for the leafs, i'd say justin pogge - goaltender
for the past while, the leafs have always been a team that relies on their goalie. they tend to have very very gritty teams that must really fight for wins, grit out one goal games etc... and in effect, with much of the character and grit on the forwards lines, they have had to rely on their defence corps a lot, and as well their goalie. from potvin, to cujo, and now with belfour, the leaf goalie has had to carry the load, mainly in the playoffs and face lots of shots to try and keep the team close enough to scrape out that gritty win
now, why i feel pogge fits this mold is as a goalie playing in prince george, last year, and the next two years, he's going to be facing a ton of work. prince george is not a very good defensive team, we give up a lot of shots, good chances, and are generally weak physically and in turn, the opposition gets a lot of rubber to the net. pogge thrived with that work last year, and is playing well this year, and i feel it's a fair assumption he will continue to develop next year facing a ton of work. when he does turn pro, he possibly could have the chance to steal todd ford's job a 2nd time if ford is indeed with the st.john's leafs by that time..
all in all, with pogge's past/current situation and the leafs' current mold of the team and how i see them continue to go, i think pogge fits in very well with the team's future (this is all assuming he realizes his potential as a professional goaltender)
now, who for your team?
for the past while, the leafs have always been a team that relies on their goalie. they tend to have very very gritty teams that must really fight for wins, grit out one goal games etc... and in effect, with much of the character and grit on the forwards lines, they have had to rely on their defence corps a lot, and as well their goalie. from potvin, to cujo, and now with belfour, the leaf goalie has had to carry the load, mainly in the playoffs and face lots of shots to try and keep the team close enough to scrape out that gritty win
now, why i feel pogge fits this mold is as a goalie playing in prince george, last year, and the next two years, he's going to be facing a ton of work. prince george is not a very good defensive team, we give up a lot of shots, good chances, and are generally weak physically and in turn, the opposition gets a lot of rubber to the net. pogge thrived with that work last year, and is playing well this year, and i feel it's a fair assumption he will continue to develop next year facing a ton of work. when he does turn pro, he possibly could have the chance to steal todd ford's job a 2nd time if ford is indeed with the st.john's leafs by that time..
all in all, with pogge's past/current situation and the leafs' current mold of the team and how i see them continue to go, i think pogge fits in very well with the team's future (this is all assuming he realizes his potential as a professional goaltender)
now, who for your team?