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| Hide your kids. He's got that look in his eyes. |
Hockey's back folks, and with it comes the Leafs' inability to run an effective power play. But tonight is not about analyzing how a team can go for a total of three minutes and nineteen seconds with two different two man advantages and not score. No. It's a night of celebration.
I chose to spend Monday night watching disc nine of the "Toronto Maple Leafs - 10 Great Leafs and Their Most Memorable Games." Disc nine is the third game of the 2002 Leafs/Senators second round series in which Roberts scores the winner in triple overtime. Needless to say, I went to bed all warm and fuzzy inside, full of Maple Leaf love, hope, and blind optimism. This in no way prepared me for the game that took place Tuesday.
Now obviously the game was a disappointment, and not just because I had to stream it online on a 13'' laptop because the powers that be in Los Angeles don't think there's a huge demand out here for a preseason game between two Canadian hockey teams on the opposite coast. Over the summer I had managed to convince myself that the team we have now could not possibly be worse than the team that started the season in blue and white last year and despite the score, I was right: Vesa Toskala was not in net, and Rosehill and Brown destroyed Smith and Spencer, respectively. The first point obviously needs no explanation. The second really shouldn't either. Hanson got a shot at Lee in at the end as well, which was great fun for all the people who find they don't get nearly as many opportunities to reference Slap Shot in day to day life as they would like.
What was awesome about the Rosehill and Brown battles is that they showed that the Leafs - despite their obvious issues with basic hockey-related skills such as passing, shooting the puck on net, and skating - are not letting themselves get pushed around. This team gives a shit. They finally seem to care. They're not quite at Gary Roberts level caring, but it's a step up from the team that was defined by the players who seemed content to play out their contracts and retire without ever participating in another postseason game.
So yes, tonight is a night of celebration. After 20 years of watching the Leafs I can handle the losses, the blow-outs, and the shut-outs, but I will never be able to handle a team full of losers who can't be bothered to throw a punch.
Heart and spirit. Roberts had them both every single night. Here's hoping the team out there on October 7th has them too.
