President
I was recently invited to a Canadian Tire press conference announcing their new five-year partnership with the NHL to become the League's Official Sporting Goods Retailer of the NHL in Canada. While I was unable to attend the event, which included a one-on-one interview with Olympic Gold Medalist and Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, the promotion company generously offered a media release for the site.
Some reading material for your weekend enjoyment:
- The boys over at PPP provide us with a nice piece about European free agent goaltender Jussi Rynnas. The 6'5 22 year old is coming off an impressive season in the Finnish Elite League, posting a 2.50 GAA to go along with a league-best 0.929 SV%. For comparison's sake: Mikka Kiprusoff posted a 1.86 GAA and 0.936 SV% during his age 22-23 season in the SM-Liiga. Jussi is in the midst of a five city North American tour, with Toronto not being one of the destinations. However, Burke and Nonis have both made the trip out to Helsinki and later brought Francois Allaire along to speak with Rynnas during his stopover in Montreal. Rynnas is not as highly regarded as Gustavsson was last offseason, and will likely be playing for an AHL team next season. The scouting report on him is that he's a big guy who can struggle at times with rebound control and positioning, much like our own Gustavsson, and his style of play has been compared to that of Nashville's Pekka Rinne.
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From USA Today - 3/1/2007:
Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke has always been among the NHL's most colorful wheeler dealers. In 2005-06, he overhauled his [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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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!!).
PART 1 – GETTING THE JOB DONE
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It is the middle of training camp and the team on the ice has not been looking so decent. Brian Burke has been asked to choose between President and GM of the team in order for the club to find a better fit in the front office for a change. He’s selected President and you have been hired to take over the general manager duties. Congratulations. The team has decided to throw a staff party in welcoming you to the club.
Last season in a draft, I chose Evgeni Nabokov for an H2H league organized by James Mirtle. It seemed early, but I had reasons. To win in fantasy GMs must find an edge using unconventional analysis and strategy.
That's what I try to do.
Facts don't lie and I liked Nabokov (and Backstrom from Minnesota) better than any goalie last season. It's also why Tim Thomas ranked higher. This season both Nabby and Thomas weren't ranked as high. Maybe the Bruins and Sharks struggle this season.
Why? Find out here.
While the majority of Leafs fans wrote the team off in the summer, it wasn’t until the New Year that the teams first true season of rebuilding began the inevitable grind into early year golf tournaments.
Normally, you would figure that game # 82 on a team's docket, in a season where that team has been eliminated from playoff contention, would be rather meaningless. Â Normally, you would expect it to be nothing more than perhaps an opportunity to give young players a bit of NHL experience before hitting the greens.
But when is normal ever the norm in Toronto? Â Somehow, tonight's season-closing game is still meaningful to the final outcome of the Leafs' season ... as are the final games for the LA Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes, which will be played late this afternoon and tonight.
Ed. Note: Lots of holiday reading going up today for you guys. Merry Christmas.
Here we are the Christmas break, and I’d like to take the time to look back at what we saw in September, what we expected by Christmas and what we envision for the future of the Blue and White.
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The Leafs held a press conference today with Brian Burke. Here are some interesting comments on behalf of the new President and GM.
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