Toronto Maple Leafs Thread

Wellwood Undergoes Successful Procedure Toronto Maple Leafs Sep 22, 2007, 3:42 PM EDT
Wellwood The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Saturday that forward Kyle Wellwood underwent a successful minor revision to his sports hernia repair. The procedure was done today and he will be out of the lineup indefinitely.

Wellwood missed 33 consecutive games last season after the January 24th surgery and he returned to the Maple Leafs lineup on March 10, 2007. He played the final 11 games to close out the 2006-07 regular season and also the first game of this month's preseason schedule (September 18 at Edmonton).

Wellwood recorded 42 points (12g, 30a) in 48 games for Toronto last season.

Sep 24, 2007, 7:30 PM (ET)
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Two teams dealing with injury issues meet tonight at Air Canada Centre when the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators renew their longstanding rivalry (7:30 p.m., Leafs TV, mapleleafs.com).

What had been an uneventful camp took a dramatic turn Friday when forward Kyle Wellwood had a successful minor revision to his sports hernia repair.

Wellwood missed 33 games with a sports hernia last season.

Wellwood was also useful on the power play where his clever playmaking made him a nice fit with captain Mats Sundin. Seven of Wellwood’s 12 goals came with the man advantage.

A chronic line-juggler in the exhibition season, Leafs coach Paul Maurice will use a host of combinations. Chad Kilger has enjoyed a good camp and may be tapped by Maurice.

Third-year-pro Alex Steen has played the wing throughout his young career but he could be shifted to the middle between Darcy Tucker and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

“The question for Alex is do you want him to drive a second or third line and be the centerpiece or do you move him up there (with Mats Sundin)?” Maurice said.

The Senators, meanwhile, enter the contest with questions surrounding the health of number one goalie Ray Emery. Emery had off-season surgery on his catching hand and Martin Gerber will play against the Leafs. The Sens play Philadelphia on Tuesday night and Emery may be ready for that date.

Veteran defenceman Wade Redden, meanwhile has been troubled by a sore back and came out of Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Sens expect Jason Spezza to play. Spezza has been a dominant player in camp and coach John Paddock believes the combination of impending expiration of his contract and the thrill of advancing to last year’s Stanley Cup finals will make Spezza an even better player. Last season, Spezza scored 34 goals and tallied 87 points.

“Last year I signed a big contract and I had to prove what I was worth,” said Spezza. “This year is a contract year and I’ve got to get a new contract and we want to get back to the final. That’s the beauty of it. When you are on a good hockey club, there’s always a challenge.”

Here is the Leafs lineup for tonight.

Forwards

Jason Blake - Mats Sundin - Alex Steen
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Matt Stajan - Jiri Tlusty
Ben Ondrus - John Pohl - Simon Gamache
Bates Battaglia - Nathan Perrott - Kris Newbury

Defence

Bryan McCabe - Andy Wozniewski
Tomas Kaberle - Pavel Kubina
Hal Gill - Ian White

Goalies

Andrew Raycroft - Starting
Vesa Toskala

Leafs Fight Back But Fall To Senators In Overtime


TORONTO (CP) -- Christoph Schubert's two-goal effort Monday night illustrated just how deep the Ottawa Senators are in talent.

The 25-year-old German is used mainly as a defenceman or as a third-line checker. He's been one of the supporting actors while leaders such as Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley have piled up the scoring points.

Yet, there he was skating and scoring like an all-star in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs that kept Ottawa undefeated in pre-season play at 4-0-0.

A power-play goal by Patrick Eaves 53 seconds into overtime ended it. Heatley scored the other Senators goal.

Schubert is big, has a great shot, competes with intensity and with two seasons under his belt now he's got the necessary experience to become a significant contributor for the Senators.

``It's always easier if you have a good team behind you,'' Schubert said. ``It's a nice accomplishment for myself and I'm happy right now.''

The time is right for Schubert to have a breakout season.

He arrived as a defenceman after being drafted 127th overall by Ottawa in 2001 and spent three years with the Binghamton, N.Y., AHL farm team improving his game. The six-foot-three, 229-pounder was manning the blue-lines for John Paddock on this night. It is the position he wants to play when the games begin for real next Wednesday night against the Leafs.

``I'm a natural defenceman,'' he said. ``The last two years I was helping out up front.

``We had success but I want to go back to my position. We have a pretty strong D-corp back there though and I have to crack into it. It's a challenge for me. It makes me work hard, trying to get into the top six.

``I talked to John Paddock already and we're going to sit down again and have a little chat and we're going to see what's going to happen.''

Schubert scored only eight goals last season but he's beginning to assert himself and the Senators couldn't be happier with his progress.

``I feel safer every time I go on the ice,'' he said. ``I've matured the last two years.

``I stepped up a couple more levels, improved my game, improved my skating, and I'll keep working. I want to make the top six now and we'll go from there.''

The Senators made it to the Stanley Cup final last spring and are deemed Canada's best bet for a lengthy run again next spring.

``Everybody knew what the message was when we came to camp,'' said Schubert. ``We all want to win the Stanley Cup.

``We were close last season and I think that's why management didn't make big changes. We're such a young team with such fast skaters, and such a smart team, they wanted to keep the guys together because we proved already we could play in the finals. We want to improve all the way to the end (of the season) so we can win the Cup.''

Mats Sundin, John Pohl and Alexei Ponikarovsky scored for the Leafs (2-1-2).

Toronto outshot Ottawa 38-32. Martin Gerber earned the goaltending win and Andrew Raycroft took the loss.

After Sundin opened the scoring on the game's first shot, Schubert tied it with a slap shot from the circle to Raycroft's right. The puck sailed over the kneeling goalie's left shoulder. Heatley made it 2-1 in the 12th minute, and Schubert put Ottawa up 3-1 at 10:35 of the second when he whipped a wrist shot from the circle to the left of Raycroft that caught the far side of the net.
Nathan Perrott dropped the gloves in the second period. (Graig Abel Photography)
Goals by Pohl at 12:37 of the second and by Ponikarovsky at 11:10 of the third forced sudden death.

Eaves ended it in overtime with Hal Gill in the penalty box for tripping. Spezza stickhandled around Pavel Kubina on the left wing and slid a cross-crease pass to Eaves, who held off Bryan McCabe and shovelled the puck past Raycroft.

``That's the kind of stuff you work on as a kid,'' Spezza said of mesmerizing Kubina. ``When you get older, it kind of comes instinctively.''

Spezza said that ``anything other than winning the Cup will be looked on as a disappointment.''

``We know that,'' he added. ``We're used to playing under the pressure.

``We just have to make sure we build as a team and have a good start to the season.''

As for the Leafs, they have a long way to go to overtake the Senators.

The defensive lapses that hurt them last season continue.

Sundin and Jason Blake have yet to develop a chemistry skating together on the first line.

``They were just okay,'' coach Paul Maurice said of their level of impact Monday night.

He tried Alex Steen with the two multimillionaires, but he eventually dropped Steen to the second line and put Ponikarovsky on the top unit.

On the play of Raycroft, Maurice offered that ``he probably would like to have three (shots for goals) back.''

Notes: On power plays, Ottawa was 1-for-7 and Toronto was 0-for-5 . . . Nathan Perrott pounded Ottawa's Danny Bois to the ice in a second-period fight. . . . Among Senators skaters sitting out were Alfredsson, Wade Redden and Mike Fisher. . . . Darcy Tucker, Chad Kilger and Nik Antropov were among Leafs who didn't play. . . . In eight meetings during 2006-2007, Ottawa won four times in regulation and once in overtime, while Toronto won three in regulation. . . . The Leafs are at home Wednesday against Buffalo and Friday against Detroit, and they wrap up the pre-season at Detroit on Saturday.

Canadian Press

Leafs Host Sabres In First Meeting Between QEW Rivals Sep 26, 2007, 7:30 PM (ET)
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Local start: 7:30 PM

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Change is the constant in the NHL and no team exemplifies that fact better than the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres, 1-2 in the exhibition season, meet the Maple Leafs tonight at 7:30 at Air Canada Centre on Leafs TV or right here on mapleleafs.com .

Buffalo made the biggest noise in the off-season by losing free agents Chris Drury to the New York Rangers and Daniel Briere to the Philadelphia Flyers. The news got worse with word steady veteran defenceman Teppo Numminen had been lost to a potentially career-ending heart surgery. Even veteran television announcer Jim Lorentz called it a day, opting for retirement instead of the rigours of travel.

But the Sabres will find a new voice, retired player Matthew Barnaby is one of the candidates, and under coach Lindy Ruff, a return to the same high-flying style. Numminen should be out of hospital in a couple of days and even at 39, a return can’t be discounted.

Buffalo has one of the game’s great young goalies in Ryan Miller and a slew of talented forwards in Jason Pominville, Ales Kotalik, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek.

The Leafs meanwhile will continue to sharpen a revamped lineup against their traditional nemesis.

Vesa Toskala returns to the net for his second preseason game. He played in a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

The loss of Kyle Wellwood to a recurring groin injury has resulted in a shuffled lineup. Boyd Deveraux, sidelined by a foot infection will play, probably with Matt Stajan and Alex Steen.

The game offers coach Paul Maurice another chance to watch Anton Stralman. Just 21, Stalman is making a strong bid to step directly into the Leafs lineup from the Swedish Elite League. He figures to see plenty of playing time in the club’s last three exhibition games.

Maurice figures to see more of Stralman’s game as the preseason wears on and the quality of players improves.

“With most really good players, it’s really easier to play at a higher level,” he said.

Carlo Colaiacovo will not. Colaiacovo had off-season knee surgery. Maurice said Colaiacovo could play but will keep him out of tonight’s game but he will at least try to get him into one of the remaining two to let him strengthen his knee.

Here is tonight's lineup:

Andrew Raycroft
Vesa Toskala - Starting

Wade Belak
Alex Steen
Mats Sundin
Matt Stajan
Tomas Kaberle
Darcy Tucker
Chad Kilger
John Pohl
Boyd Devereaux
Bryan McCabe
Hal Gill
Pavel Kubina
Bates Battaglia
Anton Stralman
Jiri Tlusty
Staffan Kronwall
Jason Blake
Nik Antropov

Sabres 7, Maple Leafs 2


(TORONTO) - Derek Roy is ready to pitch in to help fill the void left in Buffalo's lineup by the departures of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere.

Henrik Tallinder, Drew Stafford, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek each scored before Roy applied the exclamation mark with three consecutive goals in a 7-2 pre-season win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

Roy added three assists in an impressive six-point performance.

Coach Lindy Ruff will be looking for Roy to help offset the loss of the 69 goals Drury and Briere took down the free-agent highway. The five-foot-nine centre scored 21 last season and with an increased role and added ice time this season he'll be setting his aim a lot higher.

``With Dru and Dan leaving, it leaves a lot of room,'' Roy said. ``You've got to be confident out there and you've got to make plays, trust in yourself and believe in yourself. As a player, you always want to get better and you always want to play more to move up.

``They were our leaders. They're great players. We're going to miss them. You can't replace players like that.''

The Sabres finished first overall in the NHL last season and they'll be hard pressed do it again without Drury and Briere, but Leafs captain Mats Sundin was certainly impressed with them.

``They've lost some key players but they look like they're already in regular-season form,'' said Sundin.

He couldn't find a ray of sunshine in his team's woeful effort.

``We were standing around watching them play,'' Sundin said. ``We have a big, strong team and playing a team like that we've got to use our bodies and move our feet.

``We were watching them play hockey. It was a long night.''

The Leafs, using most of their regulars, got goals from Pavel Kubina and Chad Kilger. The only impact player in blue and white was Kris Newbury, said coach Paul Maurice.

``We were bad from start to finish _ front and back,'' Maurice said.

Ryan Miller was his usual solid self in the Sabres nets, while Vesa Toskala was worse than he was in his first start with his new team, and the critics panned him after that one.

In his defence, he was screened when he let in Buffalo's first shot of the game, and two more Sabres goals were scored with two Leafs in the penalty box. After Buffalo went up 4-0 early in the second period, fans cheered when Toskala made his next save.

``I felt sorry for Vesa,'' Sundin said.

Toskala hasn't played a regular-season game in eons so it is taking him time to come around.

``I think my timing has been good,'' he said. ``I've been in the right spots when they've been scoring.

``(The puck) has just been going through myself. I have to get those holes covered in the future.''

He added a comment that will be downright scary to Leafs fans: ``I'm close to where I want to be at this point.''

While skeptics insist the revamped Sabres can't possibly do as well as they did last season, the message from this one was that they remain far superior to the Leafs.

``They sent us to us tonight,'' Kilger said, confirming the message was received. ``We got it. I don't know if any other teams got it this pre-season but they sure gave it to us.''

The Leafs play their regular-season opener at home next Wednesday against Ottawa.

``It's still pre-season, you know,'' Kubina said. ``We don't need to panic. But it was a tough lesson.''

The best Leaf on the ice was Darren Roanoke.

Actually, Roanoke is a character played by Romany Malco in the Mike Myers comedy ``The Love Guru'' that sent cast members and extras onto the ice on skates and in full uniforms during the intermissions as scenes were filmed for the flick that'll be released next June. The Air Canada Centre crowd of 18,892 cheered loudly when Roanoke, outfitted in a dark blue Leafs home uniform, scored a goal on a goalie dressing in a Red Wings uniform.

The fans got more worked up for the few minutes of theatre than for the real thing.

``We were pretty awful in the first period and then for the first two minutes of the second we watched them play their game and we had not a clue what we were doing it seemed like,'' Kilger said. ``We have to find our identity.''

They have seven days to find it.

Notes: On power plays, Buffalo was 2-for-5 and Toronto was 0-for-4 . . . The pre-season records now stand at 2-2-0 for the Sabres and 2-2-2 for the Leafs . . . The Leafs were without C Kyle Wellwood, who had abdominal surgery last Saturday, LW Alexei Ponikarovsky, D Ian White, D Carlo Colaiacovo and D Andy Wozniewski . . . Among Sabres not playing were C Tim Connelly were D Teppo Numminen, who is recovering from open heart surgery, F Paul Gaustad, F Maxim Afinogenov and D Dmitri Kalinin . . . Stafford's uncle, Barrie Stafford, has been equipment manager for the Edmonton Oilers for the last 23 years . . . The Leafs assigned forward David Ling to the AHL's Toronto Marlies earlier Wednesday . . . In eight Toronto-Buffalo meetings during 2006-2007, Toronto won three and lost five . . . The first clash of the new season will be Oct. 15 at Buffalo . . . Toronto completes its eight-game exhibition schedule with a home game against the Red Wings on Friday and a visit to Detroit on Saturday . . . Buffalo hasn't lost a pre-season game to Toronto since 2001.

Canadian Press

Watch Original Six Battle OnlineSep 28, 2007, 7:30 PM (ET)
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Local start: 7:30 PM

Local Home:
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The Leafs play their final home preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Air Canada Centre.

Don't forget that you can watch the game online right here at mapleleafs.com or on Leafs TV starting at 7:30 p.m.

Andrew Raycroft gets the start in net for the Leafs