The big round of cuts has come. And there are few surprises, but there are a few delights.

On defense, Jackman and Colaiacovo remain in the fold along with Pilar. Carlo has been sensational and is garnering lots of comparisons to Tomas Kaberle. It's a big risk to keep him in the NHL though, as 19 years old is a little tender. A year on the Rock would be perfect.

Fighting for the last forward spots are Belak, Antropov, Ponikarovsky and Healy. Gavey and Holden and are still in the mix, although Holden's stock is fading fast and Poni, Antro and Belak need to pick it up a little. At this point Gavey is making a great case for himself, and Healy, coming off last year's great playoff appearance seems set to challenge for a spot too.

In goal, Tellqvist remains the sole holdback, but he will go down before the season starts.

Posted 10:48 AM by Chris |

Preseason: Wings 1, Leafs 3

Well, well, well. Things seem to be coming together. The rookies fighting for a job made strong cases last night against Detroit. Healy had a goal, Colaiacovo had one too, on the powerplay no less. Aaron Gavey, not a rookie, but on the bubble and playing on a dream line with Sundin and Mogilny got the other one.

Trevor Kidd played to whole game, and is now looking better than Belfour in the early going. It's worth keeping in mind that this goaltending crew is going to be more structured like a platoon than a starter/backup situation and Kidd is making a strong case to keep it this way. After the game Quinn said:

"Eddie is our prime guy, we're not fooling around with that. He's the guy we're going to put all our faith in, but we have Trevor and we knew when we signed him that we could have a 1-2 punch that works pretty well."

For his part, Kidd had some interesting things to say about learning the Leafs' game:

"Things like when the wingers are coming back and I have the puck, knowing that I like to go forehand seven or eight out of 10 times. A couple times there were 2-on-1s and Caber (Bryan McCabe) prevented the pass by going down. Next time, I'm probably going to know that Caber is going to lay down and the guy is going to have to raise it to get it across. That gives me a couple of extra seconds to stay with the shooter."

All told, a nice effort, as the preseason continues. Cuts are coming either today or Monday.


Posted 11:43 AM by Chris |

Preseason: Toronto 2 Buffalo 5

Hmm.

Belfour loses his cool and takes six minutes of penalties, lets a few easy ones in and just generally looks not so good. Okay. Let's move on.

Colaiacovo continues to shine scoring a nice goal that was dished to him by Tucker. Aaron Gavey makes his fifth straight start.

The Leafs always seem to suck wind in the preseason, and so I'm not worried about the result. And they DID arrive in Buffalo only an hour ahead of the game due to some border hassles (probably Belfour didn't offer the guards enough dough..."okay TWO billion then..."). But there is a little nag when he gets quoted like this:

"I definitely can play better than that. It doesn't matter whether you have good luck or bad luck, sometimes it just doesn't go your way. But you make up for it."

Posted 2:40 AM by Chris |

More on Hoglund and the pressure of being a scapegoat.

Posted 9:58 AM by Chris |

Brad Boyes is cut from camp along with Luca Cereda and Sebastien Centomo. On the Boyes demotion, which cannot be unexpected, Quinn said:

"Nothing is permanent, but I would say there has not been enough done (on Boyes' part) to warrant that we look at him much longer. His outings have been okay. Maybe it might be best for him to get down to St. John's and get working at developing himself into a good player. He has developed and become more mature, but I think he is still unsure of himself out there, and that's why there is such pause in his game."

Posted 9:52 AM by Chris |

Preseason Buffalo 3, Toronto 3

Forwards
Hoglund – Green – Belak
Ponikarovsky – Fitzgerald – Domi
Gavey – McCauley – Renberg
Doull – Holden - Healy

Defense
Berg – Jackman
Lumme – Chartier
Bonni – Pilar

Goal
Tellqvist
Centomo

Disappointing result for the Leafs tonight. They played well in the first period, retaining possession for much of the period and outshooting Buffalo 16-8. But that momentum began to fade as the game wore on, and Buffalo changed their strategy from waiting for chances to pressing the Leafs to finally hemming them in overtime. The result was a 3-3 tie, and a comeback for Buffalo from a 3-1 deficit.

Belfour injured himself somehow and was due to start, but he scratched himself. Tellqvist played half the game of shutout hockey )his second straight shutout appearance), and looked great. His positioning was excellent and he had clear views in front as the Leafs defense did well to keep the zone clear. Centomo was the victim of defensive lapses, as the D failed to clear rebounds and allow both Connelly and Satan to score from the low slot. Otherwise, Centomo made some great saves, especially in overtime where he turned away 6 shots under pressure, including one off a Ryan Bonni turnover which almost lost the game..

Leafs defense was piloted by Pilar who had two assists and Lumme and Berg who both looked to create plays early on. Jackman was impressive and continues to thrive in the role of an active offensive defenseman. He doesn’t shy away from the assignment and can QB the powerplay and set up the transition.

Each of the top three forward lines had their chances, with Fitzgerald’s line causing the most havoc, supported by the D-men behind them. McCauley had a lovely goal, skating in on Noronen, taking a shot and tapping in the rebound as he headed around the net. Ponikarovsky was a playmaking threat on a couple of occasions, and played well both ways.

Aaron Gavey got his fourth straight start on left wing and also played well, especially on the forecheck. He and Amac were the bright sparks in the otherwise dark third period. Green had three shots in the first period and seemed dangerous on carries in. After the Leafs switched to the dump and chase game later on, the top line fizzled. Hoglund seemed at his best applying pressure on the forecheck and forcing neutral zone turnovers and he had a great chance in the first period.

The fourth line was mostly bad, and their inability to clear the zone or click a few passes together forced a few nervous moments on Centomo.

Posted 1:41 AM by Chris |

And finally, a nice piece on Alex Ponikarovsky. Although he won't start with the Leafs this year, he is at the tip of the heap for call ups, and has had a chance to shine with Roberts out.

Ponikarovsky, a native of Kiev, Ukraine, will never be able to replace Robert’s scoring abilities, but he is beginning to learn how to put his 6-4, 200lb frame to his advantage. With the new obstruction rules in place in the NHL, Ponikarovsky’s size and skating ability will allow him to be an effective fore-checker in the league. Ponikarovsky has also developed into a very responsible defensive player in St. John’s, and could be used in penalty-killing situations.

Posted 10:51 AM by Chris |

More on Carlo:

There were whispers in the dressing room last night that Colaiacovo might now have a passing grade when it comes to making cuts to the roster next week.
The 19-year-old was supposed to get in one or two games as a reward for a solid start to camp. Now, he's the lone junior remaining in camp and has outplayed a host of other players vying for what appears to be only two job openings.
He has been playing well enough that he will almost certainly get another game or two, a continuation of what has been one of the best stories in the Leafs' camp since the pre-season schedule opened last Friday.

If the Leafs keep him for more than 10 games he has to stay in the NHL for the remainder of the season or clear waivers. Not likely he'll get that kind of time with the big club, but it's nice to see him learning the game so quickly.

Posted 10:43 AM by Chris |

Been away from the blog for a couple of days, but I caught the TV highlights of the 3-1 win over the Senators led by a very spirited Carlo Colaiacovo, who impressed both with his first NHL goal, and with the great attitude he brought to playing:

Colaiacovo pumped his fist as the red light went on and he glided behind the net, and more than 20 family members and friends jumped from their Air Canada Centre seats in celebration.

"To have all my family here to see me play my first game and score my first goal with the Leafs was unbelievable," he said afterwards.

He took the puck home.

"It's definitely a keeper," he said with a big grin.

From there the Leafs went on to squeaker 3-2 loss against Detroit last night, which did not feature Cujo in goal for the Wings. The lineup seems to be getting a little more set.

It's Buffalo tonight.


Posted 10:38 AM by Chris |

On the Belfour give away that set up the first goal last night:

Belfour handles the puck much better than Joseph. As a result, he and the Leafs defence must work on communicating better in the defensive zone in order for Jyrki Lumme and his fellow blueliners to know when and where Belfour will be feeding them the puck.

"Eddie's great with the puck, so we have to talk more," Lumme said. "With his abilities, we have to work on that.

"And don't forget that he's playing in the Eastern Conference now. He hasn't seen many of teams here very often and their forechecking patterns."

Posted 2:54 PM by Chris |

Pre-season: Ottawa 7, Toronto 1

The lines looked like this:

Forwards
Healy – Reichel – Ponikarovsky
Hoglund – Antropov – Renberg
Gavey – Green – Belak
Barrett - Holden - Leeb

Defense
Eriksson – Kelly
Jackman – Lumme
Svoboda - Berg

Goal
Belfour
Tellqvist

Hard to tell from the radio broadcast who played what wing, as there were no pure left wingers dressed for the game. In goal Tellqvist took over half way through the second with the Leafs trailing 3-1

Not much Leaf offense other than Renberg's goal. Antro's line and Reichel's line generated most of the offense, with Healy and Poni doing the good forechecking. Barrett was tenacious although he was booked for two minors. Leafs had 27 shots to Ottawa's 38

Defensively, the game was a bust, as most of the goals were results of defensive breakdowns. Both Jackman and Kelly were guilty of some fatal turnovers, and other goals were scored with the crease full of Sens.

Belfour admitted to be a little nervous, but Tellqvist played fairly confidently despite giving up 4 goals. He is moving around a lot more this year and feels more confident at moving out of the cease. Made some good saves.

The prospects didn't have a great game. Jackman blew hot and cold, with some decent play early in the game, but he faded later. Healy and Barrett were both in the action. Holden's line didn't see much ice time although Josh himself scrapped with Brad Smith.

The Sens played with a strong line up, and Spezza actually showed up well, as did a few other rookies. Lalime played the whole game in net. Things will be different on Sunday night, as the Leafs put out a stronger defense with Kaberle and Svehla in uniform, joined by Corson, Tucker, Sundin, Mogilny, Fitzgerald and Amac (if he's feeling okay).

It's only the preseason, but boy is it nice to hear hockey again...

Posted 11:57 PM by Chris |

The NHL is considering playing a game outdoors in 2004.

Frank Brown, a spokesman for the league, confirmed Friday that they are considering the idea of having the Edmonton Oilers play the Calgary Flames at the 60,000-seat football stadium, but it would be premature to suggest the game is confirmed. "There's no possible way that we are in anything more than an evaluation process right now," Brown said. "There are a lot of things to be considered."

Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith said the proposal has received tentative approval from both the league and the players' association, and the city now is in the process of working out a lease with the Oilers.

Smith said it could turn out to be a six-year event, with one game held in November each year.

The Oilers would be responsible for the logistics, including setting up the ice surface. Allan Watt, vice-president of marketing, said the idea is something the team has been considering for some time.

"We all think it is a fabulous idea," Watt said. "In Edmonton, there are two things you can do: You can stay home and bitch about the weather or you can do things.

Great idea!


Posted 5:19 PM by Chris |

Looking ahead to tonight's pre-season game against Ottawa.

"Tonight's game will be significant in that Ed Belfour makes his Leafs' debut in goal, splitting the game with Mikael Tellqvist. Two thirds of the Leafs' top line will be there in Mikael Renberg and Jonas Hoglund, though centre Mats Sundin is staying home.

Darcy Tucker is out of any potential re-match with Sens' Daniel Alfredsson until at least Sunday's return engagement at the Air Canada Centre.

Other notable Leafs playing tonight include left winger Aaron Gavey, arguably the best newcomer at camp, Nik Antropov, who could play this evening between the Swedes, and Josh Holden and Brad Leeb, two other forwards on the bubble.

Rick Jackman, Petr Svoboda and Regan Kelly will suit up on defence with Jyrki Lumme, Aki Berg and Anders Eriksson."

Posted 12:13 PM by Chris |

A report from the intrasquad game, posted on the Leafs Usenet group:

- Big crowd; something like 8000

- Notables line-up absences: Reichel, Kaberle, Berg, Pilar, Lumme.

- Biggest sheers during introductions went to Tucker, Domi, McCabe, and
Corson. Ken Dryden came out to present a cheque to charity and received a
mixed reception of cheers and boos. Crowd went wild when Gary Roberts
picture appears in video montage on scoreboard.

- During intros, I realized I was sitting amongst the Matt Stajan (Draft
pick 2002, 2nd round, 57th overall) cheering section. His family and
friends were really pumped to see him in a game with a Leafs uniform and
playing with the pros. The good news for Mat is that one of his linemates
was Bob Wren; the bad news is the other is Jonas Hogland.

- Brad Boyes was on a line with Mogilny and Holden. Sundin as with
Healey and Gavey; Domi with Doull and Green. Wade Belak played wing.

- Injuries: McCauley left game sometime in the 2nd (paper says it was a
minor strain or something); junior David Turon fell awkwardly into the
boards after getting tangled with Healey in a race for a loose puck. Looked
like a shoulder injury.

Goalie: Belfour gave up a goal on his first shot (no one could have
stopped it) then settled in and made some great saves in the rest of his
period of work. Kidd: 1 goal (rebound on a scramble); nothing spectacular.
Centomo: Terrific; a perfect period; lots of nice stops. Racine: 3 goals.
Hodson: Awesome; no goals; down 4-1 when he entered the game, he kept it
from getting really out of hand. Ford: 2 goals in the last 3 minutes of
the game; not his fault; the Sundin line stopped skating and gave up both
goals on the same shift.

Goals: Holden on a nice cross ice pass from Mogilny; Wren (easily the best
player on either team in the game) from behind the net after no one got open
in front he tried a wrap around and then roofed his own rebound as he was
falling down; Gavey on a hard, low shot from the right circle trickles thru
the goalie's pads; Boyes on a nice 1 timer from a bad angle set up by an
even nicer cross ice feed from McCabe from the right point to the bottom of
the left circle; Doug Doull from the slot on a power play set up by a nice
pass out from the corner by Domi (ponder for a second what Domi and Doull
were doing out on a PP?!?); Nathan Barrett on a nice shot late in the game;
Allan Rourke on an even nicer shot as the trailing defenseman on a 3 on 2
rush 20 or 30 seconds after Barrett's goal.

Defensemen and hits: McCabe was still dishing it out to rookies and
prospects; Riley Cote made a few big hits; Jackman looked good as did
Harrison; Eriksson looked bad at times and made some terrible passes;
Chartier looked good for a guy who only arrived in camp 2 days ago.

Officiating: The refs were calling the new rules by the book. Many hooking,
holding, interference, etc. Eriksson and McCabe were both called on the
same rush for obstruction. Many power plays.

Face-offs: I gather that the league will be doing quick face-offs this
year. A number of times, Leaf veteran centres were not ready when the puck
was dropped, notably, Sundin was still talking strategy with the d-men on
how to defend and 5 on 3 when the puck was dropped. Fitzgerald was a
assessed a delay of game minor for not being ready.

Other stuff: Bob Wren was easily the best and hardest working player on
either team. He killed penalties; he played the powerplay; he made nice
set-ups and controller the play when he had the puck. He made a beautiful
cross ice pass on a PP, but Hogland fanned on the easy tap in (figures!).
Mogilny looked great also. Ponikarovsky skated hard.


Posted 2:30 AM by Chris |

Lots to report from training camp.

First, the prospects. The Leafs made their first cuts today, sending a number of players back to their junior clubs. Getting on the bus today were Brendan Bell -- Ottawa (OHL), Nicolas Corbeil -- Sherbrooke (QMJHL), Dominic D'Amour -- Hull (QMJHL), Todd Ford -- Swift Current (WHL), Matt Stajan -- Belleville (OHL), Kyle Wellwood -- Windsor (OHL), Ian White -- Swift Current (WHL) and Tyson Marsh -- Vancouver (WHL). Nothing unexpected there.

For the rest of the guys, Pilar continues to shine and describes his aggressive pinching style in this piece. Meanwhile Paul Healy and a few other guys, like Boyes and Gavey find themselves competing for a job, and all of them are making a mark. Brad Boyes however, isn't making exactly the kind of mark he intended. He's not in prime shape and his feeling is that his play has been lacking. Looks like he's headed for the Rock.

As for the regulars, Belfour stepped into the crease in a big way. He played well in the last intra-squad game and he is finding the pressure of being in Toronto okay so far. One thing is clear: he's sharing the goaltending duties with Kidd who considers himself the number 2 goalie instead of merely a backupAnd Tellqvist finds himself behind two legitimate NHL goalies, meaning that he'll have to get some serious confidence back before he sees Toronto again

Up front it seems that Robert Reichel is trying to cement his place in the side and make up for his dismal performance last spring. He blames it on a wonky knee, although there seemed to be some seriuous psychological issues there. He was either hurting badly, or depressed.


Posted 5:01 PM by Chris |

And speaking of attitude here is Alex Mogilny goofing around with the media:

"I'm not getting any younger. I don't consider myself a goal scorer anymore. I can't wait to retire, I'm barely hanging on."

Quinn's reaction?

"He has always been the kind of guy who says, `Don't heap the expectations on me. I'll meet some expectations, but I want to meet my own, not yours. You'd like to go to Alex after he says that stuff and give him a shake and say, `What do you mean?' but that's just the way he is."

Alex did express some serious scepticism on the new enforcement of the obstruction rule and said, "It has never worked before, why should I be excited now?" he said. "I think it's going to be a circus out there. I don't know what they're going to call, what they're not going to call. Guys are going to be diving, it's going to be just awful. I can't wait to see that. The game is going to be four hours long. I don't know why they have two referees out there, to clog up the ice basically. One guy calls things, the other guy doesn't. One guy makes a call and the other guy feels bad not calling so he starts calling. It's just pathetic."

Posted 4:24 PM by Chris |

Gavey looks the part, says today's Toronto Sun, to fill in for Gary Roberts. And although the cut is a long way off for a guy like Gavey, I like his atittude, putting intangibles before money and focussing on trying to get a job with the Leafs because it would be a dream come true. On playing in Toronto as opposed to Minnensota he says:"You need to mature to play the game. Hockey gets more enjoyable for me every year. I don't know if the birth of my son (last year) has had something to do with (changing his perspective). Last year he was learning to walk around the Minnesota dressing room, this year I hope to put him in a Leafs sweater."

The article goes on to quote Pat Quinn at length on Gavey, saying nice things about Gavey as a centre: "I like centres because they can pretty much play anywhere," Quinn said. "Mentally, they see the ice from a different position, most often a little better because of years of training at centre. Wingers have trouble moving to other spots."

Posted 4:21 PM by Chris |

Hockey's Future update on the kids down on the Rock. Once training camp closes for the big club, all of these guys should be in Newfoundland. Boyes has the best chance of the lot to get some steady time with the Leafs later in the season, especially if there are some injuries.

Posted 8:47 PM by Chris |

Richard Jackman serves notice that he wants to play in the big leagues. He is the first guy "on the bubble" to make a solid impression as training camp gets under way. The Leafs also monkeyed around with the lines, starting the experiment that must result in a satisfactory replacement at left wing for Gary Roberts. Aaron Gavey was given a chance in that spot at this scrimmage.

Posted 8:27 PM by Chris |

So already the rosters are pretty much set in the Leafs camp. In this piece Pat Quinn makes it pretty clear that the only job open is a right wing temnporary assignment that will go back to Roberts in February. That being said, the Leafs aim to try out the rookies and set the lines up, using the pre-season as preparation


Posted 9:53 AM by Chris |

Training camp is about to open and the two most interesting questions it should answer for me are which prospects get their big shot at the NHL, and what the line combinations are going to be for the year. The defense looks pretty solid, with the exchange of Svehla (who has chosen to wear #67) for Yushkevich. The departures of Cross and Demspey leaves the choices a little more clear than last year.

But on forward, there are still a bunch of questions. Can Renberg and Hoglund get it going again this year? And what of
Travis Green and the surfiet of guys able to play centre? Watching how the lines take shape and who makes the cut will be my focus for camp and the pre-seaon.

Posted 10:03 AM by Chris |

Here's the story on Cory Cross's departure from the Leafs.

Posted 12:20 PM by Chris |

As the 30th anniversary of the Summit series is now in full swing, and there are lots of cool things to read all over the Internet, I thought I'd blog this piece which is an interview with Inge Hammerstram that takes the shine off the Canadian team. All anyone seems to be remembering is the Us vs. Them and Henderson's goals and Esposito's plea to the crowds to get on side. What is often forgotten, other than Bobby Clark's assault on Kharlamov, is that the Canadians really tried to kill a few Russians in the USSR and weren't above bullying the refs if they felt a game or two was fixed.

Anyway Inge provides an interesting perspective, and for Leaf content, Salming played in the two games against Canada as did Anders Hendberg.

Posted 2:41 AM by Chris |

A little desperate for news. Rumours abound on Toronto talk radio tat Cory Cross is leaving. Not a surprise. Too bad he didn't work out though. I liked him when he first got here. I wonder if Svehla will wear number 4....


Posted 2:25 AM by Chris |

This is awful. Terenece Tootoo, a player I was really pulling for to see in the NHL, comitted suicide in Manitoba.

Posted 9:03 AM by Chris |

An interview with Anders Erikkson is the heart of this story about the Leafs defense for this year.

Even though the issue seems to be the lack of a Norris Trophy candidate, I have always thought that the Leafs defense has been pretty strong in the last few years. They focus more on offense than a tight checking kind of game, and they have assembled a lot of two way players in the core who can do both well. They played well in front of Schwab at the end of last year, and the two way abilities of players like Corson and Roberts always helps.

It looks like, barring any kind of training camp surprises, we will have Svehla, McCabe, Kaberle, Lumme, Berg, Pilar, Erikkson and Belak in the line up. Erikkson admits that he's on his last legs, and Belak is a utility player who can slot in anywhere, but might see a fair amount of time in the press box.

That's not a bad core of guys. Svehla, McCabe, Kaberle and Lumme are all legit starters and all are either playing at their peak or getting better. Berg and Pilar continue to learn the game and have lots of upside left. It takes longer to groom an offensive defenseman that a stay at home one. They almost have to learn two games. Erikkson and Belak are also learning, but have the faint odour of high draft picks that never figured it out.

Training camp shouldn't produce too many surprises, execept to clarify which Baby Leafs get targetted for spot duty in T.O.

Posted 8:59 AM by Chris |

Tiny minor trade reported today. The Leafs sent our 11th pick in 2001 Tomas Mojzis to Vancouver for Brad Leeb, a right winger. Not that either of these guys will get very many cracks with the big club, but Mojzis did seem more promising. The press release says:

Leeb, 23, played two games with the Canucks last season and had a +1 rating. He spent the majority of the season with Manitoba of the American Hockey League. He collected 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) with 45 penalty minutes in 60 games. He made his NHL debut December 12, 1999 against Colorado with Vancouver. The native of Red Deer, Alberta is pointless in four career NHL games with two penalty minutes. Leeb was never drafted and originally was signed as an unrestricted free agent by Vancouver October 8, 1999.

It must feel weird to have a club that just acquired you tell the world that in your entire NHL career you have been "pointless." Ah well, welcome aboard Brad.

Posted 5:22 PM by Chris |

Very sad news today. Leaf trainer Chris Broadhurst lost his daughter in a hot tub accident. She was only 20 months old. Awful.

Posted 11:38 PM by Chris |

And while we're thinking about St. John's here is the preseason preview. The major issue seems to be the goaltender glut. At some point, the lesser lights will have to be shown the door, while the Baby Leafs groom Tellqvist and Centomo for regular duty in the NHL. There seems to be about a two year window to see some real improvement in these guys, otherwise Belfour will need to be put on retainer unless Kidd turns out to be another Sean Burke.

Posted 11:33 PM by Chris |

Hockey's Future has done a decent analysis of the Leaf draft picks heading into the AHL season. They are very high on, not surprisingly, Alexander Steen and Matthew Stajan and put Todd Ford in the top 20 Leaf prospects. Everyone else is either a role player for the minor league club, a Euro star or a bust.


Posted 11:29 PM by Chris |