Boston/Toronto ... whoa!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

I was flipping between the Ottawa/Carolina game and the Toronto/Boston game. I stayed on the TO/BOS game mainly because I couldn't believe Ed Belfour.

Do you guys remember a few years back when Theo carried our team over the last 1/4 of the season and past Boston? I remember Dick Irvin commenting that he had never seen a goaltender do more for a team than Theo did back then.

Well, Belfour singlehandedly beat the Bruins tonight. Absolutely incredible performance. I think he faced 53 shots, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

One thing I also noticed was how much the Leafs felt they are the victims of poor officiating. I'm not sure I can buy that as just about every penalty called against them near the end of the game (and for the first 3 minutes of OT) involved a stick. Yet, there was interference being run quite regularly on both sides. And, I guess hitting from behind is alright as well. There were two clear instances, one on each side, where players were smeared into the boards as a result of being hit from behind.

To their credit, their PK was on tonight and while the Leafs scored a SH goal, without a doubt their best PKer was Belfour. However, he had to be. His team always seemed to be in the box for most of the 3rd.

In short, Belfour stole another game for these guys. They shouldn't have been in the game at that point whatsoever. But, like he's done twice already this season, Belfour stole a 3rd game for them.

What's odd will be the TSN power rankings; no doubt Toronto will be near or at the top ... all thanks to Belfour. Not that that will be mentioned.

Cheers.

[roke]

I saw that he made 49 saves on TSN's website and... wow. At the beginning of the season I thought the Leafs would be in trouble if either Belfour or Sundin went down but now it's clear to me, it's all about Belfour.

It's too bad the game turned into a 3 point game but not much we can do about that. Ryder robbed the Bruins of a point early in the season and Belfour robbed them of one tonight (while stealing 2 for the Leafs).

[cigarviper]

All that and he literally gave them one goal and was weak on another earlier in the game. Why can't Theo do that? Trade em Bob.

[jkr]

disgruntled70shab said:

I
Well, Belfour singlehandedly beat the Bruins tonight. Absolutely incredible performance. I think he faced 53 shots, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

Cheers.

Call me hard to please but I am not totally convinced of Belfour's brilliance. He was good at the right times but was absolutely brutal at others. If he plays a solid game from start to finish the leafs win in regulation.

Pierre McGuire was right last August when he called Toronto's defence "just awful". 53 shots - just brutal.
They have now won 2 of the last three games despite giving up 13 goals.

[seventeen]

The more shots, the better. How long will his back hold up?

[blny]

That's the question with Eddie. When he's healthy he'll be great for yah. The year off did him good, but if he has to play 70 games he'll be spent by the second round of the playoffs again.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

blny said:

That's the question with Eddie. When he's healthy he'll be great for yah. The year off did him good, but if he has to play 70 games he'll be spent by the second round of the playoffs again.

Well, I've asked myself just how long a 40-ish-odd goaltender can keep bailing his team out.

It's really turned into a production in the ACC these days. Sure, there's the Lindros hype and that would be happening in Montreal if Ribs had 7 or 8 goals, granted. But, they actually had Belfour on the PA system after his first-star selection. I'm not saying it hasn't happened elsewhere, but I've never seen that after the three stars have been acknowledged.

Speaking of the selection I think two of the three stars were Leafs ... as selected by ... you guessed it ... Leafs TV. Hmm ... a 54-shot performance and Joe Thorton is the only Bruin selected.

However, Belfour is getting it done even if he made it hard for himself by mishandling the Boyce goal. And to be fair Leetch, himself, admitted that the Bruins let it get away from them. I mean, having a 5-on-3 late in the game and still can't bury the opponent.

Where have we heard that before?

Cheers.

[CentreHice]

disgruntled70shab said:

In short, Belfour stole another game for these guys. They shouldn't have been in the game at that point whatsoever. But, like he's done twice already this season, Belfour stole a 3rd game for them.

3 games he stole:

#1 Montreal
#2 Boston
what was the third game?

To be quite honest, he also stole both OT shootout loss points vs. the Senators.

That's 6 of their 12.....8 if you count the other one of which you speak.

There's NO WAY Belfour can keep that up all year and into the playoffs....no way...not at 40+...not in this league facing 35+ shots per game. I have my doubts about Hasek lasting the year too.....although he'll receive fewer SA. (By the way, Gerber stole the game from the Sens last night too.)

Belfour, as my son aptly put it, is the opposite of Theo. He'll let in some weak goals (a la Fuhr) but, more often that not, not let in the one that beats you. Theo plays well then lets in the one softie that almost breaks your back.

Both teams are getting the wins....the results are the same...but I'd rather have Theo. He can only get better....Eddie can only get older (hockey-wise).