Da Costa Da Man!

Oh yeah Leaf fans - take that!

Elimination Saturday

This Battle of Ontario on Saturday could have a nice ending if Buffalo wins tonight and the Leafs lose tomorrow then at the end of the Saturday's Senator win, the Leafs could be eliminated (assuming Buffalo also beats Washington minutes before the Sens win).

How long has it been since the Leafs played a playoff game anyway? Oh, right.

UPDATE: Buffalo did their job last night. Now for the Leafs to lose tonight....

Win win

Keeping pace with Colorado and hurting the Leafs! Way to go Sens!

Mr Anderson

4yr deal - 12.75mil

Seems like a bit of an overpay to me. Melnyk seems to be letting Murray rebuild this team.

Leafs @ Canes

What else needs to be said really?

Anything short of an regulation win and there's nothing left but mathematics in 10/11 for Toronto.

Leafs 4 Canes 3

Kadri with a goal and an assist because why the hell not...

Kadri and Lashoff join the flickering playoff hope.

Lashoff cleared re-entry waivers today, thanks to a league clause that means claiming any players after the trade deadline deems them unavailable to play on your NHL team, not allowed to report to your AHL club and not allowed to be traded. if somebody had picked up Lashoff they would be able to do nothing with him until next season other then negotiate his next contract.

Lashoff has had a great year on the Marlies with 7G 21A and 137PIM. Surely Toronto would have called him up sooner had he not been a threat to be taken on waivers. He has an edge, he plays on the PP and he'll throw the mitts. After watching Lebda fail to contain even the most average NHL player along his own boards all season long, this has to be an improvement.

Kadri on the other hand seems to be getting another pedigree call-up. Yes, 41 points in 44 games is very good. His improved defensive play and willingness to get physical against bigger players all good signs. Me personally, I would have liked to see him stay down for the rest of the Marlies season and help them get into the playoffs. Not up to me though, and with Armstrong injured for the rest opf the season somebody needs to come up.

I hope I'm wrong about Kadri and he shows he's ready to play in the NHL.

Sens win, no more Afraidsson...

Beat Buffalo today and I will retire the nickname forever.

Whattya say?

Should Ottawa move to Winnipeg if Coyotes stay put?

That's not a real question. I just want your attention. But answer it if you like.

There are two BoO games on tap:

LEAFS VS OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD
It's not about the Leafs own games anymore. It's about the four or five teams on the cusp each and every night. Toronto host the Flyers, sans Pronger with Boucher getting the start. Boucher has smoked the Leafs twice this season already, so this could be a gift. Horse.
Meanwhile, Buffalo play the Bruins tonight, and tomorrow the Hurricanes play the Caps. As opponents go, Leafs/Sabres/Hurricanes couldn't have drawn much worse.

OTTAWA VS FLORIDA
There are some games you look at in the schedule and you can't help but get caught up in the emotion, the stakes and the tension. This is not one of those games. If I'm an advertiser on sportsnet east I'm calling up my sales rep and asking if they can move my ad over to darts on Friday afternoon instead. As an experienced watcher of games that mean nothing in March, I feel for you Sens fans. This is the price you pay for "rebuilding". It sucks. Come over and watch the Leafs instead.

Thank You Ottawa. Screw you Toronto.

Toronto got the point. New Jersey and Buffalo didn't. In the end, that might be all that matters from last night.

Right now though, as a Leaf fan, I'm stomping mad about how my team played against the Isles.

Wilson already hammered on the top forwards this morning. That is good. But not good enough. We are talking about an entire hockey team that chose to play on the outside, abandon their puck pursuit game and leave their d-men to fend for themselves in the Toronto zone. It's called puck support. It's what got you here.

Smarten the hell up Leafs. You didn't deserve to be anywhere near overtime in that game. It was a bad a loss as I've seen from this team, forget the score. Maybe the gas is running out? Maybe the effects of losing Kabby and Beauchemin is starting to show on the blueline. Maybe this team is still so young and frail that Saturday's loss to a much superior team has damaged their ego's.

All I can say is that if we see any more play like last night this run is over. I think Leaf fans can deal with finishing short of a playoff spot and we pretty much expect it. What we will no longer put up with is efforts like last night.

Get your sh*t together by Thursday.

DEAD LAST

Congratulations Ottawa.

You have now out-sucked even the 2009/2010 Leafs which is a hell of a feat.

I thought I would enjoy this more, I must admit.

I'm starting to think there's something to this...

Dion earns his pay, bigger night ahead.

What a F*cking goal.



But that was last night and this is tonight.

LEAFS AT PHILADELPHIA, 7:30PM

Huge implications for this playoff "race" that the Leafs find themselves in. Not only do Toronto need 2 points out of this game which is a big "duh" statement from here until the end of the season, but Buffalo are in Carolina. The two teams between us and a playoff spot.

Rangers play the Wild too. That one effects Toronto. While we focus on Carolina and the four points between us, the Rangers are a mere 1 point ahead of them, and the Leafs/Canes have a game in hand.

It's complicated. It's unlikely. But it's exciting.

Oh, and the Sens play the Thrashers. Wait, that one is important too, for Toronto, since the Thrashers are right on our ass.

Go Leafs. Go Buffalo. Go Wild. Go Sens.

That's how I'd like to see it play out.

Time changes everything....

Original lineup:
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Foligno-Fisher-Kovalev
Regin-Winchester-Smith
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil

Phillips-Karlsson
Campoli-Gonchar
Hale-Carkner

Current lineup:
Greening-Spezza-Butler
Svatos-Shannon-Condra
Foligno-Smith-Neil
Lessard-Winchester-Potulny

Phillips-Karlsson
Gonchar-Kuba
Carkner-Lee

Oct 2012 lineup:
Parise-Spezza-Stone
Silfverberg-NugentHopkins-Butler
Condra-Regin-Alfredsson
Smith-Winchester-Neil

Rundblad-Karlsson
Phillips-Cowen
Gonchar-Gryba

Oh, our new GM Pierre McGuire traded Foligno, Michalek, Nashville's 1st, our 2nd, and Ottawa's 1st in 2012 for Parise at the draft.