Leafs Wheel of Fortune

After a slew of 4 games in 4 nights and the first cut, the Leafs roster is beginning to take shape. After the Kessel trade, the top 6 becomes a little more crowded but not until November! With Ron Wilson’s comments indicating that Nazem Kadri is all but assured to go back to London not because of his play but because of his youth, we can now assume the Leafs will go in 1 of 3 directions:... Read More »

Why Pre-Season borders on Important

While it has long been thought that pre-season is an irrelevant showcase and tune-up for 19 out of 22 players and an intense battle between some 30 others for the last 3 spots, I find myself thinking it to be a little more important. In particular, for the Toronto Maple Leafs after 4 seasons of non-playoff hockey! With the Leafs, the obvious logjam at defense has been a big story since July 1s... Read More »

And the Calder Trophy Winner Is....

Every summer as camps are about to break, conversation in some circles turns to who will be the most enigmatic rookie performer in the forthcoming season. Last year's Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason didn't even start playing until after the season had started but made a huge impression by taking his team to their first ever postseason berth and leading the league in shutouts. In fact, Mason c... Read More »

The Death of a Prospect?

Not unlike Arthur Miller's famous 1949 script, "The Death of a Salesman", many an NHL prospect has failed to taste success and so falls by the wayside! The summer month of August certainly drains the life out of most talk hockey! Come September we will be gearing up for prospect tourneys, training camps, and pre-season! An earlier start to the regular season due to the Olympics this ye... Read More »

Zherdev to Leafs?

Inevitably, as soon as the Rangers decided to walk away from Zherdev the cries from Leaf Nation went up for Burke to complete his last obvious step which was to bring in another top 6 forward. While the Leafs do have the cap space to absorb another roughly $4million a season for the 24 year old Zherdev...is it worth it? While many would place Zherdev in the top tier of League [i]talent[/i]... Read More »