dbizzle:

fallenleafs:

Nobody said this season was going to be anything but a long, oftentimes frustrating process. Struggling out of the gates with five losses and a single point in the standings, the first win is proving to be an elusive goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now, the results aren’t altogether surprising given that the Leafs are ranked last in Goals Against per Game at 4.67, while having the second worst Penalty Kill rate in the game at a horrible 58.3%. Every facet of the Leafs game is need of repair right now. The much ballyhooed defence, one that GM Brian Burke overhauled this past offseason to improve goals against, has looked lost, tentative, and downright putrid four games into the season. Francois Beauchemin is noticeably pressing, Mike Komisarek is committing foolish penalties, Luke Schenn is undergoing a sophomore slump, and Garnet Exelby is now a nudist, constantly seeing “Not Dressed” on coach Ron Wilson’s lineup card.

Goaltending, a major weakness last season, has been a familiar sight of abomination this year as well. Performing with a .824 SV% (good for 50th place of 53 total goalies), Vesa Toskala has seen his days numbered as a viable starter in the NHL.

Despite all the trepidation of the Leafs many woes, the 2009-2010 season is barely two weeks old. All is not lost. Why? Simply because the Leafs are still undergoing a rebuild. Expectations were first ramped up by many fans and media members because of how well the Leafs performed in free agency. Not only did the Leafs sign two of the top defencemen in the offseason, the Leafs also managed to secure a trio of the top undrafted players in the world in Tyler Bozak, Christian Hanson, and Jonas Gustavsson. They are young, solid players that will contribute almost immediately because of their ages and level of competition/experience they have already endured. The Leafs still have Phil Kessel waiting in the wings. Jiri Tlusty, Carl Gunnarsson, Nazem Kadri are all developing in the minors and chomping at the opportunity to play with the Maple Leafs.

Sure, the current Leafs have underperformed so far. Yes, the Leafs have been exasperating to watch right now. Absolutely, the Leafs have to elevate their play substantially. Yet, the current standing of the Leafs isn’t that much of a surprise. Many of the respected names in the hockey writing community did not predict the Leafs to make the playoffs (see here, here, here, and here). A team that wasn’t predicted to make the playoffs by many publications in newsprint and online, and all of a sudden the 2009-2010 season is an utter disaster because the Leafs didn’t exceed their prognostications? The Leafs were going to struggle making the playoffs this year. This is nothing new, yet the apocalypse seems to have arrived and the mentality of “PLAYOFFS OR BUST” has now become the crying call of choice for many.

It’s one thing if this team remains complacent, stubbornly sticking to the same lineups and strategies game in, game out. That’s not the case though. Ron Wilson and his coaching staff have tried many different combinations to find the right chemistry and compete level. Calling up Bozak from the AHL, inserting Viktor Stalberg into the regular lineup, benching struggling players - all strategies indicating that the Leafs at least know the need for change. Firing Wilson right now would be premature. Playing well in preseason obviously masked a lot of problems still plaguing the Leafs, especially playing against real competition. After 25 or so games, and the Leafs are not improving in any shape or form? Well, then an argument can be made that a coaching change is necessary.

I refuse to believe the Leafs are as bad as they’re currently showing. Will the Leafs make the playoffs? Not if they play like this, absolutely not. But the Leafs aren’t going to continue playing this way, nor will every player remain with this team at the end of the season. The Leafs have the resources to make moves and certainly a GM in Brian Burke that will not stand for this kind of play. Certainly, the optimism has taken a blow, but the flame hasn’t flickered out. Without hope, you simply aren’t a Leafs fan.

This.

I couldn’t have said it better. I keep hearing people back home being really pessimistic and negative about the Leafs and granted I haven’t been home to experience the pain of watching the games, but people need to realize that Burke and Wilson aren’t magicians or miracle workers.

It takes time to rebuild from what this team has become.

Have some faith and patience, people.

Leafs fans have waited since ‘67. A little more waiting won’t hurt.

there are still 76 games left to play this year, that’s a potential 152 point season  it’s just a matter of chalking up that first big W.

Ron Wilson will not be fired, and if he is, it will be sometime after February, when Burke and him are no longer in charge of the U.S. Olympic team. So don’t worry about ronnie, he’s secure at least until then.

as far as I’m concerned, the youngsters are playing great, both Macdonald and Gustavsson have shown potential in between the pipes, and it’s nice to see some of the sophmore Leafs stepping up and earning their spot on the roster ( Stempniak, Mitchell, White)

The Vesa Toskala facepalm picture suits this perfectly, he has not been playing the calibre of game worthy of an NHL goaltender and I honestly believe his time as a Maple Leaf is up.

Mike Komisarek seems to have this idea in his head that when Burke signed him, he was to be the sole posessor of Truculence on the ice. But to put it simply… TRUCULENCE DOES NOT EQUAL STUPID PENALTIES.

Jason Blake is old, small and terrified of getting injured. Why is this? because then he can’t make the U.S. olympic team. it’s the only explanation I can think of for his new “cross the blue line, stop and either pass or throw a weak wrist shot on net” move. it’s a slight upgrade from last year’s “skate as fast as possible and crash into the end boards and/or net” move from last season. Grant him his wish and keep him injury free by giving him a permanent spot up in the press box.

I can deal with the losing streak, it WILL turn around. What I can’t deal with is the plethora of bad players clogging up our roster.