Toronto Maple Leafs Thread

Rygar

kenshunt wrote:

What do u mean, it did look like a pond hockey game back and forth, but i was entertained by it.

Of course you were entertained by it, you won.

I was telling Toronto to score every time Montreal did something stupid (which was often) but Toronto needed to put together a decent chance (which wasn't often) so it was up to Huet to let 'em in, which was semi often.

Montreal was coming off a good game against Phillie, and you guys off a mediocre game against Jersey, and neither team played like they wanted to be there...

Rygar

On the other hand, unless I miss my cable appointment today I should have RDS by this afternoon and can curse at my team much more regularly.

kenshunt

Rygar wrote:

On the other hand, unless I miss my cable appointment today I should have RDS by this afternoon and can curse at my team much more regularly.

Well it is good to get frustrations out sometimes lol

Rygar

kenshunt wrote:

Well it is good to get frustrations out sometimes lol

hehehe, my TV is expensive though...

Rygar

Rygar wrote:

On the other hand, unless I miss my cable appointment today I should have RDS by this afternoon and can curse at my team much more regularly.

Nope, tards came at 10 after 12. No digi cable yet again.

Odin

Leaf fans: How does it feel to share the Northeast cellar with Buffalo?

kenshunt

Bell To Play First Game Tuesday, Wellwood Likely To Play Canadian Press Nov 5, 2007, 2:13 PM EST
Bell TORONTO (CP) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs debut Mark Bell has spent countless hours thinking about and waiting for finally comes Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators.

And what a time to make his return from a 15-game suspension stemming from a drinking and driving incident in San Jose last year - the Sens are off to a 12-1-0 start this season and will be seeking a club-record eighth-straight win when the teams clash at Scotiabank Place.

``That's the best way to do it, play against the best team in the league and the fastest team, I think,'' a relieved-looking Bell said after practice Monday. ``I'm really looking forward to it, going against the best in my first game back.''

Bell might not be the only reinforcement for the Maple Leafs, trudging along at 6-6-3 so far this season. Slick centre Kyle Wellwood is also likely to see his first action of the season following surgery for a sports hernia.

A final decision on his status will be made following Tuesday's morning skate.

``Everything's been going great and I haven't had any setbacks, I definitely want to play,'' said Wellwood. ``To get to play (against Ottawa) would be a treat. They're the top dogs in the league and the Eastern Conference right now so they're a team we'd like to beat.''

The Senators have been rolling ever since sweeping Toronto in a home-and-home series to open the season while their bitter arch-rivals have alternated between good and bad from night to night.

The Leafs played well Saturday in a 3-2 road win against the Montreal Canadians and hope to become the second team, after the Carolina Hurricanes, to beat Ottawa this season.

``You can't get a better test than that, we should really be excited to go in there,'' said Leafs captain Mats Sundin. ``It's a great challenge to play in their building and with the record they have, they're the team to beat right now in the league.

``We're trying to get to the level they are, we're not there yet. It'll be a good measuring stick for us.''

The creative Wellwood should help boost a terrible power play that ranks 26th in the NHL with just nine goals in 67 chances, while Bell should give head coach Paul Maurice a smooth-skating big body who can kill penalties and finish his checks.

``(Wellwood's) hands are spectacular and he does some things on the ice and he moves into places that he's not expected to go,'' said Maurice. ``(Bell's) got good hands, he's a big man, he can bang a little bit, he's got a huge shot.

``I'd like to see a real simple game but mostly I hope he has some fun.''

Maurice plans to start them both off slowly, with Bell and John Pohl playing the wing alongside Wellwood if he's OK to go.

Wellwood is likely to play 8-12 minutes in all, mostly on the power play.

``We're ready to contribute,'' said Wellwood. ``Spending a lot off time together in the training room and being roommates on the road there, we definitely want to come back and contribute something and find a way to help us win.''

For Bell, Tuesday's game will mark another important step in leaving his troubles of last season in the past. His suspension came after he pleaded no contest to criminal drunk-driving charges stemming from his arrest last September.

He is due to serve six months in a California county jail at the end of the season. Bell hasn't had a drink since the incident and has accepted full responsibility for his actions.

``This hasn't gone fast for me. It's been a long time since I've played a game, since training camp it's been a long time,'' said Bell. ``I've had a lot of time to think about a lot of things.''

The Maple Leafs acquired Bell from the Sharks in June along with goaltender Vesa Toskala and are eager to see what he can do. Maurice expects Bell to try and make an impression in his first few shifts and is happy to let him go.

``I'm not going to try to take any of his enthusiasm for playing in this game away,'' said Maurice. ``This man has been through as much as any of us can handle and he's handled it about as well as I think could possible be done.''

Wellwood, meanwhile, hopes his physical problems are also a thing of the past. He had surgery last January and thought the problem was solved until it flared up again in training camp, requiring a second operation.

Starting, stopping and shooting were particularly tough on the groin but he now has enough confidence that he can play without questions in his mind.

``I definitely had that when I came back last year and even going into this year, playing in exhibitions and training camp, I was really worried about getting hurt,'' he said. ``They were waiting for the point that I wasn't worried that I'd get hurt and that's where I'm at now.''

Notes: Both Darcy Tucker (knee) and Bryan McCabe (groin) skated on their own before practice and Maurice hopes they might be ready to return this weekend. ... Carlo Colaiacovo (knee) has had two tough workouts on his knee but Maurice wouldn't hazard a guess on when he might return.
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=342287

kenshunt

Odin wrote:

Leaf fans: How does it feel to share the Northeast cellar with Buffalo?

Tor 15 points
Buf 11 points

They are not sharing the bottom with Buffalo

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=StandingsPage

kenshunt

Sens keep rolling with win over Leafs
Phillips beats Toskala

The Canadian Press

11/6/2007 11:23:19 PM

OTTAWA - Each and every player on the Ottawa Senators got a phone call from John Paddock last summer shortly after he was named head coach.

His message was simple. Look at what happened to 2006 Cup finalists Edmonton and Carolina last season. Don't let it happen here.

"We were challenged, the talk of a Stanley Cup hangover really pushed us even more," said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson.

Tuesday night's 5-1 win over the rival Toronto Maple Leafs improved Ottawa to a mind-boggling 13-1-0, making the Senators the fastest to 13 wins of any team in NHL history.






Even a bolstered Maple Leafs lineup was no match for the high-flying Senators on Tuesday night. Andrej Meszaros, Chris Kelly and Patrick Eaves each had a goal and an assist and Martin Gerber collected his NHL-best 10th win of the season as Ottawa cruised past Toronto.

"You look around the room, everyone is enjoying it," said Gerber. "But it doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of work."

Alfredsson and Chris Phillips also scored for the NHL-leading Senators, who set a franchise record with their eighth consecutive victory.

"Guys are working really hard," said veteran Ottawa blue-liner Wade Redden. "No one is getting lazy here."

Nik Antropov potted his ninth goal of the season for Toronto (6-7-3), which dressed forwards Kyle Wellwood (sports hernia) and Mark Bell (NHL suspension) for the first time this season. It didn't matter.

Antoine Vermette had two assists as the Sens continued their domination of the Leafs, improving to 15-2-2 in the regular season since the lockout ended - including 3-0-0 this season.

The Leafs were buoyed by their recent play on the road, winning three of their last four away from home with solid defensive play. But on this night they had trouble handling Ottawa's speed early on, turning the puck over and giving up odd-man breaks.

"You don't want to give up five odd-man breaks a game - we gave up five in the first four to five minutes," said a clearly disappointed Paul Maurice, Toronto's head coach.

A lively crowd of 19,613 featured a healthy dose of Leaf jerseys, but they were quieted in a hurry.

"We got off to a good start and our fans took over," said Alfredsson.

Phillips opened the scoring 2:59 into the first period, pinching in from the point and beating Vesa Toskala top corner on the stick side after a nifty cross-ice feed from Dany Heatley.

It was 2-0 just 47 seconds later when Eaves finished off a 2-on-1 break by patiently waiting out Toskala before flipping the puck over him.

Alfredsson collected his 10th goal of the season 1:21 into the second period after finding the open side on another 2-on-1 - this time short-handed. Meszaros made it 4-0 on a Sens power play with a screened shot that beat Toskala, chasing the Finnish goalie from the net.

The goalie change seemed to spark the Leafs, who carried the play for the rest of the middle period and finally got a goal when Antropov rifled a wrist shot in the top corner over Gerber's stick side on a Toronto power play at 14:23.

But there would be no comeback on this night. The Senators re-asserted themselves in the third period, Kelly finishing off yet another 2-on-1 break after a pass from Eaves to make it 5-1 at 6:25.

Toronto had plenty of chances to make this a game, getting nine power-play chances on the night but scoring only once. Ottawa got three man advantages and scored once.

Wellwood and Bell started the game together on a line with John Pohl but later found themselves with Jason Blake as head coach Paul Maurice shuffled the deck. Wellwood also saw time on the first power-play unit.

Toronto actually outshot Ottawa 31-21 - a prime example of how the shot clock can be misleading.

Notes: With Wellwood and Bell returning, Simon Gamache paid the price. The Leafs put the winger on waivers Tuesday for the purposes of sending him back to the AHL Marlies . Star centre Jason Spezza missed his fourth consecutive game for the Senators with a groin injury . Defenceman Bryan McCabe (groin) and forward Darcy Tucker (knee) remained out for Toronto . Gerber has only lost once in regulation in his last 23 starts (20-1-2) dating back to last season . The Battle of Ontario was missing its biggest brawlers - tough guys Wade Belak of the Leafs and Brian McGrattan of the Senators were healthy scratches . The Leafs next play Friday at Buffalo while the Senators host Washington on Thursday . The Senators were 5-1-2 against the Leafs last season and 7-1-0 in 2005-06.



http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=222312&hubname=

Rygar

Maurice went bonkers last night.

kenshunt

Well he needs to know that the players are Fergies and the d is way to slow to be pinching the way they do.

kenshunt

Maple Leafs-Sabres PreviewNov 9, 2007, 7:30 PM ET
TV Information

---

National TV:
RIS
Local Home:
MSG (HD)
Local Away:
TSN

Little more than one month into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres already face large Northeast Division deficits. Merely making the playoffs could be difficult if the teams can't shake their early season struggles.

The Maple Leafs are expected to get a pair of key players back in the lineup Friday night as they try to post a rare road victory against the Sabres.

Residing in the same division as defending conference champion Ottawa figured to make it very hard for Toronto or Buffalo to finish first. The Senators have played even beyond expectations, winning 13 of their first 15 games to take firm control of the division in November.

The Maple Leafs (6-7-3) could find themselves out of the playoffs for the third straight season if their defense and goaltending don't improve. They have allowed a league-high 62 goals, as neither Vesa Toskala nor Andrew Raycroft has played well enough to seize control of the No. 1 goaltending role.

Toskala allowed four goals on 13 shots before he was replaced by Raycroft at 8:08 of the second period in a 5-1 loss Tuesday at Ottawa.

Nik Antropov scored his team-leading ninth goal to provide the only offense for Toronto, which has lost three of four.

"They really took the game away from us right away and after that it was just a matter of them coasting right through the rest of the hockey game," said center Kyle Wellwood, who made his season debut after having surgery for a sports hernia.

Although it may not help them become better defensively, the Leafs will be happy to get rugged forward Darcy Tucker and defenseman Bryan McCabe back on Friday.

Tucker has missed seven games with a knee injury while a sore groin has sidelined McCabe for six contests.

"I've tried to take this time to get my mind fresh and clean and ready to play," Tucker said. "I can play far better than I was earlier in the year. That's my main goal, to come back and be hungry and be very gritty for the hockey club."

Tucker and McCabe should help on the power play, where the Leafs have scored only 10 goals in 76 opportunities while allowing an NHL-worst five short-handed goals for the opposition.

While a porous defense is Toronto's biggest problem, Buffalo (6-7-1) has had trouble scoring with only seven goals in its last four games.

The Sabres ended their second three-game skid of the season Wednesday with a 2-1 overtime victory over Boston on Clarke MacArthur's goal 3:16 into the extra period.

"It wasn't our best game, but it wasn't our worst either," Buffalo defenseman Brian Campbell said. "Wins are important. We have to be able to take advantage of these points and start climbing."

Getting production from an unexpected source like MacArthur is important because the Sabres are without five injured regulars, including centers Adam Mair and Tim Connolly, who both missed their first game after being hurt in Monday's 2-0 loss at Montreal.

The Sabres defeated the Leafs 5-4 on Oct. 15, when Ales Kotalik scored a power-play goal with 3.7 seconds left in overtime. Buffalo improved to 15-5-2 with one tie against Toronto since the start of the 2003-04 season.



Associated Press


http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=228&gameType=2&page=Preview&season=20072008&service=page

Rygar

And the healthy line up is complete...with the return of scapegoat McCabe and Darcy Fucker.....

kenshunt

Rygar wrote:

And the healthy line up is complete...with the return of scapegoat McCabe and Darcy Fucker.....

First time all year with a full lineup, prolly won't make much of a difference, but i am hoping.

Odin

kenshunt wrote:

Tor 15 points
Buf 11 points

They are not sharing the bottom with Buffalo

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=StandingsPage

Close enough.

Red Lukin

Can you believe Raycroft got a shut out last night - wow!

Rygar

Red Lukin wrote:

Can you believe Raycroft got a shut out last night - wow!

It was Buffalo.....

kenshunt

Rygar wrote:

It was Buffalo.....

Razor Sharp, Sundin Hot In Leafs Win
Recap | Scoresheet | Stats | : Pre-Game | Game In Six | Post Game

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Bryan McCabe and the Toronto Maple Leafs were determined not to have history repeat itself.

Andrew Raycroft made 30 saves for his sixth career shutout, Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist, and McCabe redeemed himself for a past gaffe in Toronto's 3-0 win over the slumping Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

In the last meeting in Buffalo between the two teams in mid-October, the Maple Leafs blew a two-goal, third-period lead and lost in overtime when McCabe inadvertently swatted the puck into his own net. McCabe again scored the winner, but this time it was in the right goal.

``At least one was for our team, so that's a bonus this time around I guess,'' McCabe kidded.

Raycroft, meanwhile, put his team in a position not to waste another lead. Making his first start after two relief appearances, Raycroft made 15 saves in a scoreless first period, including a diving stop to his right on Nathan Paetsch's rebound attempt with 55 seconds remaining.

He was also helped when Sabres centre Jochen Hecht hit the goal post with 14 minutes left in regulation. Raycroft needed to turn aside only six shots in the final frame, thanks to a suffocating defence that neutralized the Sabres pop-gun offence.
``To win games you have to have breaks,'' said Raycroft, whose last start was Oct. 20, when he surrendered five goals in a loss to Chicago. ``We had a busy first, but we didn't give them anything in the third. That was the best third period we've played in a really long time.''

Boyd Devereaux also scored to help the Maple Leafs, last in the NHL in goals against entering the game, win for the second time in the last three games.

``Andrew had a great game in net, but we played a great game defensively,'' said Sundin, who moved to within one goal of tying Frank Mahovlich for 27th on the all-time goals list, and one point of tying Jean Ratelle for 32nd place on the all-time points list. ``We've scored enough goals but for some reason we've struggled with our defensive play.''

The Sabres, the highest scoring team last season, were shutout for the third time this season, and second in the last three games. They've now lost seven of their last 10 games, and have scored just seven times in their last five contests.

``I don't know what the team is thinking collectively,'' said goalie Ryan Miller, who made 20 saves. ``It was a frustrating kind of game.''

Miller kept the game scoreless in the second period, when he made a clutch save on Toronto defenceman Pavel Kubina's breakaway with 8{ minutes left.

Toronto finally broke through with just 36 seconds left in the second period. With a faceoff to the right of Miller, Sundin cleanly beat Buffalo's Clarke MacArthur, drawing the puck back to McCabe 10 feet inside the blueline in the middle of the ice. McCabe's slap shot went off Buffalo forward Paul Gaustad and knuckled past Miller.
McCabe was playing in his first game after missing the last six because of a groin strain.

Sundin made it 2-0 with his ninth of the year three minutes into the third period, and Devereaux capped the scoring with his second goal with just 59 seconds remaining in the third.

The Maple Leafs' lineup was bolstered by the return of not only McCabe, but also forward Darcy Tucker. Tucker missed seven games because of a knee injury.

``We're hitting posts, we're hitting legs and we're missing open nets,'' Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. ``I'm disappointed the puck isn't going into the net.''

Notes: McCabe earned his 400th career NHL point on his goal. ... Sabres D Jaroslav Spacek returned after missing eight of the last nine games because of a shoulder injury. ... These two teams don't meet again until Jan. 19, in Toronto. ... Buffalo forwards Tim Connolly (abdomen) and Adam Mair (ankle) both missed their second games. Connolly was tied for the team lead in points heading into the game. ... The last Toronto shutout in Buffalo was by Ed Belfour on April 2, 2004. ... Sundin moved within one goal of tying Frank Mahovlich for 27th on the all-time goals list, and one point of tying Jean Ratelle for 32nd place on the all-time points list. He now has 532 career goals and 1,266 points.


Associated Press
Three star selections:
1st: ANDREW RAYCROFT
2nd: MATS SUNDIN
3rd: BRYAN MCCABE
Winning Goaltender:
Andrew Raycroft

Losing Goaltender:
Ryan Miller
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Recap&seas=20072008&gtype=2&gnum=228

kenshunt

Rangers 3, Maple Leafs 2, SO
Box | Stats | Pics | Ceremony | : Video

November 10, 2007

TORONTO -- The New York Rangers finally have a road win.

Marcel Hossa's decisive shootout goal gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the annual Hockey Hall of Fame game Saturday night.

The Rangers had been without a win in their first six games on the road (0-5-1), and with this win they were the last NHL club to get a win in an opponent's arena.

Nik Antropov took the first shootout shot and Stephen Valiquette made the save. Brendan Shanahan was the first New York shooter and beat Vesa Toskala high on the glove side. Mats Sundin shot high and wide before Hossa got his chance. He deked twice to confuse Toskala and buried the puck behind the Finn to end it.

Sean Avery, alias ``The Pickering Pest,'' set up Shanahan for a goal and scored one himself for the Rangers during regulation time.

Valiquette got the goaltending win in his first start after Henrik Lundqvist played every minute of the Rangers' first 16 games.

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored both of Toronto's goals in regulation. Toskala was the hard-luck loser in front of a season-high Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,530.

There was a group stare-off involving all players on the ice at the boards between the benches after Avery and Darcy Tucker _ both wear 16 _ exchanged words during the warmup, and the two were yapping again in the 12th minute. Tucker dropped his gloves, Avery did not, and both were sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct. They were back on the ice for eight seconds before the gloves came off and they were going at each other with their fists.

The Rangers jumped ahead 2-0 with goals 42 seconds apart from the line of Shanahan, Avery and Scott Gomez early in the second period.

Gomez won a faceoff in Toronto's end and passed to Avery, who took the puck behind the Leafs' net. A backhand pass sent the puck to Shanahan at the front of the crease and the puck was instantaneously behind Toskala at 1:43.

Avery dodged Pavel Kubina to get to the rebound of a Toskala save off Shanahan and score at 2:25.

Ponikarovsky's two goals in two minutes tied it 2-2.

The six-foot-four Ukrainian blasted a slap shot from the circle to the left of a kneeing Valiquette into the top short-side corner of the net at 16:54. Ian White's pass to Antropov at the blue-line should have resulted in an off-sides whistle, but play continued and the goal counted.

Ponikarovsky then slammed a rebound past a kneeling Valiquette at 18:54. The point Sundin got for assisting gave him 1,267 in his career, tying him with Jean Ratelle for 32nd place on the all-time list.

Valiquette kept the Leafs from seizing the lead when he made a fantastic leg save on a Mark Bell bullet with nine minutes remaining in the third period.

Toskala made as equally important a save with seven minutes left in regulation when he induced Gomez to shoot into his chest from point-blank range.

The Leafs' Boyd Devereaux was sent off for hooking with 3:27 remaining in regulation. The Rangers would try to remove the power-play doughnut served up by both teams, but they couldn't do it.

Hold on.

Tucker hooked Hossa as Hossa nearly scored in the closing seconds of regulation time, and the Rangers started overtime with another manpower advantage. They came up empty again.

It would go to a shootout.

Notes: Toronto had a 34-27 shots edge . . .The Leafs, 0-for-4 in this one, were 28th in the league in power-play efficiency (12.8 per cent) coming in. The Rangers also went 0-for-4 with manpower advantages . . . New York entered the game with a league-best 1.67 goals-against average, while Toronto's 3.53 GAA was 29th in the 30-team league . . . Pre-game ceremonies were held to mark Remembrance Day and to introduce Mark Messier, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis, Scott Stevens and Jim Gregory, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night . . . Sundin's next goal will be his 533rd and will lift him even with Frank Mahovlich for 27th place . . . Jaromir Jagr, who scored 54 goals in 2005-2006 and slipped to 30 in 2006-2007, has only three in the Rangers' 17 games . . . The Leafs' healthy scratches were John Pohl, who sat out a second straight game, Wade Belak, idle for a third consecutive game, and Bates Battaglia, deleted for a fifth in a row . . . Toronto plays at home against Montreal on Tuesday, is in Boston on Thursday and is back home next Saturday against Ottawa.


Canadian Press
Three star selections:
1st: BRENDAN SHANAHAN
2nd: ALEXEI PONIKAROVSKY
3rd:
Winning Goaltender:
Stephen Valiquette

Losing Goaltender:
Vesa Toskala
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=236&gameType=2&page=Recap&season=20072008&service=page

NY PJ1

Alittle Payback Bud