Leafs Set to Party on Wreck Beach After Clobbering Canucks on The Way To The Cup

Antropov once knocked a puck out of the air to score a nice goal, and I haven't seen one since from him, well, one that I'd call nice ... until the other night in Edmonton.  For once, he didn't shoot a puck into the pads or over the net, or get lucky with a blast.  Instead, he actually seemed to pick the corner.  Despite our win, and heading into Vancouver to pepper Luongo tonight mercilessly, there are still some forwards preferring to shoot into the chest protector.  This concerns me.

Speaking of firsts, you have to admit, Blake looked good the other night.  But two players, Hagman and Grabovski, stole the show from Stajan.  On another note, I truly hope Bob Cole is not in the broadcast booth tonight, especially when compared to the (positive) comments being fired the Leafs way the other night.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, though, Mayers has to step up.  Speaking of potential captains, you gotta love that Moore bounced back from "the hit".  Wow.  For a brief moment, Finger almost delivered a hip check the other night.  All the rules in hockey today can be easily replaced by one rule: unsportsmanlike conduct.  If two men want to drop the gloves and go head to head, I say let 'em.

Think about it.  The refs could simply make a determination as to whether the offence was unsportsmanlike or not.  Using a stick like a weapon is unsportsmanlike. However, today, if a player steps on a stick and falls, tripping is called.  Similarly, interference is unsportsmanlike, but finishing a check is not.  But I digress.

The Canucks had a shaky start apparently, but lately have been playing well.  It doesn't matter.  The Leafs are playing with passion and seemingly having fun - despite the odd benching - and not feeling the pressure.  They're out west, and check out the crowds.  I can only imagine Leafs fans will be equally as boisterous tonight. 

The Leafs need, again, a strong effort from Hagman and Grabovski.  If Poni or Steen could pop in a few goals, just like Antropov did, then we'd be a true underdog.  At the moment we're still "surprising" opposing teams with our spunk.  It's a rare day when I read that the Leafs are among the league leaders in goals scored!  But not so rare when in the same sentence it's mentioned they've also allowed a few too many as well.

Well, room for improvement starts tonight, then they'll head to Wreck Beach tomorrow, and maybe we'll see some more pics of Tlusty online...