Leafs Bashing Week, 2009-10 - Part II

Well it's been a while since I've posted here, but thanks to a little needling from a 'Nucks and Pucks fan (thanks Becky!) I am keeping the Leafs Bashing Week tradition alive - but the week is condensed into one day, the Game Day.

I am fortunate enough to be attending the game tonight at the ACC in Toronto. I am anticipating a huge crowd of Canucks fans. The last time I saw these teams play was in the 2007-08, when our back-up goalie (Andrew Raycroft) was the starter for the Leafs, there were 2000-3000 Canucks fans at the game. Given the Maple Leafs woeful season, it has been much easier to acquire tickets in Toronto this year - and as a result I am expecting a significant Vancouver representation at the game.

I will go out on a limb and estimate that 1/4 of the crowd will be Canucks supporters - which, if true, should inject some life into the normally quiet ACC.

Anyway, the Leafs have pretty much made Leafs bashing redundant this season. They sit third last in the NHL, and they can't even root for a great draft pick as Brian Burke traded it as part of the Phil Kessel trade. It is quite a disaster for the Leafs and their fans, and really I don't know if I can add anything to the onslaught of criticism that the team has received from the media and from fans.

I hope that the Leafs turn it around soon - it is a much more enjoyable league when there are strong Original 6 teams, including the two Canadian behemoths - Montreal Canadiens and the Maple Leafs. That being said, I am going to enjoy the fact that Vancouver is the top Canadian club right now and has been playing lights out hockey lately.

As a teaser for tonight's game, here is the highlight package from the last time these two teams met, way back in October:



I will post some pictures from the game, so check back here soon. And, as always, if you want to read more of my work look for nucksandpucks posts over at Nucks Misconduct. Or check out this link for a list of my work for the site.

'Nucks and Pucks' preseason prediction off to a roaring start

Regular readers, all six of them, will recall that I made three sets of preseason predictions (well, only sort of "preseason" in one case): order of finish in the Eastern and Western Conferences and Conference and Cup Finals/major award winners. So far they are looking as conclusive as Thomas Dewey's victory in the 1948 Presidential election.

The Flyers, my Eastern darlings, are entrenched in 15th spot in the conference - a place in which they clearly feel comfortable after the 06-07 season. The Dallas Stars, my choice not only to win their division but also the Stanley Cup (!), are kicking around at 12th in the conference.

And the Canucks, my heart-not-head favourite to win it all this year? They're a middling 10th in the West.

Fortunately for my ego the Red Wings are in second in the West, while the Canadiens (who I predicted to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals) are tied for second in points in the East.

Things are not much better on the individual awards front. I was apparently prescient to choose Alex from the Capitals to be among the league's best in scoring - too bad I picked Alex Ovechkin and not Alex Semin, as the latter has 2.5 times as many points as the former.

Marty Turco, who I picked to win the Vezina Trophy, is not off to a hot start and was pulled in yesterday's 5-0 loss to the Devils after some fairly brutal goaltending (start watching at 32 seconds for the worst of it):



Other predictions are looking slightly better: Stars rookie Fabian Brunnstrom has four goals in 5 games, a pace which would likely easily secure him the Calder. And Ryan Kesler's solid defensive play and point-per-game average would place the Canucks forward in good standing in Selke Trophy voting - assuming he can overcome the East Coast bias that potentially robbed Evgeni Nabokov of the Vezina Trophy last year.

Ultimately prognostocation is an inexact science - just ask the now-panicking bookies who gave 150:1 odds on the Tampa Devil Rays winning the World Series. But it's still fun both to make the predictions, and to look back and laugh when they're proven horribly incorrect.

So, while there is still a lot of time for my NHL preseason predictions to come true (after all we're not even through the first month of the season), it is still entertaining to assess the non-success of my forecasts thus far. Maybe I should become a weatherman. Or a bookie.