Well Leafs Nation we have just passed the quarter point of the season and the Buds are sitting 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the whole NHL. How many Leaf fans saw this coming? Do we have any hand raising, I think not. I did feel that Buds would make the playoffs this season but did not see them being in the place that they currently are in the NHL.
I have to say it is alot more fun to watch the games this season, the team is fast, we are getting scoring and surprise, surprise we sit 3rd in the league on the PP (this is huge). This Leafs Nation is something we have been waiting for since the lockout. There is still alot of season to go but if the Buds continue to perform, April will be longer then we are accustomed too.
The 2011/12 Maple Leafs season is two days away against our arch rivals the Montreal Canadiens, the Buds will be looking to make the post season for the first time since the lockout. The club is one of only two clubs to have failed to do so (Florida Panthers the other) and will be looking to charge into the post season. Can the club score enough goals? Will the penalty kill finally stop something? What will the goaltending look like?
These are all major questions and some that the club, the fans and the media are already asking and we have not even dropped the puck yet. Well Leafs Nation lets take a look at 20 Insane predictions for the Maple Leafs 2011/12 season.
The NHL season is upon us Leafs Nation and the Toronto Maple Leafs made their final cuts today sending Keith Aulie and Mike Zigomanis to the AHL Marlies, while placing Darryl Boyce, Joey Crabb and Matt Lashoff on waivers as the October 6 home opener against the Habs inches closer.
There were a few surprises with the club as rookie defensemen Jake Gardiner and Jay Rosehill both stuck with the big club over Aulie and Boyce, while rookie forward Matt Frattin also is sticking with the big club as Nazem Kadri is out with an injury for 3 to 4 weeks. The Leafs opening night team will look like this.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have gone from 70 players at camp to 29 as October 6th, 2011 season opener against the Montreal Canadiens inches closer and closer and the club looking to trim down to the 23 player roster spots. Coach Ron Wilson has some interesting decisions to make as camp comes to a close, some of them expected while some of the surprising but all of a positive note.
We first take a look Leafs Nation at the players that are considered locks to make the squad come opening night. James Reimer, Dion Phaneuf, Luke Schenn, John-Michael Liles, Cody Fransen, Carl Gunnarsson, Mike Komisarek, Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak, Tim Connolly, Joffrey Lupul, Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Clarke MacArthur, Colton Orr, Colby Armstrong, Darryl Boyce, Jay Rosehill, Mike Brown, that is 19 players with Matthew Lombardi healthy this would be 20.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed stud defensemen Luke Schenn to a 5 year contract yesterday morning, announcing the deal just before training camp opened for the 2011-12 NHL season. Brian Burke signed last seasons hits leader to an annual cap hit of $3.6 million a season.
The soon to be 22 year old defensemen took some major strides last season after a dismal sophomore season. Schenn has appeared in 231 NHL games all for the Blue and White and will be back on what is pretty much a set blueline for the upcoming season that includes Dion Phaneuf, John-Michael Liles, Cody Fransen, Keith Aulie, Mike Komisarek and Carl Gunnarsson.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will open training camp this Friday and have released their training camp roster. The club has invited 70 players to camp as the club gets into high gear for the upcoming season. Luke Schenn is on the list as the club and player continue to work on a long term deal.
Maple Leafs Training Camp Roster:
(jersey number beside player name)
Goalies:
50 Jonas Gustavsson
1 Mark Owuya
34 James Reimer
40 Jussi Rynnas
30 Ben Schrivens
73 Garret Sparks
The Toronto Maple Leafs have released their 2011/12 broadcast schedule as we inch closer and closer to the opening face off. The Leafs will have all 82 games broadcast between four stations. Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, CBC and Leafs TV will bring all the games to you live this season. The Leafs will be on Rogers Sportsnet 29 times, CBC 24 times, TSN 17 times and Leafs TV 12 times.
Maple Leafs fans we are just a few weeks from training camp, thats right Leafs Nation just a few weeks away from September and another run by our beloved Buds to end this playoff misery that we having been suffering from since the end of the lockout.
The Leafs have made a few changes from the club that ended the season in April:
In: Tim Connolly, Matthew Lombardi, Cody Fransen and Philippe Dupuis
Re-signed: James Reimer, Carl Gunnarsson, Clarke MacArthur, Tyler Bozak, Jay Rosehill, Darryl Boyce, Mike Zigomanis, Matt Lashoff, Luca Caputi, Ben Scrivens and Joey Crabb
The 2011 NHL draft has come and gone and Brian Burke has added nine lucky youngsters when it was all said and done. The Leafs made a minor move by trading their 30th overall and 39th overall picks to Anaheim to move up to the 22nd overall spot. We take a look at who the Bud drafted.
Tyler Biggs (Forward) 22nd Overall Pick
USA (Under 18)
GP: 48 G 17 A 11 PTS 28 PIM 112
- Prototypical power forward who embodies truculence. He has decent hands and can drive to the net while delivering big hits
Stuart Percy (Defense) 25th Overall Pick
Mississauga St. Michael's (OHL)
GP: 64 G 4 A 29 PTS 33 PIM 50
- A smart player who is rarely caught out of position in his own end, he guards the puck well and makes passes well in all three zones
Brian Burke has made a move just on the eve of the NHL draft acquiring offensive defensemen John-Michael Liles from the Colorado Avalanche for a 2nd Round pick in the 2012 draft that the team acquired from the Boston Bruins as part of the Tomas Kaberle trade earlier this season.
The 30 year old Indiana native picked up 46 points last season and has 275 points over his career in 523 games played. Liles has 1 year left on his contract that pays him $4.5 million a season but has a cap hit of $4.2 million and was taken by the Avalanche in the 5th round of the 2000 NHL entry draft, 159th overall.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will try once again to make the post season for the first time since the lockout as restless Leafs Nation fans await to see what general manager Brian Burke does come UFA time on July 1st. The Buds need a top line center, another one or two players for the bottom six forwards a puck moving defensemen and a veteran backup goalie.
The Leafs GM may fill a gap or two come draft day but nothing is certain except that the salary cap has been increased to $64 million for next season with the Leafs currently having about $25 million to spend. They will need to lockup restricted free agents Luke Schenn, Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak which should cost the club about $8 million a season for all three while unrestricted free agent Tim Brent is all but a lock to return back for a small increase bringing spending room down to about $16 million.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought in two new coaches to add Ron Wilson next season as the club looks to end their post lockout goose egg in making the NHL post season, gone are Tim Hunter and Keith Acton and in are Scott Gordon and Gregg Cronin. Leafs GM Brian Burke brings in two more Americans to the Blue and White.
Scott Gordon is the former Head Coach of the New York Islanders and posted a 64-94-23 record, he was also Wilson's assistant coach on the silver medal winning USA Olympic team of 2010. Gregg Cronin has been the Head Coach of the Northeastern University Huskies of the NCAA for the past six seasons.
On another note the Buds signed defensemen Carl Gunnarsson to a 2 year contract worth $2.65 million over two seasons.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed upcoming restricted free agent James Reimer to a new three year contract for a reported $5.4 million which amounts to a friendly cap hit of $1.8 million a season. Reimer took full advantage of injuries sustained to goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart last season to wrestle away the number one spot and earn a hefty raise from $600,000.
Well Leafs its been over six weeks since the end of the regular season for our beloved Maple Leafs, after doing some reading over the internet on different hockey blogs I came across a very interesting statistic at Blue Notes which is a New York Rangers blog written by Steve Zipay. The Dollar Per Points or DPP, theme is a simple format that takes a look at how much a player was paid per point in the season.
The key all fans need to remember is that some players roles are not to accumulate points and a few on the list missed extended periods of time like Colton Orr who lead the club in DPP with $500,000 per his two points but also only played in 46 games, he is the clubs enforcer not goal scorer. This is all about seeing who gave the club its best bang for its buck and it was not surprising that Clarke MacArthur lead the club in this category, costing the Leafs only $17,742 DPP this season. The worst blue liner was Mike Komisarek who cost the buds $450,000 DPP with the best being Carl Gunnarsson at $40,000 DPP.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have played some of their best hockey since the all star game, this is nothing new over the past few years as the club seems to always become an over .500 hockey club when things do not seem to matter but the difference this time around is the club is playing well to the point that it does matter.
There is something special about this young squad over the last couple of months and even though they were schooled Saturday by the defending Stanley Cup champs the Black Hawks, we will now see how the young squads composure will come through, will they whittle away or will they rise to the occasion. Leafs coach Ron Wilson has the team playing as well as he has had any squad and GM Brian Burke's trades which subtracted members from the club has only assisted in bringing this group closer together.
The Leafs GM Brian Burke has sent another short term Leaf packing as Kris Versteeg joins Francois Beauchemin on his way out of town. The Leafs GM looks to be sucking and blowing on his transactions at the same time as both players played a whopping 189 games combined in the Blue and White. The Versteeg deal turned into a 3 for 1 swap for a player that was not able to find a groove in Toronto and was unable to play Top 6 forward minutes as he was acquired to do.
The trade deadline is less then a month away, Leaf fans circle February 28, 2011 on your calendars but if Leafs GM Brian Burke has his way he wont be waiting until then to shake this club up, the Buds are no better this year then they were last and a couple of one way tickets out of town for some players if not just about all is something that many of us would not mind at all.
I want to start with the Leafs that Brian Burke should not think of trading unless there is some offer out there that is just too good to refuse (cough), the Buds that should remain with the club after the deadline are, Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, Luke Schenn, Jonas Gustavsson, Colby Armstrong, James Reimer, Tim Brent, Colton Orr and Carl Gunnarsson all others can be shipped out FedEx.
The boys in blue and white continue to falter as they look headed to another missed post season unless they somehow can turn it around. A new year is upon us once again and I though it would better to have my first blog of 2011 take a look at some better moments and memories in Leafs history, so hear goes Leafs Nation as we take a stab at the Greatest Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen of all time and dont forget to let me know who you think is the greatest in our poll at the end.
