Maple Leafs Play Ice Hockey Tomorrow


An artist rendering of Montreal's reaction to losing to the Leafs Can I first say that it's a nice change to be talking about a hockey game that is about to happen instead of debating the merits of Mike Brown as a centre or Ben Scrivens place on the depth chart. It may be a little early to be saying this, but tomorrow night is a must win for the Leafs. First exorcising last October has to happen. If anything resembling 0-7-1 occurs again Ron Wilson would be lucky if he could get hired on with the Danbury Whalers. The second reason this is a must win is the version of the Habs they are facing. With Markov and Cammalleri out, and Hamrlik and Price questionable for tomorrow, Montreal is not that much stronger than the Grand Rapids version of the Red Wings the Leafs defeated last Saturday. Unless Gionta finds a magic mushroom I like Toronto's odds.

Players to Watch/Forwards:
Colby Armstrong needs to make a positive first impression this season. He's being paid $3,000,000 a season to do a job that Jed Ortmeyer could probably be doing at a quarter of the price. If his intangible skill of getting under opponents skin is with the extra $2,250,000 he should probably start by demonstrating it against his new clubs most historic rival. Anyone expecting offense to be part of his game had better temper that expectation until he has more than Brent and Sjostrom to work with.

Andrei Kostitsyn needs to pick up the slack with Cammalleri out of the lineup. He's coming off a gawdawful season, and didn't perform much better in the preseason. Unless this year is serving as a giant audition of Dynamo Minsk he best come out the gates strong as there isn't much difference between him and Lars Eller at this point.

Defense:
Komisarek was guilty of trying to hard in the season opener last season against Montreal, and spent most of the game trying to elbow or cross-check his former teammates into the upper bowl. If a calmer more disciplined version of Komisarek shows up tomorrow night still packing a physical game the newly minted Alternate Captain will give us all a reason for hope this season.

P.K. Subban is looking to kick off his first full season in the league. The upside for the Leafs is that he may not yet know he's a defenseman yet. If he continues to join the rush, and make some obvious rookie mistakes that were evident in the playoffs, it could be a long night for the Habs.

Goaltenders:
Giguere always brings his A-game against the Habs, and there isn't any reason to suspect that the same won't happen Thursday night. The biggest difference for the Leafs of now versus the Leafs of last season is that Giguere is not Vesa Toskala, and unless the team in front of Giguere completely collapses he should be able to fight for the win.

Alex Auld starting is somewhat of disappointment. I wanted the Leafs to be the team that places the explanation point on the fact that Carey Price as a number one goalie is a bad idea. That being said, Auld is fighting for playing time and gets a chance to do so much earlier than he probably thought he would this season. He's going to make the most of it, the good news is that he's not a number one goalie either, so the Leafs need to take advantage.

Predictions: Dumb penalties lead to Toronto getting scored on, but the fast Maple Leaf forwards will take advantage of the slow (minus Subban) Montreal defense, and will set up a shooting gallery at the Habs end of the ice. Mike Brown will also punch Travis Moen in the face. Leafs win 4-2.

I'll be on twitter throughout the game tomorrow whether I'm at a bar or scotchin' it up at home, feel free to follow me for drunken rants about officiating, Gionta's height and Jim Hughson's voice.

Youtube video by Cashflagg13