Team

Betting

The LeafsNation has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

Don’t Forget Where You Came From

By Jeff Veillette

Mar 19, 2014, 18:04 EDTUpdated:

Comments

While getting ready for tonight’s games (I’m on both Leafs and Marlies duty tonight, so don’t judge me if I mix up some names in the recaps), I’ve been doing my usual combing through Twitter and various spots on the internet, looking for what the word is on just about anything Leafs related. I’m seeing quotes from players defending James Reimer’s “bad year”. Articles explaining his “poor performance”.

There’s no doubt that Jonathan Bernier has been the better of the two. The newest addition between the pipes is undoubtedly the Leafs’ MVP, which is amazing to say with Phil Kessel near the top of NHL scoring. But Reimer hasn’t been bad. Far from it.

I’m not going to go into a massive breakdown of the rest of the league. I don’t think that’s really necessary; his save percentage is above the NHL average at the moment, and he’s got a very impressive 0.925 save percentage in even strength situations, in the top third of the league. Instead, I’d just like you to take a look at a sampling of the Leafs regular goaltenders, other than him, since the 2005 lockout:

Name	Year	GP	MIN	GA	GAA	W	L	OTL	SO	SV	SA	SV%	LAVG	SA60
Reimer	13/14	29	1456	77	3.17	11	10	1	1	819	896	0.914	0.913	36.9
Gustavsson	11/12	42	2301	112	2.92	17	17	4	4	1035	1147	0.902	0.914	29.9
Giguere	10/11	33	1633	78	2.87	11	11	4	0	699	777	0.9	0.913	28.6
Gustavsson	10/11	23	1242	68	3.29	6	13	2	0	552	620	0.89	0.913	29.9
Gustavsson	09/10	42	2340	112	2.87	16	15	9	1	1034	1146	0.902	0.911	29.4
Toskala	09/10	26	1393	85	3.66	7	12	3	1	591	676	0.874	0.911	29.1
Toskala	08/09	53	3056	166	3.26	22	17	11	1	1352	1518	0.891	0.908	29.8
Joseph	08/09	21	841	50	3.57	5	9	1	0	333	383	0.869	0.908	27.3
Gerber	08/09	12	706	38	3.23	6	5	0	0	364	402	0.905	0.908	34.1
Toskala	07/08	66	3837	175	2.74	33	25	6	3	1649	1824	0.904	0.909	28.5
Raycroft	07/08	19	965	63	3.92	2	9	5	1	446	509	0.876	0.909	31.6
Raycroft	06/07	72	4108	205	2.99	37	25	9	2	1726	1931	0.894	0.905	28.2
Aubin	06/07	20	804	46	3.43	3	5	2	0	325	371	0.876	0.905	27.7
Belfour	05/06	49	2897	159	3.29	22	22	4	0	1317	1476	0.892	0.901	30.6
Tellqvist	05/06	25	1399	73	3.13	10	11	2	2	624	697	0.895	0.901	29.9

Until Reimer came on the scene, the Leafs were plagued with underachieving goaltenders. Keep the following things in mind.

06/07 Andrew Raycroft has the most wins in a season in Leafs history.
07/08 Vesa Toskala was considered a “saviour” after Raycroft.
08/09 Martin Gerber is looked back on fondly because of just how bad everybody else is.
Most of Leafs Nation’s favourite moment of 08/09 was the one three or four minute stretch where Curtis Joseph was not brutal.
If this year’s James Reimer played the same amount of minutes as Raycroft did in 06/07, he’d set the record for most shots against in NHL history.

Now, Reimer has had an off year (2011/12) while in Toronto as well (though playing most of the season with post-concussion symptoms probably caused it). But this isn’t it. The Leafs have been incredibly fortunate to have him, along with Ben Scrivens and now Jonathan Bernier in between the pipes over the last two years.

The goaltending now is probably the best it’s been for this team in decades, possibly even going back to Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk in the late 60’s; Bernier is having a year for the Leafs history books, and Reimer is probably the best, most reliable backup that this team has had in decades. Just because the Leafs bleed shots on goal doesn’t mean he’s not stopping the bulk of them, and just because he’s not having an elite year like last season doesn’t stop him from being one of the league’s better goalies.

Whether there’s an internal conflict of opinion or not, there’s no need for there to be controversy amongst the fans. Appreciate what you have now.