Toronto Maple Leafs

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...

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...

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.

In what was a crucial game for the Toronto Maple Leafs following an abysmal western Canadian road trip, the Leafs were undone by goalie Jonas Gustavsson on home ice. Toronto came out of the gate with a purpose to show that the lack luster performances that they have had in their past six games (1-5-0) was a thing of the past. The Leafs attacked the Devils through the first seven minutes of the game outshooting them 6-0 and pushing for that opening goal. New Jersey did not resemble the team that was 8-1-1 in their past ten games as they couldn't keep up ...