Alarms and celebration

(UPDATE: Leafs sent down Colaicovo this morning. No word yet from practice on what that means, if anything -- could be a mere housekeeping move to save a couple days' salary.)

If you, like me, were feeling a little jaded as the second period moved toward its midway point last night -- okay, perhaps you were feeling a little sleepy  -- then the rest of the way was a little jolt that reminded you life in this postmodern NHL can never be taken for granted. Or perhaps it's just a Leaf thing.
The Leafs redeemed what, up till that midpoint, looked like their most aimless effort since their last time out, against the same Caps, on Sunday night -- one that, as Paul Hunter notes, "triggers alarms instead of celebration" as it points to their strengths and weaknesses at once. You can put that down to typical Toronto angst if you want, but regardless, here's Mats Sundin's assessment:

"We have the talent to be one of the top teams in the league, but right now we're not good enough defensively."

They are what they are -- a half glass.
The one thing that gives hope for change is that, with youngsters on the blueline now as well as up front, there is some  chance for improvement as they mature and gain confidence.
Carlo Colaicovo played, and played well last night, scoring his first NHL goal, and Staffan Kranwall hasn't looked out of place since taking up a spot six games ago. This doesn't match the pure electricity of an Ovechkin, the Caps' super rookie, or a Crosby or any of the league's other more glittering young talents, but it will do.
Damien Cox notes it nicely:

"What is truly encouraging for Leaf Nation, meanwhile, is that for the first time in a long, long time the Leafs are very much a part of this transfer of influence to a new generation. Last night, fully one-quarter of the Toronto roster was populated by players 23 years of age or younger ... The presence of so many kids, of course, is also a contributing factor to the confounding way in which the Leafs continue to defy firm description with one-fifth of a  schedule having been played."

Not sure about that last bit. To me, the kids have been more consistent than the likes of Allison and O'Neill (the latter finally waking up with Sundin back) -- even top scorer Bryan McCabe, who for all his offence and power-play prowess (his pass to O'Neill to set up a goal just a beauty, wasn't it?) can still give the puck away too easily.
Sundin's right -- this is not a solid defensive team, and the way it's built currently it won't be. There's not enough team speed, the puckhandling overall in their own end is shaky and the goaltending has been streaky.
As for last night's new line combinations, the big loser was one of those kids, Matt Stajan reduced to fourth-line status and just 5:20 of playing time, less than half his usual this season.
Front and back, though, the future is in sight. Now comes the tricky business of getting there.
(C.Y.)

Comments

[Carla]

Was sorry to read that Colaiacovo had been sent back to the Marlies... Maybe that's just 'til Friday (??). With Berg out (no comment), does that mean that Belak will be back on D? Egads, I hope not. Carlo should get that position.

[denial]

I'm betting that Colaiacovo has been sent down so that MLSE can put those extra cap dollars in an ING Direct Savings account and SAVE THEIR MONEY. It makes sense, really. By feb they might have enough to buy Aki Berg a nickname (I'm suggesting "Terror-yaki Berg", which is what you and your bowels experience when you're his defense partner in the 3rd period of a tie game).

Ah Mats... This is like T-Ball. No, it's like self-pitching. He continues demonstrating why he's such a great hockey player and such an awful team leader. He can bounce back from anything -- severe injury, devasating playoff losses. While you can imagine Tucker and Roberts sitting in a bar for a few days after getting punted out of the playoffs a couple of years ago, you just know that Mats woke up the next day, took off his jammies, said hello to the sun, watered his plants, and went on with his life.

In a sense, Mats is the ultimate sports professional, because he knows its just a game and that there is something more important than winning -- being a good human being who doesn't punch holes in walls when you lose. But at the same time...doesn't it just BUG YOU A LITTLE that Mats really doesn't seem to care that the Leafs lose? Seriously, I'm at the top of the list of people who think that there is a wave of seriously mentally ill people in the game of hockey who identify so deeply with winning and losing that they actually refer to it as a 'war' (much to the amazement, i'm sure, of people who made $11.50 an hour or so to actually BE in a war or two). And we all know that crazed hockey parents who can't understand that youth sports is about character building and developing life skills should be, well, destroyed I guess. Or at least heat pasteurized.

But sometimes you look at Mats and you listen to his take on things, and you just want to throw a glass of water in his face and say, in your best deforest kelly voice: DAMMIT MATS, THIS IS YOUR TEAM MAN. YELL A LITTLE. BREAK SOMETHING. CALL OUT PLAYERS. DO *SOMETHING* TO SHOW THAT YOU ACTUALLY GET BOTHERED BY WHAT YOU'RE SEEING.

Dropping little management-approved soundbites like "we have talent to be great but aren't playing defensively" is chillingly like listening to Babcock say absolutely nothing for several minutes at a time. It's political speak. Lots of words, but no rough edges. Nothing to hold onto, nothing to focus on. It's very Bill Clinton, David Millerish. I can see Mats becoming an MP when he's done, maybe following Dryden into cabinet or some other repugnant day care for parasites (Sportsnet?).

Here is where a Jeremy Roenick would be so wonderful, because you just know he'd be calling it like it is. The Leafs DON'T have the talent to be one of the top teams in the league. That's ridiculous. WHAT is that based on? Seriously. That's not optimism, that's just...just...TOM FOOLERY.

The Leafs have to play MEAN. I don't mean dirty. But they have to play very tough and very edgy and if that means that the boys in the locker room don't all go out for ice cream after practice, then FINE. Come on Mats, put away the blue sky and bring in some sandpaper. The Leafs need some grit BAD. They need Daryl Sutter.

By the way Chris... couple of days ago you noted that Czerkawski was designated inactive. Yes, we know... but is he playing?

[cy]

re Czerkawski: inactive, playing -- there's a difference?
re Colaiacovo: it does appear this is a housekeeping move to save a few thousand in teachers' bullion.

D -- i can call you D, right? -- what bugged me most about Sundin's quote (and i shoulda made it clearer, i just kind of lost my track this morning, i was feeling very Sam Mitchell, which is not quite as bad as feeling very Phil Simms, but it is under the same family of conditions in most medical dictionaries) was the use of "right now", a modifying clause which creeps into a lot of political and yes, sports discourse, along with that other well-buffed but equally pointless chestnut, "hopefully".
Like that one, "right now" ironically shifts talk away from the present, by suggesting that corrections will come in time -- "Right now we're not good enough defensively" equals the possibility that "we will be good enough someday".
The follow up question becomes -- how do you get better defensively? No one seems to have asked Sundin, or perhaps they did and there was just another inanity, or perhaps he was whisked away by his MLSE minders. Whatever, there really is no answer: they are what they are. No drills are going to make them quicker, no strategy is going to make them smarter and prevent them taking the same stupid stick penalties over and over, or (it seems) turning the puck over in their own end.
The one thing they have going for them in terms of improvement are these young players.

[denial]

yes of course you can call me d. or, if you wish, you can call be my given name, Baby Boy Denial. man that hospital sure looked like a barn.

you can call me anything you want, just don't call me inactive.

yes, we seem to be bothered by the same thing (i think there's a topical cream for this). sundin's "right now" was very political and very annoying. almost as bad as "rebuilding". You don't rebuild at the NHL level. That's not what it's there for, it never was. Any team that goes onthe record as rebuilding should immediately be relegated to a lesser division until they get their act in gear. telling fans that you're in rebuilding mode is an insult when you're charging "built" ticket prices.

nope, no follow up questions for sundin. that's annoying, too. the toronto media has set the bar extraordinarily low for leaf players, and to a lesser extent, raptor players. But partly (I think) because of Quinn's utterly inexcusable anti-media stance (which I believe is now in its fifth decade and thriving), there is a kind of culture of silence around the team. If you ask a real question, Quinn will go to town on you. ANd if you ask a player the wrong question, such as the ones you're proposing that Sundin is asked, you'll probbaly get blacklisted in some form or another.

So all you get are tedious soundbites. Stuff like Jason Allison, after the 8-0 mauling against Ottawa, saying that he's glad there was a game scheduled for the monday afterwards because it would help erase the memory of the disaster. Did anyone dare ask whether it was actually a good thing for the Leaf players to try and forget what happened against Ottawa?

no, cuz you're not allowed to ask. You just have to cheer. It's mind boggling that a reporter would ask a striking teacher or cop 20 questions worthy of a 3rd world interrogation room, but won't even ask a 4th line leaf for the time, twice.

blah.

Speaking of Sam Mitchell, I heard him on the radio this morning, preaching patience. He laid it on a little too thick.