Andrew Raycroft
26 June 2008
The young-boy-trapped-in-an-octogenarian-body Kyle Wellwood and Andrew Raycroft were placed on waivers. I can understand Raycroft being expendable, as he saw very little action behind Vesa Toskala, and that position would be better suited for Scott Clemmenson, Justin Pogge or Tuuka Rask (oops, another first-rounder given away, my bad). I don't believe Raycroft is as bad as his latest outing would suggest, but I don't think he was in a position to show his abilities and grow as a goaltender while sitting under the spotlight in the ACC. Young goaltenders need time and a little bit of leeway to make some mistakes and learn from them in order to become a bonafide starter in the NHL. Leafs fans probably don't know this, as they have gotten used to the CuJo's and the Grant Fuhr's and the Ed Belfour's that have guarded the twine for decades. Case in point: Felix Potvin. He was stellar for a few years, garnered a cool nickname, and helped the team to a couple deep playoff runs. He lets in a bad goal to the Vancouver Canucks in the Conference Finals and he gets run out of town. He was never the same again. Now it looks like Leafs fans are having the same effect on Raycroft.
Posted by Wayne Gryde | No comments yet
