Tuesday, September 25, 2007

ESPN Maple Leafs Preview

OK, so the rebuilding program is officially out the window, what with GM John Ferguson mortgaging the future in the form of three draft picks, including the 13th overall selection in June's draft, to acquire netminder Vesa Toskala and troubled forward Mark Bell. Now, both acquisitions may yet turn out to be winners. Toskala may yet be the next Miikka Kiprusoff, a Finnish netminder who comes out of nowhere to be a world-beater. Bell could chip in 20-30 goals while roughhousing opponents once he returns from his 15-game suspension stemming from his drunken-driving conviction. The bottom line: The Maple Leafs once again have revealed themselves as a team devoid of a genuine plan for the future. One day, it's build from within; the next (or in this case after two straight playoff misses), it's win today. Still, the Leafs finished just one skinny point out of the playoffs, so they aren't that far off from a trip given that the East again figures to be achingly close.

OFFENSE

The Leafs were no slouches with the puck with the eighth-best offense in the league. They should improve with the addition of Jason Blake, who scored a career-best 40 goals with the Islanders last season. The assumption was Blake would be a good fit with captain Mats Sundin, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason. Coach Paul Maurice told reporters he thought of a Blake-Kyle Wellwood combination, with gifted Wellwood moving back to his natural position as a center. But Wellwood recently underwent sports hernia surgery and will miss at least three weeks. There's been a lot of talk that center Jiri Tlusty, the 13th overall pick in 2006, could crack the NHL roster out of training camp. The Leafs didn't return veteran forwards Jeff O'Neill, Yanic Perreault and Michael Peca, and the team was hoping Bell would fill some of that physical/offensive void. He will be going to jail for six months at the end of the season and will miss the first 15 games to suspension, so one wonders how much that will affect his focus at the center of the hockey universe.

DEFENSE

For years, Toronto's Achilles' heel was always its spotty blue line. But the Leafs now boast an impressive group of up-and-coming blueliners that includes Carlo Colaiacovo, who appears to have put an early spate of injuries behind him; Jay Harrison; Staffan Kronwall; and Andy Wozniewski. These youngsters will complement a group of veterans that includes Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, Hal Gill and much-maligned Pavel Kubina. It might be true the Leafs wildly overspent on Kubina (four years, $20 million) last summer, but he wasn't as bad as many fans believed. By the end of the season, he was among their best blueliners (as he should have been). McCabe will always be high risk/ high reward, and Kaberle continues to be one of the best blue-line bargains in the business. Throw it all together, and the back end is suddenly one of the team's strong suits and should continue to be going forward.

GOALTENDING

If there ever is a case when the statistics lie, it's in Andrew Raycroft's 37 wins last season. The mark tied a franchise record, yet the first thing Ferguson did this summer was bring in a goaltender he thinks is better. Trust us, with last season's 24th-ranked goaltending tandem, the rest of the lineup thinks the same thing. Raycroft, a former rookie of the year, simply could not provide enough consistency to get the Leafs into the playoffs. In five of his last six appearances, he gave up at least three goals, so the word "clutch" doesn't exactly apply. Will it apply to Toskala? It had better if Ferguson wants to keep his job. The problem with Toskala is there isn't a great body of work to contemplate. In two seasons sharing top billing in San Jose with Evgeni Nabokov, Toskala went 49-17-5. Those are pretty darned good numbers. He didn't get a sniff in the playoffs this past spring but was the man between the pipes when the Sharks blew a 2-0 series lead against Edmonton in 2006. If the Leafs get that far in 2007-08, it won't matter if Toskala shows up wearing a Spider-Man outfit while pulling a wagon full of chickens because the experiment will be deemed a success.

COACHING

In Maurice's first season as Leafs coach, the team missed the playoffs by one point, which is one point closer than Toronto got the year before under former coach Pat Quinn. Closer to what, however, is the big question. It's hard to imagine Maurice would survive another non-playoff season, but that doesn't seem to bother the erudite bench boss. The Leafs play up-tempo and try to use a bruising forecheck to create offense. Maurice isn't likely to change his style, and provided his lineup stays a little healthier, he shouldn't be too worried about job security.

Scott Burnside is the NHL writer for ESPN.com.

Don't Expect To Carlo This Week

From TheStar.com...


SPORTS REPORTER

Maple Leafs defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo may not play another pre-season game as coach Paul Maurice intends go easy on his oft-injured defenceman, giving him time to let his sore right knee heal.

Colaiacovo has played in two of Toronto's five exhibition games so far but his knee – which underwent surgery in the spring – has been acting up.

"We're trying to strengthen this leg as hard as we can," Maurice said Tuesday. "I think he's fine. We could play him. But we don't really need to see him in an exhibition game.

"If he can go in there (the workout room) and make the leg really hard and make it stronger, then that's what we're going to do," Maurice said, adding it was "normal" for Colaiacovo to experience knee pain.

"We're just trying to keep him on his light program for as long as we can before we turn him loose and say now you really got to play," said Maurice.

The Leafs have three pre-season games left, including Wednesday night at home to Buffalo. The regular season opens next week.

Colaiacovo's setback is the second significant blow to the Leafs with Kyle Wellwood already sidelined a month after groin surgery.

Forward Boyd Devereaux was back on the ice Tuesday, his foot infection having healed.

There is no shortage of defencemen available to play in Colaiacovo's place. Staffan Kronwall and Anton Stralman, both of Sweden, top a lengthy list of young blueliners on the cusp of becoming NHL regulars.

Both are expected in the lineup Wednesday night against Buffalo. Vesa Toskala is expected to start in net.

Was Wellwood Properly Treated?

The ever controversial Steve Simmons writes in today's Toronto Sun about the possible lack of treatment/attention given to Wellwood with respect to his sports hernia...


(Steve Simmons, TORONTO) -

The lower abdomen injury that has placed Kyle Wellwood's progress on hold is the latest in a series of medical mysteries that have plagued John Ferguson's time as general manager of the Maple Leafs.

This one may be no one's fault. This one may be someone's fault. Right now, with Wellwood out for a month and his case certainly not being considered normal for this kind of injury, it's impossible to know.

What we do know is this: The most promising of all Toronto's young forwards underwent surgery last season, which was conducted by a world-class specialist in the area of sports hernias. And last Saturday, Wellwood again underwent surgery, which was conducted by a different world-class specialist in the area of lower stomach injuries.

Normally, one operation does not beget another.

Normally -- if a sports hernia can be considered normal -- the success rate for the kind of surgery Wellwood underwent last season is very high.

Only he required surgery a second time. And no one can answer for certain as to why.

"He was in regular contact with our trainers, our doctors, our strength and conditioning coach throughout the summer," said Jeff Jackson, the Leafs' assistant general manager. "Everything seemed to be going fine. We had a protocol for him and he followed it."

The team says he followed it. Wellwood's father, in an interview with the National Post, said his son took it easy all summer and didn't really work out.

As usual, the truth may be somewhere in between.

In his four years as general manager of the Leafs, Ferguson has torn up his medical blueprint more than once. He has been impatient with his staff, changing team doctors, trainers, dentists, equipment men, hired a strength and conditioning coach, and altered the team's medical protocols.

And over those years he has had no shortage of medical difficulties with high-profile players.

Winger Owen Nolan ended up with a large medical settlement after leaving the Leafs. Winger Alexander Mogilny was paid while injured in the lockout year. Goalie Ed Belfour was signed to a contract before the Leafs discovered he required back surgery. Centre Eric Lindros lost most of his season with the Leafs on what he believes was an improper diagnosis of his injured wrist.

Now comes the Wellwood situation and you wonder, even in this case, if there is nothing to wonder about. You have to wonder because of the history, because of the problems, because of the medical uncertainties of the past.

On a Maple Leafs team with some youth but not a lot of youth with any kind of upside, Wellwood is different. He was to start the season as the No. 2 centre, partially because he deserves that and partially because there is no one else. The fact the Leafs are toying with Chad Kilger as his replacement at centre is indication enough of that.

Wellwood is one of those special kind of players who always has contributed offence. The question in the NHL always was about his skating and his strength.

Now, with his lower stomach muscles not holding up, it's not hard to wonder about his skating and his strength.

"If you look around the league, there's a lot of groin injuries, a lot of hip flexor injuries," Jackson said. "I don't know if it's the new skates guys are wearing, I don't know what's causing it. I just know it's happening a lot."

At least, the Leafs and Ferguson learned from the Lindros disaster.

They weren't about to wait around and hope for the best. They had their doctors consult with the leading surgeons on the matters and everyone agreed that doing revisional surgery was the only course of action.

The lineup Ferguson pencilled in before the season had Wellwood as his No. 2 centre and Mark Bell as the No. 3 centre. Now Bell is suspended for the first 15 games of the season and Wellwood is certain to miss the first month of the season.

And now they wait, however nervously, hoping the Wellwood they hoped for is the Wellwood they see next month.

Back At It For The 2007/2008 Season

I just wanted to formally welcome you all back for the new Leafs season. Let's get on with some news...

Lance Hornby writes about the make-up of the 2007/2008 Leafs and the chances of John Pohl making this squad.

The Star gives a recap of last night's loss to the Ottawa Senators in overtime.

And David Shoalts of the Globe gives a good picture of how healthy the Leafs need to be to compete for a playoff spot.