CFN – GM Brian Burke is smiling this morning as the Leafs came back and defeated the woeful Winnipeg Jets 4-3. The Leafs are now 3rd in the conference with a 4-0-1 record 1 point behind first place Washington.
A good goalie and good defense are always good things, but having your top line pumping out the points never hurts either and that’s where Toronto is this morning. Captain Dion Phaneuf is also playing some of his best hockey in years, and addition Jean Michael Liles is having an impact as well.
The second line isn’t there yet, but Dave Steckel is wowing fans with his face off prowess going 16-2 in the Shoot out victory.
Very different than Montreal where fans are screaming for GM Pierre Gauthier’s neck, and are upset with Scott Gomez, again, even though number 11 hasn’t been that bad this season.
Montreal is suffering from a defensive core issue. Losing Roman Hamrlik has hurt so far, and with no Andrei Markov in sight it’s put a lot of pressure on PK Subban. With no stability in the top 2, and no real strength down the rest of the corps it’s magnifying the loss of Mike Cammalleri.
In Ottawa they called a team only meeting, but they are in the second year of a blow up; not sure team meetings will do much except give us writers something to talk about…
And at the end of the day it could be worse for Montreal and Sens fans. They could be Winnipeg who are stinking out the joint with all the pressure and scrutiny of their first year back in the NHL.
What do you think hockey fans? You can post your comments below.
