West hasn't been best for Leafs

Despite having so many Western Canadian players on the roster the last few years -- 10 on this week's trip -- that part of the country has been very inhospitable to the Maple Leafs.

With Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Flames, the Leafs are 3-12 in Western Canada since the NHL lockout, including two losses in Winnipeg this year to the reborn Jets.

Yes, the Flames, Oilers and Canucks are out-of-conference opponents, but the losses hurt the Leafs' playoff chances just as much, and they're also a blow to the pride of the club that considers itself "Canada's team."

"I don't care about the last year or 10 years or whatever," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said before the game. "It's one game at a time. You don't look at the whole road trip."

If there's a psychological edge for Toronto, you'd think it would be in Calgary. Twice in 18 years, the Leafs have made a multi-player deal with the Flames designed to help both teams. But in 1993 with Doug Gilmour and 2010 with Dion Phaneuf, both times the Leafs got the best player in the deal.

Like Gilmour, Phaneuf ascended to the captaincy of Toronto and reached a greater height as a player and a person than with the Flames. Matt Stajan, a player the Flames hoped would duplicate some of his scoring numbers in Toronto, is the only ex-Leaf to survive the seven-player trade in Calgary and has been relegated to the fourth line of late.

But Phaneuf was booed constantly and had a rough game as the Leafs lost for the sixth straight time, going back to 2002.

The Leafs are in Edmonton on Wednesday.

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