North America
Darcy Tucker has officially called it a career. "After spending the whole summer anticipating I would play, it got to a point where I knew it was time."
"I just knew, during workouts I didn't have that same feeling," Tucker told TSN, "and I needed to be fair with my family."
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The year was 2005. Â George W. Bush was still in office (yes, somehow Americans voted for him, twice), Hurricane Katrina was doing catastrophic damage to New Orleans, and the vatican was naming a new pope after the passing of John Paul II.
In the sports world, the New England Patrios would win yet another Super Bowl, this time against the Eagles, the Washington Nationals would begin operation as Major League Baseball's newest team, Danica Patrick became the first woman to lead a lap at the Indy 500, and the Chicago White Sox ended a lengthy championship drought, winning the world series in four straight over the Houston Astros.
Oh, and there was this one other thing too. Â NO HOCKEY.
Embattled in a bitter labour dispute, the NHL shut down operations for an entire year in search of cost certainty, something they would eventually get, although the opinion on whether the design is flawed or not is still out to be deliberated.
For fans of the NHL, the June 2005 entry draft was more than just a weekend in June in which young players would be drafted, making their way into the beginning of their National Hockey League careers. Â It was a new beginning for the world of the NHL. Â A new season was about to kick off in earnest.
In the second installment of the Prospect Season In Review, we will take a look at a couple of Maple Leafs prospects who have proven a positive product of the John Ferguson Jr / Cliff Fletcher draft era.
Profiles in this segment include German DEL winger Jerome Flaake and defender Korbinian Holzer, as well as a prospect closer to home: Windsor Spitfires winger Dale Mitchell.
For longtime fans of the NHL, it was nothing new.
An organization set to come in, guns blazing, and attempt to be "competition" for the National Hockey League. Â On the surface, perhaps not a bad idea. Â After all, competition creates creativity. Â Competition brings out the absolute best in everyone.
However, there have been two big attempts by rogue organizations to dethrone the NHL from atop their perch as the number one hockey league.
And just like the WHA years earlier, is it possible that the KHL is going the way of the dodo bird?
Canadians vs. Americans. Patrick Kane vs. Jonathan Toews. Ryan Miller vs. Martin Brodeur. The battle of North America. A game that will have the highest [more…]
Earlier today on a certain Toronto radio show, a grim portrait of Jonas Gustavsson's future was painted, citing the 32 games he has appeared in so far in his career - most of those starts behind a lacklustre team - as evidence that he may never develop into the sort of goaltender the Leafs envisioned when signing him out of the Swedish Elite League.
The crux of the argument was that 32 games should be enough for Gustavsson to have shown some ability to adapt to goaltending coach Francois Allaire's techniques, and that at 25 years of age it may be too late for him to make the necessary adjustments for NHL success.
Given the early-season struggles of incumbent starting netminder Vesa Toskala, speculation is mounting that Jonas Gustavsson could receive his first NHL start as early as Tuesday night when the Leafs face their Ontario rivals, the Ottawa Senators.
Early speculation is Toskala may not be all the way back, mentally or physically, from the groin and hip surgeries he endured last season. While it is obviously far too early to annoint Gustavsson the starter for the rest of the season (he has yet to play a full game in the NHL), it is not unreasonable to expect that in the wake of Toskala's struggles he could receive an extended look, in the form of more early-season starts than were initially planned.
A couple of deals went down today, involving some players you might be familiar with:
- Anton Stralman was traded from Calgary to Columbus, for a 3rd round pick. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Ryan Hollweg was signed by the Phoenix Coyotes to fill their need for an enforcer following a preseason tryout with the team. Yes, you read that correctly, also.
The Leafs improved their preaseason win total to six tonight at the ACC. These are the final chances for some of the young hopefuls, and they are not going to go away easily. Strong nights from Jonas Gustavsson and Viktor Stalberg were the headlines of this matchup. Even the defense corps has a rookie strutting his stuff as Ron Wilson deemed Carl Gunnarsson their "best defenseman tonight".
Leafs Nation Live has a nice little interview with the Leafs' 2nd round selection this past June, Jesse Blacker of the Windsor Spitfires, talking about [more…]
