Sudbury
It was a charity event for the torch run that supports the Special Olympics, hosted just outside Sudbury, Ontario, that featured the NHL Alumni vs. the local police department. In a game that featured former greats such as Rick Vaive and Wilf Paiement, it was just as special to be greeted at the entrance by, the one and only, Eddie Shack.
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Thanks to the lack of high end technology (No PVR damnit!) at home, I was faced with a tough decision tonight: CHL Top Prospects Skills Competition or Leafs vs. Preds. Sadly, I chose the Leaf game. Pretty much a low chance, slow pace snoozer from the get-go so I eventually started flipping back and forth to catch glimpses of the NHL's next crop of exciting young stars showing off their various talents. Little metaphor there I suppose? [more…]
Brian Burke made his first two moves as Leafs GM – acquiring Brad May from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a conditional 6th round pick in 2010, and assigning Nikolai Kulemin to the Toronto Marlies. Minor moves, but perhaps Burke has finished analyzing his team and is ready to reshape the roster to his liking.
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With Cliff Fletcher sticking around for the upcoming season, the Maple Leafs have gone forward in hiring new staff since the start of the off-season. It seems the philosophy among many franchises around the league is to create positions to fill with excellent hockey minds in order to improve their own hockey growth and knowledge above the ice surface. Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment has finally joined in on that idea by adding Al Coates as the Director of Player Personnel, Jeff Jackson as the assistant GM and Director of Hockey Operations in 2006 who focuses primarily on collective bargaining duties and contract negotiations, and an overhaul of the coaching staff other than Keith Acton, who has found a way to stay within the organization after stints under head coaches Paul Maurice and Pat Quinn.
