Joel Champagne
Though the news in Leaf Nation has been relatively quiet of late, there have been a few intriguing storylines making the rounds. Joel Champagne will re-enter the draft, Nik Kulemin and the Maple Leafs have hit a contract impasse, Tomas Kaberle is reportedly gathering interest from a number of teams, and a member of the Toronto media raised a few eyebrows with a blog post regarding the relationship between Dion Phaneuf and Ron Wilson.
After stockpiling up on picks during the past couple drafts as well as cornering the European and college free agent markets, the Maple Leafs' farm system is beginning to reap the rewards of unprecedented depth and talent. In the first installment of our MLHS "Prospect Season in Review" series, I'll be taking a look at three of the team's top prospects: Kenny Ryan, James Reimer, and Joel Champagne. [more…]
While the Maple Leafs struggled through a horrific 3-10-2 record to start the new year at the NHL level, many of the organization's top young prospects enjoyed a very productive month of January on the scoresheet. Jerry D'Amigo (left) continued to build off a strong World Junior tournament, Mikhail Stefanovich seemed to finally turn the corner, while Nazem Kadri took his game up to that dominant level we all know he's capable of. [more…]
- The Toronto Marlies took a thrilling 5-4 shootout decision against the Chicago Wolves, with each of the College Frat Pack making an impact. Tyler [more…]
Friday night saw a host of impressive performances from a few Maple Leaf prospects; among them is QMJHL power forward Joel Champagne of the PEI Rockets who turned in a ridiculous 7 point performance. Nazem Kadri also chipped a pretty shorthanded goal and 2 assists for London. Meanwhile, Phillipe Paradis was held scoreless in his debut performance as a Leaf prospect. [more…]
The big club's off until a Friday night date with the struggling Hurricanes, so let's take this opportunity to review the progress of several Maple Leafs' prospects across various levels and highlight upon the season's surprises and disappointments thus far. The verdict: fairly encouraging results early on across the board. [more…]
With very little good happening at the NHL level, it's time to see how the kids are doing elsewhere. The Marlies dropped a 5-3 decision this afternoon against Rockford, falling to 2-1 on the young season. Jiri Tlusty scored a pair of goals, bringing his totals up to 3 goals and 4 points in 3 games played. [more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs are now riding a three-game winning streak after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime on Saturday night by a score of 5-4.
Yes, it's pre-season, but who cares? It's hockey, and we're winning. Enough said.
Wednesday night's tilt between the Maple Leafs and Penguins was by far the sloppiest game the Leafs have played thus far, with a 4-1 Pittsburgh victory the end result.
Simply put, the players looked as though they lacked energy from the outset. Â Was it fatigue from the toll of three games in four days? Â Or was it simply a poor outing, as is prone to happen to all teams, from time to time? Â The answer to that may lie in Thursday evening's game against the Senators.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' rookies, in a very entertaining game this afternoon, lost 6-5 in overtime to the rookies of the Boston Bruins.
The game was fast-paced, hard-hitting, and featured three fights on three consecutive plays (literally within seconds of the faceoff each time). Â Â The good news? Â Jamie Devane looks like a legitimate enforcer and a presence to be feared. Â The bad news? Â His right hand didn't look so good after the fight (had the icebag brought to him in the penalty box) and he wound up leaving the game shortly thereafter with the hand bandaged up. Â Â No word yet on how serious an injury it is.
I won't go into a lot of detail about the game itself, as Alec covered that quite well.
The news, for the most part, was good.  Many of the Leafs' prospects were impressive in their bids to earn a spot on the big club and/or the Marlies.  The following is a quick summation of some of the things that stood out to me from my vantage point at the game.
