I've wanted to write a quick note about this since realizing it late last week, so here it is.
The last time Toronto won the Cup was the last time they had a successful tandem in net. For the 07-08 season it looks very much like Toronto will have both Andrew Raycroft and Vesa Toskala in net. In no way am I saying that this new tandem will bring Toronto the Cup, but it's interesting never-the-less. I know alot of people are calling for Raycroft's head, saying that he should be traded or that there's no need for him now that Toskala is on board, but hear me out.
It's obvious by the trade for Tosk and his 2 year contract extension that JFJ is now putting his chips on #35. Having both goalies signed for this season isn't a bad thing at all. I'm betting that they'll pretty much split the games this season (unless there's an injury or extended poor play from one or the other). That, I think, would be the best idea at this point given that Toskala is going from a 30-40 game/year goalie in a market that doesn't have half of the media intensity that Toronto does, to a team that desperately needs someone to step up in net while dealing with the immense pressure that is the Toronto hockey scene. With Toskala playing 40-50 games this season while getting used to the hype of the market, then stepping in next year full time (55-60 games per season, while hopefully having Pogge to back him up) I think that would be the best plan and system possible given the circumstances.
Here are the numbers for the following season (provided by nhlpa.com)
Vesa Toskala - $1,375,000.00
Andrew Raycroft - $2,000,000.00
Total 07-08 Salaries - $3,375,000.00
How does that compare to some of the other starting goalies? I'll just name a couple..
Tomas Vokoun - $5,300,000.00
Nikolai Khabibulin - $6,750,000.00
Manny Fernandez - $4,500,000.00
So, as you can obviously see Toronto has 2 goalies, whom I believe to be capable starters, for under the amount of any of those 3. I'm sure you're aware of some of the other starters numbers in the NHL, so you can see how this compares.
My biggest thrill is this one...
Martin Gerber - $3,700,000.00
Ottawa's backup goalie is getting paid the same amount as both of ours combined. In my opinion, having watched all three goalies play, I'd say in terms of talent Gerber is the lesser of him, Raycroft and Toskala. (I wont even go into my prediction of Gerber being the ultimate bust that he was, I'll save that for another day.)
So lets hope we keep the tandem for now. After all, it did work in 1967.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Allow me to introduce myself...
I would be very surprised if anyone is reading this. However, I'd very much like to get this blog started as I've been interested in officially starting a blog for some time now.
Of course, being a Leafs fan I'll be mostly blogging on all things involving the Leafs, though I'm not the prototypical, biased tunnel-vision stunted Leaf fan.
I wont go into any real personal information about myself, though. As you can see by the title of the blog this is able the Maple Leafs, not about me.
So enjoy the blog if you're reading, remember to leave comments whenever you have the time and tell your friends!
Of course, being a Leafs fan I'll be mostly blogging on all things involving the Leafs, though I'm not the prototypical, biased tunnel-vision stunted Leaf fan.
I wont go into any real personal information about myself, though. As you can see by the title of the blog this is able the Maple Leafs, not about me.
So enjoy the blog if you're reading, remember to leave comments whenever you have the time and tell your friends!
Toronto Maple Leafs; Goalie Situation?
(This post was originally posted on http://www.hockeybuzz.com on July 10, 2007)
Let me start this off by saying the following;
Andrew Raycroft is underrated.
Who just laughed?! Stop it!
Okay, here's the thing. For those of you that think Andrew Raycroft was a bust of a trade for Toronto, raise your hands. Now slap yourselves with said hands. Thank you.
This blog/article/drawn out opinion is about Andrew Raycroft, not about Vesa Toskala. With all due respect to Tosk (or Tusk, apparantly?) Andrew Raycroft should be the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs this upcoming season. He deserves it.
The former Calder trophy winner put up fantastic numbers in his rookie season. Everyone knows that. He wouldn't have won the Calder had he not. Now, after a season like he had we would all expect great things from him, right? Well, ask the good people of Boston how they felt and they'll all tell you the same thing. Raycroft was going to take the Bruins to the promised land. He might have, too.
The problems all started for him with the lockout. While most young players were overseas skating in leagues throughout Europe, Raycroft did very little. He appeared in only 14 games that year (including 3 playoff games), coming back to the NHL for his much anticipated sophomore season, well, maybe a bit rusty. And it showed. He was often on IR or seen at the end of the bench, and for good reason. His numbers were terrible. Let me repeat that; terrible. He posted an ugly 3.71 GAA in 30 games, only winning 8 of them. If I was the GM in Boston at the time I would have traded him too, especially for one of the worlds best young goalie prospects in Tukka Rask. Now, all of you who say that Toronto got robbed in that deal please raise your hands. Now lower them just a bit. Okay, slap yourselves. Thank you. Rask has never played North American styled hockey and forget what mom told you, it's much different. Especially for a goaltender.
So, Raycroft was looking for a fresh start, Toronto was looking for a young goalie to replace the oft-injured Belfour. A win-win, right? Even with his numbers the previous season, I had faith because I knew that Raycroft was not only injured, but also under worked during the lockout so he was rusty. In fact, the under worked part probably lead to his injuries, but that's speculation. (Wait, that's what this site is about, duh!) In the 2006-2007 NHL regular season, Andrew Raycroft appeared in 72 games! I don't even care about how many he won right now (37), he played 72 games after appearing in only 30 the previous season.
Let me ask you something. Don't you think that adding 42 games to your last seasons total (not to mention he sat on the bench almost the entire second half of the 05'-06' season) you're going to get a little tired? Paul Maurice gave up on Aubin. Plain and simple, he didn't want Aubin in net. So Raycroft got more than his share of the load. As an avid (yet non-blinded) member of Leafs Nation, and having watched all but about 5 of Toronto's games last season (yes, LeafsTV!) I noticed something. The first 30 games out of the gate Raycroft looked great. I knew we'd make the playoffs. But he started to slow down. His glove hand disappeared. He was tired.
As the season wore on you could see it more and more that he just wasn't up to taking on that many games, not after a dismal season in which he only played in 30 games! Give or take the fact that Toronto had a so/so at best, Razor was still pretty sharp most of the time. Then, in his last start of the season, a horrible game against the Canadians, in which Aubin was brought in to relieve Raycroft. Think about that. Maurice had given up on Aubin, yet, pulled Raycroft in his favor during the game. Yes, Raycroft was THAT bad. That being said, I really do believe this net-knight (haha!) has a bright future ahead of him.
I truly believe that acquiring Toskala at the draft was pre-mature. If I was GM in Toronto, I would have given Raycroft another chance to prove himself. No rust. Bring in someone like CuJo who could mentor him and back him up adequately. Play Raycroft in 60 games max and see how it goes. No excuses. I think he deserved it. Now we'll never know.
Let me start this off by saying the following;
Andrew Raycroft is underrated.
Who just laughed?! Stop it!
Okay, here's the thing. For those of you that think Andrew Raycroft was a bust of a trade for Toronto, raise your hands. Now slap yourselves with said hands. Thank you.
This blog/article/drawn out opinion is about Andrew Raycroft, not about Vesa Toskala. With all due respect to Tosk (or Tusk, apparantly?) Andrew Raycroft should be the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs this upcoming season. He deserves it.
The former Calder trophy winner put up fantastic numbers in his rookie season. Everyone knows that. He wouldn't have won the Calder had he not. Now, after a season like he had we would all expect great things from him, right? Well, ask the good people of Boston how they felt and they'll all tell you the same thing. Raycroft was going to take the Bruins to the promised land. He might have, too.
The problems all started for him with the lockout. While most young players were overseas skating in leagues throughout Europe, Raycroft did very little. He appeared in only 14 games that year (including 3 playoff games), coming back to the NHL for his much anticipated sophomore season, well, maybe a bit rusty. And it showed. He was often on IR or seen at the end of the bench, and for good reason. His numbers were terrible. Let me repeat that; terrible. He posted an ugly 3.71 GAA in 30 games, only winning 8 of them. If I was the GM in Boston at the time I would have traded him too, especially for one of the worlds best young goalie prospects in Tukka Rask. Now, all of you who say that Toronto got robbed in that deal please raise your hands. Now lower them just a bit. Okay, slap yourselves. Thank you. Rask has never played North American styled hockey and forget what mom told you, it's much different. Especially for a goaltender.
So, Raycroft was looking for a fresh start, Toronto was looking for a young goalie to replace the oft-injured Belfour. A win-win, right? Even with his numbers the previous season, I had faith because I knew that Raycroft was not only injured, but also under worked during the lockout so he was rusty. In fact, the under worked part probably lead to his injuries, but that's speculation. (Wait, that's what this site is about, duh!) In the 2006-2007 NHL regular season, Andrew Raycroft appeared in 72 games! I don't even care about how many he won right now (37), he played 72 games after appearing in only 30 the previous season.
Let me ask you something. Don't you think that adding 42 games to your last seasons total (not to mention he sat on the bench almost the entire second half of the 05'-06' season) you're going to get a little tired? Paul Maurice gave up on Aubin. Plain and simple, he didn't want Aubin in net. So Raycroft got more than his share of the load. As an avid (yet non-blinded) member of Leafs Nation, and having watched all but about 5 of Toronto's games last season (yes, LeafsTV!) I noticed something. The first 30 games out of the gate Raycroft looked great. I knew we'd make the playoffs. But he started to slow down. His glove hand disappeared. He was tired.
As the season wore on you could see it more and more that he just wasn't up to taking on that many games, not after a dismal season in which he only played in 30 games! Give or take the fact that Toronto had a so/so at best, Razor was still pretty sharp most of the time. Then, in his last start of the season, a horrible game against the Canadians, in which Aubin was brought in to relieve Raycroft. Think about that. Maurice had given up on Aubin, yet, pulled Raycroft in his favor during the game. Yes, Raycroft was THAT bad. That being said, I really do believe this net-knight (haha!) has a bright future ahead of him.
I truly believe that acquiring Toskala at the draft was pre-mature. If I was GM in Toronto, I would have given Raycroft another chance to prove himself. No rust. Bring in someone like CuJo who could mentor him and back him up adequately. Play Raycroft in 60 games max and see how it goes. No excuses. I think he deserved it. Now we'll never know.
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