SB Nation - Francois Beauchemin

Will Any Maple Leafs Defencemen Be Heading To Vancouver?

David Danforth — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:30:13 -0000

Sorry Beauch. Don't pack those bags yet...

The other day we looked at Canada's defence to try to figure out who would be sporting the Maple Leaf in Vancouver. But what about the Leafs' defenders? Should any of them start booking their flights to the West Coast? The snap reaction will be to look at the Leafs' current 29th ranking in goals against per game (3.50 - yikes!) and call them all bums. However, some countries just don't have better players. I know, it's weird. Canada might be spoiled. Without further ado, check out after the jump to see if you agree and then share your thoughts in the comments.

Pack Your Bags

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Tomas Kaberle	32	2	29	31	-5	6	1	0	0	0	60	3.3

There's no doubt that Tomas Kaberle will be on the Czech team. He'll be reunited with Pavel Kubina and likely skipper the team despite having no leadership abilities. He is what he is at even strength but where he'll make a real difference for the Czech's entry is on the powerplay. Special teams can make the difference in the tight scoring games that you'll find in the medal rounds.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Mike Komisarek	24	0	1	1	-7	35	0	0	0	0	22	0.0

Brian Burke is the General Manager of the USA's Olympic team. Ron Wilson is the coach of the team. One signed him to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal that made him the anchor of his NHL defence. The other leans heavily on him on the penalty kill especially. After a rough start, Komisarek has found the balance between physical play and discipline and is back to the game that made him one of Brian Burke's marquee signings this summer. I don't know that I would pick him for the American team but I do think that he'll get picked.

Had A Shot

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Carl Gunnarsson	8	0	4	4	4	4	0	0	0	0	12	0.0

Poor Carl Gunnarsson. He was on Sweden's pre-Olympic roster (although to be be fair, so was Jonas Frogren as well as almost every Swedish defender ever) and he had a strong showing at last Spring's Worlds. Then he started the year off on the Marlies because his waiver eligibility made him the easiest player to demote. Once he finally got a chance he was a revelation. Of course, he's currently out of the lineup with a hyperextended elbow so any chance he had of making the team has been consistently derailed at every turn.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Francois Beauchemin	32	3	11	14	-6	13	3	0	0	0	80	3.8

Francois Beauchemin might have been invited to the summer evaluation camp but then he joined the Maple Leafs. The instant loss of elite goaltending, Hall of Fame teammates, and the increased scrutiny all conspired to make Not Durno's transition to Toronto less than successful at first. Since the rocky start he's improved by leaps and bounds and really found a comfort zone but he needed to be absolutely lights out to even get a sniff.

No Dice

This section could also be re-named "Canadian defencemen" because none of the Canucks on the buds' blueline are going to Vancouver in any capacity other than a cheerleader.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ian White	32	5	12	17	11	29	1	0	0	0	68	7.4

Ian White might be killing it for the Leafs but his stint at the World Juniors won't count for much. Not to mention that for all of his redeeming qualities "Moustachelence" is probably not high on Steve Yzerman's evaluation rubric.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Luke Schenn	31	0	4	4	0	33	0	0	0	0	35	0.0

Sigh. Not in 2010 and on this pace not in 2014 or 2018 or...He's regressed mightily after a first season which I think was far more impressive that we had any right to expect or most people like to remember. Luke Schenn outscored Tomas Kaberle at even strength last year while also putting up some good Behind The Net numbers(ie better than Drew Doughty).

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Garnet Exelby	17	0	1	1	-4	19	0	0	0	0	4	0.0

HAHAHAHAHA Yeah, I just put this for the sake of being thorough. Also, I wanted to make a request: can people stop pretending that the Kubina and Stapleton for Exelby and Stuart trade was made in isolation? It's the kind of disingenuous thing that we'd rip the MSM for doing.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Jeff Finger	16	2	6	8	-7	5	0	0	0	0	13	15.4

I can't say that I really understand Ron Wilson's handling of Jeff Finger this year. In my mind, you put Finger into the lineup over Garnet Exelby 100 times out of 50 but somehow it's only happened 50% of the time. He wasn't an invite to the orientation camp and he never did anything of note.

Who Should Be Canada's Olympic Defenders?

Chemmy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:29:45 -0000

The question is simple; who are your seven guys to play defense for Team Canada at the Olympics? The defenders invited to the Canada camp are:

Francois Beauchemin, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Duncan Keith, Scott Niedermayer, Dion Phaneuf, Chris Pronger, Robyn Regehr, Stephane Robidas, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, and Shea Weber. Click a player's name for stats.

I discussed my picks with Godd Till of Zambonic Youth and PPP, check out our picks after the jump.

Chris Pronger

#20 / Defenseman / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-6

Weight: 214

Born: Oct 10, 1974

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Chris Pronger	4	14	18	9	41

Pronger can score points, shut down talent even at age 35 and has a documented mean streak. Pronger's the grit and the jam that dominant teams need to make playing against them no fun at all.

Shea Weber

#6 / Defenseman / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-4

Weight: 230

Born: Aug 14, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Shea Weber	6	9	15	-4	4

Nashville's Shea Weber is an excellent defender in his own end who can also put up points. He hits as hard as your January credit card bill and isn't afraid to drop the gloves.

Duncan Keith

#2 / Defenseman / Chicago Blackhawks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Jul 16, 1983

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Duncan Keith	5	18	23	6	16

Fresh off of inking a lifetime deal that was well earned Duncan Keith is having a fantastic season. Another guy who can put up points and plays well in his own end Duncan Keith is an obvious lock for this team along with...

Brent Seabrook

#7 / Defenseman / Chicago Blackhawks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 218

Born: Apr 20, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Brent Seabrook	3	10	13	8	15

... his defensive partner Brent Seabrook. In addition to being an excellent player on his own, having Keith's defensive partner will give Canada an elite d-pairing that are familiar with each other. This is a huge advantage in a tournament where players are hastily thrown together.

Robyn Regehr

#28 / Defenseman / Calgary Flames

Height: 6-3

Weight: 225

Born: Apr 19, 1980

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Robyn Regehr	0	10	10	5	23

The definition of defensive defenseman, Regehr hits good hockey players hard and often. He's on this team to hit Ovechkin, Kessel and Parise.

Dan Boyle

#22 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks

Height: 5-11

Weight: 190

Born: Jul 12, 1976

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Dan Boyle	6	19	25	4	20

Dan Boyle's our pick for puck mover / PP specialist on the back end. If you'd prefer Bouwmeester or Mike Green go ahead, I'm not too concerned with any of the three.

Drew Doughty

#8 / Defenseman / Los Angeles Kings

Height: 6-0

Weight: 211

Born: Dec 08, 1989

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Drew Doughty	7	15	22	9	18

Is Drew Doughty the seventh best Canadian defender in the league? Honestly he might be, but what's important here is the future. Doughty will be the seventh guy and only see action if guys get hurt. Obviously you could do a lot worse than Doughty as an injury fill in which speaks to Canada's enormous depth at defense.

I picked Doughty looking forward to 2014. Doughty will be 25 and about to hit his prime. He got an invite to Olympic camp this year based on his ability as a player and I think bringing him along to Vancouver would be a big step for a young kid in the NHL. Let him have a taste of the team he's going to need to be a big part of in four years.

Those are our picks, let us know yours in the comments.

Thrashers at Leafs

Chemmy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:13:42 -0000

Puck Drop: 7:00PM ET Sportsnet Ontario

Leafs' coach Ron Wilson says he hopes former players Nik Antropov and Pavel Kubina won't be feted with a ceremony tonight. - Jonas Siegel

Tonight marks the return of a player who wasn't fully appreciated in Toronto even after he left. He had issues with his knee while he was here and was a solid player but didn't fit Burke's idea for a rebuilding team and was shipped out. That player of course is Pavel Kubina.

I think we were all expecting to replace Kubina's offense with Francois Beauchemin's. Obviously that hasn't happened. What's odd is that Happy Trails dropped a 102.2mph bomb in the hardest shot competition, capping what must have been bizarro weekend as Rickard "They Glue A Stick To My Hands Because I Can't Be Trusted Not To Drop It" Wallin won the shot accuracy contest.

Other promising ex-Leafs with knee injuries playing for the Thrashers include Nik Antropov, who has only 2 goals this year (yikes) but has 21 assists to give him 23 points in 26 games. I don't think anyone here saw Antropov as a setup guy, but I'm assuming he plays with Kovalchuk and that should boost his assist total. Strange though, Antropov played very well down the stretch for the Rangers last year including scoring a bunch of beautiful top shelf goals from the faceoff circles, he'll probably find his game tonight knowing our luck.

Garnet Exelby back in against his former team. Jeff Finger scratched. Rickard Wallin in as well. - Jonas Siegel

Christian Hanson has been returned to the Marlies in what I hope is a planned move; bring the kids up to get a taste and then send them back down to work on problems. Hanson looked good aside from his first game up and I didn't see the Boston game (thank god), so he should understand what he needs to do.

The puzzling move here is Exelby for Finger. Burke needs to shit or get off the pot with Finger; he's a better defenseman than Exelby hands down but with a bigger cap hit. If we're not going to waive Finger we might as well use him rather than have his cap hit in the press box.

Gustavsson couldn’t pinpoint an exact return date—he’ll need the incision in his groin area to heal—but he said that this time around was definitely better than last.

"Feels like I have more power now after this procedure than after the last one," he said. - Eat. Sleep. Leafs.

Gustavsson will probably be out more than a week while the incision in his groin heals and Joey MacDonald got shelled in Boston which means in addition to Rickard "Useless" Wallin coming back into the lineup Vesa Toskala will be in net.

The Thrashers come in to tonight's game at 15-8-3, the Eastern Conference's #6 seed. I have no faith whatsoever in Toskala or Exelby and combined with the return of Kubina and Antropov as well as this being a weekday home game against a Southeast opponent tonight is going to be terrible.

Don't forget your SPG picks, and no you can't pick Antropov, check out Bird Watchers Anonymous for Thrashers coverage and go Leafs go!

Game 28 Preview: The Rarely-Seen Buds Make the Trek to Ohio

Mike MacLean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:32:58 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

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They're getting better! The most recent game against the Blackhawks looked more like Jackets hockey than any other game this season, had they played the way they did during the losing streak, the score would have been ugly-very ugly in favor of the 'Hawks.

For the first time in a few years Toronto comes to town. The Leafs are still in the midst of a "re-tooling" (because if I would have said "rebullding" Ole Ironsides Burke would find a way to get me booted off of the internet) and are without either of their top goaltenders. Vesa Toskala is out with an injury, and Gustavsson will be going under the knife for another heart operation. Speaking of Gustavsson, when will the meda give him a new nickname? The Monster? Come on. Worst nickname for a player in all of sport, especially for a rookie. Joey MacDonald, a fellow Bluenoser, will get the start tonight. Mase is in for the Jackets.

The CBJ will be icing the same lineup as the past few games, although Raffi may miss it because his wife is in the hospital prepping for the delivery of the couple's first child. The Leafs have a tough defensive unit, so it will be interesting how the Jackets forwards can cope with that. I also wonder if Kris Russell can continue his red-hot stretch of play tonight. Here's hoping. Look for a good physical battle tonight folks.

Fearless Prediction: CBJ score at least four goals.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Game Page: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Toronto has played in Columbus only three times, most recently Nov. 20, 2006, a 4-2 Leafs win. The Blue Jackets would be wise to ignore the standings. After a horrible start, the Maple Leafs are 4-1-2 in their past seven games, including a 3-0 rout of Montreal on Tuesday. It could be a big special- teams game. Although the Blue Jackets excel on the power play, both teams struggle in killing penalties.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Michael Blunden
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Toronto Maple Leafs

Alexei Ponikarovsky	Matt Stajan	Phil Kessel
Niklas Hagman	Mikhail Grabovski	Christian Hanson
Wayne Primeau	Nikolai Kulemin	Lee Stempniak
Jason Blake	Jamal Mayers	Colton Orr

Mike Komisarek	Tomas Kaberle
Luke Schenn	Ian White
Francois Beauchemin	Jeff Finger

Joey MacDonald

Jonas Gustavsson

Maple Leafs 6 v. Panthers 4: Post-Game Thread

PPP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:09:37 -0000

0:02 remaining in the 1st	1	2	3	Total
Toronto Maple Leafs	1			1
Florida Panthers	2			2

Join the Game Thread

LEAFS MAN lives! Unlike the Leafsmobile he inspired the Leafs to overcome a typically terrible start. Jonas Gustavsson did not want to disappoint him and he started making sick saves. Phil Kessel wanted to impress him so he undressed Keith Ballard. Alexei Ponikarovsky lives for his approval so he was in on the first four goals. He only gets credited with a goal and an assist but he also crashed the net twice Edit: and got more points elsewhere for a four point night. Niklas Hagman feared losing his wife to LEAFS MAN so he potted two goals. Christian Hanson doesn't want to play on a LEAFS MAN-less team so he hustled hard and forechecked like a power forward. Francois Beauchemin wants LEAFS MAN's help shutting up the naysayers so he continued his strong play.

Basically, LONG LIVE LEAFS MAN!

Leafs 4 Lightning 3

Chemmy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:48:03 -0000

FINAL	1	2	3	Total
Toronto Maple Leafs	2	2	0	4
Tampa Bay Lightning	2	1	0	3

Join the Game Thread

Goals: Kulemin from Gunnarsson and Primeau, Hagman from Beauchemin and Gunnarsson, Hagman from Grabovski and Exelby, Stajan from Gunnarsson.

The Leafs came out and scored a pair early before letting Tampa come right back into this game with two goals in a thirty second span. Kulemin and Hagman did a good job crashing the net on the first and third goal to pick up rebounds; it's something we haven't seen this Leafs team do a lot of.

Once again our defense ran around in their zone which led to the first two Tampa goals. The third Tampa goal was scored off a bad rebound given up by Gustavsson as Kaberle left his man uncovered. Francois Beauchemin looked great out there tonight, he had a spectacular play where he ran down Ryan Malone and dove to pokecheck the puck off his stick.

Gustavsson wasn't completely blameless on the Tampa goals but our defense didn't help on them. He made a ton of huge saves through traffic including a pair of saves on a penalty kill that honestly kept us in the game. Any win is a huge win for this hockey club right now, but the Leafs are 2-0-2 in their last four games which honestly is pretty good. Let's hope they keep working on the little things and start to turn this around.

Habs vs Former Habs at the Quarter Point

Robert L — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:24 -0000

I haven't taken a look at this since the 10 game mark (October 27), but it seems that the former Habs players are now gaining a slight edge on their current counterparts.

At the quarter season point, it is still too soon to draw much of a conclusion, especially considering how unstable the Canadiens' lineup is these days

Most of the players on both sides have kept up their early season pace going, with exceptions being Tanguay, Lang and Koivu, who have picked it up for the former Habs and Marc-Andre Bergeron, who now leads all Canadiens' D in scoring. Tailing off somewhat, are the Bruins' Michael Ryder and Steve Begin.

Most notable among these statistics may just be the save percentages - added to this list for the first time here. I chose to include them for obvious reasons, that being the Canadiens duos numbers as compared to the former netminders now tending goal for stronger clubs.

The Habs much maligned duo of Halak and Price take a beating a little too often, but as it appears here, they could just as well be the team's saving grace.

*Players below are ranking by points and not in comparison.

Jaroslav Halak 8-5-3-0 2.62-9.04 / Jose Theodore 13-5-3-4 3.24-8.83 (Capitals)

Carey Price 13-5-8-0 2.99-9.06 / Cristobal Huet 15-9-4-1 2.25-9.02 (Blackhawks)

Marc-Andre Bergeron 14-3-4-7 / 21-4-7-11 Mark Streit (Islanders)

Roman Hamrlik 20-4-2-6 / 19-0-8-8 Craig Rivet (Sabres)

Jaroslav Spacek 21-1-5-6 / 19-2-5-7 Francois Beauchemin (Maple Leafs)

Paul Mara 21-0-6-6 / 15-2-4-6 Ron Hainsey (Thrashers)

Josh Gorges 11-1-1-2 / 6-0-2-2 Sheldon Souray (Oilers)

Hal Gill 14-1-0-1 / 16-0-0-0 Mike Komisarek (Maple Leafs)

Totals - Defense　

Habs: Total GP: 101 / Goals: 10 /Assists: 18 / Points: 28

Former Habs: Total GP: 96 / Goals: 8 / Assists: 26 / Points: 34

Tomas Plekanec 21-4-15-19 / 20-6-10-16 Mike Ribeiro (Stars)

Mike Cammalleri 21-8-8-16 / 19-3-9-12 Mikhail Grabovski (Maple Leafs)

Brian Gionta 19-8-5-13 / 18-4-8-12 Alex Tanguay (Lightning)

Scott Gomez 21-2-9-11 / 20-5-6-11 Robert Lang (Coyotes)

Glen Metropolit 15-4-6-10 / 18-4-6-10 Alex Kovalev (Senators)

Travis Moen 21-4-3-7 / 20-2-7-9 Steve Begin (Bruins)

Andrei Kostitsyn 21-2-4-6 / 15-2-6-8 Saku Koivu (Ducks)

Maxim Lapierre 21-1-4-5 / 20-4-3-7 Michael Ryder (Bruins)

Max Pacioretty 21-2-2-4 / 20-2-5-7 Sergei Samsonov (Hurricanes)

Guillaume Latendresse 21-2-1-3 / 14-3-2-5 Arron Asham (Flyers)

Georges Laraque 8-0-1-1 / 20-2-3-5 Christopher Higgins (Rangers)

Matt D'Agostini 11-1-0-1 / 20-1-0-1 Tom Kostopoulos (Hurricanes)

Totals - Forwards　

Habs: Total GP: 221 / Goals: 38 /Assists: 58 / Points: 96

Former Habs: Total GP: 224 / Goals: 38 / Assists: 64 / Points: 102

Totals - Team

Habs: Total GP: 322 / Goals: 48 /Assists: 76 / Points: 124

Former Habs: Total GP: 320 / Goals: 46 / Assists: 90 / Points: 136

Incidentally, I'm not much of a video gamer when it comes to such things as NHL 2010 or EA Sports and stuff. (I used to joke that X-Box sounded like a former girlfriend!) A reader of this site has been looking into aligning the teams above against one another for a series of games. That sounded like an interesting offer, and I took him up on it. Once the results come forth, you'll read about it here.

Habs vs Former Habs - October 27

Robert L — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:15:37 -0000

The Canadiens players made some interesting gains on their former counterparts this past week. A pair of 5 goal games didn't hurt matters.

A pair of quick clarification notes for starters.

I've flipped Markov for Bergeron and Bouillon for Hainsey for no other reason than it is more interesting to follow players who are actually pointing. By mid-season or later, depending on Markov's return date, I might just list 7 defensemen per side.

Additionally, the players ranked side by side aren't neccessarily being compared to one another. There's been some confusion or misunderstanding about this. Players on both sides of the columns are ranked simply by points. If that happens to align one against another, you can draw your own conclusions on that note.

Now onto the interesting bits:

The biggest jumps on the Canadiens' players side were made by Cammalleri, the NHL's second star of the week, and Glen Metropolit, who returned from his rib injury and has posted consistently in three games played. Gionta, Gomez and Plekanec have had some multi-point games to shore up their totals as well. Among the depth players, there's a few added digits alongside the names of Moen, Lapierre, Pacioretty and D 'Agostini.

Among the former Habs, most have had a quiet week with just a point or two through three games. Perhaps the biggest surprise continues to be Steve Begin, who potted a couple of goals this past week, to add to his 4 assists. The same goes for Arron Asham, who's an anomaly on this list, as the sole player not cast off during the Gainey regime.

The six Canadiens defensemen have 7-11-18 totals through 11 games. The former Habs D comes in at 3-9-12 in roughly 9 games played on average.

Mara, Spacek and Bergeron have 3-9-12 on their own, while defensemen the Canadiens let go last season, Komisarek, Bouillon, Schneider and Dandenault are pointless.

On the surface, Canadiens forwards have 22-36-58 totals, while the former Hab forwards come in at 22-29-51. The former guys have played a few games less each, so it is still pretty much an even draw in that category.

Here's where it gets a bit more revealing:

Gomez - Gionta - Cammalleri: 11-14-25

Koivu - Tanguay - Kovalev: 4-5-9

A second tier of reel ins versus castoffs would look like this:

Moen and Metropolit: 4-7-11

Kostopoulos and Begin: 3-4-7

The removal of Lang (1-3-4) from the Canadiens center position seems to have helped Plekanec (2-8-10) return to a form shown two years ago.

Here's the rundown on all players:

Jaroslav Halak 5-4-1-0 2.28 / Jose Theodore 7-2-2-2 2.55 (Capitals)

Carey Price 6-2-4-0 3.36 / Cristobal Huet 8-4-2-1 2.49 (Blackhawks)

Paul Mara 11-0-5-5 / 10-1-3-4 Mark Streit (Islanders)

Roman Hamrlik 10-3-1-4 / 9-1-2-3 Francois Beauchemin (Maple Leafs)

Jaroslav Spacek 11-1-3-4 / 8-0-3-3 Craig Rivet (Sabres)

Marc-Andre Bergeron 4-2-1-3 / 8-1-1-2 Ron Hainsey (Thrashers)

Josh Gorges 11-1-1-2 / 3-0-0-0 Sheldon Souray (Oilers)

Hal Gill 11-0-0-0 / 9-0-0-0 Mike Komisarek (Maple Leafs)

Mike Cammalleri 11-5-7-12 / 11-3-6-9 Mike Ribeiro (Stars)

Tomas Plekanec 11-2-8-10 / 10-3-3-6 Michael Ryder (Bruins)

Scott Gomez 11-2-5-7 / 10-2-4-6 Steve Begin (Bruins)

Brian Gionta 11-4-2-6 / 9-2-3-5 Mikhail Grabovski (Maple Leafs)

Glen Metropolit 5-1-5-6 / 9-3-1-4 Alexei Kovalev (Senators)

Travis Moen 11-3-2-5 / 10-1-3-4 Robert Lang (Coyotes)

Andrei Kostitsyn 11-1-3-4 / 10-1-3-4 Sergei Samsonov (Hurricanes)

Maxim Lapierre 11-1-2-3 / 6-3-0-3 Arron Asham* (Flyers)

Max Pacioretty 11-1-1-2 / 10-1-2-3 Saku Koivu (Ducks)

Guillaume Latendresse 11-1-0-1 / 12-0-2-2 Christopher Higgins (Rangers)***

Georges Laraque 8-0-1-1 / 9-0-2-2 Alex Tanguay (Lightning)

Matt D'Agostini 9-1-0-1 / 10-1-0-1 Tom Kostopoulos (Hurricanes)

Habs Total GP: 179 / Goals: 29 /Assists: 47 / Points: 76

Former Habs Total GP: 160 / Goals: 25 / Assists: 38 / Points: 63

Week Three / After 7 games: F 112-15-26-41 / 117-15-31-46

Week Two / After 5 games: F 80-12-20-32 / 67-8-22-30

Week One / After 2 games: F 33-6-11-17 / 23-4-13-17

On the former Habs front, a player I always appreciated was Chris Higgins. A reader asked about him on Saturday, suggesting a parallel between him returning to Montreal and the similar storyline of Kovalev's return a week earlier. Sadly, Higgins storyline never quite materialized. He took an untimely penalty and found himself in John Tortorella's dog pound for the third period. Rangers' fans are seriously worried about him.

Ugh

blurr1974 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Richard Lam - AP

Lee Stempniak sees you. Do you see Lee Stempniak?

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Look, it's Sunday and I've actually had to work today. It's late, and I love you all, but I need my sleep...

Dr. Steve thinks the Leafs may not be a "Brian Burke team."
TSM doesn't think the Leafs are 0-81-1 bad. They just may not be all that good either...
Leafs247 has a few suggestions on what the Leafs need to do to win. I'm thinking "score more goals."
The header may say "No Stanley Cups Allowed" but that doesn't mean hope is not welcome.
TML FanFury is curious: do you prefer Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek over Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina?
Truculence is Everything takes a look at painful comments.
Remember that guy TSN decided to front page as a "former player" who had some damning things to say about Ron Wilson? This Fanhouse article says: "Ya, about all that..."
Mother Pucker hockey proves that not only are Leaf fans the best looking hockey fans, they're also infinitely more intelligent than the rest. Sorry dude, but CBC ain't quitting on the Leafs in your lifetime, let alone this season. Have your say over there, and maybe drop some ka-nahl-edge.

Poll

Do you see Lee Stempniak?

Yes

39 votes

No

25 votes

This is a trick question, he's a ninja!

88 votes

152 votes | Poll has closed

Attention Canucks: Don't Take Leafs Lightly

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:00:21 -0000

After a spirited win over the Blackhawks, the Canucks now return home to face the winless Leafs (0-6-1). This has got to be a sure-win, right? Well don't get too cocky. The Maple Leafs have had a full week, (thanks to that dumb scheduling) to think about being winless and I cannot see them as a guarantee to lay an egg in GM Place. The team itself has been staying positive throughout the week, and the coaching staff has not talked all that much to the media except to say that they have their fingers crossed that The Monster Jonas Gustavsson will play against the Canucks. Monster is nursing a groin injury, and Canucks fans know what that's like having lost Luongo to a groin injury last season. Toronto cannot rush this kid back.

Where to start with this hap-less Leafs team:

OFFENCE: They are not getting enough scoring, which was predicted by many before the season started. They rank 29th in goals for per game. A shocking stat (to me, anyways) is that Alexei Ponikarovsky is leading the team with 3 goals and 4 points in 7 games. He is also a +5. A miracle, considering. Jason Blake, who is expected to carry a lot of the load, has 1 goal and 2 points. Beyond Niklas Hagman (2 goals and 4 points) there are way too many forwards that aren't pulling their weight yet. many of them are younger players who are/were projected to do more. The arrival of Phil Kessel may inject something more down the road, but he's not supposed to be back for a while yet, not is it fair to say that he can repeat his offensive output from last year because of the caliber of players he was with in Boston. Hey, you never know.

DEFENCE: Brian Burke signed big named guys like Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin this past summer in hopes of "rebuilding" the D corps. So far, that has not even come close to panning out. Beauchemin looks lost out there and Komisarek is taking a butt-load of penalties. The Leafs rank last in the NHL in goals against (try 4.57 goals against per game). My lord. That is atrocious. That is also a team stat.

Luke Schenn ~~looks to watch this game from the press box.~~ will play.

GOAL: Not much help from the goalies either. Vesa Toskala, who is also out with an injury, continues his less than stellar play. So if Gustavsson does not play against the Canucks, that leaves Joey MacDonald; he of the 0-2 record, with a .857 GAA and a 4.00 save percentage. I like our chances with him being in net). However, he knows what is at stake tonight. He wants to steal one for the team.

At some point, it is going to come together for the Leafs. It had better not be against the Canucks though. I just hope Vancouver doesn't play down to their level. We've seen it before. The Canucks gotta bury these guys early and often to finally get to .500 hockey. No use in taking their foot off the gas pedal.

Some Canucks news: Rick Rypien will not play against the Leafs. His groin still ails him.

-Canucks and Leafs hanging out together at Earl's? I'll let you be the judge of that story.

-Detroit's Loss a Vancouver Gain: Great Samuelsson story here.

It is time for Kyle Wellwood to score. 1 assist in 9 games is bunk and he needs to get it going. What better time than against his old team (and fans who sadly keep butchering him about his weight)? Silence your critics, Woody!

Same with you, Mason Raymond. It looks all fancy when you zip up and down the ice, but we need some goals.

GAME TIME: 4:00 PST. Yes this is bullshit.

TV: CBC