Nikhil Daljeet
In the spirit of the holidays (and to cheer us all up after that blowout loss), MLHS is going to be giving you all the opportunity to win some Leafs tickets!
A Kessel fight, a Blake goal (or two), and a Kulemin shortie. It was a night of rarities as the Leafs took it to Columbus with a decisive 6-3 victory. Toronto beat the Blue Jackets to loose pucks all night long, forced turnovers with their speed, and miraculously capitalized on their chances.
Reports indicate that young forward Jiri Tlusty has been traded to the Hurricanes for Philippe Paradis, Carolina's first round pick (27th overall) in 2009.
The Leafs hope to get their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight when the Buffalo Sabres roll into the Air Canada Centre. Â Toronto has gone five straight games without a regulation loss (3-0-2) and hope to continue their stretch of strong offensive performances (3.8 goals per game). Â They'll be in tough against a Sabres team that is back on the winning track after a slight skid, supported by one of the hottest goaltenders this season in Ryan Miller.
Jonas Gustavsson. Phil Kessel. Matt Stajan. (Ok that last one was just to mess with you). The Leafs continued their point streak and began a hopefully lengthy run of wins with a victory over the visiting Red Wings tonight. It was an admirable performance across the board tonight as followers of this Maple Leafs squad hover in a state of trepid excitement. One thing we can be sure about is that Gustavsson has given us a level of goaltending not seen in these parts for quite a while.
At long last, Phil Kessel will don the blue and white as he takes to the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. Â He has received final clearance (after undergoing a few tests on his repaired shoulder) and will be lining up alongside Jason Blake and Matt Stajan. Â While the focus will undoubtedly be on Kessel's performance in his first game, the Leafs as a whole must maintain their recent level of play and take a win from the visiting team tonight.
Reports indicate that Phil Kessel will definitely be in the lineup tomorrow night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Â The much-anticipated debut of the young winger has been a hot topic of late with information surfacing in the last few weeks that he would be ready before the previously upheld mid-November estimate. Â With the Leafs playing much better in recent games, it will be interesting to see how Kessel fits in. Â Fans should not expect him to be completely in form yet, as he will need some time to get into game-shape.
After a seemingly endless week of postulating, panicking, and debating with the fervent passion that only hockey-starved Leafs fans can display, it is finally gameday. While the prevalent hope amongst Toronto followers is that the winless streak gets broken tonight, there is a veritable maelstrom of other stories convoluting that one simple wish.
Despite a relatively solid showing in Tuesday night's game against the Senators, Jonas Gustavsson will not get a chance to start again for the near future as he has been placed on injured reserve with a groin injury. [more…]
It may be righteous laughter because you've been saying it all along: "Toskala won't bounce back this year". It could also be nervous laughter because you think to yourself: "no way he keeps this play up...right?". It may just be maddening, maniacal laughter as you cry out: "well we all knew this season just could not get off to a perfect start for my Maple Leafs". Any way you cut it, there is no satisfied, back-slapping laughter celebrating the accolades of Vesa Toskala. This is what you would have hoped for among the legion of Toronto supporters to start the 2009-2010 campaign. Sadly, our Finnish tender has left us wanting. Tonight's 7-6 debacle against the Buffalo Sabres was just more of the same.
The Leafs improved their preaseason win total to six tonight at the ACC. These are the final chances for some of the young hopefuls, and they are not going to go away easily. Strong nights from Jonas Gustavsson and Viktor Stalberg were the headlines of this matchup. Even the defense corps has a rookie strutting his stuff as Ron Wilson deemed Carl Gunnarsson their "best defenseman tonight".
Jonas Gustavsson will make his much anticipated debut for the Maple Leafs in tonight's preseason tilt against Detroit. Coach Ron Wilson has indicated that he will be in there for at least the first period, but that the staff wants to break him in slowly. If Toronto does not get barraged in the first twenty minutes as they have in recent exhibition matches, the Monster's tenure may stretch to a period and a half.
