Leafs: Take Penalties, Get Injured

Yes, the Giant from Twin Peaks had called it. It is happening again. The Leafs slow and steady fast and furious rush to the trainers table is well under way and proceeding nicely. Our number two center our number 3/4 defenceman and now our number 2 winger and heart and soul player Darcy Tucker is out with knee damage. Question: Do other teams get injuries? I've never heard of any. I don't hear about other teams that get hurt the way the Leafs do. A few years ago Michael Renberg almost had to have his hand cut off because of an infected blister he had got aggravated while tying his skates. The Leafs led the league in man games to injury and yet Howard Berger is allowed to walk around with his hair parted in the center. Where is God now?

The Leafs cannot stop taking penalties and therefore won't stop losing. If you give teams 10 power plays, you're going to lose the game. That's how this all works. On Saturday against Chicago things were rolling along great for a period and a half, looked good. Goalie making saves, scoring, hey, short handed! Blake awesome, Antropov wicked, Steenoh god it's 5 on 3 powerplay. Kaberle breaks his stick on the kill, goal. Thirty seconds later, goal. Two goals in 30 seconds. We're running around, we lose 6-4.

Anton Stralman is called up for Tuesday against the horrible Thrashers. Toskala probably starts. The Leafs will win. 4-2.

WHAT THE? ME AGAIN.

(For what its worth I have to begin by apologizing that its me again. Its disgraceful actually. So because of it I will begin with a few cheap shots at my co-conspirators.)

Any real Leafs fan is gonna tell you that they bleed blue. I would at least. And perhaps there is some truth in that as I can validate that real Edmonton Oilers fans, Moose and Washingtron, are indeed, oily. Cheap shot, yes. Truth, yes. And I know Greener well enough to know that if he could only stop googling his own name long enough he would agree too.
So losing Darcy Tucker is balls. No matter how you cut it. One game, one week, two minutes. Those are seriously man lost games when he is not on the ice. The question is…how could Darcy Tucker not be your favorite player, regardless of team affiliation?

Darcy and his bum knee: the knee the other joints are suddenly calling Bobby Orr, is out with the mysterious indefinitely injury. A word that always makes me think of that scene in Three Amigos, “infamous, infamous’. Tucker who described the injury as "slight damage to some ligaments.” Also promised us, an eye-brow cocked like Roger Moore’s, “It's nothing that's broken or anything so hopefully it'll heal quick." I believe he also said that with an English accent.
What scares me about the word indefinitely, especially when it comes to the Leafs is that like the ubiquitous upper body injury, indefinitely, could mean one game or the reason our once promising first rounder was let go on waivers 5 years later. (Ring, ring. Hello Carlo Colaiacovo, its Norte…do you wanna go to Square One Mall and buy some shoes at Aldo?) Seriously though Tucker, Colaiacovo, Wellwood, Bell. If that’s not the roll call for a rallying point…then there is something wrong in that dressing room.

I don’t really want to talk about the other night’s game. Suffice it to say that it made me sigh a lot. One thing that bothers me about games like that is how they’ll suddenly start shaking up the lines because of it. I like Gamache a lot. And he and Stajan looked good most nights (although I must admit Darcy looked like a half inflated balloon on some nights). All bets are on about who will fill Tuckers role on the line. Most likely Boyd Devereaux (who is coming off his own injury woes.) On the first power play unit. Well that’s anybody’s guess.
I will hold any further comments…until after tomorrow’s game. I will say that I think the goaltender tag team should stop. I think its time to put Toskala in and keep him in. We have to come up big…and by a big I don’t mean scoring 8 goals. I mean score three and maybe give them one. No penalties. Its Atlanta…there is no reason we couldn’t all be thinking the S word.


Dr. Hans Brimmel. Inventor of the shut-out. (Dr Hans Brimmel inventor of the shout out not pictured)