The game ended up being fairly exciting. The Leafs made it interesting and there was no shortage of end-to-end action, especially in the third. I have no idea why David Backes' game-winning goal counted, and Mats Sundin's near goal in the last minute didn't. Aren't they the exact same play? Moreover, wasn't the whistle blown much later on Backes' goal?
Random Game Notes:
- Carlo Colaiacovo returned from injury again last night to play just under 15 minutes. He had been out a month with a sore vagina.
- Cliff Fletcher has hired ex-Phoenix Coyotes scout Pat Conacher for the rest of the season.
- 16 NHL teams had scouts at the Air Canada Centre last night.
- Dom Moore has looked pretty good in the Leafs' lineup. He fits right in and does his job as well as anyone. The problem with that is Moore has been waived by about half the teams in the league. That is, he hasn't been good enough to keep his job elsewhere. But in Toronto he looks right at home. This should be a good indication for those typical Leafs fans still holding onto playoff aspirations that the Leafs are in no shape to do anything other than rebuild.
Just a thought...
I hate Andrew Raycroft's goaltending as much as the next guy. Probably more. But playing Raycroft every other or every third game for the rest of the season will virtually guarantee the Leafs a top 5 draft choice. Can anyone tell me why that's a bad idea? After so many years of not winning, why can fans not deal with a couple of months of losing? It's actually the best thing for the team.
The Good News:
Cliff Fletcher is getting ready to dismantle the Leafs. Paraphrasing David Shoalts' article, Fletcher said the team is making a plan (to sell at the trading deadline) and that will change only if the Leafs' play improves dramatically.
Not that this is a surprise to me, but isn't it refreshing to hear a MLSE executive let the fan base know of his plans? And isn't it refreshing-and-a-half for those plans to be reasonable (for once)?
Finally, we aren't talking about trading away our upcoming 1st round pick for some aged veteran so as to sneak into the playoffs. No, we won't see an Owen Nolan or a Brian Leetch this year. Fletch is making plans to draft and develop such talent, rather than rent it when it's far past its 'best by' date.
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1 comment:
Eklund says that he is following a huge rumour that involves the Leafs sending Antropov, McCabe, and Raycroft in one package to a Western Conference team.
He does not say who, but it must be a team that is in need of a backup goalie, and has a lot of open cap space. Thats about $10 mil for those 3 guys right there.
I largely predict the San Jose Sharks, who are already rumoured to want Raycroft as their backup. Their defense is horrible, and they have approx $10 mil of cap space available. Hopefully we get back a Milan Michalek or a Matt Carle if this trade actually goes down.
PS. Fletcher to talk to Sundin this week about his future with the Leafs and waiving his NTC(Howard Berger of HockeyBuzz.com)
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