Toronto Maple Leafs

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Blackhawks seek to begin a late-season surge vs Leafs tonight

The Chicago Blackhawks fanbase held its breath as the trade deadline approached, wondering what magical trade that Stan Bowman might possibly manage to pull off. The "puck-moving defenseman" or the "second-line center" that the team had coveted all season? Perhaps the kind of blockbuster trade that nobody saw coming, one of the Hawks' stars for another team's stars? A goalie to help bail out Crawford and Emery?

At the deadline, however, none of these scenarios happened. The Blackhawks picked up one defenseman, Johnny Oduya, from the Winnipeg Jets; and shipped off John Scott to the NY Rangers. Scott had played 29 games for Chicago with an average TOI ...

Game Preview #64 - Blackhawks vs Leafs

 

1-8-1 in their last 10 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs (29-27-7) will once again attempt to bust out of the slide that has caused them to have that awful record in their past ten games. Their opponent tonight will be the up and down Chicago Blackhawks (33-24-7). Chicago enters tonight's game having lost three straight games. Before this recent slide the 'Hawks won four straight, and prior to that streak they lost nine straight. Needless to say this Chicago team has been having a Jeckyl and Hyde second half to the season.

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Somebody F&*%ing Go - Panthers Defeat Leafs 5-3

 

When will the Leafs hit rock bottom? Three weeks ago fans thought a 5-0 loss at home at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens was it. Then it was believed to be a 6-2 thrashing a week later at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks and finally a 4-2 embarrassing loss to the tired and reeling Washington Capitals this past Saturday. Heading into last night's contest against the injury riddled and fatigued Florida Panthers (playing their third game in four nights) the Leafs were thought to be ready to break out of a slide that saw them go 1-7-1. However just 13 ...

Game Preview #63 - Leafs vs Panthers

 

Maybe I'm becoming a glutton for punishment, but tonight's game between the Toronto Maple Leafs  (29-26-7) and the Florida Panthers (29-20-12) is something that I have been looking forward to for the past two days. It's funny that a match-up between a couple of teams that are currently in the midst of the longest playoff droughts of all the NHL teams - Florida 11 years, Toronto 8 years -  excites me this much. Maybe I don't think it can get any worse than it did on Saturday night, or maybe it's just the beautiful playoff weathe...

Leafs acquire Ashton for Aulie

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired forward Carter Ashton from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Keith Aulie.

It’s a minor deal but one that makes sense for the Leafs. Ashton is 6’3, 215 pounds and addresses the Leafs’ need for size upfront---although not immediately. Ashton, a 28th overall draft pick, is a 20 year old power forward that needs more AHL seasoning before making the jump to the NHL. Power forwards generally take a bit longer to develop but Ashton is on the right track, producing 19 goals and 35 points in 56 AHL games.

Aulie was in the midst of a rough season, struggling at both the NHL and AHL levels. He has potential as a shu...

What's the next step in the fast-track rebuild?

 

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a state of flux.

The Leafs, losing eight of its last nine games, appear to have little left in the tank and have been cutting its odds of a post-season berth (down to 30 per cent, according to sportsclubstats.com) with each passing game.

It’s easy to forget, however, that the general consensus in the off-season was that the Leafs would likely miss the playoffs for a seventh-straight season. Despite the panic spreading throughout the fan base, the Leafs are three points removed from the playoffs, with two games in hand over the eight-place Winnipeg Jets. Yes, the stats indicate that the Leafs’ chances are below 50 per cent...

Game Preview #62 - Leafs vs Capitals

 

While over the last two weeks every game played by the Toronto Maple Leafs (29-25-7) has been deemed "the most important game of the season" tonight's match-up versus the Washington Capitals (30-26-5) definitely fits that bill. The Leafs are currently sitting in a tie with the Capitals for 9th in Eastern Conference. With a Leafs win tonight and a loss by either the Winnipeg Jets or Florida Panthers - preferably both of them - Toronto would jump back into a playoff position. While the past couple of weeks have been all doom and gloom around the...

Too Little Too Late - Sharks Squeak By Leafs 2-1

 

On a night in which two struggling teams faced off at the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Maple Leafs ended up continuing their slump -  1-6-1 in their last 8 - while the San Jose Sharks - losers of four straight entering tonight -  held on for a much needed 2-1 victory. Both teams have been terrible of late in their own zone with the Leafs surrendering 18 goals in their last four games and the Sharks allowing 24 in their previous six. With these poor defensive numbers the game began tonight with both teams seemingly determined to not make the firs...

Labelle's Royal Night Sinks Titans

Having gone 3-1-1 in their last five games with slim playoff hopes alive, the Trenton Titans hosted the Reading Royals Wednesday night at the Sun Center. Titans Coach Vince Williams decided to ride the hot hand by starting Brad Phillips again in goal. Phillips had allowed one goal in each of his last two starts, both wins.

In what has become Trenton-typical this season, the Titans allowed the first goal at 11:18 as Olivier Labelle set a screen in front of Phillips and a Yannick Tifu shot bounced off Labelle. The deflection went past Phillips to give the Royals the lead at 1-0.

Late in the period, Ryan Hayes answered right back for Trenton as he stole the puck in the offensive zone from a Royals defensemen and fired a quick shot on net. The shot beat goalie Karel St. Laurent to tie the game with just over a minute left.

Game Preview #61 - Leafs vs Sharks

 

The Toronto Maple Leafs (29-24-7) will look to continue their march towards their first playoff birth in eight calender years tonight as they host the reeling San Jose Sharks (31-20-7). While the Leafs' struggles have been garnering the amount of media attention that a natural disaster would receive elsewhere, the Sharks enter tonight quietly losers of four straight games having dropped five of their last six contests. San Jose's troubles are similar to Toronto's in the sense that they have allowed 24 goals in their past six games capped off wit...