Babies on Ice

Since I cannot post to any blog that is not in the beta format (damn you blogger!) here is a link to Bitter Leaf who answered my last post with clear criteria for retiring jerseys. It does well to set a level of achievement and tenure that must be achieved to have one's jersey retired while allowing for fan favourites to receive the honour of seeing their name in a Ring of Honour-type setting.

Leafs Rookies 6 v. Habs Rookies 5 (OT)

The Ricoh Coliseum was rocking with a crowd of probably 600-800 Leafs and Habs fans looking for a glimpse at their respective clubs' future stars. There was plenty of good natured ribbing between the fans who were split probably 60-40 in favour of the blue and white. The players reacted to the boisterous crowd with a hard hitting, end-to-end game that saw Robbie Earl win the game in overtime after slotting home his own rebound.

As for the game, Justin Pogge started in goal and showed why he is seen as the future of the Leafs. Some people have noted that Pogge let in five goals and think that maybe his stats were inflated by playing with a Suter-led Hitmen team in Calgary. What these people might not have noticed is that this Rookie Tournament has been played on the experimental nets (six inches taller and eight inches wider). This change worked out pretty well. The goalies were still able to come up with the big saves while the players had greater chances to score.

Rookies That Impressed

Robbie Earl showed some good wheels and a good shot but a total disdain for passing the puck. His assist came when the puck was hooked off his stick.

Jiri Tlusty was a bright light and will probably be on the Marlies this season rather than going down to the junior ranks. He will be pushing for a roster spot on the big squad soon.

Jamie Sifers laid a massive hit 15 seconds into the game and set the tone for one of the more enjoyable games I have seen in a long time. He also added a pretty nice goal.

Update: The Leafs have defended their title with a 3-2 win over the Canadiens. Jiri Tlusty score the winner with less than three minutes left and Justin Pogge turned aside 34 shots to pick up the win. Who says the Leafs cannot win anything? Not just win but defend as well. Look out NHL of 2012-2013!