Leafs week in preview: Jan 8th - 14th 2012

So Golf is for terrible hockey players!

The second half is here! Where the Maple Leafs start to play for real! If last year is any indication of what will happen, a young goalie, who we have never given a second thought too, will emerge as an all-star and Phil Kessel will start scoring at a PPG rate (booya!).


This week is make or break for the young leafs (oh, no wait that was last week). In reality the Leafs could lose all three of the games they play this week and still make the playoffs, but that wouldn't be the best thing for them, or our livers. So let's see who we have to beat this week.

Burke Sees into the Future of the NHL: Role of Enforcer Diminishing, But is it for Better or Worse?

Marlies?!?

Brian Burke had the painful task this week of putting team favorite Colton Orr on waivers, which he cleared and then assigning him to the Leafs farm team, the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL).  This obviously didn't sit well with him, as he went on a tirade in a press conference about his concerns with the direction of the NHL, and the role of the endangered enforcer.  It is widely known that Burke is a supporter of the enforcer role and that NHL players should first police themselves before the league gets involved with a disciplinary role.  So it’s not a surprise when Burke makes the comments he did about “rats” taking over the NHL landscape, therefore making it easy to dismiss his comments because, well, that’s just Burke being Burke.  But Burke makes a compelling argument that with the role of the enforcer being slowly extricated from hockey, players no longer have to worry about retribution for cheap shots.  This not only means more pests, but a general lack of respect for other players.  The “lack of respect” is what many NHL analysts attribute to the rash of high-sticking penalties and illegal hits.  Maybe this lack of respect is what Brendan Shanahan, current NHL disciplinarian, should be focusing on restoring.

Potential defensive call-ups

As we are all well aware, the Maple Leafs aren't exactly defensive juggernauts. Defensively the Leafs are 17th in GA at 5 v. 5, this is probably where most expected this team to be, in the middle of the pack. However, as we start looking at the Maple Leafs defense while shorthanded, the sad joy we have, at being in the middle of the pack, crumbles away. The Leafs are ranked 20th in times shorthanded, this wouldn't be the end of the world (read: playoffs) if they weren't ranked 30th in power-play goals allowed. So as you may be able to tell, the Leafs are in desperate need of a hockey player that can kill a penalty, or just play defense. Let`s take a look at what Marlies players could help out the roster.

Who is the Leafs top centre this season?

Now, as we all know the search for that all elusive top line centre has been a pretty big thorn in the side of Leafs management, and fans a-like. I was wondering the other day who is our top centre, not that i`m saying we have a number one centre, but who is the best that the Toronto Maple Leafs have.