The Leafs are Done

Random thoughts from last night's game:

Jussi Jokinen’s goal was terrible on the part of Gustavsson. I know it was tipped by Franzen but still, ew. Brutal angle.

Granted, the second goal (by former Leaf Tim Brent) looked like it went off the Liles’ stick, but getting beaten high on the short side when you’re 6’3” is ridiculous. Liles should be closer to the shooter, especially when his goalie is a mess, but Gustavsson needs to come out a little further from the net, cover the angle, and trust his massive frame to do most of the work. Who is teaching this guy his technique?

The third goal was outright embarrassing. I would’ve yanked Gustavsson too, and Carlyle looked like he wanted to fight him. The players have zero faith in their goalie. When all your teammates throw their heads back after every goal, you’re finished. Maybe Gustavsson will wind up being a reliable NHL goalie, even if it’s as a backup for 15-25 games per season, but it can’t/won’t be in Toronto.

Cam Ward is good. The Leafs had good traffic around the net on a lot of their shots and Ward used sound positioning and great reflexes to shut them down. I believe the Leafs are a playoff team if he’s between their pipes for 60+ games.

Phil Kessel had zero shots on net in over 20 minutes of ice time. He misses Joffrey Lupul, and needs a top-line centre to play with.

Grabovski was on for all three goals against. I’ve already established that Gustavsson was largely to blame for them, and that Cam Ward was stellar on the other end, but c’mon. Mind you, he did have 5 shots on net of his own, and he won 8/13 face-offs. ***Side note, according to advanced research present at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, 100 net face off wins is the equivalent of 1 goal, statistically speaking. I don’t think Dave Steckel and his 12 points and -13 rating need to be on the ice for 15 minutes per game.***

The Leafs had $7.5million sitting in the stands, healthy, last night, in Colby Armstrong ($3million/year) and Mike Komisarek ($4.5million/year).

Mike Brown had some wheels and a solid game in his return. I find myself cheering hard for him. I hope someone told Colby Armstrong to pay attention to Brown’s game from the press box. And I hope somebody told Mike Komisarek to save his money for 2014, when he’ll likely be out of the league entirely.

Nazem Kadri has played 29 and 21 games in the last two seasons, respectively. Can someone please teach Leaf management how to develop a player? They bring in Schenn immediately, throw him to the wolves, clearly see that he’s struggling developmentally and instead of giving him some time in the AHL to work on his defensive zone positioning, neutral zone timing, confidence, first pass, hit selection, etc… they leave him in the NHL to fall to pieces. Kadri, who has elite talent, needed time to bulk up and improve defensively, but the speed and skill and offensive decision-making are already there. I understand giving him one year in the AHL to transition to the new body and get used to the speed of the game on defense, but this is absurd. Let's see what he's got.

Fire Brian Burke and bring someone with a fresh perspective. Four years after the re-build began, the Leafs need to re-build again. What is the foundation of this team? No goalie, no backbone on the blue line, no top-notch centre, no future star(s) in the minors. The Leafs are the Golden State Warriors of the NHL--a fan base that is supportive as any other, but management that has consistently made bone-headed, short-sighted, uninformed decisions.

I really hope that the Sabres make the playoffs, and that my Uncle Fred decides to take me to a postseason game. I’ve forgotten what they’re like.