The Marlies were eliminated in the 3rd round of the Calder Cup Playoffs in 5 games. They lost to the Chicago Wolves as a result of some very undisciplined hockey where they just couldn't stay our of the penalty box. For example last night, Chicago erased the Marlies' 2-0 first-period lead with a pair of power-play goals in the middle period while playing 5 on 3 and then 5 on 4.
So will the long playoff run benefit the Maple Leafs next season? It doesn't look like it. The future #1 goalie, Justin Pogge only played the last two games of the playoffs. Jiri Tlusty who played most of the season with the Leafs totally disappeared in the playoffs. He scored on 2 goals in 19 games and I believe they may have been in the first game of the playoffs. What hurts the most is that Andy Wozniewski scored 4 playoff goals and we know what kind of a player he is. Their top scorer in the playoffs was David Ling (14 points) but at age 33 he's not a prospect. John Mitchell was their top goal scorer (8 goals) but since he was never brought up, he likely isn't a prospect either. I noticed that their powerplay featured Kris Newbury, David Ling, Bates Battaglia and Andy Wozniewski. Yup. Pretty depressing.
