Month: November 2021

BREAK UP THE MAPLE LEAFS! – 11/28/21

Round 3 in California for the Toronto Maple Leafs – finishing a 4 game road trip that so far stood at 3 for 3.  Sunday night’s opponent was the slightly surprising Anaheim Ducks and their 11-7-3 record, sporting an 8-3-1 line at the Duck Pond including 7 of their last 8.  The Leafs hadn’t swept the Golden State since back in the early Babcock days.

Again, us “back east” folk don’t see or hear much about them thar California hockey clubs.  There’s this guy named Troy (wish I had him in my pool) Terry who already has scored 13 goals.  Some of us have heard tell of goalie John Gibson – his slash line is 2.53 GAA/.920 sv % and a 9-5-2 win record that will likely get him on to the U.S Olympic squad.  We all know of 36 year old Team Captain Ryan Getzlaf, the big Saskatchewan stud who has carved out a superstar career of 50 point + seasons (98 in ’08), a Stanley Cup, gold medals at the Olympics and world Juniors.  Just gotta love the guy.

The Leafians came to witness the renaissance of a Ducks team that has been at or near the bottom of the league for quite some time.  They were looking for an opportunity to win 12 games in a month and their 7th straight road win.  From what this reporter saw in the first, they are on track to do both.  Toronto added newly re-acquired Kyle Clifford and McDermott to replace Semyonov and Liligren.

The Leafs struck back in the second.  Good pressure in the O Zone led to a nice feed from Mitch Marner back to TJ Brodie whose point shot was re-directed by Austin Matthews for his 10th of the year.  As the Leaf chances continued to pile up, ever popular winger Michael Bunting pumped in a no brainer from Marner and Jake Muzzin for a well deserved 2 – 0 lead to end the period.  Broadcasters Gord and Ray pointed out that the third team US goalie position (behind Hellybuck) may be on the line.

 The Duck fans were barely back in their seats for the third before Kerfoot lifted the Leafs to a 3-0 lead from linemates Tavares and Nylander.  A kind of flakey goal from the Ducks Lindholm seemed to inspire the home side.  It sent them on a 5-6 minute barrage of pressure and shots from all over the rink.  Soup stood tall and the Leafs Nation in the crowd cheered him on.  Coach Dale Eakins pulled goalie Gibson with over 3 minutes to go to help promote that momentum build.  This led to a totally non-selfish exchange between Nylander and Kerfoot on a breakaway to put it away.  Not long later Wayne Simmonds put things out of reach with a slam dunk rebound to make the final 5 to 1.

HOPPER NOTES:

Congrats to the Hamilton Ti-Cats and the Green Riders for moving on to the their division finals (vs Argos and Blue Bombers) next weekend…great to see Bobby Mack back on the panel (here’s a rumour starter for you: Was Jeff O’Neil not in the studio because of Mackenzie’s disparaging remarks about O as a “floater” ?)…I find it kind of ironic that the Ducks have a guy named Silverberg on their roster (or was that Goldberg ?)…even coming back to the team that originally drafted him, you’d think that Nick Ritchie would put in a game – NOPE…I thought Jim Benning would have been gassed way before Bergevin…

Discuss – CHEERS !

NYI Finally Come off the Road to enjoy their New Home! – 11/21/21

The travel weary New York Islanders are proud to introduce the world to their brand spanking new rink, The UBS Arena on Long Island.  The $1.1B facility opened Saturday to a robust 17,250 spectators who witnessed a depleted home squad (COVID, what else ?) lose to the Calgary Flames.  The structure is right beside the Belmont Park Raceway which hosts the prestigious Triple Crown race The Belmont Stakes each year.  There is a link below courtesy of ESPN that features crowd favorite Matt Martin’s take from a player’s perspective.

The Islanders have had to wait a lifelong 13 games on the road before finally settling into their new digs.  During that span they managed a below average 5-7-2 record in the highly competitive Metropolitan Division.

New York Coach Barry Trotz started the Brock Nelson line against the John Tavares trio much to the delight of the boo birds who still have hostility toward their former Captain.  Leaf Coach Seldon Keefe displayed his “new” look forward lines showing a new left-wing alignment that had Bunting move up with Mathews/Marner, Ritchie drop down to the third alongside Kampf and Kase leaving Engvall to play with Spezza and Simmonds. 

Double minors were called after an innocent looking exchange and it was quickly followed by a kind of dumb call against Liligren.  During the ensuing 4 on 3, Muzzin sent a nifty cross ice clearing pass to a streaking Marner who broke across to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead.  That was his first shorty of the year.  Ritchie showed his displeasure at his demotion by landing a nice forecheck into the boards.  That was matched not long after by Martin on Rasmus Sandin.  

An uneventful second period allowed the Leafs to come out in the third to prove to Coach Keefe something he has been preaching, namely “the really good teams know how to play with a lead.”

Ondrej Kase pumped in a nice forecheck charge by the newly installed Ritchie and running mate David Kampf to make it 2-0.  That was Kase’ 4th goal in his last 7 games.  Mathews was robbed (again) on a powerplay followed by a selfish Nylander offensive zone penalty.  Luckily for Leafs Nation the Islanders are in 30th place in both man advantage efficiency and scoring overall.

Bunting had a great game responding to his recent promotion from the 4th line.  He has the uncanny ability to draw opponent penalties.  This is likely due to his willingness to “get his nose dirty” in the tough areas.  On this night, he drew infractions number 13 and 14 to move him into the league in this category.  If that wasn’t enough, he set up linemate Mitch Marner for his second of the night with less than 7 minutes remaining.  Final score:  Leafs 3 Islanders 0.

HOPPER NOTES:

Is Wayne Simmonds a little snake bit around the net ?  Invisible men tonight:  Nylander and Spezza.  If the Leafs are looking for more scoring, why not give Josh Ho-Sang a look ?  He’s leading the AHL Marlies with 8 goals and 12 points.  Judging by the video I’ve seen, he shoots right, but why not try him with the “CZECH brothers. “  Hats off to 23 year old Joseph Woll with his second win (a 20 save shutout no less).  He looked so much more confident tonight, assertively challenging shooters from all angles.

HARD FOUGHT END TO LEAFS STREAK – 11/20/21

The Pittsburgh Penguins came to the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday night feeling pretty good about Thursday’s 6-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens and the return of more players from various injury and COVID protocol.  Heck, even their Head Coach Mike Sullivan was delayed in the US before returning for tonight’s game.

Maple Leafs Nation remembers with distaste the last time these two clubs met.  A vastly undermanned Penguin squad just spanked the visiting Toronto team 7-1 to accentuate their slow start and bring alarm to the Shanny/Dubas suite.

On this night, a fairly even back and forth ensued with both sides generating quality scoring chances.  In particular, Matt Marner hit a crossbar in the 4th minute. 

The Penguins top line of Crosby, Rust and Guentzel hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire on the scoresheet but there were lot of man hours lost due to various injuries and COVID matters.  That trio did get the Pens on the board as Guentzel opened the scoring off a nice feed from Rust.

Liligren was in for McDermott on this night and he and Sandin were left exposed on this goal.  Coach Keefe inexplicitly left that duo on for the very next shift and only a solid Jack Campbell save prevented a 2 zip deficit.  Concern about “burning the Soup” through over work still requires attention.  With Mzarek out, Campbell’s projected workload could exceed 65 games.  Felix Potvin holds the franchise record for his 74 appearances back in 1996-67.

Another powerful  offensive zone cycle by the Matthews line got Marner another great look, but late in the first veteran Jeff Carter proved he still belongs, potting an easy tap in that started with an excellent d-zone exit pass.

A high tempo second period kept the patrons entertained.  Things started off with a Penguin PP that didn’t generate much other than an icing.  Surely, the visitors are missing their big net front presence and playmaker Geno Malkin, still sidelined with a wonky knee.  26 year old goalie Tristan Jarry stood tall throughout the stanza despite starting 8 of his club’s 9 games.   He had to have been buoyed by his first shutout of the year this past Thursday in Montreal.

The Leafs had a 39-28 chance advantage through out but the big “Core 4” shooters just couldn’t bury it.

Sometimes puck possession time just doesn’t mean squat.  The Leafs had a clear advantage (again) on this night, but they were unable to convert in the third period.  The Goalies continued to steal the headlines with spectacular saves at both ends. 

The home team had an outstanding opportunity to get back in the game at the 5 minute mark when Bunting drew his second penalty of the game.  That quickly turned to a 2 man advantage.  Tavares had been his usual dominant self in the faceoff circle but somehow managed to lose two critical offensive draws during this critical juncture.  Nada, despite Nylander’s second crossbar of the game.  Were those actual BOOS I heard from the faithful?

HOPPER NOTES:

What a beautiful looking rink they now have on Long Island !…loved the “Hockey Fights Cancer” theme throughout the evening – from lavender hockey tape, Corporate logos on the boards and congrats to Austin Mathews in over-achieving his Movember goal of $134K… OK,  I’m going to say it – Martina Ortiz Luiz is a great singer – I just wish she would sing the song as it was written…kudos to Tristan Jarry on his second goose egg in a row…love the Ted Rogers Scholarship TV spots “But I Might”…congrats to Coach Keefe on his second anniversary of becoming Leafs head bench jockey…

Discuss – CHEERS !