10 Leafs questions

Matt Stajan today (maybe), medicals tomorrow, hit the ice on Friday ... Stanley Cup parade next June. In Buffalo, which is not so far away, really.

Here's 10 questions to help you get through your day working for The Man, whoever The Man (or The Woman, or the He-She, and even in some of our cases, The Alien Presence That Must Be Appeased) may be:

TORONTO STAR

We'll always have the Wader.

1 Where are the goals going to come from? The estimable James Mirtle went over this the other day, stealing the main question that I have. I expect old Hockey Page (R.I.P.) favourite Kyle Wellwood to raise his level of tomfoolery, but who else?

2 How happy is Mats Sundin? The guy's heading into the sunset years and he showed at the end of last season there's still something left in those legs and that receding hairline. Meantime, this team looks about as close to a Stanley Cup parade as -- wait, I already told you that.

3 Who fills out the defence? Check out Raking Leafs on this one. The last two defence jobs will be one of those training camp stories that will receive more attention than it deserves, but it's training camp, and it's the Leafs.

4 Is there no limit to MLSE's empire building? Trick question. Of course there isn't.

5 Who's the backup goalie, and who goes to the minors? Three goalkeepers on guaranteed contracts. Raycroft's the undisputed No. 1, but who's next and how does that play out?

6 Where's the muscle? Tie Domi is gone. Yes, he was gone a few years ago, but this time he's physically gone. Those are limited skates to fill. Who steps in?

7 How happy is Mats Sundin, honestly? Is it true that one of the Maple Leaf Square inducements is a spot on his wing?

8 Who wins the intramural Best Metrosexual GM contest? It's JFJ's Harry Rosen power suits against Bryan Colangelo's elegantly tailored Ermenegildo Zegna. May the best hair gel win.

9 Who's the first one to be booed at the ACC? Nik Antropov is the morning line favourite, as ever. But watch out for Hal Gill, who's big enough to be noticed even by the shrimp-nibbling Platinum Clubbers. And like Paris in Casablanca, we'll always have Wade Belak.

10 What's the over-under on goals allowed in their first two games, home and home with the Senators? 10 1/2 sounds about right.

And a bonus question (okay, let's just call it another question):

More wins - Leafs or Raptors?

Comments

[Ninja]

I've got a fiver on Gill. Especially if he starts out on the second pairing.

[B Fergie]

They will be better defensively, but I too have no idea where the goals will come from. Wellwood, O’Neill, Ponikarovsky, etc all have to improve in that category.

Last 2/3 defensive spots…..Ian White, Jay Harrison, and (seriously) Marc Moro, who was the captain of the Marlies last year. He is a tower of power out there, and will give them some much needed toughness on the blueline.

Backup—the end of last year says Aubin, which means that Tellqvist needs to be moved, but Tellqvist isn’t that bad, so I’d watch out for him to come through with a “this is my last chance” performance.

First boos—No-brainer here. Antropov during the warm up of the first pre-season game. Hal Gill will be called “slow” quite early on, but not too many 6’7” guys are fast out there. He will be great on the PK, blocking shots, and, again, in adding some toughness out there.

Number of goals allowed during 1st 2 games: 6-7.

More wins: Leafs—41-37

[C-Fly]

1. Like you said Welly will probably pick up his play. A repeat performance from Kilger would be nice, Peca will score more goals than last year, Poni showed some promise that he can regularly find the back of the net and Steen should have a more complete season than last. Oh yeah, I think that Sundin guy may be able to score a couple as well.
2. Mats is as happy as ever. He won’t admit it but he will love that Pat Quinn is gone when he starts playing the minutes he should. A 40 goal year is not out of the question by any means, so long as he has it going all year like he did after the Olympic break last year.
3. I would bet on Carlo being a certainty on the blue line and one of the “take your pick guys.” That is the group of Harrison, White (my favorite) Kronwall, Wozniewski and whoever I have left out.
4. Haha, no!
5. Didn’t Aubin win this job last year? Why haven’t we traded Telly yet? I like the guy, but he does not deserve that job as per those awful nights in Montreal.
6. Wade the Blade, that’s who. I am sure Gill must be able to throw them too, and Ondrus will most likely crack the squad out of training camp, so we will have a couple guys in the line-up every night who can chuck ‘em.
7. Honestly, ask him when he is averaging 22 minutes a game and had 30 points through the first quarter of the year.
8. Colangelo, the fact that he doesn’t ever wear a tie wins him that title. JFJ is too tense to be Metro.
9. From what I have heard about Gill, he will be the favorite after the first couple games, but out of the gate? It has to be Nik, he is probably the only one in the city sad to see Aki leave.
10. I will take the under. I think Raycroft will be very solid. Remember this guy missed camp last year which lead to him not being in proper shape, then led to injuries that plagued him all year. Check the history on guys who miss camp due to contracts, they almost always have bad years. Kovolchuk had a good year after missing camp, but had spent his missed time playing in the Russian league.

Bonus – Come on… I will go with the thought that Sam Mitchell is probably not as good as everyone thinks he is. He probably will not be able to pull this team this season to over .500 and I think the Leafs will finish probably 5 -10 games over .500. So, my answer is the Leafs.