I am absolutely stunned by the tenacity of this team. So today, instead of offering my usual cleaned up prose about tonight's win, allow me to share my raw blogging notes. The emotion comes through better. Pardon the swearing, typos and spelling mistakes, but no one speake well in the real stands, so why should we have to do it in the virtual ones. Enjoy.

February 22, 2003
Toronto 5 at Montreal 3

Forwards
Roberts - Sundin - Mogilny
Renberg - Antropov - Hoglund
Domi - Reichel - Fitzgerald
Green - McCauley - Tucker

Roberts - Sundin - Mogilny (pp)
Renberg - Antropov - Hoglund (pp)
Mogilny - Antropov - Hoglund (pp)
Renberg - Antropov - Hoglund - Reichel - McCabe (pp)

Sundin - Mogilny (pk)
Antropov - McCauley (pk)
Sundin - Roberts (pk)

Sundin - Roberts (4 on 4)
Antropov - Mogilny (4 on 3)

Defense
Svehla - Kaberle
McCabe - Lumme
Berg - Belak

Goal
Kidd

1st period
Leafs, second best NHL record since November 30-12-6-0

How are they going to get the first goal?
With Kidd, they'll have to play a little more defensively in front of him.

Big hate on early with Dwyer antagonizing McCabe and Kilgour beats Tucker to death after Green dumped Dwyer in the Leaf bench. Green, Tucker and Dwyer go and Mtl get a PP. Need a little more discipline here.

PK Leafs no 1 in the League
Koivu throws his stick at Bryan McCabe. Jeez.

4 on 4 Markov to Bullis and Kidd makes a nice save. Now Markov interferes with Sundin.

PP 4 on 3
Now the Leafs have a chance.
Antropov - Mogilny
Good cycling but Mogilny's pass down to Antro is defelcted wide

5 on 3
Roberts - Sundin - Mogilny
Kaberle gets a chance.
5 on 4
Sundin hits the post from a pass from Svehla
Another chance and pad svae from Theodore.

Domi to Fitz and he is hooked down as the puck slides just wide.

Penalty to the Czerkawski for high sticking.

PP Mogilny backhand try is stopped, Thedore making good saves, leafs handling the PP well but no dice yet.
Renberg line on

Montreal can't get set up at all. Their forechecking has been mostly soft and the Leafs D coverage has been very strong, locked down the defensive zone and controlled the puck.

Pace has slowed a little now, but the Leafs are smelling chances. Habs are trapping. Mogs goes offside, Habs really slowing the pace here.

McCauley tipped a Tucker pass just wide of the post. This line is mucking, keeping the puck deep. Fast transition game resuts in cycling where Reichel gets a chance on the line change but saved off the knob of Theodore's stick.

Sundstrom has a shot go just wide.

Green steals one and centres but Amac can't get to the open net in time. This line has been good since the Habs got pillowy.

Habs starting to press Bullis late in the period has a chance and then turns over and Mogs tries to get something going…Roberts goes to the net and Theodore makes a big save. Flurry late.

2nd Period
Off the face off, the Habs turns the puck over in their own zone. Sundin pounces, hammers from the top of the circle, rebound comes out to Almo at the top of the other circle and he puts it in the empty goal. 1-0

Kaberle gets beat, but Kidd bails him out.
Koivu line pressuring right back. The energy is back up, and the sense is that the Leafs need another failry quickly.

Fitz got his stick on a clearing attempt and deflected the puck on goal

Markov turns the puck over again and Sundin gets two shots off. Habs D is breaking down badly here.

Koivu gets another chance off a Sundin turnover and Kidd stops him. Koivu is the only threat at the moment. He sets up Zednik now and the puck is cleared.

Finally they get one, Koivu gaining the line and then feeding Zednik. Zednik throws it to the net but it went in off Svehla. This is the result of backing up a little on Kidd, and the tenacious play of he Koivu line. 1-1

Game getting chippy again as the advantage has neutralized. Berg is playing very physically especially against Quintel.

McCabe gets sprung by Berg and he gets a chance on Theodore, but sent wide.

Lumme turns the puck over at centre (he tried to carry it out) and Juneau picks it up and scores off a slap shot. Deflected off McCabe's stick. Poor Kidd 1-2

Sundin line now comes back with another shot on. Almo and Roberts bashing deep.

Renberg gets tackled by Koivu with no call, and then the puck gets turned the other way the Leafs get a penalty. Belak gets the call and it's a bad one, going for interference.

PK Sundin - Mogilny
Reichel -
Kidd makes a couple of big saves

Kilgour scores and the Habs have taken a big lead. Another give away at centre ice from a cross ice pass instigated by Lumme, and this time, Kidd gets beat cleanly 1-3

Lumme has made two huge gaffes tonight, both resulting in goals. And they are basic: carrying the puck out of your zone and cross ice pass in the neutral zone. The rest of the D was playing well, pumping the puck through the neutral zone for a pretty crisp transition, but Lumme has fucked it up for everyone.

Sundin centres and Svehla sends one off the post. Bad luck there. Sundin had a great pass and Sundin had an open net. This is the third open net missed by the Leafs tonight.

Bullis steals at his blue line and can't find Juneau.

But the tenacity pays off. Sundin was at the end of a 74 second shift 4 on 4. He finds Svehla and then Almo brings it behind the net and gets it out to Sundin. 2-3

Off the face off, Mogs shoots it just wide and Antro is pushing. Almost ties it.

Sundin is putting in major ice time here.

3rd Period
Leafs have come from behind six times and the third period is their best. So this is the chance that the Leafs need to get the game back on. Looking for their record 7th straight road win.

Leafs get a too many men call.

PK Zednik Koivu and Gilmour conspire to press and Kidd manages to get his glove on a puck going over him.
Gilmour makes a couple of attempts. And McCabe gets away, drops to Antropov and he gets a shot off.

Domi gets it to Tucker and it goes off a skate and wide. Rats.

Tomasarek gets a call for nailing Tucker.

PP Shorthand chance sundstrom to Juneau but Kidd is big.
Habs doing a good job at clearing
Hoglund chance on a jam play in front but cleared.
Mogilny creates havoc in front with a delayed call and Theodore makes a big save

Quintel goes for high sticking. 2 man advantage for 11 secs
Some chances for Antro
Leafs not getting bounces, not having luck.

Lots of pressure here from the Reichel and Antro lines but no conversions

Sundin to Roberts as the Leafs put late pressure up but THoedore is keep the Habs hopes alive.

TWO GOALPOSTS hit by Green. Good Lord. That like five or six tonight and three open nets. They can't buy the equalizer.

And finally Domi ties it! Reichel creates a turnover with a hit on Zednik in the high slot and Berg shoots wide, Reichel scoops it up behind the net feeds Domi and he slams it home 3-3 Domi ties his highest goal scoring tally at 13.

5 minutes to go

Mogs gets a shot on and Roberts standing in the goal crease jives around. Habs have collapsed right back on top of Theodore.

Green is doing well pressing on the forecheck. Habs can't afford to sit back and wait for OT.

Domi almost gets a breakaway but Reichel goes offside.

MAN!!! Antro steps past two Habs defenders and scores the go ahead goal. Un fucking believable. Theodore seems to be playing the pass. 4-3

2 mins to go

Rive gets a shot just wide, and the Habs are playing a desperate last stand. Leafs keep possession and prevent Theodore form leaving. Now he leaves. McCabe clears and ices the puck with 38.9 second left.

So after a timeout we're back at it. Mogilny has Roberts for the empty net and he scores. 5-3 What an amazing fucking comeback and what a generous play for Mogs

The Leafs have tied their all time road win record at 7 and lead the NHL in third period comebacks. This is a huge win because it puts the Leafs 13 points up on the Habs and virtually guarantees a playoff spot.

Kidd gets his fifth win and a rare on ice congrat from Pat Quinn.

Posted 2:02 AM by Chris |

February 15, 2003
Ottawa 1 at Toronto 2

Forwards
Roberts - Sundin - Mogilny
Tucker - McCauley - Green
Domi - Reichel - Fitzgerald
Renberg - Antropov - Hoglund

Roberts - Sundin - Mogilny (pp)
Antropov - Reichel - Hoglund (pp)

Sundin - Mogilny (pk)
McCauley - Antropov (pk)
Reichel - Domi (pk)
Reichel - Fitzgerald (pk)

Roberts - Sundin (4 on 4)
Antropov - Mogilny (4 on 4)

Defense
Svehla - Kaberle
McCabe - Lumme
Belak - Jackman

Goal
Belfour

I love this team this year. If you were able to stick through that miserable first six weeks, then you are here with us now, in the thick of the season, jockeying for playoff position and savoring games like the one we saw tonight.

It was always going to be big. The Leafs were looking for their first season win over Ottawa. Gary Roberts stepped back into the lineup (and signed for another year) and tried out both of his reconstructed shoulders with fine hits on Alfredsson and Langfeld. He crashed, burned, opened up ice and found Mogilny on a couple of wide open chances. He was, in short, the old Roberts, playing on the top line, mixing it up and causing chaos everywhere.

The top line was amazing, leading the way in close scoring chances, several of which were the result of Mogilny or Sundin finding open ice. Without exceptional goaltending from Lalime and some great defensive plays like Carl Rachunek diving to deflect a Mogilny shot, the game would have been won a lot earlier.

Roberts' return necessitated some juggling around of the lines, and I have to say that I like the new profile. The new Antropov line, with Renberg and Hoglund was dynamite. Nik is playing like a monster these days, even scrapping with the likes of Chris Phillips. He even got time on the NHL's number one penalty kill. And Renberg is finding his stride, breaking out in the last minute to set up Hoglund with a gorgeous pass made at top speed to secure the game winner.

The Reichel line played a spirited game too. Domi killed Chris Neil in a fight so one-sided that Tie should have walked away from it. He later hit the post to nearly score the go ahead goal in the third.

Amac anchored a line with Tucker and Green, both of whom had their share of chances too. Tucker took an elbow to the mouth late in the game that seemed to have cost him a tooth without any penalty to the Sens.

Everyone contributed, and the 2-1 score accurately reflects the evenness of effort, but can't capture how close the Leafs were to totally dominating this game. Belfour was tested but nothing like what Lalime had to go through, turning away rebound after rebound as the Sens seemed to be a little loose on the D.

Ah…sweet victory. Is it possible I'm getting used to this?

PS. Corson was a healthy scratch and boy was he pissed. We'll see what happens…

Posted 12:26 AM by Chris |

February 13, 2003
Toronto 3 at Chicago 1

Forwards
Antropov - Sundin - Mogilny
Renberg - Reichel - Hoglund
Domi - Green - Tucker
Healy - Mccauley - Fitzgerald

Defense
Kaberle - Svehla
McCabe - Eriksson
Berg - Lumme

Goal
Belfour

Another great victory for the Leafs, goin through what is becoming a pattern. Early offense and then nail down the vistory with solid defense. Chicago looked good for about two minutes, during which they managed a goal, but Toronto found it's legs and, on the strength of the likes of Jirki "Scoring Machine" Lumme and Tie "Sure I Can Score From the Corner, Just Bank It Off The Goalie Like Gretzsky Used To" Domi, they flooded Thibault with shots, three of which snuck by him.

And after the first period it was forty minutes of routine maintenance: check the brakes, oil change, tire rotation. Cruising to a 3-1 victory.

The big line is playing really BIG, and Antropov was a wrecking machine several times. The spirited loss to Edmonton put Belak and Corson out with minoir dings, but everyone should be bcak in the saddle for tonight's game against Ottawa.

And by everyone, I mean Roberts too, whose return has been much anticipated, and who should be starting against the team that he had glory with last spring. Lots of speculation as to whether Amac and Roberts will play together, trying to find their playoff form. That would be nice, but slotting Roberts anywhere into this line up will be great. Look for another crash bang affair tonight.

Posted 1:57 PM by Chris |

February 8, 2003
Montreal 1 at Toronto 3

Forwards
Antropov – Sundin – Mogilny
Renberg – Reichel – Hoglund
Tucker – Green – Corson
Domi – McCauley – Fitzgerald

Tucker – Corson – Green (pp)
Antropov – Sundin – Mogilny (pp)

McCauley – Antropov (pk)
Sundin – Mogilny (pk)
Reichel – Antropov (pk)
Fitzgerald – McCauley (pk)

Sundin – Renberg (4 on 4)
Mogilny – Antropov (4 on 4)

Antropov – Sundin – Mogilny – Kaberle (4 on 3 pp)

Defense
Svehla – Kaberle
McCabe – Eriksson
Belak – Lumme

McCabe – Lumme (pp)

Goal
Belfour

Posted 1:48 AM by Chris |

The next stretch of action on the NHL calender is the penultimate segment. We have had the all-star break and now there is a month or so until the trading deadline which comes up March 11. This little stretch of hockey is imnportant obviously becasue it positions teams for the playoff run. If we have a chance of being a contender for he Cup in the next few weeks, barring serious injury and so on, then the team gets to make the big move for a player or two to help get them over the hump. At the moment Kovalev and Kapenen seem in the sites.

Coming into tonight's game, the Leafs were riding a two game winning streak, and the good news continued as they absolutely dominated Florida tonight. What I loved about this game, in addition to Belfour's amazing play was the fact that Corson and Reichel got goals, as did Lumme, Belak and Kaberle. Scroing spread out and evenly shared among a few guys who need to feel the touch again.

Eric Duhatschek ran a nice piece today on Reichel, the best piece I have seen on him ever actually. He talks about a serious knee injury he played on in the playoffs, after which I was quick to write him off. Seems he was playing scared and weak, and that showed up in his play. Fact is, his line, with Domi and Hoglund has been the most consisten line on the Leafs since November. It's as if tinkering with that line brings on misfortune, so they've stayed together. Reichel isn't putting up huge numbers this year, but they have been a solid two way line and key to the Leafs' success in many ways.

So onward. I'm looking forward to Saturday, when Daryll Sittler finally gets his recognition. He is the first player from my lifetime to have a number honoured. It'll be a great night.


Posted 9:57 PM by Chris |

Ach. I've been falling behind lately with work and so on. I did catch the flat loss to Colorado, a game that seemed to lack any spark whatsoever. But since then the week has unfolded rather better with a 3-2 win over Carolina in the first meeting of four this season and a 5-2 drubbing of Atlanta.

So we're back in the saddle. Thoughts now turn to what might happen after the All Star game. We all get a break and Sundin gets a chance to heal. And as the NHL gathers together with very little distracting the managers, talk turns to acquiring some help up front, maybe in the person of Alexi Kovalev, which would not be a bad move at all.

I'll blog the Atlanta game, skip the All Star "showcase" and get back to work with the remainder of the sun belt tour. Roberts will be back soon, and with everyone else rested and hopefully recovered, the Leafs can resume by padding their five point lead on Montreal, keeping us in the hunt for the traditional fourth or fifth playoff spot. I doubt Ottawa is going to fold so easily this year. Looks like they'll be hanging on to first place for the duration.

Posted 12:37 AM by Chris |