(Side note: about half of the Leafs' games thusfar have been against the opposing team's back-up. When they start seeing first string goalies, is this season going to get worse? Fuck, can it get worse?)
The understatement of the season is that the game had a strange ending. My summary of the shift that led up to the game-winning goal 19:32 of the third period:
Ian White carries the puck into the Florida zone, and is blatantly hit from behind by Jozef Stumpel. No penalty is called. Seeing the non-call, White stands up to give Stumpel a couple of gloved punches to the kisser, and then goes as far as to drop his gloves and grab Stumpel. Somehow, no penalties are called here either. As the cameras get away from the argey bargey, they immediately show Jay Bouwmeester on a partial breakaway against Vesa Toskala. Bouwmeester makes a nifty move, deking to his forehand and sliding the puck under Toskala's stick...except Vesa gets just enough to keep the puck out. The save is really fucking fantastic. Like, risk-having-29-simultaneous-orgasms-if-you-watch-the-replay fantastic. The Leafs bring the puck back into Florida's zone and Nik Antropov slams home a rebound to win the game.
Two uncalled penalties and one insane save on the same shift allowed the Leafs to win. Those penalties are called 99 times out of 100, and Bouwmeester scores 9 times out of 10 on that play. If I were gay, I'd say the stars aligned for the Leafs last night.
Random Game Notes:
- A small but impressive move by Paul Maurice: he switched his defensive pairings, putting Ian White and Pavel Kubina - offensive d-men who don't normally play together - on the ice for a shift immediately after the Leafs had a pressure-filled powerplay. By doing this, Maurice kept the great momentum from the powerplay going while getting a line change.
- Nearing the end of the second period, the Leafs kept an incredible forecheck going in the Panthers' zone for more than a couple of minutes. It began with a powerplay, and continued when a Panthers player lost his stick, effectively lengthening the powerplay. They didn't score, but that type of pressure creates scoring chances and draws penalties like nobody's business.
- A theory on why Vesa Toskala has looked so good for the Leafs thusfar, despite posting terrible numbers: his rebound control is terrible. Vesa will make the initial save, but give up gigantic rebounds, the likes of which the Leafs' defense is ill-equipped to handle. It seems his sub-par rebound control, in addition to the Leafs' sub-par defensive zone coverage may be leading to inflated statistics.
On Bryan McCabe:
Certainly a better game. He scored a goal - on the other net for a change. The fans didn't boo him. His defensive coverage was better (although still not Chris Pronger-esque). Paul Maurice had him back on the #1 powerplay unit. Life was good for Bryan last night. I for one certainly hope he continues to improve his play like he did last night.
I did notice something odd that I feel is worth mentioning here. I really think that there was an agenda - both by Paul Maurice and the LeafsTV team - to help McCabe out of his slump via public perception. It may just be me that noticed this - and I guarantee that the average meathead Leafs fan didn't notice - but I believe something was up.
A couple of the many examples:
[Maurice] As mentioned above, Bryan was back on the #1 powerplay unit to start the game. Had he been inserted halfway through the game, I would take no issue with this. But after arguably his worst professional game of hockey wherein he was demoted to 2nd unit status, what is the coach's reason to switch him back to his previous role? Certainly not his performance. Methinks coach Maurice tried to get fan confidence back in Bryan by feigning confidence of his own.
[LeafsTV] Maybe they were instructed to stay positive with Bryan and mention only his better plays, but when Greg Millen remarked "Good play by McCabe" when he softly wristed the puck toward the net on a powerplay, he really jumped the shark. There is one thing that nobody can ever take away from Bryan McCabe - he has a fucking incredible slapshot from the point. One might even say that his whole contract can be attributed to his slapshot. One might go even further and say that the team is paying 5.75 million a year for a slapshot. So, when McCabe wrists the puck at the net instead of using his weapon, it's an average play at best. I really think Millen was overcompensating and trying to get the public off McCabe's back.
Rosie DiManno, you ignorant slut: Keeping with McCabe (kinda), there was an especially shitty article in The Star today. DiManno opens with the (depressing) story of Bruce Gardner, a potential superstar baseball player that committed suicide because he failed to reach his athletic potential. Then, she goes on to mention Donnie Moore and Willard Hershberger, major league baseball players that also killed themselves. Why did Rosie put these athletes' names - including graphic details of their suicides - on newsprint? As a lame fucking introduction to her lame fucking article about famous fuck-ups in sport. This is how she tied in the deaths of athletes to the McCabe situation:
"Some people, even hard-nosed professional athletes, take these things tragically to heart. Just something to think about, next time a feral crowd is baying for McCabe's head."
Jesus Fucking Christ Rosie. have some fucking decency - you just brought up the tragic deaths of three men in order to call for a little leniency for Bryan McCabe. The situations are so astonishingly different I can't even fathom how you had the gall to make that comparison. Rosie DiManno, you deserve to have something bad happen to you today - you know, other than the whole face-like-a-dishrag thing you have going on.
And one more thing: Munsoning the national anthem never goes out of style:
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