Eat Sleep Leafs

Phil Kessel is taunting the possibility.

He taunts it with a no-look pass.

 

He taunts it with a bullet from the left circle.

 

He taunts it with his bursts of speed.

 

But make no mistake that for all the taunting possibilities, the Leafs would be simply foolish to rush Kessel back this soon.

Kessel underwent rotator-cuff surgery on his left shoulder this offseason, an injury that requires 4-6 months of recovery time.

The surgery took place on May 21st meaning Kessel is in month five of his recovery. And while that may be an appropriate time-frame, the cautionary tale of Pavol Demitra in Vancouver reveals how damaging too soon can be.

Demitra also had shoulder surgery in the offseason and was predicted back in late October. He suffered a setback in his recovery recently, and required a second series of surgery on the shoulder.

"He was going fine and in the last three weeks he hit a wall and the range of motion wasn't there," coach Alain Vigneault said of the setback. "He tried different shots and that wasn't helping him. Finally, the doctors and (Demitra) decided to go in there and find out what was wrong."

Demitra’s age (34) and general wear and tear after 891 NHL games probably had an effect on his recovery in comparison to the 22-year-old Kessel, but the lesson isn’t one the Leafs should ignore.

While the need for a player of Kessel’s ability is clear, the potential for something more damaging is also evident as the Leafs weigh his return.

The initial prognostication had Kessel penciled in for a return in for mid-November, which would give him almost a full six months of healing, but Ron Wilson has speculated the possibility of Kessel playing November 3rd at home against the Lightning, a full twelve days before expectation.

That reeks of a rush.

Also is important is the Leafs play of late. They are improving and while Kessel’s goal-scoring ability is still sorely missed, an extra week or two of rehab wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially considering Kessel’s long layoff from actual competition.

“Phil hasn’t played in six months,” Ron Wilson said, “so I know everybody’s going to think he’s going to score six goals in the first night and I don’t expect that of him if he does play on Tuesday. We’ve just got to remember that he hasn’t played in six months. He hasn’t even had an exhibition game or anything under his belt, he’s way behind the eight-ball so we’ll be patient when he does play.”

It’s unlikely that Brian Burke will cede to Kessel’s desire to return before schedule. He paid a heavy price to acquire the Wisconsin native and to see him risk it for a few extra games seems improbable.

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The Leafs left a few putts short of the hole on their five-game road trip.

Five out of a possible ten points left something to be desired.

Wins.

Just one in five games, a 6-3 defeat of the Ducks, the sole x in the victory column.

From Vancouver to Montreal, the Leafs had a chance to win each and every night, but at the end of the week could only do so once.

In Dallas, they held a lead with under three minutes to go, only to see it squandered on a skillful tip from the actor Mike Ribeiro, and a James Neal OT winner.

Down the QEW in America’s forgotten city of Buffalo, the Leafs dominated in the third period, outshooting the Sabres by a 16-5 count, tying it with 38 ticks on the clock. And yet in OT, they fell short again when Tim Connolly ended it.

A resilient effort in Montreal forced overtime, but in the shootout the Leafs drew blanks and the Habs picked up the W.

“I could throw out all the clichés,” Ron Wilson said of his team’s comeback at the Bell Centre. “We still have to find a way to win. What clichés do you want? Never say die, blah, blah, blah. We’ve got to find a way to win.”

“I thought we definitely turned the corner [on this road trip],” Mike Komisarek said following a night of boos in Montreal. “The first five or six games, we’d be down a goal or two and our body language would just be awful. We’d be down and out. Ever since this round trip started in Vancouver, we’ve held onto the momentum for long periods of time and despite being down a goal or two, we’d always fight back.”

So have they turned a corner?

Last five games (first seven games):

3.2 goals per game (2)

3.4 goals against per game (4.71)

74% PK (61%)

35% PP (21%)

.891 SV% (.843%)

“Next step,” Kaberle said. “Don’t get behind. Most of the games, we’ve been behind one, two goals and we’re happy to get a tie. We have to be the team to be leading and don’t get scored against and win the game in sixty minutes.”


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Vesa Toskala turned aside 35 of 39 Canadien shots in his return from a knee injury on Saturday night.

Glen Metropolit’s bank shot off Toskala was a bad one, but aside from that the game appeared to be a good starting point for Toskala.

“Yeah, I kind of wanted to start a new season,” Toskala said with a smile, “and now I faced lots of shots and made some good saves, so I think it’s good to keep going on from here now.”

Bets here though are that Wilson goes back to Gustavsson on Tuesday night.

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Any Tomas Kaberle fantasy owners surely were pleased with his performance on the five-game road trip.

13 points in five games had Kaberle leading all defenseman in scoring entering Sunday’s action.

“He’s doing a great job,” Wilson said of Kaberle. “Obviously he’s picking up points by the bushel on our power-play which is working pretty good and he’s shown a lot of confidence holding onto the puck. We’re encouraging him to do that.”

 

"Pony is a big factor," Kaberle said of the power-play success. "Something you don’t see there, he’s got a big body, he’s getting the rebounds in and the goalie doesn’t see. It’s a huge thing, it’s something like a Holmstrom in Detroit, and they’ve been always top five in the [power-play]."

 

Ponikarovsky scored two goals on Saturday.

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For just the second time all season, the Leafs did not allow a power-play goal. They still sit last in the league though at 66.7%

 

 

-J.Siegel

Follow me on Twitter: jonas640