Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.11

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Prior their game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Toronto Maple Leafs – on the same night as their forever rivals from Montreal retired the legendary number 33 of Patrick Roy – honoured the number 17 of Wendel Clark, arguably one of the most popular Maple Leafs in history. However watching these two ceremonies back to back – Roy’s first followed immediately by Clark’s – served to highlight the disparity between the two organizations when it comes to enshrining legends, or at least those from recent times.

Roy’s career accomplishments are staggering. Like his personality or not, he could stop the puck, case closed. NHL all time leader in playoff games played, wins, shutouts, four Stanley Cups, three Conn Smythe Trophies, three Vezina Trophies to name only a few accolades easily underline that point.

Clark was and still is revered in the city in which he made his mark in the NHL. His hard working, gritty, energetic style of play allowed legions of fans to identify with him but when it comes to his list of individual and team accomplishments, Clark’s list is rather brief. Often injured, Clark missed an average of one game for every two he played in. He was 229 points shy of a point per game ratio over his career, won no individual awards and no Stanley Cups.

Don’t get me wrong, Clark displayed the kind of heart and soul characteristics coaches wish they saw in all their players but when you think about it, isn’t playing hard with determination and passion something that should be part of every NHL player’s job description?

A model citizen, Clark has been nothing but a tremendous ambassador for the Maple Leaf organization but when you mention his name along with the likes of Mahovlich, Sittler, Apps, Salming, Bower, Horton, - some of the other players to have had their numbers enshrined at Air Canada Centre - I’m not sure Clark can claim to be in their equals.

You can be sure if Clark played his career in Montreal, he wouldn’t have received such an honour. Very popular, yes, but to have your number enshrined in the rafters, it should be earned through more than just popularity. But hey, all that rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.10

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Through the first nineteen games of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have shown that for the first time since the lockout, there is much to be get excited about in terms of the future of this team. The work ethic has been there most every night. Matt Stajan is having a career year. Mikhail Grabovski, Niklas Hagman and Nikolai Kulemin have turned out to be an electrifying line capable of exhibiting some serious speed. Ron Wilson has founds ways to get the most out of his players and finally, Maple Leaf players are starting to overachieve instead of perennially underachieving as they have for so many years.

However despite all of the positives seen early in the season, one facet of the game is beginning to show itself as a growing concern. Goaltending. Vesa Toskala has not been the Vesa Toskala of last year yet and has been giving up far too many goals that have conjured up memories of the inconsistent Andrew Raycroft. His GAA and SA% are among the worst for starting goaltenders and he has been unable to make big saves at key times for the most part this season. In fact, some of the goals allowed have been just plain soft.

The Maple Leafs though at this point do not really have a viable option apart from Toskala. In the limited action we’ve seen Curtis Joesph play this season, he has not shown an ability to be a reliable goaltender for a four or five game stretch. On the farm, the Maple Leafs seem intent on seasoning Justin Pogge for another year in the AHL which means benching Toskala for two or three games to send a message likely is not possible if they are still interested in having an opportunity to win hockey games.

One thing is for sure though. If Toskala’s inconsistent play continues, the Maple Leafs will lose more games than they win regardless of who is between the pipes. But hey, all that is just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.9

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Undoubtedly every season in the National Hockey League, a variety of incidents take place resulting in serious injuries followed by half hearted apologies from the perpetrators, something along the lines of, “I’m sorry for the injury I inflicted, I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”

Rarely though do you get the sense that anybody is showing any true remorse. I can somewhat believe the, “I’m sorry for the injury I caused” part because I honestly don’t think that many players relish the extent of an injury they inflict on a fellow player but the “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody” part just reeks of insincerity. If the offending player really didn’t mean to hurt anybody, well then he shouldn’t have played so recklessly in the first place.

However, if there was ever an apology you can truly believe, it was Tom Kostopoulos after learning he had been suspended for three games for a devastating hit from behind on Leafs’ defenseman Mike Van Ryn. Love or hate Don Cherry, he is absolutely right when he says defenseman going into the corner should never turn back or they are simply asking to get leveled.

Kostopolous makes his living on being a gritty forward who plays a strong forecheck and that’s what he was doing against Van Ryn expecting the Leaf defenseman to collect the puck and round the net. Instead Van Ryn threw on the breaks leaving Kostopolous no opportunity to avoid the hit. Immediately, a look of concern came over Kostopolous as he saw Van Ryn lying motionless on the ice.

That look of concern, Kostopolous’ intention to call Van Ryn personally to apologize as well as his written statement leads me to honestly believe Kostopolous truly feels bad for the injuries suffered by Van Ryn. An offense worthy of a suspension? Absolutely. But after the suspension is served, no hard feelings toward Kostopolous should remain. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.

Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.8

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Is it just me or is everybody starting to get a feeling that something special is building in the Maple Leafs locker room? On Saturday night, we saw fifty minutes of gritty hockey as the Leafs worked hard to hang around in a game against the NHL’s best squad. Sure scoring chances were there but no bounces were going the Maple Leafs way and Leaf killer Stephan Valiquette appeared to be on his way to yet another victory over the Buds.

But then, late in the game the bounces did start to go the Maple Leafs way as they poured on a knockout flurry of offense that left the Rangers not quite sure what had hit them. Five goals in a span of 5:21 seconds left the Air Canada Centre crowd in a standing frenzy as the final seconds ticked down, a state of euphoria not seen at ACC since the Maple Leafs won their last playoff round against the Ottawa Senators in 2004.

Following the game, the players credited the crowd and Ron Wilson credited the work ethic he has managed to instill in the Maple Leafs in a very short period of time. It’s amazing how positive an affect hard work, youthful exuberance and determination can have on a team.

Those were the qualities missing on the Maple Leafs since the end of the lockout and now in the fourth season of the “new NHL,” it has become clear those are three qualities any team needs to possess in order to be successful.

A win like Saturday’s over the Rangers will only serve to galvanize the team even further as it starts to alter the prevailing mindset of accepting mediocrity that has existed over the past three years and shows this group that they are indeed capable of winning games. This is not the first time this season the Maple Leafs have impressed so I’m starting to think this was not an accident.

The last three seasons, the Maple Leafs had a collection of talent. Now finally this season, the Maple Leafs have a team. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.