TTP to the Leafs: "Go to Hell."

You losers are an absolute joke.

Gusty wins, TTP prediction accurate agan!

The Leafs won last night 4-1 after a last minute empty netter by Kris Versteeg.  Jonas "Gusty" Gustavsson was stellar in allowing only one goal on a play with Gunarsson just standing there in front of the net while Richards snapped one home.  Playing in net with defense like this deserves a medal!

The only question remaining after last night's game is what were there more of:  Gustavsson saves or occurences of Joe Bowen mistakenly calling Mike Ribeiro, "Robidas"?

A Gust of Gustavsson

So, I think it took a month of ripping J.S.Giguere and a groin injury to finally get Jonas Gustavsson some starts, but again, give head coach Ron Wilson credit for finally admitting that TTP Sports was right and he was wrong.  Just like TTP Sports was right, which Mike Babcock finally saw after our scathing article ripping Babcock and Brodeur after Team Canada's Olympic loss against Team USA in the round robin stage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which led directly to Luongo being put in net and Canada winning gold.  Yes, I take full credit for that gold medal.

In the two plus games since relieving the beleaguered Giguere, Jonas Gustavsson, or "Gusty" as he is called by his faithful followers, has put up a 0.960 save percentage - something that Giguere can only see himself do in a replay of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs.  After years of watching Andrew Raycroft and then Vesa Toskala's indifferent attitude towards goaltending, it is so refreshing to see Gustavsson fire a puck out of the net, or rip off his mask and drop an "F-bomb" during a television closeup.  It shows he actually cares and is not content with losing or letting in bad goals.  I love to see this as a fan.  To those who suggest that Gustavsson "showed up" Mike Komisarek after swearing up a storm following the defenseman's tic-tac-toe passing play to Mike Cammalleri on Saturday, who cares?  Would you rather the goaltender came out publicly and applauded Komisarek for a smart, sensible defensive play?  I'll save the bashing of Komisarek for another article, other than to say that he has been a total disaster since putting on a Leafs jersey. Big time mistake by Burkie with this signing.

Tonight, look for Gustavsson to get a big "W" against the overachieving Dallas Stars.  TTP's prediction: Leafs 3, Stars 2.

Unfortunate News with a Not-So-Bad Ending

Well, word came out late last night that J.S. Giguere, goalie of the Toronto Maple Leafs, tried committing suicide last night by standing in front of a train. It indeed seems as though the pressure of playing in the hockey hotbed market of Toronto has really affected him. Fortunately, the train went through his legs.

Charles Wang reads TTP Sports!

The Fan 590 reports that the New York Islanders have fired head coach Scott Gordon.  It appears Charles Wang did not take kindly to what was reported on ttpsports.blogspot.com a few weeks ago which must have initiated the firing:

"If Ron Wilson likes the game played the "right way", with good old fashioned fire wagon hockey and a high tempo offense, Islanders bench boss Scott Gordon certainly does not give a damn. As soon as the Islanders got the lead, they were sitting back, lulling us all to sleep, trapping, really ruining the game.  I guess the guy has to make a living and how else is this rag-tag bunch of minor leaguers going to win games, but he really should have known even Dwayne "Rock and" Roloson himself could not preserve a one goal lead the entire game. "

Sorry Scott, but as Alexei Yashin knows, it's just business.

Enough said....

Leafs vs. Panthers (Nov. 10, 2010) - Predictions

Another day, another Leaf game. Are they able to finally break out of their 6-game losing streak as well as losers of 9 of their last 10? Well, if there's one team that could provide the cure, it's the biteless Panthers. As such, a few predictions for tonight's game that would even make Mrs. Cleo blush.

1. This will be a one-goal game. Both these teams couldn't score with regularity even if they perused "the four corners" of downtown Toronto on a Friday and Saturday night. I'm thinking 2-1, possibly 3-2.

2. Jonas Gustavsson faces 30+ shots, plays well enough for the win while making some stellar saves, but let's in a weak goal along the way which the team can't pick him up on.

3. Bryan McCabe is bound to score a goal. Which net he scores on is up for debate.

4. Stephen Weiss picks up a point or two. Okay, not really a prediction as it is my hope that he does as I have him on both my keeper league teams.

5. Tyler Bozak reveals that he is in fact Matt Stajan, having gone through a two-inch growth spurt and switched the way he shoots, commenting, "I always wanted to know what it was like to switch to the other side".

Fire Wilson!

Ok, it’s time to start banging the “Fire Wilson” drum in Toronto, much as many had wanted to “Fire Gibbons!” (John Gibbons that is) a couple years back.  It’s not that I’m a bad person who normally wants people to get fired.  But this guy is a multi-millionaire coach with 600+ wins in the NHL so he’s going to be fine.  As for his status in Toronto, we need to get him out of here. 

Another season has gone down the crapper for the Leafs; after starting 4-0-1 no less.  Why are we counting the season over after 15 games?  Because we’ve seen this sad tale before.  Leafs play with promise; win a few games in a row, compete against the skilled teams, and fans rightfully get excited.  But pit the Leafs against sad sack teams like the Islanders, Rangers, Lightning, Senators, and the Sabres without Ryan Miller and they flush the 2 points down the toilet.  And seemingly every game the Leafs face the backup goalie on the other team only to be out goal-tended and lose!  It’s a minor miracle the Leafs “escaped” their home ice game against “nice guy” Scott Clemmensen and the Panthers two weeks ago with two points.  That was their only win in the past ten games.  The last two goalies to stone wall the Leafs and teach J.S. Giguere a goaltending lesson have been Dan Ellis and Jhonas Enroth (coming in with a 9.00 GAA); hardly an encouraging sign.

So how much of this is the coach and how much of this is the players?  How much of this is the general manager?  Well the players are terrible obviously.  They can’t score, they can’t sit back and defend because, well their defense sucks, and their goaltending has underperformed once again (forget about how the media is trumpeting about Giguere’s ‘solid play’ this season; when is the last time he actually was the better of the two goalies on the ice?  Vesa Toskala was worshiped by the media his first year in Toronto which I never understood.)  Yet there is Wilson, marching Giguere out there night after night; having started all but one of the past nine losses.  So is it the players or the coach?

Is it Beauchemin’s fault for being a terrible defenseman or is it Wilson’s fault for running him out there for 25+ minutes a night?  Or is it Brian Burke’s fault for signing him in the first place?  Is it Kessel’s fault that he plays a selfish game on the ice and won’t do the little things to help the team win?  Or is it Burke’s fault for selling the farm to get him (I finally acknowledge for the first time since the deal that it was a mistake).  One thing is for sure; something needs to change.  It sure as hell isn’t going to be Burke going; he’s going to be here for as long as he wants.  Since he doesn’t want to fire his old frat buddy Wilson, he’s probably going to shake things up in the next few days with some type of player move.  Kadri anyone? 

The problem is, as much as everyone said in training camp that this is a new Leafs team from last year, and everyone pointed the finger at Matt Stajan et al. for the “Blue and White disease” which led to the 29^th place finish; we are seeing the same things this year.  A team that can’t score.  A team that can’t defend.  A team that can’t generate scoring chances on 5-on-3’s.  Wilson is trying to win games in a manner that his players can’t.  Other teams with little to no talent can succeed by playing the defensive trapping strategy that ruins the game: see Boston, New York Rangers, so why can’t we?  At this point we can’t blow up the team.  We don’t have a first round pick next year.  So there is only one thing to do – fire Wilson.

Limerick

Here's an entry. Some will argue Kaberle's had a poor season beyond the first four games (but really, who hasn't?), so it pertains to the events over the last little while.

The Leafs have a pretty talented defenceman named Kaberle
Who for whatever reason Burke wants to trade away
Doing so would leave a hole
Even if he hasn't scored a goal
It'd be a tell-tale sign another season has gone astray.

Leafs Limericks

In commemoration of the Toronto Star's recent article inviting readers to submit Haiku's about the Maple Leafs; I would like to present an open invitation to all you Package Maniacs out there to submit your Leafs limericks.  Use the comment link at the bottom of this article to submit your limerick.  The best limerick (if anyone actually submits one) will be selected and featured on the website next week so there is a lot of incentive to put in the time to come up with a clever one!  In the mean time here is mine:

There once was a goalie name Giguere
When he was younger he had some more hair
His performance has regressed
And causes fans lots of stress
Now the mere sight of a save is quite rare.

TTP Wallpapers

Be the talk of the office or spruce up your home decor with these snazzy TTP wallpapers!  Only for cool people!

Haiku - The Unmoderated Version

Well, if you read the Toronto Star's website, you likely know by now they are running a contest where fans can win a pair of tickets by submitting Haikus pertaining to the team's current plight, including captain Dion Phaneuf's injury. So, I've decided to come up with a few of my own, knowing full well they wouldn't pass the smell test with the moderators. So, I present to you, our great reading audience, the unmoderated versions, TTP style.

Leafs suck at shootouts
Sundin's backhand was the same
But he always scored

Truculence you say?
Where is the belligerence?
Suck a tit Burkey

Tim Brent at centre
John "I Suck" Mitchell as well
Matt Stajan, come back

Toskala was good
At letting 60 foot goals
Raycroft was as bad

The Raptors can't win
The Leafs are not much better
Ownership's a joke

Recap - Leafs lose 5-4; TTP Predictions Uncanny

Man am I good.

1) Will Ovechkin score on a long wrist shot?  Prediction - no.  Result - no.

2) Will Mike Green have a big night?  Prediction - yes (2 assists, 1 ppp).  Result - 1 goal, 1 ppp.  Not bad.

3) Will Michal "Nordberg" Neuvirth have a strong game?  Prediction - no (4 goals against).  Result - 4 goals against, .857 save percentage.  I think I got this one right.

4) How many goals will Washington score?  Prediction - 5.  Result - 5 (only 4 in regulation, one for the shootout).

5) Will Kessel show up for this game?  Prediction - yes, 2 goals.  Result - no goals but some good rushes and nice chances.

6) How many boneheaded plays by Beauchemin?  Prediction - 6.  Result - someone help me out here?  At least a couple.

7) Number of Versteeg "snakebitten" references?  Prediction - 3.  Result - ??

Keys for Tonight's Leafs at Capitals Game

Are the Leafs going to break out of this horrible funk?  Here are some key questions with predictions:

1) Will Ovechkin score a long wrist shot goal from the blue line boards?  Prediction - no.  If this was Vesa Toskala playing net this would be a definitive yes.  Gustavsson is a big goalie and good at making the first save.

2) Will Mike Green have a big night?  Prediction - yes.  The Leafs powerplay has been awful lately although a lot of that has to do with countless point shots scoring on JS Giguere.  Look for Green to rack up two helpers tonight, at least one of which will come with the extra man.

3) Will Michal "Annoyed Bert" Neuvirth have a strong game?  Prediction - no.  Neuvirth has been amazingly consistent this year except the game he withheld an illness from the coach and was pulled after two goals in the first period of a game.  He is due for a bad game.  This combined with the Leafs hunger for goals and Neuvirth's poor track record against Toronto (6 goals against last year) plus the fact that I have him in the pool and I predict 4 goals against tonight.

4) How many goals will Washington score?  Prediction - 5.

5) Will Phil Kessel show up for this game?  Prediction - yes.  Against defensive minded, physical teams like Boston, and New York, Kessel has been a no show with his sometimes annoying finesse game where he just peels away, willing to take no physical contact whatsoever.  Washington plays an up tempo offense and in a fast paced open ice hockey game I like Kessel's chance to score two tonight.

6) How many times will Francois Beauchemin make a giveaway, fail to clear the puck while short handed by not raising the puck, or make an otherwise boneheaded play.  Prediction - 6.

7) How many times will the announcer rant on and on about how Versteeg is so unlucky and "it's just a matter of time before they start going in for him."?  Prediction - 3.

Roloson (and Linesman) Stymies Leafs (again)

In what is beginning to sound like a broken record, 41 year old journeyman goaltender Dwayne Roloson stole another game away from the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.  The Leafs were able to salvage a point with a late goal to square the affair, and it appeared like the home side was going to walk away with the 'W' considering the impotence of the Islanders offense heading into overtime.  This is after all an Islanders team with some speed and physicality, but with nobody outside of John Tavares and Matt "Take it easy on the teammate" Moulson capable of putting the puck in the net.  In the words of Leafs winger Kris Versteeg: "We controlled the whole game.  It wasn't really close."

The Islanders went through the first half of the game with one, possibly two (if you're being generous) quality scoring chances - capitalizing on one of them as Matt Moulson tried to make amends for knocking out Mark Streit for the season with a hit from behind in training camp by easily putting away a backhand deke on the shaky J.S. Giguere.  Moulson probably had enough time to make the deke to his backhand, put down his stick, crack open a beer after which his forefathers were named, decide it's not cold enough, go to the beer store and grab a fresh pack, show his ID, drink it, return the empty to the store, and shoot the puck in, all while Giguere was slowly moving to the left side of the net.  It's hard to fault a goalie when he only lets in two goals, but by comparison to his geriatric counterpart at the other end of the ice, he looked very shaky while facing almost nothing of difficulty. Giguere's adventure continued as he was bailed out in the third by Mike Komisarek of all people, reaching back to prevent a goal.  If Komisarek's stick wasn't 15 feet long that puck would have been in the net.

If Ron Wilson likes the game played the "right way", with good old fashioned fire wagon hockey and a high tempo offense, Islanders bench boss Scott Gordon certainly does not give a damn. As soon as the Islanders got the lead, they were sitting back, lulling us all to sleep, trapping, really ruining the game.  I guess the guy has to make a living and how else is this rag-tag bunch of minor leaguers going to win games, but he really should have known even Dwayne "Rock and" Roloson himself could not preserve a one goal lead the entire game.

Kris Versteeg had a goal called back - on a complete blown call; the puck made contact with his stick and it appeared slightly above the cross bar.  However, when the play is a high stick that is not directly into the net; the crossbar is not the measuring stick; the players shoulder is.  The stick was nowhere near Versteeg's shoulders.  Additionally, the blown call was made by linesman Lonny Cameron from 60 feet away in the neutral zone.  A horrible call that probably had a hand in the outcome.  Mr. Cameron, I hope you have trouble enjoying your post-game lobster dinner after that abomination of a call.

Versteeg had me yelling at the television just moments before, as he was wide open in front of Roloson, but tried a lazy "slide it in on the forehand" deke that Roloson had tons of time to get over on.  Giggy would have had that one (he's a good goalie, not so much on dekes).  Joe Bowen kept going on about what a great move it was, but on the replay you really appreciate how wide open he was and how he could have taken a little extra time to elevate the puck the 6 inches necessary to score.  I never understand on a deke like that how a professional can expect to score without raising the puck.  Anyway, I digress.  Versteeg also had a clear breakaway in overtime but shot the puck well over the net; maybe he should have slid the puck along the ice afterall.  The Lethbridge, Alberta native needs to get things going if he hopes to have any chance of meeting Jim Ralph's prediction of "60 or 80 assists" this year.

Then the Islanders won the game the only way they could.  Moments after Nikolai Kulemin was hauled down with no call, Brett Lebda for some reason took a goaltender interference penalty in overtime, which we all know is always the kiss of death in 4 on 3 especially in this type of situation.  Sure enough, they get one shot, a long one timer that it didn't even look like Tavares got all of, and Giguere looked like Homer Simpson trying to punch Drederick Tatum, appearing to swing over the puck with his blocker hand as the shot beat him on the far side.

It's disappointing to lose the first game of the season at home, against the New York Islanders, which should have been two points.  But the good thing is that the Leafs did not give up, and they carried the play the entire game.  They weren't really able to generate many high end scoring chances, but were able to tie the game up and at least get the point for the overtime loss.  The down sides were too many shots missing the net, mainly from Phaneuf and Komisarek, and not being able to bury goals when they had chances against Roloson AGAIN.  But hey, 9 out of 10 points to start the year is not bad at all.  At least the Leafs bashers can stop saying, "The team's going to go 82-0 this year" sarcastically; that was really clever.

Next game for the Leafs is this Thursday against another New York team that can't (or shouldn't be able to) score: the Rangers, missing Marian Gaborik.  I think Giguere has opened the door for Jonas "Gusty" Gustavsson to run with the ball for a little while if he can have a solid game.

Sports Equations

Sean Avery + Another chance in New York = Sloppy seconds

Tofu + Sean Avery's comments = Tasteless

Mike Richards x (Seinfeld + Flyers) = Racist + Gritty forward

LA Kings Goaltender + Zombies = The Quick and the Dead

Ovechkin + Dirty hits + Overzealous celebrations = Retribution waiting to happen + Massive suspension

Jim Carey + The Net Detective = Best sports nickname, period

Peter Forsberg + Possible NHL comeback + Bad foot = Here we go again

Niclas Bergfors = Bizarro Forsberg

1987 Canada Cup 3 on 1 - Gretzky - Lemieux = Larry Murphy