SB Nation User Blog: Chemmy

FTB - Tomorrow We Honor Wendel Clark

Chemmy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:54:55 -0000

Tomorrow night #17 will rise to the rafters. Clear your schedules and think up better excuses than "there's dust in my eye".

Down Goes Brown has Wendel Moment #2, and an announcement!
General Borschevsky has lots of expectations.
This time ESPN ranks coaches. The result is much less contentious.
HAHAHA sens got screwed out of a win.

McCabe Scores Twice

Chemmy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:51:43 -0000

McCabe Scores Twice

From the CBC:

"McCabe scores twice as Panthers beat Lightning 4-3"

NNN: Do what now?

Chemmy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:59:04 -0000

His leaguewide reputation may say otherwise, but Tim Thomas has calmed down his game. Thomas, widely known as an unorthodox goalie, has evolved into a more efficient butterfly puckstopper who pulls out the crazy stuff only when necessary - The Boston Globe

I don't know many calm butterfly goalies who routinely end up laying on their back staring at the net scrambling to make saves, but go get 'em Boston Globe!

Last night, when the buzzing Maple Leafs threw puck after puck at the Boston net - not to mention bodies crashing the crease at all times - Thomas had to revert to the acrobatics.

Oh, rats. The Boston Globe is oddly complimentary to the Leafs. Maybe they feel a certain kinship with the style of hockey Toronto plays.

Under first-year coach Ron Wilson, the Leafs have assumed an identity similar to that of the 2007-08 Bruins: a lunchpail bunch that drives to the dirty areas and hunts for garbage goals. Early in the game, after the Leafs drove to the net and got bodies in front, Thomas knew he would have to work harder than usual to track down pucks.

Well, that's something positive at least. The Bruins are a force in the East right now after squeaking into the playoffs last year, and missing them the year prior. Montreal is a major player in the East this year and they were last year, though they missed the playoffs thanks to the Leafs in 06-07.

Enough about Thomas though, let's talk about goalies who don't stop the puck.

Vexing Toskala A Concern For Leafs

No. 1 goaltender allows more soft goals as Bruins score early and hang on to win - The Star

Yeah, that seems about right.

"He just beat me, it was a bad goal, I have to make the save," Toskala said of Phil Kessel's opening goal, a wrist shot that saw Toskala drop to his knees too late to prevent the puck from trickling under him and across the goal line.

At least Toskala can admit this. The Leafs have four days to prep their goaltender so that going forward they can stop doing this. Being first in the conference in goals doesn't mean anything if you're also last in goals against.

The Leafs have now fallen behind two goals or more in nine of their 19 games, and comebacks are much harder to come by now that teams are hitting mid-season form.

This is absolutely true. It's easy to be the Come Back Kids in October. So far, for Toronto, it's been a lot harder in November.

Game Thread: Period 3 and Game Reactions

Chemmy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:22:14 -0000

Vesa Toskala is a garbage goaltender.

Vesa Toskala is the only player on the Leafs who isn't held responsible for being garbage.

Post here about the third period, and then hang out and post your post-game reactions until PPP gets home (I don't think he's going to be happy).

Game Thread: Period 2!

Chemmy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:16:14 -0000

Jason Blake scored and fist pumped!

Vesa Toskala continued to be a big jerk!

PPP is probably crying into his Molson at the ACC!

It's the second period chat thread, let's go!

In Lou We Trust

Chemmy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:04:25 -0000

In Lou We Trust

Hey PPPers, SBN Hockey's newest blog is "In Lou We Trust", a Devils blog.

Stop by, leave him a comment, and say hello!

FTB - The Worst Coast

Chemmy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:09:51 -0000

Torontosportsmedia continues his Brian Burke coverage.
Scot Loucks must have watched a different game than the rest of us. Where I thought Toronto looked flat, he thought they played a good game. Paul Maurice, is that you?
Budblog is starting to lose confidence in Toskala.
And the sens' freefall continues. As my sens loving friend said "so that's two losses to the worst team in hockey so I guess that makes us the worst team in hockey. Kill me now."

Enjoy your Sunday!

Leafs prospect Korbinian Holzer starts a line brawl in the DEL. Thanks to Friendly Factory for...

Chemmy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:08:58 -0000

Leafs prospect Korbinian Holzer starts a line brawl in the DEL.

Thanks to Friendly Factory for finding this.

FTB - Your Game is at 4pm So That Toronto Can Watch It Vancouver

Chemmy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:59:38 -0000

Editor's Note: We've started tagging the archives. The fanposts are done and we've started on fanshots and the stories. Click on a player to see what his page looks like now that we've done some work. Awesome eh?

Lots to read today and not as much time as anticipated now that the stupid league decided to schedule a game at 4pm PST:

Torontosportsmedia has a huge piece about Brian Burke.
Norte has an open letter to Jason Blake.
Steve @ Hockeyanalysis wonders if Grabovski and Stajan can keep scoring.
DGB has Wendel Moment #7.
Wyshynski wonders if head shots can ever be banned. Check out comment # 1 for the best burn ever delivered to Puck Daddy.
James Duthie tracks Paul Kelly's visits to NHL teams.
Are the senators facing a lot of backups? Hilarious.
Hockey Viking can't be returned to IKEA anymore.
Nice headline G&M but it's spelled "d-o-u-g-h-n-u-t-s".
Bunch of freaking hippies.
Cheaters never prosper.

From the Ottawa Sun: "Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson smashed his stick, breaking a pane of...

Chemmy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:14:50 -0000

From the Ottawa Sun:

"Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson smashed his stick, breaking a pane of glass after he wasn't happy with the way a drill went. Then, winger Dany Heatley and centre Chris Kelly also got into a heated exchange which featured plenty of juicy adjectives."

Guess things aren't going so well in Ottawa...