So far, this season is off to a real sub-standard start for the Detroit Red Wings. They are currently hovering around the 16th spot in the league which is a far cry from the smoking hot start of their twice-in-a-row Stanley Cup Finals the Pittsburgh Penguins (currently #2 behind Colorado).

Tonight, they faced the Toronto Maple Leafs and had their asses handed to them after being beat 5-1.  It was a rough night for Detroit goaltender, Chris Osgood, which only highlighted how stellar Jonas Gustavsson in net for the Leafs.  He made 35 saves and continues to be a major factor …read more

I’m pretty bummed about this news but Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender, Jonas Gustavsson, is on the injured reserve list after suffering from a bit of a groin pull.  It doesn’t sound too serious but you never know with these things.
The rookie will probably be on the bench for at least a week.  “I was examined yesterday, and they think I pulled it a little bit,” Gustavsson said.  “So I’ll take it easy for a few days.”
Anyone who was looking forward to seeing Vesa Toskala fight to retain his #1 spot with “The Monster” on his ass is going to have …read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs are shaping up to be a much better team this season and they’ve now beefed up their lineup by acquiring Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins.  I think it’s a pretty significant loss for the Bruins but they’ve got such a strong roster that I think they cannot afford to share the wealth.

Besides, like the Dany Heatley drama, Kessel wasn’t happy with the team and eagerly signed a five-year deal worth $27 million deal despite the fact that the Nashville Predators and the New York Rangers had expressed some interest.
Leafs GM Brian Burke said: “Bringing Phil …read more

After a disappointing record last season (one win in seven games and a 4.35 GAA), goaltender, Justin Pogge, has been sent to the Anaheim Ducks and, in exchange, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have a conditional draft pick in 2011.

Bah.  Kinda saw this one coming when they signed Jonas Gustavsson, right?
This is one of those deals that I really barely care about at this point.  The truth is that I believed that Pogge could develop into a pretty decent goalie but Toronto hasn’t been a great place for a developing netminder.  It’s interesting that he was with the Toronto Marlies …read more

The Sedin twins have re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks with identical five year contracts worth $6.1 million per season but the drama surrounding the uncertainty of their status before the July 1 free-agent deadline.
According to the Globe and Mail, the NHL is investigating some comments that Toronto Maple Leafs coach, Ron Wilson, made in reference to the team’s interest in signing Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
On June 31st, Wilson said (on the Fan 590):  “You’re hearing right now, and this sounds very contradictory but, there’s a real possibility, I would think, that we would be going after the Sedins. Let’s …read more

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender, Martin Gerber, freaked out last night during a game against the Washington Capitals and I can’t say that I blame him.  The Leafs were up by one with Caps forward, Brooks Laich pushed a puck under Gerber with 56 seconds left in the game.  He was also pushed, in my opinion, and I don’t think that goal should have counted.

Apparently, Gerber didn’t think it should could either because he freaked out, bumped a referee and threw a puck in his direction.  For this behavior, he faces a minimum three-game suspension for category three abuse of the …read more

Talk about desperate.  Toronto Maple Leafs coach, Ron Wilson, actually asked officials to measure Jason Spezza’s hockey stick (with just over 2 minutes left in the game) knowing that it would give his team a power-play during their loss against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.  "Our players competed like heck," said Wilson. "I wanted at the end to give our guys a chance to win, they tried so hard. The guy is using a stick that’s not only illegal but dangerous. I had an opportunity to call it, so I did… Unfortunately, our power play stunk so what are …read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded forward Nik Antropov to the New York Rangers in exchange for a second round draft pick as well as a conditional draft pick.  This is the first time he’s been traded since joining the Maple Leafs in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft (10th overall).
The 29-year old from Kazakhstan is in the final year of a two-year contract and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2009.
image: TSN

Who can forget the horrific accident that resulted in the throat of Richard Zednik being slashed last year?  To be honest, it was so terrible that I wasn’t sure he’d ever feel comfortable on the ice again.  I’m glad I was wrong.

On the anniversary of the incident, Zednik had an amazing night on the ice as his Florida Panthers enjoyed a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.  At 1:02 in OT, Zednik scored his second goal of the night – the game winner – and secured the win for his team.
"It’s amazing," said Zednik.  "Exactly one year later …read more

Luke Schenn of the Toronto Maple Leafs floored Evgeni Malkin minutes before and Tyler Kennedy, Malkin’s Pittsburgh teammate is being suspended for one game for instigating a retaliatory fight.
The disciplinary action comes after the Leafs requested the even be reviewed and alleged that Kennedy came off the Pens bench with the intent of starting a fight with Schenn.