Radio Iowa

Maple Leafs playing poorly

The Toronto Maple Leafs started the season on fire and were looking good in the process by outplaying all of their opponents. Then the team realized they were the Toronto Maple Leafs and started playing like them. In late October to mid November the team has taken on one of their worst losing streaks in history that doesn't seem to slow down anytime soon. The streak has exposed the lack of scoring prowesss needed to stay competitive in the NHL.

The team has almost no scoring talent aside from Phil Kessel but they are putting too much pressure on a young player that has no support in teammates or in veteran leadership. You can't argue that the Chicago Blackhawks had no problems scoring with no veterans around because this is just 2 different teams. The Chicago team were young and talented: Patrick Kane #1 draft pick, Jonathan Toews #3 draft pick, these 2 are franchise players. The same can't be said of Phil Kessel and he is just one player alone.

Either way the Toronto Maple Leafs and proven you need goal scoring to be successful and they definitely don't have that now. Expect Brian Burke to pull off a trade to haul in some scoring help. Nazim Kadri might be a good short term fix but will he be a minus player and a defensive liability?

Toronto Maple Leafs start season hot

The Toronto Maple Leafs are opening the start of their NHL season with an exclamation point. Having recently walked over rivals Montreal Canadiens followed up by the Ottawa Senators has people wondering if this team is for real. So far with their outstanding play it certainly has been. Their goaltending is solid with G.S. Giguere playing in fine form. Their defense might be considered one of the best in the league and also deep in that department. If Mike Komisarek can play healthy with captain Dion Phaneuf regaining his all-star form then the Leafs will have something to play for in the spring.

Another question mark has been Tomas Kaberle however he is playing so good it would be tough to trade him under any circumstances. Now if Luke Schenn can have a good year then this makes Toronto strong on defense and goaltending with people only left to question the forwards.

Nazim Kadri fails to impress

If you walk to talk about over hyped disappointment you'll have it with this young player. He doesn't seem to take the NHL seriously and it seems he doesn't take the AHL any more serious either. He was recently benched by the coach for turnovers that lead to goals. If he can't play defensively at all then he isn't worth having on the ice. Until he truly learns this maybe he'll get a job in the NHL but he has to learn fast. Hopefully the pressure in Toronto helps him rather than hurts him.

Leafs weak on offense

Before we say it's official the Leafs on paper look the weakest in the offensive zone. On the bright side it is difficult to do worse than last year and with a better defense it should make the offense more relaxed and have better opportunities to put the puck in the net. Expect Phil Kessel to score at least 30 goals and the Leafs will need heavy contributions from Clark MacArthur, Colby Armstrong, Nikolai Kuleman and Mikael Grabovsky. Tyler Bozak has a chance to do something but he needs to put up numbers to keep his role on the team.