Reimer trying to remain positive during tough stretch

James Reimer was hoping to make a good impression in front of friends and family in his home province on Saturday.

“We felt it would be the decision to let a guy play in his hometown,” said Randy Carlyle of his decision to start Reimer against the Jets on Saturday, in what would be Reimer’s 4^th start in 16 games.  

In the end it turned out to be the wrong move. Reimer struggled allowing 4 goals on 19 shots. The first shot he faced trickled behind him.

The rest of the game wasn’t much better.

Reimer’s poor outing continued a trend that has been apparent over the last month – and as a result any hope of regaining the number one job in the Toronto goal may have disappeared.

“Obviously for myself, you want to find a way -whether it’s the second, third or fourth one to keep it to find a way to make those saves,” Reimer said after the game.

“The first two goals were goals that I thought were scored in the middle of the net and those are tough ones,” said Carlyle. “He came out in the 2^nd period and made some big saves – made a stop on breakaway – and battled hard for our hockey club. And then the next 2 goals, it was more mercy, cause one was a deflection and the other was post and in, and we needed a little bit of a change.”

Playing time may be hard to come by as the Leafs don’t play back to back games until March.

“It’s tough when you get in there and you don’t have a good game,” admitted Reimer. “It doesn’t sit well. Obviously it’s harder if you don’t play. I mean if you can get back right in there and prove yourself again. In a case like this where things aren’t going that way it makes it a little tougher.”

It has been a poor month for the Maple Leafs netminder. He started 4 games and was pulled once, while sporting a save percentage of .865 in January.

In fact his save percentage has dropped each month – along with Randy Carlyle’s confidence in him.

Reimer had a .949 save percentage in October, it fell to .916 in November, and dropped to .909 in December.

It has become abundantly clear that Carlyle has more trust and confidence in Jonathan Bernier, who has made a career high 32 starts this season.  Reimer has started 22 games.

"Your end goal is to be the guy and you want that, but you've got to focus on everyday what I need to do so that that can happen," said Reimer. "It's like I want to win the Cup, but it's not like every day I hit the ice I'm going to win the Cup. I want to win the Cup, but when I hit the ice it's what do I need to do to be the best I can be. And if you focus on that everyday then eventually the Cup will come.”

"Same with this (situation). It's obviously something you want. It's something you really want. But you've got to focus on a lot smaller goals."

A year ago, Reimer battled with Ben Scrivens for the starter’s job and in the end won the job. In a lockout-shortened season, Reimer finished with the eighth best save percentage on the league (.911) and helped the Leafs get into the playoffs.

This year has not only been a struggle physically, but also a mental challenge for him.

"It's 105 per cent mental, I think, this game," said Reimer. "It's all about trying to be in the right mindset and trying to stay positive and knowing that when you have the extra time to work on stuff that's what you've got to do. You've got to work your butt off so that when you get the nod you're as prepared as you can (be)."

He knows his long-term future in Toronto isn’t guaranteed. He’s a restricted free-agent after the season. Bernier has another year on his deal.

"I feel like I'm becoming a better person for it or at least I hope so," he told reporters of the experience this season. "I feel like I'm battling and grinding and trying to do everything I can. As far as I know if you're doing that then that's all you can do."

David Bolland isn't close to returning to Leafs lineup

All you have to do is watch David Bolland skate the last few days to know he isn’t close to returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup.

Each twirl on the ice this week has come with a familiar sight – a pained look of frustration and hurt on the 27 year olds face.

Yes David Bolland is back on the ice – for the first time since suffering a partially torn tendon on his left ankle in November 2 after Vancouver forward Zack Kassian accidentally cut him – but he is not ready to play in a game anytime soon.

“Who knows,” said Bolland, asked when he expects to return to the lineup.

And when he does return, Leafs fans would be wise to temper expectations. It will be a while before the “old” David Bolland returns.

To say the rehab process has been difficult would be an understatement.

“When you’re watching and you’re off the ice, it does screw with your head a lot mentally,” he said before Toronto hosted Montreal at Air Canada Centre. “I think when you cut a tendon it’s a big deal. You never know. You have that in the back of your head – when you’re going to come back and what’s going to happen – and you do get a little mentally broken down.”

He has been re-learning how to pivot and cross over on his skates.

"It’s not fun, it’s gruelling,” said Bolland.

“You think some days you can push and then you push it too much and you set yourself behind,” he added. “You’re just hurting yourself. I think for myself it’s being patient.”

Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle said on Saturday, Bolland won’t return to the lineup until he is 100 percent healthy.

“We can’t afford to take any type of risk with this type of injury,” said Carlyle. “We all know that it’s a tough one to come back from – it’s a long tedious process – and specifically where it was and the tendon that was injury. It’s pretty dramatic.”

With Bolland in the lineup, the Leafs won 10 of the first 14 games of the season. Without him, the team hasn’t been as tough to play against.

And when Bolland does return, Leafs fans will have to brace for the fact he won’t be the same player – right away- if ever.

Leafs playing better - can they keep it up?

“That ending would have been great last spring.” Joe Bowen, Toronto Maple Leafs play by play voice.

Moments after the Maple Leafs won in Boston on Tuesday night, Joe Bowen – with his voice hoarse – screamed at the top of his lungs to his television audience “that ending would have been great last spring.”

Yes, last spring still haunts the Maple Leafs. But it may not any longer, after a victory in Boston Tuesday night.

After the game, Randy Carlyle took a deep breath, exhaled and told the media what many fans were thinking.

“Hopefully it bleeds some of the demons out of us.”

It may have been just another regular season game in January. But for the Toronto Maple Leafs it was more than that. It could be a boost of confidence this team has been sorely lacking.

With a number of players fighting the flu, the Leafs showed some resiliency, heart, and determination.

Playing the Bruins - everyone remembers what happened last year in Boston, failing to close out game 7 of the first round of the playoffs despite a 4-1 lead in the middle of the 3rd period - has never been easy for Toronto. 

The win last night was Toronto’s first regular season victrory in Boston since March 2011.

“It almost felt like it was the playoffs again and this time we came out on top,” said Jake Gardiner. “It’s just too bad it wasn’t last year that it happened.”

It was just Toronto’s third regulation time win on the road in the last 15 road games.

A week after it seemed the Leafs had reached a season low, the team has now won back to back games and finds itself back in a playoff position (although you get the feeling that will be changing constantly the rest of this season).

“Better efforts, that’s for sure,” said Carlyle when discussing the play of the team since last week’s dreadful 6-1 loss to Carolina. “We’ve raised our compete level and we’re going to have to continue to do that to get points. The most frustrating part for our hockey club has been that we haven’t been able to achieve that with any consistency.”

Jonathan Bernier was big for the Leafs, making 38 saves including 15 in a third period that had the feel of a playoff game.

“It’s not easy to come in this building, especially what they went through last year losing in Game 7,” said Bernier. “It shows a lot of character for the team to come here and win it.”

“I thought we reacted in good way. It was fun.”

There were other positives for the Leafs as well. Tyler Bozak had a pair of goals and an assist in the victory and now has 17 points in his last 14 games helping to solidify that top line.

Phil Kessel has seven points in his last three games. James van Riemsdyk has five points in his last three games. 

Peter Holland returned from the minors providing a solid 11 minutes of ice-time, as the Leafs look for some offensive production on the 3rd and 4th lines. While Jay McClement - who Carlyle feels has played "way too much" in recent games - was back to playing 11:51, after games in which he was playing 18 to 19 minutes.

The Leafs have been battling themselves, the opposition and a flu bug over the last few days, making the victory that much sweeter.

“We’ve had up to 8 players went through that the last three days, hopefully it doesn’t get to the coaching staff….or the media,” smiled Randy Carlyle.

Yes, Randy Carlyle smiled. For one night anyway, he had reason to.

Maple Leafs continue to struggle

This is as low as it has been all season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

An embarrassing 6-1 loss to Carolina on Thursday highlighted all that is wrong with the Leafs, a team that now sits out of the playoffs for the first time all season.

They have lost three straight games – to teams below them in the standings (Rangers, Islanders and Hurricanes) – while being outscored 18-5 and being outshot by an average of 10 shots a game during the stretch.

It doesn’t seem to matter what they do – make a move to bring in defenceman Tim Gleason,  bench Paul Ranger and Jake Gardiner, turn to James Reimer in goal – nothing is working.

They don’t look interested. They have little confidence. They are playing without any aggressiveness or tenacity.

The Toronto Maple Leafs look lost.

It is eerily similar to March of 2012, when Ron Wilson was fired and Randy Carlyle brought on board.

At that time General Manager Brian Burke said it was like an “18 wheeler going right off a cliff.”

When Wilson was fired, the Leafs were in a 1-9-1 funk and had fallen to 12^th in the eastern conference.

Fast forward to this season and the numbers aren’t much better: In the last 24 games, the Leafs have just 2 – that’s right 2 – regulation time wins. If not for a bunch of shootout victories the Leafs would be in more dire straits.

The Leafs right now find themselves in 10^th place in the eastern conference, just one point ahead of Ottawa (5-3-2 in the last 10) and two points up on the New Jersey Devils.

“First thing we didn’t do was move our feet, cause we stood around and watched,” said Leafs Coach Randy Carlyle following Thursday’s loss. “Nobody has an answer right now. We aren’t engaged in the hockey game to a level to give yourself a chance at success.”

“We’ve stated it numerous times, that we’re not happy with our compete level, night in and night out,” noted the head coach. “That’s what we’ve been pushing for.”

This is a trend that has been evident not only in the last few games – but for months now.

"I think the talking has to stop," said Jay McClement following Thursday’s loss to Carolina. "We've talked all year all about all these things and we're just not getting the job done. Nothing seems to be changing. We're just still very inconsistent with our efforts. Something's got to change. I think we've done so much talking, we just need a little more action."

“Two of the last three games we get blown out – that’s not acceptable,” added McClement.

Randy Carlyle played an instrumental role in roster changes this season – most notably the decisions to part ways with Clarke MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski.

MacArthur has 15 goals in Ottawa, Grabovski 12 goals in Washington this season.  

It was Carlyle who felt his team had to be harder to play against – so moves were made to bring in David Clarkson (who has 3 goals in 32 games) and David Bolland (who has been injured since early November).

The Maple Leafs have allowed a league worst 36.4 shots on goal a game. The penalty kills is 27th in the league. 

While Carlyle has been unable to get more out of Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner, two young players who have seemingly taken steps backward this year.

Under Carlyle, the Leafs have received little production from their 3^rd and 4^th lines. Against Carolina on Thursday, enforcer Colton Orr played just 33 seconds.

Since November the Leafs have been outscored 102-69.

General Manager Dave Nonis has been supportive of Carlyle to this point.

The question is, for how much longer?

Gleason looks forward to being a Maple Leaf

Phaneuf signs 7-year deal with Leafs

At the end of the day, Dion Phaneuf wanted to remain a Maple Leaf. While the  Maple Leafs wanted Dion Phaneuf.

The 28 year-old Phaneuf is a polarizing figure and his deal has been the talk of the Toronto sports radio for days now (many callers feel it is too much money and too long a term), it’s a deal the Leafs had to make.

Let’s look at Phaneuf’s numbers compared to other high-priced defencemen in the NHL. Nashville’s Shea Weber has a cap hit of $7.8M, Minnesota’s Ryan Suter $7.5M, Brian Campbell of Florida, $7.1M, and L.A.’s Drew Doughty $7M.

Weber is 28 years old, Suter is 28, Campbell is 34, and  Doughty is 23

Next season Kris Letang’s new deal kicks in and he will have a $7.25M cap hit as he turns 27 years of age.  

Phaneuf was 11^th in average ice-time last season at 25:10 a game.  His 28 points last year had him tied with Shea Weber for 4^th most among blueliners. Only Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo had more shifts per game than Phaneuf last year.

Phaneuf has the 8^th most goals among NHL defenceman since the start of the 2009-2010 season. He’s had six seasons of 9 or more goals and 30 or more points.

He turns 29 in April, and while the statistics may not show it he is currently having his best season in Toronto.

He has simplified his game, isn’t taking silly penalties, while cutting down on glaring mistakes.

“That’s something I have learned and something over the course of my career I have learned I will admit that,” Phaneuf told Sportsnet television after the news conference. “When you push for too much offence you try and do too much. I feel my game is at a level I’m very comfortable with and I feel I am playing my best hockey. I feel good about where my game is at and I definitely have learned a lot over the years.”

He is continuing to log big minutes (24:21 per game on average – 24^th in the NHL) and is always matched up against the opposition’s top forward line.

He has matured while in Toronto and has embraced the role of being a captain.  He likes his teammates and wants to help the Leafs win a Stanley Cup.

"I really believe that we’re building something special," said Phaneuf. "I think that we’ve grown. Since the time that I’ve been here to now is night and day. It’s a very big decision and one that I’m very happy with."

Phaneuf knows he is leaving money on the table as this isn’t a great free agent class for blueliners.

“I want to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and that’s why it was an easy decision for me not to go to free agency,” Phaneuf told Sportsnet.

With the signing of the captain, the Maple Leafs have locked up six players to long-term deals: Phaneuf, Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, David Clarkson, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. That’s about $34 M a year locked up in this group.

The Leafs core is now set.  None of these guys are signed beyond their 35^th birthday. All these players are signed through at least 2017-2018.
So, Dave Nonis, are these the guys who will lead the Leafs to that elusive Stanley Cup?

"The core is always going to be somewhat moveable," Nonis said on Tuesday to Sportsnet.ca. "It’s not locked in stone for eight years that these guys are all going to be here. We signed them because we believe that they’re part of a winning team, that they can be part of something.”

Dion Phaneuf certainly hopes so.

Tyler Bozak set to return Sunday against Carolina

Tyler Bozak has spent more time watching than playing lately.

Since signing a 5 year contract extension this off-season, the Toronto Maple Leafs centre has battled various ailments.

He hasn’t been alone as the Leafs have been bitten by the injury bug this season.  But Bozak is set to return back to the lineup, as the Leafs are getting healthier ahead of a busy January schedule.

“It sucks sitting out having to watch and not being able to play,” admitted Bozak following practise on Saturday.

It has been a frustrating 18 months for Bozak.  He missed the last 2 games of the playoff series with Boston because of a biceps injury.

Earlier this season he sat out 12 games with a pulled hamstring.  He’s returning Sunday against Carolina after missing 12 with an oblique injury.

“It’s new to me,” said the 27 year-old. “Other than a few injuries where I missed a few games in the past four years I haven’t had much. I worked hard while I was out and hopefully I can come back better.”

Bozak practised Saturday in his usual spot – on the top line with James Van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel.

But Bozak and the head coach are trying their best to lower expectations.

“My experiences have taught me the longer a player is out the more valuable he seems to be,” said Coach Randy Carlyle. “When he comes back into the lineup you are expecting more and that’s really unrealistic.”

“You want to contribute as much as you can, but you can’t expect to go out there and take over the game,” admitted Bozak.  “It will take a few games to get back into the swing of things.”

Bozak’s return means Nazem Kadri will centre the 2^nd line with Joffrey Lupul and Mayson Raymond. While Peter Holland was sporting the green jersey usually reserved for the 4^th line, although his role could change.

“We have talked about it and Peter Holland is an option to move up and down our lineup,” said Carlyle. “And we won't be afraid to do that if we aren't getting the performances we need from other people."

David Bolland is the only regular Leafs player from opening night out with an injury.

That’s encouraging news for a team that has been hard-hit by the injury bug and has just 1 win in regulation time over the last 18 games.