 |
| |
|
 |
 |
Languishing Leafs Toronto's talent isn't translating into victoriesPosted: Thursday October 24, 2002 12:09 PM
There are few things in hockey as exciting as playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are few things in hockey as miserable as playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs during a tough stretch. After a 6-0 win on opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Leafs have gone 1-5-1 and are in last place in the NHL's Northeast Division with only five points in eight games. A 2-5-1 record isn't so good anywhere, but in hockey-mad Toronto, it's especially troublesome. And a 1-4 record at the Air Canada Centre is even more maddening. The home team was booed throughout the third period of Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Panthers, the Leafs' second consecutive loss by that score. The most knowledgable fans in the league are fed up with their team's defensive breakdowns and inconsistent offense. Though they are loyal and passionate to the end, Toronto fans aren't afraid to skewer their team when it plays bad hockey. And they've seen some bad hockey lately. Pat Quinn was asked repeatedly in the offseason if he planned to continue as both head coach and general manager. Many people attributed his stress level and heart problems during the playoffs to doing double duty while being constantly under the microscope in Toronto. Quinn has lost nearly 75 pounds and changed his lifestyle drastically over the summer. He wants to do both jobs, and is capable of doing so. Even though the Leafs had a quiet offseason and were unable to sign Bill Guerin, Tony Amonte or any top-flight free agents, the talent is still there to compete for the Stanley Cup. Quinn remains one of the best and most innovative head coaches in the game, and Toronto's freewheeling style would seem perfectly suited to the new crackdown on obstruction. But the Leafs have netted just 12 even-strength goals in eight games. Some of the prettiest plays of the young season have come courtesy of Toronto's power-play unit. The Leafs' power play has converted 22.9 percent of the time (11 of 48) and ranks in the league's upper third, but Toronto is just 1-for-16 in its past three games. The precision passing and surprising instant chemistry between Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker and Alexander Mogilny has resulted in seven power-play goals from that trio. Sundin and Mogilny have become especially adept at the cross-crease pass to the other teammate, who usually is wide open on the back door. Though they have been good offensively, this new No. 1 line is now minus-8 and could be broken up soon due to its defensive lapses. The Leafs' problems have been a soft defense and suspect goaltending. Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour are going to be compared often throughout this season, and so far CuJo holds the advantage, if only because of his 3-2-1 record, compared with Belfour's 1-2-1 mark. But the Eagle has posted an excellent 2.21 goals-against average and an impressive .924 save percentage. Belfour looked out of sorts last season, and he hasn't totally found his game in his new setting. Since the 6-0 shutout win in his debut with the Leafs, Belfour has allowed nine goals in the past three games. And Trevor Kidd went just 1-3 with a 3.80 GAA and a .870 save percentage in Belfour's injury absence. Toronto's blue-line corps is loaded with offensive-minded players like Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, Robert Svehla and Karel Pilar, but banger Wade Belak has played just one game this season and the physical Cory Cross wasn't re-signed in the offseason. Veteran winger Gary Roberts is out until February after having shoulder surgery, but no one could've imagined that his leadership, physical play and forechecking would've been missed this much. The Leafs have the talent, especially offensively, to contend in the East. There is a playoff team in there somewhere. For the sake of fans of exciting hockey, please come out and play soon. Rumor millThe St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday that the Lightning are interested in holdout Bruins defenseman Kyle McLaren. Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell and Lightning general manager Jay Feaster have had preliminary talks, but nothing is close to getting done. McLaren has been sitting out after rejecting Boston's qualifying offer of $1.755 million, the same salary he had last year. While the 25-year-old McLaren has been a bit of an underachiever in his seven-year career, he still has his best hockey ahead of him. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound McLaren would make an excellent stay-at-home defensive partner for offensive defenseman Dan Boyle, who now has nine points in six games. ... Canadiens right wing Donald Audette is on the trading block again. He has already been traded four times in his 13-year career, and his lack of offense (zero points in six games, minus-5) combined with his poor defense have seemingly worn out his welcome in his hometown of Montreal. ... Disgruntled Flames center Marc Savard could be headed to Chicago or St. Louis. ... Ottawa is in the running to play host to the NHL All-Star Game and NHL Entry Draft in the next several years. The Sens hosted a contingent of NHL league reps this week and could get the All-Star Game as early as 2005. ... While St. Louis has been an oft-mentioned destination for Byron Dafoe, the Blues could opt to trade for Habs backup Jeff Hackett. His recent hot play has boosted his stock and may make his $4 million salary a bit easier to swallow. ... The Ottawa Sun reported that John Muckler was in New York for a scouting trip this week, fueling speculation that a deal with the Rangers could be swung soon. Muckler has always been fond of Rangers tough-guy left winger Matthew Barnaby, and the Sens could offer ace-checking left wing Magnus Arvedson. New York has been missing a speedy, forechecking forward since dealing Manny Malhotra to the Stars last year at the trade deadline. Worth notingMario Lemieux won the NHL's player of the week award for the 24th time in his career Monday. And after recording three assists in Tuesday's 3-3 tie with the Habs, Super Mario now has 25 goals and 35 assists in 37 career games in his hometown of Montreal. ... Penguins center Martin Straka hopes to return on Nov. 6 and has started skating with the team. ... Markus Naslund's hat trick in Monday's 5-2 win over the Sharks broke the Canucks' record for the quickest in team history. Naslund scored his three goals in 6:41 to eclipse Tony Tanti's 14-year-old record of 6:46 by five seconds. ... Blackhawks head coach Brian Sutter told the Chicago Sun-Times that he expects Theo Fleury to resume skating in 10 to14 days. ... Kings defenseman Aaron Miller has started skating again and plans to return on Nov. 13. He has been out since the beginning of camp following abdominal surgery. ... Stars center Kirk Muller played in his 1,300th game on Monday against the Capitals to become the 30th player to hit that plateau. ... Brett Hull got his 1,250th career point by assisting on Pavel Datsyuk's goal in the second period on Wednesday. ... Cliff Ronning recorded his 800th career point with an assist on a power-play goal in the first period of Minnesota's 4-3 win over Calgary. ... On the attendance front, the Avalanche had their 350th consecutive sellout on Tuesday, while the Sabres had just 10,140 in attendance at HSBC Arena, only 24 people more than the franchise's all-time low. ... Coyotes right wing Tony Amonte's streak of 416 consecutive games played could be in jeopardy due to a painful big toe on his left foot. Meanwhile, Predators center Greg Johnson had his 251-game streak end Tuesday, when he sat out Nashville's game against Phoenix due to a concussion. ... Boston's Robbie Ftorek became the 49th coach in history to win 200 games with a 4-1 win Monday against Toronto. ... Nineteen of the 30 NHL team captains are Canadian. ... The Red Wings have scored two short-handed goals in one period twice this season. ... There are eight more Canadian players in the league this season (383 vs. 375 in 2001-02); three fewer European-born players (238 vs. 241 in 2001-02) and eight fewer American-born players (93 vs. 101 in 2001-02). ... The NHL has the most diverse group of athletes in pro sports, with players from 23 countries, up from 21 last year. ... The average weight of an NHL player this season is 204.1 pounds, the heaviest ever and 3.9 pounds more than last year. The average age also increased, going from 27.5 to 28.1. The average height remained 6-foot-1 for the eighth year in a row. Washington is the biggest team, with an average weight of 212 pounds, while Minnesota is the smallest, with its players averaging just 193 pounds. Chicago has the oldest team, with an average age of 30.8 years, while Florida's green roster checks in with an average of only 25 years. Shameless plugWhile Total Hockey is the statistical bible every true hockey fan needs to have in their library, a new title has joined the ranks of coffee table books about hockey. Kings of the Ice from Ontario-based NDE Publishing is a comprehensive look at hockey from more than just the North American perspective. Focusing on more than 500 top players from the U.S., Canada, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Slovakia, Kings is perhaps the most authoritative hockey book that includes world hockey in addition to NHL stats and essays. But at 1,024 pages, it isn't exactly portable. The photographs are spectacular, and the player bios by the multinational group of authors are informative and concise. With a retail price of $54.95, Kings would make a good Christmas present, but don't expect Santa to be able to stuff this bulky book in your stocking. The book comes with a demo version of the companion CD-ROM, the full version of which is sold separately. Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Jon? Click here. |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
