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“Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200″. We’ve all pulled that card in Monopoly. Now though, the NHL should be seriously thinking about implementing a similar policy to send teams like the Leafs directly to the bottom of the league after they show an effort as pathetic as the one we’ve just witnessed.

The good news for Leafs nation though is that on Tuesday night the Toronto Maple Leafs finally hit rock bottom! That means that although it doesn’t necessarily have to get any better, it can’t get any worse!

Tuesday’s game at the ACC saw the Leafs play what was almost certainly their worst game of the season, losing a whopping 8-0 to the Florida Panthers. That’s ok though because the Panthers are a strong playoff team, right? Nope. The Panthers are 12th in the East, four places out of the playoffs, and 24th out of 30 in the league.

You’ve got to hand it to the Leafs though, it takes a special group of players to (more…)

Some Maple Leafs showed on Thursday night that they, and Coach Paul Maurice, are literally, true blue losers. After a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, multiple Leafs, including Coach Maurice, made comments in their press conferences either directly or indirectly blaming the refs for the loss. Doing so they showed that they have one of the biggest marks of a bunch of losers, focusing on externalities and shifting blame instead of focusing on what they did wrong and how they could’ve done things better to win that game.

Maurice stated, “You know, there’s a good story here. There was a high-stick goal [by Carolina that counted]. Blake’s puck was in the net [on a disallowed play that went to video review in the third period], and there was a lousy call on Antropov. But, that’s my judgement. That’s the way I feel, it’s the way my hockey players feel, and it’s what the [TV] camera looked like.”
He also added, (more…)

The Leafs lost their second in a row Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues, setting up what should most likely be a four game losing streak with a possibility for up to six losses in a row! Grab some popcorn and settle in, these loses should prove to be quite entertaining.

The Leafs put up an impressively awful showing allowing three goals on only 19 shots in the 3-2 loss to the Blues. Vesa Toskala looked like the career backup he is, letting in what would turn out to be the game winner on a tap in because apparently in San Jose they never taught him how to cover the puck after a save. It would have been two awful goals if not for Nik Antropov, who was able to (more…)

While the skills competition on Saturday was one of the more boring I’ve seen, iced by a deke competition in which no one could actually find the mesh, the All-Star game itself was actually surprisingly entertaining. The 8-7 win for the Eastern Conference All-Stars was a perfect example of what you want to see in this type of game; fast pace, lots of scoring, great moves, great saves and all around entertaining play.

In the first period it looked like the East was the totally dominant side, as it turns out though that was only because Tim Thomas hadn’t had his chance to step into the net. When Thomas hit the ice in the third, it was like a whole new Western Conference team. They lit him up in quick order, but in the end Thomas held on for the win.

It was almost unfortunate to see Marc Savard net that game winning goal witth 21 seconds left on the clock. I was really hoping to see some 4-on-4 play and maybe even a shootout. In the end though it was hard to be disappointed with any aspect of that game…except one. Tomas Kaberle.

The night before this game, Kaberle put on a show in (more…)

The Leafs ended their three game winning streak tonight with a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. The loss marked the birth of the Leafs next losing streak which should be at least a three gamer including tonight’s loss and the upcoming home and home series against Alexander Ovechkin.

One notable story tonight was that Andrew Raycroft played in a game where there wasn’t much he could have done to prevent the loss. Normally Raycroft is one of the main contributors to the losses, stinking up the crease area in almost every game he plays. Tonight though (more…)

The Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 5-4 win tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes, marking the first time in two weeks the team has been able to put a tick up in the win column. The win ended a 5 game losing streak and all it took for the Leafs to pull one out was for their opposition to be fighting the plague. Well, not the plague, but a flu bug that had been going through the team causing many players to be ill to the point of not being able to practice.

The Leafs netted 5 goals against goalies Michael Leighton and Cam Ward. Kaberle, Kilger, Stajan, Ponikarovsky and Ian White were the goal scorers, although Stajan’s goal should’ve been credited to the boards behind the net, as they bounced a missed point shot straight back out and off of Leighton into the net. Ian White’s goal was equally flukey with the puck appearing to ricochet off multiple skates before finding it’s way into the goal. Regardless though, the team did put up 5 goals, and that’s something to be proud of - even though three were scored against a backup goalie playing in front of a team battling malaria. (more…)

After Vesa Toskala’s weak performance againt the Ducks last night, Andrew Raycroft must have been worried that he was in danger of losing his backup job! He responded admirably by letting in 4 goals on 11 shots, further confirming his status as an absolute piece of trash. I could swear I saw him breathe a sigh of relief as he settled into his spot on the bench, happy to be back where he knows he belongs. Toskala went out and, compared to Raycroft, played like an all-star, but the damage was done.

On the offensive side of it, the Leafs managed to score two goals and it only took them 50 shots to get them. Credit the team for getting 50 shots on goal, but at the same time, they made Jason LaBarbera look like Patrick Roy. I’ll make the prediction now (remember you heard it here first). If management was watching this game, by the start of next season the Leafs will announce (more…)

“Just wait until Toskala comes back!”

How many times did we all hear that? It seems like the unenlightened were certain that the Leafs current troubles would turn around when Leafs goalie Jesus Chr…I mean Vesa Toskala returned from injury. Afterall, Toskala is the greatest thing since sliced bread and is without question a high calibre starting goalie! Right? Right? So what was the result of Vesa Christ’s triumphant return to the ice?

5-0 Ducks. What a bum.

But wait! I can hear it now. “Some of those goals weren’t his fault! You can’t just blame him!” Well for the record, blame is to be shared with the entire team. However, it’s delicious to revel in the disappointment of the Leafs faithful at the utter failure of their Messianic ‘tender. The guy let in 5 goals on 24 freaking shots. THAT is the big off season solution to last year goaltending woes? This bum?

It’s amazing that after acquiring one completely unproven goaltender and watching him fail, the Leafs management decided the best way to remedy the situation was (more…)