Canadian Press
9/30/2006 12:04:06 PM
TORONTO (CP) - New head coach Paul Maurice readily admitted on the opening day of training camp that the Maple Leafs will be in season-long battle in trying to qualify for the NHL playoffs.
Much to his credit, Maurice didn't con Leafs fans by sugar-coating things, and nothing that has transpired leading up to the regular-season opener at home Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators has altered his view.
``The air was slightly sucked out of the room when that came out,'' he said of his candid early assessment. ``But that's our hope, and that's the way this league works now.
``For years I felt you could predict 10 of the top 16 in the NHL with high accuracy. I don't know that you can do it as easily anymore. Because of that, that puts you in a dogfight. Some teams don't want to admit to that and I think it hurts their chances or their sense of urgency to fight every night.''
Maurice sends a lineup into the dogfight that has been radically revamped by GM John Ferguson from the one that finished ninth in the Eastern Conference last spring, and it says here that there are enough improvements to lift the Leafs into the top eight and the playoffs.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=179379&hubname=nhl
9/30/2006 12:04:06 PM
TORONTO (CP) - New head coach Paul Maurice readily admitted on the opening day of training camp that the Maple Leafs will be in season-long battle in trying to qualify for the NHL playoffs.
Much to his credit, Maurice didn't con Leafs fans by sugar-coating things, and nothing that has transpired leading up to the regular-season opener at home Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators has altered his view.
``The air was slightly sucked out of the room when that came out,'' he said of his candid early assessment. ``But that's our hope, and that's the way this league works now.
``For years I felt you could predict 10 of the top 16 in the NHL with high accuracy. I don't know that you can do it as easily anymore. Because of that, that puts you in a dogfight. Some teams don't want to admit to that and I think it hurts their chances or their sense of urgency to fight every night.''
Maurice sends a lineup into the dogfight that has been radically revamped by GM John Ferguson from the one that finished ninth in the Eastern Conference last spring, and it says here that there are enough improvements to lift the Leafs into the top eight and the playoffs.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=179379&hubname=nhl