After tonight, the Leafs will be at the halfway mark of the preseason. So far they are 3-1-0. After losing 3-2 against Boston in their opening game, but the Leafs rallied back to win 3 games in a row, the longest winning streak they had all of last year.
In the first three games of the preseason, one player had Leafs Nation's eyes on him: Nazem Kadri. Kadri scored his first pro goal in his home arena in London, Ontario versus the Philadelphia Flyers. During that game, the Leafs blanked the Flyers 4-0, with James Reimer and Joey McDonald sharing the shutout.
In that particular game with the Flyers, although it was preseason, it looked as though the Leafs-Flyers rivalry of the 70s was rejuvinated. Fight after fight after fight, even Luke Schenn got involved in the dances. There were three of the four fights in the game were in the first period alone: a testament to Burke wanting to make this team bigger and tougher.
On Friday night, the Leafs faced the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, minus Sidney Crosby, however Evgeni Malkin was dressed and in the lineup. The Leafs fell early, 2-0, however, due to a major penalty for elbowing, the Leafs rallied back with three goals and eventually won that game 4-3. Showing the Leafs have more scoring ability than they did last year.
On Saturday night was the re-match between the Leafs and Flyers. Within the first 2 periods, there were 80 minutes in penalties! 16 of the 18 Leafs penalties were for fighting or roughing after the whistle. That game went into overtime with Niklas Hagman showing flair and netting 2 goals including the overtime winner.
The Leafs are definitely bigger and tougher than they have been since the departure of former Leafs tough guy Tie Domi. However, Bryan Burke did not feel that his team was strong enough up front, he traded and signed former Boston Bruin Phil Kessel for a 1st round draft pick in 2010, 2nd round pick in 2010, and a first round pick in 2011. The trades of not just one, but two first round draft choices shows Burke's faith in his team.
Last season, Kessel had 36 goals (Blake lead Leafs scoring last year with only 25 goals) with the Boston Bruins, and he is only 21 turning 22 years old! This move has some Leafs fans worrying about the future of the Leafs, if they really tank it this year, Toronto will be in trouble in the future, however others praise Burke's move as genius. Remember, Cliff Fletcher traded the Leafs first round pick, along with several other players for Mats Sundin, many people criticized Fletcher for trading so much away for him, then he became the Captain.
However, it's too early to criticize or praise Burke's trade, Kessel won't be in the lineup until mid-November do to surgery to repair his rotator cuff. This trade will either leave Burke looking like a genius and the GM this team has needed all these year, or leave Burke being booed out of Toronto like John Ferguson Jr.
Nicholas Porretta
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