Here I am!

Hey everyone!

It's great to see the Leafs doing so well isn't it? It has been more than a week since my last post and for that I apologize, I didn't mean to leave everyone hanging.

I have officially given up the blog. While the reasons are personal, it mostly had to do with time, or lack there of.

For those of you who enjoyed my writing though, I have good news. I am still writing!

You can find me over at Bleacher Report! Along with a great many other talented people!

Simply click here, and check me out!

Leafs fall 4-3 in OT to the Stars

After enjoying their first victory of the season against Anaheim the other night, the table was set for the star of something against Dallas, but the Stars had other ideas and the Buds would have to settle for 1 point in a 4-3 overtime loss.

The Leafs were 2nd in the NHL on the Power play coming into tonight's action, thanks mostly to a five PPG outburst against the Ducks on Monday.

Dallas would not be as obliging in regard to taking penalties, in fact, they only took 2 the whole game. For their part, the Leafs did score a power play goal on one of only 2 chances and only took 3 penalties themselves. Unfortunately, their penalty kill is as bad, as their power play is good and they allowed Dallas to score on one of their chances as well.

Nikolai Kulemin beat Dallas Goaltender Marty Turco twice for his 1st and 2nd goals of the season and showed a little grit tonight that we haven't seen yet this year. His second of the game gave the Leafs the lead more than halfway through the third but they couldn't hold on and the Stars tied it up with a little over 2 minutes left to go in regulation.


"With 5 minutes left in [regulation] and up a goal, you have to find ways to close those games out," Blake said. "It's a tough one to take, giving up a late goal, but you learn from that and move forward."

Lee Stepniak also scored tonight, and is on a mini 2 game goal streak.

My favorite Leaf Jason Blake also chipped in with 3 assist tonight to bring his point total to 6 on the season. ( I don't know why he's my favorite, he just is!)

Jonas " The Monster " Gustavsoon stopped 32 of 36 shots tonight, and was obviously upset when Dallas scored in OT to win the game. Almost halfway through the O T, with Dallas buzzing in the Leafs one, Kulemin was late in covering his man and Neal was able to put the backhand past Gustavsson for the win.

Look for the Leafs to hit the win column again on Friday as they face the Buffalo
Sabres. As always, you can hear the action live right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Hagman and "The Monster" Feast on Duck!!

It brings me great pleasure to report that our Toronto Maple Leafs have won their first regulation game of the season!!


In a game that saw the return of Jonas " The Monster " Gustavsson, and Niklas Hagman score his second career hat trick, you would of thought that the Leafs would have played better hockey en route to a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks!

Just kidding. Fundamentally their game was sound and they for a change were able to capitalize on the opportunities that were presented to them.

The Ducks would take 17 penalties in total on the night and were out shot 39-28 when all was said and done.

The Leafs on the other hand for the most part were poised, and disciplined for most of the night. Oddly enough, although they didn't seem to have the same intensity and speed that they showed in their previous two games against the Canucks and the Rangers, they still managed to out-play the Ducks for the better part of the night.

Gustavsson stopped 25 of the 28 shots in his return and although he looked very good on a few saves and was obviously comfortable, he was caught looking around a couple of times and his lateral movement was a little slow. All in all, a solid performance.

Niklas Hagman reminded Leafs fans tonight why he's here. He's here to score. Hagman is a proven scorer, who may never reach the 40 or 50 goal mark, but I'll take four 25 goal scorers over one fifty goal scorer any day! Tonight's Hat trick was the second of his career, Kaberle had a goal and four assists, while Stempniak contributed a goal and three assists.


Jason Blake and Alex Ponikarovski were held goal less, although Blake did get an assist. Mikeal Grabovski also scored for the Leafs, his second of the year.

Matt Stajan, who has shown great improvement over the course of the last couple of games had three assists as well, while John Michell chipped in with one.

The Leafs play their third of a five game road trip Wednesday in Dallas, and as always, you can hear all the action, live right here on Bench Brawl!

Leafs Officially Own Record with 3-1 loss to Canucks!

These ' New Look Leafs ' now officially own the record for losses to start the season, while it is a dubious record to have, the Leafs shouldn't be worried about it, after all, the still need to lose another four games to clinch the all time NHL title!

If you watched the game last night, then you're as sure as I am, that the Boys in Blue are well on their way. That was easily the best all around game they've played all year, and save for a bunch of penalty trouble in the first period, the Leafs for the most part played an extremely solid game and took the game to the Canucks for most of the night!


The Canucks first goal of their 3-1 win, was scored off the stick of Leafs d-man Komiserik. Joey MacDonald was very good in net aside from the second Vancouver goal that he simply was too far back in the net to see properly, and Luongo, despite taking a knee to the head from Toronto's Jason Blake, was incredibly lucky all night.

While there were several bright spots for the Leafs, there are still a couple of things that they need to work on.

While they obviously need to stay out of the box, they were 5 for 7 on the penalty kill. Luke Schenn needs to spend some time in the press box to re-evaluate himself. After a pretty good year last year, he has been more of a liability to the team in the early going so far this year.

Lee Stepniak looked very good last night, although, his stick couldn't seem to find the net.

Ian White set a career high in shots and even with a bad give away in the second, played his best game so far this year.

Viktor Stalberg, is still having trouble adjusting to life on the big club, he has only one point in six games as a Leaf, and is a -4, with just 15 shots over all.

Alex Edler put his hand over the puck in the blue ice and there was no call, and there where a couple of other obvious no calls in my opinion that could of made the difference, but alas, the Leafs fall to 0-7-1 on the season and will look to Anaheim Monday night for their first win of the season.

As Always, you can hear all the action live, right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Keeping you in the Loop!

With the Leafs next action still a couple of days away, I thought it was time to check in on the Future stars of the team!

Lets start with Nazem Kadri of the OHL's London Knights. After 8 games Kadri has just 3 goals and 3 assists. He is however a plus 3, and is still expected to tear up the league this year despite a relatively slow start by every ones expectations. Brian Burke at the beginning of the season said that expected that Kadri would return to the OHL and easily hit the century mark for points. Which would bode well for his confidence coming into camp next season. Maybe I missed something Mr Burke, but in watching Kadri in the Pre season, I don't think confidence was an issue.

Moving on to the Marlies, we find that both Jiri Tlusty and Cristian Hanson are doing well, on a team that like their parent club, can't seem to keep the puck out of the net.

The two combined have 15 point in 14 games, but are a combined -6. The team as a whole is a combined -30! This stat is due in large part no doubt to the absence of goal tender Joey MacDonald who is currently starting for the the Leafs due to injuries to both Toskala an Gustavsson.

The Marlies with 7 points are tied for tenth in the OHL Western conference and will look to improve their position when their Goalie returns.

As for the Monster, expect him to be back between the pipes soon, speaking of checking in with the big club....(nice segue )

Now this is something different: Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson taking advice from a broadcaster to help his team snap out of its seven-game losing streak.

Former Leaf Bob McGill -- an analyst on Leafs TV -- suggested to the coach recently that a little 3-on-3 hockey on a pair of suburban "mini" rinks might be a nice change of pace for the struggling team.

So, when the players showed up yesterday at the Mastercard Centre, their regular practice venue in Etobicoke, they were told to get in their gear and board a bus for a trip up to the National Training Rinks facility in Richmond Hill.

Owned in part by another former Leaf, Mike Gartner, the rinks themselves are roughly three-quarters the size of NHL rinks. It made for some glorified shinny with plenty of offence, an area the team has struggled mightily with early in the season.

"We just thought it might be a change in pace for them," said Gartner, who plays 3-on-3 with McGill once a week. "They've been struggling a little bit and, with five or six practices in a row, it gives them a chance to do something a little bit different.

PERFECT TIMING

"Sometimes coaches will do anything to help work their way out of a slump."

With rigorous practices Monday and Tuesday and another planned today before the Leafs board a flight to Vancouver to start a five-game road swing on Saturday night, Wilson thought yesterday's timing was perfect for the off-beat action.

"It's hard for people to understand when you haven't won a game that we're trying to have some fun," said Wilson, who a week ago let the players enjoy a dodgeball game. "But letting guys relax a little and compete at the same time and get a good workout in is exactly what the doctor ordered."

For those scoring at home, the Blue squad, composed of Francois Beauchemin, John Mitchell, Lee Stempniak, Garnet Exelby and Luke Schenn took the title.

Like many of the Maple Leafs forwards, Mitchell is looking to regain his scoring touch. He has just two assists in seven games and is a minus-6.

"A lot of us have had a slow start. Not winning a game is a big thing,' Mitchell said.

"It's definitely not the start I would have imagined for myself or for this team. It's all in our heads, I think."

The Leafs fall 4-1 to Rangers

The Toronto Maple Leafs are dead last in the NHL - and they're going to spend at least one more week in the basement.

Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist Saturday as the red-hot New York Rangers handed Toronto yet another loss, beating the Maple Leafs 4-1 in front of a disgruntled Air Canada Centre crowd.

Toronto and the New York Islanders are the only NHL teams that still haven't won a game this season. The Leafs will face another week of questions about their lacklustre record because they don't play again until next Saturday, when they open a five-game road trip in Vancouver.

``We've hit rock bottom,'' said Leafs forward Lee Stempniak. ``There's no lower to go.''

The players plan to use the week of practice to try and repair their shaken psyches.

``This has been a tough stretch,'' said Stajan. ``I think maybe a week off might be beneficial. We're going to have to make it beneficial because that's the way the schedule is.''


Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto and Enver Lisin also had goals for the Rangers (7-1-0). Marian Gaborik added two assists to give him points in all eight games he's played since joining New York over the summer.

The Rangers were buoyed by a strong performance from Henrik Lundqvist, who made 34 saves and was the difference in the game according to Leafs coach Ron Wilson.

``I think when you boil it all down, Lundqvist was just unbelievable,'' said Wilson.

The Rangers goalie succinctly summarized the difference between teams that are currently sitting at the top and bottom of the Eastern Conference.

``A lot of it is confidence,'' said Lundqvist. ``Even though we know we're not having the best night, we have the confidence right now that we can win.''

Ian White had the lone goal for the Leafs (0-6-1).

A season that started with optimism for fans in Toronto has quickly turned into a nightmare. After missing the playoffs the last four years, the team appears to have taken another step in the wrong direction and has already been soundly booed at home on a number of occasions.

While several of the players acknowledged that Saturday's jeers were warranted, the coach took issue with the reaction from the fans.

``I understand how frustrated the fans are - I do understand that,'' said Wilson. ``But booing doesn't help.''

The coach has tried to keep the mood around his players light, having them play dodgeball in practice this week in an effort to ease the growing tension. It didn't work.

The first period against New York was emblematic of the Leafs struggles as they emerged trailing 1-0 despite being the stronger team.

Toronto moved the puck nicely on an early power play and speedy forward Jason Blake had a breakaway, but the Leafs couldn't put a puck behind Lundqvist in the opening 20 minutes.

``We have to find a way to score,'' said Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle. ``We're making the goalie look good right now.''

Dubinsky gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead after skating in on a 3-on-1 and beating Joey MacDonald with a nice wrist shot at 16:00. It was his third goal of the season.

The Leafs have been outscored 11-2 by their opponents in first periods this season and haven't been able to pull out of any of those early holes.

Two young Rangers defencemen quickly made this one a little larger. Staal beat MacDonald through the legs on a wraparound at 4:36 before the rookie Del Zotto made it 3-0 just over a minute later, scoring his third of the season on a shot from the point.

Suddenly, everything was dire for the desperate Maple Leafs.

``Once you get up two or three goals, you feel good,'' said Lundqvist. ``They feel like they have to score three goals to get back into it ... and that's tough to do.''

White managed to get one just 21 seconds after Del Zotto's goal as he moved in from the point and banged a loose puck behind Lundqvist. The Rangers goalie had no chance with a big scrum of players on top of him.

Lisin quickly erased any notion of a comeback by roofing a shot over MacDonald at 2:26 of the third period after Leafs defenceman Jeff Finger attempted to block a shot, only to see the puck wind up on the Ranger player's stick.

That sucked all of the life out of the building as several fans decided to head for the exits rather than stick around for the end. Those that stayed devoted most of their time to booing a Leafs team that is off to its worst start since going 1-6-1 in 1990-91.

The players are just as upset as the fanbase.

``It's tough not winning seven games in a row,'' said Kaberle. ``You can feel it inside the dressing room.''

Interestingly enough, the most positive words about the Leafs situation came from Rangers coach John Tortorella. He was impressed with what he saw out of the opposition.

``That team played hard,'' said Tortorella. ``They're in a little bit of a jam right now, but it's a long year.''

Notes: Rangers forward Donald Brashear wears No. 87. He's the only current player in the NHL other than Sidney Crosby to do so ... Finger was minus-3 for Toronto ... Former Leafs Mark Osborne, Bill Berg and Felix Potvin performed the ceremonial faceoff on ``90's Night'' ... Toronto took the warmup in retro jerseys adorned with names like Rouse, Macoun and Borschevsky... Garnet Exelby, Jamal Mayers and Nikolai Kulemin were scratched for the Leafs ... Aaron Voros didn't play for New York ... Announced attendance was 19,295.

Leafs Lose 4-1 to Colorado

Funny thing happened at work today, a good friend of mine, asked me " so are you going to give up doing your blog"?. I didn't understand the question clearly, or more precisely, the reason he asked it. Then it dawned on me, as he walked away busy wrapping up his day. He assumed, that in my frustration with the Leafs, that I would, like all the other bandwagon jumping Leafs fans have done eventually give up.

The answer, is no.

Now, I'm not looking at the team through rose colored glasses, and I'm not going to pretend that there aren't some serious issues. I refuse however to throw in the towel!

This is a collection of players in my estimation that simply don't know what to do. Ron Wilson has ( hopefully ) been preaching defense, so the forwards for some strange reason have forgotten how to score, and the defencemen, know that they need to score more, so they apparently have forgotten how to defend.

Collectively, you have exactly what you are seeing now, the worst regular season start in franchise history.

It will get better, it has to really. I'm fairly certain that no team has ever gone win less for the entire season.

Here is the game re cap, courtesy our friends at the Canadian Press,( I'm sorry, my heart just isn't in it).

Oh, and as a parting shot, I have some advice for Coach Wilson, next game, try sitting the fighters, and tough guys. Make the guys who are supposed to score fend for themselves, see if that gets them moving!

Until next time, you kids play safe!



Ron Wilson's next move to try and wake up the win less Toronto Maple Leafs is to give his players the day off.

The Leafs coach benched two of his top scorers in favour of rookies and was forced to start third-string goalie Joey MacDonald on Tuesday night and still wound up with the same kind of result - a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Even though that left Toronto sitting dead last in the league, Wilson is sticking to his plan of having everyone take Wednesday off. The team has just one game over the next 10 days and he's intent on using that time to lighten the mood.

``First of all, we've got to relax here a little bit - maybe just do a complete reset,'' said Wilson. ``The worst has already happened up to this point (with) how you could possibly start a season. We're not going to practise all of those (upcoming off-days) - it might seem logical to practise and work on everything, but we've got to just relax here a little bit and step away tomorrow.

``(We'll) try to have a little bit of fun on Thursday and go from there.''

After starting 0-5-1, there's only one direction to go.

Former Leaf Darcy Tucker played a big role in the latest setback, scoring a goal and adding an assist in his first game back in Toronto since being bought out in the summer of 2008. He was thrilled to make an impact.

``I'm not going to lie to you, it felt great,'' said Tucker. ``To score back in a place where I've scored a number of goals over my career, it was exciting. I think it was more exciting for my kids in the stands than anything.''

He's still being paid US$1 million per year by a Leafs team that looked like they could have used some of his energy on Tuesday.

Brett Clark, David Jones and John-Michael Liles had the other goals for Colorado (4-1-1). Craig Anderson made 30 stops to earn his fourth victory of the season.

Francois Beauchemin replied for the Leafs, who don't play again until hosting the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Even though there was clearly a foul mood in the team's dressing room after the game, many of the players believe the only way to turn things around is to stay positive.

``The easy thing to do is to hang our heads and get frustrated and get down,'' said Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek. ``That can't happen.''

Wilson was so desperate to try and get his team going that he sat veteran forwards Matt Stajan and Niklas Hagman, who had accounted for five of the team's 12 goals prior to the game against Colorado. He was pleased with the play of rookies Viktor Stalberg and Tyler Bozak in their place.

One of the only bright spots came when Bozak registered an assist in his first NHL game.

``That's definitely a proud moment for me and my family,'' said Bozak.

After the game, Wilson indicated that he's likely headed back to the American Hockey League this week. MacDonald, meanwhile, might get another start because No. 1 goalie Vesa Toskala will be out as long as two weeks with a knee injury and backup Jonas Gustavsson remains sidelined with a sore groin.

The journeyman goaltender finished with 24 saves in his Leafs debut on Tuesday.

``There was some weird bounces tonight,'' said MacDonald. ``Those things happen when you're in a slump.''

Toronto gave Colorado two power plays in the opening 10 minutes of the game and Clark capitalized on the second one. His point shot beat MacDonald while the Leafs goalie was being screened by Ian White _ his own defenceman.

Jones extended that lead to 2-0 just before the intermission. He made a pretty play on a solo rush to get around Tomas Kaberle before sliding the puck by MacDonald with 50.9 seconds left in the first period.

``We're getting beat 1-on-1 _ and guys getting beat 1-on-1 who shouldn't,'' said Wilson. ``It should not happen in this league. It's not like it was Joey Sakic.''

Falling into an early hole has been a big problem for these Leafs, who have been outscored 10-2 in the opening 20 minutes of games this season.

Beauchemin briefly brought some life back to his team with his first in a Toronto uniform at 3:33 of the second period, but Tucker quickly nullified that by scoring his third goal of the season just over two minutes later. The feisty winger pumped his fists after knocking in a rebound from the top of the crease on a power play.

The real dagger probably came on Colorado's fourth goal as Liles saw his floating shot go off the head of defenceman Mike Komisarek and into the net at 9:36.

There was still half a game to be played but the result was sealed by then.

Disgruntled fans started to boo the Leafs towards the end of the second period and continued throughout a lifeless final 20 minutes. One even started to yell ``Let's go Raptors!'' as the building emptied early.

It was the kind of scene Tucker experienced during the end of his tenure in the city and he admitted to feeling a little sorry for his former teammates after hearing it again.

``I've got some close friends there, especially a couple guys I played with for a number of years in Kaberle and Stajan,'' said Tucker. ``I feel for them, obviously. But you've got to understand it's six games into the year - you don't make the playoffs in six games and you don't get on the outside looking in six games. It's a full season.

``Obviously, they've got some work to do.''

Notes: The Leafs honoured former captain Ted Kennedy before the game ... Liles missed the third period with an injury to his right shoulder ... Wilson also scratched defenceman Jeff Finger against his former team ... Teenagers Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly each had an assist for the Avalanche ... Leafs goalie James Reimer served as the backup in his first NHL game. He needed to get directions to the Air Canada Centre for the morning skate ... Attendance was 19,148.

Canadian Press

Keeping You in the Loop/ Maple Leafs-Avs Preview

What a difference a day makes! Matt Stajan and Nicklas Hagman will be out of the line up tonight vs. the Avs as they come to town to face the Leafs.

A frustrated Hagman was indifferent at the news,"It's just not working," said the Toronto forward. "There's only one way to go. We can only play better.

"We showed some good things in these games, but we just haven't played well enough to win a game."

Joining the team will be Joey Macdonald who replaces Toskala who has been sent for an MRI. Wilson would not disclose the nature of the MRI but also called up goalie James Reimer on an emergency basis.

Also re-joining the team reportedly will be Tyler Bozak and Viktor Stalberg, who has been out for a week do to a suspected mild concussion.

All things being equal, I like the Leafs to win this one and claim their first victory of the season. With an infusion of some youth and the Toskala question mark answered, at least for today, look for the Leafs to come out with a lot of jump and score early!

The question has arisen about Jason Blake and why he isn't a healthy scratch. That question could have do different answers. The first being simple, despite his lack of production so far this season and his sometime inability to hold on to the puck in his own end, Blake has been the hardest working Leafs on a consistent basis. Keep in mind, NOBODY on the Leafs squad has been producing anything of any note.

The second possible answer lies in a rumor spotted in the Globe & Mail over the weekend, that Burke will soon put both Blake and Toskala on waivers to try and create some cap space for when Kessel returns around mid to late November.

Don't forget, you can hear the tonight's action live, right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Rangers Embarrass Leafs with 7-2 Win at MSG

24 goals against in 5 games! Let me say that again, 24 goals against in 5 games!!


Wow, on a night that saw the Leafs get pretty much dominated in the first, although they did manage to score late in the period, I thought, well, here we go again.

The Buds went into the second period with a full head of steam despite being out shot by a Rangers team who are so far undefeated at home this year and have suffered only one loss overall.

After Ponikarovsky scored with 45 secs to go in the opening period, there was a ray of hope in Leafs land. That ray was carried into the second , even after Girardi scored for the Rangers only 26 seconds in to restore a 2 goal Leafs deficit, the Buds seemed to have new life and were taking to the Rangers.

Jason Blake added to the frenzy with a late period goal at 17:21 of the 2nd, and it looked like the makings of a comeback going into the third!


Then, the aforementioned Blake took a stupid damned penalty with 25 seconds to go in the period......and the wheels just fell off.


After out shooting the Rangers in the second, the Leafs just couldn't seem to find the handle in the third. They surrendered 4 unanswered goals in the period including 2 by Sean Avery of all people, who now has 10 points in 9 games against the Leafs and seven goals!

The Leafs ended the game being beaten soundly by a score of 7-2. Despite having played what was probably their best game all around of the season, except for the Montreal game.


Several players played well for the Leafs tonight, Grabovski, Kulemin, Ponikarovsky, Hagman, Finger and Komiserik all had decent games for the most part. Even much maligned goal tender Vesa Toskala played a solid 2 periods and then seemed to forget how to play in the third. Among the issues that are plaguing Toskala, is his in-ability to control rebounds. Although I don't think that more than one of the goals tonight was a direct result of a rebound, it makes it more difficult for his own team when they don't know where the puck is going to wind up after a shot.

Tomas Kaberle looked horrible, on a play that resulted in a goal, when he went for the puck behind the left shoulder of Toskala and was tracked down by a Ranger forward, instead of protecting the puck and taking the hit, he literally jumped back out of the way and allowed the Ranger player to take the puck!!??!?? He is supposed to be a SKILLED, and seasoned player. I haven't ever shared that opinion. In my opinion, he has NEVER been more than an average player that was made to look good because of his supporting cast!

That however is only one of the issues that face the Leafs going into play with the Avalanche tomorrow night. Some of which I'm certain will be addressed by Coach Ron Wilson, and some of which will only be addressed in time.

I also feel that as much as I'm the first one to say that the players are supposed to be pros, and shouldn't look like a bunch of house league players, EVER! There has to come a time when people stop asking questions of the players and start asking them of the coach.

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Leafs Lose Fourth of the Season

The Leafs have not started a season with this bad of a record since, I believe 91/92 when on November 10th of that year they were a dismal 2 and 16. Let's not have repeat of that shall we?

The Achilles heal for the Maple Leafs again so far this season is over all team defense. You can say what you want about goaltending, and Ron Wilson said something about that this morning but I'll get to that later.

But over all, the Leafs have been brutal in their own zone. It's almost like they are smearing Vaseline on their sticks before the game! Turnovers and give aways in their own zone and in the neutral zone are absolutely killing them!

They gave up 3 powerplay goals tonight against a team who, although that are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, found themselves 27th in the league on the powerplay?!? How do you give up 3 powerplay goals to a team with that kind of record?

Toskala, although he looked good at times tonight, is still playing too deep in his net, he is not a large goalie and makes himself even smaller when he plays that style.

Ron Wilson said this morning that Toskala is working hard with their new Goal tending consultant, but that you can't expect ten years of bad habits and a certain style to disappear over night. It will likely take a couple of weeks to start seeing the results.

I understand this rational , but, if the Leafs are going to make the playoffs as both Wilson and Burke eluded to before the season, the team can ill afford play like that from their number one goalie.

The Leafs lost 5 to 2 to the Penguins who last season didn't win a game against the Leafs at the ACC and dropped 3 of 4 to Toronto over all.

They'll need to be better in all areas of the game Monday, when they seek to break their goose egg in New York versus the Rangers.

The heat in particular will be on Vesa Toskala, who made 28 saves and looked uncomfortable in goal for much of the night, and received plenty of mock cheers from a disgruntled crowd of 19,374. Another focal point must be their discipline, as a few key momentum changes were given back by ill-timed penalties.


Jay Rosehill who had 9 penalty minutes in tonight's game, opened the scoring for the Leafs who had three fighting majors tonight including Colton Orr in a decidedly one sided win in the first period.

Hagman scored the only other goal for Toronto, his second of the season.



The Leafs next action come Monday night as they face the new look New York Rangers, and as always, you can hear all the action live, right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Keeping you in the loop!

Here is a quick preview of tomorrow nights game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Thursday morning that goaltender Joey MacDonald has joined the team on an Emergency Recall from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Jonas Gustavsson was placed on Injured Reserve and is expected to miss at least one week with a groin injury.

Vesa Toskala will get his third start of the season. He remained relaxed in the midst of a hail storm of criticism over the start that the team has had so far.

“We got one point in the first game and lost the next two,” said the unflappable goalie Vesa Toskala. “For me, it’s only been two games. We just need to win the next one.”

Well said!

Ron Wilson said that one of the big issue's early in the pre season is the length of their shift.


" It's impossible to go full out for 55 secs to a minute, it's hard enough to just skate around in a circle for 25 to thirty. When you're out there for longer shifts, you tend to try to conserve energy and not go full out."

Stalberg left Tuesday's game with the Senators after being hit by Anton Volchenkov in the first period. And will likely be kept out of Saturdays line up as a precaution, although, don't quote me on that, it seems as though so far this year I can't be sure who's on the ice until the puck drops!

Phil Kessel, who is still out until around mid November, can't wait to get on the ice to help his new team, and John Mitchell, who in my opinion was the best Leaf in the pre-season but is struggling so far in the first three games of the regular season, remains up-beat.

“We want to give people something to write,” said Mitchell. “We want people to read about us winning two or three games in a row or having a chance for a shutout go off someone’s skate and everyone talks about that. We want to come to practice feeling good.”

The Leafs play the Stanley Cup champion Penguins on Saturday at Air Canada Centre, who are so far 3-1 this season, but have given up as many as they've score.

“They will be a very good test, no question” said Mitchell. “We have to work hard and we have to work smart.”

My son ( six years old ) is a Penguins fan, it will break his poor little heart when my beloved Leafs get their first win of the season against his team, he'll get over it!

Don't forget to check out my live blog tomorrow night, I go live at 7pm est, stop by and say hi!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

And the first round goes to....

The Leafs suffered their third loss in row to start the season losing 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators.

On a night that the Leafs honored former All Star and all around great player Gary Roberts, the stage seemed to be set for Toronto's first victory of the season.

Although the shots on goal would indicate that it was a fairly evenly played game, one would think that the edge would probably have to go to a Leaf team hungry for their first win of the season. The Buds certainly had their share of chances in this one, including a shot by Komisarek in the third period that rang off the inside of both posts behind Ottawa goalie Pascal Leclaire. Coach Ron Wilson was extremely critical of his forwards after the game and promised to put everyone through a tough practice on Wednesday morning - telling reporters to ``come early.''

``We'll find most of our forwards tomorrow,'' said Wilson. ``That was almost an embarrassing effort from seven or eight guys who we're really counting on heavily.''

Matt Stajan netted his third goal in as many games but the team came up short after a second period in which there was a blown call ( in my opinion ) on the first Ottawa goal that appeared to have been knocked in with a high stick, and wonder of all wonders, a call by referee Carey Fraser that cost the Leafs the hockey game.......

About a minute after the opening Ottawa goal, young Luke Schenn took Ottawa's Michalek to the ice while he was on a breakaway. Fraser instantly and emphatically awarded the Senators a penalty shot. Now, I can't argue with that call, it was a good call. However, the Ottawa player was also injured on the same play, as a result of a high stick that he received from Schenn. Now, I'm willing to bet, and I can say this because nobody pays me to write this blog, when Michalek got to the bench, and the Ottawa coach saw that he was cut, he was sent to the dressing room for repairs...... enthusiastically!

Et Voila! Alfredsson is going to take the penalty shot. Now, Gustavsson, to his credit stayed with the veteran pretty well.... right until he just belly flopped onto the ice and Alfredsson put a nifty little backhand up over his right leg.

``Maybe I'll be able to get him once,'' Alfredsson said with a smile. ``I'm sure he'll be better prepared next time.''

Gustavsson never saw the deke coming.

``It was good penalty shot from him,'' he said. ``I thought he was going to shoot, but he fooled me there.''


Things are slowly getting better in Leaf Land, the Buds again for the second game in a row kept the penalties to a minimum, Gustavsson in his debut played a solid game stopping 26 of 28 shots, and for the most part, the Leafs played a better defensive game. If they could only figure out how to be equally effective at BOTH ends of the ice!

Conspicuous by his absence was young gun Stalberg who only clocked a little over 5 minutes and was not on the bench after a hard hit by Volchenkov at the end of the first period. No update yet.

The Leafs play host to Pittsburgh Saturday aaaaaaaand we will be hosting our second live blog here at Bench Brawl! So please be sure to pop by and check us out!

The site also has a couple of new features that you may want to check out. I recently links to this seasons Box Scores and to this seasons Video Highlights, so you won't have to worry about missing anything! I also added a link to the Toronto Marlies home page so you can keep up to date with all you favorite junior players, and future Maple Leafs!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

The Leafs slow start......Killed them

The Leafs lost their first road game of the season 6-4 to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

Although the Leafs managed to keep the power play opportunities to a minimum for the Capitals, they still managed to allow another power play goal against.

Vesa Toskala was replaced in net by Jonas Gustavsson after the first period as Toskala allowed 3 goals on just the eight shots that he faced in the first period.

Gustavsson didn't fair much better allowing 3 goals on just 12 shots in the second.He did make some very good saves and kept the Caps off the board for the rest of the game.

In both of their defense however, the new and improved defence corps, that had everyone talking for the better part of the off season, looks more like a defensive corpse!

Alexei Ponikarovski scored for the Leafs to give 3 points on the season, Stepniak, Grabavski and Hagman rounded out the scoring for Toronto.

The Leafs almost to a man, spent more time looking down at the ice searching for the puck, than worrying about the red sweater who had it. Ron Wilson is an NHL hockey coach, I on the other hand am not. But I can tell you this, when your defense is consistently being beaten back to your end, it's time to tell your defense men to stay the hell home! It is way easier to keep the opposing forwards out of your zone than it is to keep them in theirs!



`You felt like you were in a piranha fish tank,'' Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. ``We were getting quality scoring chances, without a doubt, but you can't trade chance for chance with a team like that.''

The Washington net minder Varlamov, was for the most part sensational, making 27 stops over all. It certainly wasn't for lack of good chances that the Leafs failed to get their first win of the season.

Wilson said he will decide Monday which goalie will start Tuesday's game against Ottawa. ... Washington has won eight consecutive home openers.

Our first attempt at live blogging went off pretty much without a hitch tonight so, we will do it again next Saturday when the Leafs entertain the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Just a reminder!

I just wanted to remind everyone to join me live tonight at 6:30pm est for the launch of live blogging at Bench Brawl! I will gladly answer any questions pertaining to the Leafs and you can listen to the game live by clicking the 'Listen Live' link on the right hand side! See you tonight!!

Exciting News!!!!

While I am always looking for things to make this blog a little better, I sometime take a while. Here is one of those exciting new things that I eluded to at the beginning of the season. Live Blogging!!! That's right, beginning this Saturday October third during the Toronto v Washington game, I will be hosting my very first Live Blog!

So now, not only can you listen to the game live from Bench Brawl, but you can interact with me and lots of other fans too!!

See you Saturday!

Relax Kids, it's just One Game!

Holy cow, the boo birds are out, ' Tank Nation ' is rearing it's ugly head and the rest of the Leaf's fans are calling for Toskala's head and for the rest of the team to be sent down to the Marlies! And don't even get me started about the media!

Ok, so the Leafs lost the first game of the season 4-3 in overtime to a Montreal Canadian team who, for all intents and purposes, could really go either way this year, greatly depending on the play of their obviously bi-polar goaltender, Carey Price.


First, let's deal with Toskala. If you've been reading me for awhile, you know by know that I neither like, nor dis-like the man. I refuse to throw him under a bus because he let in one bad goal. Un-timely though it may have been, it was one bad goal. For the most part, what I've seen of him since the beginning of this camp to now, the first game of the year. He has looked better than he did last year. His lateral movement is better and faster, he challenges shooters more rather than standing on his goal line and hoping the puck hits him somewhere. As un timely as the bad goal was, it wasn't the end of the world.



I am not however a big fan of Rickard Wallin as of yet. He did nothing in the pre-season of note, and he was little more than a ghost tonight. I know I'm sort of beating a dead horse here, and I understand, and agree with the wisdom in sending Kadri back down, but if it was a choice between the two? Wallin is still, at 29 years of age, a relatively un-proven player in the NHL. Looking at his numbers though, he does have some up-side. But, alas, after ten years as a pro, he has yet to reach the 20 games played in the NHL plateau. Curious.

Anyway, enough of all that, there were some positives to take away from tonight's game. They out shot the Habs by a 46-27 margin, and were six for eight on the penalty kill. The flip side of those two positive though, is Price stood on his head, and the Leafs have got to be better on the PK, if they are going to continue to exert themselves on their opponents. It's ok to take eight penalties a night if you can kill at least seven of them.

``I think we were the better team tonight, and fell short,'' said Komisarek. ``We didn't get two points. Next time, we find a way to win and get the two points.

``Good start, could have been better, but we'll take the point and take the positive out of it.''

The Leafs are looking good, and I can't wait to see them in action Saturday night in Washington, as always, you can hear all of the action, live, right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Sundin Retires, and other Leafs notes

This entry is courtesy of Mike Ulmer of Toronto Maple Leafs.com, and the Toronto Sun

Mats Sundin lent me his hockey equipment

It’s a funny thing to remember when you write a man’s professional obituary. But it’s what sticks.

It was 1990. The all-star game was in Tampa. I was working for the National Post.

The media had an annual game at all-star. I wanted to play but didn’t have the equipment. I was moaning about it at Sundin’s locker.

“Just take mine,” he said.

I have often thought whether Barry Bonds would have lent me his bat or whether I could have even gotten close enough to Michael Jordan to hit him up for a lightly-used pair of shoes. I don’t think so.

There were always two Mats Sundins and this is the story among many accomplished people.
The bland, unreachable, altogether pleasant countenance is for the public. What beats below, of course, is the subject of endless conjecture.

Over his 981 regular season games with the Maple Leafs and 77 more in the post-season, there was in Sundin a seamless excellence. Everything, the shot, the skating, the passing, every gift was grandly obvious.

Teammate upon teammate glowed about his charisma and understanding. New players invariably remarked about the many facets of the man that lay undiscovered until they breached the doors of the Leafs’ dressing room.

And yet, there was in Sundin a unwillingness, even an inability to appeal to our lower nature.

Just once you wanted to hear him call out a teammate for an endless succession of stupid mistakes. Just once you wanted him to question his ice time, limited (to great effect by the way) by Pat Quinn.

You wanted to see he was human, that he was capable of the same petulance and pettiness as the rest of us. And when he would not go along, many assumed he didn’t care, about his play, about his team.

Sundin, they pointed out, had never gotten his team into the finals. Never mind two final four appearances, 32 goals and 70 points in 77 playoff games.

No heart, said the critics.

It was never true, of course but even in his final games for the Leafs, all he offered to refute the charge was excellence.

Until February 21, 2009.

Sundin was making his return but as a Vancouver Canuck. A few minutes into the game, the game ops crew ran a tribute to Sundin which prompted the longest, fiercest, ovation most anyone could remember.

And Mats Sundin cried. He fought to hold his composure as Matt Stajan, a longtime teammate and a player Sundin mentored, moved out of the face-off circle.

There was nowhere to hide and all the seasons and all the disappointments and all the faces and all the moments in between were wrapped in the cheers that cascaded upon Mats Sundin.

Click here to find out more!
His lip quivered. He raised his stick.

There is nothing quite so emotionally revealing, for both the watcher and the watched, as a human being fighting back tears. Parents will tell you that children spark the most overwhelming reactions not when they cry, but when they try not to.

And there, in front of the 20,000 people in the ACC that night and countless more on television, lay the naked truth.

Mats Sundin had feelings, overwhelming feelings. He had just kept them hidden. Saying goodbye set them free.

“You were an emotional guy tonight,” someone said after he had scored the overtime winner and taken one final bow.

“I always was an emotional guy,” he said.

Sundin was born to captain the Leafs. He was never among the handful of the league’s best players, but he had an unmistakable dignity and reserve.

He was a captain, an athlete for another time, when you said little and did lots instead of the other way around.

But there was a reason he was held in such high esteem by his teammates and coaches. All of us could see his obvious excellence. Few were privy to the sight of the man behind the mask.

And one day in Tampa, I was subject to the kindness so many have spoken of.

The secret is out. And now he is gone.


In an un-related story, recently acquired goaltender, Joey MacDonald was placed on the waiver wire yesterday. When he clears, it is expected that he will join the Marlies.

Keeping you in the loop

Just in case you didn't notice, there were several players over the last week that you aren't seeing anymore, and ma have been wondering why. Here is a quick list of those players and transactions that have taken place over the last few days.

Although the team is currently engaged in a " Bonding " exercise in Huntsville Ont., there will likely be one of two more players sent down by the end of the week. Those would include the likely third man out in Joey MacDanoald and Youngster, Tyler Bozak.

September 27, 2009 The Leafs returned Nazem Kadri to the London Knights (OHL). Andy Rogers was released and Jonas Frogren and Christian Hanson have been assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

September 22, 2009 The Leafs assigned four players to the Toronto Marlies (AHL): Andre Deveaux, Alex Foster, Ryan Hamilton and Ben Ondrus

September 19, 2009 The Leafs returned the following players to their junior teams: Jesse Blacker (Windsor – OHL), Joel Champagne (P.E.I. – QMJHL), and Brandon Manning (Chilliwack – WHL).

September 19, 2009 The Leafs assigned the following players to the Toronto Marlies (AHL): Alex Berry, Darryl Boyce, Josh Engel, Andrew Engelage, Tom Galvin, Stefano Giliati, Richard Greenop, Juraj Mikus, Dale Mitchell, Phil Oreskovic, Todd Perry, James Reimer, Kyle Rogers, Joe Ryan, Greg Scott, Robert Slaney, and Mikhail Stefanovich.

Until next time, you kids play safe!

High Scoring end to the Pre Season!

The Leafs and Sabres combined for 13 goal on route to the Leafs finishing the pre season with a record of 6 and 3

With a final score of 7-6, Coach Wilson chose to take the high road when asked about the loss.


``I think both teams were disinterested most of the night,'' said Wilson. ``It's your last exhibition game. Lord knows, we've played enough of them.''

Viktor Stalberg, the only remaining rookie on the team, scored his team, and league leading sixth goal of the pre-season. If he manages to continue that pace for most of the year, we could be looking at our first 50 goal scorer since......... hell I don't even remember. But, in case you're curious, it was Dave Andreychuk in the 93-94 season with 53 goals.

Stepniak, Blake, Kulemin and Grabovski also score for Toronoto. While Toskala, who until he allowed the first gaol to get by him at 7:03 of the second was playing pretty well, did nothing to help his cause to remain number one in the big smoke.

While one bad pre-season outing does not spell the end of the world, Leafs brass well know that the biggest failing of the team last year was not its goal production, the Leafs were a more than respectable 5th in the NHL in terms of goal scoring. But, they were last in save percentage and overall defence, and last in goals against. A trend that we're all hoping will not continue!




On Sunday, the Maple Leafs returned Nazem Kadri to the OHL's London Knights and sent young winger Christian Hanson to the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Even though Tyler Bozak was among the players headed to Huntsville, he's likely to be sent down before the team has to submit its 23-man roster on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Stalberg is about to start his rookie season in the NHL.

``He'll probably be the only one,'' said Wilson.

The Leafs open the regular season this Thursday against a Montreal Canadian team that looks as though it could be facing alot of trouble of its own this season. As always, you can hear all of the action live, right here on BenchBrawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

The "Monster" Shines Again!

Oh, I can just hear all the hockey experts this morning....." Toskala finished as #1 Goalie in Toronto", "Gustavsson gets standing Ovation", "Plan the parade route...."

Blah Blah Blah.


While Gustavsson did look goo in his second appearance, and did make a great save on a 2 on 0, he has only played sixty minutes of pre-season hockey, and faced a total of 22 shots.

I was watching some sports shows this morning just to try to gauge peoples reactions and the media is just nuts. People were pulling numbers out of thin air. My personal favorite though had to be from Rogers Sportsnet where they show a pic of Gustavsson and beside his pic, they had his stats. Now, it wasn't presented like it was his all time stats, it was literally presented as though he was the greatest goal tender of ALL TIME. Aaaaaand had a goals against average of ZERO, and .1000 save percentage!

Geeez people!

Don't get me wrong, I'm as excited as the next guy to have potentially the greatest goalie in NHL history playing for the Leafs, but please, let's not canonize him quite yet, ok?

Ok, there was a game somewhere right? That's right, The Leafs did in fact play their eighth game of the pre-season last night, and the ' Monster ' did in fact help them on there way to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings to improve their record to 6-2 in the pre season!


``It was awesome,'' said Gustavsson, the game's first star. ``It was so fun to play today.''




Viktor Stalberg hit the scoresheet again and potted his team leading 5th goal of the pre-season.

``I think I've shown over the last couple weeks here that I'm ready to play,'' said Stalberg. ``Hopefully, I get a chance here coming Thursday.''

There was a scary moment in the second period for Ponikarovsy. As he was skating up ice, he took a high stick from Detroit's Jason Williams. The gash left a pool of blood on the ice and required several stitches, but did not keep him from returning to play in the third period.

The Leafs final pre season game go's tonight against the Buffalo Sabre's, and as always, you can hear all the action live, right here on BenchBrawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Leafs win another pre-season tilt in Gustavsson debut!

Mikael Grabovski scored with about 71 seconds left in regulation to tie things up at 4. Young star Viktor Stalberg scored twice and added a helper, and wonder kid Nazem Kadri rounded out the scoring in regulation.

Kulemin and Mitchell scored in the shoot out to put the icing on the cake of this 5-4 Toronto win, they are now 5-2 in the pre-season.

"We're trying to get ready for the season," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We've got to play better."

"I don't think we were as sharp as you have to be to play in this league," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "Especially in our own zone."

The Leafs led by 3 goals halfway through the second period before the Red Wings, led by Kronwalls 2 goals, stormed back with four un answered goals.

"We fell apart for a couple of minutes in the third," Stalberg said. "A few mistakes, which is easy to do against the Red Wings when they're pressuring."



In his NHL debut, Jonas Gustavsson looked sharp stopping all seven of the shots he faced in the first period. Toskala also made 27 stops on his way to a win including a timely one late in the third against Detroits Dan Cleary that eventually led to the chance Grabovski converted to tie the game.

This was the fist of three games in three nights for the Buds who close out the pre-season Sunday at home against these very same Red Wings. As always, you can hear all of the action, right here on Bench Brawl!

Until next time, you kids play safe!

A Grinding Halt!

The Leafs lose to Buffalo 3-2 in what could only be described a messy game.

Ryan Miller can't wait for the NHL regular season to begin.

The Buffalo goalie made nine of his 23 saves in the third period to help the Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in exhibition play Wednesday night.

Miller had a 42-save performance Saturday in Detroit, and appears to be ready for games that count.

``I've had two games that have worked out pretty well,'' Miller said. ``At a certain point, you want to play for two points. It's good to tune your game up, but you like the games to mean something.''

``He seems like he's in mid-season form,'' added forward Jason Pominville, who assisted on Buffalo's first goal. ``I can't wait to see him when we get to the middle of the season.''

Joey MacDonald was very sharp in the first period, but couldn't seem to hold his form much past that, although he went on to stop 28 of 31 shots, including 18 in the third period alone for the Maple Leafs.
Nathan Paetsch, Jochen Hecht and Cody McCormick scored for Buffalo (3-0-1), which played its second and final home game of the pre-season.

Jiri Tlusty scored on a penalty shot and John Mitchell added a goal for Toronto (4-2-0). Joey MacDonald made 28 saves.


Paetsch and Hecht scored in a four-minute span early in the second period to put Buffalo up 2-0. Paetsch scored during a delayed penalty, firing a slap shot from the high slot. Hecht's shot from the left faceoff circle got through MacDonald's legs.

Tlusty's score, midway through the second period, pulled Toronto to 2-1. Miller made the initial save off Tlusty's backhand, but the puck trickled through.

``I didn't mean to do that, but I count every goal,'' Tlusty said. ``It doesn't matter how it went in.''

McCormick put Buffalo up 3-1 on a swat of a loose puck late in the second period, but Mitchell, 94 seconds into the third, made it 3-2 on a tap-in from the slot.

Toronto outshot Buffalo 10-2 in the third period, but couldn't get the equalizer past Miller.

``We were putting it to them pretty good in the third period,'' MacDonald said.

Buffalo concludes its pre-season schedule with road games in Montreal on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.

The Maple Leafs have three games left. They will visit Detroit on Friday before hosting Detroit and Buffalo on Saturday and Sunday.

Until then, you kids play safe!

Kadri !, Kadri !, Kadri !!

The Leafs make it 4 in a row with another come from behind pre-season win. This one on the back of rookie Nazem Kadri, who not only scored the tying goal late in the third, also scored the winner in a shoot out to make the final 3-2

Kadri's goal in the shoot out made the ">highlight reels everywhere. After the game, Kadri made no secret about his desire to stay with the big club. `Hopefully, I'm making the decision hard,'' said Kadri. ``I appreciate (coach) Ron (Wilson) giving me the opportunity to go out there in some big situations. I think it's really building my confidence.''

While Coach Wilson still remains reluctant to heap to much praise on any one player, he did say this about Kadri's performance. ``All it takes special players is one moment and they can change the outcome (of a game),'' said Wilson. ``He did. Just being in the right spot at the right time, he picked up the puck and buried it big time.''

The Leafs rang the iron twice in overtime and once in the third period, Pittsburgh goaltender John Curry must have brought his horse-shoe, or this game may have had a much different outcome.

After looking a little ordinary in the first, Leafs net-minder Vesa Toskala, settled in well and gave his team a chance to come back, while making a couple of big stops in the over time before thwarting Staal and Conner in the shoot out.

Jamal Mayers got his bell rung pretty good and went down in a heap after getting the wrong end of a clean check from Pittsburghs Wallace, all indications are he'll be fine, but there is still plenty of time for Burke and Wilson to make any adjustments that may be needed.

The Leafs are back in action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00pm est. As always, you can hear all of the action right here on Bench Brawl, just click on Listen Live

Until next time, you kids play safe!

Plan the parade route!!

I'm just kidding, it's waaaaay too early for that...........right?

Fresh of they're third win in a row, the Buds are enjoying a much needed, and deserved day off today.

``It's fun when you win,'' said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. ``We can build a little momentum. At least we'll know what it feels like to win (heading into the regular season).''

Last nights game was they're second against a Flyers team this pre-season that produced a win, and although it is just pre-season hockey, this was the kind of gutsy, come from behind overtime win that leave a warm felling in you're belly, kind of like our Uncle Keiths fish balls!

The final score of 5-4, was indicative of a game that was a little too loose and full of penalties from both sides. The Leafs had the advantage of not one but two five on three-power plays in the last five minutes of the game and managed to score on one of them.

Hagman scored his second of the game, 1:23 into overtime to give the Leafs the win.


``When I see (a teammate) do a big hit or get in a fight, it inspires me to play better,'' said Hagman, who snapped the winner past Flyers goalie Brian Boucher.

``It makes me want to crash the net and try to score a goal. When I see them do their job, it makes me want to do mine.''

Stajan, Ponikarovski and Beauchemin also scored for the Leafs, Toskala, (who really does not look comfortable in net quite yet), stopped 21 of 21 shots. The highlight of the night though belongs to Hangman, who's first goal, was on many was on many a highlight reel.


The Leafs next action come Tuesday against the Penguins, and we should look to see coach Wilson starting to trim the roster a little in the coming week. Look for the team to keep youngster Nazim Kadri with the team for the rest of the pre-season, and possibly the opening ten games of the regular season as well.

Till next time, you kids play safe!

A Good day to be a Leaf Fan?!

Well, it started out being just another ordinary day in Leaf land. I got up, fed kids, dressed kids, brushed kids teeth, and put my wonderful six year old boy on the school bus.

The Leafs however weren't so lucky. Thursday night was their second in a string of 4 games in four nights, a game in which Toronto scored four un-answered goals and saw good performances from all including Leaf hopeful Jason Allison, who reportedly got 2 assists in the 4-0 shutout victory. It was an entertaining affair, that saw the much maligned Mikeal Grabovski take a couple of really good hits, and bounce back immediately. This is good because last year, those kinds of hits would have taken him out of the game!

Friday night saw the boys in blue on the ice again, this time from London Ontario, where they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins. Another day, another victory! This one in the guise odf a 4-3 come from behind win on the backs of Jason Blake and John Mitchell , who each posted a goal and an assist. Joey Macdonald and James Reimer both turned in solid performances, stopping 10, and 15 shots respectively.

I, don't remember if anything else happened of note today.......OH, that's right, the Maple Leafs got Phil Kessel from the Bruins today. Amid a whirlwind of speculation, that the deal to get him was in fact going to wind up being a 3 way deal involving either the Rangers or thrashers, at the end of the day, the Leafs acquired him for what is the standard compensation for presenting an (*)offer sheet to a restricted free agent of Kessels pay scale. Which incidentally was according to Leafs president and GM Brian Burke was a steep price of two number one and a number two draft pick.

This in my opinion was a good deal,( although he is not expected to join the Leafs until mid-november as he is still rehabing from having shoulder surgery in June ).Kessel signed a multi year deal with the Leafs following the acquisition. Although only 21 years old, Kessel is already a proven NHL Star, and looks to be a big part of the Leafs plans for the future.

My only concern in regard to the deal is, what to do with him. Kessel is a very talented young winger, the problem is, in Toronto , there isn't that #1 kind of center to feed him the puck. Certainly not of the calibre that enjoyed in Boston. I wonder though, could this signal the return Matts Sundin to Toronto? Hmmmmmm.

(*) When compensatory picks are awarded to a team who is losing a restricted free agent, the number and quality of the picks varies with that particular players pay scale. Because Kessel is scheduled to make around five and a half million dollars this season, that compensatory package consists of, 2 first rounders and one second rounder. If however, Kessel was to make over 6.4 million, they Leafs would have been forced to give up 4 first round picks

Leafs Drop Pre-Season Opener

As the puck dropped on another pre-season, there were fists and bodies flying all over the Air Canada Centre ice were examples of the ``truculence'' the team's general manager is so fond of.

However, there wasn't quite enough offence from the home side as former Maple Leaf Andy Wozniewski's third-period goal gave the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win on Wednesday night.

The Maple Leafs elected to keep their skilled veteran players out of the game. Instead, they started mostly rookies and tough guys who were all eager to make an impact in most cases a physical one. Here is the Box Score


``People aren't going to notice what I do on the ice unless I fight,'' said forward Andre Deveaux, who dropped the gloves twice. ``I'm not flashy.''

The Leafs kicked off a hectic pre-season schedule that will see them play nine times in 12 days and dressed 10 players that have been acquired since Burke took over as general manager last November. The GM hasn't made any secret of the fact that he thinks the team needs to be tougher to be better.

A couple newcomers made their presence felt early as Garnet Exelby and Colton Orr each came out hitting on their very first shift wearing a Leafs uniform. Shortly after, Deveaux squared off with Steve Begin in one of five fights on the evening.

By then, it was pretty clear to Boston what kind of night it was going to be.

``You could really tell they wanted to send that message that they're going to be a big, tough team,'' said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. ``They were running all over the place, trying to take guys' heads off, there was five or six fights out there.

``They really want to show guys can play that style of game and I think for every team that comes in here it's going to be the same way.''

Wozniewski ended up spoiling the party by beating Joey MacDonald high at 7:02 of the third period.

He obviously felt pretty good about getting a rare goal against his former teammates.

``Absolutely,'' said Wozniewski. ``That's obviously nice, doing it anywhere, but obviously playing here and stuff, it definitely feels good.''

Begin and Marchand also scored for Boston while Tyler Bozak and Viktor Stalberg replied for Toronto.

Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson was pleased with the play of guys like Bozak, Stalberg, Nazem Kadri and Christian Hanson. All young guys with limited or no NHL experience.

Toronto was at its best during a spirited first period that was not only puctuated by hits and fights, but also Bozak's highlight-reel goal.

The highly-coveted college free agent was on solo short-handed rush when he turned Bruins defenceman Matt Hunwick inside out and beat Dany Sabourin high at 13:38. Moves like that will certainly increase his odds of cracking Wilson's lineup.

``Luckily, I got through and saw the open spot there,'' said Bozak.

A pair of power-play goals gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the second period.

Begin beat Vesa Toskala from the side of the net at 3:18 while Marchand roofed a shot over MacDonald _ who relieved Toskala midway through the game _ at 13:16. The Leafs struggled mightily with their penalty killing last season and will need to be much better this year, especially since they'll likely spend plenty of time in the penalty box.

``If you want to win a game you have to play hockey a little bit, too,'' cautioned Begin.

Stalberg managed to tie the game before the period ran out, taking a pass from first-round pick Kadri, stepping out from behind the goal-line and sliding it under Sabourin at 16:03. Stalberg is another young player who is on the bubble.

The Leafs pressed hard after Wozniewski put the Bruins back ahead in the third period but were unable to solve Sabourin.

Jason Allison, trying to earn a contract after playing just one season over the last six years, didn't make much of an impact for Toronto. He found it tough to get in any kind of rhythm.

``I'm trying to create things down low off the cycle and stuff like that,'' said Allison. ``Tonight we really didn't have much of that. (There was) a lot of back and forth in the neutral zone. For myself, I need to get few shifts down low to really get myself in a groove.''

Added Wilson: ``He looked like he pooped out in the second half of the game.''

Notes: Announced attendance was 16,872 - and the tickets were given away for free ... Toronto was 1-4-1 against the Bruins last season ... Kadri's assist came in his first NHL pre-season game ... Ex-Habs coach Guy Carbonneau, now an analyst for CBC, watched from the press box ... Only one Boston player wore a jersey number lower than 22 (No. 6 Dennis Wideman) ... Francois Beauchemin, Ian White and Wayne Primeau were the Leafs alternate captains.

Canadian Press

Welcome to the New Season!

Hello everyone out there in Leafs land! Here we are after a much too long off season, and I am PUUUUUUUUUMPED! I hope everyone had as great a summer as I did! Time to get down to business.

While the boys in blue had quite a busy off season, I have to tell ya, I'm really not sure what to make of this " new look team ". I'm excited, to say the least. We gained a little toughness, and a little more veteran leadership, but I really don't see that the forward contingent has drastically improved.

The Leafs, last season allowed the most goals per game in the league, so, the obvious absence of a defense, coupled with the on again off again romance of Vesa Toskala has hopefully been sorted out with the addition of Swedish sensation Jonas Guvstason, and Joey MacDonald. Although, the whole MacDonald signing has me a little puzzled. Perhaps a replacement for Justin Pogge who was traded not so long ago.

The defensive corps, has also been bolstered with the additions of Garet Exelby,Francois Beauchemin,Michael Komisarek, and Phil Oreskovic.

On the other hand, Brian Burke and the Leafs appear to be just fine with pretty much what they had in the way of forwards. With the exception of veteran Wayne Primeau, (who has always been a bit of a defensive liability), Burke hasn't been able to do much to bolster a forward group that was tenth in the league last year in goal production. Tenth?!, wait a minute tenth isn't that bad you say? Well, you're right of course, the trouble is that the Leafs were 30th in goals allowed! While there scoring was actually pretty good, their defense/goaltending was, well to say the least, bad.

Having said all of that, I really am excited about this coming season! Look for Jason Blake, Mikeal Grabovski, Tomas Kaberle, Alexie Ponikarovski and Vesa Toskala to have very good years!

Yes, I said it,Vesa Toskala, and good year in the same sentence. I think that a year more mature, and removed from the circus that hass been the Maple Leafs organization for the last couple of years, Toskala has the chance to be a premier goaltender in this league. Add to that the confidance that comes with having a more stable defense in front of him, and you just never know do you?

I will have a little more in depth analysis of all of the new players once the final roster has been set. I will return to break down the games for you all, starting Wednesday, September 16th, when the Buds play their first pre-season game at home against the Bruins!

Until then....PLAY SAFE you kids!

Oh, I almost forgot, look for a couple of exciting new additions the site this season!

Going, going, gone!

Well, happy Easter, or, for those of you who do not par-take in the holiday, happy Sunday!

Our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs are hitting the links early for the fourth consecutive year, but go out on a high note beating the daylights out of the Senators
5-2.

Martin Gerber also made his first start against his former club. Turning in a 37 save performance snuffing out Danny Heatleys bid for a fourth consecutive 40+ goal season.

“It was probably more exciting than everybody thought it was going to be,” Gerber said. “It was well fought to the end. We’re happy to come out on the good end.”

Boyd Devereaux and Niklaus Hagman provided the only scoring that the Leafs needed. Devereaux, scoring his second career hat trick and Hagman scoring twice for his 21st and 22nd of an injury shortened season.

“It was probably more exciting than everybody thought it was going to be,” Gerber said. “It was well fought to the end. We’re happy to come out on the good end.”

The 30-year-old Devereaux was the Leafs’ final cut out of training camp and he spent the first couple of months in the AHL. He was eventually called up in February and he managed to stay with Toronto the rest of the way. Devereaux can become an unrestricted free agent in July.



The Leafs next action comes, sometime in October, and as always you can hear all of the action, live, right here on Bench Brawl!!!

I would like to take a quick minute to say thank you to all of you who helped to make this a successful first season for us here at Bench Brawl. We've learned a lot, had a couple of technical difficulties, and a few spelling mistakes, but it's been a lot of fun!

Look for bigger and better things next season!, and don't forget to check back each Monday night for some news n' note from the Leafs and the rest of the league!