After a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Toronto Maple Leafs have seemingly returned to vintage, crappy leafs. Phil Kessel, a god among mere mortals on the goal-starved team, hasn’t scored in twelve games now, and has 1 A and a -8 rating over than time. The tandem of Jonas Gustavsson / Vesa Toskala has looked bright at times – but not bright enough to merit any sort of real compliment from Leafs fans. Toronto has had opportunities to move up the standings, playing teams such as Philadelphia who are similarly ranked – but have gone 3-8-2 recently.
There is not even a light at the end of the tunnel for the foreseeable future, as our first two picks of the upcoming entry draft belong to the Boston Bruins as part of the Kessel deal. Our biggest hope to turn it around next season is russian Ilya Kovalchuk – with a number of high price tags expiring such as Vesa Toskala, Matt Stajan, etc. Kovalchuk will probably go to a better team, a Stanley Cup contender, or even the KHL in Russia.
For now there is nothing to do for Leafs fan except sit tight and deflect chirps of Montreal and Ottawa fans, hoping that they turn it around soon and re-enter the post season dance.
I like your honesty JBK. “It dun look soo gud” says it all. Remember Burke’s boast that they’d make the playoffs and be a tougher team this season? Oops! Bring on the Charleston Chiefs or somebody…anybody. This team is a train wreck and there is zero on the horizon for the future. Go SENS.