Leafs Just Can't Catch A Break

They can certainly come close, though.

After getting their first win of the season on Monday, thanks in LARGE part to Anaheim giving them enough penalties to generate 5 powerplay goals, two of which were 5-on-3 (a major echo of Game 1 of the Ducks/Stars matchup in 2008 where Dallas scored 4 PP goals and never looked back in the series), the Leafs, as odd as it sounds, seemed to have some positive momentum going into Wednesday's game against Dallas.

This, of course, coming after Toronto went winless in it's first 8 games and lead to a wonderful, albeit shortly lived, joke:

Q: What's the difference between the Leafs and a triangle?
A: A triangle has 3 points

Anyways, Toronto really came out strong in this game. And Dallas, in typical Dallas fashion, came onto the ice on their asses, only getting 2 shots in the entire first period. If it weren't for Marty Turco (the 2002-2008 version, not the 2008-2009 version) it could have easily been 4-1 or 5-1 instead of 1-1 going into the third.

Enter Mike Ribeiro and his contribution to Toronto's ongoing futility.

Already on the powerplay, Ribsy embellished a highstick from Mike Komisarek that only went as high as his shoulder, and shazam, 5-0n-3 powerplay. And, in true villainous fashion, Ribsy got the primary assist on Brad Richards' slapper from the slot to take the lead at 2-1.

Ribeiro is no stranger to diving controversy. In fact, he's gained a rather strong notoriety for his Italian-soccer-player-like antics. Cue video evidence:









To his credit, however, he sold the Komisarek high stick convincingly; there was no gunshot or seizure to speak of this time, he kept it subtle. I don't know whether I should commend the fact that he's a diver, or applaud the fact that he's getting better at it and still getting away with it. Tough call.

The final nail in the coffin came in the dying minutes of the third when he jumped off the bench prematurely, narrowly escaping a Too Many Men call, to score the tying goal, only minutes after Toronto completed the third period comeback. Toronto didn't have much passion left after that and Dallas held full control in overtime, scoring the winner thanks to Jimmy Neal.

I feel bad for Jonas "Monster" Gustavsson. After being torn between Dallas and Toronto in the offseason he eventually signed with Toronto, and on Wednesday he got a taste of what could have been (Dallas' 16 points compared to Toronto's 4). He seems like a good kid, though. He might be the #1 goalie that the Leafs need and develop into something there. Best of luck to him, regardless.

Adding the fact that the Isles beat the Rangers tonight as well, Toronto has full reign at the bottom of the league. For a team that's been mediocre for a while and simply disappointing since, oh, 1967 or so, this season could be just another casualty for the record books.

Somewhere, Boston Bruins fans are smiling (or flat-out laughing hysterically. One or the other).

Welcome!

This is going to be the first of what will hopefully be a long-running series of blogs written by me, revolving around the sport of hockey.

Hockey is what I eat, sleep, breathe and love, so this will be a great way for me to express my attitudes and opinions about what's going on in the world of the sport. I've always had opinions about hockey, and I'd consider them pretty well-informed since it's what I'm dedicating my journalism career towards.

I don't really expect anyone else to read this (it's mostly going to be a way for me to record my thoughts and practice my wit), but hey, if people stumble upon this thing and like what I have to say then I'll be more than glad to embrace my audience. Every good blogger has to start somewhere, right?

I'm going to keep this intro post short since I'm wanting for time, but here's hoping that this blog grows from it's current humble beginnings and becomes something much bigger down the road.


- Derek "D-Wreck" Neumeier