Monday Mailbag: Its October Yet

Hockey is upon us! I guess if we’re honest with ourselves, it has been for a few weeks now, but we can finally have arguments about games that matter in the standings! Did that thing that just happen push the Leafs closer to the playoffs, or Connor McDavid? Does that giveaway mean Randy Carlyle should be fired, or the luxury box caterer? Why do my feet hurt?

None of these questions and more will be answered below. To submit your question, please send a tweet to @TLNdc or leave it in these comments.

The Leafs already have one of them up in Brandon Kozun. I like his foot speed and his eagerness to get the puck. He’s not the most talented winger from that roster (that goes to Spencer Abbott), but the plays the best suited game to the bottom six. At centre, I’d use Sam Carrick – he has the gritty qualities that Carlyle seems to love, but also is a machine at getting pucks to the net. On the other wing, just to quiet the concern that the Leafs don’t have an “enforcer”, while still giving them a developing and quality hockey player, I’d go with David Broll.

To be honest, I don’t know. McLaren didn’t play very much for the Marlies down the stretch last year, but suffered an injury during that time as well. Orr was scratched frequently by Dallas Eakins in 2011/12, and both Gord Dineen and Derek King were part of that coaching staff as well. The Marlies have two enforcers in Jamie Devane and David Broll that can “play hockey” along with dropping the mitts, and have a bunch of other players who won’t hesitate to fight if need be. I’m seriously wondering if the team looks into loaning a couple of guys to other AHL teams; if only because the ECHL is too low for the kids, and too demeaning for Orr and McLaren.

I’ve actually dealt with both Orr and McLaren in their previous stints with the Marlies, and they’re nice people who are easy to talk to. They know their place in the game and understand why they’ve done the ups and downs over the past couple of years. I think they understand, more so than bloggers and readers who disagree with each other, that an opinion or a critique of somebody’s contributions to an NHL team isn’t  a personal attack. Personally, I’ll be approaching them in the same way as I would any other player.

I imagine if somebody tries to question Phil Kessel’s physique in a question to him, he’ll stop the scrum to load up Schaffer’s profile. Also, if this were to happen, he needs to wear a mask with Yann’s face on it, and change his nameplate to “The Dictator”, XFL style.

Sparks could not be reached for comment, which I assume means he’s having trouble deciding what he’ll be ordering from Chipotle.

In seriousness, I would expect that he’ll be the first call up in the event of an injury, if only due to seniority. Which is weird to say about a guy who just became legal drinking age in his place of birth a few months ago.