I thought Beauchemin looked solid, moved the puck around pretty nice on the PP and him and Kaberle did a great job of holding the puck in that led to a goal
- pucku33

he pinched lots for a big hit missed the hit and led to an odd man rush.

Let's keep in mind that the Leafs opened the season with a win over Detroit last year. You can't judge an entire season off of one game. They looked very good at times, and I was very impressed with the amount of shots they put on Price. They just need to settle down and play some smarter hockey. If not for the stupid penalties, the Leafs would have won this game.
- BlueBloodPat

The Leafs outshot and outplayed Montreal easily. There's really not that much negatives you can base on this one game.

Since, the negatives have been discussed, how good did "Overachiever" Matt Stajan look with two goals? The guy is the real deal.

And how about Stalberg? Looks like a very good young player. A 6th round steal by JFJ Jr.

And again Kessel and Gustavsson will be added to the team.

The Leafs outshot and outplayed Montreal easily. There's really not that much negatives you can base on this one game.
- RogerRoeper

The Habs outhit and more importantly, outscored the Leafs.

ANYONE complaining about the Leafs is a joke... we're missing the most underrated D-man in the game (Mike Van Ryn), our best forward, and we all know Toskala won't be the starter in a few weeks... he was terribad. None of the regulation goals should have gone in.

Really, there are three reasons the Habs won, any of them go differently and the Leafs win.

1) Toskala was in net over Gustavsson, which I believe only happened because Gustavsson had that procedure and didn't get a lot of pre-season time in.

2) Jim Carey-Price stood on his head. He was fantastic.

3) Mike Komisarek took two absolutely moronic, needless penalties.

Any of those go differently and the Leafs take that game easily...

Kaberle looked great last night. He's back to form.

ANYONE complaining about the Leafs is a joke... we're missing the most underrated D-man in the game (Mike Van Ryn), our best forward, and we all know Toskala won't be the starter in a few weeks... he was terribad. None of the regulation goals should have gone in.

Really, there are three reasons the Habs won, any of them go differently and the Leafs win.

1) Toskala was in net over Gustavsson, which I believe only happened because Gustavsson had that procedure and didn't get a lot of pre-season time in.

2) Jim Carey-Price stood on his head. He was fantastic.

3) Mike Komisarek took two absolutely moronic, needless penalties.

Any of those go differently and the Leafs take that game easily...
- LeafyMcLeaf

In any given game there is going to be different reasons as to why the game played out as it did. If the Leafs won, there would have been things that the Habs could have looked back on and said "Hey, if we had done this instead of this, we would have won." The excuses are irrelevant. They played a good game, they came up short. It was only game 1, there will be 81 games left for redemption.

In any given game there is going to be different reasons as to why the game played out as it did. If the Leafs won, there would have been things that the Habs could have looked back on and said "Hey, if we had done this instead of this, we would have won." The excuses are irrelevant. They played a good game, they came up short. It was only game 1, there will be 81 games left for redemption.
- BlueBloodPat

Except normally the differences aren't things that you can change easily. Komisarek took dumb penalties because he wanted to prove something to his old teams. There are 76 games where that won't happen. Gustavsson will be the starter soon.

The fact is, the Leafs lost out on one point, and were a dominant team against a team that many have as a contender. I think that's a fantastic sign.

Except normally the differences aren't things that you can change easily. Komisarek took dumb penalties because he wanted to prove something to his old teams. There are 76 games where that won't happen. Gustavsson will be the starter soon.

The fact is, the Leafs lost out on one point, and were a dominant team against a team that many have as a contender. I think that's a fantastic sign.
- LeafyMcLeaf

I was not happy with Burke giving up two number one picks. If the Leafs struggle and one of those pick turns out to be a lottery selection it will be one of the real low points in Leaf franchise history.

I was not happy with Burke giving up two number one picks. If the Leafs struggle and one of those pick turns out to be a lottery selection it will be one of the real low points in Leaf franchise history.
- spatso

It would have to be pretty high to be better than Kessel.

It would have to be pretty high to be better than Kessel.
- RogerRoeper

Yes.

Kessel was a lottery pick who we already know will pan out. At least two top five picks every year are busts.

I found one draft once, and thought it was funny how the Leafs had a lot of top ten picks from that draft...Chad Kilger....Aki Berg.... Boyd Devereaux.... Forget which year it was...

I found one draft once, and thought it was funny how the Leafs had a lot of top ten picks from that draft...Chad Kilger....Aki Berg.... Boyd Devereaux.... Forget which year it was...
- LeafyMcLeaf

1995 aki berg and kilger, devereaux was drafted another year.

http://www.mynhldraft.com/1995

Yes.

Kessel was a lottery pick who we already know will pan out. At least two top five picks every year are busts.
- LeafyMcLeaf

That is somewhere between plain dumb and naive. Chiarelli was holding all the cards. He could have hung on and matched any offer. He would have had to have made salary adjustments this year but that is what GMs are paid to do. Bottem line he made the decision he would rather have the picks than the player. The notion that lottery picks don't work out is obvious as there are many examples. This is much more fundamental. Burke is sending a signal to the Leaf scouting staff and organization that he will not build through the draft. He thinks he has a better idea. He wants us to believe that there is a short route to becoming an elite team. I am sorry but that is the same song I have listening to for a whole bunch of years now.

It would have to be pretty high to be better than Kessel.
- RogerRoeper

Yeah like Carey Price.

That is somewhere between plain dumb and naive. Chiarelli was holding all the cards. He could have hung on and matched any offer. He would have had to have made salary adjustments this year but that is what GMs are paid to do. Bottem line he made the decision he would rather have the picks than the player. The notion that lottery picks don't work out is obvious as there are many examples. This is much more fundamental. Burke is sending a signal to the Leaf scouting staff and organization that he will not build through the draft. He thinks he has a better idea. He wants us to believe that there is a short route to becoming an elite team. I am sorry but that is the same song I have listening to for a whole bunch of years now.
- spatso

Right on.

That is somewhere between plain dumb and naive. Chiarelli was holding all the cards. He could have hung on and matched any offer. He would have had to have made salary adjustments this year but that is what GMs are paid to do. Bottem line he made the decision he would rather have the picks than the player. The notion that lottery picks don't work out is obvious as there are many examples. This is much more fundamental. Burke is sending a signal to the Leaf scouting staff and organization that he will not build through the draft. He thinks he has a better idea. He wants us to believe that there is a short route to becoming an elite team. I am sorry but that is the same song I have listening to for a whole bunch of years now.
- spatso

If Kessel were 31 I would totally agree with you 100%...but he's not, he's 21. I'm not saying he's right but Burke feels he has a future #1 in Gustavsson, he feels like he's got a very good defense locked up for a few years (especially if Kabs signs an extention) and he feels that he has some semblance of a core of offensive players but was missing an elite talent. He figures that he won't draft a guy as good as Kessel in the next two years anyway and even if he does it'll be three or four seasons from now before that player is capable of making an impact...which is around the time most of his current core players are going to be UFAs/RFAs.

This is a time thing, he's basically got three or four years to make a significant impact on this franchise because that is both the time when his contract will be expiring and when the contracts of his current core will be expiring. Even if his contract wasn't expiring he still has a short window before everyone he's brought in could be leaving again.

What people are failing to understand is that every move he has made has been much more about the next three or four years than for this year. Sure he wants to make the playoffs this year but he knows they aren't competitors for the Cup this year...but maybe in two or three years when we still have the same defensive core who have been playing together for several years and fully understand Wilson's system, we Kessel and Kadri playing together for a year or two, plus whoever else he brings into the fold and we could be a significant force to be reckoned with.

Burke completely overhauled our defense this past offseason...well he only has 8 forwards signed through next year (Kessel, Blake, Hagman, Grabs, Kadri, Bozak, Stalberg, Orr by my count) and a handful of UFAs and RFAs, so next offseason I imagine he'll probably restructure our forwards to something that more resembles a competitive team.

I'm a huge proponent of building through the draft as well and I'd be all for a five+ year stay in the basement and landing a number of elite players and then making a push...but by then some players would have left we may not be any better off than we are right now with a strong defensive core signed and a few young elite guys like Kessel, Schenn and possibly Kadri.

ANYONE complaining about the Leafs is a joke... we're missing the most underrated D-man in the game (Mike Van Ryn), our best forward, and we all know Toskala won't be the starter in a few weeks... he was terribad. None of the regulation goals should have gone in.

Really, there are three reasons the Habs won, any of them go differently and the Leafs win.

1) Toskala was in net over Gustavsson, which I believe only happened because Gustavsson had that procedure and didn't get a lot of pre-season time in.

2) Jim Carey-Price stood on his head. He was fantastic.

3) Mike Komisarek took two absolutely moronic, needless penalties.

Any of those go differently and the Leafs take that game easily...
- LeafyMcLeaf

To me it seems funny that everyone was all over the habs for hyping Price but yet you are saying if you had Gustavsson in net you would have won. He hasn't proved anything and as of now is a prospect. Then you call Price Jim Carey-Price after he plays great. It is excuse after excuse.

By the way the habs vs leaf games are always great and both teams usuall play well no matter who has the better team. I wouldn't use that game to judge the season. Look at a couple years ago when we fiished 1st in the east and the leafs missed the playoffs. The head to head matches were still good and competetive.

To me it seems funny that everyone was all over the habs for hyping Price but yet you are saying if you had Gustavsson in net you would have won. He hasn't proved anything and as of now is a prospect. Then you call Price Jim Carey-Price after he plays great. It is excuse after excuse.

By the way the habs vs leaf games are always great and both teams usuall play well no matter who has the better team. I wouldn't use that game to judge the season. Look at a couple years ago when we fiished 1st in the east and the leafs missed the playoffs. The head to head matches were still good and competetive.
- jordan456789

I didn't say Habs fans over-hyped Carey Price. I just hate him, and thus call him Jim Carey-Price.

I didn't say Habs fans over-hyped Carey Price. I just hate him, and thus call him Jim Carey-Price.
- LeafyMcLeaf

Who do you hate Jim Carey? He's a very funny man

Who do you hate Jim Carey? He's a very funny man


- Prax

He does not deserve gods gift to man, Jenny McCarthy

Let's keep in mind that the Leafs opened the season with a win over Detroit last year. You can't judge an entire season off of one game. They looked very good at times, and I was very impressed with the amount of shots they put on Price. They just need to settle down and play some smarter hockey. If not for the stupid penalties, the Leafs would have won this game.
- BlueBloodPat

Ten goals against in two games.

That is somewhere between plain dumb and naive. Chiarelli was holding all the cards. He could have hung on and matched any offer. He would have had to have made salary adjustments this year but that is what GMs are paid to do. Bottem line he made the decision he would rather have the picks than the player. The notion that lottery picks don't work out is obvious as there are many examples. This is much more fundamental. Burke is sending a signal to the Leaf scouting staff and organization that he will not build through the draft. He thinks he has a better idea. He wants us to believe that there is a short route to becoming an elite team. I am sorry but that is the same song I have listening to for a whole bunch of years now.
- spatso

There's no way Chiarelli wanted the picks over Kessel. Losing Kessel weakened them as a cup contender. He just couldn't afford him. It's as simple as that.

Besides, if Boston is playing well i'm willing to bet he might trade one of those picks for a shot at the cup.

There's no way Chiarelli wanted the picks over Kessel. Losing Kessel weakened them as a cup contender. He just couldn't afford him. It's as simple as that.

Besides, if Boston is playing well i'm willing to bet he might trade one of those picks for a shot at the cup.
- RogerRoeper

Chiarelli is a very smart guy. He squeezed Burke and made him pay exactly what the market price defined the value as being. If Burke had signed him as a RFA he would have paid exactly the same price as he volunteered to pay. So, let's agree Burke paid and Chiarelli received exactly the right value on the deal. That is not the problem.

I may be a minority but I am one of many Leaf supporters who have long wanted to see the Leafs build a good young team through the draft. Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh come to mind as teams who have done it the right way. Even if the Kessel deal turns out to be a good deal and he scores a goal a game after he comes back it still cannot repair the damage. The scouting staff has been told to take a couple of years off, the Leafs are no longer in the draft business they will get to the Stanley Cup through deals and free agent signings. Now isn't that a novel approach, It is surprising that it was not tried before.

Chiarelli is a very smart guy. He squeezed Burke and made him pay exactly what the market price defined the value as being. If Burke had signed him as a RFA he would have paid exactly the same price as he volunteered to pay. So, let's agree Burke paid and Chiarelli received exactly the right value on the deal. That is not the problem.

I may be a minority but I am one of many Leaf supporters who have long wanted to see the Leafs build a good young team through the draft. Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh come to mind as teams who have done it the right way. Even if the Kessel deal turns out to be a good deal and he scores a goal a game after he comes back it still cannot repair the damage. The scouting staff has been told to take a couple of years off, the Leafs are no longer in the draft business they will get to the Stanley Cup through deals and free agent signings. Now isn't that a novel approach, It is surprising that it was not tried before.
- spatso

Really....you put Philly in that group?

It seems like every year they are making a big payment in a trade for an Adam Oates or a Chris Pronger. Or they go after a UFA like Danny Briere or Hatcher. And they haven't been able to figur out their goaltending Davinci Code since Ron Hextal. I don't think of Philly in that group. They get their centerpieces elsewhere.

I think of Detroit, Boston, Chicago, and Ottawa long before Philly comes up for building a team, as you stated, the right way(meaning through the draft)

Chiarelli is a very smart guy. He squeezed Burke and made him pay exactly what the market price defined the value as being. If Burke had signed him as a RFA he would have paid exactly the same price as he volunteered to pay. So, let's agree Burke paid and Chiarelli received exactly the right value on the deal. That is not the problem.

I may be a minority but I am one of many Leaf supporters who have long wanted to see the Leafs build a good young team through the draft. Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh come to mind as teams who have done it the right way. Even if the Kessel deal turns out to be a good deal and he scores a goal a game after he comes back it still cannot repair the damage. The scouting staff has been told to take a couple of years off, the Leafs are no longer in the draft business they will get to the Stanley Cup through deals and free agent signings. Now isn't that a novel approach, It is surprising that it was not tried before.
- spatso

You make it sound like he traded all their picks. They still have picks to work with. The post first rounders are the ones that are the hardest to pick.