Reimer's heavy shoulders

And there you have it, a prime example of what we might expect to see from James Reimer and the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.

Reimer, who has been anointed the Leafs No. 1 goalie despite the fact he has just 37 games of big league experience to his credit, put on a stylish display of solid goaltending, but wound up on the wrong side of a 2-1 score against the Buffalo Sabres in NHL pre-season action Friday night.

Reimer's record, for what it's worth, dips to 0-2, but there is no question he played noticeably better against the Sabres than he did in his 2011-12 debut against the Philadelphia Flyers when his Leafs lost 4-0. In that game he played superbly in the first period, but not so great the rest of the way.

Friday night was the opposite. Reimer was a little shaky in the opening period, but was lights out the rest of the way, giving up a power play goal in the third that he had no chance on.

"I felt pretty good in there," Reimer said. "I think our team played phenomenally. We kept a lot of shots to the outside so all I had to do was stay at the top of my crease and be big. They were forcing them to take shots from the outside that just hit me in the chest. I felt really good, but it was a credit to the way our team played."

Therein lies the problem. The Leafs can play well on many nights this season, but if Reimer (or whoever wins the backup job) doesn't steal the game, losses will undoubtedly outnumber victories. It's a lot to ask from an inexperienced stopper expected to lead his club to the playoffs for the first time since before the lockout.

Against the Sabres he stared down the ice at Ryan Miller, an all-world goaltender many consider to be one of the best, if not the very best, in the NHL. That's how it will be on most nights when Reimer is pitted against Eastern Conference teams - the clubs the Leafs must beat if they hope to snap the playoff drought.

Think about it, Toronto vs. Washington means Reimer vs. Tomas Vokoun. Against Pittsburgh it's Marc-Andre Fleury; Boston it's Tim Thomas; Philadelphia it's Ilya Bryzgalov; the Rangers it's Henrik Lundqvist; Montreal it's Carey Price; Carolina it's Cam Ward and against New Jersey it's Martin Brodeur. In all of those games, simply based on experience and accomplishments, you'd have to give the opposition an edge in net when facing Reimer and Toronto.

Of course Reimer intends on changing that this season.

Against the other Eastern Conference foes, Tampa Bay (Dwayne Roloson), the Islanders (who knows?), Winnipeg (Ondrej Pavelec), Florida (Jose Theodore) and Ottawa (Craig Anderson) you'd put Reimer, at the very least, on equal footing at this stage of the game.

Reimer accepts he'll face great goalies and it doesn't concern him a bit. In fact, it kind of inspires him.

"Whenever you are playing against high quality goaltenders you want to up your game," Reimer said. "I like to think I'm a pretty good goaltender, too, but I have a lot to learn and I can get a lot better over this year and in the years to come. Any time I can look down the ice and see a world class goalie like Ryan Miller, Martin Brodeur…you go down the list…it's inspiring. It gives you a little extra jump to see if you can beat him."

And with that, naturally, comes pressure. Many young goaltenders have gotten off to great starts in their NHL careers only to succumb to the pressure of being the difference between their team winning and losing. Reimer said he knows it comes with the gig.

"That's kind of the case with every team," he said. "The goalie has a great opportunity to lose every game for you…or win, I suppose. I don't know if the pressure is any different with this team than any other team. It's just your role as a goaltender. You're out there and your job is to get in front of the puck somehow. The notion that if I don't play well we're going to lose, well, that's not really something I think about."

So as long as you're smiling, you're having fun?

"Even if I'm not smiling I'm having fun," Reimer said…with a big smile.

Leafs Nation hopes he'll be grinning ear to ear nine months from now.

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.