Leafs Lose Nail Biter

There was no television coverage of this game but I had a few relatives who went to the game and gave me some inside scouting on the players in today’s game. The Leafs unfortunately didn’t come out on top in this encounter with the Bruins by losing in overtime, 6-5. There was some excellent hockey played by the Leafs although they made some silly mistakes that cost them the game in the end.

James Reimer was a tad disappointing and seemed to be extremely nervous or some would even to as far and say lazy. He seemed to be struggling to save the easy ones and made them look extremely difficult. There were signs that he was flopping around and not totally aware of the angles he was supposed to cover. I am going to give the kid the benefit of the doubt and say that he just had a bad day in the office with nerves playing a role as well.

Christian Hanson was on top of his game today, he scored a hat trick and that certainly made him the best player on the ice. Although he did some of the little things very well today and that seemed to aid him in finishing off a couple of those goals. Christian Hanson was supposedly superlative on the boards today and won quite a few battles that would make Burke grin sheepishly with delight. He certainly will be getting some attention now from Burke and Wilson in regards to an opening night roster spot that he covets so dearly.

Nazem Kadri was quite good and did a lot of things well today. He chipped in with a goal as well which certainly doesn’t hurt his confidence going into the season. He was much better then yesterday and seems to be improving day by day. He showed some flashes of brilliances that got the crowd excited and his dangling ability is quite good when it comes off. There is the “Hog” element to his game that might irk some fans and coaches but he’ll get better once he notices that passing is noticed as well.

Tyler Bozak got on the score sheet as well, his goal was the best of the game as he let go an absolute bullet from the faceoff circle. Obviously he should be one of the better players on the ice in this tourney as he’s amongst the oldest attending, but still the talent of the guy speaks loud and clear. He will certainly be vying for a spot on the top 2 lines this year. Can he continue with his excellent form? This is the question that he will have to answer in the next game.

Some of the other guys that were impressive in today’s game against the Briuns were Blacker and Devane. Jesse Blacker showed up and played an excellent game on the defensive side of things again. He was always in position and showed the staff that he deserves to be taken seriously. As for Devane he basically broke his hand on another guys face. Unfortunately we don’t know what happen to the other guy’s face, I am sure it was not rated G in terms of amount of blood. He was the spark plug that got the Leafs going after they were down 2-0. He deserves credit for boosting their morale and getting them to go out and play as a unit and fight for each other.

These games are turning out to be an excellent way to see how our prospects are doing in terms of their development. We have some excellent players in the cupboard right now and Burke will certainly be looking to add more. This was a great game and the Leafs will be looking to do well in the next game as well.