Monday Morning Musings With Me The Big E;Toronto Maple Leafs & More

There is a daily poll on the official Toronto Maple Leafs site that asks, "What has been most responsible for Toronto's 2-0 start?" While the poll offers different responses, the fact of the matter is that they are playing good hockey and they are playing it as a team.

One could easily isolate a few key things or plays that have made the difference for the team, but my question is why would one want to?

You don't generally go into a restaurant, order a meal that you really enjoy and then proceed to whip out the laptop and spend hours tearing the meal apart and offering a critical opinion as to why it tasted so good, well I suppose some people do, but they generally get paid for it.

With that in mind, the few members of the media, who actually get paid to cover the team on a regular basis have offered nothing but positive commentary while those of us who don't, have spent time dwelling on any deficiencies the Leafs may have displayed. 

As I said, the bottom line is, they are playing good hockey and there is really no reason to think that might change in the near future.

The Buds play next against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night, and from what this young Leafs team has shown so far, there may not be anyone they can't beat.

Several Leafs both old and new are so far enjoying the young season including offseason acquisition Kris Versteeg.

In an interview with the National post, Versteeg who had a goal and an assist in Toronto's 5-1 drubbing of the Senators, professed that while he enjoyed the added ice time he was receiving, it was going to take some getting used to.

“Yeah, it does get tiring,” he said of his role. “But it’s something as a hockey player that you want. Coming here, I figured it was something that was going to happen. So it’s a bit different of a challenge.”

While third-year player Mikhail Grabovski has yet to find the back of the net and has in fact only managed one shot on goal, he has chipped in with two assists and has done well in the face off circle.

A couple of Toronto Maple Leafs prospects are also doing very well and have garnered player of the week honors in their respective leagues.

In the OHL, Gregg McKegg wins player of the week honors for the week ending October 3rd, while Brad Ross of the Portland Winterhawks won player of the week honors in the Western Hockey League.

Love him or hate him, Brian Burke has a proven track record in the field of building a team and according to a Star.com article has a definitive method of doing just that.

“The most important decision a GM makes is who coaches the team. I’m fortunate that we had a great coach in place here. That’s truly where it all begins and ends. It doesn’t matter how many good players you give the guy if he can’t coach. Then my philosophy is real simple, which is build from the net out…if you don’t have goaltending you can’t win.”

Who is your favorite super hero? I myself am torn between Wolverine of X-Men fame, and the more traditional favorite of Superman.

This may be about to change however.

According to an NHL.com article, comic book icon and creator of hero's like Spider Man, the X-Men, and many more Stan Lee has joined forces with the league to create the National Hockey League Guardians.

"This is really a fresh, new, original approach to superheroes, based on the local NHL team," Lee said. "When you think about it, the names of these teams, they sound like super characters. They're inspiring."

This will be an interesting process to watch and you can look forward to the grand unveiling of the new characters at the up coming All-Star Game in Carolina.