Ian White Puts His Butt on the Line Every Night...

I just may personally go out of my way to corner Burke and show him the practical definition of belligerence, pugnacity, testosterone, and truculence.

There are few players I’d trade White for. Burke better not make a panic move.

I just can’t wait for the day when I excited because the Leafs have worked hard along the boards and gotten the puck out to an open man for a great shot in front of the net, and then I realise that it’s no longer Blake or Stajan and instead it’s somebody that can score.

(and let’s be honest, they worked pretty damn hard)

they still play on the periphery. Their wings and centermen spend the majority of the time outside the slot. Hagman-Grabs-Blake like controlled the play deep in the Isles zone last night, but almost all of that time was spent with all three guys either in the corner or behind the net.

It wasn’t until late in the game and Wilson put Primeau and Mayers on different lines that the Buds started to get pressure in the slot.

This is the main reason why Chris Hanson should be waiting for a phone call today.

for some reason, I can’t comment on your blog, but great stuff! It made my day!

He had an outstanding game on Sat and helped keep the team in it, I dare say he even won the game for Toronto in the shootout even if he only had to make one save. Gotta give credit were credit is due.

He was fine last night till that sudden collapse. It seems Vesa’s confidence is extremely shakey, he can start a night with great confidence but it just takes ONE bad goal (usually scored on him glove-side) to shatter it and he turns into a piece of swiss cheese.

I find that it’s too convenient that Vesa gets a groin injury shortly after letting in 3 goals on 3 shots… I say he was pulled by RW/BB wants to protect what is left of the man’s ego/confidence by giving that excuse.

Ian White is exactly the kind of guy you have to surround your star players with. What better example for the youngsters than to follow someone who is team-first?

I also have last night’s recap up.

From Deadspin today:

Honorable Mention: New York Islanders goaltender Dwayne Roloson made 58 saves last night to beat … oh, I’m sorry, it was just the Maple Leafs. Most of their shots probably just slowly skidded to a stop before they got to him.

I twittered this article from the Wall Street Journal about how the Redskins are losing their fans.

I don’t think the Leafs are in as bad shape as the Redskins, but it is an interesting read and the parallels are striking.

The Hockey News has named their top 10 players on one year contracts and, get ready for it, Andrew Raycroft makes the list.

From this I can only conclude that there are only 10 players in the entire NHL who are on one-year deals or the author was completely messed up on peyote when he typed it up.

Good thing I’m missing so much!

Unfortunately RAW mostly sucked last nite too.

Love is there.

So it looks like Mitchell is out for the next little while. I’d argue that this is the best thing that could happen for Mitchell at this point. He looks overwhelmed at times, never certain of what he’s going to do out there with the puck on his stick. I feel that he needs to figure out what kind of player he’s going to be: Johnny Malkin or John Mitchell.

I still feel he has top-six 6 ability, but as a winger. Hard shot, strong puck-handling skills, good skating ability, size.

Toskala is also rumoured to have hurt himself on the 2nd goal. I caught a bit of the game last night when I got home from the library. Looked like he hurt himself on the 2nd goal. If that’s the case, why the fuck didn’t he get off the ice before the Isles put a 3rd goal behind him?! Unbelievably selfish. He needs to fucking go.

I’m guessing that one of the following players will be called up to take Mitchell’s spot in the line-up: Bozak or Tlusty. I choose Bozak because we’re in dire need of a two-way centre who can distribute the puck and back-check. Stajan and Mitchell just aren’t cutting it. Bozak can play second fiddle to Kessel and play his game. I think a player like Ponikarovsky would be a good complement; size, fore-checker, etc. Tlusty may get called up and Kessel will move to the middle; Tlusty will play on the wing with Ponikarvosky on the opposite. It makes a great deal of sense to have one or both of those guys up here.

As for Blake, I honestly don’t know what’s keeping Burke from sending his ass to the minor. If he’s waived, I have little doubts that there’s someone out there willing to take on his contract, but not pay to get it.

At the start of the season we hoped for the playoffs.

When that evaporated in October we accepted it and we hoped that the Leafs could finish in the 10-15 draft range.

When that evaporated in November we accepted it and we hoped that the Leafs could finish outside the draft lottery at the least.

When that evaporates in December we’ll be correct in saying “Taylor Hall for Kessel is probably a good deal for us, and at worst an even swap.”

your blog hurts my eyes. is it just me or does everyone else have trouble reading light font on dark background? i find when I look away that my eyes hurt. otherwise, loved the MLSE Big Brother

I don’t know if this was thrown about in last night’s GDT or what, but has anyone else noticed The Vesa’s glove-hand hitch? Seems like he rolls his glove as he’s getting ready for a shot. Problem is that he’s automatically a half-second behind as a result, and his glove down by his waist, not poised to catch anything upstairs whatsoever.

That third goal was just embarrassing and the net-cam view showed the perfect example of this. So did Michalak’s tip in in the Snottawa game last week. Observations?

New video up.

Welcome to the Gongshow…um…Gameshow.

http://www.blogesalming.com/2009/11/gongshow.html