No place like home

Playing your first five games of the season all at home; hmmm, that could be heaven…or then again it could be hell.

That is what the Toronto Maple Leafs face beginning Thursday night when they host the Montreal Canadiens. From there they will face Ottawa two nights later; Calgary a week after that game and then Colorado on Oct. 17 and Winnipeg Oct. 19.

If the Leafs build a winning record in the first five games - can you imagine if they were to go 5-0? - Leafs Nation will be talking them up as Stanley Cup contenders when the reality of the situation is they are likely to struggle to make the playoffs.

And let's say, heaven forbid, they go 1-4 or 0-5…one cannot imagine the doom and gloom. Every possible area of doubt would be magnified 1,000 times. The coach is in the last year of his contract with no extension in sight; the team's supposed No. 1 centre has a history of being injured and won't play in Game 1 - because he is injured - and the No. 1 goalie, about as likeable as a stuffed Teddy Bear, still has just 37 NHL games on his resume.

"At 4-0 last season fans were asking what street the Stanley Cup parade would be on," said fourth-year defenceman Luke Schenn with a chuckle. "Then we lost three in a row and were back to 4-3 and people were saying, 'I told you so; same old Leafs.' You can't win."

True enough, but Schenn knows how important it will be to get off to a good start.

"The first couple of games are very meaningful to us because after those games the other teams will still be playing games and obviously getting points while we're going to have a week off," said Schenn. "That makes it important for us to get off to a good start. We can gain a little confidence and momentum playing at home. At the same time you don't always read too much into what happens in the first few games of the season because, as we found out last year when we started off 4-0, it's not a sprint; it's a marathon."

In other words, the Leafs will take things one game at a time. They cannot afford to get ahead of themselves.

"Right now we're not focused on Game 5," said captain Dion Phaneuf. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but we're only focused on one game and that is Thursday night against Montreal. Then we finish that and move forward to the next one. We're not looking at the five games and how important they are; the first game is important and we'll deal with that and take it from there."

Phaneuf doesn't like to think about where his team will be after five games.

"That's looking into the future and we're not looking into the future," he said. "The only game we're worried about is Thursday and we'll deal with it and move past that one. You can't look too far ahead or you get lost. It's a busy year with lots of games. Whether they are at home or on the road, the bottom line is you have to get points. We're going to start with five games at home, but somewhere down the line that catches up. You've got to win your games at home and on the road; that's why you play 41 at home and 41 away."

Leafs coach Ron Wilson said he wasn't thrilled when he got his first peek at the 2011-12 schedule. But it's not as bad as it could have been.

"Actually the first draft I saw had us playing six games in a row at home so we managed to get one of them out of there," Wilson said. "The one day they took out extended our break between Games 2 and 3. We were originally supposed to play another game last week, so losing it gave us an opportunity to go away for a few days."

In fact the Leafs will head to Trenton, Ont., for three days beginning next Monday and will spend time with the Canadian soldiers. Having a week off between Games 2 and 3 is another reason why the Leafs are determined to do well in their first two games.

"We know that they are real important games and we know that we play two and then we sit there for a while and watch some teams win that you end up maybe chasing in the end or perhaps some teams that you are trying to hold off," said defenceman Cody Franson. "It is very important for us to get a winning record in those games. We don't play a road game for a while so those will be huge points for us to get. Also, we want to make Toronto a really hard place for other teams to come in to play."

Fellow defender John-Michael Liles thinks it's great to be playing so many games at home at the beginning of the year.

"I think if you could choose between home or road you definitely want to start at home," Liles said. "I think it's something you emphasize no matter where you play in the league, that the points at home are important. You always like having the fans behind you at your home opener and then getting the year off on the right note. You try to win every game you play, but for us we are focusing on Montreal Thursday night. That's all you can think about right now."

Coach Wilson, on the other hand, would rather take the show on the road.

"I'd rather start on the road and build towards our home opener, but last year we started on the road and we were fine," said Wilson, referencing Toronto's season-opening 3-2 win in Montreal and 5-1 victory two nights later in Ottawa. "As long as you are ready, you're ready. Having Montreal at home makes it even more exciting."

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