One night the Leafs seem like a team hellbent on making the playoffs. They go into Raleigh and hand the home team a 3-1 loss. The next night, they lay their biggest stinker of the year in a 4-0 loss to the Rochester Americans in a span where every game is a must win. Perhaps the biggest question mark on the night was the decision to start J.S. Giguere over James Reimer. Granted it was the tail end of a back to back, but with the season winding down shouldn't nobody be getting tired on the ice. It's do or die time and last night has me thinking the Leafs have settled on die.
Another Uneasy Loss for Maple Leafs - Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail
"We know what these guys can do," head coach Ron Wilson said after his team missed a chance to pull within two points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We’ve been watching them all year. We’ve been watching Giggy 10 or 15 years in the league.
"This is about trying to make the playoffs."
Really? Wilson clearly doesn’t see why sitting down the 23-year-old Reimer, who gives the Leafs a battling chance most nights and had started the last 13 games in a row including Wednesday’s 36-save, 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricances, in place of Giguere should raise eyebrows.
This is about trying to make the playoffs? By running out your .898, oft injured goalie while sitting your young, .921 goalie? That's how you're going to try and make the playoffs? Ok.......
More links after the jump.
Leafs Links
Search for New MLSE President Slows Down
How the OTPP's impending shares trade has put the search on hold.
Jeffler with his reaction to the "effort" in Florida.
Hey look! The Leafs are a .500 hockey team. Wilson must be ecstatic.
The Three Headed Goaltending Situation
MLHS with a look at the situation between the pipes.
Puckin' Eh with a look at how the defense has done since the trade with Boston.
Maple Leaf Legends Art Duncan and Denis Dupere
Check 'em out.
Who Made the Giguere Call and the Resilient Reimer
VLM wants to know who really made the call to have Reimer sit against the Panthers.
Links That Aren't Leafs Links
A Statistical "Meh" for the 2010-11 NHL Season
Behind the Net with the low scoring numbers for this season.
The Odd Logic of a Shot Quality Denier
Hockey Analysis with another look at the question of whether shot quality exists.
It's a Matter of Trust with the NHL
And right now the NHL isn't earning any.
