Blue And White Beat: Don’t expect miracles from youngsters
“I wouldn’t understand the point of making changes or calling people up from the minors who aren’t playing very well down there. So we’re going to be patient and not circumvent the process.” – Ron Wilson, Nov. 2, 2010
What a difference ten days can make.
Granted, it’s not fair to place the Leafs apparent about-face in recalling Nazem Kadri from the Marlies yesterday squarely on the bench boss.
Certainly the decision to bring up the one-time London junior superstar was not his, although his input would have been a contributing factor.
Wilson made those comments following the Leafs defeat to Ottawa in their eleventh game of the year. At the time Toronto’s record was 5-5-1 in what translates to a .500 mark in the NHL’s era of extra-point overtime losses.
Since that contest, during which captain Dion Phaneuf went down with a leg injury, the Leafs have lost four straight to extend their string of defeats to an unlucky seven games, missing chances to pick up points against subpar teams like Buffalo and Florida.
The promotion of Kadri and defenceman Keith Aulie goes against the hard-line stance of patience that Wilson and general manager Brian Burke have been preaching since training camp.
“I think in an ideal world if we’d of won a couple of games he’d be down longer, but this isn’t an ideal world,” said Burke yesterday after the two youngsters skated for their first regular-season Leafs practice.
Starting with this evening’s matchup against Vancouver, Kadri and Aulie will now be examined with the microscopic diligence usually reserved for scientists employed by the World Health Organization.
The Leafs may break out of their losing streak tonight. Or next week against Nashville or New Jersey.
But when they do, the betting is that the bleeding will stop in spite of Kadri and Aulie being on the roster, and not because of it.
Full credit goes to Kadri for emerging as the Marlies top-point getter, registering 14 points in as many games in the AHL so far. However his penchant for turnovers makes him a perfect fit for the Leafs current style of play; unfortunately that quality won’t translate into more victories for the club.
Aulie will be used as a spare part in the sixth defenceman role tonight. “I just want to play simple. We’ll monitor his ice time. I imagine he’ll get 12-15 minutes,” said Wilson.
In the best-case scenario, Aulie may be a surprise gem of a find, taking advantage of a roster spot available due to injury (Phaneuf), much like Carl Gunnarsson grabbed a bit of the limelight last year with Mike Komisarek out. Gunnarsson has since caught the sophomore flu, but that’s another matter.
However when Phaneuf returns, it’s highly doubtful that Aulie will be in any position to play more than nine NHL games, at the risk of the Leafs burning the first year of his contract.
NOTES: The much-publicized photo of Kadri that was on prominent display on the south end of the wall of the media room at Air Canada Centre was replaced, as of this morning. During the Marlies home opener in a 4-2 loss to Rochester, Aulie came to Kadri’s defence after the forward was kneed by Americans winger Eric Selleck. “You don’t like to see that, especially with one of our young guys coming up, and feeling out the league,” said Aulie after the October 9 game. “You want to protect him. We’d expect that out of anyone in this room, that’s what a team does for each other.” Aulie and Selleck were assessed five minute fighting majors, with Selleck taking an extra minor for kneeing.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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