Declan Kerin
TSN is reporting that Roberto Luongo will be submitting a list of teams he will be willing to be traded to next week and that [more…]
The Roberto Luongo speculation found another gear yesterday with the revelation from the 33-year-old himself that he would accept a request to waive his no trade clause. The big questions that surround any possible move to Toronto remain whether or not Brian Burke would trade for a contract he wouldn't sign himself  (backsliding and by his definition cap circumventing), and whether or not Luongo sees Toronto as a desirable destination. With Schneider in need of a new deal, Luongo will surely be actively shopped, and the market can't be huge considering it's narrowed by two parameters: 1) not every team is in search for a goaltender, certainly not one with Luongo's price tag, and 2) the fact that Luongo controls his own destiny. Should the Leafs be a desirable destination of Luongo's, the price shouldn't be unreasonably steep considering those various factors.
I've talked about this before, but Luongo is made a much more attractive option for the Leafs if Burke believes an amnesty provision is a likely addition within the new CBA. An amnesty provision similar to the NBA's that is, which allows the purging of one contract from the cap at any point during the duration of the 10-year CBA. You could certainly argue that, given the lack of options, Luongo should be a target regardless.
Links after the jump. [more…]
With Cory Schneider starting his second straight game in goal for the Vancouver Canucks last night, and winning, there are some in the Vancouver media who are saying Roberto Luongo may have played his last game as a Canuck. They also suggest  that the Leafs, of all teams, should take a run at him.
Connecting the dots, it's easy to see a fit. Toronto is in desperate need for a veteran, bona fide #1 goalie and there aren't many that are available that meet the criteria. Luongo has impeccable pedigree and a lot of hardware—save for a Stanley Cup—which makes him even more attractive than the current crop of available goalies. Cory Schneider has performed very well for the Canucks and in spite of all odds managed to wrestle the #1 position from Luongo. With Schneider's contract expiring, the Canucks find themselves at a cross roads when it comes to the goaltending situation, and in light of recent events it could well be Luongo, not Schneider, Mike Gillis opts to move.
There are a few things that stand in the way of that: #1. Cap hit (5.33 million, in itself, not too bad). #2. Length of term (10 more seasons). #3. Value of (young) talent going back the other way. #4. The fact that Luongo's contract, with his salary dipping to $1 million for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons which the 33-year-old will never play, is clearly a cap-circumventing deal by Burke's own rules, insofar as he spoke out against them and suggested he wouldn't ever sign one. The key question here being "would he trade for one?" [more…]
Squeak into the playoffs this year or keep building towards a cup? Â I'll take build towards a cup, please and thank you. And they're closer than you think.
Rick Dudley is widely considered one of the best judges of talent in hockey.
He's certainly able to provide a balanced view after building championship teams twice this decade, with two different clubs (Tampa Bay, 2004 – Chicago, 2009). Here's his take on the Leafs, after less than one year on the job.
- [Audio]:Â http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-2/Rick-Dudley-jb-20120323-Interview.mp3
- Note at 4:47, when Jeff Blair snickers at Rick Dudley saying “I am sure they will succeed here and I think there are enough pieces in place, that it is not a daunting task.â€Â Right.
A précis of the interview can be taken from two fairly potent statements:
“I am one of the people uniquely qualified to comment on it.â€
“I think this team becomes an elite team. Simple.â€
Whether that’s damage control, or whether that’s his opinion, I’ll let you be the judge. [more…]
The Leafs will be picking first, fifth or sixth in the draft depending on the lottery result tonight. Obviously, the likelihood is that we stay put at fifth (74.7%).There's a 17.2% chance we fall further back to sixth.
Cross every limb and hope we can overcome 91.8% worth of odds. The lottery airs tonight at 8 p.m. on TSN. [more…]
Nazem Kadri and  Ryan Hamilton have been called up on an emergency call-up, with Matt Frattin and Clarke MacArthur being listed as day-to-day with injuries.
From [more…]
What more can possibly be said about the way Mats got his 500th career goal? Slapper from the blue line? Check. Top corner snipe? Check. Third goal of the game, shorthanded, in overtime no less? You bet. In one of the biggest games of his career, Sundin performed with style. On a fairly disastrous 2006-07 Leafs squad, Sundin remained the sole bright spot of an aging core.
The game was a high scoring affair. As has so often been the case in Leafs games, defence was nowhere to be seen. Toronto would dominate most of the first, seeing vast stretches of time in the offensive zone on the cycle. Running into some penalty trouble, Calgary suffered the first goal against on a Tucker tally. Picking up a secondary assist on the goal was none other than Sundin. Not merely content with helping someone score, Sundin added his first goal of the night 7 minutes later. Sneaking into open ice near the side boards, Mats fired home a wrister as Calgary was caught sleeping. Number 498. [more…]
I am a young Maple Leafs fan, even around these parts. Not many know this, but I was born in 1995, and a Leaf fan from birth. Naturally, I don’t remember the hard-fought series against the Sabres in the spring of 1997, and I’ve only seen video of Sundin’s overtime winner against the then-powerhouse Senators in 2001. A year later though, I can say I truly started to bleed blue and white.
Only 7 years old at the time, I was slowly learning what it meant to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan from my father – who’d been one (and still is) for over 30 years. I received my first Leafs jersey that year, the same white home sweater Sundin scored in against the Hurricanes in that bittersweet game six. I remember gathering around the television in the comfort of my own home for game one – like we had for every playoff game that year – with my father and I on one couch and my mother – the farthest thing from a Leafs’ fan – sitting opposite from us. [more…]
In the buildup to the Sundin's banner-raising ceremony tomorrow night at the ACC, the MLHS bloggers will each be sharing their most memorable Sundin moment. Dan Santos is up first with his reflections on Sundin's six point night:
When reminiscing about my favourite Mats Sundin moments, the two I instantly remember are his 1-0 overtime winner against Ottawa and his late goal to tie Game 6 against the Hurricanes. However, another game is just as memorable to me because I was lucky enough to be in attendance. I am talking about Mats Sundin's 6-point night against the Florida Panthers.
April 11, 2006. The Toronto Maple Leafs are desperately fighting for their playoff lives. A late-season surge, led by Jean-Sebastien Aubin of all people, has given the Leafs a glimmer of hope with just a handful of games left. [more…]
Tuesday was a pretty good day for the Penguins all around. Pittsburgh will try to keep the good times going this evening and extend its eight-game win streak with a home-and-home sweep of the hosting Toronto Maple Leafs.
Yesterday began with the Penguins seeming to have zeroed in on what is exactly wrong with superstar captain Sidney Crosby. The club announced that the former Hart Trophy winner has a soft tissue injury in his neck with no evidence of a past or present neck fracture according to an independent specialist. That ailment could be what is causing the 24-year-old his neurological symptoms, as they are similar to that of a concussion.
Crosby missed 61 straight games after suffering a concussion last January and returned to action in late November for eight games before again getting shut down due to the return of his symptoms. He has missed Pittsburgh's last 22 games, but found Tuesday's news to be encouraging.
"I think the biggest thing to take from it is that it's something I can work on. I can come in and get my neck worked on," Crosby said. "There's a pretty big possibility that could be causing some of the issues. So I really hope that's the case and hope with some treatment that it'll improve and that's hopefully the end of it. But I think being able to work on that and not sitting around hoping to get rid of the symptoms, it's nice to kind of have some information and go with it."
The rest of the Pittsburgh organization probably agrees and the players on the ice continued to play well without Crosby, posting a 5-4 shootout win over visiting Toronto in last night's opener of this home-and-home.
The Leafs look forward to getting their power play quarter back tonight with the addition of John-Michael Liles. His ability to move the puck, walk the line and get opposing forwards scrambling gives the Leafs a totally different look on the power play that we have been missing desperately since he went down with a concussion injured. [more…]
