Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Leafs Looking To End Playoff Drought

It was a different feeling this year when I bought my copy of NHL 12 for xbox and booted up the General Manager mode. I actually started to play a game instead of jumping to the trade menu for an hour or two.

The Leafs have quite a bit of organizational depth, so much so that it's kept our highest draft pick in a decade playing for the Marlies. That being said Nazim Kadri's stock has dropped behind the likes of Matt Frattin and Joe Colborne but when looking at the team you cant help but be optimistic. After flat-lining through the first period in last nights game against New Jersey they team crawled back to get the game into overtime before ultimately losing the game.


The Good
  • Matt Frattin powered his way to the net with speed to score tie the game and eventually take it into overtime.
  • The first line of Bozak, Lupul, and Kessel had a strong night
  • Grabovski returned to the line-up after missing Monday's game
  • Dupuis looked good. I've been really critical of him stating he "really doesn't bring much to the team in any respect other than the PK" (which is one of the worst in the league). He used his speed to create some chances and although he didn't score, it was nice to see him getting some chances.

The Bad
  • Joe Colborne didn't impress. For such a big forward he needs to use his size to be effective every game and I just don't see that.
  • Leafs PK was a disaster. Had it not been for the two early PP goals the Devils scored we may have walked out with 2 points last night which would have been nice following a week that saw two very humbling loses to the Bruins.
MacArthur, Armstrong, and Lombardi are likely to play within the next few games as they come off their respective injuries. I'd like to see Colborne get some more conditioning in the Marlies as the Leafs get some of their injured players back into the line-up.