Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.10

www.afootinthecrease.com

Can anything stop the Leafs right now? Rolling along last week, the Maple Leafs go into Buffalo hand the Sabres their first regulation time loss of the season. Then Philadelphia stops by the ACC, a game against a weaker team the Leafs would typically squander after reaching an emotional high the game before. Instead no, the Leafs hand it to Philadelphia with a convincing 4-1 victory. In that game however, the Leafs lose their Captain Mats Sundin to injury. Could that injury along with a game against another weaker opponent break their success? Again no but in the process of beating Boston, down goes Andrew Raycroft. Even that doesn’t stop the Leafs as they dominate Montreal in the annual Hall of Fame Game.

What can stop the Leafs right now? Well in fact the only thing that can stop them is an extended break in the schedule that doesn’t see the Leafs play again until next Thursday in Boston. Opponents will be able to make up some games in hand and given the way the Leafs have played of late, those opponents better win those games in hand because the Leafs are not allowing teams to pick up ground on them on days where they are playing. With seven wins in their last eight games, the Leafs are certainly rolling like they haven’t rolled in a long, long time.

With the cushion the Leafs have built up, they have firmly entrenched themselves in the Eastern Conference. Now more than ever is great time to have a slight layoff to allow some of the injured players to heal without missing too much action. If Sundin, using his magic healing powers that he seems to possess, is able to recover in three weeks instead of four, he would only miss eight games. The break in the schedule also gives Andrew Raycroft the option of taking ten days off while only missing three games. With the way JS Aubin has shown he can play and the comfortable position the Leafs are in right now, I recommend he takes that option. Better to make sure that groin is back to 100% rather than coming back too soon and making it a season long issue. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.