TML Nation

Bay Street Bullies win 5-4!!

2009-09-19T20:16:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-09-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-04T12:52:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-02T11:20:00.001-07:00

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)

2009-09-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-08-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

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.

**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)

2009-08-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-08-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-26T16:00:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

“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)

2009-08-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-08-18T10:52:00.001-07:00

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.

Chris Chelios (asks for job with Leafs)

2009-08-17T18:03:00.001-07:00

**Hey readers... It would be nice if you guys would comment on the articles as it will create discussion here at TML Nation. Also through your comments I will be able to learn more about the way my readers think.**

Chris Chelios recently asked Ron Wilson if he could get a job with the Maple Leafs (thanks to The Sun for breaking this news). He’s certainly one of the greatest American players to have played the game and there is no doubt he was serious when he asked this question due to his passion for the game. Obviously, that doesn’t mean you get sentimental and give a 47 year old a job on your team.

It’s clear that he is a passionate player who will do anything to lace up the skates and play in the NHL one more time. The problem is that he was starting to slow down and it seems his body is starting to say “It’s time retire Chris”, while his mind is saying “Come on Chris you’re still young!”. Seriously, if Chris came up and asked Wilson the same question perhaps 10 years ago, he would have been signed before he could say anything else, unfortunately he just asked way too late.

There are many reasons why he wouldn’t even be considered these days, firstly we have an abundance of defenders and are already going to be sitting out NHL ready defensemen due to the amount of guys we have. Chris Chelios certainly has all the traits that Burke covets from his players but he lacks in one thing that even he can’t change and that’s age. The amount of experience he has is invaluable and the amount of respect Burke has for him is clear as he has Chris at the US Camp to help with the players.

There is one thing though that should be done now that Chelios has started to talk a bit. Perhaps we could offer him a job helping the players because the amount of knowledge he has on all aspects of the game could help our youth big time. Obviously, it seems that Chris is just not ready to give up his pursuit for a contract, and as usual he’s putting up a fight until the end and you have to commend him for that no doubt about it. I wish he gets a contract cause he’s been one of my favourite players over the years just for the way he approaches the game and the way he conducts himself with the fans, media and his own teammates. If players want a role model to follow then Chris Chelios certainly wouldn’t be a bad choice.

We can all hope that he gets what he wants, but I am sure Burke will always have a spot open for him and if he doesn’t then he will probably create a new position just for Chelios. Sadly, that position won’t be on the ice I am afraid. Thanks for asking though Chris.

Hagman Underrated?

2009-08-16T22:06:00.001-07:00

Niklas Hagman is not one of those players who is keen on staying in the spotlight and he somehow manages to stay away from the media even in such a hockey crazy city like Toronto. Unfairly though he seems to go unnoticed even when he’s playing well and this is just not right in my eyes. I think he deserves more praise then he is given. He played his heart out last season yet is rarely mentioned and someetimes is completely missed by people in their lineup predictions (now that’s silly).

He certainly is one of the most underrated Leafs I have ever seen. He doesn’t seem to get any positive or negative feedback from the fans no matter what he does. The problem is that if he makes one mistake next season fans will get on him as if he’s never done anything for the Leafs. We need to start noticing these players and not just consider them as extra pieces in the team that might not be here later on. Niklas Hagman has always been a team player and certainly doesn’t mind not being in the spotlight although any player would want to be appreciated by the fans for his good play by chanting his name in appreciation. Unfortunately, fans feel players like Belak deserve praise (when he was here) yet guys like Hagman don’t. I don’t blame the fans though as they are a loyal bunch and appreciate their players, it’s just that he’s portrayed as a quiet guy and no one seems to notice him from the media. I think it should be the media’s goal to get this guy on TV more as he probably has a lot of insight to offer. Sometimes he performs really well but the media still focuses on other guys much more intensely then they do for the actual guy who won the game.

Why does Hagman deserve more attention from the fans? He’s a fantastic all around player, he can score with his snappy shot which is deadly accurate as we have seen him serve up some top cheese in games. His passes are on the money most of the time due to his superbly developed hockey smarts. One thing no one can put him down for is the fact his defensive game is top class for a forward of his scoring prowess. He certainly was one of the better signings by Fletcher, it’s understandable if a guy like Stempniak goes unrecognised but someone who is putting up good numbers deserves a bit more respect don’t you think?

I didn’t write this article to tell fans that Hagman is 1^st line material, but I certainly think he deserves a spot on the 2^nd line ahead of players like Stempniak that’s for sure. I hope fans start appreciating his game more and more as next season goes along.

MIkhail Stefanovich

2009-08-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Maple Leafs have an interesting prospect in Mikhail Stefanovich and he’s certainly one guy I am looking forward to seeing play with the big club soon. The question is will he make the big team right away by blowing away his coaches or will he go to the Marlies for a warm up year. The belief around most of the Leafs’ fans is that he will be going to the Marlies to gain more experience and strength before he plays for the Leafs.

I think that would be an excellent move because Dallas Eakins will teach him the fine points of the game and this will hopefully make him a much better player then he is right now. There is no doubt that Stefanovich has top level potential, because he can score goals like the best of them at his level. He has been spoken highly of from the likes of Patrick Roy who was his coach before. 49 goals is a nice haul even if it was acheived in the QMJHL and he should be proud of scoring that many goals.

The reports on this kid are that he has a fine shot and he is quite a flashy player. The Leafs require a couple of players like him who can just pick apart the other team’s defense by simply dangling right past them. There are hopes that he can translate this into the NHL with the better Defenseman. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how his season fares in the AHL.

Kabs Staying!

2009-08-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

After all of the media coverage nothing happened. Tomas Kaberle will remain a Maple Leaf unless he decides that he needs a change of scenary. Most people know that Kaberle is not interested in leaving the Leafs at all because he’s quite comfortable with the city and the fans. He has never really had a bad reputation with the fans and never will because he’s too nice of a guy to not like and appreciate.

The Defensive side of the game for the Leafs will be solid indeed next year, as the back end will provide a good mix of offence and defence for the Leafs throughout the tiring regular season. There can only be one reason for Burke not trading Tomas Kaberle and that reason is basically Burke not getting the right offer for Kaberle. The asking price was always a tad high and no one was going to meet it unless they were desperate, clearly no one was desperate enough to give Burke three major components of their assets.

Let’s not focus on what Tomas Kaberle will bring to our newly patched up defensive batch. He will certainly add the offensive numbers that this defensemen were getting ridiculed for. We all know they can defend their zone but points are a problem. Kaberle if he can get back to his old groove will provide those numbers and make this back end one of the toughest in the league. Kaberle will certainly be getting a lot of minutes and his usual powerplay spot as playmaker. It seems as if his partner on the powerplay will be Beauchemin which is a sound pairing to have back there. We all know Francois has a superlative shot just like Kubina and Kaberle is one of the smoothest passers of the puck. We all hope the chemistry between them is good otherwise we could have one disastrous season in terms of our powerplay numbers.

As for his partner in five on five situations, I would have to say that he will lace up with Komisarek because Burke has been keen on stating the fact that Kaberle will do better with more toughness surrounding him. I think these two could be as deadly as markov and Komisarek were a few years back. Of course Markov is a fantastic Defenseman but Kaberle is not to shabby himself. We will now have a puck carrying defenseman and that problem can now be put to bed.

We all hope he does well and proves Burke right in keeping him. If he doesn’t do well then Burke will certainly have to answer the critics for not pulling the trigger on a deal when Kaberle’s value was still respectable.

The John Mitchell Conundrum

2009-08-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

John Mitchell was brilliant last season and one would think he will be in the starting lineup against the Canadiens in our season opener. The problem lies with the amount of players we have who are able to do his job. Unfortunately, he’s not a top six forward although he could become one as he develops. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind about his superb shot. The two goals against New York Rangers showed us how good his shot can be.

The acquisitions of bottom six personnel has somewhat ruined his chances of making the team especially with the trade bringing Primeau into the team. In normal circumstances I would still go with John Mitchell over Primeau but it fully depends on Ron Wilson and his willingness to drop a veteran forward like Wayne.

There are many other players within the Leafs cupboard that would love to get a shot in training camp to impress the coaches into giving them a spot. John Mitchell will certainly have to bring his game if he wants to even have a shot in making this team. It would be a gutsy move by Ron Wilson to plug Mitchell into the 2^nd line but you never know he could exceed with the extra ice time like he did last year. It’s really hard to take players like Mitchell off the team because they work so hard and are determined to make their case heard. He’s a fantastic player in both aspects of the game and Ron Wilson will know all about that. A responsible forward in the defensive part of the game is crucial to any team.

There are people in the NHL that question his skating although I would disagree because he seemed to get better and better with his skating as the games progressed and he got more ice time. He’s a hard worker and he knows that skating is a part of his game that he will have to work on and don’t expect a half hearted effort from him either, he’ll surely have worked on it throughout the summer. I hope he gets a fair chance to prove himself because he’s slowly but surely becoming a fan favourite in Toronto because of his work ethic.

Balsillie The Drama Queen (Blames Leafs)

2009-08-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

Jim Balsillie is a fantastic businessman and it’s not really hard to figure out why he’s adamant on bringing the Coyotes to Hamilton. I don’t really care which way this battle goes because I will only be cheering for the Leafs. If this means more chances for me getting tickets to Leafs’ games then that’s great cause this new team could prove to be a filter to get rid of the wannabe fans.

I don’t have a special interest in Balsillie’s attempts although I don’t like his continuous blame game approach to this whole deal. This whole process should have been handled in a much more professional manner then it has and Balsillie is fully to blame. There was no need of going public with his ideas and in fact I think he’s ruined his chances by bringing so much publicity to this whole deal. Bettman perhaps wouldn’t have been so rough with Balsillie if Jim had been more private in his approach and rather less forceful then he’s been. The deal is a fantastic one in terms of the financial value for the current Coyotes’ owner Jerry Moyes. He obviously doesn’t care if the team gets moved cause he has debt to take care of and that’s his first priority.

The recent blame game that caused me to write this article is him saying Richard Peddie is holding him down from getting the team. I think we all know that Peddie is trying his level best to convince Bettman and the other owners that Jim is not worthy of being an owner. It’s typical of any businessman to do this because he wants to protect his business which would be hampered by a new team and in business every cent counts. I don’t care if the Leafs are a rich team, Peddie knows that he will lose severe business to Hamilton and Balsillie if this deal goes through. As fans a new team would be a good move cause it would get Peddie and his boys off their butts and cause them to actually try and create a winning team. The fact that irked me about Balsillie’s blaming display towards Peddie is the fact that yet again he’s gone public to sell his case to the fans and everyone else related to this case. I think he’s being quite childish and to those that will say if Peddie can do what he’s doing then why not Balsillie? Well, because Peddie isn’t going to the media and saying everything. This stuff should stay behind doors and he definitely hasn’t won any points from MLSE after his comments. They will probably not even talk to him anymore and this certainly won’t help his chances.

I love his intentions and it’ll be great to have two teams in this market, but he needs to retool his approach and make this slightly easier on the fans and stop blabbing to the media whenever he thinks someone is cheating him. He’s a gossip queen in my eyes and he needs to stop with his behaviour of blaming others to spice up the game.

Leafs & Rivals

2009-08-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Have the Leafs done enough to be classified as better then their rivals? Well Ross Mckeon from Yahoo sports thinks we’re better then the Sens. Check his article at...

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AnZ5U9fndkKkNTGXqKmO4XoJfwM6?slug=rm-nhlpower081209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I am not so happy about the ranking the Leafs got in his list but even he thought we are better then the Sens. The Question is though are we better then them or the Montreal Canadiens? The Leafs over the off season have added muscle, grit and great defensive ability which certainly boosts their rankings but not much if Mckeon’s is the guy doing them. Defence has always been underestimated and with such a solid and well rounded unit of defenceman it will be interesting to see how we fare this season compared to weaker defensive teams such as the Sens and Canadiens.

Now Back to comparing the Leafs with the Sens and Canadiens, we see that over the summer the Canadiens have gotten shorter but much faster and offensively quite strong. The Sens have signed Kovy (that’s Kovalev not Kovalchuk) who for me won’t be that good next year while trying to adjust to the Sens’ system. The Leafs have the upper hand on the Sens not because of the talent but because of all the issues they are going through at this point in time with Heatley and I feel he might become a huge distraction this year for them. We must also remember that the Sens have acquired Pascal Leclaire and he might just make a huge difference in net for the Sens.The Canadiens will be a better team then up because they have a decent bunch of Dmen and they have quality forwards.

It’s sad to say that they will be the better team next year, but I think we will do much better then Ross Mckeon is suggesting and we will certainly have a tough time catching Montreal due to their well rounded team. In my previous articles I have stated many times that the speed at which the Leafs gel will tell us how far this team will go this year. If they just don’t click then we might be worse then the Sens, Canadiens and basically every other team. It could go the opposite way and we might just end up in 6^th place (don’t tell me you thought I was going to say they would end up in 1^st place).

We will have to wait and see which of these three teams will be the best after their offseason moves and who will stink up the house.

Coaches Will Be Crucial

2009-08-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

Brian Burke has now pretty much wrapped up his off season work and we all aware of the signings and deals that Burke has made in his first off season as GM. The question now is how will Ron Wilson bring these guys together to form one strong cohesive unit? Will the new players buy into Ron Wilson’s system and sometimes his upfront and bitter behaviour with players?

These are all things that will be of serious interest amongst Maple Leafs’ fans. Ron Wilson is known to focus on the defensive side of the game heavily and now he has pretty much a dream defensive six and he will have to show his magic to make them unbeatable. Ron Wilson is certainly a perfectionist and he doesn’t like any laziness on the ice and he makes sure he gets his message across. This really shouldn’t be a problem because classy guys like Komisarek and Beauchemin rarely show up to a game unprepared. Ron Wilson’s work will certainly be cut out on the offensive side of things where he has barely any star power to work with. Of course a coach can’t have everything but I am sure he is happy that the players he has are known to work hard for the team they play for and they all give 110% on the ice.

Ron Wilson will be crucial this year in the development of the youngsters and seeing from the work he did last year on the rookies we shouldn’t be worried to much about Wilson. I might not be expecting results from the Leafs but I certainly would like to see some hustle and effort along with certain plans being used on the ice effectively to shut down a team. The Leafs aren’t fooling anyone with the fact that we won’t be winning games by huge margins and this is why it will be crucial that all the stay at home defensemen we have accumalated show their skills every single shift.

One thing you have to love about Ron Wilson is the fact that due to his perfectionist mindframe he rarely misses the details thus resulting in the Leafs’ never being behind the eight ball. Also the way he picks out players who aren’t trying their hardest or aren’t doing things properly is fantastic and a trait that many coaches sometimes don’t perfect thus resulting in losing careers. Minor details are key and the assistant coaches are crucial, the staff last year was solid so this shouldn’t be a problem. The addition of the goalie coach Francois Allaire hopefully will bring some strength to Toskala’s goaltending and with luck elevate Gustavvson into our future starting goalie.

These are all things that we will need to watch out for because these coaches will have to step up the game if the Leafs expect this rebuild to be successful.

The Kovalchuk Sweepstakes

2009-08-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Will the Leafs get Ilya Kovalchuk next summer? This is a question that will certainly be contemplated more and more as next summer approaches and the rumours will certainly swirl. Everyone knows that Ilya won’t even look at the contract until he is certain that the Thrashers are heading in the right direction. They have made some decent moves but is it enough to lure Kovalchuk into signing a contract with the Thrashers again? This is the question and one most people would love to have answered by the man himself, unfortunately he’s too smart for that and will wait it out till the end.

Now the Leafs if given the option will have an interesting player to contemplate over. There is no reason why an offer wouldn’t be made even if it isn’t what Kovalchuk wants. It’s a given that every NHL team would love to have him on their team but who can afford him will show up who the real players are in the Kovy sweepstakes. The Leafs will certainly have enough money to throw at Ilya but one has to wonder what the maximum is that they can offer. There were rumours about Atlanta considering giving Ilya the maximum and if they decide to do that then perhaps it’s time for Don Waddell to turn off NHL 09 for a while and snap back to reality. There is no player in the NHL worth the maximum. This is not a one man show where one guy does everything. If Ilya is looking for that kind of money he will only get it from the Thrashers so he better lower his expectations big time.

Brian Burke will certainly show an interest in Ilya who might just be the final piece to this never ending puzzle. A proven 50 goal scorer is exactly what the current team needs but Burke and Nonis will know that if they offer to much then they may be risking the Leafs’ future and that’s never a good thing.

Ilya has been a fantastic player for the Thrashers and his stats from last year show that he’s certainly not lost his touch. The real positive and perhaps a negative is that he can score a ton of goals no matter who you put on his line. Unfortunately that’s a huge negative as well because he basically hogs the puck and I am sure Wilson would have none of that no matter who the guy is. We all know Ilya is probably one of the best pure snipers in the game and he can dangle the puck at will around high calibre defenseman. This is something you love to have on your team.

If you were to ask me if the Leafs will go after Ilya next summer, my answer would be yes. If you were to ask me if they will sign Ilya, I would have to say NO. Simply because some idiot will come and sign him to the maximum and regret it for the rest of his life. If that idiots doesn’t show up then Ilya will certainly get an interesting offer from the Leafs. We all know that Ilya would love to play in a hockey hotbed because he loves the attention, but would he be willing to lower his financial expectations a little bit?

Dave Nonis: The Actual Mastermind?

2009-08-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

They say behind every successful man there is a woman, well in this scenario behind every successful GM there is his Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations (yikes that was weird). Well what I am trying to say is that Dave Nonis has really been influential in this whole ”Rebuilding” process starting from the draft all the way to the signing of Joey Macdonald. Brian Burke has really picked a gem in this guy to carry around with him wherever he goes, in fact I wouldn’t mind Nonis as our GM instead of Burke,I feel he’s that good.

Brian Burke has gotten all the praise from the media because he’s upfront and honest with what he says. Dave Nonis is not like that in fact he’s probably the exact opposite of Burke and in a hockey hotbed like Toronto it’s sometimes smart to have opposite personalities in crunch situations. I am sure Nonis pulled Burke out of some big trades because of the long term affects financially and on the ice that perhaps Burke missed. Nonis is not given enough praise for his excellent eye for talent and his unbelievable ability to sign players for bargain contracts. While Burke was in Sweden handling the Gustavvson issue (for which he deserves full credit) Nonis handled the free agency and the amount of trust Burke has in this man shows his credentials as a top hockey man. Dave Nonis signed Komisarek to a fantastic contract, he inked up Orr quickly and got that out of the way and then I am sure later on he had a hand in Beauchemin’s contract as well. The interesting part of Nonis’ work is that he knows the ins and outs of the contractual part of the game and that’s an excellent quality to have as a management personnel because many general managers are tricked by little things here and there that agents do to get their players the better deal.

The Roberto Luongo trade is known by everyone as a masterclass robbery and we can’t expect him to get those type of deals done with Burke because all the other GMs certainly wouldn’t want to get fleeced like Florida did. The patience of Dave Nonis is what sucks other general managers into making poor decisions and it seems he’s passed on this trait to Brian Burke, with patience you reduce the chance of getting fleeced big time.

If you look at the most recent move of signing Joey Macdonald it seems quite obvious that Nonis was the one who recommended this goalie because in his interviews he seemed to know a whole lot about this kid. Perhaps Macdonald will turn out to be an average goalie but there is an equal chance of him becoming a stunning goalie for the Marlies and an excellent replacement if an injury occurs.

Praise is something Leafs management aren’t used to but for a guy like Nonis no matter how much you praise him it’s not enough. We all hope Nonis and his calm demeanour take the Leafs all the way one day, but we know Burke will be needed as well to solve this puzzle.

Mr. Role Model: Nazem Kadri

2009-08-10T22:14:00.001-07:00

One wonders how a single player can have such an influence on one community but when you look at Kadri’s character it all begins to make sense. Nazem Kadri when drafted in Montreal sent shockwaves through Toronto some were negative and some positive as most people were expecting Brayden Schenn to don a Leafs jersey.Though I am not going to be discussing Nazem’s talent in this article instead his off ice affect in Toronto will be discussed.

Nazem Kadri ‘s mere selection has already got Muslim youngsters interested in the game. Perhaps an untapped talent will be discovered if these youngsters who are used to cricket and soccer begin to take up hockey. Nazem just with his background has given muslim youth around Toronto a professional athlete in the NHL to look up to as their own. Now I certainly don’t want to make this a race issue because these Muslim kids can look up to quite a few of the classy players around the league and I am sure they do but Nazem’s affect is different and perhaps more attractive to these youngsters. I have seen a lot of Muslim kids take up hockey with their friends or at least inquire about the game and this is certainly a step in the right direction.

It’ll be interesting to see if Nazem gives back to the kids who have begun to look up to him and I am sure if he puts in a little effort off the ice he will perhaps become the most influential Leafs player in the team. All this talk about untapped talent makes me wonder about all of those kids who just can’t afford the gear to play or simply don’t know anything about the game. Even if a small portion of these kids try out hockey and like it then we will perhaps see a revolution in hockey. Nazem is known to be a great guy off the ice and I am sure he will be keen to do his part in this and that might lead him to becoming a great leader for the Leafs (sadly in my eyes he won’t get the “C” cause Schenn will have it) and he will make a great leader for the community.

Although we must remember that before he starts spending time in the community, he needs to excel on the ice and that should be his first priority. He looked decent on the ice at the development camp last week and it seems that after another season or two in London he will become a good player for the leafs. One thing that wasn’t talked about a lot in regards to the development camp was the mere fact that Kadri really does show some superb leadership skills as he goes out of his way to help other guys and the guys really like him as a teammate. This certainly bodes well for the Leafs who really don’t need a young rookie with a poor attitude at this point in time. Poor attitude was the exact reason for the Leafs not going after Zherdev in the first place.

In the end we all hope that he is a positive influence in the community because a true role model is certainly something people in Toronto would love to have.

Luke "Captain" Schenn

2009-08-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

“A leader by its meaning is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to follow him.” Luke Schenn is going to be the next captain for our dearly loved Maple Leafs if Burke gets his way and most fans would concur with him on this. If we compare Luke Schenn’s character to the definition of leader I think he fits the bill of a leader flawlessly. Luke proved to us in his rookie year that he is prepared to go first and lead the way even though he is only 19. He led by example many times when he went out of his way to help out a teammate in need of help and this quality is an excellent one to have as a captain.

Although in my opinion a leader also should be someone who is devoted to the team’s goal and will strive to acheive it no matter what. Luke Schenn loses out to some extent here, not because he’s not dedicated to the goal but the fact that he hasn’t been playing long enough to show his loyalty. The fire in Luke’s eyes whenever he strides around the ACC ice is enough for one to agree that this guy will never give up no matter what hardship pops up in front of him. Luke is that kind of guy who will always turn up on the ice as a leader even if the coach decides to place the “C” on another guy’s jersey. Players like Schenn don’t need a letter to tell them their role because they are born with leadership qualities and the passion to succeed.

There have been suggestions from around the Leafs that Kaberle is a possible choice for captain but does he really come across as a leader? I would say yes he does come across as a leader, there is no problem with one being a quiet leader because sometimes those quiet guys are the best captains due to their immense knowledge of the game. The problem with Kaberle is not with him but with the management who seem to want to send him away and thus making him captain and seeing him traded away would be bizarre and unreasonable. Mike Komisarek and Beauchemin are decent nominees for the captaincy slot but they have just arrived and it would be awkward to make one of them captain due to their unfamilarity with the team and it’s goals.

This is why Luke Schenn is going to be our captain, perhaps some of you will say that he becomes our captain by default due to the lack of star power on our team but you have to realize that captaincy is not about star power instead it’s about heart, determination and loyalty which Schenn seems to be showing quite evidently. Does this mean we thrust the captaincy on his young shoulders right away? Not exactly. The general consensus is that we should wait perhaps a year or two until Schenn matures as a player and shows a certain level of consistency with his defensive play before making him captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. We obviously don’t know how he interacts with the players in the dressing room but whenever a Maple Leaf has been popped the question in regards to Schenn’s leadership qualities the answer is always positive. Once you start getting positive remarks from your teammates then you know that you are doing something right.

Nazem Kadri's Training Camp (WJC)

2009-08-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

As we all know the training camp for the Canadian Junior Hockey team is going on this week. Nazem Kadri is the only Maple Leafs representative at this camp and all Leafs’ fans are keenly looking at how he does with the top juniors in the world playing around him. I have for you a little update in regards to Nazem’s display at the camp so far.

He has been been tried with different players such as Taylor Hall and Kozun already and today with Taylor Hall and Nemisz. It seems the staff are keen on keeping Hall and Kadri on the same line and that’s fair after looking at the amount of skill between the two.

Now in regards to Kadri’s play at the camp he has been decent but not overly impressive. He has done most things right but is still making silly mistakes when they play mini games. This stuff can be ironed out as he participates more in this training camp but it’ll be a slight worry for the Canadian coaches. Nazem has had some trouble with maintaining built up offensive pressure due to his constant turnovers in his own zone.

There have been some positives though from Kadri as he has shown good playmaking abilities at the camp although none of it has shown in the actual games they’ve played. Although it seems that the coaches have seen enough positives to maintain their stance on where he will play in the upcoming World Junior Championships and that’s in the top two lines. Nazem has shown good finishing touch as well in some of the little drills they have run but nothing special that has stood out. Nazem has certainly improved with his fitness and seems like he’s putting in time at the gym for sure. His overall speed is excellent and it surely will help him in the NHL as he tries to accelerate past top defenseman.

I will make sure that Nazem’s progress in the training camp is blogged about here because it’s always nice to know what your top prospect is up to.

Justin Pogge Traded

2009-08-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Justin Pogge has been trade to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional late round pick which can become a higher pick if Pogge's play gets better with the Ducks

It seemed inevitable after Burke telling us that he would find Pogge a place where he can excel and has a chance to make progress as a goalie. The trade to happen and no one will question Burke on that aspect.

On a side note the Leafs have signed Joey Macdonald for the backup position behind Reimer.

The Next Big Thing: Jiri Tlusty?

2009-08-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

We have quite a few youngsters in this team that many of us will be keenly looking for and hopefully all of them will do well with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although there is one youngster that interests me a lot over the others and one I feel will do the most damage with the Leafs this year and his name is Jiri Tlusty. Sure he might not be a rookie anymore but he’s still young and hasn’t shown what he’s truly capable of doing.

His exploits in the AHL were seen by most of the NHL community and he’s certainly been talked about in trade talks with Burke as a throw in piece for some trades. Brian Burke is clearly an intelligent man and knows when he has a gem and when he doesn’t. Jiri Tlusty is a gem that has just started to shine and luckily Brian Burke has realized this. Obviously we aren’t sure whether his AHL numbers from last season will result into great numbers at the highest level but they certainly are promising considering the AHL is a tough league and to score like he did at that level is not easy.

We have all seen Jiri Tlusty in the past showing excellent creativity with his playmaking abilities and finishing exploits but they’ve always been far and few between at the NHL level. His skating ability has always been one of his positive skills and he seems to use them to his advantage a lot less then I would hope for from him. The positive is that he used all of these skills brilliantly in the AHL with the Marlies last year and thus showed the Leafs’ management that he truly deserves a shot in the top six with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron Wilson will surely give him a shot if he shines at training camp and in the pre-season games and it’s really in Jiri’s hands in regards to whether he will deliver the goods in those games.

There are a few negative features of his game that he will need to iron out before becoming a certainty in this Leafs lineup and one of those features is his poor defensive awareness. It’s not so poor that he is caught with his head between his legs each time, but it’s poor enough to send him back to the AHL again. There are little intricacies in his game that he will have to pan out before he becomes an valuable asset for this Leafs’ team. Physicality has also deprived him with longer stints in the NHL previously and I am sure he is trying to make amends by going to the gym to bulk up a bit and add some muscle to his frame. All of his negative aspects can be corrected with a little hard work over the off season on the ice and off it.

I certainly feel he will make an impact and one that will put him perhaps on the top line with the Maple Leafs next season. This is not to take anything away from youngsters like Jonas Gustavvsson, Tyler Bozak, Kulemin, Kadri (who probably won’t play) and Hanson who are going to be great as well but I don’t think they’ll make the type of impact Jiri will. It’s just a gut feeling but Jiri might be the next big thing in Toronto.

Our Enigma: Vesa Toskala

2009-08-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Vesa Toskala had a mediocre season last year to put it nicely. When he was acquired from the San Jose Sharks we all thought we had found a great goalie who was being wasted behind a superstar goalie like Nabokov. Vesa Toskala was decent when he came to the Leafs and he showed great promise behind Andrew Raycroft. Unfortunately, he has always excelled being behind another goalie who is capable of playing a lot of games. This does not bode well for his future as a Leaf and he was clearly reprieved from deportation because of his injury troubles.

He has all the tools to become a fantastic goalie and now he has seen the pressure that comes with being a starting goalie in this city of hockey lovers. If his problem was injuries then one has to question his honesty with himself and his teammates. The hiding of his injury just made him play worse and worse thus causing management to start questioning his work ethic. He presumably is back to his healthy self and is roaring to have another go at one of the toughest positions in sports.

Fans will be all over him if he fails and they won’t be patient this time around and excuses certainly won’t work with the defence in front of him now. Also, the signing of “The Monster” will certainly keep him working hard and that’s all Leafs’ fans want in the end from Vesa. Will he step up and keep Jonas Gustavvson away from the starting spot? We hope so because that would mean playoffs for Toronto fans.

Another failure will mean the exit of Vesa Toskala from Toronto. I don’t care what spin Brian Burke will put on it, Vesa will be gone if he doesn’t show what he’s capable of doing and that’s dominating snipers around the NHL.

Season	GPI	Min	W	L	OT	GA	SA	SO	GAA	Sv%
2008-2009	53	3,056	22	17	11	166	1,518	1	3.26	.891

These stats certainly don’t display a bright picture for Leafs’ fans and he really can only go one way now and that’s UP. He was 25^th in wins , 45^th in GAA (Goals against Average) and 44^th in Save %. Doesn’t actualy bode well for a goalie when there are only 30 starting goalies in the league and you are going 45^th and 44^th in certain categories.

I have always been a huge Vesa fan even from his days with San Jose, I really hope he turns it around this season and has his best year of his career this season.

Nikolai Zherdev's Non-signing...

2009-08-08T16:53:00.001-07:00

It seems pretty much set in stone that Brian Burke is not looking to sign Russian sniper Nikolai Zherdev. He seems to have great on ice ability and is oozing of potential . He has had a few good years in New York and has shown that he can handle the spotlight. We all know Burke’s interest wasn’t toned down because of Zherdev’s offensive skills but it was toned down because of his attitude.

Nik Zherdev’s attitude really irks prospective buyers for this player because he has shown to be quite disruptive and is certainly selfish on the ice and off the ice. Burke already has a negative outlook towards players who go to arbirtation because it shows a sign of greed and selfishness. Brian Burke would certainly have pondered the idea of taking a risk and signing this fantastic talent but I think he had great foresight and decided to not pursue this any further. There are certain times in the summer where a team will see an opportunity to make a splash but the teams that make good choices and think for the long term betterment of the team are the ones that succeed and become dynasties. Quick fixes have become a routine here in Toronto and Burke is certainly changing that outlook with a great support staff, this is nothing to take away from Zherdev’s on ice capabilities he just needs to learn to play for the team.

Leafs’ fans will certainly begin feeling edgy as Kaberle’s no trade clause deadline (August 15^th) approaches and as the season approaches because they want to see improvements made with the top six forwards we currently have. The calmness of Brian Burke who is basically waiting it out is eerie for Leafs fans who are used to idiotic moves that make no sense at all.

Perhaps it’s time we look at the non-signing of Nikolai Zherdev as a positive and see this as the right step forward. We have just gotten rid of the “Country club” feeling that was always present in the past years. Hopefully we won’t see any more of this in the future just like Burke has avoided it in the present so beautifully.

The Expectations of Brian Burke

2009-08-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

"Our goal is to make the playoffs. I don't know if we're good enough to make the playoffs yet. But that's our goal. These were the exact words used by Brian Burke prior to the off season when asked about his expectations from the team last year. Brian Burke is a fantastic general manager for Toronto due to him being so upfront and honest with his expectations, goals and views. Unfortunately, I honestly believe he might just be building up hype for what will turn out to be a decent season but one without playoffs.

I am a die hard Leafs fan but sometimes it’s best to realize the truth before it comes and hurts you later on. The team Burke has built is an decent one with a lot of depth at the defensive end of the spectrum , a sturdy bottom six with grit and a respectable goaltending pair. We all know the one area this team lacks in and that’s the top six department. This whole top six business has been run ragged in the Toronto media so I am not really going to blabber too much about that. It’s an evident problem but not one I think is necessarily the major issue in Burke’s goal.

The Issue that I feel is being missed by many is that this team has basically been torn up and rebuilt Burke’s way. If this was NHL 09 then I wouldn’t probably be writing this article, unfortunately for you and me this isn’t the case and the main fact is that these players haven’t played hockey together as a team. This is what will come back and hurt us and rid us the chance of making the playoffs. I r eally see this team having a rocky season with a ton of ups and downs due to the unfamilarity to the conditions for some players. There will be various issues such as adjusting with new teammates and their tendencies, getting used to Ron Wilson’s system or just getting used to the intense atmosphere here in Toronto.

I really hope these guys prove me wrong and gel quickly as a unit but it seems quite unlikely. This is all before the problem with the top six forwards. Brian Burke’s moves are heaviliy scrutinised to see if he has won or lost in each deal and he seems to be winning most of his deals right now. Does this mean he is going to be successful? Nope. I am sure he knows as well that until we see these guys on the ice playing together as one unit we are basically hoping for a bunch of individuals to succeed in a new environment.

In the end, all we can do is cheer these new guys on and watch the rookies of last year develop and become stronger players for what hopefully will be a team that goes to the playoffs every year. This upcoming season will be crucial no matter what Burke’s expecatations are of this group.

GO LEAFS GO!

Top 5 Leafs Games Next Season!

2009-08-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

I have decided to come up with a list of 5 games that I think are either going to be important for the Leafs or exciting for the Leafs' fans. This is obviously my personal opinion and others may think differently, but at least hear me out before saying something.

1. Regular Season Opener & Home Opener: Leafs vs Habs (Oct 1st)

No matter who comes out on top, it's going to be a bloodbath and an excellent preview for the rest of the season in terms of the Leafs' toughness and the improvement on the defensive end of the game.

2. First Road Game: Leafs vs Caps (Oct 3rd)

How will our newly acquired defense handle the extremely dominating offense of the Washington Capitals? How will the Leafs handle Ovechkin? These questions will all be answered on October 3rd when the Leafs face the Caps and I am going to keenly be watching this game.

3. Leafs vs Thrashers (Dec 7th)

This game will obviously not be exciting for the on ice action although watching Ilya Kovalchuk dominate is exciting sometimes. The main storyline behind this game will be the return of Antropov and Kubina to Toronto. It'll be awkward to see these two play against us even though we saw Antropov with the Rangers last season.

4. Leafs vs Islanders (Dec 9th)

The franchise will be coming to Toronto. Of course that is only possible if he's still playing in the NHL by December. I really want to see Tavares play in Toronto and see how he copes with the pressure. This game might be set up beautifully if Tavares is doing really well.

5. Leafs vs Canadiens (Apr 10th)

Hopefully we will already be in the playoffs and the Canadiens will be rotting in the Eastern Conference Basement. There is no other special reason for me choosing this game but it is always nice to see these two fight it out on the ice.

Valid Free Agent Options...

2009-07-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

Burke during his press conference did state that they might not be finished with their spending spree just yet. i am sure they might have a few offers out there that are being pondered over by the handful of free agents that are currently jobless.

Now most Leafs fans will be wondering who these guys are that the Leafs might still have interest in. Of course our major weakness is up front right now and obviously there aren't any exceptional top 6 forwards out there, but there are a few guys Burke might consider signing.

Here are some of the guys that Burke might still be considering for his team...

* Manny Malhotra

* Alex Tanguay

* Todd Bertuzzi

*Dominic Moore

I have chosen these guys as possible targets for Burke because they could boost lineup of forwards.

Manny Malhotra is a fantastic 3rd liner that gets his job done efficiently. A Mississauga native he definitely has ties to this city and would surely bring his best to the team and he would know how much it means to the fans to win. Manny is a great Penalty killer and his faceoff winning attributes do nothing but boost his value. He does everything that Burke wants and he does it well. A guy with leadership qualities on and off the ice really make it hard to not give his agent a ring to give him an offer.

Alex Tanguay is a funny one for Brian Burke and his team to mull over. He has a ton of skill but is questioned for his heart and his motivation levels at certain points of the season. There really is a good reason for the Habs to let him go. They know he is a brilliant playmaker right up there with the best but no one really wants a guy who doesn't care. Burke would be contradicting himself if he signs this guy but you can't ignore talent like Tanguay's.

Todd Bertuzzi is what you call a prototypical Burkian (really annoying isn't it?) power forward, he brings all the hard hitting qualities that makes Burke's mouth drool. He does have a past that hinders his ability to garner the big bucks cause he sure has talent and he really does know how to get to the front of the net. He would be a nice addition to the top 6 no doubt about it.

Dominic Moore has shown that he can excel in this market and that's a plus point. Obviously he didn't agree on a contract when Burke was offering him one and you would wonder if Burke would want a greedy guy like Moore. Burke needs to put his ego behind him and realize that the chemistry between Moore and Blake was amazing and if Moore is willing to come back for the price Burke was offering him then he should accept him back with open arms.

These are the guys that I think Burke will make an effort to sign and he might already have made an offer to all of them or at least some of them. It will be interesting to see where all of these guys head by the end of the off season.

Trade offer for a D-Man?

2009-07-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

During Brian Burke's press conference today, he calmly stated that he had received a major trade offer for a D-man other then Tomas Kaberle. As usual he has said something that will set this city on fire for the next week or so with the numerous amounts of rumours that will pop up.

Whatever happens it seems that the trade probably won't go down this week as Burke in his interview on AM640 stated that he's going to take a little break and go fishing (too much info perhaps lol). If anything is supposed to happen in the near future for the Leafs it will be the signing of Farjestads captain Rickard Wallin who has some interest in coming back to the NHL after having an unsuccessful attempt the first time around.

It certainly is a different off season for Leafs fans who are used to mediocrity at best when it comes to our offseason moves. Burke has been a breath of fresh air and not to undermine the guys who work under him especially Nonis.

It will certainly be interesting to see who made this offer to Burke and who were the guys involved. I am sure someone will release the names soon enough, Eklund is probably already coming up with the names right now LMAO.

The Monster Is Here.

2009-07-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

Jonas Gustavvson has finally made his choice (thank goodness you would think he was some superstar) and he has chosen well indeed by signing with the Leafs. Will he turn out to be a superstar for the Leafs? No one knows, but I can assure you one thing he will get ample opportunities to prove himself worthy of playing in the NHL.

Brian Burke has worked his magic on yet another youngster and has wooed him to Toronto. It certainly feels good to have a high quality GM heading your team instead of incompetent ones we've had in the past.

Burke's next order of business will most likely be to find a top 6 forward to lead his team from the front. Will he go for another free agent to fix this aspect, by free agent i mean Tanguay? Or will he go via the trade route and use Kaberle to gain that forward he and his team covets? Most likely we will see a trade go down, there are many teams that are being linked up to the Leafs in terms of wanting Kaberle, but who will truly step up to the plate and give a proper offer?

There have been rumours flying around that there is a trade on the table that would go through once Gustavvson decides. Well he has made his decision and we wait to see what happens with this supposed trade. Of course this rumour has come from none other then the most honest Eklund so we know how much we should lean towards it happening. Whatever happens though, Burke really has stepped up his game and it's paying off big time.

Convo Between Beauchemin and Burke!

2009-07-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

A little attempt by me at some humour. Not sure if it came off that well but that's for you to decide.

*Burke rings up Beauchemin's phone*

Beau: Hello?

Burke: Hey Beau.

Beau: Burke?... why'd you call me?

Burke: I have an offer for you so that you can play for the Leafs.

Beau: Come on now. I don't want to play for the Leafs, I'm a Habs fan.

Burke: Son. I have some questions for you. Are you short? Are you pathetic? ARE YOU WEAK!!?

Beau: NO!

Burke (calmly): then the Habs won't want you.

Beau: But I really wanted to play for my dear Habs. Plus what do you guys have that would attract me to Toronto?

Burke: We have proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and....

Nonis (in the background): That's really getting annoying now Burkie...

Burke: ...Belligerance. That's what we have and that's what you have. It's a perfect match.

Beau: Yeah... so now can you tell me what you said in English? Plus I just can't think of signing with the Leafs and betraying my fans in Montreal...

Burke: 3 years, 11.4 million?

Beau: Done!

Burke: Good doing business with ya.

Jonas Gustavvson?

2009-05-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

"The Monster" is what he is called and rightly so since he stands at 6'3'' 192 pounds which is great size for a goalie. In this little piece I will be talking about Gustavsson for those that don't know him or want to know more about him.

This guy is a huge netminder and takes up a lot of space in the crease. Although along with his tremendous size he has extremely quick feet and can get across in a jiffy to rob the opposing player from point blank. Now there are many goalies out there that are talked about and turn out to be duds when it comes to performing in the NHL, but there is something about this guy that makes him stand out from the rest. He has all the tools that an NHL goalie requires and he seems to have fantastic temperament to go along with his superlative netminding talent.

Gustavsson has played for Farjestad for the past few years and he has dominated the league, there are some people who state that this is the best team in Sweden that we are talking about so obviously his stats will be boosted, but I must tell you it doesn't matter who you have in front of you but unless you are a good goalie you will never post the numbers Gustavsson had.

Here are his record breaking stats from the past few years...

* 1.96 GAA—the first to achieve a GAA under 2.00 since 2006

* Goalie of the year 3 seasons in a row from 2002-03 through 2004-05

* Consecutive shutout record at 240 minutes and 25 seconds

This guy could potentially become a starting goaltender for the team that captures his signature this summer and I am sure all teams have dialled his agent's number to see if he wants to go to their team. According to sources Toronto and Dallas are the frontrunners, but these are all talks. Gustavsson though did hint that he would like to come to Toronto because of it's great history and the fact that Salming had a chat with him about the city.

This guy could be something special, perhaps not the next Lundqvist but he could be the next Gustavsson.

Lesser Known Free Agent Options for Leafs

2009-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

After my previous article yesterday regarding the Leafs' various options in terms of high calibre players in the free agent pool. I will now go on to list the lesser known players available this summer that I feel could have a great impact on our team and help us greatly to improve short term and long term.

Free Agent Option # 1 (Francois Beauchemin):

Now this 29 year old may be edging close to that age barrier but he's a guy you always want on your team. Many will doubt if he would sign with the Leafs anyways due to him growing up watching the Montreal Canadiens. I think if he gets past that idea, he could become a great player for the Leafs. He's a fantastic defenseman and could aid in replacing a traded defenseman if that's the route Brian Burke decides to go down. Beauchemin's stats are as follows....

Beauchemin (4 G, 1 A, 5 Pts, -3, 12 PIM) ** All of this in 20 Games played**

Yes those stats aren't impressive but as I stated above he only played 20 games this season due to injuries so he did fine for the amount of games he played. Obviously for a defenseman you would like to see that +/- a little higher, but he's not that bad of a defenseman in my opinion. Plus he has other assets that could help the Leafs big time, he has a fantastic shot from the point and has the grit and monstrosity to destroy anyone he encounters. Defintely a Burke type player and should be high on Burke's list to approach this summer. I would offer him 2-3 Million per year.

Free Agent Option # 2 (Travis Moen):

Yes, Another past Burke player but you have to admit Burke knows what players to get. Travis Moen is a great player to have in the team, he is a great character and definitely known as a terrific teammate to have around. Moen is a great left winger who can play on the third/fourth line, he also brings more grit to this team that we've definitely lacked. He's only 27 years old so he could be with the Leafs for a while if he signs. Moen's stats ....

Moen (7 G, 9 A, 16 Pts, -18, 91 PIM)

An atrocious +/- but all of his other characteristics on the ice make up for that and then some. He's a big bloke who can carry himself around and he loves throwing big checks all over the ice. A fantastic player to give minutes and let him destroy his opponents to change the tempo of a game. He is a renowned penalty killer and usually does his role with utmost of ease. I would love to sign him for 1-1.5 Million per year.

Free Agent Signing # 3 (Johnny Oduya):

This is one of the least appreciated players on the Devils, but he's a superb Dman and he does his job to a tee. This guy is definitely a Burke type player and I am sure Burke would love to get his signature on a contract with the Leafs as soon as possible, especially if Kaberle is heading out. Oduya is a big dman who can get the job done and as all the other options he adds this extra level of grit and belligerance. Oduya stats are as follows...

Oduya (7 G, 22 A, 29 Pts, +21, 30 PIM)

Now those are some stats, I would definitely take him ahead of Beauchemin and it really would be silly for the Devils to let him go in all honestly. He's a great teammate and rarely gets noticed which is a good thing for a Dman. He can lay some brusing checks even without being a monster, but he is all muscle and will get you out of the way or simply outskate you with his fantastic skating ability. I would definitely wrap him up for 1-2 Million if he's available.

Star Free Agent Options for Leafs

2009-05-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

** In this little article I will talk about the Star free agents I feel we should give a shot, I will talk about the lesser knowns in the next article, of course I will give my reasons and the amount I feel should be offered to each Free agent**

Now let's make this clear we can't expect the Maple Leafs to go on a major shopping spree and completely ditch the recently sprung rebuild. Of course Brian Burke will be looking to alter the team a bit via Free agency and of course the all important Draft where the Leafs pick 7th.

Free Agent Option #1 (Henrik and Daniel Sedin):

Now I know many Leaf fans think these twins are babies and haven't done much in terms of Playoff hockey but to be honest if these two are available you have to try to get them. They will easily make 2/3 of our 1st line and whatever you say they are terrific hockey players. The Leafs have lacked any star value in their top 6 forwards for a year now and Burke will definitely look to make our 1st line good. The Sedins stats are as follows...

Henrik Sedin ( 22 G, 60 A, 82 Pts , +22, 48 PIM)

Daniel Sedin (31G, 51 A, 82 Pts, +24, 36 PIM)

Freakishly scary how they both finished with 82 Pts. Some people suggest that Daniel is a better player then Henrik but for me they are extremely identical in their play and the stats back me on this. Therefore If these two guys go up for sale, Burke should be all over them and offer them both a 5-6 Million contract. Will that be enough? I doubt it. I think they will probably be looking for more and rightly so, they were terrific in the playoffs even though the Canucks lost. They are great players to add to this youthful team.

Free Agent Option #2 (Mike Cammaleri):

This Toronto native has all the offensive prowess a 1st line player needs. Of course he lacks in his defensive game and tends to not show up at times. Does that mean he's a bad player? Not in my opinion at all. He could really relish the opportunity to become a true leader on this Leafs team and he would surely take a little discount to play for his favourite team growing up. It would be foolish for the Flames to let him go considering the fantastic chemistry between Iginla and him but sometimes in this Salary capped league you have to let go of great players. If this occurs Burke will surely look into Cammaleri and check out what his asking price is. Cammalari stats go as follows...

Mike Cammaleri (39 G, 43 A, 82 Pts, -2, 44 PIM)

You must be spooked now, that's three free agents with the same point totals. What Cammaleri lacks is his +/- but that shouldn't be enough to deter Burke from wanting Cammaleri. I would love to see him in a Leafs Jersey if he comes for the right price, I would probably offer him 4-5 Million a year but this all depends on if the Sedins are signed or not.

Free Agent Option # 3 (Brian Gionta):

This is a guy I love to see playing, I highly doubt the Devils will let him go considering how well he's performed for them over the years. Just like the others I have listed if he decides to test free agency there is no doubt in my mind Burke will be licking his lips at this 1st line winger. Just imagine him playing with Cammaleri on the 1st line or skating with the Sedins (very unlikely lol).

Brian Gionta is a fantastic speedy little guy who can score like the best of them. He is extremely feisty and he can get the job done around the opposing team's goal. Of course he has his flaws such as inconsistency in his point production but nonetheless he would be a great signing for any team. Gionta's numbers are as follows...

Brian Gionta (20 G, 40 A, 60 Pts, +12, 32 PIM)

If Burke can't get the Sedins then Gionta would be a good fall back option, same idea applies if Cammaleri isn't signed up. Of course if they can get a combo of these free agents at a good price, I think the Leafs will be well on their way for many years. I would offer Gionta a good 4-5 Million per year.

Giguere to Toronto?

2009-05-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Now there are many things to consider before putting any stock in this rumour. One thing to consider is that this is a rumour conjured by Eklund, unfortunately many people still trust his words but that's a whole other topic.

For one second I am going to put away all the negative thoughts I have about Eklund and analyze his rumour. J.S Giguere is definitely going to leave Anaheim unless his daughter's condition refuses to let him go. There is no doubt in my mind that Giguere will leave because no NHL player likes to be benched the way he has. There are many teams that will be interested in him but will they be able to afford his $ 6,000,000 cap hit?

The Leafs of course have space for his contract but I am sure that Toskala would have to be shipped away for this possibility to even come close to reality. Toskala had a poor season that I am sure he would like to completely forget, but will Burke forget?

Toskala's stats were (22-17-11, 3.26 GAA and .891 SV%)

Giguere's stats were (19-18-6, 3.10 GAA and .900 SV%)

This season both of them were basically identical stats wise and it was clear that neither goalie had a good year. What might influence Brian Burke into pulling the trigger is the fact that he has won a cup with Giguere and knows what type of goalie he is. On the other hand Toskala's cap hit is $ 2,000,000 less then Giguere for basically the same stats from last year.

Now Burke has to ponder with the facts that will Giguere perform better in the spotlight or will he wither away? Also, does he want to try to get Gustavsson instead of Giguere due to the threatening cap hit Giguere possesses.

In all of this we have to remember that Giguere has a no trade clause and he might even want to bring it into action if he is asked to waive it. I think he will waive it if the Leafs are the ones trading for him because there is a great Sick Kids hospital here in Toronto and his daughter will be in great hands if he waives his no trade clause for Toronto.

My thoughts in regards to this are that we won't go after Giguere because the negatives simply overwhelm the positives and I would much rather see Burke put all of his effort in bringing over the "Monster" from Sweden. Also, I feel Toskala should get a chance to show what he's got one more time before we decide to ship him off to some other city.

Tavares + Leafs = No Chance

2009-05-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

I think an introduction would be the best way to start things off here at TML Nation to my non existent readers as of now. Hopefully whoever reads this will like my work and pass on the word about this site/blog. I go by the name Master and NO I wasn't named that when i was born, but I suppose it's a little nickname here at TML Nation. Also, those thinking I am the next "Eklund" don't worry, not many are born like that man/liar.

Now back to the actual topic of discussion, and that is Mr. John Tavares himself. Now Brian Burke lay down a bomb when he said he would try everything in his power to get John Tavares who he thought is the best player in the draft by far. Now I must commend Brian Burke for being so open and honest about his intentions but does he in his right mind think he will get The next "Great one" (lol probably an overstatement there by whoever said that) without overpaying?

Brian Burke knows that he will have to pull off a miracle or Garth Snow will have to go mentally ill for Tavares to come to Toronto. The problem is that Garth Snow to many people`s dismay will not go mentally incompetent thus we have to rely on our trading assets to complete the deal. According to many sources, the news has been that Burke is willing to give away anyone other then Schenn to conquer the Tavares prize. Of course as usual the opposing GM will always want the guy not available, perhaps Burke should have said he wants to keep Blake instead! Many people are unsure whether Garth Snow is willing to trade the pick anyways, I think he will look at the possibilities out there before drafting Tavares, but in the end will choose Tavares because no one will meet his expectations.

Yes, many deluded Leaf fans say that Burke can pull off anything, but to be brutally honest unless he wants to get ripped off from every angle, he will not get Tavares. Sure, he might be able to snag the 2nd or 3rd overall pick and select one of Hedman or Duchene but then again he wants Tavares right?

There are many factors standing in the way of Burke and Tavares. Factors such as the Islanders needing a marketable player, their financial position and Garth Snow the GM about to lose his job.if he makes another mistake.

I am sorry hopeful Leafs fans that my first post is so negative in regards to our drafting possbilities but do not lose hope the players after Tavares are not that shabby either. I would not mind a player like Brayden Schenn, Evander Kane or Magnus Paajarvi Svensson dressing up for the Leafs next year. It is probably best if we stop dreaming in lala land and admit that Tavares will wear a Islanders jersey next season or Snow will be fired next season.