Brophy on Leafs: Banking on Bozak
Posted January 16, 2012 3:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Welcome back Tyler. You were missed.
Oh, and buy the way, anything you can do to shake Phil and Joffrey out of their funk would be appreciated.
Tyler Bozak returned to practice Monday in preparation for the Leafs’ Tuesday night home encounter with the upstart Ottawa Senators and was immediately placed back on the club’s top line between struggling Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul. The duo has been among the NHL’s most productive twosomes for most of the season, but is riding three-game pointless streaks.
Kessel remains sixth in league scoring with 24 goals and 48 points while Lupul has 19 goals and 47 points.
Bozak said he feels no pressure in terms of being responsible for kick starting his two wingers.
“I hope we do well, but you’re not going to get points every game,” Bozak said. “If you look at their points they’re still doing a great job. If they had a few games without points earlier in the season and scored points in our last couple of games we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. There’s bound to be ups and downs during the course of a year so I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”
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Bozak missed seven games with a shoulder injury, but didn’t spend the time in the press box munching on popcorn and daydreaming. He focused on Kessel and Lupul in an effort to better understand and appreciate their tendencies.
“I watched every game and it’s crazy how different it is seeing the play from up top,” Bozak said. “I think I got to know them pretty well playing with them the past couple of years, but you can still see little things that they like to do that you may not have noticed when you were out on the ice with them.”
Bozak is fifth in Leafs scoring with seven goals and 25 points in 35 games.
“I think he has earned being on this line with the way he has played with those guys this year,” said coach Ron Wilson. “At the start of the year when I was putting the lines together I was thinking Tim Connolly would be the logical choice there, but Bozie has played so well in substituting for Timmy. In the games Bozie has played on that line and Timmy played with other guys I think the chemistry has been the best it is for our team.”
Reims with playing
Bozak isn’t the only Maple Leaf who will be back in action Tuesday night. Goaltender James Reimer will also start after sitting the past six games while Jonas Gustavsson worked the crease.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Reimer said with his familiar ear-to-ear grin.
Reimer was slated to be the team’s No. 1 goalie this season, but that changed after he suffered a concussion in the sixth game of the year. He missed six weeks of action and upon returning his play was decent, but he wasn’t getting the results he wanted. He said he’ll keep things simple against the Senators.
Wilson said last week he’d ride the hot goaltender, but changed his mind. Even though Gustavsson lost in Buffalo Friday night, Wilson went back to him against the Rangers Saturday and the Leafs lost 3-0. Being passed over only served to make Reimer that much more hungry to play and to win.
“Any time you don’t play it motivates you to be better and work harder,” Reimer said. “I pride myself in working hard and being honest out there, but it gives you a little extra motivation. Hopefully I can carry that on the ice and be that much better.”
And what about not starting after Gustavsson lost to the Sabres?
“You know, Ron makes decisions that he thinks are best for the team,” Reimer said. “Any time you’re not playing it’s frustrating in the sense that you want to be out there helping the team. In that instance and that circumstance I knew my role which was to support The Monster and the team and to have a good attitude. Whatever decision Ron makes I am happy with and he felt that was the best decision. I trusted it so it was no big deal.”
Wilson feels comfortable putting Reimer in against the Senators.
“He deserves to be back in there,” the coach said. “I didn’t think there was any need to chance Jonas after the game in Buffalo and I thought he played really well against the Rangers, too, but if he had let in just one goal we would have lost the game as it turned out.”
Up and down
Rookie defenceman Jake Gardiner was back skating with the Leafs after playing an American Hockey League game with the Marlies Sunday and will play Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators. Gardiner had been a healthy scratch with the Leafs for four straight games. In 37 games with the Leafs the swift-skating defender has 10 assists and averaged 20:32 ice time. Gardiner had an assist, two shots on goal and one minor penalty in the Marlies 2-1 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
“It was good to play a game,” Gardiner said. “It was nice. Getting back into the swing of things is always good. I felt pretty good. It was a change of pace, but I felt pretty good.”
Gardiner said he was not told how long he’d be with the Marlies and was pumped when he got the word he was coming back to the Leafs. He said being sent down, even if only for a game, was not a blow to his confidence.
“I kind of expected something like this to happen at some point of the year,” he said. “Being a young guy; its part of the deal. I’ll just shake it off.”
Surprising Sens
The Battle of Ontario is back on!
Many, myself included, figured the Ottawa Senators would battle the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets for the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. While the Blue Jackets have been as bad as advertised, the Panthers and Senators have been surprisingly good. After a great start the Panthers are starting to come back to Earth, but the Senators remain one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.
“They’re ahead of us,” said defenceman Cody Franson. “That’s two big points for us. We’ve lost our last two and it’s so tight that when you lose two games, you fall right out of the playoffs. The Senators are playing really well and they’ve beat some pretty good teams lately. We’ve got to play well against them.”
Coach Wilson points to the success of third-year defenceman Erik Karlsson as one of the big reasons why the Senators have been so successful in the first half of the season. The 21-year-old ranks 12th in NHL scoring – and first amongst blueliners – with six goals and 44 points in 45 games.
“Karlsson has really developed into one of the top defencemen in the league probably quicker than people thought he would,” Wilson said. “Everybody knew he was going to be good, but to play the way he has been this year has probably been a bit of a surprise. Not that he’s playing over is head, but he has been consistent.”
