Heading into the 2010-2011 season, fans were excited to see the new-look Toronto Maple Leafs in action. With four games in the books, Toronto is on top of the NHL and the team is the talk of the town. The new summer acquisitions have been solid and contributing well for the Leafs. But can they keep up this style of play for the entire season? I don’t think so.
Through the first four games of the season, new Leaf Clarke MacArthur has come out of nowhere and is leading the squad with five tallies. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that and fans are extremely excited. Toronto, take a deep breath. MacArthur got off to a similarly torrid start last year with Buffalo, but by the end of the season, his new Atlanta Thrashers didn’t want him anymore and he only finished with 17 goals. Sure, MacArthur did play on the Canadian World Junior team in 2005 so he does have some potential, but I think his start is just a case of trying to impress his new team and city early.
When Brian Burke essentially changed the entire Toronto Maple Leafs team dynamic in late January, one of his main acquisitions was proven goaltender J.S. Giguere. Burke and Giguere have a history, as Giguere was Anaheim’s starting goalie when they won the Stanley Cup in 2007, when Burke was the General Manager. One of the main reasons that Giguere was so keen on dismantling his no-trade clause with the Ducks and joining Toronto was because of Leafs goalie coach Francois Allaire. It was Allaire who worked with Giguere through the early stages of his career and turned him into a number one goaltender in the NHL. Leaf nation believes that Giguere is their answer in net, but this season we’ve already seen that he can be very streaky in terms of his performance. In the first game of the season, he made two game-saving toe saves to preserve the victory. But already his performance has quivered. In the Leafs 4-3 overtime win over the Rangers on Friday, Giguere looked absolutely helpless and even lost in the net in the third period. Teams need consistent goaltenders to be good teams and I don’t think Toronto has that with the tandem of Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson.
When Ron Wilson was hired before the 2008-2009 season, he said that he had a plan to make the Leafs better down the road. In his first two seasons at the helm, the Leafs have finished in the basement of the Northeast division. I don’t think Ron Wilson is the man for the Maple Leafs to succeed. I think Toronto should hire a more defensive-oriented coach because the strength of their team (at least on paper) is their defense. Some examples of coaches that implement good defensive systems would be either Jacques Lemaire or Ken Hitchcock. Both have proven track records and were apart of Canada’s Gold Medal winning team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. If the Leafs had a more defensive-minded head coach who would be willing to play a more ‘boring’ style of game, I think they could be a good team. The defense would limit the opposing team’s chances to the outside, which would make life easier on Giguere and Gustavsson.
Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs are undefeated and on top of the NHL, I believe that they currently have too many holes in their lineup and therefore aren’t for real.
