Bruins vs. Leafs: Stuff To Look Out For

Once again the Bruins have to shake off the rust of a half-week layoff, as the Maple Leafs ride into town on a 3-game winning streak. Stuff to watch for tonight:

The Sundin Saga continues - You've heard so much more about this than you ever wanted to. It's fair to say that Sundin has outdone even last year's Niedermayer Saga, by hemming and hawing away nearly a third of the season schedule. Meanwhile, several franchises -- especially the Rangers, Canucks and Leafs -- are effectively at a personnel standstill while awaiting The Bald One's final decision.

Let me get this off my chest, because I haven't had time to write a full article about it (yet). Screw Sundin. Last season I defended his choice to remain in Toronto against the popular consensus, because I felt he'd earned the option to finish his career as a Leaf if he so chose. And let's not be naive about his rights as a free agent; he's got leverage over the whole process and is only doing what's owed to him after a decade and a half of outstanding play.

But really. Screw this guy. The whole "team first" ethic went out the window when it became clear that he's willing to disrupt an entire season for several teams by dragging his feet through negotiations. More importantly, wherever he lands there's now going to be a media hurricane... and good friggin' luck to whatever coach has to integrate him into a locker room and convince everyone that he's good for the team's chemistry. This whole situation has set itself up to be the biggest letdown since Forsberg decided to make yet another comeback. Oh, wait.

Blake's revenge - I'm pretty sure THN had already gone to press by calling Jason Blake the 10th-most-overpaid NHL'er (#1 -- JovoCop!) before he busted out this wicked spin-o-rama to beat the Devils in the shootout. Let's avoid going to the shootout tonight, shall we?

Toskala sucks - That's actually just a personal opinion. The buzz around Toskala is that he's on a hot streak and almost has his GAA under 3.00 now. But seriously, why is this guy still wearing the Leaf?

Too tough - To be honest, I think the Maple Leafs are a little too good this year... too good for their own good. It seems like ever since the lockout, they've been expected to blow up the roster and start over. Every year they come out, fight just hard enough to get out of lottery contention, and then fizzle. Part of the problem is that they're actually not a half bad team -- they've beaten the Wings, Bruins, Rangers, Habs and Flyers this season. Part of the problem may be that the players actually feel pressure to perform in Toronto, as opposed to a town like Miami where they can just quit on the coach and get away with it. Either way, the Leafs are not an easy game and the Bruins would do well to play a full 60 minutes this time (as opposed to letting them back in a game... see below).

Home cookin' - Toronto is the only team to beat Boston at home this season, and one of only two teams to beat the Bruins by two points (though, to be fair, both games involved an EN goal). Meanwhile, the Bruins are eyeing a 5-game road trip in the second half of the month, so expect them to really fight for the home points.

Keeping a lead - If there's anything that can be said about Toronto this year, it's that they're tenacious.
Game one: Boston up 2-0 after one period, lose 4-2.
Game two: Boston up 3-0 after two periods, Leafs pull to within 4-2 in third.
Game three: Boston up 2-0 after half a period, stave off comeback to win 3-2.
The Bruins have consistently jumped out to large leads this season, only to let off the gas later in the game. If that happens again against Toronto, it might be costly.

Playing or Not?
Sturm: Maybe
Ward: No
Nokelainen: No
Fernandez/Thomas: Conflicting reports. My money's on Tim.

Other previews:
Stanley Cup of Chowder
Rink Rap
Bruins Hockey Blog
The Bear Cave
Pension Plan Puppets (Leafs linkage)
TMLFans

The 10 Worst Plays Of The Past 10 Years

Sometimes your team makes a play that transcends badness and breaches the realm of comedy. We've seen some real doozies this year -- Scott Hartnell's glove throw, Ryan O'Byrne's own-goal, Barry Melrose's coaching career. It got me thinking, and we all know what happens when I start thinking: a top-10 list.

10) Wideman shootout topple



I hate to throw Wides under the bus, but this was ridiculous. This is funnier than 90% of prime-time network sitcoms.

9) Toskala 175' goal



It's a minor miracle Toskala's reputation recovered (sort of) after this one; Dan Cloutier wasn't so lucky. To the best of my knowledge this is the longest goal in NHL history against a guarded net. The only reason it isn't higher on the list is because the puck did bounce a little on the way to the net, which can be challenging for a world-class goaltender. Especially when he has several seconds of advance warning to prepare himself.

8) Conklin's Finals nightmare



This one is exceptional because of its magnitude. The last minute of a tied Finals game is no time for tomfoolery behind the net. Conklin should have consulted Grant Fuhr re: staying the hell in the net during the playoffs.

7) O'Byrne shoots and scores



There were a lot of own-goals in consideration for this list, but most did not qualify for reasons of compassion. Everyone makes mistakes occasionally. For every 1,000 bouncing pucks in front of the net, one might be accidentally knocked in by a defenseman. For every 1,000 passes during a delayed penalty, one will squirt away and go dead-on into the empty net. It's understandable. But what distinguishes O'Byrne's play was that it was an intentional pass, not a mistake. It simply did not cross his mind that the goaltender might not be in a position to receive a blind pass at that very moment -- unfortunate, because Price was 40 feet away at the bench.

6) Hartnell glove throw



The inspiration behind this list. We will never know what was going through Scott Hartnell's mind at this moment. Did he think he was being clever? Did he think he was going to get away with it? Did it just smell that bad?

5) Kovalev Oscar clip



For many fans, this was the defining moment in Alexei Kovalev's career. Faking an injury is against the moral code of hockey. Faking it in the playoffs, at center ice, during an offensive rush, and floating around shaking your hand afterward, and screening your own backchecker out of the play because you're not paying attention to anything other than your own selfish need to have your boo-boo recognized, thus allowing the opponent to score, thus leading to a double-OT defeat... that's an affront to the Hockey Gods. Only the '04 Bruins could have failed to put away a team with that sort of 'leadership'.

4) Phaneuf drops the gloves, his ass



So many things went wrong on this play. First, Phaneuf manages to get leveled by the most annoying player in the Western Conference at the time. Then he misinterprets Ruutu's yapping as an overture to fight; Dion's gloves have barely touched the ice when Ruutu's butt touches the bench. Then, naturally, Phaneuf falls flat on his ass at the very moment that everyone in the hockey world is paying attention. But worst of all is the humiliation of having to pick up his gloves right in front of the Vancouver bench, one of which fell right in front of Ruutu. Imagine if Ruutu had been mike'd for THAT one. Finally, the refs really could've called him for unsportsmanlike conduct... if they wanted to really rub his nose in it.

3) Statue of Liberty



This was the precise moment when Patrick Roy's legacy began to fade. He had made a career and a legend out of his unique combination of arrogance and "money" play. So it was arresting to see him, with less than a minute to go in the first period of an elimination game against the arch-rival Wings, mindlessly waving his glove over his head as Brendan Shanahan scored the game-winner.

2) Patrik Stefan's career microcosm



Buckner. Webber. Norwood. Some players make a single mistake that overshadows an outstanding career. But Patrik Stefan didn't even have a track record to fall back on -- the biggest draft bust of the millenium also happened to play the starring role in what is arguably the worst play in the history of the sport.

"Grandad, can we watch a highlight of you back when you played in the NHL?"
"No."

1) Elisha Cuthbert



'Nuff said.