Should Ron Wilson Bench Himself?

Let me start off by saying that I have had nothing but good things to say about Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. Ever since I heard he was available for hire, I was excited about the possibility of him coming to Toronto to lift my beloved Leafs out of the pit of mediocrity. My archive is filled with praises for the guy, and I still feel he was by far the best candidate for the job. He deserves alot of credit simply for being brave enough to agree to come here and try and clean up the mess that is the Maple Leafs. Weaker men surely would have trembled at the thought.

However, there seem to be some contradictions emerging in his coaching style that are worth pointing out, and they may or may not have anything to do with the Maple Leafs recent free fall back into the pack of not-so-playoff teams. These are becoming more frustrating with each passing loss, including tonight's overtime disappointment.

The biggest of these is his stubborn refusal to bench Vesa Toskala. I went into this issue in detail in my last post so I wont rehash it here. However, Coach Wilson needs to put his foot down now. Simply saying that Vesa needs to work more in practice with his goalie coach is no longer going to cut it. He had his shot to redeem himself tonight after 4 days off, and he responded by letting in 5 goals. While he didnt let in any blatant "soft shots" he still failed to make the big saves when it counted. Toskala is forcing the forward lines to score 4-6 goals a game to stay competitive, and that is unacceptable for a starting goalie. If Vesa Toskala is going to be salvaged before heading down the path of Andrew Raycroft, Wilson needs to show him some tough love.

As is the case with any problem, the first step to recovery is admitting there is actually a problem. Toskala has said in recent interviews that he "feels great" and doesnt believe he has let in "too many bad goals." Coach Wilson needs to make sure that Vesa understands his level of play is unacceptable right now. Once he realizes that, he should sit on the bench for a few games and think about how he is going to get his starting job back. Then maybe, just maybe, he will come back showing that top goalie flare he showed last season. Ron Wilson, it is time to call out your goaltender. If he fails to do this he risks losing the respect of his players. Picking and choosing which players he will take to task for poor play is a slippery slope. He needs to apply this standard to everyone in the locker room no matter the position they play.

Another unacceptable contradiction (albeit a lesser one) is his refusal to make defenceman Jonas Frogren a mainstay on the Maple Leafs lineup. While he did get a start tonight, he has only played in half of all the Leafs total games. For a coach who preaches defense first this is bewildering. Frogren shows every time he hits the ice that he can block shots, knock players off the puck, and provide the physical play that is needed in high traffic situations. His reward for this is to ride the bench 50% of the time-all the while a struggling goaltender starts every game. Frogren did sustain an injury tonight though, and it is unknown how serious it is. When he returns, there is no reason he should not be placed right back into the starting lineup. He is a defensive defenceman, and should fit right in with the system Ron Wilson says he wants to play.

So if Coach Wilson refuses to call out Vesa Toskala, or give one of his best defensive players a more prominent role, than I propose that he watch the next few games from the press box until he gets his act together. Having said that, I am still thrilled that he is coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs. We love you Ron! To end on a positive note, here are some encouraging events to take away from tonight's game.

-Matt Stajan is now a point-per-game player. He had a goal and an assist tonight, and has 19 points total. He is looking more and more like a true number one centre.

-Alex Ponikarovsky is sticking up for his teammates. When Mikhail Grabovski was hit from behind tonight, Poni rushed to the scene and jumped the Chicago player. I was very surprised to see this and I have to admit it made me smile. Poni looks like he is playing the game with more passion this season. That could also be why he has 15 points on the year so far.

-Jason Blake appears to be embracing his role as a playmaker. He set up another great goal tonight, this time to Dominic Moore.

-Jonas Frogren finally hit the ice after watching the last few games from the pressbox. He looked damn good before he went down with an injury. He needs to play every game!