tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Carlyle Hockey: Leafs Win 3-1

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs exhibited the quality that Brian Burke talks about: trucculence. They didn't take any of the Ottawa Senators guff, were aggressive on the forecheck, killed penalties, blocked shots, played solid defense and received good goaltending. All of that resulted in a 3-1 win over their hated provincial rivals.

While their are some in the media who will pound the Leafs for once again screwing up the chance to get a top five draft pick, what happens during the course of these last 10 games will say a lot about what this team needs to do in the off season. There are no Sidney Crosbys, Steven Stamkos or John Tavares to draft. Point being that anyone selected in that top five are not going to have an immediate impact on this team. If they are able to get a high pick fine. But, it's more important to find out who on this current roster is going to play the way Randy Carlyle wants them to play.

There has been some who have called into question the new contract that was given to Mikhail Grabovski. Well. last night should put to bed any criticism as we may have seen the emergence of a leader when the small center man stood up for rookie Carter Ashton and took on Chris Neil. I have seen Grabovski use his body against much bigger opponents. One specifically I recall was his checking of Evgeni Malkin. It is apparent to me that Grabovski can play for Carlyle and he has the offensive ability that this team needs.

Since Damien Cox's article about trading Phil Kessel, there has been plenty of banter about whether or not Kessel should remain with the team. Last night, Kessel drew a penalty and on the subsequent power play scored what would be the winning goal on a beautiful shot that beat Senator goalie Ben Bishop. Kessel will never be a physical presence but what I did notice last night was that in the third period with his team leading 3-1, Kessel was inclined to gain the red line and dump the puck into the Senators zone. It will remain to be seen what happens this summer, but I think that Phil Kessel can play for Randy Carlyle. We also should remember this: Kessel has 35 goals and 40 assists. Not easily replaced.

Mike Komisarek has been a continual whipping boy since arriving here in Toronto and justifiably so. However, since Carlyle's appearance behind the bench, Komisarek has been playing the way he was when he was with the Canadiens. Last night I thought was one of his best games as a Maple Leaf. He was a physical presence and he got under the skin of Daniel Alfredsson which resulted in a 5 on 3 power play for the Leafs which resulted in Dion Phaneuf's goal.

It will be interesting to see how the Leafs play in Boston on Monday night. The Bruins have owned the Leafs and are obviously a much bigger and physical team. This will be a good test and Coach Carlyle will certainly use it as part of his evaluation process.