As I said in the last installment of European Vacation I truly felt that this little sojourn into Europe will go along way to help in the bonding process, at the sametime a few surprises and some not so surprising things transpired in Scandanavia.
One surprise emergence has been the play of 20 yr old Maxim Kondratiev, the Russian rearguard has not looked out of place with the more veteran players that surround him, seeing a young kid such as Maxim come to the forefront just might help what most Media types, Leaf bashers, and Leaf fans alike admit is the Leafs biggest weakness, our defence. Also Ric Jackman has played himself onto that weak backfield, he has put behind himself his presonal demons along with a ankel surgery which hampered him in last season installment of the preseason, with his new found confidence he is sending a message to Quiinn and company that he is one of the answers to what has been a huge question mark hanging above the team.
And of course no surprise in the 3 game winning streak, I can just imagine if TO lost any one of the games the Leaf bashers would come out of the woodwork.
What was stupid though was stations like TSN and Sportsnet spending the first 10-15 minutes of their shows talking about the Leafs great wins. We all knew they would win!!! They were playing with essentially their A-line-up, with only 27-30 guys going over to Europe. That could be a smart move though.
Kondratiev looked impressive. Now he'll get a chance to measure up against NHL talent on a daily basis. I'm not trying to demean what you said about some of the players because I don't like the Leafs, but keep in mind, it was only weaker European talent. Clearly, the Leafs are vastly superior to those teams they played!!!
i think what earnhardt was trying to do was point out the good play of the younger guys with little nhl experience. he wasnt highlighting the likes of mogilny or sundin. but i agree, jackman has looked good so far, and so has matt stajan. i think stajan will make the team this year, along with possibly Kondratiev. im going to the game tonight against the sabres, so it will be fun to have a first hand look at some of the younger guys.
Agreed, there is no way they should have lost any of those games becasue they brought the "A Players" for a bonding experiment.
As for the 10-15 min of airtime a night, when I come home from work I have better things to do then listen to the To media, I have mentioned it before on this and other boards I post on, I have sworn off on what these so-called press types have to say, since the Human soundbite (Muddy Watters) has left the Leafs the information the media has been privvy to has dried up and we are starting to see exactly how good or bad the likes of Strachan and Coxe really are.
im with you on that. the toronto media these days is out to just dig up dirt on the team and nothing more. its a joke, its unreliable, and its getting old. i rarely come across any articles or reports that mean something.
This will be a better measuring stick for the team and some of the young kids that are trying to crack the lineup. From what I heard Carlo has been nursing a groin problem, so he won't be a lock that a lot of people had him.
Sorry I was trying to watch a race and type at the same time, as you can tell from my spelling mistakes I was too much in a hurry, I agree anyway you spell it it still says the same thing.......
Kondratiev was great in Europe. If he can hold up against tougher opponents in the preseason then he should be a lock for the 5th or 6th spot on our defense. Pierre Hedin is another european prospect to watch that could crack the leafs blueline this season. Both of them have experience in european elite leagues which should give them an edge over guys like Carlo and Bell who should probably go down to the Rock for at least a season anyways.
On a side note, how bout my boy Tucker. He looked amazing in Sweden and hopefully he'll silence all you Darcy haters this season and put up the 55-65 points he's capable of.
also perrot. hes had an awesome camp so far. and i liked what i saw at the game on sunday. he played hard and hustled his ass off. not to mention the two fights he got into!
European vacation 2
European vacation 2
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