My Hockey Boner Is Almost Gone. I'm Becoming Hockey Impotent.

I've kinda decided not to do game recap posts until the team gets its head out of its ass. Call it a cop out if you wish, but I don't know what the merit is in going over the same problems that continue to sink the team. In my mind, its blatantly obvious that the current cast isn't capable of playing to the high level needed to do any real damage. Until that changes - that is, until the team makes changes - I'll keep posting about the ups and downs of the team with the knowledge that the Leafs are not capable of achieving anything more than making the playoffs.

With that in mind, here are my random game notes. Slightly different than you're used to - these are word-for-word reproductions of the notes I took while watching the game last night:

- Andy Wozniewski: you get back in the lineup and you respond by taking two bad penalties, one of which resulted in the Rangers' 3rd goal. Tell me this - why the fuck wouldn't Paul Maurice put Anton Stralman back in? You've shown nothing but minor league talent since you've been plucked from the minors.

- Another backup goalie. Another loss.

- I love the fire shown by Nik Antropov when he lost his cool on the bench. Love it. He missed a decent scoring chance - not a spectacular chance by any means - and let himself have it by breaking his stick in frustration soon after. This is more intensity than I've seen from Nik since he joined the Leafs. What this tells me is that Nik expects himself to perform to the level of the 'new' Antropov, and when he doesn't, he ain't happy. And I really, really fucking like that.

- I am fed up with play-by-play men using the "there was no chance for _____ (insert goalie name here) on that play" line when there clearly was a chance to save the puck. It's so overused it might as well be the "I'm not fat, I'm big boned" excuse. The goaltender has a chance on every single puck fired at him - the fact that the puck may have been tipped, or the shot screened, or the scoring chance phenomenal means not that the goalie had no chance - it means his chance to save it was lessened. Not fully taken away.

- Sort of related to the above point - why isn't Andrew Raycroft making himself big on shots that he cannot see? When a 'tender can't see a shot coming at him, the prevailing wisdom amongst goalies is that the best way to save the shot is to spread himself out and cover as much of the net as possible. It's called making yourself big. Raycroft doesn't do it. He goes into the same butterfly crouch that he does on every shot, and the result is generally pretty bad. Did he miss that day in goalie school?

- Another Saturday night humiliation in front of a national audience. This is great news for the change-is-needed-now trade front.

- Raycroft actually looked pretty good on the Rangers' series of 5-on-3's in the second period. But I don't want anyone to forget that he is the reason the team was so frustrated that they took so many penalties. Let's not feel sorry for him. I am so fucking sick of the look Raycroft gives when he lets in a goal - one of these "I can't believe that just went in" looks. Andy, you're just about the laziest goalie ever. If you're so surprised when every goal goes in, why the shit don't you just put a little more effort into the save?

- This is the first game I've ever seen Mats Sundin dog it. But goddam it, he half-assed it. At some point, he has to think to himself: what the fuck am I doing here? Why not let them trade me to a team that might actually win something before the Earth crashes into the sun.

- Kyle Wellwood is absolutely lost this season when not on the powerplay. He's not just lost - he's useless.