Bruce Arthur, National Post
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006
TORONTO - Paul Maurice's first six games as coach of the Maple Leafs produced the kind of start that gets Toronto fans painting their cars blue and white, and planning the parade. To be fair, oxygen also occasionally has this effect on certain Leafs enthusiasts.
But in his first six games -- a smart-looking 3-0-2 stretch after a season-opening loss -- Maurice seemed to have radically transformed a Toronto team that had excited precisely nobody before the season began. If you were so inclined, you could call it the Paul Maurice miracle.
We are not yet so inclined. And Maurice, sensibly, remains skeptical.
"We've given up 10 goals in our past two games," said Maurice, dry as always, before last night's home 4-1 loss to the struggling Colorado Avalanche, "so we're not planning any [parade] routes yet."
Smart man.
Last night, the team's newfound aggression was turned to confusion. The Leafs, with their forward-skating style, came in leading the league in shots, at 38.5 per outing, but turned into teenagers driving the car too fast -- handling the puck like it was greased up and squeezing off a mere 28 shots at the opposing goalie.
Still, this remains a very different team than anything seen during the Pat Quinn era. And of the summer acquisitions, it's not Andrew Raycroft, Pavel Kubina or Mike Peca who have had the greatest impact.
"I think a lot of teams [reflect] the character and personality of their coach, and Paul has instilled a strong work ethic in us from day one, and everyone has bought into that," says Peca, who knows a good program when he sees is. "So you see a lot of second effort on this team, and you know, talking to guys that have been here over the years, that wasn't something that was always a necessity or a focal point of this team. And it is now."
The old Leafs -- and they really were old Leafs, at times -- employed their relentlessness in bursts, conserved their chances, and relied on having one hell of a goalie behind them. The new Leafs have not created chances with ice-melting speed -- instead, they are simply skating ahead, hard. In so doing, they are attempting to keep opponents skating backwards through the surprisingly effective tactic of sheer hard work.
Of course, last night, with the defence leaking and the cohesion intermittent, they also had to rely, at times, on Raycroft being one hell of a goalie. It did not always work.
For his part, Maurice said yesterday that this team is at 80% of what he wants it to be, and that there are two areas left where the other 20% will come from.
"One is a capacity to work harder," Maurice said. "I guess the analogy I could use is if myself and Lance Armstrong got on a bike, we could work just as hard, except that he'd be 10 miles down the road 30 seconds in, and I'd be keeling over. We'd both be working hard, though. So as we get more used to what we're trying to do, we'll be able to do it, that capacity will grow."
The other part, he said, is learning how to score at speed. They rarely had to before. And last night, Toronto's decision-making was, shall we say, somewhere south of stellar. For instance, Brian McCabe's dreadful drop pass at centre ice in the third, which led to Colorado's third goal.
FULL STORY
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006
TORONTO - Paul Maurice's first six games as coach of the Maple Leafs produced the kind of start that gets Toronto fans painting their cars blue and white, and planning the parade. To be fair, oxygen also occasionally has this effect on certain Leafs enthusiasts.
But in his first six games -- a smart-looking 3-0-2 stretch after a season-opening loss -- Maurice seemed to have radically transformed a Toronto team that had excited precisely nobody before the season began. If you were so inclined, you could call it the Paul Maurice miracle.
We are not yet so inclined. And Maurice, sensibly, remains skeptical.
"We've given up 10 goals in our past two games," said Maurice, dry as always, before last night's home 4-1 loss to the struggling Colorado Avalanche, "so we're not planning any [parade] routes yet."
Smart man.
Last night, the team's newfound aggression was turned to confusion. The Leafs, with their forward-skating style, came in leading the league in shots, at 38.5 per outing, but turned into teenagers driving the car too fast -- handling the puck like it was greased up and squeezing off a mere 28 shots at the opposing goalie.
Still, this remains a very different team than anything seen during the Pat Quinn era. And of the summer acquisitions, it's not Andrew Raycroft, Pavel Kubina or Mike Peca who have had the greatest impact.
"I think a lot of teams [reflect] the character and personality of their coach, and Paul has instilled a strong work ethic in us from day one, and everyone has bought into that," says Peca, who knows a good program when he sees is. "So you see a lot of second effort on this team, and you know, talking to guys that have been here over the years, that wasn't something that was always a necessity or a focal point of this team. And it is now."
The old Leafs -- and they really were old Leafs, at times -- employed their relentlessness in bursts, conserved their chances, and relied on having one hell of a goalie behind them. The new Leafs have not created chances with ice-melting speed -- instead, they are simply skating ahead, hard. In so doing, they are attempting to keep opponents skating backwards through the surprisingly effective tactic of sheer hard work.
Of course, last night, with the defence leaking and the cohesion intermittent, they also had to rely, at times, on Raycroft being one hell of a goalie. It did not always work.
For his part, Maurice said yesterday that this team is at 80% of what he wants it to be, and that there are two areas left where the other 20% will come from.
"One is a capacity to work harder," Maurice said. "I guess the analogy I could use is if myself and Lance Armstrong got on a bike, we could work just as hard, except that he'd be 10 miles down the road 30 seconds in, and I'd be keeling over. We'd both be working hard, though. So as we get more used to what we're trying to do, we'll be able to do it, that capacity will grow."
The other part, he said, is learning how to score at speed. They rarely had to before. And last night, Toronto's decision-making was, shall we say, somewhere south of stellar. For instance, Brian McCabe's dreadful drop pass at centre ice in the third, which led to Colorado's third goal.
FULL STORY
