Blue And White Beat: Burke talks about not-so special teams.
The refrain is familiar.
The puzzle is still unsolved.
The Leafs special teams are awful, and there’s no quick fix.
“Special teams was our Achilles heel this year,” said Toronto president and general manager Brian Burke before a mass of reporters gathered at Air Canada Centre for his end-of-season address. “The reason we’re not in the playoffs was our special teams. It’s not an overstatement, and it’s a legitimate concern.”
After finishing in the cellar in both the power-play and penalty-kill a year ago, the Leafs showed only marginal improvement in 2010-11, ending up 22nd and 28th respectively.
Toronto captured the attention of the hockey world by compiling a powerful 18-9-6 record from February 1 and onward. “I think we played two seasons this year,” said Burke “I think we played a dreadful first half, and had a really strong second half. From the All-Star break on, we were fourth in the East.”
Yet interestingly over their dominant stretch, neither facet of special teams showed any variation in terms of percentages. After the All-Star Break the team’s power-play clicked at just 13.1%, while their penalty-kill was an inefficient 76.9%. Not only are both figures lower than the ratios from October to January (17.5% and 77.8% respectively), but – if projected over a full 82-game schedule – the ratings would be second-last in the NHL in both categories.
Yet Burke was loath to place the special teams tribulations solely on the man behind the bench, Ron Wilson. “I think it’s easy too easy to blame special teams on the coaches,” said Burke.
“When you have deficiencies on special teams, the first and easiest answer is to blame the coach, rather than blame the players for not executing the plan, or maybe we don’t have the right mix.”
Burke is on the mark by saying that holding the coach completely accountable is easy. However, Wilson’s record makes him an easy target.
When the Leafs coach guided both the power-play and penalty-kill to the worst ratings in the entire league in 2009-10, he matched the benchmark of inefficiency that was set in the lockout-shortened season of 1994-95 when Wilson’s Anaheim Mighty Ducks reached the same depths.
It was Wilson who continued to use a four-forward power-play unit, with either Kris Versteeg (since traded) or Tim Brent on the point. Neither forward was effective in that role.
However, the players also must be held responsible for their missed assignments. How many shots attempted on the power-play actually hit the net? How many key faceoffs were lost on the penalty-kill? How did the Leafs blueline combine for just 4 power-play goals on the season when twenty-five defenceman in the NHL had five power-play markers or more, individually?
Most glaringly, how many times did Leafs fans throw projectiles at their plasma televisions when the best scoring chances on Toronto’s power-plays belonged to the opposition? Rookie phenom goalie James Reimer certainly held his own on breakaway chances against Boston’s Tyler Seguin and Minnesota’s John Madden in recent games. But as Air Canada Centre fans witnessed on Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec’s shorthanded goal last Saturday, not even Reimer can stop them all.
“We may have to acquire a player – either via trade or via free agency – that can improve us in these areas,” said Burke. When asked about obtaining a power-play ‘quarterback’, Burke said simply “That might be a positional need that we need to address.”
The trade of Tomas Kaberle appears to be a non-factor in Toronto’s power-play efficiency, considering that Boston’s extra-man unit continues to falter. In fact, since Kaberle’s trade, all three of Dion Phaneuf’s power-play goals were scored after the Leafs captain became more comfortable in an offensive role. If Phaneuf maintains that same comfort level next season, there is reason for optimism.
As for the penalty-kill, if the cliché holds true that the goaltender is the best man in this unit, then the future looks promising with Reimer.
“We are confident that James Reimer can handle not only the physical workload, but the pressure-cooker workload of being a starting goaltender in a Canadian market,” said Burke of the netminder who all but single-handedly put Toronto in brief contention for a playoff spot.
Phaneuf and Reimer are the building blocks around which to upgrade Toronto’s special teams.
But make no mistake; an upgrade is definitely long overdue.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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