“I want to play. But it’s a numbers situation. There
are five of us that are considered offensive
defensemen. You’ve got to take advantage of your
opportunities. I think I’ve made a good adjustment
so far (to the AHL).”
“I think we played a pretty good game,” the rookie
rearguard said. “We’re a hard working team, a lot of
emotion, a lot of speed and that’s the way we want to
play. It’s a little disappointing giving up the goal
in the third period and end up kissing your sister.”
Karel Pilar once again had a strong game, scoring his
second goal in as many nights and earning first star
honours, while Kyle Wellwood added a pair of assists
to now lead the Leafs in scoring with seven points.
Harold Druken while not on the scoresheet except for a
penalty, did play extremely well in only his second
game back, and created a number of offensive
opportunities, including one play of dipsy doodling
that made local fans awestruck, even if it didn’t
result in a goal. Jay Harrison, who tallied the other
Leafs goal, also played solid behind the blueline and
was deemed hardest working player.
Harrison says the plethora of defensemen around in the
Leafs dressing room these days is good for the team.
“With numbers like this, sometimes good defencemen
have to sit out. That keeps us on the edge of our
seat, and we have to play well every time. It gives a
little positive peer pressure, and positive
competition in our dressing room, and that makes the
team only better.”
Sebastien Centomo once again got the nod for the Leafs
in goal, making 32 saves. Former NHLer Wade Flaherty
(Calgary fans surely remember him from that 1995
series when as a San Jose Shark, he caused the playoff
ouster of the Flames in Game 7 of that opening round
series) made 31 saves for the Admirals.
Colaiacovo hurt
A bit of a pre-Halloween scare for the Leafs as Carlo Colaiacovo went to hospital after a slash from Mike Farrell hit his thumb. The prospect defenceman did go to hospital, but his thumb isn’t broken and could play this weekend in Binghamton Saturday or Toronto Sunday (the Roadrunners folks, not the Leafs).
Noted visitors
AHL president Dave Andrews took in the series between the Leafs and Admirals, while CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Bob Cole also checked out Wednesday’s game.
Attendance slump?
Only 3,648 showed to check out Wednesday’s game. Under 4,000 attended Tuesday’s game.
Future star
The Leafs now hit the road against Binghamton, Toronto, Hershey, Hamilton and Binghamton again before retuning home to face the Chicago Wolves November 14 and 15. The series should be exciting because of Atlanta Thrashers star prospect Kari Lehtonen, Some pretty good goalies play have played here in the past: Roberto Luongo, Rick Di Pietro, Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Jean-Sebastien Giguere.Colaiacovo leads Baby Leafs to victory
The St. John’s Maple Leafs had something they haven’t had in a long time on October 28th, and that was extra bodies to go around (25 to be exact). The signing of defenseman Karel Pilar and his return to the ice, the acquisition of 385 game NHL veteran Clarke Wilm along with the St. John’s debut of highly touted defensive prospect Maxim Kondratiev all meant someone had to sit. Regan Kelly, Brendan Bell, David Turon and Chris Chartier all sat out Tuesday’s game, along with the injured Luca Cereda, Josh Holden and Ben Ondrus. But it was Carlo Colaiacovo who was the story on this night as his first pro goal with 1:05 left in OT led the Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Admirals. Colaiacovo stormed up ice to take a nice pass from Brad Leeb, and fired a hard shot over the shoulder of Admirals netminder Brian Finlay, who played well despite the loss.
Pilar made an immediate impression, tallying his first goal of year, with Nathan Barrett rounding out the scoring for St. John’s. Goalie Sebastien
Centomo earned first star honours with a 40 save
performance (for his fourth win of the season) with only
Curtis Murphy and Mike Farrell getting pucks past the young netminder.
Pierre Hedin of the Leafs was solely responsible for
the Murphy goal as his clearing pass actually went on
the tape of Admiral Libor Pivko, who forwarded to
Murphy for the Admirals first goal.
The night also featured the return of Harold Druken to
the Leafs lineup for his first game in his hometown as
a Leaf. Coach Doug Shedden, while pleased with the
effort, did comment that some of the new players
looked a little tired, but that is to be expected when
they haven’t played in a while.
The Baby Leafs play Milwaukee once again tonight.
Disappointed Bell Islanders
It was a little disappointing for Bell Islanders hoping to see Scottie Upshall play. Upshall was recalled to Nashville on Tuesday. Upshallis not a Newfoundland native per se, but his parents are from Bell Island, Newfoundland. Upshall was born in Fort McMurray, Alberta, where many Newfoundlanders call their second home.
