Change of plans for the Monster

When you arrive in town with a bold nickname such as 'The Monster,' well, you'd better step up to the plate.

That has not been the case with Jonas 'The Monster' Gustavsson.

Because of circumstances beyond his control - heart issues that caused him to have two minor surgeries and clearly hampered his ability to establish himself in the greatest hockey league in the world - Gustavsson has not emerged as the answer between the pipes in Toronto. One of the most sought-after unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2009 remains a prospect, of sorts - a little long in the tooth for a 26-year-old - but certainly a young enough man who feels he can still be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL.

Where the Leafs are concerned, that honour belongs to James Reimer. When Gustavsson and Jean-Sebastien Giguere failed to deliver last season, Reimer was a life saver. He burst onto the scene, almost out of nowhere, and upon being given the Leafs starter's job last season, almost led his team to the playoffs. Almost.

Gustavsson, meanwhile, shows up to the rink daily determined to make it in the NHL.

"I don't worry about being the starter or not being the starter," Gustavsson said. "It's always the same thing; you go to practice and do you job. You work out hard and try to prove yourself and you fight for ice time. If you get a chance you try to do your best and if you have a good result then you're probably going to get another chance. You work on the details over and over again. It's like a golfer; if you try to sink the same short putt 10,000 times you're probably going to make those putts more than the guys who don't practice it a lot."

On Thursday, before the rest of his teammates skated onto the ice at MasterCard Centre for practice, Gustavsson had a tutorial with his goalie coach Francois Allaire. You can never perfect the position; you can only try.

"We work on everything," Gustavsson said. "If he thinks of something new we try it and see how it feels and if it feels good we might keep going with it. It's always about seeing what suits you the most. It's not about going out and just trying to save a few pucks; it's more about feeling good where you are in the net and when you feel good about that you're going to stop a lot of shots."

The top goalie in the Swedish Elite League in 2008-09 caught the fancy of the Leafs, among other teams, after a brilliant season. In the playoffs that year he kicked butt registering a 1.03 goals-against-average in 13 games during which he allowed just 14 goals and had five shutouts. It's no wonder the Leafs wanted him, but they played him up a little too big and, largely because of health problems, he has not delivered.

He is not an established NHL starter, though it has not deterred his desire to be one.

As for Reimer, who is doing his very best to not be the flavour of the month, he knows what it is like to be playing second fiddle and yet he also understands that it is best for the team if two men with their eyes on one crease can co-exist nicely.

"It's a tough situation and it can be awkward, but at the same time if you have two good guys its fine," Reimer said. "Obviously everybody wants to get as much ice time as possible and it's the guy sitting beside you that you're fighting with. At the same time if you have a bad attitude or you're a jerk about it, that's when things often go bad for you and it's not just bad for the two of you, it's bad for everyone.

"As for me and Gusty, we've got a good friendship going. We've gotten to know each other well, especially the past few days in Trenton. I think we're respectful of each other and at the end of the day we want the best for each other. That's what is best for the team. You can't be selfish about it. You have to respect the other guy and you have to want him to do well."

Reimer recalls the days when he was the back-up goalie; not that long ago, really, in the ECHL of all places.

"I've been in that position a lot," Reimer said. "When I was in South Carolina on our Kelly Cup run I was the backup and didn't play for three weeks until I got chucked into a big game. It's all about practicing hard. That sounds really dumb, but it's practicing hard with game-like intensity. In South Carolina, when we went on that run, every day after practice I would play rebound with the guys. It's just a fun little game (players surround the goalie and pepper him with shots), but it was pretty intense and it kept your mind sharp. You've got to do things like that to stay sharp and hopefully you can be as prepared as you can be when you get in there."

Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson won't tip his hand as to when Gustavsson will see action. With three more home games remaining before Toronto finally heads out on the road, you'd have to think The Monster would get one of those games. Then again, you never know.

"I'm not really sure when he'll play," Wilson said. "I haven't thought beyond the next game to be honest with you. I don't have a plan or anything like as to who gets what games. You just have to work hard in practice and we'll always tell the goalie the day before he's playing."

Gustavsson will continue to go though his daily routine with one thing in mind - being a big-time NHL stopper. That means being a 60-70-game-per-year goaltender.

"Of course I would like to be there, but it's not something I go home and think about every day," Gustavsson said. "It's more about feeling every day that I did the most I could to feel that I can be a better goalie. At this level we're not playing amateur hockey and there's a fine line between being a really good goalie and just being average. Hopefully two years from now I can be a guy who plays a lot of games that takes his team to the playoffs and we can have a good run. If it takes two years or five years or if it this year, I don't know, but I want to be there someday and, of course, the sooner the better."

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