Things haven't been this bad since January 1997. For the past seven games the Leafs have looked uninspired, disinterested and alarmingly inferior to their opponents. It's now safe to say a career year for Bryan McCabe managed to mask a number of our flaws. Once McCabe went down, a paper-thin defense was exposed along with a very regular Ed Belfour. Belfour, bless his heart, is 40 years old and now allows one or two questionable goal a game. His save percentage is only .887 and his goals against average is a hefty 3.45. I fear he's done. It's time to move on.
McCabe, Darcy Tucker and Eric Lindros returning to the line up will help, but we desperately need new bodies for the blue line. It's also time to platoon Belfour with Mikael Tellqvist, before it's too late.
There's still hope for a playoff birth. We're only one point behind Atlanta for 8th in the conference and we've got a couple of games in hand. Beating the Habs on Saturday night is essential.
Current Record Last GamesSeason Leaders24-22-3
51 points
3rd in Northeast8-4 Loss vs. Buffalo
4-3 Loss vs. Ottawa
7-0 Loss vs. OttawaB. McCabe - 49
J. Allison - 39
T. Kaberle - 39
