Two things....

....that hockey fans knew, but Leaf fans didn't:

1) Ron Wilson treats his players like shit. Ok, so not only is he the first coach ever to miss the playoffs three years straight and keep his job (good business decision Burkie!), but it's being confirmed that many of his players dislike him. You might've heard of this one particular unimpressed player, one once considered by Leaf fans a top contender for the Captain position, once touted as the best offensive D-man in the league, once considered untouchable (no wait, that was this guy), currently serving out his last 5 games as a Leaf: Tomas Kaberle.

Well it seems Kaberle has an issue with Wilson. Kaberle is "unhappy with the manner in which Wilson coaches the Leafs and the lack of respect he shows for the players." The only quality veteran on the TMLs, the only one around when the Leafs were a playoff team and hence the only one who has seen several coaching changes thinks Wilson is a bad coach. It's been clear to the rest of us that Wilson can't coach a team of anything less than superstars, and I'm looking forward to a mutiny of this undeserving and overrated Burke buddy-buddy sometime next December.

Next time you're in Ottawa, Kabby, and out of the poo and white jersey, drinks are on me.

2) Speaking of being overrated, alleged future Leaf Captain Dion Phaneuf was voted the NHL's most overrated player in a recent poll. "Bah!" says the average leafer in response. "Those polls are unreliable, just a bunch of fan monkeys selecting radio buttons for their hated rivals".

But wait! No, this is not a poll of fans, or of Howard Berger et al., but a poll of NHL players. You know - the guys who actually face Phaneuf on the ice (and, quite possibly inclusive of current and former teammates given the sample size). You can't get a more knowledgeable group than that, now can you?

"Yeah," retorts leafer, "but the next guy was probably within the margin of error of the study".

Think again, Leaf fans: "His 21% of 272 votes was almost as many as the next four combined;Wade Redden, Scott Gomez, Shawn Horcoff and Sean Avery."

Isn't this guy supposed to save your defense in the all-world-all-amazing-rebound of 2010/11? NHL stars don't take him seriously, so why should anyone else?

THE BIG DRAFT COMPARISON PART #1

Inspired by the draft discussion* in the thread before this one, I thought it might be a good time to do a full up comparison. It's a big job to tackle, so this will be a 2 part thing. First up the 1990's draft comparison.

Here are the players drafted by the Leafs and Sens from 92-99. They played a minimum of 100 NHL games to make this list and any time I mention "NHLers" in this comparison that means players with over 100 games.

OTTAWA
1992: (1)Alexei Yashin, (3)Patrick Traverse.
1993: (1)Alex Daigle, (2)Radem Bicanek, (9)Pavel Dmitra.
1994: (1)Radek Bonk, (2)Stanislav Neckar, (6)Danielle Alfredsson,
1995: (1)Brian Burard, (3)Brad Larsen
1996: (1)Chris Phillips, (6)Andreas Dackell, (9)Sami Salo
1997: (1)Marian Hossa, (3)Josh Langfeld, (5)Magnus Arvedson, (9)Karel Rachunek
1998: (2)Mike Fisher, (4)Peter Shastlivey, (6)Chris Neil
1999: (1)Martin Havlat, (3)Chris Kelly

TORONTO
1992: (1)Grant Marshall, (3)Nikolai Borchevsky, (8)Ryan Vandenbussche, (11)Nathan Dempsey.
1993: (1)Kenny Jonsson, (1)Landon Wilson
1994: (3)Freddy Modin, (10)Sergei Berezin
1995: (6)Yannick Tremblay, (9)Dani Markov
1996: (8)Thomas Kaberle
1997: (4)Adam Mair, (7)Shawn Thornton
1998: (1)Nik Antropov, (4)Alex Ponikorovsky
1999: NIL

This era quite easily goes to the Senators who picked 1st overall three times in this span. What's strange is that most of Ottawa's best players weren't from those top three picks that Ottawa had a whopping five straight years. So there was some luck involved for Ottawa. Unless Sens fans think it was all part of the plan that Ottawa took Mike Gaffney with their 131st and Afraidsson with the 133rd pick in 1994? I didn't think so.

This doesn't mean Leaf fans have anything to snicker about. Antropov was a 10th overall pick, sure, but he's only the 2nd best player on that list next to Kaberle who was sheer luck as an 8th round pick. The Leafs also drafted absolutely NO NHL players in 1999. That's kind of pathetically amazing actually, but you'll only have to wait until tomorrow to find out when ttawa accomplished this same feat.

Tomorrow I'll dig up 2000-2009 when neither club was an expansion team, so the gloves will be off.

* - by discussion I mean guys with white gloves slapping each other across the face until somebody gets a bloody nose.

It's official

The Leafs miss the playoffs again.

It guarantees that this counter will hit at least 2500 days! I'm think we'll see it get to 3000.

Post game thread

Atlanta @ Toronto

Post Kovalchuck Atlanta Thrashers continue to press for a playoff position with a lovely little win over the NHL Future All-Stars Team to eliminate said team from any hope (was there any?) of making the playoffs. Going forward Toronto's only hope is keeping Boston out of a top lottery spot for the Two Tylers - both of whom, coincidentally, have outscored Kadri over a prolonged OHL season. Oh well, there's always next year, right? Right?

Ottawa @ Washington

Next year's apparent 30th place team must be getting all of it's winning mojo out of the team CNS this year. Taking out the Capitals in a high-scoring affair to hand them their 6th home OT loss this year, the Senators were forced to rely on 'no future' Peter Regin to start things out with an early goal, 'going nowhere fast' Erik Karlsson dealing out 3 assists (including the winner to Kovi), greater-than-point-per-game (but too old and decrepit to play in this league anymore) Daniel Alfredsson for another three, and 'no use to any team' Jason Spezza for a 4 point effort. Nevermind that the Capitals have already locked the EC top spot, they were on a one game losing streak to start this game so they were clearly not to be taken seriously.

Just another typical night in the BoO.

GDT - Trashers and Capitals

Sens @ Caps: Brian Elliott will get the start because he's been playing well, yes, and also because the failed Bryan Murray trade experiment named Pascal Leclaire will be sitting in his front row season ticket seats wearing a ball cap. So you know, Vermette WILL be playing for Columbus in their next game and could finish the season ahead of Afraidsson in scoring. Makes one wonder doesn't it?

Thrashers @ Leafs: Gustavsson will get the start in net, along with his 7-0-0 record, 1.93 GAA, .929 SV% since the trade deadline. Pretty incredible what this guy has done after a) some time under Francois Allaire, b) some time learning a new culture/game/team and c) going heart-attack-free for a good stretch now. The Leafs newest addition, 6'5" Brayden Irwin is also with the team as of today but no word on whether that means in the line-up, as far as I can tell.

Phil Kessel will now work on making it to 35 goals, while Jason Spezza will try to get 21. Volchenkov will play maybe his last few regular season games as a Sen, while Luke Schenn will continue his recent play looking every bit the beast that Jared Cowen fans hope he might hold a candle to.

All in all I'm over-caffeinated, and also on some pain killers from back spasms, so if it's thorny conversation you're looking for today I'm your huckleberry.

How to have good prospects AND make the playoffs

Ok, so Fu*king Opera ate my goddamn post about Senators Prospects in response to Muppet's fellating of Burke, so I'm rather pissed and not in the mood to recreate the whole thing.

In short(ish):

Big news to counter the idea that Kadri is the only guy in the BoO worth his salt.

Ottawa Senators today announced the signing of top NCAA scorer Bobby Butler. Remember some kid named Tyler Bozak from the NCAA? Yeah, this kid could eat Bozo. Bigger news: he may dress on Thursday.

Also likely to see some action with the big club this year is Patrick Weircoch. The linked article suggests he could see some action with the Senators in case of injury to the regulars. This kid, once he starts eating a little, could make the Senators the biggest defense in the entire league with Sutton, Carkner and himself.

Oh, and about that whole "Kadri [being] the leading scorer in the OHL playoffs" thing?

Yeah, not in goals. In the BoO prospects pool, that'd go to one Senators prospect, hometown boy (and big one at that!) Cory Cowick.

UPDATE: Brian Elliott named the NHL's top star of the week. Goalies with names starting with G unsurprisingly absent.

UPDATE 2: Weircoch officially signed and headed for Ottawa. Robin Lehner also signed today and headed for Bingo. Link.

In Game Thread...

Leafs trailing the Pens 3-2 here with 5:30 left in 2nd period.

Nope wait, just as I was typing, Gunnarsson ties it up.

3-3

Kessel has his 30th if you're not watching.

Anyway, if anybody is around and wants to talk about it, I'll be half-assed paying attention.

I'll say it. Thanks Ottawa.

Beating the Panthers helped you guys, but it helped the Leafs too.

Toronto now 3 points out of 13th spot. 4 points out of 11th.

Can you name the 3rd overall projected player in this draft, without looking it up?
Neither can I. So if Toronto can get out of this jam it should quiet down this Kessel/draft pick nonsense substantially. I mean really, who cares if Boston pick the next Jared Cowen?

I didn't see the Ottawa game at all so no comment there, but as far as the Leafs it was a nice comeback win and Gustavsson slammed the door after a couple of stoppable goals. It's too bad Avery got hurt in the 2nd period... Phaneuf looked to be enjoying hitting him and throwing him around. Shelley wanted nothing to do with Orr either, which is at least the 4th or 5th time in the past 3 weeks I've seen opposition tough guys turn down Orr. His reputation precedes him.

Come on Buds, 7 games left, lets get the hell out of 15th. It's not nearly as tasty as making the playoffs, but it sure beats the hell out of finishing 28th and will provide some redemption. I keep looking back to that 2-16-2 start and wonder what might have been if Toronto had even went 8-10-2. Still bad, but we would be in the playoffs. It's gonna burn come April.

Game Day Thread - Saturday night is alright edition!

What a night in store for those of us here who follow the UFC.

Starting at 7pm, it's hockey for both sides of the BoO aisle, and then right into an exceptional UFC 111 featuring St Pierre VS Hardy.

I hope for your sake you've earned lots of credits with the wife or GF because this would be a good night to cash them in.

RANGERS AT LEAFS
As I was just saying in a previous comment, the Rangers missing the playoffs will be an absolute disaster. Would Sather finally be axed if that's how it goes down?
Toronto has been playing real well lately and I'm sure they're not a team the Rangers want to face with their season hanging by a thread. I say Lundquist and co leave the ACC real disappointed. Leafs 3 Rangers 1. Kessel gets his 30th.

PANTHERS AT SENATORS
Ottawa have won 3 in a row now and look perhaps to be over their struggles since the Olympic break. I read that Elliott made 41 saves last night, so we'll assume he's back in there tonight? I don't watch enough Ottawa games, so you'll have to tell me - is Elliott the main reason for the 3-0 stretch? If so, I'm gonna wager he's pretty tired after last night and call this one a 4-1 win for Florida. Spezza with at least 2 giveaways. If they play Leclaire, lets make it 5-1 Panthers.

GSP VS HARDY
Every time GSP fights I can't help but buy into some of the hype surrounding his opponent. Alves was gonna knock him out I was being told, and so I was pretty nervous for that one. Penn was going to be his biggest challenge ever, which had me biting my fingernails down to nubs. Neither of those fighters came close.
Now everybody is saying the same thing about Hardy, that he has the knock-out power to take this one. The odds are still heavily in GSP's favour but as it goes, one lottery punch is all it takes and Rush's reign at the top will be temporarily over. So in staying with tradition, I'm nervous, but looking forward to it.

Enjoy your weekend.

We interrupt this program to salute a deserving fellow.

Dion Phaneuf sets up the OT winner. Grabovski scores it. Phil Kessel edges his way closer to a 30 goal season. The Monster wins his 6th straight game. Tyler Bozak has exceeded all expectations. Nazem Kadri is now the leading scorer in the OHL playoffs. Jimmy Hayes led the NCAA tourney in scoring and his team wins the championship.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially a franchise chalk full of talented youth, something I've never been able to say about this team since I first started following them in the 80's.

I'd just like to take this moment to give credit where it's due. You have a plan, you've made the bold moves, you weathered criticism and doubt and panic from a fanbase to start the season, and yet here we are - with not just hope but proof that this franchise has indeed turned the corner.

Thank you Brian Burke for all your hard work. It feels good to be a Leaf fan again.

Walking the Talk

Gustavsson with his 6th straight win.
Kessel with his 29th of the season.

Leafs end their 1 game losing streak.

Perhaps there is something to all this "talk" huh?

GDT: All Toronto, all talk.

Senators are idle tonight.   2nd last place Toronto faces Atlanta whom are 3 points back of Boston for the last ticket to the show.  The Thrashers will be hungry like a Hawk (get it???)

7-4 Atlanta.  Discuss.

GDT - Short and sweet.

Tonight the Leafs will end their one game losing streak in Atlanta while the Sens will be unable to add to their 3 win total since the Olympic break because, well, they don't play tonight.

I fully expect two goals from Phil Kessel as well. For good measure.

Also....

.... fantastic win by the Senators last night.  I was curious if there'd be calls for A-Train to get a game or two, but the league probably looked and said, "It was on Gagne?.  Naaaaaah".

Here's hoping we get to see more A-Train and Sutton havoc deep into the playoffs and well into next year.  

Fun with math? Fun with facts!

A previous posting had Muppet saying this of his Leafs:

"[They have] become almost unbeatable"

Ok.  Unbeatable by whom?

DJ, over at Stats-Я-Us is fond of attempts to contextualize data that doesn't favour his loyalties,  Student T, ek chai and Weibull be damned!  Well, it's time for us over here at the BoO to contextualize the 'unstoppable' Toronto Maple Leafs March, '10. Volume 443.    Let's have a look at the post-Olympics streak. We won't count last night because, well, 4-1 to the 11th placed team will mess up our numbers, right?

Win 1:  2-1 over Ottawa.  Context:  Including the last two wins,  the Sens are 3-6-1 in the last 10.  Everyone was beating Ottawa.  

Win 2:  4-3 SO win over Boston.  Context:  Including the last two wins,  the Bruins are 5-4-1 in the last 10.  Mediocre team.

Win 3:   4-3 OT over Tampa.  Context:  Tampa.  That's all you need to know. (3-6-1 in the last 10)

Win 4:  6-4 win over Edmonton.  Context:  Edmonton has shit the bed the entire season. Nothing has changed.  And yet Toronto still needed to score 5 goals to win.

Win 5: 4-1 win over Ottawa.  Context: supra.

Win 6:  2-1 win over Jersey.  Context:  Ok, these guys are 2nd in the Conference.  This'd be a somewhat respectable win if not for the sub 0.500 performance if you don't account for the last win.

Win 7:  3-2 SO win over Montreal.  Context:  Hey! Montreal is 7-2-1!  A "solid" (I'm snickering hard here) win decided by shooters.  How Euro-posh.  Hm.  And then the Habs go get beat 2-0 by "abysmal" Ottawa.  

Throw in a couple of losses against the likes of Carolina (5-1: 4-4-2, 69 pts), Philly (3-1: 4-5-1, currently in 3 game slide), NYI (4-1; 4-4-2, 68 pts!) and now FLA and man, it's impressive what they've accomplished with so little on the line.

So feel good about your 5th edition of the late-season streak Leaf fans.     I'm looking forward to next year's edition where Muppet will be cussing a blue streak about the $150 he's destined to lose.

Why the blackout?

Sportsnet East is blacked out for Toronto viewers. Is Sportsnet Ontario blacked-out for Ottawa viewers regularly as well?

Why do they do this? What's the big deal allowing me, a Toronto viewer, last night when no local Leafs team was playing, to catch some of the Habs/Sens?

Anybody understand this?

GDT - Welcome Back Sens fans

Both teams in action tonight and it's nice to have all the BoO fans feeling good all at the same time. Lets not waste this rare opportunity, I expect some smart-ass banter for the next few hours folks.

Panthers @ Leafs: If you ask Bryan McCabe, he'll say Florida are still in the hunt for 8th place. The Leafs are in the hunt for Florida and their very juicy 11th place in the Eastern Conference. Frankly, I like the Leafs chances of reaching their goal better than the Panthers. Which makes this game actually quite important for both teams.

Sens @ Flyers: Ottawa won't clinch a playoff spot if they can win again tonight. Not mathematically anyway. But emotionally it would go a long way and after dropping a bunch of important games since the break, the Sens could prove that last night wasn't just a dog having it's day. We'll see if that's true.

If you can't see the games tonight, or, if like Anshu you end up in a desolate outpost like Florida where you don't get hockey scores, stop by here tomorrow and gauge the mood. You'll be able to tell what happened the minute you read a DC comment. I promise.

TEN GAMES LEFT - FUN WITH MATH!

For the last few months Ottawa fans have had the advantage of a playoff spot firmly in their grasp. All was going swimmingly, and then the Olympics came and went and for some reason Ottawa has looked like the Edmonton Oilers ever since.

On the flipside, Toronto removed the last remaining players from its roster who had any memory of the 2007 season (except you Thomas Kaberle), and have since become almost unbeatable. My how the times have changed. And quickly.

So how about this scenario:

Toronto goes 10-0 to finish the season while Ottawa go 2-8.

The standings would look something like this:

Toronto 84pts
Ottawa 83pts

As the Lotto 6/49 tagline goes... Just Imagine!

Happy Monday.

Game Day Thread - Better Late then Never...

Sens down in Dallas to play the Stars which is starting probably right about NOW.

Habs at the ACC to face the buds which will start at the regular old 7pm time slot.

Gustavsson has had an incredible March and will get the start. I just checked NHL.com to see who is starting for Ottawa. I would guess LeClaire?

Game chatter and post bitching and moaning or gloating can happen here for those needing a place.

Enjoy your weekend.

What's Wrong With Ottawa?

I realize the previous post doesn't do much for conversation. Maybe this one will. It's simple really. What's the problem?

Goaltending seems like an obvious one I guess, but did Elliott just suddenly become crappy? I don't buy it.

Be nice to Leaf fans or else...

Had the Sens managed to beat a few teams since the Olympic break, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But lets face it, Ottawa are hanging in there in the standings only because of some equally crappy play by some of the teams behind them. The Rangers especially.

So what does this have to do with the Leafs, who, are still mired in the cellar despite 6 wins in their last 8 games?

Have a look at the Leafs schedule for the final 11 games of the season.

You'll note that the Leafs face the Rangers, Atlanta and Habs two times each. Round it out with games against the Flyers, Boston and Buffalo and it's not hard to imagine the Sens playoff hopes ending up in the hands of Phil Kessel.

Ottawa could of course end this nonsense and just string together a few victories. Until that happens, we have some drama still in the BoO tank.

Game Day Threads - Atliens and Devils!

The Sens are in Atlanta tonight, the home of really delicious food and of course, Outkast.

ATLIENS!

Something tells me Nik Antropov isn't fitting in too well with the hip hop scene down there, but he is on the Thrashers with 59 points in 65 games. He'll be making Karlsson (sp?) look as bad as EVERY LEAF FORWARD did on Tuesday. I'm sure.

Leafs stay put here in Sunny Toronto where the Devils will visit the the Leafs who are easily the Northeast's hottest team right now other than Buffalo, Boston and Montreal.

This one's a bit obvious but who didn't rock out to THIS on a portable stereo in their small town, Nikki Sixx pins in their jean jacket, looking for trouble that just wasn't there? Oh, that was just me?

SHOUT!

Phil F'n Kessel. And don't you forget it.

The Leafs young budding star is on pace to play 70 games this season, as he did last year, so long as he stays healthy.

When he came over to the Leafs, many people said his 36 goals last year was all thanks to Marc Savard. He would never accomplish the same on a pathetic Leaf team. Apparently, he also came with baggage, an attitude, poor discipline, blah blah blah. It would seem Sens fans will throw all caution to the wind in order to downplay a Leaf player.

While it may be true that Kessel will not reach 36 goals again, here is a comparison between this year and last:


Sadly, Kessel will not play against the Sens again this year. He seems to like the BoO a lot more than the Bruins tilts where he want pointless. In fact he had a few stretches of no output, along with a missed training cam, 12 missed games, and of course recovering from surgery on his shoulder. Yet, here he is, 11 points away from matching last years points totals with 12 games to go.

Enjoy the draft picks Boston, you deserve them for this guy...

On ice BoO 09/10 edition complete.

And here's the theme for the post-game thread. 

I'm taking wagers that more of these will be used by Leaf fans crying over the alleged dirtiest hit on the ice this year (Ovechkin got 2?  Alfie should get the fucking season for that! [paraphrase of one dumbass leafer on the sports pages this evening])

Try not to use too many guys.  You'll need some when you start getting excited about the Kaberle trade in July.

BoO Game Day Thread - the politically correct edition!

No jokes about the sexual orientation of hockey players. No hysteria-inducing references to ballet's, and no postings of that guy in the Maple Leafs fairy costume that comes up every 3 months or so. Not yet anyway.

Just the final game of the season series.

Here's where we stand before the puck drops on game #6:

WIN/LOSS: Toronto 3 Ottawa 2
ORR/CARKNER: 3-2
GOALS SCORED: Toronto 13 - Ottawa 8

Besides the one 5-0 blowout, every game has been decided by a single goal.

If you look at the standings it would appear this game means more for Ottawa. Simply not true. The Buds are a measly decimal point away from being the youngest team in the NHL and there are a lot of players who are fighting hard to instill enough confidence in Brian Burke that he keeps the cheque book in his pocket come July 1st.

Ottawa do need some wins. They have an 8 point lead on the Rangers who sit in 9th, so it's by no means desperation time, but another 5 or so games like they've had since the Olympic break and it could get ugly.

There will be fights. There will be booing of the hometown captain in his own barn. There will certainly be a fight between Orr and Carkner. Neil will definitely push a 150 lb rookie around after the whistle and not drop the gloves when Orr comes knocking. And going by the goaltending lately, for both teams, there will be some lamps all brightly red.

THM or Don post right over me this afternoon if you feel so inclined, I came into work early for a 9am conference call and thought I'd get started on the back and forth.

Sens suck. Nice day out though huh?

I'm just sayin...

Bozak, Stalberg, Hanson and Gustavsson...

It won't be long before the College players of 2010 become available to sign. Burke has already said he will dip in again looking for young talent to add to the Leafs growing depth in that category.

I would say going by all of the above players progression, the college route may be an important cog in the future Leaf machine. Stalberg's play lately suggests something has clicked for him. He almost had the hat trick last night and there is simply no Defence against him screaming up the wing at full speed. Other than the big hit which Volchenkov taught him early and it's a lesson he seems to have learned.

Looking at the Kessel trade alone, one could still argue that the Leafs might have been better off with the 3 picks down the road. But looking at the big picture, you add all these young guns along with trading for Phaneuf and then you factor in Kadri, Giguere, and the removal of some old faces that frankly fans were just sick of looking at, and I think you'll have a hard time finding anybody who can argue that the team is far more promising right now than it was when Burke arrived.

I truly enjoyed that game last night.

I doubt Ottawa fans enjoyed that one quite as much. I had no audio where I was, what the hell was with the giant glass delay??

Game Day Thread - Lots of Leafs Edition

Tampa @ Toronto 7pm

Stamkos will edge his way closer to 50 goals tonight as the Lightning fight for their playoff lives against the Buds. Stamkos, like all home town boys, seem to save their best for the ACC. Unlucky for us.

Sens @ Calgary 9:30pm

The Sens also play the Leafs, in a way, with 5 players recently from the blue and white possibly in the line-up for the Flames. The Sens would only be so lucky to face Toskala, although I think Toskala's only shutout of the year was against Ottawa wasn't it?

Good night of hockey on tap. Have at 'er if you got something to say.

Ten Things

1. Several weeks back I was screaming at my TV during a Leafs game. I said "For Christ's sake Stalberg, start skating and hitting or get the Fu¢k off my team". I can't believe it worked! He has been a beast these last few games. My only regret is that I used up this magic on the Leafs instead of those GM commercials during the Olympics.

2. Kessel can't score on Thomas. One would have to assume that Thomas knows all of Kessel's moves.

3. Kessel needs more moves. Not just for Thomas but for the whole NHL. His whole MO of spinning into the slot to take a wrist shot is about as surprising as those GM commercials after the 3,467th time you saw them. "Ya ya, you're crying and here comes the windshield wipers... kill me". So come up with more moves Kessel, you god damn GM commercial.

4. I didn't realize how much I missed Grabovski. Sure he missed a wide open net and lost the puck in our zone a few times, but he throws wood on the offensive fire and isn't afraid of anything. In fact I heard that in that bar fight in Vancouver he knocked out 26 guys using only his horrific accent.

5. Gustavsson is terribly inconsistent. I suppose that's the mark of a rookie, but still, he can't just play like shit every second game and expect to win. Both him and Giguere are prone to big rebounds. Get the hell on it Allaire.

6. I can't think of one aspect of the game of hockey that Jeff Finger excels in. That guy better be really funny in the dressing room or have a pick-up truck so the other players can call him when they need to move shit around. Contribute something.

7. Dion Phaneuf will be the captain of the Maple Leafs by next December. Calgary are in a playoff spot and scoring goals. Everybody happy with that trade? Excellent!
(...and yet, I still search for the scores of Calgary's game praying they win and that the ex-Leafs helped out so that nobody will suspect that Burke absolutely took Sutter to the cleaners. Anybody else feel this way?)

8. Leafs PK has been better than 90% since January 30th and yet it remains worst in the league. 72% on the season. You have to have one friggen piss poor PK that it can be 90% for 6 weeks and not even move up to 29th in the NHL??

9. I don't even want to talk about the powerplay.

10. It's nice to see a hometown kid like Caputi score his first goal as a Leaf in front of 40 family and friends. Even if it was a tap in that was only available because of a ton of really hard work by Stalberg and Kulemin. Basically, Caputi, Leaf fans are far too damaged to be all enthralled with you because you grew up next door to Canada's Wonderland and you have a Doug Gilmour poster. Keep your head down and your ass in the gym between games. You're on a short leash!

Game Day Thread: Draft position Edition.

Leafs vs Boston:
With Savard injured the Bruins can't like their chances of making the playoffs anymore. In fact it's such a huge loss that this actually could mean they draft twice in the top 5 for the first time since the Islanders did it in 2000. Boston are 8 points away from a 4th or 5th overall pick as of today. It's gotta be on Chiarelli's mind and frankly wouldn't that be better than just missing the playoffs?

The Leafs do 3 games in 4 nights for the second straight week, but the first 3 games are at home. So if I decide to go to a game I won't have my "Go Leafs Go" chants met with Philly fans screaming U-S-A, nor will some 350 lb guy tell me in a parking lot that my country has no army and that America has to protect us. He was a little puzzled when I asked him "protect us from what"?

Grabovski is back in the line-up and Gustavsson will get his first start since Spezza and Kovalev couldn't get one past him in the SO on Saturday.

Ottawa at Edmonton:
Ottawa on the other hand haven't tasted victory since the Olympic break, just a lot of vomit. One question I would have: Why did everyone play with the flu except for Afraidsson?

It looks like netminding has once again become the topic of conversation in Ottawa. Although maybe that will subside a little since Leclaire played pretty good against Toronto. Ottawa probably want to win this game. Not only to avoid embarrassment, nor to help themselves in the standings, but to help keep Toronto from wearing "last in the NHL" for the entire summer.
We would appreciate it.

BoO quickie

Muppet is in Philly and THM is stuck doing some outing with the girly.  So there's no live-bloggy goodness today unless Don or Five-0 manage to put something up in the next few hours.  

There's little meaning to the BoO these days (really, since the lockout there hasn't been much) but the young guys on TO's squad are playing for jobs and contracts next year so they'll be peppy.  Once September rolls around they'll realize that you don't need to work hard once you're on a 1-way or the cap starts to fill up.

Meanwhile, the Sens might have a fair portion of the team full of non-regular rookies and Bingo call-ups.  The latest number I've heard is 8 guys out with the flu, but the hand of Alfie might miraculously cure them all.

So, aside from a meaningless game between kids playing like they have nothing to lose (they don't!) and kids filling in for a game while everyone else recovers, what does tonight bring?

Carkner-Orr 4.

Bring it!

Game Day Thread - Post Trade Deadline Edition

Both teams will get to see their newly minted deadline acquisitions in action tonight and both games go at 7pm.

Ottawa @ Carolina
The Hurricanes have in the last week subtracted 5 players from their line-up. It would appear that Rutherford maybe wants to halt this winning streak knowing damn well that at this point a 3rd overall pick is better than a 7th. Too bad JFJ didn't figure this out a few years ago. It's good news for the Sens, although LeClaire will get his first start in what feels like forever so the game may come down to how he responds. Leaf fans will tell you, that Peters kid in the Carolina net isn't half bad. I'll predict that the team who has thrown in the towel on the season with the hot rookie goalie wins. That would be Carolina, 4-2.
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Leafs @ Bruins
Some day in the future a game between these teams won't be wrapped around the Kessel deal and the Leafs place in the standings. Right now it is. Boston beating the Leafs helps them in the standings and at the draft. Toronto's new kid on the block Caputi will make real his childhood dream and put on a Leaf jersey. Raise your hand if you're Leaf fan who has long since cared if a kid is from Toronto. We just want somebody to be good. The Leafs won't be, however and this will be yet another defeat. I'll go with 2-1, since Boston can't seem to score.

As a Leaf fan I can't wait for these last 20 games to just be over...

Actually, the Leafs season is not lost!

Andy's mention in the previous thread of the Sens remaining schedule not being too tough prompted me to see what the Leafs have in store from now until game #82.

A couple of games against the Sens, a few against the Isles... maybe a little bit meaningful (Toronto could technically catch the Islanders I suppose, and playing the Sens is always a good one).

However Leaf fans might really really enjoy the final game of the year against the Habs. Who could forget knocking them out of a playoff spot a few years ago? That was fun. Given Montreal's current hold on 7th spot as I write this, this opportunity might present itself again!

BTW, I'm in Philly this weekend. Probably won't be able to partake in the BoO Battle blog as our teams meet, but I will be at the Flyers-Leafs game on Sunday. Wearing my Leaf jersey. Getting beers thrown at me.

Feeling secure Ottawa?

The Leafs are finishing 29th this season. Maybe 30th. It's not really much of a discussion at this point.

Ottawa on the other hand, after a pretty incredible run of wins are sitting pretty in 3rd this morning. However upon further review, is their lock on a playoff spot all that secure?

Of the top 12 playoff seeds in the NHL (top 6 in each conference), Ottawa are the only team who have allowed more goals than they have scored. Ottawa's top goalie Elliott has a 9.07 save % which is the same as Giguere, and the latter has a losing record because of it. In short, Ottawa's goaltending while great during stretches is not exactly carrying the team when you tack on Leclaire's .891%.

Looking at the points table, Ottawa have played more games than everybody else in the conference except the Habs. Yet, Ottawa only have a 1 point lead on Buffalo which is the difference between 3rd and 5th, and while the Rangers in 9th are a whole 11 points back of the Sens, it's the kind of distance that can be traversed quickly with a coinciding losing and winning streak of any kind.

My guess is there are too many teams chasing for them all to catch up to Ottawa and Ottawa will get at least a 6th seed. But are Sens fans a little nervous about these last 18 games? After all, we saw what happened to the Sens the last time they won a ton of games in a row during a season. It wasn't pretty.

After the dust has settled: July 1st cap situation

TORONTO:
$43M committed to 17 players.
Approx $20M in cap space.

OTTAWA
$49M committed to 16 players.
Approx $14M in cap space.

source: nhlnumbers.com

Also, it appears Toronto also got a defenceman in the Stempniak deal named Matt Jones.

Trade Deadline Thread...

It's 11:17. I have TSN live feed on the laptop. I'm sure everybody is on a tracker of some sort, except maybe you Ottawa Government types who should be focused on running our country, god-dammit!

Anyway we're 3:45 away from deadline, lets think this will pick up considerably after lunch?

Latest trade is Skoula to Jersey for a 5th round draft pick.


UPDATE: Pogge a Hurricane. Add him to Tlusty as Carolina try and become a team that misses the playoffs every season...

Poni gets a crack at a cup!

Ponikorovsky to Pitsburgh for LW Luca Caputi and D Martin Skoula.

Talk about the least shocking trade so far of the trade deadline. At least now Poni doesn't have to answer the same question every day at the rink about being traded.

Luca Caputi I can understand. 6'3", 200lb - 47 points in 54 games and 61 PIMS to go with it. A total Burke player and only 21 years old.

Admittedly I don't even know how to pronounce his name.

The Leafs also get Martin Skoula. A head scratcher for sure. The Leafs need another defenceman like Ottawa need to trade another draft pick for a rental. Over at Toronto Sports Media they think Skoula will be dealt by tomorrow for a late round pick.

Me personally, I wonder if the Leafs have trades in place for perhaps more than one of our defenceman and Skoula was brought in to finish out the season in place of Exelby and whomever else who gets shipped out.

Caputi is a Toronto boy, seems to have some good AHL numbers and is listed as a top three prospect for Pittsburgh. Really though, have the Leafs simply bought themselves some years at a cheaper salary for Poni? Looks that way.

I guess it's better than a 2nd round pick from a team likely to pick near the back of the round.

We had our eye on you since this....

Ottawa acquires Andy Sutton from NYI for draft pick

Ottawa trades a draft pick (2nd rounder) to NYI for Andy Sutton.

Sutton is 34, has 4 goals, 8 assists in 54 games played and a -3.  

Cap hit is $3M this year and he's a UFA at the end of the year.  This is a depth pickup to be sure.

Not terribly inspirational, but not terrible either.  At least he's better than Picard.

Good for Matt but is it good for hockey?

The Calgary Flames resigned Matt Stajan to a four year deal today worth $3.5M a year.

You can read about it here.

That's a substantial raise for him and he's on pace right now to finish with 59 points. I suppose that's what $3.5M players do nowadays? It seems like a lot of money for a guy of his skill. I would have guessed he was more of a $2.7M/year kind of player.

Is it just me or do GM's regularly hand out bloated contracts? No wonder we end up with lockouts and strikes and teams losing money.

Wow.

Sens win!

SENS	10
Ruutu	3
Alfie	3
Michalek	2
Kuba	1
Volchenkov	1
Daugavins	0
LEAFS	7
Kessel	2
Kaberle	3
Monster	2

Trade Deadline: The action just doesn't stop!

This is fantastic. Still feeling the hangover from the Gold Medal Win and already we have an NHL trade.

Jordan Leopold to Pittsburgh for a 2nd round draft pick.

That makes Leopold and Moore both traded for 2nd rounders, both on expiring contracts. Is it just me or are teams throwing around 2nd round picks like monopoly money? Good news for the Leafs who are looking to move a few lower tier players of their own.

What will Ottawa do? What will Burke with his shiny silver medal do?

Should be a good few days.