The trade deadline came and went at 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon, leaving many Maple Leafs relieved to still be wearing blue and white.
Or were they?
About six hours later, Bryan McCabe and Andrew Raycroft might have been having second thoughts about that after being targeted by the fans at the Air Canada Centre during a moribund 6-1 loss to the injury-plagued Buffalo Sabres last night.
Tired of people always questioning what might be wrong with him whenever he turns in an ordinary performance.
To his credit, he's polite about it. He'll even joke about it like he did yesterday.
Pulled after two periods in the Maple Leafs' 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins Tuesday, Raycroft was informed by a broadcaster that there was talk of him being fatigued.
Any goaltender will tell you, a big part of being successful is how you control the rebounds.
So there was Andrew Raycroft at Maple Leafs' practice yesterday working on bouncing back from a so-so outing against the Bruins' a night earlier. Three goals yielded, none overly horrible on its own, but when they arrive on only 13 shots on a truncated night in the nets, there's room for fine-tuning.
"You play 82 games, you're not going to have your best every night. Unfortunately, that's the reality of it," said Raycroft. "Any NHL team is going to have dull nights and I guess we had one of those (losing 3-0). We just need to respond and have a good one (tonight against the Islanders)."
After playing in 21 games without a night off, Maple Leafs goaltender Andrew Raycroft admitted yesterday he is tired.
Not of the extra work, but of the questions about his endurance.
The 26-year-old Belleville, Ont., native is on pace to play at least 70 games this season. His previous high was 61 games as a 19-year-old in the Ontario Hockey League with Kingston.
It can take as little as three days for iron to rust.
For Maple Leafs ironman goaltender Andrew Raycroft, corrosion apparently does not set in until 53 days. And even then, it is his teammates -- not his opponents -- who tend to cause most of the damage.
Andrew Raycroft will make his 20th consecutive start in goal tonight and there is little indication that he will soon get a rest. The Leafs don't play on back-to-back nights until late in the month. Jean-Sebastien Aubin remains the forgotten backup.
With his dad keenly watching his every move from a swank suite at the Wachovia Center tonight, Andrew Raycroft will attempt to complete a rare feat that was last accomplished by Felix Potvin, his boyhood idol.
Should Raycroft get the nod as expected against the Philadelphia Flyers, he'll make his 19th consecutive start in goal for the Leafs. That will tie him with Potvin for the longest run by a Toronto goaltender since 1990.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled at home lately, but they're hoping a meeting with a New York Islanders team they've dominated there will help them end their woes.
The Maple Leafs (27-22-7) look to avoid another defeat at the Air Canada Centre, and continue their mastery of the Islanders (26-22-8), when the teams meet Tuesday night.
Despite having a winning overall record, Toronto is 11-12-4 at home. Only league-worst Philadelphia (four) has fewer home victories than the Leafs, who are tied with three teams at 11.
Forget Eddie Belfour, Grant Fuhr or even Felix Potvin.
For at least the next few days, all anyone in Leaf-land is going to want to talk about is Andrew Raycroft and "that save."
By now you've probably seen the replays of the amazing grab, as the Buds' backstop lunged across the net to his left on a deflection and somehow got his glove on Bill Guerin's sure goal, preserving a 2-1 Leaf win against the Blues.
Andrew Raycroft made 19 saves, including a spectacular diving stop in the third period to preserve the lead, as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, at Scottrade Center.
Alex Steen scored the winning goal and Alexei Ponikarovsky also lit the lamp for Toronto, which has won a season-best five in a row.
Ryan Johnson had his team's lone goal and Manny Legace turned away 14 shots for the Blues, who have dropped four of five.
Andrew Raycroft's reaction to being recognized by the National Hockey League yesterday was typical.
That's to say the Maple Leafs goaltender was happy he was named the first star by the NHL in its weekly awards for his part in three road wins last week, but the accolade did not rock his world.
After struggling through inconsistent spurts this season, Raycroft appeared more relaxed in his past three games and his statistics show it. Raycroft, the former Calder Trophy winner as the league's best rookie in 2003-04, posted a 1.33 goals-against average and a sensational .960 save percentage in the past week.
Maple Leafs goaltender Andrew Raycroft, New Jersey Devils winger Jamie Langenbrunner and Detroit Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Raycroft was given the top honour Monday after helping the Leafs to three straight road wins while posting a 1.33 goals-against average and .960 save percentage.
Andrew Raycroft’s goaltending statistics aren’t nearly good enough to earn him any awards this season, but he’s playing his best hockey at the right time.
As he headed into the showers after practice Friday, he was 28th in goals-against average, 2.94, and 32nd in save percentage, .898, among all NHL netminders who have made at least 20 appearances.
The numbers don’t matter. The important thing is that he’s been playing his best hockey when it matters most. The Leafs, locked in a battle for a playoff spot that looks as if it’ll go down to the schedule’s last weekend, have won three in a row and six of their last eight, and Raycroft has been a big factor in the resurgence.
Toronto fans may hate Ottawa, and vice-versa, but for Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft, playing the Senators provides a chance to catch up with his good friend Mike Fisher.
Born 31 days and just over 100 km apart in eastern Ontario, Raycroft and the Senators centre grew up as rivals before becoming teammates with the OHL's Sudbury Wolves.
"I played minor hockey against Fish all the way up and, obviously, parents get to know each other in the rinks," said Raycroft, who like Fisher is now 26. "Since atom I played against him and then going to up to Sudbury together, we were rookies together. Same school, same classes."
Andrew Raycroft and the Toronto Maple Leafs will clash with their foremost enemy in the National Hockey League tonight, one that has all hands on deck and has been firing on all cylinders.
But the 26-year-old netminder, who has demonstrated an ability to shrug off issues that might cause others great distress, didn't raise an eyebrow yesterday after practice.
"You don't dread it," Raycroft said when asked about facing the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place. "It's there on the schedule and that's the reality. I don't sit there and look three weeks ahead and (say), 'Oh, we have Ottawa, we're in big trouble' or 'I can't wait to play them.' We need to play a tough road game and try to keep it close. You would rather win 2-1 than trade chances all night."
Andrew Raycroft’s goaltending statistics aren’t nearly good enough to earn him any awards this season, but he’s playing his best hockey at the right time.
As he headed into the showers after practice Friday, he was 28th in goals-against average, 2.94, and 32nd in save percentage, .898, among all NHL netminders who have made at least 20 appearances.
The numbers don’t matter. The important thing is that he’s been playing his best hockey when it matters most. The Leafs, locked in a battle for a playoff spot that looks as if it’ll go down to the schedule’s last weekend, have won three in a row and six of their last eight, and Raycroft has been a big factor in the resurgence.
Andrew Raycroft couldn't wait to board the Toronto Maple Leafs' charter flight back home last night. He was worn out.
Twenty-four hours after his solid outing against the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, the Leafs' goaltender continued his excellent play, as did his teammates, in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers before 18,200 at Madison Square Garden last night.
"I'm dead," Raycroft said moments after his 37-save performance to go with his 28 stops in Carolina on Tuesday. "I can't wait to go to bed. I can't wait to get on that plane, turn on my iPod and go to sleep."
