LEAFS :" 10 Days INN"

A 4-3-3 record 10 games "INN:, is like a vacation for a Toronto team.

A Leaf team without the pressure, scrutiny, and expectations of years past.

      A new "old" G.M. , and a new coach in the tandem of Cliff Fletcher, and Ron Wilson,

have themselves, been critical of their team's chances, thus lowering the bar on the 08/09 season.      Clearly, part ploy, part reality, They've asked fans to endure watching a team with a paucity of talent in a rebuilding stage. Fletcher , "we have one top six forward, and two maybes, in Hagman and ponikarovsky" is a sample of the rhetoric.

    However,  a younger, speedy team , does seem to be buying into a fierce forecheck, quick transition, backchecking, shot-blocking system of self sacrifice needed for this ensemble  approach to be effective.

      Led by vets wearing a roating "A", rather than a captain, anyone is a candidate to sit if they don't carry their weight.   Gone are Sundin, Tucker, McCabe, Raycroft, Wellwood, and several others, opening the team leadership up, to whomover grasps the opportunity.    Replaced by the best skating leaf aggregate we've seen in some time, the work ethic has been there.     

      In a defence first system, the goaltending, and ability to quickly move the puck out of your own zone is paramount.   Toskala , between the pipes, and Kaberle, have taken up the gauntlet, aided by a "better than expected" supporting cast on the blueline.  Mike Van Ryn ( a takeback contract in the McCabe deal, and 5th overall selection , 18 year old Luke schenn, plus a wizard on skates in Anton Stralman, not only clear the zone, but generate what little offense there is from the blueline.

        Leafs so called "Pop-gun" offense, has been good enough to produce 11 points in 10 games.  The attack has an up-side.   Niklas Hagman, who has been the model of speed and two way play, has yet to break out.  Ditto, Antropv, Ponikarovsky, Stajan, Steen, and Jason Blake.    They are aided and abetted in "stealing a goal , here and there" by , the promise of /06, 1st rounder, Jiri Tlusty,(currently with Marlies), /06 2nd rounder Nik Kulemin, Sleeper prospect, John Mitchell, 03/5th round,    and there are signs that the offense may come around.

       Three vets who have picked up their play of late, are in microcosm, what the Maple Leafs need from others.   Matt Stajan, Alex Ponikarovsky, and Nik Antropov, have dubbed themselves the "Doghouse Line", when their slow start, left Leafs coaxhing staff wanting.  However, "Pony" now leads leafs in points, while the "Khazak Condor", leads with 4 goals, and Matt Stajan, went from the "outhouse" ( healthy scratch), to the penthouse,er..."Doghouse" with 3 goals in his past 2 games!      

       So long as they stay loose, and the "Ron Wilson" effect, takes a fair while to wear off, the Buds could, get this,'COULD", pull off a "Carolina Hurricane".    The Canes were mercurially fast with solid netminmding, timely scoring, and went from outhouse to playoffs to sipping champagne from Lord Stanley's Silo! ( the next season , the clock struck 12, and they reverted to...well..never mind..they had their championship!)

      Am I feverish? Heck I donlt even own a pair of rose-coloured glasses.  I'm a charter member of the post 1967 Maple Leaf Martyr fan club.   However, at the very least the spin doctors, are out of yarn, and all Leafians can smell the coffee brewing this year.

    The next 10 games won't be traversed with impunity, should Toronto crash to earth, and slump badly.  That is the inherent danger of dangling a carrot in front of a Leaf fan.

   Mistakes have been made. High draft picks squandered by trader Cliff, as he overpayed

for the priviledge of drafting Luke Schenn, a player he may have had , anyway, a mere two picks later.   He might have held off on Mikael Grabovsky, at the steep price of a 2nd rounder, a 4th, and 5th round USHL defender Greg Pateryn.  Also , "ANY" pick for Ryan Hollweg, a 5th in this case is too dear.  The Rangers knew enough to unload him, even after they'd already disposed of his mentor in madness, Steve Avery.

    Still, the improvements outweigh the potential gaffs. The need for speed was adressed. Youth is being served, and suddenly the Cap, is Leaf Friendly!   With 7 mill. set aside for mats Sundin, 2 mill. saved I the McCabe trade to Panthers, 2.5 mill. gathered as Mark Bell cleared waivers, better than a million going south to the AHL with Boyd Devereaux, and the likely "probability" that Jason Blake's 4 million will soon be sent packing to the Toronto Marlies as well, JF ferguson juniour's budget has been trimmed mightily!         

      The Maple Leafs are now positioned for one of a couple scenarios.   A) Continue to improve,& move into a playoff spot and use "said" cap space, to add young vets , for an unlikely run, a la   Carolina , a few years back. Or  , B), watch the team slip out of contention, thus divesting more contractual obligation, and prepping for a great crop of UFA's ( unrestricted free agents), on the horizon in the next year or two. Names like Gaborik, and in particular Toronto's own Rick Nash , may just be available.

     In the meantime "Beam me back to reality Scotty!", The Maple Leafs are 10 games into the season, and preparing to take on, an early frontrunner in the  New York Rangers tonight.       So dream on if you are a leaf supporter, sandman predicts "we've the right to dream for at least another 10 games or so, and We'll review the situation then.

See you in this spot , 10 games from now,

Joe James Di Nardo