Evgeni Malkin
The Leafs welcomed the Penguins in what was their second meeting of the season. A win in the first game in Pittsburgh certainly felt good, but this was a Penguins team that has 7 wins in their last 10 games and has just now started to push for the top of the Conference standings. It was a different game entirely. [more…]
Vesa Toskala and his fellowship of the underachievers will be entering Saturday night's game with the pressure of Leafs Nation bearing down on their shoulders.
Rumours continue to swirl about the possibility of Brian Burke landing both Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin should the pair opt for unrestricted free agency this off-season. My take on the rumour? Don’t do it, Burke!
Phew. Finally a chance to catch our breath after what was perhaps the best 2nd round of playoff hockey ever played. We were treated to three 7 game series, 9 overtime periods, and an epic showdown between the league's premier young rivals, Crosby and Ovechkin. Perhaps overshadowed by all the intensity and exciting finishes, is a fairly simple underlying theme: Youth.
For a full team-by-team breakdown of all playoffs clubs, sure bets and sleeper picks for your playoff pools, visit the McKeen's Playoff Preview where the factors below have been outlined and pointed out in a team-by-team write up.
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The Holiday break is as good a time as any to take a peek at who the Maple Leafs' leaders are in the major statistical categories, and how they stack up against the league leaders as of December 24th.
A momentum swing in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins can be largely attributed to a couple of in-game changes orchestrated by bench-boss Ron Wilson.
The starting first line of Mikhail Grabovski, Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky proved ineffectual in the first frame and rookie Nik Kulemin wasn't clicking with line-mates Nik Hagman and Alex Steen. The team failed to generate anything in the way of offense until late in the third, when Wilson's ad hoc lines began to fire, mounting a near come-back with two goals in quick succession. [more…]
From Micheal Aldred...
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be watching Luke Schenn with intensity tonight as the rookie is ready to show the world what he can do against arguably the best in the world in Evgeni Malkin. Not far behind him will goalie Justin Pogge be looking to do the same thing. Tonight, however, there will be a stronger cast on the ice for the buds.
With the imposition of the salary cap taking some clout away from the financial Super Powers (or so they say), the "new" NHL focuses upon the importance of successful drafting and a constant flow of young players on cheap, entry-level contracts. With scouts now being dispatched to all corners of the globe, it's getting to be quite a small world. The boundaries of the Hockey Community are ever-growing, and we're starting to find ourselves with a neat little global village forming in the NHL. [more…]
