Der Toronto Maple Leafs Thread

[AustroLeaf]

Sensationell! 4 Assists von Wellwood, ein Tor von Battaglia - mit dessen Einsatz hab ich nicht wirklich gerechnet ...

1246480[/snapback]

Hat über die ganze Pre-Season hinweg einen soliden Auftritt hingelegt, dürfte mit einem weiteren Überraschungsmann, John Pohl, gut zusammenpassen. Es ist nicht davon auszugehen, daß er so schnell seinen Platz im 23-Mann-Kader wieder verliert.

bearbeitet 6. Oktober 2006 von AustroLeaf

[Lichtgestalt]

LEAFS 6, SENATORS 0

OTTAWA—Once time had ticked down, Andrew Raycroft made sure he had a souvenir puck to commemorate the accomplishment. After all, it was his first win and first shutout as a Leaf.

That keepsake can sit in his trophy case forever. But the shelf life of the reprieve from pressure he felt likely only lasted until the team's charter touched down in Toronto around midnight; such is life playing goal for the Leafs. "If I have a bad practice (today), someone will get on my case. I realize that. We have a long ways to go," Raycroft said after his 34 saves helped produce a stunning and thorough 6-0 victory over the Senators. "But it sure does feel great right now, though."

It was, indeed, an opportunity to celebrate the moment; one of those rare nights, especially in Ottawa, when the Leafs hardly had enough souvenir pucks to go around. Paul Maurice had his first victory as coach of the Leafs. Bates Battaglia had his first NHL goal in more than three years. Pavel Kubina, an obvious steadying influence on the blue line, played his first game for Toronto. Kyle Wellwood, with four assists, had his first four-point game in the NHL. "I'm going to cut mine into about 20 pieces," a smiling Maurice said. "Then it's going on eBay, of course." Yes, there were pucks and yuks all 'round. The relief was palpable.

From the end of last-season's non-playoff campaign, the Leafs have endured the same nagging question: who would provide scoring on the team beyond captain Mats Sundin?

Wednesday's 4-1 loss at home to the Senators certainly provided no answer but, last night, the Leafs emphatically made a point. They pumped five goals past an overwhelmed Martin Gerber in the Ottawa net, chasing him after two periods, en route to this laugher. Then they rubbed a little road salt in the wound with another goal in the third, beating backup goalie Ray Emery.

Sundin, although he had another good game, was not among the Toronto scorers. Instead, Chad Kilger and Darcy Tucker each scored twice while Alexei Ponikarovsky and Battaglia provided the other goals. "I don't think we've answered all the questions, but it's nice a lot of guys contributed today. It's nice we had the ability to respond after our first game," said Kilger, who counted a shorthanded marker in his pair.

While the belief in Toronto is that the Leafs lack the offensive punch beyond Sundin and Tucker to be legitimately competitive in the Eastern Conference, Kilger said that assumption is not fair to the younger players who stepped up last season and should have the potential to contribute more.

Alex Steen had 18 goals and Kyle Wellwood 11 in their rookie seasons, while Matt Stajan scored 15. Ponikarovsky broke out with a career-high 21 and Kilger had his best season with 17 markers. "Same answers as last year," Kilger said. "The same guys have to find a way to contribute."

So often at the wrong end of blowouts against the Senators last season, this victory was likely more important for expunging some of those ghosts than the two points in the standings. Particularly after Ottawa continued that pattern by humbling Toronto in the season opener. Even Kubina, new to this provincial showdown, got a sense of the bitterness. "Even when we were up by three or four goals, it was still a physical game. You could feel the rivalry," he said. "It's a nice feeling to beat them in their building."

Don't underestimate the importance of Kubina, a smart, veteran defenceman who plays both a physical game while rarely making mistakes with puck. His greatest impact, however, might have been on Bryan McCabe, who struggled Wednesday night. With Kubina in the lineup, McCabe saw his ice time reduced from 27:21 on Wednesday to 21:50 last night. And less was more as he played much better.

-> TheStar.com

[AustroLeaf]

Der Kommentar zum Bild (2:0 Tucker), aus einem Leafs-Forum:

Kinda hard to stop the shot with your eyes closed

bearbeitet 7. Oktober 2006 von AustroLeaf

[Lichtgestalt]

Toronto Maple Leafs - Montreal Canadiens 2:3 SO (1:1, 1:0, 0:1, 0:0)

0:1 (6.) Souray 1 PP (Markov, Kovalev)

1:1 (10.) Tucker 3 PP (Wellwood, Sundin)

2:1 (25.) Stajan 1 (Ponikarovsky, O'Neill)

2:2 (47.) Johnson 1 (Perezhogin)

2:3 (SO) Ryder

SOG: Leafs 38, Habs 33.

PIM: Leafs 12, Habs 12.

PP: Leafs 1/6, Habs 1/6.

-> Recap

bearbeitet 8. Oktober 2006 von Lichtgestalt

[Lichtgestalt]

Toronto Maple Leafs - Florida Panthers 2:1 SO (0:0, 0:0, 1:1, 0:0)

0:1 (44.) Weiss 1 PP (Roberts, Pertuzzi)

1:1 (52.) Wellwood 1 (Tucker, Kubina)

2:1 (SO) Sundin

SOG: Leafs 48, Panthers 25.

PIM: Leafs 6, Panthers 12.

PP: Leafs 0/6, Panthers 1/3.

-> Recap

[AustroLeaf]

48 SOG, 1 Tor. Scheinbar wird das große Problem dieses Jahr, wie von vielen vorausgesagt, das Toreschießen werden.

[AustroLeaf]

D Pavel Kubina wurde knappe 3 Minuten vor Schluß mit Verdacht auf Kreuzbandriß vom Eis gebracht. Eine für heute angesetzte Magnetresonanzuntersuchung wird Genaueres zeigen. Das wär natürlich enorm bitter.

[Lichtgestalt]

New Jersey Devils - Toronto Maple Leafs 7:6 SO (1:1, 2:5, 3:0, 0:0)

1:0 (11.) Madden 1 (Brylin, Pandolfo)

1:1 (16.) O'Neill 1 PP (Stajan, Ponikarovsky)

1:2 (22.) Stajan 2 (O'Neill)

2:2 (24.) Madden 2 (Pandolfo, White)

2:3 (24.) Stajan 3 (McCabe, Kaberle)

2:4 (25.) Kilger 3 (Peca)

3:4 (26.) Brylin 1 (Martin, Madden)

3:5 (29.) Tucker 4 (Wellwood)

3:6 (35.) Ponikarovsky 2 (unassisted)

4:6 (47.) Gionta 1 PP (Rafalski, Elias)

5:6 (55.) Gionta 2 PP (Gomez, Martin)

6:6 (60.) Gionta 3 (Gomez, Langenbrunner)

7:6 (SO) Madden

SOG: Devils 30, Leafs 30.

PIM: Devils 2, Leafs 10.

PP: Devils 2/5, Leafs 1/1.

-> Recap

[AustroLeaf]

Kubinas Verletzung stellte sich übrigens gottseidank "nur" als eine starke Zerrung des Innenbandes im Knie heraus. Pause ca. 4-6 Wochen. An seiner Stelle spielte gestern Jay Harrison.

[Lichtgestalt]

Kubinas Verletzung stellte sich übrigens gottseidank "nur" als eine starke Zerrung des Innenbandes im Knie heraus. Pause ca. 4-6 Wochen.

1255320[/snapback]

dafür fällt wozniewski mit seiner schulterverletzung vermutlich für den rest der saison aus.

[AustroLeaf]

dafür fällt wozniewski mit seiner schulterverletzung vermutlich für den rest der saison aus. 

1256536[/snapback]

Verteidiger bei den Leafs zu sein ist momentan ohnehin ein riskantes Geschäft. Mittlerweile 5 Verletzte: Kubina, Colaiacovo, Wozniewski, Bell, Kronwall.

[Seppo Dramac]

Ja da bleibt nicht mehr viel übrig. Bei den Marlies gibt es keinen mehr der ein NHL-reifer Ersatz wäre.

Zum Glück ist von den vier Top-Verteidigern nur einer verletzt.

[Lichtgestalt]

Toronto Maple Leafs - Calgary Flames 5:4 OT (2:0, 2:3, 0:1, 1:0)

1:0 (9.) Tucker 5 PP (Wellwood, Sundin)

2:0 (16.) Sundin 2 (McCabe, O'Neill)

2:1 (25.) Giordano 1 (Lombardi, Kobasew)

2:2 (28.) Lombardi 1 SH (Amonte, Yelle)

2:3 (32.) Giordano 2 (Iginla, Langkow)

3:3 (38.) Steen 1 (Stajan, Kilger)

4:3 (39.) Sundin 3 (Tucker, White)

4:4 (48.) Langkow 1 (Iginla)

5:4 (61.) Sundin 4 SH OT (unassisted)

SOG: Leafs 43, Flames 30.

PIM: Leafs 6, Flames 14.

PP: Leafs 1/7, Flames 0/3.

-> Recap

[AustroLeaf]

Der Siegestreffer war Mats Sundins 500. NHL-Treffer. Er ist der 35. Spieler der NHL-Geschichte, der diese Marke erreicht.

Und WIE er es getan hat, spricht für sich selbst: in Overtime, short-handed, einen Hattrick abschließend, gegen den besten Goalie der NHL.

bearbeitet 15. Oktober 2006 von AustroLeaf

[AustroLeaf]

Highlights Leafs-Flames