Why the Maple Leafs missing the post-season?–Lynny3680314
Why the Maple Leafs missing the post-season for a seventh consecutive April? Here are several key factors.
Jonas Gustavsson Jersey As the Leafs were being pounded by the Canucks on the left coast last month, yours truly sent out the following tweet: “Forget about stealing a game, when was the last time a Leaf goalie stole their team a period?” The response of one Leaf fan probably spoke for the majority of Leafs Nation. “Doug Favell,” this particular lost soul replied. Got a chuckle out of that one. Truth is, the last goalie to win a playoff game for Toronto was Ed Belfour in 2004. Since that time, Belfour a) was a Florida Panther b) retired c) was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. That’s how long it’s been. It’s not that Jonas Gustavsson and James Reimer haven’t had their stellar moments: they certainly have. Reimer was very good in the season’s first couple of weeks before being run over by Montreal’s Brian Gionta in late October. After missing about six weeks, he really hasn’t been the same since returning. Gustavsson was great in January and has played solidly the past couple of weeks but his penchant of allowing weak goals at bad times has cost the team. The bottom line: Maple Leafs goaltending has just been too inconsistent.
What was a once promising start by the Leafs’ key players has eroded into a slippery slope where the team leaders have fallen off, leaving Toronto’s record doing the same. Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel represented the Leafs in Ottawa at the all-star game in Ottawa six weeks ago, but have they played like they are members of the league’s elite since that time? Not at all.
Dion Phaneuf Jersey From Mike Babcock to Claude Julien, any successful NHL coach will tell you that the modern-day sport has become a battle of special teams. In some instances, coaches aim to stay even with opponents in 5-on-5 play, choosing to take their chances in the battle of special teams. Not the Leafs. You simply can’t win with a pathetic penalty kill unit that consistently finishes each and every season ranked in the bottom three or four. In the end, if anything did in Ron Wilson during his tenure as Toronto bench boss, it was the inability of his Leafs to stop the opposing team’s power play. Incoming coach Randy Carlyle is so keyed up to improve Toronto’s special teams, he brought the power play unit over to the Marlies ice pad during Leaf practice last week in order to smooth out the kinks. Obviously it’s an Achilles heel he is striving to eliminate.
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