Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 3.18

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We haven’t seen Vesa Toskala in the Maple Leafs net since before Christmas and since his absence we haven’t seen the same Maple Leafs team that was starting to look like it was finally coming together in early December. Before Toskala went down with a groin injury, the Maple Leafs had significantly improved their defensive play, cut down on time spent killing penalties, were scoring with regularity and of course, were getting the kind of netminding from Toskala that was giving the team a chance to win on most every night.

Since Christmas, Andrew Raycroft and Scott Clemmensen have juggled the goaltending duties, neither playing particularly well from any prolonged length of time. During this stretch without who is now clearly the Maple Leafs number one netminder, the team has seen the errors prevalent in their defensive game from the early part of the season begin to reappear. Penalties have once again become a major factor as opponents have been scoring power play goals easily and often. Scoring: well that’s virtually disappeared as well with only thirteen goals scored in the six games without Toskala. Winning hockey games averaging just over two goals per game is a very difficult task when all these other aforementioned problems continue to plague the Maple Leafs.

It shouldn’t be the case where replacing one goaltender with another totally alters the way the team plays in front of them. Although with their record since Boxing Day being a discouraging 1-4-1, it certainly seems like we have seen two different versions of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now we aren’t suggesting the Maple Leafs play with Vesa Toskala in the lineup was even good enough to make them a playoff team, it was just a hell of a lot better than their play without him which definitely is not good enough to make them a playoff team. It seems the only solution left is to ensure Vesa Toskala gets back in the net as soon as possible but given the Maple Leafs inconsistency this season, who knows for sure if that alone will make the difference. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.