Maple Leafs- Ottawa and Carolina, Possible Four Points?

by Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano… The Leafs have played some great hockey as of late, but are just coming up short in the points category.  They have out-played, out-shot and out-worked their opponents yet to no avail.

Tonight’s game in Ottawa against the Senators, in what has become quite a rivalry and battle for bragging rights in the province, will be a true tell of how Vesa Toskala reacts to Gustavsson challenging him for the starting job in net

Toskala will need that focus he seems to have on his face.

He has been playing well after being seemingly edged out for the starting job, but after the Monster let in three quick ones in the first period against Calgary, Toskala came in and allowed only two in the next two periods.

But again, he couldn’t hold the gate when the Leafs were surging in the second and third facing few shots as most of the play was at the other end of the ice in the 5-2 loss.

Ottawa has a number of snipers the Leafs will have to deal with: Alfredsson, Spezza, Michalek, young Nick Foligno, and Johnathan Cheechoo, who has shown flashes of past brilliance as of late.  And of course, the always dangerous Alex Kovalev.

Ottawa has been playing fairly well defensively which seems to be the route they are taking this year.

Aside from allowing five goals against the Flyers, they have held teams to three goals or less in five of the last six games, and in 11 of 17 games played this year.

The Leafs have allowed the important first goal against in a well documented 16 of 18 games this year. So, if they have any hope of moving up in the standings, they have to topple this trend.

Toronto must first and foremost get a strong game out of Toskala, then have sound defensive-zone responsibility protecting against those dangerous players who only need one good look to make it count.

Now in the attacking zone, if they pressure Ottawa’s defense, force turnovers, win battles on the boards and overall be more physical than their opponent, they should have a good number of scoring chances.

Yes, this applies nightly and could be said of any team.

But most importantly, they must score on the chances they generate.  They have had chances but seem to be either clutching their sticks too tightly when around the net or just as they say, getting bad bounces.

Let’s get some of the big bodies to the net and put the damn thing in.

The Leafs need a Dave Andreychuk, a Kenny Linesman, a Tomas Holmstrom type of players, who is rare, obviously. But, at least someone that will try to post up in the crease and attempt to bang it home.

This, will in-turn create space in the slot and on the perimeter for Phil Kessel, who’s been hot, and hopefully others to pick a few corners.

The Leafs have shown that they are close to turning a corner and have to just take that next step, digging a little deeper, and these next two games could be the start of a turnaround for the buds.

Hopefully, building on a win, or even just one point in tonight’s game against Ottawa will equate to some payment for their hard work.  This will then create a confident team ready to pounce on the feeble Hurricanes on Thursday in Carolina.

GO Buds!

UFC’ S Georges St. Pierre Say’s, “I’m Not Afraid, Give Me Anderson Silva”

by Stoker MacIntosh… “My goal is that when I retire, I want to be considered the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport, and to have made a difference in the sport,” St. Pierre (19-2) said.

“I’m not afraid of any man in the sport,”

“Now Anderson wants to fight heavyweights and light heavyweights,” said St. Pierre. “Everything is a question of timing.” “Everybody is a threat,”

“It’s always a mathematical problem. I look at what my opponent’s chances are against me in every part of the game and try and find where he has the lowest percentage of chance to win.”

“He’s considerably bigger. It all depends on what the UFC and the public wants. But a lot can happen. I could lose or he could lose and then the interest would drop. But I’m up for it.”

—quotes courtesy of Dave Meltzer yahoosports.com.  http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AlsyRkiy0Qh2xRGYrq2tjmE9Eo14?slug=dm-gsp111409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The Ultimate Fighting Championships elite welterweight champion is a fighter who seems to have no equal. However, if he did, one would have to give the nod to the UFC middleweight champion, Anderson The Spider Silva.

In the minuscule world of insects, the Spider is undoubtedly king; in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, the 185-pound champion Spider Silva also reigns supreme.

So much so, in fact, that it’s no longer a debate regarding who will defeat him in the future; it’s now a question  in the minds of many—with only three fights left on his contract—if he can possibly be beaten at all?

Yet, where Silva has been successful at 185 and 205, Georges St-Pierre has also had similar sucess at 170; he has single-handedly wiped out the welterweight division, of any and all serious competitors.

And in the opinion of this writer, the recent win over Mike “Quick” Swick by British fighter Dan Hardy was nice, yet unfortunately, it doesn’t translate into a win against  St. Pierre.

“The Spider” Silva facing St. Pierre however, would be an entirely different matter.

The Spider seemingly has few deficiencies in his well rounded arsenal, Yet, if there is one area, it would have to be his wrestling ability.

Dan Henderson twisted him off his feet somewhat easily in their meeting last year, and as we know, St-Pierre has been called one of the best, if not the best wrestler in MMA.

GSP would certainly need every ounce of his bolt-of-lightning agility and ground-slamming wrestling maneuvers to have any chance of beating the 185 champion Silva.

And, although it’s never been proven, “The Spider,” in this writers opinion, could easily cross over and become a world-ranked top-10 boxer; therefore, it’s also my opinion that the chances of St-Pierre winning this fight from a vertical position are slim to none.

However, GSP shoots for his opponents legs like he has been literally fired from a cannon—so the extra 15 pounds of added weight would undoubtedly give GSP’s double-leg shooting technique a definite edge , and would likely be the key to victory.

At this point, the actual fight is no more than a mere rumor, but even the remote possibility of the match is enough to make this writer excited.

So good luck to you, my fellow Canadian; stay out of The Spider’s web, don’t stand with this guy, use your wrestling skills, and most of all try not to fly straight into his trap—as the others before you did.

All the same, win or lose, your Country will continue to support you unconditionally.

Time for Roy Halladay Suitors To Line Up

by Ian Hunter… It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I’m come to grips with the fact that Roy Halladay is likely not going to be a Blue Jay for much longer. The poor guy was dangled like chum in front of hungry sharks at the trade deadline, and now Alex Anthopoulous has the daunting task of trading away the franchise’s best player.

By this point, I’m sure Alex Anthopoulos and Paul Beeston have narrowed down the candidates to which they are willing to trade Roy Halladay to. Ultimately, Doc has the final the say the matter so that means any potential suitors must be contendors and give him a chance at winning.

Below is what I believe to be the short list of candidates for Roy Halladay:

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels seem to be the front-runners on the short-list to land Halladay in a trade. They have handily won the AL West the past five out of six years and would give Doc arguably the best chance to pitch in the playoffs.

Whether or not John Lackey walks away from the Angels, they could definitely benefit from having Halladay in their rotation (then again, who wouldn’t?) Plus, Mike Scioscia knows that if he has to yank Roy Halladay from a game, that he won’t give him lip like Lackey did.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are no longer high on Chad Billingsley, and Los Angeles needs a bona fide ace to anchor their starting rotation. A deal swapping Halladay for Billingsley makes perfect sense…not to mention, Halladay would rack up the wins facing teams in the NL Central. No more of this playing second fiddle in the Cy Young voting.


Philadelphia Phillies

At the trade deadline, the Phillies went home with the second-best looking gal at the prom (Cliff Lee) but now they have an opportunity to bring in the valedictorian of the pitching class in the majors.

Luckily for the Blue Jays, the Phillies still have many of the players they were hoping for initially at the trade deadline. If the Phils would part with J.A. Happ and Kyle Draebeck, this deal could happen and would immediately give the Phillies the best starting rotation in baseball.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox probably have the deepest farm system and young major league talent to offer up to the Blue Jays to get Halladay. Whether they would be willing to part with Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, or others remains to be seen.

New York Yankees

Out of all the places that Roy Halladay could be traded to, this would be my biggest nightmare. If traded to New York, not only does Alex Anthopoulos give the Yankees an even better chance at repeating as world champions, it also means the Blue Jays would have to face Doc at least three or four times in divisional match ups. Great for television ratings, but bad for our souls.

Luke Less Than “Schenn-Sational”: Sophomore Jinx, or Under Achiever?

by Eric Warren… Luke Schenn must be banging his head against a wall right about now. If he isn’t, he should be.

Shenn was drafted last year by the Leafs, fifth overall , and was touted in many hockey circles as a ” Blue Chip-Blue Liner “.

When I first saw him play during the pre season last year, I said to myself, “Self, this kid looks like he’s going to be pretty good.”

I have got to stop talking to that guy!

All joking aside, after about the halfway point of last season, Luke Schenn all but disappeared. Once the euphoria died down, and the season wore on, he became just another struggling Toronto Maple Leaf player.

Schenn, has two points in 17 games so far this year, and just 20 shots. He also sports a +/- of minus-five. Which puts him tied for fourth worst on the team. He is still four spots ahead of Mike Komisarek, though, who is a minus-9.

Schenn is going to be one of the premier players in this league in years to come, there is little doubt in my mind of that, but he has got to shake this “sophomore jinx” that he has fallen into.

It isn’t good to see that kind of under achieving on a regular basis, but he isn’t the first player to go through it, there have been a great many of them that have gone on to be great players.

Ron Wilson has been quick to leap to Schenn’s defense in the past, but I think it may be time for young Mr. Schenn to spend some time in the press box for a couple of games, and see if that helps wake him up a little!