Nightmare may finally be over
Round 1 in Battle of Ontario goes to Leafs in OT shootout
It’s been about the hockey future for so long in these parts that one surely wondered if we would be able to recognize the hockey present when it arrived. Apparently, however, it has. The long nightmare of Maple Leaf Nation that began a decade ago and included season after painful season of waffling ownership, questionable management, inconsistent coaching and lots and lots of bad players may finally be over.
You can say that not just because the Leafs won their first two games of the 2013-14 season on the road, and then followed up on Saturday night in their 96th home opener with a thrill-aminute, come-from-behind 5-4 shootout triumph over the Ottawa Senators that showed how entertaining the sport can be some nights.
It’s not about just three games, and it’s not just about a new goaltending hero in town in 25-year-old Jonathan Bernier, who surely made a lot of believers in a fabulous relief performance against the Senators.
No, you can say the nightmare appears to be over because for the first time in a decade, the Leafs appear to have their house in order.
They not only are saying they want to win. They seem to know how to go about it, and are trying to do it properly and patiently.
There’s a recognizable scent of, yes, competence in the air.
Finally, after all kinds of turmoil and errors, this is an organization that is emphasizing the right things and making good, solid hockey decisions. It’s a young team that sometimes (like for much of Saturday night) looks not-quite-readyfor-prime-time, but is growing together and making its better players, like Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak, want to stay and be part of it.
The serious rebuilding of this franchise started five years ago when Brian Burke — who was in the building last night — brought a new level of focus and ambition to town, which should be a reference point for other franchises, and the Leafs.
It takes that long, and lots of losing, to fix a mess if you make one.
As of today, the Leafs aren’t world beaters or Stanley Cup contenders, but they’re no longer laughingstocks and they’re absolutely nobody’s punching bag.
Three games into an 82-game schedule, GM Dave Nonis, who succeeded Burke last January, is looking as though he had as good an off-season as any hockey GM. David Bolland, picked up from the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, scored two goals Wednesday in the road victory in Philadelphia, and Mason Raymond, signed to a tryout six weeks ago, was outstanding on Saturday night with a goal, two assists and a spectacular spin-arama score for the shootout winner. Bernier, picked up from L.A. in a big summer trade, delighted the more prehistoric Leaf fans in the pre-season by getting into one of those goofy goalie fights, and on Saturday night made ACC patrons happy a more conventional way. He took over for a struggling James Reimer partway through with the Leafs trailing 4-2, stopped 15 shots without error and ultimately helped push the game to a shootout. He faced two shooters and neither could score, leaving new CEO Tim Leiweke — also an L.A. import — pumping his fist and hugging other fans in the plush platinum seats while a packed Maple Leaf Square outside went berserk. So that’s how the week in Leafland ended, a week that began with the signing of Kessel to an eight-year, $64 million contract, the richest in Leaf history. The Leafs then walked into Montreal on Tuesday and stole a win, wrecking the Habs home opener, then did the same in Philly the next night. Suddenly, a 10-game suspension to expensive free agent David Clarkson during the exhibition season doesn’t seem quite as devastating a blow. The absence of Clarkson and other regulars due to injuries created a void, and the Leafs filled it with three young players making their NHL debuts on the biggest hockey stage in North America. Morgan Rielly, 19, was Toronto’s first-round pick in 2012. He had a difficult first period, but by overtime head coach Randy Carlyle was turning to him like a trusted veteran. Wingers Spencer Abbott and Jamie Devane, the long and short of it, didn’t play as much, but both re- present interesting elements in the Toronto rebuild.
The six-foot-five Devane was drafted four years ago, one of Burke’s first picks as he began remodelling the team into a big, intimidating unit. The 25-year-old Abbott was regarded as too small to be a serious pro prospect and was never drafted, but caught the eye of the Leafs two years ago while putting up big offensive numbers at the University of Maine.
Both were trained last season by Toronto’s farm operation, as was Rielly in the AHL playoffs.
Teaching and training players. What a concept.
These are all small pieces in a big, complicated puzzle that seems to be coming into focus for the Leafs after a painful process that at times seemed to be leading the team nowhere.
The Cup? That’s still a distant dream. But dreams are at least possibly now that the nightmare is over.