JFJ and Leafs' Reaction to Islanders Win

Shootout Comes Back to Haunt the Leafs
April 8, 2007

TORONTO (CP) -- The shootout came back to haunt the Toronto Maple Leafs one last time in the 2006-07 season.

The Leafs were only 4-7 in shootouts this season, for the second year in a row struggling in the extra session. And the irony of the New York Islanders using the shootout to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Sunday was lost on no one.

"I've been saying for some time this year, it's great for the fans, it's hard for managers and coaches," a crushed John Ferguson, the Leafs GM, said Sunday evening. "And watching another team control your fate is doubly hard, especially when there's no time to do anything about it."

The Islanders' dramatic win on the last day of the regular season knocked Toronto out of the playoffs a day after a riveting win over Montreal at Air Canada Centre kept the Maple Leafs' hopes alive.

Ferguson was back at the ACC to watch the Islanders game and found no fault in the Devils for not starting superstar goalie Martin Brodeur.

"There was no chance he was going to be in net today and I think we all would have been shocked if he was," said Ferguson. "We controlled our destiny, we look to ourselves here. We left it one point short and that's what came back to bite us."

Losing 5-2 on Long Island last Thursday is one of many games the Leafs would like to have back.

"Sure, we can look at that one point in a lot of places over 82 games," said Ferguson.

The Isles had a comfortable 2-0 lead in the third period Sunday before New Jersey scored twice, including the tying goal with one second left in regulation, to force overtime and revive Toronto's playoff hopes.

"I'm sure for the fans it was pretty exciting," said Leafs forward Kyle Wellwood, attending Sunday night's Raptors NBA game. "When New Jersey scored at the end, it was unbelievable. With 15 seconds left, it looked like the Islanders were going to the clear the puck.

"When Jersey scored, we figured things might go our way."

Ferguson fought to control tears during a media scrum in the Leafs dressing room held moments after the Isles' victory.

"It's going to take a little while to collect my thoughts here," said a visibly emotional Ferguson. "Disappointing... A lot of good things happened for us this year. Some great play from a lot of the younger players. But all that's lost on us at this point."

Just how much progress is up for debate. The Leafs finished one point out of the playoffs a year after missing the post-season by two points. They scored 254 goals, the exact same number as last season, and gave up 263, one more than last season. And they picked up one more point in the standings than last year.

But in their defence, the Leafs were hammered by injuries, leading the NHL with 335 man-games lost.

"We had some real injuries to deal with, and unfortunately that did slow us up at different times of the year," said Ferguson. "And I thought we overcame that pretty well. The players came in and did a very capable job even bordering on outstanding. But we were No. 1 in the league to man games lost to injury in what turned out to be the toughest division in the East and probably in the league to qualify.".

Ferguson's own future will immediately come under scrutiny. He's got another year left on his deal but has missed the playoffs two of his three seasons in charge.

"I don't think he's going anywhere," Wellwood said of his GM.

Said Ferguson on his future: "I'm not in a position to comment on everything right now. These are things that will be addressed. These reviews occur annually at the end of the year."

A disappointed Wellwood wondered what if. The Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres three times this season and felt they could give them a run in the first round.

"I just think if we had made the playoffs we would have been a hard team to beat," said Wellwood.

It was an exciting stretch run that felt just short, highlighted by big wins over New Jersey, Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal. But the last few weeks of the season will also be remembered for key losses at Washington, Buffalo and Long Island.

"Just an exciting finish to the season but clearly disappointing for us," said Ferguson. "We had enough opportunities during the year to take advantage of it. I had said during the year that I thought we needed to get to 10 games over .500, we got to nine and got the right to cheer for the Devils."

Leafs Out, Islanders In

It looks like the loss of Rick DiPeitro for the Islanders was not enough to put them out of the playoffs. The Islanders pulled off a 3-2 shootout win over the Devils in New Jersey. While watching the game on TSN, the game looked to be in the hands of the Islanders all night long. When Richard Park scored the Islanders second goal with a quick wrist-shot, I knew the game was over and the Leafs would not being on the "quest for the Cup" in the 2007 campaign. When I eventually turned the TV back on to see how the game finished, I felt let down, as once again the Leafs would not make the playoffs, but also angry at Lou Lamoriello for not putting Martin Brodeur in net. However, now, after a few hours too cool down, maybe having Clemmensen in net for the Devils was a blessing in disguise. Why? Had the Leafs clinched that final 8th spot, they would be facing the Buffalo Sabres; a team which the Leafs play hard against, but still only won 3 of the 8 games against them during the regular season. The second reason is now the Toronto media and Leaf fans can begin to call for the head(s) of some of the brass over at MLSE. First on the block will no doubt be Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. In fact, Steve Simmons at the Toronto Sun as already written a piece about JFJ's future. The rock begins to roll. Next, the management at MLSE, Richard Peddie and Larry Tanebaum, will be scrutinized for their complacency and possibly compared to Harold Ballard - running a team that will never win, because you know the fans will show up and fill the ACC. The Leafs not making the playoffs for the second time in a row and never since the lockout could put some power back into the hands of those die-hard Leaf fans, who want to see changes. I hate to sound repetitive, but again, all we can do is wait.

Questions in the off-season:
The Future of Mats Sundin: Will the Leafs pick up the option on his contract, will the Leafs try to get a new deal done, or will Sundin be elsewhere next October?
John Ferguson Jr: Was Leafs management expecting this outcome, hence the reason for the one-year contract extension inked back in November, was it basically Peddie taking care of JFJ in case is in unsuccessful in 2007?
The Blue Line: With over $16 million tied up in 3 defencemen, can the (new?) GM do anything to unlock this handcuff on the point?

I am positive more questions will arise in the off-season, but don't worry I will still maintain this blog throughout the off-season, so I look forward to see what the future has in store!

The Waiting Game

The Leafs certainly caught a few breaks last night - and those breaks gave them a 6-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens. The first period was a clear domination by the Leafs. Huet looked like he'd be able to save the game for the Habs after facing a pile of Leaf shots. However, once the Leafs got on the board, Huet seemed to lose some confidence. The Canadiens played a strong 2nd period, but overall the Habs spent too much time playing a man down. The third period started off with the Habs two men down which started the Leafs comeback. Once the Leafs began to rebuild their confidence, the game was all theirs. I feel sorry for the Canadiens players, as I am positive the Montreal media will dissect this game and the season for weeks to come. As Leafs fans we can only hope the Devils can pull off a victory when the face the Islanders at 3:30pm ET today. All we can do now is wait...

Leafs do their part, now wait - Sportsnet
Leafs stay alive with win over Canadiens - TSN
Leafs stay alive, send Habs home with third-period rally - ESPN
Leafs pull off memorable must-have win - ESPN
Leafs in limbo - Toronto Star
Maple Leafs do their part - Globe & Mail
Leafs do their part - Toronto Sun
Toronto sill has a chance - National Post

Well, It Wasn't What We Hoped For...

As I watched the Leafs game last night, there was good feeling in my body that the Boys had a chance. The Canadiens were down by 2 goals with little time left in regulation and the Leafs were tied 2-2 with a feisty, yet beatable, Islanders team. I think it was only a minute or so after that, when Jason Blake skated around the Leafs' offensive zone like he was an extra attacker and then fired a shot just at the top of the circle, that put the Islanders up by one. That goal also showed how poor the Leafs defensive was playing and also that the Islanders had done their homework on Raycroft (a high shot on the glove side is his weaknesses). After that point in the game, the Leafs were simply playing out of desperation. You could see that the Leafs bench was beat and that there was no chance of them scoring the tying-up goal. This loss now puts the Leafs fate out their own hands and the playoff equation is now simple for the Leafs - they must win tomorrow night. The rest is out of their control. Below are some articles on last nights game.

Fate out of Leafs' hands - Toronto Sun
Leafs down to last chance - MapleLeafs.com
Leafs downed, but not out - Sportsnet
Leafs fall, as Islanders keep hope alive - TSN
Isles hand on to slim playoff hopes, down Leafs - ESPN
Leafs down to last chance - Toronto Star
Islanders condemn Leafs to last chance saloon - Globe & Mail
Leafs on the clock - Toronto Sun

Leafs Remain In The Hunt

Last night the Leafs beat the Flyers in overtime 3-2 with a howitzer from Bryan McCabe. Overall, the Leafs looked good last night, especially Raycroft, who had to come up big after his performance in New York on the weekend. As I posted yesterday, I was hoping for a Rangers win, however the Islanders won 3-2 in the shootout. This is still a good scenario for the Leafs, as now the Rangers will be playing Montreal tough on Thursday night to secure their playoff position and the Leafs will face an Islanders team who may attempt to rest the game on the shoulders of their new goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, who played on his head last night. Don't get me wrong, the Thursday night contest will be a tough one for the Leafs, but given the recent track record of the Islanders since the injury to DiPeitro (1-3), this game should result in a Leafs W.

Here are some links about last nights contest:

Toronto remains one spot out of eighth in the East with OT win - ESPN
McCabe's OT goal keeps Leafs in hunt - TSN
Leaf playoff hopes alive - Sportsnet
A gigantic sigh of re-Leaf - The Toronto Star
Leafs keep pace with playoff pack - The Globe & Mail
Leafs keep hopes alive - National Post
McCabe keeps Leafs in hunt - The Toronto Sun

The Final Three

Morning Leafs Fans,

Well there are only three games left in the regular season for the Leafs, and all of these games are must win to attempt a run at the Cup. Tonight at 7:30pm EST the Leafs face the Flyers at the ACC, as well there are 12 other games around the league. Some games of note are:

Carolina at Tampa Bay - 7:30pm EST
The key scenario here is that if the Leafs lose and Tampa wins, the Lightning will clinch a playoff birth. The Hurricanes could enter 8th place in the East or be eliminated from playoff contention depending on the outcome of the Montreal vs. Boston game.

Boston at Montreal - 7:30pm EST
The Habs are going to be the door the Leafs have to go through to get into the playoffs. Basically, as a Leafs fan, we need to cheer for the Bruins here.

New York Rangers at New York Islanders - 7:30pm EST
The Islanders are all but done in the Eastern playoff race and with a Ranger win, the Rangers will clinch the playoffs. Leafs fans, however, should keep an eye on this game, as the Boys head to the Island on Thursday night, and depending on the intensity of this game, it could foreshadow what the Leafs have to prepare for on Thursday.

We should be hoping tonight for a Leafs win, Bruins win, Ranger win and a Lightning win - but I wouldn't put any sum of money on all four of these teams winning tonight.

Cheers!