TMLfans.ca Marlies Report – April 24

By Rob Del Mundo

The Toronto Marlies season came to a merciful end on Sunday, April 11 with a 5-2 defeat to the Abbotsford Heat. The team finished two games under .500 on the season with a record of 33-35-6-6, good for only fifth place in the North Division and nine points back of the Manitoba Moose for a playoff spot. Toronto missed the post-season for the first time in three years.

Head coach Dallas Eakins, in his first year behind the Mariles bench, certainly can’t be faulted for the team’s subpar finish. All season long, the squad was plagued with injuries to key players such as Alex Foster (only 30 games played all season) and Darryl Boyce (20 GP, none since December 30). Two of the team’s leading point producers in Viktor Stalberg and Christian Hanson spent only half the year in the AHL while spending the rest of their time with the Maple Leafs.

Not even Keith Aulie, the 20-year old defenceman that the Leafs acquired as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade, could escape the injury bug. In a game on February 12 against Manitoba, Aulie suffered a season-ending shoulder separation on an icing play against the Moose’s Michael Grabner.

“The season was pretty frustrating, with a lot of unfortunate injuries and a lot adversity that happened over the course of the year. We never really had our team together a whole lot,” reflected Tim Brent, who wound up with both goals in the season finale played before 5,514 fans at Ricoh Coliseum.

“I don’t think we ever shut it down at any point in the year, so that’s something that we can be proud of, but it’s disappointing to miss the playoffs,” added forward Jay Rosehill.

Nevertheles the blueprint is already being drafted for next season, starting in goal. Yesterday the Leafs officially announced the signing of 22-year goaltender Jussi Rynnas to a two-year contract. The 6’5” netminder, who had the top save percentage (.929) during the 2009-10 season while playing for Assat in Finland, is expected to share goaltending duties with James Reimer.

“We are pleased that Jussi decided to sign with us, and we know that his level of play will be enhanced by working closely with our goaltending instructor Francois Allaire,” said Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke in a statement.

Quick Hits:
• The Marlies finished fifth in the North Division with a record of of 33-35-6-6 (80 points).
• The top scorers were Andre Deveaux (16 goals, 25 assists, 41 points), Viktor Stalberg (12-21-33), Greg Scott (10-22-32), and Christian Hanson (12-19-31).

Quick Quotes:
• Brent also suited up for the Leafs in Toronto’s last regular season game versus the Montreal Canadiens. “It was pretty special. The Bell Centre in Montreal is quite the atmosphere. It was exciting for me to get a taste of the NHL. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”
• Rosehill on Eakins: “He did a pretty good as a first year coach. He knows a lot about the game. There were times when you thought he might lose it, but he always seemed to do something that you might not expect, and it would always seemed to be the best for the team. I think he’s made for coaching and he had a great first year as far as I’m concerned.”
• Reimer was named the winner of the Fans’ Choice Award for 2009-10. “He had a really good winning record,” said his teammate Ryan Hamilton. “Every time he’s in the net he gives us a chance to win. He’s a young kid and he’s got a lot of upside. I’m expecting nothing but some good things ahead for him.”

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of the TMLfans.ca Marlies Report, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

TMLfans.ca Marlies Report – March 28

By Rob Del Mundo

With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Marlies are in tough to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in 3 years. After back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday – to Syracuse and Rochester respectively – Toronto failed to gain ground on the Manitoba Moose, who remain five points ahead of the Marlies for fourth place in the North Division. The Moose, who eliminated Toronto in the first round last year, also have a game in hand.

The setback of the past 48 hours has slowed a wave of momentum for head coach Dallas Eakins’ club, who had won five straight games prior to this weekend. Eight days ago against Hamilton, Joey MacDonald stopped all four shooters in a shootout against the Bulldogs as Toronto edged their QEW rivals 2-1.

The following day, 6,756 fans were in attendance at Ricoh Coliseum to watch the team steal two points from the Abbotsford Flames in a game that was broadcast nationwide on CBC. Ryan Hamilton scored with 48 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. For an encore, the Whitby native connected on a shorthanded breakaway to give his team a 2-1 win. “We grew up watching Hockey Night In Canada, so it’s a pretty neat day,” reflected Hamilton following the game. “I’m from the GTA area so I knew I had a lot of family and friends watching. It was a really neat experience.”

Eakins was more than pleased with the effort of his left winger, who had played in only 37 of the team’s games to that point. “He’s had a tough season. He started off really well, he was injured for quite a long time and has really come back up to speed. He’s such a big kid and dedicated, and you can only cheer for him.”

The Marlies used five different scorers in a 5-2 victory over Binghamton on Wednesday, for a fifth straight win.

Toronto will be looking to avenge yesterday’s loss to the Americans as they travel to Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the second game of the home-and-home series. Ultimately the team’s post-season fate will be decided on Easter weekend. After a matchup on Thursday, April 1 in Copps Coliseum against the Western Conference leading Bulldogs, the Marlies host the Moose for back-to-back games on Good Friday and Easter Saturday.

Quick Hits:
• The Marlies are sixth in the North Division with a record of 30-32-6-5 (71 points),
• The top scorers are Andre Deveaux (14 goals, 23 assists, 37 points), Viktor Stalberg (12-21-33) and Christian Hanson (12-19-31). Greg Scott (29 points) and Kyle Calder (28 points) round out the top five.
• Of the players currently in the Leafs lineups, Luca Caputi, Hanson, and Stalberg are listed on the team’s clear day roster, which determines eligibility for the Calder Cup playoffs.

Quick Quotes:
• Eakins assessed the play of new acquisitions Simon Gysbers (signed to Amateur Try-Out on March 10) and Jesse Blacker (Owen Sound, OHL, signed with Leafs on March 20). “Simon is very calm with the puck, and I think his thought process is a little deeper, whereas Jesse is full of energy. They’ve both come in and played very well. They’re physical and they’re taking the necessary steps. It’s going to be baby steps going forward, but they’ve both had really good starts.”
• “We’re just all coming together here. We know that the only thing that we can control is us winning games, and we’ll see what happens.” Hamilton, on the team’s push for a playoff berth.

Next four games:
• Sun. Mar. 28 at Rochester, 3:00pm
• Thu. Apr. 1 at Hamilton, 7:30pm
• Fri. Apr. 2 vs. Manitoba, 7:00pm
• Sat. Apr. 3 vs. Manitoba, 4:00pm

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Rob Del Mundo is the author of the TMLfans.ca Marlies Report, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

TMLfans.ca Marlies Report – Monday, February 9

By Rob Del Mundo

The Marlies are in the middle of an 11-game home stand in which they have taken three of the first 5 games. Coming off their two-week journey to the U.S. Midwest – during which the Exhibition grounds were booked for the Toronto Boat Show – the team halted a five-game losing streak on January 24 defeating the Chicago Wolves. The game marked the Marlies debut for Ryan Hamilton, who had been obtained from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild in exchange for Robbie Earl. “I knew I was going to be full of adrenaline, “ said the 23-year-old Oshawa native following Toronto’s 3-1 victory “It’s definitely exciting to be playing at home, it’s kind of like my hometown where I have friends and family. It was a lot of fun.”

Two days later, defenceman Jamie Sifers represented Toronto at the AHL All-Star Classic in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sifers suited up for the Planet USA All-Stars, who outlasted the Canadian All-Stars by a score of 14-11 in an offensive barrage.

The following week, Toronto set a club record by winning its seventh consecutive game on home ice, handling the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-2. Forward Tim Stapleton scored twice, and had an opportunity for a hat trick late in the game when Bates Battaglia set him up in the opposing zone with Hamilton’s goalie on the bench for an extra attacker. To Stapleton’s chagrin, and the good-natured ribbing of his teammates, he missed the open net. The Marlies’ winning streak at Ricoh was halted by the Rockford IceHogs the next day, in a 6-3 defeat. Stapleton, who finished the weekend with three goals in two games, was named the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending February 2.

Goaltender Justin Pogge played the first three games of the home stretch, while Adam Munro got the nod in the Marlies’ 43-shot effort on Sat. Feb. 7 as the visiting Syracuse Crunch skated away with a 4-1 victory.

Sunday’s game marked a milestone for the Marlies, as they set a club record for most goals in a game in a 10-5 shellacking of the Grand Rapids Griffins. Five of the team’s goals were scored in a 6-minute, 17-second stretch in the first period, with Stapleton notching a hat trick in just 4:40. Stapleton added a late third period marker to give him 4 goals in the game, setting a Marlies’ individual mark.

Over the next six games, the Marlies biggest challenge is finding stability on defence. Staffan Kronwall, one of the anchors of the team’s blueline for parts of the past four seasons, was claimed off re-entry waivers by the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, Sifers was recalled to the Leafs on Monday following an injury to Mike Van Ryn in the Toronto-Montreal game on Feb. 7.

“It’s the nature of the beast in the American Hockey League, there’s guys going up and down all the time,” observed head coach Greg Gilbert, following a period that saw Jiri Tlusty, Nikolai Kulemin and Anton Stralman split their time between Ricoh Coliseum and Air Canada Centre. “That’s our job. If we can get these guys ice time, get them playing and get their confidence back, it gives them the opportunity to get back up there and help the big club. It’s something you deal with all year long. Every team goes through this. It’s something you get used to, and you have to find a good way to get them headed in the right direction.”

Quick Hits:
• The Marlies are fourth in the North Division with a record of 24-19-2-5 (55 points), two points ahead of Syracuse for the final playoff spot in the division.
• The top scorers are Tim Stapleton (13 goals, 33 assists, 46 points), Jiri Tlusty (10-20-30) and Kris Newbury (6-23-29).
• Following Sunday’s game, Stapleton now has seven goals in his past 4 games.

Quick Quotes:
• Sifers, on the Marlies attempts to take advantage of their long home stand: “Those home games are the most important ones, and ones you shouldn’t lose. Obviously the fans make a huge difference. We love playing here, we love the rink and we love our fans. Those road losses were due to some poor decisions on our part; just small mistakes, and ones we have to limit in order to make that playoff spot.”
• “I thought they were part of a line change,” laughed Stapleton when asked about the Griffins changing their goalie three times in the Marlies 10-5 win.
• Andre Deveaux, following the same game, on registering his second career hat-trick: “It’s great, but I have to mention my linemates played a hell of a game today. Ryan Hamilton and (Alex Foster) played unbelievable and helped me out a ton. The team’s playing well and everybody’s doing what they need to do, and that’s why certain individuals are having success.”
• Stralman, on the departure of his former defence partner Kronwall: “He’s a great guy. I’m really glad he got the opportunity to go to the Capitals, and really get a chance there, hopefully.”
• Gilbert on the play of Stapleton. “He sees the ice well, he’s got great skill and vision and he works hard, both ways. He works as hard without the puck as he does with it. He’s one of those guys that, when he does shoot, he doesn’t miss much. He’s not picking two inches inside the post, he’s just trying to get it on net, and it’s finding its way in.”

Next three games:
• Wed. Feb. 11 vs. Syracuse 11:30am – Marlies School Day game
• Sat. Feb. 14 vs. Grand Rapids, 4:00pm
• Sun. Feb. 15 vs. Springfield, 4:00pm