Season Wrap up

[GLG]

And so ends another season, the second in a row without playoffs.

Most Leaf fans are pretty dissappointed about this. The rest are downright pissed. They're calling for heads to roll. Can't say I blame them.

But by the same token, I may not be quite as disappointed as they are. I did see some positives in this year's failed cup run. I saw Antropov have his best year as a Leaf, despite getting injured like clockwork once again. I saw Wellwood take on a much larger role on this team, flanking Sundin on the wing for many games, then going back to his natural Center position after coming back from injury. I saw AHL vets like Pohl and Battaglia come in and do an admirable job of filling in while the Leafs played through the most man games lost to injury of anybody in their conference. I saw Kubina work through his first major injury and become our second best defender behind Kaberle. I also saw Colaiacovo cement his status our fourth best, along with Gill filling the fifth spot for a small wage. White showing a lot of promise in his first full year in the NHL was also great to see. We may not have gotten anywhere relative to last season, but this time we did it with a younger team, and mostly kids.

That's what I'm satisfied most about.

Sure, we had the vets like Tucker, Sundin, McCabe, Kaberle, Kubina and Gill, (and Peca, until he went down), but the rest of the team was all kids in their first to third full NHL seasons, (excluding Raycroft).

It wasn't all positive. Rayzor didn't bring us the top notch goaltending we were used to with Belfour, Cujo, Potvin, etc. On the other hand, I don't think he was as rotten as some fans made him out to be. The guy's only 26. I don't think we should give up on him yet.

Besides, one of the negatives was how often Maurice played him. He played 72 games this season. 72!!! Neither Belfour nor Cujo ever played that many games for us as a Leaf. In fact, both Cujo and Belfour have only played that many regular season games once in their careers, and both times it was early on in their careers. Cujo in 96-97 with the Oils, (followed by 71 games the following season) and Belfour in his second NHL season with the Blackhawks in 90-91. I think to some degree Rayzor was overplayed.

It's a slap to the face of Aubin who virtually carried this team in the latter part of last season, after Belfour proved he was done as a starter. Aubin rode the pine all year. First, he was trade bait, if the Leafs were going to keep Telquvist instead. Then, after Telly was dealt, he was the token benchwarmer, while Leaf fans dumped their frustrations on their new scapegoat: Raycroft. Rayzor wasn't spectacular, but he also wasn't rotten, either. Poor guy had very little help this season.

Rayzor's biggest problem is his attitude. Fans are having a field day with his "goalies aren't supposed to win games" and "I'm happy with my 37 wins this year" comments. His second biggest is his rebound control. I don't have any stats, but from all the games I've seen him play in, the bulk of the goals were rebounds that he mishandled. No goalie in the league can stop a rebound that goes to a player left alone in front of a wide open net, and that's how many of the goals scored on Rayzor happened.

The blame, in those cases, goes first to Rayzor, for giving up such a juicy rebound so often; and second, to whomever defender or forward didn't bother to take the open man. There were too many brainfarts by the likes of McCabe, who poke-checked a man while looking the other way in one of the last games of the season, only to leave him alone and go take someone else while the guy skates in unbothered to score the goal. Or the time when Gill took his man behind the net, only to have his "defense" partner, Belak, follow them both behind the net, so that Belak's man could take the pass and score a goal unbothered. We can blame Rayzor for some plays, but the truth is he had little help for much of this year.

In firing Quinn, I was hoping for less staunch loyalties from the coaching staff this season. I didn't get it. The aforementioned 72 games for Rayzor. All those Belak on D games (after he already proved himself incapable of that role the years prior). Playing White for far too many minutes per game. The kid's talented, but for a while there, it seemed as if Maurice was trying to give a rookie veteran minutes per game, and White is not yet deserving of this. Colaiacovo actually played better than White, but got no more minutes than he. Just nuts.

But back to the positives.

Welly was labeled as a Center that was incapable of any other position. This year, he proved that he could at least fill in admirably as a winger, if needed.

Antropov was also said to be a better center than winger. This year, he proved he could play both equally well.

Steen and Stajan struggled a bit this year, compared to last, but being sophmores, we can chalk that up to a sophmore slump. I have faith in them still, given their work ethic and the skill level I know they possess. They can only improve.

Ponikarovski made an impact this year - AGAIN. Love this kid!

White, Cola, both making great strides as defenders.

Sundin, surpassing some Leaf records, and on the cusp of surpassing more in the first part of next season. Despite injuries, he still ranked 13th among all other centers in the league. Not bad for a 36-year-old. Makes his $6M option this summer worth it, IMO, since there are younger guys getting $7M and more to do less than he does.

Tucker, along with Welly, quickly became a solid contributor on our PP this year.

Welly kept pace with the best kids in the league, despite being a sleeper pick.

Maurice let the kids play, instead of ruling the ice with vets. While a few adjustments for next year might be nice, at least he didn't rely heavily on veterans as slow as molasses who were one season away from retirement for a change.

We didn't make it to the playoffs this year, and a few mistakes were made. But no management is perfect, and nothing guarantees a season without so many key injuries. But I like the general direction the Leafs are heading in. With a few changes in staff, and the continued development of our kids, this team can be great again.




Now, if anybody knows a quick way to get rid of Richard Peddie, please PM me!

[leafspring]

thats a great post. i am not very far off thought wise.