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Let’s say hypothetically that the Leafs win the draft lottery and are allowed to choose 1st overall. The immediate choice most people make is Steve Stamkos from Sarnia, who is considered by the majority to be the most talented player in this years draft. However, Stamkos is a centre and that might not be the best position for the Leafs to look to fill.

This year in the National Hockey League in the goals-for category, the Leafs sit ahead of 11 other teams. However in the goals-against column, only two teams are worse. While some feel Toskala is a god and some much less, most fans can agree that Toskala has done a respectable job and is not the problem in the Leafs GA category. That points the finger square on the defense and any casual observer can verify that the Leafs d-men have been atrocious this season.

So that brings up the question, with 6 of the top 10 ranked North American prospects for this years draft being defensemen, should the Leafs choose the most talented player, or a slightly less talented player who can help where they need it the most? Here are a few names the Leafs might think about looking to instead of Stamkos: (more…)

Is there anyone out there in Leafs Land who still wants to see this team make the playoffs?

When they were teasing for a playoff spot earlier in the year, I can see how some fans would be excited about the possibility. As they dropped past team after team, some fans still clung to the hope that they were mathematically still capable of making it. Now though, sitting in last place in the Conference and only two points ahead of last in the League, is there anyone left who actually thinks this team can make the playoffs, or wants to see them there?

If the team is lucky, the Los Angeles Kings will go on a winning streak and come the buzzer at the end of the 82nd game of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs will (more…)

Today is Mats Sundin’s 37th birthday and at an age where many, if not most players are in a decline in their careers, Sundin is going strong, proving himself to be by far the best player the Leafs have, as he has done almost every year since he joined the team.

On the eve of his big day, Sundin reflected on some very important issues surrounding the possible (but highly unlikely) waving of his no trade clause. The big question everyone always asks is how Sundin can possibly be content retiring without a cup? Shouldn’t he be dying to go to the Wings to get his hands on Lord Stanley’s Mug before his career ends?

Sundin has a wider perspective on the whole thing. Sundin says, as quoted from the National Post, “…the journey when you reach the end of the show, you look back and you learn to (more…)

I just read an interesting article by Ken Campbell on TheHockeyNews.com. In the article Ken is making a case for why the Leafs need to get Ken Holland. He somewhat mockingly notes that history shows that no General Manager in the NHL since the 1940’s has been able to win the Stanley Cup with one team, and then repeat the feat with another team. Names like Gainey and Sather top the list of guys who were one trick ponies, or at least one team ponies.

This is an interesting development.

If history is to repeat itself, as we know it tends to, then hiring a guy like Holland, or any other previous cup winner, will ultimately result in failure. The solution therefor, is clear. The Leafs best chance is to hire a loser! To hire…

John Ferguson Jr. (cue dramatic revelation music).

Alright, so that’s obviously asinine. However, the little historical tidbit from Campbell’s article does bring up an interesting question. (more…)

After winning three of their last four, with the only loss being a mere 8-0 choke to a non-playoff team, the City of Toronto and the National Hockey League have began preparations for the inevitable return of the Stanley Cup to Toronto.

“Three wins out of four means the Leafs are now officially on a run” said NHL Vice-President of Playoff Preparations Peter Zezel, adding “anyone who’s been a Leafs fan for any significant time knows that the Leafs have never once gone on a run and not come home with the Cup”.

The City has commenced with planning the parade route that the cup will undoubtedly travel. Rumor has it the Cup will be dropped into Nathan Phillips Square via parachute amidst a flurry of pyrotechnics. Further details are not yet available.

The NHL in the mean time has been busy with their end of the cup celebrations. The championship banner has already been sent to the Air Canada Centre and may be up as early as Wednesday. The league has also sent the Stanley Cup out to the engravers to have the names of the players etched into history. Notably, the NHL has decided that the Leafs’ names will be engraved in size 72 Arial Bold. “We really want to hammer the message home that this is the greatest (more…)

You seem to hear it fairly often around Leafs nation. Fans who think that Vesa Toskala is the future of the Leafs in goal, and a quality starting goaltender. Often times, if you question this, it results in a backlash from offended fans who can’t fathom anyone disparaging their number one. Unfortunately though, the sad truth is, Vesa Toskala is not a high end goaltender. He’s an average starting goalie. That’s it. In this article we’ll examine the goaltending of the bottom 10 teams in the NHL and I think you might be surprised at what you see.

Worst 10 Teams as of Feb 06 - Starting Goaltenders:

For the purposes of this comparison, the primary stat will be save percentage, as it is a better indicator of a goalie’s play than GAA.

20) Atlanta Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen - .914
21) Buffalo Sabres - Ryan Miller - .914
22) St. Louis Blues - Manny Legace - .910
23) Washington Capitals - Olaf Kolzig - .883
24) Florida Panthers - Tomas Vokoun - .919
25) NY Islanders - Rick Dipietro - .909
26) Edmonton Oilers - Mathieu Garon - .918
27) Chicago Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin - .899
28) Toronto Maple Leafs - Vesa Toskala - .904
29) Tampa Bay Lightning - Johan Holmqvist - .888
30) Los Angeles Kings - Jason LaBarbera - .912

Only three goaltenders on this list have save percentages lower than (more…)

Imagine you are a General Manager of an NHL franchise. You have just finished watching the Leafs lose 8-0 to the Florida Panthers.

The phone rings.

“Hey, [you], how are you, it’s Cliff Fletcher. Listen I’m calling to see if you have any interest in Hal Gill, what can you give us for him?”

What’s your answer? Maybe the last overall draft pick. A couple sticks and a puck? Maybe an empty soup can?

While guys like Sundin and Kaberle will always have solid value on the market because of years of proven play, the rest of the team doesn’t quite have that luxury.

At this point, what is Darcy Tucker worth? What are guys like (more…)

“Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200″. We’ve all pulled that card in Monopoly. Now though, the NHL should be seriously thinking about implementing a similar policy to send teams like the Leafs directly to the bottom of the league after they show an effort as pathetic as the one we’ve just witnessed.

The good news for Leafs nation though is that on Tuesday night the Toronto Maple Leafs finally hit rock bottom! That means that although it doesn’t necessarily have to get any better, it can’t get any worse!

Tuesday’s game at the ACC saw the Leafs play what was almost certainly their worst game of the season, losing a whopping 8-0 to the Florida Panthers. That’s ok though because the Panthers are a strong playoff team, right? Nope. The Panthers are 12th in the East, four places out of the playoffs, and 24th out of 30 in the league.

You’ve got to hand it to the Leafs though, it takes a special group of players to (more…)

Some Maple Leafs showed on Thursday night that they, and Coach Paul Maurice, are literally, true blue losers. After a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, multiple Leafs, including Coach Maurice, made comments in their press conferences either directly or indirectly blaming the refs for the loss. Doing so they showed that they have one of the biggest marks of a bunch of losers, focusing on externalities and shifting blame instead of focusing on what they did wrong and how they could’ve done things better to win that game.

Maurice stated, “You know, there’s a good story here. There was a high-stick goal [by Carolina that counted]. Blake’s puck was in the net [on a disallowed play that went to video review in the third period], and there was a lousy call on Antropov. But, that’s my judgement. That’s the way I feel, it’s the way my hockey players feel, and it’s what the [TV] camera looked like.”
He also added, (more…)