Clearly a 12 game report is better than the 10 game report that was vaguely promised... 12 is more than ten and more is better right... that's what the sales person at Jack in the Box told me anyway.
Pretty safe to call the Leafs season a success so far, sure they won some games that they probably didn't deserve to, but that's why we have Reimer and Bernier. When you have goaltending a lot of little mistakes get covered... when these mistakes are not covered the team mentality can become fragile (see Raycroft and Toskala years).
Clearly all aspects of the Leafs game is superior in this resurgent period, with the key aspect being the penalty killing. Now for a good PK team, i would say the Leafs have been playing a little soft this year compared to last year, but keep in mind that some of the key hitters have been absent in this early stretch. Nikolai Kulemin (ankle), David Clarkson (suspension), Frazer McLaren (finger) and Mark Fraser (lower body) all missed a lit of time in these first 12 games, and all of these men don't take a pass on hitting a body when they get a chance. I would hope to see a more infectious hitting streak as these guys make it back in the lineup which should help with increased offensive zone time.
If the PK can stay sharp we can hope to see some more physical intimidation out of the Leafs, as they should be able to afford to take a few penalties here and there. As the announcer said in the game the other night when Dave Bolland took a cross checking penalty... "Well Bolland got his pound of flesh on that one". It's the old school mentality of hockey... why take a silly little interference penalty when you can flatten a guy. Now I'm not condoning going out and taking cheap shots on peoples heads but you can make it difficult and "hard" as they say, to play against. That said, i like the fact that the defensive play has been getting better in a number of areas on the result of smarter hockey and not necessarily rougher hockey. That way you can layer the rougher play on top of the smarter play and you should be going somewhere. I would expect this type of evolution in the next period of games.
Not bad, leafs are tied for the lead in the Eastern Confrence with 16 points (8-4-0), and are showing once again that they can score with the best. The big difference is that they seem to be able to keep the puck out of their net at a pretty good rate as well. They are tied for 2nd in goals scored, and tied for 8th in goals against... these are good numbers.
Another key stat is the number of call ups from the farm team that have come in and played reasonably in various roles. This is good for a number of reasons... team depth, gaining experience and it alludes to competent team systems. Clearly the team , so far, has been able to insert players into the lineup, give those players roles that they can handle and be successful. This was a mere pipe dream a few years ago under the run and gun offense coupled with the rodeo circus of a defensive system that was inbred into the team.
Team captain Dion Phaneuf, it has been noted, has been playing very well lately. I believe this is much in part to do with the team systems tightening up, so that his game becomes easier to play. I mean not to discredit the player for his hard work but rather point out that when your team is playing together you have to do less and get to do more. For example, in the past there were times when the Leafs looked totally lost in their own end and then a defense man is out of position and a goal goes in and he takes the blame... but why was he out of position? Did numerous people lose their assignments? It could also be that often times now when a shot comes in on goal the goalie grabs it and the play is dead, rather than a rebound producing a scramble leading to a circus rodeo and then more chances for players to look bad.
Now let's call a spade a spade... the season is still early and there is plenty of time for catastrophe... we lifetime Leaf fans in our 40's know the drill. But hey, things really do seem to be different this year... I'm not predicting a parade but if we can stay healthy with respect to some key role players I can see this team finding even better form. For a team that is 8-4 and getting out shot most nights... almost all nights for that matter, I'll take it.
Pretty safe to call the Leafs season a success so far, sure they won some games that they probably didn't deserve to, but that's why we have Reimer and Bernier. When you have goaltending a lot of little mistakes get covered... when these mistakes are not covered the team mentality can become fragile (see Raycroft and Toskala years).
Clearly all aspects of the Leafs game is superior in this resurgent period, with the key aspect being the penalty killing. Now for a good PK team, i would say the Leafs have been playing a little soft this year compared to last year, but keep in mind that some of the key hitters have been absent in this early stretch. Nikolai Kulemin (ankle), David Clarkson (suspension), Frazer McLaren (finger) and Mark Fraser (lower body) all missed a lit of time in these first 12 games, and all of these men don't take a pass on hitting a body when they get a chance. I would hope to see a more infectious hitting streak as these guys make it back in the lineup which should help with increased offensive zone time.
If the PK can stay sharp we can hope to see some more physical intimidation out of the Leafs, as they should be able to afford to take a few penalties here and there. As the announcer said in the game the other night when Dave Bolland took a cross checking penalty... "Well Bolland got his pound of flesh on that one". It's the old school mentality of hockey... why take a silly little interference penalty when you can flatten a guy. Now I'm not condoning going out and taking cheap shots on peoples heads but you can make it difficult and "hard" as they say, to play against. That said, i like the fact that the defensive play has been getting better in a number of areas on the result of smarter hockey and not necessarily rougher hockey. That way you can layer the rougher play on top of the smarter play and you should be going somewhere. I would expect this type of evolution in the next period of games.
Not bad, leafs are tied for the lead in the Eastern Confrence with 16 points (8-4-0), and are showing once again that they can score with the best. The big difference is that they seem to be able to keep the puck out of their net at a pretty good rate as well. They are tied for 2nd in goals scored, and tied for 8th in goals against... these are good numbers.
Another key stat is the number of call ups from the farm team that have come in and played reasonably in various roles. This is good for a number of reasons... team depth, gaining experience and it alludes to competent team systems. Clearly the team , so far, has been able to insert players into the lineup, give those players roles that they can handle and be successful. This was a mere pipe dream a few years ago under the run and gun offense coupled with the rodeo circus of a defensive system that was inbred into the team.
Team captain Dion Phaneuf, it has been noted, has been playing very well lately. I believe this is much in part to do with the team systems tightening up, so that his game becomes easier to play. I mean not to discredit the player for his hard work but rather point out that when your team is playing together you have to do less and get to do more. For example, in the past there were times when the Leafs looked totally lost in their own end and then a defense man is out of position and a goal goes in and he takes the blame... but why was he out of position? Did numerous people lose their assignments? It could also be that often times now when a shot comes in on goal the goalie grabs it and the play is dead, rather than a rebound producing a scramble leading to a circus rodeo and then more chances for players to look bad.
Now let's call a spade a spade... the season is still early and there is plenty of time for catastrophe... we lifetime Leaf fans in our 40's know the drill. But hey, things really do seem to be different this year... I'm not predicting a parade but if we can stay healthy with respect to some key role players I can see this team finding even better form. For a team that is 8-4 and getting out shot most nights... almost all nights for that matter, I'll take it.
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