Morning Mashup
Without the ‘x’ beside their name in standings it isn’t official, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are tantalizingly close to clinching a playoff spot. Even with their 49 points through 40 games, they may have simply outpaced the also-rans for playoff contention.
The Winnipeg Jets sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, but have only six games to make up ground. Every team above in the standings has at least one game in hand on the Jets. They’re running out of race track. The tenth place New Jersey, losers of eight of their last ten games; sit a nigh-insurmountable nine points back of the Leafs.
The truth is less suspenseful than the idea of the playoff chase, but I’ll take it. Here are some Leaf thoughts for your Friday.
In case you missed it, here's mORRganRielly's excellent Game in 22.
What a heart-breaker that was. [more…]
With just ten games left on the schedule for the Leafs this season, here are ten thoughts I've been considering heading into those final games. [more…]
Mirroring the trade deadline, it’s been a slow and painful week in Leaf land. The club still sits in sixth place in the Eastern conference, briefly flirting with fifth without even playing. Even with the loss, the Buds are sitting on a 20 – 13 – 4 record and play only four games against teams ahead of them in standings in their remaining games. And one of those teams is the Washington Capitals so really it’s three. Here are some Leaf thoughts to start your Friday off right.
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Trade Deadline 2013 is in the books. The Kiprusoff scare is over. Leafs are still 5th in the East.
“Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.”-Anthony Petrielli -(@APetrielli)
For those of you who missed it and were doing something productive, yesterday's experience reminded me of a famous quote once uttered by an esteemed San Diegan news anchor. In what started off as an eerily quiet and inauspicious morning, things quickly turned into a maelstrom towards the end of the deadline at 3pm. I usually go solo on this piece but given the magnitude of the Trade Deadline, I opted to enlist the help of some of MLHS' great writers for thoughts on what transpired yesterday. We've got you covered. [more…]
News broke yesterday via Aaron Ward that Miikka Kiprusoff has been approached by the Toronto Maple Leafs about playing for their team. It should be noted, before we start, that Kiprusoff has reportedly given no indication he has changed his stance on not reporting if moved by Calgary. With Iginla, Bouwmeester and Regehr shipped out for futures, the Flames have merely given the Leafs permission to talk to the Finnish goaltender about his options. [more…]
With the trade deadline coming next Wednesday, and the Leafs settled snugly into sixth place, the team’s status as either buyer or seller is still unclear. The team as presently assembled is not a legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup, and no Jarome Iginla could change that fact. Compounding matters is that Dave Nonis has already iterated that the team is not going to sacrifice the youth movement filtering into the professional ranks of the club for the sake of the immediate future. So even if the Leafs were to be ‘in’ on Ryane Clowe, they’d be priced out of the running by teams like the Bruins or Ducks. [more…]
WOW. What a turn of events in the Iginla sweepstakes. Mid-way through writing this piece, I paused to check for updates on Twitter and in [more…]
What an impressive showing by Joffrey Lupul last night. Re-united with 2011-12 running mates Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel after an in-game audible by coach Carlyle, he led the Leafs to a not-always-convincing 3-2 win over the lowly Florida Panthers with goals five and six in his last four games. [more…]
While it may not be as exciting as next week’s trade deadline, the College Free Agent signing season is now underway. At the moment the Lightning seem to be faring the best, landing the 6’8 Czech Andrej Sustr, a player that as many as 25 NHL teams were looking into, including the Leafs.
The new target on the blueline could now be Danny DeKeyser, a 6’3, 186lb. American from Western Michigan University. [more…]
After the jump, take in Morgan Rielly's first pro goal in his first pro appearance during last night's Marlies-Wolves game (4-3 shootout loss). [more…]
With the boats now foolishly burnt and the season 31 games old, the Toronto Maple Leafs sure look like they’re reeling into form. Since starting the season with a record of 15 – 9 – 0, the Leafs have gone 1 – 3 – 3 in the past seven games, collecting only five points in the standings and now sitting precariously in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Through the good graces of the Hockey gods and the incompetence of their direct competition (the Jets, Hurricanes and Rangers all lost in regulation last night), the Leafs are just barely keeping their head above water. [more…]
