Things may look fairly grim for the Leafs these days, but defenceman Francois Beauchemin was adamant that the situation - after one win in their last 10 games - isn't quite as dire as it was during a 3-11-6 start that sunk Toronto last season.
"No, not even close," Beauchemin said. "We're playing a lot better than we were. I think the effort is there, it's just the offensive game that's not coming. I can't say we didn't work hard in those games.
"Maybe we weren't ready off the start every game, but the work ethic is there. It's just got to be sticking to the game plan and we don't fall apart and start playing 1-on-1 hockey."
Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle, two alternate captains, addressed the media shortly before the Leafs game with the Panthers tonight in Sunrise, Florida. Both alternate captains talked about a players-only meeting that took place during the day, but didn't reveal any of the specifics about what was talked about.
"You need to say stuff you want to say, you don't want to keep it to yourself," Kaberle said. "It doesn't matter, the oldest guy can speak [and so can] the youngest guy. You just have to get some stuff out of the system and just make sure we're on the same page. Nothing really hard. We can't be shy about it.
"The main thing is what we say off the ice we have to bring it on the ice."
Beauchemin said the meeting was very subdued.
"[It was] quiet, really quiet," he said. "Most of the guys talked. We said all the right things. We all know what we have to do to be better. It's about doing it on the ice now."
Both players added they supported netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere's strong criticisms of his teammates after a 4-0 loss to the Lightning last night.
"Yeah we do [respect Giguere's comments] and we know it, we know we haven't played our best," Kaberle said. "We know we've been squeezing the sticks a little harder than the first few games. We have to get back to basics and what was working for us the first few games. We know we don't have the great skill guys out here so it just has to be hard work like we did the first few games and simple plays. We need to find a way to win hockey games."
"He's going to talk when he feels he's got to, in between periods if things don't go well or even when things are going well, he's going to say keep going," said Beauchemin, who played a few seasons in Anaheim with Giguere. "He's does talk a lot for a goalie."
Jonas Gustavsson and Tomas Vokoun are expected to start tonight for Toronto and Florida, two teams off to slow starts and currently out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference at the moment. The Leafs only win in the past 10 games has come against the Panthers.
I'll have a game story as well as quotes and audio from the Leafs shortly after the game ends.