2011-12 Season
According to Nick Kypreos, the Maple Leafs could be without winger Colby Armstrong for four to six weeks as he may need surgery on his [more…]
Upon drafting defensive stalwart Luke Schenn fifth-overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs had hoped they obtained a young defender capable of anchoring the blueline for years to come.
Advertised to deliver menacing hits and possess exceptional defensive awareness, it didn't take long for Schenn to crack the Leafs' roster. As an 18-year-old defenseman he donned the Blue and White for 70 games, rarely looking out of place---a rarity for young defensemen in the NHL. He had fans salivating for more, but he regressed in his second campaign, enduring the dreaded sophomore slump.
Week two of the 2010-2011 Toronto Maple Leafs schedule is in the books, and once again it was a week in which the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers, both tough road wins in which the Leafs showed strong character.
With that in mind, here is week two of the Maple Leafs Player Power Rankings. Â The rankings will read the players ranking, their stats, as well as their last week's position. Â Spoiler alert: There's a new number one!
Okay, so it took a while to get to the post game wrap up 'round here. What can I tell you, I was waylaid by ecstasy (NOT the pharmaceutical kind); and that sort of joy has been in kind of short supply for Leaf fans since the lockout. Aside from the 4-3 Leaf OT Victory, I was enjoying (via the wonders of the PVR) the Ticats' triumphant 30-3 curbstomping of the Argonauts to formally clinch a playoff berth. I can tell you from personal experience as a Leafs fan for more than 35 years and a Ticats fan since the days of Jason Maas, there haven't been a lot of nights like that in recent days. Good times.Here's how the Leafs game went as I saw it (note: this is an impressionist recap, not an excursion into hyper-reality. If you want that, wait for James Cameron's next 3-D extravaganza): [more…]
Nick Kypreos has tweeted this little gem today:
#Leafs put Jeff Finger on #NHL waivers today.
This finally puts an end to the long period of [more…]
After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the new look squad hit the ice Thursday night for their home opener against the arch rival Montreal Canadiens, and with it marked the true dawning of a new age in Leafs Nation.
While it's true the hiring of Ron Wilson and Brian Burke will go down as the day the team began to turn the page on years of management misfortune, and the Dion Phaneuf day could very well end up being the trade that sparks the team forward much like the Doug Gilmour trade before it, Thursday night's season premiere was really the first time since all this has taken place that it was truly a different roster.
Gone were the incumbents of past regimes, It was finally Brian Burke's team. Â Having flipped the entire roster (sans Tomas Kaberle and Jeff Finger) Burke's vision of the team could finally be implemented, his stamp beginning to form.
And it was, for one game at least, as advertised. [more…]
It begins tonight - the 2010-2011 Toronto [more…]
If the Toronto Maple Leafs wish to avoid another eight-game losing streak to open its regular season, it's vital the players don't let last season's collapse linger in the back of their minds---that's especially important for Mike Komisarek considering the Leafs open the season against the Montreal Canadiens.
With the pre-season nearly finished, the Leafs roster is beginning to take shape for 2010-11. Similarly, the Marlies are starting to become more defined as major league cuts are shuffled down to the minor league club. What is not so clearly defined on the Marlies is their goaltending situation. There will be a ton of competition between the four goalies in the Leafs minor pro system to get starts this season and those that do will have to seize the opportunity. Let’s take a look: [more…]
Be sure to check out Nikhil's post-game thoughts from last night.
Tuesday night, September 21st, about 6:40 p.m. I am dancing - yes, dancing, provided you can call a kind of frenetic spasticism punctuated with finger snaps and some twirling hands "dancing" - to no music in my kitchen as I cook our pasta for dinner. I am in a rush, and I am excited, because after a long summer of legal wrangling over the Kovalchuk contract, eternal speculation about Tomas Kaberle's status and apparently endless MSM vs. blogger hissy fits, the puck is finally dropping on the preseason. Don't get me wrong, I know that the preseason sucks. I know it's not reflective or in any way predictive of how the team will do during the regular season - I've been a hockey fan long enough to know that, and last year's brilliant exhibition campaign is still fresh in my memory. Almost as fresh as the oh-and-eight start that followed it, once the games counted.
Day Two of on-ice participation is now in the books .. the sessions all had a purpose, as camp not only winds down, but clear decisions need to be made on who will remain with the main roster and who will be going to the Marlies or back to their original junior team.
A breakdown of the drills and more observations from the intra squad game after the jump.
Sunday Training Camp Day 2 practice
Teams A and B practiced with Team A on the main ice. (Breakdown of teams is here.
The drills weren't very different from the previous days, they all focused on a real-game situation and the coaching staff made variations along the way. [more…]
