Chris Neil has played so well lately, hasn’t he?
Scored a big goal in Sunday’s win over the Islanders, caused the turnover on another, and delivered the hit of the year Saturday on Johnny Boychuk.
Neil was the third star in both weekend games.
Because of the hit, I think he’s going to be a marked man in tonight’s rematch versus the Bruins. He fought Chara in the third period Saturday, and I think this time, he’s going to have to answer to Lucic or Thornton.
I don’t agree with the decision to take Carkner out of the lineup tonight. Yes, MacLean re-inserted Konopka and the latter is going to be chomping at the bit after sitting out the last eight games as a healthy scratch. But the Senators still need Carkner when they go into tough games, and this should be one of them.
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Agreed with you Bruce…especially since we know the tone of the game could lead to numerous fights…and both teams certainly know that the most likely play-off match-up is with each other.
So we will have Neil, Konopka, Smith and perhaps Foligno dropping them tonight? Over under on the number of fights in tonight’s game is 3.
Already said it but hoping for a good solid effort and some crisp play tonight. Play-off mode hockey.
You are absolutely right Don, Neil has played very well and I suspect he will called upon to earn his 2m dollar salary tonight; but it will have little to do with “the hit”. That issue was settled last game and Chara admitted as much. If there are fisticuffs it will be the result of Corvo’s threat to engage Turris. Turris is not a fighter (I think he had all of one fight at this level) nor is he tough and although neither is Corvo, I think he’s got 20 pounds on Turris. Neil will not allow that to happen. Neither will Smith. Konopka will be very selective (as he usually does) and go after Marchand…that’s his style. This has all the earmarks for a rough and tumble game. Boston are losing far more games than they have all year (coincidentally, every since the White House boycott). Personally, I think they have moved away from their fiercely aggressive and physical style. The Coach will want to re-establish themselves especially with NYR’s recent acquisiton of the 6-8 Scott from Chickago. The Big, Bad, Bruins will be let louse tonight and for that reason, Carkner should be in the lineup. With Carkner in the press box, there will be a few no shows in the red, white and black.
I don’t understand why they scratched Carkner for last nights game either because they could have used him the way Lucic was running around like an idiot. Another good game by the Sens. They should have won by a wider margin though. If Lehner keeps playing this well, the Sen’s might have to trade Bishop or Anderson during the summer. That is if Bishop is NHL ready like he appears to be.
Hey, what ever happenned to the Leafs?
Dear Ron Wilson: I am sure if you ask nicely, Paul MacLean nicley, he will teach you how to coach.
GREAT win last night. Well done lads, and great to see Lenher get the shutout!
From what I understand Leaf ‘fans’ chanting ‘fire Wilson’ on their way to their 5th straight loss…. classy.
Outstanding performance by the Sens last night! The team collapsed in the 3rd but for most of the game, they were great. I was particularly impressed with Turris; amid reports of retrubution, his play didn’t take a step back. Instead, Turris turned up the volume and was everywhere, even crashing the net!
I find it interesting that the Leaf patrons only express their discontent for Ron Wilson. Shouldn’t Lord Burke share some of their venom? Not only is Komasarek not worthy of a multi-million dollar contract, he is a lousy hockey player! There are some very good hockey players on the team but, by the same token, there are some lousy ones. Burke bears responsibility for the bad ones as well and…Burke hired Wilson and gave him an extension. Both have been there 4 years. I ask again, should the team miss the playoffs this year, what will happen to Burke? Nothing I say! I will go so far as to say, they wont make the post season next year. Curiously, Burke made no significant moves far before and on the trade deadline and he referenced his “blueprint”. What blueprint? The “truculent Blueprint”…or the soft Blueprint? Can anyone articulate what the “blueprint was all about?
I almost felt sorry for Wilson in the post game interview. He is clearly a man lost. Gone were the feeble attempts at sarcasm, arrogance and attitude. But it lasted only a second or two. When Nick Kipreos went on air to endorse Wison’s firing, he stopped short from including Burke. For some inexplicable reason, Lord Burke is untouchable (BS baffles brains I guess). Toronto fans deserve much more!
Pav,
If Ron Wilson had Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Craig ANderson he’d proably have 5-10 more wins as well. I’ll throw roses at our coach’s feet when I see a COnference or Cup finals. So far I am not seeing anything new that I haven’t seen before.
Bobby,
If you want to get an idea of the blueprint you need to look at their farm system. Joe Colborne is a big randy center. The guy they got from Tampa, big winger that can skate. Kadri has superb hands but can’t make the bigs because of Lombardi, Connolly et al. They could spare Aulie because Korbinian Holzer is close. Rynnas and Scrivens are decent enough goaltenders. One of Lombardi or Connolly won’t be back next year. They will be replaced by youth. Komisarek was not terrible when he arrived there, but he did overpay. If you want to see what the Leafs will look like in 3-4 years, look at their Marlies roster. Most forwads are 6-2 to 6-3 and well over 200 pounds.
Just as I don’t give much credit to Murray because he’s still riding inherited assets, so do I not praise or pan Burke too much yet. Clearly he needs to can Wilson because he is not the right coach for this group, but most experts had picked them 8th to 10th so…
Meant RANGY center, not randy, ha!
Hey Pierre,
Most “hockey experts” were picking the Leafs to finish ahead of the Sen’s this year.
Vis, it is interesting that you will hold off on judging Burke when at this stage he has completely turned the team over – everyone on the team is someone he picked up…there isn’t one player left from when he took over. So he has the team he molded and they aren’t that good or they aren’t playing to their ability. Who else is to blame? He gave Wilson an extension at Xmas because the team was in the play-offs at the time.
But you say Murray is riding inherited assets? Alfie, Spezza and Philips are all that remain…he picked Karlsson, Z. Smith and traded for Michalek with his back against the wall…he decided that he wanted more mobile D and then finally found a coach that could maximize their talents.
I know you are tough to please but let’s at least be fair about this.
Have to add that in addition to scoring the only goal of the contest that Karlsson did very well in holding his own as the Bruins tried to take some runs at him.
He didn’t looked scared to me, he looked like a player who is finding his way and should be a Norris candidate!
Pierre, I take a look at what Maclean has done with a team that once you get past Spezza, Michalek, Alfredsson and Karlsson there is precious little. Smith and Neil are great 3rd and 4th line guys and every team needs them but the rest are are combination of old, slow, soft and completely useless. In spite of it, Maclean has them challenging for a conference title! Call me crazy but when all the “hockey experts” had them pegged for the cellar, I think they have done damn good and I put all of it on Maclean!
As for Toronto, are you suggesting the very low scoring Lombardi bumped Kadri? The guy who has 7 goals and is -13? That makes no sense to me. What of Komisarek, Connolly, Lombardi, Caputti, Finger, Gustavson, Liles, Steckel, Armstrong, Orr, are they part of the blueprint? The word on Colborne is he is big but slow. Holzer is 24 now and he isn’t in the bigs yet. Is he a project and if so, will he be in the lineup next year? There is a reason he is in the manures (its not like the Leaf’s weren’t in need on the back end). Ashton, the big guy all the Leaf’s scouts raved about, hasn’t played a game in the NHL and he belonged to Tampa…and sub .500 team? Is this the blueprint? Are these guys going to take the Leafs to the post season or, is Lord Burke suggesting (again) it will take a couple of years? Blue prints are the result of a plan, what was the plan Pierre? I know when the blow hard came on board he barked about truculence and such and he invested in garbage like Axleby, Primeau, Orr and company. It failed. This version of the Leafs is realtively small and soft. So, someone define what the next Leaf team will look like. To put the future on 3 (2, I never heard of) seems like a stretch.
I just read the paper on-line and a column on Toronto’s loss last night versus the Toews-less Hawks. The author suggested that the Leaf’s defence were supposed to be their strength this year. Who ever said that? I think it may have been Lord Burke (another great example of a mis-calculation on his part). Again, in this article, it is suggested that Wilson is the problem and not a word about the General Manager. Can someone/anyone explain to me why? Afterall, the incompetent, arrogant, condescending, pompous, blowhard has his fingerprints all over the hockey club. I can remember all the bravado before the start of the season when Komisarek first came on board and was the face of the franchise. The media loved him and he wasn’t shy. They lost the very first game of the season to the Smurphs from Montreal and Komisarek was made to look like a fool running around trying to hit the speedy Habs and missing most of the time. He made every effort to impress the man he made him a mult-millionaire and live up to the truclent moniker. Of course he failed miserably. What he and Lord Burke failed to realize was that toughness is all about courage and willingness to compete regardless of size. Gionta, Camallari and Gomez, although small, are fast/quick and fearless, they made the “truculent” Leafs look rather silly. It all went down hill from there and the “blueprint” changed. This years version of the Leafs is much different. Axelby, Primeau, Orr, Finger, Rosehill are all gone. But is the team any better? Our very own Pierre (Visitor) likes the new Blueprint (based on some in the manures), but I have some serious doubts. At this point, we have to look at the big club. Certainly we all remember the master architect glowing over the acquistion of john Michael Liles; he is now -7. The (new face) of the Franchise, Phaneuf, is now -7. The defencive/faceoff specialist Steckel is -9. The guy who keeps Kadri in the manures (per Pierre) Lombardi, is -13. The often injured (or banished to the press box) Komisarek is -3 (which is flattering). Armstrong is -6, the diminutive Brown is -5 and the very low scroring and often invisible Connolly is -3. Again, these are more players Lord Burke sought out and brought on board! There is an old saying: “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”. There is a lot of cartilage on this hockey club. As much as Lupol and Kessel have been great and Grabo good (but should be much better) the rest of the team have been bad and in my opinion the issue is two fold: the Coach is an idiot and the over rated General Manager gave him precious little to work with. Every time I see Burke interviewed, the media representative carefully crafts his/her questions (afraid to offend). They fumble over themselves thanking Lorde Burke when it is over and NEVER do they challenge him. Burke must laugh like hell when he is in his favourite company, himslef. I guess you can add master manipulator/intimidator to the list when describing the…
Visitor,
I actually agree with your Toronto assessment. They do have some promise in the system and what’s required is more patience. Unfortunately leaf fans have been patient for so long.
What I again find funny about you is your split personality when it comes to Ottawa. While your glass is half full when it comes to the leafs, it’s all empty when it comes to the sens. You wanted all their so-called prospects shipped out at the deadline since they were all useless anyway and it’s all about getting to the cup final in this first year of a rebuild. If that happens you might call off your fan boycott. But leaf fans need to be patient and think about their bright future.
Bobby,
I really believe that , outside of the questionable Kessel trade, Burke has fleeced a couple of GMs. He’s had a mixed record so far though considering his bad FA signings.
Dennis, consider this, in Wilson’s career as an NHL coach he has a respectable record. That only changed when he arrived in Toronto. He has been with the team as long as Lord Burke. Curious, don’t you think? Lets move on. The hockey club has gone through at least two dramatic transformations and they will most certainly miss the post season again this year and I will wager it will happen again next year. Some are suggesting 3 kids playing in the AHL (2 of which I’ve never heard of and one is 24 year old German) are the future? Give me a break! I have gone over all the players (skaters, goalies, goalie coach) Lord Burke has signed – let go – or sent down and you still think he is doing a commendable job? Who might he have fleeced in your opinion? Answer me this Dennis, what measurement criteria do you use when detertermining success for failure for a GM? Is understandable & totally acceptable if the Leafs miss the playoffs again this year (Lord Burke’s 4th). What would you think of Lord Burke’s body of work if the team misses the playoffs next year his 5th with the organization? I would really like to know because you are obviously not alone thinking he is doing just fine.
Bobby,
I was not saying that Burke was doing fine. Only that he has done some good things and some bad things. The trades I referred to are the ones like where he got Lupul, Gardiner and a pick for Beauchemin, or the Phaneuf/Aulie trade with Calgary.
But you’re right that he somehow manages to keep criticism off him, at least from what I’ve seen from fans and media.