Jiri Tlusty
The Toronto Maple Leafs have sent forwards Jiri Tlusty, Nik Kulemin, and Tyler Bozak, as well as defender Carl Gunnarsson, to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.
These moves leave the team with a 22-man roster, one under the season-opening limit of 23.   That number does not include either of Phil Kessel or Mike Van Ryn, as both will start the season listed as injured non-roster players.
Just a quick update: Joey MacDonald has been placed on waivers with the intention of sending him to the Marlies, meaning that Jonas Gustavsson will in fact, be with the big club to start the season.
Also, Jiri Tlusty, Nikolai Kulemin & Tyler Bozak are not expected to play Thursday versus the Canadiens, according to Ron Wilson. Still no word on who else is going to down to the minors.
Jonas Gustavsson will make his much anticipated debut for the Maple Leafs in tonight's preseason tilt against Detroit. Coach Ron Wilson has indicated that he will be in there for at least the first period, but that the staff wants to break him in slowly. If Toronto does not get barraged in the first twenty minutes as they have in recent exhibition matches, the Monster's tenure may stretch to a period and a half.
Ed. Note: Meet Daniel Santos, the newest member of the MLHS blogging team. Daniel serves as the Editorial Coordinator for The Score, and formerly blogged about the Maple Leafs for The Score's "Six Pack." Welcome, Dan.
Well, the comeback kids couldn't do it tonight. Unlike last night against Pittsburgh, The Leafs couldn't overcome a slow start tonight and fell 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres.
The following are the lineups for both teams tonight. The Leafs are going to get a closer look at their top 4 defensive pairings and check out the rest of the young guns competing for jobs.
[more…]
I had the privilege of a great view from the Gold section, ten rows off the ice to witness a fairly decent game with plenty of positives. It was my first time in the lower bowl, so it was certainly an exciting and interesting experience to see how the other side lives. Impressive performances carried over from the rookie tournament by Tyler Bozak, the game's first star, and fellow collegiate rookie Viktor Stalberg. [more…]
Per the Globe and Mail: "The lineup for the Leafs’ first preseason game against the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday will contain plenty of youngsters like Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Phil Oreskovic, Jay Rosehill, Andre Deveaux as well as veterans Colton Orr, Wayne Primeau and Jason Allison, who is trying to make a comeback. Look for Allison to centre a line with Jiri Tlusty and Nikolai Kulemin on the wings. Joey MacDonald will play half of the game in goal."
[more…]
It took sometime to manifest, prolonged in the wake of shoulder surgery and stunted contract talks, but the September 10th news that negotiations between the Boston Bruins, Wade Arnott and Phil Kessel had come to an impasse reignited the rumor mill that has surrounded the Leafs and the Madison, Wisconsin sniper since Brian Burke first tabled Tomas Kaberle in the infamous draft day “misunderstanding.â€
In the week that has passed since negotiations broke down, the value of Kessel has skyrocketed beyond the original RFA compensation of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round selection in the 2010 draft.
Leafs-related news has slowed to a crawl during the final weeks of the offseason, and this year's summer movie scene has been rather unspectacular. Â I propose a cure for both maladies:Â a hockey movie to fill the void of a puck-deprived offseason, complete with all the excitement of a sports flick and all the truculence of an action blockbuster.
And so, without further ado, here is the game-day casting call for your 2009-10 Toronto Maple Leafs.
A tip o' the hat to Don over at Mondesi's House for the inspiration.
Author: B Leaf
Last season, the Leafs were 10th in scoring (244) and 9th in shots on goal (2,603). There is no major reason why that number should drop other than the loss of Antropov. There are other players who should have better years and help fill his ice time with similar results. On the powerplay, the Leafs were middle of the road at 16th. The Leafs were a respectable 17th in shots allowed (2481), but were a league worst in goals against (286). The PK% was also a league worst. Not all the blame can be placed on the goaltending, but a lot of it can. The collective save percentage for the team was an abysmal .885%.
A few days ago, we took a brief look at some of Gabriel Desjardins' statistical work from behindthenet.ca. Using the junior hockey performance translator, we managed to project the future AHL/NHL impact for some of the Leafs' bright young stars. The best and brightest of those stars is a 21 year old Czech forward by the name of Jiri Tlusty, a player who is going to take Leafs Nation by storm in the upcoming seasons. And now, I'm going to show you why. [more…]
