When Mats Sundin suffered a broken ankle a month ago, a belief emerged that the Leafs' run of good luck had come to an end. Sundin was predicted to be out as many as six weeks. A loss to Nashville in the first game without the talented Swede did little to alleviate the anxiety.
He's number one
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But adversity is a funny thing. The remaining Leafs reacted to it by going 6-1-1 in the next eight games before Sundin returned. Included in that streak was a solid victory over Stanley Cup champion Dallas. During that period, the team signed Dmitri Khristich, waived Steve Sullivan and traded Derek King to St. Louis. Rookie Nikolai Antropov was called up from St. John's, Newfoundland and took a regular shift. Whatever concern emanated from the temporary loss of Sundin quickly evaporated. In fact, it was probably good for the other Toronto regulars to see how well they could play without their star.
I have returned
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There was no let-down when the Leaf captain returned this week. The Leafs handed Carolina a stunning 6-0 defeat in the Hurricanes' new Raleigh rink. It was never close.
The Leafs now have the unlikeliest of combinations -- speed and size. It is all part of Pat Quinn's master plan to win the Stanley Cup. While Glen Sather clearly intiated the assault against the neutral zone trap, Leaf coach and GM Pat Quinn has demonstrated that winning hockey and exciting hockey are not mutually exclusive ideas.
Best defensive defenceman?
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The Leafs are poised to remain the highest scoring team in the league, as they were last season. Their strength right now, however, is on defence. Curtis Joseph leads the league in goals against average (1.63) and shutouts (3); he is second in the league in wins (8) and save percentage (.937). Back-up Glen Healy's strong play in goal gives the Leafs the luxury of resting Cujo on a frequent basis. Alexander Karpovtsev is making fans forget Mathieu Schneider. It seems almost absurd to think that there were those who felt that the Leafs were "ripped-off" when they acquired Karpovtsev (and a draft pick!) for the higher paid Schneider. [The Rangers are now trying to trade Schneider.] Cory Cross (6'5") and Chris McAllister (6'7") provide size behind the blue line. Daniil Markov is playing like a young Vlad Konstantinov. Only the most talented of the group, Bryan Berard, needs to improve. If he can emerge as the quarterback on the power play as he is capable of being, the Leafs will be better.
Scenes like this are
becoming more common
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While it is early, there is no reason to believe that the Leafs will have less success as the season progresses. The Buffalo Sabres have demonstrated how far a team can go when it has good coaching and great goaltending. The Leafs have both. They also have a bona fide superstar in Mats Sundin, something Buffalo has always been lacking outside the goal crease.
When he was hired, Ken Dryden made it the organization's express goal to win the Stanley Cup. Dryden's tenure as Leaf president has witnessed much off-ice turmoil. He has seen to dismissing a coach (Mike Murphy), a GM (Mike Smith) and the team's best judge of talent (Anders Hedberg). This off-ice turmoil has not translated into similar on-ice chaos. That suggests, perhaps, that there is method to Mr. Dryden's "madness". No one can argue with results.
Photos by Hockey.Ontheweb.
