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Photo: Marlies.ca

It was met with a lot of skepticism when the St. John’s Maple Leafs were relocated to Toronto in 2005.  Seven years later, the move just continues to look better and better.

The Leafs’ AHL affiliate had excellent attendance numbers and were highly popular in St. John’s during their time there. The move was a result of the Leafs’ desire to reduce travel costs and fill the Ricoh. While the attendance was terrible for the Marlies‘ first few years of existence – including a low point when barely 2800 people showed up for their first ever home playoff game in 2006 – the team is finally establishing a presence in the city. As the lockout drags on, many Toronto hockey fans are now turning their attention to the Marlies and even taking in a game or two if possible.

What really makes the Marlies’ presence in Toronto nice, though, is the fact that you’re in the same city as the parent club if you’re a player on the team.

Imagine playing in Hamilton and having to pack up to go to Montreal, only to then get sent back to Hamilton a day later?

Then there’s the fact that the Marlies are basically run like an NHL team. They use the same facilities as the Leafs, and get access to the same specialty coaches as the big club does. The Marlies coach gets to be around management routinely and sit in on draft meetings, trade deadline day, and so on. Do you think the Leafs would have retained Eakins if he the Marlies were located in St. John’s still? There’s at least an argument to be made that it would have been significantly harder to do so. On top of that, if you’re a minor league player or college free agent deciding where to sign, what’s more appealing than living in the same city as the parent club?

We’re obviously going to have to talk about the Marlies this year unless these negotiations swing around (as we should either way), and while there are many things to appreciate about them, we shouldn’t lose sight of how helpful they are to the Leafs simply by being located in the same city as them.

And really, that’s what farm teams are all about: Helping the big club.

Here are some notes from a 1-1-1 weekend:

- On Friday Eakins attempted to play Kadri at right wing with Colborne and Komarov, but the trio didn’t really generate much. What was really concerning though is that Kadri couldn’t break out of his zone while being on his off-wing. Eventually he got moved to play left wing with McKegg and Scott, and he looked much better and more comfortable after that. Many continually suggest Kadri could play either wing, but his breakout struggles suggest otherwise. While he might be a little more dangerous in the offensive zone coming down on the right side, it won’t matter if he can’t break out properly. There’s also been suggestions of him  getting some chances at center, but it hasn’t happened yet. He’s exclusively a left-winger at this point. That’s not a bad thing by any means; I just wanted to point out what he is.

- While on the subject of Kadri, I wanted to say something that just doesn’t get said nearly enough: he’s dangerous almost every time he touches the puck. Kadri deserves credit for some aspects of his game that he doesn’t receive nearly as much as he should, as he is routinely creating, drawing penalties, and putting pucks on net.

- Kadri had a 2 on 1 against Hamilton Saturday and feathered a soft pass intended for Zigomanis that got broken up easily. Later that game he had another 2 on 1 and riffled one through to Greg Scott, who missed a glorious opportunity to score. Goal or not, it was nice to see Kadri learn from that and make the necessary adjustment.

- Again on Kadri, he may have found a nice running mate in Greg McKegg for the foreseeable future. It bodes well for McKegg that he’s seeing significant time not only at center but with arguably the team’s most electric winger. On Friday he made a nifty move to slip past a hip-check in Hamilton and center a puck in front, on Saturday he scored, and all weekend he saw consistent power play time. What’s been most impressive about Greg so far, though, is his puck pursuit and ability to win battles in the corners. That was not always his strong suit in the OHL, so it’s great to see him taking pride there and doing the dirty work. Kadri and McKegg have combined to cycle the puck very well. When Grand Rapids scored to tie the game, they were the line that went out next and put in a good shift in the offensive zone and got some momentum back. On an organization that’s really weak down the middle, you have to be excited at how fast McKegg is working his way up the ladder.

- Here is one difference between the AHL and the NHL. On Friday, a forward took Gysbers wide on the rush so Gysbers stuck with him as he went around the net. There’s nothing wrong with that. What there is something wrong with, though, is Blacker coming off his man in order to challenge the forward as he came around the net, putting both of the team’s defencemen from that shift on one forward. It didn’t ultimately result in anything negative, but in the NHL if you come off your man in that type of situation you will be scooping a puck out of your net. That’s the kind of thing Mike Komisarek does now – or the last few years – to get in trouble.

- Many blamed Hamilton’s first goal on Friday on Jesse Blacker, but it wasn’t his fault. He missed a puck. That’s a a little mistake that is bound to happen every now and again out bad luck. Now, Gysbers getting beat one-on-one off the rush before Blacker missed that puck is the real problem with that goal. Remember, this is the AHL, so guys are going to make mistakes and the hockey will get sloppy at times. You can live with a mistake like a guy missing a puck, what you don’t like to see is a guy getting cleanly beat.

- Jake Gardiner has 21 shots in 5 games so far. Last year he had 79 total shots with the Leafs in 25 games. If there’s one real benefit for Gardiner in this lockout it’s that he’s using his shot more and beginning to learn how to get it through. Last year he had the Kaberle-syndrome at times and over passed. Some of you may remember last year when Wilson and co. harped on him to shoot. Now, he finally is. I for one won’t soon forget this goal; when he gets a hold of one, he can really shoot the puck.

- Komarov’s confidence is starting grow. On Saturday he hammered a player toward the end of the Hamilton game, sparking a sort of line brawl. He got a penalty on the play, but I thought he made shoulder to shoulder contact (that said, it was probably boarding). He also hit the post that game. In Hamilton on Friday he made a beautiful curl and pass to Colborne that gave him a mini breakaway which Colborne couldn’t convert. If you watch Komarov off the rush, he really loves to skate in the zone, curl back and survey the ice for his best outlet pass. In the NHL that will be more effective since the game is more organized and it will be easier to know where everyone is. At times in the AHL he has curled back and had nowhere to pass. Maybe the most impressive part of his game, to me, is his back-checking. He understands how to get back, find his man, and stick with him. There was one play in particular where he harassed a guy all the way through the neutral zone, but when the blue line was crossed he released from that player and found an uncovered man to stick with. It sounds basic, but most guys will just stay with the puck carrier and cause confusion. See Colby Armstrong last year as an example.

- Jerry D’Amigo did not play Saturday or Sunday due to injury. Last week against Erie, you may remember, he got absolutely steamrolled in the first period in the offensive zone when he wasn’t expecting it. He got up slowly, went to the bench, but did finish the game. He also, of course, played Friday. I wonder if that hit left some marks though because he looked shaken up afterwards.

- It’s really fun watching D’Amigo and Greg Scott kill penalties together. They are at the point where they don’t just want to kill the penalty, but score shorthanded, too.

- Gardiner and Kostka on the penalty kill have not been great together. One example was Sunday on Grand Rapid’s first goal. Kostka blocked a shot, resulting in the puck bouncing to the point. Inexplicably, he skated up to the blue line, and all the defenceman had to do was pass it down low,  leaving Gardiner all alone to deal with three forwards,. Gardiner skated over to the corner to defend the forward, who simply slid it through Jake’s legs to a man in front who buried with ease. Last year the Marlies had the best penalty kill in the league and Blacker was a regular on it, so I’m not sure why Kostka and Gardiner are getting priority over him. Maybe we’ll see it pay off… the season is five games old after all.

- Further, on the penalty kill: It’s interesting to see the Marlies use two forwards and one defenceman when killing 5 on 3s. It’s something they are doing consistently now and I wonder if that means Carlyle will try it in the NHL, too. Tortorella’s Rangers ran it with success in the playoffs. Two forwards challenging point shooters and one defenceman clearing the front of the net might be the new way to try to kill 5 on 3’s.

- More on the penalty kill: Ashton is getting regular time on the unit and being used as a grinder. That’s what he is going to need to do if he’s ever going to make it in the NHL.  He’s off to a rough start this season, already finding himself on the fourth line after starting the year on the top line with Kadri and Aucoin. Again, it’s early, but he needs to show something soon.

- Holzer had trouble with Nyquist and Tatar all night. On one play, Nyquist could have had an early candidate for goal of the year as he split Holzer and Fraser but then lost the handle. Expectations on Holzer need to be tempered and kept in check. He crushed Daryl Boyce on Friday, and that sort of stuff should be expected to continue even in the NHL, but he does have trouble with high talent forwards. He’s a decent player, but overall he’s hopefully a solid third pairing defender.

- On the Leafs side of things, it really shows how weak the right side of their defense is. Currently after Phaneuf they have Komisarek, then Holzer, then Kostka. Even if Franson eventually signs, that side is a huge area of concern.

- When it comes to the defense, Mark Fraser deserves huge kudos. Against Hamilton Saturday, the players were being chirpy with Holzer – especially after Holzer was mouthy on Friday – and he hammered a guy in a fight,  settling things down for a while. Sunday, Kadri got kneed and Fraser didn’t hesitate to go in there and defend him. Yes, it was a 3-3 game with less than five minutes remaining, but it was game five of the season and teams have to know they can’t take liberties with Kadri. If there’s something to say about Fraser it’s this: he’s a heck of a teammate and the kind of guy you root for. That said, not sure the Leafs could have both he and Holzer up together. Neither are exactly fleet of foot.

- On a side note, it’s a good thing Kadri plays on the edge, mixes it up and defends himself, but nothing would be worse than him getting into a fight and breaking his hand or something. Hopefully the tough guys continue to protect him because opponents are taking liberties with Kadri so far this year.

- It’s nice that Kenny Ryan got a few goals and some confidence, but in the grand scheme of things his role is that of a sparkplug. He’s a little energizer bunny out there and the kind of guy who can play only eight minutes but is effective in doing so. We’ll see how he continues to play moving forward though as he wouldn’t be the first ever flash in the pan.

- This weekend was Jussi Rynnas in a nut shell. He looked lights out one night, and sloppy the next. He’s always shown flashes of his talent in individual games, but what he really needs to show is that he can string together good games consecutively and consistently. While none of the goals Sunday were really his fault, he was fighting the puck quite a bit and didn’t appear confident in the net at all.

- Ryan Hamilton came out like a gangbuster in game one of the season, and it kind of reminded me of Joey Crabb at the beginning of last year – Crabb had 15 points in nine AHL games before getting called up to the NHL for good last season. Since then though, Hamilton’s really cooled off. Crabb dominated for a month like that before getting called up, which really goes to show you how much a player of that age range needs to dominate to get a call-up to the NHL. Often fans see guys like Hamilton or Crabb – or Zigomanis – and wonder why they aren’t in the NHL. But the reality is that pretty well every NHL team would rather call up a kid with potential over an older guy who doesn’t offer much of a ceiling to his game.

- Nobody talked about it during the broadcast, but how about Colborne’s screen of the goalie on this goal? You can see he’s slowly starting to turn it on now as the season gets going, and he’s really beginning to move the puck. On Komarov’s first goal of his AHL career, he made a really nice play to kick the puck from his skate to his stick in stride, and then riffled a great pass cross-ice. Frattin is due back soon and I’m hoping we get to see the two united again on a line. I really believe Colborne plays his best hockey when he has a trigger man to work with as his mind just naturally looks for players to pass to and set up for goals.

The Marlies don’t play at home now until November 17th. To make matters worse, they only play once this week. Salt, meet wound.

Photo: Marlies.ca

Since there’s no NHL to speak of at the moment, Leafs Notebook is turning into Marlies Notebook until this lockout is over.

Here’s the thing though: with different leagues comes different expectations and viewing experiences.

When it comes to watching and evaluating the NHL, it’s very simple: winning is all that matters. Each team in the league continuously tries to get better, figuring out how to start winning or continue winning. In the AHL, that is not necessarily the case. At the end of the day the Marlies will probably be judged by many based on the win and loss column, but what really matters – to me – is the progression of their players and how they can eventually help the Leafs win at the next level.

Thus, what will be focused on most here in this space is not really winning and losing, but how these players are progressing and, more importantly, how they can help the Leafs win hockey games whenever the NHL starts up again. Of course, the Marlies accomplishments will be pointed out too, but as I said the main focus is still with an eye towards the Leafs and how these guys can help the NHL team.

One other thing: The Marlies have played two games at this point. For some players, it was their first taste of pro hockey altogether. Let’s give them some time to get their feet wet before we really start critiquing them.

On that note, here are some observations from this past weekend’s back-to-back games:

- In October, Chris Johnston of the Canadian Press wrote this article about the relationship between Randy Carlyle and Dallas Eakins. It includes some of the system adjustments the Marlies will be making this year in order to play Carlyle hockey. The basic premise of the defensive system involves out numbering the opposition in the defensive zone. It is an interesting concept that will be fun to monitor as the season progresses. None of the goals scored against Toronto this weekend could be blamed on it as the Amerks scored on a power play, while Erie also had one power play goal, a goal scored by an individual effort and another scored off a misplayed dump-in on top of an empty netter. Meaning, there’s no real breakdown in the newly implemented system for us to discuss.

- While the Marlies lost against Erie, they dominated the game so it wasn’t really a great game to get a good look at the system. Against the Amerks it was also pretty one-sided, but there was a stretch in the second period where they got hemmed in their zone for an extended period of time where you could see the team chasing the puck a lot. That is the major downside to the system. Conversely, on many shifts the Marlies have sent two or even three guys into board battles, come out with the puck, and broken out of the zone cleanly after that.

- Another big part of Carlyle’s system is that he likes to use the middle of the ice more when it comes to breaking out. The Marlies have been doing this in two ways. The first is their defencemen, namely Gardiner, simply skating it out through the open ice on their own. The second has been a D to D pass followed by a quick pass up the middle to a center that cuts low below the faceoff dot; the center then makes the quick decision on whether he should pass it to either winger or skate it up himself.

- The Marlies appear to be skating the puck into the zone more often than not so far this year, but I’m not sure that’s a reflection on the Leafs style of play to be. I’d assume Carlyle’s system is more catered towards his specific lines. In other words, Kessel’s line will probably rarely dump it in, whereas McClement’s will most likely do so regularly.

- One last thing the about the Marlies system worth pointing out: when protecting a lead in the last minute of play they had their center, in this case Zigomanis, stay in the defensive zone near the goaltender and goal line when the opposition had the puck in the neutral zone. This was something even Ron Wilson had the team do in order to prevent teams from dumping the puck in behind the D-men who were standing up forwards at the blue line. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it was effective.

- Although it is not exactly news to many at this point, it’s probably time to consider Nazem Kadri a full-time winger. He played wing in the playoffs last year mixed with some center on a line with Zigomanis and Hamilton, and now he’s playing full-time wing to start the year. It’s probably for the best, anyways. There should be a spot alongside Mikhail Grabovski open for him sometime soon.

- On the other side of Kadri has been Carter Ashton. That means they are using his big body to complement skill in Kadri and Aucoin. Where Ashton continues to play will be something to monitor; if he’s going to play on what’s essentially the top line, he’s going to need to produce at a noteworthy and consistent pace. To this point he has failed to really create anything, but again it’s only two games. On the power play he has seen a steady shift as a floating net presence. That means he’ll stand in front of the net, and then float out to the top of the circle as a one-timer option. I’ve always personally felt that net presences work best when they literally just plant themselves in front of the goalie and don’t move, drawing a defender to them and driving the guy in net crazy (Keith Tkachuk comes to mind). A floating presence kind of defeats that purpose. I’ll be paying attention to see if that play continues and if he remains on the top line. Ashton was played as a grinder with the Leafs and that appears much more suited to his skillset.

- Leo Komarov got burned pretty hard against Lake Erie thinking he could pick-pocket Tyson Barrie at the Marlies blue line. The young defender spun around him then went down and scored a beauty of a goal. It’s a good learning experience because, against good players in the NHL, you are going to get burned if you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. And Barrie isn’t even a good NHLer yet. Other than that, Komarov has been finishing all his checks as advertised, which isn’t surprising because he did that in the World Championships consistently. He’s been a pest so to speak, but he clearly has to adjust to the North American game. This time in the AHL will actually be good for him. If the lockout lifts he’s going to be in a battle to win a spot on an energy and/or grinding line.

- D’Amigo is another guy who could possibly win a spot on the Leafs in that kind of role. The tough thing right now when it comes to the Marlies is that they have been rolling their lines when they can on account of their depth, which makes it harder to evaluate a player a like D’Amigo in a shutdown role. I thought this year we might have seen D’Amigo get power play time and used a little more offensively, but it has been penalty killing and defensive assignments so far for him. His role for the Leafs, should he make it, is pretty clear at this point.

- By the same token, Holzer’s role has specifically been a shutdown defender who sees top penalty killing time. Sounds like Brian Burke’s ideal third pairing defender.

- Jake Gardiner has been receiving a lot of attention from fans but he is someone I won’t spend much time on here. We already know he is an NHLer. He was going end-to-end in his rookie season in the big-league, so of course he’s going to be able to do it in the AHL. He’ll grow his offensive confidence and log a ton of ice-time, but realistically, there’s nothing to really say about him. He’s at the point where he needs to be challenged by NHLers. Jordan Eberle and RNH BOTH didn’t even get points in their first two games this season. There’s not much to say about these guys sent down due to the lockout. They’ll turn it on eventually, but it is what it is — they are NHLers in the AHL due to the lockout.

- Joe Colborne is coming back from surgery and still looks like he has to get his game going, but he has the zip back on his passes. The mustard he put on a cross ice pass to Ryan Hamilton for a tap in goal was something he could not do last year after he got hurt. He is getting predictable with that play, but on the whole it very much looks like the once-raw center project is starting to figure it out. When he was drafted everyone knew he was pretty raw, which really just means a little patience and teaching is required.

- Colborne might actually be the player benefiting most from the lockout in the organization because he isn’t ready to put up good numbers as an NHL center. In the AHL he is getting quality line-mates and buying development time. Like Kadri, he too will soon need a serious look at the NHL level over an extended period of time.

- The waiting game is also helping Matt Frattin, too. According to this Star report, he is expected back in about two weeks or so. I think it’s safe to say we’re all excited to see him play.

That’s it from me for now. It’s going to be a long season, especially if there’s no NHL, so we’ll try our best here to make it as entertaining as possible. The good news is that there are a ton of players on the Marlies who should eventually become NHLers so it’s not like we’re talking about plugs. What’s also good news is that the Marlies are really good. There are also a few Leafs prospects we’ll talk about throughout the year. Plus, who knows when Burke is going to open his mouth next? In other words, we’ll have stuff to talk about.