Bay Street Bullies win 5-4!!

The Maple Leafs showed us Leafs fans today that they will be a force to reckon with this season. Obviously, this is pre season and most teams aren’t playing their regular guys but neither were we. This was a fantastic performance and one which will give the guys self confidence and belief that they can win games even when they look down and out.

We saw some of the prettiest displays of skill today by the Leafs. The first goal was an absolutely lovely display of hockey. Kaberle first broke a Flyers’ defenseman’s ankles and nailed Stajan in stride to which turned out to be a sweet goal. After the Leafs started falling apart due to some silly penalties just like yesterday’s game they made a comeback in the third period with one of the best goals I have seen by the Leafs in a few years. Niklas Hagman blew the socks off two Flyers and let a snorter of a wrist shot go that went top shelf past a rightly shocked Brian Boucher.

There is certainly one aspect of the Leafs’ game that will be extremely frightening once November comes and that’s our powerplay. Even without Phil Kessel this team looked downright scary while handling the puck in the opposition’s zone. Some of the passes Kaberle was making seemed to remind me of the old Kaberle from a few years ago. Beauchemin will compliment Kaberle really well due to his ability to make an equally good pass back. Although today Beauchemin didn’t pass instead he displayed the shot no one would want to be in front of as a player. He let an absolute laser beam go that any NHLer would be proud of.

The game winner was a sweet goal as Niklas Hagman iced it with some more top cheese. His wrister is out of this world and one can only wonder how good he could be if someone could set him up all the time. There was a lot of skill on display by the Leafs today but the defensive corps were just as good in keeping the Flyers out when we were down 4-2. Nazem Kadri deserved praise today for his passing ability, he made some lovely passing plays that would have resulted in goals if Kessel was there to receive them.

The only evident weakness from today’s game was Vesa Toskala and that can be somewhat associated to rust as the goals he let in were not due to him not being good instead they occurred to him just not being there at the right time or not anticipating the shots. He will come around as the pre season progresses. This was after all his first full game in a long time.

Overall, this was a sweet game for Leafs’ fans and we all surely will be proud of the talent we have in this team. Nazem Kadri might not be destined for the Leafs this season, but the potential is there for him to be quite dynamite next year. For now we can enjoy the hard working bunch we have right now that really got the Leafs fans going.

Phil Kessel Trade Review

I have waited to let the whole trade sink in before writing about it on TML Nation. The Leafs have given away two first rounders and a second round pick but have gotten an excellent youngster in return. Brian Burke is known for making big moves as he likes to show he’s intending to ice a competitive team right from the get go. There will obviously be a lot of talk about the disadvantages of this trade but there are many advantages that make me drool due to the skill level of Kessel.

So what kind of player did we get with Phil Kessel? We just acquired a guy who can skate extremely fast and if you were impressed with Stalberg’s speed in the first preseason game you haven’t seen anything yet because Kessel is even faster. Speed is not the only factor in his game because he possesses one of the most accurate and quick shots in the league. There is a reason he is called a sniper and that is due to his knack for putting the puck in the back of the net. Kessel is a prolific dangler and he can make many high class defensemen look seriously amateur at times. The prospects of him being there on our first line is exciting and definitely makes me want to get the November when he is back in action after his injury.

There has been talk of his rotator cuff injury diminishing any advances he has made in the past three years. I think that Burke would have looked into this with great attention and we should trust them in this aspect of the trade. The other major argument by critics has been the fact that Kessel doesn’t have anyone to feed him the puck like Savard did for him in Boston. I think that’s a silly statement to make because you always need someone to finish the goals off. It’s not as if Kessel was always standing at the side of the net and tapping in passes from Savard. I personally believe you could put anyone with Kessel and he will excel due to his top class abilities as a sniper.

Many people have started assembling their first line now that we have Kessel. I see him playing with Blake and Hagman on the first line because these two will compliment his game quite well. Jason Blake is extremely quick and will be able to skate at Kessel’s pace causing both of them to have a great time especially when the chemistry between the two develops. I put Hagman there because he makes things happen and his vision on the ice is underrated big time. He makes sweet passes that go undetected by fans and that’s unfortunate. If they decide that Hagman is not the right guy they could possibly put someone like Stajan up there on the first line but I don’t see that happening.

All in all this is going to be an interesting season with the arrival of Kessel. Obviously no one will be cheering for the Leafs to do bad this year and I have to thank Burke for that. I was getting sick and tired of tank nation and now Burke has buried that for a while.

4-3 Leafs Beat Pens

We had a game today?! Barely anyone noticed the game because everyone was too busy thinking about Phil Kessel and the trade to bring him over to Toronto. The game was a good one for the Leafs as they beat the Stanley cup champions at their house, 4-3. Obviously, the Penguins were playing an extremely weakened team with Malkin being the only superstar on the ice unless you want to count Fleury as well.

The game seemed to be getting out of hand early on as the Leafs kept taking silly penalties which even led to two goals. The penguins seemed to be playing with extreme confidence in that first period but sadly for them they came out flat in the 2^nd period. The Leafs cashed in on four power plays and turned the game upside down in a few minutes. There was a little fight back from the Penguins at the end but they really were out and the idea of them making a comeback was not looking promising. They had a few opportunities that were easily denied by Macdonald who seems to be quite a goalie and would have made a fine backup for Toskala if we didn’t have Gustavvson already.

John Mitchell stood out today with his all round game. He did all the little things right and made us appreciate his work ethic and ability to understand the game so well on the ice. He also chipped in with a nice goal that certainly capped off his night with a little style. He was one of my favourite leafs last season and he seems to be heading in the right direction this season as well. Ron Wilson will certainly be looking to put him on the ice quite often due to his ability to do everything with ease.

Jason Blake who was playing in his first game of the preseason came back into action as if he never had gone away for the summer. He was skating with the same intensity as he would in a regular season game and he was all over the Penguins with his speed and agility. They didn’t know how to handle him and he created quite a few chances. Now with Phil Kessel becoming a Leaf many fans will be drooling at the prospects of Blake and Kessel lining up together. The speed of that line will make many opposition defenders cry before and after the game.

Ron Wilson coached a good game and the approach to penalty killing has impressed me this pre season. They are much more attacking in the way they go about killing penalties. Last season, we would all see the Maple Leafs hanging back for the opposition to carry the puck into the zone or to dump it in. In the three games we have seen so far they have jumped right on the puck carrier in the neutral zone which has left the opposing puck carriers confused and in a little shock causing turnovers. The foot speed of some of the Leafs is astonishing and perhaps the new bikes in the gym should be complimented.

Overall , it was a good game and wins are wins no matter what time of the year they come. I hope the Leafs continue developing and become a force to reckon with this season.

Leafs Lose Nail Biter

There was no television coverage of this game but I had a few relatives who went to the game and gave me some inside scouting on the players in today’s game. The Leafs unfortunately didn’t come out on top in this encounter with the Bruins by losing in overtime, 6-5. There was some excellent hockey played by the Leafs although they made some silly mistakes that cost them the game in the end.

James Reimer was a tad disappointing and seemed to be extremely nervous or some would even to as far and say lazy. He seemed to be struggling to save the easy ones and made them look extremely difficult. There were signs that he was flopping around and not totally aware of the angles he was supposed to cover. I am going to give the kid the benefit of the doubt and say that he just had a bad day in the office with nerves playing a role as well.

Christian Hanson was on top of his game today, he scored a hat trick and that certainly made him the best player on the ice. Although he did some of the little things very well today and that seemed to aid him in finishing off a couple of those goals. Christian Hanson was supposedly superlative on the boards today and won quite a few battles that would make Burke grin sheepishly with delight. He certainly will be getting some attention now from Burke and Wilson in regards to an opening night roster spot that he covets so dearly.

Nazem Kadri was quite good and did a lot of things well today. He chipped in with a goal as well which certainly doesn’t hurt his confidence going into the season. He was much better then yesterday and seems to be improving day by day. He showed some flashes of brilliances that got the crowd excited and his dangling ability is quite good when it comes off. There is the “Hog” element to his game that might irk some fans and coaches but he’ll get better once he notices that passing is noticed as well.

Tyler Bozak got on the score sheet as well, his goal was the best of the game as he let go an absolute bullet from the faceoff circle. Obviously he should be one of the better players on the ice in this tourney as he’s amongst the oldest attending, but still the talent of the guy speaks loud and clear. He will certainly be vying for a spot on the top 2 lines this year. Can he continue with his excellent form? This is the question that he will have to answer in the next game.

Some of the other guys that were impressive in today’s game against the Briuns were Blacker and Devane. Jesse Blacker showed up and played an excellent game on the defensive side of things again. He was always in position and showed the staff that he deserves to be taken seriously. As for Devane he basically broke his hand on another guys face. Unfortunately we don’t know what happen to the other guy’s face, I am sure it was not rated G in terms of amount of blood. He was the spark plug that got the Leafs going after they were down 2-0. He deserves credit for boosting their morale and getting them to go out and play as a unit and fight for each other.

These games are turning out to be an excellent way to see how our prospects are doing in terms of their development. We have some excellent players in the cupboard right now and Burke will certainly be looking to add more. This was a great game and the Leafs will be looking to do well in the next game as well.

Leafs win 3-1 Over Pens (Rookie Tourney)

The Rookie tourney has finally begun and the Leafs played the Penguins today. Firstly I want to get something off my chest about today’s broadcast...it sucked. I haven’t seen such an atrocious hockey broadcast in my life, if you’re going to show us the game at least don’t do such a garbage job. Anyways from what I saw, I will discuss the positives and negatives from today’s game. The Leafs winning 3-1 was a good start to the tourney indeed.

Time to begin with the man who amazed everyone in Leafs nation today and that’s Swedish rookie Viktor Stalberg. If you want to see skating perfection, this man is the guy you want to see. He can absolutely fly down the ice with utmost of ease and grace. His shot is definitely NHL level and that wrister will have many goalies around the league in utter shock and disbelief. His shot is superlative and deserves all the praise. He could be the find of the year for the Leafs in terms of their prospects.

The next guy I will talk about is our first round selection this year, Nazem Kadri. Nazem was not a big impact in this game and was trying to do too much on his own. He will have to start realizing soon that what he could do with the Knights is not possible against the big boys. He was trying to dangle the puck a lot and it’s tough with the good defenders to get past them. He did have a couple of nice chances and got on to hit the bar and come out. He has serious potential but he will have to improve in certain facets throughout the tourney and this year.

Tyler Bozak was impressive in what I saw of him today. He has good vision on the ice and made a pretty pass to set up Stalberg on the first goal. He seems like he will do well with the Leafs this year, but I don’t want to jump the gun. Bozak is just like Stalberg in terms of his skating ability, perhaps he’s not as smooth but he can absolutely fly down the ice.

Jonas Gustavvson was amazing today and made some absolutely stunning saves. He is extremely good at standing up and taking a huge chunk of the net out of the equation. He definitely will be an interesting goalie to look at. There was a negative facet to his game today and that was the rebounds he let out. He needs to start absorbing the puck better instead of letting it hit him and bounce out. This is something Allaire will certainly talk to him about but he has a ton of skill and he will get a lot of fans drooling of the prospects after today’s game.

There were a few other guys like Blacker and Stefanovich who were decent today. Blacker seems to be a very good pick up, he can skate well and he is sound in terms of his positioning. Usually from your defender you want him to be smart with the puck and Blacker is exactly like that. Burke seems to have made a smart pick by getting him in the draft. Mikhail Stefanovich was not that good today but at best he was fine. He will need to wake up and start contributing soon in this tourney if he wants to be looked at ahead of Stalberg.

Trade Report: Maple Leafs Swap Picks

A minor trade has occurred and The leafs are part of it. This is how it has panned out according to Bob Mackenzie of TSN.

The Maple Leafs have re-acquired its own 2010 2nd round draft pick from Chicago in exchange for its own 2011 3rd round pick and the 2011 2nd round pick recently received from Calgary as part of the Anton Stralman trade.

What could this trade mean in terms of future moves? Time to turn up the heat on the rumours again.

Here is the link to the TSN article regarding this trade: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=290103

Adam Wallace Earns Tryout

A lot of talk has been made of the tryout offer made to Jason Allison, but Burke has given a tryout offer to a few other players as well. One of those players is fighter Adam Wallace. He probably won’t have much of a chance making the 4^th line on the Leafs but he will again add some competition for those aspiring to be in the Leafs’ bottom six.

Adam Wallace is a normal hardnosed defenseman, who is only 19 years of age and that will certainly do him no harm entering into this minicamp. Adam Wallace played for the Windsor Spitfires the past three years, so he does know a lot about playing hockey with older guys. He has worked extremely hard to get this tryout and I will certainly be expecting him to bring his 110% out there on the ice with the other rookies in the upcoming tourney. He will definitely be getting ample chances to show why he has been awarded this tryout from Burke.

This young defenseman has all the traits that Burke looks for in his players. He is extremely belligerent on the ice and that can be confirmed with the amount of fights he got into last season with the Spitfires and he came out on top in many of those fights as well. He is 195 pounds and 6’1’’ and he’s still growing in terms of muscle mass. He has worked hard over the summer and will be looking to make a difference and get the coaches and Burke to look at him twice and perhaps think about putting him with the Marlies.

He had 174 penalty minutes and he didn’t do much damage in terms of scoring, he is a typical stay at home defender and he knows what to do at his end of the ice. The problem of not scoring is something that can be corrected if he shows promise with his defensive game at the camp.

He will probably go undetected in the rookie tourney but we should be on the lookout for him and how he progresses throughout the camp. These are the types of tryouts that will perhaps get Burke another diamond in the rough that he would love to find. Just like the Allison tryout, this is a win-win situation for the Leafs. Adam Wallace will most likely find it tough against really good forwards, but the ball or shall I say the puck is in his court and it’s time for him to step up and show his potential out there on the ice.

Weekly Roundup

Not a lot has gone on over the past week but I still have a few interesting tidbits about the Leafs to talk about. I can’t wait until the pre season begins so we can actually start talking about the on ice game instead of all the off ice discussion we’ve had. The Leafs are poised to be a hard hitting team this season, and we all hope that they also are able to score a few goals for our sake.

First up is the story of Brian Burke releasing the names of the top 6 defensemen he feels will be playing against the Montreal Canadiens when the regular season begins. The names are in no special order... Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Tomas Kaberle, Garnet Exelby, Jeff Finger and Luke Schenn. This was pretty much the expected top six although a few people had Ian White pencilled in over Garnet Exelby. It seems that Garnet is high on Burke’s list as a defenseman. I am sure Mike Van Ryn, Frogren and White will give these guys a run for their money in training camp. This is definitely going to create a healthy competition amongst the ranks.

The whole veto issue is getting out of hand now and it’s getting boring as well. No Leafs fan wants to see Balsillie face every day on the news talking about how the Leafs are being mean to him. If the Maple Leafs have the right then by all means they should use it as a business entity. There is no reason for them to be nice to Balsillie, but this should all be kept behind closed doors as most people really don’t want to hear about this garbage.

Tyler Bozak has been beefing up over the summer and he’s made some significant progress in the muscle department. He will certainly be willing to take the hits and hopefully dish them out as well without getting himself hurt. The fitness trainers with the Leafs will be paying significant attention to how these youngsters are going about their fitness regime. Brian Burke and Ron Wilson are always keen on players that are fit and most of these guys know that and are really burning it up in the weight room these days. Also, to fit the category of being a hard hitting team, the Leafs will have to definitely spend some time in the weight room to beef up.

Now with some news that has nothing to do with the Leafs and that’s the signing of Roberto Luongo for a 12 year extension. Quite an extension that is especially if he goes on and gets himself injured. These days a lot of the NHL teams are signing their superstars for huge contracts that won’t hurt them financially. It’s really getting silly these days with the amount of players that are on “Life” contracts basically. I hope the NHL does something about this otherwise we might be seeing these types of contracts for every superstar in the league.

Not much to talk about over the past week, but we certainly have had some interesting revelations like the Top 6 defensemen Burkie expects. Although for everyone’s sanity I would like a court order stating Balsillie cannot go within 50 meters of a microphone. I have had enough of that man for a while.

Let's Draft Again (2000-2001)

So basically I will start from the 1999-2000 draft all the way to the 2007-2008 draft because in those years I think we made some poor choices. The last two season have been not as bad and I will like to give credit the current scouting team for their excellent work in getting players like Schenn and Kadri. They might not be the best players in the draft but as of now they are two very good prospects. What I will do is i will redraft the seven rounds and instead pick the best player that went soon after the Leafs drafted. There will be times where I will decide to keep the players the Leafs selected due to them being good players and better then ones that followed them.

The 1999-2000 draft was not that bad for the Leafs but they did miss out on a few key players that might have been good pieces to add to the puzzle. Now we will be looking at the 2000-2001 draft and see if we missed any gems in that draft.

**The order of the players is by rounds... so first players is from the 1st round and so on. **

2000

Players We Drafted – Carlo Colaiacovo, Karel Pilar, Brendan Bell, Jay Harrison, Nicolas Corbeil, Kyle Wellwood, Maxim Kondratiev, Jaroslav Sklenar, Ivan Kolozvary, Jan Chovan, Tomas Mojzis and Mike Knoepfli

Players We Should Have Drafted – Colby Armstrong, Fedor Tyutin, Tomas Plekanec, Aaron Johnson, Patrick Sharp, Kyle Wellwood (i would keep the fat munchkin), Marek Zidlicky, Jussi Jokinen, Derek Boogaard, Cristobal Huet, Petr Cajanek and Toni Dahlman (he sucked as well but he was better then Mike Knoepfli).

As you can see this revelation is a bit more disturbing then the last one. We missed out on players like Patrick Sharp, Colby Armstrong, Marek Zidlicky and Jussi Jokinen for players we don’t even have on our team anymore. Quite a disappointing draft year for the Maple Leafs considering the amount of picks we had.

It certainly would have been much more interesting if we had that many picks in this year’s draft with the proper scouting team. It’s sad that we wasted so many draft opportunities on pathetic picks if you want to put it nicely. There are some nice forwards that we missed out on that might still have been on our team right now and helped us in the past few years.

Let's Draft Again (1999-2000)

Don’t you ever wonder how our team would look like if we had made the right draft choices instead of the poor ones we usually made? So many good players have been passed over for complete duds who didn’t even make the NHL because they didn’t know how to hold a hockey stick. This is why I have decided to look at some of the players we could have had if we drafted differently. Although we have to remember hindsight is always clearer then what the general managers see at the draft tables.

So basically I will start from the 1999-2000 draft all the way to the 2007-2008 draft because in those years I think we made some poor choices. The last two season have been not as bad and I will like to give credit the current scouting team for their excellent work in getting players like Schenn and Kadri. They might not be the best players in the draft but as of now they are two very good prospects. What I will do is i will redraft the seven rounds and instead pick the best player that went soon after the Leafs drafted. There will be times where I will decide to keep the players the Leafs selected due to them being good players and better then ones that followed them.

**The order of the players is by rounds... so first players is from the 1^st round and so on.**

1999

Players we drafted – Brad Boyes, Kris Vernarsky, Mikael Tellqvist, Jean-Francoise Racine, Miguel Delisie, Vadim Sozinov, Markus Seikola, Lubos Velebny, Alexander Shinkar and Jean-Philippe Cote.

Players we should have drafted – Brad Boyes (i would keep him), Antoine Vermette, Micheal Rupp, Dominic Moore, Lubomir Visnovsky, Darcy Hordichuk, Matthew Lombardi, Antti Miettinen, Alexander Shinkar (the guys after him sucked even more) and Simon Gamache.

This draft didn’t have much class at the spots the Leafs were picking but we did miss out on guys like Vermette, Moore and Visnovsky. These three would have been better additions then some of the weak talent we picked up. This draft didn’t hurt as much but then next few will hurt where it really hurts as die hard fans.

I will be back tomorrow with the next draft and it’s only going to get worse I am afraid.

Weight Room Transcript (Leafs Style)

This is a little transcript which gives you a little insight on the happenings of the Leafs (all fake of course). This has been perfected by Downgoesbrown but I am giving it a shot to add some energy to TML Nation.

(28 guys are working out in the weight room)

**Trainer walks in**

Trainer: NOOOOO... this can’t be happening... i’ll have to actually do some work this year!? I like guys like that fat kid we had last year.

Wilson: Are you talking about Wellwood?

Trainer: Never got his name.. cause he came once and that was by mistake. He was going to the Cafeteria and made a wrong turn.

Mike Komisarek: Hey trainer... can you help me with my weight lifting?

Trainer: What’s weight lifting? Never heard of such a term.

Burke: Have you heard of the term.. FIRED? Time to bring in the real boys!

**In walk two supremely fit trainers**

Burke: Boys I want....

Entire Team: proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence!!!

Burke: That’s more like it!!!

Wilson: Burkie perhaps we should ease up on these boys... I mean it’s an optional training day after all.

Burke: BOYS! Tell coach what you do for guys who think this is optional!

Entire Team: We pray that they live to tell the tale of their encounter with Garnet Exelby in the Parking lot.

Garnet Exelby: I love the parking lot part the most. (gives a deadly smile to Vesa)

**Vesa Toskala faints**

Wilson: What happened to him? Don’t scare him guys!

Garnet Exelby: I don’t know what’s wrong with the guy, whenever i come near him he faints.

Luke Schenn: Ummm... yeaaaa... that’s my fault. I kinda showed him Exelby’s montage on Youtube.

Entire Team: Yikes!!

Kaberle: Where’s Poni by the way?

Burke: Caught him praying that JFJ would come back.

Entire Team: May Poni’s soul rest in peace!

Wilson: If you keep this up we’re not going to have any players for the first game this season

Burke: The opposition won’t have many players after the 1^st period.

Wilson: We can’t go out there and play like goons all the time.

Burke: Why not?!

Wilson: The point of the game is to score goals not hurt people all the time.

Burke: Why are you my best friend again?

Wilson: You’re crazy!

Burke: Thank You.

**The players trained for the rest of the day and are told to now live in the fitness** room*

Jason Allison is Back!!!

Jason Allison is back and I am so excited! Ok no I am not ... but it’s good to see the guy after he just disappeared off the radar for some time. An excellent player back in the day but it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with all the news things that have been slowly added to the NHL. Jason Allison’s willingness to even put on a pair of skates is tremendous and will make this training camp even more interesting for Leafs fans. Competition will again increase if he gets a hang of it out there on the ice very quickly. Also, him being a local boy doesn’t hurt the equation much cause that’ll bring back his passion a bit faster for this game which he randomly deserted.

Jason Allison was always regarded as a slow and sluggish in terms of his overall hockey abilities. There is no doubt though that this guy could put up the points when he was on top of his game. He was when at the top of his game a top 6 forward and a very capable one at that. His stats don’t lie even with the one year in 2005 here in Toronto he potted 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) and that’s not bad for only 66 games. His best season was in 2001 and that was with the Bruins when he really was at the peak of his career and he potted a fantastic 95 points (36 goals, 59 assists). His performance on the ice in those years was phenomenal and I supposed that does make him acceptable for a tryout as this can only be a win-win situation for Burke and his team.

What would Allison bring to our team if he blew the coaching staff’s socks off at camp? Well he was known to have a flair for the net and thus was quite good at putting the puck in the net. His offensive talents were quite good indeed, and no one questioned them at all. His 6’3’’ frame didn’t do much to ruin his case as he used to do well in the corners and was tough to move once he was set on getting the puck. Unfortunately, that was if he reached the puck before the defender, and in most races he was second. This was always his problem because his skating was horrid to put it nicely and if he has improved on that facet of his game he might become extremely valuable. His passing skills plus his pass first mindset made him one of the finer passers in the game. He could pick players with ease if you gave him open space and he was respected for that from his teammates and the opposition. Although many questioned the wisdom of not shooting more in Allison’s case because he had a good shot back then and most people were dumbfounded that he didn’t shoot more often.

Whatever Allison does this training camp, this will only be a positive for the Leafs who could use some positive news in terms of handling players. This way Allison will only have good things to say about the Leafs and perhaps he might even show up as a really good hockey player. His experience will be invaluable as well because I am sure some of the younger players on this team will go to him and ask for some great tips that he might have. His tips about playing in Toronto could certainly help out in the long run for some of the younger guys who don’t have many experienced players to ask. Allison will come out firing but will he be rusty or not is the main question that the coaches will have.

This certainly is going to be an interesting camp for everyone involved. He will be scrutinised to death by the Toronto media and I can guarantee that.

Sophomore Jinx: Luke Schenn?

A lot of attention will be paid towards the offensive side of the Leafs game and that makes sense since there is a lot of young talent there. Although I will keenly be observing Luke Schenn’s progress in his sophomore year. The second year for an athlete is considered the hardest, because of the expectations from the fans, coaches and general managers for a repeat performance or improved performance

.

Luke Schenn showed immense growth throughout last season, and his level of maturity can never be questioned. He handled himself so well that there are shouts for handing him the captaincy for the Leafs already. Obviously i wouldn’t go that far yet, because he has to show how consistent he can be plus how he can improve his game even further. Toronto is at times a tough place to grow as a hockey player but Schenn has handled himself exceptionally well in front of the media and on the ice. Everyone would like to see his offensive numbers go up and I am sure he has worked hard on that aspect of his game over the summer, but he will have to remember what his main job is and that’s stopping the offensive stars of the opposing team. He did that really well last year but will he be able to do the same thing this year, with the offensive stalwarts around the NHL knowing his weaknesses a little better than they did last year when he was new to the NHL?

He fits the belligerence and truculence requirements that Burke has set up for the team and that certainly won’t be a problem. It will be interesting to see who is paired up with all the changes that have been made over the off season. I am sure Wilson has something in mind; I would think he might be paired up with Beauchemin who is more offensively gifted then Schenn is. They could be a lesser version of the Leafs’ top defensive pairing which will most likely consist of Kaberle and Komisarek.

It will be interesting to see how much ice time he’s given this year with the amount of quality defensemen we have in the team. I would think he will still get a lot of time if he plays like he did last year, because he was crucial to whatever little success we had at the backend. Schenn will be keen to get started especially after all the success he had last year, but he should remember that good hockey players can be found anywhere... it’s the great ones that are hard to pick out. He needs to become a great NHL defenseman and he has all the potential in the world to become one if he stays focused on the task. He doesn’t come across as a kid who will stop working once the money starts rolling in, because if he stops working he might see himself gone really fast.

I hope Schenn has a fantastic sophomore season and he surprises everyone with the improvements he’s made over the summer. This certainly is shaping up to be quite a season even before the puck has been dropped.

Rookie Tourney Squad Announced

The rookie tourney that will be held in Kitchener is shaping up to be an exciting one for Leafs fans as the roster was released today. The roster includes names like Bozak, Viktor Stalberg, Mikhail Stefanovich, Nazem Kadri and Jonas Gustavsson.

Player	Position
Alex Berry	Forward
Jesse Blacker	Defence
Tyler Bozak	Forward
Joel Champagne	Forward
Jamie Devane	Forward
Andrew Engelage	Goaltender
Stefano Giliati	Forward
Richard Greenop	Forward
Carl Gunnarsson	Defence
Jonas Gustavsson	Goaltender
Christian Hanson	Forward
Nazem Kadri	Forward
John Kurtz	Forward
Simon Lacroix	Defence
Brandon Manning	Defence
Juraj Mikus	Defence
Dale Mitchell	Forward
James Reimer	Goaltender
Greg Scott	Forward
Robert Slaney	Forward
Barron Smith	Defence
Viktor Stalberg	Forward
Mikhail Stefanovich	Forward
Adam Wallace	Defence

Squad courtesy of mapleleafs.com

Weekly Roundup of Minor Leafs News

“Weekly roundup of Minor Leafs news” is what I have decided to start as a little feature here at TML Nation. Yes I know it’s a Tuesday and this doesn’t make any sense at all, but I am still going ahead with it. Although I will be doing this feature on Sundays only from here on in. This will basically consist of news that perhaps is not worthy of getting a full article on itself but good enough for a paragraph in this feature.

I hope you guys enjoy this as I will be giving my opinion on these little news stories as well.

First up is a little story about Nazem Kadri and how his dentist decided that the wisdom tooth comes before hockey. Therefore Nazem will not be playing in the Euro Can Cup this year due to his wisdom being snatched from him. I don’t think Nazem would really be missing much by skipping this year’s Euro Can Cup and thus perhaps it’s good he sits out. Also, hopefully tooth decay doesn’t become a permanent fixture otherwise the Toronto media might not be so pleased.

Another little snippet on Nazem Kadri as Brian Burke told the media that Nazdaq will certainly be lacing up the skates in one of the first two exhibition games the Leafs will play this year. Hopefully Nazem can pot in a hat trick and show Burke what he’s missing out on. There will be a lot of pressure on the young man to perform right away and we should ease up on him if he doesn’t do much in the first game. I don’t think he’s that kind of player who can make the jump into the NHL right away, he needs to be eased in slowly and methodically.

A lot of stuff has been said about the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan buying more of the MLSEL and thus supposedly making us worse. I don’t think they are exactly the ones that should be blamed for how woeful the Leafs have played over the years and especially the past 4 years. After all these guys teach the kids of Ontario so let’s all ease up on the nerds. There are many other aspects of the Toronto Maple Leafs that you can blame such as the actual players, coaches and General Managers. Although you have my go ahead to do whatever you like with Richard Peddie.

Komisarek seems all set to play for our rivals USA as he’s considered to be a certain pick for the final team. I think that’s the right move as he’s a good defender to have in the backend and clearly Burke values him a lot cause he just picked him up for the Leafs as well. It’ll be interesting how much hurt Komi lays out at the world level, I think he will be handing out big bruises and broken bones about every time he steps out on the ice... I might be underestimating him.

That’s all for this week and I hope you enjoyed this feature. As you can see Nazem’s dental history wasn’t really worth making an whole article on neither was his chance to play in the first exhibition game. Although the Teachers’ invasion on the Maple Leafs is certainly something to be concerned about it’s still not good enough for me. Komisarek was close to getting his own article as I was afraid for my family’s well being, I have unfortunately taken the risk...don’t worry about me if I don’t post for the next few weeks as I will be lying in the hospital from a Komisarek forecheck.

In all seriousness this was fun to do and I would like to see more comments from you guys.

Jason Blake Interview (Courtesy LeafsTV)

An Excellent interview by LeafsTV talking with Jason Blake about his battle with cancer and how it effected his season a few season back. Also, how he overcame the adversities of two years ago and made a strong comeback last season.

Some Excellent answers from Jason Blake and it seems that he has great character contradicting the New York media that made him out to be a negative influence in the dressing room. The way he handled being benched is classy and something other players should learn from.

Kessel Rumours Again?

There have been a lot of rumours spreading around saying that we are back in the hunt for Phil Kessel. I think it’s pure rubbish and I just don’t see it happening after the little miscommunication that went on between Burke and Chiarelli at the draft. There was a huge chance that a deal would have been made back then but after the mishap I just don’t see these two getting together to talk about Kessel again.

There is no doubt in anyones mind that Kessel would help our team immensely and would probably make our team extremely good. This is the only reason that would attract Brian Burke to Phil Kessel. I don’t see the problem being from Burke’s end but the reason this deal will not happen is the fact that Chiarelli won’t be willing to deal with Burke anymore on this player at least. Of course if Burke blows his socks off then he will have a deal, otherwise Burke will have to look elsewhere for his top six forward.

Rumours likes these are always spread around to create some excitement especially in Canadian cities where even the slightest of rumours will become national news in a few seconds. This rumour has just lost steam in my eyes and they are basically clutching at straws by drawing up this rumour out of thin air. I hope common sense prevails and people making the rumours stop with this nonsense which is entirely improbable. If I am proven to be wrong then shame on me but I don’t even see them discussing Kessel in trade talks let alone thinking of dealing him.

Also, recently Phil Kessel was asked about the rumours and he clearly seemed a little agitated by all this trade talk surrounding him. It would certainly help to see what his demands are before I label someone the bad guy but right now I think Kessel is in a poor position and Chiarelli is trying to see how the waiting game plays out. The Leafs certainly can’t be the only team interested in trading with the Briuns for Kessel, and this will most definitely factor in the final decision from Peter Chiarelli. I wish Kessel the best with whatever happens cause he sure is a fine player to watch even if he plays for the Bruins.

Mats Sundin's Future

There have been rumours floating around about Mats Sundin thinking of making a decision in the near future. Last season proved to only be about the Sundin saga and boy was it annoying. This year hopefully he will make a decision much faster because no one wants to go through that torture again. Hockeybuzz had a great time with his indecision no doubt about that with the amount of times he was rumoured to be going to every team in the NHL.

There are many reasons for me to write about Sundin and his possible return for another go at the cup everyone craves to hold at the end of the season. I think he might actually consider returning to the Leafs for his last season before he retires and heads back to his lavish house in Sweden. The Leafs are as of now lacking offensive star power and Sundin would clearly become that number one center we are looking for. Financially he would have to take a pay cut and I am sure he would be willing to do that to wear the Leafs jersey once again. The problem is that the Leafs are going down another path where only youngsters are allowed, Burke has been keen on keeping the team young and not adding too many veterans. Sundin is old and Burke would have to consider that before offering Sundin a contract. There is also the little dillemma of the Leafs not being a stanley cup contender thus Sundin would again be going through a losing season most likely even if they make the playoffs.

Due to the many problems behind the signing of Mats Sundin, Brian Burke will probably not even look down that road and just scratch this possibility off his list. This would certainly go down as an attempt for a quick fix and we all know those don’t work too often with the Maple Leafs. Plus it wouldn’t be nice to see Sundin have to go through the rigours of the regular season only to see the Leafs completely miss the playoffs or to lose in the first round after barely crawling into the last playoff spot. Mats Sundin will have to look at his option and perhaps he might even head back to Vancouver for another go with Luongo and the boys at the Stanley Cup. It’s a tough choice no doubt about it, but there certainly will be interest from a few teams that are a piece away from the cup. As long as he keeps his financial demands on the lower end of the spectrum he will easily find a home and a team where winning the cup is a real possiblity.

There is the option of retirement if he doesn’t find the right fit, but I just don’t see him retiring. If he does then good on him cause it’s really hard watching him play for another NHL team and scoring goals for them. Whatever he decides, he’s been a great player for the Leafs and will always remain a legend here in Toronto. Although please Mats let’s not make this too long for us poor souls.

Patrick Marleau Trade Rumour Analysis

A silly trade rumour has been making the circles recently and I am going to do a little review on it. The rumour was posted on Hockey Bums (not really the most reliable source) and it was released soon after San Jose’s coach decided that Marleau is not worthy of being captain in shark land. It seems that Big Joe will get the captaincy and rightly so, even if he doesn’t have much luck in the playoffs.

The trade is as follows....

To SJS:
Ian White
2011 2nd round pick
2011 2nd round pick
Jiri Tlusty
Mikhail Stefanovich

To TOR:
Patrick Marleau
Derek Joslin/Nick Petrecki

This is a trade that will never go down as it’s a complete rip off and Burke would never let that happen. Patrick Marleau doesn’t exactly love Ron Wilson to actually want to play for the Leafs after their first stint didn’t work out so well. Plus the Leafs will be giving a ton up with not a lot coming back.

To break this trade down... The Leafs will be getting a 1st line left winger and an excellent defensive prospect for an NHL ready defenseman, two excellent offensive prospects and two 2^nd rounders to top it off. This would be a huge steal for the Sharks.

In terms of the financial hit for the Leafs they will basically be adding 6.3 million for one year and then will be looking at having to face the fear of him moving away for nothing. Of course I don’t think the deal would go through anyways unless a contract was set in stone prior to the deal between the Leafs and Sharks. It wouldn’t make sense to sign him for one year as we are not really close to a stanley cup run to be looking for such quick fixes.

Even though the chances of this trade going through are almost nil, it’s always interesting to look through the offers and analyze them and see if we would win the trade or not. Clearly this is a big no no if you are Brian Burke and would reek of desperation if such a trade were to go through.

Blake an All-Star?

Jason Blake recently made the NHL All-star lineup for players over the age of 35 and I am quite shocked myself. There are some high quality players around the league that are over 35 and Jason Blake is not really the first guy you think of when you are picking you starting lineup consisting of 35+ (age that is) players. It seems the people who picked this list are either trying to focus on him because he plays for the Leafs or due to his battle with cancer. I am not knocking Jason Blake as he was quite good last year but that doesn’t mean he deserves to make this list.

Goalie: Martin Brodeur

Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermeyer

Forwards: Teemu Selanne, Slava Kozlov, Jason Blake

There are some high quality players in that list and it’s surprising to see Jason Blake in it. One thing that Blake still impresses people with is the fact he’s a speedy skater for his age, and he can probably skate with the best of them and still come out on top. He was also a big part of the Leafs offense last season and thus probably got the vote as well. The reasoning given by the NHL is as follows...

“Talk about a late bloomer: Blake didn't play his first NHL game until he was 25 and didn't break the 20-goal mark until he was 29. Since then, though, he's had five seasons of 20 or more goals, including a 40-goal performance in 2006-07, and led Toronto in scoring last season with 25 goals and 63 points. Blake is one of the NHL's quickest skaters, and though he's just 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, he's more than willing to get into traffic to score goals. He was the Leafs' best forward for much of last season.” (nhl.com)

The players that I feel should have made this list ahead of Jason Blake are Daniel Alfredsson, Mark Recchi and Alexei Kovalev. Those that disagree with me can have a viable rebuttal by saying that Alfredsson and Kovalev play on the right wing thus were not put in the list. If that’s the reasoning then perhaps you can put him in the list although Recchi at 40 years of age is as good as Blake in my opinion. It’s rare for a Leafs fans to argue against his own player, but this selection is a lame one and deserves to be argued against. Jason Blake has had quite a few goals but with the amount of shots he was taking you would think he was Ovechkin or something.

In the end the decision has been made and Blake is the winner, we should be happy as Leafs fan to see one our our older guys being appreciated and that too for his offensive abilities on the ice. I hope he has another great season and proves me wrong by scoring 50 goals (even half of that would be fine :p).

HF Releases Rankings for Leafs Prospects

So the Rankings are out and they look just about right in my eyesFor those that aren’t familiar with these grades mean here is an explanation. The numbers beside a player’s name show how much potential a player has with 1 representing mediocre and 10 representing Crosbyesque skills. The letter (A-F) tell the reader how likely it is for the player to actually follow through on their potential, thus A would represent almost certainly will reach potential and F represents“he should choose another sport perhaps”.

Maple Leafs Top 20 at a glance

1. (NR) Nazem Kadri, C – 8.0 C
2. (NR) Jonas Gustavsson, G – 7.5 B
3. (3) Mikhail Stefanovich, C – 7.5 C
4. (18) Tyler Bozak, C – 7.5 C
5. (6) Viktor Stalberg, LW – 7.5 C
6. (4) Jimmy Hayes, RW – 7.0 C
7. (NR) Kenny Ryan, RW – 7.0 C
8. (NR) Jesse Blacker, D – 7.0 C
9. (5) Chris DiDomenico, C – 7.5 D
10. (NR) Christian Hanson, RW – 6.5 B
11. (9) James Reimer, G – 7.0 C
12. (8) Dale Mitchell, RW – 6.5 C
13. (NR) Jerry D’Amigo, LW – 6.5 C
14. (14) Phil Oreskovic, D – 6.0 B
15. (16) Jerome Flaake, LW – 6.5 C
16. (11) Matt Frattin, RW – 7.0 D
17. (13) Joel Champagne, C – 6.0 C
18. (NR) Carl Gunnarsson, D – 6.0 C
19. (NR) Robert Slaney, LW – 6.0 C
20. (NR) Jamie Devane, LW – 6.0 D

Nazem Kadri as expected is topping the list and rightly so cause he certainly is our best prospect right now. According to HF Nazem Kadri has excellent potential and is quite likely to follow through on it. It’s also interesting to see Gustavvson high up on the list, to be specific he’s second with a rating of 7.5B. He seems to have a great shot at reaching his potential according to HF that is. We have quite a good batch of youngsters in the cupboard and that can only bode well for the future of our beloved team. We may have a lack of top 6 talent in our team right now, but there certainly is a good batch of youngsters who could become top 6 forwards for the Leafs in the near future.

None of the ratings were over the top and I thought they were well thought out and pretty much on the spot. Burke has done a good job in replenishing what was quite a pathetic prospect pool, and has turned into one where we could actually be hopeful of a bright future offensively and defensively.

Acton won the Lottery (ROFL)

Leafs news is so rare these days that we are having major newspapers start to write about things such as Chelios asking for a job, countdown to the first preseason game and today the fact that Acton won the lottery and is $98585 richer. I assure you that when I am thinking of topics to write personal lives of players are never an option as this is not gossip land. Although once the news is out what can I do as it was this time with Acton.

Since I didn’t have much to write about today I will write what may end up being one of the worst pieces in the history of Leafs blogging... not Hockey blogging cause no one can outdue the anonymous liar Eklund and his wild imagination. If he got his way we would have traded Kaberle for every single player in the league ...twice. This is not going to be a rant on Eklund so stop drooling, this is not your lucky day.

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Firstly I will be looking at the significance of Keith Acton winning the lottery. As you can see Burke is smart and he knows the value of Acton and his luck. Unfortunately his luck didn’t pay dividends in the past years for the Leafs but perhaps they will this time. If the Leafs don’t win just with his luck then at least they will have some lucky hands to go out into the world and buy them all some winning lottery tickets. Ever noticed that many times the guys who win the lottery tickets are already making enough money that the win becomes insignificant to their bank balance.

I didn’t get to pay my tribute to Ted Kennedy and would like to do that in this little paragraph. I didn’t get to see him cause I was still in the heavens somewhere plotting my entry into this world. You can tell though that he was quite the leader and one the Leafs would love to have right now in the team. The way he influenced people who watched him seems extraordinary and he certainly was a good player as well to boot. It’s sad to see a member of Leafs lose his life but he will always be remembered even by those that were unfortunate to not see him play when the Leafs were actually decent. We will miss you Ted no doubt about it.

Did Anyone see those new jerseys for Team Canada? Not exactly the best designing job but who cares cause they’ll sell anyways. I know I will be buying one not sure who’s name I would like to have on the back of it. Perhaps Iginla cause he’s a great player to watch and does everything a captain should be doing. Don’t suggest Crosby cause I don’t like him.. I like Ovechkin. Yes, I know who whole “he went to two finals, won one...what has Ovechkin done? “ . Who cares? I like Ovechkin.

If you actually read this then you truly are bored, cause I don’t know how I’ve written this piece but I guess through this little article I got to share my views on a few topics. Hopefully my next article will be a little better and of higher quality compared to this one.