Wednesday, March 29, 2006

An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in mystery....

By The Meatriarchy

That is the play of the Leafs lately. Defeating powerhouse teams like Carolina and Philadelphia as well as long time rival New Jersey with outstanding performances. At the same time throwing away four points against Montreal in the same 7 day period.

Makes you scratch your head.

Last night's game was again one of the better games they have played all year. This one without most of JFJ's key acquisitions: Lindros, Allison, and Khavanov.

Again JS Aubin proves that he is a goalie that can potentially steal a game for you. He looked outstanding in the third period and made some tremendous saves. I would play this guy till the season ends save for back-to-back games.

Oh and the appearance of Aubin should silence one type of caller that has lately become a fixture on the local sports shows. The "hey the Leafs don't have ANY French Canadians on the team or in the minors, what's up with that eh?" caller. The funny thing about that particular one is that none of the sports radio.bots bother to correct him by pointing to Aubin, Racine and Domenic D'Amour I guess three French Canadians doesn't count.

Of course the Senators did the Leafs no favours by allowing Jersey to beat them in a shootout on home ice. Way to send a message to a team you might be facing (the Devils that is) in the first round guys.

I have to say that in his post game press conference Quinn looked as happy as I have seen him all year. Perhaps because he has finally found a goalie that can make some clutch saves? Certainly he hasn't gotten that from Belfour or Tellqvist this season.

Or could it be that without Allison in the line up the team actually looked much faster?

One player that has played tremendously the past two games has been Ian White. I have been a big fan of this guy from the beginning and hope he continues to prove that he has the stuff to play at this level. He certainly gives the Leafs another offensive option from the blueline which up until now has dropped off pretty steeply after McCabe and Kaberle. Quinn certainly has confidence in him - he gave him over 18 minutes of ice time last night. That's more than Belak, Berg and Richardson had.
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23 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/29/2006 9:03 a.m.

    It never ceases to amaze me how Leaf fans can be so pleased with a win against teams that have things locked up and then act amazed other teams on the bubble might be playing hard too.

    Anyhow, the good news for the Sens is that Emery was simply outstanding last night, Heater got goals against a great goalie, and they got a point coming from behind against one of the teams that protects a lead best. What a game.

    Oh yeah, and that there's no shootout in the playoffs.

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  2. Anonymous3/29/2006 9:45 a.m.

    Life is just cruel. Leafs fans are getting teased to a slow and painful death.

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  3. Anonymous3/29/2006 9:48 a.m.

    Let's see... the Sens take the Devils to the shootout in a game that is (1) not that important to them...and (2) without Hasak, Chara, Havlat, Volchenkov, Fisher, Phillips for most of the game, and Redden hobbling around. What I saw from this game was an excellent example of the Sens depth.
    A quick aside..I've heard no comments here about that magical Kovalev hit on Tucker...was I the only one who appreciated that...Tucker beaten at his own game that is...

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  4. Anonymous3/29/2006 9:55 a.m.

    Meatriarchy says No shootout in the playoffs. Remember that all you Sens fans

    TSN says [...] the Senators lost their sixth straight shootouts and Ottawa shooters have gone 16 attempts without scoring

    woo hoo! no shootout in the playoffs!

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  5. Anonymous3/29/2006 10:04 a.m.

    I might also add that last night, in addition to showing the grit and depth with so many starters on the mend, the Sens showed something that crippled their previous runs at the Cup: the ability to come back when behind. Last season (ignoring the extra long holiday), the Sens would lose many of the games that saw them down by one goal. If the other team scored first, you could put money down that the Sens wouldn't be winning the game. The defensive-first strategy they enacted killed them. "better to not let the other team score a SECOND and wait for a penalty than to get offensive"

    This year, and highlighted last night, the Sens came back in the 3rd period by TWO goals - one in the last 30 seconds. I also recall the game last (?) week where Alfie scored the winner with 5s left. This is a whole new team.

    As for Jersey getting beaten by the Leafs - yah, it happens. You're battling hard against a number of teams to get a playoff spot - you get tired. You come up against a crap team and decide to rest. I know that doesn't kill the "Leafs beat Devils, Devils beat Sens, therefore Leafs better than Sens" equation, but some more math is required there.

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  6. Anonymous3/29/2006 6:38 p.m.

    Thanks for the reminder Meat.No shootout in the playoffs....No Sundin in the playoffs...no Tucker,no Domi..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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  7. Anonymous3/29/2006 8:14 p.m.

    Maybe Toronto can win the "Hockeyville" contest and get to see a real NHL team play in their city.

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  8. mike3/30/2006 3:48 p.m.

    Someone please explain what happened at the stroke of midnight, March 25, in the year of Dog, 2006?

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  9. Anonymous3/30/2006 7:41 p.m.

    Certain mouthbreathing types who think Philly has or had nothing to play for aren't paying attention to the standings. Probably too busy checking medical journals to see what that new affliction another member of their Unstoppable Juggernaut Team of Destiny has come down with actually means.

    Count Choculitis? WTF?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous3/31/2006 10:57 a.m.

    While the Flyers haven't officially clinched a spot yet, they've done everything but. With 90 pts vs the 76 pts of Atlanta and 10 games remaining, they could play .000 hockey and Atlanta would need to play .700 hockey to bump them out. New Jersey's already in the mix, so division doesn't really come into it. My math might be wrong I guess -- wouldn't be the first time.

    And I think the injuries are really just a ploy to get some of Murray's key guys rested for the playoffs and see which of the young crew are viable replacements come the big games. As it turns out, they almost all are.

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  11. Anonymous3/31/2006 5:11 p.m.

    Someone mentioned the magical Kovalev hit on Tucker?

    Here's the video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khywEqMgtUI&search=canadiens

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  12. Paul3/31/2006 6:28 p.m.

    Life is just cruel. Leafs fans are getting teased to a slow and painful death.

    Only for the last FORTY years or so. What makes it so fun is their boundless enthusiasm for their team at the start of every season. Kinda like an Odie-and-Garfield thing.

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  13. Jameso3/31/2006 7:40 p.m.

    paul- you can be a fan, or you can be unenthusiastic about your team. Can't have it both ways, no matter how good or bad the team might be.

    I'm starting to understand why Ottawa always has at least one sports team on the verge of bankruptcy.

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  14. Anonymous3/31/2006 8:19 p.m.

    And I'm starting to understand why so many people shoot each other in Toronto.

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  15. Anonymous3/31/2006 8:34 p.m.

    I was kinda talking about Philly's very real opportunity to beat either the Rangers or Buffalo for a division win and/or some decidedly useful playoff home-ice advantage.

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  16. Anonymous3/31/2006 8:37 p.m.

    Ok on the NYR I guess, but last I checked Buffalo's in a different division.

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  17. Anonymous3/31/2006 8:59 p.m.

    If Philly has more points than Buffalo but fewer than the Rangers, they get seeded fourth and have home-ice advantage.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous3/31/2006 9:06 p.m.

    Yeah, ok I got ya. I guess I just don't see the big deal of 4th vs. 5th especially compared to all those teams on the bubble in the EC right now.

    Especially coming from Ottawa, where we've had bad experiences with home-ice advantage.

    But hey, if the players do then great.

    Ok, it's time to go punish my liver again. :)

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  19. Jameso4/01/2006 3:59 a.m.

    "And I'm starting to understand why so many people shoot each other in Toronto."
    Is that some kind of passive-aggressive threat? What is that?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous4/01/2006 11:01 a.m.

    I don't make passive-aggressive threats. I only make aggressive-agressive threats. And it's neither. Now ease up on the dollar-store psychology please.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jameso4/01/2006 1:29 p.m.

    I still don't get what it means, though.

    Anything? At all?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jameso4/02/2006 7:28 a.m.

    Hurrah! Another potentially worthless win! A thorough ass-kicking that may not matter! And the schadenfruede of having Ottawa lose to Washington.
    Someone please tell me the wire services haven't been playing an April Fool's prank on me.

    ReplyDelete
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