Enough is Enough.

*EDIT* Sorry for using the same picture as Mr. Bone, I wasn't sure he was going to do his post tonight, as he usually does them the next day, and he would realize that I already used the picture. My picture is better though, because I added a caption, and published my post first. Copyright laws of Danno, change your picture. Haha

The Leafs went down in horrible fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, losing a 6-2 walloping.

C'mon Jarkko, you know I hate noogies!

I only caught the first period, so I am not going to give a game re-cap, but I just want my thoughts heard on the Leafs mediocre first 41 games of the season, and their recent slumping.

The first thing that has to be said is that the team is really missing Vesa Toskala playing behind them. They just seem to be lost defensively, as the players have gotten really comfortable having a solid goaltender in Vesku backing them, so their defensive skills - even the forwards - have to react to playing in front of a lesser, unfamiliar goalie, as in Raycroft or Clemmensen. Tonights game against Pittsburgh was the 41st of the season, also the half way point of the season.

Good on Jason Blake for resurrecting his reputation of being a 40 goal scorer. Tonight he scored his first road goal of the season, along with his first powerplay goal of the season, finishing the game a +2. Also, this is right after his game against Tampa Bay where he had 1g,2a,+2, and 9 shots on goal. Nine shots on goal is above average for any player, but thats what you like to see in a former forty goal-scorer, and thats who the Toronto Maple Leafs signed in the offseason, not the 20 point, 8 goal pace he was recently on to finish the season with. Looks like Jason Blake has really turned his game around, and rejoining Mats Sundin will do that to you.

I just wanna run this fact by you, relating to the goalie situation. In the Leafs last 10 games, they have gone 3-5-2, which should be stated as 3-7. Clemmensen's last two starts have been a 6GA loss, and a 3GA win. Raycroft started three games before that, letting in 13 goals in three losses, with Clem coming in on the most recent and letting in one goal. The five games before that (when Toskala was playing, but going through a slump) were 10GA total, dating back to his shutout against Atlanta. Even though the Leafs went 2-2-1 through Toskala's last five games, they kept the goals against down, resulting in the team being less angry with losses than they are now. I've been hearing a lot more "Leafs suck" since Toskala has been injured, and it's not because the Leafs are losing, because we have not been an average team, or even a playoff contending team all this year. It's the fact that the goalies that need to step up for the Leafs in a time like now are letting in large amounts of goals scored on them. It shouldn't be expected for the back up, or even the third string goaltender to win continuous games while the #1 is injured, nor is it uncommon or unsatisfactory to see 3 or 4 goals against. The fact that the Leafs in their last five games let in TWENTY-FIVE goals in Vesku's absence is absolutely disgusting, and it is also the reason why you are starting to hear rumours about Raycroft going on waivers, Maurice being upset, and fans once again calling for JFJ's head.

It makes me so god damn frustrated watching the Leafs lose two games out of their last three in this fashion (ie. letting in six goals). I wouldn't mind if the Leafs had losing streaks along with winning streaks, and sometimes balanced, as every team experiences the same things, but it makes it hard to cope with when the whole season revolves around being a sub-par, incredibly inconsistent hockey team.

How fucking ridiculous is it to hear that a huge hockey fan and a die hard Leafs fan in myself watches a good first period of the game, goes out public skating and returns to see the Leafs down 5-1 in the third, and they displayed such a lack of interest in the game, and they made the game boring and frustrating for me to watch and I decided I couldn't watch the rest of the game. I've sat through a lot of bad losses. I know what it is like to be a life long fan of a 9th/10th place team that is too much of a respected franchise so it will never settle for last place, get a good draft pick and rebuild, but when the team goes out and loses 6-2 just five days after losing 6-1, it's time for an action plan.