Forgive me for my lateness in offering up some thoughts on what was an amazing finale to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2013 season. Today marks one full week from the morning after the Boston Bruins erased a 4-1 third period deficit in Game 7 to eliminate the Leafs. The same Leafs team that entered the 2013 season with expectations centered around the draft lottery and not the post season. The same Leafs team that approached the shortened 48 game campaign [...]

Having missed playoff hockey for nine calendar years the Toronto Maple Leafs have come back and given their fans one hell of a first round tilt. Over the past thirteen days the Leafs and Bruins have proceeded to engage in total war against each other. Through these games we have not only seen how strong and capable the Bruins are (what many expected heading in), but also how willing to battle and resilient the blue and white are (something that [...]

The clip this week is courtesy of NHLVideo:   The above clip is the tying goal in the Game 4 of the Leafs v Bruins series. Clarke MacArthur scored the goal and it was assisted by Matt Frattin and Jake Gardiner. Does anybody know what those three Leaf players have in common? Leaformation Justin Bourne with an amazingly accurate breakdown of David Krejci’s OT winner in Game 4.  Vintage Leaf Memories with some things to expect from the Leafs in [...]

A constant theme throughout the 2013 NHL season has been one of the Toronto Maple Leafs looking to restore pride to this franchise. The blue and white were the butt of the joke for far too long and it became the organizations mission to finally shake that label. While the 2013 season was one in which the Leafs were able to finally get over the playoff hump, it always felt as if they maybe weren’t really there. Some people pointed [...]

Feeling vindicated by the strong play of both Jake Gardiner and Matt Frattin (after begging for them to be in the lineup all season), I decided to turn my attention to another unfairly maligned member of the Toronto Maple Leafs: Clarke MacArthur. The 28 year old pending unrestricted free agent has recently found his way into Randy Carlyle’s dog house following a mysterious injury earlier in the season. Prior to his injury in late March, MacArthur had been one of [...]

On the heels of what many believed to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ best effort of the season in Game 2 on Saturday night, the Leafs once again battled the Boston Bruins in front of a loud and supportive crowd at The Air Canada Centre on Monday. The 5-2 final score in favour of the Bruins would definitely lead one to believe that the Leafs crumbled under the pressure of their first playoff home game in 9 years. While the [...]

Bear with me here, I’m a little excited. In the midst of the glory and celebration following the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Saturday night I was fully committed to writing an article detailing the great moves and appropriate buttons pushed by Leafs Coach Randy Carlyle. As the night continued (and Saturday night turned into Sunday afternoon), I was beaten to the punch by more talented and respected writers than myself. James Mirtle of The Globe [...]

After some much needed time, the loss in Game 1 to the Boston Bruins has now fully been discarded and the time to look forward has begun for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans. What happened Wednesday night at The TD Bank Garden cannot be erased, the most important thing remains whether Randy Carlyle has learned from his lineup errors. Carlyle insisted on using muscle to combat the Bruins instead of the necessary speed and skill needed to [...]

On a night that held so much promise and potential the Toronto Maple Leafs completely wilted under the spotlight of the NHL playoffs. Despite jumping out to a quick 1-0 lead minutes into the first period against the Boston Bruins, the Leafs reverted back into the flawed team that stumbled down the stretch of the regular season. In the end the Leafs fell 4-1 to the Bruins and are now behind 1-0 in their first best of seven series in [...]

There is no denying that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ problem area is their blueline. If the Boston Bruins are going to exploit the Leafs as badly as many think, then it will come from Boston’s ability to create turnovers in the Leafs zone. Heading into the 2013 season it was obvious that the blueline was an area of trouble for Randy Carlyle. That thin group became even thinner with the removal of Jake Gardiner and with a hobbled Carl Gunnarsson. [...]