Leafs
After surviving fans literally chanting for his head at the ACC, receiving the backing of Brian Burke with a very believable reaffirmation and absorbing the endless abuse from fans on every Leaf related website on the internet, Ron Wilson is still left standing. Â The scape goat that the entire Leafs Nation wanted to noose for their team's lousy performance coupled with the potential consecutive lottery pick finishes without possessing a lottery pick seems to be getting the last laugh. Burke did the right thing by refusing to scapegoat Wilson. Â Will he now retain Wilson for next season and possibly sign an extension for beyond?
In early December, waffles were thrown after a Leaf game. Since then, waffles have become a bit of a statement in the Maple Leafs community. The media has called it “The Year of the Waffle†and “Waffle-Gateâ€, and at a mid-December meeting between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Atlanta Thrashers, one fan in particular felt the need to express his disapproval of the on-ice product. That man is Joe Robb. [more…]
Waffle Guy of The Checking Line wrote his own rendition of the Night Before Christmas, but based it on the Leafs and waffles. I thought it would be a nice little read for all of us for the holidays. Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Hopefully Santa can bring us all more wins.
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Leafs nation
Not a fan was cheering, and no standing ovation;
The players were stung by a pair of quick goals,
And had hopes of digging themselves out of their hole; [more…]
Nearing in on his first full year wearing a blue and white sweater, Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf is ready to return to his NHL roots as Toronto visits the Calgary Flames in their second game of a Western road swing.
The Flames were a struggling team looking for a desperate change in their core and it came in a deal with Toronto that earned them Ian White (now a member of the Carolina Hurricanes), Matt Stajan (who has recently returned from injury), Niklas Hagman (who has, at times, shown brilliant chemistry with fellow countryman Olli Jokinen), and Jamal Mayers (who cares about him).
[more…]
The potential sports story of the decade for the city of Toronto, and more specifically, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs is unfolding right before our eyes. Â The legitimacy of the potential sale of MLSE to Rogers should not be easily dismissed. Â The rumoured sale simply makes sense for all parties involved. Â The recent announcement of the pending retirement of MLSE CEO Richard Peddie now starts to bring the picture into focus and adds significant legitimacy to the Toronto Star report of MLSE share sales from the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) to Rogers Inc. Â The fact that the Richard Peddie retirement was announced just before this story broke, absolutely stinks of premeditated public transition planning. Â Personally, I must admit, I knew there was much more to the Mr. Peddie pending retirement announcement, but, I simply had no idea how deep this rabbit hole would go. Â Speculation and associated questions today, from all corners of the sports and business communities is running rampant. Â Why would the OTPP sell off their stake in this cash cow? Â What Return on Investment can Rogers Inc garner on a $1.3B purchase of an asset generating an approximate $160M in profit each year, especially considering that the real estate assets are thought to be excluded from the deal?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have become a team of inconsistency. In their quest to finish higher than last season, Toronto has rushed into certain games with speed and tenacity, while in others they have dwindled and failed to produce a single point. Over the last four weeks, the latter seems to have become the new identity of the team. Recently, the only true star the team possesses is one Jonas Gustavsson, but when the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steven Stamkos stroll into town for their second meeting of the season, the Leafs will have to be better than good.
[more…]
The Dallas Stars and (future Leafs center) Brad Richards come into town tonight looking to extend a recent streak of hot play (2-0-1). Despite a respectable record and a potent offense, the Stars sit at the bottom of a very competitive Pacific Division. Meanwhile, Toronto will be eager to bounce back from a blanking at the hands of Carey Price and the Canadiens while regaining the offensive groove that had seen them win their two previous games.
Update: Ron Wilson must read MLHS - After much outrage it appears Brett Lebda will not be in the line up tonight. Carl Gunnarsson and Keith Aulie will play.
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs look to continue their recent scoring streak against the New Jersey Devils. Both teams are looking to escape the bottom half of the Eastern Conference, and each are sporting a similar record over their last ten games: New Jersey (3-6-1), Toronto (2-6-2). Jonas Gustavsson will get the start for the Leafs tonight as J.S. Giguere will be sidelined for a week or two with a groin injury.
[more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a bit of a loss in their win last night against the Nashville Predators. Midway through the third period, goaltender [more…]
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Nashville Predators at the ACC and are looking to finally sever their connection with their mistress - Ms. Losestreak. Nashville enters the match-up looking to extend a small winning streak to three games, while Toronto has lost their last four games at home. Their last win at home was also their last 2 point game prior to the streak, when they defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1 thanks to Colton "The Magician" Orr. I went with magician because he did a fine job of making a goaltender suddenly disappear.
[more…]
MLHS Update: Richard Peddie is out as MLSE President/CEO according to Greg Brady. Given the state of MLSE's three sports teams at the moment, this can't come off as a major surprise.
The Toronto Maple Leafs complete their back to back Sunshine State games tonight as they visit the Florida Panthers, but there are issues starting to arise in the dressing room. During their 4-0 shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, I thought I would eventually see J.S. Giguere pull a Patrick Roy and start throwing the puck in his own net before demanding a trade from a Toronto team that does not seem to have any idea how to score a goal. Instead, he saved his frustrations for after the game when he called out his teammates for being lazy.
[more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off a brief tour of the Sunshine State when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight before taking on the Florida Panthers tomorrow. Unfortunately for both clubs, their offensive capabilities have been absent from the hockey party as of late and each are on a losing streak (Leafs - 5 games, Lightning - 3 games). Tampa Bay has only scored four goals in their last three games, while the Leafs have recently put together a pair of shootout losses and have 8 goals in their last three games but have been unable to play a solid full 60 minutes to earn the victories. They will look to improve on that effort tonight.
[more…]
