Here We Go Again – Is This The Year?

Round 1, Game 7, Leafs loose. Forget about it. It is just about time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to kick off another quest for the Stanley Cup, a trophy that has escaped them since 1967. The thirty-six year wait to once again see the Maple Leafs parade down Yonge Street with the beloved Stanley Cup has been long but perhaps this could be the year where the wait would inevitably come to an end.

The Leafs have made a number of improvements upfront over the off season and, on paper, they look to have as deep a forward corps as they have had in a number of years. As it stands now, it does not look like there will be a lot of trouble putting the puck in the net; three solid offensive lines and a decent checking line should be able to maintain a fairly consistent attack on the opposing team’s net minder.

Upfront, the Leafs added Joe Nieuwendyk, an experienced and capable veteran second-line centre, not to mention a winner of three Stanley Cups with three different teams which puts him in a fairly elite club of players. Sure it would have been nice if he had the same abilities as he had a decade ago when he scored 50 plus goals on a championship winning Calgary Flames team that also included Gary Roberts, Robert Reichel and the recently retired Doug Gilmour, but he is still a very effective player today. A year ago with New Jersey, he registered a respectable 17 goals along with 28 assists for 45 points.

He will finally fill the role of the second-line centre the Leafs management seems to have been seeking out for what seems like four or five years now. His addition will add some substance to the second line which will inevitably allow Sundin’s line to prosper as opposing teams spread out their defensive strength to combat both lines as opposed to just concentrating on Sundin’s unit.

The Leafs will also start the season with Owen Nolan, a late acquisition at last year’s trade deadline. Provided Nolan’s hip remains healthy, a second line consisting of Nieuwendyk centering Nolan and Roberts could be a daunting defensive task. A line with Sundin centering Renberg and Mogilny, followed by Antropov centering Tucker and Domi could present a situation where opposing teams quickly find themselves feeling defensively inadequate.

The problem for the Leafs still remains their inadequacy on the blueline. Despite the signing of rugged and sometimes rule-breaking defender Bryan Marchment, who turns out to essentially be a replacement for the retired Robert Svehla, the Leafs have once again failed to beef up an obviously depleted defense unit. With McCabe, Kaberle, and Marchment in the lineup for sure, one more quality defenseman is required to establish two solid pairs that can be cycled against the oppositions’ best lines. Aki Berg is still unproven, and Carlo Coliacovo is too young to throw into a top four position.

Jamie Pushor, who played with the Penguins last season, was signed to a tryout based contract, but he will need to prove himself worthy of the job. As of September 12th, Dmitri Yushkevich and Ken Klee remain unsigned and, thus become possible options.

As the regular season grows closer, the excitement and anticipation of another Leafs season is also sure to grow until the puck hits the ice on October 11 at ACC to kick off the 2003 – 2004 season.