The Toronto Maple Leafs began last season, incredibly, with seven losses and a tie before winning a game. Several notable acquisitions that beefed up Coach Ron Wilson's blue line, given the demise and dismissal of McCabe and Kubina, included Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komiserik. Unfortunately, Vesa Toskala remained between the pipes as the No. 1 goalie, and Jason Blake was expected to deliver goals nightly, and a few other veterans upfront, especially Matt Stajan.
After 20 minutes, in their second game against Washington, the writing was on the wall for Toskala, as he was pulled after letting in three goals. In retrospect, Wilson stated, if he had to do it all over again, he'd have played the youngsters who he'd sent down to the Marlies, rather than the veterans, regardless of their contracts. Throughout the season, the team remained in or near the basement, never recovering from either a lack of confidence or trying too hard.
The team was impressive during the preseason and provided a glimpse of hope for an entertaining season, while management was leaning toward truculence as a tactic to protect a highly touted crop of new talent ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Graeme Boyce
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