warum » first three. The next game of the night, Otta

It took the Leafs 7:19 before they were finally able to register a shot on goal against the Florida Panthers - a harmless drive from the point by Carl Gunnarsson. The shot clock then read 9-1. It was a sign of things to come. By the time the first period had ended, the clock read 19-4. After forty minutes: 37-12, yet remarkably the Maple Leafs still had a chance to win, solely due to Jonathan Bernier, who, among other examples, denied Jonathan Huberdeau and Scottie Upshall on clear cut breakaways. "We didnt really have anything going other than one person in the line up who was outstanding for our hockey club and it was our goaltender," said a baffled Randy Carlyle. "We just didnt seem to have any jump or any passion to play the game and its kind of mind boggling right now." Jesse Winchester eventually put the Panthers up 2-0 before David Clarkson finally got the Leafs on the board, scoring his fourth goal of the season. But four minutes later, Shawn Matthias restored the Panthers two goal lead, putting the game out of reach. "Those are wasted efforts as youd call them," Carlyle explained. "Over the course of the season when you get an effort like that from your goaltender, its a like a pitcher throwing a no hitter. Thats the same analogy that you use when you have a performance like he was supporting our group with tonight." It marked the third straight game against the Panthers this season that the Maple Leafs got out to a poor start. A 3-1 loss on December 17th reflected a similarly uninspired effort. Last week, the Leafs were able to overcome an early 2-0 deficit but there would be no improvement found on this occasion as they went on to fall 4-1 to Florida. "The first ten minutes we were just standing around and they were jumping by us," said Carlyle. "It was like we werent engaged in the hockey game at all." Five Points 1) Raymond Calls Loss The Worst Effort of the Season While the Leafs have suffered worse losses this season – 6-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 25th, 7-1 to the New York Rangers on Jan. 4 and 7-1 to the Dallas Stars on January 23rd – Mason Raymond suggest he felt tonights effort fell to the lowest hed seen it so far. "No excuse for the way we played, weve had a few tough games this year but I dont think anywhere as this bad," said Raymond. "We were outplayed almost in all aspects of the game." In terms of lessons to be learned, just moving on, Raymond said, might be the best way to go. "Im sure well do a little reflecting on it but I think its one you flush pretty quick and move on," the 28 year old explained. "Those were important points that we let slip away and thats unfortunate." 2) Carlyle Juggles The Lines After two periods of lethargic play, Randy Carlyle opted to shuffle his lines, looking for any kind of a spark with the Leafs still within striking distance. "Just tried to get something going because we had nothing going and just pleading to the group that we have a goaltender thats standing on his head here and its a 1-0 hockey game, tried to give ourselves a chance with a decent period to steal some points," explained the head coach. The move worked, at least temporarily, leading to David Clarksons goal on a nifty set up from Nazem Kadri. Start of the Game James Van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak- Phil KesselJoffrey Lupul - Nazem Kadri - Nikolai KuleminMason Raymond - Jay McClement - David ClarksonTroy Bodie - Jerred Smithson - Colton Orr Third Period Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil KesselJames Van Riemsdyk - Nazem Kadri - David ClarksonMason Raymond - Jay McClement - Nikolai KuleminTroy Bodie - Jerred Smithson - Colton Orr 3) Gardiners Fight Marks An NHL First A pair of unlikely combatants, Jake Gardiner and Jonathan Huberdeau dropped the gloves 6:31 into the second period in a fight that was more of a wrestling match than a typical NHL scrap. "It wasnt much of a fight," said Gardiner. "Stuff happens in the game, you get emotional and sometimes you have to fight." Just how unlikely was it for Gardiner to find himself in a scrap? To the best of his recollection, he could only come up with one other instance where he dropped the gloves. "It was in practice when I was in college (at the University of Wisconsin), it was a while back," Gardiner recalled. 4) Clarkson Hoping To Hit "Reset Button" After missing the first ten games of the season due to a suspension, another two contests in mid-December to a second suspension, a game on January 7th against the Islanders because of a foot injury and most recently, eight games because of an elbow injury, David Clarkson marked his fourth separate return to the line up on Tuesday against the Panthers. With 25 games left to go, Clarkson is looking to hit the reset button and put all his nagging issues behind him. "Im hoping, Ive had a chance to hit that button a couple times," said Clarkson, who has just four goals and five assists in 37 games. Coach Randy Carlyle insisted patience is the right approach for Clarkson, who seems like he has continually been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to live up to massive expectations this season. "I dont want to put too much emphasis on Clarkson when a player is coming back into your line up after missing an extended period of time," said Carlyle. "Were more suited to let the player get his feet underneath him before we make these great proclamations of what hes going to do and where hes going to be at." While sitting and watching, Clarkson has admitted, is never easy for him, the Leafs solid run, going 6-1-1 in the eight games he missed made it somewhat tolerable. "The fact that weve been winning, it makes it a lot easier sitting there because youre not in the stands or after the game upset," Clarkson explained, who has watched the Leafs amass a record of 14-6-1 without him in the line up compared to 16-16-5 with him dressed. As for what set Clarksons season off on the wrong foot, Carlyle didnt have to think long for an explanation. "I think the ten game suspension obviously had an effect, simple as that," said Carlyle. 5) JVR Plays Despite Battling Flu Bug James Van Riemsdyk seems to have it all figured out. The Middletown, New Jersey native has not participated in a full practice since January 24th in Winnipeg – he left part way through on January 26th – but has not missed a game during that stretch. Last week, JVRs absence was due to an undisclosed injury. On Monday, it was a bout of the flu that forced him to miss the teams workout at MasterCard Centre and subsequent charter flight to Fort Lauderdale. But there was still one Van Riemsdyk on the teams flight on Monday; James father Frans, who accompanied the other dads on the Leafs annual fathers trip. "I made the decision to send him along on the charter so he gets that whole experience and Im sure he had a great time last night," said James. James made his way down to Florida early Tuesday morning on a 6:30am commercial flight and received well wishes from other travellers. "I got a couple tweets in the airport, a couple good lucks," he explained. Asked how his day of recovery from the flu went on Monday, James smiled, laughed and said, "I dont want to get into it." Stats Pack - 9-0: Shot total in favour of Panthers when Carl Gunnarsson registered first shot for the Leafs at the 7:19 mark of the 1st period - 19-4: Shots in favour of Panthers after 1st period - 37-12: Shots in favour of Panthers after 2nd period - 44: Stops made by Jonathan Bernier, his second highest total this season behind only the 48 stops he made on Dec. 5 against Dallas - 16:30: David Clarksons ice time in his return to the line up after an 8 game absence - 7: Hits Clarkson registered, leading the Leafs in that category - 3: Leafs win streak snapped at three games; Panthers losing streak snapped at three games - 16: Number of times the Leafs have allowed more than 40 shots - 2: The amount of power play goals the Panthers have scored in their last 53 opportunities after Tom Gilberts goal against the Leafs Quote of the night: - Mason Raymond on whether the team felt added pressure with playing in front of their fathers, who are along on the annual dads trip: "No, again, were professional athletes. Were expected to have mental preparation and be prepared for the game and we werent, we were flat from the start. Thankfully Bernie was playing well at the start or it would have been a lot worse." Up next: The Leafs are in Tampa Bay on Thursday for their second of four head to head meetings with the Lightning. Toronto won the first game on Jan. 28 3-2 at Air Canada Centre. Cheap Old Skool Vans .com) - Theres nothing better for a team than to send out the staff ace in the most important game of the season. Vans Old Skool Australia Sale .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.cheapoldskoolaustralia.com/ .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. Cheap Old Skool Australia Free Shipping .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. Cheap Vans Australia . Neither player was available Saturday for the Knicks 107-98 loss in Atlanta. "Were going in a different direction and weve got to figure out another spot or two for our ballclub," coach Mike Woodson said before the game.One, two, three, I do believe. After a 45-21 win over Toronto I was surprised, and after a 36-28 win over Ottawa I was impressed, but the 34-33 win on the road in Montreal was a convincing moment. In a game where the difference was two defensive touchdowns for the Bombers creating the first road win was a special type of confidence builder, more than Game 1 and more than the win over an expansion team in the Redblacks. Again, for the second week in a row, Drew Willy was impressive. His come-from-behind skills are as good in this young season as any quarterback and his ability to wait until the last moment to let a downfield pattern develop is an ability I dont think you can teach. You either have it or you dont. Its kind of a combination of courage and awareness at the same time. I give compliments to Montreal for their relentless pass rush. They played risk-reward football and did not get the reward as in the end they may have taken one too many risks in one-on-one downfield coverage. Still, my Lord, the first half was boring, very boring. The game kicked off at 7:08pm and the first half did not end until 8:49pm, eastern time. One hour and 41 minutes to play a half of football. Boring. Whether it was penalties, challenges, commercials, timeouts or injuries, that first half dragged forever. And I really dont know what to suggest to guarantee a more expedited game because there will always be penalties, challenges, timeouts, commercials and injuries in football. The second half was better than the first half and there was exceptional drama in the fourth quarter. But if I was a casual football fan I dont know if I would have made it to the fourth after the first and the second. An excellent win for Winnipeg, tough loss for Montreal but the Alouettes are going to win some games. Tough on defence and very aggressive, improving on offence especially the way Brandon Whitaker is playing and a solid returner in Larry Taylor. Troy Smith hit some good deep balls in the game and I though it was Montreals best game of the first three. The next game of the night, Ottawa at Edmonton was predictable in its outcome, 27-11 for Edmonton. For Coach of the Year you have two early candidates that just may still be candidates come the honour presentation in 2015. I sense Chris Jones has the direct approach of extreme accountability and I sense Mike OShea has a different approach of cooperation. Both types of styles work as it is about understanding the mentality and emotional make-up of your team to get the most out of them. As much as Winnipeg is for real so is Edmonton. Thursday nights game this week - Edmonton at Winnipeg - will say a lot again as one team will move to 4-0 and atop of the West Division. Edmonton has two impressive aspects of football right now. The duo of Odell Willis and Marcus Howard just may be the best pass-rushing duo in CFLL football right now.dddddddddddd Thats true especially in the fourth quarter where concentration can waver and legs get fatigued for an opposition. The Edmonton defensive ends, however, do not waver and do not lose concentration. You have to think as long as they stay healthy both are going to be effective all year. Their offence also impressed with Jonathan White as a running back. Excellent in pass-rush blitz pick up and had three crushing blocks throughout the game and an emotional runner. You could tell when he finished a run he wanted more. Its early, yes, but nonetheless impressive. With Ottawa, well, the word that comes to mind is logical. You see moments of professional polish and moments of amateur action. As the season moves on you will see the polish shine more and more. Toronto needs to be respectful as they can be beat in Ottawa this Friday for the Redblacks opener. And yes, Toronto. What an oddball season so far. A 24-point loss to begin the season, followed by a 33-point win and then Saturdays 19-point loss. Tough to figure out. Calgary after two games does look like the best team right now but as we all know right now is always changing. I was curious to see how Bo Levi Mitchell would play without the pressure of Drew Tate wanting his job. He played better than he ever has and will in all likelihood repeat the performance again and again for the near and distant future. Matt Walter and Anthony Parker also played well, not dominant but without Jon Cornish, Maurice Price and Nik Lewis someone had to step up and I thought they did. Not sure which is the better football factory for CFL players: Laval, McMaster, University of Manitoba or the University of Calgary, the previous home of Parker and Walter? The big football evaluation point is Calgarys depth was tested and it definitely passed the test. And finally, BC at Saskatchewan in an early desperation game. As much as Rider loyalty will not want to do it, give BC some respect for their 26-13 win. They had to have it and they got it done. Pressure in football is an interesting discussion subject. To think that Dave Braley did talk to Wally Buono who talked to Mike Benevides who talked to his assistant coaches who talked to the players is very likely. And the urgency conversation in terms of subject matter was remarkably simple: "We cannot go 0-3". Very simple. Tough choice this week for offensive player of week. You have Willy and his second come-from-behind win. You have Adarious Bowman and his dominant game including three touchdowns. You have Mitchell and a display of youthful confidence in a road win in Toronto. And Andrew Harris, the BC Lions running back. In what has to be the best game of his career, he produced 138 yards rushing and 65 yards passing and put himself back on top as the Lions best running back. I vote Andrew Harris. ' ' '