from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, Brian Burke knew the potential consequences when he shipped a generous bunch of draft picks to the Boston Bruins to get a bonafide sniper for his team. But you can talk all you want about Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin—the consensus top two picks for next spring’s entry draft—Burke did as well before he pulled the trigger to land Phil Kessel. “We...
More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP Browse more photos » A lot of stuff going on in Toronto these days, especially with the story on Brian Burke's son yesterday. (Greg Wyshynski and Justin Bourne have more on that today here .) Time permitting, I'll add some thoughts on that later today. On the ice, meanwhile, the Leafs are still in the league's basement, and one of the questions I most...
Phil Kessel combs the rafters to find a spot for his future honored number banner. View full size photo » Ain't that a relief? Say what you will about how he was obtained (actually, I take that back, let's not say) Phil Kessel has been as advertised. There's more to his game than just goals. He backchecks, he hits (I've seen it!), he passes. He competes.... Let's say that together. Ready? 1,...
More photos » by Nathan Denette - AP Boo This Man! Dwayne Roloson and a lack of desire to go to the dirty parts of the rink for the majority of the game torpedoed a wonderful effort. Browse more photos » Despite throwing 61 shots at Dwayne Roloson the Maple Leafs fell 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders . On the bright side, John Tavares was a complete non-factor. After a dominating...
from Elliotte Friedman of CBC, • Dany Heatley comes to Edmonton on Friday. The smartest thing he could do is say, “I’m sorry but I didn’t want to go to a Canadian city. I wanted to go to San Jose from the beginning, because it’s less suffocating for me.” Won’t stop the avalanche of boos, but Oiler fans deserve an honest explanation. • ...the Ducks are having...
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...
Penguins -Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game . Martin Skoula to the rescue. -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's recap . Seven of the Thrashers' nine losses this season have been by one goal. -The Associated Press' recap . " For the first 40 minutes, that was probably our best game ." - Dan Bylsma. - NHL.com's recap . The Penguins shutout the NHL's second best power play. -Highlights...
Phil Kessel and Niklas Hagman scored shootout goals in a 2-1 NHL victory over the Washington Capitals, giving the host Toronto Maple Leafs their first win in six games. Hagman also scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs (4-11-6). Alex Ovechkin replied for Washington (13-5-5) with his 16th of the season.
More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP Browse more photos » Another barn burner here tonight with the Capitals in town, the second-best team in the league against its worst in a game very few expect the locals to have a hope in. As I've mentioned before, the majority of my friends here are, in fact, Leafs fans, which at this point is about as wretched creature as you can imagine. Most of the...
from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, So if the water keeps rising, and it’s rising very quickly around the Leaf enterprise right now, Burke may ultimately get pushed into doing something he is dead set against. The guess here is that Wilson has 10 more games to show some noticeably positive results. The team is healthy, particularly the key players, Wilson was lucky enough to have a pure scorer...
More photos » by Karl B DeBlaker - AP MON-STER! MON-STER! MON-STER! Browse more photos » 13 days ago these two teams met in Toilet Bowl I and the Leafs emerged victorious on the back of some great goaltending by Jonas Gustavsson and a game-winning goal by Jason Blake. A fortnight later and the two teams are ready to reprise their roles as neither one has been able to shed the anchor that...
from Joe O’Conner of the National Post, Burke’s goal going into the season was to make the playoffs, and the general manager believed he had the team to do it. That team has three wins in 19 games and, as it reaches the quarter-pole of the NHL season, is tied with Carolina for last place overall, with 11 points. “How would I rate the season? Obviously, it is incomplete,” Burke...
Colorado Avalanche at Boston Bruins 10/12/2009 Monday 01:00 pm TD Garden (Fleet Center) in Boston, MA Colorado Avalanche vs Boston Bruins C Marc Savard was just 2-for-13 in shootouts for his career and was used just three times in that spot last year, but he came through Saturday night. “(Savard and coach Claude Julien) had a chat in the beginning of the year, and obviously (Phil) Kessel (who was traded)