Mike Komisarek Is Who We Thought He Was

For Mike Komisarek, the first season as a Maple Leaf was a short one and left a lot of people with a barrel of questions. Analysts and fans everywhere tried to call him a failed signing at every corner. The amount of flack this guy receives is truly beyond comprehension. And where does it come from? Stats junkies who simply don’t watch the games.

“But he was a minus-nine!”

I suppose he was, playing a shutdown role and logging over 20 minutes on the worst team in the East for a large chunk of the season, to go along with zero offense from a scatterbrain group of forwards. How the guy stayed above minus forty is truly a miracle.

“Well, Komisarek’s puck skills are lacking.”

Thanks for the enlightenment. If you couldn’t see Komisarek’s ineptitude with the puck while watching him play against the Leafs during his six year tenure with the Habs, clearly your head was too far in the chip bowl.

It’s not his game. Everyone with a clue knew that Kommy would give Leafs fans panic attacks when handling the puck, but he wasn’t signed to move the offense. He was signed to move bodies, and that part of his game hasn’t faltered, despite unfair criticisms that it has.

“He takes too many penalties.”

Really?

With 40 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Leafs this past season, Komisarek was actually on pace to accumulate fewer penalty minutes than each of his previous two seasons with the Canadiens . He lays huge hits, elbows, and cross-checks, which make him the player he is. Obviously he’s going to take penalties.

Wingers from other teams think twice before coming down Komisarek’s side of the ice to get a face full of shoulder. He takes enormous runs at players and continuously slams guys into the boards game in and game out. Did I expect any different? Definitely not.

“He only had four points. That’s about a million dollars a point!”

Four points over 34 games transpires into about 10 over a full schedule. In Komisarek’s previous season he only had 11. His other full-season totals are 17, 19, and six.

Burke didn’t sign this guy for points.

If Komisarek didn’t score one point in the entire season, it really wouldn’t mean a thing to me. He does the job he’s paid for; provide leadership, provide physicality, move bodies, protect the goalie, protect teammates, plaster guys to the boards, and shut down anyone who dares go to the net against him. That’s it.

Expecting any more than that simply based on dollars is just foolish.

Just because most fans weren’t used to watching him play every game, don’t assume he just fell off when coming to the Leafs. Burke knew exactly what was coming with Komisarek, and I commend him for it.

Kommy has always been a favorite player of mine, with the only problem being that he was a Canadien. Well that’s not the case anymore and I hope he stays in blue and white for years to come. If Dion Phaneuf hadn’t been traded to the Leafs, No. 8 would have surely been the captain. He will still provide as a great assistant in the Leafs hierarchy, and I’m excited to see him take to the ice next season.

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