The Colborne Comeback?

As has been stated many times in the past few weeks, the Toronto Marlies are a drastically different looking team than they were before the NHL lockout came to a close. Nazem Kadri and Matt Frattin are playing like everything people were hoping for and more on the Leafs. Mike Kostka, Mark Fraser, and Korbinian Holzer are holding the fort on defence. Ben Scrivens is between the pipes, backing up (and with injuries, temporarily leap frogging) James Reimer, and thanks to the waiver process, Keith Aucoin is in Long Island Hockey Prison.

It’s certainly made the Marlies a worse team on paper, but that’s not a bad thing. If it anything, it gives the rookie players actual games to play in, and the guys who were overshadowed by their NHL current-calibre peers some improved minutes to show they’re capable. One of these players is Joe Colborne.

Hopes were high when he was acquired from the Boston Bruins. Those hopes exploded when he started last season by winning AHL player of the month. Suddenly, his production hit a tailspin. It lasted the entirety of the season, and everyone was lost. Not only was the high-flying Colborne gone, even the medium-flying one from the end of the season prior was gone. But where did it disappear to?

 

As it turns out, Colborne suffered an injury to his wrist in late November. In what seems to be a recording for the Maple Leafs organization, the decided upon move was to try to play through it. Not exactly the best of ideas to play through a severe injury to the part of your body that controls your biggest strength (puck control and dispersal), but it happened.

Going into this season, Colborne struggled out of the gate, scoring just four points in his first nine games. At this point, Dallas Eakins sat him out. Part of it was “rotational”, trying to get other players in, but you also knew it was performance related to. And it appeared to work – he scored his first goal of the year the very next game. But the honeymoon didn’t last long. For the next month, Colborne was held completely pointless, playing 11 games and being scratched in two more. On pace to finish the season with less than 20 points, something had to change, and fast. Suddenly, things began to click again.

By no means has the player of the month (16 points in 9 games) pace returned, but what we’ve seen since December 16th is very reminiscent of the first glimpse of him. After just a goal and five assists in his first 22 games, he’s put 5 in the back of the net, and set up 14 others in the next 21. But is there a particular reason for his success? I broke down the points, and here’s what I found.

Looking at people on the ice for goals in which Colborne notched a point, 25 different Marlies players have done so. This shows just how many players Toronto has gone through this season, when you consider that’s in less than a two month span, and several players have missed out on this trend. Secondarily, you can further break that statistic down.

What I took in most from the linemate stats is the involvement of Kostka and Abbott. While Colborne’s recent production has become more evenly divided, there’s no doubt in my mind that these two helped him back into a groove. While Abbott is a winger and Kostka is a defenceman, puck moving and playmaking is a major component of their AHL-level games, much like Colborne. Having a second player to get creative with, whether it leads to them both getting points or not, made something happen.

With the confidence that was almost assuredly gained, Colborne has been able to set up plays, whether they lead to points or not, much more effectively than in previous months. As such, he’s not only been given newfound minutes – he’s been earning them. Whether you think the recent run is just a hot streak repairing a previous cold streak, or that this is a return to relevance is your call. But one thing is clear – he’s once again got the opportunity to succeed gift-wrapped to him, and so far, he’s taken it.