There was something magical about listening to Saturday night hockey while driving down the Las Vegas strip. There was nothing magical about the Leafs exploding with five unanswered goals to seal a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers. That was the reality of hard work and perseverance, although the Leafs were in mind when rubbing the feet of the Winged Angels at Hoover Dam for good luck.
I didn`t see John Mitchell`s two goals. I didn`t see any of the five goals the Buds scored in 5:21 to obliterate Steve Valiquette`s shutout bid. I didn`t see Dominic Moore, plucked off waivers by Toronto last season, rule the circle with an 80% faceoff average.
I didn`t need to see. I felt the excitement of Leafs fans 3629km away from Air Canada Centre. Best of all, being so far from the arena, no media pass around my neck, cloaked in the anonymity provided by thousands of tourists, I tossed journalistic impartiality out the window and cheered. Not necessarily for the Leafs, mind you, but for the story.
Fans, media, and experts did not expect the Leafs to have a winning season. More efforts like this one and they`ll be winning respect from those who had written them off.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Comments on a Game I Didn`t See
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Leafs Lose Home Opener
Fans who planned the parade following the Leafs season opening win over Detroit got hit with a dose of reality tonight.
Montreal trounced Toronto 6-1 in the Leafs home opener. Toronto wasn't able to bounce back from Montreal's first two goals, scored 99 seconds apart. Roman Hamrlik scored at 11:00 in the opening period, followed by Alexei Kovalev.
Power play problems plagued Toronto's second period performance. The Habs potted three goals in under 5:00 - all with the man advantage. Alex Tanguay's backhand was sandwiched between Sergei Kostitsyn's snapper and wrist-shot goals. Guillaume Latendresse also scored for Montreal. The Leafs' lone marker came from Jason Blake, who drew criticism from some fans for his goal celebration.
Montreal was the more physical team but the only Leaf to try and send a message was Dominic Moore. The normally calm Moore went into the sin bin for double minors after expressing his displeasure at the Habs manhandling of his team.
Toronto again had pivot problems. They won 29 faceoffs to Montreal's 40. Only one Habs' centre, veteran Robert Lang was below 50%. Contrast that with Toronto - only Mikhail Grabovski and Matt Stajan were at 50% The lone Leaf above 50% was Jonn Mitchell, who only took one faceoff.
Next up for Buds are the St. Louis Blues on Monday. It's a 1PM start time due to the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.
