|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 30, 2005 9:45:03 GMT -5
WHOA MUUUUUULLE!
The Sens were unstoppable last night. I think Matt Stajan said it was possibly the worst loss of their careers last night.
Danny Heatley is making Sens fans forget about Marion Hossa pretty quick. Four consecutive goals last night and they were all good ones; no flukes.
To make it complete, McGratten pounded Domi into submission as well. I didn't catch what Don Cherry was saying about the fight, but Domi outright lost the fight. Sort of makes the win complete for the Sens.
Cheers.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2005 10:25:00 GMT -5
Leafs are on the decline. At first they looked like without Sundin they would be all right. But now Lindros, O'Neill and Allison are ALL in a slump. Yikes!
They sit at 5-4-2. I don't expect them to miss the playoffs, but it looks quite possible if they don't pick it up soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Oct 30, 2005 10:52:35 GMT -5
Oct. 30, 2005. 08:55 AM Sens batter falling LeafsDAMIEN COX That the Leafs were a flawed team going into the first post-lockout NHL season was, by general consensus, a fact.
They had an aged goalie with a bad back who might be close to finished, a terrible lack of team quickness to deal with new NHL rule realities and a very ordinary-looking defence corps.
But nobody — nobody — figured this was a team that would get pushed around.
That's what happened last night, however, as the Battle of Ontario listed heavily in favour of the Ottawa Senators.
The Sens rolled into town, humiliated the Leafs 8-0, including four goals from Dany Heatley, and beat them up for good measure, a truth punctuated by Tie Domi's most decisive loss in 10 years as the club's enforcer to youthful Senators goon Brian McGrattan. Domi at least responded to McGrattan, who spent the first period running around the rink, but the Leaf veteran ended up decked and bloodied by a single punch.
Normally, such enforcer vs. enforcer scraps have little or no impact on games. In this case, given the history between the two clubs of the Leafs bullying their opponents time after time, it wasn't surprising to see the Ottawa bench collectively leap to its feet when Domi went down.
Most already knew the Sens were more skilled, younger and faster than the Leafs. But now they appear to have superior goaltending and — finally — a set of players willing to not only stand up to their provincial cousins but dish out a little intimidation of their own.
The standard response from the Leaf Nation, with good reason, is that nothing matters in Leaf-Senator games until the post-season. Well, we know the Sens will be in the spring playdowns. But will the Leafs?
They are, after 11 games, at best a slightly above .500 team with 12 of a possible 22 points, or a losing team, with six losses (two in shootouts) against five wins.
Embarrassing home losses on back-to-back Saturdays to Philly and Ottawa have, however, certainly created the sense that after some reasonably positive early results without injured captain Mats Sundin in the lineup, this is a team headed in the wrong direction. Fast.
Defensively, they are a nightmare and Ed Belfour's goaltending numbers prove it. In his last four starts, the 40-year-old netminder has surrendered 18 goals, at least four in each outing.
Overall, he has won only four of nine starts, his goals-against average has soared to 3.79 and he has a disappointing .876 save percentage.
The Leaf zone, particularly the slot, has become a very welcome place for enemy shooters to do their damage without being checked, let alone hit or bothered.
The club's top centres, Eric Lindros and Jason Allison, have been very suspect in that regard and last night checker Clarke Wilm was a minus-3 over the first two periods.
Heatley did whatever he wanted, scoring on a breakaway, a one-timer, a jam-in and a play on which he was surrounded by four Leafs but scored anyway without being touched.
It was precisely the kind of spectacular scoring effort the NHL hoped would again be seen with the new emphasis on calling the rulebook, but that didn't help the Leafs enjoy it.
Losers of three of their last four, the Leafs nonetheless have to forge ahead with what they have, strangled by the salary cap and decisions made by GM John Ferguson last summer, including deciding against buying out Belfour. There is nothing with the Marlies to help, Sundin is not close to returning and the best youngsters the Leafs own are already in the lineup.
A tough week against Southeast Division competition lies ahead. One wonders if MLSE, so focused on dipping into the public purse over the past week to lure a pro soccer franchise, might start to wonder about the immediate future of its pro hockey team.- tinyurl.com/bmnoy |
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 30, 2005 12:23:28 GMT -5
Well, the passion is certainly back in the game if nothing else. Cox mentioned that the entire Sens benched jumped to its feet when Domi landed on the deck. The Sens played their game, dictated their terms, while the Leafs tried to hold on. I'm actually interested in seeing how the Leaf veterans come out next game.
In comparisson, I'm also interested in seeing how the Habs handle their loss as well. I'm not totally convinced that the Habs have played even one game this year in which they could say, "... we played our game tonight ..." or, "... we dictated the pace of the game ..."
Cheers.
|
|
|
|
Post by seventeen on Oct 30, 2005 19:25:15 GMT -5
From what I saw of the fight, the two were grappling, but McGratton got his right free and landed a jab right on Domi's nose. No big wind-up, but it had a lot of oomph, obviously. McGratton looks like the ubergoon HA's been looking for.
|
|
|
|
Post by franko on Oct 31, 2005 9:52:31 GMT -5
Toronto coach, Pat Quinn, sends his scouts out around the world looking for a new center to help the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.
One of his scouts informs him of a young Iraqi center who he thinks will turn out to be a true superstar. So, Pat flies to Iraq to watch him, is suitably impressed and arranges for him to come play at the ACC.
Two weeks later, Toronto is down 4-0 at home to Montreal Ottawa with only 8 minutes left in the game. Pat gives the young Iraqi center the nod and puts him on in place of Mats Sundin.
The lad is a sensation! He scores 5 goals and wins the game for Toronto. The fans are delighted, the players and coaches are delighted and the media love the new star.
When he comes off the ice, he phones his mom to tell her about his first day in the NHL...
"Hi, Mom. Guess what?" he says. "I played for eight minutes today, we were down 4-0 but I scored five goals and we won! Everybody loves me. The fans, the players and the media. They all love me!"
"Great," says his mom. "Let me tell you about my day.
Your father got shot in the street, your sister and I were raped and beaten and your brother has joined a gang of looters, while you were having a great time!"
The young lad is very upset.
"What can I say, mom, but I'm so sorry."
"Sorry?!" says his mom. "It's your damn fault we moved to Scarborough in the first place!"
|
|
|
|
Post by jkr on Oct 31, 2005 10:12:35 GMT -5
From what I saw of the fight, the two were grappling, but McGratton got his right free and landed a jab right on Domi's nose. No big wind-up, but it had a lot of oomph, obviously. McGratton looks like the ubergoon HA's been looking for. Could it be that the leafs are losing that tough image? Domi clearly lost that fight on Saturday and Belak was wearing a full shield because of a broken nose he suffered last Thursday in a fight with Colton Orr. BTW, while I was channel hopping I tuned in to see Tucker completely prone on the ice. Anybody see what happened? |
|
|
|
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Oct 31, 2005 10:39:26 GMT -5
BTW, while I was channel hopping I tuned in to see Tucker completely prone on the ice. Anybody see what happened? A dive with a perfect landing? |
|
|
|
Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Oct 31, 2005 12:21:15 GMT -5
Are the Leafs going to win the cup?
This is getting old! Their team that is.
A good start does not a Stanley Cup winner make, ask Mr. October, Brian Savage. The leafs are toast. Wait until next year!
|
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 31, 2005 12:38:27 GMT -5
It's not like we've gone through this in Montreal. Al Strachan is contributing to the Toronto witchhunt.
The Last Word
It is widely acknowledged in sports that you're never as good as you look on your best nights, and you're never as bad as you look on your worst nights.
But there also is a corollary.
On your worst nights, you fully expose weaknesses that might have otherwise not been quite so evident.
For the Maple Leafs, Saturday was their worst night in more than a decade. And the 8-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators certainly made some shortcomings painfully clear.
What became evident?
For one thing, there is precious little depth on the Leafs' defence. That's almost totally the responsibility of the general manager.
MEDDLING CEO
John Ferguson Jr. might be slightly exonerated because of (a) what he inherited and (b) the meddling of the CEO, who takes a fancy to certain players and "urges" that they be signed.
But the rest of the blame is Ferguson's. He signed a number of players who could have been left unprotected or bought out, then replaced with others who are just as good, yet come more cheaply. That would have created cap room for a higher-level defenceman.
But the defensive woes go further than that. The defenders who are in place rarely seem to know what to do. So who gets the blame there?
In today's National Hockey League, head coaches usually provide the overall strategy, run the practices and deal with the media. Teaching tends to be the responsibility of the senior assistant coach.
In the Leafs' case, that's Rick Ley.
Enough said.
Then there is the matter of the goaltending.
Ever since he arrived in Toronto, Ed Belfour has covered up a multitude of sins committed by his teammates. His play has consistently ranged from good to excellent, and when he merely was ordinary in a couple of playoff series, the Leafs were immediately eliminated.
But this season, Belfour has not played up to his normal standards. He has handled the puck poorly, appeared to have trouble adjusting to the smaller catching glove, and simply been slow to react on other occasions.
Perhaps JFJ should have bought out Belfour's contract, but had he done so, who would have stepped in? The only elite goalie the Leafs realistically could have acquired was Nikolai Khabibulin, and he has been no better than Belfour.
So even though Saturday's debacle exposed a major Toronto weakness, it would appear little could have been done about it. Belfour was brought in years ago and has been the team's backbone ever since. Everyone knew he couldn't last indefinitely, and if this is indeed the end of the road, then Saturday is an indication of things to come.
But the development from Saturday's game that should be the most disconcerting for Leafs fans is the revelation that this is no longer a tough team.
Wade Belak got his nose broken on Thursday, and Tie Domi, having turned down a few dance invitations from Brian McGrattan in earlier games against Ottawa, changed his mind on Saturday and got punched out.
There is a somewhat laughable theory making the rounds that in today's game, enforcers are irrelevant. Anyone who believes that should have looked at the cowed Toronto bench on Saturday night.
BUSTED NOSES
The Leafs were supposed to be the roughest team in hockey with Belak, Domi and Nathan Perrott. But now, Belak and Domi have their noses spread all over their faces and Perrott apparently decided that his involvement was no longer necessary.
It's no accident that his teammates took a similar approach to other aspects of the game.
The Leafs were made to look awful by one of the best teams in the league.
In real terms, they're not that bad.
But they have some areas of serious concern -- as that shellacking made painfully clear.
ms further from the thoughts of Canadians now as she lives in Tampa with husband Mike. She does, however, deserve induction into the Canadian hall.
|
|
|
|
Post by Habit on Oct 31, 2005 15:57:05 GMT -5
Gravity works, Taxes are paid, death will come, beer gets you drunk, gas prices will keep going up... and I take pride in the Leafs losing. Some things never change.  |
|
|
|
Post by CentreHice on Oct 31, 2005 22:55:22 GMT -5
Yeah, but Belfour bounces back by stealing two points for the Leafs against the Panthers. That's gotta be 10 or 12 points he's stolen for them so far. They'd better hope he stays healthy....they're brutal in their own zone...giving up 30 or more shots in most of their games. Reminds me of the Habs in 2002 when Theodore stole many games facing 35+ shots.
|
|
