November 20, 2007

The Wrath Of Rask?

Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs will meet the kid they gave up on to acquire Andrew Raycroft for the first time. And unfortunately for the Bruins, they won't be facing the same guy they annihilated just a week ago.

Although the head to head matchup of traded goaltenders would have been a great story for a quiet game in late November, this is the next best thing. With the memory of of Raycroft being beat just 19 seconds into the previous matchup between these two clubs fresh on Leaf fans minds, we provide the measuring stick. For wouldn't the Leafs need to score well more than 5 goals tonight to save face in it's latest evaluation mishap controversy?

Quietly, MLSE can push back the other notable goaltender they valued more than the young Fin in Justin Pogge. Who in his second stint in the AHL is still struggling to get his save percentage over .900. Not to mention that he currently sits 4th in the much maligned Leaf goaltender depth rating. However, the comparing between Rask and Raycroft himself is something that will be talked about for much of the rest of this week. That much is confirmed.

Tuuka Rask has played in just 9 games on North American soil. All being with the Providence Bruins in the AHL. He sports a 7 and 2 record while putting up a 2.10 GAA. While North American born goaltenders Pogge and Raycroft acheived 3.03 and 3.37 GAAs respectively in their first professional years in the 'A'.

If there was one thing that could quickly take over the good feelings that a 3 to nothing win over the rival Senators gave Toronto, it would be a defeat to the one bright goaltending prospect they once had and gave away for practically nothing.

Stay tuned...

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