Results tagged “vesatoskala”

Immediately after the goal, CTV Sportsnet analyst Nik Kypreos declared it to be a career-altering gaffe. We respectfully disagree: ultimately, it was little more than a fluke, and Toskala at least had the benefit of making his mistake in a relatively meaningless late-season game (unlike, say, Tommy Salo). Plus, he got the last laugh: the Leafs ended up winning 3-1, and Toskala made a crucial last-minute save on Mike Comrie which led to the third Toronto goal. Still, in what’s been a forgettable year for the Maple Leafs, his blunder gave fans something to remember—even if it was for all the wrong reasons. We can take pleasure in that...right?

One month into the new NHL season, and this much is obvious: the Toronto Maple Leafs are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, dressed in the league’s silly new jerseys. The Leafs are scoring more often than your younger sister, but they’re also leaking goals at a potentially historic rate. They’ve lost two games by 7–1 final scores, but they’ve also got an 8–1 win and consecutive 4–1 road victories against consensus preseason favourites (Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers). The result is that the Maple Leafs are one of the most entertaining teams in the league, even if they’re seemingly hell-bent on driving their doggedly loyal fans to drink.

It's been a strange week for Leaf Nation.

With much-maligned NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the crowd, the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped the puck on the 2007-08 season at the Air Canada Centre last night. He was probably unable to catch a glimpse of a homemade sign halfway across the arena that read: “Bettman: ruining the NHL since 1993.”

As any hockey fan in Toronto already knows, the NHL draft took place this weekend and featured John Ferguson Jr. trading for a veteran goalie for the second straight year. The newly acquired Vesa Toskala, traded from San Jose, should provide a more stable presence in the net than Andrew Raycroft, and is projected to become the starting netminder.