Some news of a better kind

So with Mats Sundin cleared to practice and perhaps ready for game action as soon as Thursday -- seems a little ambitious, but let's just say it's a question now of how soon rather than merely when -- what do you do with your Maple Leafs now, Pat Quinn?
Coupled with last night's 2-1 win over Florida, the Sundin news comes at a good time for the Leafs. That Saturday night massacre was still in the air along with a flu bug in the dressing room and then Gary Roberts' first-minute goal arrived gift-wrapped from McCabe -- I wondered yesterday if the Leafs would hold the door open for their old teammate, but it looked like they were giving him the keys to the MLSE vault at that point. As it was, Roberts and Jason Allison finished the night by exchanging not cards but leathery lefts.
The good for the Leafs: Belfour, of course. Some zip, although none of the new line combos converted chances into goals until Ponikarovsky, who had his strongest game, got a flukey winner. Wellwood supplied enough good to offset his tendency to overload the mustard, viz. that between the legs dipsy-do in close on a puck that perhaps fooled him coming out off the boards as much as it did Jamie McLennan, not that it meant any different to Quinn:

"He'll end up in the stands if he fools around like that. There's a time and a place for tomfoolery."

The bad: Giveaways (17 of 'em to Florida's nine, and McCabe handed Roberts that first goal), outshot 32-24, an inability to move the puck out of their own end the final seven minutes or so, when it was all Belfour holding the fort.
One more thing about last night, and what's to come: Allison skated between two kids who have shown dependable chemistry so far, Matt Stajan and Alex Steen, but those two may well be joined by Sundin, reports Mark Zwolinski:

While the club has not publicly addressed who it wants to flank their returning captain, there have been intriguing whispers that it will be members of the "kid line" — Matt Stajan and Alex Steen.

This leads to wondering about the ripple effect from there. Wellwood might well end up back with the Marlies -- but it says here he should stay, his creativity and offensive flair something this club would surely miss.
But where do you put him? What about Antropov, when he's ready to go? Czerkawski?  Belak? Okay, I'll stop there. I think I know where you're going with those last two. (C.Y.)

Comments

[Jlo]

Sad but true, probably Wellwood will be the one to go down. Only because of the economics of the new NHL. They have to play guys like Czerkawski and Antropov because they are on one-way deals and because if they don't they are throwing away their money. It's worse under the salary cap because not only is Aki Berg (sorry, again) costing 1.1million, but he's also costing the defenceman the Leafs could have had. It's all well and good to say dump these guys, but economically, the Leafs (and other teams) have less room to manoeuvre. At least Belak does less damage at forward, though that quote about being able to hide is an alarm bell if I ever heard one.

[leaffan]

The most exciting thing about last night’s victory was Eddie Belfor’s numerous forays in front of the red line. It’s like a light came on for the struggling goalie. This is great news. Eddie needs to be engaged. He needs to roam; he needs to fire the puck rapidly up to the forwards to be all he can be. If it means intercepting the puck before it crosses the re-line then so be it. Eddie should give Marty a call and let him in on the secret.

Allison between Stajan and Steen is a great tease for what we really want to see…Matts centering the kids!

Wellwood’s razzle-dazzle between the legs shot speaks to why he needs to spend a bit more time in the minors and let the more mature but less talented Wilm stay once the captain returns.

Carolina will be a good test. They are relentless in their effort. They have less talent on paper then many teams but have the work ethic that would serve the Leafs well. Let’s see if the boys in blue are prepared to outwork a hustle team.

[bferg]

There should always be room for a creative guy like Wellwood out there. The pass he made to Tucker last night says it all. He has the confidence and skill to play at this level, under the current conditions.
Perrott would clear waivers in a second, by the way. Send him down.

[Carla]

Due to a badly-timed flight from Detroit to Salt Lake, I missed two-thirds of the Leafs/Panthers game last night. As soon as I got in the door, I turned on the tv and was gleeful when I discovered that Gary Roberts had scored only 26 seconds into the game, woohoo!

Oh, wait. Roberts doesn't play for the Leafs anymore.

Geez.

Well, "woohoo!" anyway.

Dang it all, Roberts was my favourite Leaf and I was a glum girl, indeed, when he left for Florida. Whenever he went over the boards, I'd sit up on the edge of my seat 'cause I knew I could count on him causing some havoc for the opposition. Nowadays, there are guys on the team who make me cringe and cover my eyes when they go over the boards. Sure, that's exciting too, but not in the same way, y'know? There's been nobody, yet, on The New Leafs who's captured my attention the way Roberts did in October of 2000. Back then, there was a smooth transition in the role of Carla's Favourite Leaf--when Wendel retired, voilá, there was Gary to take his place. I am still waiting to see who steps up into that role this season...

And, yeah yeah yeah, I know he's already missed a few Panthers games with the groin injuries that sidelined him a few times in Toronto, but I still think that he brings more to a team than the average NHLer. I dunno if it was money or contract length or The Nieuwy Factor--probably a combination of all three, actually--that led him to Florida, but I must say that I sure do miss him in the blue and white.

Am probably far too sentimental for my own good, when it comes to hockey. Tough.

[Gary]

Why is the Leaf nation so Aki Berg phobic? The guy is not going to be a candidate for the Norris anytime soon but he's not that bad. He was very good in the playoffs last year. He is a solid number 4 or 5 type guy. Khavanov, now there is a bad defenseman. Not only soft but showing nothing offensively. If we're going to knock people, where has Jeff O'Neill gone? Seeing him disappear lately I understand why he only got 15 goals last year. He was great early but has been missing in action for 5 games now. Wellwood is their most creative player with Mats out, they need to find a way to keep this guy in the lineup, even if it means sitting a Wilm or a Belak

[Ninja]

Wellwood must stay. He's got game, which counts for alot more than a penchant for ill-timed penalties and a broken nose. Put him between Nik and Poni, he'll be great.

Kronvall was excellent last night as well. He actually walked in from the blue line with authority.

[Arthur]

It would be lunacy to send Wellwood back to the minors because of his little hot-dog move. Oh, because of that mistake, Quinn fumes about his play and threatens to put him in the stands? What about Belak, and all the horrible plays he's blown this entire season - none of them merit a benching? But apparently Wellwood, who is doing great in the points department - is suddenly on the bubble.

If Quinn sends him down for this, it will prove that he has an irrational bias against the kid in the first place.

What to do? It's easy - send down Perrott, as it was suggested. If higher-quality goods like Oliwa and Nazarov cleared waivers this weekend, so would Perrott. And even if he didn't, guys like him are always available. We have Domi and Belak for the heavy lifting - and make no mistake, Leaf fans - if Belak's face wasn't already crushed by Colton Orr, he would have taken on McCrappen for Domi - he already did it in the pre-season. So: we're set in the tough-guy department. Seeya Nathan, you aren't that bad, actually, but Wellwood needs to play, and that's just the way it is.

[Tim G]

I think sending down Wellwood would be a terriable massive mistake...between him and Steen and Stajan, they have been the only high points in the last..oh..4 games?..Send Perrott...Keep Wilm..and I think that puck just fooled him coming off the boards, at least got some wood on it, I think it would have just floated by alot of other players..and just imagined if he had scored!

[John]

Do not send Wellwood down, you will crush his confidence, which is why he did that move. If Welly scored, that would be like Spezza's goal. Didn't hear any bad things about that goal did you?