Toronto Maple Leafs Blogs

A Golden Effort Falls Just Short By Brad VanFossan I know it’s more than just a hockey game when my 63 year old father is looking forward to watching, and has been watching most of the

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As the trade deadline approaches it was the Toronto Maple Leafs who made the first big moves to start the rebuilding of their franchise with the addition of hulking defenseman Dion Phaneuf and veteran goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

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It seems that Leafs' GM Brian Burke has not needed sleep this weekend.

Burke announced on Sunday morning that the team had made two blockbuster moves that will see all-star defenseman Dion Phaneuf and all-star goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere in Maple Leaf jerseys.  Burke shipped forwards Jamal Mayers, Matt Stajan, and Nick Hagman with defenseman Ian White to the Flames for Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie.  The second trade involved Giguere heading to Toronto from Anaheim for forward Jason Blake and goaltender Vesa Toskala.

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Has it been 30 years now since the US beat the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid?(It seems like only yesterday...)

The Americans went on to win the gold medal in hockey that year - something that hasn't happened since, but don't expect any miracles next month at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. No, the United States still isn't favored to win a gold medal in hockey. In that respect the Americans remain underdogs. But with a roster stacked with young talent, they certainly are a medal candidate - one that the powerhouses from Canada, Russia and Sweden can't afford to overlook. "A little bit different situation [than 1980] in my opinion," said United States team captain Jamie Langenbrunner, a forward with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. "As much as Canada deserves all the credit that they're getting for the players they have, the 23 players named to the [United States] team play in the same league as those guys and we feel quite comfortable playing against them on a nightly basis. We feel we belong on the same ice."

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Leafs GM Brian Burke was not done adding some grit to his lineup after signing New York's Colton Orr to a 4-year, $4 million contract.  He continued on a few hours later, picking defenseman Mike Komisarek up from free-agency.

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Saturday night's 6-2 convincing win over the Toronto Maple Leafs provided the Canadiens with a little breathing room in the race for the playoffs. They moved up to seventh in the Easter Conference standings, with 4 games to play.

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After spending a week and a half with Team Italy, I am home again and am beginning to collect my thoughts on the World Baseball Classic. Highlights from my trip include meeting Curtis Granderson (one of my favorite players), watching Italy beat Canada in Toronto, and being in the press box to hear Peter Gammons leave a voicemail for Scott Boras.

Continue reading "Back from the WBC; first thoughts"

With the NHL Trade Deadline looming, teams are preparing for a tough day of decisions on how to better themselves for the playoffs, or for the future.

Here is a list of things I believe to happen (or to not happen) by Wednesday, March 4th at 3 p.m. EST.

Continue reading "Trade Deadline Predictions"

Here's a fitting summary of tonight's game. Toronto wins 7-4. Terrible Toronto just beat the Avs. Stewart had the first Avs goal. Hejduk had two. Liles had a nice one from a bit out on the dot. Hejduk had another that was called back on a most ridiculous display of officiating. And the snowball took off and the Leafs became an unstoppable machine. Not the finest night of Raycroft's career, against his former team. And Tucker's former team. Again, the first line looked the best. Poor Cumiskey finally got some ice time and then lost an edge, hit the boards, and left with an injury. Honestly, he looked a lot like Stastny when he blocked the shot that broke his arm.

Continue reading "Wow... Toronto? Really?"

The end of the Stempniak era is over in St. Louis.  Being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, Stempniak will join his new team Tuesday night in Atlanta.  What does this mean for both teams though?

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A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

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To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

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It was reported in the media Friday that the Leafs are trying to cut ties with defenseman Bryan McCabe. I was reading the story on Sportsnet.ca, which states that Cliff Fletcher is frustrated because he's offered to trade McCabe to a destination of his choice, but he won't waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a trade. McCabe's agent has gone on record saying that if the Leafs are that interested in parting ways, they'll have to buy out his contract. As I finished reading, I couldn't help noticing the sheer quantity of comments posted under the news feed. There are a few who defend McCabe, but the rest of those comments were very quick to attack him as a player and as a person. Some sentiments included that his play wasn't up to the hefty contract the Leafs signed him to, others pegged him as arrogant and disloyal for not accepting a trade "for the good of the team", and others contend that he lacks the heart and drive required at the NHL level. Here's where I go out on a limb and try to defend the defenseman.

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The NHL Entry Draft (or what I like to call The Second Trade Deadline) is done for 2008 and this year marks the first in recent memory that the Toronto Maple Leafs actually used a first round pick for something other than procuring the temporary use of a post-prime big-named player. For those of you who follow the Leafs, the name Owen Nolan probably comes to mind at this moment...you may remember the price being Brad Boyes, Alyn McCauley, and their 1st round pick in 2003 - a draft that boasted names such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Dion Phaneuf, and Ryan Getzlaf. In fact, even though the Leafs would've picked 21st, the draft was so deep that Mike Richards, Corey Perry and Patrice Bergeron were still available. I'll let you decide whether that was a good trade or not.

Continue reading "Draft Blows Leafs In New Direction"

When "Interim" GM Cliff Fletcher made his first major move in his new position with the Leafs and gave former head coach Paul Maurice his walking papers, I had to wonder to myself. The reason I was beffuddled was that Ol' Fletch professed that he was "cleaning house" for the next GM. I was prone to wonder why he wouldn't leave that decision up to whomever he happens to choose as his replacement. My thinking is this: What if the new GM actually

Continue reading "Fletch Lives...with Mr. Wilson"

Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur are two of the NHL’s most important and divergent personalities.  If “NHL Marketing” weren’t such an oxymoronic concept, the two would already be featured in an offseason sitcom, let alone commercials.  Brodeur is often lauded with praise and at the same time, is somewhat underrated.  As for Avery, you can now add “game-changer” to the colorful list of adjectives used to describe the New York Rangers’ most maligned winger. 

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