Bitter Blake questions his future in T.O.

CALGARY-Having been scratched for two games this season, an upset Jason Blake publicly mused about leaving the Maple Leafs.

"Maybe it's not meant for me to be here," Blake said yesterday after a Leaf practice here before the team headed to Edmonton. "It obviously hasn't worked out in the year and 16 games we played here.

"If it's not going to work out ... I know I can play, and I love to play. I'm not going to quit. If it's not here, I don't know."

The 35-year-old Blake is stuck on two goals this season, his second with the Leafs after signing a five-year, $20 million U.S. contract in the summer of 2007. He was the team's key signing that free-agent period, a 40-goal scorer the year before with the New York Islanders.

"I'm glad he's upset," said coach Ron Wilson, who has coached Blake on Team USA. "You don't want a guy to roll over and die. I want him to step on the ice, and play with piss and vinegar, which he hasn't done consistently.

"That's the Jason Blake I've watched, and coached, and haven't seen enough of this year, or last year in reviewing the tape."

Blake hasn't quite clicked as a Leaf, no matter who his linemates were. He was among the league leaders in shots last season, but managed a paltry 15 goals. He's again firing away - but usually low-percentage shots.

He lost his first-line spot early in the season, and has drifted further down the depth chart to the point where converted defenceman Ian White has played ahead of him.

He'll be back in the lineup tonight, playing left wing on a line with Alex Steen and White.

"For me it's stay positive and work hard," said Blake.

"No one wants to sit out. I don't understand it. But it's a coach's decision."

Wilson made it clear he's got to work hard to stay in the lineup.

"He's got to step on the ice and get the job done," said Wilson. "Go harder to the net, make people around him better. Do the little things we ask lots of other people to do. We don't have exceptions to the way we want to play.

"He's had a couple of good games. But he hasn't been consistent. I don't care what he says in papers, its irrelevant, it's what you do on the ice."

Blake doesn't have a no-trade or no movement clause. Many believe the Leafs would like to move him off the roster, but few teams would be willing to take a chance on an underachiever with such a big ticket.

Blake's agent, Neil Sheehy, said Blake is still a loyal Leaf.

"Any player worth his salt is never happy when he doesn't play," said Sheehy. "With that said, you have to find a way to give the coach what he wants so that you play every night.

"His loyalty is to the Toronto Maple Leafs until he's told differently. I'm not making any calls. He's playing for the Leafs. That's where he signed, that's where he's going to be."

Leafs wilt under Flames

CALGARY-The boys in blue and white tried to put on a show for the couple of thousand Maple Leaf fans who got a rare chance to cheer for their heroes at the Pengrowth Saddledome last night.

They tried for one of those come-from-behind efforts, but started their rally too late and ultimately fell short, losing 4-3 to Calgary in their first game here since Jan. 6, 2006.

The close score was flattering to the Leafs, who put in 10 strong minutes in the first period and five good ones in the final part of the third period.

It was the sputtering in between that did them in.

"It's popped up every three or four games that we don't get quickly to pucks, we don't move the puck and when our defence struggle a bit advancing the puck, it shuts down our offence," said coach Ron Wilson. "We need our defencemen to be offence starters. It didn't happen."

Matt Stajan had a goal and an assist, Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for Toronto, 1-3-1 in its last five games. Ian White, Mikhail Grabovski and Tomas Kaberle picked up assists.

Captain Jarome Iginla had a goal for the Flames. Dion Phaneuf scored one on a fabulous slapshot. Dustin Boyd was pretty impressive, too, scoring twice for Calgary. Boyd's second goal of the game, a third period marker, made it 4-1 Calgary.

Cue the attempted rally. Antropov deflected White's point shot at 14:53 to get the Leafs within two.

Stajan then got credit for an unassisted goal off a faceoff at 19:06. Craig Conroy cleanly won the draw, but sent the puck straight toward Miikka Kiprussoff, who couldn't handle it. But it was too little, too late for the Leafs.

"We're not going to give up," said Wilson. "I like the spunk of our team. (The Flames) kind of sat back and thought the game was over."

The Remembrance Day game might be something for Luke Schenn and Vesa Toskala to forget. The Leafs' prized rookie defenceman was a minus-2 on the night, while Toskala had trouble controlling his rebounds.

The coach backed his goalie.

"It's awful hard when your defencemen are backing into you or screening you, not blocking the shots or controlling the shots," said Wilson.

"We were just slow in our zone responding to loose pucks. We were always arriving second to it, and you're not going to win many games when you get beat to every loose puck."

The Flames were happy to dump and chase and play a defensive game while waiting for their chances.

The Leafs were happy to give them many, with neutral-zone breakdowns and the odd brain cramp with the puck, especially on the blue line.

"We turned a lot of pucks over, we didn't move the puck too well and it was hard for us to get our offence going," said Ponikarovsky. "We made way too many turnovers on the blue line, and that's how they got their offence."

The Leafs' last trip through Western Canada proved disastrous. The Leafs lost 1-0 to Calgary on Jan. 6, 2006. They they lost Bryan McCabe to a groin injury in a win the following night in Edmonton to move to nine games over .500. But then they lost to Vancouver on Jan. 10, 2006, the first of eight consecutive defeats that dashed their playoff aspirations that season.

NOTES: Coming into the game, the Leafs had outshot their opponents in 11 consecutive games. Shots last night were tied at 32 apiece. Toronto's franchise record for outshooting its opponent consecutively remains at 14 games, set in the 1973-74 season.

Burke out as Ducks' GM

The NHL's Anaheim Ducks will name Bob Murray as their new general manager Wednesday afternoon.

Murray will take over from Brian Burke - long rumoured to be in line for the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager position, currently being occupied on an interim basis by Cliff Fletcher.

The Ducks have called a news conference this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Burke is expected to be in attendance at the news conference.

Leafs' Grabovski gets revenge on Habs

On a night to celebrate the newest hall of famers and to remember fallen soldiers, hockey's greatest rivalry got a little bit bloodier with a disabling hit on Maple Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn.

And Mikhail Grabovski began to write his own tale as one of the rare breed who have played for both the Montreal Canadiens and the Leafs.

While Grabovski held court in front of a throng of cameras and tape recorders following Toronto's 6-3 win over Montreal, word spread that Van Ryn was lying in a hospital bed after being slammed into the boards by Tom Kostopoulos during the first period.

"He's got a concussion, a broken nose and a broken hand," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson, "so, he'll probably be out somewhere around a month. Every bad thing that could happen, happened on that play."

The league was reviewing the play last night, but there was no immediate word on whether Kostopoulos would be suspended.

The hit came early in the game, at 7:03 of the first, but it was a rallying point for the Leafs, who ended a three-game losing skid.

On the ensuing five-minute power play, Grabovski scooted up the right side, pulled a head fake that fooled Montreal defender Andrei Markov and fed a perfect pass to Niklas Hagman, who was able to score the first of his two goals on the night.

Grabovski then scored the Leafs' second goal at 1:48 of the second on a quick wrist shot.

"Grabbo," as he's called in the Leaf room, was a dynamo all night, getting under the skin of the Habs, with Saku Koivi sniping at him and Sergei Kostitsyn taking runs at him.

He did a lot of hard work that doesn't show up on the scoresheet - his second effort on a faceoff helped set up Hagman's second goal - and generally outshone the players in the bleu, blanc et rouge who were entrenched ahead of him in the Habs' depth chart last season.

"The Canadiens knew what they had in Mikhail," Wilson said of his team's major off-season acquisition. "(But) they've got an unbelievable group of forwards with so much skill and he probably wasn't going to get a fair opportunity. Fortunately for us, we were able to pick him up. He's into a real good rhythm. He's been our best player for two weeks. That's why he's got seven goals now."

Grabovski speaks some English but last night, with a crush of media in front of his stall, it was up to teammate Alexei Ponikarovsky to translate when reporters asked what Koivu told Grabovski.

"He (Koivu) gave him some special advice," said Ponikarovsky, getting a laugh. "He told him it would help him in the future. He (Grabovski) just listened to his advice because he respects him."

Grabovski has six goals in his last four games and is among the rookie scoring leaders. He doesn't like to talk about his Habs playing days, where he got into just 24 games over two seasons and was banished to the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs.

"We go play, we win," Grabovski said in his broken English of last night's effort. "Nothing special."

Habs coach Guy Carbonneau didn't want to chat about his former player.

"Listen, I have enough of my own problems," said Carbonneau. "I don't really care about what he thinks or what he says. He's playing well, good for him."

Linemate Hagman said he was sure Grabovski loved showing up his former teammates.

"For sure," said Hagman. "And they've got a lot of Russian players in that room. That could give a little more extra boost."

Former players Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson, the late Ed Chynoweth and retired linesman Ray Scapinello were honoured at centre ice in the Hall of Fame game. Former Leaf and World War II veteran Gaye Stewart read "In Flanders Fields" before the game, part of Remembrance Day celebrations.

Tlusty gets another shot with big club

Jiri Tlusty returned to the Maple Leafs yesterday hoping to recharge his game.

He was sent to the Marlies last month, but was recalled yesterday to fill in for the injured John Mitchell.

"I'm looking forward to my chance, and I hope I can play my best game," said Tlusty, who had two assists in five games with the Marlies. "I wasn't playing very well and my confidence went down. I have to forget that now and play better."

WESTERN JOURNEY: The Leafs embark on a three-game road swing through western Canada next week. It marks Toronto's first games against the Flames, Oilers and Canucks since the 2005-06 season.

"We haven't been out there in three seasons?" said Matt Stajan. "That's not good for the game."

No comeback this time as Leafs ripped by Bruins

BOSTON - It seemed only a matter of time before tempting fate would catch up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Continuing their season-long habit of falling behind early in games, the Leafs could not crawl out of a 2-0 hole in the first period Thursday and were beaten 5-2 by the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden.

Despite more admonishment from coach Ron Wilson, the Leafs began another game sloppily, and this time the opposition was ready. The Bruins jumped to an early 2-0 lead - as they did against Toronto in this building a couple of weeks ago. But, the visitors could not repeat their 4-2 comeback effort and are now riding a three-game winless streak.

Forward Blake Wheeler scored his first career hat trick to pace the Bruins. It included an empty-net goal in the final minute.

The Leafs trailed 3-0 heading into the third period and got an early goal from Alex Steen. They dominated from that point and had a chance to narrow the lead during a five-on-three power play late in the frame. They could not beat goalie Tim Thomas, however, and Zdeno Chara restored the three-goal advantage shortly after his club returned to full strength.

The early deficits are becoming an annoyance for Wilson, whose team has fallen behind by at least two goals in six of its past nine outings. "I don't know what to say about that," the coach shrugged. "Whether it's 2-0 or 3-0, it doesn't matter. It just happens. We're not a good enough team to say we're going to automatically score the first two goals.

"Again, we took a couple of unnecessary penalties early in the game, and we didn't get the job done. We didn't move the puck quickly tonight and got in trouble."

The Leafs were also hit with their first significant injury of the season.

Rookie forward John Mitchell sustained a suspected separation of his right shoulder on an innocent-looking check by Boston defenceman Aaron Ward early in the second period and will be sidelined indefinitely. Nik Antropov blocked an Andrew Ference slapshot in the opening frame and briefly returned before calling it a night. X-rays on Antropov's foot were negative.

"We have to have better starts and we know it," Leafs forward Matt Stajan said. "We talked about it before the game, but we didn't go out and do it. It's kind of an old story for us this season. I guess we can't come back every night."

Dennis Wideman and Wheeler scored power-play goals to give the Bruins their 2-0 edge by the 7:46 mark of the opening frame. Wheeler scored again in the second period and had the empty-netter with 53 seconds left.

Steen's goal at 2:13 of the third got the visitors rolling, and they had a golden opportunity to make another late comeback when Chara and Mark Stuart were both in the box for more than a minute later in the period. But, it was not to be. Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Leafs to make it 4-2 less than a minute after Chara's goal.

The crowd got a rise out of Jason Blake being deposited into the Bruins bench by a hip-check from Stuart midway through the first period. Blake came down between the Boston players and the inside of the boards, and was out of sight for a brief moment before regaining his feet and scrambling back onto the ice.

Wilson has alternated Jonas Frogren and Anton Stralman in a number of games - Frogren played Thursday - but Leafs veteran Carlo Colaiacovo continues to be a regular scratch, sitting for the eighth time in the past nine outings. It's been a bitter pill to swallow for Colaiacovo, given his tenure with the hockey club and the number of severe injuries he has overcome. But, neither he nor his agent, Todd Reynolds, has yet to approach Leafs' GM Cliff Fletcher for a trade.

"No, no - my heart is still (with the Leafs)," Colaiacovo said, halfheartedly, after skating with the spares Thursday. "But, there are all kinds of things going through my head because it's been extremely difficult and frustrating for me. You wait so long to get your chance and something like this happens. But, I've overcome so much already in my career, and this is just another stumbling block."

The Leafs return home to face Montreal Saturday.

Overtime heartbreak for Leafs

A quick peek at the plus-minus column on last night's Leafs game sheet told an intriguing story.

The line of Mikhail Grabovski, Niklas Hagman and Nikolai Kulemin each registered plus-2. Everyone else wearing a Leafs jersey was either even or minus-1.

Indeed, Grabovski's line was magical against the Carolina Hurricanes, accounting for three of the Leafs' four goals, and triggering another comeback that seems to be part of the Leafs' script for success so far this season.

The line, though, couldn't steal the show, or the win. That went to the Hurricanes, thanks in large part to the faulty defensive play by the rest of the Leafs in a 5-4 verdict in overtime at the Air Canada Centre.

"We talked about it in the first period (intermission)," Hagman said of the Leafs' unacceptable defensive effort, which saw them fall behind 3-0 and 4-1 in the first period. "It's going to be a long season (if the team has to repeatedly come from behind to win)."

The Leafs have come from behind to tie or win games on six occasions this season, but last night's comeback script was ruined when Niclas Wallin's slapshot sailed past a screened Vesa Toskala into the net at 1:52 of the extra period.

Toronto blew a two-man advantage that lasted 1:13 in the third, and Toskala, in allowing five goals on 24 shots, could have helped matters a bit more despite the fact his team abandoned him on too many occasions.

But the excitement generated so far by Leaf comebacks helped the home side gain a point in a game it should have lost.

"In Dallas last year, we came back quite a bit and I hope I can bring some of that here for this team," said Hagman, a 27-goal scorer with the Stars last season.

Watching Hagman this year has been a treat for Leaf fans. He's gone from a free-agent signing who looked like he could help a rebuilding team to arguably the club's best player after 13 games.

Hagman has certainly helped Grabovski, who bagged a pair of goals - one off a gorgeous Hagman setup on the power play. And Kulemin, who was too quick to gel on a line with Nik Antropov earlier this season, has found a place where he can maximize his offensive gifts alongside Hagman and Grabovski.

"I am comfortable here," Grabovski said, referring in part to a mercurial season in Montreal last year. "I like (Hagman). He is fast and he is smart. He is helping me a lot."

Grabovski now has five goals, tops on the Leafs, and is coming into his own after failing to score his first goal for almost a month.

Hagman picked up his fourth goal and added an assist. He now shares the team lead in scoring with Antropov (each with 10 points).

Leafs coach Ron Wilson has long recognized Hagman's abilities.

As head coach in San Jose, he saw large parts of Hagman's 27-goal season last year and wasn't surprised that the impressive tally came with Hagman skating much of the time on the Stars' third line.

"Hagman wasn't miscast in Dallas," Wilson said. "They had that much talent there and the reason we got him is there were only so many players they could keep.

"The reason he isn't there is because they decided to go after Sean Avery.

"Right now that line (Grabovski's) dominates almost every time they're on the ice ... something exciting happens when they're out there," Wilson added. "Now we have to get some of the other guys going again."

The Leafs will practise today, focusing on their defensive play. They've bagged eight goals in the past two games but lost both.

Wilson, though, will also put the power play through its paces, especially in 5-on-3 situations.

"It wasn't the first period that lost us the game, it was the 5-on-3 that cost us the extra point," Wilson said.