And with one save, a new saviour for Leafs Nation is born.
Last night, in NHL exhibition action, the Toronto Maple Leafs prized goaltending prospect Jonas "The Monster" Gustavsson made his home debut at the Air Canada Centre and treated the fans to two periods of shutout hockey, which included a spectacular save on a two-on-oh breakaway versus the Detroit Red Wings.
I have to give him credit, it was a pretty mack-daddy save.
With that save (and having seen incumbent #1 goalie Vesa Toskala look extremely ordinary in their other games), Leafs Nation has declared Gustavsson their new hero and the man who will lead them to the promised land, capture a Stanley Cup, conquer the world, dominate the universe, rule the solar system...ya...Leaf fans can get a little carried away when something good happens to them.
Lets remember it was Mursak to Ryno, and not Zetterberg to Datsyuk. And if Ryno had shot high, the environment in T-Dot this morning would likely still be doom and gloom, rather than lollipops and rainbows.
As much as it sickens me to say it (boo Leafs!), it looks like the Buds may have a stud in Gustavsson. He's massive and moves well (check out the overhead view of the save to get a perspective of his size and flexibility), and by all accounts he looks and acts very calm...all qualities you want in an NHL goalie.
Of course...the christening him as a hockey God by Leafs Nation, comes after he's played three, yes, A WHOLE THREE, periods of exhibition hockey. And of course, he hasn't been thrown to the wolves (the Toronto media) for a full season yet.
Time will tell how The Monster (BLAST! He's even got a cool nickname!!) turns out, but for one day, he's the King of Toronto.
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