Leaf fans need to realize: Reimer is the guy

Though the Leafs lost 3-2, I wanted to mention a note I received just prior to Saturday night's game in Winnipeg.  DP, a regular visitor here who often contributes with some great posts, mentioned that he was attending the Leaf game against the Jets in person.


Not unusual on the surface, but he added that, in his 40 plus years as a Leaf fan, it was his first opportunity to see the team live!  


That was so tremendous to hear.  I hope he had a wonderful time and can find a moment to share a bit about the experience of watching his team-- and maybe let us all know about the great atmosphere in Winnipeg.

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Before the “official” announcement was made in Winnipeg, there was some social media discussion on Saturday about who the Leafs would—and should—start against the Jets.

Some felt Gustavsson deserved a start, given his generally strong play just before Reimer returned from his injury earlier in December—and on the heels of Reimer not being quite his old self in the last couple of games (after, in fairness, two pretty strong outings before that).

But given that Reimer is a “local” kid—heck, he was born not too far from Winnipeg—we had to figure that Wilson was going to do what NHL coaches generally do:  start the guy with the local ties.  Don Cherry talked about this tendency between periods.  Coaches almost always want to give players a chance to shine in their own backyard.  And it’s understandable.  Players in those circumstances are pumped up and while I have no empirical data, my observation over the years is that at worst, players in that situation will be a bit over-amped, but generally speaking they’ll play a good game.  It’s easy to give your best in those circumstances. (Quick aside:  I recall back in the ‘70s and ‘80s that the Leafs would  often complain that, because opposing teams had so many Ontario-born players, it was tougher to win at home because the visiting teams were so pumped to play at Maple Leaf Gardens…)

It’s generally always been this way in the NHL.  If a goalie is up against his former team, quite often, he’ll get the start.  And yes, coaches like to give local guys their shot.  I remember back in the mid-1960s, when Punch Imlach (left) was the General Manager and coach of the Maple Leafs.  His son, Brent, was a nice Junior player at the time with the local Toronto Marlies.  Imlach needed a player on an emergency basis during the 1965-’66 season.  So he dipped down to the Marlies (the Leafs owned the junior team) and brought up Brent—who was all of 19 at the time—for a game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.  I believe the younger Imlach actually started the game for the Leafs, taking the night’s opening center-ice face off against Montreal’s legendary captain, Jean Beliveau.  (Imlach only played two more games in his NHL career, one that season and another the next year, the season the Leafs last won a Cup.  Interestingly, I don’t think Brent Imlach ever signed a pro contract.  He was an amateur call-up, I believe, who later went on to get his education while playing Canadian university hockey…)

In any event, we can understand Wilson’s decision to give young Reimer his shot to perform in his own backyard.  The Leafs lost, but listen, the Leafs owe Reimer a lot.  The kid saved what seemed destined to be a wreck of a 2010-’11 season.  His fine play in the second half of last season saved Wilson’s job and gave Burke a longer honeymoon with fans.  And it so happened that Saturday’s game against the Jets marked precisely a calendar year since he was first called up to the Leafs to play against the Senators on January 1, 2011.

But beyond the “local” coming home angle, we need to understand something:  Reimer is the number-one guy, full stop.  The Leafs signed him to a new contract before the current season got underway.  While they are not paying him outlandish money, they certainly are paying him well for a young goalie who didn’t have a lot just yet on his NHL resume heading into this season.

But they are indeed paying him as a young number-one, and he played last season and early this year like a number-one.  Most organizations don’t believe that a guy should lose their job because of an injury.  So even though The Monster played some good hockey in the last two weeks before Reimer returned from the whiplash issue, the Leafs were (and are) clearly committed to Reimer.  No player should be judged prematurely coming off a concussion, or concussion-type injury.  Recent history tells us things take time.

Would I have liked to see Gustavsson get a start here or there recently?  Yes.  I think he “deserved” it, but as I’ve posted here many times before, the best thing for Monster is if he can find a new home next season, somewhere where he may feel more welcome.  I’m not suggesting he has played enough, or well enough consistently, to demand a number-one goaltender contract somewhere else.  But I’m not sure he and Allaire are a good fit—though everyone would deny it.  I just sense that, while he has talent, for sure, he may need to go somewhere else to see it develop to its full potential.

To me, it’s clear Burke and Wilson are tying themselves to Reimer, and I can’t argue with that.  He is the guy that will play the bulk of the games.  That’s what Burke and Wilson want to see, and they will give him every opportunity to keep the job.  And we should keep in mind that Reimer was not a Burke ”guy”; that is, he was drafted by the previous administration.  Like most GM’s, Burke seems to like his own guys—the players he signs, drafts or trades for—but winning is more important to him than his pride.  So he and Wilson clearly believe Reimer is the right guy for the job.  They see something in him, and so do I.  I not only like and appreciate the young man’s personality, humility and demeanor, but I think he has the kind of “mental” make-up, as best we can assess from the “outside”, that will stand him in good stead during the inevitable highs and lows of a future playoff run. (Felix Potvin and Curtis Joseph both had the ability to bounce back after bad goals and difficult games.  I see the same potential in Reimer.)

I like Gustavsson, and I’ve said so many times here.  But Reimer’s the guy.  And that’s the goalie we’re going to see play a lot in Toronto, even if he has some tough stretches- and whether fans agree or not.