Languages of Europe
This is the official game thread for the fourth game of our Holiday Contest giving you all the chance to win some Leafs tickets! Â You should all know the drill by now. Â We have over 70 eligible contestants and it promises to be a close battle until the very end (January 9th to be exact).
*Standings, tips, and more will be up later today. EDIT: Might as well include our big win over the Sens! Look here tomorrow.*
This is a reminder to all readers interested in winning Leafs tickets in the MLHS Giveaway Contest. Â We've played 3 contest games so far (with a whopping 14 more to go) and have over 200 active players!
However, if you want to be eligible for the big prize you need to quickly e-mail MLHSHolidayGiveaway@gmail.com as the deadline is the end of today (Sunday) for your submission!
Here's the thread for the third game of the MLHS Giveaway Contest! Washington rolls into the ACC after a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Hurricanes last night. Â The Leafs will be hoping to capitalize (pun intended) on a tired team that didn't get into Toronto until early this afternoon.
Remember, to actually be eligible to win these tickets, you need to send your 100-word piece to MLHSHolidayGiveaway@gmail.com by the end of tomorrow! Â If we don't receive one by then, your point total will no longer be tracked. Â Continue reading to find out the details of this awesome opportunity.
The first game of Get F'ed With Ed - the MLHS Holiday Giveaway Contest  is a wrap with the Leafs taking it 3-2 over the Islanders.  Francois Beauchemin was the surprise first goal scorer, something that only four (out of more than a hundred) contestants got right.  We also had one reader sweep his predictions for a full 5 points! It's not too late to start playing and get in on the chance to win some free Leafs tickets.
Five games in, no wins, and few positives within the play to indicate a turnaround is coming soon.
Something has to be done to shake up this roster.  Some sort of move needs to be made, that much is clear.
The question is, what?
0-2-1 after 3 games, and the sky is falling.  Or so chicken little would have you believe, anyway.
3 games in and panic?  Seriously?  You'd think the Leafs just traded away a handful of high picks for a relatively-unknown goaltender with an injury history.  Wait, scratch that -- they did that a couple years ago and as I recall the move was far more heralded than denounced, at the time.
Which is exactly my point:Â you can't know, early on, exactly how things will turn out.
During the 1980s, years before cellphones and the Internet would make hockey news and highlights easily accessible to all, when newspapers and shows such as Sportsline would provide the fans their worth of NHL news, for many the only Maple Leafs action they would see would come via Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, or MolStar Communications during the week.
Living in a rural area with no cable access, a couple hours away from Toronto, the majority of my own fandom as a youth was experienced via the grainy picture of antenna television.  My family didn't have a lot of money, which meant that attending actual live games was a rare event.  Which, in retrospect, made the event all the more special of an experience.
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.
There is a lot going on  around the league these days.   Rumours about Kaberle and potential deals abound, a Kessel signing is no longer imminent, Heatley is still a Senator, and the NHL remains hot over the Hossa contract.  Oh, and did I mention the league still has a bounty on the head of Jim Balsillie?
All of these stories have been playing out for months now, and none appear headed toward a resolution prior to the start of the new season. Â Â It is safe to assume that despite the vast quantity of reporting devoted to these stories throughout the offseason, each will continue to dominate the headlines on days where the box scores do not.
It's been the story of the summer in Toronto, the one that just will not go away. Â
What will the Maple Leafs do with Tomas Kaberle?  Will they trade him this offseason? Will they keep him hoping his play on an improved team will up the demand for him?  Or will they keep him with the intention of building around him?
Trade rumours are flying rampant around Leafs Nation, some centered around specific Leafs' players, some centered around specific players on other teams, and some centered around the idea of salary dumps.
Rather than speculating the rumour mill this morning, let's take a little break from that and have some fun with this instead.  Let's play "GM For A Day".
