It was a game that left you shaking your head if you’re a fan, and a light chuckle if you’re an Islanders fan. Dwayne Roloson, 1-6 versus the Leafs heading in to the game, came up with a career game. It ended up a 4-3 OT victory for the Isles, but it was the shots on goals numbers that stood out; Isles 21, Leafs 61. The Leafs could not buy goal.
Speaking of buying, the Leafs have been rumored to be trying to use their financial clout and bring in Brent Sopel for a high draft pick. There are 2 takes on this
In the “Leafs Report” of Mark Zwolinski’s Toronto Star article (Mark might not have written the Leafs Report), a Jiri Tlusty to Chicago for Brent Sopel and a 2nd round draft trade still has some legs.
From Steve Simmons Toronto Sun article: Burke thought he was close to completing 2 trades, one of which was Sopel, but as of Monday both deal appeared dead.
In Simmons article, Burke once again talks about sending big contracts to the minors, a threat he can make happen without consulting ‘The Board”, but a threat he’s been saying since last April. Once again saying, “If we keep losing, that’s the next step”. Someone threw out Jason Blake’s name as a player who’s contract could be buried, Burke responded with “Does anyone on this team work harder than Jason Blake? There has to be an element of fairness in this.”My first thought to this was, ‘Does anyone on this team work so hard and accomplish so little?’. I’m sure you could call up someone $3.5 million dollars cheaper, to work hard and accomplish little.
Also in last night’s heartbreaking loss, the Leafs lost John Mitchell and Vesa Toskala to injury (Zwolinski article). Toskala pulled him self from the game after allowing 3 goals on 7 shots in the second period with an apparent groin injury, Joey MacDonald will be at practice today. Mitchell’s injury may be more serious and could be out for an extended period of time, but it won’t be confirmed until they get the MRI results.