Reimer stakes his claim; so does Bernier…and then those fights

In a sense, there aren’t many more popular Maple Leaf players in these parts than James Reimer.  Setting aside his goaltending abilities (though a player’s skill is always part of that equation, I well realize), in his three seasons in the Toronto market he has done nothing but bring a positive energy to this organization.  I would argue he has also demonstrated a genuineness that you don’t often see in athletes, not to mention  a touch of humility as well. He is, at least to me, a tremendously likeable young man.

So for those who don’t “like” the 26 year-old, it’s likely not at all personal.  What they don’t like is not Reimer, but maybe that they see him as injury prone. Or they may not like his “rebound control” or his perceived weak glove hand. They perhaps don’t like that he sometimes looks behind himself after making a save, as though he thinks he didn’t actually make the stop.  Heck, they may not like what their fellow critics still see as a letdown in Game 7 of this past spring’s first-round matchup with the heavily-favoured Bruins, when the Leafs were achingly close to an upset of (in hockey terms, at least) near epic proportions.

Bottom line, some Leaf supporters may just truly believe (in some cases, the belief can be categorized as “sight unseen”- more a case of perception, statistics and reputation than legitimate personal observation) that newcomer Jonathan Bernier is simply a better goalie.  Those fans evidently feel that Bernier will take us further than Reimer.

Again, nothing personal, they would no doubt say.

As some of you who visit VLM on occasion may know, I have stated here over the course of the summer months that my belief (not shared by many, it seems) is that Bernier is absolutely Nonis’ guy (again, you don’t trade for a goalie—when you already have a good one—and give up three useful assets and then sign the new player to a contract, unless, deep down, you think he’s better than what you already have.  You just don't.)  Some choose to believe that this was just a move to add depth at an important position.  O.K.—but two 26 year-old competitors who are both talented and want the same job, well, that can’t last long. You can only play one at a time.

I’m a Reimer guy but can’t and don't deny Bernier is certainly a gifted young netminder as well.  (A fighter, we find out, too...)  And sure, in some kind of ideal hockey world, these two would get along famously, share the net as true team players and wish the other man all the best—even if that meant that other guy would own the net 80% of the time.

We don’t, however, live in an ideal hockey world.

But I’ll set all that aside for today. I’ll look to accept that this is a legitimate competition, that Tim Leiweke’s summertime statement that “we inherited the other guy” (Reimer) means nothing (sure, sure) when it comes to Carlyle and/or Nonis making a decision about goaltending. 

So if it is a level playing field competition, where are we right now, a week before the season begins?  Well, let’s start with the fact that I put precious little stock in exhibition games. (Though I will acknowledge that Carter Ashton caught my eye Saturday night, so did Bodie blocking a shot when Reimer was out of the play, Gardiner’s remarkable recovery speed, though that’s not news, and the willingness of a lot of the “prospects” to finish their checks in their all-out effort to impress the coaching staff. And hey, DeVane scored, showing a nice touch for a guy with a reputation more for rugged play…)  But even given the insignificance of a single exhibition game, is it not fair to suggest that Reimer showed at the ACC on Saturday night that he is not quite ready to be shuffled off to the hockey dust bin just yet?

Sure, he was beat up high on Buffalo’s first goal.  (Though someone please tell me who are all these NHL goaltenders that don’t give up the majority of their goals up high?  Almost everyone plays the same in the current era; you know, take away the bottom of the net, drop down the moment a guy is about to shoot.  Of course goalies like Reimer are going to give up goals up high…)  And the second Sabre marker was a bit peculiar, and should not have gone in.  That was on Reimer, yes, though there was a Sabre crashing the crease a bit as I recall. 

But that’s not unlike Reimer.  He sometimes gives up either an early goal, or a bit of a softie.  Then, more often than not over the past three seasons (at least when he’s healthy) he battles, grinds, keeps the Leafs in the game and on more than a few occasions he gives his club a very good chance to win. (Let’s not harp on the Boston playoff game.  I will always maintain that was a team letdown.  Sure, you’d love your goalie to make every save at the end.  But if we score in a wide-open empty net, we’re not even having that conversation…)

So what did he end up with Saturday night, albeit against a lot of guys named Joe—close to 40 saves?  That included a game-saver on a clear cut breakaway with almost no time left on the clock in regulation, and a bit of an all-around goaltending display in the subsequent never-ending shootout, where he made just about every kind of breakaway save possible.

So am I suggesting Reimer should be number-one, that he has earned the right to be Carlyle’s go-to guy?  Hardly.  It was one game, a (virtually) meaningless exhibition game.  And Reimer was not perfect against an under-manned Buffalo side. Bernier showed some of his skills Sunday night in the return match at the ACC, as well as his fighting skills. He will get more opportunities this pre-season and Reimer will no doubt get more ice time as well before opening night on October 1.

I guess I’m just saying that, for what it’s worth, Reimer showed me something.  And it is essentially what he has always shown here—guts, a compete level that I think is admirable, and a fair bit of skill to boot.

Many wrote to me over the summer saying, "don’t worry Michael, Reimer will fight back and compete".  I never doubted that.  That has never been my point in this entire Bernier-arriving-on-the-scene scenario.  I did not question Reimer’s mental toughness or any of that.  (I also don't doubt that he was ticked off, and rightly so, after doing everything he could to claim the top job here. How could you not feel somewhat disheartened?) I just wanted to be sure that it was in fact a level playing field, and not a pre-determined outcome.  Because if it isn’t a fair fight, then I’d rather, as I’ve said here before, see him moved to an organization that will appreciate what he brings to a team, on and off the ice.

For now, I’ll wait and see, and hope that when he falters (and that will surely happen), he gets the same chance to rebound that the newer Leaf does.

And if they can somehow live happily ever after, I’ll take it.

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Leaf fans will no doubt say that the brawl after Buffalo third goal (triggered by the DeVane-Tropp mismatch) will help bring the Leafs together, that it was good to see them standing up for one another.  That may well be true. Yet I wonder if the same people who think that it was wrong for Buffalo tough guy John Scott to go after Phil Kessel think it was fine for DeVane to fight with the much smaller Tropp?

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I'm all for tough, physical hockey. I've discussed that here many times before.  I mean real toughness- hard, clean hits, players who are hard on the puck in the corners and in front of the net, who fight for every inch of the ice.  Fighting, however, can be an altogether different matter.

We'll never get rid of what I'll call the phoney fights if fans and the TV commentators react the way they did during the brawl.  It was, based on that reaction, the most exciting part of the evening, which for me is kind of sad.  I guess it has always been thus, and always will be. We just can't shake that old hockey mentality- and it seems most fans don't want to, nor does the traditional hockey establishment.

But isn't it inconsistent that on the one hand we are upset when players get hurt, we complain about concussions ending guys' careers and talk endlessly about how hockey has to do something about all that, yet we applaud what we saw Monday night.  We spent the summer of 2012 talking about how sad it was that three ex-hockey enforcers died suddenly under tragic circumstances.  Yet we stand and cheer for this?

How long will Tropp be out?  No one cares, it seems, since people got to see fights fuelled by what-  players trying to impress their coaches?

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I mentioned above that Ashton caught my eye Saturday night.  Well he did again on Sunday, obviously, for a variety of reasons.  Two more points, involved in some battles.  Is it enough to convince Carlyle he belongs here over, say, Mason Raymond?