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 18, 2008
Leafs Faceoff Follies
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made it no secret that they are in rebuilding mode, or more accurately for long time followers, building mode. That is no excuse for poor performance in the faceoff circle. A centre snagging the puck doesn't guarantee a goal right off the draw but it certainly makes it harder for the opposition to pot the puck into the twine.
With faceoff specialists in the form of Joe Nieuwendyk as Special Assistant to the General Manager and Keith Acton as Assistant Coach this is one area where the Leafs have an excellent opportunity for improvement. Nieuwendyk no doubt has a lot of paper work to deal with in his day job, but surely Acton could spend more time on faceoffs with his pivots. Dealing with draws is done but these days the stats show it needs more practice.
Pittsburgh beat Toronto 4-1 last night but looking at the faceoff stats that's no surprise:
Mayers - 3/5 - 60%
Grabovski - 5/10 - 50%
Stajan - 2/4 - 50%
Antropov - 2/5 - 40%
Mitchell - 5/14 - 36%
Moore - 4/16 - 25%
Compare that to Pittsburgh's pivots:
Crosby - 16/22 - 73%
Talbot - 5/8 - 63%
Staal - 7/12 - 58%
Zigomanis - 5/11 -45%
Head-to-head versus Crosby no Leafs centre could win more than 50% of the draws against him.
9-out-of-12 games played tonight were won by the team with the better faceoff stats. In the age of the salary cap, puck possession off the draw is as cost effective as it gets.
