McCabe and Panthers burn Leafs in OT

All good things must come to an end. Although, depending on your thinking as to whether the Leafs should play to lose or play to win, this may be just what the Doctor ordered. I only mention this because, I talk to people all the time about how the Leafs are doing, where I think they're going to end up, and what I think they should do ( or not do ). I often find myself repeating the same old tired conversation about how, the Leafs should or shouldn't be playing for a draft pick. I, am of a minority when I state that my position is and always will be, the Leafs should always play to win. If I thought for a second that they were playing to lose, I'd never watch them again. To those who would disagree with me, I say this. Shut up, you're an idiot!

Now, on to the business at hand. The Buds did in fact play tonight and lost 4-3 to the Panthers, thanks to a Bryan McCabe overtime goal at 3:30 of overtime. Toronto seemed to have the game well in hand, leading 3-1 after two periods but couldn't hold the lead.


Stephan Weiss scored early in the third to make it close, and then Stillman scored at 19:07 on the powerplay to send the game to overtime.

Hagman opened the scoring with a highlight reel goal, Antropov scored for the third straight game and I don't think you'll see Luke Schenn try that fancy little spin-o-rama move at the blue line again any time soon, judging by the look on coach Wilsons' face as he left the bench.

The Leafs won't have time to sit around thinking about it though as they shuffle off to Buffalo for a Wednesday night tilt with the Sabres. As always, you can hear all the action live, right here on Bench Brawl!

2009 NHL All Star Skills Day Highlights

Ok, so Blake Wheeler probably wasn't sure about how the 2009 All Star weekend was going to turn out for him being his first trip and all. However, when his sticks were misplaced by Air Canada, he waited patiently for them to call. They never did so he assumed that he would simply have to borrow one from another player.

"Air Canada said they'd call when they found them, but they never called - then they magically arrived," said Wheeler. Lucky for him. He managed to score four goals as the NHL Rookies defeated the NHL Sophomore team 9-5 in the " Young Stars " Game



The Skills competition this year was a whole new story. There were some significant rule changes allowing for alot more creativity on the part of the players. All in all a very entertaining competition this year. Here are video highlights of each separate competition. Enjoy! And thanks to the NHL Network and TSN for the video!

Fastest Skater



Breakaway Challenge


Accuracy Competition



Hardest Shot



And my personal favorite, The Elimination Shoot Out!


Please stay tuned tomorrow for highlights from today's festivities!

Hey, Look what I can do!!!!!

The Leafs won their third in a row, and second against New Jersey this year in a shoot out. Blake scored in the shootout, after Antripov and Williams scored as well to help the Leafs to a 3-2 win in a shoot out.

Williams who scored in his third straight game, and has apparently, provided some spark, scored the go ahead goal for the Leafs in the second period. The opportunistic winger, also scored in the shoot out to put the Leafs ahead and setting the stage for Jason Blakes shoot out winner.

With less than ten seconds to go in overtime Toskala stopped Travis Zajac on a breakaway to send it to a shoot out. Toskala for the leafs and Clemmenson for the Devils, each face a total of 27 shots. The Leafs improve to 12-12-6 and remain in 11th in the east just three points out of a playoff spot.

Toronto's next action comes Thursday night in Bean Town at 7:00 pm, and as always, you can listen to the game live, right hear on Bench Brawl!