Law Goalie

He's a bit brittle, but he stayed healthy last year and he'll fill the minutes that need filling - and I can't think of another defenceman who scored 14 goals last year who you could get for $750k.

Absolutely. And just when he was getting back up to speed in Carolina... I still think his return was what pushed the Canes over the top against Edmonton. That took enormous balls.

Given that he actually broke Cole's leg, there may be a suspension. That was a vicious, vicious hit.

My only question is this: would they have got a player of Kessel's calibre - let alone his offensive skillset - with any of those picks? I'm not sure.

Granted, but bear in mind that the Leafs are now roughly where Washington was four years ago - and the Leafs haven't had the benefit of first (Ovechkin) and fourth (Backstrom) overall picks, nor of being able to draft anyone as good as Semin 13th or Green 27th. Kadri is the first hint of any such talent; Stahlberg is great, but probably comparable to Brooks Laich in the final analysis. All I can say is that I wish the Leafs had been thinner on the blueline and made a bigger play for Matt Gilroy. They'd be a much more dangerous team.

I'm sorry to say I've seen little of the B's preseason and season - how's Sturm looking so far?

Haha - but did you notice him "Doing the Kayak" on a couple of rushes in the first - two hands on the stick, swinging it around over his shoulders? That nickname may stick...

Exelby would be grabbed in heartbeat. Finger... maybe have to wait for re-entry waivers mid-season. I'm pretty excited for the Marlies this year, too. It's a very nice convenience to be able to stumble out the door and catch a decent pro hockey game in a nice rink any old time. And I have to say, this is the first time in a long time I have any intention of watching Leafs' games voluntarily.

That was not necessarily a good way to end the pre-season... they looked like the Leafs of the last two years, hanging goalies out to dry and actually creating more scoring chances against than they prevented. On the other hand, maybe Wilson decided to let them play fast and loose just for the hell of it: it's a meaningless game, he wants them to have some fun playing pond hockey, etc. They're playing paintball for the rest of the week anyway... Toskala looked pissed off in a "Did we just get McCabe back on waivers," kind of way - just like J.S. Aubin when he chucked his stick over the net at McCabe in disgust. That could be a good signs or a very bad sign; depends entirely on the nature of his optimal arousal level. The one that snuck through his armpit in the previous game was a total and culpable mental lapse on his part, as were a couple of last night's. Having said that, I would cut the guy some slack, given that he didn't play for the last quarter of last season, had the whole offseason off-ice, and hasn't had a lot of work in the preseason. Gustavsson, by comparison, played all the way through the SEL finals, and had a healthy, productive off-season. It's incredibly impressive that he came back so quickly after the heart surgery - minor or not, that's an impressive athlete psychology at work - but he's much sharper than Toskala right now.

Those are sexy. I absolutely love Brian's blockers (lightest on the market for *years*, and way ahead of their time in using mesh gussets and other small material advances) but I cannot even put one of their gloves on my hands. The break, the thumb angle, the strapping... just feel WRONG.

Of the kids, I agree, Stalberg makes the biggest impact; Hanson is probably the most physically mature, but he hasn't played brilliantly; Bozak and Kadri have looked terrific, but they're just not there physically, and Gunnarson has really faded. As the year goes on, Burke can still trade or waive to open up spots as they progress. Bear in mind with Gustavsson that every new goalie - and this goes double for slightly unorthodox and very talented ones like him - gets a certain grace period before the book on him comes out. Think of all the goalies who won the Calder, or who had crazy out-of-nowhere rookie playoff runs, or enormous winning streaks in their first years in the league: Jim Carey, Brian Boucher, Cam Ward, Andrew Raycroft. The very best ones will have a short downturn (up to a year of "sophomore jinx) before they learn how to counteract their own scouting reports; that's where Carey Price should be this year, barring a total head implosion. That full-split save against a goalmouth pass is something Fleury used to do all the time, until people just started tapping it back five-hole and lighting him up. He has all the talent in the world, but how he meshes with Francois Allaire and how quickly other teams' goalie coaches get him figured out will play a very big role in his mid-term success. Toskala has played two years with maybe the worst defence in the NHL on a crete paper groin and papier maché hips. By worst, I don't just mean statistically worst, I mean worst in terms of how they allow shots and scoring chances. He deserves a lot more credit than he's getting.

Healy's right, though, that he needs to work on his rebounds - and on overcommitment. A more seasoned trigger-man on the end of that 2v0 would have gotten it over the pad on just tucked it back five-hole. He looks like an amazing prospect, and he's adapting rapidly to the North American game, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Wilson made an off-hand comment after the game last night that he "wanted more offence" from the Frat Pack Line, and that they were beginning to look like they were "barely surviving the camp." This sounds an awful lot like he's sending Kadri back to the O, and maybe Stalberg, Hanson and Bozak to the Marlies along with Gunnarson. Nothing wrong with that at all. He can season them down there as long as he wants, and any time he manages to trade off a veteran, he can bring up a younger guy who's now several months stronger and better adapted to pro hockey.

I'm fairly certain there is a difference between the way a convection oven heats and the way a regular element oven heats, much as there is a difference between propane and coals, gas and electric, a microwave and a fire pit, etc. Heat is heat; how that heat is generated and circulated differs.

He's about to blow past those defenders. Wah-wah-wah-waaaah...

While I agree that my hope of getting a second for Finger *right now* is grossly optimistic, I was thinking more about, say, in February, after a few injuries have set in throughout the league - that's what I meant by "as the year goes on." If a team was in the middle of the pack, fighting for the playoffs, with major injuries on D, a 2nd-rounder isn't much to give up for immediate help where you need it most. Would it be overpaying? Sure it would. But when you're desperate... Right now, why would anyone offer anything? I don't think there's a team in the league that isTHAT dissatisfied with their blueline so early in the year - or at least not one that's willing to admit it yet.

I would be stunned if the Leafs didn't keep 7 D - and if they keep White to play wing and D, they could effectively have 8, and only send Frogren down. The guy I feel bad for is Carl Gunnarson. He's played extremely well, and looks to be a quality NHLer in the making. They're going to have to send him down to the Marlies or let him go back to Europe, and he's nearly played his way onto the team. That leaves the Leafs (hoho) in a position to deal D as the year goes on. Finger could very well be attractive to a team with some injuries on the back end, provided Burke keeps the price low - maybe a 2nd or a comparable prospect?

Soon you'll have a mighty hunch!

greech's buddy has taste in boat-hooks AND boat-shoes. Quoddy's, if I'm not mistaken.

It's funny you mention Zetterberg, because the guy whose progress he most reminds me of is Pavel Datsyuk. Quietly appears on the scene with all the skill in the universe, puts up rising point totals his first two years, but criticised initially for being soft and weak defensively. Gradually, hard work turns those stick-handling skills into a beautiful defensive stick game, the frame fills out, cycle game begins to border on indefensible - and suddenly the point totals ant the /- spike. In fact, David's had a better+/- in his early career. If he can keep getting stronger and smarter on the ice, he could be a lethal two-way player who consistently puts up 80-95pts and challenges for the Selke. And if he weren't such a GOON, he'd be in the running for the Byng too! :)

Hockey slang from the velvet mafia?

Kind of makes sense, actually, given the way he shoots. Huh.

Hmm. You honestly can't see the difference between an actual hockey play, like a fake or a deke, vs. someone tapping their stick trying to trick someone into a mistaken ID pass? I guess I'm on my own. both are deceptive moves that trick you into making a mistake - like it was said above it happens even in the show, it doesn't hurt - so what's the big deal about?! sounds like a differnce of opinions to me... By your analogy of 'deceptive moves', then, stick-tapping would be the dekeing equivalent of a huge reach-to-reach Junior D toe-drag. Do it once (cf: Walz & Brunnette drop-pass, or the Spezza-on-Souray drag) in a professional game, and it's effective, significant and entertaining. Do it to a friend at shinny, laugh it off. Do it constantly either A) to zero effect against superior competition, or B) to occasional effect against the worst hockey players on earth, and you're a prick. The guy who does nothing but huge toe-drags all game makes the same implicit assumption as the constant stick-tapper: my competition is so terrible they're going to fall for this all night. Where is competition that terrible, and stupidity that rampant? The apocryphal bush leagues.

It's bush league because it demonstrates the tapper's assumption of the other team's implicit stupidity (ie. poor sportsmanship), and additionally demonstrates the tapper's own explicit and active stupidity for believing that it will work regularly against anyone over the mental age of five. It is the kind of move in which fourth-line overagers in Junior D leagues delight the world over, alongside slew-footing, the open-ice can-opener, the immobile toe-drag, and the full-stride slapshot from below the face-off circle.

There was one guy at a university skate who kept doing that CONSTANTLY. He was so clueless that he did the exact same thing try to call for passes from his own team AND to try to confuse the other team. Every two seconds he was on the ice, whether his team or the other team had the puck -- tap-tap-TAP. Nothing verbal, never in position -- tap-tap-TAP. Guys with the puck are looking straight at him -- tap-tap-TAP. Finally, after redlining for an entire shift and tapping out mating calls to every woodpecker in the province, he got a breakaway. Guy puts his head down and starts chugging away like he's got Sami Pahlsson on his tail. Sensing the opportunity, I flip my stick into a shooting grip, skate off to the side of the net -- tap-tap-TAP. His head shoots up, and for one precious second, he hesitates -- and both benches started guffawing just as he shoots. I never moved. Possibly the best goal I ever conceded, apart from the time I setup a power-play one-timer against myself.