Guess its a good thing we have all these defenceman stocked up, aint it?

Why do I say this? Because Mike Van Ryn is out for a month.

As we all mostly know (if you don’t, see the video below), Tom Kostopoulos was doing his job being an energetic human smasher, and managed to hit Van Ryn from behind, get a boarding penalty, and get kicked out of the game. Van Ryn would end up having trouble getting up, and being sent to hospital.

Turns out that the hit caused him to break his hand.

And his nose.

Oh, and throw in a concussion.

Thankfully for the Leafs, we still have Kubina, Kaberle, Schenn, Finger, Colaiacovo, Stralman, Frogren, and White. In fact, I think we can afford to lose two more defencemen without major hassle. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but I’m just saying…it won’t really hurt unless those two are one of the “big two” and Schenn.

By the way, I’m kind of shocked Grabovski wasn’t the victim tonight - how many times was he hit? Apparently he wasn’t happy either. I haven’t heard his interview yet, but I did hear that he basically called everyone but Koivu on the habs unprofessional. Bad blood? You bet.

As promised, here is the video (thanks to Whitby4Bob, as for some reason I can’t get WMM to take my recordings on this new tuner. Say, does anyone know of a good basic free video editing program to use just for trimming?).

"We're just awesome, aren't we?"

When Cliff Fletcher took over for John Ferguson Jr. last season, he vowed that change was in store. And like newly elected Barack Obama hopes too, Silver Fox has delivered on that promise.

It was never more evident in tonights 6-3 win over the seemingly unstoppable Montreal Canadiens.

A team that has taken its time to adapt to the new NHL, Fletcher brought in some quicker players to help the Leafs become a faster team. The line of Hagman-Grabovski-Kulemin, all new additions to the team from last season, is the prime example of that. They combined for 5 points tonight (3 G, 2 A), continuing their hot streak (10 goals, 19 points over the last 4 games). The trio combine to form the dynamic offensive line the Leafs have been lacking since prior to the lockout.

Another area the Leafs have changed: sticking up for each other. When Van Ryn was drilled from behind, Colaiacovo stepped in right away. When Schenn was tripped up going back for a loose puck, Colaiacovo and Moore stepped in again. It’s evident that the Leafs really do like each other, the respect they have for each other shows when tough guys like Moore and Colaiacovo are throwing shots after the whistle.

But it’s not only amongst themselves that respect is being earned, it’s around the league. For a team that is supposed to be a leader in the Tavares Derby (or Hedman, depends on who you talk to), a 6-5-4 record after 15 games is nothing short of amazing. But it’s not the number of wins that’s earning respect, it’s the way in which they are winning them.

Coming back from a 2 goal deficit is becoming routine for this Leaf team. They came back to tie the game in the last minute before losing in the SO to the Ducks. They came back to tie the game, and take the lead in the 3rd to beat the Bruins. They came back twice versus the Devils to win in the SO. They had a monster 3rd period to beat the Rangers. They came back from a 3 goal deficit in the 3rd before losing to the ‘Canes in OT.

The “never say die” attitude has been adopted as a new slogan (I never liked “Leaf Nation”), and while Ron Wilson would rather not have to come back, he’s not complaining. One could argue that other than the 2nd game of the season vs Montreal, the Leafs have been in every game so far. Had they more success after 60 minutes, the Leafs would be 10-5-0 (second only to the Rangers in the East). And while it may be counter-productive (more on that tomorrow), teams around the league are taking notice. This is a team that doesn’t back down anymore, they don’t fall apart like they did last season. And maybe most importantly to the average fan, they’re an extremely entertaining team to watch.

The respect doesn’t only extend to the dressing rooms of each team, it’s starting to spill out into the stands. For the second time in a week, the Leafs have been applauded off the ice during the final minutes of regulation. The Leafs haven’t had much to cheer for over the past 3 seasons, but it’s very refreshing to see the playoff atmosphere back at the ACC. It’s still early (Leafs aren’t even a playoff team as is), and there may be a lot of losing left to do, but it’s still nice to see (if only for another month or so.)

Cliff Fletcher wanted to mold a fast, hardworking team when he took over in January. The key to it all? Where Paul Maurice would have opted for Chamomille Tea, Ron Wilson prefers Dunkin Donuts.

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Tomorrow: I tackle the Tank Debate.

The Ottawa Senators are only 14 games into the season and are already having a goaltending controversy. Once again sens fans grow restless with the play of Martin Gerber who has 1 win this season. On the other hand Alex Auld is 4-0-1 in his last 5 starts. Over the last 3 seasons sens fans have seen Martin Gerber do many things:

- Lost his job to Ray Emery who went on to lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.

- Led Ottawa to the best start in the teams history

- Ray Emery returns from injury, Martin Gerber begins to feel pressure, folds like a cheap tent.

- Swept in the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins

-Lost starting job to Alex Auld after only winning one game.

Though Alex Auld is unproven as a starter it appears that he is the starter, cause as much as Hartsburg does not want to hurt Gerber’s confidence, you have to go with the guy who’s hot. I don’t think anyone can doubt he is the starter when in the last 6 games the only one he hasn’t started was the second of a back to back. Auld hasn’t lost in regulation this year, while Gerber only has one win this year. Gerber lacks the confidence and ability to deal with pressure to be a number 1. Auld is thought to be a very streaky goaltender, well he now has the chance to prove any of his critics who think so wrong as Hartsburg has unofficially given him the reigns.

The other goaltending option for the Senators is Brian Elliot, the starting goalie for the Binghamton Senators, who has a 5-2-1 record in 9 starts with the Baby Sens. His best performance would probably be his most recent game where he stopped 48 of 52 shots for the win.

IF you were the sens who would you choose?

The shaky Gerber?

The streaky Auld?

or risk ruining Elliot’s development and bring him up?

My thoughts on tonights game as a whole are the same as I’ve pretty much thought all season.

“WHY AREN’T THEY THE FIRST LINE?”

Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski, and Nikolai Kulemin are by far the top line on this leafs team and they continued to prove it tonight with a stunning 6-3 win that would’ve been much better if Toskala hadn’t continued to be mediocre.

To start off, I can’t say enough about Grabovski. He’s just simply been on fire the last 4 games, getting six goals and two assists in that time. For a guy who had three goals in his 27 game career with the Montreal Canadiens, he’s looking pretty good now, with 7 in 15. That second rounder is looking less and less meaningful by the night, with him scoring a goal and adding an assist tonight.

Hagman was also fantabulous, potting two goals, with Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina (my personal favourite leaf), and Alexei Ponikarovsky scoring the other goals. For the 11th straight time, the Leafs have outshot the opponents, and are now 6-5-4 on the year.

Robert Lang, Tomas Plekanec and Captain Saku Koivu scored for the Habs, who fall to an only somewhat amazing 8-2-2. They defintely didn’t go out quietly, with both Tom Kostopoulous and Sergei Kostitsyn being sent off by the end of the game.

Kostopolous made a boneheaded play, hitting Mike Van Ryn from behind. Van Ryn would be hurt on the play, and the most recent word coming from Toronto is that Van Ryn is in the hospital with a “head injury”, though CBC seems to think its just precautionary.

As for Kostitsyn, he felt as if he was entitled to being the 382nd guy of the night to run Mikhail Grabovski, and proceeded to request a fight from Grabo. Grabo seemed just as interested, but thanks to the referees already trying to get Sergei into the box, and Hagman telling Grabo to shut the **** up, that never happened and SKos got an extra ten minutes.

A goal was disallowed with 6:49 left to go, because Chris Higgins apparently doesn’t know where to place his stick.

All in all, a good game. Also, the pre-game ceremony was great. They had the normal HOF game honoring, plus their rememberance day extravaganza rolled into one. It was quite nice, really.