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4 ii r ti j c inomfcrsmirrifcmne the 2001 stanleytcup playoees thursday april 12 2001 photos courtesy the toronto star keswick native curtis joseph left will be in goal for the toronto maple leafs tomorrow night when they open the stanley cup playoffs in ottawa markhams steve thomas right hopesto bounce back from a sluggish regular season the leafs are decided underdogs in the bestofseven series glsplaf fil in battlew ontatirto spfk rerion products buckle up for allout war starting tomorrow from page 1 26assists the year- didnt go as well as i thought it wouldxduringthe regular season he said aftertuesdays practice at the air canada kneeirijuryand missed 22 games and i had jtliefluauring the year justwliienypu start to feelgood some thing else seemed to happen bufiwehave the playoffs to make i amends theres an opportunity to go but j ithere and prove you can contribute tbthe team p in recent days thomas said hes been feel- ing good from a physical and mental stand- 1 point and itcouldntcome at a more 6pp6rc tune time for him and the team his goal in last fridays secondtolast regular season game against the hostchicago blackhawks -enabled- themaple leafs to emerge with- a i7o win and lock lip aberth in me playoffs j l feel good about scoring against xhicago its a big goal for me personally and forthe team it was huge thats what moti- vates me- to get in the playoffs those little things giverhe tons of confldenceits little things ilikethat thafgive me a jump start and thas whatltrytorunwith playing oh a line centered by mats sundin vandgaryroberts whbtias family living tin patrollingthe left side thomas acknowledged the senators will be a fprmida- ble opponent but he thinks they arent- iihvihcible h theyre a talented team buti we 1 i- keith acton stouffyflleresident a- stanley titipas an edniqntonpilerisays leafsmust tale the body againsttfie ottawasenators can beat them physically if we get the first- man pressure i think thats wherewe can be successful and i think we have to exploit that said thomas who tallieda team-lead- ing six goals and two assistsin last years first- found victory over the senators adding to trie clubs optimism are the lessons of history maple leafs goalkeeper curtis joseph experienced that firsthand when as a mem ber of the edmonton oilers he helped back stop them to a firstround upset victory over the dallas starsin1997 in that seriesthe keswick native recorded two shutbute in helping the oilers overcome a three gamestoone deficit to turn back the stars in seven games we were an underdog that year the 33- yearold veteran netminder recalled but as the series went on we firmly believed we could win as i said earlier you have to believe in your heart that youll win although he sported a 400 goals against average against the senators in their regular season meetings this year and appeared rather mortal down the stretch run joseph is confident the team will come together i believe we can play good defence and be physically thats what itll take to win we have to play awfully well no doubt about it thomas believes that josephs history of rising to the occasion will tie a factor in the t series l cujo likes opportunities to be involved in the game thats where tie shines when hes r he plays his best hockey said thomas joseph in 68 regular season games recorded a 239 goals against average and had- six shutouts including the one against the blackhawks that sewed up a playoff spot for the maple leafs thomas played minor hockey in r markham and junior with the markhams waxers- joseph grew up in sharon and take with the puck then theyre terrific in the transition game we have to beat them at their own game be patient and not make those turnovers theyre not real physical so that can be a key for us to come out hitting and taking the body thats not their game said acton who toiled 15 years in the nhlwithsixteams before retiring six years ago acton knows what it takes he played for the stanley cupwinning edmonton oilers in 1988 and worked as an assistant coach with the philadelphia flyers and new york rangers its an allout war every other night for the next two months its the team with those character players that will suc ceed that will still be playing in june keith acton of stouffville toronto maple leafs assistant coach before moving fulltime back to stouffville last summer acton has a good idea what characteristics are required to bring home lord stanleys holy grail its an allout war every other night for the keswick and played junior in richmond hill next two months said the stouffville minor and king city he now lives in rural king hockey grad its the team with those charac- in addition to the players the maple leafs ter players that will succeed that will still be coaching staff which includes stouffville native keith acton believe they can give the senators a run forme money they play a real disciplined game the firstyear assistant s coach noted of the senators theyyea lot like the jersey thats what we strive toget ready for devilsthey both wait for you to make a mis- its an exciting time of the year that i enjoy playing in june being in the trenches thomas can think of nothing better than tobe playing hockey in the spring theres no more fun than game one in the n-