NCAA

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

by on December 24, 2009- 84 Comments

To all in the MLHS and Barilkosphere community. Thanks for your continued support, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together in the [more…]

Talking Hockey With Johnny Misley

by on December 15, 2009- 95 Comments

Johnny Misley is the Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for Hockey Canada, and plays a key role in enhancing hockey in Canada across various levels: from the grassroots programmes all the way up to the National teams. It was very kind of Johnny to take a few minutes to discuss the programme’s aspirations in the upcoming World Junior Championship in Regina as well as the Men’s Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver. [more…]

Big Night for Leaf Prospects Calls for some Champagne

by on December 5, 2009- 64 Comments

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…]

Kadri Invited to World Juniors Final Selection Camp

by on December 2, 2009- 156 Comments

Leafs prospect Nazem Kadri has successfully passed the first hurdle en route to a possible World Juniors roster spot, by earning an invite to the final selection camp earlier today. The roster currently encompasses 36 invitees in total, a number which Team Canada Head Coach Willie Desjardins will have to narrow down to 22 by the end of camp. [more…]

Weekend Notes + Tickets – Update: Trades?

by on November 21, 2009- 21 Comments

Update: Damien Cox is reporting that Burke is currently working on at least two possible trades.

- The Toronto Sun's got a very interesting quote [more…]

Morning Matters

by on November 12, 2009- 18 Comments

- The Edmonton Sun reports that Forbes has ranked the Maple Leafs as the NHL's most valuable team for the fourth straight season. The team [more…]

Down on the Farm

by on November 5, 2009- 38 Comments

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…]

Q & A with NACS Chief Scout Mark Seidel

by on October 26, 2009- 1,083 Comments

Big thank you to Mark Seidel, Chief Scout of North American Central Scouting and contributor to The Hockey News, for taking the time to chat about the upcoming 2010 NHL Entry Draft. His agency's latest rankings can be seen here on THN. This time around, Leaf fans won't be having the opportunity of watching one of the draft's elite youngsters, such as projected top pick Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall, fall into their lap. But nonetheless, the draft is always a hot topic in the hockey world.

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Keeping Tabs on the Kids

by on October 12, 2009- 158 Comments

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…]

Leafs Trim Another Four, Tonight’s Lineup

by on September 27, 2009- 84 Comments

The Maple Leafs continued their shaping of the NHL roster with another four cuts on Sunday. Top prospect Nazem Kadri will be going back to the OHL's London Knights, Jonas Frogren and Christian Hanson will report to the Toronto Marlies, and Andy Rogers has been released. By my count, that leaves 30 players left (including Kessel who will be placed on the long-term injured reserve), meaning there will be another 6 cuts in the near future. [more…]

Thoughts from the Rookie Tournament, Game 1

by on September 6, 2009- 610 Comments

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.

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Quick Hits: Gustavsson, Bozak and Kadri

by on August 27, 2009- 66 Comments

There are a lot of exciting new faces making up the Leafs roster this season, and here are a few quick links of those recent additions answering some media questions and talking about their aspirations for the upcoming season. Included below are video and audio links from goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, NCAA forward Tyler Bozak and recent 1st round pick Nazem Kadri. [more…]