During a recent Leafs recap I made reference to the civil war that has erupted in Leafsland. Everyone, it seems, has an allegiance to either Andrew Raycroft or Vesa Toskala and that's pretty much all anyone wants to talk about with regards to this team.
Tonight we're hosting the Habs and it's going to be great, but who will be between the pipes? Paul Maurice went with Raycroft in game one and Toskala in game two. Since neither laid an egg, it's tough to predict who Maurice will go with tonight. In this civil war, I'm firmly on the side of Vesa Toskala, and the purpose of this entry is to state my reasoning so we can put aside our differences and become brothers in arms once more.
Raycroft infuriated me all of last season, his third in the NHL. Sure, he played a lot and won a number of games, but he truly seemed to be good for at least one weak goal a game and during the most important game of the season he had to be pulled in favour of Aubin. We ended up winning that game, and Leafs management rightly decided to upgrade at that position.
Toskala was a desired commodity and in the minds of most ready to be a #1. We gave up a lot but I believe it will prove to be a wise decision. Raycroft isn't good enough to be our go-to goalie if we want to contend and Toskala very well may be, it's as simple as knowing what's not working and giving a potential solution the opportunity to prove itself fruitful.
Maurice should start Toskala tonight, at home on Hockey Night in Canada against our historic rivals. Should Toskala play well, and I'd bet he will, they should start Toskala again on Tuesday against Carolina and if he does okay in that game they should start Toskala again on Thursday. I'm looking for Maurice to make it clear Toskala is our #1 and Raycroft is the backup, which is the scenario that gives us our best chance to succeed.
Once this is clear to all, this goaltending controversy and resulting civil war will end... Until Toskala lets in a softie and we do this all over again.
