NHL Playoff Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins
It has been nine long and disappointing seasons for diehard Leaf fans in Toronto but finally the wait is over! The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the NHL Playoffs.
To put this in perspective, let's look at what was going on in the world in 2004...
- Paul Martin was one year into office as Prime Minister
- George 'Dubya' was still in his first term in office as President
- Facebook was just beginning to take off and was only used by college students
- Confessions by Usher and The Diary of Alicia Keys were two of the biggest albums of the year
- Shrek 2 was the top grossing film of the year
- The last season of Friends was on the air
- the Boston Red Sox won the World Series after an 86 year drought attributed to "the Curse of the Bambino"
So that's the good news, the Leafs have snapped their playoff drought. The bad news is that they draw the Boston Bruins in the first round. The Bruins won three of four meetings between the Leafs in the regular season and have seemed to have Toronto's number of late. However, two of those Boston wins came by 1 goal and one of those games was decided by a shootout.
The blockbuster trade that former Leafs GM, Brian Burke pulled off with Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli in 2009 continues to dominant the headlines in this Bruins-Leafs matchup. The "Thank-You Kessel" chants from the fans at TD Garden will undoubtably continue and to make matters worse, Phil Kessel will have to deal with arguably the most staunch defender in the NHL in Zdeno Chara. In 22 games against his former team, Kessel has scored only 3 times to go along with 6 helpers and holds a dismal -22 plus/minus rating. Claude Julien, like his coaching counterpart, Randy Carlyle, is a relentless tactician in terms of matchups. Without question, whenever #81 jumps over the boards for the Leafs, we'll see #33 do the same for the Bruins.
In terms of who won the 2009 trade, the jury is still out. The #2 pick in the 2010 draft that Burke traded away to Boston for Kessel turned out to be Tyler Seguin. The young prospect only amassed 11 goals and 11 assists in 74 games in his first season with the B's, but he did come into his own in his sophomore year with 29 markers and 38 assists for 67 points in 81 games. In 48 games this year, Seguin has found the net 16 times to go along with 16 helpers. The other first round pick that the Maple Leafs gave to the Bruins turned out to be Dougie Hamilton, a young and highly touted defenseman who has become a regular on the backend this season.
Kessel on the other hand, enjoyed 3 straight 30 goal seasons to begin his career with the Leafs (with 37 goals and 82 points in the 2011-2012 campaign). He compiled 20 goals and 52 points in the lockout-shortened season this year. There are few players in the league with Kessel's scoring prowess, while Seguin and Hamilton look like promising young talents. Kessel is still only 25 years old himself. With all of this in mind, only time will tell which team won the 2009 trade.
The goaltender that the Leafs will have to find a way to beat this series is none other than one time Leafs' property, Tuukka Rask. Toronto traded Rask to Boston for Calder Trophy winner, Andrew Raycroft in 2006. Raycroft is currently playing in the Italian league (Serie A) while the young Finish netminder, Rask, has posted Vezina caliber numbers this year (2.00 GAA, .929 SVP in 36 games). The Bruins clearly won that trade but hindsight is always 20-20. To be fair, Raycroft truly looked to be the next big goalie after his Calder Trophy win in 2004.
With all of this history in mind, it is clear that this will be an interesting and compelling series between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams somewhat come hobbling into these playoffs as the B's lost three of their final four games and the Leafs lost two of their last three. Both teams know that this is a brand new season and will be looking forward to a fresh slate. The Bruins are only two years removed from their 2011 Stanley Cup Championship and will be hungry to return to the top of the mountain.
With the firing of Brian Burke just prior to the start of the season this year, one can imagine that he will be looking on from an interesting perspective knowing that the team assembled was one that he built. Burke didn't sugarcoat is as he stated in an interview this season, "Sometimes you do the hard work and set the table and somebody else eats the meal." Present GM, Dave Nonis (also a Burke hire) has enjoyed the resurgence of the Leafs this year and will be hopeful for a playoff run for a team and a city that hasn't had much to cheer about in the last decade. One thing is for certain, the city of Toronto will be a buzz with playoff fever as the fan base has a lot of pent up energy that has been brewing for the last nine years.
Now to my prediction for this series. Saying this will be an ugly and physical series is an understatement. The physicality of the Bruins has become their trademark over the last few seasons and it will need to be matched by a tough Maple Leafs squad. James Reimer has been the key to the Leafs' success this year (2.46 GAA, .924 SVP) and he will have to continue his strong play in this series. Young sniper, Nazim Kadri will have to find the back of the net with Chara shadowing Kessel, while James Van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul will have to produce for the Leafs to have a chance of knocking off the Bruins. The playoff experience of the Boston Bruins with guys like Lucic, Marchand, Krejci, Jagr, and Chara all coming up clutch in the playoffs before should prove too much for the playoff inexperience of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm taking the Bruins in 6 games over the Leafs.
It should be noted that as a Habs fan, I hope for a Canadiens-Leafs second round matchup, but in order for that to happen the Rangers need to knock off the Capitals while the Habs have a tough matchup with the surprising Ottawa Senators in their first round series. Here's hoping!
To put this in perspective, let's look at what was going on in the world in 2004...
- Paul Martin was one year into office as Prime Minister
- George 'Dubya' was still in his first term in office as President
- Facebook was just beginning to take off and was only used by college students
- Confessions by Usher and The Diary of Alicia Keys were two of the biggest albums of the year
- Shrek 2 was the top grossing film of the year
- The last season of Friends was on the air
- the Boston Red Sox won the World Series after an 86 year drought attributed to "the Curse of the Bambino"
So that's the good news, the Leafs have snapped their playoff drought. The bad news is that they draw the Boston Bruins in the first round. The Bruins won three of four meetings between the Leafs in the regular season and have seemed to have Toronto's number of late. However, two of those Boston wins came by 1 goal and one of those games was decided by a shootout.
The blockbuster trade that former Leafs GM, Brian Burke pulled off with Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli in 2009 continues to dominant the headlines in this Bruins-Leafs matchup. The "Thank-You Kessel" chants from the fans at TD Garden will undoubtably continue and to make matters worse, Phil Kessel will have to deal with arguably the most staunch defender in the NHL in Zdeno Chara. In 22 games against his former team, Kessel has scored only 3 times to go along with 6 helpers and holds a dismal -22 plus/minus rating. Claude Julien, like his coaching counterpart, Randy Carlyle, is a relentless tactician in terms of matchups. Without question, whenever #81 jumps over the boards for the Leafs, we'll see #33 do the same for the Bruins.
In terms of who won the 2009 trade, the jury is still out. The #2 pick in the 2010 draft that Burke traded away to Boston for Kessel turned out to be Tyler Seguin. The young prospect only amassed 11 goals and 11 assists in 74 games in his first season with the B's, but he did come into his own in his sophomore year with 29 markers and 38 assists for 67 points in 81 games. In 48 games this year, Seguin has found the net 16 times to go along with 16 helpers. The other first round pick that the Maple Leafs gave to the Bruins turned out to be Dougie Hamilton, a young and highly touted defenseman who has become a regular on the backend this season.
Kessel on the other hand, enjoyed 3 straight 30 goal seasons to begin his career with the Leafs (with 37 goals and 82 points in the 2011-2012 campaign). He compiled 20 goals and 52 points in the lockout-shortened season this year. There are few players in the league with Kessel's scoring prowess, while Seguin and Hamilton look like promising young talents. Kessel is still only 25 years old himself. With all of this in mind, only time will tell which team won the 2009 trade.
The goaltender that the Leafs will have to find a way to beat this series is none other than one time Leafs' property, Tuukka Rask. Toronto traded Rask to Boston for Calder Trophy winner, Andrew Raycroft in 2006. Raycroft is currently playing in the Italian league (Serie A) while the young Finish netminder, Rask, has posted Vezina caliber numbers this year (2.00 GAA, .929 SVP in 36 games). The Bruins clearly won that trade but hindsight is always 20-20. To be fair, Raycroft truly looked to be the next big goalie after his Calder Trophy win in 2004.
With all of this history in mind, it is clear that this will be an interesting and compelling series between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams somewhat come hobbling into these playoffs as the B's lost three of their final four games and the Leafs lost two of their last three. Both teams know that this is a brand new season and will be looking forward to a fresh slate. The Bruins are only two years removed from their 2011 Stanley Cup Championship and will be hungry to return to the top of the mountain.
With the firing of Brian Burke just prior to the start of the season this year, one can imagine that he will be looking on from an interesting perspective knowing that the team assembled was one that he built. Burke didn't sugarcoat is as he stated in an interview this season, "Sometimes you do the hard work and set the table and somebody else eats the meal." Present GM, Dave Nonis (also a Burke hire) has enjoyed the resurgence of the Leafs this year and will be hopeful for a playoff run for a team and a city that hasn't had much to cheer about in the last decade. One thing is for certain, the city of Toronto will be a buzz with playoff fever as the fan base has a lot of pent up energy that has been brewing for the last nine years.
Now to my prediction for this series. Saying this will be an ugly and physical series is an understatement. The physicality of the Bruins has become their trademark over the last few seasons and it will need to be matched by a tough Maple Leafs squad. James Reimer has been the key to the Leafs' success this year (2.46 GAA, .924 SVP) and he will have to continue his strong play in this series. Young sniper, Nazim Kadri will have to find the back of the net with Chara shadowing Kessel, while James Van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul will have to produce for the Leafs to have a chance of knocking off the Bruins. The playoff experience of the Boston Bruins with guys like Lucic, Marchand, Krejci, Jagr, and Chara all coming up clutch in the playoffs before should prove too much for the playoff inexperience of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm taking the Bruins in 6 games over the Leafs.
It should be noted that as a Habs fan, I hope for a Canadiens-Leafs second round matchup, but in order for that to happen the Rangers need to knock off the Capitals while the Habs have a tough matchup with the surprising Ottawa Senators in their first round series. Here's hoping!
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