Game 74: When a perfect game means nothing in the race

Damn you, Montreal! Damn you, Ottawa! Damn you, Florida!

You ruined a perfectly good 3-0 victory tonight. Your inability to win took the sheen off James Reimer's third shutout. It sullied the Leafs' symmetrical and lethally efficient output of one goal per period on a measly 17 shots.

I know, I know. It is folly to assign blame to Montreal, Ottawa, Florida or anybody else. It's not their fault. Given the number of points Toronto squandered in the first half, it's a small miracle they are even in this improbable race.

Still, it's frustrating to watch this team capitalize on chances, get stellar goaltending, earn another road win and, yet, have it mean jacksquat in the grand scheme of things. "Keeping pace" may be technically correct but there is one less game to play now, which is significant with so few remaining.

You can't keep pace indefinitely.

But that's where we are.

All the Leafs can do now is win their games and hope to hell others lose. That is the nature of any race when you are behind. Tonight, they ran as fast as they could – and give them full credit for that – but nobody ahead had the decency to stumble and trip.

My wife and mother-in-law both overuse the phrase, "Simple as that."

There's an election coming. Simple as that. We'll need to think about fertilizing the lawn soon. Simple as that. The cats need their claws trimmed. Simple as that. (Actually, there is nothing simple about that as the scratch on my cheek now reveals.)

Where the race is concerned, the Leafs forfeited control of their destiny in December. Now with eight games to go, their fate is shared among a rotating cast of teams.

So with Buffalo, Carolina and the Rangers also winning tonight – see the aforementioned "damns" – this impressive Leaf victory was for statistical naught. The relative standings did not change. The magnificent bastards remain in 10th spot, five points out of eighth spot, just like when the night started.

Simple as that.

The game itself seemed to unfold in slow motion. It was understated, at times almost hypnotically so.

The highlights, really, were three breakaway saves Reimer made in the first two periods. Everything else had a workman-like quality that was accentuated by the drab atmosphere inside the misleadingly named Xcel Energy Center.

My God, we complain about the ACC. But who programs the music in Minnesota? Is it a tone-deaf birthday clown? Ernie and Bert? That Muzak version of Zeppelin's "Kashmir" they played in the first was excruciating.

No wonder the Wild are struggling.

What's with the public address announcer? Did they find him at a passport office, where he perfected his delivery by calling out next-in-line numbers in a groggy monotone? And what's with the hometown broadcasters? I gather they had trouble pronouncing certain Leaf names this evening.

It's weird. I mean, considering they have to repeatedly say "Clayton Stoner" and "Cal Clutterbuck" – try saying "Clutterbuck" five times quickly and see what it turns into – you'd think "Phaneuf" would be a welcome change.

But I digress.

Never mind the race for a minute.

The good news is this: The Leafs are coming together, slowly but surely. The sum of the parts is taking shape. The future is bright. And after more parts are added this summer, it will be even brighter.

And so in the long-term, let's call it the journey to distinguish it from the short-term race, it feels like they've finally passed a critical junction. Instead of young and drifting aimlessly they are young and moving forward.

Are there still rough patches ahead? Undoubtedly. Will there be moments in which we fling inanimate objects at our television sets or demand so-and-so's head on a platter? Probably.

But tonight, once again, we watched a team that's learning to win in new ways while learning not to lose in old ways. They should be proud of their second-half accomplishments. If they can start next season the way they are finishing this one, we won't be scoreboard watching or eating lemon squares or blaming others come March.

Simple as that.

MAIN PHOTO: ANDY KING/REUTERS

Comments

[TimB]

I'm not going to argue two wrongs making a right,but if you cheap shot a star player,you need to be taught some respect.Ya'll are treading on pretty sacred ground going after Wendel.

[Pyramid Power]

Geoff and TG77 You should both have a peek at hockeyfights.com You will see:

a) Chara seldom scraps. He is too valuable to the team to be fighting.

b) Chara very rarely throws an extra punch or two while people are down. Look it up on YouTube if you like although the above noted website is excellent. Email the operator of the site. He will be happy to set you straight about this punching guys while they are down business. Geoff provided one clip of Chara apparently doing it against Latendresse. Doesn't mean he does it all the time.

[We BeLeaf]

A late good morning to all! I see Vinay that from the early morning posts, I have missed quite a bit of action. I've got 10 bucks and a bottle of Jack on Pyramid!

Go Leafs Go!

VM Replies: Good morning to you, We BeLeaf. Yes, it has been an interesting morning around here.

[Geoff Read]

@ VM,

I don't deny that. But that doesn't make it right.

VM Replies: Your honour, I rest my case. Now give this man 5-7 for criminal hypocrisy!

[Geoff Read]

@ Pyramid,

Yeah, I'm not sure I would say that Chara typically hits guys when they're down. I distinctly remember his fight with Lecavalier where he didn't do that. But he did do it in this fight with Latendresse. With Chara, I think the issue is more typically high hits to the head with the elbow and, as with Grabovski, hits from behind.

[A True Leafs Fan]

@ Geoff Read

With doing my best Hensibill impression

"for example that his two crosschecks to the back of Mikhail Grabovski earlier this season should've at least been reviewed by the league. They weren't, because, as we all know, good old Zdeno is such a nice guy and clean player."

No they shouldn't have. a penalty maybe but you can't suspend a guy for being big. just like how they cant suspend the scabs for whining. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. yes Grabbo got pummeled but THATS HOCKEY!!!! I agree the head shot debate but in hockey if you cant play with the big boys then dont play at all. I understand your a scabs fan and you love to whine about physical hockey and how we should hockey should be gentle game. but its not. its a mans game...its canadas game. big hits, big plays, big goals. you play hard or you go home.

VM Replies: Hensibill? Oh, God. This will not end well.

[Geoff Read]

@True Leafs Fan,

Dude - I like physical hockey. I love a big hit. Some of my favourite plays over the years have been hard, clean hits. And when I played competitive hockey myself, the big hit and physical play was my trademark (skill was definitely not). But slamming a guy from behind head first into the boards doesn't qualify as good "physical hockey." It's a dirty play that needs to be eliminated from the game, just as head shots do.

[Geoff Read]

@VM - I don't think the hypocrisy comment is fair. I've consistently said that I understand why people like fights - I basically take the same line as Milbury is now taking. Fighting is in the game because we like it, not because it's necessary. Given that 25% of concussions come from fights, given that a number of other injuries (think Taylor Hall) result from fights, given that people like Bob Probert are getting brain disease as a result of fighting, and given, most importantly in my view, that allowing fighting gives the green light to a wider cycle of violence in the game, it's gotta go despite the fact that a good fight gets the adrenaline going as you say. I don't see any hypocrisy in that statement.

VM Replies: Fine, fine. Forget the jail time. But you will have to do some community service inside Leafs Nation.

[Boo Who?]

Suddenly, I'm three years old again, watching my older brothers beat the stuffing out of each other for no comprehensible reason. It's confusing and upsetting, and only mildly amusing. So I'll say what I used to say, complete with the small voice and deeply furrowed little girl brow: "No. Sssop! Peez SOP."

We go to meet the Avalanche. Komi and Boyce are out. Someone really did a number on Komi's groin. They said he 'pulled' it, and I thought that was waaaaay more information than I needed to know. Your personal habits are your own private business Michael Komisarek, THANKYOUVERYMUCH.

VM Replies: How was your hot date last night?

[Nick Verbaeys]

@VM

Hey, I'm from Ghent. That is in between Ostend en Brussels. You should come and visit. I'll make some real Belgian waffles (TimB and Pyramid are also welcome).

Can't wait for the game tonight (I'll be a sleep) and to read your Blog.

Have fun watching.

Greetz Nick

VM Replies: Thanks for the invitation, Nick. Perhaps we should organize a blog summit (European Chapter) sometime next season.

[Wandering Penguin]

I would like to go on record - again and again - as a Leaf fan with this statement: I was not happy at all with the first of the two Chara hits on Grabbo. I feel that Chara is exceedingly reckless with his tree-like arms and I am really sick of hearing "you can't blame him for his size" as some kind of excuse for it.

I still maintain he should have received at the absolute minimum a one game suspension for the hit on Pacioretty if for no other reason than the mere fact that he hit him at all was illegal by the NHL's own rules. Except then you'd have had to give Heatley 10 games for his flagrant, head-seeking elbow...and I guess the NHL just really isn't that interested in actually solving anything to do with the serious problem now facing it.

I don't CARE that "finishing your check" by driving your forearm into the back of your opponent's head is considered "solid hockey" by NHL standards. It shouldn't be. "Simple as that."

GO LEAFS GO!!!

[Sensi-Bill]

@VM 6:10
.
Once again, (g), only the retaliation draws a whistle. (I say once again because the last time this happened, I was standing up to Ostrich Lover. Is there a trend here?)
.
Sorry Vin, but I call 'em as I see 'em and can't help but feel it might have been nice if the whistle had been blown after the initial over-the-top name calling --- "punk" etc. --- and petty physical threat. I know the latter would never happen, but I consider the intent.
.
But as PP and I have both noted, I am playing in the Leafsland rink. So I accept the fact I'm more likely to draw the whistle when defending myself a touch vigorously.
.
And honestly man, I'm all right with that. And to be perfectly clear, I don't hold anything against the man with the whistle. (genuine grin)
.
But I can't promise I won't defend myself again some time in the future if I feel I'm being pushed too far or that someone is taking a few too many liberties at my expense.
.
BTW, in my defense, for me it didn't start with the retaliatory jab of playing with spelling --- I won't repeat it here, as it has already served its purpose. It was more a case of past insults --- of which I note he now boasts --- culminating in the arrogance of not asking me or my team for a favor --- as other more polite people did --- but demanding that we do as ordered. That was the straw that broke my patience and pushed a nerve.

VM Replies: I must respectfully disagree with your whistle postmortem. Technically, PP was retaliating to your original comment. And you were retaliating to his retaliation. So the whistle only came out after both parties were granted retaliation privileges.

[Pyramid Power]

Tim B Indeed sir. Mentioning the good and holy name of Wendel in any kind of negative light on this blog is completely verboten and punishable by banishment. Dear Lord, is there nothing sacred here?

@We BeLeaf Thank you sir. But ya gotta lay odds bro'. I got 16 years on Hensibill. Just joking Hensibill, just jesting man.

Geoff We are just having some fun with you brother. I would also be willing to wager quantity cash that if some Canadien lands a few on Chara tonight should that scrap come to pass you will be screaming at your TV in pure joy. Chances of a Canadien landing a few on Chara? Almost nil but we will see. Gonna be a helluva hockey treat at any rate.
Have read the league have prepped for this one warning both squads, and have two of their best refs calling this game. Their names currently escape me.

Hi Nick in Ghent. Your nickname henceforth is Tim Ghent. Yeah, I am silly but it IS late here. How do you live with yourself not waking up for the games? Just kidding. Do you watch them via the multitude of websites that are out there?

[Wade]

No need to apply logic to tonight's outcomes. No need to apply logic, ever, to discussion of whether or not to support the stinkin' Habs. ABM. Anyone But Montreal. THEY MUST ALWAYS LOSE. I don't care if a Habs win tonight is magically counted as +10 points and -10 for the Bruins and somehow means we get to draft the second coming of Syl Apps or maybe a yet-undiscovered mutant with Lindros' body, Gretzky's brain and Gilmour's heart....you cannot cheer the stinkin' Habs. No. If you're a Habs fan, thanks for crashing the party and I respect your right to support yada yada your club yada yada, but if you're a Leafs fan, my god, think man.

VM Replies: It ain't a party until Wade shows up.

[Rooney]

To imply Wendel was a dirty fighter when he was not a goon but took on every dirty goon in the league is absurd. He was a swinger and sometimes the arm was still going when the dumbo he was fighting started to go down but I seem to recall many a fight where he could have kept pummeling his oppoonent but skated away. Cooke is reckless, Chara is careless. It is always easy to notice the reckless drivers, it is the careless drivers that are much harder to pick out. Whether reckless or careless, both should not be tolerated if they cause injury much like both are driving offenses. The Bruins and the Habs can both rot for all I care but I would be disappointed if I was Pacioretty and my teammates did nothing to address the unpunished "wrong" they all believe occurred.

Lots of meaningful hockey to watch tonight as we approach the end of March. Looking for a big game from the Buds, time to keep the dream alive.

GO LEAFS GO!

[Simon]

I'm lost with all the action that's going on with this blog, but I think people need to re-focus. Tonight is another most important game of the season and we need to start bleeding Blue and White.

GO LEAFS GO!!!

[maxwelledison]

Oh... very sorry, VM... work interrupted my day off... or is it my off day?

Anyway Vinay, the Rules of Dueling are very finite specific, especially when explosive lemon is involved.

It reads:
~ The soon-to-be meringued may not wear gloves, hats, any goalie attire, or wear anything resembling Tyvek or certified equal plastic house wrap.

~ Code dictates the Neutral---that's you Vinay, whom '... shall not smirk, show favoritism, or otherwise exhibit any smug facial glaze, as to render false hope or despair to either thin-skinned tossers.'

~ If Neutral is somehow- inadvertently positioned in line-of-fire, he may not duck- or quack- prior to any first-strike. Nor, may he order 'draw'- thus giving either of the electrically-uninformed combatants, something to do with the filled pan, prior to launching. For maximum results, Neutral shall just step back.

~ The Neutral gentleman may elect to loudly screech "Let them eat cake" as signal to commence bombardment.

Sticky situation.
Hope aggrieved parties get the message, Sir Vinay.

Oh, that reminds me. I sent you an e-mail/with attachment last Sat 3/19 in response to your terrific comment a few days earlier. But considering all the cake squares flying-about of late, I can see where perhaps a spam filter could easily get clogged, although I have no clue as to why that would even happen. Hope you received it. If not, I'll cheerfully try again.

VM Replies: Thanks for the edification. This sounds reasonable, save for the quacking ban, which may prove impossible.
Email? Uh oh. Yes, if you could re-send, that would be appreciated. (I obviously need to recalibrate my spam settings.)

[Sensi-Bill]

@VM
.
"VM Replies: I must respectfully disagree with your whistle postmortem. Technically, PP was retaliating to your original comment. And you were retaliating to his retaliation. So the whistle only came out after both parties were granted retaliation privileges."
.
OK. I can live with that too. *smile*

[Sensi-Bill]

6:10 AM --- "So I'm going to blame all of this on the stress of the season and gently suggest you shake hands and forget about it."
.
8:17 AM --- "You are quite a petty little man aren't you Bill?"
.
9:30 AM --- "I now remember why Hensibill dislikes me so much: long long ago when this blog started Hensibill once posted about 10 or 15 late night posts. All night long. Made it clear he was a Hens fan. 
The next morning I made a couple of cracks about him probably being a Rottawa bureaubrat wasting taxpayer dollars to post on a Leafs fan blog all night. 
Or maybe working the night shift as a security guard guarding our national secrets, and finding a computer to use to post here."
.
10:04 AM --- "@WP Senaturds. I would have used that a long time ago, but this is not PPP thank goodness, and it does not have the same comic ring as the Hens."
.
12:58 PM --- "@We BeLeaf Thank you sir. But ya gotta lay odds bro'. I got 16 years on Hensibill. Just joking Hensibill, just jesting man."
.
Where I come from, continuing with cheap shots after the whistle is considered unsportsmanlike conduct.

VM Replies: You make a fair point. PP, knock it off already or I'll be forced to give you a 10-minute misconduct.
I'm starting to miss OL's ball-talk.

[Pyramid Power]

@Wade Outstanding! THEY MUST ALWAYS LOSE. Freakin' beautiful musique to mes oreilles.

I like to go with ABC - Anybody But the Canadiens but ABM has a nice ring to it too.

\

Can I assume you, like Hoof and 80's Leafs cheered for the Soviet Central Red Army squad that went up against the stinkin' Habs on New Year's Eve 1975? One of the funniest comments I have EVER read. And when Hoof followed it up by writing that he was bloody proud to say that, well, dude is a legend with my friends in Montreal. Just a legend.

[Sensi-Bill]

@ 8:17 AM
.
"Glad to see I could get under your skin Bill. My unmitigated pleasure . . . You are quite a petty little man aren't you Bill?"
.
"VM Replies: Is this a handshake and an invitation for beer? I think so!"
.
I think not.

[Boo Who?]

@ VM - Oh, it was smokin'. She was being petitioned for a second date before the night was even over.
TG better watch his back and tread lightly around my crew. I've got about six pregnant ladies at my disposal that I'll send after him if he tries to get between me and my goal.
But in the interests of fairness (and spreading the Boo love around) he and I have some 'boys bonding' planned. (Lord knows I need a break from all the estrogen. My God, I'm surrounded.)

Oy vey - what's with all the Habs talk? Don't you people know there's a Leafs game tonight?

GO LEAFS GO!!1!

[Geoff Read]

I've got no opinion on Wendel's punching people as they went down etc. I don't remember that. It's worth remembering regardless that that kind of thing was more normal then than it is now, if it did happen. I always liked Clark, even as a Canadiens' fan, except of course when he played the Habs - then I hated him with a burning passion.

What would community service inside Leafs' nation consist of? I picture myself polishing golf clubs on April 8th or something equally horrendous.

VM Replies: Touché.

[Boo Who?]

@ Bill and PP:
SOP!! Peez SOP! *starts to cry* I yoooowwwn unnersand!?

(That's followed by a tiny person trying to insert herself between the battling behemoths and pull them apart.)

I hate that you two hate each other because I like you both so much. Sop sop sop, I can't stand to see anymore.

Of course, my brothers never listened to me either. I'll be in the corner rocking myself if anyone needs me.

[Sensi-Bill]

Gee, righteous indignation is tiring.
.
I'm an old man. I need a nap.
.
LOLOLOLOLOL

[Boo Who?]

*any more.
I actually like seeing things very much.

And BTW, before some smart-a$$ shows up and says something about my family and really pisses me off - my brothers never actually hurt one another. I was only three, so had yet to develop a taste for fighting. Although their habit of practicing wrestling moves on one another probably has a lot to do with why I grew up to be a bloodthirsty goon...

[enJoy hockey]

So, c'mon, what game is everyone going to watch? Focus, people. Our cumulative psychic energy is needed. The moon is waning.

GO, LEAFS, GO!!!

[maxwelledison]

Whoa! OMG! They're all at it again!
Haven't quite figured out exactly who is who. However, Most Honorable Vinay...

This may qualify toward immediate intervention/exorcism/or worse...
lemon smears.

Upon reading these normally fine gentlemen and astute contributors, my keen ability to read between the lines- and not follow the text- tells me one guy is about Chara's size, the other ... oh, maybe the size of Nathan Gerbe.

Geez... is it PP Gerbe-ish? If not, he certainly is feisty just the same! Was he Bettmaned (that's a legal verb) somewhere back in time?

Wow! Maybe it's Bill who's smaller. Yikes! But was Bill someone else, before he became Bill? Is that sensible?

Oh Vinay!... Is this akin to 'Who's on first!'

[palbo]

pp-i cheered wildly for the Ruskies on N. Y.'s eve lo these many years ago - i will NEVER cheer for the Habs - when i was a kid in Toronto, u either cheered for the Leafs or u fought those who didn't -
go leafs

[Geoff Read]

You filthy commies, cheering for the Red Army. I've a mind to report you all to CSIS. Prepare to be renditioned.

[Wandering Penguin]

@ Bill @ 1:22PM "Where I come from, continuing with cheap shots after the whistle is considered unsportsmanlike conduct."

Where *I* come from going to the bar after playing hockey and continuing to kvetch about the officiating, the opposition and anything else that took place hours earlier is considered whining and is to be roundly ignored and dismissed. It's not like you're exactly taking the high road here.

Seriously, hush up and move on already. Many other people are/were still reading what you had to say. At this point you're only hurting yourself. And, obviously, our fearless leader who is in such a daze he's making ridiculous comments about missing He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named.

Don't MAKE me start calling them the "Senaturds". (wg)

Oh and GO LEAFS GO!!!

[nugentmania]

Nothing makes me happier then to read two people sharing opposite points of view on the internet, leading one to declare if they met in person that he would do the other physical harm. Such a title.....Keyboard Heavyweight Champion of the World.

[Billy]

Thought I'd drop back in...mistake. Deteriorated fast. Let's play nice..

Wouldn't it be funny if Wilson started Gustavsson tonight?

VM Replies: If he did, it would be clear he really wants out of his contract.

[A True Leafs Fan]

GO LEAFS GO!!!!

That is all

VM Replies: Yes, yes. We need to focus on tonight. I'll put up a new commenting thread in a couple of hours to get rid of the bad voodoo that trickled into this one.

[ValleyRed]

Actually, if the Canadiens were playing a team that the Leafs needed to lose, then I'd be happy to see the Habs win. But I'd also like for the Habs to be so overcome with emotion that several of them would start kissing passionately at centre ice, thus confirming what a lot of us have suspected.

[pinot grigio]

Dear Blogmaster,
would you please be so kind to post some links to blogs etc for people that for whatever stupid reason support other teams and cannot stop writing about that. I am really not interested in reading and rehashing the problems players on other teams may have experienced, on or off the ice, in this blog. This blog, for all those still in doubt, is consecrated to one thing only and that is worship at the blue shrine of the only team in the entire NHL - God forbid I would exaggerate - worth our love and devotion. Yes, as true believers we are allowed to express our doubts, our criticism, our concerns and what have you as well as our admiration because we have earned that right by suffering for many, many years and never giving up by looking for an easier love object. We love the Leafs and if you want to talk about something else, by all means find an appropriate forum. I don't care one little bit about what happened or is about to happen in any game the boys in blue don't participate or have a vested interest in the outcome. If the Leafs have an interest in the outcome, then the outcome is the only thing I care about. Not in who mauled whom etc.
Some of the people that are supporters of other teams have shown their understanding of the above and have had the good manners to respect our focus. Others, not so much. Please, don't come to the conclusion that since the vast majority of the participants of this blog are intelligent and articulate people you can use them as a sounding board for your own pet concerns etc. Nobody forces you to be Leaf supporters - although we may pity you if you are not - but stop trying to make us care for another team, because we shall not do so.
Am I clear?
Thank you.

To our Belgian friend: Hartelijk welkom in dit blog en ik hoop dat je er net zoveel plezier in zult hebben als de meeste anderen.

[pinot grigio]

I forgot:

GO BLOODY BLUE BOYS GO!!!!

[moe green]

The fighting argument is the only hockey-related argument that has no reasonably defensible logic behind it. Time and time again and with just simple logic it can be proved that fighting accomplishes nothing other than to satisfy a fan's irrational blood lust. No stars are protected. No wrongs are ever righted. Nothing other than a graceless and meaningless sideshow ensues. Okay, now I've made enemies with everyone here except that stinking Habs' fan Geoff Read. Kidding. I'm sure you smell divine Geoff.

So tonight is one of those games our boys love to show up for with about three minutes to go in the third. We are still in this race mathematically and if we can defeat the barely breathing Colorado Avalanche the next couple of games are gonna be HUGE. Please-please-please don't take the Snowballs for granted. They have thrown in the towel like the Panthers before them. Please show up for the first period and stay for the second and explode in the third.

[A True Leafs Fan]

@ Valley Red

"...But I'd also like for the Habs to be so overcome with emotion that several of them would start kissing passionately at centre ice..."

...This isn't basketball

[Simon]

Starting next season, the opening to every game should be "Maple Leafs, Roll Out"!
Amazing fan-made video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wqa5gPFcs
GO LEAFS GO!!! WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Simon]

Oh, and on the SportsCentre this morning, looks like Optimus Reim is going to win the nickname wars. The Leafs on the nickname: http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip437856#clip437856

Take note of Wilson's comments at the end. Guy does have his funny moments.

[TimB]

I was told we were not allowed to speak Flemish on the blog.

[moe green]

One of the problems in the League is that hitting has become an attempt to injure. What's wrong with just taking the guy out of the play. We need to soften up the pads to make a guy think twice before smashing into the boards on a missed hit. I want roughness just not recklessness in the game. Better officiating is key. End the wrongs with severe penalties. Like the Chara hit, it wasn't dirty, but it was interference and it certainly was reckless. Getting hit by Chara is like getting hit by a car. He knows that. He needs to use caution. Just to illustrate the point: What if Chara was 15 feet tall?

VM Replies: If he was 15 feet tall, other players could avoid injury by skating through his legs.

[pinot grigio]

I didn't Tim, I wrote in Dutch.

[A True Leafs Fan]

@ Simon

I refuse to buy into corporate propaganda. !'m Officialy starting a facebook group Called. "Screw Optimus Riem Call Him Riembo"
whos coming with me?

[Peter]

@TimB :-) why not? the vallons gonna get upset?

[Wade]

Re: Canadiens vs. Soviets. I vaguely remember the '75 game but definitely recall Tretiak's shut out against them in the early 80s and pretending I was him that summer at goalie school. Also, didn't they get in a huge brawl in a game in Russia in the 90s? I'm sure I had my vintage Mockba Dynamo jersey on for that one. I'm glad uber-knob Patrick Roy in the 90s killed off any Hab bonhomie generated by Guy Lafleur's one-of-a-kind acting and singing stints and I could get back to flat out hating them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLeMGQ1v138

[ValleyRed]

I'm still giggling over that fact that the rest of the team calls Reimer "Reems", after Harry Reems, the adult film star. (That's my guess, anyway, and it's a good one, so I'm sticking with it.) Here's a link to Harry's wiki entry : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reems. Check out that 'stache! If Reimer grew one of those, the Leafs would truly become the Unstoppable Force.

[gettingcozywithsarkozy]

Ouch, this comment section is giving me a headache. I won't even bother trying to decpher everything. We need something new for tonight! I will be home in time from class to catch most of the Leaf game. Is it wrong if I'm kinda more looking forward to the MTL-BOS game tonight rather than the Leaf one?!?!?

...Let's hope McCarthy, Pan-oof, gundersson, and Jason Reimer can come up big again tonight!

[Alecia]

Boo! Where have you been!?!? Don't ever leave again! See what happens!?

GO LEAFS GO!!!

VM Replies: What happened? I'm confused.

[Princess Mononoke]

You Leafs fans expend altogether too much energy hating other fans, other teams, and various permutations of fandom and Hab-ness...it's just a waste of energy and bad karma to boot.

Every time you type "sinking Habs" or "scabs" or "they must lose," an angel takes a poop on Johnny Bower's head. Just thought you should know.

I hope the Leafs win tonight, and I wish you all a wonderful evening watching that out of town scoreboard and recap highlights of the Habs-Bruins game (oops, I forgot, you don't care! You don't care! YOU DON'T CARE! Why would anyone think for one single second that you have one minute of time and energy to waste even talking or writing about these sorry useless stinking nothing useless losers you categorically could not care less about and never ever mention??!)

[moe green]

@A True Leafs Fan: I am not a big fan of "Optimus Reim" since I never watched or read any Transformers stuff. I just have trouble naming him after a marketing gimmick. A little too "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" for meI Hey, maybe wecould trade him to Anaheim. There's gotta be a nickname there. Ana-Reimer. Reim-heim. Maybe not.

Sorry, but I have to say that "Reimbo" doesn't work for me either. I always hated that movie. I heard "Reimstopper" which I sorta like. How about McGruff? Not really. How about "Truman" as in "The Puck Stops Here." Too bad he was responsible for the biggest mass killing of the modern age. I think it was the Boo-monster that originated "Yoda" which I actually do like. Even "Obi Wan" works for me. His personality is a little Yoda-ish I guess. "Reimer Express" or "King James" works a little. How about "The Chosen One?" Or "Dee-fault." Maybe we'll just have to settle for Optimus Reim. I vote for "Yoda." or "Obi Wan" I guess. Actually "Defendor" isn't too bad. Okay, I'm done.

[moe green]

Are there may nicknames worse than Randy Johnson's "The Big Unit?"

[moe green]

I can never get any feedback on my Phaneuf nickname: "Nuke" as in "Nuke Laloosh." I really can't see "Neon Dion" fitting his personality. His shot is like a nuclear weapon isn't it.

[moe green]

I am guessing that "Reems" is more likely a hockey-player mispronunciation of Reimer as in Reemer.

VM Replies: Moe! I couldn't put through the comment you left after this one. The part that followed "medical-grade" could be deemed actionable in a court of law.

[LaineyTML12]

Good God, catching up on ALF B today with all this hoopla and in-fighting as given me a headache! Boys, please go find another blog to fight on, cuz I'm sure there are many of us getting a bit tired of this nonsense. There are more important things to discuss here on ALF B rather than using this as a forum to display all the back and forth name-calling crap that's gone on here the last 24 hrs or so. ENUF ALREADY!!!
There, that's outta my system. Ahem.. GO LEAFS GO!!
Time for a nap to get rid of this headache, it's a late game and I don't want to miss any of it. Catch you all in a bit.

[Geoff Read]

Princess,

I always put the extreme bitterness with which some Leafs' fans put down other teams and their fans to their profound sense of humiliation. They're a bit like the Germans post-1918 that way.

[Boo Who?]

@ Alecia - I've been working like a dog. A mangy, half-starving, flea-bitten dog. What's YOUR excuse?! Hmmmmmm? First you skip off to Cuba and then you leave me here to clean up all the broken hearts you've left in your wake! Dammit woman, I'm a Leafs fan, not a therapist!

[palbo]

Psst Moe - what did u say after "medical-grade"? Type it quietly and maybe VM won't hear u.

[TimB]

FYI Princess.Johnny Bower is still alive.And what belief combines karma and angels anyway?

[Michael C. Nemirsky]

Leafs win tonight 7-2!

VM Replies: Whoa. Now we're talking. Thank you, Michael.

[Boo Who?]

Okay people - focus!!!

Here's an interesting video:

http://video.mapleleafs.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=802&id=104635

Features questions from our noble troops in Afghanistan, followed by a borderline hilarious montage of every goddamn hit young Master Schenn has ever delivered, set to awesome ultra-dramatic montage music. (Clearly, Monika or her editor has a major crush on ol' Luke, because this takes up a good five minutes.) And then I think Phaneuf shows up in his Red Bull hat and exchanges winning smiles with his fellow blonde and uhhhh, there were pictures and stuff...zzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry!! How do you manage to make a visit to our troops so boring?

Also!! Food for thought in the weeks ahead:

Western Conference Free Agents
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=38580

Eastern Conference Free Agents
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=38564

Come my fellow armchair GMs!! Sit with me and pore over stats and try to decide who we procure in the months ahead!!

GO LEAFS GO!!1!

[Princess Mononoke]

@TimB: I *know* Johnny Bower is still alive. That is precisely why having angels poop on his head is a bad thing. Bad karma even.

[Sensi-Bill]

To those who prefer that people play nice --- which I also believe in but sometimes stray when feeling sufficiently provoked --- I do apologize for being part of the recent unseemly (though in my mind somewhat necessary) disruption here.
.
For those so narrow of focus that everything here has to be directly about the Leafs, it is my humble opinion that that may well stem from insecurity that for some people seems to go with being a Leaf fan, and I regret said affliction.
.
In general, I am sorry for the scuffle and will go back to trying to engage in a friendly and respectful rivalry, which has been my goal here all along.
.
And, for tonight at least . . .
.
GO LEAFS, GO!!!!

[TimB]

I still wouldn't mind procuring Zach Parise.

[TimB]

Who to centre Kessel and Parise?

[TimB]

This thread is dead to me!Call me when tonight's thread is up.

VM Replies: Okay. Let me find a picture and just start a commenting thread right now.

[moe green]

Understood (sorta) VM - I trust your editing completely. Sorry.

@Palbo: A clue. Eric Clapton.

VM Replies: Your clue just made me laugh out loud.

[Ken Baumgartner]

Reimer gets a shutout, and the goal scorers are Kessel, Kadri and Bozak scores 2. Phaneuf and Schenn make 2 monsterous hits each in the first 20 minutes. The holy Mackanaws will be plentiful from Joe Bowens chops

[Wandering Penguin]

I KNOW Geoff Read didn't just liken Leaf Nation to the Third Reich. That CAN'T be what I read back there @5:32PM... can it?

Surely to GOD there has to be a Hab blog SOMEWHERE on the net for that sort of thing. I guess it just isn't as intelligent as this one. I get that. But good lord, learn where the line is. Seriously. That was so far over the top it made the blood feud going on here earlier seem like an after-school special.

[Judith Fitzgerald]

Long week, eh? Yeah, me, too :). Haven't read all the commentarians . . . yet; but, saw Alecia wondering about whether it reads something else and "GO LEAFS GO!!1!™"; and, being your resident neighbourbood bizzy-buddy, had to immediately suggest you make that yours, Alecia, before someone else copyrights it! It will matter; it will make a difference; it will give you Tiger Mug Winning Ways. I am so glad a dame got it, though. We really do know this game. Inside outliers.

Brrrzt, VM! Don'tcha touch that dial . . . or else!

You really aced this one. As good as the first one that sucker-punched me into nipsiblissical hevven, way back last fall. Pfft, thought I. No way can dat guy make a great blog. I thought wrong. Right now, I think this may be the best hockey blog on the planet. I like Jeff's; but, this oughtta be bundled up into a book for the world to share, comments inclus.

K . . . back to reading what the remaining Make BeGeniuses (or Genii), tappy-tippin' . . . G'Luck! It's a beautiful day in the blabberhood; and, just recently in the vicinity of perfekktability? A beautiful night in the Bloggerhood. What more could any fan of the game grovel for (ending a sentence a prep with)? GO LEAFS GO!!1!™ [*GRIN . . . GIGGLE . . . SNIGGLE*]

N-o-o-o-o, I ain't bein' sarcaustic at all. Moi? As if :).

GO HABS GO!!1!™

VM Replies: A long week, Ms. Fitzgerald. Yes indeed.
Thanks for your kind words. Knowing you are a poet makes them all the sweeter.