And now for a quiet Saturday evening with the Montreal Canadiens - not.
The Leafs jetted to Montreal this afternoon to renew their timeless rivalry with Les Canadiens, but not without some fireworks surrounding their morning practice.
Goalie Vesa Toskala defended himself today in the wake of a series of critical remarks from GM Brian Burke, who called out his No. 1 goalie while addressing an audience at the Conn Smythe Sports Dinner Wednesday.
In addition, the Leafs, having summoned veteran blueliner Staffan Kronwall from the Marlies, wound up losing him on recallable waivers. The 26-year-old, who was either injured or to far down the depth chart to make a career of it in Toronto, was claimed by the Washington Capitals today just before the noon hour waiver deadline.
The Leafs were also on the defensive after the past couple of days of media hype surrounding Toronto center Mikhail Grabovski and his apparent vendetta with Montreal forward and Belarussian countrymen Sergei Kostitsyn.
Several players flatly rejected the notion that the two forwards - who went at each other's throats in the Leafs previous visit to Montreal in January - were going to renew hostilities tomorrow night.
"Nah, who cares, and honestly, it's a dumb question ... I'm sure Montreal would love to play the whole game on the powerplay ... this has nothing to do with how we're preparing for the game," Leafs forward Brad May said.
Toskala, meanwhile, downplayed Burke's remarks, claiming he wasn't exactly sure what Burke had said. But when pressed on Burke's contention that as a goalie, he doesn't practice hard enough, Toskala revealed indirectly that he is pacing himself against a series of injuries.
"That's something we can talk about after the season," Toskala said in reference to his health problems.
While Toskala backed away from discussing his injuries, it's well known that he has been battling groin muscle trouble for much of the season. He has started 44 of the Leafs 52 games this season and is second in minutes played among NHL goalies.
It's also believed he is battling problems with his hips, which directly affect his mobility.
Burke, in a no-guff mood Wednesday, essentially called out his top goalie.
"If you want to be a No. 1 goalie in our league, you have to be able to handle the workload and play 60 games at a high level, and Vesa Toskala hasn't shown he can do that yet," Burke told the Conn Smythe audience.
"He's given us some great games, and he's given us some clunkers, and from my perspective, that's not the definition of a starting goalie.
"And to me, being good every third night isn't good enough, so I think he's got to change his practice habits a bit, I don't think he practices hard enough, and we need better goaltending. But we need lots of things, it's not just that one."
Leafs coach Ron Wilson agreed with his GM's points of view. With regards to Toskala's injuries and the fact he may not have been 100 per cent healthy for much of this season, Wilson said "at the end of the day, Vesa tells me he can play."
In other words, if you say you can play, and you're in the lineup, there's no excuses.
Toskala will start tomorrow night in Montreal in what should be the most important "response" game for the Leafs this season.
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