The Pre-Season

Opening Night is still a ridiculous two months away and free agency is winding down (quick! someone sign Yashin!) but the pre-season schedule has been released. Sadly, this is becoming the only time that the Leafs will see some teams. This year's schedule has two Red Wings games in addition to the February 9th tilt but if the league continues with its scheduling format pre-season will be the only time that these two rivals will meet for two seasons.

Toronto will also tease Winnipeg with a taste of 'NHL Hockey' with a game on September 19th. Just to rub salt in the wounds they'll be playing the team that flew the coop, the Phoenix Coyotes. Actually, looking at their roster, Winnipeg is probably better off.

These games will all be on LeafsTV so odds are that most fans won't get a good idea of what the Leafs can do until the season starts. Fear not, I'll be watching the games and writing game recaps to let you know who plays with Blake.

Leafs 2 v. Red Wings 3(SO): Baby Steps

Scoresheet
Statistics

Game Recap
I already covered the flashpoint of this game, the Kubina incident, earlier and the game was nothing to write home about other than the fact that the Leafs again gave up a shorthanded goal. This time, their lollygagging allowed the Wings to get a three-on-two with Darcy Tucker's man Kris Draper roofing the puck over Raycroft's shoulder. That sort of lazy backchecking was endemic during Pat Quinn's tenure and Maurice must have been going insane.

The scary thing was the stat that was quoted that in 2005-2006 teams that scored a shorthanded goal went 141-39 with the Leafs popping in at 10-2. Clearly, the sense of urgency on the powerplay, which is good in terms of puck pursuit in the offensive zone, needs to be expanded to the backcheck as well.

The best part of the game was that it went to a shootout and we were a able to get an idea of how the team would approach a weak spot from last year. For a team that missed the playoffs by two points going 3-7 in shootouts was the difference between a fifth straight elimination of the sens and a summer of rebuilding. Of course, the problem with facing the Red Wings in a shootout is that they have some amazing one-on-one players. However, there is hope that we will fare much better this year.

Toronto Shooters
Sundin – Almost lost the puck going in but he went with his great wrist shot high glove and scored
Suglobov – Came in at least 200 times faster than Allison used to, tried a deke that had Osgood on the verge of falling but just put it wide
Wellwood – More controversy! He deked the crap out of Osgood but the Detroit tender managed to throw his glove back to 'stop' it. The netcam was not set up so the angle that showed that the puck was in Osgood's trapper which was in the net was unavailable. Leafs lose.

Detroit Shooters
Hudler – Skated in and shot high glove off the post and in.
Zetterberg – Perfectly executed the the Forsberg-move. Note to Leafs: Do not go to a shootout with Detroit in our only regular season game when they will have Pavel Datsyuk available.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Pavel Kubina displayed some of his offensive skills by sneaking in from the point and taking a Peca pass before flicking it over Osgood’s shoulder.

Second Goal
Sundin wins the faceoff cleanly and Wellwood recovers the puck. He dishes it to Kaberle who shoots? Yup, you read that right. Osgood lets out a huge rebound and Sundin buries the rebound.

The Final Word

"Don't panic," said Maurice of what fans watched at the ACC last night. He dismissed it as two tired teams playing out the exhibition string and looking ahead to the regular season.
Paul Hunter, Toronto Star

Leafs 2 v. Red Wings 4: A Tale of Two Teams

Forward Lines
Wellwood Sundin Ponikarovsky
Kilger Peca Antropov
Steen Stajan Tucker
Suglobov Pohl Battaglia

Defence Pairings
McCababe Kaberle
Kubina Wozniewski
White Gill

Scoresheet
Statistics

5 Things that will give you Hope

1. Andrew Raycroft made a couple of great saves, including a couple of great reaction saves, and generally looked solid for a second straight game.
   
2. John Pohl centred the fourth line, scored his third goal of the pre-season, and looked lively all night.
   
3. Aleksander Suglobov is starting to look a lot like Sergei Berezin (I also lay claim to being the first to make that comparison).
   
4. The Leafs only took THREE penalties! This was largely because the Leafs were moving their feet. Even when they were pinned in their zone they did not pick up the same penalties as last year (hooking, tripping, interference) that so often arose from static feet.
   
5. The Leafs moved the puck extremely well. So much of the success of good teams last year was based on quick puck movement from the defence to the forwards. The passes were crisp from all the defencemen (even Hal Gill) and the forwards were getting through the neutral zone with speed. In the first period, the Red Wings could not handle the Leafs.

5 Things that will take that Hope into a dark alley and shoot it

1. Aleksander Suglobov looked like Sergei Berezin. On one shift he went from losing the puck to Datsyuk in the slot in front of the net and about 20 seconds later he led a rush and almost pulled off a great deke to create a scoring chance. Get used to the frustration if he makes the team.
   
2. Andrew Raycroft's strength does not lie in playing the puck. The first goal combined a terrible attempt at playing the puck with a dodgy attempt to hug the post. If this is a case of Raycroft and the defence still working out their communication then get used to seeing Adventures In The Trapezoid.
   
3. The powerplay, and specifically Kubina, had trouble with the Detroit forecheckers. Cleary almost scored a couple of shorthanded goals. Granted, Detroit had the top-ranked PK last year but the back end needs to show more urgency on the powerplay. (note: I realize this kind of goes against # 5 above but the problems that the Leafs had on the powerplay were not present at even strength until the third period.)
   
4. After a strong first period in which the Leafs outshot Detroit 13-5 and drove them to take four penalties with their strong skating they took their foot off the gas. The Leafs only got 11 shots the rest of the way as they got away from their early game plan. A team that cannot put together a full 60 minutes will frustrate their fans to no end.
   
5. The Steen-Stajan-Tucker line was -9 as a group (-3 each). These three are players that must increase their offensive output and improve their consistency for the Leafs to succeed. Granted, they are getting used to each other but there is only one more game before the real season starts.

Of course, you can take all of this with a grain of salt because this was the first game in which Maurice was able to use his probably opening night lineup. On the other hand, there is just one more game until October 4th. Tomorrow night will help flesh out the answer to my four earlier questions.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Good puck pressure from Stajan forced the puck up the boards to Kubina who fired a low, hard shot from the blueline. Pohl was the first to react to Hasek's big rebound and he slotted his third home before Dom could react.

Second Goal
This goal highlighted a dogged puck pursuit which result in the recovery of the puck three times. As for the play, it will sound familiar: Kaberle feathers a pass to McCabe for a one-timer, repeat as necessary for goal. On this powerplay it took four shots. Wellwood provide a good screen as the puck found its way through Hasek's legs.

Three Stars
DET - Cleary
TOR - Kaberle
DET - Franzen

The Final Word

The Leafs may be forgiven their shakiness. Raycroft hadn't played in a week while Maurice let Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Mikael Tellqvist battle for the backup's spot. And others, like Mike Peca, Darcy Tucker, Kaberle and Pavel Kubina were all returning from injury.

Kevin McGran, Toronto Star

Babcock said Cleary was a gifted offensive player in juniors but "he got to the National Hockey League, and that didn't work for him. He's made a commitment to training and a commitment to being a pro. ... He's growing up, and he's a man and he plays like it. I think (if) Danny can keep it in perspective and not get ahead of himself, I think you'll see more and more it'll come up."

George Sipple, Detroit Free Press

Leafs 3 v. sens 5: Fisher sinks Buds

Game Recap
I will not lie. I forgot that there was a game last night. Toronto, still more Marlies than Maple Leafs, dropped to 3-3 in the pre-season after coming out on the short end of a 5-3 decision. I only caught about five minutes of the third but I still managed to see the most heartbreaking play of the pre-season.

After dueling end to end rushes the puck found itself in Public Enemy #1's skates. Alfredsson compliantly looked down in an attempt to locate the puck while simultaneously getting on the trolley tracks. Lo and behold Ponikarovsky comes flying into the picture from offscreen. "Great! revenge for that Tucker hit!" Alas, Alex pokechecked the sens' captain. I guess he wanted to take an eighth shot. Revenge will have to wait for another game. Oh well. Since I missed the game, here are a couple of highlights from opposing bloggers.

The Fans' Eye View

On the flipside, it was another piss poor performance from the Russian that was supposed to save us. Murray gave Kaigorodov every chance to succeed even though he took him off the Alfredsson line. He was lined up with red hot Denis Hamel and Patrick Eaves, who has an uncanny ability to find the net, and yet he still didn't generate much in the way of offensive chances.
Chris McMurty, Hockey Country

The post game scrum around Mikael Tellqvist was telling, the reporters and the now embattled Leaf backup seemed resigned to the fact that he has probably played his last game in a Leaf uniform. Mikael expressed a hope that a decision would be made soon as it is hard on both him and his fiancee not knowing what is happening.
The Meatriarchy, The Battle of Ontario

The Final Word

With seven of Toronto's starters missing from the lineup, last night's game against Ottawa was hardly a barometer for the season. Instead, it gave head coach Paul Maurice yet another look at the many Leaf hopefuls. And with three games remaining on the pre-season schedule, several players had more than just winning on their minds. Forwards John Pohl and Alexander Suglobov hoped to land a roster spot by scoring goals, while goaltender Mikael Tellqvist simply wanted to stop more pucks than backup candidate J.S. Aubin has so far this pre-season.
Michael Traikos, National Post

And because sens fans love to talk about the playoffs here is a video to remind them of them successes. Pause at the end and see some hilarious regular season points total versus playoff games statistics. Pay close attention to 2000-2001. I wonder who swept them?

Leafs 2 v. sens 3: Marlies Win Streak Snapped

Game Recap
The Halifax Metro Centre was the site of this 'home' game for the Leafs. Thanks to our national fan base the poor sens were treated to a less than hospitable reception. Paul Maurice dressed almost the entire Marlies squad in order to reward them for their hard work in camp. The AHL team came flying out of the gates against the veteran laden sens and skated them off the rink. The Baby Leafs outshot them 19-6 and outscored them 2-0.

Unfortunately, the second and third periods saw Mark Lee put in an impressive performance for the sens. What? You have never heard of Mark Lee? well that's because he was the ref for the game but that did not stop him from helping the sens out with a few 5-on-3s (Heatley and Spezza promptly scored) and a string of penalties that took the wind out of the team's sails. A blistering first intermission team talk from Brian Murray probably helped improve the sens's effort as well.

sens' fans can also take heart from the fact that both goal scorers are in mid-season form. Spezza hacked Steen in the back and tried to intimidate him until Brad Brown suggested that maybe Jason would prefer to dance with him. Spezza (aptly described as a punk)promptly skated hard for the bench. And, in a clear sign that Dany has now completely acclimated himself to the sens, he took a two-handed tomahawk chop to Brendan Bell's ankle. In typical sens fashion, that brutal baseball swing added the defenceman to the injured list which now reads like the Leafs starting defence corps.

All in all it was a good game. The penalty kill again looked good. 5-on-4 the Leafs got in the shooting lanes well and put pressure on the puck. 5-on-3 was where the class of the sens' forwards shone through. Although the scoresheet will show that the Leafs allowed 3 PPGs fans can take solace in the fact that one came with one second left in a penalty (Kelly's goal was scrambled in front) and two came on 5-on-3s. The work that has been done on the powerplay was evident as the puck was moved around sharply and quickly regardless of the on-ice personnel.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
This one was courtesy of the powerplay. Wozniewski passed it to Bell at the top of the zone who then feathered a pass to O'Neill. He blasted a one-timer through Emery's legs to give the Leafs the lead.

Second Goal
Jay Harrison, in another solid outing, stopped a clearance at the blueline and got a low wrist shot on net. The soon to be a Leaf John Pohl pounced on the rebound and fired it high to double the lead.

The Final Word

The ottawa senators should have known they were in for a tough night the minute they touched the ice at the Halifax Metro Centre. They got booed. It was just like playing at the Air Canada Centre. Even the big screen mocked the senators by flashing "Go Leafs Go." Halifax is Maple Leafs Country. It looked as if the sellout crowd of 10,595 would go home happy, too. The Leafs took it to the Senators in the first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals from Jeff O'Neill and John Pohl. At that point, though, senators coach Bryan Murray exploded, and it worked.

Allen Panzeri, The Ottawa Citizen

Despite a disappointing 3-2 loss here last night that saw the Ottawa Senators take control of the scoreboard with two goals in the third period, the Leafs gave a solid, encouraging account of themselves, and have now set up some tough decisions for the next round of roster cuts.

Mark Zwolinski, The Toronto Star

Three Stars
Since this was not played in an NHL arena there are no official NHL stats so I have no real idea if any were selected. Here is my opinion:

3rd star: JS Aubin - he is definitely not making the back-up decision easy and he has to be the favourite to stay with the big club.

2nd star: Jay Harrison - another strong defensive effort will see the defenceman's chances of staying with the Leafs take a boost. If not, he will definitely be one of the first call-ups when the injuries came. He is also the best defenceman at getting his shot through on net.

1st star: Mark Lee - whenever the sens looked like the Baby Leafs might build up some momentum Lee made a big play to stall them. Instrumental in both 5-on-3 powerplays in the third period that saw the sens take a lead that they would no relinquish.

Leafs 4 v. Habs 3: Marlies Bring Down Habs

Game Recap
The Leafs (3-1) continued their solid pre-season with a 4-3 victory over the still winless Montreal Canadiens (0-4). Toronto fielded an NHL-minimum 8 veterans as the Marlies made big contributions to the win over what was an almost full-strength Montreal team.

Andrew Raycroft got the start and pushed the string of strong goaltending performances to three. He was the best penalty killer on a night that saw four 5-on-3 deficits for the Leafs. Andrew also made a variety of big saves including one on Guillaume Latendresse (overrated) on a breakaway with the paddle of his stick. I think that those people hoping for the Great Andrew Raycroft Experiment to blow up in JFJ's face will be sorely disappointed. If anything, Habs fans should be worried that Huet looked pretty bad again last night. If he cannot repeat last season's heroics then the Habs will have to hope that Aebischer can step in.

Another JFJ gamble looked great last night. Michael Peca, looking much more like the playoff version of his 2005-2006 edition, seems intent on proving some ex-fans wrong. He buzzed around, won 57% of his faceoffs, and was one of the Leafs stronger forwards. Peca was also a big part of Toronto killing off 15 straight penalties until Mark Streit's goal on a two-man advantage. The penalty kill is rounding into form. They killed 9 of 11 penalties with one coming on the aforementioned 5-on-3 and the other coming as a result of a failed Raycroft clearance and a scrambled rebound.

The big star of the night was Suglobov who was the most dangerous forward. He was not afraid to take on defenders (Maurice mentioned maybe he was too willing) or to shoot the puck. He also formed a promising trio with Alex Steen and Matt Stajan that caused the Habs headaches during their short time together.

The Leafs defence handled their NHL counterparts well. They rarely had any real problems dealing with the Montreal forecheck. White and Bell showed a facility with the puck that belies their years and will make it very hard for Paul Maurice to send them across the Gardiner to the Ricoh. New signing Hal Gill also had a much better game. He used his long reach to keep the Habs forwards off balance and looked much more disciplined than last year (except for a penalty he took after Kilger was lowbridged by Komisarek but that's standing up for your teammates so he gets a free pass).

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Erik Westrum sent Jeremy Williams down the right wing. As soon as he got a stride on his defender he shot and missed the net. Luckily, the puck rebounded off the end boards to Suglobov who made a sick shot over Price's right shoulder and into the top left corner. It was such a tight shot that it needed a video review to be confirmed.

Second Goal
Kyle Wellwood lost the puck at the blueline after taking a great pass from Wozniewski. Bates Battaglia, who was following up the play, slid the puck through the defenceman's legs to Wellwood who proceeded to leave Huet searching for his jock strap.

Third Goal
A picture perfect break out saw the puck move from Wozniewski to Harrison to Westrum to Suglobov. Aleksander attacked his defender and wanted to fire a shot through the screen. Fortunately, he fanned on the shot and the puck bounced to Jeremy Williams who knocked the puck out of mid-air and directed it over Huet's shoulder.

Fourth Goal
Suglobov, Steen, and Stajan were AMAZING on this shift. They pinned the Habs inside their zone. They twice kept the puck in the zone and created three goal scoring opportunities before before Stajan finished off a one-two with Suglobov with a shot under Huet's arm. Huet does not look like the goalie that made the Habs think that they could give up on Theodore.

Three Stars
Andrew Raycroft
Aleksander Suglobov
Mark Streit

Leafs 5 v. Habs 1: A Paradox

Game Recap
The Leafs continued their winning ways with a 5-1 victory over the old enemy. The Leafs started five Marlies on the blueline and the Habs responded with many AHLers giving this game more of a Marlies v. Bulldogs feel. However, the lineups did not keep the Leafs from putting together a very strong effort.

J-S Aubin picked up where he left off last season. He dealt with the few Montreal scoring chances in the same steady fashion that characterized the Leafs late season run. There were not too many second shots due to some strong rebound control and the steady presence of the young defence corps. In fact, the Habs' only goal could barely be considered a legitimate chance. Aubin unsuccessfully tried to ring the puck around the boards which led to a ricocheted shot from the point. Freland popped in the loose puck before the Leafs' tender could get his glove on the puck.

The five young defencemen mostly took advantage of their chance to showcase their skills. Jay Harrison showed a Jason Smith-like approach to the game. He was a strong presence around the net and was confident on the puck. Staffan Kronwall crashed into the boards feet first early in the first. He injured is right ankle and hopefully it is not as bad as it looked initially. Ian White shone on the powerplay where his patience on the puck made up for Kaberle's absence. Brendan Bell rounded out the trio of strong performances.

If these guys can keep it up over the weekend then they will be leaving JFJ with an incredibly tough decision. If I was handicapping the race I would have White and Bell in the lead with Harrison and Kronwall close behind. NOTE: Carlo will probably jump to the front of the line if he gets healthy. Andy Wozniewski had a bit of a rough night. Twice, hard cuts by Montreal forwards left him on his heels hoping to get bailed out by his teammates. He did, however, pick up an assist on Pohl's goal. He has a bit of work to do to get back into the picture.

On the forwards' side, Bates Battaglia continues to show flashes of 2002. He made good use of his strength and seems to have a bit of chemistry with John Pohl and his old 'Canes buddy Jeff O'Neill. Pohl looks good value for his acquisition fee (nothing) and one-way contract. He scored a goal and added a nice rush where he beat the Habs defenceman wide and almost tucked it between Halak's pads.

The paradox is that since these are the Leafs and this is the pre-season this win means absolutely nothing. Of course, Montreal has now lost all three games so they are probably more inclined to downplay the importance of the pre-season. However, an interesting stat is that last year Sabres were 6-2 in the fake season. That early momentum spurred a strong start to the regular season and a run to the Eastern Conference Final. The defence handled the forecheck like veterans.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Montreal started off the game in a bit of penalty trouble. A beautiful five-way passing play moved the puck quickly from McCabe to White to Sundin to Wellwood who slid the puck cross crease to Tucker to slam the puck into the open cage. Wellwood was tried out on the wing in the hopes of providing Mats with a playmaker. It seemed to spur him to shoot more often which led to the second goal.

Second Goal
Sundin, who Maurice wants to have shooting a lot more this season, added a second power play goal just after the three minute mark. He corralled the puck on the half boards before launching a bullet from the right hand hash marks over Danis' shoulder.

Third Goal
This was the first of three even strength goals. Brad Leeb won an offensive zone faceoff cleanly back to Wozniewski who slid a backhand on net. Jon Pohl hammered home the rebound before Halak could react.

Fourth Goal
Aubin kicked out a rebound right onto Newbury's stick and he made a great pass to release Suglobov on a breakaway. He made a nice fake to the backhand, went back to his forehand, and slotted it in off the post. Ironically, aside from a good bit of backchecking in the second, Suglobov had been invisible.

Fifth Goal
A Craig Rivet clearing pass hit Sundin's fallen stick and was picked up by Wellwood. He dropped it to the now fully equipped Sundin who one-timed it at the net. Poni muscled away from his checker before slotting the rebound before the goalie could recover.

LeafsTV Three Stars
JS Aubin
Ian White
Mats Sundin

Leafs 3 v. sens 1: Re-book the Parade!

The Leafs' playoff chances were written off after their 4-0 loss to the Sabres on Monday so I can only assume that last night's 3-1 win over the Cup contender sens that city officials are looking at parade logistics this morning. That's right, the Leafs renewed the Battle of Ontario without missing a beat and rang up a second consecutive win against the ladies from the nation's capital.

Seriously, it is only pre-season but it is good to see some good performances out of some of the youngsters, most notably Brendan Bell, and trade-bait Mikael Tellqvist. On the forward front, my co-favourite for a big year, a rebuilt and revitalized Jeff O'Neill, was a revelation as was a former charge of Paul Maurice, Bates Battaglia. The bottom line is that this is one more game spent by the boys learning Maurice's system and each game helps.

Of course, the joke of the day is the the sens saw 'p-season' on the schedule, thought it was the post-season, and let a hot Leafs goalie shut them down in a demoralizing loss. The bad news is that Kubina is joining Kaberle and Carlo on the injured list. Also, Hal Gill had four giveaways. Hopefully, all issues will clear up before the real games start.

The Final Word
As always (twice) here is the final word from each city:

Kaigorodov, 23, the touted Russian centre who is attempting to find a home on a line with captain Daniel Alfredsson and Peter Schaefer, didn't inspire much confidence last night. While he only had half a game to work with Alfredsson -- the captain left the game for precautionary reasons in the second period after suffering a groin injury -- he didn't showcase much. Early on, he shied away from a couple of hits at the blue-line. [Editor's Note: Sounds like he will fit in just fine] He suffered the embarrassment of falling, untouched, deep in his own end late in the first period. While the combination lasted, there was little chemistry between Kaigorodov and Alfredsson. In the third period, Mike Peca beat Kaigorodov cleanly on a draw deep in the senators' zone, leading directly to the Maple Leafs' third goal from Andy Wozniewski.

Ken Warren, The Ottawa Citizen

The Toronto Maple Leafs no longer enjoy the economic advantage that once that allowed them to shop in the free-agent market and buy some of the best talent available. But they are betting that their one-year, $2.5-million (U.S.) investment in Michael Peca will make a difference this coming National Hockey League season. Peca, playing his first exhibition game with the Maple Leafs, set up two goals in the third period that helped lift Toronto to a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place last night. Centring a line with Nik Antropov and Chad Kilger, Peca was one of Toronto's better forwards, especially during the later stages of the game as the Leafs rallied from a 1-0 disadvantage midway through the second period.

David Naylor, The Globe and Mail

So it's a good start to Peca's Leaf career and an opening victory over the sens. It does not count for much in the pre-season but after missing the playoffs every little bit counts.

Leafs 0 v. Buffaslugs 4: Same Old Story?

In a perfect world I would have watched the entirety of the game last night and written a summary to slake the interest of those who are not blessed with LeafsTV. However, I do not live in a perfect world and the pre-season status of the game relegated it to second-class status so I could only muster a period before the cries of 'It is only a pre-season game!? so this game doesn't matter!? CHANGE!' became defeaning.

Through My Eyes

The line-ups were obviously lacking some starters but there were a few good things that I can report based on the 20 minutes of hockey that I watched. The most important was that the new Sabres' jersey is terrible. It features numbers on the chest, white body, dark sleeves, and the colours are nothing like the original. Although, apparently, Martin Biron likes it. My guess would be that the terrible fashion in Buffalo has inured him to the hideousness of the jerseys.

Aside from the crimes against fashion I felt that the Leafs did well in the first period. They skated with the notoriously fast Sabres (I guess it is the law now that you cannot mention them without saying how fast they are), Antropov looked like he had taken advantage of his first summer not spend re-habbing something, and Raycroft reminded me of Ed Belfour. No, not the 2006 vintage but the 2004. He was very well positioned, squared up to the shooter, and did not have to rely on any acrobatics to stop shots. The defence also looked fairly good in that first period. They were strong on the puck (especially Jay Harrison) and, except for the usual pre-season errant passes, generally moved the puck well considering that the unit lacked the passing Tomas Kaberle, Ian White, or Brendan Bell.

Unfortunately, once I changed channels and stopped concentrating on the game the wheels fell off. The penalty kill that looked so effective allowed 3 PPGs in the second and a fourth in the third period. The stong play on the puck became soft and the shots on goal never really materialized. The good news is that this is just a pre-season game and I remember the Jays had losing records in the Grapefruit League during the glory years.

The Final Word

This will be a round-up of what the papers from both cities thought of the game.

Leafs coach Paul Maurice has said that he intends to stress discipline this season. He has got a lot of work ahead of him. At one point, the Leafs took six consecutive penalties. Perhaps it's unfair to expect them to erase seven years of bad habits under Pat Quinn in one night, but they'll have to do better. It would be easy to write it off to the fact that it was the first pre-season game, but it was the Sabres' first game, too.

Al Strachan, Toronto Sun

In front of an Air Canada Centre crowd that clearly wanted him to do well — they cheered warmly when the netminder gloved a wrist shot from the point — Raycroft looked good.

Paul Hunter, Toronto Star

Then, unlike their new logo, the Sabres found their legs at the intermission. No longer jittery, a few of the team's youngbloods turned the game into a stampede and trampled the Maple Leafs, 4-0. All of the goals came on power plays, drawing boos from the 18,851 fans in attendance.

Tim Graham, Buffalo News

All in all it was not the most auspicious start for the Leafs or my game reports but it is still the pre-season and we are both working out our kinks. Thank God I am not doing Paul Maurice's practices. Hopefully that means that the Leafs will be hitting their stride sooner rather than later.