Toronto Maple Leafs: 8 Players That Contributed to Their Losing Ways

1-9-1.

In the minds of most NHL fans, seeing those numbers brings the Columbus Blue Jackets to mind.

I mean, they are by far the worst team in the NHL, and posting a 1-9-1 record over an 11-game stretch doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

In Toronto, however, this set of numbers has been torturing hockey fans for the past few weeks.

Through the Maple Leafs' first 53 games, fans were upbeat. Their team boasted a 28-19-6 record and was sitting fairly comfortably in seventh position in the Eastern Conference standings.

Then it all fell apart. An uninspiring road trip through western Canada, followed by an abysmal homestand, crushed the Leafs' confidence.

Fans were calling for Ron Wilson's head, and eventually got their wish, as Wilson was relieved of his duties last week.

But what exactly went wrong?

Who's to blame in Leaf Land?

Mikhail Grabovski

What a streaky year it has been for Mikhail Grabovski. From a sluggish start to a torrid January, followed by a 14-game goal drought, Grabovski has shown flashes of brilliance while also experiencing rough patches all season long.

Grabovski didn't manage to mark even one goal during the Leafs' 1-9-1 stretch.

In Montreal on Saturday, however, Grabovski came back with a vengeance, tallying two goals and one assist, enough to earn first star of the game honors.

It seems like this season, as Mikhail Grabovski struggles, so too do the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jonas Gustavsson

While many credit Jonas Gustavsson for keeping the Maple Leafs in the playoff hunt with his play in January, just as many people are willing to blame him for the Leafs' tough run in February.

Over the six games he played in, Gustavsson gave up 18 goals and posting a save percentage of just .880.

Toronto's home loss to the New Jersey Devils can be blamed almost entirely on Gustavsson as well, seeing as three of New Jersey's four goals were stoppable, including the game winner.

While Gustavsson may not be the lone culprit in the Leafs' skid, he certainly had a hand in many of the losses.

James Reimer

If I was going to name Jonas Gustavsson on this list, it's only fair I also mention his fellow netminder James Reimer, who also struggled mightily over that 11-game stretch in February.

Reimer started seven of those 11 games in net, and wasn't impressive in any of them. Even in the Maple Leafs' lone win (coming in overtime in Edmonton), Reimer gave up three goals and the Leafs rarely held the lead.

He also allowed three or more goals in six of those seven games, and was pulled in favor of Jonas Gustavsson in two of those starts.

His dismal .862 save percentage across those games isn't exactly what an NHL team expects out of their starting goaltender either.

Luke Schenn

Defense.

Definitely one of the keys to the Leafs losing 10 of 11 games before finally beating Montreal.

When a team gives up 42 goals over an 11-game stretch (yes, that's right, nearly four goals per game), it's a guarantee that shaky defensive play was part of the losing equation.

While Luke Schenn was only a minus-5 during the 11-game skid, his play was most definitely subpar.

Whether it was inexplicably turning the puck over in his own zone while under no pressure, leading to a goal 13 seconds into a game or being weak in front of his own net, Luke Schenn did not look like the big, shut-down defenseman the Leafs and their fans have seen before.

His play during the Leafs' losing skid was reflected in his time on the ice, which steadily declined to below 14 minutes per game.

Tim Connolly

Poor Tim Connolly.

What a long season it's been in Toronto for the native of Syracuse, New York.

After Brian Burke inked the veteran center to a contract that would pay him nearly five million dollars a season, the expectations were high in Toronto.

Connolly, however, has been nothing short of a bust.

Forget the recent 11-game drought, Connolly has been an abject failure in hockey's capital all season long. His 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) resemble the numbers that are put up by players making two to three million dollars a year.

He hasn't been able to mesh successfully with any of Toronto's lines, and has bounced from first-line center to third-line center to third-line winger all season.

During Toronto's 11 slide, Connolly managed just three goals and zero assits (though one was an overtime game winner).

Dion Phaneuf

What a meteoric fall it has been for Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf.

After starting the season on absolute fire and receiving an invitation to this year's All-Star Game, Phaneuf has been terrible in recent games.

Some nights he's out-muscled, while on others forwards seem to be skating by him in his own zone at will.

While he was able to put up one goal and five assists during the 11-game collapse, three of those assists came in one game.

Add to that the fact that he was a minus-7 player over those 11 games, and you've got a captain making $6.5 million a season who seems like he's forgotten how to play defense.

John Michael Liles

While the efforts of John Michael Liles before he suffered his head injury should be applauded, he has yet to regain his form and hasn't been the same player the Maple Leafs extended with a four year contract.

Liles only managed to put up one assist during the Leafs' 11-game slide and was a minus-10 player, while still logging over 20 minutes of ice time each game.

While Leafs nation hopes that Liles will return to being the agile, playmaking, power-play quarterback they saw glimpses of before the new year, it would be tough to argue that he wasn't one of the contributing factors to the Leafs losing 10 of 11 games to finish the month of February.

Ron Wilson

While many Maple Leafs fans did not agree with the firing of head coach Ron Wilson, it was clearly his time to go.

When a team loses 10 of 11 games and picks up only three of a possible 22 points while sitting in a playoff spot, some blame needs to be placed on the head coach.

While some will argue that it's the players who lost the games, it is clear that Ron Wilson had either mismanaged who was on the ice or had lost the respect of the dressing room.

I'd argue it was both, though there is no way to prove the latter.

When it came to mismanaging players, Wilson would continually throw a line consisting of Matthew Lombardi, Tim Connolly and Joey Crabb onto the ice for offensive zone faceoffs, which would always end up in a rush or dump in the other way.

When a line refuses to shoot the puck, the head coach should never be putting them on for offensive zone faceoffs; it's as simple as that.

Wilson also seemed to have an arbitrary way of reducing players' ice time.

For instance, while John Michael Liles had less points and a worse plus-minus player rating during the 11-game skid, his ice time remained fairly steady, while that of, say, Luke Schenn dropped from 16-18 minutes per game to under 14 minutes.

Dion Phaneuf's abysmal play also seemed to go unpunished, as he collected upwards of 25 minutes per game, even while he was one of the worst players on the ice.

Moves like this tend to lead to a coach's losing the respect of their room. Couple that with the statements made by Luke Schenn, which indicated that Ron Wilson would rarely (if ever) speak to his team after games, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

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