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Clayton Hansler

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Colborne arrives in Toronto

Toronto has not seen a Providence Bruin since the team last visited on March 4th, 2009. But as rumours of Tomas Kaberle's trade to...

Marlies Challenge, Mitchell’s Opportunity

With every challenge comes opportunity. The cliche may be overused, but it doesn't make it any less true. With three called up and three more injured, the Marlies are indeed faced with a challenge. But with this challenge has come the opportunity for Dale Mitchell.

Development Isn’t a Life Sentence

On Monday, Nazem Kadri, 7th overall selection in the 2009 draft, was assigned to the Toronto Marlies. The player in whom a whole city had welcomed, became enamoured with and inked into their own starting lineup will not appear at ACC at all¦ at least not yet. It will prove to be a powerful lesson for the 19 year old, if not the whole city of Toronto; the Toronto Maple Leafs are about winning hockey games, not necessarily selling tickets.

“Toronto’s My Team”

There's nothing quite like the story of the home-grown athlete. Everyone likes asking Oakville's John Mitchell what it's like to put on the Leafs sweater every day, or trying to find some way to relate to Jesse Blacker's being drafted by his local club. But when adversity is thrown into the mix, when a player has to go through some degree of hardship to make it to not only the level he wants to be, but for the team he wants to play for, that's when a story becomes a best seller.

Capturing the Captaincy; Marlies Front-Runners

It was no less than two months ago that I was pondering this same question, that of captaincy, and examining the same factors. Thinking of all the tangibles — speed, talent and scoring — along with attributes that are harder to judge — the ability to command the respect of the team, lead with strength of character and handle the Toronto media through success and failure. The lone difference is that last time, it was the Leafs.

Dion’s Day

Instead of weighing the pros and cons, balancing the collective good choices of Burke and Wilson against the bad, MLHS is going to bring you into the event. Thousands of writers have provided their opinion but little time has been spent enabling the reader to form their own.

Whitby’s Hamilton to Stay in Toronto

Whitby born, Ryan Hamilton has signed a 1-year, 2-way deal worth $500k (at NHL level) with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hamilton, who came to the Leafs organization in a trade with the NHL Wild (AHL Aeros) during the 08/09 season, was scheduled to test the free agent market if unable to resign with Toronto.

Who Is: Jesse Blacker

Blacker has all the keys to being a successful top-4 blue-liner, but expect him to play a couple seasons in the AHL before seeing his first ice time in the big leagues. The newly turned nineteen year old must also add 20-25lbs to fill out his somewhat lanky frame in order to compete regularly against the leagues best. Though the Leafs depth at defensive has Blacker currently in the bottom third, as long as the Maple Leafs have Burke as general manager, Jesse will be in the system. Truculence and testosterone tops this youngster's resume, with a side of pugnacity and a light sprinkling of belligerence. I would compare the future of Blacker to that of Mike Van Ryn, just without the injuries (hopefully).

Press Box School’idge: Lessons Learned vol. 1

Is it just me, or has the hockey season passed us by far quicker than usual? It seems like I just finished making arrangements for the home opener against Hamilton (which, might I add was a win) and here I am already looking back at the season that was. It was an absolute blur of call-ups and injuries. The bright young stars that comprised the frat-pack line (Tyler Bozak, Christian Hanson and Viktor Stalberg) all found their way up to the Leafs. Carl Gunnarsson, the player I was most keen on going into the season, left the Marlies early on for the big club and never looked back.

Marlies On a Wild Moose Chase

I really had so many options with this title. With all the Anaheim prospects on Toronto, I thought of calling it Duck, Duck, Duck, Moose! With many players returning from injury, I pondered using I—ve got 99 Problems, but a Stitch Ain—t One. But really, being five points out with five games remaining, the Marlies truly are on a wild Moose chase. As it stands now, the Marlies will have to win all of their final five games to have a hope of extending the season past April 12th. The two most important of these will need to come this weekend as Toronto faces Manitoba, the current occupant of the 4th and final spot.

Toronto Marlies : Realism Torn Too

#NHLAnagrams havebeen a big thing on twitter over the last week, and what a riot we've had. Some of the creations have been strictly comical (Daniel Alfredsson = An Idle Ass Fondler), some have been ridiculous (Brian Burke = Urban Biker) and others have fit so perfectly, you would think that it was by some magical force that their name and anagram had come to be (Zdeno Chara = A Hazard Cone, Vesa Toskala = aka Lost). With the Toronto Marliesseven points back with 12 games to go, I'm torn as to my thoughts of the post-season and based on the Marlies' anagram, Realism Torn Too.

Blacker Skies Made Blue

Who would have guessed that with all the attention surrounding the Leafs 2009 1st round pick, it would actually be the Toronto kid selected in the 2nd round that would be first to string some games together on a pro club. Though not officially announced, Jesse Blacker has left the OHL and joined the Toronto Marlies for the remainder of the season.

Quack, Quack, Quack Mr. Calder

The Ducks play spoiler to the blue and white... kind of. As the Marlies head down the stretch and zero in on the number four spot in the North West, Anaheim pulls a key contributor up to the big club. As if it's not already hard enough watching talent on the baby buds knowing they'll never develop into a Leaf.

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