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| Toronto Maple Leafs had 2nd Best Record in Eastern Conference Post All-Star Break |
In fact, James Reimer is 6 - 1 - 0 since sitting out the Florida game. You should note Reimer was 2 - 3 - 1 in the 7 games leading up to the Florida game after playing back-to-back days on 2nd and 3rd of March.
However, the "true" final point Leafs fans need to remember is only one team in the NHL Eastern Conference had more points than Toronto since the all-star break. That team is New Jersey Devils. In short, this team has to be good in order to accomplish that kind of success. Given its young age, you can conclude the team has started to blossom, which bodes well for next season.
In our series of articles, we have explored Toronto's performance in-depth, by reviewing its performance since the all-star break and then contrast it with the playoff chase teams in their conference at the all-star break.
Please note the players' age when reviewing the statistics. It allows you to determine where a player is within their career. Peak performing years are typically ages 24 to 26 for forwards; 26 to 28 for defenceman; and 26 to 30 for goaltenders. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb. We list the player's age at the start of the season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Players Post All-Star Game 2010-11 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Age | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PPG | S% |
Phil Kessel | 23 | RW | 30 | 11 | 16 | 27 | -2 | 5 | 10.7% |
Nikolai Kulemin | 24 | RW | 30 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 22.8% |
Mikhail Grabovski | 26 | C | 30 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 8.8% |
Clarke MacArthur | 25 | LW | 30 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 10.5% |
Dion Phaneuf | 25 | D | 30 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 9.1% |
Joffrey Lupul | 27 | LW | 25 | 8 | 8 | 16 | -8 | 2 | 11.9% |
Tyler Bozak | 24 | C | 30 | 6 | 5 | 11 | -14 | 2 | 16.7% |
Luke Schenn | 20 | D | 30 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 0 | 5.5% |
Colby Armstrong | 27 | RW | 17 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 6.9% |
Carl Gunnarsson | 23 | D | 27 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2.9% |
Tim Brent | 27 | C | 30 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 8.3% |
Joey Crabb | 27 | RW | 28 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 9.4% |
Darryl Boyce | 26 | C | 29 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 17.6% |
Tomas Kaberle* | 32 | D | 9 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 7.1% |
Nazem Kadri | 19 | C | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 15.0% |
Kris Versteeg* | 24 | LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16.6% |
Mike Brown | 25 | LW | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.5% |
Brett Lebda | 28 | D | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5.6% |
Keith Aulie | 21 | D | 25 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9.5% |
Jay Rosehill | 25 | LW | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 0 | 10.0% |
Francois Beauchemin* | 30 | D | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 12.5% |
Fredrick Sjostrom | 27 | LW | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0% |
Mike Komisarek | 28 | D | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 0 | 0.0% |
Christian Hanson | 24 | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
Matt Lashoff | 24 | D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
Practically all of the core offensive players produced. Only first line centre Tyler Bozak had mediocre scoring statistics. However, Nazem Kadri's performance at such a young age suggests Toronto might have an alternative in place ready to emerge.
Toronto Maple Leafs Goalies Post All-Star Game 2010-11 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalie | Age | GP | W | L | T | GA Avg | SO | Save Pct | |
James Reimer | 22 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 2.65 | 3 | .919 | |
J-S Giguere | 33 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.19 | 0 | .906 | |
Toronto turned around its season by adding James Reimer to its NHL roster. Reimer kept pace with the best goalies in the world. He is presently in the NHL Top 10 for goalie save percentage. The biggest concern about Reimer was his ability to handle the workload. He never came close to playing 50 games in a professional season of hockey. Yet, he has now played 49 professional games this season.
To give proper perspective to the production of the Toronto players, we present the statistics of the top players from the Eastern Conference playoff "chase" teams: New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers, and Florida Panthers. These teams, other than New Jersey and Toronto, were in playoff contention at the all-star break.
To give proper perspective to the production of the Toronto players, we present the statistics of the top players from the Eastern Conference playoff "chase" teams: New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers, and Florida Panthers. These teams, other than New Jersey and Toronto, were in playoff contention at the all-star break.
Eastern Conference Playoff "Chase" Scoring Post All-Star Game 2010-11 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Age | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PPG | S% |
Ilya Kovalchuk | 27 | New Jersey | 29 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 16.1% |
Phil Kessel | 23 | Toronto | 30 | 11 | 16 | 27 | -2 | 5 | 10.7% |
Thomas Vanek | 26 | Buffalo | 29 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 12 | 1 | 12.7% |
Drew Stafford | 24 | Buffalo | 28 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 20.0% |
Ryan Callahan | 25 | Rangers | 28 | 13 | 12 | 25 | -5 | 7 | 15.4% |
Nikolai Kulemin | 24 | Toronto | 30 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 22.8% |
Erik Cole | 31 | Carolina | 29 | 11 | 11 | 22 | -3 | 1 | 15.1% |
Mikhail Grabovski | 26 | Toronto | 30 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 8.8% |
Vinny Prospal | 35 | Rangers | 27 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 10.3% |
Patrik Elias | 34 | New Jersey | 29 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 8.1% |
Clarke MacArthur | 25 | Toronto | 30 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 10.5% |
It is hard to be disappointed with Phil Kessel's scoring production when you see no one on the chase teams outscored him. In fact, past Top 5 Entry Draft picks Eric Staal, Marian Gaborik, Stephen Weiss, and Andrew Ladd did not come close to matching matching Kessel's scoring. Yes, the same Eric Staal who drafted Phil Kessel last in the all-star game draft.
In the previous week's blog post, we noted at age 24, both Nikolai Kulemin and Drew Stafford have experienced a dramatic increase in scoring production. You have to wonder if Phil Kessel is due for one next season. He is one of seven players who have scored at least 30 goals in each of the past three seasons. Of the seven players, only Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby have yet to reach their peak scoring years.
East Conference Playoff "Chase" Goalies Post All-Star Game 2010-11 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalie | Age | Team | GP | W | L | T | Win Pct | GA Avg | SO | Save Pct | |
Johan Hedberg | 37 | New Jersey | 11 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .850 | 1.48 | 2 | .943 | |
Martin Brodeur | 38 | New Jersey | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | .657 | 1.61 | 2 | .925 | |
Cam Ward | 26 | Carolina | 28 | 13 | 10 | 4 | .555 | 2.47 | 1 | .924 | |
Henrik Lundqvist | 28 | Rangers | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | .560 | 2.23 | 4 | .921 | |
Ryan Miller | 30 | Buffalo | 24 | 12 | 8 | 4 | .583 | 2.49 | 2 | .919 | |
James Reimer | 22 | Toronto | 26 | 16 | 5 | 4 | .720 | 2.62 | 3 | .919 | |
Jhonas Enroth | 22 | Buffalo | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .900 | 2.53 | 1 | .917 | |
Tomas Vokoun | 34 | Florida | 19 | 4 | 12 | 2 | .277 | 2.76 | 0 | .916 | |
Ondrej Pavelec | 23 | Atlanta | 17 | 3 | 10 | 2 | .266 | 3.38 | 0 | .882 | |
As you can see, James Reimer kept pace with the top workhorse goalies amongst the Eastern Conference playoff chase teams. He delivered the most victories while keeping pace with them in games played. Expect James Reimer to get the majority of the workload next season.
Eastern Conference Playoff "Chase" Teams Post All-Star Break Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | GP | Wins | Losses | OT/SO | Points | Win Pct | vs Chase Teams |
New Jersey | 29 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 42 | .724 | 9 - 1 - 1 |
Toronto | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 41 | .683 | 7 - 2 - 2 |
Buffalo | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 39 | .650 | 9 - 4 - 1 |
Carolina | 29 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 31 | .534 | 5 - 4 - 5 |
Rangers | 28 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 30 | .535 | 2 - 5 - 0 |
Atlanta | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 21 | .403 | 4 - 5 - 3 |
Florida | 30 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 21 | .350 | 3 - 4 - 3 |
At the all-star break, the pundits proclaimed Toronto must win two out of every three games and the teams ahead of them must collapse in order for them to have a chance of reaching the playoffs. Toronto exceeded this pace by 1 point in the 30 games it has played. The problem is Buffalo almost matched Toronto's pace. The hole they had to climb out of was simply too deep.
However, there is solace in knowing one of the youngest teams in the NHL has dominated its conference in post all-star game play. Again, it bodes well for the next season
However, there is solace in knowing one of the youngest teams in the NHL has dominated its conference in post all-star game play. Again, it bodes well for the next season
