The number one question I received after the three way trade involving ,Toronto, Calgary, and Anaheim, was who won the trade ? It seems that a lot of the Toronto hockey media, have loudly and proudly declared the Maple Leafs the clear winners. There is no question that the best player in the swap was Dion Phaneuf. The big blue liner did have a solid debut with the blue and white on Tuesday, leading the team with 6 hits,to go along with 3 blocked shots, and 4 shots on goal. But the reality is that it takes a season or two to observe how all the teams fare with their new players, before any degree of certainty can be attached to a team being a winner or a loser in any transaction. Pathetically, there might be some fans or media, who will come to a conclusion after Toronto’s game with New Jersey on Tuesday night, and no doubt will declare the Leafs the hands down winner in the deal. So how seriously did the New Jersey Devils take this game ? So seriously that Yann Danis was in goal instead of Martin Brodeur, and Danis has played a grand total of 3 games all year, and hadn’t played since November 21st. Do you think he might be just a little rusty ? I wont bother answering my own question, because we all know what the answer is. You don’t need to be a space shuttle pilot, to figure out that this game wasn’t a big one on the Devils dance card. Then again, when you look at where the Maple Leafs are in the standings, right at the bottom of the conference before the game got underway, you can’t blame them for picking their spots in a very long season, especially as it pertains to Team Canada goalkeeper Marty Brodeur. Until Tuesday night’s game, he had started in 40 consecutive games. He’s got a lot of hockey ahead, with both the Devils and soon with Team Canada. In the first two period of the game with the Maple Leafs, it seemed as though other Devils players who were on the ice, also took a night off. They gave a better effort in the third period, outshooting Toronto by 12-5.
The one Devils player who did leave a lasting impression in more ways than one,was Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, who must certainly have the longest name in professional sports. His hockey sweater only has “Leblond” stitched on the back, so you wouldn’t know the length of his name unless you purchased a program or had the media guide. The other memorable aspect of Leblond ,was in a first period fight with Jay Rosehill, the New Jersey forward absolutely tattooed the Leafs enforcer, and knocked him down with his final punch. He looks like a heavyweight, and throws punches like one as well. He must be a very determined individual, when you consider that he was selected by the Devils in the 7th round, 216th pick overall, in the 2004 draft.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere got off on the right foot in his Toronto debut, making 30 saves in the 3-0 win. The former Anaheim Duck, is only the second Leafs goalie to record a shutout in his first outing, since Ed Belfour led the Leafs past Pittsburgh 6-0, in his October 10, 2002 initiation. Newly acquired Fredrik Sjostrom, got an assist on Nikolai Kulemin’s game opening goal. It will be interesting to see how both teams play Friday night, when they’re back in New Jersey.