Thoughts on the Leafs season so far

New Year, new post.  Can you believe this shitty blog is a year old? That is a lot of Big Brother and fast food talk.  I am going to stop saying I am going to post more, because until Big Brother Canada starts in March I really don't see many posts on the horizon.  Anyways tonight is a different story, I am going to give some thoughts on the Leafs season so far.  First things first that Winter Classic shot is pretty cool eh... I don't usually buy into the whole hype about the Winter Classic, and I think the NHL is over-doing this whole outdoor game stuff with another 5 outdoor games on the horizon this season, but it was pretty neat seeing over 105,000 fans, over half of them decked out in the blue and white take in the game.  It helps that the Leafs destroyed those piece of shit Red Wings too.  That will teach that ogre Todd Bertuzzi to mess with our water bottles.  It would have been kind of cool to go see it live, but I think I prefer the warm confines of my couch over freezing my nuts off to see a crappy view of the game a mile away. 

 

Well this has really been a tale of two seasons.  As per their usual style the Leafs jumped out of the gate very hot going 10-4-0 in the month of October, despite being frustratingly out-shot every single god damned game, but then they came back down to Earth with a 4-6-3 November, and now only have 2 regulation victories in the last 20 games.... yikes thank god for the extra point for going to OT and the fact for the first time ever they've been half decent in the shoot-out.  If the season ended today they would be in the playoffs holding one of the Wild Card positions, but the teams behind them in the standings are awfully close and if they don't get their shit together the Leafs could be on the outside looking in come playoff time in April.  A lot has pissed me off about the season so far, but I have been happy with some things.  I am going to point out a couple of good things and and couple of bad things that have stuck out with me thus far this season.

THE GOOD

The Goaltending

There is no doubt that time and time again the goaltending has bailed out the Leafs this season.  As I said in my Leafs season preview post I said I liked how the Leafs have a 1a and a 1b goalie and how they can just ride the hot hand.  As mentioned earlier the Leafs are painfully outshot almost 2 to 1 in many of the games they have played this season, and it has been either Jonathan Bernier or James "Optimus Reim" Reimer that have bailed them out, and they are pretty much the main reason they hold onto a playoff spot right now.  If this was fucking Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustuvsson....whooo boy they would be looking at a high draft pick this year. So far Randy Carlyle has preferred Bernier over Optimus Reim, but Randy Carlyle is a fucking douchebag... more on that later. I don't see Reimer lasting very much longer in Toronto, because for some god forsaken reason Carlyle does not trust him as much as he trusts Bernier.  Reimer getting the quick yank in that game against Detroit before Christmas is the proof, he has yet to pull his golden boy Bernier this year.  (on an aside, pull his golden boy sounds very dirty).  I am not knocking Bernier, I hope he is proves to be a solid #1 tender for years to come, but I really like Reimer, and I think he is getting shit on by Leafs management.

Kessel and van Dreamsdyk

Holy fuck I love watching these two play together, it's such a shame that they are American.  For all of Brian Burke's blustery nonsense, these two additions are two of the best the Leafs have ever made.  People shit on the infamous Kessel deal to this day, but the guy has consistently produced his entire time in the blue and white, and Burke got JVR from the Flyers for Luke Schenn.... remember that guy?  That has to be one of the biggest steals in the history of the NHL.  Like I said it's a bloody shame these two are Americans, they will do some damage for Team USA in the upcoming Olympics.  They are 1-2 in scoring on the team this year, yeah they are notoriously streaky players, but when they're going they are very fun to watch.  Honourable mention goes to Joffrey Lupul who when healthy is always one of the best players on the ice, as well Mason Raymond has been great this season.

THE BAD

David Clarkson

I really hate shitting on a guy on the Leafs but David Clarkson is absolutely useless.  Why they gave this guy so much money is beyond me.  As you can see above our friends at Pension Plan Puppets have produced this handy chart to show how much of a cap hit it is going to cost the Leafs to buy out this plug in the next few years, with the cap going up I suppose it's not so bad, but any monkey could have told you throwing superstar money at David fucking Clarkson as a free agent isn't the wisest of moves.  I know he wasn't brought in to bring Kessel or Crosby like productivity but 2 goals and 5 assists over 30 games is unacceptable for someone making his money.  But as we saw on 24/7 he did a marvelous job of protecting the sanctity of the Leafs water bottles.... Jesus Christ wasn't that the stupidest thing you have ever heard in your entire life... "Don't touch our fucking water bottles" he sounded like he was a kid in Grade 3 on recess.  I hope he turns it around and soon, at $5.25 million per year he bloody well better.

Randy Carlyle

I hate Randy Carlyle.  I hated him before and I hate him even more after watching his crap on 24/7.  Why does he hate my boy Nazem Kadri so much??  Seriously the guy rides him like a fly on shit, and because of his monumental stupidity Kadri is on the trading block and will likely flourish on another team.  The guy ran Mikhail Grabovksi and Clarke MacArthur out of town, and they have succeeded with other teams, and I can see the same happening with Kadri.  The guy insists on playing two goons (Orr and McClaren) a night, and gives guys like Jay McClement (who I do like don't get me wrong) heavy minutes while leaving guys like Kadri and Peter Holland stapled to the bench.  I don't like his hard-ass style either, this may work for some high school coaches, but these are grown men making millions of dollars, and they aren't going to be treated like common trash for long.   I think a lot of players have already tuned him out.  Plus as we also saw on 24/7 the goof doesn't know how to use a fucking toaster.  Something has to be said about the fact that the Leafs collapse in the 3rd period seemingly every game.  They’ve given up a tying or go-ahead goal in the 3rd period in 17 games this year, and in 11 of those, they’ve either lost the game, or lost points. This has a lot to do with Carlyle's policy of just sitting back when they have the lead and not keeping their foot on the gas.  The Leafs blogosphere (read: people who write way better blogs than me) turned on Carlyle ages ago, and now the Toronto media has started to as well.  Frankly I think the Leafs are lucky to be in the position they are in, and they would be way better off with a new head coach.

Well so concludes my first post on 2014 with some thoughts on the Leafs.  I still the think the Leafs are going to win the Cup, especially if they fire Carlyle.  As I hinted in the opening paragraph don't count on too much more blogs out of me until Big Brother Canada starts.... I still should go review McDonald's poutine though!