Toronto Maple Leafs: Thoughts on January, Predictions for February

Words that might come to mind when describing the Toronto Maple Leafs' month of January are: optimism, disappointment, optimism and anxiety.

Yes, that just about describes it.

And what to make of February? The trade deadline is fast approaching as the Leafs play meaningful winter hockey for the first time in years.

How will they fare? Who will be moved?

Read on to get my completely uneducated take on things that were in January and things to come in February.

Disappointment

The Leafs had nine home games and three road games (one yet to be played as of this writing) in the month of January.

In those nine home games, the Leafs went 6-3-0.

In their 11 games so far this year, they've gone 7-4-0.

Not too shabby, unless you see who they played against (and how they played). One win and three losses against divisional rivals. Wins against "juggernauts" like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Winnipeg Jets and a down-and-out Minnesota Wild squad.

January was a glorious opportunity to solidify a playoff spot and right now, the Leafs are hanging on with one hand.

Any slip-ups in February, and they'll be hanging on with their teeth.

Respect

It's the first full year back for Joffrey Lupul, and he found himself wearing an "A" at the All-Star Game.

Kudos to him not only for getting the "A", but for embracing the ASG experience.

Lupul was mic'd up for awhile along with former teammate Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers and provided some commentary for CBC.

This was a guy who was genuinely happy and honoured to be there. Nobody, not even himself, thought at the beginning of the season that he'd be at the ASG.

Also, good on him for showing his Leafs pride and taking the boos in stride.

He sure showed those Ottawans.

Impressed

Three shutouts for Jonas Gustavsson in January. Three.

This might not be remarkable for fans of teams like the L.A. Kings or the St. Louis Blues, but here in Toronto, fans aren't used to seeing shutouts by the home team—let alone three in a month.

His record in January is currently 7-3-0, and he will get the chance to improve on that record in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Though his save percentage on the season currently stands at 0.910 (which borders on respectability), it is a bit deceiving, because his stellar play of late is compensating for his inconsistency at the beginning of the season.

Big ifs still revolve around Gustavsson and the goaltending situation, but right now, Gustavsson is confident and performing well, and that's what really matters.

Amazed

Can you believe that in the 11 games the Leafs have played so far in 2012, they've only been short-handed 16 times?

They had three games in January in which they never went short-handed and four games in which they were only short-handed once.

Best of all, their penalty-killing unit has been perfect.

If they can just make it past the Penguins without giving up a power-play goal (or better yet, without taking any penalties at all), it'll be a calendar month without giving up a PPG.

When was the last time that happened in the franchise's history?

Prediction: Record in February

Well, the good news is that the Leafs only play two games against divisional rivals in February.

That's also the bad news.

It'll be much tougher to climb in the standings playing against Western Conference teams.

On the bright side, they do face the Calgary Flames once and the Edmonton Oilers twice.

I predict an 8-5-1 record for the Leafs in February. Make of that what you will.

Proposals: Trades

Bear with me on these.

Keep in mind that next to zero thought went into any of these trade proposals.

Proposal No. 1

To TOR: Ales Hemsky

To EDM: Korbinian Holzer and a second

Edmonton finally gets rid of Hemsky and gets a potentially NHL-ready defenseman in Holzer.

Toronto gets a rental who will hopefully stay healthy enough to contribute in the playoffs.

Proposal No. 2

To TOR: Vinny Prospal

To CBJ: Third-round pick

Toronto gets a rental who still has gas in the tank while giving up next to nothing.

Columbus gets something for a 36-year-old UFA.

Proposal No. 3

To TOR: Second-round pick

To anyone who will take him: Matthew Lombardi

Toronto gets a (hopefully high) second-rounder and valuable cap space that will help when signing Zach Parise to a long-term deal (ha!).

Prediction: Standings

I predict the Leafs will catch up to the Ottawa Senators over the coming few weeks.

After having suffered the indignity of trailing the Senators in the standings by a relatively wide margin for such a long time, February will be when the Leafs finally catch up and right a wrong in the universe.

The Sens have been a great story so far, not to mention individual Sens like Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson making headlines.

However, they've clearly been overachieving. All that remains to be seen is how much.

The Sens have lost three in a row while the Leafs have won two.

Only five points separate the two teams.

Best of all, the Leafs have only played 49 games to the Sens' 52.

If the Leafs steal a game here or there, they could very well find themselves in seventh or—gasp—even sixth place heading into March.