Niklas Hagman
One of the key questions surrounding the upcoming 2010-11 Maple Leafs season is whether they will be able to score enough to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
An optimist will point to the Leafs' record following the acquisitions of Dion Phaneuf and J.S. Giguere as evidence that the Maple Leafs can compete. The cynic will suggest that although the Leafs played well over the final third of the season following those moves, there just simply isn't enough proven offensive production to buoy hopes for post-season play.
A closer look at the Leafs performance over their past 26 games following the January 31st trades for Phaneuf and Giguere, in comparison to their first 56, might shed some light on whether or not the Leafs' need for more offense in order to compete is fact or fiction.
This week's prospect was referred to as an integral part of the deal that brought in Dion Phaneuf and Fredrik Sjostrom, while jettisoning Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Ian White and Jamal Mayers to the Calgary Flames.
The former gold medal winning defensman with the 2009 World Junior Championships squad injured his shoulder shortly after the deal.
[more…]
When Brian Burke became the new general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs in November of 2008, Leafs Nation embarked on a new journey. Â A new beginning. Â With Burke at the helm, the Leafs organization finally had a general manager who had credentials. Â Who had a winning pedigree. Â Who had the exact type of attitude the Toronto market needed.
A man who wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone, and a man who wasn't afraid to pull the trigger on a big move that may set the team up for the better in the long term, a characteristic it seemed so many Leafs GM's lacked in between the time of Fletcher's first run, and Burke being christened as the new head of the front office.
Finally, Leafs fans were able to legitimately talk about the "Big O", and they weren't faking it either.
Submitted by Michael Stephens (a.k.a. Baumgartner)
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the League’s worst penalty kill, sporting a 73.0% success rate. They have been shorthanded 252 times this season, surrendering 68 goals. Through 71 games this season, they average 3.5 penalties (252ts/71gp) each night.
Around January 15th, this vaunted penalty kill was even worse, an abysmal 68.9%. Ron Wilson was smugly talking about how he had to teach his boys how to flip the puck down the ice and out of the zone.
[more…]
We have all had a few days to digest Sunday's trades, but there is still a well of untapped implications. Â Here's a closer look at the forwards involved: both the outgoing Leafs and our lone newcomer. Â Be sure to check out Garrett's excellent pre-game analysis here before tonight's tilt with the New Jersey Devils.
In the end, perhaps the player to best describe the trades is ... Wayne Primeau?
After all, the former Flame has been through this before.
[more…]
To Toronto: Keith Aulie, Dion Phaneuf, Frederick Sjostrom
To Calgary: Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers, Ian White
A second trade is expected to be [more…]
There's already some discussion going on in the threads, but let's get all of that latest news out on the table:
- TSN's Darren Dreger recently tossed out his list of top 10 candidates to be moved at this year's trade deadline, with Matt Stajan and Alexei Ponikarovsky figuring in at the 4th and 5th spots respectively. He suggests that Stajan would perhaps yield "a decent prospect or drafts picks in return" and that Ponikarovsky would likely fetch a similar price. It's always hard to gauge the trade deadline market as values fluctuate on a yearly basis, but I've got Ponikarovsky pegged as an Antropov comparable (2nd round pick) as a big body and 60 point player while Stajan may compare favorably to Moore (2nd round pick starting price) as a depth centreman who can put up some points in the right situation. [more…]
Tonight at 7:00, the Toronto Maple Leafs will visit the Florida Panthers in a battle against former Maple Leaf, Bryan McCabe, and his Panthers. Also, Brian Burke addressed the media regarding his outlook towards the remainder of the season, as well as what has been highly regarded as a "double deadline" year with the Olympic break and the trade deadline.
[more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs just can't seem to do anything right. The Maple Leafs surrendered another lead in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Maple Leafs fell to 1-10 in games decided beyond regulation and more specifically, 0-8 in overtime.
Some surprisingly good special teams had the Leafs ahead 2-1 late in the third, but a couple of 4-on-3 power-plays stemming from bad penalties resulted in the tying and winning goals for the Lightning. [more…]
It was the same old story for the Maple Leafs last night. Another bad start, another power-play goal against, another game where they outshot the opposition badly, another good effort, but another loss. The Leafs dropped their fourth in a row, 4-2 to the last-place Carolina Hurricanes.
