Leafs Suffer 7th Straight Defeat

Diehard Leaf fans live and die with the success or failure of the Leafs. I've tried to be positive, but I just don't have it in me tonight. The Leafs were outplayed tonight by the Buffalo Sabres and deserved to lose 8-4. If it wasn't the poor defensive zone coverage then it was the foolish penalties that caused this loss.

Jason Allison woke up with the flu this morning and missed the morning skate, but, soldiered on tonight to earn his -3. The Sabres first goal oddly bounced in off Allison's skate. Although there were no Sabres in the slot or nearby, Allison figured he would skate through the crease for some strange reason. When the puck was centered to the front of the net by Sabre Jochen Hecht, Allison seemed to kick the puck in past Ed Belfour and that was enough to set Belfour off. Belfour even took a two minute minor for roughing and was pulled after the score was 4-1.

Buffalo's second goal was caused by poor defensive coverage by Andy Wozniewski. Wozniewski by the way was not on my list of potential callups. Wozniewski decided he would screen Belfour so that Derek Roy would have a tougher time, of course it deflected off Wozniewski's skate. Note to Wozniewski...in defensive zone coverage seal off the pass, keep the shooter to the outside and let the goaltender see the shooter and puck at all times. Sorry Andy, after your -4 you need more time with the Marlies, and John Ferguson Jr. you need to read my blog.

Even the positives were negative tonight, Alexander Steen scored two goals yet was -3 and Mats Sundin played a decent game chipping in 2 assists with some physical play and was -1.

Belfour was pulled when it got to 4-1. After the game Pat Quinn would not comment on who would start in net Saturday night against Montreal. Come on Pat, give Telly a chance, Steady Eddie hasn't been so steady lately physically or mentally it would seem.

Aki Berg hurt a rib and left after the second period and only played 4:25 tonight, but, of course was -1. We can't blame Berg for the loss tonight which is a positive for him as he is usually a prime suspect.

Well Fergy, your counterpart Rob Babcock got the axe today for the questionable moves he has made during his time running the Raptors into the ground. When I see all the foolish penalties the Leafs make, especially the crappy hooking penalties, I wonder if you actually understood the rule changes for this year. Or perhaps you just didn't have the ability to clean out the dressing room of all the pals of ownership. Either way you look at it, there were some errors in assessing their on-ice talent prior to this year. Whatever you do, don't compound it by trading away our youth.

Like all bitter Leaf fans, I'm waiting for something to happen, some sort of shakeup. Sure, they sell out the ACC every night and we watch the games like we're in some sort of Leaf cult, but, something's got to give. Do you think the fans were sending a message when they cheered when Ed Belfour got pulled? I sure do, if you do nothing else tomorrow Fergy, send Woz back to the Marlies, call up Jay Harrison and give Telly the start Saturday night and see if he can put some strong games together. If you need a second body to fill in for Colaicovo or Berg, trade a low draft pick for some defensive depth, we clearly have very little.

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Sabres
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