Maple Leafs Lose Opener, Fans Lose Minds

Look, I love Leafs fans. Three "Go Leafs Go" chants started on my walk from my car to the bar last night and high fives were given out like free candy from the back of Carey Price's van. There was a lot of good to see in last night's game especially the Leafs' ability to pin the Habs in their own zone for stretches at a time, they created a lot of shots and scoring opportunities, and there were a couple of scraps. The things that were not so good (Beauchemin twice getting beat by a bouncing puck, Komisarek taking eleventy billion penalties) are things that will get worked out with familarity between defensive partners.

I don't want to get into the Vesa debate because honestly if you're still arguing that he's an NHL calibre goalie I don't have time for you but goal 2 - use your stick to block the pass out front and goal 4 why are you sliding into the corner? He had help from his defence in giving up both of those goals but a 6'3" goalie probably stops both of them.

On to the pletora of links after the jump.

P.s. click on the picture above to go to a gallery of pictures from the game.

• Yours truly is going to be in a live chat with CBCSports.ca today. Judging by the comments the idiots will be out in force. Come and show the others how to ask intelligent questions.
• You think that the crowd was amped last night?
• Down Goes Brown continues his previews with the Central Division also known as the division the Leafs should be in. Also, the one that they are stuck in.
• David Johnson has some predictions for the upcoming season. The Leafs' one will definitely stir the pot.
• TSM is on the "Don't Panic" train with me.
• Alex Tran has some thoughts on the game. Some are good, some are bad, some make me wonder what game he was watching. About par for the course on any game recap.
• Melt Your Face Off watches kids movies and sees Leafs' previews.
• Let's cancel the season because it's already been sorted out.
• Even the Finnish miss their arch nemesis.
• Vintage Leafs has some pictures to make you smile this morning.
• We need more of this out of Luke Schenn and less looking to the scoreboard.
• The Wisdom of Crowds is bullshit.
• Jared shows that less is more. I like this idea. Now I am going to write 12,000 words on why the Leafs' defence will improve.
• TrucuLeafs is not impressed with Beauchemin. The first goal took a 1 in 10,000 double bounce though.
• Leaf Fan Forever has some thoughts on the game.
• Far Away Leaf has some thoughts on the captaincy race./

If I missed any it's likely because I hate you or because I woke up at 630am and just hate everything right now. You may never know. Toss them in the comments.