Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 14 hours ago
from Damien Cox of The Spin at the Toronto Star, • You watch the Capitals on Saturday night and see Mike Green commit a horrific giveaway in the final seconds of OT and you think there’s no chance the talented blueliner can be part of the Olympic. He’s super-skilled, but oh-so-casual and a little too-cool-for-school. • Everyone’s focussed on the Phil Kessel trade. But a...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009
from Darren Dreger of TSN, On July 1st, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have as many as 17 free agents to contend with, and 11 of those players will be unrestricted. For many teams this would be considered a horrendous challenge. The Leafs look at it as a great opportunity. The corps of the 11 unrestricted free agents includes Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, Matt Stajan, Vesa Toskala, Garnet Exelby,...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, Have the Leafs gone soft all of a sudden? “Any time you make it hard for the other team and make them not want to play you and be apprehensive every time they go into the corner, that’s the mentality you want to have,” Leafs defenceman Garnet Exelby said yesterday. “You want to (have teams) come to Toronto and hate playing here. “We...
From The Rink (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP Browse more photos » "The hitting in the game is great, but every once in a while you have to sit back and say, ‘That hit may be legal, but is there something wrong with it?' The only issue I have is when the player is vulnerable, there is a blindside hit and the only contact is made to the player’s head. "If there are three or four...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
In case you need some instructions, I present to you the following step by step graphic. Jason Blake 's screen saver. (via www.guidofistpump.com ) The Leafs play the Hurricanes tonight. The last time we met, Jason Blake was highly motivated to make a fool out of Paul Maurice. I'm hoping he hasn't forgotten that feeling... Dr. Steve has been busy, with two posts. The first, a comparison of Jeff Finger...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
from Brian Duff at NHL.com, 0 - Goals for the two hardest shooters in the League – Zdeno Chara (healthy), and Sheldon Souray (injured). 0 - Shots on goal by Georges Laraque, Wade Belak, Garnet Exelby and Darcy Hordichuk in a combined 37 games played. 0 - Hockey analysts who lauded/believed in the management/coaching changes made by the Colorado Avalanche. more
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
More photos » by Frank Gunn - AP Browse more photos » To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld: what's the deal with Jeff Finger ? He's been a healthy scratch six games in a row and in those six games the Leafs defense has started to gel. There's a lot of Garnet Exelby hate around these parts but lately our defense has been rock solid. Compared to Finger, Exelby's salary is a lot lower. I think Finger's...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
More photos » by RICHARD LAM - AP Dear Hockey Gods, Please do not let this happen to Jonas "The Monster" Gustavsson. Love, Terrified Leafs Fans Browse more photos » The Leafs' defensive play has been spectacular for the most part right up until Francois Beauchemin passed the puck to the open left wing. Sure, Lee Stempniak is a ninja but that doesn't mean that because there is...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Welcome to another installment of "Be a GM/Coach" where you faithful, huddled, unwashed masses, get to have your say. Sure, professional Coaches and GMs have a wealth of experience and education to draw upon. Of course they have contacts who know the ins and outs of the game. But you've got an armchair and some Cheetohs, and your buddy Steve down the street once knew a guy, who dated a gal...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/17/2009
Is this the day a win comes to Toronto? Is this the day someone scores twice in sixty minutes? In forty minutes? In twenty? Is this the day someone puts more than two points on the board? Is this the day we kill a penalty? Is this the day Garnet Exelby becomes unstoppable? Is this the day we break down and weep unashamedly at the high altar of Joey MacDonald? Is this the day PPP and Chemmy start wrestling...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, What’s so wrong with Burke’s Leafs? A better question might be: What’s right with the Leafs? The answer: Next to nothing. Of all that is confounding, though, in this early season dive is the play of the Leafs defence. That was supposed to be the strength of the club. Francois Beauchemin, the veteran, at $4.2 million US a year. Tomas Kaberle,...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP Olé! Browse more photos » Well last night stunk and this night might not be much better. The Colorado Avalanche started this year in much the same boat we did. Everyone picked the Avalanche to be a lottery team but unlike Toronto the Avs have come out gunning and have quickly silenced their critics. Craig Anderson has done a respectable job...
post-gazette.com (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
PREGAME Greetings from a perfect fall day in Western Pennsylvania. It's cold enough to have a sweater on but warm enough to have the windows open. FSN Pittsburgh airs a piece on Alex Goligoski. Brooks Orpik offers the crazy but sad eyes: -The Penguins' scratches are Chris Bourque and Martin Skoula. -Toronto has scratched Garnet Exelby, former Penguin Wayne Primeau and Viktor Stalberg. - Note: We've...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
Leafs Practice Lineup - Oct 9 Check this out: Here were the lines from Friday's practice: Alexei Ponikarovsky - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin Niklas Hagman - Matt Stajan - Lee Stempniak Jason Blake - John Mitchell - Jamal Mayers Jay Rosehill - Rickard Wallin - Colton Orr Francois Beauchemin - Tomas Kaberle Mike Komisarek - Ian White Luke Schenn - Jeff Finger Garnet Exelby Vesa Toskala - Joey...
Pension Plan Puppets (Free subscription) | 10/03/2009
Truly these are the salad days of hockey linkerage. The season is but two days old, the hopes and dreams of the masses are still fertile and fruitful and Carlo Colaiacovo isn't on the Injured Reserved list And still...well, and still we on the National Affairs desk ponder the bigger questions. Does Garnet Exelby have consciousness or just an ever-expanding array of questionable hats? If you place Sergei...
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