Jeff Finger
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their homestand tonight against the visiting Oilers, in a game that marks former Leafs' coach Pat Quinn's return to the Air Canada Centre.
The Oilers have had a disappointing season, to say the least, and are the leading contenders for the Hall/Seguin sweepstakes this summer. Edmonton fans are salivating at the thought of Taylor Hall one day lining up alongside Canadian Junior team hero Jordan Eberle, wearing copper and blue.
For the time being, however, the Oilers are a team in the midst of yet another rebuilding phase, a process with which Leafs' fans can certainly relate. In many ways, the two teams are quite similar: inconsistent youth, underachieving veterans, untimely injuries and weak goaltending have plagued both rosters throughout the season. The Leafs look to have begun the process of righting the ship; the Oilers will look to make similar moves (purging of veteran contracts in favor of youthful exuberance) during the summer.
With the Olympics wrapping up (and in the process Canada securing the record for most gold medals, capped off by our Men's and Women's hockey teams), the focus among hockey fans now shifts to the NHL trade deadline.
While there are few untouchables on the Maple Leafs' roster, speculation is that only a handful of players are likely to be dealt between Monday and Wednesday. Here's a look at some of the speculation surrounding the most-talked about candidates to swap jerseys.
The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the St. Louis Blues tonight, in the Leafs' final game prior to the NHL's Olympic break.
The Leafs are coming off a narrow loss to the West-leading San Jose Sharks, a game which left the team with much to feel good about. Â Tonight, the team will look to resolve their road woes and enter the break on a high note, by capitalizing on what has been an inconsistent and underachieving Blues squad.
For the second time in four days the Maple Leafs will face off against the New Jersey Devils, this time at the ACC. In what seems to be the most nonsensical decision made in recent memory by NHL schedulers, come this Friday the Leafs and Devils will have faced off three times in one calendar week. What's up with that?
As you are all undoubtedly aware, the Leafs have a few new faces in the fold, and we are all eager to see what Phaneuf, Sjostrom, and Giguere bring to the table as members of the blue and white.
Note: I won't get into trade analysis here; that has already been covered in excellent fashion by the MLHS crew in prior posts.
In the wake of Sunday's blockbuster trades, one cannot help but wonder what's next for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Who's next to go? Who stays?
In any case, I think that it's pretty safe to say that this season is a write-off. We're not making any moves to make a run at the playoffs this season. So, let's look forward and take a look at what the Maple Leafs should look like next season. [more…]
The Leafs took to the ice today in preparation for Martin Brodeur tomorrow night. It featured some interesting one on one drills for a few key players, and one defenceman who claims the future of his career and the Maple Leafs would be better suited if he were traded.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs, spiralling of late with a 2-7-1 record in their past 10 games, will to right the ship at home tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.  The Leafs will also be looking for revenge in this matchup, having been on the receiving end of a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of the Flyers only a week ago.
Drop the penalty kill from the equation and the Leafs win this one 2-0; there's something, right?
Submit your GFWE predictions here.
It’s no secret that the Leafs' biggest disappointment amid a conference-second-worst 15-20-9 first half of the schedule is a total lack of progress in the area of goals against and special teams, where Brian Burke focused much of his off-season efforts.
Just a quick update:
The Maple Leafs have recalled Viktor Stalberg from the Marlies and are sending down Joey MacDonald, as Jonas Gustavsson is ready to back up Vesa Toskala Friday night in Buffalo.
Probably a good idea to start Vesa on Friday. Give Jonas an extra night off (hopefully, anyway) and keep Toskala away from the Bruins Saturday, as he's had trouble with them this season. [more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs begin a 3 game road trip tonight as they visit the long time rival Montreal Canadiens tonight for an Original Six Battle. This is the third time these two clubs have met this season, with Montreal taking the first two games by scores of 4-3 in overtime, and 5-4 in a shootout. The Habs will celebrate their 100th anniversary on Friday against another original six club in the Boston Bruins, but will first have to deal with the always threatening but rarely scoring Leafs.
