Another Week Off: The Toronto Maple Leafs Rebuilding Season

Have you been following sports on the web this past week?

In particular, have you been following hockey for sports news?

If so, what’s your favorite team and how are they doing?

Will they make the playoffs in the very tight race to the wire?

With just more than 10 games to play, there are only hands full of teams out of the 30 that don’t have a realistic shot at a playoff birth.

My team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, is one of those teams.

The Leafs are sitting in 11th place, 10-points out with 12 games to go.

Although, mathematically, they still have a shot.

The chances are very slim and it would be a steep hill to climb. The Leafs would have to leap frog at least three teams to get in, but that’s not what this season is about for the Leafs.

Leafs management knew at the beginning of the season that a playoff birth was a very long shot, but I think they have been pleasantly surprised by the way the team has competed, hovering around 500 hockey.

This past week was no exception as Toronto was two wins and two losses since all sports last post on the topic. Looking back here are the highlights of what went on.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Maple Leafs hosted a tired Calgary Flames team that was finishing up a seven game road trip.

The reason the Flames were away from home for so long, was due to the fact that the Sadledome was hosting the men’s Brier in curling.

This was a fairly entertaining tilt for the fans, but I am sure the game gave the coaches nightmares.

It was a seesaw battle with Toronto jumping out to a 3-0 lead, only to have the Flames come back to tie it 3-3.

Toronto moved ahead 5-3 and Calgary got it to 5-4 but that would be as close as they could get, as the final was 8-6 in the Leafs favor.

The game marked Martin Gerber’s first career wins against the Flames.

Saturday was also a very special night in Montreal as hometown boy; Martin Brodeur came into town with the New Jersey Devils and posted a 3-1 victory over the home squad.

The win gave Martin 551 career victories, tying him with Patrick Roy for the most in NHL history.

It was fitting that it happened in Montreal and the fans gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of the game.

Brodeur gets his first chance to make the record his own Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Here’s Martin Brodeur’s Top Ten, for your enjoyment.

Thursday March 12

Tampa Bay came into the confines of the Air Canada Centre and ended up cruising to a 4-1 victory.

Toronto started well enough but faded as the game progressed.

Bad penalties took a toll on the Leafs. The Refs were brutal and did not have a clue.

Ron Wilson ended up getting ejected from behind the bench for giving the Ref an ear full. I could not blame Wilson in the least.

Tuesday March 10

The New York Islanders were in town to play the Leafs.

Toronto was lethargic for 40 minutes but did manage to put together 20 minutes of hockey in the third period and escaped with a 3-2 overtime victory.

Mikhail Grabovski scored the winner in overtime, which was his first goal in 17 games.

Martin Gerber had a strong game for the Leafs and was the only reason Toronto had a chance to come back and win the game.

Monday March 9

Toronto travelled up the Road to Ottawa to resume the battle of Ontario.

It is just not the same anymore as both team are on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. Curtis Joseph got the start and played very well in a 2-1 loss to the Senators. Joseph always seems to play well in Ottawa.

Follow Martin Brodeur for sports news on the web to see when he gets the record for career victories.

You can also follow the sports news story as Martin closes in on Terry Sawchuck’s career shutout record of 103.

“No Guts No Glory.”