Tomas Kaberle loves to pass the puck, but there is no way to pass the buck on this question.

How different would life be today for the Maple Leafs if they had this kind of young team in the autumn and the veterans applied the effort they are showing now, long after their playoff fate had been settled and the trade deadline's passing eased fears of survivors?

"You win one game in the first 10 and you don't give yourself much of a chance," Kaberle said prior to attempting a sixth win in eight games Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. "We didn't have a good start and that was pretty much the season. We had trouble with this all year. We couldn't get two or three wins in a row."