Tim Connolly - Ol' Splodeybones!

Tim Connolly was signed to play between Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel on the top line. His skill and speed make him a great compliment for these two players who have both started the season on fire. Playing between these two players right now would be an ideal situation for any center in the NHL.

Too bad for Tim, then.

You see, Mr. Connolly suffers from something all athletes dread - the injury bug. It isn't really something you catch, but something that just seems to follow you like a spectre in the night. Once you are labelled as injury prone, it can be a nightmare to overcome. Just look at Joffrey Lupul and his career up to now.

Tim Connolly has only played six games for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, and now he is going to miss another week or two of action due to an "upper body injury". Since the Leafs are being vague - as always - about the injury, and based upon his history, I think it's safe to assume that Connolly was outside and was hit by a light breeze, which then gave him a concussion.

Connolly can have a big impact for the Maple Leafs. It's too bad that his injuries continue to prevent him from being a regular in the NHL. At least his contract is a short one?

My Blog

It's been awhile since I've posted about the Maple Leafs, but that is because I haven't really had anything to say. I have been thinking of starting a new blog where I post about things other then the Leafs. Movie and TV reviews, personal musings, politics, anything.

Instead of creating a new blog, I have decided I will be posting that stuff here along with any Leafs related articles I write. Hopefully, with the draft and free agency just around the corner, I will have a few things to say about my favourite hockey team.

Kris Versteeg and the Leafs

Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers played a tough, hard-hitting contest in Philadelphia. It was a very important game for both teams. The Flyers are trying to finish the season in first place in the Eastern Conference so they can have home ice advantage in the playoffs. For Toronto, just getting into the playoffs is the mission. Seeing two teams so apart in the standings play each other is usually an easy game to call, but not with so much at stake.

Despite all of that, the game may have meant more to one player. A player seemingly cast aside for "not fitting in"; a player who was pushed out the door by Brian Burke.

Kris Versteeg was a Maple Leaf for only 53 games. That seems like a short period of time to see if a player is the right fit on a hockey team. It seems even shorter when consider Versteeg's age (24) and experience.

Statistically, it is hard to say that Versteeg was a poor player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was on pace to score more then 20 goals and 50 points on a team that doesn't have many players capable of putting up those numbers. His plus/minus of -13 wasn't great, but the Maple Leafs were a struggling team before trading away Versteeg.

Still, management decided that Versteeg was expendable and decided to move him. The trade and the return the Leafs received for him have already been debated to death. The major factor was that Versteeg was not a fit with this Toronto team. Could it be that Burke and the Leafs staff wanted Versteeg to play with Kessel? On a team with clearly defined roles, it isn't hard to imagine that Ron Wilson and Brian Burke didn't like Versteeg as a third line player.

For a player who had just won the Stanley Cup, it must seem odd to have two teams in quick succession cast you aside. The Blackhawks, fresh off of their Stanley Cup win, had serious salary cap issues and Versteeg was not the only player moved to fix the problem.

With Toronto, Versteeg had to wonder what was preventing him from working out. He is a quick player with great hands and a solid shot, and can play good defence when he wants to. On a team that lacked obvious offensive talents, you would think that Kris Versteeg would be an important top six forward.

Whatever the reason for his departure, Kris Versteeg has never said a negative thing about his situation or the Toronto Maple Leafs. If he had any feelings of anger at the team, he certainly got his revenge by scoring two goals last night. The Leafs won the game on a late goal by Darryl Boyce, but Versteeg certainly showed off his talent and showed that he was doing what he (according to Burke) failed to do in Toronto - fitting in.

Time for change?

Brian Burke may have to consider firing his friend this off-season.

It has been a long time since I last posted. It has been hard for me to write anything about this team that hasn't already been said, and it is difficult for me to write about this team as it continues to struggle.

Entering this 2010/11 season, I had very high hopes. With improved goaltending, a new captain, and a few more players up front, I thought this team would be competing for a playoff spot. Instead, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves fighting to stay out of the draft lottery.

It is hard to say if this version of the team is any better then the team we saw struggle to compete last season. Between Giggy and the Monster, our goaltending has been only a small percentage better. Our defence has Brett Lebda continuing to give the opposition opportunities to score while Mike Komisarek gets paid a boat load to be, at best, a third pairing defender. The offence has moments where they look good, but then the team gets shut out by Dwayne Roloson. Seriously, Roloson must love it anytime he sees the Leafs are coming to town. I cannot remember him ever playing poorly against us.

This is not really what I wanted to talk about, really. What I did want to talk about was the coach of this hockey team, Ron Wilson.

Throughout the last three seasons, two things have been consistent with this Maple Leafs team. The powerplay has been anemic and the penalty kill has been an absolute joke. Both of these failures, at least from what I've seen, can both be blamed on the current coaching staff of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This has been a huge frustration for me. I am not angry that the team has struggled, but that the powerplay has continued to look the exact same over three years with Kessel replacing Mats Sundin on the side boards. The coaching staff has failed to move players around and change to look of the powerplay despite the lack of success.

I remember when Paul Maurice was behind the bench, the Leafs started out with the cross crease pass to Tucker. As teams keyed in on that move, the powerplay shifted to focus more on an umbrella with Sundin on the side boards. When the powerplay struggled, the team tried different things instead of just staying with one system.

With Ron Wilson behind the bench, the players have changed completely but the results have stayed the same. I know this current Leafs team was not expected to set the NHL on fire, but they have looked absolutely pathetic on some nights. I think a coaching change needs to happen. This team may not be a lock for the playoffs right now, but is better then 26th overall in league.

Will Ron Wilson be the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs next season?