Many people were predicting the month of March to be the downfall for Randy Carlyle’s Toronto Maple Leafs. While the Leafs surprised many with their success in both January and February (14-14-0), many expected the team to crumble under the pressure in March. With 14 games scheduled in 27 nights, and with five of those coming against the Boston Bruins (3) and Pittsburgh Penguins (2) the time had arrived for the Leafs to prove they were for real. How the [...]
Continue Reading →
I tried, I really did. Having watched the Leafs dismantling of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, I was fully intending to have an uplifting and positive post about the Leafs. However, there was one major thing that stuck out when I watched the game over and I couldn’t let it go. So, in the hopes of not alienating a major portion of you, I’m going to elaborate on an issue that is currently driving me mad. Since the beginning [...]
Continue Reading →The clip this week is courtesy of “TMLsHockeyBlog” Mats Sundin has been in the spotlight throughout this week in Toronto. After dropping the puck for last Saturday’s contest against the Boston Bruins, Sundin then joined Hockey Central At Noon on the Fan 590 Tuesday afternoon. It was great to both see and hear Sundin again. His presence rekindled memories of the class act that he was, is and will most likely always be. On the heels of the Calgary [...]
Continue Reading →
With less than a week to go before the annual trade deadline extravaganza, both TSN and Sportsnet are working overtime to create interest and intrigue in an area where, in reality, it does not exist. When it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, both all sports networks have been trying to force the idea of the Leafs looking for a veteran goalie. This is an idea that carries little to no merit when actually looking at what needs the blue [...]
Continue Reading →
The Toronto Maple Leafs will make the playoffs this season. You can take that prediction to the bank. With only 14 games left in the shortened 48 game 2013 NHL season, I feel confident in writing that bizarre opening sentence. Following last night’s 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers the Leafs currently sit firmly in the playoffs with 40 points. Randy Carlyle’s team hold the sixth position in the Eastern Conference standings and are on the verge of ending a [...]
Continue Reading →
Having looked yesterday at what Phil Kessel would probably cost the Toronto Maple Leafs to re-sign, I decided to take a look at fellow 2014 unrestricted free agent Dion Phaneuf in the same way. With both of the Leafs’ highest profile players up for renewal it provides the organization the option of completely cutting ties with the vision of Brian Burke and moving in a completely new direction. Yet, unlike Kessel, the Leafs aren’t in as difficult a situation with [...]
Continue Reading →
From the moment the NHL and the NHLPA lifted the lockout, the hot topic around hockey shifted to what the Anaheim Ducks were going to do with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Both stars were less than 7 months from being unrestricted free agent’s and the vultures were beginning to circle around Ducks General Manager Bob Murray. The Ducks had reached a crossroads: either Murray unloaded both players at the trade deadline (beginning a complete rebuild centered around whatever pieces [...]
Continue Reading →The clips this week are courtesy NHLArchive and NHLVideo: As the abuse towards Mikhail Grabovski continues to mount, let’s remember how valuable and dedicated he has been to the Toronto Maple Leafs for awhile now. Grabovski endeared himself to many Leaf fans the night he personally absorbed the physical punishment of Zdeno Chara yet still managed to score two goals (including the game winner late in the third period). Grabovksi is still the same player that we grew to admire [...]
Continue Reading →
The April 3rd NHL trade deadline is quickly approaching and the frenzy regarding Toronto Maple Leafs is once again reaching a level of madness. Absurd speculation is filling my twitter timeline where some are convinced the Leafs can receive all-star talent for spare parts. While those ridiculous rumours are scattered throughout the internet, the reality remains that the Leafs are primed to make transactions prior to or on April 3rd. For the past month I’ve been pointing out how General [...]
Continue Reading →
Note: The Leafs sent down Korbinian Holzer following my writing of this article and did in fact recall Jake Gardiner. Too little too late in my opinion. Gardiner should have been here weeks ago. Over the past two days on this site I have referenced the absence of Jake Gardiner from the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup and how it was another article for another day. Well, today is that day. I am not going to get into the statistical argument [...]
Continue Reading →
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 [...]
Continue Reading →
The time for moral victories is long over for this season, but one has to think that the Toronto Maple Leafs (30-29-7) feel pretty good about themselves despite the loss last night. The Leafs have an opportunity tonight to quickly put the memory of last night’s tough and hard fought loss to the Boston Bruins behind them as they face off tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins (39-21-5). The last time the Leafs were in this building they blew a late [...]
Continue Reading →
On a night in which the Toronto Maple Leafs played their first game since 2008 without Ron Wilson behind the bench, the boys in blue and white defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 at the Bell Centre. While one needs to reserve judgement for the next little while until new coach Randy Carlyle can implement his systems, there were many elements to last nights game that leaves fans feeling optimistic. Defensively the Leafs were dramatically better on the night, there were [...]
Continue Reading →
Loading ...