior and I’m sure they put you back out there, but you get two chances with me and then you’re going to sit down,” said Eakins. “(Kadri) decided he wanted to keep turning it over and I decided I wasn’t going to watch it anymore.”

Kadri seemed to understand that he is no longer a London Knights superstar. “It’s all accountability, I’ve got to own up to it,” said Kadri, who turned 20 last week. “It’s not gonna happen again, I’ll tell you that much.”

Should Kadri find his way to the Leafs lineup this year, his tenure with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will have paralleled the big club’s current centreman on the top line. Tyler Bozak toiled for the Marlies for 32 games last season before earning a full-time job with the parent club. During his minor league career, Bozak enjoyed a glimpse of NHL experience in a one-game call-up against Colorado on October 13.

Kadri, who was a one-game call-up last year in February, is in a position to benefit from Bozak’s counsel.

“The little period after you’re sent down, you’re frustrated and upset,” said Bozak. “But once you get back out on the ice, you stop thinking about it at practice. When you start playing games, you just work that much harder to get back up.

I’ve talked to Nazem, he’s handling it really well. There’s lot of media coverage on him, a lot of pressure. I’ve felt for him for sure. It’s tough to come in when he’s such a young kid and they expect the world of him.”

Kadri and the Marlies’ next chance at redemption is slated for Saturday afternoon when the team travels to Hamilton.

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca, covering the Leafs and Marlies.

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