Musings on Toronto goaltending from a snack bar worker

I’ve never played a lick of hockey in my life – road hockey and ball hockey don’t count… – so what I may say may mean jack all, but this is the Internet and everyone’s entitled to their own soapbox. In fact, the closest I’ve ever been to the ice has been goofing around on an ice resurfacer (Zamboni is trademarked, as informed by Lattanzio), timekeeping house league games, and working in the arena snack bar (in order of relevance).

However, having watched as many Leafs games as I can stream, I’ve noticed one thing that has been sorely missing when Toskala was in net – the strong push off with the opposite leg. I’ve seen Gustavsson consistently use it countless times and every time he has, it’s been accompanied by a tremendous save. He may be bigger than Toskala but it’s the fundamentals that I think that set him and Toskala apart. Whenever there was a gaping hole in the net to cover, you’d expect Toskala to not get over in time, but not with Gustavsson. Gustavsson reminds me of Giguere – a huge goaltender with that solid, solid push off (among other things).

Now that he’s permanently in net (and hopefully Wilson has realized that Toskala is tarnished goods), things may be looking up in Leafsland. If this ragtag group of 2nd and 3rd liners (plus Kessel) can be backstopped by an amazing goalie, the playoffs are certainly a possibility. Gustavsson has still only won 3 games and lost 5 (3 in overtime), but hopefully he can stay healthy and not get fatigued (and Toskala not lose every game he plays in the backup role) and provide solid goaltending for the Leafs – something not seen since the days of Belfour (and maybe Raycroft’s first season…).