hanson
For the third time this season (and this month) the New York Rangers will clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In their first two meetings (4-3 OT win Leafs / 2-1 win Rangers), each have conquered the other on the road. Toronto will look to avoid recent history repeating by earning the victory in this match-up at home, and someone will be sporting pink skates.
[more…]
Here are tonight's lines courtesy of Pension Plan Puppets:
Versteeg - Bozak - Kessel
MacArthur - Grabovski - Kulemin
Sjostrom - Brent - Armstrong
Orr - Zigomanis - Brown
Beauchemin - Phaneuf
Kaberle - Komisarek
Gunnarsson - Schenn
Giguere
Gustavsson [more…]
The shoe is on the other hoof for tonight's Leafs-Sabres rematch at the ACC as the Leafs are putting just about their best foot forward and the Sabres are sitting much of their core group. The Leafs will dress their complete top six on the back end, with Kaberle-Komisarek, Phaneuf-Gunnarsson, and Beauchemin-Schenn making up the pairings. Jonas Gustavsson will go the distance in net and a near-complete four lines (with one question mark remaining at the third line centre position) will dress up front. The full line-ups and a few notes are after the jump. [more…]
The Leafs won a game in the shootout. I'm as confused as you are. It was certainly an interesting one, going for 11 rounds before Colby Armstrong put Philadelphia out of their misery. Here are my game notes:
- The goaltending was great for the Leafs tonight, with Reimer in particular having a very strong performance. Both goals for Philly were flukey and both goalies played strong positional games. The shootout in particular was very impressive for Reimer, showing off his fast reflexes. Reimer is becoming a top goaltending prospect for the Leafs and his year with the Marlies should be very interesting. [more…]
After months of nothing but Kaberle rumours and Grabovski lawsuits, Leafs Nation will finally get a glimpse of their 2010-2011 Toronto Maple Leafs. Being the first game of the preseason, Toronto is going with a healthy mix of youngsters, borderliners, and veterans. Luckily, fans will not have to wait to see most of the new Leafs (Clarke MacArthur excepted) as off-season acquisitions Versteeg, Armstrong, Brown and Lebda will all be hitting the ice.
[more…]
For the first time in years, the Marlies will be bristling with young talent hoping to make the big club. From top prospect Nazem Kadri to hopeful enforcer Richard Greenop, this Marlies squad should be a team to watch. Let’s take a look at the forward prospects that can be reasonably expected to be on this Marlies team:
Why the Maple Leafs should make the playoffs in 2010-11â€
By: Joe Cino
Everything that could have gone wrong for the Maple Leafs in 2009-10 did. A combination of cold streaks, underperforming veterans, bad goaltending and a slew of injuries capped off a basement finish. The roster has been fine tuned, with additions like Giguere, Phaneuf and Versteeg chief among them, but by and large most of the roster is the same as last year’s iteration. With so many holdovers from the previous year, are the playoffs a realistic goal for the Maple Leafs? I believe that they are, with Corsi ratings, Goals versus Threshold and the realistic impact of the new Leafs taken into account. [more…]
Bad news. According to the fine folks over at CapGeek, the Chicago Blackhawks aren't the only team facing cap penalties next season. Here are the basics: a team is allowed to surpass the official salary cap by a "bonus cushion" maxmium of 7.5% for performance bonuses, such as those written into virtually every rookie contract. However, this number is then deducted from your maximum salary cap allowance for the following season.
For example, since winning the Cup, the Blackhawks received plenty of media attention when it was pointed out that Toews' bonus for the Conn Smythe, among others, would push them well over the cap limit. As a result, the Blackhawks will face a $4.157 million penalty for this upcoming season. The Maple Leafs meanwhile will also have $1.4 million deducted from their limit this coming season, thus setting an internal budget at $58 million rather than the league wide $59.4 million. [more…]
John Mitchell joins Nik Kulemin as the second Leaf to re-sign with the club today. Â After initially not being qualified by Toronto, Mitchell hit unrestricted free agency with an understanding that Brian Burke intended to offer him a new contract. Â The purpose of waiting was financially-driven as it allowed Toronto to save at the very least 250,000 on Mitchell because he was not qualified. [more…]
We’ve partnered up with Pension Plan Puppets to bring to you a Player Review series, where we will be evaluating and grading the 2009-10 season for every Leaf who featured in a significant number of games for the Blue and White last season, with an eye towards 2010-11. Next up we feature Christian Hanson, profiled by SkinnyFish.
The Summary: Coming off of a stellar senior year at the University of Notre Dame, Hanson was one of three highly touted college free agents in the spring of 2009. The others being Matt Gilroy and Tyler Bozak. Due to Notre Dame's early departure from the NCAA tournament, Hanson was the first of those three players to sign with a pro club. Discussion was that the big 6' 3" Hanson had 2nd line potential and barring that would be a great 3rd line/checking line center.
- As already discussed earlier this week on MLHS, Mike Van Ryn is hoping to make a comeback to the NHL next season. Tim Wharnsby [more…]
