Following last night’s contest against the New Jersey Devils the Toronto Maple Leafs have only 6 games left before finally giving their fans some playoff hockey. With the remainder of the regular season more about jockeying for position and defining match-ups, I have some ideas as to what both the Leafs and coach Randy Carlyle need to focus on over those remaining 6 games: 1 Stay healthy – Other than Joffrey Lupul the Leafs have been fortunate enough to avoid [...]

The underlying theme throughout this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs has focused on their willingness to drop the gloves on any given night. Many believe that the inclusion of Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren has provided an intimidation factor to the blue and white lineup, and that it is a major reason for the Leafs success this season. Those people listen a little too much to Don Cherry if you ask me. Personally, I find it hard to believe [...]

The clip this week is courtesy of “NHL Video” With the Toronto Maple Leafs set to host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night I thought it would be nice to choose the video above. The unfairly maligned Mikhail Grabovski scored a beautiful overtime winner against the Habs last year in an action packed game early in the 2011-12 campaign. Great to see Grabovski having an opportunity to actually demonstrate what he was capable of. Also, wonderful to see him on [...]

Over the past few days the discussion surrounding Tyler Bozak and his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs has become a hot topic of conversation. Set to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Bozak is apparently due for a raise and many feel he is looking for a major bump up from his current $1.5 million dollar salary. On TSN Radio yesterday, Darren Dreger stated negotiations with Bozak’s camp would most likely begin at [...]

On the heels of looking at Jay McClement and his worth to the 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs, I began to think of another first year member of the blue and white that has become a solid contributor for Randy Carlyle. 26 year old defenseman Mark Fraser was an unknown asset prior to beginning the season with the Leafs. While he was a member of the Toronto Marlies 2012 Calder Cup run, and a strong presence with the Leafs farm club [...]

July 1st is a day that carries with it ridiculous pressure for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The opening day of the NHL’s free agency window provides the Leafs the prime opportunity to upgrade their talent level without removing assets from their organization. Fans and media alike speculate for weeks (if not months) prior to that date on which pending free agents would fit best on the blue and white roster. The most recent version of this crazy day had many [...]

The majority of my Sunday morning was spent trying to fend off multiple attacks by various fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs as they took issue with this point that I made: An extremely weak Eastern Conference and a very strong James Reimer are making Randy Carlyle look a lot better than he is. April 7, 2013 8:57 am via Tweetbot for iOSReplyRetweetFavorite @Hope_Smoke Hope_Smoke While I understand that many idolize Carlyle and the job that he has done with [...]

The clip this week is courtesy of TorontoMapleLeafs951 Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs held their collective breath last night as they watched winger Joffrey Lupul get crunched by Philadelphia Flyers forwards Adam Hall and Jay Rosehill. Lupul had a difficult time making it to the Leafs bench and subsequently needed assistance heading back to the dressing room. Needless to say Lupul didn’t return. With 8 goals and 6 assists through only 8 games this season Lupul’s presence has been [...]

  Like most trade deadlines, yesterday was more about the hype than the substance (especially in terms of the Toronto Maple Leafs). While some big trades did eventually happen – Marian Gaborik to the Blue Jackets, Jason Pominville to the Wild and Filip Forsberg to the Predators stand out to me – the 2013 trade deadline passed with Leafs General Manager Dave Nonis making only a small trade as he acquired 28 year old, pending UFA defenseman Ryan O’Byrne from [...]

With today being the NHL’s annual trade deadline chaos, I couldn’t see the point in writing an in detailed post regarding the current Toronto Maple Leafs squad. In reality, today is a day in which everything gets thrown out the window as the entire league is in a constant state of flux. I could very likely discuss something about the Leafs and have it become meaningless in minutes. I don’t want to waste your time with that. Instead, I will [...]