Shoots Left and Writes

 Game 33: Leafs vs. Sens Simon B Very few things have been able to stop the Leafs in 2021. But time and again,  the Senators’ goalies are at the top of that list. The Leafs had already played six games against Ottawa coming into this one and were 3-3 as the puck dropped to open game seven. All three losses have been against three different goalies so when I saw that Anton Forsberg was playing in his maiden game as a Senator I immediately lost a lot of confidence in the way this game would go. After all the goaltending controversy in Toronto this week, the Leafs came out and said that Frederik Andersen has an injury and that he'll be out for a while so the torch has been passed to Jack Campbell for now. That's something I think Leafs fans are comfortable with, given how well he has played this season (4-0 and a .965 save percentage). The Leafs lost another player this past week, too: Travis Boyd is on waivers and he went out west to Vancouver. The Game So we watched the Senator...

 Game 32: Flames vs. Leafs Simon B Leafs Nation has been in a confusing spot over the past two weeks or so. We’ve had a bunch of worries about this team that looked like worldbeaters out of the gate but since beating the Oilers they've lost 6 of their last 7 (that one win coming in overtime), which is enough to make them second-worst in the NHL behind the Buffalo Sabres over that span. Another recurring issue has been goaltending. Toronto has not been getting good enough performances from Frederik Andersen in the month of March, who’s let into many "soft" goals. With backup netminder Jack Campbell back from injury, Leafs fans are hoping he's at least the short-term solution to this problem. Campbell got the start last night and he's basically got the next stretch of games to show the Leafs that he can be their number one goalie going forward because things aren't going smoothly with Andersen at all. Freddy even admitted in an interview last week saying that he...

  Game 29: Leafs vs. Sens Simon B For the last 3 games, I've said the exact same thing at the beginning of every post. The Maple Leafs need to rack up points ASAP because they're off all of next week and the Jets are only 4 points back for first in the division (with two more games than the Leafs on the schedule). Toronto was only able to take 2 of a possible 6 points against the Jets but they had a chance to go into their week off on a high note if they could beat the Senators. Michael Hutchinson got the start last night. The second half of a back-to-back against an inferior opponent is probably the right night to give Andersen some rest. He'll definitely need it because the way things are pointed, it looks like Freddy's workload is going to get heavier as the regular season gets into its latter stages. The Game The first three minutes or so was one of the most boring brands of hockey I've seen the Leafs play this season (the Sens too for that matter). Both teams w...

 Game 28: Jets vs. Leafs Simon B A year ago, the entire world shut down. Well, the NBA shut down on March 11th then everything else seemed to follow suit following the 24 hours that followed. It's hard to believe that all that was only a year ago... Feels like a lifetime, doesn't it?   I actually played in a hockey game the last time my calenders read March 11th. I even went to the dentist without wearing a mask (which ended up being the last time I went out in public without one). We're almost there again. I hope it’s only a matter of a few months before we don't need to gather in "bubbles" and "social distance."  A lot has changed, and yet some things are still the same: Leafs Nation is panicking over a little three-game skid. Personally, I wasn't worried heading into this one. However, if they were to have lost this game, then even I would start to worry a little bit. The Game Right out of the gate, Connor Helleybuck picked up right back where...

 Game 27: Jets vs. Leafs Simon B The Jets are probably the second-best team in the division behind the Leafs. Even though they're in third, they are better than the Oilers and their winning percentage shows it. These two teams have only squared off once since the start of the season and it was the Jets' second and the Leafs' third games of the young season so we couldn't take much away from that game. The Leafs lost two straight for the first time this season. Surely this mature and experienced team wouldn’t drop a third straight. The next 4 games for the Leafs are critical because after Sunday they don't play at all until the following Saturday so they need to have a big enough cushion to maintain first in the division while their competition is racking up the points next week. Also, with the trade deadline coming up, they need to play at their best so that GM Kyle Dubas knows whether he needs to make a deal (keeping in mind that if they trade with a team south of ...

 Game 26: Leafs vs. Canucks Simon B     Hockey lost an icon late Thursday. Walter Gretzky, Canada's ultimate hockey dad passed away at 83.  Walter wasn't famous just for being the father of the greatest player to ever lace up skates. First and foremost, he was the kindest and most genuine person you would ever hope to meet. Walter did more for the hockey community in his home of Brantford, Ontario than anyone in history, both publicly and in hundreds of ways that went largely unoticed. He always took the time to meet with everyone who wanted to meet him, all while singing thousands of autographs. I never met him myself, but over the past few days since his passing, I've heard some of the most incredible stories about the way he touched people's lives every day.  Walter Gretzky deserves a special place in the  Hockey Hall Of Fame to represent all the hockey Moms and Dads who sacrifice so much to allow their kids to play our national game. I hope that Chairp...

Game 24: Leafs vs. Oilers Simon B     First, off I'd like to say, that writing a post after every single Leaf's game was a very ambitious goal I set for myself and up until Sunday, I was able to do it, but 10 PM (Eastern) games on Monday nights are difficult to watch, take notes about then post an article about all in the following nine hours after the final horn.  That being said, last night's game was an 8 PM start so it was much easier to work with.        The first two games of this three-game mini-series against the Edmonton Oilers were pretty much picture-perfect games by Toronto and they guaranteed themselves to come out of the Edmonton set with 4 of a possible 6 points. But this game needed to be a statement game: they couldn't just let up and have a bad game because their first two games were awesome. That's what mediocre teams do, and the Leafs are trying to prove to the League that they are far better than mediocre.      ...

Simon B     So we're about halfway done the NHL's regular season (can you believe it?!) and I've wrerappreciated people in the game: Referees. Refs are often overlooked; the only time they get n itten about the teams and their players but I haven't spoken about some of the most und oticed is when they make an obvious mistake.            There is a little bit of officiating history In my family. My grandfather Lorne was a referee in a junior recreational hockey league in Hamilton, Ontario. I also have experience umpiring (not quite the same intensity of experience as a hockey referee but still very relatable). My Aunt Judy told me that part of why Grandpa stopped reffing was because the parents.  So on a very personal level, I  often sympathize with referees when they have a tough decision to make. They're probably the only people on the ice that benefit from the absence of fans because they don't get yelled at for making a call that...