Is It Too Late To Be-Leaf?

It's late March and as I look out the window I see snow everywhere, go figure.  The baseball season starts in just over a week and I'm still forced to drive my car through sleet, snow and whatever else winter sees fit to throw into the mix.  But hey, it's normal for us to get a little snow in March; we do live in Canada right?  The fact that my thought process immediately jumps to the boys of summer in late March shows you just how deprived Leaf nation is of meaningful games at this time of year.  We have come to expect that by mid-March the dreams of a championship coming to Toronto will ultimately rest with the Blue Jays once again, or dare I say the Argos?  Sad isn't it?

Not since Jeremy Roenick broke the hearts of Leaf fans in '04 have the playoffs been an option in Toronto.  However, there seems to be an odd buzz around Leaf nation in the past month.  This band of young, enthusiastic and hungry kids have taken a workmanlike attitude to the end of this season and given Leaf fans a small taste of meaningful hockey in March once again.  Granted, the likelihood of playoff hockey in Toronto this season seems faint at best, but the experience these kids are gaining in the process may prove to be invaluable.  Maybe Burke really did have some idea what he was doing?

Last night's game in Minnesota is a prime example of what I am talking about.  A Wild team in a tailspin and a Leaf team desperate for points, it's the perfect game for a Leaf letdown.  So after taking a 1 - 0 lead early in the first, John Madden slid a puck between Reimer's pads on a breakaway to tie the score.  Two minutes later Chuck Kobasew beat Reimer on yet another shorthanded breakaway to take a 2 - 1 lead and completely deflated the Leafs.  A late charge meant nothing and the Leafs fell 4 - 3 as their playoff hopes dwindled to almost nothing.  This is what happened right?  Well if you have to ask then you weren't watching were you.  In reality, James  Reimer has done what he has been doing for nearly two months, give the Leafs hope.  He stonewalled Madden and Kobasew, later making two more saves on breakaways, and the Leafs came away with a 3 - 0 shutout of the Wild.  The win was monumental as both Carolina and Buffalo came away with wins as well.

'Optimus Reim', as he has been referred to, has cemented the back end of a Leaf franchise that has been yearning for a tender since the departure of Eddie Belfour.  At 16 - 7 - 4, Reimer looks like he might be the real deal.  The kid has posted a 2.49 GAA and a .925 save percentage in the process.  What might be even more impressive is the demeanor in which he conducts himself; calm, cool and collected.  The key to being an NHL goaltender isn't how you play when you win, but how you're able to play after you lose. 

Playoffs or not, I think we can look back at a March 16th game in Carolina as a defining moment in Reimer's young career.  With the media talking about Reimer's heavy workload and if he would be able to continue at this pace, Reimer had his worst game as a Leaf.  Coming off a thrilling win against Buffalo, no one showed up two nights later at home to Tampa Bay and Reimer took the brunt of it.  He was pulled after 5 goals and no sooner had he sat on the bench then there was chatter about him buckling under the pressure.  Two nights later he put that chatter to bed, emphatically.  Reimer waltzed into a hostile environment in Carolina and stopped 36 of 37 shots to lead the Leafs to a 3 - 1 victory over the Hurricanes, the team directly in  front of them in the standings.  In fact, since that loss to the Lightning, Reimer has won three straight giving up only 3 goals in the process and posting his third shutout of his career in the process. 

With the confidence in their backstop and a young team with seemingly nothing to lose, the Leafs look almost legitimate.  Posting  a 14 -6 -5 record since they limped into February has brought the blue and white 5 points away from being in a playoff spot with 8 games remaining.  That seems like a stretch, but as I said before these late season games are crucial to the development of this team.  Leaf nation can take solace in the fact that for the first time in recent memory, the progression seems to be a positive one.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to Be-Leaf again!