Alex Tran
According to TSN, the Montreal Canadiens have made the first move of the much anticipated trade deadline frenzy. Bob Gainey has acquired defenseman Mathieu Schneider from the Atlanta Trashers in exchange for 2nd and 3rd round picks.
Update: TSN is now reporting that the 2nd round pick is in 2009, while the 3rd round pick is in 2010. There is also a conditional pick heading back Montreal's way. [more…]
At a time when the Alex Rodriguez steroid issue is making the rounds around the sporting world, I'm wondering if Leaf coach Ron Wilson has some of that "magic stuff" stashed inside that doghouse of his. After Ian White and Jason Blake were healthy scratches early on during the season, both players have been playing exceptionally well of late. Ian White is logging a ton of very efficient ice-time on the blueline, while Blake is almost singlehandedly carrying the Maple Leaf offense. [more…]
I was reading through a few archived sports articles involving statistical and economic analyses the other day, and came across a very interesting piece titled "Blood Money: Incentives for Violence in NHL Hockey". I was reading the article as part of an economics of professional sports course I was taking at the university, and was intrigued because it had been written by a Dr. John P. Haisken Denew, a Hamilton native who had taken the very same course I was taking some many years ago. [more…]
Haha maybe Ray Emery has a personal vendetta against caps (baseball and salary), who knows. Seriously, this guy has a Owens-esque ability to attract negative media attention. Will he ever get it? [more…]
Breaking News from NHL.com:
Toronto acquires LW Ryan Hamilton from Minnesota in exchange for LW Robbie Earl.
Quick Thoughts:
This is pretty much a lateral move in terms of both teams exchanging a pair of underachieving 23 year old left wingers with the hope that a change in scenery would do them both some good. [more…]
As has been the case for most of this season, rookie defenseman Luke Schenn was one of the lone brights spots as the Toronto Maple Leafs came away with yet another disappointing result on Friday night against the Atlanta Thrashers. Schenn logged nearly 25 minutes of ice-time, 4 minutes on the PK, recorded an assist, made a brilliant defensive play on the Kovalchuk near-breakaway and threw in a couple of resounding hits for good measure. Among the 4 defensemen who logged 20+ minutes of ice-time (Kubina, Kaberle, Schenn, White), Luke was the only one not to finish with a minus rating. [more…]
Thanks to the lack of high end technology (No PVR damnit!) at home, I was faced with a tough decision tonight: CHL Top Prospects Skills Competition or Leafs vs. Preds. Sadly, I chose the Leaf game. Pretty much a low chance, slow pace snoozer from the get-go so I eventually started flipping back and forth to catch glimpses of the NHL's next crop of exciting young stars showing off their various talents. Little metaphor there I suppose? [more…]
Some of the news making the rounds this morning in Russia includes the trade of one of the league's top young defenders, Leaf prospect Dmitri Vorobiev from Tolyatti Lada to Salavat Yulaev Ufa. This trade moves Vorobiev from Lada, a small market team bottom feeder to a larger market team currently sitting atop the league standings. It should allow Dmitri the opportunity to get some more recognition amongst the hockey world as well as provide him with the chance at a deep KHL playoff run. [more…]
Hey folks, Alec's traditionally done this in the past, but I'll be taking over for this one as he's been bogged down with work lately. With the way the Leafs have played over the past few years, we find ourselves looking forward to the future, hoping that there's help on the horizon. Well let's take a gander at what the Toronto Maple Leafs are cultivating down on the farm: [more…]
Here's an interesting little excerpt from Eric Smith's (Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger) blog over at Hockeybuzz, (props to TML35 for the heads up) that might spur a little armchair GM fantasizing:
"With the 2-0 start to the season hinging road trip, Howson looks like he is sharpening his pencil and putting the wheels in motion for a trade. The Jackets have 2 scouts in Toronto tonight [more…]
The Leafs goaltending issues at the NHL level have opened the door for some of their young goaltending prospects to strut their stuff and show everyone what they can do.
With Toskala resting a "sore groin" (that's probably code for .881 save percentage) and Joseph looking like he should have retired, we saw the much talked about Justin Pogge get his first NHL win on Monday night against Atlanta.
It's hard to imagine that by the Christmas break, the offensively-challenged, Sundin-less forward corps of the Toronto Maple Leafs would be sitting at 7th overall in league scoring. They're averaging a robust 3.10 goals for a game, which is a marked improvement over their 2.74 goals for average from last season. And what's even more impressive is that key roles are being played by some of the Leafs younger players. [more…]
