James Reimer will probably start on Saturday. Ben Scrivens started against the Islanders on Thursday and had a rough contest. The two goaltenders will likely split the netminding duties pretty evenly unless one can establish himself as the clearly superior option.

James Reimer sticked aside 28 shots in the Maple Leafs' 5-2 win over the Penguins on Wednesday night. In his first start of the season, Reimer showed he wants more work. It was a solid showing for someone who didn't play anywhere during the lockout. Still, Ben Scrivens received the first two starts and has given coach Randy Carlyle no reason to turn away from him tomorrow against the Islanders.

James Reimer appears as though he will be making his first start of the season on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. He occupied the net usually reserved for the visiting team during the Leafs morning skate. Ben Scrivens has started Toronto's opening two games this campaign and he dropped a 2-1 decision to Buffalo on Monday night.

James Reimer is eager to rebound between the pipes for Toronto once the lockout is over. "You just get tougher," he said referring to 2011-12's disappointment. "I don't know if there's one thing I can pick out to improve on, but overall it's maybe your perseverance and your endurance. When you're not playing as well as you'd like to play, in a market that demands it, it's tough on you, it's tough on your character and it challenges you. I think I grew as a person and that will only help me going forward." Reimer struggled with injury and consistency last year, but GM Brian Burke has continued to stand behind him despite rumors of the team seeking a netminder via the trade market. "It's funny, obviously there have been a few rumors going around but most of it is far from the truth," said Reimer. "Especially when I was (visiting) Vancouver, it kind of blew up. At the end of the day, you can't control it, so why worry about it."

James Reimer was in Vancouver on Monday and practiced with some members of the Vancouver Canucks which started the rumor mill going on Twitter. Twitters of Reimer to Vancouver for Roberto Luongo were going making the rounds but the truth was that Reimer was in town to with his wife to visit his in-laws. Reimer will be out in Vancouver for about a week and will continue to practice with some of the Canucks. He says he is ready to start the season with the Maple Leafs. Reimer had a tough sophomore season but a lot of that could be contributed to a concussion he suffered early in the season that forced him to miss over a month of the season and seemed to take its toll the remainder of the 2011-12 season. Look for a comeback this season as his value is likely somewhere in the middle off his great rookie campaign of 2010-11 and last year's debacle.

Francois Allaire, the former Leafs goalie coach, blamed the team's assistant coaches for the disappointing seasons for James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson. The RDS report by Renaud Lavoie, as translated by The Toronto Star, says Allaire believes he's a victim of "demolition derby" by people, Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin, who don't understand goaltending. He says the Feb. 14-21 road trip was the tipping point as the two assistants tried to go against what he had been teaching. "It's further proof that criticize and point the finger is much easier than training and teaching," Allaire wrote in an email to Lavoie. "From that moment on, I continued to act as professionally as possible and to offer my moral support to the young Leaf goalies, but the damage mentally and technically was much too big to hope to find a short-term solution."

Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke spoke publicly about the departure of former goaltender coach Francois Allaire Tuesday. When asked about Allaire's departure, Burke indicated that the coach's reliance of the butterfly technique was outdated, saying "The position has evolved in the last three to five years. Nobody plays the classic stand-up any more either. Everything advances." With the coach that received the most credit for his success in 2010-11 out of the system, James Reimer will now have to prove what's made this season.

James Reimer praised former Toronto goaltender coach Francois Allaire, who announced he was parting ways with the Maple Leafs on Monday. "He was a great goalie coach," said Reimer. "As far as what Frankie did for me, I can never thank him enough. I think he's the guy that prepared me for this next level the most and if there's any one person that I owe it to the most, he's one of those guys." He said that Allaire shouldn't be blamed for the team's struggles in the crease last season and that "Sometimes there's just tough years. You try and prepare as much as you can."

James Reimer feels healthy after struggling with severe head and neck pain last season. "I felt I was successful this summer doing what I needed," he said. "I'm ready to go. I tried to take care of business, getting treatments, doing everything right. I feel strong and had absolutely no setbacks." Reimer wasn't the same in 2011-12 after he was run into by Montreal forward Brian Gionta on Oct. 22. The rumor mill has had the Leafs linked to several veteran goaltenders this off-season, but nothing appears to be imminent on the trade front and GM Brian Burke is prepared to place his faith in Reimer.

Toronto GM Brian Burke said he is prepared to enter the 2012-13 season with James Reimer and Ben Scrivens as the team's netminders if a veteran cannot be acquired through a trade. "We are prepared to go forward on that basis," Burke said. "If we can upgrade at the goaltending position, and at a reasonable price, we'll do it. But we are prepared [to go with Reimer-Scrivens]. I believe in James Reimer. He's young, he's athletic, I believe in this kid. If we have to start like that, we will." The Leafs are looked at as a good fit for Vancouver's Roberto Lunongo, but ESPN's Pierre LeBrun doesn't believe that the two clubs have held meaningful discussions with each other yet.