Reborn: The resurgence of James Reimer

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It could not happen to a nicer guy. Struggling to get a chance in net since the acquisition of the highly touted Jonathon Bernier. A man who helped the Toronto Maple Leafs end what had become the longest playoff drought in the National Hockey League.

James Riemer has been the man not only in this story but on the ice where it matters most. Despite a 2-0 loss to Boston that included an empty netter Reimer has been the Maple Leafs saving grace. Once considered a candidate to finish 30th in the league the Maple Leafs on the back of Reimer and his stellar play that have the hockey world thinking about the potential for playoff hockey.


Sporting a .933 save percentage and a 2.08 GAA Reimer is now in the top 5 in the league leaders at the goaltending position and is second only to Montreal Canadien superstar Carey Price in win percentage among starting goaltenders with a .778 win percentage.

Leading up to this year all eyes were on Bernier as he won the job out of training camp but he has struggled mightily out of the gate with an 0-7-1 start and an ugly .895 save percentage. His disastrous play has opened the door for the resurgence of James Reimer and he once again becomes the go to guy in the Toronto pressure cooker.

While his team has improved under new Head Coach Mike Babcock the club is still struggling to score goals and Reimer has given them a chance every night he's been in net since taking the starting job. A couple nights ago Reimer let in a shaky goal against the Hurricanes and Nazem Kadri came to the rescue by scoring his first goal in 63 shots to break his own slump while pushing the game to OT. A scoreless OT with some big saves led to the shootout and Reimer would return the favor with a huge save in the shootout



The Leafs would go on to win shortly after that save and the rest is history. A comeback win and another stunning performance for Reimer. He allowed one goal against Carolina and one goal against Boston when Zdeno Chara had a wide open slapshot from the faceoff circle that beat Reimer 5-hole. Despite that Reimer stopped 35-36 and has no doubt solidified his claim as the undisputed number one for the Maple Leafs going forward.

As for what's changed? Reimer has said he's a part of a goaltending focus group along with some other NHL goalkeepers and you can't discredit the work of new Goalie Coach Steve Briere. Reimer hasn't changed that's a certainty as the big smile win or lose hasn't gone away and the desire and compete to retake the Leafs top spot in net hasn't faded one bit.

Montreal Canadiens deafeat New York Islanders; Andrighetto recalled

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Montreal Canadiens - 5   New York Islanders - 3 (F)

Brooklyn, New York --

Playing their second game in as many nights, Montreal (15-4-2) registered their 15th win of the season in a high-speed, entertaining contest against the New York Islanders (10-7-3). For the first time in two weeks, the Canadiens' Carey Price was between the pipes after suffering from a lower-body injury. Showing no signs of rust, he stopped 33 the 36 New York Islanders shots on goal, earning him the win while posting a .917 SV%. At the other end, goaltending was a different story. After letting in 3 goals on 11 shots, Jaroslav Halak was pulled and replaced by backup goalie Thomas Greiss at the start of the 2nd period, who held his own by stopping 15 of 16 shots.

Montreal jumped on the Islanders right from the get go, scoring 2 minutes and 52 seconds into the game on a goal from Jeff Petry. Alexander Semin recorded an assist on the play, earning him his first point in six games. Going into the 2nd period, the Habs maintained a 3-1 lead. Only 39 seconds into the second frame, from the blue line, Travis Hamonic one-timed the puck glove side past Price to bring his team within one. With 5 minutes remaining to the period, defenseman Jeff Petry netted his second of the game to give his team a two goal lead again. Brock Nelson also added his second goal of the night at 7:25 of the 3rd period, wristing one blocker side. With under 2 minutes remaining to the game, down a goal, Islanders coach Jack Capuano pulls Greiss for an extra attacker. In the dying minute Carey Price shuts the door multiple times, allowing Brendan Gallagher to seal the deal in the empty net.

The New York Islander have now lost both games to Montreal this season, the first one coming on November 5th in a 4-1 loss at the Bell Centre. Next up, the Canadiens face the Islanders again on Sunday, November 22nd, at the Bell Centre for the third time this season, before heading back to New York to face the Rangers and the Devils.

Following the game, Marc Bergevin announced that Swiss prospect Sven Andrighetto has been recalled from the St. John's  Ice Caps of the AHL, while Torrey Mitchell has been placed on IR. Andrighetto has recorded 6 goals and 9 assists, for a total of 15 points in 17 games with St. John's  this season.

Leafs Rookies Out In The Cold

The pain Leafs Nation is set to endure became more evident today as the final cuts were announced and most of the promising Leaf prospects now find themselves preparing with Sheldon Keefe for the upcoming American Hockey League season.

Chief among the kids that got a long look was 2014 first rounder William Nylander. Nylander had a strong showing in camp and during the preseason he made new Leaf coach Mike Babcock think long and hard about his final cuts. Babcock's suggestion prior to camp was that the kids would have to steal jobs and Nylander was arguably the Leafs top forward during the preseason.

He made a strong impression and he certainly didn't look out of place however the new front office in Toronto clearly feels it's the wrong time to thrust the rookies into the NHL with the Maple Leafs heading for what could be a tough season.

Another bright spot was fellow second year pro Connor Brown.
The former sixth round pick has continued to improve while silencing many doubters. The small forward gained praise from Leaf coach Babcock and was also among the final cuts proving that not only has he defied his draft position but he's also found himself on the Leaf coaches radar.

Going forward it's clear the plan has not changed. The kids will over develop in the minors and the veterans will play out their contracts until it's time for the Marlies and Major Junior players to step in.

In the meantime settle in. It could be a very rough ride especially with future star Austin Matthews set to go first overall in the 2016 draft not that anyone would admit that maybe... just maybe this team is set up to fail. Mike Babcock will whip the dogs but maybe it's best the team bottoms out one time before the club begins to reassemble the main roster for the future.