Anger management

BUFFALO -- Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson, according to the laws of a civilized society, is not allowed to strangle his players when they screw up in games -- something the Leafs have specialized in in recent seasons.

So he plans to do the next best thing; bench those who take dumb penalties, or give the puck away, or fail to block shots, particularly when such mistakes leads to a loss, as was the case last night in front of 14,629 delighted fans at the HSBC Arena.

The Leafs led for most of the testy pre-season contest, behind the steady goaltending of rookie Justin Pogge, but performed yet another collapse job.

After jumping ahead 2-0 on goals by Toronto defencemen Ian White and Pavel Kubina, both on the power play, the Leafs yielded two third-period goals by Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad, and an overtime marker by Ales Kotalik, to fall 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres. Toronto now is 1-3 in the pre-season.

Wilson spoke in calm and measured tones after the team's second collapse in as many nights, but he clearly was steamed and laid out, in his strongest words since joining the organization, the message that laziness and stupidity will be rewarded with a seat in the press box.

"Everything is baby steps right now and you learn from your mistakes," Wilson said. "(But) the guys who don't learn from their mistakes by the end of next week won't get a shot to open up (the regular season) in Detroit (Oct. 9).

"That's the way I've always coached," he said. "If it's an honest (effort), it should be applauded. If people don't do what they're supposed to do to help the team win, they shouldn't play. And that's how I'm going to approach this."

As were the goals by White and Kubina, Buffalo's two markers in the third were on the power play, the first with Boyd Devereaux in the box for hooking and the second with rookie defenceman John Mitchell serving two minutes for cross-checking. The Sabres had a two-man advantage on the Gaustad goal, as coach Lindy Ruff pulled goaltender Ryan Miller for the extra attacker. Both goals were deflections that Pogge had little chance to stop.

"Some rookies and some veterans are taking some bad penalties in some of these situations and I told them: 'If it's a regular-season game, you take a cheap hooking penalty in the first period, you won't play the rest of the night.' That's the only way you can get that out of their system," Wilson said.

The two third-period goals and an overtime marker by Buffalo ruined what had been a solid game for the visiting Leafs up to that point. White played his strongest game of the pre-season, while some of the club's other veterans, including Matt Stajan and Jason Blake, blocked hard shots -- Blake ending up the worse for wear with a bruised knee. Other than the overtime goal, Pogge also was outstanding, stopping 29 shots, as was Miller, who turned aside 26.

But, still, it was a disgruntled group of players who marched back on the bus for the trip home. Defenceman Mike Van Ryn said that they can't treat the loss as unimportant because it is only the pre-season.

"We're not that far away from the regular season," he said. "You've got to learn from these things. It's about concentration and poise and trying not to panic."

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REPLAY

PASS THE HOSE

Rookie defenceman Luke Schenn knew what he was going to do for a living if his hockey career didn't pan out. When he was young, Schenn wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, Jeff, who is with the Saskatoon department. Luke said he spent a day with his dad at work in Grade 9, part of that 'Take Your Kid to Work' program and actually went out on a call, wearing all of the prescribed equipment. Luke described it as a thrill almost as equal as dressing up for a game at the ACC.

FOOTY FREAK

Defenceman Pavel Kubina travelled from his native Czech Republic on two occasions this summer to watch his national football (soccer) team play in the Euro Cup. Kubina, who may be the Leafs' next captain, travelled to Basel, Switzerland to watch the Czechs defeat the host Swiss 1-0 at St. Jacob-Park and later to the Stade de Geneve to watch the Czechs lose to Turkey, 3-2.

DOUBTING THOMAS

Head coach Ron Wilson praised Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle, who has three points in his first two pre-season games.

"My understanding is he's in much better shape this year than he was last year," Wilson said. "He came to camp a lot lighter than at the start of the year here last year. So he's probably primed and ready to go."