Toronto Maple Leafs

Marlies Move On

Game 7 Victors… again. For the 2nd time in this year’s Calder Cup playoffs, the Toronto Marlies have moved on to the next round after winning game 7 of a 7 game series. Whether you want to consider these guys the latest edition of Cardiac Kids, or Jerry’s Kids, they deserve lots of credit for fighting back from being 3-1 down in their series with Syracuse. The Marlies are now 4-0 this year when facing elimination. And yes, it should be noted that any team that is still alive must have a 1.000 winning percentage when facing elimination so I do realize this is a bit of a bogus stat - but 4 trips to the mat and 4 victories should mean something… and at least they’ve FACED elimination and have something to show for it.

The Crunch finished the regular season on a 15 game winning streak. They closed out the season series with Toronto by beating the Marlies the last 4 times they saw them. Their late season infusion of talent from Columbus after the trade deadline included luminaries such as Derrick Brassard, and Gilbert Brule. All 4 of their victories in the first round against the Manitoba Moose came in OT. They were far from the “under dogs” in this series, despite having a lower point total and thus playing as the 2nd ranked franchise.

Toronto’s top line forwards for the playoffs thus far have been Bates Battaglia, David Ling, Kris Newbury, and John Mitchell. The first 3 have seen a lot of action at the NHL level, but Mitchell is staking his claim to deserving a look with the big club next season, leading the Marlies in playoff goal scoring with 8 goals; 5 coming in his last 5 games. Brent Aubin also deserves kudos for scoring 2 goals in the 7th game victory, to add to his important goal in game 5. He played in the Memorial Cup for the Quebec Remparts in 2005-06 alongside Alex Radulov, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Angelo Esposito, and he produced 27 points in 24 games (4th in team scoring behind Radulov, Melanson, and Vlasic, and 3rd in goals in that year’s playoff run). He’s now tied with Newbury for 3rd on the team in goals with 4… but one hopes he might add an assist at some point to that total.

Jiri Tlusty has been a bit of a disappointment, scoring less than expected and showing a lack of polish in his offensive game. The D will improve with experience, but part of his failure to produce on the score sheet may have more to do with a need to adjust his style of play to playoff hockey in North America. Luckily he is still seeing 2nd line minutes, and Gilbert has kept him in a regular rotation, so he isn’t embarrassing himself (or the Leafs) out there.

As for Justin Pogge… no change on that front. Clemmensen played decently, and held the team in it when needed. Perhaps something will happen in the 2nd round but I’m not crossing my fingers anymore… they were developing carpal tunnel, so I stopped out of health considerations (a blogger that can’t type isn’t much of a blogger).

Next up for the Marlies will be a team from Illinois. One of either the Chicago Wolves or Rockford Ice Hogs will face off with Toronto in the Western Conference Finals. Game 7 for those local rivals will take place tomorrow night. Stay tuned for more action Leafs (and/or Marlies) fans, I now know there’s at least 4,753 of you (looks like the over won PPP).