A Leafs Dynasty (NHL11)

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Will be doing a Leaf dynasty using OBG's sliders. Expect write-up tomorrow.

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Pre-season

As training camp winds down for the guys in blue and white and pre-season begins, 41 players continue to battle it out for those 22 covenant spots. Now a select few have already secured their veteran right but many more spots lie open, especially the center and back 3 defensive positions.

8 players, including last season breakout Bozak and last year 1st rounder Kadri, will be duelling it out for either a chance to man the top two scoring lines or in some cases even make the team. Another two vacates are the 6th/7th spots on the D, which could also stir up to be a good show. Candidates in this group included veteran Finger, offseason newcomers Lebda and Lashoff, sophomore Gunnarsson, and last but not least rookie Aulie.

Kessel has pretty much secured his wing position but who will he play with? Its pretty much known that Giguere and Gustavsson will man the pipes but which one will garner the most work? Who will be centering each of the 4 lines? Which tough guys will enforce the rules? These questions and more face Leaf management as they have 4 pre-season games to figure it out.

41-man Roster

Wingers (14): Armstrong, Brown, Caputi, Crabb, D'Amigo, Hamilton, Kessel, Kulemin, MacArthur, Muller, Orr, Rosehill, Scott, Versteeg

Centers (8): Boyce, Bozak, Brent, Grabovski, Hanson, Kadri, Mitchell, Zigomanis

Defensemen (14): Aulie, Beauchemin, Blacker, Finger, Gunnarsson, Kaberle, Komisarek, Lashof, Lebda, Mikus, Oreskovic, Phaneuf, Richmond, Schenn

Goalies (5): Giguere, Gustavsson, Reimer, Rynnas, Scrivens

Preseason Schedule

Sept 19: at Buffalo
Sept 21: vs Boston
Sept 24: vs Montreal
Sept 27: at Ottawa

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Pre-season

With pre-season now complete the Leafs have a much better picture of who will fill their roster. But before we get down to who made it and who didn‘t, lets review some of the key stats over the last 4 games.

The Leafs went 2-2-0 during the pre-season and were ranked 10^th in the East. On the offensive side they were ranked 29^th in the league contributing only 5 goals (1.25), hopefully not a glimpse of the future. Defensively the Leafs were much better, ranked 3^rd in GA with 6 (1.5), their goaltending and defensive stance were outstanding. On the special teams the Leafs were ranked 22^nd on the PP with a 11.1% efficiency while the PK was ranked 9^th with a 90%.

Key players on the offensive side were Kessel, Grabovski, and rear guard Schenn. Each player had 2 points (1-1, 1-1, 0-2) each but were all in the dog house in the +/- category (-1, -3, -2). In the dot Zigomanis was king winning 16 of 20 draws for a 80% efficiency with Mitchell (66.7%) and Brent (66.7%) ranked 2^nd and 3^rd. Kessel and Versteeg lead in the shot category with 14 and 9 shots respectively while Grabovski and Kessel tied in PPG with 1.

Defensively, rear guard Schenn lead the D with 5 takeaways but Kessel lead all with 10. In the +/- category Komi lead the way with a +1 while Phaneuf lead in hits with 9. Goalie Rynnas lead with no goals against during 49 mins of play as Gustavsson faced the most shots with 30.

After close examination of their skills and chemistry the following players have made the cut.

Roster

Wingers: Armstrong, Brown, Caputi, Kessel, Kulemin, MacArthur, Orr, Rosehill, Versteeg.

Centers: Bozak, Grabovski, Mitchell, Zigomanis

Defensemen: Beachemin, Finger, Kaberle, Komisarek. Lashoff, Phaneuf, Schenn

Goalies: Giguere, Gustavsson

The following players were sent back to the juniors: D’Amingo and Kadri

The following players were sent back to the Marlies: Aulie, Blacker, Brent, Boyce, Crabb, Gunnarsson, Hamilton, Hanson, Lebda, Mikus, Muller, Oreskovic, Reimer, Richmond, Rynnas, Scott, Scrivens, Sjostrom.

[HeroWorship]

No surprise to send Kadri back to juniors. But I am surprised you kept Finger, but then again, cyber Jeff Finger in NHL 10 won the Norris for me, so I can only hope similar success for you.

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Quote: Originally Posted by HeroWorship

No surprise to send Kadri back to juniors. But I am surprised you kept Finger, but then again, cyber Jeff Finger in NHL 10 won the Norris for me, so I can only hope similar success for you.

To be honest Kadri's play was flat and unimpressive, hell D'Amigo played with more tenacity. But in the end both didn't make the cut, maybe next year.

I wanted to play with 7 D and Finger actually played reasonable well. He was lost on the score sheet but defensively he had 4 TKs and 4 hits in two games. Gunnarsson came close but not enough.

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS


After the last cut, Leaf management held a brief press conference

“All in all we believe the team had a great camp and pre-season. A few players really shined, and it was an excellent opportunity to see how some of our prospects are developing. Now even though we have announced the roster we will be entering the season with, those few players that were right on the cusp will have every chance over the next 7 months to prove themselves.”

“Now before I leave you with our lineup, I wanted to introduce you to our new captain. As a Leaf, one is expected to show tenacity, heart, and loyalty, just like our fans. And this one player is the perfect example of all. He wears his heart on his sleeve, enlists loyalty in the locker room, and garners respect on the ice. Please welcome are new captain Dion Phaneuf.”

“We open the season with a great game against one of our most heated rivals, the Montreal Canadians. This will be our battle group going into this game.”

Kulemin-Bozak-Kessel
MacArthur-Grabovski-Versteeg
Caputi-Mitchell-Armstrong
Rosehill-Zigomanis-Brown
Orr

Phaneuf-Komisarek
Kaberle-Schenn
Lashoff-Beauchemin
Finger

Giguere-Gustavsson

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Two Gs Lift Leafs

Oct 7th , 2010 1 2 3 F
Montreal 0 1 0 1
Toronto 0 1 3 4

MTL TOR
20 Shots 30
16 Faceoffs 22
0/3 PP 2/6

GOAL SCORES
MTL: Gomez (2nd, 13:14)
TOR: Kulemin (2nd, 9:53, PP), Grabovski (3rd, 15:32), Grabovski (3rd, 18:18), MacArthur (3rd, 19:53, PP)
GOALIES
MTL: Price (27/30, 3.03) TOR: Giguere (19/20, 1.00)

Grabovski 2 goal explosion in the 3rd with helpers from Kulemin’s 1st period goal and MacArthur’s insurance in the 3rd, along side Giguere’s stellar play blocking 19 of 20 shots lead the Leafs to their 4 to 1 victory.

The Leafs next game is against the Sens (1-0-0), were Gustavsson will man the pipes for the 1st time this year, Lashoff (was a -1 in tonight’s game) will be scratched, Finger will fill in. Orr will also be in the lineup.

Gs Keep It Going in Another Win

Oct , 9th 2010 1 2 3 F
Ottawa (1-0-0) 1 1 0 2
Toronto (1-0-0) 1 2 0 3

OTT TOR
27 Shots 30
19 Faceoffs 22
0/2 PP 1/3

GOAL SCORES
OTT: Foligno (1st, 10:34), Carkner (2nd 10:35)
TOR: Kessel (1st, 5:43), Grabovski (2nd, 2:35), Kulemin (2nd, 5:46, PP)
GOALIES
OTT: Leclaire (27/30, 3.01) TOR: Gustavsson (25/27, 2.02)

Another great showing from the guys in blue, as Kessel, Grabovski (3rd), and Kulemin (2nd) all score in the first 40 mins of the game and the “Monster” Gustavsson holds onto the lead stopping 25 shots in the Leafs 3 to 2 victory over beat the Sens.

3 days off before the Leafs face the Pens (1-1-1) with Giguere (1-0, 1.02) getting the call. Komi (-2 last night) and Beau will switch spots, while Lashoff will fill in for Finger. Caputi will get a big chance against his former team as he’s moved up the depth chart and swapped with MacArthur on the 2nd line.

Penalty Trouble Causes 1st Loss

Oct , 13th 2010 1 2 3 F
Toronto (2-0-0) 0 0 0 0
Pittsburgh (1-1-1) 1 0 1 2

TOR PIT
14 Shots 32
18 Faceoffs 15
0/0 PP 1/7

GOAL SCORES
TOR: N/A
PIT: Staal (1st, 17:44), PP), Malkin (3rd, 10:50)
GOALIES
TOR: Giguere (30/32, 2.03) PIT: Fluery (14/14, SO)

Wreckless play and continuous penalty killing caused the Leafs to record their 1st loss of the season. Only Giguere played well backstopping 30 of 32 shots, but it wasn’t enough as the Pens shutout the Leafs 2 nothing.

Brown, who was taken in to the boards aggressively in last nights game, will miss the next game against the Rangers (1-1-0) with a sprained wrist, Rosehill (-1 with 1 HT and 1 TK in 1GP) will take his spot on the 4th line. Giguere (1-1, 1.53) will get his 2nd start in a row while Lashoff with pinch-in for Finger (-1 last night).

[HeroWorship]

Okay, this is horribly unrealistic.

There's no way the Leafs will win two games this season.

Lock thread, kthanxbi


(btw, Grabovski has nearly as many goals as assault charges. Good job!)