Pittsburgh
Final Deadline Trades:
Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula
Martin Skoula to New Jersey for a fifth round draft selection.
Lee Stempniak to PHX for 4th and 7th rounders.
Joey MacDonald to ANA for a 7th rounder in 2011.
Wrap-Up: That looks to be a wrap on Brian Burke's trade activity for the 2009-10 season. The Stempniak deal was obviously a form of loss-cutting on a pending UFA, but it's a bit painful to remember who we sacrificed to acquire him in November of 2008 in two albeit underachieving first rounders in Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo. The Leafs will not draft until the third round this year, and Burke did not succeed in that sense, however he moved the only piece realistically capable of fetching a second rounder for a semi-established young asset with the potential to replace Poni at an immediately cheaper price in Luca Caputi. It looks as though no takers could be found on either Wayne Primeau or Garnet Exelby, who look sure to now enter the FA market July 1.
There seems to be details yet to unfurl surrounding the Tomas Kaberle situation this deadline, as once again Leafs fans were teased into believing a deal was pending (involving Hodgson, as it was reported, or possibly Alzner from Washington) only for what looked to be an imminent deal to be flatly denied by Brian Burke in the end. There are rumblings that Kaberle might have nixed a deal in similar fashion to the Jeff Carter situation at the '08 deadline.
From Garrett Bauman:
Although the Maple Leafs did not dip into the trade waters just yet, there were a couple events of importance that may determine how the [more…]
With the Olympics wrapping up (and in the process Canada securing the record for most gold medals, capped off by our Men's and Women's hockey teams), the focus among hockey fans now shifts to the NHL trade deadline.
While there are few untouchables on the Maple Leafs' roster, speculation is that only a handful of players are likely to be dealt between Monday and Wednesday. Here's a look at some of the speculation surrounding the most-talked about candidates to swap jerseys.
The Toronto Star provides us with a couple interesting tidbits about potential trade talks leading up to the deadline:
- Ponikarovsky continues to be heavily [more…]
With the NHL's Olympic Trade Freeze about to hit at 3pm today, reports out of Pittsburgh indicate that the Maple Leafs had scouted the Penguins' [more…]
Where will goals come from? Toronto softened offensively with the moves on the weekend and questions abound about who will put the puck in the net moving forward.
Maybe it's not about who will make up the scoring; instead, with all these moves - and proved in the 3-0 win over the Devils - in the Leafs case, the best offense, is a solid defense.
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Last season, Phil Kessel registered 14 of 24 assists in an 18-game span, with 10 more over 58 games. He battled an ugly 14-game goalless skid (14-0-3-3), three games before going down to a case of mono in January, and 11 games after his return.
In short, assists aren’t his strong suit. He’s had more goals than assists in every season except his rookie season.
Well, break your selfish streak, Mr. Kessel and you'll break your slump. One assist at a time.
Here's how
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I'm about as optimistic a person as they come, but tonight's loss against a struggling Penguins team just hammers home the message that there simply isn't enough skill on this roster. It was a pretty bland effort overall as they couldn't capitalize on key scoring chances and made a few mental mistakes that resulted in the back of their net. [more…]
The Toronto Maple Leafs were amongst leaders in 2009 for all the wrong categories. The Buds were the most scored upon team in 2009, playing an NHL leading 13 overtime games (2-11) record, and NHL trailing overtime winning percentage (.154).
Broken down after the jump is how the Leafs fared in the calendar year 2009.
Best Wishes for a Happy New Year to everyone!
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Despite the many talking heads who continue to suggest that Ian White is not a top-four defender anywhere other than Toronto, a growing number of personalities both in the blogs and the mainstream media are beginning to recognize his value as a hockey player as he continues  to consistently provide outstanding effort at both ends of the rink.
Although much of the talk has centred around White's play looking so good because of the lack of talent around him, and that on a deeper team he'd be buried, I say let's spin that argument on its head. Â The fact that he doesn't have a ton of talent around him is evidence of just how good a hockey player he is, dare I say one of the more underrated players in the entire league. Â Before you write me off completely as some fanboy lunatic for suggesting that, let's take a look at the numbers first.
With just 6 more games to go for the GFWE contest, get in your predictions and shoot for the chance to win some Leafs tickets! Let's all hope our team gives us a late Christmas present by taking the win tonight against Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of three teams without a shutout this season. They have been shutout four times, allowing 15 goals. They've scored 98 goals in wins and a paltry 12 in losses. Of the 44 goals they've allowed in losses, 15 come by way of shutouts.
The latest takes on it's infamy as the record-breaking shutout by a most deserving, Martin Brodeur.
The New Jersey Devils are one of five teams that have not been shutout this season. Brodeur's three shutouts for the Devils this season set up and then smashed the all time shutout record.
In honour of the new shutout record at 104 - and counting - the following are the to-date shutouts and numbers in the NHL in 2009-10.
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