Montreal
Happy Boxing Day, hockey fans!
It's a great day for hockey here in Leafland. Â The World Junior Championship Tournament, featuring the Leafs' highly-touted Nazem Kadri, officially gets underway this afternoon as Canada takes on Latvia. Â Following the tournament opener, we are in for a treat Leafs take on their long-standing rival, the Montreal Canadiens. Â And for those who are able to remain awake after all the holiday parties of the past two days, the Edmonton Oilers will visit the Vancouver Canucks in what should be a typical Saturday night Western Conference barn-burner. Â Does it get any better?
Now, onto the Leafs-Habs preview:
Highly-touted Maple Leafs' prospect Nazem Kadri has made the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship team.
Via TSN:
"London Knights centre Nazem Kadri, selected seventh overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in June, is also on the roster and is expected to be the team's second-line centre."
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Just wanted to share a fantastic bit of work done by Nights, one of our many enthusiastic and intelligent readers, who evaluated how the NHL landscape would look without the first 8 games of the season during which the Maple Leafs struggled mightily. Great work! [more…]
Also: Details and analysis of the Jiri Tlusty departure and Phillipe Paradis arrival can be found here and here. Be sure to check out the [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.
By: Gus Katsaros
Prior to the season starting, I had written about the impact of schedules. In particular, as the Leafs face the Habs tonight after playing the previous night, while Montreal is rested. Interesting enough, the last time this happened, Toronto beat Detroit 5-1.
Schedules make a big difference in the results of NHL teams fates during the season. In some instances, it could be the difference between a playoff spot and a tee time (and I thoroughly enjoy both – FORRRREEEE!!).
Via TSN: "Mikhail Grabovski and Francois Beauchemin were involved in a scuffle and had to be separated, reports AM640 in Toronto. The radio station is reporting the pair was involved in an argument and Grabovski tried to punch Beauchemin. Jason Blake and assistant coach Tim Hunter got between them." [more…]
Montreal always brings out the best in Tomas Kaberle .. Halloween might have displayed a different kind of trick .. one he's done before, and before that, and maybe even before that too.
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It is their second meeting this year, and the first played a big part on blinding fans for both teams in the belief that each were elite competitors. Since that opening night, the Habs have on 5-7-0, while the Leafs have gone 1-7-2. But there are always upsides, and tonight marks to start to capitalize on those specifics.
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The Buffalo Sabres are first in their division with a 7-1-1 record, first in the league with average shots per game (36), and have won every game in which the opposition out-shot them. Ryan Miller also holds the best goals against average (1.60) and save percentage (0.944) in the NHL. The Leafs visit them tonight in an effort to try and ruin many of those stats.
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Ron Wilson was interviewed today after the Leafs practice, and he revealed the plan moving towards the weekend concerning the goaltenders and the return of Vesa Toskala, as well as what we have all been waiting to hear about - the return (or rather arrival) of Phil Kessel to the Leafs lineup.
Update: Tlusty Up, Stalberg Down, thanks to "canucksnaphook" and "Leafsfan87" for info.
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I know, I know. It's just one win.
But you have to admit, it still feels good.  Somewhat of a sense of relief is sweeping through Leafs Nation today. A sense that, although there is still a long way to go, things are not at a total loss.  This team can find ways to win, and appears to be rounding into the sort of form envisioned by GM Brian Burke during a busy and much-hyped (over-hyped?) offseason.
