Funny picture, no relation to the entry to follow.  

Hear that sound?  Its like music to my ears.  The leafs are falling, in more ways than one.  I was amazed when I witnessed the strong start that the leafs enjoyed this season.  But then again, that can be attributed to a long homestand against sub .500 teams.  Kessel is the textbook overachiever; why should this year be any different?  Even Kessel's scoring has dropped off, with only 1 goal in his last 5 games.  Scrivens was supposed to be the next best thing in leaf land, but with his only start this season coming in a victory against Columbus, Boston really tested his mettle.  I said it at the beginning of the season, and I stand by it.  The leafs will NOT make the playoffs this season; they simply do not have enough secondary scoring and their backend has too many question marks.  Schenn is playing as inconsistent as can be, as is Komisarek.  Bringing in Connolly may have been a good move 8 seasons ago, but now, I would be surprised if he plays more than 40 games this year and gets more than 30 points.  Last nights game against the Bruins really showed how inconsistent the leafs d-core truly is.  It would appear that a game against the leafs would be the magic that Boston needed to string together their first back to back wins this season.  And by the way, if you google search maple leaf blower, this is what you get.

A couple of weeks ago, there was quite a little fight in the brewing between Subban and Marchand.  I gave Marchand a lot of credit for this one.  Even though he gave up a few inches and 20+ pounds, there was no way that this fight wasn't going to happen.  I give credit to Marchand for not backing down.

Over the years, many people have said many things about Matthew Barnaby, and none of the terms used were very flattering.  One term I would use to describe Barnaby would be "balls of steel."  Now this one, this is a definite size mismatch.

So, another week, another suspension.  Sherrif Shanny is cleaning up the league, but it is going to take some more time.  Kaleta has been suspended for 4 games for headbutting an opponent.  However, this isn't the first time Kaleta has pulled this kind of stunt.  Is he the first person to throw the headbutt?  Nope.  Will he be the last?  Nope.  Kind of makes me glad Shanahan wasn't in charge of discipline for the Colonial League when Angelstad was pulling shit like this...

Then again, Mel only played 266 games here in Thunder Bay, but managed to rack up 1704 PIMs.  Now that, is impressive.  I have always had an affinity and a passion for the hockey fight, as I view it as a way to keep players honest.  What happens when you get a league where fighting receives an automatic suspension?  You see a lot more stick work and dirty play.  Trust me...I've played in tournaments where fighting is frowned upon and you would be surprised how bad it can get.  Get rid of the instigator rule, and watch the Cookes of the league suddenly change their style of play, instead of just saying they've changed.  Make them change with the possibility of physical pain.  What happened after Matt Cooke did this?

Evander Kane went and did this.

Will Matt Cooke try that shit with Kane again?  Probably not.  Allow everyone a shot at him, and I guarantee he won't play chickenshit hockey anymore.

So, I have been struggling lately, in more ways than one.  Writing about hockey, it all used to come so naturally for me, and I found it to be a very enjoyable process.  The words used to flow so easily and it wasn't a challenge.  The situation in my home life has been turned upside down over the past year and a half.  Am I doing everyone here at the Gab a disservice when I feel that there are many more talented and passionate bloggers.  I briefly talked about this with Sully this morning, and this entry took about 2 hours to finish.  Am I losing it?  I'm thinking so.  My work has been slipping, and it is only a matter of time before the bossmen figure it out.

Yes...it has returned.  Whale Tail of the Week. 

That last one is for the fans of temperate vegetables that promote regularity.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hotchnuts