There’s a dangerous smell around the Leafs…

…and it smells like complacency. “Oh, well, we’ve been in playoff position all year – I’m sure we’ll be in one come the end of the season too…”

It’s also been about, oh, I don’t know, 5 years now, 6 maybe, since we’ve had a GOALTENDER WIN US A GAME! When, when, are we finally going to be getting NHL quality goaltending night in, night out? When are we going to feel like we did when Belfour or Cujo were between the pipes?

We used to measure games by how many we lost in spite of their special performances, not because we couldn’t get one.

When are we going to be able to say, geez, you know what – without “insert goaltenders name here” we probably wouldn’t have won that game. When is that going to happen? When is it going to happen with any level of consistency?

“I build teams from the goaltending out…” – Brian Burke

Then, what exactly is it you’re waiting for Brian? Because your players have little to no confidence in either of your goaltenders. They know that come the playoffs or crunch time, they can’t count on Reimer or Gustavsson. They know that one or both of them will choke, and if they don’t choke, they won’t be consistent enough to get the job done. That much has been proven – after that, all that’s left is hopes and dreams. You don’t make the playoffs on hopes and dreams.

Again, what exactly is it you’re waiting for Brian?

This town has always had an odd fascination with rookies and young players, we very strongly want for them to become stars of the game – we believe in them whole heartedly until truly, all hope is gone. Folks, I’m sorry, James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson just aren’t it nor are they going to magically become it.

Not many pundits or scouts thought either of them would amount to much to begin with, and both have surprised enough to even be in the league at the moment (Gustavsson wasn’t drafted and had to be “found” as a free agent, Reimer was drafted late in the 4th round). For us to believe that they both of them will take it a step further and become superstars is nothing more than wishful thinking. It’s time to be pragmatic about these two goaltenders. Do they need another year? Is it a question of experience? No, and no.

I want you to think back to a player, you’ve watched him just recently in Winnipeg – you’ll have to think hard though, as he wasn’t exactly noticeable, but he’s a good example.

That player’s name is Nik Antropov.

Remember how much promise Nik had? Remember how badly you wanted him to become a star in this league? Remember how often you were told that he was prodigiously talented? Remember that hat trick in Florida, early on? Turns out, he was exactly what we all thought he was, a heartless, gutless, boring, 45+ points a year guy who wasn’t going to do much other than show up every night.

We’re doing the same thing with Reimer and Gustavsson, especially with Reimer. To be honest, I don’t think most people are too plussed one way or the other about Gustavsson, so maybe I shouldn’t include him.

I’m very worried about this goaltending situation and very worried about the air of complacency that’s surrounding this team. As if the playoffs are their divine right this season. Ottawa may be fading, as we suspected come the all star break, but is it so difficult to imagine a situation where we lose the eighth seed to either Washington or Florida?

I can imagine a situation where Thomas Vokoun puts the Capitals in ahead of us with a few special performances in the final week of the season that our goaltenders just can’t match.

People, when you go into Philadelphia and you score 3 goals – you should come out of that game with, at the very least, a point – and hopefully you get the bonus point. We got nothing because our goaltenders couldn’t supply us with a game saving stop. Our goaltenders couldn’t be the difference.

How many games has Henrik the Great won for the Rangers this season? How many games has Jon Quick kept L.A. in? How many times has Tim Thomas been a difference maker this year?

I don’t know what his contractual status is, but from the outside looking in, it seems as though he may be the only decent one available – Evgeni Nabokov. He may be exactly the type of goaltender we need for a stretch run and a decent showing in the playoffs, and he should be cheap. Ron Wilson is familiar with him and the Islanders can have any of our goaltenders, a ride on the Zamboni during the first intermission at the ACC and a bag of pucks in return. I’m sure they’ll be happy with that.

If nothing much is to be done during the trade deadline and no big names are moving around, the two players I would covet for cheap would be Cal Clutterbuck from the Wild (who would be a sensation in Toronto, truly a sensation, and I think we can steal him from the Wild … ) and Evgeni Nabokov to solidify our substandard goaltending if only for 1/4th of a year and a round or two of the playoffs.

This, this right here, this isn’t going to cut it:

This is what the best are capable of:

Let me put it another way for you, if we have Lundqvist, Quick, Thomas, etc – we win that game tonight, or we at least come out of it with a point.

Think about that.

Think about how many other games this season the same thing can be said.

Where’s the Leafs biggest hole, not that we’re ecstatic about all of our players, but where is our biggest hole?

Is it our defense? With the likes of Phaneuf, Liles, Schenn, Gardiner, Gunnasson, etc?

Is it our forwards, some of which are among the league lead in scoring? Which includes the likes of Kessel, Lupul, Grabovski, Bozak, Connolly et al?

Or;

Is it our goaltending?

So one final time, Brian, seeing as you build teams from the goaltender out, what exactly is it you’re waiting for?