Vesa Toskala had a mediocre season last year to put it nicely. When he was acquired from the San Jose Sharks we all thought we had found a great goalie who was being wasted behind a superstar goalie like Nabokov. Vesa Toskala was decent when he came to the Leafs and he showed great promise behind Andrew Raycroft. Unfortunately, he has always excelled being behind another goalie who is capable of playing a lot of games. This does not bode well for his future as a Leaf and he was clearly reprieved from deportation because of his injury troubles.
He has all the tools to become a fantastic goalie and now he has seen the pressure that comes with being a starting goalie in this city of hockey lovers. If his problem was injuries then one has to question his honesty with himself and his teammates. The hiding of his injury just made him play worse and worse thus causing management to start questioning his work ethic. He presumably is back to his healthy self and is roaring to have another go at one of the toughest positions in sports.
Fans will be all over him if he fails and they won’t be patient this time around and excuses certainly won’t work with the defence in front of him now. Also, the signing of “The Monster” will certainly keep him working hard and that’s all Leafs’ fans want in the end from Vesa. Will he step up and keep Jonas Gustavvson away from the starting spot? We hope so because that would mean playoffs for Toronto fans.
Another failure will mean the exit of Vesa Toskala from Toronto. I don’t care what spin Brian Burke will put on it, Vesa will be gone if he doesn’t show what he’s capable of doing and that’s dominating snipers around the NHL.
| Season | GPI | Min | W | L | OT | GA | SA | SO | GAA | Sv% |
| 2008-2009 | 53 | 3,056 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 166 | 1,518 | 1 | 3.26 | .891 |
These stats certainly don’t display a bright picture for Leafs’ fans and he really can only go one way now and that’s UP. He was 25th in wins , 45th in GAA (Goals against Average) and 44th in Save %. Doesn’t actualy bode well for a goalie when there are only 30 starting goalies in the league and you are going 45th and 44th in certain categories.
I have always been a huge Vesa fan even from his days with San Jose, I really hope he turns it around this season and has his best year of his career this season.
1 comments:
I think the goaltending situation in T.O. will have good healthy competition.I think part of Toskala's poor season last year (besides whatever injuries he may have been nursing) was the fact there was no defence in front of him, especially as a physical presence to push opposing players away. Gustavvson sounds like he could be the next big thing, but remember, he has yet to play at this level. His force as a goalie in the NHL has yet to be determined. Finally, there is Martin Gerber. He played well enough for the Leafs (with the same dreadful D Toskala had in front of him)after being cast off from the equally woeful Sens. Is he still in the picture ~ or is no longer part of the team? If he is still there, he should be considered in the mix. It will definitely be an interesting situation between the pipes this season in Toronto.
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